2

At dawn on April 22, outside the noon gate of the Forbidden City in Beijing, hundreds of civil and military officials wore tooth cards according to the size of the officials, the drums sounded three links, the palace flag school arranged a colorful guard of honor, after the bell rang, the civil and military officials walked in from the left and right doors of the noon gate, and stood outside the Huangji Gate across the Jinshui Bridge. Suddenly, the music got up, the brocade guard Zhang five umbrella covers, four fans, Emperor Chongzhen wore a purple gold crown, wearing a reckless dragon robe, and stepped into the golden platform throne to sit down. Then the whip sounded, and the official of Honglu Temple sang: "Enter the class ......" and the hundreds of civil and military officials walked into the main hall, knelt down and saluted, and the mountain shouted long live. Then, the official of Honglu Temple announced his gratitude to the throne, saw the list of officials, and sang "...... of the Performance"

According to the arrangement of the Honglu Temple official and the general administration official the day before, Cao Yin waited for the princes and ministers to finish their work, and then took the Tongtianwat out and said: "Cao Yin, the Jingmen magistrate, respectfully asks our emperor to discuss the matter of practicing the law again. ”

Emperor Chongzhen said: "Accurate." ”

Cao Yin said: "Since ancient times, the three emperors have ruled the country with benevolence, the five emperors have been courteous to the court, the Qin and Han dynasties have descended, and the kings of the past dynasties have ruled the world. The Son of Heaven can win the trust of hundreds of officials, walk in the countryside, and the government can win the trust of the people. Although my Taizu's law has gone through a long time, there are many wastes, hundreds of officials will seal the law in the wooden cabinet, holding a three-foot wat board to do evil, resulting in thieves everywhere, the people are not happy, endangering my Ming Dynasty forever. Therefore, the minister thinks that at this time of great chaos in the world, the imperial court should strive to enforce the law and discipline, not only strictly abide by the laws of Taizu, but also appropriately push through the old and bring forth the new, eradicate more corrupt officials, and punish the powerful and powerful, so as to win the trust of the people. The above is a proposal, and I hope that the emperor will play it. ”

As soon as Cao Yin's voice fell, a person came out and played: "Emperor Qi, the sage rules the world, with benevolence and virtue, with etiquette as an example, my Emperor Taizu, created the foundation of the world, formulated the law of Honghui, the emperors of the past dynasties, according to the rules, and rule by the law, although there are occasional small chaos, but the country is stable, and it has been passed down for more than 270 years. Now Cao Yin's name is to practice the law, but it is actually a change of law, once he changes the ancestral system, destroys my 200-year-old law, and moves my Ming foundation, this way to take trouble is also. "Everyone sees it as the royal history Mao Yujian.

Cao Yin argued: "There are Manchu Tartars in the east, and millions of rogues in the west. Isn't Mao Yushi's words self-deception? Your Majesty, at this time of survival, follow the old rules, do not practice the law, and not changing the law is the real way to take trouble! ”

Li Banghua, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, made a statement: "The Manchu Tartars looked at China because of their greedy nature, and millions of rogues invaded the Central Plains, which was caused by natural disasters for many years. ”

Xu Wei, the waiter of the Criminal Department, sneered: "With Lord Cao's intentions, Nurhachi's invasion of my China back then was all due to the injustice of the laws of the ancestors of the Ming Dynasty. Lord Cao has implemented a new order, the world is fair, and we can wait without spending troops and let Huang Taiji go back to Hetuara City. ”

Xu Wei's ridicule caused a burst of laughter in the court.

Cao Yin replied: "Jackals are greedy and only eat the old and the weak; The hunter is brave, and the lion and tiger are not bullied. Natural disasters are hateful, man-made disasters are even worse, officials and people abide by the law, why are natural disasters afraid? Let me ask the princes, if the order is forbidden, the emperor's decree is unimpeded, the officials dare not be greedy and fulfill their duties, and the people are happy to work without hunger, where will the chaotic people in the world come from? The court is fair, honest and orderly, the soldiers and horses are full of food and grass and strong, how dare the East and the West look west? ”

After Cao Yin's cross-examination, the hall was silent, the opposing ministers, look at me, I look at you, no one answered.

After being silent for a long time, Li Banghua snorted, with a contemptuous expression of Cao Yin, and bowed to Emperor Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, since the seventh year of the Apocalypse, Zhejiang has been haze and rain, and the flood has spread, and Qianmo has become a huge immersion. Baishui, Tongguan, Luonan, and Longxi Zhuyi, thousands of miles of hail, damaged countless fields. The wind in Nanyang uprooted the trees and left, the house tiles flew with the wind, the government houses became broken walls overnight, and the people wailed in the wilderness. There was a severe drought in southern Jinan, Shandong, Henan, Shanxi, and Shaanxi. Nowadays, Lianggi, Shandong, Henan, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Zhejiang, Sanwu, Huguang and other places, the bark is eaten, and the people are not able to make a living. From this point of view, the chaos in the world is caused by natural disasters, how can it be related to the law of the ancestors? Cao Yin misled the country and was beheaded by law. ”

Li Banghua stretched out his right palm and made a gesture of cutting off his head fiercely, and many ministers nodded yes and said yes, and they all discussed: "Cao Yin's fallacy should be cut off to thank the world." ”

Cao Yin said with a smile: "If Cao Yin's head can be exchanged for the eternal stability of the country, it is worth cutting it, but it's a pity that Lord Li knows one and doesn't know the other." ”

Li Banghua sneered: "Please show Lord Cao the second." ”

Cao Yin said: "Natural disasters over the years are true, but the emperor is merciful, every year of natural disasters, the imperial history will be ordered to visit the disaster, the governors, governors, and counties will submit a report, and then order the household department to allocate disaster relief silver and food. However, the emperor's grace is vast, but it is difficult to grace the people, Chongzhen three years of drought in Shaanxi, the household department promised to allocate 500,000 taels of silver, 100,000 stones of grain sent to disaster relief, but according to the Shaanxi thief confession, the local government did not give a penny, let the hungry people starve to death, the victims had to rise up as thieves, conquer the state and county, but from the official warehouse to get grain, silver tens of thousands. Master Li, with the laws of the Ming Dynasty, what should be the crime of those who bend the law for bribes and withhold food and silver for disaster relief? Who of these sins has been punished by the law to this day? When the people rebelled, these local bureaucrats did not think about their own mistakes, and instead of opening warehouses and releasing grain to appease the people, they repeatedly urged the imperial court to send troops to suppress the thieves. If you had obeyed the laws of the imperial court, how could you have today's disaster? ”

When Emperor Chongzhen heard this, he also felt the same way, and said: "In Cao Aiqing's words, corrupt officials harm the people, and evil officials mislead the country. ”

The jade sound is majestic, and everyone does not dare to offend.

Cao Yin was overjoyed, thinking that the emperor had spoken, and it would be interesting to see which of you dared to oppose it. Unexpectedly, after being silent for a while, Li Banghua secretly glanced at Zhang Shun, the Cheng of Shuntian Mansion, and Zhang Shun came out and said: "What the emperor said is extremely true, corrupt officials and corrupt officials are responsible for the emperor's favor and Li Min, and they really deserve to die." However, according to the minister's knowledge, the late trilateral governor Yang He Yang inherited the emperor's favor and soothed the thieves, and successively appeased the thieves Kou Shen Yikui, Tian Jin'an, Liu Daohai, Bailiuxi, One-headed Tiger, Golden Winged Peng, Guotianxing, Diamond Harrier, Yun Jiaoyue, Jinlong and other nearly 100 thieves, and gave money and food. It can be seen from this that although the emperor is enthroned Haohao, the thieves and bandits are difficult to change, they are easy to kill by nature, they do not obey education, and the rebellion in the Central Plains is not due to hunger and no food. ”

Li Banghua saw that the emperor bowed his head and pondered, and took the opportunity to say: "The emperor once said: 'Kou Yiwu is a child. But the thief is stupid and stubborn, and he is not considerate of heaven's grace. Zhang Xianzhong, Luo Rucai, He Yilong, Xiao Qin Wang, Chaoshi Wang and other dozens of thieves surrendered and rebelled, they plundered prefectures and counties, killed the people, and the so-called killing corrupt officials to save the people were just demagogic slogans of the bandits. The ministers dare to guarantee with their heads, even if all the corrupt officials and corrupt officials are beheaded and punished, the thieves will not be disarmed and return to the field, they are just killing corrupt officials and saving the people as an excuse, they really want to take away my Ming Dynasty. ”

After Li Banghua finished speaking, Qiu Hao, the squire of the military department and the chief soldier of Changping, said again: "What Lord Zhang and Lord Li said is extremely true, Your Majesty, the top priority is for the court to unite as one and jointly exterminate the thieves. ”

Zuodu Governor Shi Huai said angrily: "At the moment of the great enemy, what kind of law is being carried out, isn't it chilling to the ministers? ”

Xu Wei even cried and admonished: "The next day can tolerate one or two thousand corrupt officials and corrupt officials, but it will never tolerate one or two chaotic ministers and thieves!" Corrupt officials only want gold and silver, but the chaotic ministers and thieves want to take away my good fortune, and I hope the emperor will think twice. ”

Emperor Chongzhen nodded slightly, and said: "What Li Aiqing, Qiu Aiqing, and Xu Aiqing said is true, the thief bears the heart of a beloved son, peeps at the artifact, and has ill intentions. ”

Cao Yin was about to argue again, and Emperor Chongzhen said: "Zhongqing doesn't need to say much......

Suddenly, there was a continuous sound of coughing in the hall, and the sound was so loud that all officials heard it. Emperor Chongzhen was about to say "I have made up my mind", but was suddenly interrupted by these coughs, and looked at the court, but it was Wu Lu, the head of the household, so he asked: "Wu Aiqing is sick?" ”

Wu Lu stopped coughing, and hurriedly knelt down to the ground and said: "The minister should die, the minister didn't sleep all night yesterday, and the cold was so severe that he coughed in the court today, affecting the court, and the minister's sin is also." After Wu Lu finished speaking, he coughed a few times in a row.

Emperor Chongzhen said: "Why didn't Aiqing sleep, could it be that she sang and danced all night?" ”

Wu Lu said: "The minister is old, how can he have the energy to sing, dance and drink." ”

Emperor Chongzhen said: "But why? ”

Wu Lu said: "The minister handles official business. ”

Emperor Chongzhen said: "What is the urgent business?" ”

Wu Lu said: "It's not an urgent official business, but yesterday when I was about to disperse, eight people found the household government, the minister met with eight people, heard about their grievances, and knew that they came to the capital from Jiangsu, Henan, Shandong and other places, and the ministers thought that they were also my emperor's people, and could not bear to expel them, so they explained to the eight people one by one: 'The emperor works hard day and night, and manages political affairs diligently, if you have any grievances, although you say to the official, the official will definitely hear your grievances to the heavens, if there are really grievances, the emperor will wait for you to show snow. So I stayed up all night. ”

Emperor Chongzhen said: "Oh? What grievances do the eight of them have, why do they have to come all the way to Beijing to knock on the bell? ”

Wu Lu looked left and right, wanted to speak and stopped, hesitating.

Li Banghua said: "Lord Wu, the emperor is sage and heroic, what grievances do the petitioners have, you tell the truth, you can show the snow today, why bother to vomit?" ”

Emperor Chongzhen also said: "Aiqing but it doesn't hurt to talk about it, even if you are guilty, you will be forgiven." ”

Wu Lu bowed again: "Even if the emperor pardons the minister's innocence, the minister does not dare to say anything, the eight people have a pleadings here, please ask the emperor to read it." After Wu Lu finished speaking, he took out a stack of shapes from his arms, and the eunuch on duty took it and presented it to Emperor Chongzhen, the emperor unfolded it one by one, his face gradually became gloomy, and then turned from yin to anger, and finally his eyes were on fire, and he threw a stack of shapes in front of the emperor, and said angrily: "No wonder you oppose Cao Yin's law, it turns out that all of them are selfish, and the real thieves are not in Liaodong, not on the three sides, but above this court." ”

After the emperor finished speaking, he brushed his sleeves away, and all the ministers were shocked, and when they saw that the emperor was gone, everyone hurriedly picked up the form and looked at it, but when they saw the first report, they wrote:

Complainant Li Wu: Sue Changzhou Zhizhou Wang Quan's life. The villain's family has five acres of land, and the governor forcibly levies a tax of ten acres. Li Ruiliang, a large family in the neighborhood, has 3,300 acres of land, reports to the official 850, secretly pays the tax, and the evil official pretends not to know, because Uncle Li Rui is Li Banghua, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites. Li Rui has land and does not pay taxes, but the poor have less land but give more, where is the axiom of heaven? The father Li Yong and the neighbors went to the state capital to plead their defense, but the evil officials did not listen, and accused the father of gathering a crowd to make trouble and beat him to death. Whew! Only the officials are allowed to violate the law, and the people are not allowed to break the law, and the law of the Son of Heaven is determined by the people alone? Evil officials are on the throne, and human lives are disregarded, can the law of the Son of Heaven tolerate it? Weep blood and knock on the sky, mourn and complain.

The second wrote:

Complainant Xu Lin: Sued Xu Wei, a waiter in the Criminal Department, for abuse of power. The villain lives in Fuxing Village, Hejian, and the bully Xu Wang bullied people and forcibly occupied three fruit trees of the villain, and the villain reasoned with him, but he was insulted by it, and his arm was beaten to the point of disability, and the villain sued the county government to ignore it. After meeting at the intersection after March, Xu Wang was humiliated again, and the villain couldn't bear to argue with him, and accidentally injured his finger, but was sentenced to cane punishment by the county government for the crime of fighting. Woohoo, if you break an arm and ignore it and injure a finger, you will be punished with a cane, where is the reason of heaven, and where does the law of the king exist? Gai Wen Xu Wang's uncle Xu Wei is the servant of the criminal department, Xu Wang is domineering, all of them are fighting Xu Wei's momentum, the people in the river are unbearable, the villain riskes death to knock on the ground, begs God to favor the people, hoes and destroys evil.

The third wrote:

Complainant Yang San: Sued Tai'an Governor Qiu Jie for unfair law enforcement. Qiu Jie is the son of Qiu Hao, the squire of the military department, relying on people in the court, flying and domineering in Tai'an. Haoqiang Huo Gui raped the villain's widowed sister-in-law Liu, the widow's sister-in-law hung the beam, the villain rescued him, and sued the government, Huo Gui framed the villain to hold the widow and the sister-in-law. Qiu Jie received the benefits of Huo Gui, did not investigate the rape of the wicked, investigated and rescued his sister-in-law's uncle, beat the villain with a cane of fifty boards, and expelled him from the court. The villain cried blood and sued, and Yin Yin looked forward to revenge.

……

The remaining five pleadings are the sue against Yushi Mao Yujian, Shuntianfu Cheng Zhang Shun, Hubu Langzhong Houjian, Dali Siqing Qin Cheng and the Inspectorate Yushi Shihuai and others, each of which is justified and well-founded, and the defendants are all ministers who oppose Cao Yin's law. When everyone saw these eight parts, their faces turned sallow with fright, and they didn't know what to do.

3

Late at night, above the Li Mansion, Li Banghua gathered Qiu Hao, the squire of the Military Department, Xu Wei, the squire of the Criminal Department, Mao Yujian, the Yushi Mao Yujian, Zhang Shun of the Shuntian Mansion, Zhu Yuan, the Zongzheng of the Zongren Mansion, Shi Huai, the Governor of Zuodu, and Qin Cheng of the Dali Temple.

Li Banghua said: "Today's shame is all caused by Wu Lu's deception. This person is very deep in the city, his face is kind and ruthless, he hides behind the scenes, hides and does not show it, it is really hateful! ”

Zhu Yuan said: "Now that the emperor is angry, Cao Yin has succeeded, it is a foregone conclusion that he will do the law, what can I do about it?" ”

Mao Yujian sighed and said: "What's even more hateful is that our violation of the order has been known to the emperor, and after Cao Yin implements the law, he will definitely be deeply entangled, and maybe, he will use his authority to find out our old past." ”

Qin Cheng said: "If we each play, first repent and admit our mistakes, and then support Cao Yin, in this way, we can comfort the Holy Arms and turn the crisis into peace." ”

Qiu Hao said: "What Lord Qin said is extremely true, we can only seek self-peace first, and then try Cao Yin and Wu Lu later." ”

Li Banghua sighed and said, "Once these two people get their will, how can they plan in the future?" ”

Shi Huai said: "I'll admit defeat just like this, wouldn't it be too cheap Cao Yin and Wu Lu?" ”

Li Banghua said: "What I said is that we should think of a perfect strategy, and we must not cheapen these two villains." ”

When everyone was helpless, the family came to report, and the eunuch Wang Chengen, the master of ceremonies, came to visit. Xu Weixi said: "The prince is resourceful and knows the emperor's temperament well. ”

Li Banghua hurriedly said: "There is a prince invited." ”

Wang Chengen's family was poor since he was a child, and he had to enter the palace as a last resort, and became a eunuch who was neither yin nor yang, but also yin and yang. Wang Chengen is very good at observing words and feelings, quite able to drill camps, following Emperor Chongzhen for nearly 30 years, knowing the holy will, and being deeply favored by the emperor.

Everyone welcomed the yin and yang man Wang Chengen into the silver pavilion, supported, moved, brushed the table, and served tea.

Wang Chengen smiled and asked the ministers to sit down, then looked around and said with a smile: "Everyone sleepless late at night, don't you also deal with urgent official business like Wu Lu?" Heck, we didn't come at the right time. Wang Chengen said and made a look of getting up and leaving.

Everyone hurriedly pulled him back, and Li Banghua said: "The prince is our confidant, so we don't have to hide it, I don't have to hide it, I can't hide it, the eight of us are panicking about the events of the early dynasty today." ”

Qiu Hao said: "The prince has always been kind-hearted, so you must help us." ”

Everyone said, "Yes, it's all thanks to the prince." ”

Wang Chengen took a sip of tea, closed his eyes slightly, tasted it for a long time, and said, "Master Li, what kind of tea is this in your house?" ”

Li Banghua hurriedly said: "West Lake Longjing." ”

Wang Chengen shook his head and said, "It doesn't taste good." ”

Li Banghua hurriedly said: "It must be that the subordinates are sloppy and didn't soak it well, so I'll go and ask my wife to re-brew a pot for my father-in-law."

Li Banghua was about to go out as he spoke, and Wang Chengen shouted: "No need." ”

Li Banghua came back respectfully, and Wang Chengen asked Li Banghua with a smile: "Master Li knows why it tastes bad." ”

Li Banghua's face was full of doubts, and he squeezed out a smile on his face, and said, "Please make it public." ”

No one knew what this Wang Chengen meant, so they had to look at him quietly. Wang Chengen said with a smile: "Tea is good tea, but unfortunately it doesn't suit our family's appetite." ”

Li Banghua chuckled in his heart, could it be that Wang Chengen asked for silver taels? Li Banghua was figuring out what Wang Chengen meant, and heard him say: "Our family is from Xingzhou, and I like the gold and silver tea of Xingzhou Julu, although the gold and silver tea is cheap, you can buy a pound for more than ten dollars on the street, which is not as good as your West Lake Longjing, but it is suitable for our taste." ”

Everyone was confused, and they didn't understand what Wang Chengen meant, so they had to nod vaguely and say yes.

Wang Chengen pushed the cup of Longjing to the center of the table and said: "The host treats guests, whether it is tea, wine, or food, it does not have to be expensive, the important thing is to meet the appetite of the guests." Everyone nodded again and again, and Wang Chengen replied: "When we are courtiers, do we have to be in line with the king's father's appetite?" ”

Wang Chengen made a big turn and finally got to the point.

Everyone understood again, and Li Banghua hurriedly said: "Listening to your words is better than reading for ten years." What is the emperor's appetite? The prince is resourceful, please consult me eight people, and I am grateful. ”

Xu Wei also said: "The prince is an important minister of the society, which is admirable, and I have made a mistake today, thanks to the prince's plan to get out of danger." ”

Wang Chengen smiled: "I'm a minister, how can I help you." ”

Li Banghua said: "The prince is the most relied on person by the emperor, if you don't help us, we will have no place in the court." ”

Wang Chengen said lightly: "Do you know why the emperor is angry?" ”

Li Banghua said: "It's all because of a knife in the back of the villain Wu Lu." ”

Wang Chengen said: "This is one of them. ”

Li Banghua and everyone looked at each other and asked, "The second is what?" ”

Wang Chengen said: "The imperial power is supreme, how can the Ninety-Five be deceived?" The emperor is the most taboo for his courtiers to bully the king, you and others claim to be loyal to the monarch and patriotic, but your subordinates and family members have repeatedly violated the law, how can the emperor not be angry? ”

Li Banghua said: "Princess, how should we deal with it?" ”

Wang Chengen said: "The emperor is evil and corrupt officials, hates thieves, and dreams of Zhongxing Daming, Cao Yin is grasping this point, and keeps claiming that he can punish corruption and eliminate evil Xingming, this trick is in line with the emperor's appetite, how can the emperor not like it?" Everyone nodded their heads after hearing this, and Wang Chengen said: "You wait for everyone to play, and you must also meet the emperor's appetite, and you must pull Cao Yin, so you can ......."

Everyone suddenly realized and praised the prince for his high skills.