Zhu Qizhen finally summoned Gessel, and after the scene was finished, he asked Zhang Shaotong, who had become the Zhengqing of Yunhong Temple, to receive the cattle and sheep from the tribute, and at the same time planned to reward the list.

In the past few days, Gessel gave Zhang Shaotong a lot of gifts, thinking that he would turn a blind eye and accept those old, weak and sick cattle and sheep, but he didn't expect that after Zhang Shao sent a few veterinarians to check them, he only picked less than one-tenth of the cattle and sheep, and the rest refused to accept them on the grounds of illness.

That's the trouble.

Gessel argued with reason, Zhang Shaotong insisted that the cattle and sheep he brought were either old and dying, or sick and dying, which was impossible for the court to accept.

The two sides could not insist, and Gessel asked to see Zhu Qizhen again, and during the audience, he shook out a number of high-grade fox skins that Zhang Shaotong accepted from him, accusing Zhang Shaotong of turning his face and denying people after receiving the gift.

Zhang Shaotong vigorously denied it, accusing Gessel of spewing blood, and at the same time pointing out that he sent Xie Fan, the previous secretary of the Yuhong Temple. Xie Fan was transferred to Guanglu Temple as the right Shaoqing. Probably one of the bigwigs in the cabinet felt that he was too timid and afraid of things, and he was usually flattering, so he asked him to fool the emperor's ancestors and ancestors.

Because he was greedy for life and afraid of death in this incident, he was demoted from the fourth-grade Yunhong Temple to the fifth-grade Guanglu Temple Shaoqing, which was a slight punishment.

Zhu Qizhen was dizzy by their quarrel, and it was difficult to distinguish the truth from the false, so he announced Zhang Ning to the Qianqing Palace and said, "Qing sent someone to investigate, what is the situation." ”

He didn't want to wronged people, so he naturally wanted to investigate clearly.

Zhang Ning heard what happened clearly and said, "The two of them are right. Master Zhang received twenty-three fine fox skins, of which thirteen were red and ten were white, all of which were high-quality goods without a single miscellaneous hair.

It is true that only one percent of the cattle and sheep paid by the envoy can barely get by, and the other ninety percent are old cattle and sheep whose fur has fallen off, and half are sick cattle and sheep with various diseases. If these sick cattle and sheep are not treated as soon as possible, they are very likely to cause plague. ”

Zhang Shaotong lowered his head in shame.

Gessel blushed and used stiff Chinese to distinguish: "Why does Master Zhang keep targeting me?" The cattle and sheep we paid tribute this time were all newly grown cattle and sheep, and each one of them was very good. ”

"Really? You have ten of them sent into the palace for Your Majesty to see. Zhang Ning said with a smile.

As soon as the Warat envoy entered the customs, there were secret agents disguised as guards all the way, and the cattle and sheep sent had already been reported to Zhang Ning's case.

Geqil said stiffly: "I will order someone to send it." ”

"Please send a father-in-law to accompany the envoy's entourage, not to choose, to be designated by the father-in-law at will." Zhang Ning said.

Do you think I don't know that you keep a little passable cattle and sheep together, and are ready to fool the officials of the imperial court? If it weren't for Zhang Shaotong's sensitivity and realization that the imperial court's policy towards Warat might have changed, and took it seriously, these old and sick cattle and sheep would have stayed in the capital, and it was very likely to cause a plague.

The capital is densely populated, and once there is a plague, the consequences are unimaginable.

Gessel was stunned all of a sudden, and said: "Lord Zhang, Wang Ting has a long way to get here, and it is inevitable that some cattle and sheep are sick, but if you want to say that half of them are sick cattle and sheep, it is impossible." ”

"It's impossible, just a father-in-law in the palace needs to take a look." Zhang Ning didn't say anything about sending him to the palace for Zhu Qizhen to see. Knowing that there is a problem with these cattle and sheep, how can they be sent to the palace for the emperor to see?

When Zhu Qizhen heard that the cattle and sheep were sick, he refused to send them in, and said, "Little four, you go and take a look." ”

Why am I again? Jia Xiao, who had been standing at the corner of the hall and holding the dust in his hand, did not dare to say a word, and saluted respectfully: "Slave and maid will go." When he turned to look at Gussel, his eyes were a little unkind.

The most taboo "disease" in the palace, let alone the plague? If he felt unwell after seeing it, he would die a miserable death, and after his death, he could only roll a straw mat and throw it into a mass grave.

For him, who is bent on competing for the position of eunuch of the pen, how can this be accepted? But the emperor commanded, and he did not dare to disobey. He counted the account on Gussel's head.

Gessel deceived him into a little eunuch in the palace who didn't understand anything, and forced himself to calm down: "Father-in-law, you have to look carefully, don't make a mistake." ”

Jia Xiaosi sneered: "The envoy is too careful, since Lord Zhang said so, he is definitely right." Let's go to see it, but it's just to convince the envoy. ”

Is this good for me to sell? Zhang Ning smiled at him, indicating his appreciation.

Jia Xiaosi went out of the palace.

Zhu Qizhen said: "Zhang Qing, has Zhang Qing wronged you?" ”

Just now, Zhang Shaotong heard Zhang Ning tell him clearly about the bribes and bribes he received, and he began to feel ashamed, and then frightened. The fox skin that Gessel sent in the temple of Yuhong, could it be that there are secret agents in the temple of Yuhong? For a long time, when envoys from various countries pay tribute, they will give gifts, I wonder if they have been detected by secret agents?

He didn't dare to tell the difference, knelt down and said, "The ministers should die, they were greedy for a while, and took their fox skins." Master Zhang is right, there are twenty-three in total, thirteen are red, and ten are white. Chen Yuan wanted to make a fox fur cloak for each of the two concubines, and a cloak collar for the old wife. ”

He has more than two concubines, but Xinna's pair of sister flowers are particularly favored by him.

Zhu Qizhen nodded and said, "For the sake of you not being bought, you will be fined three months." ”

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Zhang Shaotong only felt cold sweat on his back, and the sweat soaked his official robe. He made up his mind not to accept any benefits from the messenger in the future.

Soon Jia Xiaosi came back and said: "Your Majesty, all the cattle and sheep slaves and maids brought by the envoy have been seen, and it is true that as Lord Zhang said, only Yicheng can barely get by, and the rest are either old cows and sheep whose hair is about to fall out, or cattle and sheep who are sick and dying." ”

How dare he go near the fence? After only one glance from afar, he came back to report.

"The subordinate is wronged." Gessel wanted to cry without tears. In the past, I didn't send a lot of old cattle and sheep to death, as long as I sent some good mink skins to Wang Zhen, but I didn't expect that as soon as Wang Zhen died, everything changed. I knew that this would be the case, so I would send some better cattle and sheep this time.

There are a lot of cattle and sheep on the grassland, and it's nothing to send some good yuan, but Taishi has always felt that the Ming people are so foolish, so he got some old and sick ones to send over. Alas, he was so unlucky that everything happened to him.

"Since they are sick cattle and sheep, they can't stay in the capital." Zhu Qizhen said: "The cabinet plans to reprimand Master Warat. "This is to be questioned first.

Zhang Shaotong said: "How to deal with sick cattle and sheep, please show your majesty." ”

"Your Majesty, sick cattle and sheep cannot be eaten, so they can only be slaughtered and buried in the ground. The letter of state not only asked the master why he sent the sick cattle and sheep, but also asked him to compensate us for our losses. Even if it is buried in the ground after slaughtering, it will pollute the environment, and the slaughtered person will be infected if he is not careful, and he will have to worry about his life. ”

"Master Zhang, you deceive people too much." Gessel is on fire, we are on the grassland, and sick cattle and sheep are often slaughtered and eaten, okay? Why can't I eat it when I come to you, so I can only bury it? If you want us to compensate, this is a lion's mouth.