The Reborn Duke of Ming Dynasty

Mao Zhengqing said a strange thing, which made Zhang Fan and the others feel puzzled. Before that, Zhang Fan had been wondering why the city gate was opened for no reason, but he had never been able to explain what it was. What's going on, Zhang Fan and the others think that this must be the work of the people in the city, either those people sent into the city in advance to do it, or there are spies in the city, cooperating with the outside, at that time The city gate opened.

Thinking this way, Zhang Fan didn't do it casually. After all, this is the only reason why the city gate is opened at this time. For Zhang Fan and the others, compared with those who sent in Some people say that it is more reasonable for them to think that there are people in the city who cooperate with each other.

However, Zhang Fan and the others have no idea who this or these people who are cooperating with the inside and outside are. Speaking of which, there are too many suspects, and there is no way to accurately locate them. From a fourth-rank magistrate to a small city gate guard, they are all capable of doing this kind of thing, so it is very difficult to seriously point to someone and say that he did it.

However, when Zhang Fan and the others arrived at Yongning Mansion and saw Mao Zhengqing, Zhang Fan's first thought was that this person might be Mao Zhengqing, or those people headed by Mao Zhengqing. Judging people by their appearance, but there is no way to prevent others from thinking this way. After all, when they first met Mao Zhengqing, all their impressions of him were that of a villainous look, plus the flattering look of several people who spoke in unison. , No matter who you change to, you will feel that these few people must be the culprit of this matter.

Zhang Fan is no exception, he thought so at the time, but at that time, Zhang Fan could have ordered Mao Zhengqing and the others to be arrested immediately, and then reviewed slowly, but Zhang Fan didn't do that, not really It is said that he is soft-hearted or something. For this kind of person, it is naturally impossible for Zhang Fan to have any soft-hearted emotions. Zhang Fan did this because he didn't want to do it too early. He wanted to expose Mao Zhengqing's affairs more. Then arrest him, although it is not necessary to do so, but Zhang Fan did so, it is nothing.

But what happened next made Zhang Fan feel that his decision was too correct. If he didn't do it, it might become an unjust, false and wrongly decided case. During this short period of time, Zhang Fan found that his first impression of Mao Zhengqing was very wrong. It seems that the saying "a person should not be judged by his appearance" is indeed correct. Appearance, if you have this kind of thought, you will definitely be the one who suffers or regrets when the time comes, there is no doubt about it.

Mao Zhengqing was not as wicked as he appeared on the surface, and he was not a good official at first glance. Perhaps there was something wrong with his appearance, but after Zhang Fan got in touch with him, he found that it was not so. As for the matter, although the investigation of Mao Zhengqing has not yet started, Zhang Fan has expected something.

I'm afraid that Mao Zhengqing is such a typical example of inconsistency, he doesn't look like a good person, but after he really understands it, he can find that he is not bad at all.

However, now is not the time to discuss what kind of person Mao Zhengqing is. The most important thing now is that Zhang Fan wants to know how the gate of Yongning Mansion was opened in the first place.

After talking about this matter, Zhang Fan heard Mao Zhengqing's description of the scene at that time. While Zhang Fan was puzzled, he also heard Mao Zhengqing's doubts about this matter.

Moreover, Zhang Fan was very concerned about the last sentence he said.

"Lord Mao," Zhang Fan looked at Mao Zhengqing, and asked, "What is it that makes Lord Mao care so much?"

"Master Zhang still remembers one thing." Mao Zhengqing did not immediately answer Zhang Fan's words, but asked, "Just today, when Master Zhang just came, he was at the gate of the city. Why did you come to the gate to greet him?" There are only five lower officials, if there are no yamen servants and the like, it’s fine, but the other officials are not there, "

"That's right, there is indeed such a thing," Zhang Fan nodded, and said, Zhang Fan naturally remembered this thing clearly. What I thought, it must be because those people who were not present were excluded by Mao Zhengqing and the others. Among Zhang Fan's previous plans, he was the first to find these people. They need to understand the real situation of Yongning Mansion.

In fact, up to now, Zhang Fan has been thinking about this matter in his heart, but Zhang Fan's thoughts on this matter have changed along with his views on Mao Zhengqing.

Those people, no matter who they are, since Mao Zhengqing and the others did not come to meet them at the gate of the city, it is obvious that these people must be hostile to Mao Zhengqing, although it is too hard to draw a conclusion like this. It is a bit too radical, but this is not above the court hall in the imperial palace of the capital, this is just a government office, here, there are not too many things that cannot be distinguished from right to wrong, only different positions, the key is cleanliness , or they are traitors, that is to say, if Mao Zhengqing and the others are traitors, then those who are excluded by them are also honest people.

However, these words can also be said in reverse. If Mao Zhengqing and his group are clean and honest people, or at least they are not bad people, that is to say, those who are hostile to them are also Became the bad guy.

But now, even if Mao Zhengqing's position was not clear, he already knew the general idea. In this case, those who were not present became more suspicious.

What's more, now that Mao Zhengqing mentioned the suspicious incident about the city gate, Zhang Fan felt that it was worth studying these things.

"Actually..." Mao Zhengqing said, "Those people who didn't come, in fact, there was only one person. Needless to say, there was only one person, Zheng Yang, the official of the government, and the others. It doesn’t matter if I went to greet you, but this Zheng Yang, as the pusher, is in charge of the criminal law, how could he not go to meet you?”

Regarding Mao Zhengqing's words, Zhang Fan fell silent, not to say anything else, but Zhang Fan thought of something. In the past, if the imperial envoy went somewhere, someone would definitely come to greet him. The people who came to greet him were often those who had ghosts in their hearts and dirty hands and feet. They wanted to take advantage of this opportunity, and the wicked would file a complaint first, or try to establish a good relationship with the imperial envoy, and those people should be A person who is a clean and honest official is always excluded by people, and it is not until later that he can be found to understand the situation and so on.

This kind of thing has become a practice now, no matter whether the imperial envoy himself is good or bad, it seems that everything he encounters is like this.

However, the events in front of him, Mao Zhengqing's various events, plus the official Zheng Yang who did not go to greet him, and the fact that there is no news about him until now, these things made Zhang Fan think of a possibility.

Perhaps, that kind of situation has become a practice, but the practice does not mean that it is the case, and Zhang Fan found himself ignoring a very basic thing.

It is conceivable that whether it is the arrival of the imperial envoy or the rescued army, it is normal to come to greet them, but the most normal situation should be that those who have done nothing wrong have no guilt in their hearts, and naturally It's because I'm not afraid to come here, and those people with ghosts in their hearts shouldn't come here to flatter me at this time, because they are afraid.

It seems that because such things happened too much, it made people forget what normal things should be like, but now, the contrast of Mao Zhengqing shocked him, and at the same time made him I want to understand this truth, and if this is the case, this matter will be easily resolved.

"Master Mao was talking about the city gate before, but now he is talking about Zheng Yang again." Zhang Fan temporarily put aside those thoughts in his mind, and continued to ask Mao Zhengqing, "Could it be possible to say, Lord Mao feels that this Zheng Yang has nothing to do with the fact that the city gate was opened for no reason."

"This lower official doesn't dare to say anything." Mao Zhengqing naturally couldn't finish his words, "It's just that all the officials in the mansion at that time could be found. In fact, there was no need to find them. Everyone gathered in this yamen. , was discussing how to deal with this matter, but Zheng Yang was the only one missing. I don't know where he is. The lower official sent someone to his home, but he didn't see him. He went to the place where he usually goes. , also see no one.

"However, after the city gate was opened, Xiaguan and others were driven to the northwest of the city, but this Zheng Yang appeared again. At that time, Xiaguan didn't doubt his intentions, and he was in dilapidated appearance. As if something dangerous happened, he stayed with Xiaguan and others for those few days.

"Until those people went out of the city to surrender, they disappeared again, but I didn't care about it. It wasn't until the adults mentioned this matter just now that I remembered it. Now... Thinking about it this way If so, it's really suspicious."

"I see," Zhang Fan nodded and said, "It seems that it is necessary to find out this Zheng Yang and talk to him properly."