Great Qing Xiangguo

Chapter 60

Zhang Penghe stepped forward and knelt down and said: "What I said in the zhezi is my own heart, and has nothing to do with Chen Tingjing! Zhang Ying's crimes against Chen Tingjing are all fabricated out of nothing!"

Zhang Qian also went forward and knelt down and said: "The minister Zhang Qian thought that Chen Tingjing was loyal to the court, and Zhang Ying's participation was not true!"

Many ministers in the palace stood up to speak for Chen Tingjing, and the emperor was even more annoyed, saying: "Enough! Zhang Penghe disregarded the overall situation of the court, was loyal and straight, and pretended to be a critical minister, but he was actually a traitor! Paranoid and narrow-minded, short-sighted, ridiculous and hateful!"

Chen Tingjing knew that the more people protecting him, the more dangerous he would be, so he hurriedly knelt down and said: "I am willing to accept the crime! I only ask for a loan from Zhang Penghe! Zhang Penghe didn't know what the big family coordinator was at first. of."

The emperor glanced at Chen Tingjing, and said: "Chen Tingjing secretly made friends with the censor, slandered the government, and openly committed the crime. Zhang Penghe and Chen Tingjing are friends, hateful and hateful! I hope that Mingzhu will discuss with Jiuqing, and must be severely punished!"

Mingzhu bowed her head, her face expressionless.The ministers and workers were speechless, and no one dared to speak.

The emperor said again: "I have always ruled the world with leniency, and I have never cared about ministers. But the evils of cronies are extremely harmful, and I will never tolerate them! All ministers and workers must take Chen Tingjing as a warning. Shout out in private, form cliques for personal gain, and slander the imperial court!"

After the emperor's decree was completed, Zhang Ying was granted the title of Bachelor of the Hanlin Academy, a teacher of Shu Jishi, and the right servant of the Ministry of Rites.Zhang Ying was stunned for a while, then hurriedly stepped forward and knelt down to thank her.He felt that he came to these official positions really disgraceful, and his face was covered with flies, which made him feel very uncomfortable.

Chen Tingjing returned home, locked himself in the study, and played the piano endlessly.Both Yueyuan and Zhen'er knew about the affairs of the court, so they went to the study to guard Chen Tingjing.Zhen'er was very angry and said: "How can there be such an unreasonable emperor? I said, my lord, you should stop being a Beijing official!"

Chen Tingjing was still playing the piano, shaking his head with a wry smile.Yueyuan said: "I really admire Mr. Fu Shan at the moment. If he says he won't be an official, he won't be an official!"

Chen Tingjing sighed, "But I'm not Fu Shan!"

Yueyuan said: "I know the master is not Fu Shan, so I have to make a compromise!"

Chen Tingjing closed his eyes and said nothing, the sound of the piano under his hand became more and more angry.Zhen'er said: "Zhen'er often hears the master talking about Mr. Zhang Ying, saying that he has good character and literary talent, why is he also a jerk? It's because the master trusts people too much."

Chen Tingjing became irritable, played the piano and said: "What's the matter! Whenever I encounter difficulties, everyone will come and scold me!"

Yueyuan hurriedly comforted: "Master, Zhen'er and I are not criticizing you, we are just worrying for you. If you don't like to hear it, we won't talk about it. Cuiping, make a pot of good tea quickly, and we will drink tea with the master." Let's talk."

Chen Tingjing waved his hand and said, "I understand what you're thinking, and I don't blame you. I want to be alone right now, so you all go and rest."

Yueyuan and Zhen'er went out, and Chen Tingjing sat alone for a long time before going to the desk to copy scriptures.He is transcribing the "Vajra Prajna Paramita Sutra" for his mother.A few days ago, he received a letter from his family and knew that his mother was not in good health, so Chen Tingjing made a vow to copy a few Buddhist scriptures for his mother to bless the old man with good fortune and longevity.

At the middle of the night, both Yueyuan and Zhen'er hadn't fallen asleep yet.Suddenly hearing the sound of the piano again, Yueyuan sighed, got up and went to the study.Zhen'er also followed carefully.Yueyuan pushed open the door of the study and said, "Master, you should rest, you have to go to bed early tomorrow!"

Chen Tingjing stopped playing the piano abruptly and said, "Don't worry, I don't have to go to court early."

Yueyuan and Zhen'er looked at each other in dismay when they heard this. They didn't know how bad the situation was, but they didn't dare to ask in detail.

At dawn, Chen Tingjing went to bed to rest, and soon fell asleep.He slept until noon and didn't wake up, but Yueyuan woke him up.It turned out that my hometown in Shanxi sent a letter.When Chen Tingjing heard that there was a letter from his family, his heart was pounding.Recently, he has always had an ominous premonition, fearing that he will receive a letter from home.After opening the letter, Chen Tingjing immediately rolled out of bed, knelt on the ground and cried bitterly: "Mother, my son is not filial, I should visit you when I go back to Shanxi!"

It turned out that the old lady passed away.Yueyuan and Zhen'er also burst into tears.The crying sound spread outside, everyone knew that the old lady had gone, and the whole house cried together.The family cried for a long time, and no one had any idea.Chen Tingjing was in a trance for a moment, then slowly woke up.He wiped away his tears, and while writing a note to the emperor to ask for a leave of absence, he sent someone to report to the court official's house.

Mingzhu sees that the emperor's original intention is not to re-rule Chen Tingjing, but to let no one in the ruling and opposition parties oppose the overall planning of the big family.But the emperor spoke very harshly, so he didn't know how to convict Chen Tingjing.If the crime is light, it seems to be against the holy will; if the crime is severe, it is not the emperor's intention, and it seems that he is making excuses to punish people.After pondering over and over again, he decided to put more emphasis on the middle than the light, leaving room for the emperor to show his benevolence.Mingzhu said a few words in a cloud, and the Sangong and Jiuqing understood what he meant.Therefore, it was agreed that Chen Tingjing would be demoted to Fengtian, and Zhang Penghe would fill the ancient pagoda of Faning.

After Mingzhu finished discussing the case of Chen Tingjing and Zhang Penghe, she still went to the South Study Room.Zhang Ying just received a note from Chen Tingjing and knew that Mrs. Chen had passed away.He felt very guilty these few days, but he couldn't explain the whole story to Chen Tingjing.Seeing that Chen Tingjing's family is in serious trouble now, he has an idea in his heart.Seeing Mingzhu coming, Zhang Ying was about to talk to him about the affairs of Chen Tingjing's family when Zhang Shande came in and pouted at them.Mingzhu and others immediately wanted to go out to avoid it, but Zhang Shande said that the emperor asked everyone to stay inside.

Not long after, the emperor came in with his hands behind his back, and immediately asked, "Is the discussion over?"

Mingzhu knew what the emperor was asking about, so she said: "Nine Qings met to discuss, Chen Tingjing was demoted to Fengtian, and Zhang Penghe filled the ancient pagoda of Faning!"

The emperor was silent for a moment, and said: "I think Chen Tingjing has made great contributions to the lectures for many years, and his parents are old, so they should not go to the border guards. Instead, they will be reprimanded and returned home. They will never be used! Yushi Zhang Penghe changed his life to Ili, and he will never return. Beijing!"

Hearing this, Zhang Ying felt a little relieved.Chen Tingjing doesn't need to go to Fengtian, so he will suffer less.Although it will never be used, there will still be a day of recovery as time goes by.It's just that Zhang Penghe was really wronged, but the emperor was in a rage, so it hurt him to intercede at this time.

Gao Shiqi bowed his head and said: "The ministers are grateful for the emperor's magnanimity, and they should take Chen Tingjing as a warning and be careful when doing errands!"

The emperor sat down and said again: "Since ancient times, civil officials have misled the country and talked about officials. At the beginning of the country, the censor was designated as the third rank, and the father was wise and downgraded the censor to the seventh rank. When I was not in charge, The auxiliary ministers have promoted the censor to the fourth rank. Today, I still want to lower the censor to the seventh rank, and it will be custom forever!"

Zhang Ying waited for the emperor to finish speaking, and hurriedly stepped forward and knelt down to play: "Qi Zou, the emperor, Chen Tingjing's old mother has passed away!"

The emperor was shocked and asked how long it had been.Zhang Yingzuo said: "Chen Tingjing said in his brochure that when he returned to Shanxi this time, he did not go home to visit his mother because of an urgent business. He only knows now that his mother has been ill in bed for a long time. He is afraid that Tingjing and Tingtong brothers will be distracted. Inform! Chen Tingjing blamed himself for being unfilial, regretted it too late, and asked for permission to leave for three years to observe the system."

The emperor shook his head and lamented: "The country governs the world with loyalty and filial piety. As a son of man, filial piety is the first word. Chen Tingjing is allowed to return to Shanxi to take care of his mother's funeral, and keep it for three years!"

Zhang Ying kowtowed again and said: "I ask the emperor to forgive Chen Tingjing's crimes. This is also a comfort to the old man's spirit in heaven!" The emperor looked at Zhang Ying who was kneeling on the ground, got up and returned to the palace without saying a word.

The next day, the emperor said at the gate of Qianqing: "Although the merits cannot be surpassed, Chen Tingjing has been teaching for many years and has made many suggestions on major political affairs. Unfortunately, when his old mother passed away, I feel sorry for him and cannot bear to ask the crime immediately. I allow Chen Tingjing to return I have kept the family system for three years, and I will talk about the crimes committed later!"

Chen Tingjing himself was not present, the emperor issued an order, and the hall was only quiet.Only then did Zhang Ying understand that the emperor did not refuse to plead for Chen Tingjing yesterday, but was unwilling to speak out.The emperor was benevolent and generous, and he wanted to forgive Chen Tingjing, but he didn't want to give this favor to others.

The emperor really said: "Not long ago, Chen Tingjing was ordered to go to Shanxi. Due to his errands, he couldn't go home to visit his mother. His mother had been sick in bed for a long time, but he was afraid that his son would be distracted, so he was not allowed to tell. In one thought, Yin and Yang are separated forever! Every time I think of this place, I can hardly sleep or eat! I ordered Zhang Ying and Gao Shiqi to go to Chen Tingjing's house to express my condolences!"

After the emperor said, the whole hall was shocked.Zhang Ying hurriedly thanked him for receiving the decree, but Gao Shiqi said, "It is unprecedented for the emperor to express his condolences to the parents of ministers! Besides, Chen Tingjing is still a guilty minister!"

The emperor glanced at Gao Shiqi and said, "There is no precedent, so let's start with Chen Tingjing and make it the rule forever!"

After the court, Zhang Ying and Gao Shiqi discussed going to the Chen family to sacrifice their mother.Gao Shiqi said: "Master Zhang, Shiqi is really confused. You have a very close personal relationship with Chen Tingjing, but you signed up for him; since you joined him, why do you want to protect him later? The emperor said that Chen Tingjing would be severely punished, but in the end I am reluctant to demote him to Fengtian, and only let him go home to enjoy the blessings. Now that his mother is dead, the emperor has set a precedent and sent ministers to sacrifice!"

Zhang Yingdao: "Thank you for the emperor's grace. Since there is no precedent, we have to discuss it carefully."

Seeing Zhang Ying's tone, Gao Shiqi felt bored and stopped talking.

(End of this chapter)