At the court meeting, Zhu Yuanzhang, who was sitting on the main seat, was obviously very unhappy.
The courtiers stood in the palace, all silent.
Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Zhang Ren who was kneeling on the ground and asked, "Didn't I ask your kid to go home to wait? Why did your kid come out on his own? What? Didn't my words count?"
Zhu Yuanzhang's tone became colder and colder, but Zhang Ren didn't take it seriously and said directly: "I have a grievance."
Zhu Yuanzhang looked playful and said: "You are so smart, how can anyone in this world wrong you? I just heard the sound of the Dengwen drum here. The Dengwen drum is specially used to drum for the people to express their grievances. Yes, you work for the Royal Guards and you are a son of an honorable noble, so why are you beating the news drum when you have nothing to do?"
Zhang Ren kowtowed to Zhu Yuanzhang and said, "The reason why I beat the Dengwen drum is not only for myself, but also for the common people who died in vain."
Zhu Yuanzhang frowned and said, "Tell me more details."
Zhang Ren slowly raised his head, his eyes full of determination, and heard him say: "The minister is suing Fei Ju, the Marquis of Pingliang, for colluding with the Nine Clan, embezzling the people's property, abducting the people into slavery, reselling countless military supplies and weapons, and framing Zhongliang. Forming a clique for personal gain!"
As soon as Zhang Ren finished speaking, a member of the martial arts team came out and said: "The Marquis of Pingliang has been through life and death over the past few years, and has made great military exploits for the Ming Dynasty, especially the conquest of Yunnan, which is even more brilliant. I ask your Majesty to take a closer look and make sure to return the favor." Marquis Pingliang is fair."
The speaker's name was Lu Zhongheng, who was the Marquis of Ji'an. He was the governor of Zuo of the Governor's Mansion. He had made many military exploits for the Ming Dynasty. He was also the son and daughter of Zhu Yuanzhang, so his voice in the court was not small.
In fact, Lu Zhongheng's words are quite pertinent. At the same time, he also pointed out the military exploits of Pingliang Hou in pacifying Yunnan. It also told Zhu Yuanzhang from the side that no matter whether Pingliang Hou was guilty or not, he should never act lightly.
Zhu Yuanzhang raised his hand as a way of appeasing Lu Zhongheng. At the same time, with a cold look on his face, he asked Zhang Ren, "Zhang Ren, do you know what kind of culpability you will bear for falsely accusing a Marquis of Wu Xun?"
Before Zhang Ren could speak, Fu Youde had already stepped out and said, "Your Majesty, Zhang Ren is young and ignorant, and his actions are inevitably absurd. Please forgive him for his youth."
Fu Youde was quite at odds with the Marquis of Pingliang. Although he also hoped that the Marquis of Pingliang would be unlucky, Zhang Ren had saved Fu Rang's life after all, but he didn't want Zhang Ren to be in danger because of this. If he didn't do this well today, he would lose his head. As a result, Fu Youde came a little later today, otherwise he would definitely stop Zhang Ren, and no matter what he said, he would not let Zhang Ren beat the Dengwen drum.
Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Fu Youde and said with dissatisfaction: "What do you mean, do you think you can be more liberal at a young age? You can do whatever you want at a young age? In my eyes, right is right and wrong is wrong. What does age have to do with it?"
Seeing that Zhu Yuanzhang was dissatisfied, Fu Youde immediately knelt on the ground and said, "I deserve death for my sins. Please atone for your sins, Your Majesty."
Zhu Yuanzhang did not ask Fu Youde to stand up, nor did he even pay attention to him. Instead, he looked at Zhang Ren again.
There was no one in the civil and military circles who was not afraid of Zhu Yuanzhang. Normally, no courtier dared to look at Zhu Yuanzhang, but Zhang Ren did. He met Zhu Yuanzhang's gaze without any intention of evading it, and at the same time, he took out the knife in his arms. The handwritten letter from Marquis Pingliang that was found at Huazimen.
Although this letter is more likely to be false, the content about Pingliang Hou’s human trafficking is definitely true.
"Your Majesty has blessed the world with blessings, but there are still evil things in this world. There are nine gates in Jinling City that are causing harm to the people. I will destroy all nine gates. I have obtained this personal letter from the Marquis of Pingliang. Please make your decision." Zhang Ren. As he spoke, he already raised the letter high above his head.
The Nine Sects were already in the dark, and many courtiers were involved, so even if Zhang Ren destroyed the Nine Sects, no one among the courtiers could speak. Zhang Ren mentioned the Nine Gates today. This was the first time anyone mentioned the Nine Gates in a court meeting.
The eunuch beside Zhu Yuanzhang was about to step forward to take the letter from Zhang Ren, but was stopped by Zhu Yuanzhang raising his hand.
He slowly walked down from the throne, walked straight to Zhang Ren, and took the letter in person.
Zhu Yuanzhang read ten lines at a glance, and quickly read the letter, but from beginning to end, he
His expression did not change at all. Zhang Ren suspected that Zhu Yuanzhang had known the content of the letter for a long time, or that Zhu Yuanzhang had someone deliberately place the letter at Huakomen.
Zhu Yuanzhang put down the letter and asked Zhang Ren again: "Do you have any evidence?"
Zhang Ren did not forget Monk Wu Peng's family feud and said: "In the past, Cui Yan, the deputy general of the Marquis of Pingliang, was killed by the Marquis of Pingliang because he discovered that the Marquis of Pingliang had embezzled grain and resold weapons. Cui Yan. Moreover, in order to silence the public, the Marquis of Pingliang instigated his men to kill more than 20 members of Cui Yan's family, leaving only the youngest son to change his name and surname to Wu Peng to escape. However, Wu Peng is currently in the prison of Zhenfusi. The Marquis of Pingliang The responsibilities of the crimes are too numerous to describe, and Wu Peng can serve as a witness. In addition, Wei Chen was bold and asked for a thorough investigation of the collusion between Jiumen and the courtiers. His wife Liuli and his friend Beggar Gang Yuanbao were both murdered by Jiumen, and countless other people were harmed. Moss outside the city All the beggars in the village can testify!"
As soon as Zhang Ren finished speaking, Yongping Hou Xie Cheng sarcastically said: "What a joke. I heard that Liuli was just an oiran by the Qinhuai River. As a distinguished noble, you fell down and married a woman with fireworks. Now you are in the court. Do you have the nerve to say it? The beggars in Qingmoshuang are even more ridiculous. Do you think you can overthrow a noble man with just a few beggars? But you are really audacious. You beat the Marquis of Pingliang wantonly before, and today you beat him before the court meeting. Zhan Hui was knocked unconscious, you are so brave!"
Xie Cheng's words had already touched Zhang Ren's bottom line. Zhang Ren didn't get Zhu Yuanzhang's order and actually stood up and replied: "What? As a distinguished noble, do you think you are superior to others? Liuli and I have worshiped heaven and earth, she is no longer The woman with fireworks is the wife of my matchmaker! What’s wrong with the beggars? In my eyes, as a human being, everyone should be equal! Those beggars only want a full meal, and they are simple-minded. I would rather be friends with them. I don’t want to get along with people like you!”
In the eyes of most nobles, their status is transcendent, much nobler than ordinary people, let alone compared to the fireworks woman and the beggar?
Xie Cheng didn't take Zhang Ren's words seriously. He was about to refute, but he caught a glimpse of Zhu Yuanzhang's murderous cold eyes. Only then did Xie Cheng remember that Zhu Yuanzhang had also been a beggar before he became powerful.
Xie Cheng broke out in a cold sweat, knelt down directly on the ground, and said to Zhu Yuanzhang: "I'm lying. I really deserve death. Your Majesty, please punish me."
Zhu Yuanzhang no longer paid attention to Xie Cheng, but looked around with his eyes. Seeing that there was no figure of Zhan Hui, he asked Zhang Ren: "Zhan Hui's mouth is not easy to mess with. You kid beat Zhan Hui." Already?"
This time Zhang Ren stopped kneeling at all, but stood directly and replied: "He stopped me from beating the Dengwen drum, but I couldn't stop him, so I had no choice but to take action. Moreover, I suspected that he had colluded with Jiumen. "
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded towards Zhang Ren and said: "If you can't say it, you can't say it. Remember not to take action next time. Zhan Hui is not young, so he can be considered your elder after all."
Beating a courtier is a serious crime, not to mention that the one who was beaten was Zhan Hui, the censor of Zuoqiandu. Zhang Ren beat Zhan Hui. This is a fact. All the courtiers were witnesses, but Zhu Yuanzhang just let it go. Who among the courtiers could not see that Zhu Yuanzhang favored Zhang Ren?
After listening to the conversation between Zhang Ren and Zhu Yuanzhang, many courtiers rolled their eyes and cursed in their hearts: It was obviously Zhang Ren who scolded Zhan Hui so badly that he had no power to retaliate, and even hit him. How come you are now talking about it? But Zhan Hui? It's true that people have two skins, and everyone's opinions are reasonable.
Although they were slandering in their hearts, no one among the courtiers spoke up. Now anyone could see that Zhu Yuanzhang was partial to Zhang Ren. Who would be so full that he would step forward to cause trouble? Now these courtiers do not ask for anything else, they just ask that Zhu Yuanzhang's anger does not implicate themselves.
Zhu Yuanzhang patted Zhang Ren on the shoulder, turned around and returned to his throne.
He lowered his head and looked at the courtiers. Today, he felt very unhappy when he saw these people lowering their eyebrows. He only heard Zhu Yuanzhang say angrily: "I have heard that the Nine Gates brought trouble to Jinling, but among the ministers of the court, there is one Have you reported to me the guilt of the Nine Sects? How many of you have colluded with the Nine Sects? My court seems to have been occupied by moths!"
After hearing this, all the courtiers, regardless of whether they had colluded with Jiumen or not, knelt on the ground and said in unison: "Your Majesty, please calm down. I will wait for you."
crime. "
Zhu Yuanzhang had been a cowherd boy, a monk, and a beggar. He knew the difficulties of the people at the bottom. Many civil and military officials in the Manchu Dynasty also had their humble beginnings. Zhu Yuanzhang thought that they would have the same pity for the people as he did.
But what about now? However, after only a few years of stable life, many courtiers have been corrupted by the lavish life, and have long forgotten the suffering they suffered and the people.
The more Zhu Yuanzhang thought about it, the more upset he became, and he directly ordered: "Password to my decree! Order the commander of the Jinyi Guards, Jiang Ying, the Minister of Punishment, Kaiji, and the censor of the right capital of the Inspectorate, Yang Yougong, to assist the prince in a thorough investigation of Pingliang Marquis Fei Ju and Jiumen!"
Jiang Wei, Kaiji, and Yang Yougong quickly came out to respond.
Just looking at Zhu Yuanzhang's attitude and this battle, everyone knew that Fei Ju, the Marquis of Pingliang, was in bad luck. Those officials who had a close relationship with the Marquis of Pingliang were only thinking about how to avoid being implicated.
Zhu Yuanzhang's face became a little brighter, he nodded, and said to Zhang Ren: "Okay, I will investigate this matter thoroughly. Your kid is still waiting for participation. I will not pursue you for leaving the house privately. You Go back first, I will give an explanation for your grievances and the grievances of the people!"
Zhang Ren cupped his hands towards Zhu Yuanzhang and said, "I thank you, Your Majesty!"
After saying this, Zhang Ren left the palace. He knew that he had made the right bet.
