Zhang Juzheng stroked his beard and looked at Ning Xiu fixedly, and did not say yes or no.

This ambiguous attitude made Ning Xiu extremely nervous.

After a long time, Zhang Juzheng said slowly: "Xiansheng's move is noble, and the old man is willing to help you with this." But ......"

Ning Xiu was overjoyed, but when he heard the word, his heart sank.

Is there a condition after all?

"Elder Ge, please speak!"

Ning Xiu made a posture of respectfully listening to the instructions of his elders in his later life, which made Zhang Juzheng very satisfied.

"The old man will go and talk to His Majesty and Commander Liu. But there is something to be done here as well. The first thing is to gather more people. ”

Zhang Juzheng's argument Ning Xiu had already thought of it. Public opinion has always been a key tool for influencing people's hearts. Even rulers sometimes have to bow their heads in front of public opinion. This is why Ning Xiu gathered a group of Huguang scholars to jointly write a book. But it's not easy to gather more people.

After all, the monarchy of this era is sacrosanct. It's good enough to have a dozen scholars stand up, and it's not realistic to expect everyone to be as "righteous" as they are.

"Please also ask the elder for advice, how can we gather more people?"

"Qionglin Banquet"

Zhang Juzheng spit out three words from his mouth without hesitation.

Qionglin Banquet?

Ning Xiu was stunned for a moment, and then suddenly realized.

"Thank you for your advice!"

Although the Qionglin Banquet is just a dinner party for a group of scholars to gather after entering the Shidenke Branch, it does not have any political direction, but because it gathers all the new scholars, it is often a platform for these officialdom quasi-newcomers to get to know each other. If Ning Xiu could unite as many scholars as possible at the Qionglin Banquet, his influence would by no means be comparable to a dozen Huguang scholars.

Thinking of this, Ning Xiu's heart was a little calm.

But in this way, we have to wait until the Qionglin banquet begins, and I don't know if Liu Weining will be wronged in the edict.

At this moment, Ning Xiu only hoped that the Qionglin Banquet would come soon, so that he would have the opportunity to persuade the same people at the Qionglin Banquet to jointly write a letter with him to pardon Liu Weining.

......

......

It was very cold in the prison, and the further you went, the more so.

Although it is not larger than the prison of the Criminal Department, the edict prison is a frightening place.

Because the people who are held here are all political prisoners, that is, Qin prisoners.

Liu Weining was held in a single cell in the back.

This took him by surprise.

Although the environment of this single room is not good, at least there is a pile of haystacks to rest and sleep, and it is barely clean.

What surprised him even more was that he had not been interrogated since he was taken to prison.

This sense of uncertainty made him feel even more at a loss, what would his fate be?

Of course he knew what it was for. When he participated in the palace examination in the Imperial Palace that day, he was full of spirits. When I saw the title, my heart moved.

In terms of strength, he is at most a top three and a jinshi, and he wants to be released as a state and county official.

But he wants to stay in Beijing to take up a post, which requires better results.

The strength is not enough, and speculation comes to make up.

Liu Weining came up with a plan at that time.

That is to scold the emperor.

It was also a shortcut to fame for scholars and officials in the Ming Dynasty.

It doesn't matter what kind of character he is, as long as he scolds the emperor, he will stand on the moral high ground and can gain the support of his colleagues.

Isn't it okay for Hai Rui to scold Emperor Jiajing so miserably?

Liu Weining chose to scold the emperor, which is to take the sword sideways.

Of course, a scholar does not spit out dirty words when he scolds, and he does not dare to spit out.

If there are two sentences in the article, such as "thief your mother" and "day your ancestor", then he has ten heads and is not enough to cut off.

Liu Weining's article does not even contain some words such as "tyrannical".

This is in line with the consistent purpose of scolding people.

But this article obviously made the Wanli Emperor uncomfortable to read.

Therefore, Emperor Wanli sent Liu Weining to prison with a holy decree.

This is something Liu Weining did not expect.

He never thought that the Son of Heaven would throw him, a quasi-jinshi, into the black prison!

It's a big game now. Liu Weining said secretly in his heart.

If you lose your fame or even your life because of this, it will be a great loss.

But the matter has come to this, and all Liu Weining can do is wait.

He prayed that the Son of Heaven would let him go. He also hoped that someone from his fellow villagers would stand up and speak up for him in the same year.

Will there be anyone?

Liu Weining smiled bitterly and shook his head.

I'm afraid no one dares to come forward with this kind of thing, right?

His selling of his name this time was a complete failure.

Just as he was sighing, he suddenly heard footsteps.

Several of the Cadets of the Brocade Guards walked towards the cell where they were.

Is it finally time for interrogation?

Liu Weining swallowed a mouthful of foam, forced himself to suppress his nervousness, and tried to calm himself.

"Come out, Commander Liu will personally interrogate you!"

A brocade-clothed guard lieutenant snapped.

Commander Liu?

Liu Weining still has a little understanding of the Ming officialdom, and knows that it is Liu Shouyou Liu who is now in charge of the authority of Jinyiwei.

He was just a quasi-jinshi who wanted Liu Shou to be interrogated by Liu Lao personally?

Liu Weining didn't know whether to cry or laugh.

He walked slowly out of the cell and walked with the two Brocade Guard Captains.

Walking to a relatively spacious chapel, the two Jinyi Guard captains stopped.

Liu Weining looked up, but saw a middle-aged man in a big red python robe sitting on the official hat chair looking at him.

He secretly said in his heart that this person must be Liu Shou.

But he didn't immediately fall to his knees. The posture must be posed, he came in on the charge of offending the emperor, and his bones should not be too soft.

"Sit down."

Liu Shouyou nodded at the chair next to Liu Weining and said lightly.

Liu Weining was a little dazed, and forgot all the words he had prepared in an instant.

It wasn't until Liu Shouyou reminded him again that he sat down on the chair, but only half of his buttocks were stained on the chair, and he didn't dare to sit down.

"If you have more, the official won't ask you more. The official only asks you one sentence, why do you want to slander the Son of Heaven? ”

Hey, what a big hat!

Liu Weining said in his heart, this old puppet is really vicious, and he seems to be so kind as soon as he says it!

No wonder this old horseman was able to be the commander of the Jinyi Guard in the heart of the emperor, it turned out to be a smiling tiger with a deep sense of the city!

To slander the Son of Heaven is not too much to kill him ten times.

But the problem is that what Liu Weining said is facts, not slander, this is a matter of principle, and it is also a question of right and wrong.

"Your Excellency, the Commander, is not right." Liu Weining arched his hand at Liu Shouyou, and continued: "The student has not slandered the monarch's father. ”

"Oh?"

Liu Shouyou sneered: "You don't hit the south wall and don't look back, and you don't cry when you don't see the coffin." Come, get the transcript of his palace examination article! ”

Liu Weining sighed in his heart, and said in his heart that this guy is really prepared!

......

......