In the city of Nanjing, Zhu Meng was very happy when he learned that the Emperor would come to Nanjing to live in Nanjing under the escort of Privy Tong and Lieutenant Gao after completing his pilgrimage in Bozhou. In the next few days, Zhu Meng rushed back and forth, busy preparing a palace for the Supreme Emperor, waiting for the arrival of the Supreme Emperor, so that he could claim credit and reward. Unfortunately, Zhu Meng had bad luck this time. He failed to wait for the arrival of the Supreme Emperor Zhao Ji, but instead waited for the imperial guard generals and their soldiers sent by the imperial court.
The general of the Royal Forest Army rode on a tall horse and led a hundred or so soldiers of the Royal Forest Army. They galloped all the way to the door of Zhu Meng's mansion. He shouted loudly and ordered the soldiers to surround the gate of Zhu Meng's mansion.
When the doormen in front of the gate of Zhu Meng's mansion saw this, they were extremely frightened. Before this, all the officials and generals who came to the Zhu Mansion were respectful. They dismounted their horses and sedan chairs early, begged them to report inside, and waited patiently for the master's summons. The situation today is obviously different. Looking at the posture, it seems that something big is about to happen.
While the servants were frightened, the leader hurriedly asked people to go in and report. A guard hurriedly ran into the hall, looked at Zhu Meng and said, "Master! It's not good! Hundreds of sergeants have surrounded the gate of the mansion."
On the Grand Master's chair in the hall, Zhu Meng was drinking tea accompanied by his wife and concubines. Suddenly he saw the door servants and thieves running in in a hurry, and heard that the door servants and soldiers had surrounded the gate of the mansion. He became furious and threw his wife away. The concubines pushed aside, slapped the tea cups they were holding on the table of the Eight Immortals, and shouted loudly: "This is the Zhu Mansion! It was given by the Holy Emperor. Who is so bold and dares to offend the emperor's power?! This is disrespectful!" This Zhu Meng, relying on Huizong Zhao Ji's favor, often used Huizong's banner to bully people. He could usually frighten people, but now he couldn't frighten the imperial guards who were ordered to imprison him.
As soon as Zhu Meng finished shouting, the general of the Royal Forest Army strode into the mansion with a riding whip in his hand.
Zhu Mengse yelled fiercely: "Stop! Who are you? What crime should you commit if you break into the official residence without notification?! This is a residence given by the Holy One! You are disrespectful!" The general of the Royal Forest Army did not answer a word. He rushed to Zhu Meng in a hurry, waved his riding whip, and hit Zhu Meng when he saw him.
Zhu Meng was whipped several times, and he jumped and screamed in pain. The wives, concubines and servants in Zhu Meng's mansion were so frightened that they ran away in panic. The general of the Royal Forest Army shouted to the soldiers who followed him: "Get rid of the rebellious minister Zhu Meng!" Following the order of the General of the Royal Forest Army, several soldiers rushed over, twisting their arms, pressing their heads, and others. The soldier holding the rope in his hand put the rope around Zhu Meng's neck, and several soldiers moved together to tie Zhu Meng into a ball.
Zhu Meng shouted in horror: "I am a high official of the imperial court, and this is the residence given by the Holy Emperor. You can't wait to be so presumptuous!"
Seeing this, the general of the Royal Forest Army waved his horse whip again, whipped the tied Zhu Meng several times, and cursed: "You thief! Listen to the order!"
When Zhu Meng heard the order, he knelt down in a hurry.
The general of the Royal Forest Army unfolded the imperial edict and declared: "By God's blessing, the emperor issued an edict: The criminal minister Zhu Meng flattered Cai Jing and Tong Guan, flattered his superiors, deceived Sheng Cong, scraped granite wantonly, wasted official money, and used hundreds of tricks. He sought expropriation and extorted flowers and stones, causing great misery to the people. He developed grudges with the southeastern region, triggering civil unrest and shaking the foundation of the imperial court. No punishment was sufficient to satisfy the people's grievances. Imperial order: Zhu Mengben was exempted from holding various positions and imprisoned in Xunzhou, pending further treatment by the imperial court. . Admire this!”
After the general of the Royal Forest Army announced the decree, he ordered the soldiers: "Take Zhu Meng and his family to Xunzhou for imprisonment! All Zhu Meng's family properties will be confiscated!"
When Zhu Meng heard the order, he collapsed into a ball.
After hearing the order, the soldiers slipped Zhu Meng up, dragged him out of the hall, and put him in a prison car. They searched and beat Zhu Meng's family members out of the house, tied them with a rope, and followed them behind the prison car.
The general of the Royal Forest Army ordered: "Let's go!"
A group of troops then left Nanjing and headed toward Xunzhou.
The general of the Royal Forest Army led his soldiers and escorted Zhu Meng and his family to Xunzhou for detention. On the way, he received an imperial edict from the imperial court, ordering Zhu Meng to be executed on the spot. The general of the Royal Forest Army received the order and killed Zhu Meng on the way. All Zhu Meng's family members were killed.
A few days later, the news of Zhu Meng's murder reached Nanjing, and the whole city of Nanjing was boiling. Nanjing people who had long been grudged against him rushed into Zhu Meng's mansion, looted and smashed it, and then burned it down.
At this time, on the way from Bianjing to Nanjing, six or seven carriages were walking meanderingly, with flags on the front carriages and the word "Cai" written on them. The entourage claimed that Imperial Master Cai was appointed to serve in Nanjing. Along the way, drums and gongs were beaten, which was so majestic. People along the way learned that these cars belonged to Cai Jingji's family, so they stayed away and no one came to greet them. Even those who came to greet Cai Jing secretly threw a few stones from a distance and hit Cai Jing's car, causing Cai Jing's family members to scream in surprise.
At the beginning, Cai Jingshang was chased by people, hoping to capture him and punish him for harassing a high official in the court. He killed one person as a warning to others and killed chickens as a warning to monkeys, so that the people along the way would obey him. When this kind of thing happened more and more, Cai Jing also came to his senses, so he ordered the stolen car to remove the big flag with the word "Cai" hanging on it, and told his entourage: "When the road is opened in front of you, don't sound the gongs or drums again, and don't sound the gongs or drums anymore." It is known to the outside world that this is Grand Master Cai's car, so just speed up and get to Nanjing as soon as possible. Everything will be fine once you get there."
After hearing the order, the followers took down the banner with the word Cai, and behaved much more low-key. They no longer sounded gongs and yelled to evade, no longer used Cai Jing's name, and no longer walked in a meandering way. Instead, they urged them more The horse galloped all the way.
Cai Jing was riding in the same car with his wife Xu, his concubine Wang, and his youngest son Cai Xiu. Along the way, the carriages in which Cai Jing, Xu, Wang and their youngest son Cai Xiu were also attacked by stones. Xu and Wang were frightened.
Cai Jing's trip south was demoted to Nanjing. The court did not have any troops to escort him. A group of servants accompanied Cai Jing's family to Nanjing. This group of servants also saw the name and knew that Grand Master Cai had fallen and no longer had the prestige of the past. In addition, many of these servants were from Bianjing. Who would be willing to follow Cai Jing to Nanjing? So many of them slipped away on the road.
It has been five days since Cai Jing left Bianjing. Because he traveled in a meandering way, almost touring the mountains and rivers, after five days, he had traveled more than 400 miles in Manchuria, and more than ten servants fled at night. From now on to Nanjing, the journey is still long, and there may be many twists and turns!
After Cai Jing saw this situation, he was very anxious and thought to himself, what if all the servants ran away and were intercepted by unruly people on the road? After much deliberation, Cai Jing came up with a way to appease the remaining servants with money.
At noon that day, the weather was hot and dry. Cai Jing stopped the carriage and stopped under a big tree. Cai Jing summoned dozens of servants together and said to them: "You have been with me for a long time. I think you all know how I treat you. This time, the imperial court ordered me to go to Nanjing to take up a post. Although it is a demotion, it is still a good thing. An important member of the imperial court. You are going to Nanjing with me. You will be very tired on the journey. I also know in my heart that when you arrive in Nanjing, each of you will receive a hundred taels of gold. If you are willing to become an official, I will recommend it and order the local officials in Nanjing to recruit them. Everyone."
The servants heard that after hearing about Nanjing, they would get a hundred taels of gold and be recommended to become officials. Who wouldn't? Then they all said in unison: "We are willing to go to Nanjing with the Grand Master." Upon seeing this, Cai Jing was overjoyed and ordered the pots to be buried to make rice. The head chef reported: "When I returned to the Grand Master, before I left the capital, I didn't bring much food with me because of the hot weather, and now there are not many left." Cai Jingwen reported: "Food is not a problem. All the way to the south, there are rich places. , a land of plenty, as long as you have money, just buy it. No need to worry too much, just cook." After hearing the order, the head chef and a few cooks started making rice in a pot.
Cai Jing sat under the shade of a tree, enjoying the shade with Xu, Wang and their youngest son Cai Xiu. Cai Jing's other two sons were at odds with Cai Jing, so they enjoyed the shade under another tree. Suddenly, a stream of water fell from the tree and poured on Cai Jing's head. "Why is it raining on such a sunny day?" Cai Jing looked up and saw a child standing on the branch of the tree, peeing down with a smile.
Cai Jing was furious, stood up tremblingly, pointed at the child on the tree and said: "Where did you come from, a bastard! How dare you pee on the head of the imperial master!" The child laughed and rubbed the ground, as dexterous as a monkey. , climbed the tree, jumped over several trees, and ran away.
Cai Jing suddenly felt depressed.
After the meal was ready, Cai Jing lost his enthusiasm and hurriedly ate with his family and servants. Then he boarded the car with Xu, Wang and others and continued southbound.
On the carriage, Cai Xiu said to Cai Jing: "My father served as prime minister four times, with overwhelming power. He was in the imperial court for more than 20 years. He was so glorious. I never imagined that he would be demoted to Nanjing at an old age and suffer such a disaster."
Cai Jingjian said, stroking his beard, and said with a faint smile: "You don't understand this. At this time, Bianjing was besieged by the Jin invaders. It is not yet known whether the city can be saved. Under this situation, my father and son and the whole family were able to leave the capital and go south. , and how lucky he is, how can he say that he suffered such a disaster? Liu Andao in the Han Dynasty said: "It's a blessing in disguise, how can you know that it's not a blessing?" Is it not a blessing for my father to be demoted to Nanjing this time? This kind of blessing is not for everyone. You can get it."
Cai Xiudao: "In this case, it can't be regarded as a disaster."
Xu Shi, Cai Jing's wife, said: "My husband is now over eighty years old, and he is very tired due to the ups and downs of his career. It would not be a bad idea to invite the Holy Emperor to retire from office, return to Xinghuaxian and visit Chiling in Cixiaoli for the rest of his life."
Cai Jingdao: "My lady's words are true. If it were normal, you could ask the Holy One to ask for an official position. Now is an extraordinary period. You can only follow the imperial edict and do not make unreasonable requests to avoid misfortune again."
Wang also said: "What the master said is that I will follow the master. Wherever the master goes, we will go."
Cai Jing nodded frequently.
At this time, although Cai Jing said that it was not necessarily a disaster, Cai Jing knew in his heart whether it was a disaster or not. He was just using these words to comfort Xu, Wang and Cai Xiu. When Cai You said these words, several of his sons were being executed by Qin Zong.
