At night, inside Kunning Palace.
The emperor's family of four had just finished dinner, and Zhu Houzhao had not yet returned to the East Palace.
Zhu Houzhao sat on the stool, his head drooped but his eyebrows raised, and he glanced sharply, as if someone owed him tens of thousands of taels of silver but had not paid back.
"Kekeke..."
Zhu Xiurong's laughter came.
In front of Zhu Xiurong was a wooden box of glass beads, at least a few hundred.
Zhu Xiurong was pitiful and aggrieved during the day, but at night she became the happiest person in the world.
"Prince, come here!"
Zhu Youtang called his son aside.
Zhu Houzhao said plausibly: "Father, why do you give the imperial sister so many glazed beads? I still have to set rules for her."
"What are the rules? I didn't expose you in front of your mother. If you have to give everything to others so that others can have it, do you think that all the people in the world can only live on your kindness? It is they who give it to you, not you. them!"
Zhu Youtang educated his son.
Zhu Houzhao said: "Isn't the world ours?"
"snort!"
Zhu Youtang said, "It seems that you should learn more. If you don't understand the principle of water carrying a boat and water overturning it, how can you govern the world well in the future? As a king, you should serve the world as your successor. You don't have All the people in the world are your subjects. You must use your own efforts to let them have it. Only when the people are rich can you get it."
Zhu Houzhao lowered his head, obviously he did not want to receive this kind of education.
In the palace, he felt that Tian was the boss, his father was the second, and he was the third, even my mother had to step aside.
Now he actually told him that all this was not his, but was given to him by others. As the crown prince of the Ming Dynasty, how could he be willing to accept this idea?
"Don't argue with your sister. She is your closest relative. You must treat her well whether I am here or not." Zhu Youtang said.
Zhu Houzhao said curiously: "The emperor's father and mother are also close relatives of the son..."
Zhu Youtang rolled his eyes at him and said: "There are some things that you will understand when you get older. Go back to the East Palace to catch up on your homework. Children of ordinary people are all about staying up all night to study. It's time for you to focus on your studies. It's time. Someone, come and take the prince back to the East Palace."
"My son, I still need to talk to my father and mother about things... I, my son, are not in a hurry to leave..."
…
…
After all, Zhu Houzhao is just a child who has not yet reached his eighth birthday.
Zhu Youtang and his wife seemed to be very willing to let him live in the East Palace since he was a child and let him receive an independent education.
Zhu Youtang stood at the door of Kunning Palace, watching the light of the lanterns as his son and his entourage went away. When he turned around, he realized that Xiao Jing had been standing beside him for a long time.
"Your Majesty, Mr. Zhang has been notified and asked to come to Fengtian Palace tomorrow morning. The servants will lead him into the palace at that time," Xiao Jing said.
"Yes." Zhu Youtang nodded, "Is there any news from the Gongyuan?"
Xiao Jing said: "This matter has not been discussed in the court, and Your Majesty has not sent an order to the Gongyuan. It is estimated that the paper will be opened in the next two days, and I might have missed it. But Dongchang had already handed in the note before, and ordered not to go to the Gongyuan. The bachelor read the archives and guessed that he had not come into contact with the contents of the Zhu Juan, so there were many falsehoods in the report to Zhonghua Chang."
In Hua Chang's memorial, he specifically mentioned that Cheng Minzheng had agreed on some code words with the cheater, so that even if the ink scroll was transcribed into a red scroll, Cheng Minzheng could still find the corresponding scroll for private exchanges between inside and outside.
The emperor had previously listened to Zhang Zhou's words and informed the inner court that Cheng Minzheng would not be allowed to review the papers. He could only say that the suspicion of his private transfer had been dispelled, but the accusation would still remain.
It cannot be said that someone stopped it and the result did not happen. He, Cheng Minzheng, had not made an agreement with anyone in advance.
"What else was found in Dongchang?" Zhu Youtang was not in a hurry to announce the matter before, mostly because he knew that he should not be too impatient about this matter.
What the truth is has become the least important thing.
More importantly, to dispel the suspicion of scholars, the Ministry of Returning Rites will try to gain a fair reputation.
Under this premise, in fact, the interests of some people involved in the case, including part of the truth, can be sacrificed. In history, Cheng Minzheng, Xu Jing and Tang Yin were the ones who were sacrificed for the sake of the overall situation.
Apart from the parties involved, who cares what the truth is?
They all stand on their own side and only see the favorable side of the incident, regardless of what the overall situation is.
Xiao Jing said: "Going back to your majesty, I found out in Dongchang that Hua Chang actually had no witnesses. He was just telling the story based on hearsay. There were many discussions among the civil servants, saying that they saw Mr. Zhang talking about test questions with others, and that he had an affair with Tang Yin. The private conversation was during the time when arrangements were made for them to meet with their master..."
"Bastard!" Zhu Youtang became angry when he heard this. Do those ministers want to say that I arranged for Jiangnan undergraduate students to meet Wang Hao and Liu Ji to help them win the exam?
Then wouldn’t I also become an accomplice?
Xiao Jing was also a little dumbfounded, and sighed slightly: "Now those people are using some far-fetched rumors to tell the story. Mr. Zhang and Tang Yin met in full view of the public that day, and there was no topic of discussion, and the two of them later We’ll never see each other again.”
"Unreasonable!"
Zhu Youtang originally didn't care much about the truth, but now that Zhang Zhou was also involved in the case, he became angry.
He felt that this was a civil official targeting Zhang Zhou and deliberately dragging Zhang Zhou into trouble.
Now the emperor has become the person who cares most about the truth besides the few people involved in the case.
"My servant also found out that this case may be related to the domestic slaves in Cheng Min's government. The disciples of Cheng Min's government house accepted bribes from visiting scholars, and based on the price they gave, they decided whether they could be recommended by the general public. ." Xiao Jing said.
Zhu Youtang frowned and said: "Then Cheng Minzheng was not unjust at all when he was accused by Bingkuan! He knows that he has a good reputation and can't even take care of his family. How can he stand up as a court official?"
Now the emperor was a little resentful of Cheng Minzheng.
The emperor was unwilling to admit that the responsibility lay with him, but felt that Cheng Minzheng was not avoiding suspicion.
Xiao Jing said: "My servant heard Mr. Zhang mention it before, and also reminded it to Scholar Cheng. Later, Scholar Cheng seemed to have avoided it and never saw the scholar again. But before... after all, it happened."
"Alas! Bingkuan originally wanted to pull Cheng Minzheng into trouble, but ended up getting himself into it. But fortunately, they have not met formally. It is not that easy to bring up Bingkuan's matter. Go, bring Mr. Liu Ge and Xie The two elders from the pavilion are here, as well as Xu Shangshu from the Ministry of Rites, I want to see them tonight."
"Your Majesty, it's already night."
"What's wrong with it being night? There will be a public discussion in the court early tomorrow morning. If we don't see you now, when will we see you?"
"yes!"
…
…
Liu Jian, Xie Qian and Xu Qiong were summoned to Qianqing Palace overnight.
Xu Qiong didn't seem to know about this. After all, he had never seen Hua Chang's memorial, but the cabinet had seen the memorial. However, this kind of impeachment memorial did not require a vote from the cabinet, so they They only met Guan Bai, but they didn't give any advice on how to deal with it.
Investigating the case is a matter for the Three Law Departments, or it is the work of Dongchang Jinyiwei. Whether the cabinet votes for it or not, there is no essential difference in the outcome.
If there is no evidence, we can only send the person to the imperial edict or judicial prison first, and then we can find out more.
"You two, what is going on?"
On the way into the palace, Xu Qiong couldn't help but ask.
Xie Qian said: "Mostly it was because the Household Affairs Bureau was involved in the impeachment of Cheng Keqin, a member of the Zhonghua Chang Council. It also involved three candidates, Zhang Zhou, Tang Yin and Xu Jing, and these three candidates were all from Jiangnan. Zhang Zhou and Tang Yin They are also Jie Yuan and Ya Yuan who passed the undergraduate Jiangnan Provincial Examination."
Xu Qiong frowned and said, "Is there anything about Zhang Zhou?"
Even Xu Qiong found it a bit incredible.
Is Hua Chang a reckless man? Although the people may not necessarily know about Zhang Zhou, as a household official, Hua Chang didn't even know that Zhang Zhou won the emperor's trust and made meritorious service to the court?
Although the Yushi Yanguan had a special status in the Ming Dynasty, many of them had low official positions but appeared in the court every day. However, they were limited to the six subjects and left and right affairs. Ordinary ministers were not eligible to participate in the court. Negotiable.
And Zhang Zhou was only occasionally mentioned in court recently.
If you pass the Jinshi examination, you will be assigned six subjects to Shizhong. Generally, you will have to complete nine years of rank, that is, you will be promoted to the rank of Shizhong with all six subjects.
Although he was only a seventh-rank official, as a capital official, when he was appointed as a local official, he would at least start as a deputy envoy of the Chasi Division and become the second-in-command in prison matters in a province.
As for the people of Liu Ke, as censors, they are often stubborn. Whenever they encounter any direct remonstrance, disobedience, or refutation, these Liu Ke officials often rush to the front, and some of them lose their lives for this. Quite a few.
Xie Qian also sighed: "It's not good to involve anyone. I have to involve Zhang Zhou. Your Majesty has so much trust in this person. Even if he is really involved in the issue, will Your Majesty really care and interfere? That's why it happened." And there is a risk of confusion.”
"hehe."
Xu Qiong could only smile bitterly when he heard this.
Xie Qian meant that Zhang Zhou's involvement in the case might make the case unclear in the end.
That is to say, in the minds of civil servants, they tend to accept the fact that the question exists, and they are afraid that Zhang Zhou's involvement in the case will affect the investigation of the case.
Especially those in the cabinet...
Cheng Minzheng was investigated, and they said they wanted to get justice for Cheng Minzheng, but they were harboring evil thoughts in their hearts, wishing that Cheng Minzheng would just collapse and there would never be another cabinet minister who was out of control.
Xu Qiong asked Liu Jian on the side: "Mr. Liu Ge, do you think it is really necessary for Zhang Zhou to participate in the vend question?"
Liu Jian was still walking forward, but when he heard this, he glanced sideways at Xu Qiong.
Xie Qian smiled and asked, "What do you mean?"
Xu Qiong did not belong to the orthodox civil servant faction, and Ni Yue, the Minister of Rites, whom he had previously pushed out, was an orthodox civil servant in the eyes of others. Therefore, Xu Qiong's stance on some matters would contradict the orthodox opinions.
Xu Qiong said: "Regardless of the identity of Zhang Zhou Jiangnan Jieyuan, just based on his status in His Majesty's heart, His Majesty's secret efforts for his official career, and his ability to repeatedly divine secrets. Such ability is more due to his reputation. If you are envied by villains outside, you shouldn't ruin your reputation and go to jail just for the sake of gossiping, right?"
Xu Qiong is a discerning person.
In other words, he just told the most common truth.
So what is the point of asking awesome people to write questions? Enough support?
Liu Jian made no comment and said coldly: "The investigation has not concluded the case, let's discuss it later."
(End of chapter)
