Rule the Ming Dynasty Alone

Even if he is a high-ranking emperor, he still needs a reason if he wants to really kill the Wuxun Group.

Lin Guodong has been confirmed to be the instigator of Zhao Qi and others' assassination. This is undoubtedly the best breakthrough point. If Lin Guodong's mouth can be pried open and it is confirmed that the real culprit behind the assassination is Wu Xun, then this knife will be able to kill a large area.

In particular, intermarriage among military heroes has long been the norm. If something happens to the Marquis of Funing, the British Duke, one of the three princes in the capital, will also suffer.

The sun rises slowly, ushering in a new day.

There are no windows at all in Dongchang Prison, and even the roof is made of earth and stone. There is no sunlight coming in all year round, so there is no distinction between day and night.

In a certain torture chamber, the torches were burning brightly, illuminating every corner of the room, and there were various kinds of tools placed on the tool racks in the north.

Snapped! Snapped! Snapped!

A leather whip dipped in salt water hit Lin Guodong, who was wearing a white prison uniform. The blood had stained the clothes red, but Lin Guodong remained silent.

Lin Guodong was indeed a tough guy. Even though he was beaten with bruises all over his body, and even though he passed out several times after being beaten to death, he still insisted that he was not instigated by anyone.

"If you hit me again, we'll see how long he can keep his mouth open!" Zheng Guozhong had never encountered a mouth that could be pried open before, and he said angrily.

In fact, I was very angry, but I also secretly felt a headache. Although Dongchang Prison had many methods to punish prisoners, and he also used many methods on Lin Guodong, Naihe still refused to reveal the mastermind behind the scenes.

Once he cannot pry open this mouth, then he will naturally not be able to report to His Majesty, and his position as factory supervisor will be unstable.

Snapped! Snapped! Snapped!

The young eunuch who whipped the whip felt that his hands were sore. After soaking the tip of the whip in salt water, he took the opportunity to give his arm a rest, and then swung the whip to continue the torture.

Lin Guodong is a tall man from Liaodong. He is tied to a wooden stake in all kinds of ways at the moment, but the whip seems to be beating a skin.

Of course it wasn't that he couldn't feel the pain, but after this round of torture, his voice had already become hoarse and he no longer had the strength to scream.

At this moment, he regretted why he had underestimated Song Cheng's response ability in handling cases, causing him to become a prisoner. Now it seems that the only way out is to reveal the person behind the scenes.

"As long as you reveal the mastermind behind the scenes, you can live and eat well in prison, and you don't need to continue to suffer the physical pain here!" Zheng Guozhong raised his hand to stop his men, and immediately put forward a tempting condition.

For ordinary people, this is not a good condition, but for Lin Guodong, who is being tortured inhumanely at this moment, Zheng Guozhong's price is like describing a fairy tale world.

The fire flickered in the torture chamber surrounded by walls, and subtle crackling sounds occasionally occurred. Lin Guodong had two shocking whip marks on his face.

Lin Guodong finally relaxed and moved his mouth slightly.

Zheng Guozhong's eyes brightened slightly, and he immediately put his ear to it.

As long as this person reveals the person behind it, he will successfully complete the task entrusted to Dongchang by His Majesty, thereby solving His Majesty's problems.

Lin Guodong's eyelids looked heavy, but he said softly: "Come here more!"

Zheng Guozhong raised his head and glanced at the dying Lin Guodong, then got closer, his eyes suddenly lit up slightly, and the other party indeed revealed a key name to him.

But in his expectant eyes, what he heard was a string of names: Hou Sunming of Huichang, Empress Dowager Zhou, British Duke Zhang Mao, Chief Minister of the Cabinet Wan An..., and his mood suddenly felt like riding a roller coaster.

It is still possible to say that it was a certain person, but to say that Sun Ming, the Marquis of Huichang, the Empress Dowager Zhou, the British Duke Zhang Mao, and the chief minister of the cabinet Wan An and others joined forces to assassinate him is obviously making fun of himself.

But before Zheng Guozhong could get angry, he felt a sudden pain in his ears, causing him to scream out immediately.

"Manufacturer!"

"Manufacturer!"

"Quickly, kill this guy!"

…

When several young eunuchs saw Lin Guodong biting the factory owner's ear, they immediately screamed and rushed out to beat Lin Guodong's head to rescue Zheng Guozhong.

Lin Guodong's head was beaten with blood, and he suddenly fainted again.

Zheng Guozhong covered his bleeding ears and looked at Lin Guodong, who was already unconscious. He wanted to beat this man to death, but he swallowed the bad breath.

Although he didn't understand who Lin Guodong was trying to protect, he was still unwilling to speak out in the face of such torture. Instead, he thought of stimulating himself to death.

Zheng Guozhong knew what was important and what was light, so he stopped his subordinates who were still trying to vent his anger and said: "Stop! If you really beat him to death, how will our Dongchang report to His Majesty? I will twist off your head first when the time comes!"

The little eunuch who committed the crime stopped in frustration, but he knew that his flattery had hit the horse's leg.

A eunuch came forward to check Lin Guodong's condition and asked immediately: "Mr. Factory, he has fainted again. Do you want to splash him with water to wake him up?"

"Forget it, if he continues, he will really get what he wants. The Rongza family should first think about how to pry his mouth open!" Zheng Guozhong secretly felt a headache, and he seemed to be arrogant.

This case is of great importance. Although the mouth must be pried open no matter what, judging from Lin Guodong's reaction, he cannot kill the person directly by being reckless.

The Ming Dynasty was the country with the largest population and the largest territory in the world. There were so many things going on every day in the two capitals and thirteen provinces, and the interrogation of Lin Guodong was just one of many important things.

From sunrise to sunset, the Ming Dynasty court was still operating normally, but the Hanlin Academy ushered in a relatively large personnel adjustment today.

Zhu Youtang did not force Xu Pu to resign, but he also found a reason to remove Xu Pu's post of Hanlin bachelor and replaced it with Cheng Minzheng, a Hanlin bachelor.

As for the vacancy of bachelor's degree vacancy vacated by Cheng Minzheng, it was changed to Xie Qian, the concubine of the left, according to the previous plan, which was regarded as a reward for Xie Qian's earlier support for the solar eclipse.

It's just that Ci officials have always been a carrot and a pit, so whenever there are changes at the top, they are often slowly transmitted to the Hanlin officials below.

Although Hanlin officials are mainly promoted based on seniority, this is never absolute, and there will be competition if the seniority is similar, and the cabinet's recommendation power is very important.

In the evening of that day, Wanfu still looked very lively.

Now that they have found out that Qingjun is not superstitious about the so-called Qingliu, and now that the old chief assistant who has worked hard to handle the memorials of the two capitals and thirteen provinces has been relied on, they will naturally come back to hug him again, especially this year is the New Year of Beijing and the Inquisition.

The steward of Wanfu ignored Yang Li, the governor of Henan who was waiting in line, and said enthusiastically to a handsome young man wearing an eighth-grade official uniform: "Haha... Mr. Xiao Yang, you are here. The master is in the study, I will Lead you there!"

ah?

When Yang Li saw a young man wearing an eighth-grade official uniform walking around in front of him, he was stunned and suddenly suspected that the world was in chaos.

"Don't be surprised, Governor Yang, that person is Yang Tinghe!" A doctor from the Ministry of Rites stood behind Yang Li and directly pointed out the identity of the young man.

Yang Li looked at the figure walking away with the butler and was still puzzled. After all, the young man was only wearing an eighth-grade official uniform.

The three most important relationships in the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty were teachers and students, fellow students, and fellow villagers. Yang Tinghe, the eighth-rank Hanlin reviewer, and Wan An, the chief minister of the cabinet, had the same hometown relationship.

Ordinarily, such a lowly Hanlin official would not be able to get into the eyes of the chief minister, but Yang Tinghe was the most dazzling super star in Sichuan's political arena in the past century.

He passed the Sichuan Provincial Examination at the age of twelve, and was introduced as his son-in-law by Huang Mingshan, the Prime Minister of the Imperial Academy, while he was studying in the Imperial Academy. He then entered the Hanlin Academy as a Hanlin Shujishi at the age of nineteen and has been staying in the Imperial Academy to this day. for nine years.

Not to mention that few Sichuan Jinshi can enter the Hanlin Academy. Even those who can enter the Hanlin Academy are very old. How can Yang Tinghe have such an age advantage?

Because of this, Yang Tinghe has not only fallen into Wan'an's eyes for a long time, but he is also the successor of the township leader who is now being trained by the Sichuan Township Party Committee of the Ming Dynasty.

At this time, Yang Tinghe came to Wanfu precisely because there were personnel changes in the Hanlin Academy today, and his qualifications had reached the standard, so he had an opportunity for promotion.

Wan'an, who was wearing a python robe, was busy every day. At this time, his old face was obviously tired, and he said to the junior fellow who came: "Jie Fu, you still shouldn't move this time!"

this……

Wan Hongbi was stunned for a moment and turned to look at his grandfather in confusion.

Although he also entered the Hanlin Academy as a Hanlin Shujishi last year, he is one year older than Yang Tinghe, and the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty avoids blood inheritance, so he is not an ideal heir to the Sichuan township leader.

This was a rare personnel change in the Hanlin Academy. It was supposed that Yang Tinghe should move up no matter what, but he never expected that his grandfather would suppress Yang Tinghe.

"Everything will follow Mr. Wange's arrangements!" Yang Tinghe's eyes flashed with disappointment, but he still maintained the appearance of a humble gentleman and saluted respectfully.

Seeing Yang Tinghe's response, Wan'an knew that the other party had realized his painstaking efforts, so he nodded with satisfaction, exchanged a few words and asked his grandson to see the guests off. There were too many people to see tonight.

It has long been known to everyone that Wan An and Liu Ji are separated from each other, and the two families are only separated by an alley.

After Liu Ji learned about Wan'an's arrangements for Yang Tinghe, he seemed to be enigmatic and said: "Jiefu, do you know why Mr. Wange made such arrangements?"

"Students don't know!" Yang Tinghe was stunned for a moment, then shook his head bitterly.

In fact, he had a vague feeling that the matter was because Wan An's grandson Wan Hongbi had a promising future when he entered the Hanlin Academy, and he had a close relationship with Liu Ji's teachers and students, but it was difficult to clarify these two things directly.

His father-in-law has been transferred to the local area, and his father is just a local official. The teacher in front of him has already asked him to follow Wan'an's arrangements, so he can only swallow his anger when he feels wronged.

Liu Ji was interested in cultivating this young and successful disciple, so he deliberately asked: "Jiefu, when the emperor succeeded to the throne last year, do you know why most of the flatterers embraced Xu Pu's lap? Even if they were teachers, As the second assistant, those people don’t even care!”

"Teacher, the students think it's because everyone guesses that the new king prefers upright officials, and Xu Pu has the best reputation in the court!" Yang Tinghe had already felt Xu Pu's calling power among the Ci officials when he was a scholar. , and answered honestly.

Liu Ji picked up the tea cup, but shook his head gently and said: "This is just one of them. The most important thing is that Xu Pu is the first emperor of the new emperor, and he has taught the new emperor the longest time! Why is it like being a teacher and Mr. Wange? Being able to enter the pavilion and worship the prime minister and stand in the court for many years is certainly related to the two of us being able to assess the situation, but your master cleverly arranged for the two of us to enter the East Palace together. This is our prominent capital in the Chenghua Dynasty!"

"Master Prime Minister, do you mean that Wange Lao wants students to wait a little longer so that they can be arranged to enter the Prince's Mansion in the future?" Yang Tinghe asked with understanding.

Liu Ji took a sip of tea and said with hope in his eyes: "That's what Wange Lao must have meant! The emperor has not yet given birth, and even the queen has not been canonized yet, so rushing for promotion now is not conducive to your long-term plans! It's better to do it again! Wait for a year or two, and next year I will arrange for you to participate in the compilation of "Xianzong Shilu" and "Daming Huidian" to save you more political capital. When the emperor's direct descendants leave the cabinet to study in the future, you can naturally enter the East Palace to teach the prince. In the future It will be much smoother if you enter the cabinet and pay homage to the prime minister to lead all officials!"

Although their civil servant group does not practice hereditary practices, through this kind of father-son-like teacher-student inheritance, they can continue to have power, and even completely eclipse the imperial power through several generations of inheritance.

"Master, does Master Wange really mean this?" Yang Tinghe realized that he seemed to have misunderstood Wan An, so he asked seriously.

Liu Ji knew that his young apprentice would inevitably have an impetuous temperament when he succeeded, so he nodded seriously and said: "Blood inheritance is a taboo in officialdom. When Wan'an retires in the future, he will need someone to intimidate all parties in the court, so you are the leader of Sichuan Township. The best choice. Since he wants to train you, he can't just focus on the immediate gains and losses. He must make long-term plans for you, so that you can smoothly join the cabinet and become the prime minister in the future, and even become the chief minister!"

"So that's it!" Yang Tinghe couldn't help but said bitterly when he learned the whole story.

Although he knew Wan An's intentions, he couldn't be happy no matter what, thinking that he still had to stay in the position of being reviewed by the Eighth Grade Hanlin.

He was originally a proud son of heaven, a hero and a phoenix among men, and had close relationships with the three big men in the court. However, he wasted nine years in the position of Shujishi and Xiaozheng, the eighth-rank imperial reviewer.

Liu Ji saw Yang Tinghe's impatience, so he comforted him and said: "Jiefu, you can study in the Hanlin Academy with peace of mind. That's how Mr. Wange and I came here! There is a bird that stops in the south, and it has not been there for three years. If it moves, it will be a sign of determination; if it does not fly, it will have long wings; if it does not sing, it will be a sign of watching the people. Even though this bird has no flight, it will soar to the sky in flight; even though it has no sound, its sound will be frightening." After a pause, he said in a serious tone: "You will be the one who will take over our mantle in the future, so you must not do anything hasty!"

"Students should remember the teachings of their teachers and they will definitely live up to their expectations!" Yang Tinghe knew that the path of a CI minister was to gain qualifications and build a good character, so he said bitterly.