Chapter 019 Innocence
Boxing matches have intermissions, and so do trials. The presiding judge and the jury are all old and can't stand the long time, so they all go to the backyard to drink tea and snacks.
Chen Cao was acquitted and the official was reinstated. Huang Chengxian, who was standing with him, turned green in the face. Chen Cao walked to the side and whispered: "Master Huang, who instigated you to frame me, you feel bright in your heart. I won’t say much, but if you want to keep your family small, you’d better think carefully about what happens next.”
Huang Chengxian was in good health, and it was basically confirmed that he was falsely accused. He would just wait until it was his turn during the afternoon investigation. Now that Chen Cao said these words, he himself had to carefully weigh the key points.
"Let the Lord and your lords worry about it." Chen Cao ignored Huang Chengxian and walked straight to the hearing seat, saluting Xu Hongji, Luo Yangxing and Xu Xianchun.
Xu Hongji was arrogant, so he just nodded, and then said in an official tone: "You don't have to be afraid. Since you are innocent, just do what you should do."
"I understand..." Chen Cao bowed and nodded.
After Xu Hongji finished speaking, Luo Yangxing said: "The commander also believes that there must be a secret about Chen Qianhu's case. Just now Wei Guogong has mentioned Chen Qianhu, so I won't say more here. I just hope that Chen Qianhu won't do anything." Smashed our Jinyiwei brand."
Xu Xianchun took Chen Cao's money and naturally put in good words for Chen Cao: "Although my Nanzhen Fusi's authority is not as good as that of Beizhen Fusi, I am still a royal guard and the emperor's own army. How can I accept such cowards?"
"Your Majesty, you have learned a lesson." Chen Cao bowed his hands towards the two of them.
"Sir Chen," Zhang Wenda's assistant walked up to Chen Cao, cupped his hands and said, "Sir, please come over and discuss anything."
In the backyard, Zhang Wenda was sitting at the head of the side room, followed by Qiao Yunsheng, Xiong Mingyu, Cao Yubian, Chen Yiyuan and Yushi Gao Hongtu.
Chen Cao walked into the room and saluted everyone. Zhang Wenda waved his hand, and then said: "Chen Cao, there are only adults here. I discussed it with you just now, and the matter should be settled as soon as possible. Don’t delve into it.”
The officialdom is not as deep as usual. Chen Cao knows this truth very well. He has already had this foreshadowing in his mind. After all, the people involved are not good men and women: "Master Shangshu, I know the key points inside, but just now the Duke of the country and his subordinates The two superiors of the official have spoken out. After all, they are Jin Yiwei, so there must be someone behind the scenes to frame this."
Cao Yubian was well aware of this incident, and then he looked at Zhang Wenda with a somewhat embarrassed expression. The two seemed to have agreed on something. Zhang Wenda nodded, and then said: "I know, why not Let Master Bear repeat it again."
Xiong Mingyu immediately handed over his hands and said: "The case of Zhang Liang, a scholar in Jiangning County and a student of the Imperial College, has been verified by Yingtianfu and compared with the Criminal Department of the Capital City and remanded for retrial. It has been found that the person involved in this case is a former Nanjing Wucheng Military and Horse Department Song Che, the commander-in-chief, was not found guilty of negligence causing death, so he immediately sent officials to Liaodong to recall him. The real culprit, Zhang Qi, was found guilty of murdering his family. According to our Ming Dynasty laws, Zhang Qi Qiu was beheaded and the remaining family members were exiled to Qiongzhou. Island; instigated Zhang Qizhi's accomplice and Imperial College Supervisor Zhao Cheng to have his title removed from the imperial examination, sentenced to death by hanging according to the law, and executed after autumn; Huang Chengxian was sentenced by Yingtianfutong for accepting bribes, misjudged the case, and falsely accused his colleagues, and was immediately imprisoned and executed. The punishment was to be executed after autumn, because he had served Yingtian Mansion for many years, so that his family members could be exempted from the crime; in addition, Gu Linsheng, the Imperial College student who was suspected of instigating the case, was wanted because he was instigated by Zhao Cheng for instigating a fight between the students and Jin Yiwei. Go ahead and expel him from the Imperial Academy and never recall him as a punishment."
After Xiong Mingyu told Chen Cao the answer they had conspired to discuss, Zhang Wenda said softly: "Master Gu, the minister of Taipu Temple mentioned in this case, is unknown. I have sent people to Taipu Temple. In the future, he will submit his resignation himself, Chen Cao, just let this matter rest in peace..."
This is the game of power. Chen Cao now fully understands that power transactions are often dark. But now that Zhang Wenda has spoken, Chen Cao can't make any big waves, so he raised his hands and saluted everyone: "Shang Shu Your Excellency decides cases like a god, and your subordinates only follow your orders, but I have one request."
Zhang Wenda looked at Chen Cao and said, "Speak..."
"As the victims of this case, the Zhang family of Jiangning County has extenuating circumstances, but the false accusation against the official is true. The official wants to handle the matter in the name of me, Jin Yiwei, and I would like to ask for permission from the minister."
Zhang Wenda pondered for a moment, then nodded.
The matter was resolved. Everyone made private shady deals in this seemingly farce-like case. Although Gu Dazhang was very dissatisfied with Chen Cao, at least he saved his only son Gu Linsheng with the mediation of Zhang Wenda, while Zhao This unlucky guy became Gu Linsheng's scapegoat.
Jiangning County, Zhang Family Residence
Chen Cao walked out of a wing room, buckling his belt as he walked. On the embroidered bed in the wing room, Zhang Liang's widow, Zhang Chen, was crying softly on the bed.
Zhao Xin walked towards Chen Cao with an evil smile, cupped his hands and said, "Sir, as ordered, everyone was arrested in the front hall and awaiting your disposal."
Chen Cao looked back at the side room, then nodded with satisfaction and said: "This woman has arranged a good life for me. I must not let her go to waste. I will arrange someone else for you tonight, sir."
Xin Zhao also smiled and nodded: "You're welcome, sir, please..."
The Zhang family all knelt in the lobby. When old man Zhang learned that his eldest son had gone to the Yamen to testify against Chen Cao, he fell ill at home. After Chen Cao came to the door with a large team of royal guards, he knew that he, the Zhang family, might not be able to survive.
Chen Cao sat in the Zhang family's seat that originally belonged to Old Man Zhang with high spirits. He looked at the men and women kneeling in the hall like all living beings, and said coldly: "Zhang Ke falsely accused Jin Yiwei. The crime will be increased. Old Man Zhang, I am about to leave." Do you still remember what I told you before?"
"Sir..." Old man Zhang did not move. Zhang Ke, who was even more arrogant than Chen Cao in the hall before, knelt down at Chen Cao's feet, hugged Chen Cao's boots and kept crying: "Sir, student I was confused by lard before, so I went against the adults. The student was wrong, wrong..."
Chen Cao said curiously: "If I remember correctly, Zhang Ke, your reputation has been expelled by Master Qin from Academic Affairs before I came here. What happened? You still dare to call yourself a student?"
Zhang Ke felt even more sad when he heard this. Little did he know that his impulsiveness had plunged the entire Zhang family into a desperate situation: "Sir, students... the common people know that they are wrong, please calm down..."
Chen Cao winked at Zhao Xin, and saw Zhao Xin step forward and pull Zhang Ke away, and then said sternly: "The Zhang family was originally a victim, but the case of falsely accusing Jinyiwei Qianhu was true, Daitian The imperial envoy who patrolled the hunt has specially approved that in accordance with the laws of the Ming Dynasty, the Zhang family of the Zhang family will be expelled from school and beheaded. Lord Qianhu is merciful, and the rest of the Zhang family will be exiled to Qiongzhou Island. According to the order, There must be no mistakes.”
"My lord..."
Chen Cao looked down at Old Zhang who was paralyzed on the ground and said: "Old Zhang, I am a philanthropic officer. If you can do some good, I may be able to save the lives of your family..."
...
In the Xuanwu Alley yamen office, Chen Cao handed the newly sealed letter to Zhao Xin: "Go in person. Master Qian knows that you are my confidant and understands the meaning."
Zhao Xin looked at Chen Cao with some pain and hesitated: "Sir, why bother? This matter is all handled by the commanding officer, that's it."
"Then how much do you think is appropriate?" Chen Cao put down the envelope containing the banknotes and looked at Xin Zhao curiously.
"My subordinates think that twenty thousand taels is appropriate. I'm afraid that these thirty thousand taels are too much." Seeing Chen Cao's silence, Zhao Xin continued: "If your lord gives too much, what will happen to your lord?" I would be suspicious if I thought you got much more than this, sir.”
Chen Cao didn't expect this, so he nodded and said with satisfaction: "Well, I read you right, kid. Okay, open it and re-wrap it, just 20,000 yuan, and I'll give you the extra 10,000 taels." Take it and share it with the brothers."
Xin Zhao took a deep breath, knelt down towards Chen Cao and said, "Thank you, Sir."
After arranging the gift-giving, Chen Cao left the government office with two envelopes and went straight to Zhang Wenda's residence. However, he did not meet Zhang Wenda. His target was the eunuch who came to announce the decree.
"Hey, isn't this Mr. Chen? How come you have so much time to hang out at our house?"
When Chen Cao saw an eunuch standing by the garden pond talking to him, he hurried over and saluted the eunuch with his hands raised: "Chen is so rude, you dare to ask your father-in-law's name..."
The eunuch covered his mouth with his orchid finger and smiled: "Hey, I can't afford Master Chen's gift. Our Wu Chun is just the eunuch of Xiaobapin, the eunuch of the ceremony. I have to be appreciated by my godfather for giving it to such an errand boy." Poor."
Chen Cao took a deep breath, raised his hands and said loudly: "Eunuch Wu is related to Eunuch Wei..."
Wu Chun was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said: "Hey, Mr. Chen is very discerning. He is the ancestor of our family. He is currently working as a pen-writer in the Supervisor of Ceremonies..."
That's right...
Chen Cao smiled inwardly, then respectfully took out the envelope from his pocket, handed it to Wu Chun first and said: "Chen, I'm sorry, I came here specifically to thank Eunuch Wu, and please accept it with your smile..."
"Oh..." Wu Chun's eyes lit up when he saw Chen Cao handing over the envelope. This trip to the south was a hard job. No one in the palace wanted to come. If he hadn't hugged Wei Zhongxian's thigh, he would still be in Huanxi at this time. He was hanging clothes in the clothes office. He immediately accepted the envelope with a smile and opened it in front of his face. Then his smile became even brighter: "Mr. Chen, you really took the trouble. We would like to thank Mr. Chen here. If you need anything in the future, As long as our family can do it, Mr. Chen, just ask."
This is the case for the eunuchs. Whenever they receive a benefit, they will clearly remember the person who gave it to them. On the contrary, they will be like an enemy who killed their father.
Chen Cao laughed sarcastically, then took out another envelope and handed it over: "Chen heard that Eunuch Wei had worked hard these past few years. Although the inner court was large, there were many comings and goings. Chen only had this wealth, so he gave it to Eunuch Wei as a filial piety. The old man can accept these small gifts from Chen."
Wu Chun covered his mouth with a smile, then reached out to take the envelope, and said with a smile: "Master Chen, is there anything we need to tell our ancestors?"
"No, I'll just ask my father-in-law..."
...
"Master Zhang..."
Zhang Wenda was talking to Li Xiang. He looked up and saw Chen Cao walking into the lobby and said with a smile: "Good idea, I am not very happy when I heard about Xiang'er and you. You can just be like Xiang'er and call me "I". Just say Uncle Zhang."
Chen Cao quickly bowed: "I don't dare. Your Majesty's words are serious. I haven't had time to propose marriage to Mr. Li, so I haven't said anything about this matter yet."
Zhang Wenda stroked his beard and smiled and said: "You treacherous boy, before I came here, Ke Cang made it clear that if things are the same as the memorial, he would advise him to go back to Xiang'er, and he would not admit what happened that night. If not, He will agree to your matter, and will not care about Xiang'er and you from now on. In this case, I will have a drink with Ke Cang after returning to Beijing, and just chat about it."
Li Xiang stood up with a red face and saluted Zhang Wenda: "Xiang'er thanked Uncle Zhang..." and then turned to look at Chen Cao.
When Chen Cao saw Li Xiang's earnest eyes, he also cupped his hands and said, "Chen Cao thanks you for your kind words."
Zhang Wenda waved his hand: "I will continue to go south to inspect the provinces in the future. I must return to Beijing before the Mid-Autumn Festival. When I leave, I want to give you a few words."
Chen Cao bowed and held his hands in his hands: "Please teach me..."
"The prosperity of Jinling is not inferior to that of the capital city, and even more so. There are many wealthy officials and merchants in the place where you are. I think you will be of great use in the Jinyiwei in the next few years. At that time, you must do your duty as a human being and do not cause trouble. In the officialdom, some things are not as simple as you think. It's good to have grudges, but it's a pity..." Zhang Wenda stopped talking, and the old guy closed his eyes to rest.
"Chen Cao please remember..."
"My niece also said goodbye..."
After leaving Zhang Wenda's residence, Li Xiang called Chen Cao: "Sir..."
Chen Cao turned around and thought for a while and said: "Master Zhang just wanted me to choose a time after the Mid-Autumn Festival to propose marriage to Master Li. I will not have more contact with Xiang'er here to avoid getting into trouble. Also, since I agreed If I marry you, you don’t need to call me husband from now on, it’s so awkward.”
Li Xiang blushed and asked, "What should I call you? Young Master?"
"Do you think I look like a young master?" Chen Cao looked at Li Xiang funny: "Call me husband..."
Unexpectedly, Li Xiang became anxious at that time: "You bastard, how dare you..."
Chen Cao looked confused and heard Li Xiang say: "How reluctant are you? Or maybe your father threatened you too much that night. If you don't like it, just tell me. Why do you need to be a eunuch..." After saying this, the maid asked Following him, he turned around and got on the carriage and left.
Chen Cao turned to look at Xin Zhao behind him, with the word innocent written on his face: "Old Zhao, what did I say wrong? What did I say wrong? As for that?"
Xin Zhao awkwardly stepped forward and held his hand towards Chen Cao: "Your Excellency, you may not know that my subordinates once guarded Fengtianmen in the imperial city. The defenders often called the eunuchs who went in and out of Fengtianmen 'husbands'..." "
ah...
Chen Cao had a dark look on his face, who knew that modern names would not work here.
Unexpectedly, Xin Zhao stepped forward and asked mysteriously: "Could it be that you want to enter the inner court? No wonder you bribed the eunuch."
Chen Cao's ferocious face showed a trace of murderous intent: "You bastard, I would rather die than be cut."
...
Time passed quickly. On May 20th, the government officials who went to Liaodong rushed back to Nanjing, and the accompanying Jinyiwei also moved into Qianhusuo in Xuanwu Lane.
"Sir, General Song Banner cannot leave. The new governor of Liaodong, Mr. Yuan, led 30,000 Beijing troops to Shenyang to suppress the battle. He recruited the soldiers and horses of the Li family in Liaodong and gathered 80,000 people in Shenyang to prepare to regain the lost land captured by the Tatars. "
Chen Cao's history is not bad. Hearing what the Jin Yiwei said, he remembered what happened in the history books. Now that Yuan Yingtai has become the governor, he will replace Xiong Tingbi as the Liaodong manager in a month. Then there will be the defeat of Shenyang and Liaoyang's suicide. things.
"Has General Song Banner been incorporated into the Shenyang Army?" Chen Cao raised his head and asked.
The colonel nodded: "Sir, it's true. I heard that Mr. Yuan recruited many frontier troops who surrendered to the Tatars in the Ming Dynasty and refugees from Mongolia. After knowing the identity of General Song Qi, he let Song General Qi do it regardless of previous suspicions. A general who surrendered the army."
Why...
Chen Cao sighed, then shook his head, waved his hand to signal the principal to retreat, then closed his eyes and fell into deep thought.
Xin Zhao stared at the others for a few times, then raised his hands and said, "Do you think the situation in Liaodong will continue to deteriorate?"
Chen Cao opened his eyes and said meaningfully: "If General Li and Master Yuan are put together, I think General Li will be more powerful in leading the troops."
"Sir, be careful..." Zhao Xin turned around and looked inside the holding room, confirming that there were no outsiders except for a few of their confidants, and then whispered: "Since Tumu Fort, we have been led by civilian officials. With a history of more than a hundred years, those civil servants looked down on us as warriors and always thought that if we studied a few books, we could command thousands of troops. Especially after Mr. Yangming, those people became even more powerful."
Chen Cao stared at Xin Zhao sideways and couldn't help blurting out: "Did your kid come from time travel?"
"Time travel?" Zhao Xin didn't understand what Chen Cao meant, and then said: "I don't know what time travel is, but from my perspective, Liaodong will be defeated by the civil servants of the DPRK sooner or later."
Chen Cao was even more shocked. He didn't expect to have such a clear-thinking talent around him, so he nodded: "Zhao Xin, if I become the commander in the future, I will let you serve as a thousand households. If I become the general soldier, you will be the deputy." Commander-in-Chief."
"Hi..." Zhao Xin waved his hand: "Sir, you are joking. We who are the Imperial Guards are not the deputy general soldiers. I hope that you will be promoted to a higher position every day. We who are subordinates can always get some glory, right? .”
Gao Chong and others on the side nodded their heads. Chen Cao took in the idea and couldn't help but think to himself: It was not such an accident that he traveled through time. Now that he has come, he must do some big things to change the direction of history, otherwise he will be sorry for God's choice. This is not my unique condition.
"Let me put it this way, within two months, Shenyang will be lost..."
In the Duke of Wei's mansion, Xu Hongji listened to Chen Cao's words in surprise. It took him a long time to calm down, and then he said leisurely: "The total number of elite soldiers from all nine sides of the Ming Dynasty is one million, plus the capital camp and local guards, I am the one." The provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang under the jurisdiction of Nanzhili only have 500,000 or 600,000 troops, but they are only Tatars, so they are nothing to worry about."
Chen Cao couldn't help but secretly greet Xu Hongji's family, and then lamented that Xu Da also had such a cowardly descendant. Then he put on his usual smiling face and said in a long voice: "My lord, you are in Nanzhili, so you should also Do you know if the Nanjing guards are full or not?"
This sentence stopped Xu Hongji. The current guard station existed in name only. Xu Hongji had been the Duke for so long, but he still knew clearly. He sighed, and then said: "I have been guarding Nanjing for generations, so we can't cause chaos... "
This sentence carried so much weight that Chen Cao did not dare to ask any more questions, so he added: "Nowadays, most of the troops in Liaodong are from Sichuan and Zhejiang. There are only a few Guangxi wolf soldiers, and the rest are transferred from various guards." The military strength is even more vulnerable, and the newly appointed Governor Yuan... has predicted that Shenyang will be captured by the Tatars within two months."
'Bang...'
Xu Hongji slapped the coffee table hard and glared at Chen Cao angrily, but he soon regained his composure and said with a worried look: "I don't know the key to this, but my Xu family has never dared to do it again since we became virtuous. As soon as we step out of Nanjing, the Liao Dynasty will be ruined, and I will be very worried." Then he stared at Chen Cao: "I understand, please step back..."
"Resign..."
...
"Sir, this is an urgent report from Shaanxi and Gansu..."
In addition to the southeast and southwest, reports from the Shaanxi-Gansu region also had to go through Nanzhili, not to mention that Nanzhen Fusi also had to be responsible for military intelligence.
Chen Cao took the lacquered letter, opened it, looked at it, then frowned and shook his head, and then handed the letter to Zhao Xin: "There is a severe drought in Shaanxi, and refugees are everywhere. The number has exceeded 100,000. Longzhou, Fengxiang Prefecture, has been conquered by refugees. All officials below the county magistrate have been captured." Being killed is not a trivial matter and must be reported to Lord Qian immediately. This is not something we can handle, so let the adults above worry about it."
"Sir," a junior high school student walked into the middle hall: "Sir, I have an order." He said and handed the warrant to Xu Kaixian, who was standing aside.
Chen Cao read it carefully, his heart beating wildly for a few times, then he stared at Zhao Xin and said: "Aren't there no Japanese pirates in the past few decades?"
Xin Zhao took the order and took a look at it, then said: "Qi Shaobao almost wiped them out during the Jiajing period, but in recent years there are still local people colluding with Japanese pirates along the coast, and there are quite a lot of them..." After a pause, Xin Zhao said again: " The Japanese pirates were even more ferocious than the Tartars. They fought all the way from Ningbo to Songjiang, and even walked around the Nanjing city several times before leaving. For this reason, Lord Jiajing even gave the then Duke of Wei a warning. We will supervise the army this time. , It’s not easy, sir.”
Xu Xianchun also meant to let Chen Cao lead the team to supervise the army. After all, he killed Mulhaqi on Shenyang. Chen Cao was quite distressed. Although later generations hated the Japanese pirates very much, but now after hearing what Zhao Xin said, he felt a little scared. : "Xin Zhao, do we have muskets in Nanzhen Fusi?"
"Bird guns?" Zhao Xin asked back: "Most of them have three-eyed guns, but there are some. Our Nanzhen Fusi is responsible for supervising the army. We have borrowed a lot of three-eyed guns from the Shenji Battalion. They are still obsolete items left over from Qi Shaobao's period. , It’s okay to scare people, but if you really want to kill someone, it’s not as good as the Xiuchun Dao in our hands.”
Even people of this era thought that muskets were inferior, so Chen Cao knew this, so he nodded and said, "How many guards are there with muskets in Nanjing?"
Zhao Xin pondered for a long time before saying: "All Nanjing guards have muskets, but the Nanjing right guard has the most. During Jiajing, they were always on the anti-Japanese front line. Their tactics and tactics also have the shadow of Qi Shaobao, and the commander among them is Qi Shaobao's grandson. There is also the Xiaoling Guard."
"Xiaoling Guards?" Chen Cao couldn't help but blurt out: "A guard station guarding the tomb also has muskets?"
Zhao Xin said with a smile: "My lord, I don't know. Before the Zhengde Dynasty, the Xiaoling Guard was one of the Sixteenth Guards in Nanjing. During the Yongle Period, it was second only to the Jinyi Guard. But now, it is said that this gang People don't train at all. The entire guard has no more than a thousand people in total, let alone the weapons for training. The commander is very knowledgeable, and some of the firearms eliminated by each guard are sent to the hands of Xiaoling Guard. I heard that the company They didn’t dare to shoot themselves, for fear that the barrel would blow up and blow them up.”
Several people laughed, but Chen Cao couldn't laugh, which means that he died in the party struggle. In fact, his military equipment was broken. Of course, Li Zicheng was able to take advantage of it: "Pack it up and get ready to go."
