The Prosperous Era of Longwan

Zhao Wenhua regretted deeply in his mansion, and around the Zhao Mansion, more and more suspicious people appeared nearby, closely monitoring every move inside, and patrolling the front and back doors of the Zhao Mansion and the surrounding courtyard walls.

Naturally, they were manpower arranged by Jin Yiwei Lu Bing, and their purpose was to completely block Zhao Wenhua's channel for transferring stolen money.

Word has spread in the palace that Emperor Jiajing became furious again after reading the memorial and wanted to kill Zhao Wenhua.

Jin Yiwei naturally likes to deal with such corrupt officials, because every action means a lot of money can be pocketed, so those who are transferred are happy and immediately summon their men to rush over.

After the incident, several chamberlains holding small signs also left the palace from different entrances and rushed to official residences in various parts of the capital.

The news spread rapidly without being affected by the night ban.

Soon, the people sent by various families to observe the situation in the Zhao Mansion reported that there were many people suspected of being Jin Yiwei outside Zhao Wenhua's mansion. They had tightly surrounded the Zhao Mansion. It seemed that they did not break in and search the Zhao Mansion just because they did not receive an order. Pick up.

The Zhao Mansion is still calm now, but they have also observed a situation, that is, at this time, the Zhao Mansion seems to be in a state of no entry and no exit. A few people who leave the Zhao Mansion will soon be quietly killed. The person was dragged into a secluded alley, and no one was seen again.

At this time, Yan Song, who was resting at home, had naturally received the news.

Unlike other high-ranking officials, Yan Song lived a life of singing and dancing after rising to the top. Yan Song only had his wife Ouyang, and did not have several concubines to live a colorful life. In terms of life, he was completely different from Yan Shifan.

It was also because of the Ouyang family that he and Ouyang Bijin were related.

"Is Wenhua really hopeless?"

In the past, Zhao Wenhua was very filial to Ouyang's godmother, at least on the surface he coaxed her very well. Ouyang was also willing to act and show his love for Zhao Wenhua.

Last time about Baihuajiu, Ouyang actually had an opinion about Zhao Wenhua, but Yan Shifan didn't think it was easy to fall out with Zhao Wenhua right away, so Ouyang pretended to mediate their relationship and reconciled, and everything seemed to be back to normal again. Same as before.

"No matter what, I still have to try to save him tomorrow, otherwise how will other people look at me?"

Yan Song's cloudy eyes shone brightly at this moment. Many officials in the court were still attached to him. They didn't know that the relationship between the Yan family and the Zhao family had already cracked. If they didn't try at this time, people would be scattered if they couldn't keep it together. .

He already knew that Emperor Jiajing had sent a message to the cabinet to remove Zhao Wenhua from all his official positions.

The emperor's order must be carried out immediately tomorrow morning, and there can be no delay.

After the edict was drawn up, neither the Chief of Ceremonies nor the Sixth Section would stop it. It could be said that Zhao Wenhua's fate was already determined when the edict was issued, and he could only act as a showman.

"Qing'er said before that he would send someone to deliver a letter to Wenhua. Why didn't you stop him then?"

Ouyang asked again, "Qing'er, of course, does not refer to Ximen Qing, but to Yan Shifan."

Qing'er is Yan Shifan's nickname, so it is rumored that the character "Ximen Qing" in the book "Jin Ping Mei" was actually fictionalized by the author Lan Ling Xiaoxiaosheng based on the real character Yan Shifan.

"It's okay. If he is sensible, he will know exactly what to do at this time."

The meaning of Yan Song's words was naturally related to some of his previous correspondence with Zhao Wenhua. After all, the so-called father-son relationship had existed for so many years.

When Zhao Wenhua toured Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Southern Zhili two years ago, he and the Yan family also exchanged letters constantly.

Send a message to Zhao Wenhua. If you are sensible, you should get rid of these tricks. If you want to use this as evidence to blackmail anyone, then you are dreaming, and you will only die faster.

Although Lu Bing has great trust and favor from Emperor Jiajing, Yan Song is not a vegetarian. Even speaking of power, the Yan family will definitely dominate Lu Bing.

In any case, Yan Song is still the chief minister of the current cabinet, and it is not an exaggeration to say that he is extremely powerful.

And what about Lu Bing? He was just the minion of Emperor Jiajing, the spy chief.

Ordinary corrupt officials are naturally afraid of him, but officials with a certain status and rank are not so afraid of him. After all, no action can bypass the person in Xiyuan.

As long as you still have the Holy Family, you don't have to worry about what Jin Yiwei will do to you.

Therefore, if Yan Song and Lu Bing faced off, Lu Bing would usually choose to stay away, and would never confront Yan Song.

At this time, Xu Jie, Prince Jing's Mansion, Prince Yu's Mansion and other major houses that could stir up trouble in the capital already knew the news, and no one deliberately concealed it.

Wei Guangde's house was extremely quiet tonight, and there were no people waiting to deliver the message. Chen Ju delivered the news much faster than anyone else, but Wei Guangde didn't intend to do anything on this matter, but chose to do it. View from the wall.

At this time, the gate of Fusi in Jinyiwei North Town was opened, and teams of Jinyiwei were sent out to capture criminals inside and outside the capital.

Of course Emperor Jiajing would not directly attack a second-rank official in the imperial court just because of a memorial, even if he was already idle at home.

The birds are all good and the bows are hidden. Emperor Jiajing will not bear such a responsibility.

Naturally, the memorial impeaching Zhao Wenhua for embezzling royal assets and embezzling Xiyuan bricks and stones for the construction of his own mansion has been handed over to Lu Bing. Now it is time to immediately arrest all the criminals involved. The Yan family interrogates and ensures that all witnesses and material evidence are available. .

The case ordered by Emperor Jiajing was naturally regarded as an imperial case. Lu Bing did not dare to neglect, and immediately summoned his elite soldiers to analyze the case, identify all the persons involved, and deploy an arrest operation.

That night, the city of Beijing was in turmoil. From time to time, there were scenes of knights in uniforms shouting loudly and riding past on the streets. The city of Beijing, which was under night arrest, seemed to be rejuvenated at this moment.

The officers and soldiers of the Beijing camp who were patrolling at night were also confused by this unexpected formation, but they did not dare to stop these knights in red uniforms at all. When they saw it from a distance, they stepped to the side of the road to give way to the passage.

It has been many years since the capital has seen such a large number of Jin Yiwei dispatched to arrest people.

The Jin Yiwei in red uniforms are different from the usual gray and blue uniforms on the street. They are responsible for arresting people and don't care about what happens on the street.

Many low-level officials and craftsmen who participated in the construction of Xiyuan were dragged out of their beds in their sleep and brought back to Beizhen Fusi. Soon, the screams of the prisoners could be heard, floating through the walls of the courtyard. Outside the alley, the already eerie alley becomes even more terrifying.

The news in the capital naturally reached Zhao Wenhua's ears, especially the news sent by people from the Yan family. The servant climbed up the courtyard wall and looked around, and soon discovered the whereabouts of those suspicious people around the courtyard.

All this made Zhao Wenhua go from regret at first to deep fear now. He didn't know what Emperor Jiajing would do to him next.

Think about it, a few years ago, Xia Yan, the chief minister of the cabinet, was beheaded in public in the street.

When the sun rose on the second day, the capital city remained as before. Only outside the door of Zhao's mansion in Yongfang, Dashi, there were few people. In the past, there was a lot of traffic here, and people came and went constantly.

After a night of fermentation of news, all the civil and military officials in Beijing already knew what happened last night, and the source of everything pointed to this former second-rank official of the imperial court.

Those officials who participated in the impeachment of Zhao Wenhua were naturally overjoyed. They gathered together in twos and threes to discuss what to do next, whether to continue the impeachment, expose the illegal facts of Zhao Wenhua, or something else.

After Yan Song entered the cabinet duty room with the support of Yan Shifan, he immediately came to Xu Jie to discuss how to draft the imperial edict that Emperor Jiajing wanted to remove Zhao Wenhua from his official position.

After revising it several times and deliberately downplaying Zhao Wenhua's guilt, he personally sent it to Xiyuan to face the saint. Naturally, he had to say a few good words for his godson Zhao Wenhua when he got there.

The outcome was already determined, and everything did not exceed Yan Song's judgment. Although Emperor Jiajing did not refute him face to face, he only said that everything was under investigation, so just be patient.

With such a result, Emperor Jiajing gave Yan Song a lot of face.

Naturally, such news spread quickly in the capital.

Wei Guangde, who was arrogant after entering the Hanlin Academy, was not exempt from vulgarity. He gathered with his colleagues to scold Zhao Wenhua, a corrupt official. This was a sign of political correctness, and they were all clean-blooded.

However, they could just talk about this matter. Not long after, Yin Taiyin's Headmaster came over and told them not to get involved in this matter again.

For the senior officials in the court, they have more experience and are naturally more capable of thinking. Yin Tai stopped someone in the court from continuing to impeach Zhao Wenhua at this time. In fact, he saw that there might be disturbances after this incident, so he spoke out to protect these people. subordinate.

Whether they listened or not was another matter, and it was none of his business.

Someone in the Hanlin Academy also went to court to impeach Zhao Wenhua a few days ago, and they are still encouraging everyone to continue. However, after listening to Yin Tai's words, most people still chose to wait and see what happens.

As for Wei Guangde, after Yin Tai finished speaking and left, he clasped his fists at his colleagues and went back to his office first. He still had to figure out how to write a leave letter, let alone interfere with it.

The imperial edict was delivered to Zhao Wenhua. Although he had been mentally prepared, his face was still ashen.

This is just the first step. Since last night, his residence has been monitored by Jin Yiwei's people. He has received news that many of his confidants have been taken to Beizhen Fusi by Jin Yiwei's people. This is what Emperor Jiajing wants to liquidate. He did.

The family members of those officials who were arrested didn't know the details. They came here crying after dawn, hoping to get Mr. Zhao's protection and use their connections to get them out, which made him even more frightened.

Zhao Wenhua got really sick after receiving the order. He felt uncomfortable all over his body. He could only lean on the recliner and keep rubbing his bulging belly.

I used to pretend that I was sick, but now it's really true that I can't even stand up.

He has been in officialdom for more than thirty years, and I don't know if there is still a chance for him to recover.

However, despite being unwell, Zhao Wenhua did not dare to stay in the capital at this time, nor did he dare to stay in the capital before Emperor Jiajing's new edict was issued.

Lying on the deck chair, he ordered his family to quickly drive out of the city and leave the capital, a place of right and wrong.

As for the belongings at home, pack up as much as you can and take away as much as you can. Those left behind who are too late will pack slowly, and then go on the road after packing.

Zhao Wenhua has made a lot of money over the years, but he has not actually saved much for himself.

In Zhao Wenhua's view, as long as he clings to the big tree of the Yan family, his official career will be prosperous and his life of happiness will be long, so most of the property acquired by Tan Mo was given to Yan Shifan and his godmother Ouyang.

Of course, he also purchased a lot of properties in Jiangnan. He was from Zhejiang himself, and his two visits to Jiangnan naturally saved a lot of property for his life after becoming an official.

In the past, my life was full of extravagance, and I tried my best to do everything luxurious, so I could naturally gather and disperse wealth. In fact, the money around me was really not much, which disappointed Mr. Lu of Jinyiwei.

At this time, Zhao Wenhua has been dismissed from his post, and he can naturally leave the capital at any time, at least as long as there is no new decree from the palace.

When Wei Guangde was off duty in the evening, Lu Bu quietly came to Wei Guangde and reported in a low voice: "Sir, at noon, Mr. Zhao Wenhua left the capital in a carriage and rushed to Tongzhou. By this time, he was probably on the boat and heading back south. Hometown."

"So urgent?"

However, Wei Guangde soon understood. Now that Zhao Wenhua had completely lost power, it would only be more unsafe to stay in the capital. He might as well take this opportunity to escape as soon as possible.

Being far away from the capital, out of sight and out of mind, maybe that person from Xiyuan would still think of sparing his life in the past.

This was indeed the case. Lu Bing had already received the news when the Zhao Mansion was preparing to drive, and he hurriedly sent someone to the palace to report the news, but he still received no response from the palace.

The royal guards deployed around the Zhao Mansion did not receive orders and could only watch as Zhao Wenhua was carried into a carriage and drove away.

Beizhen Fusi has collected some evidence, including witness testimony, confirming that Zhao Wenhua did embezzle some Xiyuan materials to build his own house, and the craftsmen were also privately transferred craftsmen from the Ministry of Industry. However, the reported number was too small, which reminded Emperor Jiajing of Yan Song in the morning The way he looks when he comes to plead for mercy.

When the Jinyi Guardian came to Zhao Wenhua to pack his things and leave the capital, Emperor Jiajing still did not issue an order to arrest him.

Zhao Wenhua left the capital, and the storm centered on him gradually calmed down.

Wei Guangde didn't want to gain much benefit from this movement to overthrow Zhao at the beginning. He was too junior and struggled to do anything, so he had to marry his wife first.

I have already written a first draft of the leave petition, but of course I cannot hand it in. I have to revise it again and make it more touching. I will write it as prose to express my feelings for my family and hometown. I will try to let Emperor Jiajing read more than one month of the memorial. Marriage leave.

After confirming that Zhao Wenhua had escaped from the capital, Qingliu in Beijing also gave up his intention to continue to entangle him.

There are still unwritten rules in the officialdom, that is, you can impeach someone before you leave office, but you should not do it again after you leave office. After all, everyone has to leave the political arena. Giving up their position will also settle the past grudges.

The officialdom in the capital returned to calm, but a few days later an urgent report arrived in the capital, reinvigorating the cooling movement against Zhao.

"Wenhua was ill with Gu, and was condemned to lie in a boat. He couldn't talk to himself. One night, he touched his abdomen with his hands, and his abdomen split and his internal organs came out. He died."