Chapter 195: Fighting in the air, risking one's life and then surviving
Lu Bing took his leave.
Emperor Jiajing watched him go out and said to Huang Jin, "Huang Ban, do you think I am harsh to my subjects?"
Huang Jin bowed his head, "Your Majesty is kind and gracious."
Emperor Jiajing was loyal to his own people and protected their shortcomings to the point that later ministers envied and hated him, but he was really mean to his enemies.
“The human heart!”
Emperor Jiajing sighed.
"Your Majesty, the prince requests to see you."
Emperor Jiajing nodded.
The prince came in, bowed and greeted.
Then the father and son talked about some family matters.
"Father, I heard that the Ministry of War is in chaos..." The prince said with some concern: "Isn't it too chaotic... I shouldn't say this."
The prince looked at Emperor Jiajing uneasily and then took his leave.
Emperor Jiajing remained silent for a long time.
"Your Majesty, Prince Yu and Prince Jing are here."
The two princes came in, and King Jing mentioned that he had been copying scriptures recently and would definitely finish it before the grand court meeting at the end of the year.
The prince copied scriptures to pray for the emperor, which is filial piety.
Emperor Jiajing praised him for a few words, and then seeing that Prince Yu was a little embarrassed, he asked, "The Ministry of War has been a bit of a mess recently. The third brother just returned from Xuanfu and has seen a lot. What do you think of this?"
Prince Yu did not hesitate, "Father, the chaos is only temporary."
The father and his two sons talked for a while before the two princes took their leave.
Emperor Jiajing picked up the Taoist book and said slowly, "Prince is hesitant to speak. Who do you want to speak for?"
Huang Jin didn't dare to respond, thinking that although the prince didn't interfere in government affairs, there were many officials on the side of the Eastern Palace. This must be someone involved in the case and came to the prince for help.
"The third brother doesn't even know how to brag about himself, how stupid!" said the Taoist priest with disdain.
If it were someone else, he would definitely talk about what he learned and what he saw during his trip to Xuanfu, but Prince Yu was different. He just comforted his father.
It turned out to be Prince Daiyu... An eunuch lowered his head and smiled.
A gust of wind blew the Taoist book, and Emperor Jiajing gently pressed the pages.
"The chaos is only temporary!"
There was a little more warmth in that look.
……
"Your Highness, if you are famous, the world will follow you and you will follow the kingly way. If you are unknown, the world will be angry but not speak out, and you can only act like a tyrant. Hegemony cannot last long, as the Former Qin Dynasty is a precedent..."
"No, Mr. Zhou, the so-called kingly way of tyranny, in the final analysis, still depends on strength. Without strength, the kingly way is a joke."
"Your Highness's words are close to those of a businessman."
"If it can benefit the Ming Dynasty, what does it matter if it's a merchant?"
After a debate, both sides went back to their homes and looked for their mothers.
"The Zhou dynasty followed the way of the king, and its prosperity lasted forever. The Former Qin dynasty followed the way of the tyrant, and perished in the second generation." Xu Jie, the big boss behind the debate in the Hanlin Academy, said slowly.
Zhou Xia nodded, "Yes."
……
"The so-called kingly way must be based on strength. Zhou Xia is quibbling, so don't follow him. Remember, if you lack strength but follow the so-called kingly way, you will definitely be beaten into a pig's face by the enemy." In the Changwei Marquis's Mansion, Jiang Qingzhi held Duoduo and felt that Old Xu was still the same Old Xu.
"Yes."
……
After Prince Yu left, Hu Zongxian laughed and said, "Are you arguing with Minister Xu from a distance?"
"Beat the kids on a cloudy day. You're free anyway, so find something to do."
Jiang Qingzhi didn't take it seriously.
"Uncle!"
Xu Wei entered the study. "The Imperial Guard sent a document. The dozen or so people have confessed everything. The Imperial Guard is going to send it up and ask if you have anything to confess."
Jiang Qingzhi shook his head, "Just deal with it according to the law."
"In addition, many officials from the Ministry of War have surrendered themselves, and they are being screened. Some people are worried that the Jinyiwei will take action to escalate the situation..." Xu Wei said, "Point the sword at Wang Yiqi!"
"Old Wang is not a fool. If Lu Bing dares to use this incident to drag him into this..." Jiang Qingzhi said, "Then I'll just wait and see."
That afternoon, Wang Yiqi suddenly appeared in the West Garden, took off his hat and apologized.
"I have failed your majesty's high expectations."
Wang Yiqi handed over a booklet listing all the gifts of honor and favors he had received over the years.
Emperor Jiajing took a look.
"Is this a customary practice?"
"Yes."
"Nothing else?"
"If there is, I am willing to die!"
Emperor Jiajing looked at Wang Yiqi and said, "I hate taking bribes the most, but I also know that there are many things I cannot stop. I only accepted these..."
He ordered: "Let the East Factory investigate."
Rui Jingxian said, "Your Majesty, the East Factory just went to the Wang family today. It is true."
Tsk!
This is an honest official!
People like Hai Rina are weird, so they cannot integrate into the officialdom.
People like Wang Yiqi can truly be considered honest officials with incorruptible personalities at the moment.
The key point is that those ice and charcoal tributes were not used.
This moral integrity is really top-notch.
"My Lord!" Emperor Jiajing said, "I understand."
A royal minister represents the attitude of Emperor Jiajing.
Wang Yiqi refused to leave, but raised his head and said: "I heard someone said that I should bow my head, otherwise I would be ruined. I..." "I am here!"
Two words, this is the attitude of Emperor Jiajing.
Huang Jin then went to the Jinyiwei.
"Your Majesty has said that anyone who uses this to cause trouble will be severely punished!"
Lu Bing didn't know what this meant, so he asked Huang Jin.
The two relatives stood outside the duty room. Huang Jin said calmly, "Wang Yiqi went to the Western Garden to apologize, and all the money he had collected over the years was not touched. Commander Lu, we are His Majesty's men, and we must act impartially."
Lu Bing couldn't help but want to retort, but he could see the mockery in Huang Jin's eyes, so he suppressed his anger.
Lu Bing turned around and called his confidants, and became furious.
"Wang Yiqi from the Ministry of War launched an internal surrender, catching us off guard. This time, Wang Yiqi is even more desperate, and all our previous plans have been abandoned."
Lu Bing cursed: "What a bunch of idiots! They couldn't even get any information."
Everyone knelt down and pleaded guilty.
Lu Bing frowned, "Jiang Qingzhi has gained the upper hand without making a sound. If he doesn't win back the game later, my Jinyiwei will lose face because of you!"
He looked at Zhu Hao and said, "Keep a close eye on Jiang Qingzhi. As long as he leaves the house, his every word and action must be monitored."
Zhu Hao said, "Don't worry, Commander. I have placed spies near the Jiang family. It's foolproof."
……
When Wang Yiqi returned home, his wife cried and said that someone came to their house to search the property today.
"Don't worry, your husband has already prepared."
Wang Yiqi sat down, feeling exhausted.
"Some of the money our family earned from business was used as a government loan, which could easily lead to criticism. If it were discovered by the Imperial Guards, it could be a big deal. How did you know someone would come to investigate?"
For the first time, his wife looked at Wang Yiqi with admiration.
Wang Yiqi rubbed his brows and said, "Thanks to one person."
"Who?"
Wang Yiqi ordered: "From now on, the gifts sent to the Changwei Palace must be of the first batch and of the best quality."
"Why?" His wife's family was a typical family of scholars and officials. When they heard people in her family mention Jiang Qingzhi, their attitude was quite unfriendly and full of ridicule.
"Foolish woman." Wang Yiqi looked at her, "If it weren't for Chang Wei Bo, my husband would have been in prison right now!"
……
No one knew the sensitive heart of Emperor Jiajing better than Jiang Qingzhi.
Sensitivity brings suspicion.
Jiang Qingzhi gave Wang Yiqi an idea.
Go and turn yourself in.
Throw out the ice and charcoal and let the outside world see your embarrassment under the coercion of the Jinyiwei.
First, stir up public anger.
But the Taoist priest would definitely suspect that Wang Yiqi was just pretending, so he would have to clean up the house first.
Sure enough, the East Factory took action.
As long as Wang Yiqi remained loyal, Rui Jingxian would sit back and watch, waiting to see Lu Bing make a fool of himself.
Dozens of people from the Ministry of War were involved in the case, which shocked the capital. Even beggars would mutter a few words and curse the officials for being stupid.
"You dog official... Hey! It's the Lord! I was so shameless that I polluted your ears." Several beggars were cursing the Ministry of War diagonally opposite the Jiang family. When they saw Jiang Qingzhi leaving, they all stood up.
"It's okay. I also want to curse those corrupt officials." Jiang Qingzhi smiled.
Beggars are not allowed to beg near the homes of other powerful people. Even if they are kind-hearted, they are only allowed to go through the back door.
Watching Jiang Qing getting on his horse and leaving, a new beggar asked, "Why are you so respectful to him?"
An old beggar sat down after seeing Jiang Qingzhi walk away. He scratched his messy hair and said, "When we were begging here, we thought the Bo Mansion would expel us, but who would have thought that they would give each of us a few big steamed buns. These are not leftovers!"
"Long Wilbur has plenty of money, doesn't he?" said the newcomer.
"Whether we are short of money or not is another matter. The nobleman treated us as stray dogs. Have you ever seen anyone feeding a stray dog with a big steamed bun?" The old beggar sneered, "We ate the big steamed buns and thought that the people from the Five Cities Army would come, but they took a nap and there was still no movement. Later, I shamelessly asked the doorman, and the doorman said..."
The old beggar thought back to what happened that day, "My uncle said, the road is wide and we should walk on both sides. Beggars are also human beings, why can't they be allowed to rest nearby?"
"Do you know why we have to stand up when the old man comes out?" Another beggar said, "He treats us as human beings."
"Let's speak from the bottom of our hearts. We mentioned before that we should curse the official, and the uncle also said that he should be cursed. He doesn't look like a powerful person at all..." sighed the new beggar.
"Hey! What do you think the rich and powerful are like? They are supposed to be arrogant, and when a beggar talks to them, they look down on him?" The old beggar reached into his arms and touched him a few times, "That's fake nobility. Look at the uncle, he is smiling, just like the boy next door, but we respect him from the bottom of our hearts. If it were someone else, even if they were princes and nobles, I wouldn't even raise my eyelids."
"Yes."
Everyone was talking at once, and soon the sun was rising higher.
The door of Bo's house opened and Fucheng walked out, followed by two servants.
"Two for each person." The servants went over and gave two steamed buns to each beggar.
"Thank you, sir." The old beggar stood up and bowed before taking the steamed bun.
At this moment, those who had to go to the government office had left, and those who had to work had also gone out, and the alley became quiet.
The sun shone obliquely on one side of the alley, and a few beggars were drowsy in the sunlight.
The new beggar didn't sleep well last night and was sleeping soundly now.
Suddenly, he felt his neck tighten and subconsciously reached out to grab something around his neck.
But his hands were held down, the beggar opened his eyes and tried to jump up.
The rope around his neck yanked violently, pulling him to the ground.
Several beggars worked together to pin him down.
The old beggar was pulling the rope himself. When he saw that he had the new beggar under control, he relaxed a little and asked, "Tell me, where did you come from?"
"What...do you mean?"
"When Master went out, your eyes lit up and you winked at the people at the entrance of the alley. I have no patience. If you don't say it for three breaths... It's getting cold this day, it's not a big deal if a few people freeze to death every day. One, two..."
Not long after, someone knocked on the door of the Bo Mansion.
The door opened, and the old beggar grinned, "We just encountered a person who was trying to steal food. He said he was a Jinyiwei and was ordered to keep an eye on someone. I wondered why the Jinyiwei would come here. He must be crazy. So I thought I'd be lazy and hand him over to the Bo's Mansion for punishment..."
(End of this chapter)
