In Chongzhen's 12-year prison of the Criminal Department, it was overcrowded for a while. Because of the 49 participants in Zuo Shunmen, including Jin Shengxian and Wu Weiye, and the 60 or 70 scholars who were arrested one after another in support of them, the prison of the Criminal Department had to interrogate and exile many of the traitors as soon as possible, so that these scholars and officials had a place to lie in the cage.

Originally, these people should have been sent to the imperial prison for arrangement, but because of Qian Qianyi's interference, these readers and officials who angered the emperor to discuss the government in vain were brought into the criminal department for trial. The accommodation conditions of the Imperial Prison are naturally much better than those of the Criminal Department Prison, but once you enter the Imperial Prison, it is extremely difficult to come out again.

After all, the prison of the Criminal Department is under the management of the Sixth Ministry, while the Imperial Prison has to obey the emperor's orders. Therefore, the people who are detained in the prison of the Criminal Department are still relatively optimistic about their future. Since Yuan Keli took charge, the prison has undergone a major clean-up, cleaning up the garbage accumulated in this prison for hundreds of years and renovating it, so the environment in the prison is acceptable.

According to the emperor's order, all prisoners were given two days a day to prevent the prisoners from contracting the disease and leaving them undetected. In addition, the officials of the Criminal Department still attach great importance to the reserve forces of these civilian groups, so although these people have been detained in the prison of the Criminal Department for almost two months, they are still full of energy.

Except that no one has come to judge them, there is nothing inconvenient in their lives. When he was bored in prison, Jin Shengxi still had time to read palmistry fortunes to prisoners and jailers, but he looked like he was enjoying himself.

But Wu Weiye has never suffered such a hardship, although he is not from a famous family, but his family is also a local incense family in Taicang, and he is known as a prodigy since he was a child, and he is treated with courtesy wherever he goes. This is the first time I have been in a prison in the government, so although I have not been physically tortured, I am mentally under great pressure and quite depressed.

When Wu Weiye and everyone discussed Zuo Shunmen, it was out of a sense of righteousness, after all, Zhang Pu was his mentor, and he was forced overseas by the imperial court, which was an injustice to him. As one of the leaders of the Restoration Society, he could not refuse the request of the Jiangnan gentry who supported the Restoration Society, and spoke out for them impartially, criticizing policies that damaged the interests of the gentry such as the collection of surplus grain issued by the imperial court.

As a member of the Fushe who inherited Donglin's aspirations, Wu Weiye was familiar with the heroic deeds of the seven gentlemen before and after Donglin. Yang Lian's loyalty and brightness, Zuo Guangdou's iron bones... The integrity of these Donglin gentlemen can be said to be greatly admired by him, so he has the momentum of a latecomer when he is on top.

However, after he was arrested and put in prison of the Criminal Department, Wu Weiye realized that he did not seem to be ready. Although the jailers in the prison of the Criminal Department did not embarrass them, they still vividly remember the tragic situation after the execution of other prisoners in the prison.

If they were punished as soon as they were arrested, with the little righteous indignation in their chests, Wu Weiye and the others would probably be able to survive. Punishment is the most frightening thing when there is no punishment in the first place, but once the torture instrument falls on the body, it is not easy for people's hearts to change.

But the Criminal Department didn't try them after they arrested them, which made Wu Weiye and the others a little dumbfounded. As the days passed, their courage dissipated. Even more unbearable than the painful corporal punishment is this kind of captivity with no end in sight.

Since there is no one to judge them, this means that they do not even know how long they will be held. Many people began to worry about whether the people outside would forget about them like this, if they were detained for ten or twenty years without a name or a penny, who in the world would remember what they came in for?

The reason why they are willing to take risks is not simply for justice, but also for political rewards. After all, the Jiangnan gentry have strong power in the officialdom, and being punished by the emperor for speaking out for them is not the end of their career, but the beginning of their career. If the Qingliu officials of the Ming Dynasty want to be famous in the world, don't they have to scold the emperor and then sit in prison for a few days?

But if the emperor is arrested and not tried, how will the people of the world know what they are angry with the emperor? This feeling of being forgotten by the people of the world made Wu Weiye and others suffer great pressure mentally. They began to count the days for fear of forgetting the days they had been imprisoned.

However, only Jin Shengsian still looked calm, and made a few jokes with his friends from time to time to relieve some pressure for them. He, who lived in the same prison as Wu Weiye, saw the other party frowning and counting the time with his fingers, so he couldn't help but pull out a few straws from under the futon and said to him: "What is there to calculate on this broken day, isn't it September 21 today." In ten more days, it will be sixty days. Why don't you come and sit down, and let me do a good job for you, maybe you'll be able to go out tomorrow." ”

Wu Weiye dropped the charcoal pen in his hand, turned around and walked towards Jin Shengsi, and said with a wry smile: "Ruocai, you claimed to be Master Xi'an in the past, I don't believe it, but this time I was imprisoned with you, I have some faith." Your temperament of being at ease is really from sitting in meditation in your previous life. ”

Jin Shengxian folded the straw in his hand slightly, and then threw it into the air, and then he looked at the straw pattern falling on the futon and patted his thigh and smiled: "Plum Village, don't worry." This upper and lower shock is exactly the hexagram of vain.

Those who are not delusional: Yuan Heng, Li Zhen. Its bandits are in danger, and they are not in good hands. Dry is the sky, just is healthy; Earthquake is thunder, and rigidity is movement. Moving and healthy, masculine, and exciting, there will be gains, but only follow the pure, not reckless. If there is no vain, you will be rewarded and you will be blessed.

God has told us that as long as we keep the right path, we will not cause disaster..."

At such a time, no matter what the omen, Wu Weiye is willing to believe it. Therefore, he hurriedly walked a few steps, just to see if it was a vain hexagram.

But before he could get to Jin Shengsi's bed, the outer door of the prison of the Criminal Department suddenly opened, and Sun Jie, the right man of Dali Temple, walked in accompanied by several jailers, and he stayed in place for a while, getting used to the dim light in the prison, and then continued to walk a few steps forward.

At this time, the cell boss in the prison stepped forward and shouted to Jin Shengsian and the others: "Your Majesty has a decree to be promulgated, so kneel down and listen to the decree." ”

Wu Weiye and the others immediately tidied up their clothes and prepared to answer the will. But Jin Shengxian jumped off the bed, lay on the wooden stake partition of the prison and shouted loudly to Sun Jie, the right man of Dali Temple: "We haven't been interrogated yet, how can we have Your Majesty's will, Sun Youcheng, is this really Your Majesty's will?" ”

Sun Jie glanced at Jin Shengxian coldly, although this person is very valued by Shoufu, but he is an official who follows Huang Liji, and he is inherently unfriendly with the New Donglin Party organized by Qian Qianyi, so there is no need to give the other party any face.

So he lowered his face and reprimanded: "Jin Shengsi, don't be too bold and reckless, don't you slander the holy reputation, and now you plan to frame Dali Temple for falsifying your will?" Don't think that with the support of the rich first assistant, you can ignore the imperial court system. Do you listen to Your Majesty's will? ”

Wu Weiye hurriedly pulled Jin Shengxian down and whispered to him: "Let's listen to what Your Majesty's will is first, is it possible that you really plan to live here for the rest of your life?" ”

Jin Shengxian looked at the colleagues in the surrounding prisons who had already knelt down to listen to the order, and finally sighed and knelt down. Sun Jie snorted coldly, took out the holy decree under the kerosene lamp raised by the jailer, and read it: "I have heard: the way of heaven is constant, not for Yao, not for death..."

This decree has always refuted the theory of the induction of heaven and man advocated by the people, and in the end, the emperor's comments to the people are pedantic and incomprehensible, and they are a pile of useless rotten wood. Therefore, the emperor didn't even want to look at everyone, and he didn't want to destroy the overall situation of the country's disaster relief because of this group of corrupt Confucians, so all the cadres and others were exiled to overseas territories for ten years, and they were not allowed to return to China without permission before obtaining a pardon from the imperial court.

The place of exile of more than 100 people was not in one place, some went to the Western Regions, some went to Japan, Ryukyu, Malacca, India, and the farthest was Jin Shengsi, who was sent to the North American colonies to serve as school teachers. Wu Weiye's heart suddenly turned to ashes when he heard that he had been exiled, but compared with the place where Jin Shengxian was going, he breathed a sigh of relief.

After all, he is going to Osaka, Japan, which is barely a prosperous place, and his mentor Zhang Pu is over there. And the North American colonies, according to rumors, are the places where a group of wild people gather, a real wild place. In such a place, a talented man who is only eight buckets tall is not as good as a soldier who can draw a bow and shoot arrows.

After listening to the will, these readers and officials naturally protested one after another, believing that they were for the sake of the country and the society and should not suffer such heavy retaliation. Moreover, the emperor could not act alone, and they asked for a dialogue with the cabinet in the hope that the edict could be overturned.

However, everyone was obviously disappointed, Sun Jie asked people to carry the lamp forward, and then opened the holy decree to everyone to see one by one, and then said disdainfully: "This is not a central decree, it is a formal edict drawn up by the cabinet, and His Majesty uses the seal, and the cabinet has a file here." Millions of victims in the north are waiting to be fed, but you rotten Confucians want to use the will of heaven to prevent the imperial court from providing relief to the victims.

Your Majesty is too lazy to interrogate you, not because he is afraid of the providence in your mouth, but because he does not want the overall situation of disaster relief to be ruined by you fools. To tell you the truth, now that the first batch of autumn grain in Hubei has been delivered to Luoyang, the disaster area in Henan has no worries, and the people of the world are cheering for the kindness of our emperor, and no one wants to pay attention to your group of rotten trees..."

In fact, Wu Weiye and the others had a correct premonition, and when the autumn grain was not delivered to the victims, the theory of heaven and man induction put forward by them was still very confusing to a group of people. After all, when the victims are starving, it is difficult to have any sense.

At this time, no matter how impractical the solution is proposed, there are people who want to try it. The emperor cultivated his self-cultivation to pray to the heavens, why can't he give it a try, maybe he will succeed?

But when the food for disaster relief arrived in the disaster area, the people who saw the hope of survival quickly came to their senses. At this time, it is reliable to talk to them, return the grain, or let the emperor pray to the heavens not to send disasters, it is estimated that everyone will regard this person as a fool.

And the northern gentry who saw the autumn grain in the south would only praise the court for its courage and wisdom at this time, instead of investigating whether the grain was collected from the southern gentry.

Therefore, the public opinion in the capital that was originally boiling quickly eased due to the alleviation of the disaster. As for the disposal of Zuo Shunmen's personnel, no one cares about it now.

Compared with the exile of these readers, Nanjing Xungui and the army were brought to the bottom by Mu Tianbo, which is the top priority now.

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