Chapter 63: Forgiveness

Several guards with knives in front of the palace swarmed up and captured Qi Chongwu. Qi Chongwu shouted: "Xie Xiangcun is so mad that he refuses to let go of Dai Yun's seven-year-old grandson, shouldn't he be impeached?" ......" Before the words were finished, Qi Chongwu had already been lifted up by the guards with knives, because his neck was choked, and he couldn't make a sound anymore.

Xie Xiangcun, who had been silent, suddenly said, "Let's do it slowly." ”

Although the voice was not high, everyone could hear it clearly. Everyone can see that Qian Hongzuo is defending him. In a panic, he wanted to kill Qi Chongwu with a cane, but he didn't want him to say more about Xie Xiangcun's mistakes. Among the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty, the one who had the most reason and position to stop killing Qi Chongwu was Xie Xiangcun.

Xie Xiangcun walked to the front of the jade steps, knelt down to Empress Dowager Xu and Qian Hongzuo, and said: "Holy Lord, the reason why my country has a bold and reckless thief like Dai Yun is because he is powerful, and even if he is at fault, the officials dare not impeach. As a result, they became arrogant day by day, until they rebelled. Weichen risked his life to beg the saint, from now on, whether it is a meritorious hero or a Qincha, as long as it is a courtier of Wu Yueguo, he can be impeached in the court. Only in this way can we prevent heroes from becoming powerful ministers. Now, Lord Qi impeached Weichen, and Weichen asked the saint to let him finish. What he said is right or wrong, there is his own holy judgment, but in the Wu Yue court, there can no longer be an official like Dai Yun who cannot be impeached. ”

Everyone felt inexplicable about Xie Xiangcun's behavior, and even Qi Chongwu was full of surprise. Xie Xiangcun advocated at this time that all officials could be impeached in the court, and the first victim was himself. But Empress Dowager Xu and Qian Hongzuo both understood: Xie Xiangcun was very reasonable, but Qian Hongzuo could not accept Qi Chongwu's personal grudge and pretended to be impeached to retaliate against Xie Xiangcun.

Seeing that Qian Hongzuo was silent, Empress Dowager Xu ordered: "Lord Qi, the Holy Lord has allowed you to impeach Xie Xiangcun, and the guards with knives in front of the palace will retreat." ”

The guards with knives in front of the hall let go of Qi Chongwu and retreated to their original positions.

Qi Chongwu eased his nerves, and didn't dare to complain about Dai Yun anymore, and said: "Dai Yun's father and son committed a rebellion, and they are indeed innocent of death. The Queen Mother and the Holy Lord were wise and decisive, so that the traitorous ministers were ambushed and the civil war was avoided, which was really the luck of Wu Yueguo and the blessing of the people. Qi Chongwu was afraid of angering Qian Hongzuo again, so he had to say some words of praise first, and then said: "But Xie Xiangcun, as a supervisor, does violate the law of the country." The laws of our country stipulate that a man who is killed because he is beheaded and killed, and a boy who is not more than eight years old and whose body is less than a horsewhip, can be exempted from death and other punishments. As far as Weichen knows, Dai Yun's grandson is less than eight years old. On the execution ground, Wechen once dissuaded Lord Xie from killing him, but Lord Xie insisted on acting recklessly, which was really indiscriminate killing, so Wechen impeached him. ”

Qian Hongzuo didn't wait for Xie Xiangcun to defend himself, and asked rhetorically: "Lord Qi is so proficient in the law, why didn't you impeach Dai Yun when he bullied the monarch and arrogant the court, roared at the court, and repeatedly offended the queen mother?" ”

Qi Chongwu's face was flushed, because he heard the conversation between Qian Hongzuo and Xie Xiangcun, he knew that he would not be spared sooner or later, and under the hatred, he had the heart to die. He knew that he couldn't help Qian Hongzuo, so he decided to impeach Xie Xiangcun and make a last ditch effort. Take this opportunity to tell Dai Yun those cronies who have not yet been investigated and arrested that he has not betrayed Dai Yun, and hopes that he will take the lead in making trouble, and others can respond.

Qian Hongzuo turned to Xie Xiangcun, who was kneeling on the ground, and asked, "Xie Aiqing, do you know the age of Dai Yun's grandson?" ”

Xie Xiangcun replied: "Weichen doesn't know. At the execution that day, I asked Mr. Qi if he knew the child's Nian Geng. But Lord Qi replied that he didn't know. So Wechen measured the child's height with a horsewhip, which had exceeded the length of the horsewhip, so Wechen used Shang Fang's sword to behead him. ”

Xie Xiangcun used a horsewhip to measure the height of Dai Yun's grandson, in fact, it was just a trick, the horsewhip was held in his hand, and it was just a flash, no one could see anything clearly, and when the head landed, the corpse would be deformed due to a large amount of blood loss and spasms, and it was difficult to restore the height before death, in fact, the height of the child was less than the length of the horsewhip.

Qian Hongzuo said: "Aiqing, please get up, you still have the sword in your hand, and you originally have the right to cut first and then play." ”

Xie Xiangcun didn't get up, but said, "Even if that kid is really under eight years old, Weichen will kill him." When I came to Wuyue from the Central Plains in order to escape the war, I was only five years old when I was only five years old, but the scene of being sold by my parents into the imitation pear villa is still unforgettable, just like what happened yesterday, vividly. Dai Yun's grandson saw his grandfather and uncles killed. That pain is more than ten times more than that of Weichen, and this hatred is indelible for no matter how much time. The reason why the saint wanted to kill Dai Yunmanmen was not out of cruelty, but because the Dai family had many henchmen in the army and in the DPRK, and the descendants of his family were like an anti-flag, which had the effect of calling on the same kind. Dai Yun's cronies, although they are like a plate of scattered sand in the army at the moment, as long as someone takes the lead, it is possible to entangle and gather, although this child is young, but he can become the culprit of the rebellion, this is the reason why Weichen will kill him. He died because of his grandfather's crimes, and he also died to prevent the thousands of children of Wu Yueguo from being devastated by the war. ”

When Qian Hongzuo heard this, he suddenly thought of what Empress Dowager Xu said when she insisted on letting Xie Xiangcun, who was tired repeatedly, be the supervisor and beheader: The same holy decree will be executed by Xie Xiangcun, and the result will be different if someone else executes it. Qian Hongzuo thought at the time that it meant that Xie Xiangcun had the special power of Shang Fang's sword, but now he finally understood what his mother's true intentions were, Empress Dowager Xu didn't want any male from the Dai family to escape and die, and when Qi Chongwu raised objections, only Xie Xiangcun, a person who dared to act, would really not miss anyone. Xie Xiangcun knew that Empress Dowager Xu was using him, but he was willing to be used, Qian Hongzuo felt a pain in his heart, and said: "King Gu understands Aiqing's hard work. ”

Xie Xiangcun pleaded: "As an official of the Criminal Department, Lord Qi's courage in upholding the law of the country is admirable. Moreover, his impeachment of Weichen is true, and he asks the Holy Lord not to pursue it. I only ask the saint to suspend the trial of Weichen's crime, and after three years, the situation will be stable, and the minister will ask the saint to blame him, even if he pays for the child's life, Weichen will never complain. ”

Qian Hongzuo said: "Aiqing's words are serious. If you are less than eight years old and less than a horsewhip, you can be beheaded as long as you have one. Qian Hongzuo looked at Qi Chongwu and said viciously: "Qi Chongwu, are you right when you say that King Gu is right?" ”

Qi Chongwu didn't dare to argue anymore, and said, "The Holy Chrysostom is naturally right. ”

Empress Dowager Xu said: "Lord Qi is upright and outspoken, which really makes the mourning family appreciate, I am lacking in imperial history, I think this position is none other than Lord Qi." ”

Qi Chongwu originally thought that he would definitely lose his life. I didn't expect that I could continue to be an official, although it was a disgusting imperial history, after all, it was already a big surprise, and I immediately said: "Thank you for the Queen Mother's grace not to kill." ”

Empress Dowager Xu said indifferently: "There was a famous minister Wei Zheng in the previous dynasty, he was originally a party of the prince, and he repeatedly murdered Emperor Taizong. After Emperor Taizong won the world after the Xuanwumen Change, not only did he not kill him, but reused him. He has spoken out and advised countless times in his life, corrected the mistakes of many ministers and even monarchs, and the mourning family hopes that you can follow the example of the sages and leave a beautiful story for the ages. ”

Qi Chongwu bowed and said: "Empress Dowager Xie mentions, the ministers should do their best." ”

Qian Hongzuo said: "Xie Aiqing, you are broad-minded, you attach importance to state affairs, and you can take on great responsibilities, so you are ordered to serve as the head of the military department as a messenger to promote the national policy of soldiers Tuntian." ”

Xie Xiangcun kowtowed and said, "The minister's decree." ”

Empress Dowager Xu said to a chamberlain beside her who was holding a brocade box: "You give him the brocade box that the mourning family wants to reward Master Xie." ”

The waiter obeyed the order, and walked to Xie Xiangcun with the brocade box, and Xie Xiangcun respectfully accepted it.

Empress Dowager Xu said: "This brocade box has a total of four layers, each layer has six grids, and contains twenty-four gems, each of which is extremely valuable. It was my dowry, and for many years I didn't wear them as jewelry, but left them as rough stones. Xie Aiqing, the mourning family gave them to you in recognition of your pure heart for the royal family. ”

Xie Xiangcun hesitated: "Such a valuable treasure, the minister really doesn't dare to accept it." ”

Empress Dowager Xu said: "Compared to Taiping, what are these gems?" Aiqing doesn't have to excuse herself. I listened to Aiqing's words just now, and I was quite compassionate, and the mourning family agreed very much. Speaking of Dai Yun's grandson, he can be killed or not, and people can't be resurrected after death. Today, because Dai Yan's grandson was killed, the mourning family is particularly gracious, and other members of the Dai family are specially allowed to collect the body of the deceased and bury it in the ancestral grave. ”

Many ministers bowed down at the same time and said, "Thank you for the kindness of the Queen Mother." ”

Qian Hongzuo glanced at them and knew that they were all Dai Yun's henchmen, and what he was looking forward to most at the moment was the benevolence of the royal family. From Qi Chongwu's reappointment to Empress Dowager Xu's special permission to collect the body, they roughly speculated that the royal family would not wash the court in blood.