Ming Dynasty 1566

Chapter 145

"Back to the master." Chen Hong immediately replied, "All the officials have written the memorial, but they don't want to talk anymore. What's even more annoying is that Wang Yongji didn't even write the memorial to refute Hai Rui, but submitted it instead. The memorandum about the corruption of ink by the Mining Department in the palace is clearly against the master. The slave has already arrested the king Yongji."

"What do the cabinet Xu Jie and the others mean?" Jiajing looked at Chen Hong suddenly.

Chen Hong: "The cabinet's intention is to extract all the words that the officials refute Hai Rui from the memorandum and hand them over to the three courts for conviction tomorrow. The slaves are a little worried. Will those people give Hai Rui an unclear sentence for their own reputation? sin, and defiled the holy name of the Master."

Jiajing rolled his eyes again, showing that strange look: "Bring a pen and paper."

"Yes." Chen Hong immediately stood up and went to the imperial case to put the paper, pen and inkstone box into a tray, and then went back to the bed, put it on the bed first, supported Jiajing to sit up, and then He picked up the tray and presented it to the past.

Jiajing leaned against the head of the bed, picked up the vermilion pen, thought for a while, and wrote two words "good rain" on the imperial paper.Then, with a trembling hand, he opened this page of imperial note, and wrote two words "Mingyue" on another page of imperial note.Putting down the pen: "This is about two people. Give it to King Yu, and ask him to call Xu Jie and the others to watch it together."

"The slave will go immediately." Chen Hong immediately responded holding the tray, and then asked Jiajing softly, "The slave will ask the master again, who are Xu Jie and the others referring to?"

Jiajing stopped looking at him again, and looked at the top of the bed: "If Lu Fang was here, I wouldn't have asked this question."

At this time, Jiajing suddenly mentioned Lu Fang, and his head kept looking up at the top of the bed without moving, as if Lu Fang was lying on the top of the dragon bed!

Chen Hong immediately seemed to be stunned by electricity, and he stuttered when he replied: "Slave, slave is dull... Slave, slave understands..."

Whether it was dull or understanding, even Chen Hong himself didn't know at this time, he put the tray back into the imperial case, and walked out of the abbot with the two imperial notes in his hands as if he was sleepwalking.

The two pieces of imperial papers were placed on King Yu's case. Because of the secret deliberation, Chen Hong sent away the eunuch on duty in King Yu's mansion, and he temporarily acted as an errand to serve King Yu.He twisted the face towel and wiped King Yu's face with it, and then picked up a fan and stood behind the desk to fan Yu Wang who was sitting there.King Yu actually sat there silently thinking about the four words written by Jiajing, while Yiren Chen Hong quietly waited by his side.

Since that time, King Yu was angry with Chen Hong. Chen Hong knelt down and made a heartfelt confession to King Yu. At this time, King Yu no longer respected him as before, but actually accepted his promise. surrender.Just like the water in a mountain stream, although it is easy to rise and retreat, once it flows into the river, it can never return to the mountain.Yu Wangzuo thought so, of course Chen Hong also understood this truth.

After a while, Xu Jie, Gao Gong, and Zhang Juzheng also came to Prince Yu's Mansion.

"I have seen the prince." The three saluted King Yu at the same time.

King Yu also stood up and turned his body sideways: "Masters, please sit down."

"Eunuch Chen." The three of Xu Jie didn't expect Chen Hong to be here, and at this moment they concealed their inner disgust, so they all bowed their hands to him again.

"My lord said, masters, please sit down." Chen Hong smiled modestly.While thinking in his heart, whether these three people are "Xu Jie and the others" the emperor said.

Xu Jie and the others sat down on the chairs by the south window, but Chen Hong still stood beside King Yu and fanned him gently.

Xu Jie, Gao Gong, and Zhang Juzheng all looked at King Yu.

King Yu: "There is a purpose."

The three immediately stood up again, ready to kneel down to receive the order.

"You don't need to kneel." This time it was Chen Hong who stopped them, "There is no decree, but the emperor wrote a few words to the prince, and asked Mr. Xu Ge and several masters to review the details. Let's come and see together."

Only then did the three of them see two pieces of imperial papers placed in front of King Yu, and they all walked over.

There are only two characters written on each piece of imperial paper, and the characters are very large. "Good rain" and "bright moon" immediately caught everyone's eyes.

Seeing the suspicious eyes of the three people, King Yu explained: "The emperor said that these four words refer to two people."

The three masters are all intensive readers of literary and historical classics. After reading these four words and hearing Yu Wang's explanation, they immediately began to think about it. One was thinking about the answer, and the other was thinking about how Chen Hong would speak here.There was silence for a while.

King Yu saw the thoughts of the three masters: "Masters don't have to worry. Eunuch Chen has difficulties with Eunuch Chen, and he has to do some things as a last resort. He has the emperor in his heart, and naturally he also has me. Just say it in front of him. .”

The three of them were a little surprised, but they believed it when they saw King Yu's determined eyes.

"I have a few words to ask Eunuch Chen first." Xu Jie looked at Chen Hong.

Chen Hong: "Excuse me, Mr. Ge."

Xu Jie: "When did the emperor write these four words, and what did he say when he wrote them?"

Chen Hong: "The two imperial physicians prescribed a unilateral prescription. The emperor was dissatisfied and sent them away. Then he asked the Metropolitan Procuratorate what he said about Hai Rui's crime."

Xu Jie and Gao Gong met their eyes, first glanced at King Yu, and then at Zhang Juzheng.

Zhang Juzheng has long been known as a child prodigy, and there is no other person in the world who is as smart as him, so Xu and Gao both want to hear his opinion.King Yu couldn't help looking at him at this moment: "Master Xu and Master Gao are in the cabinet to preside over Hai Rui's case. Master Zhang is an outsider, and outsiders can see it more clearly. Master Zhang, in your opinion, what is the emperor talking about?" Two people? What do you mean by these two people?"

Zhang Juzheng still didn't answer immediately, he humbly waited for Xu Jie and Gao Gong to call him to speak.

Gao Gong waved his hand: "The lord has said it all, but the bystanders will know, so just speak up."

Only then did Zhang Juzheng look at those four words again and said, "Then I'll be presumptuous. These four words refer to Li Shizhen and Hai Rui."

All the people met their eyes and looked at him together, waiting for his detailed explanation.

Zhang Juzheng: "'Good rain knows the season, when spring happens.'" The word "good rain" must refer to Li Shizhen. Because these two sentences contain Li Shizhen's time character, Li Shizhen is from Qichun, Hubei, and contains The word "spring" in Qichun. At that time, spring is "good rain". The dragon's body is against harmony. The emperor wanted to call Li Shizhen to ask for pulse, but he didn't want to call him explicitly. The following two sentences are "sneak into the night with the wind" ", Moisten things finely and silently" implies this meaning. This is to tell the prince to call Li Shizhen to Beijing immediately."

"Excellent solution!" Chen Hong immediately remembered that the emperor had mentioned Li Shizhen's name when he was in the jingshe. Li Shizhen's name was indeed mentioned in the Jingshe. Since the emperor wanted to call Li Shizhen to ask for pulse, but he didn't want to let the outside know, this slave immediately asked the people from the Zhenfu Department to do it secretly, and expedited six hundred miles. Take Li Shizhen to Beijing."

King Yu: "Then trouble Eunuch Chen to do it. Master Zhang continued."

Zhang Juzheng: "Since 'good rain' refers to Li Shizhen, 'bright moon' refers to Hai Rui. 'A bright moon born on the sea' is an image of auspiciousness, and the word 'rui' is contained in it. But how could the emperor use it at this time?" These two words are Hai Rui? It's a bit confusing."

Gao Gong continued: "Daming Zhiyue! Your Majesty probably meant to praise Hai Rui. Does it imply that we are lenient when discussing crimes?"

King Yu's eyes gradually brightened, and Zhang Juzheng and Chen Hong also showed approval.

Only Xu Jie shook his head lightly.

Gao Gong looked at him: "Then how does Mr. Ge explain it?"

Xu Jie sighed lightly: "The meaning that Su Qing explained is naturally included in these two words. But if we act according to this meaning, we will miss a big deal."

Including Chen Hong, everyone became solemn.

Xu Jie: "From my understanding, the word 'bright moon' has two meanings. The first one is 'Da Ming Wu Sun'!"

Everyone was surprised.

Xu Jie: "The bright one is the great Ming, but the word 'month' behind it is missing the word 'day'. The emperor is blaming us, the ministers, for not having him as a monarch. He didn't call Hai Rui to Ducha today. The court came, the emperor already has this intention." King Yu was the first to feel sad, and Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng were also sad.

Chen Hong looked at King Yu.

King Yu: "Eunuch Chen, please speak up if you have something to say."

Chen Hong: "That slave just said it. Mr. Xu Ge, do you want to say that 'bright moon' refers to 'execution after autumn'?"

Xu Jie only nodded slightly.

Chen Hong: "My lord, masters, if you trust me, I will speak out what is in my heart."

King Yu: "I'm going to listen to my father-in-law."

Chen Hong: "Tomorrow when the three courts convict, Hai Ruiqiu must be sentenced and executed."

No one spoke, no objection, everyone was silent there.

Chen Hong: "The Ming Dynasty is now the emperor's world, and it will be the prince's world in the future. The slaves can say everything. Why did the emperor ask the slaves to show this to the prince and the masters? It is not with the emperor. Hai Rui insulted the emperor so much, and the attitude of all the officials was ambiguous, especially that Wang Yongji, who was unwilling to write a memorial to refute Hai Rui. Discuss the crime. If the prince and the masters are still not angry with the father, it will be "the day of the Ming Dynasty". Everyone can say not to kill Hai Rui, but the prince must kill Hai Rui. And the prince If you use the pump, you will be punished heavily."

King Yu remained silent, as did Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng.

But Xu Jie said loudly: "Eunuch Chen is absolutely right! My lord, please let Eunuch Chen return to the palace to renew the order as soon as possible."

King Yu still looked at Xu Jie silently.

Xu Jie made the decision without authorization: "The body of the dragon is against peace, and there is no time to delay calling Li Shizhen. Eunuch Chen should hurry back to the palace to restore the order."

Chen Hong still looked at King Yu, waiting for his wishes.

King Yu sat there in a daze: "Then go and revise the decree."

"The servant left." As Chen Hong said, he did not forget to kneel down and kowtow respectfully to King Yu, then stood up and walked out quickly.

"It's a pity for a loyal minister. Another Wang Yongji was caught up." After saying this, King Yu closed his eyes.

Xu Jie, Gao Gong, and Zhang Juzheng looked at each other again, and the three showed the same tacit understanding at the same time.

Xu Jie looked at Zhang Juzheng: "Taiyue, what do you think, you might as well tell the prince again."

Zhang Juzheng: "I understand Elder Ge's meaning. To convict Hai Rui at this time, kill him or not, or kill him."

King Yu opened his eyes suddenly: "How do you say it?"

Zhang Juzheng: "Just now, Eunuch Chen has some things to say here. In fact, the emperor's four words contain the meaning of not killing Hai Rui, but we have to see what the prince and we think. If the prince and us If we all intercede for Hai Rui, Hai Rui will surely die. If the prince and us all think that Hai Rui deserves to die, and the grace comes from above, the emperor will not kill Hai Rui if he is not sure."

King Yu was still worried: "How can I see that?"

Zhang Juzheng: "My lord, please think about it. Hai Rui's serious illness was diagnosed by Li Shizhen. Before Hai Rui went to the hospital, Li Shizhen sent his family members away. Not only did the emperor have no intention of blaming Li Shizhen at this time, but he also wanted to invite him to come to see his pulse. This is the meaning of Ai Wu and Wu. The word "good rain" refers to Li Shizhen, and naturally also contains the word "sea". Old Xu Ge explained it well, the word moon has no sun, the emperor is afraid of the hearts of the prince and the officials There is no father, now the prince and all the ministers say that Hai Rui should be killed, this is the word 'month' and the word 'day'. Tomorrow, the three justices will punish Hai Rui as death, and sentence Wang Yongji to exile. Submission Your Majesty, if the Emperor does not approve, Hai Rui will not die. If Hai Rui does not die, Wang Yongji will also be able to reduce his crimes."

King Yu suddenly became enlightened: "Master Xu, is that what you mean?"

Xu Jie: "There is nothing more clever than Taiyue."

Gao Gong continued: "Then we'll just convict Hai Rui here and sentence him to hang for insulting his father. Whether or not to kill 'son' is just a word from 'father'."

"This crime is a good one, let's use it!" Yu Wang made a final decision.

As usual, the Ministry of Punishment finally wrote the result into a criminal case and presented it to the emperor.

Chen Hong walked over from the passage of the main hall with the criminal case of the Ministry of Punishment in his hands. When he entered the first door, he saw the back of an eunuch at the other end of the passage. He knelt on the ground and boiled medicine. , has the master tested it?"

The man was still brewing medicine with his back facing him, Chen Hong saw that the man dared not answer, and the back was familiar, so he wanted to go over.

"Come in!" Jiajing's voice came from the abode. Chen Hong didn't dare to delay any longer. He glanced at the back of the medicine eunuch, and had no choice but to enter the abode with the crime in his hands.

Jiajing's complexion is better today, he got out of bed and sat cross-legged on the futon.When Chen Hong entered the door, he smiled and called out: "Master, the Ministry of Criminal Justice has convicted the crime." He walked over and presented Jiajing with both hands.

Jiajing didn't answer, but just looked at the memorial.

Chen Hong opened the cover: "Qizou master, the crimes convicted by the three judges are very clear. That Hai Rui was hanged for the crime of insulting his father and disrespecting his father, and executed after the autumn. Sentence stick eighty miles three thousand miles, also distributed after autumn."

Jiajing looked at Chen Hong: "Do you think their sentence is very fair?"

Chen Hong was stunned for a moment: "If the master thinks that their sentence is wrong, the slave will send it back to ask them to give a heavy sentence."

Jiajing: "Should I ask them to give a heavier sentence or a lighter sentence?"

Chen Hong: "Thunder, rain, and dew are not God's grace, let the master decide what they want to judge."

Jiajing looked at him and smiled sinisterly again: "Why don't you just say that good people let you do it, and wicked people let me do it!"

Chen Hong fell to his knees with a plop: "Slaves, even the officials dare not have such thoughts."

Jiajing: "I have put my thoughts into the sky and the sea, and I said that I don't have such thoughts. Let me ask you, what is 'good rain knows the season', what is 'the bright moon is born on the sea'? Why didn't you tell me these words yesterday? "

Chen Hong's complexion changed, he stood there like a stone.

Jiajing: "Lv Fang left, and someone came here who wanted to learn from Lu Fang. Chen Hong, you have to learn from Lu Fang in your virtue, and there is no sign of it. What Lu Fang and my son said or did did not matter at all. You want to hide it from me, but you want to hide it from me. You are stupid to think that Lu Fang will be driven away by me after doing that. That is not stupid, it is called "Small stick accept, big stick go". Before Lu Fang left, she always knew in her heart No matter how many people call him the old ancestor, he will always be a slave. Who do you think you are? 'Know how to be a daughter-in-law and hide from both ends'. Princess Yu Li is the daughter-in-law of my Zhu family, and it's okay for her to hide from me. You also want to be my Zhu family's daughter-in-law, touch your egg-shelled face, are you qualified?"

Chen Hong put the criminal case in his hand on the brick floor, raised his hand and gave himself a slap, and then wanted to hit him again.

"Stop acting!" Jiajing stopped him, "If you really want to slap your mouth, go to the Supervisor of Ceremonies and the Criminal Division to do it."

"Master!" Chen Hong panicked. "The slave didn't dare to lie to the master. He really saw the master's disobedience. He couldn't bear to make the master angry again..."

"Bring the vermilion pen." Jiajing stopped listening to him.

Chen Hong's mind was full of chaos, and he replied tremblingly: "Yes." Not daring to get up, he walked to the imperial case on his knees, picked up the imperial brush but did not forget to dip the ink in the vermilion box, held his hands and walked back to the imperial case Jiajing held it up in front of him.

"Crime!" Jiajing took the imperial pen.

Chen Hong hastily picked up the criminal case on the ground, supported it on his head with his hands, and leaned over.

Jiajing brought up the imperial pen and drew a big "X" on the crime case!Then throw the imperial pen on the ground.

As usual, the emperor put a check mark on the Ministry of Penalty's report to convict a criminal. If the criminal is pardoned, the crime will be sent back for retrial. A cross like this has never happened before.

Although Chen Hong didn't see Jiajing's Zhu Bian, he knew that he had drawn a cross on it. He was in a daze and asked in a trembling voice with courage: "Master, is this a decision or not? Please tell me clearly." , the slaves can also pass orders to the cabinet and the Ministry of punishment."

Jiajing: "Don't they know how to guess? Let them guess!"

"Yes." Chen Hong answered like a mosquito.

Jiajing: "Don't you know how to guess? Guess who I will send to see the prison, look at Hai Rui and Wang Yongji."

Chen Hong immediately kowtowed on the ground: "I know I'm wrong, the master's heart is bigger than the sky, how can I guess the slave. I implore the master..."

"Guess!" Jiajing shouted.

(End of this chapter)