Pei Gonggui

Jiang Yue has been busy all night, and now he is tired. Hearing his words, he was distracted, and paused for a moment: "There are many important things in the court, so don't mention such gossips, let me tell you about Li Cunzhi first." case."

Pei Jun hurriedly agreed, and the two of them walked all the way to Qinghe Hall.A row of palace people came towards them, and they saluted when they saw them.

Pei Jun, the Jiang Yue Cong, walked past them as usual, looked back cautiously, then frowned and walked sideways: "I have already told you that the matter of Cai Min was dismissed in yesterday's letter, and the evidence in this case must be against the Tang family. The matter of verification is no longer a concern. But the day before yesterday, as soon as I received a letter from Xiao Lin in my mansion, not only Sejongge in the palace handed me a card, asking me to enter the palace early in the morning to collect the spring festival, but the princess manor also sent me a letter. Somebody came and let me go over to the house to talk about it. Pei Jun, in my opinion, the play is starting to be sung right now."

The "eldest princess" in Jiang Yue's mouth is his eldest sister, the eldest daughter of Emperor Yongshun - the eldest princess Shoukang.Princess Shoukang is the first child of Emperor Yongshun. She is 40 years older than Jiang Yue. She has a fiefdom under her name and a rich family business, but she has not given birth to a son to inherit it. She only has a beloved daughter under her knees. , titled Changning Princess, married Ning Wuhou as his wife in his early years.

Princess Shoukang became the mother-in-law of Tang Ke, Marquis of Ningwu, and she put all her heart on her daughter and son-in-law. Since more than 20 years ago, she has frequently used her family property and contacts to pave the way for her son-in-law, earning money and returning home to care for her until today.The Tang family was involved in the big case in Nandi this time. Princess Shoukang learned that although she was late, or she was furious, her determination to protect the Tang family would not change. Now that she suddenly treated Jiang Yue well, it was just to put pressure on Jiang Yue. That's all.

Pei Jun said clearly: "The eldest princess is eager to protect the daughter, and it is expected that she will ask you to intercept evidence and order arrangements. The royal family of Sejong Pavilion is usually under the care of her money, and who would not listen to her orders? Now if you reject them bluntly, I am afraid that you will break the trust of your clan and it will be disadvantageous to you. Now that you are going to the court, you should stay with them for the time being."

"The pressure of the clan, the disputes of words and silver interests are nothing more than hard evidence, so there is no need to worry too much." Jiang Yue briefly described the details of Li Cunzhi's case, and his expression relaxed a little. After too long, Li's case will definitely be brought to light."

Pei Jun nodded, and calmly said: "After this case is proved, the Tang family will be imprisoned and the Cai family will be injured. Today I will resign to show the weakness of the six departments. Only the Zhang family is unharmed among the officials, and because of the new policy, it has become more powerful. When Zhang San enters the Ministry of Criminal Justice, Zhang Ling will take advantage of the situation to reach out to feed on the Six Departments, and Cai Yan will definitely destroy Tang to protect himself, and will never allow the Zhang family to dominate alone. If they fight together, they will inevitably fight each other and influence the political situation , and the Holy Majesty is weak and has nothing else to rely on, when the time comes, Prince Jin will be able to make the best use of the situation, supervise and assist the government, and then invite the emperor to let the virtuous."

"If you think about it, it coincides with the plan of the Guo brothers, and you want to take a bloodless road." Jiang Yue stopped, "But Pei Jun, Jiang Zhan has no plans, no one to rely on, but in the end He is still sitting on the dragon platform alone, and he still has 30 imperial troops in his hands. You have helped him install the commanders of all levels of the imperial army year after year. You should not know their loyalty. If Jiang Zhan refuses to be arrested without a fight, but wants to fight to the death, then we The bargaining chip should not only be placed on the officials."

"Naturally." Pei Jun smiled innocently and said, "The king of ignorance abdicates. This is a righteous principle. It has existed in ancient times and the direction of the times. It's not up to who is willing or not, but there will always be some twists and turns. Jiang Zhanruo If we really have the guts to fight this battle, we should also reserve our resources. In my opinion, we don’t have to go first to take back the military talismans and instigate generals to rebel. Make the most of the opportunity. After all, no matter how loyal and brave a soldier is, he is not a god who does not eat grains. With food and grass, the time is right, and the three armies will come down like water, bustling..."

As he said that, he looked at the Jinzhu Hall not far away under the blue sky and the sun, and squinted his eyes slightly, only to feel that the sunlight at this moment was as dazzling, dazzling, and fierce as he saw when he first went to court six years ago, It makes it difficult for people to see what is next to them.So he moved his eyes away, only to see the halo quietly scattered in the cool wind, and the surrounding palaces and buildings became clear again.

"Jiang Zhan has held on to the golden chair since he was a child, and he has been frightened day and night. In fact, he doesn't want to be the emperor, but just wants to hold on to the power and protect himself. But the imperial power is like the sun, but that seat should be used to protect the world. Human... this is not something that anyone else can do for him, nor is anyone able to turn the tide by stretching out his hand for him. It's a pity that I didn't understand this truth before, and I pretended not to see it. Now that I think about it, why isn't it absurd..."

"It's not you who is absurd," Jiang Yue followed behind him, saying earnestly as he walked, "Absurdity is a trick of good fortune."

"You..." Pei Jun raised a helpless smile on his brows, and glanced back at him, "In your eyes, have you never missed me?"

When Jiang Yue heard this, he smiled too. He lowered his head and did not answer, but he heard Pei Jun say again: "Jiang Yue, come down to you and wait for me at the palace gate. I went to the Ministry of Rites to sign a seal, let's eat together first." After dinner, go back to the department to work."

Jiang Yue slowed down when he heard the words, and followed him after a while: "Okay, which palace gate?"

Pei Jun said: "Come on, Yuanchen Gate, isn't your sedan chair parked there?" After speaking, he turned his head and smiled at Jiang Yue, "You seem to have lost weight recently, I have to take you to eat well, so that you won't be overworked, I feel bad."

At this time, it was outside the Hall of Qinghe. After Pei Jun said this, he walked up the stone steps in front of the hall and strode into the hall. Jiang Yue was the only one left standing there for a while before recovering from the last sound of the palace bell. Come, hurry into the inner hall.

As soon as he went to the line of clan relatives, he glanced at Liubu from a distance, and then heard the Chief of Rites calling the Son of Heaven to go to court.

During Shan Hu Long Live, Jiang Zhan picked up his robe and stepped up to the Dragon Terrace. He swung his sleeves and flattened the body of all the officials. Before everyone stood up straight, he said coldly at the first question:

"Recently, high officials from the court have been imprisoned one after another, which has caused turmoil in the court, heated discussions among the people, and lost the court's face. Let Yu Shitai talk about it first, how is the investigation of the fraud case going?"

Doctor Yushi came out and said: "Reporting to the emperor, after investigation, Feng Shilang was indeed involved in the fraud case, and he was the bribe-taker of Dao, who bribed the examinee. But the guilty student didn't know how Cai University got this joint. In the note, Master Cai also claimed that he was framed by others, so Xiantai searched in various ways, and finally found out that it was Tao Sheng's father who bribed Li Shizhao of Hanlin again in order to be on the safe side. The same room checked the papers, so the note seized under Cai University's desk should belong to Li Shizhao. Li Shizhao also admitted this matter."

Jiang Zhan raised his eyebrows when he heard the words, knowing the meaning of these words, it was nothing more than saying that the Cai family had found someone to take the blame for Cai Yang in just a few days, but he glanced at the Ministry of Rites and saw that he should have spoken out at this time The questioning Pei Jun's face remained expressionless and unmoved, and his eyebrows could not help but frown slightly.At this time, it might be time to ask Pei Jun what the chief examiner thinks, but Jiang Zhan thought of something for a moment, so he pursed his lips tightly.

The next moment, he only turned to the cabinet and said: "I also believe that Master Cai is definitely not a person who is doing favoritism and cheating. Now that he has been wronged, he will ask him to return to his post as soon as possible. It's just that the guilty minister Feng Jiru knows that he broke the law and his crime should be punished." , must be severely punished.”

Cai Yan, the head of the cabinet, said "The emperor is wise" and agreed with Yushitai one by one.

Seeing this, Jiang Zhan asked the second question: "What about Cui Shangshu's imprisonment the day before yesterday?"

Cui Yu's case was under the jurisdiction of Dali Temple, and the Minister of Dali Temple came out and gave a brief account of the case, and then said: "This case is related to the judiciary, so it should not be taken lightly. Taishi Cai has personally supervised the case, and I dare not make mistakes in this temple."

So, Jiang Zhan looked at Cai Yan, and saw Cai Yan sitting a little straighter in the high-backed chair, bowed his arms and said, "Return to the emperor, this case is originally a criminal case, and Cui Shangshu knew everything about it during the third trial yesterday." If you say it with all your strength, this minister thinks that the case can be concluded. Otherwise, if you investigate too carefully, you may have a lot of ties and put everyone in the officials at risk—”

"Who is in danger?" Pei Jun suddenly said, and put his hands behind his back, looking at Cai Yan faintly, but the words in his mouth were addressed to Jiang Zhan, "Your Majesty, it was Cui Yu's palm that surprised the officials." He was punished, but disregarded the king's law and harmed the people. After careful investigation, he was not corrupt or bribed. Who will go? No one in the court knows that Cui Yu was appointed as an official in Beijing by his ministers' repeated recommendations. What Cai Taishi said is naturally because the minister's eyesight was blind and the selection failed, which made Cui Yu lose his mind and forget his appearance. Committed this case. For this, the minister is indeed duty-bound and should be punished. Therefore, today, the guilty minister Pei Jun boldly asked for an order—"

"Pei Qing!"

Just when Pei Jun was kneeling, Jiang Zhan suddenly cut him off and said, "Pei Qing's words are serious. When Pei Qing recommended Cui Yu, it was out of devotion to choose good ministers for the imperial court. Eight years later, some Cui Yu also has political achievements, so how could he have expected this change? Although Pei Qing was careless, even though he was negligent, he never ended up in such a miserable situation. The civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty knew it well, and I would never blame Pei Qing, Pei Qing Qing should absolutely not be so self-blaming. Since Grand Master Cai said that the case can be closed, then the case has been investigated, and it should be closed, so that the Ministry of Officials can draw up a new official candidate and fill the vacancy in time."

These few short sentences are enough to show the meaning of protection. It made Cai Yan, who was speaking to test the Sacred Heart, stop first, and also made countless eyes of all the officials look at Pei Jun's back, rubbing coldly or hotly on his back. .

Pei Jun's kneeling was originally to resign from office, but he didn't know that he couldn't kneel down, and the conversation had already been taken elsewhere. For a moment, he felt that something was wrong, so he raised his head and looked at Jiang Yue who was sitting behind the golden pillar. He frowned slightly.

At this time, Jiang Zhan, who was sitting on the throne, asked the third thing: "Yesterday, I heard in the palace that the physical evidence of Li Cunzhi's case has also entered Beijing? This matter is jointly accepted by Yushitai and the infantry office. Who is checking?"

In the ranks of generals, Xiao Lin came out holding the booklet and said: "The emperor said that this case involves a huge case of ink corruption in the southern region. After the physical evidence was sent back by Kuai Ma, I have handed it over to Yushitai for overnight verification, which is enough to confirm what Li Cunzhi said. The report is completely true. The minister has now extracted the key points from various places, please look at the emperor!"

Gong Chai quickly passed the excerpt under the throne, Hu Li took it, and then turned around and handed it to Jiang Zhan.

Seeing that Jiang Zhan really opened the booklet, Xiao Lin's expression tightened, and he hurriedly took out the wat board pinned to his lower back, cleared his throat, and began to read seriously:

"Your Majesty, the material evidence in this case is mostly account books and correspondence over the years. The ten servants of Yushitai studied hard day and night, and they have not yet been fully verified. Indeed, Duning Wuhou and his relatives were involved in three serious crimes:

"Firstly, the Tang clan, who were officials and politicians in the south of the Five Ridges, embezzled disaster relief materials from the imperial court to build and repair places for entertainment and profit. Divide the money, and also divide the food and payment. Only the account books contain it, and the rough calculation can reach several million taels. After the verification and confirmation by the Ministry of Households, the number should be even higher-this is not to say that you are not greedy;

"Secondly, when the floods broke out suddenly, the people in the villages and counties should have taken refuge in the city, but the officials of the Tang family in the state ignored Li Cunzhi's advice and insisted on ordering the city to be closed for self-protection. Tens of thousands of victims were killed, and the displaced people were not counted. However, Tang's family did not think about repenting, instead they imposed this crime on Li Cunzhi, intending to clear up the responsibility, and then swallowed the relief money - this is not evil;

"Thirdly, the second son of Marquis Ning Wu, as the censor and governor, turned a blind eye to Li's family and the people's complaints, but when he heard that Li Cunzhi wanted to face the saint, he quickly bought the camp, murdered and framed Li Cunzhi's son Li Si and put him in prison, in order to threaten Li Cunzhi's death Litigation, and set up ambushes along the way, several times to prevent Li's killing - this can not be called not rape."

"Such a greedy and treacherous person, I have the courage to ask for a strict order. I beg the emperor to confirm the plan, and with faith, I will clear up the grievances for the tens of thousands of people in the southern land!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Jiang Zhan finished turning over the booklet in his hand and put it down. At this time, his stretched eyebrows were twisted up, and the back of his pale hand was also full of veins, which made his voice tremble slightly: "Nian The money saved in the front palace for the renovation of Chongming Temple was sent to Lingnan for the purpose of building embankments and resettling the victims, but the Tang family used it to build villas and courtyards... The national treasury collected 200 million taels last year to deal with floods The Tang family is in the south, but they only got 800 million taels of snowflake silver into the account!" He raised his hand and slapped the booklet on the imperial case, glanced at the generals, and asked in a raised voice: "Where is Ning Wuhou? Why didn't you come today?" Shang Dynasty?"

The ceremonial officer under the hall immediately reported: "Back to the emperor, Marquis Ning Wu is ill today."

"Sick?" Jiang Zhan turned to look at the cabinet Cai Yan, "Before Chunwei, I heard that the Second Mansion went hunting with their families. How could Ning Wuhou suddenly fall ill as soon as this case came out?"

Cai Yan glanced at the vacant seat beside him, then at the vacant seat of Ning Wuhou in the hall, his brows were deeply furrowed, and he said after a while: "Old minister heard that Lord Hou was furious when he first heard about this. Out of breath, now—”

"He heard about this for the first time?" Jiang Zhan picked up the records on the case, threw his sleeves at Cai Yan, "Master Cai, take a good look! He didn't spend half a cent of the money sent to the Tang Mansion in this account! This expense , extravagant, even more generous than my Ministry of Internal and External Affairs!"

The zhezi rolled down to Cai Yan's feet, Cai Yan didn't dare to take a look, and immediately got up and knelt tremblingly, causing all the officials in the hall to kneel too: "The emperor calm down!"

"Quiet your anger? Can you bring thousands of people back to life if you calm your anger?" Jiang Zhan stood up and ordered in a loud voice, "The Imperial Army listens to the order—the Tang family is deceiving the top and the bottom, defying the government, greedy and greedy , fish and meat people, their crimes are unforgivable, and they can be counted among several families! Everyone involved in the case will not be pardoned, and they will be arrested immediately and sent to prison, and sentenced step by step! Since they dare to despise the king's law, I will see them with my own eyes today. Persuasion, it is regarded as an accomplice with the Tang Corporation!"