For most people, it is like a nightmare for most people, especially those who read. 【】

The Ming Dynasty is not a later generation, there are not so many officials who sharpen their heads and send their families abroad, and there is no more prosperous and rich country overseas than the Ming Dynasty. Exile on the frontier was already a terrible thing, and the fact that you had to sail across the ocean to those wild lands was enough to make everyone present feel that life was worse than death.

But relatively speaking, it is not a great fortune to save the family by using this to protect the family, as for the rest, let him go. Disappointment and sorrow filled that night, which was quite incompatible with the overall atmosphere of the capital, and countless lamentations and silent sorrows echoed quietly in the Zhumen compound.

No matter how depressed the mood was, life had to go on, and early the next morning, most of the people gathered in front of the Armory Division again. There was no noise, no greetings, everyone just walked to the door, handed over a light and fluttering bag with a solemn face, and then turned to leave, and when they saw their colleagues, they just tacitly looked at each other: You are here too.

There are also those who have not come back, and Wang Qiong is one of them.

He didn't resent Zhou Jing's betrayal, and if it was him, he would have made the same choice. However, since the conspiracy has been completely exposed, and his son has been arrested, he can't escape this catastrophe no matter what, so why send it to the door to humiliate people?

All he can do is wait for death with peace of mind, and what makes him most unwilling is that compared to those ancient sages, he can't live even if he dies.

"Master, as you said, someone came out of Yongding Gate early in the morning, and they were all craftsmen in charge of civil engineering in the Ordnance Division, and now they are all gathered in the Temple of Heaven and the Altar of Mountains and Rivers."

"The action is so fast, it seems that the emperor has made up his mind to completely solve everything at that court meeting before February." Wang Qiong closed her eyes in pain, waved her hand weakly, and motioned for her family to retreat.

The goose has left a voice, and the name of the person is left behind, and the more terrible thing is to leave a stigma behind him than to get up and die, but now, such bad luck has befallen him.

The countermeasures in the palace are not complicated at all, and the first evil will naturally not be spared, but the scale of the killing will not be very large, and more people will be exiled overseas. Now it is the Wa Kingdom and North Korea, as well as the Liaodong grassland, and Luzon and Annam in the South Seas will soon join in, and they have done the right thing with Xie Hong, and those who have made a name for themselves will face such an end.

What is even more terrifying than this is another thing, that is, the monument of merit and merit that is about to be erected in the Temple of Heaven and Earth!

The Temple of Heaven is the place where the royal worship is located, and it is a very sacred place for the Ming court. However, from the fourth year of Zhengde, it will be opened, and new buildings will appear, that is, the Heroic Monument for people to pay homage and remember, and the National Beetle Monument for people to spur, which are collectively called the Monument of Merit.

In the early spring, there is generally no construction work, but if the matter is urgent, it can be accommodated. What's more, the monument is not a big project, the monument is recorded are contemporary figures, at most it is Chenghua, Hongzhi, Zhengde three dynasties worried, does not involve historical figures, the amount of work required is not too much, with the level of the Zhenbao Zhai engineering team, there is no difficulty.

Xie Hong did not hide it from Zhou Jing, and the first batch of people on the list were the people involved in the previous incident. The soldiers who died will leave their names on the Heroic Monument, and on the other hand, these people who are about to be liquidated, the National Beetle Monument is their destination. Ironically, everyone's sin was written by themselves, which is the confession that Zhou Jing says.

Of course, it doesn't matter if you don't write it, or if you don't write it truthfully, that kind of person will face another way of dealing with it, that is, the kind that Wang Qiong is about to face: die by herself, or confess under torture, and then die again. In the end, the crime will still be engraved in the same way, and once the court moves the real thing, even if it is an old thing from decades ago, it can be found out if you want to.

This kind of trick is not new, there is a precedent in the Song Dynasty, when Wang Anshi changed the law, the old and new parties attacked each other and rejected each other as annihilating the party; Later, in the Southern Song Dynasty, Qin Hui also became the scapegoat of the Jiangnan Shi Party, kneeling in front of the statue of Wu Mu for hundreds of years. Now Xie Hong is just picking up people's teeth.

In the Zhengde Dynasty in history, after Liu Jin gained power, he also played such a hand, he listed Liu Jian, Xie Qian and other people who were against him, and then carved a monument to annihilate the party. However, Eunuch Liu has no culture, and he is not as unique as Xie Hong, there are no deeds on the stele, only a name, and then he fell down, and this thing disappeared completely.

Xie Hong's plan is already very sharp from the name, Liu Jin, Wang Anshi, Su Yu, Ouyang Xiu, these people, at most, are to put a hat for the opponent to annihilate the party, Xie Hong directly defined these people as national beetles.

The annihilation of the party mainly involves the issue of position, and it has left some room for discussion for future generations, but as soon as the word "national beetle" comes out, it is a complete conclusion on the coffin, even if the descendants directly under it gain power, it is difficult to overturn the case again.

With the increasing influence of the roadside society, Wang Qiong has vaguely noticed that the current Ming Dynasty is spreading information faster and faster. What happened in the capital would spread throughout the city, and then spread to several northern provinces within three or five days, and then Shanxi, Nanzhili, and even Jiangnan and other places.

After Xie Hong takes control of the overall situation, this speed of transmission will presumably become faster and faster. If it is fully operational, I am afraid that it will not be possible until the summer, and the establishment of the monument and its contents will be known to the whole world.

In this way, after a few years, even if someone really helps to overturn the case, I am afraid that it will take the same amount of time to clarify people's perceptions and then reverse them. The exploits of the Three Treasure Eunuchs have been banned by the scholars, but a hundred years later, isn't it still circulating?

What's more, with Xie Hong's current momentum, it is difficult to say whether the traditional scholar turned over the day or not, and whether anyone remembered himself on that day.

As soon as he thought of this, Wang Qiong felt that the future was dark, and he wished he would die early, but he couldn't die, because if he died, it would also be recorded, which was called suicide in fear of crime, and directly made a footnote to the previous crime, and it was even more difficult to overturn the case.

He also understood the feelings of Zhou Jing and others, these people would not die for the time being, so they would not be engraved on the tablet. However, their confessions will be printed in newspapers and then circulated to the world, otherwise how can they say that life is worse than death? The fame and power are gone, and you have to go overseas and risk great dangers to do coolies, well, it is said that it is called proselytizing, and it is a very civilized move...... If there are other options, Zhou Jing and the others must have preferred to jump into the sea halfway, anyway, the family has been preserved, and when they are old, what is there to scruple about their old lives?

However, they don't dare, the reason is similar to Wang Qiong, once they die, the coffin will be completely closed, and there is still hope if they are alive. As long as the merits and demerits are offset, they will not go to the national beetle monument, the so-called missionary action, it is said that it has also contributed to the Ming Dynasty, otherwise, how to call meritorious service atonement?

What Zhou Jing and others are asking for now, that's all, don't go to the monument, don't leave a name, it's their greatest wish.

Reluctantly raised his head and looked south, Wang Qiong seemed to hear the crisp 'jingle' coming from outside the Yongding Gate, which was the sound of chiseling the stone tablet, perhaps, what was being chiseled was his name and deeds, and he closed his eyes in despair.

In the history of the Ming Dynasty in later generations, Wang Qiong's reputation was quite good, capable officials, cadres, and knowledgeable people, and had the courage to delegate power, and all kinds of praises were varied.

Of course, he doesn't know these things now, but he can estimate about the same, after all, many behaviors are intentional, as long as he doesn't stand on the wrong side and offend too many people, he always leaves a good reputation. The sedan chair carries people, and the sword and pen clerk is also a scholar, how can it be an exception?

However, the content engraved on the stele now makes him feel unsightly. Corruption, abuse of power for personal gain, encroachment on land, corpse vegetarian meals, and so on will be full of evaluations, in this regard, compared to the first year of Zhengde, Xie Hong has not made any progress, but for Wang Qiong, these have made him unbearable.

These behaviors are not a big problem in the officialdom, in addition to the corruption often used, the other few are not even used in political disputes, because that is the unspoken rule, who dares to pat their chests, point at other people's noses, and justifiably say that people's corpses are vegetarian?

As long as anyone dares to do this, then they will definitely be counterattacked by the other party with the same means, it is difficult to do things, but it is much easier to find faults, since you dare not guarantee that you are okay, of course, you can't blame others for this, this is common sense.

However, only the people in the officialdom will understand these reasons for suffering, but the people will not recognize them. In the past, the people did not speak out because there was no channel to make a voice, and they were forced to dare not speak out due to the pressure of the officials, but they were despised in their hearts, otherwise why would the people respect the Qing officials so much? Because it's an unattainable ideal.

Now that the emperor has made a final decision, who doesn't dare to point to the national beetle monument and scold a few times and spit a few mouthfuls of saliva?

Not to mention that Wang Qiong has other charges, collusion with the Tartars, conspiracy to rebel, and all kinds of rebellious behaviors are enough to put him to death. After paying homage to the Heroic Spirit Monument and seeing his deeds again, with such a strong contrast, maybe his name will soon surpass that of Qin Xiangye.

"Master, it's not good, there is news from Xu Butang's mansion, after Lord Xu got the news of the Temple of Heaven, he locked himself in his room, and after someone visited, he found that ......" The housekeeper ran in breathlessly.

His face was pale, there was no trace of sweat on his forehead, it was not so much that he was tired, but that he was scared, and he was sad that the rabbit died and the fox died, and from the miserable situation of Xu Fu, he seemed to see the future of his own family.

"Xu Jisheng...... Haha, I didn't expect him, who has always had a reputation for perseverance, to be so unbreathable, and he couldn't compare to the old man, a scholar. Wang Qiong suddenly laughed, "No matter what, if you become a king or lose, what does it matter what happens behind him?" Let him go, let him go. ”

He laughed hoarsely, and his laughter was sharp, echoing like a night owl in the empty mansion, which was creepy, as if playing the last sad song for the decaying taxi.

(To be continued)