eldest son of Ming dynasty

Wuxi County, Changzhou Prefecture.

Mao Yuwen has led the inspection team to the Wang family's territory in Wuxi.

It turns out that Liu Jin was messing around here, and the idle people could still scold him, but they were just scolding the eunuch.

Now that the emperor has come and arrested people for treason, most people don't dare to say anything.

On the one hand, the imperial court really used the knife to kill people. If it was to seek fame, the price would be higher.

The kind of person who really sacrifices his life for righteousness is upright and will not do anything to seek fame.

People who want to do this kind of thing are actually doing it as a business, so if the cost is too high, it is not cost-effective.

The overall official atmosphere of the Ming Dynasty probably originated during the Chenghua period. Because Emperor Xianzong actually didn't kill his ministers very much. For example, Wang Shu, who was as strong as iron, the emperor kicked him out of the capital if he didn't like him, that's all.

The inability to save lives is actually part of the logical starting point.

During Hongzhi, he met a kind-hearted emperor, which actually strengthened the logic of the beginning of Chenghua. If Chenghua is the cause, then Hongzhi is the result. Because the so-called Zhongzheng Yingchao actually means appointing many people at once based on their moral reputation.

Who?

Clear stream.

It is equivalent to cashing in moral reputation into official benefits.

Then it got out of hand.

All in all, when the emperor really kills people, he must gain reputation, which is a dangerous game.

"The emperor has decreed that no one involved in the rebellion against the king will be spared."

Mao Yuwen had already explained this clearly to the head of the Wang family, because this family had produced Jinshi.

He probably guessed what they were thinking, so he continued to add, "In the fifteenth year of Hongzhi, Wang was awarded the Jinshi, and he must be named Wang Sheng. He is now an academic officer in Fujian, and the order to arrest him is already on the way. He wants to come to Fujian. The governor's office will receive the imperial edict in a few days."

This was the family's biggest reliance, but it was gently exposed by Mao Yuwen.

In fact, the official position is not important, nor is the name. No matter what the official position is, if you are involved in a major treason case, you will not survive.

There is no need to mention the tragedy of the whole family being arrested.

In short, all prefectures and counties in the south of the Yangtze River have Jinyiwei passing through.

When Liu Jin was here, the place was still a raging fire. One moment this official wanted to present a memorial to join him, and the next moment that official had something to hide, and everything seemed lively and lively.

But this time, no one said anything, from the governor to the prefect and then to the county magistrate.

Suzhou Magistrate Min Yiqin has always performed well during this storm, and he is not a cruel official. But when the sound of the Jin Yiwei's horse hooves sounded in this Gusu city,

He could only cooperate fully and arrest those who were almost on the list.

Tang Bohu was originally invited by King Ning because of his talent and wanted to teach his beloved concubine Lou how to paint. However, Tang Bohu refused with excuses and resolutely drew a clear line with King Ning. Now it seems that he is lucky. .

His life was a rough one. In the twelfth year of Hongzhi's reign, he was involved in the mysterious and tragic death of the then emperor's brother-in-law. As a result, his path to the imperial examination was ruined, although he later achieved meritorious status.

But because Empress Dowager Zhang hated him so much, her official career was not smooth.

Zhu Houzhao had no interest in him either. He had not proven that his literary and painting talents were of any use to people's livelihood. In comparison, many talented and brilliant artists of the Ming Dynasty were pretty good.

So he was later sent back to Suzhou.

But this guy was also arrogant and felt that he was being looked down upon, so he resigned.

So Zhu Houzhao was even more indifferent to him. He had no time to slowly cultivate this young man with a floating mentality, and he was not his father.

Of course, he has also made a name for himself in the art field, and because of his big tree, there is not much trouble in the Tang family under the Qingtian order.

He had dodged two disasters in a row.

On this day, he was at home, reading a letter from his good friend Min Yiqin, "The case of Jiangnan gentry colluding with Ning Ni was quite powerful. Although my brother had contact with Prince Ning, he refused that day, but he won today." Don’t worry about the chance of life.”

After reading it, Tang Bohu let out a sigh of relief. He remembered Emperor Zhengde. He was a man of astonishing talent and beauty.

"This time, I heard that many people were arrested." Next to him was his beautiful concubine, who had also been frightened recently.

Tang Bohu nodded, "Yes, except for the Wang family in Dongshan, few people think that they are completely fine. It is said that the person who secretly befriended Prince Ning at that time was also found out."

The Dongshan Wang family is Wang Hao's ancestral family. He knows the emperor's will best, and there is no way he would not remind his relatives. Therefore, the Dongshan Wang family is still abiding by the rules.

"I'm afraid it's not an investigation, but an explanation, right?" The concubine said worriedly: "In such implicated cases, one person usually leads the other, and the most fearful thing is that someone will identify them randomly."

Yes, the Dongshan Wang family is not afraid. No one would believe that the current chief minister's family would be related to the rebels.

But it's hard to say for the rest of them. If an enemy is caught and turns out to identify you, Jin Yiwei may not be able to investigate everything clearly during this period.

"Don't worry. It's probably because of this that Brother Min wrote me this letter. During this period of time, we don't want to go out, we can only avoid it. If it's not possible, my husband also knows Mr. Chen from Jiaxing."

That is Concubine Xian’s natal family.

However, the concubine is still worried. The images of the emperor she has heard over the years are all strong and ferocious. Even though they are as old as they are, they are at an unreachable level. If they really get into trouble, maybe a The look makes them disappear from the world.

Of course, some people say that he is tolerant and kind, but it can only be said that everyone's situation is different.

In short, this Zhengde Emperor is good or bad, but I don't dare to call him mediocre.

Even her husband Tang Bohu, who was unhappy in his officialdom, did not dare to say anything.

Hide, this is what most people think.

When Liu Jin was 'causing chaos', many of the active people died down.

The emperor said that the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River fell to me first.

What kind of concept is this? It is possible that after this time, scholars from Jiangnan will still be 'discriminated' in the court.

At the climax of the year before, there were riots in some places in Suzhou Mansion. The Xu family organized the young people in the house to cause trouble. Now the weeds at the door have grown more than one meter high.

At this time, Tang Bohu was thinking about his past 'friends of the same generation from aristocratic families', and found out that many of them had encountered this difficulty.

Mao Yuwen was in Changzhou, and Han Ziren left for Suzhou. The in-laws of the Xu family are the targets of his trip.

When shackled prisoners walk on the streets of Gusu City, there are no scholars or scholars who can speak for them, but they can only say:

"The Zhao family is really unlucky to have the daughter-in-law of the Xu family in trouble."

"Fortunately, the Xu family only gave birth to six daughters in total..."

"Six is ​​still less?"

"I'm afraid you don't know that more than ten families have been arrested in Wuxi County, and the jails can't even fit them in!"

Han Ziren had to coordinate the prison issues with Min Yiqin.

Inside the prefect’s Yamen,

He said: "This time we are handling the Ning Ni case, more than 800 criminals have been arrested. Magistrate Min, with so many people, we need you to coordinate and temporarily set up a few cells. When the matter is finished, I will And escorted to Nanjing to deliver a message to the emperor."

Min Yiqin couldn't say anything, "Don't worry, superior officer. I'll take care of it right away, inferior officer."

Jiangnan has not had a peaceful life for most of the past six months, because too many people have died, and the busy work of farming has been delayed. When it comes to suffering, the people have suffered.

But at this juncture, no one is raising any opinions.

……

The prison was really a dirty place, so Zhang Cong and Zhang Zilin suggested that they either bring the person up if they really wanted to see him.

However, Zhu Houzhao still insisted on going.

In fact, there are many people imprisoned in the dungeon, such as Li Shishi and Liu Yangzheng. These people are all in one place.

Zhu Houzhao was ready to watch it together.

Before leaving, he called Fan Yuchang.

It was not damp here in the winter. After waiting for the jailer to open the door, Zhu Houzhao walked down the stairs under the leadership of Xu Jin, the commander of the Shenwu Guards. Everyone in the group followed.

As soon as I got down, a corridor with large cages on both sides appeared in front of me.

Each cell has a window in the corner, so it's not that dark.

As soon as the emperor came, the place immediately started to move.

Of course Zhu Houzhao saw that the one on the right was Zhu Chenhao.

But instead of going to see him first, he asked, "Who is Li Shishi?"

You Zhi had made preparations before and led His Majesty five cells forward. Only then did he see a rickety old man with gray hair sitting on the haystack on his left.

But as soon as Zhu Houzhao said this, many people knew that the emperor was coming.

Chen Hao was so excited that he immediately started shouting, "Zhengde! How dare you come here!"

Zhu Houzhao glared at him fiercely, and someone immediately warned him, "If you dare to say more words, you will die here!"

"He's just like a furious child, with a lower ambition than anyone else in the world. He can only yell and yell. I blocked his mouth for the time being."

"Yes!"

Zhu Houzhao turned around, looked at Li Shishi, whose name has been recorded in history, and asked: "You were born as a Jinshi, and you have been through four dynasties and served as an official for many years. No matter how confused you are, how could you be so stupid as to assist such a mentally retarded prince to seize the throne?" The world? Besides, even if you become successful, you are already almost eighty, and you can obviously enjoy your old age peacefully, why would you do this? I still can't figure it out."

"The emperor does not abide by the ancestral system or the legislation. Everything is based on his own heart, and he is arbitrary and paranoid about his own opinions. Wouldn't he hear that the rituals will collapse and the music will be ruined? At that time, people's hearts will be in chaos, and the country will naturally be filled with virtuous people. .”

Zhu Houzhao didn't want to be like his great-uncle, who was always crying like ghosts and wolves, so he was not angry, "Just because I despise the ancestral system and etiquette, do you make such an assertion?"

"The ancestral etiquette is the foundation. Has the Emperor ever thought about why he is the master of this world, the Nine-Five Supreme?"

Zhu Houzhao sighed, "What you said makes sense."

Li Shishi was a little surprised. He did not expect that Emperor Zhengde actually recognized his statement.

Actually, there is some truth to it.

The so-called monarchy means pitting one person against the rest of the world. It means that everyone should keep to themselves, accept their identity at the moment of birth, and then not move around.

This set of etiquette for the king, the minister, the father, the son and the son serves exactly this purpose.

There is a reason why Confucianism is respected by rulers.

Unfortunately, since he came from later generations, this routine will be broken sooner or later, so his hard work will still be in vain in the end, so naturally he doesn't pay so much attention to it.

Zhu Houzhao didn't feel so much pressure in his heart, so he ordered: "Since what you said makes sense, I will keep your whole body."

You Zhi immediately said: "You still don't want to thank me?"

Li Shishi was unmoved.

Zhu Houzhao didn't want to criticize him morally. If you talk morally to a shameless person, he won't understand. He turned back and looked at the cell next to him.

"Your Majesty, this is Xu Shidao."

He was a middle-aged man, kneeling down at this moment. His hair was disheveled, and it was impossible to see what he looked like.

"You are quiet."

"One mistake will lead to eternal hatred. The common people only hate themselves for being confused! How confused!"

"I thought you would scold me, but now you start to repent. It's really worthless. I still like your original attitude of feeling that the court can't help you. I can't understand Li Shishi's choice. As for you, I still like you. Understand, you feel that the Qingtian incident involves a lot of things, and you are acquainted with many officials. When the momentum becomes huge, even the emperor will have to withdraw his decree, right? Unfortunately, I will not listen to that kind of deception.

Now think about it, I just took out the measurements of my own land and paid more taxes per acre next year. How did it end up like this? I guess I must have been domineering in my life. I have never suffered a loss. Even if the government came, I always had the connection to give the loss to others, so I feel that it is really uncomfortable to share some profits this time, isn't it? "

The man was speechless.

Zhu Houzhao also sneered, "From now on, there will be no Xu family in Suzhou. I am the one who decides the Ming Dynasty, not you Jiangnan gentry."