Back to Daming to be a genius

Chapter 57
(PS: There are two updates today, and the first one will be sent to ask for a monthly ticket.)
While Young Master Zhang was racking his brains and painstakingly to rescue Xiong Tingbi from prison, another huge twist suddenly occurred in the case of the Six Gentlemen, a huge twist that almost sparked a civil uprising in Hebei.The cause of the incident was a local celebrity named Sun Qifeng in Rongcheng County, Baoding Prefecture, Zhili Province. When Zuo Guangdou was slandered by the eunuch party for accepting 2 taels of silver and was arrested and imprisoned, Sun Qifeng happened to be in Beijing. In order to rescue Zuo Guangdou from prison, Sun Qifeng returned to Baoding overnight, and Sun Qifeng contacted Lu Shanji's father, Lu Zheng, and a Xincheng native, Zhang Guozhong, initiated a fundraiser to pay the so-called "stolen money" for Zuo Guangdou.

Zuo Guangdou used to be the censor who patrolled the city, and was an unscrupulous scribe who arrested and ruled the fish and meat villagers. He cracked a case of forging and false seals. More than a hundred fake officials were arrested. Improve the water conservancy in Jifu, let the people of Hebei know how to grow rice for the first time. It has a very good reputation in Hebei, and the common people also have deep feelings for Zuo Guangdou, so these three celebrities who were called "Fan Yang Three Martyrs" in history ascended With a call, the local country gentlemen donated generously, raising thousands of taels of silver in just one day, and the number is still increasing rapidly. (Note)
When the news reached the capital, Wei Zhongxian was immediately embarrassed. He wanted to deal with this stubborn guy who didn't know how to live or die, but he was also afraid of Sun Chengzong, the backer behind them-that is a man who even Wei Zhongxian couldn't afford to provoke!Just ignore it, in case these three celebrities really pooled up 2 taels of silver, then according to the law of the Ming Dynasty, Wei Zhongxian had to be released from prison, which is nothing to do, but Zuo Guangdou was imprisoned in the Zhenfusi Prison In just three or four days, Xu Xianchun, the number one executioner under Wei Zhongxian, has sent [-] kinds of punishments from Zhenfu Division to Zuo Guangdou several times in turn. His body is shattered, and people are not like ghosts or ghosts. Letting such a Zuo Guangdou out for the common people in Hebei to see, it would be strange if it didn't stir up a civil uprising!At that time, once Sun Chengzong is angered and leads troops to the side of the Qing emperor in Beijing, if Wei Zhongxian can keep his head, it will be really blind to heaven.

In the difficult situation of riding a tiger, Wei Zhongxian couldn't help thinking of what Master Zhang said on the night of March 29, and murmured: "Little monkey boy, you are right, we have knives in our hands, literati have pens in their hands, and our knives I can cut off their heads, but I can't cut off their writing pens." Thinking of this, Wei Zhongxian couldn't help but think of the scene when Yang Lian was arrested last year. The common people and gentry all burned incense and set up sacrifices to pray for Yang Lian's survival. Several times, they almost led to civil uprisings - the angry people besieged the Jinyiwei Tiqi who escorted Yang Lian, tried to kill Jinyiwei and took Yang Lian away. In the end, it was Yang Lian Open your mouth to stop, and the people shed tears and dispersed.For Yang Lian's prestige, Wei Zhongxian is really jealous and envious, but there is nothing he can do...

"This time we arrest Wei Dazhong, Zhou Chaorui, Yuan Huazhong, and Gu Dazhang, the four Donglin traitors. I don't know if the same thing will happen." Wei Zhongxian was worried, fearing that there would be another civil uprising, and he would be scolded and make enemies.At this time, Wei Zhongxian's eunuch chief Song Jin came to report, "Old Ancestor, Zhang Haogu asks to see you."

"The little monkey boy is here? Could it be that he has figured out a way to help our family get rid of the stigma?" Wei Zhongxian was overjoyed, and quickly ordered: "Quickly, let him come in, and our family will meet him here." Song Jin took the order and left In a short while, Young Master Zhang was ushered into the back hall dedicated to Wei Zhongxian's discussions, usually only first- and second-rank officials are eligible to enter. Young Master Zhang was holding a scroll in his hand. Just as he was about to kneel down after the meeting, Wei Zhongxian waved first. : "Excuse me, little monkey boy, what's the matter with you coming to our house today?"

"Godfather, my child has something that I want to give to my godfather." Young Master Zhang held up the scroll in his hand.Wei Zhongxian pouted curiously, Song Jin immediately stepped forward to take the scroll, and held it in front of Wei Zhongxian with both hands. A wheeled vehicle has a handle, a pedal, and a seat, but the two wheels are one behind the other, and cannot be driven at all.Wei Zhongxian couldn't help asking in surprise: "Little monkey, what is this?"

"Return to godfather, this is called a bicycle." Master Zhang begged for grace, and pointed to the sketch to explain the operating principle of the bicycle to Wei Zhongxian, "Godfather, if such a wooden cart is made, people can ride on it, and use it Stepping on the wheels to move forward, it is stable and fast, several times faster than walking in a sedan chair."

"Monkey boy, why don't you just dedicate such a good thing to the emperor?" Wei Zhongxian asked happily: "The emperor likes woodwork, and everyone in the world knows this. If you dedicate it to the emperor, the emperor will be promoted if he is happy." Your officer."

"Godfather, if the emperor is happy, you will be happy. As long as you are happy, the child will be satisfied." Young Master Zhang said brazenly.Wei Zhongxian understood. He knew that Young Master Zhang was worried that he would steal the limelight and make himself angry by presenting the wooden drawing directly to the emperor, so he dedicated the sketch to himself first, and asked himself to present the drawing to the emperor to receive credit.Knowing this, Wei Zhongxian was even more happy, patted Young Master Zhang on the shoulder and said with a smile: "Monkey boy, you really have filial piety, the emperor has been listless these days, our family is worried about his dragon body, if this thing Dedicate it, and keep the emperor to become a dragon and a tiger. Tell me, I want my family to reward you with something."

"Godfather, I really have one thing to ask you, as long as you don't get angry, then I will say it." Young Master Zhang said obsequiously.Wei Zhongxian nodded and said with a smile, "Tell me, what do you want?"

"Godfather, my son wants to borrow your time for two hours." Young Master Zhang suddenly became extremely serious, and said in a deep voice: "During these two hours, my son wants to ask godfather to go to a place to see what happened there. What happened." Wei Zhongxian knew something was wrong, raised his gray eyebrows, and immediately stared at the eyes of Young Master Zhang with two cold eyes, Young Master Zhang was not afraid, and faced it calmly...

…………

"Stop doing this!" Although his prison clothes were already stained with blood, Wang Wenyan, who was covered in bruises, was still full of arrogance. He pointed at the boiling water in the iron pot in front of him with his hands in handshakes, and pointed at the town who threatened to boil him to death. The guard of Fusi prison shouted: "Go and tell Xu Xianchun and Zhang Haogu, if they really dare to boil me to death in an iron pot, then bring real boiling water instead of frightening me with fake boiling water with quicklime in it! I see! You bastards haven't been born yet when you're in prison and interrogating prisoners with tricks!"

"Fuck you! I told you to be stubborn!" Several guards from the Zhenfu Division who had their tricks exposed became furious. They raised their leather whips and whipped Wang Wenyan indiscriminately, causing Wang Wenyan to roll all over the floor, blood and flesh splattered all over his body. Tears flowed down his face.But Wang Wenyan was still screaming and cursing, "Ah! Xu Xianchun, I'm going to fuck your [-]th generation ancestors... Ah! You killed me as soon as you planted it! You are dreaming of dragging other people into the water! Ah! Ah! !Ah——! Zhang Haogu, I’ll fuck your mother...ah————!”

Feng Shui is evil in the capital. When Wang Wenyan was yelling at Young Master Zhang and Xu Xianchun by their names, the iron gate of the punishment room was suddenly pushed open, causing Wang Wenyan to be imprisoned by Young Master Zhang and Xu Xianchun, the Jinyi guard who ordered the guards to torture him. Started, and came in together with a smile, a few wardens of the governor's department did not dare to neglect, and hurriedly threw down their whips and came over to salute their immediate superior Xu Xianchun, "I have met Mr. Xu, Mr. Xu is blessed and safe."

"Excuse me." Xu Xianchun waved his hand, then pointed to Young Master Zhang and introduced: "You bastards, watch out, this is the famous Xinke Tanhua in the capital, Zhang Haogu, editor of the Imperial Academy, Mr. Zhang, why don't you kowtow to Mr. Zhang? "

"The little one kowtows to Mr. Zhang." Several guards of the Zhenfu Division did not dare to neglect, and hurriedly knelt down on their knees and kowtowed.Young Master Zhang waved his hand with a smile, took out 20 taels of silver bills and handed them to a few guards of the Zhenfu Division, and said with a smile: "No, I don't dare to be your big gift. It's the first time we meet, let's take it for tea." Overjoyed, thank you quickly, Xu Xianchun asked again: "How is it? Has Wang Wenyan confessed to the accomplice who framed Mr. Tanhua?"

"Reporting to Mr. Xu Tanhuagong, this kid is too stubborn. We tried all kinds of methods, but we couldn't pry his mouth open." A cell boss replied with a sad face.Xu Xianchun was furious when he heard this, and shouted: "A bunch of trash! Give him a scrub and see if he recruits!"

"Decree!" Several wardens from the town's governor happily agreed, set up Wang Wenyan, who was groaning and cursing limply on the ground, grabbed his clothes and pressed them on an iron bed, and then tied them tightly with thick hemp ropes. limbs.Xu Xianchun smiled and explained to Young Master Zhang: "Mr. Tanhua, there will be a rare show to watch soon-this scrubbing is one of the housekeeping tricks of our Zhenfu Division. The whole body, and then use an iron brush nailed full of iron nails to brush it while it is hot, you can brush out all the white bones, but people will not die."

Listening to Xu Xianchun's description of such cruel torture, and seeing Xu Xianchun's beaming and happy expression, Young Master Zhang shuddered, and quickly gave up his plan to torture Wang Wenyan first to vent his anger, and said: "Master Xu, don't worry I want to ask Wang Wenyan a few words first, okay?" Xu Xianchun immediately ordered without saying a word: "Stop, wait for Mr. Zhang to ask him first."

Several wardens of the Zhenfu Division stopped their actions according to the order. Young Master Zhang hesitated again, took out a bank note and stuffed it into Xu Xianchun's hand in front of Wang Wenyan, and said with a smile: "Master Xu, I want to ask Wang Wenyan something alone. , Master Xu, can you bring a few brothers...?" Xu Xianchun looked at the bank note, and said in an official tone: "Mr. Tanhua, originally there was a regulation in the Prison of the Zhenfu Division. Any official who interrogates a prisoner must have more than two people around him." Accompanied to testify—but who said we are good brothers? Isn't half an hour enough?"

"Enough, enough." Young Master Zhang nodded repeatedly.Only then did Xu Xianchun take the bank note and waved his hand, leading several jailers out of the execution room, leaving Young Master Zhang and Wang Wenyan alone in the dark and smelly execution room to talk in secret.

"It smells so strong, it's really not a place for people to stay." Young Master Zhang covered his nose with his hands behind his back, walked to Wang Wenyan who was tied to the iron bed, and greeted with a smile, "Master Wang, don't come here!" Are you all right?"

"Zhang Haogu, little dog, I'll fuck your ancestor!" Wang Wenyan glared at Young Master Zhang, and cursed hoarsely.Young Master Zhang shrugged his shoulders and said with a smile: "Master Wang, you are wrong. I came to see you with good intentions, and I even interceded for you so that you won't be wiped out. Why do you still speak ill of the Master?" Young Master Zhang found the jailer to drink tea, poured a bowl for Wang Wenyan to drink, and let him regain his energy so that he could talk to himself, but Wang Wenyan was very stubborn, and every time he took a sip, he would curse, "Little dog! "

After finally waiting for Wang Wenyan to finish drinking, Young Master Zhang asked with a smile: "Master Wang, does the tea taste better than usual? Do you want to change a place, such as your home, to lie comfortably on your own?" How about a few sips of fragrant tea? I guarantee that it will be more comfortable than you lying on this stinky iron bed."

"Little dog, don't do this!" Wang Wenyan, who has recovered a lot of energy, roared even louder, "If you want to kill, you will kill it. A scar the size of a bowl will fall off my head. If I frown, sir, I am not worthy of the surname Wang. !"

"To be honest, although you bribed the waiter of the shop to poison my food, I really never hated you, let alone kill you." Young Master Zhang rarely spoke the truth, "And I was also killed by the emperor and nine Chitose was exceptionally promoted and became an editor of the Hanlin Academy. Speaking of which, it is all thanks to you. So I came here today to find a way to rescue you from the prison."

"Are you so kind? You little dog!" Wang Wenyan sneered loudly, scoffing at what Young Master Zhang said.Young Master Zhang giggled and replied, "I know you won't believe it, but don't worry, I won't save you for nothing. Just do one thing for me, get a person's head off, and I promise to save you." get out!"

"Bah!" Wang Wenyan struggled to spit out a mouthful of bloody saliva, and cursed: "Thinking of using me to frame colleagues from the Donglin Party, it's a dream!"

"Who said I'm going to use my colleagues from the Donglin Party?" Young Master Zhang spread his hands and said with a smile, "I want to use you to frame that person, Xiong Tingbi."

Note: The three martyrs Fan Yang and the people of Hebei raised donations to rescue Zuo Guangdou. This event comes from the "Twenty-two History Notes" written by Zhao Yi, a historian of the Qing Dynasty, and the book "Emperor of the Ming Dynasty" published by Guangxi Normal University Press .But it is very strange that the Ming Dynasty did not set up the official position of Xuncheng Yushi, so it is impossible for Zuo Guangdou to have held this position, which is suspected to be a clerical error or a fiction.

(End of this chapter)