Red Mansion: Bastards rule the roost

On the 16th day of the first lunar month, Fu Chengzhi and Wu Xiaolin "brazenly" wrote a letter to impeach Baoling Hou and Shandong General Shi Nai for twelve serious crimes, including corruption, tyranny, withholding military pay, falsely reporting vacancies, and inflating losses. Their arguments were well-reasoned and powerful.

The Tongzhengsi did not dare to neglect it and hurriedly presented it to the Military Affairs Council for review.

Prime Minister Jiang proposed: The impeachment involves a senior official of the imperial court. This matter is of great importance. It is appropriate to send personnel to conduct a detailed investigation to determine the truth. I request the emperor to make a decision.

When Prime Minister Duan Zhun saw the two memorials and Jiang Fengpiao's draft, he pondered for a long time and did not write anything for a long time.

Dong Yi came over and whispered, "Zhun Gong, this matter is a little strange."

Duan Zhun nodded slowly. He was naturally aware of the relationship between the Jia and Shi families. He also knew that Jiang Feng and his group had always been close to Jia Cong, and there was a lot of meaning behind their sudden impeachment of Shi Nai.

Considering that Prince Beijing recommended Shi Nai last time and Prince Nangan recommended Shi Ding this time, it is obvious that the four families of Jia, Shi, Wang and Xue have already split.

Jia Cong's move was not only a punishment for the "traitor" historian, but also a display of power and expression of dissatisfaction to Prince Beijing and others, and also a way to intimidate his subordinates and make an example of them.

However, this matter is ultimately a conflict between nobles, so it is best to wait and see how it develops. If the situation gets too serious, it will not be too late to mediate.

Duan Zhun wanted to make this clear, so he picked up his pen and signed his name on the draft, and ordered someone to present it to the emperor.

After reading it, the emperor kept it in his palace and did not send it out.

Originally, the Shi family had only one son with the title of Marquis Baoling. However, Shi Ding's father was quite helpful in the case of deposing the crown prince, so the retired emperor bestowed him with the title of Marquis Zhongjing and allowed his original title to be inherited for another generation. Therefore, although Shi Ding was mediocre, he still managed to get the title of marquis.

Because of this close relationship, Emperor Xifeng only ordered Dai Quan to send someone to convey an oral warning, but had no intention of severely punishing him.

Seeing that the exploratory memorial fell on deaf ears, everyone in the court became aware of the situation.

Sometimes not expressing an opinion is also a statement.

If the current emperor wanted to protect Shi Nai, he would review the memorial and reprimand Fu and Wu for making groundless accusations, exaggerating and framing ministers.

If you want to investigate strictly and punish severely, just say "hand it over to the Ministry for severe discussion and punishment".

Now that it is kept in the palace and not sent out, it shows that although the emperor is willing to forgive, he is not very resolute and Shi Nai’s favor is not that strong yet.

At the morning court on the 18th, Beiman and seven or eight censors worked together to impeach Shi Nai for twenty major crimes, including betraying the emperor's grace, abusing the people and soldiers in Shandong, forcibly abducting women, occupying people's land, and being greedy and rampant.

Looking at the seven or eight imperial censors who were "speaking with passion and indignation", the ministers thought to themselves that with such momentum, the court could not help but take it seriously, and Shi Nai was afraid that he would be in big trouble.

Emperor Xifeng glanced at the people below calmly, and paused for a moment on Jia Cong, and said, "My fellow ministers, what do you think of the impeachment of Shi Nai by the other ministers?"

Because the matter involved nobles and military officers, the civil officials were happy to watch the show and no one spoke for a while, waiting for the nobles to start fighting.

Everyone was looking at Prince Beijing. It was he who recommended Shi Nai, so if anything happened, he would be held responsible.

Prince Beijing glanced at Jia Cong and said, "Your Majesty, I think it is right for censors to report on things and supervise all officials, and to rectify the style and discipline.

However, whether the impeachment is true or false still needs to be investigated in detail, and we should not jump to conclusions, so as not to wrongly accuse innocent people. I think it would be better to send personnel from the Five Military Command to Shandong to investigate and find out the truth. "

"We agree. We should investigate the case thoroughly and then make a decision." King Dongping, King Xining and others bowed hurriedly.

This is reasonable and none of the ministers can object. It is not the case that anyone you impeach will be guilty.

Everyone understood that this was Prince Beijing's strategy of procrastination. As long as the matter was put on hold for the time being, no matter who was sent to investigate, as long as Li Meng's connections were smoothed over, there would be no chance of failure.

I think Li Meng would be very happy to give face to the Four Kings and stop Jia Cong's plan.

Emperor Xifeng hummed, looked at Jia Cong and said, "What do you think, Duke Dingguo?"

Jia Cong was well prepared, and bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I am related to Shi Nai, so I should avoid suspicion in this case. Moreover, I am the Left Commander-in-Chief, and if I send someone from the Five Military Commanders' Office, I am afraid it will be difficult to convince the people.

I think we can ask the three ministries to send officials to Shandong to investigate, so that the government and the public can be convinced. "

All the ministers nodded secretly in their hearts. Duke Dingguo was ready to kill him, which directly cut off the possibility of Prince Beijing and Li Meng colluding, greatly increasing the difficulty of rescuing Shi Nai.

Prince Beijing wanted to deal with the three departments at the same time, but he didn't have the ability to do so.

Because there were three grand secretaries above the Sansi, Huo Peng was in charge of the Ministry of Justice, Jiang Feng was in charge of the Censorate, and Guan Pu was in charge of the Dali Temple.

The three men belong to three different factions, and it is impossible for them to be bribed by Prince Beijing at the same time.

Upon hearing this, Prince Beijing, Prince Dongping, and Prince Xining frowned, knowing that Jia Cong was determined to take down Shi Nai.

Feng Yuan jumped out at the right time and said, "I think that what Jia Shaobao proposed is very good. Whether Shi Nai is guilty or not cannot be determined by the mouth of the censor. It should be determined after the three courts have investigated the matter."

"We second the motion." A dozen people came out and said.

Prince Beijing sighed slightly and shook his head gently at the Second Prince, meaning that the situation was hopeless and Shi Nai could only give up.

Emperor Xifeng asked the six major military officials again.

Everyone said, "This is a matter involving important officials in the imperial court. We should investigate it thoroughly, without any wrongdoing or leniency, and give an explanation to everyone inside and outside the court."

"Let the three ministries discuss and decide." Emperor Xifeng nodded.

"The Emperor's Holy Might."

Two days later, just as the three departments were discussing who to send out of Beijing to investigate, an urgent memorial was delivered from Shandong, which directly saved the three departments trouble.

"Kong Xinghe, the minister of the Duke of Yansheng, respectfully reports: In order to accept the grace of Heaven and repay it with my life, I beg you to grant me a holy decision to punish the corrupt, cruel, and power-abusing traitors as soon as possible, so as to purify the government and stabilize the military and civilian affairs.

I am a son of a concubine, with little talent or virtue. I am extremely fortunate to have the grace of Your Majesty to bestow upon me a noble title.

Having received this great favor, if anything can benefit the country and I can repay it, even at the cost of my life, I will think day and night about how to sacrifice my life to repay it. I have not been in a hurry to ask for the execution of the traitorous ministers.

Although I hold a low position and am not responsible for suppressing the enemy, I am paid by the emperor and must be loyal to him. I dare not sit idly by and watch the enemy's insatiable greed and disregard human lives. I am willing to speak my mind and courage to Your Majesty.

I have observed that Baoling Hou and Shandong General Shi Nai have brought disaster to the region, harmed the army and civilians, committed many crimes, and have incurred the wrath of both gods and men. They have committed ten major crimes..."

This memorial was sent to the capital and immediately appeared in the official gazette, shocking the whole government and the public. All officials wanted to know what kind of heinous and outrageous thing Shi Nai had done. Even Duke Yansheng could not help but report him.

According to common sense, Duke Yansheng's family has been rich and powerful for generations, and he has always been cautious and self-protective, managing his own business. No one has ever dared to provoke him, and no one has ever heard of Duke Yansheng interfering in the affairs of the court.

It's not that we don't want to participate, it's really inconvenient. Given Confucius' status as the most holy teacher, even if his descendants only receive one-tenth of his worship, who among the scholars in the world would not want to follow him?
If memorials were submitted every now and then, would the Grand Secretaries of the Military Affairs Council still have work to do? If the descendants of the saints said that this should be done, who could object?
If he did it a few more times, he would have offended all the officials in the court, so the successive Yansheng Dukes only dealt with academics and not politics. Of course, Kong Xinghe insisted on submitting a memorial, which was his natural right.

As a result, even though Shi Nai was a good official with a clear mind and a bright mind, his political career was ruined by being criticized by Duke Yansheng.

The imperial edict came down that day: the Ministry of Justice was ordered to arrest Shi Nai and bring him to the capital to be questioned. Niu Jizong, Liu Fang, Hou Xiaokang and others escorted Jia Cong out of the court, all with smug looks on their faces. If the young guard wanted to arrest someone, even the prince could not save him.

"Stop walking slowly." Prince Beijing caught up from behind.

Everyone hurried to make way.

Jia Cong turned around and asked, "What instructions does the prince have?"

"Young Guard, may I have a word with you for a moment?" Prince Beijing bowed and smiled politely.

Jia Cong smiled and said, "Why not?" and glanced at everyone.

Everyone bowed and said goodbye and left.

Prince Beijing walked side by side with Jia Cong, and said with a wry smile: "Baolinghou is the nephew of the old lady of Rongguo after all, can the young protector show some mercy?"

Jia Cong smiled faintly and said, "I don't understand what your Highness is saying. If Shi Nai is in prison, I might let him off the hook. But now even Lord Yansheng has impeached him. This is unprecedented since the founding of the country. What can Cong do? It's just that he acted too absurdly, causing Lord Yansheng to be unable to tolerate it."

Prince Beijing looked at Jia Cong and said slowly: "If I remember correctly, the current Duke of Yansheng was recommended by the Shaobao, so they have a deep friendship. If you can say a few good words in front of the Duke of Yansheng, it may be possible to turn things around."

Jia Cong said: "Your Majesty is right. Cong met Lord Yansheng several times when he was fighting bandits in Shandong. I think Lord Yansheng will give me some face.

But the prince also knows that favors become less and less as time goes by. Shi Nai is not worthy of such a big favor. "

Prince Beijing said: "If the young guard can maneuver a little, the four of us will surely repay you in the future. This will also preserve the friendship between your family and the Shi family for generations."

Jia Cong turned his head to look at the handsome and elegant face of Prince Beijing, shook his head and smiled, "Your Highness, please don't embarrass Cong. This matter concerns the majesty of national law. I'm sorry that I can't obey your order."

Prince Beijing sighed, "Young Master, please think twice. Madam Rongguo is already old. She must be heartbroken when she hears the bad news. How can a junior feel?"

Jia Cong said with a fake smile: "I have long heard that the prince is kind and righteous, and his reputation is well-deserved.

The old lady was naturally sad because the Shi family's children were not doing well, and Cong felt the same way.

However, the law of the country is ruthless, and it is difficult for Cong to enforce the law and break it. Please forgive me, Your Majesty." After saying this, he ignored him and left with a bow.

Shui Rong, you think I'm a three-year-old kid and that just bringing out an old lady will help? Naive.

Prince Beijing looked at his back, and the smile on his face gradually disappeared. He had expected Jia Cong to refuse, but he did not expect him to be so resolute and leave no room for negotiation. It seemed that this boy could not be taken lightly.
-
As soon as Jia Cong returned home, he saw Lin Zhixiao coming up to him and kneeling to ask for his leave.

"The old lady has specially ordered me to wait for you here, Lord. Please go to Rongqing Hall to talk after you return home. The two ladies have already gone there."

Jia Cong chuckled. The matter of Shi Nai had been argued upstairs for several days, and the old lady finally found out about it, so she turned her horse over.

When they arrived at Rongqing Hall, they saw Baochai, Daiyu, Fengjie, Xiangyun, Baoyu and others were all there, accompanying the old lady in tears.

Seeing him come in, everyone stood up to greet him.

Jia Cong bowed and said, "Greetings to the old lady."

Grandmother Jia cried, "I know you all kept it a secret from me. You didn't tell me a word when such a big thing happened. Poor Nai'er has been in Shandong for less than two years, and he was already reported. It was not until his wife came here that I found out."

Jia Cong saw Baochai's expression and knew that she wanted him to be careful with his words, so he nodded and said, "Old lady, there is no need to worry too much. Children and grandchildren will have their own blessings. You just need to be happy and why bother with other things?"

Sister Feng laughed and said, "Cong'er is right. The officials will take care of the affairs in the court. The old lady can just play and laugh with us at home. If the sky falls, Cong'er will hold it up. Why should you worry about it?"

Grandmother Jia's face turned cold. She had been very tolerant of Jia Cong, but she was so angry that she had no place to vent it, and then she happened to run into Sister Feng.

Yin said calmly: "Feng girl, what you said is unreasonable. If it was your uncle who was reported, would you say the same thing?"

When Feng Jieer heard this, her face froze and she smiled awkwardly. She didn't know how to respond and stepped aside awkwardly.

Jia Cong gave Feng Jieer a comforting look and said, "Madam, there is one more thing today. If you knew it, you wouldn't be troubled."

Thinking that the situation had taken a turn for the better, Jia's mother hurriedly asked, "What's the matter?"

"Duke Yansheng submitted a memorial..."

"But can you plead for Nai'er?" Grandmother Jia said happily, "Mr. Kong's golden face is greater than the sky, and it can atone for any crime."

Jia Cong sneered, "The old lady is thinking of good things. How could Shi Nai have such good deeds that the Duke of Yansheng could intercede for him? He was impeached!"

The Holy Palace has only impeached him in the past hundred years. Do you think Shi Nai can be saved? In my opinion, he should not go looking for trouble. "

Upon hearing this, Lady Jia felt disheartened and started to burst into tears. She slumped down on the bed and just shook her head.

Shi Xiangyun also looked pale, her lips trembled slightly, and big tears rolled down her cheeks.

The girls hurriedly comforted him in soft voices.

Feng Jieer quietly gave Jia Cong a look that said he had done a good job.

Jia Cong ignored Lady Jia and said, "Yun'er, don't be sad. Your master is ignorant and gone. Just be filial to the old lady. You will have good things in the future. I can't protect him, but can I protect you? Why are you crying?"

Xiangyun ignored Jia Cong and just lay in Baochai's arms, sobbing.

Seeing the grief-stricken look on Jia's mother's face, Jia Cong said, "Old lady, don't worry too much. Cong will risk his reputation and do his best to save the lives of Baolinghou and his family. Don't worry."

After hearing this, Jia's mother felt better. She wiped her tears, sat up with the help of others, and sighed, "Cong'er, thank you so much."

Jia Cong smiled and said, "You are too kind, old lady. As a family friend, I have no choice but to accept your offer. I hope you take good care of yourself."

After a few days, when the weather gets warmer, our whole family will go to the farm outside the city to relax and enjoy the spring."

Before Grandmother Jia could say anything, Baoyu clapped his hands and said with a smile, "Okay, let's all go." He only cared about his sisters, and did not care whether Shi Nai was dead or alive.

Grandmother Jia glared at him and nodded, saying, "You decide on the arrangements."

Jia Cong smiled and nodded, saying, "The other day the master sent a letter from Fujian, asking Baoyu to stay at home and study, and he would not be allowed to go out until he had memorized the Four Books.

If you want to go, you have to work hard these days, otherwise... I won't show mercy."

All the girls couldn't help but smile when they heard this. (End of this chapter)