Promotion and fortune in Song Dynasty

As soon as the news about Lu Ci or the adultery case came out, there was an uproar in Beijing.

The news would spread so quickly, naturally, without the help of Taiwan officials and Zheng Jian and others—in order to avoid the situation where Wang Shaoyue mobilized troops with power, but the emperor deliberately protected him from the situation, from the day they got the news, they immediately He kept building momentum.

If the adultery was confirmed for a while, then Lu Ci relied on Lianzhong Sanyuan's talents, political achievements built over the years, or even donated all his family's assets and built a righteous village... No matter how high the reputation he gained, he will have to win in the end. was destroyed.

After all, compared to the absurdity of Wang's father and son having an affair with the same woman, Lu Ci's use of power to mess with Yizhuang's envoy Yu Xiaoqi is even more incompatible with morality and law, and must be severely punished.

This matter is indeed appalling, and Zhao Zhen is very sure... Well, I deeply suspect that this is a false and false accusation.

After the initial shock, the officials quickly calmed down, and quickly summoned Jiang Zhiqi, the palace servant who first wrote the letter, to inquire about the specific situation.

Leaving aside the important status of the "little master" who won the emperor's heart, at this time, Lu Ci was transferred from the position of the prime minister to be the envoy along the way, and he was a real second-rank town border official.

Before initiating a formal trial against him, there must naturally be conclusive evidence: otherwise, it would be a rumor of a censor, and if the important officials were recalled from the border, wouldn't it be an opportunity for the enemy to take advantage of?What will happen to the minister's dignity?

After Jiang Zhiqi was summoned, he did not hesitate, and directly confessed to Peng Siyong, the imperial censor who had informed him of the matter; Peng Siyong turned his head and confessed to his in-law, Dali judge Cai Zhongdao; Cai Zhongdao said again...

Going around in a big circle, when Zhao Zhen, who was so dizzy from asking questions, finally turned back to Xue Zeng, another censor, Xue Zeng refused to explain, and he just refused to say, "You are old and stupid." , rumors of impeachment, hard to remember the name of the Lord'.

Zhao Zhen was amused on the spot.

However, he is more aware that rumors and rumors have always been the prerogative of Taiwan's admonishing officials. Even if these words are very brazen, they cannot be punished for this.

What made him even more concerned was that if it was just something out of nothing, they would neither dare to target it for no reason, nor would they have the ability to make such a big noise after being beaten repeatedly by the Yushitai side alone.

There must be a pusher behind this matter.

Zheng Jian's hatred for Lu Ci has been put on the surface, but Zhao Zhen was not confused by this overly obvious target, but summoned Kou Zhun and Wang Zeng alone after meditating alone for a long time without any results.

Kou Zhun, who was restless in the mansion, had to be summoned into the palace, and he let go of most of his hanging heart-the official chose to pass on his position, which has always been biased towards Lu Ci, to discuss matters, which symbolized the complete trust in the little cunning boy. up.

As soon as the two arrived, Zhao Zhen politely gave him a seat first, and then dismissed the palace people, and said straight to the point: "Who is the mastermind behind the scenes, do you have any clues?"

Without hesitation, Kou Zhun spit out, "Who else can there be except the old man of Na Ding's family!"

But Wang Zeng said impartially: "It is not the top priority to find out who the master envoys, but the first thing to find out is the truth."

Zhao Zhen heard what Wang Zeng said, frowned, held back his dissatisfaction and said: "You should be quite clear about what kind of person Yu Yu is. He lost his father since he was a child, and he has been dependent on his mother for many years. Because of too much grief, he fainted several times! How could he abuse his power and rape a woman during the filial piety?"

As we all know, since the day when Lu Ci became famous for winning three yuan in a row, he has become the son-in-law in the eyes of all the elites in Beijing.

With such an orchid and jade tree, why worry about having no wife by her side?

Even if he wanted to marry the princess, as long as he really opened his mouth, Zhao Zhen would immediately choose someone with outstanding looks from the clan and give him the title of princess so that he could match him.

And where is the need to collude with Wang's father and son, and to covet that shameless married woman!

Wang Zeng said without changing his face: "Because important officials are involved, whether it is officials or Zheng Jian and others, they should be more cautious. They used the woman's confession as evidence, and they even obtained Wang as a Suizhou person, who used to be Lu's Yizhuang The emissary's evidence is not just based on empty words. To distinguish the truth from the false, the government should send someone to supervise and push it away, instead of just ignoring material evidence because of "being a human being"... In this way, even if the impeachment memorial can be pressed, it is also because It's unfair, but it's hard to stop Youyou's mouth."

Kou Zhun also recalled it at this moment, and echoed: "That's right. Once the crime of adultery is suspected, it will cause embarrassment at the slightest, and ruin the reputation at the worst. It may not be easy to clear it up just by me writing a letter. Your Majesty should send an official immediately. According to what he said, let’s talk about the facts. If there is such a thing, Yu Yu has failed His Majesty’s trust, and the crime is serious. He should be resigned and demoted to calm the wrath of the world; The doubts of the world."

In the folk, there have actually been some gossip about Lu Ci for a long time.

After all, he is in a high position at a young age, with unlimited scenery, and he has never even had a little lady to serve him. He usually does not seek out flowers and women, and has no confidante.

Some time ago, when Lu Ci was arguing with Ding Wei in court, he cut off the way to protect his children and grandchildren, which was equivalent to cutting off the idea of ​​marrying a noble family. For some powerful families who had long regarded this son-in-law as their own, naturally It's an ignorant offense.

What made them even more upset was that after 'offending' them, this ignorant Lu Ci was entrusted with important tasks one after another, and continued to skyrocket.

Even the earthquake disaster that could have hurt his muscles and bones a few days ago allowed him to escape from birth by rescuing him, and after that, he became a good general and was repeatedly promoted...

The smoother Lu Ci is, the more he is destined to become a thorn in some people's eyes.

The crime of adultery has always been the most difficult to get away with, especially when it seems to have solid evidence. Even if it is mostly not punished due to insufficient evidence in the end, as long as it is done properly, it is enough to make Lu Ci feel embarrassed.

With Lu Ci staying away from Bianjing, it is difficult to defend himself. It is not surprising that this impeachment will be fermented quickly, and it will become as powerful as it is today.

Zhao Zhen gradually came to his senses, even though he was a little disappointed that Wang Zeng failed to share his hatred with the enemy, he finally nodded if he gained something.

To check.

Moreover, it is necessary to investigate openly and vigorously.

—— Facts have proved that Wang Zeng's concerns are extremely reasonable.

After Zheng Jian and others made a big fuss, Wang Yuan, who was a little at a loss, the "good-hearted man" who was sitting on the sidelines spent a lot of trouble, and gave him a hint through the conveyance of many people.

To put it bluntly, the biggest evidence Wang Yuan has now is only the confession of the woman surnamed Wang and the two things that she worked as a maid in Suizhou Yizhuang.

The former is just a one-sided statement, which cannot withstand careful scrutiny. She is also very likely to be bitten indiscriminately out of fear of crime, and may change her mind again at any time out of fear of crime; the latter is even more far-fetched. There are at least 30 to [-] female envoys, and this intersection alone cannot really pull Lu Ci down.

Besides, the people in Yizhuang have all been favored by Lu Ci: even if there is something true, they will probably only keep their mouths shut, so how can they say something that is not good for the benefactor when they collect evidence?

It is conceivable that with Lu Ci's strong control over Yizhuang, as long as they still want to live under the shade of Yizhuang, they will not be able to tell the truth in the fear of being poked at the spine of "ungrateful" 'Come.

When Wang Yuan was riding a tiger, when he heard the news of 'official anger', 'official suspicion' and 'request for strict investigation', he couldn't help but have different thoughts.

If he can fiddle with Suizhou's identity card a little bit, and confirm the matter...

While carefully thinking about how to operate, Wang Yuan felt that there was a lot to be done, but also felt his heart beating violently.

——Do you really want to put all your eggs in one basket?

Wang Yuan was tossing and turning, and Wang Zeng couldn't hide his worry.

He chose to take this muddy water not because of Lu Ci, whose friendship with each other is as shallow as water, but because of more helpless factors.

In his opinion, Lu Ci's slander is trivial: with his exquisite mind, many confidants, and various means, it is difficult for others to escape, but it is not difficult for him.

What he values ​​more is to put an end to the hidden dangers that connivance will bury. In front of His Majesty, at present, he can only hold back and say nothing.

If this accusation is false, but it is enough to embarrass Lu Ci, who was unable to write a letter to defend himself because he left Beijing, then he is a loyal member who is willing to leave Jinxiu Bianjing and go to the bitter cold border to protect his family and country. The important ministers who went there suffered injustice.

In this way, it is bound to make other loyal ministers who also threw their heads and blood for the country feel sad and sad. From now on, if they wish to serve the country, they will have to think twice, and even protect themselves wisely, which can be said to be infinitely harmful.

In addition, it is even more important to maintain the Lu’s Yizhuang—since the form first appeared, because of its good operation, there have been gentry in various places who donate money generously, build Yizhuang together, and benevolent to the common people.

As soon as the impeachment came out, they learned that even those who are as respected as Lu Ci can be framed and have their reputation damaged for hiring female envoys. How can they be willing to help poor women in the future?

I'm afraid I have to avoid it.

In this way, even the unfinished Yizhuang, as well as the women in the world who are in a difficult situation, will be victimized by false slander.

The impeachment of Lu Ci was surging, and after being caught off guard, Lu Ci's friends were not to be outdone, and wrote letters to defend him.

Among them, there are even some who are willing to protect their friends with their official positions and reputations——Liu Qi, who lived with Lu Ci all the year round, was angry and anxious, and begged the officials to send a supervisor to follow the source to find out the truth, so as to return Lu Ci Resigning an innocence does not chill a loyal heart.

He eloquently said: "——If the little Taotie is willing to be a womanizer, how can he let 'Liu Niangzi' and other bad friends stay in the mansion for 12 years? Whenever he shows a little bit of willingness, I won't" Being forced to practice self-cultivation with the other party, and live a lonely life where even the Qin Lou Chu Pavilion is afraid to set foot, for fear of being reprimanded! Why don't you drag him to a familiar and happy life sooner or later!"

After throwing away this rhetoric, Liu Qi really couldn't see the situation where the public opinion in the market was one-sided, and everyone was talking about those unwarranted secrets of the innocent little glutton. "The Legend of Yuanyuan" instantly diverted most of the people's attention.

Zhao Zhen also reacted very quickly, and issued an imperial edict on the same day, sending several ministers headed by Lin Neichen to supervise Wang Yuan and others to Suizhou to collect evidence; Bao Zheng, who is known for being ruthless and selfless, ordered him to deduce the possibility of Lu Ci's involvement in the case based on the existing evidence.

Seeing that the officials did not blindly cover Lu Ci, but chose to investigate the case solemnly and openly, and issued several orders vigorously, the courtiers, who were originally excited, calmed down one after another.

After all, the prerequisite for fishing in troubled waters is 'muddy waters'.

The author has something to say: Well, in fact, in the notes of the last chapter, I not only want you to see a dirty struggle in the officialdom, but also want you to see the shining points of Song law and ethics.

Just like "Zhi Song" p395 said: "An obvious feature of the Song Dynasty government's attitude towards adultery is that officials and people treat it differently. Common people who commit adultery with others do not report and ignore it, but officials who commit adultery with others are those who know It can be impeached, but if it is committed in prison, the crime will be added to the crime. This is what the Confucian scholar-officials advocated, "propriety should not be inferior to ordinary people" and "the Spring and Autumn Period blames sages". Too strict constraints, and scholar-bureaucrats are role models for the common people, so they must not be ignorant of etiquette."

It is precisely because of the strict requirements on the ethics of scholar-bureaucrats that the officialdom uses this as a sharp weapon to hurt political opponents. It can be said to be a double-edged sword.