The Ming Dynasty started with caution

Early in the morning, the Forbidden City.

Zhu Houzhao came to the Jiaofangsi for rehearsal. Seeing that Shabian Qule was performed well, he was happy.

But he didn't see Zhang Cai, so he was unhappy: "Where is my Xiaosheng!"

Gu Dayong took two steps at a time and jumped down from the stage, smiling flatteringly: "Lord Zhang was arrested by the Censorate."

Zhu Houzhao blinked: "Did Zhang Cai offend Lao Gao?"

"It's not that he offended Lord Yan, but that he accepted the singing girl of the envoy." Gu Dayong corrected.

"There is only one reason to go to the Censorate's prison, that is, offending Lao Gao."

Zhu Houzhao touched his chin, wondering where Lao Gao wanted to send Zhang Cai. Zhang Cai sang well in opera and could play Xiaosheng, so he didn't want Zhang Cai to leave Beijing.

A quarter of an hour later, Zhu Houzhao appeared in the duty room of the Censorate.

"Lao Gao, return Zhang Cai to me. I want to keep him as a young man. He has a handsome appearance."

Zhang Cai's eyebrows and beard are unique.

Any official with good eyebrows and beards will not look too bad.

Yan Chengjin said: "I don't want to kill him, but I think Zhang Cai is a talent. It's a pity that he is not used by the court. I just cherish his talent."

Zhu Houzhao was not favored by the old ministers in the court. Zhang Cai was resourceful and resourceful, just like a beautiful version of Li Dongyang.

If he could live for the people like Wang Shouren, the prosperity of the world would be easier.

Duchayuan, prison.

Five days passed, and Zhang Cai thought Yan Chengjin would come to interrogate him in person.

But during the five days, only the clerks delivered food, and every morning they had roast duck and cabbage, and at night they had braised pork and mustard greens.

He also brought him a copper basin for washing and sent him a change of clothes.

Zhang Cai knew that if this boy was kind, he would not let him go to jail.

"Where is Yan Chengjin? Why is no one here to interrogate me when I'm in jail!"

Not interrogating him means he will continue to be detained. If the court forgets about him, he may be detained for a year or two.

The clerk just handed him the soapberry and said, "Sir, it's time to bathe. It will be cold at night."

There was a gust of cold wind in the prison, and it would be even colder at night. Zhang Cai hurriedly scolded, "You step aside and blow out all the lights!"

Yan's Mansion, West District of Beijing.

Zheng Qian said to Yan Chengjin, "Sir, he has bathed for six consecutive days. Although he hasn't eaten, his underwear is changed every day. When are you going to interrogate him?"

Yan Chengjin kept Zhang Cai in prison without interrogating him, but he just didn't find a strategy to deal with Zhang Cai.

Zhang Cai is very strategic and thoughtful.

If he is not sincere in changing his ways, he can't be used by the court.

Therefore, in the past few days, he has been carefully analyzing Zhang Cai's every little thing, and how to deal with Zhang Cai if he answers this way, and how to deal with that answer.

"We will try him tomorrow."

Early in the morning of the next day,

Zheng Qian came to inform Zhang Cai that Yan Chengjin would personally interrogate him today.

But Zhang Cai waited for most of the day, pacing back and forth, but Yan Chengjin was nowhere to be seen.

Yan Chengjin came to meet the retired emperor Hongzhi: "The envoy Song Suqing has signed, can I ask your majesty for an imperial decree? Will Zhang Cai be tortured to death?"

According to the Ming Dynasty law, there is no corresponding law for colluding with envoys to plot against foreign territories.

After all, others are plotting to take back their own territory. No matter how smart Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang is, he would not think of this.

The retired emperor Hongzhi looked at Yan Chengjin and said, "What do you want this imperial decree for?"

Liu Jian and others looked at Yan Chengjin. If he was guilty, he would just chop off his head with a knife.

Three thousand tortures are too cruel.

"To deter Zhang Cai, Zhang Cai is a man of strategy. The retired emperor can reuse Wang Yue and Liu Ji, why can't he reuse Zhang Cai?" Yan Chengjin asked.

Wang Yue and Liu Ji were in the previous dynasty.

The crimes of forming a clique for personal gain, embezzling the national treasury, and occupying good farmland were ten times more than Zhang Cai's crimes now.

Liu Jian, Jiang Mian and others knew what Yan Chengjin was going to do when they heard it.

Emperor Hongzhi said: "But if the imperial edict is issued, the execution will be carried out."

"You can not stamp your majesty's imperial seal, so it is not really an order." Yan Chengjin said.

It was not until the last three quarters of the hour that Yan Chengjin appeared in the prison.

Zhang Cai put his hands behind his back and looked at Yan Chengjin deeply: "You put me in prison and let people serve me well. What do you want me to do?"

Zhang Cai guessed that this boy was in trouble when he was asked to come to the Censorate from the imperial prison.

"Mr. Zhang is a talent, and he guessed it right."

"As an official of the court, I should serve the court. Why can't I be used by the court?"

Yan Chengjin knew that Zhang Cai was talented, but he rarely gave advice in the court.

Zhang Cai looked at Yan Chengjin and soon understood his intention: "You don't want me to change the system with you, do you? Don't even think about it!"

Anyone who changes the system will be in trouble within twenty years!

When the sons of the gentry become officials, Yan Chengjin will suffer.

Yan Chengjin has touched their interests, and staying in the court is also a threat.

Yan Chengjin said: "These days, I have been thinking about how to find Mr. Zhang's weaknesses, but I can't think of it after thinking for a few days.

Today I finally thought of it."

Zhang Cai put his hands behind his back, smiled calmly, and snorted: "What did you come up with?"

Yan Chengjin dismissed the yamen runners around him, and then said to Zheng Qian: "Are there any homosexual prisoners in the cell? Change their cells."

"Yan... Yan Chengjin! What are you going to do! What are you going to do to me!"

Zhang Cai panicked and retreated to the wall of the cell, with his back pressed tightly against the wall.

Zheng Qian asked, "There are seven people. Do you want to change one or seven?"

"Seven."

Zhang Cai didn't believe it at first, thinking Yan Chengjin wanted to scare him by calling seven prisoners.

But when he saw the seven prisoners, he felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave. The prisoners' eyes shone with light, staring at his body as if they were prey.

"I asked you to wash up every day just for today."

Yan Chengjin turned away directly.

"Wait a minute! Wait a minute!" Zhang Cai rushed from the prison to the wooden fence and shouted angrily: "The Supreme Emperor and all the princes know that they will definitely punish you!"

Yan Chengjin knew that Zhang Cai still had illusions about Hongzhi and the princes.

It’s time to bring out the will.

"If after this is done, I will arrest you immediately, who will report it to the court? Mr. Zhang doesn't expect the princes to intercede on your behalf, right?"

Zhang Cai opened the decree and staggered as if struck by lightning, almost falling to the ground.

Unexpectedly, the court would punish Sanqian Lingchi with a serious crime.

It's really an imperial edict. As long as a big seal is stamped, the execution can be carried out immediately.

"You accepted the singer to flatter the new emperor and gain his favor, but I think you are a talented person and will intercede with the Supreme Emperor on your behalf."

Yan Chengjin walked out of the prison. The man was so handsome, which was really not a blessing.

He is not in a hurry, and Zhang Cai has received mixed reviews in history.

Some people say that he is a corrupt official, while others say that he has made great contributions to the court.

But even though Zhang Cai was scolded by civil servants, he never betrayed Liu Jin, and he can be called the most dedicated counselor.

This is what Yan Chengjin likes about him.

Three days later, Zheng Qian came to report in person: "Zhang Cai wants to see you, sir."

Yan Chengjin came to the prison. Zhang Cai was sitting on the straw mat with disheveled hair and messy clothes. He raised his head blankly and said, "If I am willing to revolutionize with you, when can you let me out?"

Yan Chengjin took out two deeds from his sleeves: "Sign these two deeds and you can leave today."

Zhang Cai read it carefully, cried and signed the word "humiliation".