Emperor Qianlong: the beginning of his glory

Chapter 22 Cao Xueqin was delighted to learn that the female singer Liu Tongxun announced the decree of the Prison Temple (2)
Liu Tongxun knew all this.When Qianlong met him just now, he was also like this, with the feeling of beating Ma Su with tears.What Zhang Zhao committed was not an ordinary crime. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers spent several years working hard and were beaten to death by thousands of Miao natives scattered in the mountains. No one could protect him.Liu Tongxun said: "Master Liu, it's useless to be sad. We can only do our best to tell him to avoid the pain of flesh and blood. What will happen in the future depends on his family. I don't want Master Liu to be in trouble for this matter. I and Zhang Detian has no teacher-student friendship, I will sing this black face, you just sit and listen."

Fu Heng sighed, wiped his tears and said, "According to your opinion, what punishment should he be given for this crime?" "Ling Chi is not enough." Liu Tongxun said, "It is better to say that he committed a crime than that he violated the laws of the country." Military law. It is irreversible to lose the opportunity. As for extrajudicial favors, we, the courtiers, dare not speak rashly." Fu Heng sighed, and said: "It is really a scholar who leads the army..." Suddenly, a thought came to him , almost said it, but stopped, and said: "Please come and talk."

Zhang Zhaoxiang wore a shackle wrapped in yellow silk, and was taken into the Prison Temple.This is a man in his early forties, already an old minister of three dynasties.In the 48th year of Kangxi, when he was a Jinshi in Yijia, he was just 14 years old, and he was selected as a scholar of the Imperial Academy. He edited "24 Hadiths" for Kangxi. ", issued by Tianxia Academy.It is still a must-read homework for students entering the school.Four years ago, he was still the Minister of the Ministry of Punishment, in charge of this prison temple.Now, he himself is a prisoner here.This is a very well-dressed man. Although he has been wearing torture instruments, his official clothes are clean and ironed.The expression on Bai Jing's face looked very peaceful, with melancholy in his eyes, he stared blankly at Fu Heng and Liu Tongxun who came out of the steps.

"Give Master Zhang the punishment." Seeing Fu Heng's unbearable expression, Liu Tongxun just stood there in a daze, waved his hands and ordered, "Brother Detian, please come in and sit down, let's talk first." Zhang Zhao seemed to be at this moment Waking up from the stupefaction, he followed the two into the house.Fu Heng didn't say anything, just gave up his hand and let Zhang Zhao take the guest seat.Liu Tongxun was accompanied by the Prime Minister.

For a while, the three of them were relatively silent.After a long silence, Fu Hengcai said: "Teacher looks good. You haven't been wronged here, are you?" Zhang Zhao leaned forward and said, "Thank Liu Master for taking care of me, the people here treat me very well. They used to be my cousins, but now Who would make it difficult for me like this?" Liu Tongxun said: "I went to the mansion the other day and met Mrs. Sister-in-law. The family is fine. Don't worry about it. Madam is worried about your daily necessities and needs to send things over. I said no .I can still take care of these things.”

"This is Lord Yanqing's affection." Zhang Zhao suddenly felt sore, "I know the sins I have committed. When the case is closed, if I can see my children and wives, my wish will be fulfilled." As he spoke, the circles of his eyes turned red .Liu Tongxun looked at Fu Heng, stood up, and said seriously: "Tongxun has something to ask Zhang Zhao!"

Hearing this, Fu Heng trembled, and stood up quickly, standing behind Liu Tongxun.Zhang Zhao hurriedly left his seat, knelt down and kowtowed: "The sinner Zhang Zhao is here..."

"You are a scholar of literature." Liu Tongxun said coldly, with no expression on his face, "At that time when the incident in Miaojiang started, the late emperor had no intention of sending imperial ministers to supervise the army. According to your prelude, you don't know anything about military affairs, so why did you invite your former enemies repeatedly? , Play it according to the facts!"

Zhang Zhao knew that this question must be asked a long time ago, and he has a well-thought-out plan.He sighed and replied: "The late emperor's decision to pacify the Miao border and change the land to return to the local people was not wrong. Ertai was a figurine before and advocated the reform. After a slight military defeat, he was panicked, so please stop the reform. Crime. At that time, I thought it was because the commanders of the frontiers were shirking each other and the military orders were inconsistent. I was selfishly willing to preside over the military affairs as a scholar, so I took the liberty to invite you. Now that I have failed in my mission, I should accept the military orders of the country and France. Dare to hide your sophistry." Zhang Zhao did not lie during this incident, but in fact the real manipulator behind the scenes was his teacher Zhang Tingyu.In order not to make Zhang Guangsi, a protégé of Ertai, take the credit alone, Zhang Tingyu hinted several times that it would be difficult for the provinces to manage without an imperial envoy.

"In order to be impartial and upright, and to be impartial, we must be united to fight against the enemy." Liu Tongxun repeated Qianlong's words, "You can take the initiative to ask for a job, why do you play 'changing the flow is not the best strategy' in any month? Yangwei General Ha Yuan What is the enmity between Sheng and you, blindly reusing deputy general Dong Fang, causing the master and deputy generals to reverse their powers? Are you going to conquer the Miao border and change the current situation, or to divide the jurisdiction between Kazakhstan and Dong, and mediate and reconcile?"

This is a more embarrassing question. In fact, the root of it lies in the open and secret struggle between Ertai and Zhang Tingyu.But the two are now Qianlong's most popular and trusted ministers, how dare Zhang Zhao play it directly?Thinking about it, he said: "This is the evil minister's way of dispatching the good. I originally wanted to make a clear distinction, so that the generals have their own special responsibilities so that they will not fight with each other. Unexpectedly, the two of them aggravated the quarrel because of the uneven division." He pondered for a while and then said : "At this time, I reflect on myself, and the sinful minister is really unfair. Dong Fang is a good writer, and I would like Dong Fang to make meritorious service. This selfishness cannot escape the holy lesson." When he said this, Liu Tongxun couldn't help being startled, because behind This passage is exactly what Qianlong wanted to reprimand him, "Did he go to fight the war, or go to sing the wind and enjoy the moon?" Unexpectedly, Zhang Zhao himself had already admitted the blame, so it was not easy to ask again.After thinking about it, Liu Tongxun interrupted the question and said, "Minister Zhang Guangsi is the commander-in-chief of the entire army. The late emperor appointed you to coordinate the deployment of troops from all ministries and supervise the use of troops. How dare you abuse your authority and act like a substitute? Is it child's play? Since you regard state affairs as children's play and ignore military affairs, it is reasonable for me to abandon you to the law!"

"The emperor is so responsible, and the guilty minister is convinced. The only way to apologise is to die, what excuse is there?" Zhang Zhao bowed his head and kowtowed loudly. "Although the guilty minister died without any complaints, there is still one thing I want to say to your majesty. I originally thought that Zhang Guangsi was just headstrong. I have known him for three years, and his narrow-mindedness is unbelievable. Since the guilty minister took office, he has repeatedly come forward When I went to discuss military affairs, I said that I only listened to the order of the guilty minister. In fact, there was no word of praise, and there was no word of mediation for Ha Yuan's incident. Check your heart, this person cannot be reused!"

So far the questioning is over.Fu Heng felt a little relieved when he heard that Zhang Zhao's answer was correct.Liu Tongxun glanced at Fu Heng, seeing that he was speechless, he shouted loudly: "Come on!"

"exist!"

A few Goshhas were guarding the corridor outside the hall, obeying orders and entering.Liu Tongxun shouted sharply: "Go to Zhang Zhaoding and wear Hualing!"

"tie!"

Zhang Zhao's face was pale, and he waved his hands to stop Goshha who was rushing forward. He unscrewed the knob of the coral top with his slender fingers, took off the peacock feather and held it with both hands, and bowed his head deeply and said: "Sin Your Majesty Xie En..."

Fu Heng took a few steps forward to help Zhang Zhao, and said: "Teacher, take care, the Prison Temple here is no better than outside, I will naturally take care of food and daily life. It is inconvenient to communicate with each other in private. If there is any need, tell the prison guard here." , so that the bones of the body will not be wronged. The confession must not be concealed, and more blame and self-reproach, leaving room for us to speak in it." While speaking, weeping.Zhang Zhao calmed down at this time, and said: "Please Liu Ye to play the court, I just want to die quickly and apologize, how dare I pretend to be wrong?" Liu Tongxun saw that they had almost talked about their affair, called the jailer, and ordered loudly: " Send the photo to the No. [-] single room, and someone will watch it day and night, and the paper and pen are all ready, don't scold, and don't indulge, you hear me?"

"Sixth Master, Lord Yanqing, I'm going now." Zhang Zhao said sadly, kowtowed to Fu Heng and Liu Tongxun again, and went with the jailer.Fu Heng looked at his back and sighed: "He has always suffered from a good reputation." Liu Tongxun said with a smile: "I think the sixth master is really a bit of a woman. Zhang Zhao is in command of the army of six provinces, and it costs millions of money to run Guizhou Miao In any case, he is at least a mediocre minister. As far as the crime is concerned, there is more than enough punishment for death."

Fu Heng smiled wryly, and said: "He is a talented scholar, and this time he really chose to sacrifice his strengths. He volunteered, which is actually a good name. You don't have a close relationship with Zhang Zhao, but he is not incompetent." After finishing speaking, he stood up. , and said, "Take it slow, don't rush. Miao Jiang is now under the command of Zhang Guangsi, this battle has been won, maybe the master is happy, and I don't know if Zhang Zhao will be sent lightly." After saying that, he walked away.But Liu Tongxun thought that Zhang Guangsi and Zhang Zhaoshi were in the same fire and water, and that they "won the battle." Zhang Zhao would definitely lose his mind.Only by "defeating" can Zhang Zhao be justified, or he can escape punishment.Liu Tongxun felt that Fu Heng was quite scheming.But with Fu Heng's status, he didn't dare to expose this layer of paper.

Fu Heng walked out of the beekeeping lane, and rushed to the military plane to look for Zhang Tingyu without stopping.Zhang Tingyu was not there.Zhang Jing of the Military Aircraft Department said he was in the study.Fu Heng came to the upper study room again, and saw that Prince Zhuang Yunlu and Prince Yi Hongxiao were there, and Zhang Tingyu and Ertai were sitting beside him.A senior official of the second rank was sitting at the entrance, facing several royal ministers inside, making a speech impassionedly.Fu Heng recognized him as Wang Shijun, governor of Hedong.

"Yun and Yun are the flesh and blood of the late emperor, but at that time the late emperor dealt with it impartially and abandoned selfishness, killing relatives with righteousness." Wang Shijun only glanced at Fu Heng, and continued, "The release now is due to the benevolence of the current emperor, according to the 'Eight Discussions' "I have no objection to discussing relatives and nobles. But there is no word in the residence newspaper that they blamed the crime and thanked the emperor for their kindness. This is puzzling: Did the late emperor imprison them wrongly?" He seemed to ask for everyone's opinion He seemed to look around for a while.

There was silence all around.Ertai said: "The emperor asked you to talk to us in the study. There is no other purpose. We just listen. You just say it." "Just say it." Wang Shijun said coldly, "I'm getting more and more confused. I I don't know what kind of medicine is in the gourds of you dukes. You released the sinners for no reason. You made Yun the king, and today I saw the mansion newspaper and made Yun the Duke of Fuguo. Which country he assisted? Is it death? Yun, Yun’s country, or Yun’s country? Wang Jingqi was the first to persuade Nian Gengyao to rebel. Why didn't you say a word at that time? If you were not wronged, why did you go to the study and issue a document to release all family members of Wang Jingqi, and all those involved in the Nian Gengyao case were all exonerated, and many returned to their posts. The former emperor pardoned and reformed The sinner Zeng Jing issued a clear edict: "My children and grandchildren will not be held accountable for slandering me and killing them in the future." Huanghuang's words are still in my ears. I dare to ask you, why did you dare to ask for an order to kill Zeng Jing? "He made a long speech, questioned again and again with sharp words, and didn't pay attention to the princes and ministers, Fu Heng was stunned.

"Come on," Zhang Tingyu poured a cup of tea himself, "Are you thirsty? Come on, let's talk."

"Xie Zhongtang." Wang Shijun took a sip of tea and said as if there was no one else around, "The first emperor cleared up the deficiencies and punished corrupt officials. All the kings are scholars. Since the Ming Dynasty, which generation of officials has the most clean governance? Yongzheng! Avoid chasing. The officials at the bottom saw the wind and turned the rudder, cleverly set up a name, and allocated money from the office to dig up the treasury. The greedy wind is on the rise again. The first emperor set up an official system for old farmers in order to reward land reclamation and support farming and mulberry. Farming is good, rewarding eight-rank false titles, This is good governance! In Zhang Yun’s melody, this good governance was also abolished... In this way, I don’t know where the rulers put the former emperor? I also don’t understand, where do you put the present Long Live God? Let me put it bluntly, What is a good statement now: as long as the national policy set by Sejong is reversed, it is a good statement!" He took another sip of tea and sneered, "You ask questions according to orders, and I answer according to orders. That's all. No more. "

Several ministers looked at each other.Yunlu's eloquence is not good, so he turned to Zhang Tingyu and said, "Hengchen, tell me."

"I admire your courage." Zhang Tingyu nodded and said, "Your report not only tells us to go to the study, but also sweeps in the emperor's 'serving lenient government'. Many things you said are true. It has been sent to Jiuqing, and everyone has their own screening. Even those who brought me and other ministers to the study room, we have to explain—but not to you. We are not responsible to you, only to the emperor." Ertai coughed lightly and said : "The emperor has already approved your memorial. You are guilty or not. What charges, we have discussed and asked for an order. You don't have to go to Fujian to serve as governor. Fu Heng is here, hand it over to him, and you are temporarily in the beekeeping lane." Standby."

"That's how business is." Yun Lu smiled, stood up and patted Wang Shijun on the shoulder, "I believe you are a man. Within three days, you have to write an apology and admit that you have lied. You can still speak in front of the Holy One. Otherwise, I can't do anything."

Wang Shijun just smiled, turned to Fu Heng and said, "Isn't Zhang Zhao also in the beekeeping? Can you imprison us? I'll learn some poetry while I'm free." Fu Heng saw Zhang Tingyu's note asking him to come in, but he never expected Sent to this errand, he was taken aback and said:
"Let's talk later."

(End of this chapter)