Shaodi Chunxin

When Cao Ban'an was fourteen years old, he sold himself and eunuched and entered the Prince's Mansion. He was valued by Li Cailiang, and he worshiped Li Cailiang, who was only the eunuch in charge of the Prince's Mansion at that time, as his teacher.

Within half a year after he entered the palace, Zhao Jin was made a prince and reopened the palace.

His gambler father had just begged and threatened him in the alley behind the palace, asking him to give away his last few coppers.

"If you don't have any money for me, I'm afraid I'll have to send your sister to the Qiubo Building." His father was still not satisfied with the money and said to him.

Cao Ban'an only felt hopeless, and asked him: "Where is the Qiubo Tower? How could Dad be so cruel. On the day I sold myself, Dad said that I would stop embarrassing my sister, and save my money to find a good home for my sister."

"Really, have I said that?" My father asked shamelessly, "I only know that the family has no money, and there are four or five mouths waiting for food at home. I must live. If I can't survive, I have to find a way. Your sister is an old girl. Now, there is no dowry, and no one will marry her, so I can’t do anything to save the family after spending rice at home? Otherwise, all these years of raising her will be in vain.”

Finally his father said: "I'll come back tomorrow, you can prepare the money."

He watched the so-called father drift away from the back alley, and returned to the palace after a while.

"Ban'an, today we have a banquet in the palace, there are many dignitaries and dignitaries, but there are not enough people in front, so you go to the dismounting place in front to serve." Li Cailiang said to him.

"Understood, Master." He responded.

Li Cailiang looked at him: "Your heartless father is here again?"

Cao Ban'an hurriedly lowered his head and wiped away his tears: "It's okay, let Master worry about it. I, I'll go there now."

On the day of the banquet, all the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty came to congratulate, and everyone knew that this was the harbinger of the fourth prince's succession to the throne.

The place where the horses fell in front was already full of sedan chairs, chariots and horses, and many people were coming.

The pedals for dismounting were no longer enough, and the servants of the Prince's Mansion knelt down as human benches, allowing the nobles to step down on their shoulders.

However, there were too many people, and within a short time, Cao Ban'an felt his shoulders swell, and knelt down on the ground, his clothes were already dirty and torn, he was very embarrassed.

It was probably at this time that he saw the noble young master galloping on horseback from the corner of the street.

The man was about sixteen or seventeen years old, wearing a jacket with a velvet flower on his head, a sky blue cloak with Ruyi pattern, a plum sword on his waist, and a vigorous and majestic horse under him.

Before the horse arrives at the mansion, it will be good to stop.

He knelt down to make a human stool.

"No need." The man said, "Get out of the way, I will come down by myself."

Cao Banan was startled.

Yang Lingxue, who came with him next to him, said immediately: "Fu Yuanqing, your horse is very hot-tempered and not yet tame, you should settle down safely, don't fall into a tussle in front of the Prince's Mansion, it would be embarrassing for you to talk about it." gone."

That's the young man who is still Mr. Fu and said with a smile: "Yang Lingxue doesn't make fun of me for a day, don't you feel bad?"

He drove the horse away from Cao Ban'an's side: "I'm not used to stepping on people to dismount. Get out of the way, this horse has a strong temper, don't step on you."

After saying this, Young Master Fu got off his horse and landed firmly on the ground, looked back at him, and said to him: "The ground is cold and hard, it's so uncomfortable to kneel on. Get up."

Before he finished speaking, Yang Lingxue, who had walked to the gate, turned around and called him: "Brother, can you hurry up! The banquet inside has begun."

"Okay, right away." Young Master Fu saw that he was still kneeling, hesitated for a moment, held his elbow, and lifted him up, "On the way we came, there was no one coming, so there should be no need for you to step on your feet. Don't be afraid, if someone blames you then, tell them I said it."

He hurried forward a few steps, then turned around and added: "Oh, by the way, my name is Fu Yuanqing. Let them find Fu Yuanqing."

The old images were smashed before Cao Ban'an's eyes, he was woken up by a bucket of salt water, his back was so shattered that the pain was more severe when the salt water went up.

When entering the prison of the Ministry of Criminal Justice, the jailer said with a smile: "I heard that Beizhen Fusi is under the supervision of Cao Bingbi. They say that the torture in the prison is scary. I am very sorry. Our prison of the Ministry of Criminal Justice is not bad. I'm going to compete with Cao Bingbi."

So he put the heaviest shackles on him, and pressed him to the ground with a staff.

The people below asked the jailer: "My lord, how should I ask?"

The jailer drank some tea and said leisurely, "Naturally, you have to ask honestly! Don't let Cao Bingbi underestimate our Ministry of Punishment."

Cao Ban'an was pressed on the stone slab, and was beaten mercilessly through his clothes. No one tried to avoid his spine. When he was hit with [-] sticks, his back hurt so badly that he passed out.

The salt water that had woken him pooled on the slate, staining it red.

"Cao Bingbi, did you tell me?" the jailer asked him, "We have already released water."

Cao Ban'an coughed a few times and asked weakly, "What do you want me to say?"

"Oh...do I need to mention something?" The jailer sighed, "Whose are those two jars of wine in Ting Taoju?"

"Mine." Cao Ban'an said.

"Oh? Did Fu Yuanqing instruct you to say that?" The jailer Xu Xushan tempted, "Did you take the blame for him?"

"I hate Fu Yuanqing for making palm prints... for taking my position. I framed him. He didn't know about it." Cao Ban'an coughed up a mouthful of blood before he said slowly.

"Good guy, haven't you suffered enough?" said the jailer, "Why are you pretending to be a tough guy here? Come on, let me continue beating until he says so!"

The guards from both sides came over, and five or six of them took turns to sap, and they went down twenty more times. Cao Banan was half unconscious, his spine seemed to be broken, and there was only severe pain in his lower body.

"My lord, if you hit someone again, you'll be gone..." the jailer whispered, "He hasn't finished his sentence yet."

The jailer's face was livid, and he gritted his teeth and said, "Let him kneel up and beat him up!"

Someone helped Cao Banan, who was half unconscious, but he couldn't kneel down at all, and the guards on both sides had no choice but to support him. Waking up from severe pain in a semi-comatose state.

He was trembling with pain, his hair was messy and sticking to his cheeks, but he bit his lip and said nothing except for a scream when he woke up.

"Keep going! Hit the stick!" the jailer said angrily, "I don't know what to do!"

The jailer beat the willow wood vigorously with a knocking stick. The severe pain caused by the blow made life worse than death.

But Cao Ban'an still didn't scream, let alone beg for mercy.

He gritted his teeth.

The sound of teeth cracking could be faintly heard in the prison.

At this time, the jailer became gentle, squatting beside him, and slowly seduced: "Cao Bingbi, you are also one of the emperor's former nobles. Why do you have to make trouble here? You just need to admit that Fu Yuanqing is the person behind the scenes. You You can still go back to serve the emperor, then I will let Mr. Yu Ge mark a great service for you, in the future, it can also be used as a palm print, right?"

Cao Ban'an raised his eyes in a daze, looking at the jailer.

There was a momentary trance in his eyes.

The jailer thought he was going to agree.

But he coughed a few more times and said hoarsely, "Go away."

The jailer stood up and said, "Give him a stick!"

"...Don't worry about it." Cao Ban'an advised him, "It's useless."

The jailer was humiliated by an eunuch, turned into anger, and said with a smirk, "No recruiting? Post Jiaguan! Play the pipa! Light the sky lantern! I don't believe you didn't recruit!"

The jailer grabbed him and dragged him to the execution room deep in the prison.

"Go away." Cao Ban'an said again, "You blocked...the last beam of light in the window."

The jailer looked back and saw the afterglow of the setting sun falling into the prison in the narrow west-facing window at the farthest point of the corridor of the prison, and the tiny dust in the light beams fluctuated.

Cao Banan's eyes became gentle.

He is just the tiniest speck of dust in the world.

It was because of that person's favor that he was able to dance lightly.

Fortunate to be with the light.

enough.

Huiji Gate was burnt down during the Taizu period, and later rebuilt to its present appearance during Emperor Xiao’s reign. On duty, if the ministers are unwilling to submit the memorial from the cabinet, they can directly submit it to the gate of the Daohui for duty. There is a shift every day, and it will be sent directly from Suitang to the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

If there is no summons on weekdays, it is impossible for the ministers to enter the Zunyi Gate and the Hall of Mental Cultivation to face the saint.

Therefore, the Huiji Gate has become the closest and most private link between many ministers and the emperor, except for the imperial gate to listen to the government and the cabinet to deliver memorials.It was precisely because of this that if something really caused an uproar in the court, the Huiji Gate would inevitably become a place where all the ministers gathered and shouted for grievances.

Zhao Xu walked along the road on the east side of the Forbidden City, passed by Duanben Palace and arrived at the gate of Huiji.

At this time, the golden red fire clouds in the western sky filled most of the sky, covering the entire Forbidden City in red light.The sound of knocking on the door and crying on the opposite side of Huiji Gate can be heard endlessly.

Zhao Xu didn't bother to listen to what they were talking about.

He had heard enough these days.

"Open the door," he ordered.

Lai Liqun responded, and said to Jin Yiwei: "Unlock it! Open the door!"

More than a hundred Jinyi guards in front of the walking chariot responded in unison, and the door bolt of the general gate was lowered, and it opened with a bang. Under the hall square, after the police [Note 2] is over, the emperor's chariot will enter by itself and stop under the Baoxia.

The situation at Huiji Gate was even worse than the previous few days.

Hundreds of officials have gathered here, and some of them stayed here for a long time, and they did not leave. They brought soft mattresses, mats, clothes, etc., and it seemed that the square of Huangji Hall was full of smoke and smog.

The courtiers who had been kicked out of the school did not react until the emperor's chariot settled down.

"The emperor is here!"

"The Son of Heaven has arrived!"

The courtiers, who had been kneeling and weeping for several days, stood in a group, facing the emperor sitting on the dragon chariot, and were momentarily stunned.

Zhao Xu slowly changed his position on the chair, and said, "Aren't you crying and admonishing? I heard you wailing in the Hall of Mental Cultivation. Now that you're here, where's the playbook?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Xu Shaojun, a doctor from the Ministry of Rites, came out with the playbook in both hands, knelt at the gate of Huiji, and said: "I have the playbook!"

"Say."

"The emperor abides by the law of the ancestors, the three cardinal guides and the five constant principles, and each has its own order. Your majesty does not abide by the etiquette and law. It is disrespectful to reduce the posthumous title for the emperor, and it is unfilial to refuse to increase the emblem for the queen mother. Your majesty does not respect the filial piety of the ancestors. The behavior of Gang Chang’s code made the ministers weep and cry, heartbroken!"

Xu Shaojun fell to the ground and kowtowed, the green bricks were wet with tears.

"Finished?" Zhao Xu asked him.

"It's over." Xu Shaojun choked up.

Zhao Xu was not angry when he was pointed and scolded by the courtier, so he glanced at Fang Jing: "Since Mr. Xu, who has received the etiquette, has said so, Fang Jing, take his file here."

"Yes, master."

Ten people from Dongchang had followed behind with bookcases on their backs, and when they heard the call, they stepped forward. Fang Jing opened the file with the word "Ministry of Rites" written on it, found Xu Shaojun's file, and passed it on to Zhao Xu.

"Xu Shaojun, a doctor in the Ministry of Rites." Zhao Xu flipped through the pages, "Your family was poor when you were young, and you married into a rich gentry's family in your hometown for the sake of wealth. When you became an official, your original wife died of illness. In order to become an official in Beijing, you married a noble woman The Yuan family is his wife. This is how I entered the Ministry of Rites from the Shu Jishi of the Imperial Academy."

"The words are just and righteous. Let the emperor observe the etiquette. I don't think you are very observant. You were originally married, but you didn't support the original spouse's family. You didn't even bother to repair the original spouse's tomb. You are a lecherous person, and you have at least ten people in your family. Flattering the superiors, building a women's academy and gaining a good reputation of selflessness from the Ministry of Rites. Evading taxes to collect money, greedily using the original spouse's family land as a school field for private embezzlement..."

He said that Xu Shaojun's face turned ugly, and in the end he couldn't kneel anymore, lay down on the ground, and shouted: "Your minister is wronged!"

Zhao Xu couldn't be bothered to read any more, and threw his dossier at his feet: "You know whether you have been wronged or not."

"The minister is wronged! The minister is wronged!"

Lai Liqun stood up and shouted loudly: "Where is Jin Yiwei?!"

Jin Yiwei said in unison: "Here!"

"Take Xu Shaojun and send him to prison to await trial!"

"Yes!"

Two Jin Yiwei stepped forward, grabbed Xu Shaojun's arms, and pushed him down.

Rao Xingbang, an imperial attendant, stepped forward to stop him, bowed and said, "No, Your Majesty!"

"Oh... Rao Qing, please tell me, why not?" Zhao Xu asked him.

"According to the "Daduan Law", if you want to arrest an official in Beijing, you need to file a case first, and then verify it with the three courts, and then judge whether the Beizhen Fusi will intervene according to the severity of the case. It requires the imperial decree of the emperor! It means that your majesty may follow the "Da Duan Law". Please show your majesty the imperial decree with the seal on it, and then I will have no doubts."

Everyone in the Imperial Academy responded: "Yes, Your Majesty, please take out the imperial decree!"

Zhao Xu looked around at the group of tough officials, and couldn't help laughing: "You all know very well that I won't be in power until next month. Before that, my authority was divided into several parts, scattered among the cabinet, the chief inspector, etc. Among them, the batch of Hongquan, Dongxichang, and Beizhen Fusi have been taken back by me, but the sixteen treasure seals are still locked in the Silijian. I can't get the so-called imperial decree of the seal. You dare to be so confident, don't you? "

Rao Xingbang bowed: "I dare not! I only recognize "Daduanlu"."

"Okay." Zhao Xu said, "Fang Jing, bring Baoxi here."

Fang Jing responded, followed by Debao and the eunuchs who were in charge of ceremonies, took out the seals one after another, and unfolded them one by one under the building of Huiji Gate.

The Sixteen Seals, big or small, light or heavy, are all around Zhao Xu. 【Note 3】

The expressions of all the ministers changed.

"Smart, you are very smart. Rao Xingbang, as a lecturer in the Imperial Academy, you should devote yourself to studying knowledge and admonishing me for major events in the world, but because you are jealous of the virtuous and capable, you suppress a talented student like Su Yuqing under your feet. Who If you like flattery, you will be promoted, and whoever you dislike, you will send him to the inner school to give lectures. You read Confucius and Mencius for nothing, and you are wasting the country, what kind of imperial lecturer?!"

Under Zhao Xu's questioning, Rao Xingbang looked at him in a daze: "Chen, Chen..."

"You disobeyed advice today, and you are extremely arrogant and domineering. According to the "Daduan Law", you will be ordered to go to prison, and you will be punished according to the official code, and you will be a precept against disobedience! Come here, tie me up too!"

After two days of hustle and bustle, Huijimen fell silent.

There was only the sound of Jin Yiwei arresting people in the square.

It was very still.

It seems a little empty.

"Bring me Yu Huaimu." Zhao Xu said.

Lai Liqun yelled: "The prisoner Yu Huaimu!"

Then a Jin Yiwei bound Yu Huaimu, came from the Meridian Gate, and the officials gave way, Yu Huaimu was crushed under the stone steps.

"Yu Huaimu roared at the Hall of Mental Cultivation today, and played against the rules." Zhao Xu said, "The court staff is fifty, sent to the army! Yu Huaimu, you have something to say."

Yu Huaimu was in a state of distress. He had just had his pants stripped and beaten to death at the Meridian Gate. Now he knelt down on the steps dripping with blood and roared, "I am innocent! It is Your Majesty who is useless! Bewitched by a traitor!" Eyes, even the ancestral community is ignored, the minister—”

Before he finished speaking, Lai Liqun stepped forward and slapped him twice, knocking out one of his teeth, and his mouth was covered in blood and he couldn't speak a single word.

"These traitors don't know how to repent. Your Majesty, please punish them severely." Su Yuqing, who didn't know when he was in the crowd, came out and asked.

Zhao Xu laughed: "Su Aiqing is right. Yu Huaimu has repeatedly disobeyed my wishes, despised the emperor, committed the serious crime of disrespect to the emperor, dismissed officials, and beheaded."

As soon as the three words "Zhan Li Jue" came out.

All the ministers seemed to tremble.

Zhao Xu stood up slowly and walked under the setting sun.

"Fang Jing! Lai Liqun! I order you to deal with this group of disobedient ministers. Those present will drag the officials of the fifth rank and below out of the Meridian Gate to be punished by the court.