high official

Chapter 180
Although the search of Pujiang City was not relaxed, everyone knew that the man was definitely not in Mingjiao's hands... All eyes were on Zhengzhai Town.

In addition to Zhou Xin, Zheng Fantai and Hu Wei also rushed to the town, of course there was Zhu Jiuye, a thousand households of Jinyiwei who accompanied the imperial envoys like a shadow.It's just that the four officials are still like a tiger gnawing on a hedgehog, with nowhere to say anything to Zheng Zhaizhen, who is protected by the Taizu.

When they were at a loss, the news that Tang Yunhuo attacked the Red Scarf Army and forced Mingjiao to surrender spread to the barracks.Zhu Jiuye's eyes lit up and he said, "Let's grab the medicine according to the prescription and force the Zheng family out of their turtle shell!"

The three civil servants looked at each other in blank dismay, this method was really ruthless.Zheng Fantai shook his head and said: "No, no, there is Taizu's imperial book in Zheng's ancestral hall, what if it burns out?"

"That's also the fault of the Zheng family. Who caused them to cause the fire and failed to save the Taizu Yushu?" Zhu Jiuye said harshly, "With this crime, they can all be arrested!" He said, looking at Hu Yun. : "Master Hu, what do you think?"

"This is a way to break the situation..." Hu Yun said slowly: "It really doesn't work, I have to do this."

Hearing what he said, both Zhou Xin and Zheng Fantai changed their expressions.Hu Yan changed the subject and said, "But this trick doesn't need to be used, it can achieve the effect."

"How can it be useful if you don't need it?" Zhu Jiu muffled.

"Master Hu means to intimidate!" Zheng Fantai said clearly: "Let me go to Zhengzhai Town to experience this."

Hu Yan originally planned to go there by himself, but after thinking about it, he was an imperial envoy looking for Zhang sloppy, and it was difficult to introduce himself in the past.It's even more justifiable that the governor of the province came forward.

Zhu Jiu looked at Zheng Fantai and said, "Zheng Fangbo and the Zheng family are not related?"

"Jiu Ye was joking." Zheng Fantai shook his head and said with a wry smile, "Will the imperial court let a Zhejiang native be the chief envoy of Zhejiang?" After a pause, he said, "The ancestral home of the lower official is Henan, and he cannot be ranked first in Jiangnan."

"That's the first one in Henan." Zhu Jiu also felt that it was a little rude to ask, so he remedied: "It's much better than the first one in Jiangnan."

Zheng Fantai smiled and did not respond.After the plan was made, he was ready to enter the town accompanied by only a small team of personal guards.

When he came to the two zhang-deep trench, Jin Yiwei stopped his sedan chair.His captain of the guard said angrily: "Your family didn't notify you, is Master Fantai going in?"

"It's because we informed you." The Jinyiwei Baihu said with a straight face, "That's why we wait here for Fang Bo."

The captain of the guard wanted to lose his temper, but Zheng Fangbo in the sedan chair stopped him and said, "Stop arguing, it's fate, let's do it."

"Fang Bo understands righteousness very well." The hundred households of the Jinyi Guards smiled and said, "There is an order from the top, and our Jin Yiwei is responsible for Fang Bo's safety. Your guards should wait here first."

"We can protect Fang Bo!" The captain of the guard said angrily.

"The higher-ups are worried about you, do you have to make the words so clear?" The hundred households rolled their eyes and said.

"Yes." Zheng Fantai nodded, and said to the captain of the guard: "You wait here."

"Yes." The captain of the guard replied in a muffled voice.

"Please Fang Bo change the sedan chair." Baihu said again, and saw four Jinyi guards coming over carrying a sedan chair, Zheng Fantai sat in as he said, and was surrounded by Jinyi guards into Zhengzhai Town.As for his guards, they had to wait outside, and only two relatives followed in...

Entering the town through the tall nine-door archway, you can see that the doors of every house are closed and the street is dead silent, but everyone clearly feels that behind each door, there are a pair or even several pairs of eyes watching them, making them People are extremely uncomfortable.

The team went all the way to the Zheng Family Ancestral Hall before someone came out to greet them.Hearing that it was the head of a province who came personally, the Zheng family was not panicked, they just responded lightly, asking Zheng Fantai to wait in the living room, and then went straight to find the head of the family.

Zheng Fantai looked at the four characters of "loyalty, filial piety, benevolence and righteousness" on the white wall of the Zheng family, and couldn't help being dazed, but he didn't even notice that anyone came to the living room.Zheng Yan called 'Fang Bo' softly before he came back to his senses, looked at Zheng Yan and said, "Are you Zheng Ziyan?"

"It's Caomin." Zheng Yan saluted: "My father is seriously ill and can't get up, so he ordered Caomin to confess to Fang Bo."

"It doesn't matter." Zheng Fantai said lightly, "I told you the same thing."

"The grass people are all ears." Zheng Yangong said.

"Let me tell you one thing first, Uncle Tang has recovered Pujiang County," Zheng Fantai said in a deep voice, "Some confessions from the high-level Mingjiao who surrendered are very detrimental to the Zheng family."

"What confession?" Zheng Yan frowned.

"Don't pretend to be stupid." Zheng Fantai said in a deep voice, "You should know better than me why Mingjiao made trouble in Pujiang."

"Caomin really doesn't know." Zheng Yan shook his head.

"Since you don't know anything, there's no need for me to waste time talking with you." Zheng Fantai frowned and said, "Take me to see your father."

"My father is seriously ill..." Zheng Yan wondered.

"Can you still talk?" Zheng Fantai asked coldly.

"can……"

"That's fine." Zheng Fantai stood up and said, "Take me in."

"Yes." Zheng Yan had no choice but to follow orders, and took Zheng Fantai to the back.Zheng Fantai's two attendants followed closely behind.When someone went to visit the patient in the inner room, the Jinyi guards naturally had no reason to follow, and they were not interested in following, so they waited for Zheng Fangbo to come out in the outer courtyard.

After more than half an hour, Zheng Fantai came out, still followed by his two attendants.Sitting in the sedan chair, he said to Zheng Yan who sent him out: "Just give you a day to wait, so you father and son can take care of yourself."

"Yes..." Zheng Yan replied solemnly.

"Get up the sedan chair!" Zheng Fantai's attendant sang loudly, and Jin Yiwei lifted up the sedan chair and left Zheng Zhai Town.

.

Back at the ditch at the entrance of the town, Zheng Fantai's chief guard came up to him, and asked with concern, "My lord, are you all right?"

"It's nothing." Zheng Fantai shook his head, and said to the Jinyiwei Baihu, "Thank you for your protection, my lord."

"It's just an errand within the humble post." The hundred households smiled embarrassedly and said, "The villain should go back to his command. The safety of the adults is still in the charge of your guard."

"Please." Zheng Fantai nodded, Jin Yiwei withdrew, and his personal guards escorted him back to the camp.

After returning to the Chinese army, Zheng Fantai went to the commander's tent to meet the three adults.

In the handsome tent, Hu Yan and Zhou Xin are playing chess, while Zhu Jiu is sitting by the side, closing his eyes and resting his mind.

Hearing the noise, he opened his eyes, looked at Zheng Fantai and said, "How is it?" Hu Yan and Zhou Xin also put down their chess pieces and stood up to meet them.

Zheng Fantai sat down and said slowly: "The Zheng family said that they know what we suspect, but that person is indeed not in their hands."

"Still stubborn!" Zhu Jiu said bitterly.

"Listen to Uncle Fang first." Hu Yan handed Zheng Fantai a cup of tea.

Zheng Fantai took it over, put it on the table and said: "The Zheng family said that although they are innocent, since they have seen suspicion from the emperor, they can only obey the order of the imperial court." After a pause, he said: "I will tell you They, the Zheng family has no place to stand in Daming, but heaven has the virtue of being good at life, the emperor is gracious to let you have a way of life...tomorrow, let's open the Daming with the whole family."

"What did they say?"

"They wanted to go to Beijing to defend themselves. I told them that the emperor could not see them, and there was no second solution to this matter. Unless the Zheng family wanted to be burned alive in the town, they had to leave Daming. Zheng Tang had no choice but to agree. Zheng Fantai said: "I made an agreement with Zheng Tang that the Zheng family will go out of the town early in the morning, and after being inspected, they will go to Baimadu to board the boat."

The three of them looked at each other, nodded and said, "That's the only way..." They had received the emperor's secret decree before, Zhu Di meant that the Zheng family would never be forgiven, but they could not be charged with any crimes.The will of the Ming emperor was contradictory, and it was really difficult for the courtiers to implement it. Let the Zheng family disappear without a sound, and then burn the Zhengzhai town to nothing.

.

At Maoshi the next day, Mr. Zheng personally rang the Huishan bell in the ancestral hall.

The bells are long and continuous, which is no different from the past.But the Zheng family knew that this might be the last time they heard the bell.

Accompanied by the sound of the bell, the men and women of the Zheng clan entered the ancestral hall solemnly and stood in Shijian hall. Inside and outside the courtyard, thousands of people were crowded together, without even coughing.

Mr. Zheng stood on the steps, his eyes slowly swept across the honest and kind faces, his heart was pierced, and his body trembled slightly.Taking a deep breath, he stabilized his emotions, and slowly said to his disciples:
"The prosperity and decline of a family is all about accumulating goodness and evil... A house that accumulates goodness must have lingering celebrations, and a house that accumulates bad deeds must have lingering disasters. It is clear..." Speaking of this, the old man choked up, and said in a trembling voice: "Someone must Say, not entirely..."

As soon as these words came out, the expressions of the disciples finally changed. Ever since they found out yesterday that they had been expelled from the country by the imperial court, their outlook on life and values ​​have been unstoppably shaken...

"You must ask, if this is the case? Why did my sons of the Zheng family leave their hometown and live overseas?" Mr. Zheng couldn't hold back his tears and said: "But there are two sides to the story. In this world, besides the laws of heaven, there are also powerful forces. We rebelled against the powerful, but did not suffer sudden disasters, isn't it because our ancestors accumulated virtues and accumulated good deeds on a daily basis, and the natural law is so clear that the powerful dare not rashly harm them?"

The disciples nodded silently, but the answer obviously did not satisfy them. Someone asked in a low voice, "Old patriarch, what crime did we commit to be deported?"

"We did not commit a crime!" Mr. Zheng, with his beard and hair all stretched out, said decisively, "It is the morality of the world that commits the crime, and everyone is guilty in the clothes of today's world! The righteous way we adhere to has become a crime in their eyes!" He pointed behind his back The plaque on both sides, the couplets on both sides, said in a deep voice: "Our Zheng family did not insult the inscription of Emperor Taizu, and did not embarrass Mr. Zhengxue, do you remember?!"

"Yes!" The clansmen responded loudly, this was enough to make them go through fire and water...

(End of this chapter)