The First Gongsheng of Ming Dynasty

386 Put him to death
When the hailstorm hit, Zhang Zhou was already packing his things at home and preparing to return to Nanjing.

After discussing with Zhu Youtang, if you can be exempted from official positions, the title of Duke Lai is not taken casually. With the title in hand, returning to Nanjing can be regarded as a return home.

"Are you in such a hurry to leave? The family always feels that there are too many people." Jiang Pingyu cleaned up for a long time, feeling that she seemed to be different from when she came to the capital.

When she came here, she came here in a low-key manner. Now that her family has a big business, Zhang Zhou didn't say whether she would go to Nanjing for a few days or stay there for a long time. She was reluctant to leave the two big houses in the capital.

Zhang Zhou said with a smile: "Go back and have a look. If there are too many people in the family and it is inconvenient to take them away, then stay first."

Han Qing was standing at the window looking out, muttering, "Why is it hailstorming?"

"The hailstones are falling well." Zhang Zhou embraced Han Qing from behind, and said with a smile, "Without the hailstones, I would not be able to go back to Nanjing City. By the way, I will go there to find out if there is any 'panacea'." , maybe I will become a fairy."

Jiang Pingyu asked: "Is the master joking?"

Zhang Zhoudao: "Of course I'm joking, but as far as I know, there are many inaccessible places in overseas places, and there is no communication with Daming. Who knows if there are any strange fairy grasses that can prolong life? Hurry up and clean them up." , we will set off tomorrow afternoon, and I don’t have to go to court tomorrow morning.”

This place is still bustling with tidying up, the servant girl Ping An came in and announced: "Master, there are guests outside, who say they are your old friends, this is a greeting card."

"Didn't I say that no one will be seen?"

When Zhang Zhou took it over to look at the greeting card, he couldn't help but smile.

Now Liu Gui returned to the capital together with him, continued to be his disciple, and seemed to be very good at selecting guests to pass on... The person who came was Ping Jiangbo and Chen Rui.

"Invite people in, greet them with good tea, I'll see you later! This hailstone... It's rare that no one was killed."

……

……

Inside Lai Guogong's mansion.

Zhang Zhou met Chen Rui in the hall of his home. At this time, Chen Rui had a vicissitudes of life and helplessness, as if he had experienced hardships and narrowly escaped death.

"Uncle Ping Jiang, you are..."

"Forget it."

Chen Rui said helplessly, "Traveling here and there for the past two years, Liaodong originally made great achievements, but it capsized in Ningxia."

Zhang Zhou smiled and said, "Can the rivers in Ningxia carry boats?"

Chen Rui said: "It's really not a place to stay alone. From last year to this spring, the little Tatar prince repeatedly came and violated the border. I... Sigh!"

The heavy sigh at the end also told Zhang Zhou how miserable he was.

This also explains a truth... He Chen Liangjiu is not only afraid of Huo Sha, the reason why he was said to be afraid of Huo Sha in the past is because he has no chance to fight Dayan Khan Batu Mengke head-on... Wait for the battle to drag After a few rounds, others will know that you, Chen Rui, are just an idiot.

The nobles of Ming Dynasty are all like that, no one needs to laugh at anyone else, anyway, the Tatars invade and stay in the fortress, that is the best choice.

Even with artillery, there is still no strategy to defeat the enemy and fight outside the city.

The Tatars are not targets, they stand there for you to hit. In fact, this made Zhang Zhou feel that Qin Hong, a chariot madman, was quite important before. Only a moving fort can achieve the flexibility of the battlefield.

Zhang Zhoudao: "Uncle Ping Jiang only returned to Beijing in the past two days, right?"

"Yes, follow you." Chen Rui looked regretful.

When Zhang Zhou returned to Beijing, it was an unprecedented event, but even though he returned to Beijing almost at the same time, he could only come back with his tail between his legs. Not to mention that there was someone to welcome him, he was afraid of being known, because he was afraid of losing face.

As a general, only if you can win on the battlefield can you hold your head high and hold your chest high.

Zhang Zhou sighed: "The hailstorm has stopped outside, you should know what this hailstorm means to me, right?"

"I heard." Chen Rui said, "The officials in the court are ignorant and criticize the hero of the world like Duke Yu Lai. Your Majesty is not a foolish king. Naturally, he will not give up on a powerful man like Mr. Zhang."

"I dare not take the name of Mister." Zhang Zhou said.

"You can afford it, you can afford it." Chen Rui looked eagerly at Zhang Zhou.

Zhang Zhou smiled. This Chen Rui is a model of a cowardly and honorable official. Once he suffers a defeat on the front line, he thinks about making connections, planning another good errand for himself, or finding a way to gain military merit or something.

This fawning face... that old face is gone too.

"Uncle Pingjiang, I actually have something to say. I know what it means if you don't tell me. You want me to help you gain military merit, or seek a position in the capital? I'm sorry, but I'm resigning from office and going back to Nanjing to visit my relatives tomorrow." , can’t help, sorry.” Zhang Zhou was still laughing.

"Why do you want to go back to Nanjing?" Chen Rui was taken aback.

Zhang Zhou said: "Shouldn't I avoid suspicion if there is such a hail disaster?"

Chen Rui hurriedly said: "You don't need it. You haven't been to the Northwest recently. I don't know how much the Northwest soldiers respect you. Even the Tartars know your prestige, so they don't dare to attack you easily. You see See where the Tatars like to commit crimes now? Isn’t it the three borders of Yansui and Ningxia? Both Pianguan and Datong know that it is your territory, and the Tatars dare not go there.”

"Hehe, is that right? I still have this prestige?" Zhang Zhou replied with a smile.

Chen Rui sighed: "How can I say that the Ming Dynasty cannot do without you? There are also those officials, they don't go to the border, they don't know the hardships of the border, and the soldiers can finally catch their breath this year. In the past, the Tartars were pressing harder. They can’t even get out of the city gate, now at least wherever the cannons go, the Tatars don’t dare to invade the city gate, because they are also afraid of being bombarded.”

Zhang Zhou said: "But God's will is hard to violate."

"God's will? Bullshit God's will!" Chen Rui seemed to admire Zhang Zhoudao very much, "Sir, if you have any inconvenience, let the general present the situation for you. You shouldn't leave, even if you don't become a civil servant. Everywhere in the northwest, you can walk sideways!"

Zhang Zhou thought to himself, I managed to earn myself a chance to go back to Nanjing, and it was also to avoid the next earthquake in the capital. You still want to find a way to keep me?
Fortunately, I told the person above everything and discussed everything, otherwise you group of people will give me bad things.

"No need. I'm leaving tomorrow. The mountains are long and the rivers are far away. When I have a chance to return to the capital, let's say goodbye again."

Zhang Zhou got up, as if he was going to see off the guests, and he reminded him, "By the way, Uncle Ping Jiang, Ling Ai has always lived in the house you gave me, and I have never visited the house. The house and people are together." I'll give it back to you. I heard that you still want to marry Zhijie, right? I think it's pretty good, so just treat me as a matchmaker for them."

"Don't." Chen Rui hurriedly said upon hearing this, "Little girl, she..."

I was thinking about boasting about "flowers like jade", but when I thought about it, Zhang Zhou is not a fool, his daughter should have heard of it even if he has never seen it before, and besides, she is still a widow, this... I can't even boast inked.

Zhang Zhoudao: "Uncle Ping Jiang, if you stay with me again, you may be added when all the ministers participate in impeachment tomorrow. I am the one on the cusp, so don't make trouble for yourself."

"This……"

Chen Rui was aggrieved.

In the end, Zhang Zhousheng almost dragged him out of the door.

……

……

Morning the next day.

All the ministers were so excited, they were almost talking about the hail disaster last night, as if the suffering of the people in the capital was beyond their consideration, and it seemed as if God had finally fulfilled their wish.

As the biggest contributor to this matter, that is, Wu Hao, the supervisor of Qin Tianjian who calculated this matter, did not appear at the scene.

It was as if he had accomplished his mission and retired.

Zhang Zhou, who was at the heart of the incident... was also there.

The court meeting began.

Zhu Youtang didn't wait for the minister to say anything, he directly pointed to Xiao Jing who was beside him, and Xiao Jing came out, also calmly said: "Mr. Lai Guo Zhang Zhou asked for an order to go back to his hometown to visit his relatives, Your Majesty has been kind enough allow."

"His Majesty."

Tu Yu walked out.

Tu Yu was still guessing yesterday why Zhang Zhou calculated the hail disaster.

He even went to discuss countermeasures with Xie Qian and others.

Now he doesn't care about it. No matter what Zhang Zhou's intentions are, if the hailstorm happened when Zhang Zhou was still in power, then the scapegoat must be drawn to the emperor's trust in Zhang Zhou.

"Tu Qing's family, do you have something to do?" Zhu Youtang asked.

Tu Yu said: "God's will, rain and hail fell in Beijing, many people's houses were damaged, people and animals were damaged, and farmland and crops were lost innumerably. If such things are not investigated deeply, I'm afraid it will be difficult to explain to the people of the world."

Zhu Youtang asked: "If there is rain and hail in the capital, one person should be blamed. Then this person should be Zhen, not someone in the court?"

There's nothing wrong with that.

Heaven will punish God, and the emperor must bear the brunt of it, and directly blame the officials below, for fear that there will not be enough people to take the blame.

Because there are a lot of hailstones falling in various places every year, if one person needs to take the blame for the next one, this is not a disaster of squalls, rains, droughts and floods... Can this be managed?
Tu Yu bit his head and said: "But the Qin Tianjian has spoken about this matter beforehand. Zhang was also in the court that day. Now that the matter has happened, we can't just visit relatives."

Zhu Youtang's tone was also calm and said: "What's that like? Seizing the title? Dismissing him from his post? And sending him to prison to question his crime? Ask someone to torture him and ask him why the sky sent hail disasters?"

Bai Ang, Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishment, said: "Your Majesty, Duke Lai has always claimed to be able to measure the will of heaven, why didn't he guess it this time?"

Zhu Youtang thought to himself, you are really right, Bing Kuan figured this out, otherwise Wu Hao... the day lily is cold.

Xu Qiong came forward and said: "You can't say that. Could it be that every will of God can be calculated, and if you want to be held accountable because you can't guess the will of God, I'm afraid it's difficult for others?"

"enough!"

Zhu Youtang raised his hand to interrupt the following debate, "I can change Bingkuan's official position in the governor's mansion and the court, but I dare to ask you, if this happens, if there are any natural disasters and human emotions in various places, someone will warn me ?"

Bai Ang said: "There is Qin Tianjian, this is within the scope of his duties."

"Then if there is another natural or man-made disaster, Qin Tianjian can't figure it out?" Zhu Youtang asked.

Even Bai Ang couldn't answer this time.

Wu Hao can put on a show and calculate the hail disaster in a few days. Everyone knows that this old boy has performed supernormally, and next time he will be expected to open his mouth like Zhang Zhou... This is not a problem for the strong, it is not General knowledge.

Zhang Mao, another "key party" to the incident, came out and said, "Your Majesty, you don't have to ask Duke Lai to return to his hometown to visit his relatives, but let him stay in the capital and speculate on God's will at any time."

Zhu Youtang said coldly: "We want to dismiss him, but let him speculate on God's will. You have such a face, but I don't!"

Zhang Mao said: "You can keep him in the Qin Tianjian."

Zhu Youtang stared at Zhang Mao and said, "So you think that Bingkuan's ability is limited to being a supervisor in the Qin Tianjian. This is the meritocracy that I have always advocated?"

"Uh..." Zhang Mao saw that the emperor was angry, and retreated in despair.

Zhu Youtang raised his head and looked at all the ministers present, questioning in his tone, and even said with a bit of killing intent: "Let me ask you again, if any disasters in the world will happen in the future, you will still blame it on Bing Kuan, continue to put pressure on me, let me come and punish him?"

Tu Yu seemed to be a loyal minister, knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, the alchemist's words cannot be trusted!"

Zhu Youtang said: "Even if you think that what Bing Kuan said before is the words of alchemists, but I ask you, when did he say something wrong? And when did he mislead the country?"

Tu Yu said: "The treacherous officials are in power, shaking the foundation of the country."

Zhu Youtang asked: "Then Bing Kuan is a traitorous minister, and Li Guang is also a traitorous minister. Who were those people who had been with Li Guang before and gave gifts to Li Guang? The traitorous ministers among the traitorous ministers? Less than two years have passed since the incident. Don't you think I'm old and forgetful?"

Tu Yu, who was kneeling there, wanted to put on a gesture of remonstrance, but when he heard this, his body shook.

Only then did he realize.

The emperor didn't pursue Li Guang's matter, but it doesn't mean that the emperor didn't know about it. Tu Yu was one of the people who bribed Li Guang at that time.

As soon as the emperor said this, Tu Yu seemed embarrassed kneeling there.

It doesn't sound like it, and I continued to talk... I was afraid that the emperor would directly throw the account books of the year in his face... making him in a dilemma.

Zhu Youtang said: "I want you to answer, whether after Bingkuan's dismissal, if any disasters happen in the future, no one needs to be warned, and if there are any other disasters, he must be blamed?"

At this time, the emperor almost asked this question in a fit of anger.

The ministers present can actually understand.

Now the emperor is forced by them to "punish" Zhang Zhou, and the punishment method is to dismiss Zhang Zhou and return him to his hometown with hail from the sky, which is obviously not the emperor's will.

Since the emperor was forced to make such a compromise in order to calm the mouth of the world, the minister must have something to say...

Zuodu Censor Min Gui came out and said, "Your Majesty, if there is another natural disaster, it must be a warning from the heavens, and it must also be caused by Zhang Zhou."

"what?"

When these words came out, Wu Xun, the civil servant present, was also dumbfounded.

Good guy.

In your mind, Min Gui, whether Zhang Zhou is in court or not, anyway, if there are any natural or man-made disasters in the future, just blame him, right?
This is simply opposition for the sake of opposition, party struggle for the sake of party struggle, which is simply unreasonable.

The emperor has promised to dismiss Zhang Zhou and return him to his hometown, but someone still wants to "put Zhang Zhou to death".

Zhu Youtang smiled instead of anger when he heard the words, but his smile was a bit sad, and he said: "Your family, I also find it interesting. Is it true that Bingkuan left the capital, and the main hall of Fengtian Palace will be trampled tomorrow, and the responsibility lies on him? Bingkuan is also to blame for the fire? He was also to blame for the flood in the south of the Yangtze River? Haha... Are you saying that even if I kill him and bury him in the ground, if there are any natural or man-made disasters in the future, I will also kill him Bruised bones and ashes? But at that time, there will still be natural disasters... Even the ashes can't be found, how can I blame him?"

These words are full of anger, and it is the kind of embarrassment that the monarch and his ministers cannot tolerate.

If it wasn't for Zhu Youtang's good temper, he might have exploded on the spot.

Min Gui also made up his mind, knelt down and said: "Your Majesty, alchemists are not available! Please also learn from Your Majesty!"

"Answer my question!" Zhu Youtang got up angrily and said, "Unless I deal with Zhang Bingkuan, and there will be some disasters in the future, you won't blame him for this matter?"

Min Kyu gritted his teeth and said, "Kill him!"

"what!"

This time there was an uproar between the government and the opposition.

This actually made the ministers of the DPRK and China realize that many people felt that there was no room for two tigers with Zhang Zhou, and that if they finally seized the opportunity to attack Zhang Zhou, they must drive Zhang Zhou to death.

Zhu Youtang stood there with a stern expression on his face and said, "Then why?"

"God's will!" Min Gui said loudly.

"Okay." Zhu Youtang suddenly looked at Xiao Jing who was at the side and said, "Hailstorm yesterday, are there any reports of casualties?"

Xiao Jing said: "Returning to Your Majesty, because of the early warning and timely warning, there was no report of casualties. The crops were lost a lot..."

At this moment, Xiao Jing didn't expect Min Gui to be so desperate, but he still vaguely wanted to say something for Min Gui, meaning that yesterday's disaster was still a great loss, and it was also a natural disaster.

Zhu Youtang said: "No one was killed or injured in yesterday's natural disaster, but you let me use this to kill Bingkuan who warned me?"

"Your Majesty!" Hubu Shangshu Zhou Jing hurried out and said, "Wu Hao is the one who warned."

"is it?"

Zhu Youtang sternly said, "Tell Wu Hao to go to the palace!"

When the ministers present heard this, they suddenly realized that something was wrong...

It didn't take long for Wu Hao to be brought up by Jin Yiwei. Seeing the emperor, Wu Hao knelt down and said, "My minister Wu Hao sees Your Majesty."

Zhu Youtang said: "I ask you, did you calculate the hail disaster yesterday?"

"No...it's not...it's the Duke of Lai..." Wu Hao felt a little hopeless.

Who have I provoked?

The ministers present were all stunned, and of course a few of them also got the news from Fu Han and Tu Yu in advance.

Zhu Youtang asked: "Then I ask you, why didn't he report it himself, but told you about it?"

Wu Hao said: "That day when the Duke of Lai came to visit, he said that many people in the court impeached him, and he had no intention of arguing and defending, so he wanted to go back to Nanjing for a few days of peace and quiet, and said that he was going to find a panacea in order to prolong his life... just in time This opportunity...the minister didn't want it at the time, but he said...it was His Majesty who ordered him to say so."

"Your Majesty?" Liu Jian also came out.

Liu Jian had to come forward at this time.

Zhu Youtang said coldly: "It was Bingkuan who told me that I didn't want to cause disputes in the court because of those bad things, so I allowed him to go back to Nanjing. He can cure acne, and I am also a person who has delusions about longevity. Who would have thought that... you not only don't appreciate it, but also use the disaster he warned to put him to death! Are you trying to be a traitor? Come on, Send Min Gui to prison!"

(End of this chapter)