Chongzhen Sunset Song

?one

"Please let Your Majesty show you how to retry the case of Qian Qianyi."

"Well, this matter should be discussed in a long-term manner. Wen Qing will step down for the time being, and let me think about it again."

"Yes..." Wen Tiren hesitated for a while, but finally pursed his lips, holding back the remonstrance that he was about to blurt.

"Wei Chen retire."

After dismissing Wen Tiren, Chongzhen opened a memorial, but his eyes remained motionless, as if he was lost in thought.It has been nearly a month since the imperial decree was issued that day, but the retrial has been delayed again and again, and there has been no movement for a long time.Xi Zhao originally thought that Lord Lu's words had made the emperor make a decision in his heart, but from this point of view, the emperor's vacillating mind did not reduce too much because of Lord Lu's words.

After lunch, the sun is warming.Chongzhen and Xizhao took a leisurely walk around the courtyard of the Wuying Palace, enjoying a short nap in the afternoon.

"I don't understand something, and I want to ask the emperor to enlighten me." Xizhao asked leisurely while walking behind Chongzhen.

"Well. Tell me." Chongzhen stepped on the regular square bricks in the garden step by step with his hands behind his back.

"The villain doesn't understand... Your Majesty has always been wise and decisive in dealing with political affairs. Why is His Majesty so hesitant about Qian Qianyi's case? The case of Zheng Yan before this is similar to this one, and I haven't seen His Majesty... Uh...cough..." mentioned Xizhao suddenly felt a suffocation in his chest for the case of Zheng Fu.The passage of a year was enough to dispel the troublesome emotions, but now it seems that the knots that have been stirred up all over the place have not been completely resolved... So he broke the conversation in the middle of the sentence, He coughed lightly and covered it up.

"This matter is indeed different." Chongzhen didn't seem to care about Xizhao's unnatural cough, and only answered Xizhao's question lightly, "Zheng Fu left the government early, and he has neither contact nor interests with Wen Qing. You can trust Wen Qing a little more. However, Qian and Wen have always had disagreements in political views and get along badly. This time, Wen Qing suddenly came to overturn Qian Qianyi's situation..." Chongzhen paused, and sighed softly, "Ling One has to be suspicious..."

"Since the emperor didn't believe it, why didn't he just pardon Qian Qianyi?" Xi Zhao blinked.

"The Ministry of Criminal Justice has decided to interrogate the case. No matter what, under the watchful eyes of everyone, we must not ignore the rules and regulations." Chongzhen turned his head halfway, smiled slightly, and said, "I ordered a retrial, do you know why?"

"The villain only knows that it's because of Mr. Lu's book, but he doesn't know what the book is about." Xi Zhao answered truthfully.

"It's actually not unusual to write about the compromise. I was very surprised when I first heard that Lu Qing was the one who made the compromise. Lu Qing didn't know Qian Qianyi well, so naturally there was nothing in the notebook to plead for him. It was just a sentence." What I said made me feel reasonable—a small case, but a big one, should not be used as a standard to lightly condone the party's actions to attack dissidents." Chongzhen walked around the low and sparse bushes, and continued, "The truth of this case has not yet been clarified. If it is true that Wen Qing made a false accusation in order to get rid of his old enemy, he should investigate it strictly; and if the accusations are all true, but accidentally contaminated with the suspicion of being partisan and attacking dissidents, he should be treated with more caution. For the sake of the case, and for Wen Qing to dispel the suspicion of party dispute."

Clear the suspicion for Mr. Wen...

After walking for a long time, the damp and cold from the room has been dispelled by the warm sunshine.Chongzhen stepped onto the central corridor and walked slowly towards the main hall. "Your Majesty..." Hearing Xi Zhao's voice behind him suddenly, Chongzhen stopped and turned around, but saw a smile on the corner of Xi Zhao's lips, and said gently: "Although your Majesty once said that Mr. Wen couldn't believe it all, in fact...in his heart... he is still willing." Trust Mr. Wen."

Chongzhen was taken aback when he heard the words, and then he relaxed his expression and responded with a smile.

"Probably so." His tone was as flat as water, "Qian Qianyi has been in the opposition for many years, and he did not care about government affairs. I really feel in my heart that Wen Qing has no reason to make false accusations. Besides..." Chongzhen was in the middle of speaking, but suddenly fell silent. Staring at the sky in a daze, he finally opened his mouth for a long while and said quietly: "Besides, the minister has been in the cabinet for three years, he has been in the cabinet for three years, and the chief assistant has been in the court for four years... ten years as a monarch and minister, how can I not believe him."

It turned out to be the case.

One word was like an arrow, piercing directly through the skin of the clothes, making Xi Zhao, who was staring at the emperor's back, seem to have glimpsed the emperor's deepest feelings in an instant.Although he often said it clearly, but in this extremely high position, when the current situation is chaotic, when the wind is not old, the emperor still longs for someone who can carry his trust and stand firm all the way, even at this time. People don't care about Xiao Daxian, even if there is some wishful thinking in this trust.But, but...is this really good?Xi Zhao's chest tightened, and an inexplicable uneasiness suddenly appeared in her heart, throbbing and restless, but it was chaotic and indistinguishable, indescribable.He had to take a deep breath, calm down, and pray secretly:

——I only hope that Mr. Shoufu will not let the emperor give up his trust in vain.

two

At this time, the Lord Chief Assistant was just reading and sealing a copy signed by Zhang Zhifa, and sent someone to send it to the Eunuch Wang, the supervisor of ceremonies, and carefully asked the little eunuch who was running errands to take the message, so that the Eunuch Wang would be more careful. take care of.Looking at the back of the little eunuch trotting all the way, Wen Tiren turned around and went into Wenyuan Pavilion, and nodded to Zhang Zhifa who was on the second assistant seat, as if he was sure of winning, with a slight smile on his lips.

Snapped!

In the supervisor of ceremonies, Wang Chengen's eyes were red, he folded the booklet with both hands, and threw it on the table.

"Elder-in-law?" Li Quan, who was next to him, was taken aback. Before he could ask what was going on, he heard Wang Chengen suppress his voice and cursed:

"Take care of the fart!"

Li Quan swept his eyes back and forth, then smiled knowingly. "Your father-in-law is angry with the booklet sent by Mr. Wen just now?"

"What else can it be!" Wang Chengen leaned back in his chair, two walnuts in his hand were twirling loudly, "This warm body and benevolent man really has gone mad, it seems that these years have made him turn his hands over and over again in the court." It's too easy to rain, and it's actually on the leader's body!"

"Who is Master Wen's ginseng?" Li Quan asked hurriedly.

"Who?" Wang Chengen rolled his eyes, "It's not Lu Xiangsheng who is in the way!"

"Oh?" Li Quan took out the booklet thrown on the table and looked at it. Sure enough, there was a long piece of Taige Xiaokai written in it, which included crimes such as accepting bribes, withholding military pay, arrogance, and being out of jurisdiction. , all refer to Lu Xiangsheng.

"Zhang Zhifa..." Li Quan inadvertently read the signature of the payment, but told Wang Chengen to cut off the words face to face: "What Zhang Zhifa, those two people are not the same! If it wasn't for Wen Tiren's instruction, he would dare to do it!"

Li Quan didn't care about being robbed by Wang Chengen, he still had that tepid smile on his face and said, "Don't be impatient, Eunuch. Those speech officials who didn't like Mr. Lu before all wrote badly. Extremely high, Mr. Lu is still firmly in charge of the five provinces and Xuanda, and his status has not been shaken at all, so why should the prince care about himself with Mr. Wen?"

"What is the status of the cabinet? Can the papers presented by the cabinet have the same weight as those ants?" Wang Chengen snorted, his anger subsided a little, and the walnuts in his hand turned a little slower. "In the past few years he has been the chief assistant, the court personnel are in his hands. Whoever he likes to exclude, our family is also happy to let him go. Anyway, there are not many more or less of those sour literati. But this leader How can the fighters move around at will?" Speaking of this, Wang Chengen's heart was full of hatred, and his mouth was like a cannonball, "These people are down, whoever comes to suppress the rogues, whoever drives the foreign captives, whoever comes to the emperor Bao, who will guard the Ming Dynasty? Usually there is a lot of fighting on the paper, and the golden captives have come to the city several times. If no one can stop them, the stinky scholars who have no power to restrain the chickens will fight! It seems that All these years, Wen Tiren has been so used to our family that our minds are dizzy. They got rid of Yuan Chonghuan back then, and he forgot how much land he lost! This time, he is eyeing Lu Xiangsheng again, because he wants to give up the Datong of the Xuanfu? Your Majesty The important thing is that the community is important, but his personal enmity is more important! At this age, these scenes, and the salary of the imperial court for so many years, they are all fed to the dogs!"

The prince who is the most good at fighting against dissidents in his life, and pursues profit in everything, unexpectedly uttered such words of loyalty to the emperor and patriotism at this moment. This sense of incongruity made Li Quan feel that he was not used to it. side, but finally can not laugh. "Eunuch is right." Li Quan lowered his head to hide the complicated emotions in his eyes, and humbly agreed.Wang Chengen's words were vulgar and straightforward, but the truth was not wrong. After the initial sense of incongruity faded away, Li Quan looked at this smooth and sophisticated old fritter in front of him with admiration for many years.

"Then how does the father-in-law plan to deal with this notebook?"

"Hmph, this time, we must not let him do whatever he wants. He asked our family to take care of it, and our family will take good care of his book." Wang Chengen thought for a while, and then threw the walnut with his hand. "Come here." Wang Chengen greeted.Zhou Xi from afar responded.

"What orders does the father-in-law have?"

"You put this booklet at the bottom of the bookcase, and we will keep it safe, so you don't have to take it out again."

three

"Wang Chengen, this old boy, did he take the wrong medicine!? He actually came here to get in the way of this official!"

In the study at the back of Wen's mansion, Wen Tiren hammered the table and said bitterly.The plain-clothed messenger was interrupted by Wen Tiren. Seeing Mr. Wen's complexion suddenly darkened, he didn't dare to say any more, so he bowed and stood aside.Wang Cong beside Wen Tiren didn't know what he heard from the reporter's words, and he kept looking uneasy, hesitant to speak, as if he was looking for an opportunity to interrupt.But seeing that Wen Tiren was sullen and angry, and the reporter didn't dare to talk to him, he cleared his throat in a low voice, and said:

"My lord, calm down. I think the prince should be doing it for your own good. Now that Mr. Lu is in full power and his family is strong, your lord is going to force him to say that he is wrong. I am afraid that he will run into trouble with His Majesty. Maybe even Qian Qianyi This very sure case will also be compensated, and the prince thought it was because of this that he didn't submit Mr. Zhang's paper."

"He's really thoughtful!" After hearing what Wang Cong said, the anger in Wen Tiren's eyes didn't decrease but increased, "I have served His Majesty for more than ten years, and I still need him to help me grasp the scale?! Last time, Lu Xiangsheng protected you. He handed over Qian Qianyi's paperwork without stopping it, well, that means we didn't notify in advance, but this time he blatantly blocked the paperwork sent by the official, are you confused as an official? ! Isn’t this an obvious attempt to oppose this official!”

"My lord, calm down. The prince and your lord have supported each other for so many years, and the relationship is very close. How could you suddenly turn against your lord for no reason. Don't worry about it, my lord. You may have other thoughts in your mind when you act like this." Wang Cong was still trying to persuade Wen Tiren, but Wen Tiren squinted and turned to point the finger at Wang Cong: "There are other considerations? You are talking about deducting discounts without consulting with the official. What can he think? What are you thinking about when you speak for that old boy like this?!"

When Wang Cong heard this, his heart froze, and he quickly defended: "My lord misunderstood, Wansheng just thought that the prince and us have always been on good terms, if the lord offends the prince because of a moment of anger, it is tantamount to offending the supervisor of ceremonies, the palace It will be very disadvantageous to the adults if there is no supervisor of ceremonies to take care of them."

"Hmm..." Wen Tiren finally calmed down a little when he heard the word Si Lijian, "But Wang Chengen has always been condescending, and I have long been tired of seeing it..." Wen Tiren's mouth was still hard, but his attitude was obvious After softening, Wang Cong could see that his words really touched the scruples in the heart of Mr. Shoufu.So he thought for a while, intending to organize his speech, and to warm up his grievances in one go, but the messenger didn't know the timing, and he hesitated and said:

"There is one more thing, which is very important... I really dare not hide it from my lord..."

"Just say it." Wen Tiren said in a muffled voice with a gloomy face.

"According to the report from the informant in the prison of the Ministry of Punishments, Qian Qianyi had nowhere to turn for help in the prison. A few days ago, he also wrote a letter to ask the prince of the Sili Supervisor. During the Tianqi period, Qian Qianyi was acquainted with the chief eunuch Wang An of the Sili Supervisor. , Wang Chengen and Wang An were very close in the early years. There was such a relationship. Hearing that Wang Chengen... agreed to help Qian Qianyi...to be cleared..." The reporter peeked at Wen Tiren's face, The more I talked, the lower the voice became. In the end, the voice was as thin and inaudible as a mosquito.

But Wen Tiren heard every word clearly. "What?!" He widened his eyes, and the anger that had just been hidden suddenly burned again.Wang Cong's heart sank, he gave the messenger a hard look, and was about to say something to ease, but he saw that Wen Tiren suddenly regained his composure, not only the anger disappeared without a trace, but a cold smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

"My lord..." Seeing Wen Tiren's state, Wang Cong was extremely surprised. He didn't know what to say for a while, so he could only call out tentatively.

"Hmph, a god-sent opportunity, a god-sent opportunity." Wen Tiren frowned, stretched his muscles and bones, and slowly leaned back on the chair.

"My lord...what do you mean by that?" Wang Cong asked puzzled.

"What do you mean?" Wen Tiren glanced at Wang Cong, "I thought Wang Chengen was in the way, so I found something to do with him. Tell me, is this God's will?"

For some reason, Wang Cong turned pale with shock when he heard this, cold sweat dripped from his forehead.He strode forward and said in a hurry: "My lord, how can you think this way? If you want to talk about the handle, there are very few people who hold the handle on our side in the hands of the prince! It is easy to turn against him, and it will do no harm to the lord." Leigh!"

"That depends on who your Majesty believes." Wen Tiren deliberately bit down on the word "Your Majesty", and then pondered for a while, ordering Wang Cong and the messenger who was waiting by the side: "You two, don't leak the news, you want to take your Majesty away. Trust, you have to strike first. Hehe, Wang Chengen." Wen Tiren narrowed his eyes, sneered, and looked confident, "What kind of skill is stumbling, if you want to play, you can play big. If you are not benevolent, don't blame Ben Officials are unjust!"

Seeing that Wen Tiren had made up his mind to deal with Wang Chengen, Wang Cong felt anxious for a moment, but he couldn't think of any words to change his mind from the stubborn adult in front of him.Xu Shi was furious, and Wen Tiren didn't realize how abnormally anxious and impulsive this Tsing Yi disciple who had followed him for many years was today.After the messenger saluted and left, Wen Tiren leaned on the chair and closed his eyes to rest his mind, thinking carefully about the next plan, while Wang Cong, who was standing by the side, gradually calmed down, thinking about the past and the future, weighing left and right, even if he couldn't bear it, he would Finally, he cruelly dismissed his troubles and distracting thoughts, and secretly settled his own calculations.