national surname chiming

Chapter 238
A skinny old man in his fifties, sitting slumped in a single room in the prison of the Ministry of Criminal Justice, his face sunken, was Fang Kongzhang, who was the governor of Huguang two months ago.

He has lived here for five or six days, but luckily he is not in despair.

Because the prison guards didn't make things difficult for him, they all secretly tipped off that the Ministry of Criminal Justice was expediting his case, but only needed him as circumstantial evidence, and had to wait patiently for a few more days before the suspicion was completely cleared.

At this moment, Fang Kongxuan is distracted thinking about life, looking up at the vastness of the universe and looking down at the prosperity of categories.His meditation was interrupted by the arrival of a jailer with a box of food for breakfast.

"Lord Fang, it's all right, Xu Shangshu has personally investigated thoroughly, you are not at fault for dispatching troops and horses, and you can go out today after completing the formalities in the morning.

Huguang's loss is entirely due to Yin Xianmin and He Yide's surrender without a fight.If you are interested, you can go to Xisi Pailou to see the execution of Yin and He in the afternoon. "

While talking casually, the jailer was not idle, and prepared four dishes of meals.After a few days of hardship, Fang Kongzhang’s spleen and stomach must have been weak, so his staple food was a large bowl of yellow millet porridge, with a bowl of clear chicken soup with skinless chicken legs, a plate of vinegared radish and mustard greens, and a few pieces of fish cakes.

Fang Kongxuan opened his eyes, brushed off his hands and sleeves, and smiled self-deprecatingly: "There are chickens and fish, people who don't know think it's a decapitated meal."

The jailer hurriedly apologized: "Your Excellency was joking, who doesn't know that your lord's grievances will be cleared, and he will be reused after he gets out. Naturally, we don't like these stuttering. We just took the opportunity to show our filial piety, after all, the procedure will take a long time." , at least drink porridge to nourish the stomach."

Fang Kongzheng was very self-aware, and shook his head: "I dare not think about being reused. At most, it is useless."

He didn't want to appear arrogant, so in the end he drank porridge and some vinegared radish to save face, and after finishing the non-greasy dishes, he sat there for a long time before someone went through the formalities and took him out.

Coming out of the Ministry of Punishment, Fang Kongxuan's eyesight was not used to the strong light for several days without seeing the sun, so he inadvertently covered his eyes with his sleeve and got used to it for a while.

It wasn't until someone pulled his sleeve to get him into the car and talked while he was surprised to realize that it was his daughter's voice.

Only then did he forcefully open his eyes wide, disregarding the momentary glare and discomfort, tears flowed down his face, and it took several seconds to see clearly that it was indeed Fang Ziling.

"Ling'er? Why did you come to the capital to appeal? Are you okay on the way! The soldiers are in chaos, and when I leave, I will tell your brother, but he can't do it?"

Fang Kongxuan was a little worried, and regardless of his dirty hands and feet, he subconsciously groped his daughter's arms and shoulders a few times, as if to confirm whether her daughter had lost a piece of flesh.

"It's none of Eldest Brother's business, it's the military situation ahead, and he can't escape. Eldest Brother asked the Shen family to borrow a warship and sailors, and my son went north by boat. The journey was very safe."

Fang Ziling has explained this explanation too many times recently, and he is proficient and tired, so there is no need to repeat it.

In just 2 minutes, Fang Kongxuan figured out the situation, and he was also deeply moved.

Fang Ziling waited for his father's mood to stabilize before asking for instructions: "Is my father's body still able to support the long journey? Let's go back to our hometown, Nanjing, or... go to my elder brother's place."

Fang Kongxuan didn't even think about it: "Let's rest in the capital for ten days first. It took me a whole month on the road, from Changsha to the capital, and I stayed in the Ministry of Criminal Prison for five or six days. If I go back immediately, this old bone It’s about to fall apart, and the follow-up is still a long-term plan.”

The traffic conditions in ancient times were so harsh, and even the most robust people would have to work hard and not acclimate to the climate.If he turned back two thousand li immediately, his bones would have to fall apart.Especially when Fang Kongzhang came here, he was in a prison car, which was much harder than his daughter's boat ride.

Fang Kongxuan didn't have much confidence in getting his recovery right after he was exonerated, and he probably would have to be unemployed for a while.

Before Huguang fell, it was not his turn to ask him about his crimes, so it was just that he didn't need to be exiled, and it didn't mean that the official still had to do it.

It's better to stay in the capital and wait and see for a while, first to see if there is a chance, and second, to control the activities, so as not to be assigned to a dangerous job again.

At the end of the autumn of the 15th year of Chongzhen, anyone with a discerning eye could already see that at least half of the local officials in the Ming Dynasty were considered dangerous places, and it would be better to be inappropriate.

Fang Ziling also quickly figured out this truth, so he didn't say any more.He just ordered the coachman to go back to the house, and first wait for the master to take a bath, change clothes, and clean up.

Fang Kongzheng was taken aback for a moment: "When did our family have a mansion in the capital? Isn't Ling'er staying in an inn when you come to Beijing this time?"

Fang Ziling blushed: "It's none of my business. When elder brother asked to borrow the boat, Shen Futai borrowed it casually. It is said that Shen Gong bought it when he was a doctor in the household department in the capital. The Shen family is not bad. Even though the money was released, the mansion in Beijing was not sold, and someone was left to take care of it.

By the way, mentioning Shen Gong, I found another piece of news in the past few days.It is said that His Majesty felt that Shen Futai's family had made great contributions and worked diligently. The day before yesterday, he thought of asking Shen Gong how he was doing as Qiu Weizhen's agent in the Nanjing household department.

Mr. Zhou Ge and Mr. Jiang Shangshu all spoke for Mr. Shen, and Qiu Weizhen also decided to retire this year, so His Majesty took advantage of these few days to do so.The decree has also been issued, and when it is sent to Nanjing, Qiu Weizhen will be able to retire, and Shen Gong will officially take over as Minister of the Nanjing Household Department. "

Fang Kongzheng thought about the new information revealed by his daughter, and soon he was no longer surprised.

He reckoned that Chongzhen wanted Shen Shuren to show some kindness before he cooperated with Sun Chuanting to rescue Kaifeng and go shopping with Li Zicheng, so that Shen Shuren could work harder.

Shen Shuren doesn't have any more merits to reward at present, so he will start with his family to see if there are any bargaining chips that can be given or not, and take advantage of this opportunity to give it along.

Moreover, Shen Shuren has already become the official governor of Huguang, and also governs six prefectures other than Huguang. This status is already the highest among all provincial governors.

If his father, Shen Tingyang, was only the servant of one of the six departments in Nanjing, he would be a little embarrassed.

Now that the father is a minister and the son is a top governor, it is considered appropriate to be barely respectable.This can be regarded as Shen Tingyang's son's glory again.

Thinking of Shen Tingyang's situation, Fang Kongzhang inevitably thought of his own son. Fang Yizhi is still only a magistrate, and to be honest, his magistrate has relied on his father's connections in the initial stage.

When will Fang Yizhi be able to feed back the family like other people's sons.

……

Fang Kongxuan's resentment towards his son did not last long.

Because when he moved into the house borrowed by Shen Shuren, he entered the state of "eating people's mouths and being short-handed"-this house was borrowed for Fang Yizhi's sake of helping Shen Shuren, of course it was considered Fang Yizhi earned it.

There was no need to take a shower in the prison of the Ministry of Criminal Justice. Fang Kongzhang spent more than an hour cleaning it up and had some snacks. Seeing that it was already noon, he ordered to change into a new decent outfit.
After a while, I went to Xisi Pailou to watch the execution. Before going out, Fang Kongxuan thought of something again and asked Fang Ziling if he had prepared gold and silver for this trip to Beijing.

Fang Ziling was stunned: "What gold and silver do you bring to observe the punishment?"

Fang Kongxuan: "After reading it in a while, I will go to Zhou Ge's old mansion to pay a visit and thank you. Of course, I must be prepared."

Fang Ziling thought for a while, and went back to the room to get some precious jewels: "These are also given by Shen Futai as a favor for elder brother, but this time it is useless."

Fang Kongzhang saw it, and knew that these jewels were originally intended to be used for his case to lure people.It turned out that the person had already come out before it was used, so it was just a matter of returning the gift afterwards.

Fang Kongxuan tidied up and asked his servants to drive to Xisi Pailou first, and it was almost [-]:[-] noon when he arrived there.

In the Ming Dynasty, the murder was still at the West Fourth Archway, but in the Qing Dynasty it was changed to outside Xuanwu Gate, which is Caishikou.According to the "Law of the Ming Dynasty", the crime is not too serious, and it will be executed after the autumn. If it is a serious felony that cannot be pardoned, then of course there will be no waiting period and a decision will be made.

When Fang Kongzhang arrived, there were already crowds of people around. The servants of Fang's family could only throw some silver coins to buy way for the people in front.

They wondered at the beginning that there were so many people killing people in Xisi Pailou every now and then.After a little questioning, I found out that Yin Xianmin He Yide was actually sentenced to death——

If it's just a defeat, no matter how miserable the loss, no matter how improper the command is, or selling teammates, at most it will be a behead.However, Yin and He were actually involved in the official army who took the initiative to follow the bandits and surrendered to Zhang Xianzhong and helped Zhang Xianzhong attack together to recover the lost land. In the end, they also helped Zhang Xianzhong defend Hengzhou City for a while, which must be delayed.

Fang Kongxuan and Fang Ziling didn't know about these situations at first, at least they didn't notice them. It seems that Xu Shiqi from the Ministry of Punishment personally interrogated them these days, tortured them, and forced them to ask more questions.

In fact, Fang Ziling heard from his eldest brother that when General Yin Heer was in the last defense of Hengzhou, he just wanted to negotiate conditions with Shen Shuren, such as pardoning their crimes, and they surrendered.It was Shen Shuren who refused to promise amnesty, they persisted in resisting in order to survive, and were finally kidnapped and sold by their subordinates.

But no matter what, the thieves ran away and resisted the officers and soldiers. Anyway, even if it was to survive, it was an aggravated crime.

If he had directly surrendered and pleaded guilty to the law at that time, he might have been sentenced to a lenient sentence, insisted on resisting, and finally fell to Ling Chi's execution.

Moreover, these crimes became more and more serious after the rumors of the melon-eating crowd watching the excitement.Fang Ziling heard clearly that a few scholars of the Donglin Party at the next table, probably scholars, were filled with righteous indignation:

"I heard that Yin Xianmin and He Yide are born with low bones! Zhang Xianzhong surrendered as soon as he arrived in Changsha City! Zhang Xianzhong has gone, and they volunteered to end Zhang Xianzhong's heir!

Defend Hengzhou City to cut off the grain road to Shen Futai, and prevent Shen Futai from chasing Zhang Xianzhong immediately!If it weren't for these two men leading troops to delay, perhaps Zhang Gou would have been chased and killed by Shen Futai! "

When Fang Ziling heard this, he didn't take it seriously, and wanted to refute these ignorant and corrupt scholars in his heart.But rationality told her that this kind of misunderstanding should be wrong if you want to. Anyway, it is good for the Shen family and the Fang family, and it can help exonerate the responsibility.

On the other hand, Fang Kongzhang, who had rich experience in officialdom, was even more terrified when he heard the words, and whispered to his daughter: "This Minister of Punishment, Xu Shiqi, is probably showing his love to Nephew Shen Xian.

I heard that he was beaten by Zhou Yanru before, and it was clear that the case was handled according to what Zhou Yanru, Chen Xinjia, and Jiang Dejing wanted to see.Nephew Shen Xian is also good at it. I don't know how much money the Shen family spent.
Three of the six ministers were actually able to speak for him, and if Xu Shiqi was also dragged into the water, there would be four.Except for the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Industry, everyone else thinks of him well. "

Fang Ziling's face turned pale, she didn't really want to believe this kind of statement, she murmured in a daze: "Father...you mean, Big Brother Shen's popularity in Beijing is all for money? He's not that kind of person, is he?"

Fang Kongzhang couldn't help being angry and funny: "What are you thinking? Who doesn't use money in the Ming Dynasty? It can only be said that he is involuntary. He may not rely entirely on money, but he must have used a lot of money." of!
Why do you think so much, this matter is also good for us.At least the more serious the crime Yin He carried away, the less implicated Zhang Xianzhong was in Huguang, and the lighter the guilt of others.Besides, according to the rumors in Donglin, Xu Shiqi may not punish them more. "

Fang Kongxuan had just finished speaking compassionately, and the execution was about to begin over there, and the executioner also announced the specific sentence, which was said to be only eight cuts,

An old fritter like Fang Kongxuan immediately judged that Xu Shiqi's final statement that "Yin Xianmin He Yide tried to cover Zhang Xianzhong and delay Shen Shuren's pursuit" did not increase the punishment because of this.

Because the eight knives are already the least number of knives in Ling Chi, it seems that Xu Shiqi still has principles. Although the crime described is even more heinous, the number of knives that should be cut has not been increased.

After the executioner at Jiekou finished his announcement, the executioner tore the rag that the two thieves had gagged, and the two immediately cursed and tried to justify biting.

However, Ling Chi's first cut was to cut his tongue, and the executioner moved quickly.

He elbowed Yin Xianmin very sharply and caught off guard on the lower abdomen, causing the other party to cry out in pain and open his mouth wide. Then, he inserted a small wrist-removing sharp knife into his mouth neatly, and immediately gouged out a tongue. , The biting and insulting words turned into the sound of vomiting blood vaguely.

After a while, both of them were stabbed six times, and the last knife was gouged into the heart, and they were completely broken.

The people in the capital cheered happily, throwing rotten vegetable leaves and clods of dirt at the corpses of these two dog thieves who were dogs for Zhang Xianzhong.

"There's such a big difference between people's hearts and minds. In this Great Ming Dynasty, people living in different places may find it difficult to understand people living in other places."

Fang Ziling lived in the boudoir for a long time, and he really didn't travel much. When he thought of the people in the capital, they hated those who gave their lives to the thieves so much from the bottom of their hearts.Thinking of Shaanxi and Henan, those who hated officials from thieves followed suit, Fang Ziling couldn't help but began to doubt life.

Daming is really too vast, and different parts of Daming, people's hearts and minds are really too different.

The Qiu Ming of Shaanxi people, and the support of Daming by the people in Jiangnan and Beijing are not fake, and they will never understand the other side's position.

……

After feeling a lot of emotion, Fang Ziling followed his father's car and continued to Zhou Ge's old mansion.

Zhou Yanru was very busy, and made Fang Kongxuan wait for a long time before taking the time to meet him—of course, Xie En's jewelry had already been sent in before the meeting, otherwise it might not have been able to be met so quickly.

Of course, Fang Kongxuan would not say those nasty things about begging for an official. He is actually not very eager to find another vacancy, but he is worried about going to the wrong place.

So when we met, he just thanked Zhou Yanru very gracefully for his insight, and didn't say much else.

Zhou Yanru is also a good person. Seeing that Fang Kongzheng did not show the face of asking for reinstatement, he knew that he was a man who knew how to advance and retreat. After being polite, he advised:

"Brother Fang Xian, don't worry, you were diligent when you governed Huguang. Shen Shuren's ability to defeat Zhang Xianzhong now is also inseparable from Huguang's previous foundation.

Now that Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong are running around, all the officials in the Northwest feel like they are facing a big enemy, and there will be vacancies soon.Once His Majesty needs someone to share his worries, he also needs us to work together and work hard together. "

The two chatted for a while, and after Zhou Yanru confirmed that the other party was not in a hurry, he hinted that he could live in the capital for a while, and if there was a chance, he would make a routine appointment at the end of the year.

In this way, the future of the follow-up can be regarded as the first decision.Fang Kongxuan felt that the capital would be safe for a while, so he took his daughter and operated in the capital.

Anyway, winter is coming soon, and in the few months before the end of the year, I will help Fang Yizhi, Shen Shuren and the others become the eyeliners in Beijing.

(End of this chapter)