On the afternoon of July 20th, Xie Qian went to discuss matters with Tu Yu.
The two of them came out of the official department and were going back to their respective homes. Before they got on the carriage, they saw many people starting to arrange their belongings for the night in the open air on the street. Those with better conditions and yards at home would be there. Live in the yard or pitch a tent outside.
But not everyone has a tent at home. You can temporarily set it up with some tattered clothes and sheets, but there are still many people who can only use some old clothes to block it.
"It confuses people's hearts and confuses the public with monstrous words! We must impeach him!"
In his words, Tu Yu was very disdainful of Zhang Zhou's behavior of "confused people" by predicting earthquakes.
Xie Qian was too embarrassed to say anything. What if there was an earthquake? Are you still going to impeach him? With what excuse?
Xie Qian said: "Don't say it's a commoner in the market. Even if you are an official, if you hear that there may be an earthquake, it's what Zhang Bingkuan said, so you have to be on guard."
"Humph!" Tu Yu said, "At least the officials in the capital of the six departments should not do this. If anyone in the official department reacts like this, then he does not need to be an official! How can he be in the court after listening to the bewildering words of those alchemists? Establish a foothold?”
Xie Qian thought about it and said that Tu Yu was quite reasonable in terms of political correctness.
Whoever believes it is going against the mainstream civil servants and forces in the DPRK... But if you can't stand it... there's no need for anyone to be in trouble with their own life, right?
Just as he was talking, Han Wen, the right minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the most likely to be promoted to the left minister, came over and said: "Two ministers, all the yamen here are asking, where will the office be held tomorrow?"
Tu Yu frowned and said, "What do you mean?"
Han Wen said: "Everyone in the capital is in danger now. If you are on duty in the house tomorrow, I am afraid that if there is an earthquake, it will be too late to escape!"
"Haha." Xie Qian smiled when he heard this and glanced at Tu Yu.
Didn’t you say that officials from the six ministries shouldn’t listen to such nonsense, and that those who believe it can’t have a foothold in the government?
But the right minister of the official department seems to believe it. What do you say? Does this mean you have a good command of your subordinates?
Tu Jing said angrily: "It's just inside the house. I wonder how this earthquake can happen!"
Han Wen said with a distressed look on his face: "Zhang Bingkuan may be deceiving people, but I can't help but let everyone believe it. Even if he wants to impeach him with his monstrous words to deceive people, he can still do so after tomorrow on the grounds that the incident has not happened. This earthquake It’s not a trivial matter…”
Xie Qian smiled and said: "Yes, Tu Shangshu, there is no need to live with your own fate. Since Zhang Bingkuan ran away in despair after he prophesied that there would be an earthquake, maybe it was because he was timid about God's punishment and was afraid of this. The ground was moved just to bury him alive. If all his colleagues were buried in the collapsed house, he would be taking advantage of his wishes."
Tu Yu was speechless for a moment.
Just now, I was expressing my attitude to Xie Qian, and made everyone look like they were united.
But as soon as he turned his face, not only did his servant Xianfu whisper that he would avoid working in the house in the coming day, but Xie Qian also advised him to "be aware of current affairs", which left him no place to put his old face.
"Of course, there is no need to force it." Xie Qian added, "Those who are willing to stay in the house also show that they are honest and have a clear conscience, and are not afraid of strange forces and chaos... It should be said that they are not afraid of natural disasters. But we should stay as close to the door as possible, okay... …We can wait until tomorrow to make plans on how to deal with it, but it’s too early to talk about it now.”
Xie Qian seemed to want to comfort Tu Yu, but found that Tu Yu had a dark face.
And he seemed not to stand on the matter of jointly participating in the impeachment of Zhang Zhou before. Xie Qian was also afraid that Tu Yu would misunderstand him as a traitor... Then he was very sensible and bowed and left.
…
…
East Palace, Duanjing Hall.
Zhang Heling and Zhang Yanling were tied up and thrown into a temporary "house" made of a wooden frame. There were many bricks on the shelf, both of which were more than two meters high. The shelf was only reinforced with ropes and was not It was so solid that if it was blown by the wind, the frame would collapse, burying the two brothers inside.
"Prince, you are doing nonsense. Your father knows it and will not spare you." Zhang Yanling finally had the gag cloth removed and shouted at Zhu Houzhao.
Zhu Houzhao said: "Second uncle, you have no eyesight. My father is busy preparing for tomorrow's earthquake. Temporary tents are being set up everywhere in the palace. Who has the mind to care about you?"
Zhang Heling's tone was much calmer than that of his younger brother: "But Prince, it's really impossible for us to take you out of the palace. It's impossible for Your Majesty to not know about it, and you see that so many people know it. There is no way to hide the matter." ! Any person will trick you into His Majesty's direction, and you will be grounded."
"Hmph!" Zhu Houzhao said, "Why don't you scare me and think that I don't know the art of war? This is called falsehood and reality! The more you cover it up, the more you think it's watertight, but in the end the news will always leak out. But if I If I am so high-profile and threaten to kidnap you and take me out of the palace, the eunuchs around my father will think that I am just fooling around and think that I will not succeed, so they will not mention it to my father. This is called falsehood and truth. Of!"
"What a fallacy, what a fallacy!" Zhang Heling was shouting.
Zhu Houzhao went up and gave Zhang Heling a kick and said: "Now I'll give you another chance. If you two don't agree, I will tie you here until tomorrow. As long as there is no earthquake, or the earthquake doesn't kill you." , I will let you go, otherwise...it can only be said that God wants your life, and it has nothing to do with me. It is because of your usual misbehavior, even God can't stand it, and wants to take you two away!"
Zhang Yanling said loudly: "No, your queen mother, my sister, and people from Shouninghou Mansion and Jianchangbo Mansion will come!"
"Hehe!" Zhu Houzhao said with a sly smile, "Just say you are ignorant. Now you have just returned to the capital. Your sister, my mother, thought you had left the palace, and your family thought you were fooling around somewhere. Then They have to guard against earthquakes themselves. Do they care about you? Come here and add a few more bricks. I'm afraid that if this 'house' is stepped on, it won't kill them!"
"Yes." Liu Jin quickly called for people to deliver bricks here.
Zhang Heling's head turned and he said: "The prince wants to leave the palace, right? I can help, I can help!"
Zhu Houzhao said: "I want to leave the capital."
"Okay, are you looking for Zhang Bingkuan? He has already gone south and is walking very fast. I'm afraid you won't be able to catch up." Zhang Heling said.
"Who said we must chase him? The Ming Dynasty is so big, I want to go everywhere, and you don't have to worry about where I go?" Zhu Houzhao looked annoyed, "If you build a wall next to it, then you can Use bricks, no clay, just stack them upright."
Zhang Heling said: "No, no, if it falls, it will kill people."
Zhu Houzhao pouted and said: "That's not necessarily true. What if it falls to the other side instead of your side? It still depends on whether God wants to deal with you. What if you are lucky and the bricks don't fall on you? If you drop...it will be easier for you!"
If you're lucky...
Is there any other way to say this?
We brothers were surrounded by a pile of crumbling bricks. No matter which direction we came from, there were always bricks falling on our heads.
Do you have to rely on probability multiple-choice questions to save your life?
"Stop their mouths and I'll come back tomorrow to take a look." Zhu Houzhao saw that his two uncles were "stubborn" and was ready to leave them here.
Zhang Heling saw that there was almost no room for negotiation, and there might be an earthquake that night. If by chance he ended up here... being killed by the prince, his death would probably be in vain.
No matter how much the emperor favors the two brothers, can he be more favored than the prince?
"No, yes, yes, just now. Wherever you want to go..."
Zhang Heling finally compromised.
Zhu Houzhao waved his hand and asked Liu Jin, who was holding the torn socks, to step back. He smiled and said, "I don't like to be fooled. If I say I'm leaving now, I'll leave immediately. If it's too late, things will change."
"But at your age, Prince..." Zhang Heling was a little worried.
If you don't agree to this boy today, if you stay here, you will probably die... and it will be dealt with by "God". During the earthquake, everyone else was fine, but we brothers were killed by bricks... This injustice Go and listen to the Lord of Hell. The Lord of Hell doesn't care about talking to them either.
But if we send this kid out of the city, the emperor will investigate him later...
Unless the emperor doesn't know that it was the two brothers who did it.
But there are so many eunuchs around...wait, didn't they report it to the higher authorities?
After the prince left, the emperor caught him and at most taught him a lesson.
At worst, we won't come to the palace often in the future, and even if we come, we will take a detour so that this kid doesn't get the chance!
good!
Just do it.
"What's wrong with my age? I'm already ten years old. I'm no longer a teenager at the age of ten. I can get married in two years. The leader of North Korea is only three years older than me, but I heard that I'm married and I'm the head of the country! I can still go to the Ming Dynasty to pay tribute, so why can't I?" Zhu Houzhao became angry when people said he was young.
You are all bullying children, and you always use my young age to suppress me, as if I can't do things that you adults can do.
Zhang Heling said: "But Prince, how will you live after you leave the city? Do you have the people and money?"
"Hey, you think I am very poor, right? I have a lot of money. Besides, I will still take people out of the palace. These few...will go with me. You prepare two carriages and stuff them. Let's go in, if we don't have enough money...the two uncles can bring as much as they want! Remember to use your carriage, just say it is transporting the things you robbed to your hometown, and you will not be interrogated when you leave the gate of the capital!"
Zhu Houzhao looked like he was thoughtful about everything.
This also made the Zhang brothers realize that they had fallen into a trap today.
This kid is only ten years old. Does he really have such a good plan? Or is this all Zhang Bingkuan's advice?
right!
If you want to place the responsibility on that kid Zhang Bingkuan, you must let him go to Nanjing.
"Well, the prince will earn enough money and come with us out of the palace." Zhang Heling said.
Zhang Yanling said: "Brother, listen to him? How will we explain to my sister and brother-in-law after we go out?"
Zhu Houzhao sneered and said: "It is better to explain to the King of Hell than to the father, the emperor and the queen, and don't play around after you leave the palace. My people will escort you out. If you dare to mess around... wait until I become the emperor." , I will kill you all..."
"It's impossible." Zhang Yanling was very confident.
The emperor kills us? And your mother is protecting us.
Zhu Houzhao said with a smile: "Then I will find someone to poison you to death, or let the Jin Yiwei kill you. Just say that the person you offended killed you. Then I will find someone to symbolically investigate, and then It’s an ironclad case. Even the Queen Mother can’t say anything.”
This time Zhang Yanling's eyes widened.
It is said that being with a king is like being with a tiger. Why does it feel like being with a king does not have such troubles, but with this naughty prince, it is as if he is surrounded by tigers?
Zhang Heling scolded: "Second brother, you idiot, the prince is going to find Mr. Zhang. He has negotiated with Mr. Zhang. Mr. Zhang will protect his safety. We just send him out of the city, and he will do whatever he wants later." Well, what are you doing with that useless idleness?"
He said "Mr. Zhang" just to remind his second brother that the blame for this matter must be passed to Zhang Zhou.
"Okay, get out of the palace, get out of the palace!" Zhang Yanling also stepped forward.
No matter what, it is better than dying in vain due to the collapse of bricks caused by the earthquake.
Neither brother wants to be punished by God one day.
…
…
Zhu Houzhao took Liu Jin, Gao Feng, Qiu Ju and Ma Yongcheng out of the palace.
He also wanted to take the remaining few with him, but there were too many people and it would be inconvenient when leaving the palace. Even he changed into the clothes of a young eunuch and held a wooden box in his hand, on the pretext that the queen was giving gifts to the Zhang brothers. of.
There were originally many young eunuchs in the palace, and there were even more handsome and favored young eunuchs in places like Kunning Palace.
The palace guards also didn’t understand the prince’s personality, and they didn’t expect that someone would wander outside the palace instead of walking from outside to the palace...
With the Zhang brothers, Liu Jin and others acting as cover, the group of people successfully exited the palace gate.
"It's out, it's out." Zhu Houzhao was extremely excited after walking out of Donghua Gate.
"There is a Dong'an Gate ahead." Zhang Heling reminded.
Zhu Houzhao said: "Where is your carriage? Get in the carriage and go out of Dong'an Gate without stopping! If you are questioned, scold them in a strong tone!"
When Zhang Heling heard this, he thought that this boy was so well-organized when leaving the palace. Could he really be a person who studied the art of war?
The group of people got on the carriage, and the two carriages carried a few more people in eunuch uniforms. There was nothing wrong when they left Dong'an Gate.
After waiting out, Zhu Houzhao saw the lively and bustling scene outside through the transom window. He felt as if he had escaped from a catastrophic situation after "escaping from prison", and his face was excited.
Zhang Heling said: "Prince, do you think you can give this gift to me?"
Zhu Houzhao scolded: "Are you short-sighted? This is all about my troubles on the road, for you? To say that you have no brains is to flatter you. Why do you still go to the battlefield to fight like this? Is it really better to live well than to live well? , otherwise, because you are my uncle, I will directly report to my father and ask my father to assign you to guard the imperial mausoleum."
"..." Only then did Zhang Heling realize what "evil people will have their own trials and tribulations".
This kid Zhu Houzhao... is simply the reincarnation of a devil.
The kind that eats people without spitting out their bones.
"The capital is so busy, what are they doing?" Zhu Hou looked after the people on the street and couldn't help but ask.
Zhang Yanling was also on his eldest brother's carriage. Hearing this, he leaned on the carriage with a tired and confused look on his face and said, "Didn't you tell me already? The palace is on guard against earthquakes. Do you think the people are not on guard?"
Zhu Houzhao said: "It just so happens that the city is in chaos. It's convenient to go out of Dongzhimen."
Upon hearing this, Zhang Heling said anxiously: "Didn't the prince say that we should prepare a car for you?"
"I think your two cars are quite good. After you leave the city, you can find your own way back to the city. And it's not convenient to leave the city without you here... After you leave the city for fifty miles, I will give you some money and have someone pick you up." Brought back to the capital."
Zhu Houzhao had a sly smile on his face.
"Prince, you are not trustworthy." Zhang Heling protested.
Zhu Houzhao continued to laugh.
My heart says, if everything was explained to you in the palace, would you still submit?
"This is to prevent you from going to report the news immediately. Only if you go far enough out of the city, the pursuers will not catch up so early. Hurry up and catch up! If you don't leave the city, it will be too late after dark!"
…
…
For the first time in his life, Zhu Houzhao left the capital without being protected by any guards or other guards, and could run towards his destination in life, which was Nanjing.
The Zhang brothers almost kidnapped him and followed him out of the city. Looking at the dark sky, the two brothers were muttering.
"Don't worry, I'll give you two hundred taels of silver and let you find a place to spend the night. Two hundred taels of silver won't be enough, right? I have been frugal in the past two years, and I finally saved three thousand taels of silver... I didn't expect that I would still be able to save three thousand taels of silver." I want to give you two hundred taels..."
"Prince, we gave you nearly seven thousand taels of silver before, and you only have three thousand taels left?"
"Bastard! Did you give that to me? I earned it! I haven't told my mother about your evil deeds yet... Humph, if you dare to leak what happened today, I won't tell you the whole story. Tell your mother..."
"Your Majesty's side..."
"Father has known about it for a long time! Your little thoughts have been clearly known to me, and he has not exposed you! After checking you out and finding out that you used rotten materials to build the family temple, my mother will definitely skin you! "
The two brothers looked at each other after hearing this.
Today I really fell into the hands of this naughty kid, and he was manipulated to death.
Zhang Heling said in a gentle tone: "His Royal Highness, didn't we agree to give you money and not mention the matter before?"
"Did I mention it? If you hadn't failed me first, would I have brought it up again? Don't worry, as long as you help me, when I become the emperor in the future, you can get whatever you want. A few thousand taels of silver are nothing? You don't Any plans for the future?”
After the coercion, comes the inducement.
The Zhang brothers are not good at anything else, but they are a bit "clever" in calculations. In other words, stingy people like them have a sense of crisis when trying to fight against the common people.
They also realized that despite the current situation, once the emperor had a problem... it was not impossible, because the emperor had always been in poor health and might burp at any time... At that time, if the Zhang family expected a queen mother to protect them, then Even if you are awesome, you won't be able to get anywhere.
Just like the Queen Mother Zhou, no matter how filial the emperor is, the two brothers of the Zhou family are not as powerful as the two brothers.
But if he gets the approval of the crown prince, the future emperor, helps the prince to do more things, and builds a good relationship with Zhang Zhou, the capable man next to the prince... Even if the court changes, the Zhang family will continue to shine in the Ming Dynasty in the future.
(End of chapter)
