After more than ten days of long journey, Hai Rui finally returned to the capital by boat via the Grand Canal.
As soon as Hai Rui got off the boat, he heard pedestrians on the pier talking about the battle on the front line.
"Have you heard? The front line was victorious, and it is said that the Tatar Khan was even captured alive!"
"Ah, when did it happen, why didn't I know?"
"Now this news has spread throughout the capital. It is said that..."
"I don't know what this Tatar Khan looks like. Does he have two heads and four legs like the rumors say..."
Hearing this, Hai Rui couldn't help but become interested. He immediately stepped forward and asked.
"May I ask what exactly you were talking about just now? Did the front line win?"
When those passers-by saw the official uniform that Hai Rui was wearing and the guards behind him, they knew that Hai Rui was of high rank. They immediately felt fear and subconsciously took a step back.
However, seeing the warm smile on Hai Rui's face, the fear in the hearts of these pedestrians dissipated a lot. Soon, one of the pedestrians boldly told Hai Rui the news about the victory on the Jizhou front. .
After hearing the passerby's description, Hai Rui was shocked. He did not expect that such a big thing would happen just when he left the capital and rushed to Henan to investigate the case.
Immediately, after expressing his gratitude to the passers-by, Hai Rui left the pier in a sedan and headed towards the Forbidden City.
Next, Hai Rui still needs to follow the procedures and report his duties to the emperor in person.
"Your Majesty is wise!"
Hai Rui thought so as he sat in the sedan chair heading to the Forbidden City.
…
I don’t know how much time passed, but a soft call brought Hai Ruili back to reality: "Sir, the Forbidden City is ahead!"
Upon hearing this, Hai Rui immediately calmed down and got down from the sedan chair.
As soon as Hai Rui got off the sedan, he saw a eunuch walking towards him. There was no expression on his face and he spoke in a routine manner.
"Sir, please come with me!"
"Um."
Hai Rui nodded and immediately followed the eunuch's footsteps towards the east gate of the Forbidden City.
The eunuch took out a voucher from his arms, and after giving it to the imperial guards for viewing, they were let in.
Along the way, the eunuch didn't have much communication with Hai Rui.
When they arrived at the place, the eunuch left a message that someone would pick you up later, and then left in a hurry.
Upon hearing this, Hai Rui had no choice but to follow the eunuch's instructions and wait quietly where he was.
Not long after, an old eunuch came up and confirmed to Hai Rui.
"You are Hai Rui, the censor of Youqian City, Lord Hai, right?"
"Well, yes, it's me!"
Upon hearing this, Hai Rui looked away from the old eunuch and immediately responded in a deep voice.
After that, the old eunuch sighed inaudibly, his tone full of helplessness.
"Well, sir, please come with me!"
Hai Rui didn't doubt his presence and followed the old eunuch's footsteps.
While the old eunuch was leading the way, he would glance at this "poor" imperial minister from the corner of his eyes from time to time!
The reason for the incident was that when Hai Rui came to meet the emperor last time, he did not follow the agreed rules and pay a favor fee to the eunuch responsible for teaching etiquette.
At the beginning, this matter only spread in a small area, and not many people knew about it.
It was not until later that Hai Rui was appointed as the Imperial Envoy by Jiajing and rushed to Henan to investigate the case. This matter spread more and more widely. In the end, all the eunuchs in the Forbidden City knew that there was such a "penny-less" Imperial Envoy.
In this way, the old eunuch stopped after taking Hai Rui to a place not far from Yangxin Palace.
"Sir, ahead is the Hall of Cultivation of the Heart!"
"Well, thank you for your work, father-in-law."
Upon hearing this, Hai Rui quickly bowed his hands to the old eunuch and said respectfully.
After that, the eunuch who was responsible for teaching etiquette quickly came up to him. When he saw Hai Rui's face clearly, he instantly put on a mask of pain on his face.
Despite this, he still bit the bullet and reiterated to Hai Rui the etiquette that needed to be paid attention to.
"When you see His Majesty later, you must not do anything that violates the rules. You must answer whatever His Majesty asks. Do not answer randomly or break the rules..."
Just like before, Hai Rui only listened to the beginning and lost interest in continuing.
As for the eunuch who was responsible for teaching etiquette, seeing that he could not get any benefit from Hai Rui, he simply became perfunctory.
In this way, the two sides, one talks casually, the other listens casually, the main thing is to accompany each other.
During this process, Hai Rui also responded twice from time to time to show the eunuch who was responsible for teaching etiquette that he was really listening carefully.
The moment the specific details were explained, Hai Rui and the eunuch who was responsible for teaching etiquette all breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thank you, father-in-law!"
After Hai Rui bowed his hand to the eunuch who was responsible for teaching etiquette, he went straight to the steps of the Cultivation Heart Hall without much hesitation.
Although the eunuch who was responsible for teaching etiquette had prepared his mind well before this, when it actually happened, he still couldn't accept it. He looked at Hai Rui's back and muttered.
"Even if it's just a token amount, a penny is acceptable!"
However, Hai Rui was destined to be unable to hear his thoughts.
After a while, a high-pitched voice was heard: "See you here, Xuan Hairui!"
Upon hearing this, Hai Rui immediately looked stern and entered the Heart Cultivation Hall with steady steps.
As soon as he entered the Yangxin Hall, he knelt on the ground with a plop, turned his gaze to the figure sitting on the dragon chair, and said in a deep voice.
"The humble minister Hai Rui, I bow to your Majesty, long live my emperor!"
After hearing this, Jiajing looked away from Hai Rui and immediately gave instructions.
"Well, get up!"
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
After Hai Rui finished speaking, he stood up from the ground.
And not long after Hai Rui stood up, Jiajing's voice rang in his ears.
"Well, Hai Rui, it seems I didn't hire the wrong person!"
"You did a good job on this matter. It only took less than a week to get to the bottom of the case!"
When Hai Rui heard this, he immediately calmed down and humbly said: "This is all thanks to His Majesty's wise leadership!"
After Hai Rui finished speaking, he took out the memorial from his arms at the right time, raised it high above his head, and said respectfully.
"Your Majesty, here is the ins and outs of the entire case recorded by Wei Chen. Your Majesty, please check it out!"
As soon as Hai Rui finished speaking, Lu Fang, who had been waiting beside Jiajing, stepped forward, took the memorial from Hai Rui's hand, and handed it to Jiajing's hand.
Jiajing took the memorial, browsed through the contents, put it on the desk, and then spoke.
"Well, I already know the cause of the matter. Henan Governor Pan Xian and others also not long ago, the Ministry of Punishment, after verifying the charges, took him to Caishikou for execution!"
"As for the 5,620,000 taels of stolen silver, it has already been deposited into the national treasury."
"I want to reward you well!"
After Jiajing finished speaking, after thinking about it for a moment, he immediately spoke.
"Okay, Hai Rui, you are now the censor of Youqiandu, right?"
Upon hearing this, Hai Rui suppressed the excitement in his heart and spoke.
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
After Jiajing got the exact answer from Hai Rui, he immediately spoke.
"Let's see, you can move up one level to your original rank, and then you can serve as the left deputy governor!"
"I have worked hard on you these days. After I thank you later, I will give you a few days off. You can go back and have a good rest so that you can reunite with your wife and children."
Upon hearing this, Hai Rui immediately knelt down on the ground with a plop, a look of gratitude on his face, and said in a deep voice.
"I would like to thank your majesty for your kindness. Do you dare to give up your hard work to relieve your worries?"
"Well, what a man who dares to give up his work to relieve the king, he is truly a worthy minister of my Ming Dynasty!"
…
After completing his work report, Hai Rui was not in a hurry to go home. He wanted to take this opportunity to go to the Inspectorate to meet Zhao Zhenji and thank Zhao Zhenji in person for the help he had given him.
Zhao Zhenji is quite leisurely at this time. Recently, it can be said that the court has been quite calm, and there is not even the slightest storm!
In addition, with the great victory on the front line, the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty were arguing endlessly about how to deal with the Tatar Khan. Naturally, they impeccably submitted an impeachment memorial to the Supervisory Council.
Therefore, Zhao Zhenji's daily routine gradually turned into clocking in on time and then sitting and waiting to get off work.
In order to kill the boring time, Zhao Zhenji also brought some of the most popular leisure books. One of them, "Journey to the West", attracted Zhao Zhenji's attention at a glance.
Soon, Zhao Zhenji was attracted by the ups and downs of the plot in the book. When the emotions foreshadowing in the book reached its climax, Zhao Zhenji turned back and found that there was nothing at the back, only a piece of white paper with four big words on it: "Waiting." Volume II!"
When Zhao Zhenji saw those four words, he suddenly became furious and threw the book on the desk with extra force.
"Damn it, every time it's the most critical moment, it's gone. I'll never look at it again!"
After his emotions calmed down, Zhao Zhenji picked up the book again and comforted himself: "That's it, let's read it again!"
Just when Zhao Zhenji was immersed in the world of the book and couldn't extricate himself, there was a knock on the door.
His interest was suddenly disturbed, and Zhao Zhenji frowned slightly. After putting away the "Journey to the West", he immediately gave instructions.
"come in!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a guard entered the room and respectfully reported to Zhao Zhenji.
"Your Excellency, Hai Rui is here to visit and is waiting outside at the moment."
When Zhao Zhenji heard this, a look of surprise appeared on his face, and he said silently to himself.
"Hai Rui came back from Henan so soon?"
Then, Zhao Zhenji came back to his senses, waved his hand, and immediately gave instructions.
"Well, let him in!"
"Yes, sir!"
The guard followed the order and left. A moment later, Hai Rui entered the room and bowed to Zhao Zhenji.
"Your Majesty, Hai Rui, have met you!"
When Zhao Zhenji saw Hai Rui arriving, her face was filled with a warm smile. She then stood up from her seat, came to Hai Rui, helped him up, and said.
"There is no need to salute me, come on, sit down!"
After Zhao Zhenji finished speaking, he pointed to the empty seat beside him and immediately spoke.
Hai Rui didn't refuse and sat down on his seat.
After Hai Rui sat down, Zhao Zhenji looked away from Hai Rui and asked immediately.
"Tell me, what's the matter with Mr. Zhao?"
When Hai Rui heard this, a look of gratitude appeared on his face, he stood up from his seat, bowed to Zhao Zhenji quite solemnly, and said in a deep voice.
"Xiaguan came here specifically to thank you for the information you sent to Xianguan earlier!"
"Without that information, the official would not be able to quickly grasp the situation of officials in Henan, let alone investigate the case!"
At this moment, Zhao Zhenji looked at Hai Rui with a hint of appreciation. He was even a little lucky that he had made the decision to recommend Hai Rui to serve in the Inspectorate.
I would like to ask, where should I find a subordinate who can do things, is willing to show up, and is grateful?
After a while, Zhao Zhenji coughed twice and spoke immediately.
"In the final analysis, I only provided a small amount of help!"
"Whether the case can be investigated or not, in the final analysis, still depends on you, the imperial envoy!"
When Zhao Zhenji said this, he immediately changed the topic and confirmed it to Hai Rui.
"If my guess is correct, you have been promoted to the position of left deputy censor, right?"
Hai Rui didn't mean to hide anything, but nodded subtly and said.
"Yeah, that's right."
Rao Shi Zhao Zhenji has been in officialdom for many years, and it is rare to see an official promoted so quickly. Not long ago, he was a small magistrate of Chun'an County.
After that, he has been on a steady rise, and now he has served as the Zuo Deputy Capital Censor, completing the transition from a seventh-rank local official to a third-rank central official!
"This Hai Rui is truly blessed by the Holy Family. It seems that my choice was indeed the right one!"
Zhao Zhenji looked at Hai Rui and thought to himself.
Immediately, Zhao Zhenji looked away with concern on his face, and he immediately spoke.
"Okay, okay, don't stay here all the time. Go back and have a good rest and reunite with your family."
"There is nothing going on at the Inspectorate now. If anything happens, I will send someone to inform you."
"Yes, sir, I will resign immediately!"
Upon hearing this, Hai Rui immediately stood up from his seat, bowed respectfully to Zhao Zhenji, and then turned around and left the room.
…
Hai Rui came out of the Forbidden City, took a few boxes of his wife's favorite cakes on the street, and then took a sedan chair back to his home after a long absence.
At this moment, Hai Rui's wife, Wang, was concentrating on embroidery in her room.
When she heard the knock on the door from outside, she quickly put down her work and went to open the door herself.
With a "squeak" sound, the door was opened, and a longing figure appeared in front of her.
For a long time, the longing that had been suppressed in her heart surged up uncontrollably, and some tears appeared in Wang's eyes. Finally, thousands of words converged into one sentence.
"You're back?"
"Well, I'm back."
(End of chapter)
