The Royal Merchant of the Red Chamber

"I'm talking nonsense!"

With a sound of "snap!", the five-color gilt-carved phoenix bell placed on the table was thrown to the ground by the enraged Queen Mother Tong and smashed to pieces.The clear water and tea leaves meandering out from the broken bell bell are mixed with the sharp porcelain pieces that shattered into several petals, lying quietly on the floor tiles carved with dragons and phoenixes, showing a bit of sharpness under the bright light. Intentional and unbearable panic.The Tong Dowager, who was wearing a bright yellow phoenix flying court dress, couldn't help standing up, pointing at Xue Pan in the center of the hall and yelling angrily.Endless arrogance and killing intent burst out from a pair of black and white phoenix eyes, piercing straight into people's hearts like sharp knives.Everyone in the audience had an illusion for a moment, if the eyes could kill, Xue Pan standing in the hall must have been executed by the Queen Mother Ling Chi.

Unfortunately, eyes can't kill.For Xue Pan, who complimented and teased the murderous Mr. Shi every day when he was young, the hostility and murderous intent exposed by the Queen Mother Tong were like a warm breeze in a sunny day, at most it brought him Two points cool and wishful.Other than that, there was no excitement at all.

But what Xue Pan didn't expect was that the Queen Mother Tong, who has always been deep in the city and restrained, would be confused by Xue Pan's few words, and she would do things like "throwing cups" in public things come.

Looking at the undisguised astonishment and astonishment of the civil and military officials, envoys from all nations, especially the elders of the royal family, Xue Pan smiled more and more proudly: "Whether it is slander or the facts, naturally There are sensible people to make judgments. However, I think that the empress dowager is of high status and lives in the harem. Even if the evidence for these crimes is solid, it may be that the servants of the Tong family acted willfully based on your reputation, and it has nothing to do with the empress dowager herself Yes. Why is the empress dowager so furious? In our eyes, it seems that she has been exposed and turned into anger."

"Xue Pan, you are so courageous. Do you know who you are talking to! Who gave you such a big support and made you so arrogant that you didn't even care about the majesty of the Tian Family?" said the Queen Mother Tong Then, he deliberately glanced at Tu Zhen, who was sitting indifferently, and said with a sneer: "This palace is the Holy Mother and Empress Dowager who was proclaimed by the Holy Majesty. The majesty and character of this palace, and even every move of this palace are in line with Da Yong How can you allow a small third-rank military officer to criticize the family law of the ancestors of the dynasty?"

The extremely angry sentence successfully made the generals and officials present frowned in dissatisfaction.It has been a habit since ancient times to emphasize military generals in troubled times and civil servants in prosperous times.The Yong Dynasty was established for a hundred years, and now it is the heyday when the grain is abundant and the people are prosperous and happy.Therefore, the status of generals has also been faintly weakened and restrained.These facts can be seen from the kings of different surnames who have been deprived of titles and disintegrated real power since the dynasty.

However, it is a fact that military generals are suppressed and underestimated, and such facts cannot be stated in words.Empress Dowager Tong's unscrupulous words were like a slap in the face of all the generals.All of a sudden, a group of burly and hulking military generals snorted a few times in dissatisfaction, and one of them was about a year old, a man with a strong figure, full of murderous aura, not angry and majestic, handsome, with sword eyebrows and starry eyes, and a dark-skinned man stood up Come on, cupped his hands and said: "The Queen Mother's words are wrong. Xue Pan is a third-rank official of the court, and it is his duty to be loyal to the emperor and the court. It is the so-called reward of eating the king, and the worry of being loyal to the king. Xiao Wang thinks that the matter of Xue Qian There is nothing wrong with this move, and it has nothing to do with the civil and military positions of the court."

The Empress Dowager Tong looked at the handsome man who got up to speak, his face slightly darkened, he took a few deep breaths with his chest high, and slowly suppressed his anger, and then said: "Prince Zhongyong's words seem fair, but they are not true. Reason. Although the rewards of eating the king, the worries of being loyal to the king. However, the ancient sages said: If you are not in his position, you will not seek his own government. Xue Pan is just a third-rank military officer. He has neither the right to speak and play when he hears the news, nor to inspect the censor. The duty of reporting and exposing. The impeachment of the Tong family this time is nothing more than abusing the public for personal reasons, and it's nothing more than white talk."

Xue Pan looked at Prince Zhongyong curiously.Xue Pan heard Tu Zhen talk about this unlucky prince who was shot while lying down after fighting with the deposed prince Tu Ying for half his life.It is only said that he is different from the other princes of the Tu family, he is a rough man with outstanding merits and advocating force.After seeing it with his own eyes this time, Xue Pan felt that this prince was really different—at least this tonnage and style, this kind of roughness that rushed towards him, was different from the other princes who were handsome but weak and thin. Same.

Noticing Xue Pan's undisguised sizing up, the loyal and brave prince turned his head to look at Xue Pan, and said with a smile, "You are the Fugui who went to Tianjin Guard for a year and trained a group of recruits to defeat the soldiers of the Tiger Shark Battalion. Young Master? The cannons you tinkered with have been used by me, and they are very good."

Xue Pan chuckled twice, and just about to speak, he saw the loyal prince turned his head again, and said disapprovingly to Queen Mother Tong: "Everyone is responsible for the rise and fall of the country. As a court official, Xue Pan is naturally loyal. The duty of the imperial court. Those powerful and wealthy households who oppress the people because of their family background are like moths. If they are not punished, the Great Yong Dynasty, which will be ruined sooner or later, will lose the hearts of the people. It will be too late to save it at that time."

Hearing that Prince Zhongyong unceremoniously compared the Tong family to moths, the Empress Dowager Tong's expression became more and more embarrassing.However, although Prince Zhongyong was defeated and exiled in the process of competing for the great treasure, he was bold and upright in nature, and he had been sticking to the southwest border for more than ten years.For such a prince who controls a small part of the military's power and has a valuable status, the Queen Mother Tong still dare not be too presumptuous.Therefore, she could only retort with a livid face: "Prince Zhongyong doesn't know something. This Xue Pan is arrogant by nature, violent and presumptuous, relying on the favor of others, he doesn't pay attention to the majesty of the royal family at all. He came to Beijing at the age of 14, but There was a riot in Nan'an Palace in a few days, and it never stopped in the following years. Today's so-called impeachment with righteous words is just the appearance of his nonsense."

"Xiao Wang believes that if he can say something like 'every man is responsible for the rise and fall of a country', Xue Qianshi must not be a treacherous and evil person. It's just that he is young and vigorous, and more straightforward."

"However, his Xue family built underground palaces in Jinling, amassing money wantonly, colluding with bandits and even bribing court officials is also a fact. There are many witnesses and evidence, but his Xue family did not know what method to make people back their mouths." Queen Mother Tong Said, frowned and looked at Tu Zhen. "I feel that something is wrong, and I want to interrogate it in detail, but the Holy Majesty thinks it is unnecessary. Instead, I think that it is my Tong family who are stirring up trouble and framing Zhongliang."

Prince Zhongyong frowned in a subtle way, and lost favor with the queen mother's aggressive pursuit and beating.However, he has been away from Beijing for many years, so he is not very clear about these trivial matters.It's not easy to talk for a while.After thinking for a while, he cupped his hands at Tu Zhen and sat down without saying a word.

The Empress Dowager Tong originally wanted to provoke Prince Zhongyong, who had a straightforward personality, to speak for her, but seeing Prince Zhongyong's behavior, a look of disappointment flashed in her eyes.

Tu Zhen saw it in his eyes and sneered in his heart.On the face, he said calmly: "The queen mother is very worried about this matter, and I can't stop it anymore. To avoid rumors and incidents afterwards. It's just that the servants of the Zhen family and the sons of the fifth house of the Xue family have no official status. According to the rules, You can't enter Qianqing Palace. What's more, today is a banquet given by the imperial palace, and there are envoys from all over the world to congratulate you. This matter involves a lot, and it also involves the Empress Dowager's mother's family. It is really inappropriate to ask them to meet."

When Queen Mother Tong heard this, a trace of embarrassment flashed across her face.It was her idea to let the members of the Tong family make trouble at the emperor's banquet.Originally thinking that he could catch him off guard and take down everyone in the Xue family in one fell swoop.Unexpectedly, Tu Zhen refused to let go of Xue's family because of the solid evidence, and even smeared his reputation.The Xue family took advantage of the opportunity to make trouble, and instead implicated their own family in it.

Hearing what Tu Zhen said, Empress Dowager Tong had no choice but to nod her head, pretending to be magnanimous and said with a smile: "In that case, let's not mention it for now, and deal with it in the next year."

It just so happens that she also has time to solve the mess caused by the Tong family.

Tu Zhen looked at the Queen Mother Tong with mocking eyes, and said with a smile: "That's unnecessary. I know that the queen mother has trouble sleeping and eating because of the witness's backlash. In order to let the queen mother have a good life, I have already asked Dai Quan to bring the witness When we arrive at the side hall, the queen mother will go there immediately."

After a pause, he added: "For the sake of fairness, not only the two witnesses from the Tong family, but also several witnesses from the Xue family and all the physical evidence have also been sent over."

Empress Dowager Tong's heart sank, she looked at Tu Zhen coldly, her expression became more and more rigid.

But Tu Zhen ordered without realizing it: "Uncle Zhongyu, Uncle Zhongli, Queen Mother, Empress Tong's family, and Dali Temple Minister, the jailer, Xue and Tong's family, so I went to the side hall. .The rest of the people continued to feast."

As soon as Tu Zhen finished speaking, the bells, drums and musical instruments sounded leisurely, the dancers and singers were graceful, and their singing was melodious.But Tu Zhen and his party slowly got up and went to the side hall.

Compared with the main hall, which is as bright as daylight and full of singing and dancing, the side halls of Zhaoyang Palace are also brightly lit, but they have lost some of their atmosphere and brightness.Tu Zhen and others entered the side hall, Xue Zhiyi and other witnesses had already been brought over by Dai Quan's people, and all of them took a bath and changed their clothes one by one, and they were all clean.

After seeing several nobles coming in, all the witnesses kowtowed and said: "The grass-root Xue Zhiyi (Zhen Shirong) has seen the Holy Majesty, long live my emperor!"

Tu Zhen waved his hand casually, and asked straight to the point: "Xue Zhiyi, servant of the Zhen family, you two reported the Xue family's conspiracy and wantonly amassing money earlier, why did you change your mouth now? But who did you coerce and lure?"

Xue Zhiyi took the lead in knocking three times, and said: "Returning to the Holy One, Cao Min and others were indeed coerced by others—"

When Queen Tong heard this, she immediately said proudly: "Sure enough, something is wrong. The Holy Majesty stopped me from waiting to ask questions. I almost wronged the good guy and let the bad guy go!"

Tu Zhen glanced at Queen Tong indifferently, with a hint of sternness in his eyes indifferently, Queen Tong's expression froze, and she shut up embarrassingly.

Tu Zhen asked, "Sure enough, you have been coerced by others. Who is coercing and why is it coercing, you come here one by one this time, and I will be the master for you."

Xue Zhiyi kowtowed again, and continued: "Return to the words of the Holy Majesty. It was Tong Moke, the Patriarch of the Tong Family, who personally found Cao Min's head—"

"You talk nonsense, the old man has never seen you before!" Tong Moke interrupted Xue Zhiyi's words with a livid face, walked up to Tu Zhen and kowtowed: "My lord, this Xue Zhiyi was definitely instigated by others to slander me, Please also ask the Holy One to observe clearly."

Tu Zhen glanced at Tong Moke indifferently, and said, "It was your Tong family who asked to meet witnesses to confront them face to face, but now they interrupt the witnesses again and again..."

"Could it be a guilty conscience!" Xue Pan took the last sentence with a look of disdain.

Tong Moke glared at Xue Pan viciously, and said with a sneer, "It's clear that someone deliberately caused trouble, and even accused us of being guilty."

"Whatever you want to say, anyway, it's not me who has no physical evidence and was back-tested by witnesses." Xue Pan shrugged his shoulders indifferently, and stopped talking.

"you--"

"Enough." Tu Zhen frowned, interrupting the dispute between Tong Moke and Xue Pan.He opened his mouth and said, "I don't have time to listen to your ramblings. Since you insist on confronting witnesses, then don't intervene when witnesses are speaking. Otherwise, I will fork out anyone who speaks at will."

Seeing everyone in the Tong family whose complexions suddenly became ugly, Tu Zhen sneered and said with a pointed smile: "I don't have that time to play around with you."

After speaking, he waved his hand at Xue Zhiyi and said, "Go on."

"No!" Xue Zhiyi kowtowed again, and then continued: "It was Tong Moke, the patriarch of the Tong family, who personally gave Caomin 100 million taels of silver, so that Caomin could frame his brother for rebellion. Caomin disagreed, so the Patriarch of the Tong family sent someone to kidnap him." The wife and two pairs of sons and daughters of Caomin threatened Caomin. And they promised that after the matter is completed, Caomin will never be implicated. The Tong family will find a way to change the status of Caomin, and continue to live in prosperity and wealth."

"Cao Min had no choice but to temporarily agree to the Patriarch of the Tong family. He secretly sent a letter to my brother Zhongxin Hou, asking him to secretly search for Cao Min's family members who were hidden by the Tong family. Until yesterday, my brother finally found my outer room and two pairs of children. The grass people have no worries, but they don't want to easily take advantage of the Tong family who are doing evil, so they testify against my brother according to the Tong family's wishes, and take the opportunity to report the truth face to face."

As he spoke, he took out a stack of bank notes from his pocket and said: "Returning to Your Majesty, these are the bank notes that the Patriarch of the Tong family gave to the grass people, and the grass people haven't touched a cent."

Zhen Shirong on the other side also kowtowed and said: "Returning to the Holy Lord, Caomin's experience is similar to that of the fifth master of the Xue family. It was also the family members who were kidnapped by the Tong family, and got another 1 taels of silver from the Tong family. This is what the Tong family wanted. Nonsense. The grassroots don’t know about those underground palaces and collusion. It’s the people from the Tong family who let us say that. The grassroots are guilty, please forgive me.”

Xue Pan, who was watching the excitement with his arms folded, interrupted at this moment: "It is also a testimony that you, Zhen Shirong, only got 1 taels of silver, but my fifth uncle of the Xue family got 100 million taels of silver. Sure enough, our Xue family is worth the money!"

Everyone who said a word secretly laughed.It's just that the Tong family's anger is even stronger.

The Empress Dowager Tong held back her anger and said: "The twists and turns of this matter are bizarre. I am afraid it was carefully planned by someone. Your Majesty must not listen to their one-sided words."

Tu Zhen hooked the corners of his mouth carelessly, and said with a smile on his face: "But Queen Mother, this witness was found by Tong's family."

The Empress Dowager Tong was choked for a moment and was speechless. After a long time, she said awkwardly: "Perhaps it is a conspiracy they have planned long ago, and they are just waiting for the members of the Tong family to jump down."

"Isn't it also that people from your Tong family first tied up their family members and gave them money to lure them? It was your Tong family who conspired first. It is human nature for my Xue family to fight back." Xue Pan said with a look on his face. He looked at everyone in the Tong family with disdain, and muttered in a low voice. "It's really stupid. Sure enough, all my brains are used to tease and teach my daughter to seduce men. Such a wonderful frame-up, forced them to make a joke, saying that they are traitors, and the real traitors can cry in grievance gone."

"Pfft!" Prince Zhongyu couldn't help laughing out loud.

Tong Moke retorted red-faced: "This is slander. Before this report, the old man has never seen them, let alone gave them money."

"There is a rule in the ticket number of the Yong Dynasty that all storage transactions of more than ten thousand taels must be registered and recorded. Besides, it is not easy to take out a bank note of one million taels. Your Majesty only needs to follow the bank note handed in by my fifth uncle. If you go to check the ticket, you will definitely be able to find out who the bank ticket belongs to." Xue Pan gave Tong Moke a sideways look, and said with a relaxed expression.

Tong Moke's face turned blue instantly.Looking up at Tu Zhen with an indifferent expression, Tong Moke only felt a chill rising from his spine, spreading all over his body in an instant.He knelt down tremblingly, and explained to Tu Zhen: "Your Majesty Qizuo, old minister... old minister..."

"Okay!" Tu Zhen interrupted Tong Moke's words impatiently, and ordered: "It seems that the Xue family's conspiracy has come to light. Now, everyone, let's hear that the Tong family oppressed the people in the name of the queen mother." It’s something in Yurou Township!”

When Dai Quan heard this, he immediately bowed and retreated.After a while, another group of people came back.Most of the witnesses this time were ordinary people with pale faces and submissive manners.They were timid by nature, even just entering the gate of the side hall, they all knelt down and kowtowed like garlic.What makes people suspicious is that there are two familiar nuns behind them. After careful identification, Prince Zhongyu and Prince Zhongyu recognized that these two are the dowry nuns next to the queen.

Because there were too many people involved and the incidents were complicated, Tu Zhen didn't have the energy to interrogate them one by one.After being interrogated by the jailer and Dali Temple Secretary separately, Tu Zhen just closed his eyes slightly, listening to the people accusing the Tong family of how they used their power to bully others and run amok.

For example, in the name of building a family palace for the empress dowager and the empress, they can buy good land at the price of barren land, or buy other people's mansions, rare treasures, beautiful jade, or family heirlooms that cannot be sold at a price of less than one tenth or even less than one hundred.If the host family disagrees, they will cooperate with the local magistrate, magistrate, etc. to make a crime and be imprisoned.In the end, the families of those who were persecuted were ruined, their wives were separated, and the poor and wealthy families were even worse than beggars.After the local government confiscated the property of these people and used it as an official, they sold it to the Tong family at a low price in order to advance to the rank.The Tong family was not ashamed of this evil deed, but they were complacent and publicized it everywhere.

As for the incidents of forcibly robbing women from good families as slaves, maidservants, and concubines, there are countless.

With the continuous interrogation by the jailer and Dali Temple Minister, everyone in the Tong family, including the Queen Mother, could no longer sit still.And the elders of the royal family, represented by Prince Zhongyu, couldn't hide their disappointment looking at the Queen Mother and Queen Tong.

Fortunately, the Holy Spirit moved these matters to the side hall for handling.If such a dirty and shameless matter was interrogated openly in the main hall, the envoys from all nations who came to the DPRK heard about it, how embarrassing it would be.

And at the end of the interrogation, even the matter of the empress ordering someone to drug Tu Zhen's concubine was involved... The jailer who was in charge of the interrogation and the secretary of the Dali Temple stopped the interrogation trembling all over, and dared not continue the interrogation .

The atmosphere in the side hall became gloomy and heavy.In such a dignified atmosphere, everyone couldn't help holding their breath and concentrating.After being silent for a while, the Queen Mother Tong finally couldn't bear the pressure and said: "Zhen'er, the people of the Tong family have done so many wrong things in the name of the Queen Mother, and the Queen Mother really doesn't know."

Tu Zhen closed his eyes and did not speak.

Empress Dowager Tong paused, and tentatively said: "This matter is related to the national system, Zhen'er thinks... Should it be made into a small matter, so as not to make those foreign envoys who come here to pay homage a joke?"

At this moment, Empress Dowager Tong is very glad that today is a banquet given by the palace.At this juncture, I'm afraid Tu Zhen doesn't want to make any mistakes!After all, this is the first time he independently presided over a palace banquet, which is of great significance!

Prince Zhongyu took a step forward, bowed and said, "Your Majesty Qizuo, Emperor Taizong Li Shimin of the Tang Dynasty said that water can carry a boat and overturn it. The Yong Dynasty was established for a hundred years, and it took several generations of emperors to work hard. The result of diligent government and love for the people. Although Tong's family is the Holy Majesty's foreign family, but the king governs the world, all people in the world are your people. The people are the most important, the community is second, and the king is the least. I implore the Holy Majesty to think twice, and you must not tolerate adultery , connive at the powerful and bully the common people.”

The Empress Dowager Tong was shocked when she heard the words, and immediately refuted. "But--"

"The empress dowager is careful." Prince Zhongyu looked at the empress dowager Tong very dissatisfied and said: "The empress dowager is a holy mother and empress dowager, and she is a model for hundreds of millions of boudoir women. You should set an example. In the past, the eldest grandson empress did not hesitate to suppress her for the sake of the country. The influence of our family in the court has even evaded Taizong Li Shimin's award many times. This is what a worthy empress should do. Instead of conniving at the fish and meat village of my family, committing crimes, or even condoning my niece and daughter killing the concubine of her own son."

The Empress Dowager Tong didn't say a word about being squeezed out, so she kept her mouth shut with embarrassment.She knew that Prince Zhongyu had expressed his attitude so straight to the point, that the Tong family might really be doomed this time.

Sure enough, Tu Zhen nodded indifferently and said: "Uncle Zhongyu's words are very true. The Tong family, a foreign relative, relied on the emperor's favor and did not know how to return it. They even used the royal name to oppress the people in Yurou Township. They did all kinds of evil and treason. Deprive Tong Moke of the title of Duke Cheng, and confiscate all the property obtained, and use it to compensate the people who were deceived by the Tong family. In the face of the Queen Mother, the criminals of the Tong family will be spared from prison, and the Tong family will be demoted to common people The specific matters of this matter will be handled by Prince Zhonglian."

Tong Kecha, who was hiding behind everyone, trembled when he heard the words, and lowered his head with a pale face.

Xue Pan stared at Tong Kecha's figure with a sneering face, and hooked the corners of his mouth in disdain.Ten years of feng shui turns, you dare to bully my brother, sooner or later I will call you back!

"Queen Tongshi has a tyrannical personality and jealousy by nature. She disregards human life. It is difficult to be the mother of the country. I will pass on my will to abolish Tongshi's empress position and imprison her in the cold palace."

"Your Majesty..." The Queen Tong rushed up like crazy, hugged Tu Zhen's feet and shouted: "Your Majesty, you can't do this—"

"I can't?" Tu Zhen raised his eyebrows, and asked solemnly: "You said, I can't?"

The real murderous Empress Tong turned pale, and she collapsed under Tu Zhen's feet like a puddle of mud.Tu Zhen glanced at Queen Tong with unconcealed disgust, and said softly, "Either go to the Leng Palace, or I will give you a white silk."

Seeing this scene, the Empress Dowager Tong opened her mouth unbearably, but finally said nothing.

Tu Zhen waved his hand wearily, and said, "I'm tired, all the nobles should also step down!"

Everyone in the side hall immediately bowed and retreated.

Tu Zhen said again: "It's past the time of the palace ban. According to my will, all ministers and workers can stay in the palace."

Everyone kowtowed and thanked Dade again.

Tu Zhen waved his hand, looked at the members of the Tong family who were escorted out of the palace by the guards, and at the empress dowager and the deposed empress Tong who were helping each other to leave the side hall, a gloomy look flashed in his eyes.

Perhaps, everyone felt that this turmoil was over.

But Tu Zhen, who personally directed this story, knows clearly that all this has just begun...