It was late in the evening.

Shen San sent a bowl of pig's head meat to the study, and seeing that Fan Jin was still looking at the paper, he reminded softly: "Dong Weng, there is no need to rush things, you still have to take care of your body." I didn't eat at noon, but I should still eat something in the evening. The student remembered that Dong Weng once said that he would never finish reading the paper, and that he had to fill his stomach first. ”

"You have taught me a lesson. I practice the Yijin Sutra, even if I don't eat for three or five days, it doesn't matter. There are still so many people out there? ”

"There were more of them than during the day, and I saw that many people dressed as villagers were also outside, and it should be that the farmers in the neighborhood had heard the news and ran into the city to complain. The peasants were afraid of the government, and if it weren't for the reputation of Dong Weng White Bread, these people would not dare to come to the yamen to file a lawsuit, let alone sue the vassal king. ”

"The farmer is not afraid of the government, but of the unknown and authority. If the government is always a place for them that will ruin their family, they are naturally afraid and hateful. If a court is only feared and hated by the peasants without expectation, it will be difficult to maintain. The rise and fall of the previous dynasty, in the final analysis, is that the yamen did not do a good job in its position, so that the people only hate and have no expectations, once the people can't survive, they will take risks, and the world will not be able to hold on for a long time. I am Bao Gong, because Bao Gong can give hope to the people, and everyone has expectations for the yamen, so they will not think about changing their fate by themselves, so that the world can be stable. Otherwise, these people would pick up knives and rush into the palace to kill people, and the whole Datong would be in chaos. ”

Shen San said: "On the surface, Dong Weng is embarrassing the clan, but in fact, he is still worrying about His Majesty, I don't know how many people can understand this painstaking loneliness." ”

"If you don't understand, you have to do it. These vassal kings are simply poisonous insects, and the people, border troops, gentry, and yamen all hate them to the core. The household secretary office has come to complain, and he will naturally not be able to do it. If I don't move him, these people will be disappointed in the yamen, lose confidence in the court, and the prestige of the court will be difficult to maintain. ”

Shen Sandao: "Then the bookstore has a grudge against Zhu Naixuan?" ”

"It's not a personal vendetta, it's a public affair, or a profit. The palace has been in Datong for a hundred years, and the fields of the palace will naturally not be the same as back then. These phoenix sons and dragon grandchildren naturally don't think about reclaiming wasteland, but try to grab it depending on whose land is good. Unless it is a gentry who makes him jealous, such as the Zhang family, he does not dare to act rashly, otherwise other people's fields, wives and daughters are favored by him, and they can only be obediently offered. Hufang is dealing with money and food, and with such a group of people, Hufang's own pamphlets are not used. The fields recorded this year were found to have become tenants of the palace after a few years, and they wanted to re-inspect them, but they were suspected by the palace of wanting to check their land, and they were beaten and scolded by the guards of the palace at every turn. Fights are all people, who suffers from this kind of day. This bookstore was bullied by Zhu Naixuan very badly, and he was beaten when he went to the countryside, and he had no place to redress his grievances. In fact, he didn't want to check Zhu Naixuan's land at first, but just wanted to see how the field has changed now, and after being beaten a few times, he really wanted to go against Zhu Naixuan. It's just that I haven't met anyone trustworthy all the time, so this time it's a ruin. ”

Shen San said: "This Zhu Naixuan is rampant and domineering, and he has done many evils. I listened to the peasants outside, and they were all bullied by him and his men. His stewards manage the grange in the countryside, and they are simply the emperor of the soil. No one can control what they want, and these people are deeply poisoned, so they count on Dong Weng to be the master. But...... Are we really going to arrest the vassal king? ”

Fan Jin shook his head and said, "The vassal king is the grandson of the phoenix and the dragon, and I am not qualified to arrest him." If you want to move Zhu Naixuan, you must have the holy decree of the Son of Heaven. But at present, the things we have in our hands are not enough to invite the Holy Decree, and even if Old Taishan can invite the Holy Decree, I don't want to use it. Bring in the Holy Decree now, it's too cheap for him! If you think about it, no matter how much the people hate these crimes now, they are not a big deal for the vassal king. Engaging in a few women and killing a few lives, what is it in the eyes of the Son of Heaven? At most, it is to look at the face of Lao Taishan, and it is just to be degraded to a concubine. There is no second thing to discuss, and after being demoted to a concubine, if you find any evidence of the crime, you can't pursue Zhu Naixuan anymore, but let him escape punishment, and this road can't be taken. ”

I had seen the absurdity of King Ji in Changsha before, and the bastard of the vassal king of the Ming Dynasty was a little mentally prepared, and when the criminal department was observing the government, Fan Jin deliberately consulted some files about the vassal king, and had a further understanding of these people. Although the vassal kings did not participate in court politics, it did not mean that they were really a marginalized group. These people are not subject to the jurisdiction of the local yamen, and no one dares to move without a holy decree, so they naturally do whatever they want in the local area. And for the vassal kings, their red lines are different from ordinary people, and the Great Ming Law or the Great Edict formulated by Zhu Yuanzhang has no meaning to them, what they really need to pay attention to is the patriarchal law and the scale of the monarch and ministers, and nothing else.

For example, the Liao King Zhu Xianhuo Festival in Jingzhou, this vassal king who was falsely rumored to have been killed by Zhang Juzheng in later history, forced his aunt, played a game of imprisonment, robbed the people's property and robbed the people's daughters, and the local yamen was helpless. After the court learned of this kind of rebellious crime, it didn't pay attention to it and pretended not to hear it. The real reason for his end was that after Jiajing's death, the King of Liao refused to wear filial piety for the Son of Heaven, and after the performance of the imperial history, the King of Liao left the domain with a white flag, claiming to enter Beijing to defend his grievances, and as a result, he was deposed as a concubine and imprisoned in Fengyang. The whole incident took place in the Longqing Dynasty and had nothing to do with Zhang Juzheng, and it can also be seen from this incident where the code of the vassal king is.

With Zhu Naixuan's current crime, that is, a strengthened version of the bully, he can't even reach the crime of being abolished, and the symbolic punishment is meaningless to him. Datong must have a acting king, the previous generation of the king's son-in-law died, Zhu Naixuan is the closest concubine in the bloodline, and he can save his life by relying on this one.

Fan Jin never thought that Datong would have no vassal king, that was a delusion that could not be done, and the only thing he could do was to implement the regulations of the clan and replace the king with a person.

Shen Sandao: "If you want to abolish Zhu Naixuan, the current evidence is not enough." However, the people do not understand our suffering, and if Dong Weng has been holding back, I am afraid that the people will misunderstand Dong Weng for being timid and afraid of things, and they will be even more distrustful of the Yamen. ”

"That's right. So this thing has to be dealt with, and it has to be done quickly. If you don't move Zhu Naixuan, it doesn't mean that you don't move others, there is only one person in Zhu Naixuan, and no matter how bad he is, the destructive power is so great. robbing a people's girl a day, that is, more than 300 a year. But if your subordinates are involved, you may be able to grab hundreds of them a month. ”

"Cut off his wings first, just like Dong Weng did when he was in Shangyuan."

Fan Jin nodded and said, "That's right." And to involve the people in the whole process, even if one or two are killed, it doesn't matter. Of course, this cannot be told to them, and it is still necessary to stop it on the surface. Anyway, the people in the border areas are fierce, and the yamen can't stop it, and I can't do it. I'm looking at the paper here, just to find a few of the most heinous or Zhu Naixuan's most powerful subordinates, arrest them, and give them a disadvantage. Complaining during the day and arresting people at night, and within three days, people's heads fall to the ground, and the people are angry, and there will be no major incidents. ”

"But if you are in the palace, I'm afraid it's not easy to catch."

"It's not easy to catch, you can let people send us out, believe me, people like Zhu Naixuan don't have such hard bones."

The sun is shining, and Datong City has ushered in a rare good weather.

As soon as people opened their eyes, they got explosive news: the palace of the king was surrounded.

The people surrounding the palace were mixed, ranging from peasant peasants with trousers and hoes to military families in the city, including a few scholars. The crowd was like an ocean, surrounding the entire palace of the king. The crowd and order are naturally not much better, and the noise and scolding drift all the way to the palace through the heavy access control, waking Zhu Naixuan from his sleep.

What he was holding in his arms was the stunner from the plug, this woman who was as soft as a snake and as charming as a fox made Zhu Naixuan, who liked the new and hated the old, change her normality and have been entangled with her. Tossing in the middle of the night last night made his sleep seriously insufficient, and his temper was particularly bad when he got up and had a hangover.

"What the hell is going on? Who is arguing outside at dawn, cutting off his tongue, don't let him make any more noise! ”

The maid soon sent the answer, and it was not the people in the palace who made the noise, but the peasants who were besieging outside. Zhu Naixuan frowned: "These people are crazy? Dare to come and besiege the palace? What do the guards do to eat, and they don't drive people away? Spread my word, put twenty of the command staff of the guard of honor, let the staff temporarily act as the commander, send a hundred men out to drive these poor bones away, and if they do not obey, they will be beaten with knives and guns, and if they can't do more, they will kill a few. ”

"Slow!" The woman who was drawing circles on Zhu Naixuan's chest suddenly spoke: "Chitose is angry, there is something strange about this matter. Those poor bones are afraid that the palace is too late, how can they dare to come to besiege the palace if they are so good? And the local yamen didn't care, so they let them make trouble? I'm afraid it's not that simple, so call someone to ask first. ”

Soon, Shi Qi Shijun, the head of the palace, came to the study, and Zhu Naixuan sat there with red eyes and panting heavily. The bewitching woman stood aside, holding a snack in her hand to Zhu Naixuan's mouth. Qi Shijun was not surprised by Zhu Naixuan's appearance, and he didn't bother to say anything, but only reported the situation truthfully.

"Although these people are surrounded outside the house, they have always kept a place of two arrows, and there are many of them, and if our guard of honor moves to expel them, it will not be tenable in principle. Besides, the people who patrolled the yamen were also there, and General Qi Jin brought hundreds of officers and soldiers there to maintain order and prevent anyone from taking the opportunity to smash and disrupt the order. At this time, if we act roughly, I am afraid that Qi Jin will not sit idly by. People from the local yamen have rushed over one after another, and it is not suitable for us to blindly use force at this time. ”

"Fan Jin!" Zhu Naixuan's hand slammed on the table: "I knew that he must have done this." Yesterday I sent someone to take possession of my property and turn it into a clan academy. I haven't settled this account with him yet, and he instigated the people to surround my palace today, which is too deceitful! Come on, go and invite the princess to come out, and let the princess ask Fan Jin if there is any court in his eyes! Do you know that this is surnamed Zhu! ”

"Chitose was angry, and the Yamen of the Procuratorate sent someone to deliver the letter, but Chitose has not woken up, and the letter has been sent to the princess."

"You didn't say it sooner! You wait here, beauty, accompany me to the concubine to see what is written. ”

Zhu Naixuan took the woman to the back house on a rampage, and several maids serving the princess avoided it from afar, Zhu Naixuan looked at them and pouted: "What are you running?" This king now has a beauty, and he won't come to get you again, as for being scared like this? It is your blessing to be favored by this king, and it seems like you have been wronged, I don't know what to do! ”

As he spoke, he pushed open the door and walked into the room with the woman.

The acting princess is in her early forties this year, and the pampered person looks younger than her actual age. But if you look closely, you can see that she looks haggard, her skin is dull, and there is not much flesh on her face, which does not seem to match her identity. As soon as she saw Zhu Naixuan coming in, the princess was a little nervous, and her speech was a little unfavorable:

"Wang'er...... It's still early, why did you get up, shouldn't you get some more sleep? ”

"Sleep a ghost! You can't hear it so noisy, who can sleep? This palace is still in charge of you, and when it comes out like this, our Zhu family has no face at all, is your princess very glorious on her face? Or do you mean it, just say it when you don't like me, don't use this method to deliberately embarrass me, mother! Imperial concubine! ”

"No...... Not so. The princess hurriedly defended: "The procuratorate yamen sent a letter over, saying that they wanted a few people from the palace to go to the procuratorate yamen to fight a lawsuit, and these people were bitter masters, and they were worried that those people would run away, so they came here to keep an eye on them." If you hand them over, these people will naturally leave. Wang'er, you can't be too impulsive, the old man of the procuratorate is Zhang Jiangling's son-in-law, you offended him, and the matter of attacking the lord ......"

"Enough!" Zhu Naixuan waved his hand impatiently: "You don't have to worry about my own affairs. Need? Who does he think he is? The people of my palace said that they wanted it! So many people came, obviously deliberately losing my face, when I couldn't see it. Let a group of people sue me and make myself like a blue sky, I want to see what he can do to me! Take the letter, let me see who Fan Jin wants to take away? ”

took the letter and looked at it hastily, and then Zhu Naixuan's face changed, and the letter was quickly crumpled in his hand, and then thrown out vigorously.

"How can this be true? He was there to embarrass me! What about people! Where is the person who sent the letter? ”

"People...... It's already out of the house. Seeing that Zhu Naixuan's forehead was bruised, the princess hurriedly said: "I am for the good of the prince, the person who sent the letter is also an official of the imperial court, if you are disrespectful to him, you will suffer a big disaster." Why don't we take a step back, anyway, the patrol will not be permanent, and when he leaves, you are still in charge of this city. ”

Zhu Naixuan glared at the princess and said, "Mother...... Have you eaten too much recently, and your brain has been confused? If I call you a concubine, do you really think that you are in charge of this palace? I don't need you to teach me how to do it. For the sake of your recent obedience, I shouldn't have happened this time, if there is a next time...... You know the consequences! This month's Xiaoyao Dan, don't think about it anymore. ”

The princess said with a pale face: "Wang'er, you pity the poor mother, once the medicine is stopped, it will be worse than death, please have pity on the poor mother." ”

"I pity you, who pities me? People are riding on my head, why don't you think about me? Reflect on it and think about the pill again. Beauty, let's go! I want to see, I just don't hand over people, does Fan Jin dare to send someone into the house to get people! ”