Daming prepares the emperor

"Is it noon?"

Wang Baozhong put down the cattail fan in his hand, and said to the captain of the guard department: "Go and have a look."

The team leader sat with Wang Baozhong in the sweltering room for several hours. He was already irritable and anxious, and couldn't leave because he was on business. Hearing this, he got up and stomped his feet, went out to see the sky, and came back after a few breaths to report: " It's about noon."

Everyone turned their attention to Dao Tong and Lu Jinai.

On the table were rich food and wine bought by Wang Baozhong's people, including chicken, duck, fish, rice wine and fruits.However, these things have not been touched, and they are all in good condition. After gradually cooling, a greasy film forms on the surface, which makes people unappetizing.Sitting in front of him, Daotong was about to die, so one can imagine his mood.

During this period of time, Lu Jin'ai had thought clearly. He wanted to accompany Dao Tong to die, which was a way to delay time. Losing this purpose, it would not be worthwhile to die here. He made up his mind to go to Beijing later. , went to meet the prince in person, so after Wang Baozhong said something, he didn't have any intention to refute and make trouble, so that everyone who followed him put down their worries.

"Brother Lu." Daotong picked up the wine glass and only called his name once, but everything was kept silent.

Lu Jinai's eyes were moist: "Don't worry, I understand what you mean, the people of Panyu will leave it to me."

The sleeves of the official uniform were drawn across the mouth of the cup. Daotong looked calm, and even showed a little free and easy smile. In the hands holding the poisoned wine, he once picked up the scroll written with the words of the sage, and also picked up the poisonous wine. He has used the writing brush to correct the copywriting, and even picked up the bamboo stick token to avenge the people's grievances, and now he is going to pick up the poisoned wine bestowed by his monarch.

After picking up this glass of wine, he will never have to pick up anything again, and corrupt officials will never dirty his eyes and humiliate his personality again.

Song Shu also came, but he didn't make a sound, he just waited outside the door. Out of respect for Dao Tong, the soldiers who guarded the door ignored him. I couldn't hold back my tears, and people in their 70s and [-]s cried like a newborn baby, screaming and screaming.

No one made fun of Song Shu, everyone was in a bad mood, and when they heard the crying, they felt that someone was venting for them.

Dao Tong's lips were stained with wine.

Song Shuyin's tears-blurred vision suddenly flashed a white light. He subconsciously looked up to the sky, and saw something falling straight towards the county government office like a meteor. The white clouds were separated one after another, leaving a long line from north to south in the sky.

Several soldiers were stunned by the dazzling flames and the sound of piercing the air, and finally came back to their senses, and immediately opened the door and shouted: "My lord, there are monsters outside!"

When they were shouting hoarsely, the white light braked suddenly, and then slid down again. At a speed that no one could see clearly, it rushed into the lobby from the open door, and half of the roof tiles were blown away.

Entering the house, the white light knocked off Daotong's poisoned wine with great precision before completely stopping.

Slowly, the light went out, revealing what was inside, which turned out to be an exquisitely crafted and luxurious folding fan.

Wang Baozhong was surprised: "This, this is not the crown prince's..."

Lu Jin'ai stood up suddenly, and was the first to notice the rice paper in the fan bone.

The folding fan shook left and right, as if to identify the location, and when it turned to Wang Baozhong, he spread his body, and several large characters suddenly appeared on the fan.

Prince?

Wang Baozhong knelt down and said, "The servant is here."

He knelt down, and others naturally didn't dare to stand up. With a few plops, everyone was a little shorter.

Kneel to accept the imperial decree.

The words on the fan have changed.

Wang Baozhong immediately stretched out his hands respectfully to catch the paper thrown by the folding fan, and then knelt down to read the decree.

He was surprised by the handwriting on the paper that belonged to the prince. It was impossible to tell whose order it was, but the imperial decree is the imperial decree, and there is no reason to avoid debate.

"The county magistrate of Panyu, Dao Tong, was spared from death, and still held his post. The county magistrate, Lu Jin'ai, came to Beijing immediately. I hereby."

Lu Jin'ai and Wang Baozhong helped Daotong up and let him sit back on the chair.

Although everyone in the hall was happy, after realizing the hidden meaning, they seemed to have seen a huge wave that went up to Zhongshu Zaifu and down to the ninth-rank officials. I don’t know how many people will be imprisoned. , They looked at each other in blank dismay, unable to laugh.

Song Shu is not a member of the public family, so he doesn't care about these things. He was so happy that he jumped over the threshold and rushed to Daotong's side, and said cheerfully, "You don't have to die! The emperor is still good, he knows that he has wronged you!"

Dao Tong laughed and said: "Of course the Holy Majesty is wise, Doctor Song, please go to the door and let everyone know the order."

Wang Baozhong asked suspiciously: "Who are you telling? In such a hot day, it is still very difficult to gather a group of people outside the yamen. Lord Dao, just wait a moment, I will send a few people to beat the gong to notify."

"No." Daotong shook his head, "The common people must still be there, and they are the group from the morning."

"I'll go in person." Wang Baozhong was dubious.

When he was ready to open the door of the county office, he was really shocked by the sight in front of him.

The number of people is much higher than before. The young and middle-aged people are supporting the elderly, leading the children, sitting or standing, crowded in the only few shaded places, densely packed, crowded, as if there is no place to stay in the flood, standing The flock of birds on the branches, Wang Baozhong almost felt that everyone in the county had arrived.

As soon as he appeared, people immediately looked at him with earnest eyes. Many people's eyes were still red, and they should have cried a few times.

"...The Holy Majesty has changed his will."

The people watched eagerly and pricked up their ears to listen.

"Dao Tong will not die, and continue to be the magistrate of Panyu."

The crowd immediately boiled up, scrambling to be the first to shout, who knows which clever person shouted first, and after a while, the gate of the yamen began to shout long live.

It was the first time for Wang Baozhong to see such a situation, he couldn't help being moved, his mood was agitated, even though he told the people to go back, he didn't send anyone to push them away, he just quietly closed the door and turned around, leaving the noise outside.

"Since the imperial decree tells me to go to Beijing, there is no delay." After Wang Baozhong went out, Lu Jinai talked to Daotong in the hall, "Things have suddenly turned around now, and there must have been changes that we couldn't guess. The decree is just convenient to act, I will go to see the prince immediately after entering the city, and no one will be able to use any means at that time."

"Bring these things with you." Daotong calmed down, and took out a stack of papers from the drawer beside the table, "Show these to the emperor and the prince, we have a better chance of being trusted."

"Okay." Lu Jin'ai picked up her bag from the corner, carefully folded the things and stuffed them in, "I'm leaving."

The captain hurriedly said: "Mr. Lu, I didn't speak well before, and I neglected you. Don't be angry with me. This is not the time to leave. When the prince comes back, you will return to Beijing with us. There are surveys from the Ministry of War, horses to ride, and soldiers to look after, even if you don’t think highly of us, at least you think highly of our speed and safety.”

While he was speaking, the folding fan floating in mid-air twitched.It picked apart the knots tied on Lu Jin'ai's bag, and the upper half of its body got in, and with a fan, it picked up the thick pile of petition documents just like Zhu Biao's rice paper, and then turned into a streak of light again. fly away.

Lu Jin'ai was stunned for a moment, then cupped her hands to the captain and said, "That's troublesome..."

The captain's face was full of joy, and Zhou Bantou broke in. He also knew the news that Dao Tong was spared from death.

"Tang Zun, the brother guarding the cell just came to report that Luo Youqian led the soldiers of Marquis Yongjia to forcibly break open the prison, and then rescued the prisoners who were locked up!"

Standing behind Bantou Zhou, Wang Gonggong was furious: "It's really unreasonable, Mr. Dao, you bring the imperial decree, our family and you will meet him!"

Six Corridors.

The Liuke Langfang near the Meridian Gate covers a very large area. The officials working here are called Liuke Gishizhong, which are divided into Duguishizhong, Left and Right Gishizhong, and Ordinary Gishizhong.

Although the six departments and the six ministries have six divisions of officials, rites, households, soldiers, workers, and punishments, their functions are completely different, and their functions are also very different.

Like the censors, they are low in rank and important in terms of rank. They are only seven ranks, responsible for inspecting the affairs of the six ministries, and have the power to copy, participate in and cancel.

Letters and documents sent from all over the country are recorded and processed by them, distributed to various ministries, and those who need to ask for instructions are sent to the Hall of Martial Arts.After the imperial decree was issued, each department transcribed and registered the matter, sent it outside the palace, and supervised the situation at all times according to the emperor's will. secretary.

Wei Zhongde was an eunuch. If he was such a favored and trusted companion in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, of course he could come and go here at will, and he could even make friends with the first assistant and second assistant. Bao, but now it is the early Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang issued a clear order, and even put up a sign at the gate of the palace saying that eunuchs are not allowed to interfere in politics.

Soon an official came out of the matter: "Eunuch Wei, what do you want to tell us?"

"It's not a will." Wei Zhongde said, "His Royal Highness condemned me to find a memorial, which should have been sent from Panyu, Guangzhou in the past two days."

"Ah." Li Ke said to Shizhong, "If it arrived three days ago, we have already sent it away separately, maybe at the Zhongshu Province, maybe at the Emperor's."

Wei Zhongde didn't speak, just smiled.

Immediately comprehended the deep meaning of the matter, secretly scolded himself for being confused, raised his hand and asked: "Father-in-law come with me."

When he got to the room, he closed the door and went out, leaving Wei Zhongde to rummage inside.Wei Zhongde searched for a long time, and even searched other provinces, but still found nothing.

With the mentality of giving it a try, he went out and said to the person waiting at the door: "Can my lord take me to the deregistered warehouse?"

He said in the middle of the matter: "Since it is His Highness's order, of course it can."

Wei Zhongde said: "Naturally, it is His Highness's intention."

There are small firemen guarding the outside of the warehouse day and night, but after all, it is a canceled item, so the guarding is inevitably not careful enough. Many records are covered with dust. When people enter, there is even a layer of fine smoke visible to the naked eye.

The little official who brought him was considerate and thoughtful, and offered to help Wei Zhongde find it together, but he politely refused and sent him out.Another half an hour later, Wei Zhongde finally found an urgent letter from Panyu in the corner. It was clearly new from the date, but it was put in such a place.

Kicking it into his sleeve, Wei Zhongde went back to the mansion, sat on the chair in his own room and had just had a sip of tea when several eunuchs ran in outside and tried to fan him and hand him ice, and one was about to kneel down Take off his boots and pinch his feet.

"Get up, I have to rush back to the Hall of Spring Harmony to serve the Crown Prince." Wei Zhongde said, "You call someone well-informed, I want to ask something."

"Yes." The eunuch who was kneeling ran out and brought back a boy who only looked like thirteen or fourteen years old.

"Who has been to the Sixth Section Corridor in the past few days?"

The little eunuch said: "Grandpa Hui, it's hard to say about this slave girl. Officials from various ministries come and go. If you want to say who they are, you can count half of the people in Yingtian Mansion. It would be great if you could ask more details."

"Has Mr. Liu Bowen been here?"

"No."

"Where are Yang Xian and Hu Weiyong?"

The little eunuch said: "No, the prime minister has been here and dealt with some matters."

Wei Zhongde thought for a while, and then asked: "Has anyone from the palace like us been there?"

"That's much less." The little eunuch replied, "I have seen my godfather and Eunuch Yang go there, and even if the rest went, they didn't enter the corridor."

"Which Eunuch Yang."

"It's Yang Gaomeng, Eunuch Yang."