Is Zhang Yaozuo crazy?
Seeing Zhang Yaozuo slap Liu Congguang on the head and then throw him down on the dining table, all the Kaifeng officials were shocked.
After all, if you have a little acquaintance with Zhang Yaozuo, it is not difficult to see that this man is actually bullying the weak and afraid of the strong. Although he is arrogant and domineering, he actually never provokes people he cannot afford to offend. As for Liu Congguang, the nephew of the Empress Dowager Liu, and his official cousin Li Brothers, there is no doubt that they fall into this category.
While everyone was wondering, someone pointed to the room and exclaimed: "Isn't that Zhao Yang? The person he is beating...could it be Liu Lang of the Li family?"
Good guy, it turns out there is another powerful person!
While the Kaifeng Prefecture officials gasped, someone suddenly said: "I said Zhang...how dare Prefect Zhang take action..."
On one side are Zhang Yaozuo and Zhao Yang, on the other side are Liu Congguang and the Li brothers. Even though the Kaifeng officials are well-informed, it is difficult to determine which side can afford to offend more at this moment, until a judge reminded: "I can't afford to offend either side." I don’t know, but if we ask them to continue fighting, we will definitely not be able to escape punishment.”
All the officials seemed to be waking up from a dream. One of them was the smartest and ran away after leaving one sentence: "I'm going to call someone from the official office in the second room on the left."
This bastard...
The officials cursed secretly in their hearts and looked at each other, so they could only go into the elegant room to break up the fight.
"Stop it, stop it... Ouch."
"Stop! Stop... Ouch, do you know who I am! I remember you..."
"If you don't stop, we will arrest them all and take them to Kaifeng Mansion later!"
This group of people were very discerning and took the lead to persuade those who were wearing round-neck tattered shirts. Among them were Feng Jing, Fan Chunren, Qian Gongfu, Shen Yu, etc. They had a sense of proportion. Under the continuous scoldings of Kaifeng officials, Then he gradually stopped.
Then came the children of the wealthy family brought by the Li brothers, but they did not stop on their own initiative, but were subdued by Chen Li, Sun Chang and other imperial weapons - although most of these children of the wealthy family had also practiced some rough moves, but How to compare with the military eunuchs trained in the inner provinces?
Later, Zhang Yaozuo, his nephew Shi Butong, and Wang Zhongzheng also gradually stopped their efforts. On the other side, Liu Congguang and Li Jiasanlang Li Ju, Silang Li Qi, and Wulang Li Yao also gradually stopped their efforts.
In comparison, Zhao Yang and Li Wei had already stopped. The former was rubbing his skinned right hand and sitting on the wall panting. Not far in front of him, Li Wei was lying on the ground with a bruised nose and swollen face, with tears on his face and panting. Niu, he was still mumbling something.
The three brothers of the Li family hurriedly stepped forward to help their younger brother Li Wei up. The latter shouted with a choked cry: "I want to kill him! I want to kill him!"
Seeing that their younger brother was beaten with a bruised nose and face, Li Ju, Li Qi, and Li Yao looked at Zhao Yang bitterly. Before he could make any move, Wang Zhongzheng and others stood in front of Zhao Yang.
"Brother, are you okay?" Zhang Yaozuo quickly came to Zhao Yang's side and asked with concern.
Zhao Yang shook his head slightly, frowned slightly and looked at Liu Congguang and the Li brothers opposite him. Because he was protected by someone, he suffered the least injuries. In addition to his hair being pulled loose, his lips were somewhat damaged and bleeding, and his jaw and neck were scratched out. Apart from a few traces of blood, there was only abrasions on the bones of his right fist.
At the same time, Liu Congguang also noticed Li Wei's miserable condition and exclaimed with anger: "Who could do such a cruel thing to Gong Zheng?"
"That's Zhao Yang!" Wu Lang Li Yao pointed at Zhao Yang and said.
Zhao Yang? Why was he at Zhang Yaozuo's banquet?
The anger on Liu Congguang's face froze, and a gloomy look flashed across his face.
He is not afraid of Zhang Yaozuo, but he is really a little unsure about Zhao Yang, who has been in the limelight recently. After all, he lives and eats in the palace of an official.
After weighing the situation for a long time, he said to Zhang Yaozuo with a stern face: "Zhang Yaozuo, how about... we just leave it at that for today? If we make a big fuss, both of us will not look good."
Indeed, there was a fight on the second floor, and the guests in the hall on the first floor, known as the "Men Bed Ma Dao", had actually noticed it a long time ago. Most of these people were ordinary people with a little spare money in the city. It was not surprising to learn that someone was fighting in Fanlou. They all ran upstairs curiously, but fortunately, several Kaifeng government officials led the stewards, bartenders, and waiters in the building to drink them away. Therefore, the guests on the ground floor did not know who the two parties were fighting upstairs.
However, after hearing Liu Congguang's words, Li Wei quit and said bitterly: "Uncle, I'm going to kill him!"
"Shut up!" Liu Congguang shouted seriously.
Li Wei refused to give up, stared at Zhao Yang and said bitterly: "I will definitely kill him! I want... yes, I want to report to the officials and ask them to kill him!"
Liu Congguang waved his hand with a headache and signaled the three Li brothers to pull Li Wei aside. Then he turned to look at Zhang Yaozuo again: "Zhang Yaozuo, what do you say?"
"How to say?"
Zhang Yaozuo walked up to Liu Congguang and said angrily: "I am hosting a banquet here today, and you have to cut off the flower cards I have ordered first. I don't care anymore. I never thought that you would come to provoke me and barge into my banquet..." "
At this time, a playmate invited by the Li brothers interrupted: "Who said that we are here to provoke? It was clearly the Li brothers who brought us here to congratulate Magistrate Zhang. If that guy hadn't ridiculed Liu Lang, why would he A big fight?"
The playmates of the Li brothers all echoed, and one of them pointed at Zhao Yang and said, "We can see clearly that it was the one named Zhao Yang who made the move first!"
"nonsense!"
Lu Dafang defended: "It was clearly Liulang of the Li family who took action first!"
The two sides quarreled again until Liu Congguang stopped again.
Suddenly, the student named Xu Yong sneered: "Zhao Yang, I remembered, isn't this the 'demon star' that has been widely circulated in Beijing recently? Ha, I said, there is no one who can cope with Zhang Yaozuo's banquet. Good people are indeed alike."
"..."
Zhao Yang raised his head and glanced at the visitor, and said in a deep voice: "Zhongzheng."
"Yes." Wang Zhongzheng said, cupping his fists.
Zhao Yang raised his hand and pointed at the student named Xu Yong, and said in a deep voice: "Go give him a few slaps."
"yes!"
Wang Zhongzheng met Li Ju, the third son of the Li family, but he did not dare to fight back because he could only be beaten. He was angry in his heart. When he heard Zhao Yang's words, he immediately grabbed Xu Yong's lapel and threatened to beat him.
"What are you doing?" The playmates of the Li brothers yelled angrily.
Liu Congguang was also a little embarrassed, so he turned to Zhao Yang and said, "Zhao Zheng..."
"Fight! Who dares to stop us from fighting together!" Zhao Yang said in a deep voice.
"Zhao Yang!" Liu Congguang shouted urgently.
Zhao Yang glanced at Liu Congguang coldly and shouted: "Hit!"
Before he finished speaking, Wang Zhongzheng slapped Xu Yong on the face, and the right side of the latter's face suddenly swelled.
There were young men from a wealthy family invited by the Li brothers who came to pull him away. They were also dragged out of the team by Wang Ming, Chen Li, Wei Tao, Bao Rong and other royal weapons, and were thrown to the wall, where they were punched and kicked.
Obviously, when these people met the Li brothers before, they could only be beaten and did not dare to fight back, and they were also holding back their anger.
This scene shocked everyone inside and outside the elegant room, from the officials of Kaifeng Prefecture to Feng Jing, Xie Jingwen, Liu Gu, Liu Jing and other candidates. No one expected that Zhao Yang would not even give Liu Congguang face.
"You are taking advantage of your power to bully others. I am going to report it to the Central Government and report you!" the student named Liu Jing shouted.
Zhao Yang raised his hand and wiped the blood on his lips, looked up at the student, and said calmly: "I am Yan Guan, you can report it, I will accept it."
"..." Liu Jing was stunned.
Feng Jing, Xie Jingwen, Liu Gu and other students standing beside him also looked at each other in shock. Even Lu Dafang, Qian Gongfu, Huang brothers and others on Zhao Yang's side were also shocked.
At this moment, there were bursts of footsteps in the outdoor corridor. It turned out that the Kaifeng Prefecture official had summoned the officials who were working in the official office in the second room on the left. The guards were all summoned.
These people sealed off the entire Fan Building, drove away the guests in the building, and rushed to report their orders to Zhang Yaozuo, the newly appointed official of the Kaifeng Prefecture.
Seeing this, Zhang Yaozuo felt more confident, but he still didn't dare to decide how to deal with Liu Congguang, the Li brothers and others without permission, so he asked Zhao Yang in a low voice: "Brother, what do you mean by this..."
"What should we do as a rule?" Zhao Yang asked.
Zhang Yaozuo lowered his voice and said: "He provoked a fight. As usual, he should be escorted to the Military Patrol Court of Kaifeng Prefecture. He will be detained for a few days before being tried. However, Liu Congguang and the Li brothers have special status. I guess the officials will order it when they can't get there." freed……"
"Then let's do it." Zhao Yang gave Zhang Yaozuo a look: "Deal with justice."
Zhang Yaozuo understood, waved and shouted: "Come on, take them all away!"
As he had the authority to know the affairs of Kaifeng Prefecture, he gave the order, and the officials of Kaifeng Prefecture did not dare to disobey. He led the civil servants, inspectors and others into the room, and they all bowed their hands to Liu Congguang and the Li brothers and saluted: "I'm sorry. "
Liu Congguang nodded slightly, then glanced at Zhao Yang and Zhang Yaozuo, snorted coldly, and walked out of the room first.
At this time in the palace, because Zhao Yang sent someone to report to the officials about Zhang Yaozuo's banquet, the officials had dinner in Funing Hall and then went to Ninghua Hall where Concubine Zhang lived.
As the result was lingering, a report suddenly came out. It was said that an official from Kaifeng Prefecture reported to the palace urgently that Zhang Yaozuo, Zhao Yang, Liu Congguang, Li brothers and others had a conflict in Fanlou, and the two sides fought fiercely.
The officials were greatly frightened and angry. After asking about the situation, they sent Yuan Zheng, the Chongban of the inner palace, to the left and right military patrol courts under the jurisdiction of Kaifeng Prefecture, which is commonly known as the Kaifeng Prefecture Prison. They released Liu Congguang and the Li brothers and brought them in. In the palace, Guan Yan, who was also the Chongban of the inner palace, was sent to the main office of Kaifeng Prefecture, and ordered Zhao Yang and Zhang Yaozuo to enter the palace immediately.
Zhao Yang and Zhang Yaozuo were the first to arrive at Funing Palace. When they saw Zhang Guifei was also beside the official, Zhang Yaozuo secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
As soon as he saw the two of them, the official scolded: "Look at the good things you have done!"
Zhao Yang was dissatisfied and retorted: "It was not me and Magistrate Zhang who caused the trouble, it was clearly Liu Congguang and the Li brothers..."
"Yes, officials, I and Zhao Zhengyan are really unjust." Zhang Yaozuo also added a voice and told the officials exactly what happened.
"Is that true?" Zhao Zhen looked at Wang Zhongzheng and others who had a bruised nose and swollen face.
Wang Zhongzheng and others were already angry, and since Zhang Yaozuo did not exaggerate the matter too much, they all nodded in agreement.
Concubine Zhang, who was standing by, angrily commented: "My uncle has just been informed of the affairs of Kaifeng Mansion today. Liu Congguang and the Li brothers are so provocative. The officials must not forgive them and will definitely punish them severely."
Zhao Zhen glanced at Zhao Yang and Zhang Yaozuo, whose robes were torn and their hair was disheveled, with a sullen face and said nothing.
Soon, Chongban Yuan Zheng also led Liu Congguang and the Li brothers to Funing Palace. Their clothes were also torn and their hair was disheveled. The most miserable among them was Li Wei, who was beaten by Zhao Yang with a bruised nose and face, not to mention Zhao Zhen. , even Concubine Zhang couldn't help but open her eyes.
"I sincerely ask the officials to make the decision for my son-in-law!"
Li Wei fell to his knees as soon as he saw the official family.
Zhao Zhen hurriedly stepped forward to help him up and said angrily: "Who injured Gong Zheng like this?"
"It's him!" Li Wei pulled the official's sleeve and pointed at Zhao Yang, crying and begging: "Please make sure the official makes the decision for my son-in-law."
Zhao Zhen was so angry that he turned to look at Zhao Yang. Zhao Yang spread his hands and said, "Guan, he made the first move."
"Nonsense! It was obviously you who laughed at me first... and laughed at me for being ugly." Li Wei said angrily.
"That's why you made fun of my ugly handwriting first..."
Seeing that both sides were about to quarrel, Zhao Zhen stopped and said, "That's enough! Jingyuan, you say it."
Jingyuan is Liu Congguang's cousin.
"Yes." Liu Congguang cupped his hand and said hesitantly: "It is true that Liu Lang struck first, but he did not hit Zhao Zhengyan. On the contrary, Zhao Zhengyan refused to let go and injured Liu Lang like this..."
"Hmph, this is really ridiculous." Concubine Zhang took the initiative to intercede for Zhao Yang: "You are only allowed to wait until you take action, and no one is allowed to fight back? Tsk, tsk, the good and handsome young man has already lost his appearance..."
She waved Zhao Yang to come closer and pointed out the two bloody marks on Zhao Yang's jaw and neck to the officials.
The official looked at Li Wei, who had a bruised nose and face, and then at Zhao Yang, who was only slightly injured. He ignored it with a dark face and asked Liu Congguang: "As far as I know, Zhang Yaozuo is holding a banquet on the second floor, and you are waiting on the third floor. Why?" Want to go to a banquet with him?"
"This..." Liu Congguang was speechless.
Next to him, Li Yao, the fifth son of the Li family, said in a nonchalant tone: "We...we wanted to go and congratulate him..."
Seeing the officials glance at him, Li Yao became more and more guilty, lowered his head and remained silent.
Looking at Liu Congguang and the Li brothers who were bowing their heads in silence, Zhao Zhen glanced at Zhao Yang again. Seeing the latter's head held high and his chest upright, he already guessed who was who and said in a deep voice: "Jing Yuan, you take the Li family’s men to the imperial medicine hospital and ask the enshrining officer for diagnosis and treatment, and then you take them home to rest for a few days."
When Liu Congguang accepted the order, Li Wei looked unwilling and seemed to want to say something more, but was pulled away by Liu Congguang.
After Liu Congguang and the Li brothers left, Zhao Zhen turned to look at Zhao Yang and Zhang Yaozuo.
Compared with Zhang Yaozuo who lowered his head and still seemed a little uneasy, Zhao Yang looked calm. Zhao Zhen said angrily: "You still look as if nothing happened?"
Zhao Yang spread his hands and said: "The officials have also heard the right and wrong. Magistrate Zhang and I have already tolerated it, but the other party is unwilling to give in..."
"So you can strike hard and beat Liu Lang of the Li family into that state?" Zhao Zhen asked angrily.
Zhao Yang was stunned for a moment and said: "Just like what the empress said, he hit someone first. Don't the officials allow me to fight back?"
"That's right." Concubine Zhang Guifei said from the side: "Xiao Lang is also seriously injured..."
Zhao Zhen was so angry that he said sarcastically: "All the injuries on his body are not as serious as the injury on the hand he hit people with! If you want to say that his appearance is broken, it's the Liulang of the Li family."
Concubine Zhang curled her lips and said: "Liu Lang of the Li family was born ugly, how can he be beaten again? On the contrary, I just thought I looked better..."
Seeing that Zhao Zhen's expression worsened, Zhao Yang couldn't help but secretly smile bitterly. If he hadn't been able to conclude that Concubine Zhang was really on their side, he would have really suspected that Concubine Zhang was deliberately trying to make her angry.
After a long while, Zhao Zhen took a deep breath and said to Zhao Yang: "No matter what, it's your fault for hurting him like this!"
Zhao Yang was stunned for a moment, frowned and said: "The officials, given the situation at that time, couldn't hold back. If I didn't fight back, I would be beaten in vain like Zhongzheng and the others..."
"Don't you know how to hide?" Zhao Zhen said angrily: "With Wang Zhongzheng and the others protecting me, I don't believe you will be beaten. You are clearly unreasonable and unscrupulous based on my tolerance of you!"
Zhao Yang was stunned for a moment, and then said after a while: "...Even so, they were the ones who came to stir up trouble first. I remember there is a saying that it can never happen again..."
"You still want to talk back!" Zhao Zhen said angrily: "Do you know who Liu Congguang and the Li brothers are? Liu Congguang grew up with me, and the Li brothers are my cousins. They were even beaten to the point where they were almost disfigured by you, or are they? My son-in-law! Don’t you think about me?”
"..."
Zhao Yang looked at Zhao Zhen, raised his hands for a long time and said, "I know I was wrong."
"Hmph, I always say that I am aware of my mistakes, but I don't see any reflection. You just stay in the palace for the past few days!"
Zhao Zhen snorted coldly, stood up and walked out of the hall.
Concubine Zhang stood up and left immediately. Before leaving, she did not forget to comfort Zhao Yang: "No need to worry, I will intercede on your behalf."
Zhao Yang smiled slightly and looked at Zhao Zhen with calm and indifferent eyes.
"Brother is implicated..." Zhang Yaozuo said with relief and a little guilt.
Zhao Yang smiled faintly, said nothing, and went back to the bedroom to rest.
Wang Zhongzheng and others looked at each other.
The next day, the twenty-fifth day of the first lunar month, was the day of morning court again.
Starting from Prime Minister Chen Zhizhong, the court officials in the palace began to report important matters one after another.
After the report on state affairs was completed, the censor Shi Shi and the Zhi Yuan Wu Shi came forward to impeach Zhang Yaozuo and Zhao Yang. They had a fight in Fanlou last night, which had harmed the reputation of the court officials.
Zhang Yaozuo, the newly appointed official of the Kaifeng Prefecture, tried his best to defend himself, but Zhao Yang did not refute, which surprised everyone in the palace.
After a long while, Zhao Zhen nodded and said: "I already know about this matter. I will make a decision in two days. Do you have anything else to report?"
As soon as he finished speaking, a slightly childish voice was heard in the hall: "I have an impeachment report for Zhao Yang."
Zhao Zhen was stunned and mistakenly thought that Zhao Yang was going to impeach Liu Congguang and the Li brothers. His anger was still lingering and he was even more angry. He said displeasedly: "Who are you going to impeach again?"
When Liu Shi and Guan Shi were uneasy, Zhao Yang shouted loudly: "I want to impeach... Foreign Minister of the Ministry of Industry, You Zhengyan Zhao Yang!"
Well?
All the monarchs and ministers in the palace were stunned.
At this time, Zhao Yang continued to impeach: "... He is almost an adult and should no longer live in the palace. The officials put him in the palace because it is inconsistent with the system. I sincerely request the officials to order him to move out of the palace. You are not allowed to move back!”
As soon as these words came out, there was silence in the hall.
