Yang Shansong knelt down in front of his father's bed and cried bitterly, banging his head against the edge of the big bed. Although Wan Yuanji was also very sad in his heart and his eyes were full of tears, he was not as panicked as Yang Shansong.
As soon as he entered the room, he saw blood flowing from the corners of Yang Sichang's mouth and nostrils, and his fingernails were blue. The quilt and mattress were extremely messy, and his hair and pillow were also slightly messy. He judged that he most likely died of poisoning. , there must have been a painful struggle before death. Based on this, it is speculated that he may have eaten arsenic.
He ordered his servants to quickly wipe away the blood from the corners of the Prime Minister's mouth and nostrils, and at the same time tidied up the quilts, mattresses and pillows. He also sternly ordered the people around him: "It just means that the Prime Minister has become ill from overwork. I died of illness in the evening, so you are not allowed to gossip outside. If anyone does not obey the rules, the eldest son will kill him immediately!"
Then, he tugged on Yang Shansong's sleeve and whispered in his ear: "My lord, this is not the time for you to cry. We must discuss important matters quickly!"
At this time, Hu Yuanmou, Yang Zhuoran and other close aides of Yang Sichang also rushed into the house. They looked at Yang Sichang lying quietly on the bed, with a lonely look on his face and tears welling up in his eyes.
…………
Wan Yuanji first asked Hu Yuanmou to stay and search the house to see if Yang Sichang had left a suicide note or last words. Wan Yuanji took Yang Shansong and several of Yang Zhuoran's close aides to another room and sat down.
He called over the servants who served Yang Sichang last night and the military academy who was on duty in the small courtyard outside the flower hall. He first asked the servants: "Before I returned to the west, did you not notice anything strange at all?"
The servant knelt on the ground and cried and replied: "The little man saw that the master was already asleep. He was afraid of disturbing the master, so he did not dare to stay in the flower hall. He followed the master's instructions and went back to the lower room. He just fell asleep for a moment under the lamp. , I didn't dare to fall asleep, and I quietly came outside to take a look, but I didn't see anything strange.
Unexpectedly, at the third quarter of the fourth watch, the villain went in to see if the master had woken up, and saw that the master...the master...had already..."
Wan Yuanji waved his hand to ask him to leave, and then turned to the professional military academy and asked: "You were on duty in the courtyard at night, didn't you hear any sound?"
The military academy knelt on the ground and carefully replied: "To tell you what to say, during the fourth watch, I accidentally heard a groan in Mr. Ge Lao's room, and there seemed to be a noise on the bed, but then there was no sound again. I just thought it was Mr. Ge Lao turned over in bed, but he didn't care at that time, and never thought..."
Wan Yuanji actually understood in his heart that when Yang Sichang left the capital to go to Huguang to supervise the division to suppress the bandits, he already had the determination that failure would lead to success.
Therefore, he prepared arsenic for himself when he left Sichuan this time. No matter how painful he was after taking arsenic, he refused to moan loudly, which shows his determination to die.
Yang Sichang was very kind to him, and he was also well aware of Yang Sichang's current situation. Since Li Jing's governor suppressed the thieves, none of the big thieves had died, but the two vassal princes, Prince Fu and Prince Xiang, had been captured one after another. He missed this. Wan Yuanji couldn't help but burst into tears.
However, he still suppressed his grief and said sternly to the military academy and slaves on the ground: "The sudden death of Mr. Ge is not a trivial matter. The two of you failed to serve carefully, and the crime cannot be punished.
I think you and others have not made any serious mistakes in your daily life, so we will not go into details for the time being. However, you should be stricter with your mouths. If the prime minister died of illness at night, if you and others are gossiping outside, you will make mistakes. In one word, be careful of your dog's life. Go down! "
When the military academy and domestic slaves heard the last sentence, they all trembled, sweat beaded on their foreheads, kowtowed hurriedly and retreated.
At this time, Yang Shansong cried and asked everyone: "The family is exhausted and the country's affairs have ended up like this. Something extraordinary has happened. May I ask, my lords, how should we deal with the aftermath now?"
All the staff were talking about it, and they all expressed their own thoughts, but Wan Yuanji did not say a word, clearly waiting for something. After a while, Hu Yuanmou also came over.
Guya Wan Yuanji hurriedly asked him: "Mr. Hu, have you found it?"
"well!"
Hu Yuanmou sighed and said: "I have searched everywhere, but I haven't seen any testament or words left by the envoy."
Wan Yuanji also sighed deeply and said to everyone: "A minister of the court like the Prime Minister should leave a testament before his death. At least he should leave some last words for the eldest son, some instructions for family affairs, and I left my last words and gave instructions on how to deal with the funeral affairs of the governor.
But now he has left nothing behind, and he has not left any legacy to this day. I can completely understand the Prime Minister's mood before he died. "
He shed two lines of hot tears when he said this, and then continued: "Right now we have three things that must be dealt with as soon as possible. First, please ask Brother Yuanmou to draft a memorial for me immediately to present to the Ming Governor Shifu. I was exhausted from serving the country in the army and became ill due to overwork. Unfortunately, I died of illness last night.
What he left behind was the silver seal of "Supervisor and Assistant Minister", an imperial edict, and a Shang Fang sword. They had been counted and encapsulated properly, and were respectfully sent to the Jingzhou treasury for temporary storage. Regarding the future placement of the civil and military personnel in the camp, as well as other follow-up matters, we will report separately.
Second, the silver seal of the 'Supervisor and Assistant Minister', the edict, and Shang Fang's sword must be wrapped and sealed. In addition, an official document must be prepared. Officials will be sent to the official treasury of Jingzhou Mansion Yamen tomorrow for sealing, pending orders. deal with.
Third, buy a good coffin in Shashi and bury the governor and assistant ministers, but do not hold a public funeral for the time being. You need to wait for the imperial order to arrive before making a decision.
This is the only way we can deal with it now, do you gentlemen think so? "
Everyone had no objections to this arrangement, and all agreed. Wan Yuanji hurriedly gave instructions on everything, so that there was a dedicated person in charge of everything. Then he returned to his residence and ordered the drums and bells to be beaten in front of the hall to prepare for the trip. Congratulations to Shuo Li.
The civil and military officials who controlled the Ming Dynasty would pay tribute to the emperor on the first day of every month, which is called He Shuo. Now that it is New Year's Day, the ceremony is especially important. Although Yang Sichang, the governor and assistant minister, is dead, this ceremony still remains. But it cannot be stopped.
Wan Yuanji hurriedly freshened up under the service of the servant, put on his seventh-grade civil servant court uniform, and walked to the front hall.
He was originally a promotion official of Yongzhou Prefecture, and his rank was a seventh-rank civil official. Later, he was recommended as a judge of Dali Temple and received the title of central civil servant, but his official rank was still a seventh-rank official.
In the palace of Yang Sichang's supervisor, there are many staffs of fifth and sixth grades. Although Wan Yuanji is only a seventh-grade civil servant, he is in the supervisory position, similar to the chief of staff, with high authority, so whenever Yang Sichang When he was unable to host the He Shuo ceremony for some reason, he, the supervisor, would do it on his behalf, and everyone was used to it.
After performing the congratulatory ceremony amidst the sounds of ritual and music, Wan Yuanji announced to all the civil servants and military generals in a very sad voice that the ambassador had suddenly died of illness at night.
Since most of the civil and military officials did not live in the Xu family garden, the news was like a bolt from the blue to everyone.
Some of them have old friendships with Yang Sichang, some have followed Yang Sichang for many years, and some truly sympathize with Yang Sichang for his two years of hard work and dedication to national affairs. They are absolutely different from Xiong Wencan and others, and should not end up like this.
For a moment, everyone shed tears, and many even burst into tears.
