Brocade clothing as the country

Chapter 357

Li Sancai, a member of the Shandong Department of the Ministerial Department, said:

"Zhuge Marquis Wu has a saying that he loved a villain and was far from a virtuous minister, and that was why the Han Dynasty fell into decline after that.

Jinyiwei Tianjin Qianhu Wang Tongnian was not a young man, but the eagle looked after the wolf, his scheming was gloomy and unpredictable, and he was lucky enough to advance through hypocrisy.However, in the past, the army committed crimes, poisoned the officials and the people, harmed the gentry, and set up private checkpoints, exploited the common people, and smashed the bones and sucked the marrow. Now I am shocked to hear that he has privately stockpiled soldiers and horses. His Majesty laughed and said that he was named Huwei. He stood on the left side of the capital. This country has not seen it in 200 years Unheard of things also.

What's more, Wang Tong used only a thousand households to organize and train dozens of battalions of soldiers and horses. Neither the governor nor the Sima knew about it.
Tianjin is near Jifu, a place of confidantes, loyal ministers and righteous men in various towns are surrounded by guards, and guards are waiting for unexpected events. Why do we need this army?The minister also heard that Wang Tong showed his kindness day and night, and the soldiers were paid generously and made heavy promises. The soldiers were strong and courageous.

What Wang Tong wanted to do with these thousands of dead soldiers in private, I really don't know, I dare not know.He has an unpredictable heart and does unspeakable things. If something happens day and night, misfortune will happen in the elbow and armpit, and the ancestral temple will collapse at that time.Wang Tong, the ancient one who changed his teeth and straightened his teeth, and the ruler of the country, Jiang Bin, belonged to him. I cried and prayed, and brought him under the law of the country. I wish to protect my family and pray for a thorough investigation..."

On February [-]th of the seventh year of Wanli, Li Sancai went to Shushu to remonstrate, and a single stone caused a thousand waves.

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The main gate of the Imperial City is Chengtian Gate. In front of Chengtian Gate, a convex urn city was built within a distance of [-] steps to the south and [-] steps to the east and west. The south gate of the urn city was called Daming Gate.

On both sides of the bulge of Wengcheng, there are various yamen for the six ministries and nine ministers of the Ming Dynasty. Between the Chengtian Gate of the Daming Gate, there is a corridor, commonly known as the Thousand-step Corridor.

The princes of the imperial court go to the court every day to enter the Wengcheng at the Daming Gate, enter the imperial city through the thousand-step corridor, and enter the Wenyuan Pavilion for a meeting. The cabinet members stay at work, and the rest leave the imperial city to return to the yamen for business.

The Tongzhengsi is located on the east side of the bulge of the Wengcheng, the position closest to the city wall of the bulge, which is commonly known as the Humen, and the west side is called the Dragon Gate.

If the officials of the various ministries submit a memorial, they must go to the General Administration Department to deliver it, and the experience and governor of the Experience Department under the General Administration Department will collect it.

But Li Sancai, a member of the Shandong Department of the Ministry of Household Affairs, did something out of the ordinary. Every day before dawn, the chief assistant of the cabinet, the cabinet scholar, the minister of the six ministers, the Metropolitan Procuratorate, the clan's mansion, and everyone are eligible to meet at court The big bosses who discuss matters have to wait at the Daming Gate, waiting to enter the court to discuss matters.

Li Sancai came here around midnight, right in front of the Daming Gate, and waited until almost everyone from all walks of life had arrived, before he read aloud with a memorial in his hand, and many Duchayuan, Sixth Division, and Imperial Academy followed him around him. The middle and low grade civil servants of Yuanyuan and Guozijian.

All the bosses listened quietly in the sedan chairs, and no one expressed their opinions. Li Sancai was full of energy, his voice was loud, and the content of the memorial was inspiring, so he read a sentence, and the Qingliu who followed him applauded. Already the sound is like thunder, even more lively than that theater.

It was just dawn, and hearing the cheers and thunder outside, the imperial guards guarding the imperial city thought something had happened, so they hurriedly dropped a group of soldiers and came here to check.

Zhang Juzheng has been resting behind closed doors in his big sedan chair. You Qi outside the sedan chair whispered to him what he saw and heard outside. When he heard the imperial guards coming, he opened his eyes slightly and said in a deep voice:

"Since it's a memorandum, then send it to the place where it should be sent. The imperial court is coming soon. Don't gather people here to make noise."

You Qi nodded outside the car curtain, then raised his voice and said:
"My lord, the submission of the memorial should go to the Secretary of General Administration, and now it's already on duty there, so just hand it in."

Li Sancai glanced quickly in the direction of You Qi, the courtiers all had different sedan chairs, so he naturally knew which one was which.

You Qi's words made Li Sancai more confident in his heart. He closed the unfolded memorial in his hand and said loudly:

"As soon as this memorial is published, Li will not care about this body. If he stays in China or rejects it, Li would rather kowtow to the Chengtian Gate, just to seek justice for the people of the world, and only to eliminate a scourge for my Daming Jiangshan!!"

There was another round of applause and applause. Everyone saw that the cabinet ministers, the ministers of the six departments, and the heads of the various yamen were all around, and there were colleagues from Qingliu. This is the best time to make a name for yourself.

"Brother Daofu, how can such a righteous thing make you alone, and I would like to add my name to the memorial!"

"...I don't care about this body, I only want to be loyal and righteous, and my younger brother is also willing..."

Some people even chanted there loudly: "No one in life has died since ancient times, and keep the loyal heart to reflect the history."

There was a lot of noise outside, and Shen Shixing, who was sitting in the sedan chair, twitched his eyebrows a few times, and whispered to the outside of the curtain:
"Go back first, and send a message to Madam, asking her to sort out all the letters and papers from home to Hejian Mansion, and then prepare a messenger. There is an urgent letter out of Beijing today."

Chang Sui agreed and hurried to go.

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In the past, when the emperor did not arrive at the court meeting, the courtiers would gossip, but today everyone is silent, and everyone looks like the old god is there.

Occasionally, a few people couldn't hold their breath, but they just raised their eyes and glanced around, and then lowered their heads again.

Zhang Juzheng carried two or three folded books with him, and was watching them carefully. Shen Shixing sat up straight with his eyes slightly closed. Ma Ziqiang and Li Youzi did the same thing, but although Zhang Siwei, a senior scholar and Minister of the Ministry of War, also lowered his head, he could occasionally He looked up, but his eyes were fixed on the door.

"The holy majesty has arrived..."

As the little eunuch outside lengthened the communication, Zhang Siwei sat up straight, staring at the door, the door curtain was lifted, and Emperor Wanli walked in first.

The little emperor's eye circles were a bit dark, and his exhaustion seemed to be heavier than yesterday. Everyone who has been here knows that this toss is really too much.

In the early morning, there was such a big incident in front of the Daming Gate. Although the emperor would know about the memorial after the Minister of General Affairs presented it to the Supervisor of Rituals, the inner palace is the emperor’s home. If Wang Tong, the emperor's favorite minister, is involved, the emperor will be notified as soon as possible.

According to the past, even when the adults in the court meeting mentioned Wang Tong, the emperor would immediately change his expression. Today, they directly described Wang Tong as a treacherous and sycophantic national scourge, and their words became more intense. How would the emperor react?

Except for Zhang Juzheng, everyone in the room who was concerned was looking at the little emperor carefully, trying to find any clues from the emperor's expression so that he could make relevant adjustments.

You can't see anger, you can't see indifference, only exhaustion and boredom. All the lords in Wenyuan Pavilion are shrewd people. After knowing it, each of them withdrew their eyes and kowtowed.

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In today's court meeting, it was Ma Ziqiang, Minister of the Household Department who spoke first, he had a hesitant look on his face, everyone in the room looked over, could it be that he was talking about what he saw in the early morning.

After hesitating again and again, he looked at Zhang Juzheng next to him. After Ma Ziqiang came out to salute, Chen Zuo said:
"Your Majesty, the officials sent by the Ministry of Household Affairs to check the land in various provinces have already been dispatched, including Nanzhili, Zhejiang, and Jiangxi. The officials sent last year have not returned, and they will not be sent this year."

These are just some routine government affairs. When I brought it to the court meeting, I was too old to be confused, but I saw that Ma Ziqiang faltered when he said this, and he opened and closed his mouth several times without making a sound.

The pavilion became more and more quiet, even the little eunuch who was standing and waiting at the door raised his head, Zhang Juzheng glanced at it, coughed and said:

"Master Ma, it's too disrespectful to do this in front of His Majesty."

After saying this, Ma Ziqiang calmed down a little, and said in a low voice:
"Your Majesty, the implementation of Qingzhang in the Songjiang Prefecture of Nanzhili is not good, and the officials who are on business over there have sent a letter to inquire. How should this matter be handled?"

Clearing up the acres of land, checking the hidden acres, this is the most important preparatory work for Zhang Juzheng, the chief assistant of the dynasty, before implementing the New Deal. Why did Ma Ziqiang bring it up at the court meeting?

But after everyone was taken aback, they all came to understand. On the contrary, Emperor Wanli was a little confused. He was a little confused at first, but he was made sober by Chen Zuo.

Seeing Emperor Wanli's eyes fixed on him, Zhang Juzheng turned around and bowed down, and said:
"Your Majesty, the Songjiang Mansion is mostly industrial and commercial, and there is not much land, so there is no need to investigate too much. I think it is enough to transfer the officials to other places to do business. What is your majesty's will?"

"Mr. Zhang did a good job, let's do it like this!"

But there was still a perplexed look on his face, but seeing that everyone in Wenyuan Pavilion seemed to understand, it was not a good time to ask questions at this time, and he only wanted to ask Feng Bao and Zhang Cheng after the court was over.

Ma Ziqiang obviously had a relieved expression on his face. He retreated to the ranks, and Zhang Siwei, Minister of the Ministry of War, who is also a cabinet bachelor, stood up and saluted Chen Zou:
"Your Majesty, outside the gate of Daming this morning, Li Sancai, a member of the Household Department, read a memorial. His Majesty must have heard of this. Wang Tong set up an army of Huwei privately, and organized dozens of battalions of soldiers and horses. As a Minister of the Ministry of War, it is true. It is not too late to make up for the dereliction of duty, and before it causes a catastrophe, please Your Majesty disperse Wang Tong's minions and punish him."

Emperor Wanli listened to Chen Zou, his eyelids almost dropped, his body trembled, and he sat upright quickly. When he heard Zhang Siwei's last words, he immediately frowned, and said impatiently:
"Wang Tong's actions are all based on his loyalty to the widow. He compiled troops and horses and set up tax customs. He was also known and approved by the widow. I have said these things over and over again. I don't know how many times. Why mention it again? , Zhang Aiqing needless to say."

Zhang Siwei did not follow the order and retreated. Instead, he lifted the hem of his court clothes, knelt down and said to Chen Zou:
"Your Majesty, the gentry and gentlemen are the foundation of the world. Those who have meritorious service are exempted from corvee and taxation. It is the law of the ancestors, and it is also determined by the ancestors to strengthen the foundation of the Ming Dynasty. Wang Tong poisoned the officials and the people and harmed the gentry. It is the foundation of the Ming Dynasty and the country. ah!!"

(End of this chapter)