The Four Great Cases of Wu Zetian

Chapter 40

Entering the early court, bluntly speaking, meeting a good friend and interviewing a traitor monk

But when Wu Zetian was in court, Duke Di went out to play and said, "My minister Di Renjie has something to play."

Empress Wu was very displeased, and suddenly saw him come out to play something, and said: "Since the Qing family entered Beijing, there has been a performance every day. What happened today? Could it be that he participated in the impeachment of ministers again?" After hearing this, Duke Di said Knowing that Zhang Changzong had entered the palace, he cried in front of Wu Zetian, and immediately kowtowed and said: "The minister is appointed as Pingzhang, and the official residence is the governor. He has received a lot of kindness and repaid You Yin. If you don't say anything about something, it is called deceiving the emperor. You can't say enough. It is said to be wrong to the country. The post of inauguration is a full-time job for this minister, and I hope your Majesty will listen to it. It is only because the former Qinghe County and Zeng Youcai seized the women in the folk, and the minister participated in the performance according to the facts, and was dismissed according to the order. It was a serious case. After the minister returned to the Yamen, he brought up the fact that he had been accused by the two defendants, but carefully dismissed it. It seemed that the criminal was a slave of Zhang Changzong. People who know the law and violate the law, since they have been interrogated according to the order, it is reasonable to use torture. Zeng Youcai was put on a stick and whipped forty times before he spoke out. It turns out that Zeng Youcai was ordered by Zhou Bucheng. After Hao Qianting's wife snatched him away , hid in the yamen, and went to the two women of King Hu, who were in Zeng Youcai's house. After confessing, he tortured Zhou Bucheng again to testify in court. There was no word to deny him, and he also admitted the confession immediately. The minister thought that he was guilty, and he began to commit suicide. The county magistrate, who disturbed the people's livelihood, had been reported, and he was also using power. It seems that this lawless and stubborn man, if he does not punish the crime strictly, he will follow suit even more. Moreover, although Zhang Changzong is a favorite minister, the state law is strict, how can he allow it to be violated? If he uses other forces .For the criminal talisman, everyone can break the law, and everyone can't be controlled. Because he wanted to make a warning to others, he ordered Zhou Bucheng to record his own statement, and paraded it in the street with Zeng Youcai to show the public. This is the intention of my ministers to be cautious about the laws of the country. Who knows that Zhang Changzong is not strict in controlling his subordinates, and there are countless evil servants and slaves. If you take it back, you won't escape. It seems that such a bold and reckless act is extremely illegal. The minister is in the Yamen, and he is about to bring the trial. Unexpectedly, a noble slave king pretends to be Zhang Changzong himself, and comes to the Yamen for a meeting. He wants to take the prisoner away under the pretext of interceding. When the Jingchen finds out the authenticity and listens to the truthful confession, you will know the fake affair." Speaking of this, Wu Zetian asked: "Is what the Qing family played the truth? If it was Zhang Changzong himself, wouldn't it be possible to punish him at that time?" Di Gongdao: "If Zhang Changzong comes here, it will be more and more reckless. I should report to your Majesty and hand it over to the Ministry of punishment for interrogation. This person is his domestic slave, and it is reasonable for me to interrogate him."

Wu Zetian said: "Since you say that this person is an impostor, do you have any evidence?" Di Gong said: "Why not? Here is the existing statement, and I will hold it in custody myself. Is it wrong to say that?" He took out the statement in his arms, Presented by the eunuch of the Value Hall.

Wu Zetian read it from the beginning to the end, and it was all confessed by Zhang Changzong himself, there is no place to refute it, although he was displeased, it was just inconvenient to commit crimes.Nai said: "Now he should commit a crime. I want to be still in the Yamen. Although this man is not guilty, since I was in the imperial court, I have not killed him for no reason. I will hand him over to the Ministry of Punishment and imprison him. He will be beheaded in autumn." Then he said happily: "If it wasn't for my foresight, he would have overturned this matter." Then he said: "I have gone too far, please Your Majesty to investigate. Thinking about this villain, after committing a crime, he dares to have an affair." The plot, ordering people to intercede, if you stay for a while, set up or communicate with bandits, and commit misdeeds, then the harm will not be small, and it will be impossible to prevent? Therefore, ask for a confession, and ask the king to order him to beheaded outside the gate."

Hearing this, Wu Zetian was shocked: "This man is so courageous, he can be a giant! With so many plots, he dares to act arbitrarily and tell others. Even though Zhang Changzong's affection is hindered by such a sage, he can't do anything about it." How about him." At that time, he said: "The Qing family is well-preserved and promising, which is really worthy of praise. But in the future, you can't break up like this, you have to tell the widow."

At that time, Di Gong also said that he obeyed the order and withdrew from the court.All the ministers in the court, seeing that Di Gong is so upright, even Zhang Changzong was injured with a stick, and punished according to law, all of them were afraid and did not dare to act recklessly.

Unexpectedly, Di Gong retreated into the court room, but met Yuan Xingchong, and talked with each other for a while, very happy.Yuan Xingchong said: "Your Excellency is so majestic; it is easy to visit and investigate. Only the monks of Baima Temple are righteous, filthy and chaotic, and related to weathering. Wu Zetian stays there from time to time in the name of burning incense. After some rectification, the world will be peaceful." Di Gongdao: "This time, when I come to Beijing, I am determined to eliminate traitors. I have heard of the lawlessness of the monks in Baima Temple for a long time. If you don't first punish the lucky officials who come in and out of the palace, the relatives of the country who pretend to be powerful, the reputation will not be far-reaching, and this group of rats will not be intimidated. Even if he waits to do something, he will block it, and it will still be useless. Therefore, I'm a lower official, let's do it nearer first. But I don't know how far the White Horse Temple is from here, how many houses are there, and how old is the person? You need to visit clearly before you can go." Yuan Xingchong said: "This matter The lower officials know that it is only ten or twenty miles away from the capital. The former Zaimen walked northward, and there was an imperial road along the way. After the imperial road was completed, there was a huge pine forest in front, and the temple was behind the pine forest. Inside There are no fewer than forty or fifty rooms. Huaiyi lives in the north and south gardens. Although he is far away from the main hall and palace, he heard that there are secret passages in it, but once he enters the house, he can communicate with him. This person is about thirty years old, although He is a Buddhist evildoer, but he is a beautiful boy in the boudoir. I heard that he has taken in many rogue youngsters and taught them the secret method of the erotic palace. This is the beginning of Hong Ruzhen's fortune."

Di Gong listened to them one by one and kept them in his heart.Go back to each other separately.When I arrived at the Yamen, I took a rest for a while, and called Mrs. Ma Rongqiao over and said: "This court is an official here, only because the former emperor died, Zhongzong was relegated, and thousands of miles of rivers and mountains were corrupted by Wu Sansi, Zhang Changzong and others. Now listen to It is said that the name of the country will be changed to the later Zhou Dynasty, and the great tradition will be passed on to Wu Sansi Jiji. Such a violation of law and discipline, wouldn't the Tang Dynasty be handed over to others? Although there are Xu Jingye and Luo Binwang, they want to revive the teacher. The only ministers in court who want to seek thieves are Zhang Jianzhi, Yuan Xingchong and others. They are loyal ministers. This court has a heart, and wants to get rid of these traitors. She also changed her mind and passed it on to Zhongzong. At that time, the great rule was true, but the scandals were not exposed, and there was nothing wrong with the flesh and blood between the monarch and his ministers. This is the painstaking effort of this court, which can be treated to the gods and the former emperor. At this time, although Zhang Changzong and Wu Sansi were a little discouraged, they couldn't get rid of Jingjing. Only then did I meet Master Yuan Xingchong, and he also said that there was a monk from Baima Temple named Huai Yi, who Empress Wu went to the temple every time Burning incense and lodging there is full of filth and ugliness inside. Therefore, if we want to get rid of this treacherous monk, we are afraid of not knowing the details. This temple is only ten or twenty miles away from here. Behind the pine tree is the White Horse Temple. You can visit it with Mrs. Qiao. I heard that he lives in the South Garden and teaches the secret method of that rascal boy. If you have a real letter, come back and report." Ma Rong said: "It's easy for a villain to investigate, but there is one thing, I don't know if an adult knows it?" Di Gong said: "What's the matter now? This court doesn't know, but you can tell me." Ma Rong said: "This monk still lives outside the palace. , there is also a man named Xue named Xue Aocao. This man is only in the palace, and Zhang Changzong has committed evil one after another. What he has done is really difficult. We must try to deal with this man, and he must not be allowed to stay in Beijing. The matter. The villain dare not talk nonsense because it is an ambiguous matter in the palace, and just because the adults said it, he dared to report it." Di Gong sighed and said: "The country is so licentious, and the world can be peaceful! This matter is our court. For a detailed interview, you wait and go, and interview this matter."

Ma Rong and Mrs. Qiao came out under orders. At that time, they first went to the neighborhood to inquire. In the afternoon, they had a full meal, put on night clothes, and each carried a hidden weapon. Go straight to the main road.After walking for ten or twenty miles, I saw a huge forest in front of me, with ancient cypresses and green pines sandwiched between two roads. From a distance, it seemed to be covered by a circle of dark clouds, with the sound of waves and green shade, it was out of this world. wonderland.Ma Rong said: "Look at this kind of spirit, it's really a beautiful place for immortals, but it's a pity to live for this obscene monk, changing a secluded mountain forest into a dirty world. I don't know how far this pine forest is past.

"The two gradually approached, and they were not far from the front of the forest. When they looked up, they happened to see a red wall on the left, and there were bells ringing at the corner of the wall, passing through the forest, but they felt the whale clang twice, which made the world disappear. When the two saw the temple, they walked out of the pine forest, followed the moonlight, and walked forward by the path. Who knows how far they walked, and saw the temple gate, but they couldn't go through it—a long river in front of the gate surrounded the surroundings. Mrs. Qiao said: "Unexpectedly, this place is so exquisite. The houses around are already like a palace. With this pine forest and this moat, isn't it a natural painting?The wooden bridge has been pulled up by the temple, how can we get there at this time? Ma Rong said: "Why are you pretending to be difficult?"Others can't think about it so far, what are you and I afraid of him?But it just so happened that the moonlight was shining right now, and there was no one else in the area, so it was a good time to go and look for it. "After that, the two looked at the terrain, one first and the other behind, and used a swallow to penetrate the curtain on the river bank, with their feet under the pad, like flying, they had already passed through the moat.

On the other side of the bank, Mrs. Qiao said, "I'll go to the gate of the temple and have a look. If it's open, I'll cover it here, or I'll have to jump up to get in." Turning around a few slopes along the red wall, I saw a huge archway in front of me, towering in the air, with a pattern of plum, orchid, bamboo and chrysanthemum carved in the air, and above the middle, a banner that read "Heaven and Man's Blessed Land" Four golden letters.In the past, there were four stone lotus platforms on both sides of the archway, a pair of stone lions on the left and right, and three temple gates. On the forehead of the middle gate, there was a stone plaque engraved with the six characters "Chici Baima Temple".Two vermilion lacquered mountain gates, a pair of copper Luo, similar to red gold, are nailed to the gates.

Ma Rong whispered to Mrs. Qiao: "The gate of the mountain is now closed, we still jump up." Mrs. Qiao said: "This is not good. Although you can go to the house, it will take a while to find the direction when you look for his garden. And push He pushed it." As he spoke, Qiao Tai took a step forward, leaned his body against the mountain gate, grasped the Tong Luo with both hands, used the hanging force, lifted it up slightly, and pushed it back, fortunately there was no sound at all, and the door was pushed open .At that time, Ma Rong was beckoned, and the two of them went in next to each other, and then looked down to the west, only to see three gate halls with black paint, and there was a shrine in the middle, which probably dedicated to Wei Tuo.Holding each other's footsteps, they passed the alcove and walked towards the second gate. They did the same and pushed the gate open.Just about to go in, I suddenly saw a row of board walls on the left, half a room away, and there seemed to be someone talking inside.Ma Rongzhi was the monk who watched the mountain gate, and he pulled Qiao Tai's sleeve at that time, Qiao Tai understood, and they went to the front of the board wall.He held his breath and looked in through the cracks of the board, but it was an oil lamp, half-lit, placed on the table. A monk of 50 to [-] years old was sitting on the chair. The rough man in the country, sitting on the stool, seemed to be about to take a nap.Seeing the monk, he pushed him and said: "Everything in the world is always unfair. You wake up and I will talk to you, so as not to fall into a coma." The man was pushed twice by him, he breathed, and opened his eyes. Asked: "What do you want me to say? I was about to fall asleep, but I woke you up again. It's almost three o'clock now, and the man hasn't come yet." The monk said: "I think she has someone else. Originally, women have a soft heart. I can't be sure, but I feel sorry for the many people who are so strong, and it's really annoying to be trapped by him." Ma Rong saw that there was a reason for their words, so he asked inside: "What did the monk say again? Let's see next time." break down.

(End of this chapter)