Ming Dynasty 1566

Chapter 55

Tears welled up in Gao Hanwen's eyes: "Brother Gangfeng will stop being an official one day, and I will come to you."

Hai Rui shook his head: "My place is at the ends of the earth, it's too hot, you're not used to it. Besides, I don't know anything about the things you like. Let's send our thoughts to each other."

Gao Hanwen: "I will come to you."

Hai Rui looked at him, "If you insist on coming, there will still be food and wine."

Gao Hanwen: "That's a deal. Brother Gangfeng, the righteous people outside the house can only be sent to Hu Butang's camp by you. You can go."

Hai Rui: "Then I can't see you off either. When you arrive in Beijing, don't say anything. Only by keeping silent can you get out of prison."

Gao Hanwen: "Duo Meng taught, I will remember."

This was the first post station from Hangzhou to Beijing Luyi. It happened to be noon, and the team escorting Gao Hanwen's prison cart happened to have lunch here and feed the horses with water.

The gates of the post station, regardless of their size, had no threshold. The four guards in brocade uniforms all wore red brocade uniforms, and rode into the gate of the post station first on horseback.

It is said that it is a prison car, and it is also divided into three, six, and nine classes.The prison cart that Gao Hanwen was riding in was actually similar to a carriage, except that it was not decorated with curtains and curtains, so the people sitting inside could directly see it from the outside.Also, there is a huge chain on the handlebars to show that the person sitting in the car is an official to be punished.

After the four Jin Yiwei entered, several soldiers escorted Gao Hanwen's prison car and ran directly into the gate of the post station.

Soon, another carriage rolled over, and then rolled into the gate of the post station.

The food was on the table in a short while.There were three tables in the hall, four royal guards sat at one table, eight soldiers sat at one table, and Gao Hanwen sat alone at a small table.

The postmen brought different meals to the table of Jin Yiwei and soldiers.

No one brought food to Gao Hanwen's table.

The eight soldiers were a little surprised, they glanced at Gao Hanwen, and then at Jin Yiwei.Seeing that the four Jinyiwei adults were already eating and drinking on their own, they didn't dare to say anything, picked up their rice bowls and started eating.

Gao Hanwen also sat there alone without saying a word, and slowly closed his eyes.

With both hands, he put a rice basket on Gao Hanwen's table, then lifted the lid of the basket, and took out the meal and two bowls of side dishes from inside.

Gao Hanwen opened his eyes, saw the food on the table, and immediately felt that it was not like the food provided to criminal officials at the post station, so he was startled, and raised his head to look at the person who cleaned up the food basket, stunned!
——That person is Yunniang in common clothes!
Yun Niang didn't look at him, she set up the food, and walked out of the dining room with the food basket.

Gao Hanwen turned to look at the four Jinyiwei.

The four Jin Yiwei were buried in their food, and none of them looked at him.

Gao Hanwen slowly raised his head to look at the roof, lost in thought.

The prison car that sent Gao Hanwen away and the memorial to Zheng Michang and He Maocai pleading guilty followed the four Jinyi guards on the road for a distance of 120 miles a day.However, Shen Yishi's four large boxes of account books and Yang Jinshui's secret performance were transported secretly to Beijing in five days by an expedited journey of four hundred miles.The city that entered from Chongwenmen at the time of applying for a license was sent directly to Meridian Gate, and the internal supervisor signed the receipt, and when it was delivered to Yuxi Palace, it was already dark.

All the palace lanterns were lit, bright as day.The doors and windows were tightly closed as before, but what was different from the past was that the Yuxi Palace, where the needle could always be heard when it fell to the ground, was now "cracking, crackling, crackling" and the sound of abacus dialing the beads was ringing sky-high!

The four large wooden boxes were all opened, and they were impressively placed in the center of the hall. The two eunuchs kept taking out the account books from the box, and sent them to the two long red sandalwood cases on the left and right in sequence.

On the long red sandalwood case on the left is a huge mahogany abacus that is one foot long and one foot wide, and on the long red sandalwood table on the right is also a huge mahogany abacus of the same length and width.Standing in front of the case was no longer the eunuch, Bingbi, and cabinet members, but the twelve eunuchs temporarily transferred from the Needlework Bureau, Scarf and Hat Bureau, and Shangyi Supervisor.There are six standing in front of the long case abacus on the left, and six standing in front of the long case abacus on the right.The six eunuchs shared the same abacus, and their six slender hands were flicking the beads on the long and huge abacus at the same time, sweating profusely, nervously doing the accounting.

——Every eunuch stared at the account books in front of the abacus and fiddled with the beads with his left hand without a break, and recorded the accounts with his right hand at the same time, and the accounts written were all in neat regular script!These people don't know how to practice this kung fu of one hand and three uses!

At this time, Lu Fang also came out of the veil of the abode, sweating profusely, not wearing a palace hat, but still wearing a long robe, and scanned the front of the twelve eunuchs to see which bill had already been calculated.

An eunuch in front of the long table on the left quickly finished calculating a bill, then put down his pen, picked up the bill and held it to his mouth, blew it, and then presented it to Lu Fang with both hands.Lu Fang walked over and took the bill.

At this time, an eunuch in front of the long case on the right also picked up a written bill and blew it on his lips, and held it with both hands.Lu Fang walked over again and took the bill.Holding two bills with wet ink, Lu Fang stood under the palace lamp and looked at them carefully for a while, then lifted a corner of the veil and walked lightly into the inner room.

If it weren't for the light from the few Lidi palace lanterns that illuminated Jiajing's manly eyebrows, no one would have believed it. At this time, he was only wearing a close-fitting cotton gown, and his two slender arms were supporting the edge of the huge red sandalwood imperial case. Above, the person standing there is the Long Live Lord who wears a silk gown with cicada wings in winter and a cotton gown in Songjiang in summer.

——In summer, he never sweats, and his forehead, which is only tied with hair, is oozing fine beads of sweat. His ears are slightly raised to listen to the sound of beading from the hall outside the veil, and his eyes are shining , looking at the bills placed on the imperial case one by one.

The bills that have just been written one after another are clearly written under the light of the palace lantern.The camera slowly scanned from the top of the imperial case, and the words "Jiajing 21 years" can be clearly seen on the first page on the left, and after a few more, the words "Jiajing 22 years" followed by "Jiajing 23 years" , "The 24th Year of Jiajing", the number of pages varies, and they are arranged in order. At the end of the second row of the imperial case, it is "29th Year of Jiajing", and there will be no more.Jiajing closed his eyes and waited, his face was as cold as iron, listening to the sound of bead strikes coming from outside the veil.

Lu Fang neatly placed the two bills in her hand on the desk in the third row.

Jiajing's gaze slowly opened again, looking at the two bills that had just been placed on the desk with the words "30 Years of Jiajing" written on them.

Lu Fang raised her eyes and saw the beads of sweat on Jiajing's forehead, and immediately went to the copper basin on the low table to wash her hands, then went to the other side to take the towel in the gold basin on the high table Ribbed in the clear water, twisted gently, walked behind Jiajing's left side, stood on tiptoe, raised his hand, tried not to block his line of sight, and wiped away the sweat on his left forehead.After printing on the left side, Lu Fang walked from behind him to the right, raised her hand on tiptoe, and printed the sweat on his right forehead for him.

At this time, Jiajing seemed to have nothing there, only the bill in front of his eyes and the sound of beads in his ears.

Lu Fang wiped his sweat for him, then quietly put the towel back into the golden basin, walked to the side of the veil from one side, pulled aside the thread, and walked out.

According to historical records, Emperor Shizong Jiajing of the Ming Dynasty did not go to court for decades, but the economic revenue and expenditure of the entire Ming Dynasty were always in his hands.It is said that apart from cultivating sacrifices and alchemy, what he cares most about is calculating the financial revenue and expenditure of the entire country.As a result, later generations came to the conclusion that the Minister of the Household Department of the Ming Dynasty, that is, today's Minister of Finance, was actually concurrently held by Emperor Jiajing himself.

During Lu Fang's back and forth, the last empty corner of the imperial case was filled with the last two bills, which happened to be "40 Years of Jiajing" on the bills.

Jiajing's eyes were still shining, and he was staring at the two bills.At this time, the sound of counting beads in the outer hall also stopped, and the entire Yuxi Palace was silent.

Lu Fang stared fixedly at Jiajing, and found that the sweat on his forehead had also disappeared miraculously, and the face that was still full of excitement just now was like a woodcut, without any expression.

Lu Fang gently walked to the hanger and took off Jiajing's Songjiang cotton robe, stepped behind him, lifted the upper shoulder of the cotton robe, and opened it while squatting.Jiajing's hands stretched from the side of the imperial case to the sides of the legs. Lu Fang skillfully aligned the joint of the rotator cuff with Jiajing's hands and lifted it up, and the cotton robe was smoothly put on Jiajing's body on the back .

"How much is 100 million pieces of silk converted into silver?" Jiajing asked suddenly.

Lv Fang was fastening buttons for Jiajing, and then replied: "The market price varies from year to year. Jiajing 30 years ago, sea transportation was smooth, and each piece of silk could be sold for ten taels of silver in the mainland, and 15 taels of silver when transported to the West. 30 years after Jiajing, Japanese pirates were infested, and sea transportation was impassable, and each piece of silk could only be sold for six to seven taels of silver in the mainland."

"That is to say, the 20 million bolts of silk that Zhejiang officials have been greedy for in the past 100 years is no less than seventy-eight million taels of silver!" Jiajing's voice was bleak.

"Master Shengming." Lu Fang replied softly.

"Where did all this money go?" Jiajing looked at Lu Fang with a twinkle in his eyes.

At this moment, Lu Fang knew that he could not avoid his gaze, so she directly replied, "We must investigate thoroughly!"

"How to check?" Jiajing asked immediately.

Lu Fang: "Return to Master, Hu Zongxian has arrived at noon today according to the secret decree, and has been waiting to see you in the court room at the forbidden gate of Xiyuan."

Jiajing: "Does anyone know he's here?"

Lu Fang: "Master, he came here on a secret order, and he didn't stay at a post along the way. No one knew he was coming."

Jiajing: "Tell Hu Zongxian to come in immediately and show him the bad debts of the Zhejiang officialdom."

Lu Fang: "Yes."

……

The battle ahead was intense, but a secret decree called him to go to Beijing within five days. At this time, Hu Zongxian was still wearing his dusty casual clothes, sitting alone in the court room waiting to see him.Three hours passed, but there was no tea but no food.After galloping two thousand miles fast, I was already very tired. At this time, I was hungry, so I closed my eyes and couldn't help but sat down and fell asleep.

"Master Hu." A voice rang softly in his ear, Hu Zongxian opened his eyes suddenly, and stood up quickly.

It was Lu Fang standing beside her!
Hu Zongxian hurriedly saluted: "Your official Hu Zongxian has seen Eunuch Lu..."

"No need." Lu Fang hurriedly supported him, "I know you have worked hard, but there is nothing I can do. The emperor is waiting. Come with me."

Hu Zongxian hurriedly followed Lu Fang out.

The Yuxi Palace returned to its original appearance in an instant, the two long red sandalwood cases were quietly placed there, the abacus and the eunuchs were gone, only the big wooden box sent by Shen Yishi was left, and there were also two pieces of it. It has been covered and re-attached with a seal and placed in the center of the hall.

Lu Fang led Hu Zongxian in gently, and walked to the veil.

Lu Fang: "Long Live Lord, Hu Zongxian is here."

Hu Zongxian immediately knelt down in front of the veil: "Minister Hu Zongxian, governor of Zhejiang Province, kowtows to the holy driver!"

Jiajing's voice came from inside: "Come in."

Hu Zongxian was taken aback for a moment. This is the emperor's abode for practicing rituals and Taoism. Usually, only Lu Fang and Yan Song can enter except for the alchemists who are specially ordered. At this time, when the emperor told him to go in, he couldn't help raising his head to look at Lu Fang, and then said in fear : "I would like to report to the sage, the jingshe is the place where the sage cultivates immortals, and foreign ministers dare not enter without permission."

Lu Fang lifted the veil and said, "You are a generalist. Long live the emperor said that usually only Yan Song can enter here, and it is also because Yan Song used people like you to support the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, he If you can enter, you can too. Follow the order, come in quickly."

How many mysteries of heaven's heart are hidden in these words, and how much kindness and compassion are contained in them!Hu Zongxian didn't know whether he was excited or nervous for a moment, he knocked his head down and hit the mountain: "Yes." He got up and walked in slowly.

Jiajing sat cross-legged on the futon, and Hu Zongxian was about three feet away from him, kneeling there.

"The battle was fought hard." Jiajing's tone was very peaceful.

Hu Zongxian: "It is the duty of ministers to serve the country loyally."

Jiajing: "I heard that Qi Jiguang's thousands of people fought tens of thousands of Japanese pirates, and he has won four battles in a row. It's a good fight."

Hu Zongxian: "The emperor is entrusted with great blessings, and the soldiers are relied on for their lives. The people in Zhejiang are also sympathetic to the imperial court, and many righteous people helped to fight against the Japanese."

Jiajing: "It's because the officialdom is greedy for ink, and the backup is not good! Is it?"

Hu Zongxian was silent.

Jiajing's eyes flashed again, and he stared at him closely: "You are loyal to the country, and you are sincere in doing things. These are your strengths. You are too smooth, and you don't want to offend others. No see! Now that there is no military pay for the war, how can you be the governor?"

Hu Zongxian kowtowed his head again: "The humble minister is not a talent for enforcing borders. When I met you in March, I asked to resign."

"Don't use your resignation as an excuse!" Jiajing's tone became severe, "The idea of ​​'washing tassels in clear water and washing feet in turbid water' is useless in my Ming Dynasty. I am not a foolish ruler in troubled times!"

Hu Zongxian lay there: "I dare not have such thoughts."

Jiajing: "What is that thinking? The place you manage is already greedy for ink like this, don't you know?"

Hu Zongxian: "It has been a long time since the officialdom has been corrupted by ink, and the ministers have also heard about it."

Jiajing: "Why don't you give me a performance? Are you afraid of offending Yan Song, or are you afraid of offending Yan Shifan!"

Hu Zongxian was silent again.

Jiajing: "Tell me!"

Hu Zongxian: "Yes. Back to the emperor, although the minister is the governor of Zhejiang Province, he has his own duties, and many things are not necessarily clear."

Jiajing: "That's good. I'll let you see clearly now. Lu Fang."

Lu Fang: "The servant is here."

Jiajing: "Take him to the imperial case to look at those bad debts."

Lu Fang: "Yes. Master Hu, get up."

Hu Zongxian kowtowed again, and stood up with his hands on the ground.

Lu Fang was beside him: "Come on." Then she led him to the imperial case with the bill.

Physical and mental strength have been used to the limit, Hu Zongxian suddenly felt that everything in front of him was blurred, his eyes were a little dark, he insisted on following the blurred figure of Lu Fang and walked towards the imperial case. Unable to hold on anymore, he was about to fall down immediately, so he quickly supported the edge of the desk with both hands.

"Master Hu!" Lu Fang was startled.

Hu Zongxian still supported the case, but couldn't answer.

Lu Fang hurried over to support him.

Jiajing was also alarmed: "What's wrong?"

Lu Fang: "Master. He came here thousands of miles away on a hot day, and he has been waiting in the imperial court for so long. He hasn't eaten since noon. He is tired. Just eat something. Master, don't worry. .”

Jiajing: "Help him sit down, and give him a bowl of my lotus seed soup."

Lu Fang: "Yes." After answering, he went to help Hu Zongxian.

Hu Zongxian tightly grasped the edge of the imperial case with both hands: "Eunuch, how can a minister sit on the throne!"

Lu Fang stopped forcing him, and ran to a golden basin with a large piece of ice, took out a porcelain cup from the basin, lifted the lid, and walked in front of Hu Zongxian.

Hu Zongxian still firmly grasped the edge of the case with both hands to stabilize his body, unable to take the bowl.

Lu Fang: "The emperor has a decree, so you can sit down and eat."

Hu Zongxian was still standing there.

Jiajing looked at Lu Fang and Hu Zongxian: "A person who commands thousands of troops, let him stand and drink, he can hold on."

A word seemed to infuse a great deal of anger, Hu Zongxian immediately let go of his hands, took the bowl in Lu Fang's hand, and drank the bowl of lotus seed soup with both hands.After finishing the bowl of soup, he handed the bowl to Lu Fang with both hands, and the person was actually standing there firmly.

Having followed Jiajing for decades, Lu Fang sincerely admired this master in these places, and he has different ways to control all kinds of people.With a light sentence, a person who was about to fall was said to stand there again. Lu Fang glanced at Jiajing, then at Hu Zongxian, nodded, and signaled him to go and pay.

Hu Zongxian turned around, looked at the bill on the imperial case, and began to look all the way.

Jiajing closed his eyes again and meditated there.

Hu Zongxian's eyes became more and more shocked!Even though I had a good idea in my heart, I was still shocked after reading these accounts, and I stood there in a daze after holding my breath.

"Finished?" Jiajing opened his eyes.

Hu Zongxian walked up to Jiajing again in a few steps, and knelt down: "Shocking, I can't absolve myself of the crime of negligence."

Jiajing looked at him: "The five governors, the three governors, the chief envoy, and the inspector's yamen, you are the only one who is not corrupt. Of course, at most it is the crime of negligence."

Hu Zongxian: "It is also a serious crime to neglect the inspection and misuse the country."

(End of this chapter)