The Duke of Ying, Fu Youde, spoke for Zhang Ren because Zhang Ren had saved Fu Rang's life. It was a matter of love.
Zhu Yunwen spoke for Zhang Ren, which was a sign of loyalty.
But Zhang Rendu could not imagine why Mr. Zicheng would speak for him.
Seeing that Zhang Ren was silent, Zhu Yuanzhang asked: "You kid, tell me, how are the princes of the court doing?"
Usually the questions asked by the emperor are difficult to answer, and if you don't answer them well, you will lose your head. But today, Zhang Ren didn't sleep all night, and he was in a bad mood, so he didn't bother to say those kind of words.
He said bluntly: "I don't know."
"Don't know?" Zhang Ren's answer seemed to arouse Zhu Yuanzhang's interest, and Zhu Yuanzhang continued: "Your answer is interesting. With so many people impeaching you this morning, I rarely give you a chance to speak out. Don't you want to Are you going to criticize each other?"
Zhang Ren shook his head, "Jinling City is not small. What did I do last night? I was impeached this morning. It was not even dark when I went to court in the morning. I really don't understand how these people who impeached me knew about me." What did they do yesterday? These people are just avoiding the important and taking the easy. Otherwise, the city patrol department was the most impeached this morning. I think even if no one impeached, His Majesty must have known about the death of more than a dozen people in the Songzhu Pavilion. "
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and his expression became serious, "Of course I know."
Zhang Ren continued: "The reason why I don't criticize them is because there is no evidence yet. Many of these people must have colluded with the dark master, but there are also some who don't know the cause and effect and have only heard some things about me. Things followed the trend of impeachment. I will never let go of those who want to kill me, but I also don’t want to harm innocent people. I don’t know many of the adults in the court, and I know even less about them, so Your Majesty asked me , I can only answer I don’t know.”
Zhu Yuanzhang seemed to be very satisfied with Zhang Ren's answer. He nodded and asked again: "When I gained this huge world, I only wanted to give the people of the world a full meal and give the scholars of the world a chance to display their talents. But, what? I have obviously given many people fame and status, and even given them the opportunity to be recorded in history, but I don't understand why some people are just not satisfied. I am afraid that many courtiers in this court have colluded with that secret master. , if all are dealt with, it may paralyze many important departments of the imperial court, what do you think should be done?"
Zhang Ren didn't even think about it, but answered directly: "Skills have specializations. I can't answer your Majesty's question. Probably only those who are capable in governing the world can answer it. But I have heard a word called 'no destruction, no establishment'. In my opinion, It’s bullshit to come to the law without blaming everyone. If you make a mistake, you should be punished. Otherwise, how can there be justice in this world?”
How could an ordinary minister dare to be so outspoken in front of the emperor? Therefore, in Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes, Zhang Ren was strange.
Zhu Yuanzhang is an idealist, but he is also a practical person. Like most emperors, he hopes that all his officials will be honest and fair. The original Ming Dynasty was also good, but Zhu Yuanzhang underestimated the power of money and underestimated the power of money. Human nature is ugly, and many officials in such a large court have been corrupted. Even if Hu Weiyong learned from the past and killed many people, it could not stop people's greed.
Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang has been worried that the court must function. If there is too much killing, the country will inevitably be paralyzed. But Zhang Ren's answer today seems to have helped him find the answer. The pain may be temporary, but the disease must be eradicated. All he needs to do is kill all the greedy and ugly officials in the world.
Zhu Yuanzhang was very satisfied. He stroked his beard and said, "It's a good thing. You are a good boy. Let's go down for now."
"Is this the end? Can I leave?" Zhang Ren asked in confusion.
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded, "Otherwise? Do I still want to keep you in the palace for the New Year?"
Unexpectedly, Zhang Ren said: "I don't understand the laws and rules of the Ming Dynasty very well, but yesterday I did break into the Xuanguo Duke's Mansion and the Xuncheng Si Yamen. One of these two places is the mansion of Xungui and the other is the imperial court. The institution must still bear some culpability, I admit all this, but I can’t stay in prison yet, can you wait until I kill the dark master?”
Zhu Yuanzhang smiled slightly and waved his hand towards Zhang Ren, "Let's go. As long as I don't say you are guilty, no one in the world will dare to put you in prison."
When Zhang Ren heard this, he felt a big stone in his heart. He bowed his hands towards Zhu Yuanzhang and exited the imperial study.
After Zhang Ren left, a man of about thirty years old came out from behind Zhu Yuanzhang's screen. This man's name was Fang Xiaoru. Although he was young, he was already a famous scholar all over the world. Although he did not participate in the imperial examination, he had many distinguished court officials. He recommended him to Zhu Yuanzhang, who also invited him several times to ask for advice.
Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Fang Xiaoru and asked, "Mr. Fang, what do you think of Zhang Ren?"
Fang Xiaoru thought for a while and replied: "Be outspoken, decisive, and courageous. If you polish it in the future, you will be of great use. But now, you are still too young to bring home the body of a brothel woman, and He used a lot of Jinyi Guards last night, and it is really inappropriate to use official weapons for private use."
Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and shook his head, "Bringing the body of the brothel woman home shows that this boy has a deep affection. It will be difficult to betray such a person after being used. Using the Jin Yiwei is just a trivial matter. Mr. Fang thought that without me Nodding with Jiang Wei, can this boy Zhang Ren use every soldier of Jin Yiwei? It is said that no one is perfect, just because this boy has shortcomings, then that is a good thing. If he does everything properly, catch him If there's nothing wrong with it, I won't dare to use it."
Fang Xiaoru cupped his hands towards Zhu Yuanzhang and said: "Your Majesty's wisdom is beyond the reach of ordinary people, and the common people admire him very much."
Fang Xiaoru is a genuine scholar. He is good in all aspects, but he can't adapt, and naturally he can't flatter him, even if he is facing the emperor.
So it is certainly a very happy thing to be praised and admired by someone who will never flatter you.
Zhu Yuanzhang laughed and said: "I didn't expect that Mr. Fang would also compliment me. Mr. Fang was not like this before."
Fang Xiaoru, however, said seriously: "The common people are just telling the truth. I just don't know when will Your Majesty start taking action?"
Zhu Yuanzhang said: "How can this be accomplished overnight? Let's wait for now."
"I wonder what your Majesty is waiting for?" Fang Xiaoru asked puzzledly.
Zhu Yuanzhang said: "After all, many people died in the Songzhu Pavilion. I want to see if any courtiers will report this matter today. In this world, the most difficult thing to see clearly is the human heart, but I still want to see. "
As Zhu Yuanzhang was talking, a young eunuch had already presented three memorials on a tray. Zhu Yuanzhang opened them one by one, and after reading them all, he patted his thighs and smiled, and said: "After all, my court is somewhat clean, Huang Shi and Qitai , Xie Jin, and three other people came forward to talk about the affairs of the Songzhu Pavilion, and at the same time they also impeached the city inspection department."
Fang Xiaoru stood aside and said: "With these people as the foundation, it will surely spread to the world. If there are such people in the court, the common people will congratulate Your Majesty."
…
Zhang Ren followed the eunuch out of the palace, but he didn't know that his trouble had already come.
