Inside Yingtianfu Prison.
"It's time to eat!"
As the jailer shouted, in the dark cell, the prisoners awaiting trial handed over their dirty rice bowls and put them outside, waiting for the jailer to give them a bowl of gruel with a wooden spoon.
In this dark prison, there were only two meals a day, each consisting of a bowl of gruel and one or two pickles.
Every time the porridge is divided, there are two jailers, one carrying the bucket and the other holding the spoon. They keep walking and take a spoon at will. The amount of porridge depends on the steady hand of the jailer.
The porridge was thin, there were few vegetables, and there was still no oil or water, and the jailers would never look back when they passed by. As a result, every time the meal was served, all the prisoners had to wait immediately in advance, just like feeding dogs.
There is only one exception.
There was neither a bowl nor a hand outside his cell, as if he were lying dead in a cell covered with straw.
The jailer was not surprised, so he stopped as an exception, knocked on the gate with a wooden spoon, and smiled at the old man in his sixties, with messy white hair and a filthy silk suit, and said:
"Prime Minister Hu, do you still want to eat this meal?"
Upon hearing the words "Prime Minister Hu", many prisoners looked at him with pleasure and resentment.
What about the leader of hundreds of officials?
Were we not just like them, being imprisoned in this damp and dark prison, being yelled at and scolded by the guards who they used to regard as lowly servants, trying to make smiles and build relationships in order to get an extra pickle?
"Prime Minister Hu!"
The jailer raised his voice and glanced greedily at the clothes worn by the old man inside.
After all, he was the prime minister. When he was escorted in, the prison chief personally received him. In the evening, he arranged wine and food. Many jailers drank with him. For two consecutive days, he was served with good wine and food every meal.
But three days later, the cell leader came back cursing him. When they asked, they learned that Prime Minister Hu was 99% dead!
Why?
Because such felons were imprisoned, and the prince was presiding over the case, no one came to interrogate Hu Weiyong, so he was kept locked up.
It is clear that regardless of whether he is guilty or not, whether he has evidence or a confession, he is dead!
"I want to see Your Majesty. I was wronged."
In the cell, Hu Weiyong shouted feebly in a hoarse voice.
"Meet the Emperor? Save your energy!"
The jailer holding the spoon cursed and walked forward.
At this moment, there was a noise outside. The jailer turned around and saw the jailer, jailer, and jailer all with smiles on their faces, and a young man with a white face and no beard walked in.
Oh, not a man, but a eunuch from the palace!
"grown ups!"
After the two jailers saluted, they quickly stood next to the wall.
Another sneak peek revealed that the eunuch was followed by a group of guards with swords, all from the palace.
The two jailers looked at each other in astonishment. Could it be that...
"Where's Hu Weiyong?"
The eunuch in the palace asked, holding his nose.
"Eunuch Li, Hu Weiyong is here!" the prison chief said with a smile, pointing to a cell.
Inside the cell.
Hu Weiyong's cloudy eyes finally cleared up, and he rushed to the cell door and shouted: "Are you... Eunuch Li? Eunuch Li, please tell me, Hu Weiyong wants to see your Majesty! Your Majesty, I am... unjust!" !”
The scream was like a drowning man grabbing a straw and struggling for life.
It is enough to show that Hu Weiyong has been imprisoned for less than ten days, and his temper as the prime minister has been wiped out, and now he only wants to survive.
What I'm afraid of is not the interrogation, but what I'm afraid of is being punished without even being interrogated.
"Prime Minister Hu, long time no see."
Eunuch Li cupped his hands towards him with a smile on his face and said, "Let's talk about other things later... The Za family is here to announce His Majesty's decree and bring Hu Weiyong to see His Majesty!"
"Yes, father-in-law...come here, open the cell door!"
The jailer had confirmed it and immediately ordered someone to open the cell door and ask the jailer to take Hu Weiyong out and bring him to Eunuch Li.
A sour smell hit my face.
"Take him quickly to wash and change clothes! Cover up the smell so as not to offend His Majesty... Hurry up, His Majesty is waiting!" Eunuch Li pinched his nose and screamed.
"Your Majesty, your grace!!!"
Hu Weiyong burst into tears.
The chains on his hands and legs were not yet untied, so he was pulled to the bucket by the jailer. The clothes he wore at home were stripped off, and a ladle of water was poured over his head.
The chill made Hu Weiyong gradually regain his consciousness and start to think about why His Majesty was finally willing to summon him.
After rinsing and changing into a set of clean coarse linen clothes, he was escorted into the carriage by the guards of Yiluan Division.
After getting off the carriage, Hu Weiyong saw the majestic Huagai Palace. The white jade railings and silver-armored guards in front of the palace door all showed the majesty of the imperial power.
"His Majesty--!"
Hu Weiyong knelt on the ground, kowtowed, shouted tremblingly to the Huagai Hall, and shed tears again.
Many eunuchs, maids, and guards looked down at the prime minister who had committed an offense.
"Prime Minister Hu, get up, His Majesty is waiting for you." Eunuch Li didn't believe him at all, he was just pretending to be pitiful because of his fault.
Hu Weiyong was escorted into the Huagai Hall, where he saw the governor, Mao Xiang, and the majestic and indifferent Zhu Yuanzhang behind the desk three feet away, with the prince Zhu Biao sitting next to him.
"Your Majesty... the criminal Hu Weiyong..."
"you shut up."
Zhu Yuanzhang shouted coldly, grabbed the memorial in front of him and threw it at him: "Look at the good things you have done, read them one by one, and let me understand them carefully!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
Hu Weiyong's face turned pale, and he knelt down to pick up the memorial that fell to the ground.
It contains all the things I have done over the years, including taking bribes, pressing for memorials, privately using torture, taking the daughter of a prison officer and giving it to my subordinates as concubines...
It even contained many words that he only said at home or to someone in private, but these were all found out clearly by His Majesty and Mao Xiang.
"Your Majesty... I, you deserve to die!"
It was only at this moment that Hu Weiyong truly understood how ridiculous it was in front of Zhu Yuanzhang that he thought he was a good way to deceive superiors and subordinates. Some of his actions to win over his cronies had already been clearly remembered, and he was still very proud of it. , The prime minister has done enough to show his prestige in front of all the officials.
How ridiculous!
"I deserve to die, I am guilty!" Hu Weiyong cried bitterly and kowtowed so hard that blood flowed out.
"Shut up!"
After drinking him down, Zhu Yuanzhang asked Zhu Biao: "Prince, how do you think it is best to punish him?"
Zhu Biao pondered for a while and said: "Hu Weiyong is the prime minister, but he does not want to repay the emperor's kindness. He bends the law to benefit others and undermines the government to accuse the virtuous. The evidence of all the crimes he committed is conclusive and irrefutable. According to the laws of the Ming Dynasty, he will be sentenced to confiscation of his family and execution." !”
Hu Weiyong's whole body trembled.
At this moment, he thought of Wang Guangyang and Yang Xian again.
"Yes."
Zhu Biao added: "I remember that Hu Weiyong had been in charge of the leadership for many years, and had followed his father for many years, and had worked hard and achieved great results. I boldly asked my father to spare his life, raid his home, and send him to Hainan."
Hu Weiyong was so angry that he didn't dare to breathe.
After waiting for a long time, he heard Zhu Yuanzhang slowly speak:
"I wanted to kill you on the fifth day of the lunar month."
Hu Weiyong felt a chill down his spine and pain in his neck.
"But Master Chu gave me three sentences, please listen carefully."
Hu Weiyong quickly kowtowed vigorously, even though he had no idea who Master Chu was and why he was asked to memorize three sentences.
"The first sentence is to divide a small family into an acre."
What? Stall... into acres? ! There is no Ding tax in Ming Dynasty!
"The second sentence is that the officials and gentry will pay the grain together."
"this……!"
Hu Weiyong was shocked and understood the meaning of His Majesty's words, exempting officials and gentry from tax privileges!
"The third sentence, the fire consumption returns to the public."
Hu Weiyong's face changed sharply. Where were the three sentences? They were clearly three strategies for governing the country. His Majesty asked him to do these three things... These three things were major events that could shock the government and the public!
Zhu Yuanzhang said: "I will give you five days. If I am not satisfied after five days, you will die. Only if I am satisfied can you live."
"Take him down and give him pen and ink."
Following His Majesty's instructions, Hu Weiyong was carried out of the palace gate by two eunuchs.
"etc!"
Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly stopped him again and ordered: "Write from top to bottom, left to right, add symbols between pauses and the end of sentences, and write in vernacular."
He wrote a few symbols and ordered the eunuch to show them to Hu Weiyong.
Poor Hu Weiyong didn't have time to ask more questions and was taken away again.
Everyone could see that this was a front-end examination for the prime minister. The emperor asked Hu Weiyong to answer three examination questions.
If he answers well, he might even become prime minister.
If the answer is not good, it is useless to keep it, and everyone will be copied and executed.
Mao Xiang quietly wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"Mao Xiang."
Zhu Yuanzhang called his name, and Mao Xiang quickly stood up from his chair.
"I want to abolish the pro-military Duwei Mansion and install a Jinyi Guard. The captains of Qianhu Station, the flag bearer, will also be included in the Jinyi Guard. They will be in charge of directly driving the guards, patrolling and arresting, etc., and you will be the commander. What do you think?"
"Your Majesty, Mao Xiang, is willing to serve your Majesty to the death!!"
Mao Xiang was overjoyed. Although he still didn't know exactly what Jinyiwei was going to do, just being able to "drive the guards directly and conduct patrols and arrests" was already a position of high authority.
His Majesty must have guessed that he was worried about Hu Weiyong's retaliation, so he put him in charge of Jin Yiwei.
"Go down and wait until I think about it."
"Yes! Your Majesty."
Mao Xiang walked out of the Huagai Hall, his steps were as fast as flying, his face was glowing, and everyone who saw him knew that he was about to be promoted.
The first commander of Jinyiwei.
