Zhang Qing's face turned pale with fright, knelt down and kowtowed: "Your Majesty Mingjian, the minister didn't say that, the minister swears." ”

Zhengde said coldly: "You mean my ears are deaf?" ”

"No, no, no, how dare the minister have such intentions, there must be a misunderstanding in this."

Yang Tinghe frowned and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, the words of your lords just now were noisy, maybe you really misheard it, and I don't know. ”

Song Nan said with a smile: "The emperor may have heard it wrong, but why is it so coincidental that I and Grandpa Zhang, Admiral Zhang, have all heard it wrong?" ”

Yang Tinghe said: "That's not for sure. ”

Song Nan picked his fingers and praised: "Lord Shoufu is good, do you mean that I colluded with Father-in-law Zhang, Admiral Zhang, and the emperor to frame the squire of the Ministry of Works, Lord Zhang?" ”

Yang Tinghe said lightly: "I didn't say that, there may be a misunderstanding here." ”

Song Nan sneered and said, "Is it over a misunderstanding?" On the top of the main hall, in front of the ministers, he uttered great rebellious words and slandered today's saints, and your Yang Shoufu ended it with a misunderstanding? ”

Yang Tinghe was speechless for a while, and finally understood in his heart that Song Nan in the palace today was prepared, and he was going to do this thing of referring to the deer as a horse.

"Zhang Qing, you dare to slander the emperor, this is a great crime of disrespect, don't you honestly admit your guilt?" Zhang Yong shouted sharply.

Zhang Qing arched his hand and shouted: "Ladies and gentlemen, you said something, I was wronged, I didn't say that, you proved my innocence to me." ”

The ministers were silent, originally treating this matter as a farce, but as soon as the emperor spoke out, the nature of the matter immediately changed, and the emperor claimed to have heard it with his own ears, that is, he was determined to pursue the matter.

Song Nan smiled and whispered in Zhang Qing's ear: "Lord Zhang, maybe we really heard it wrong, maybe this sentence is really not what you said." ”

Zhang Qingdao: "Lord Song Mingjian, it is true that he does not say what the official said. ”

Song Nan said softly: "But the emperor and I, as well as Grandpa Zhang and Admiral Zhang, heard someone say this, if it wasn't for what you said, it must have been said by others, but we didn't hear who it was; If you feel wronged, you need to prove your innocence, and if you point out who said it, you can get away. ”

"Shameless!" Although Song Nan's voice was soft, Yang Tinghe, who was standing on the side, could hear it clearly, Yang Ting's anger trembled, Song Nan not only pointed to the deer as a horse, but also instigated others to openly slander others, this is a disguised shake to the unity of the outer court, there are such shameless people in the world, it is really unbelievable.

Zhang Qing snorted: "Xiaguan...... I didn't hear anyone say it, and the lower official only knew that he didn't say it. ”

Song Nan smiled and said nothing, and gave Zhang Yong a look, Zhang Yong said: "Your Majesty, Zhang Qing is openly disrespectful to the emperor in the main hall, and he must be severely punished, otherwise where is the majesty of the royal family?" ”

Zhengde said coldly: "Song Nan, take Zhang Qing into the Beizhen Fusi Prison, strictly interrogate his purpose, and check whether there is a mastermind behind the scenes. ”

Song Nan arched his hand and said, "Obey." ”

Zhang Qing's face was as pale as earth, and he cried loudly: "Wronged, wronged." ”

The general of Jinyi Wei Dahan stepped forward and picked up Zhang Qing and took off his official hat and was about to drag it out, Yang Tinghe saw this and hurriedly stepped forward and said: "Your Majesty, Zhang Qing is an honest and diligent official, and he is loyal to the emperor, please act cautiously." ”

Several new scholars in the cabinet also hurriedly stepped forward to kneel down and plead for mercy, and other civil officials followed closely and knelt down to plead for mercy. Zhengde said with a gloomy face: "I have made up my mind, Yang Tinghe, do you want to protect the disrespectful person?" I'm disappointed in you. ”

Yang Tinghe sighed, knowing that it would be difficult for Zhengde to take back his fate today, so he said: "Your Majesty, the minister is not interceding for Zhang Qing, maybe Zhang Qing did say something inappropriate under anger, but the minister asked the emperor to forgive him this time for the sake of Zhang Qing's conscientious and loyal sake; The minister thought that after Zhang Qing went through this incident, he must also know how to restrain his words and deeds. The minister can guarantee that Zhang Qing did not commit it on purpose, let alone have any secret schemes. ”

Zhengde looked at Song Nan and saw that Song Nan nodded slightly, so he said: "Zhang Qing, for the sake of Yang Shoufu and the ministers to vouch for you, I will spare you today." ”

Zhang Qing escaped death, his face was sweating profusely, kowtowed and cried: "Thank you for the emperor's grace." ”

Zhengde said: "But you need to give you some punishment, otherwise you will not know the word lesson, come to someone, be the palace staff twenty, to show punishment." ”

Zhengde's voice fell, and Wan Zhi, the commander of the Han general, ordered loudly, a bench was moved to the hall, and the two Jinyi Wei Han generals dragged Zhang Qing to the bench, one left and one right controlled the body, and the other two Han generals stepped forward with red and black mulberry sticks, reached out and took off Zhang Qing's lower clothes, revealing the fat buttocks of white flowers, and raised the mulberry sticks and took turns whipping.

"Papapa, pa." The crisp sound of hitting resounded inside and outside the hall, Zhang Qing howled like a pig, cried, and screamed that he was wronged, and after seven or eight canes, his buttocks were already drenched with blood, flesh and blood were flying, and the high-pitched shouts became hoarse and weak moans.

This situation is in sight, the faces of the ministers are like ashes, and many civil officials who have experienced the scene of the court staff in front of the Qianqing Palace do not know what to feel in their hearts. It's been a few years, and the humiliation of the outer court staff is still in front of me, and now it's repeating itself in front of my eyes, and it seems to have returned to an original point.

The hearts of all the civil officials were intertwined with anger, fear, helplessness and other feelings, and the sound of the court staff hit Zhang Qing's buttocks, but it seemed to hit everyone's faces, and the officials were hotly beaten back to reality. Yang Tinghe finally realized: Although Liu Jin is dead, it would be too naïve to think that the outer court will be able to dominate a qiē from now on, and the double reed performed by the emperor and Song Nan and others today is a warning to the outer court. I have more things to do, and I have a long way to go.

In the imperial study of Qianqing Palace, Zhengde and Song Nan smiled forward and backwards.

The expressions of those guys in the palace made me almost laugh on the dragon seat, after the court staff, no one mentioned anything about the morning and evening dynasty, and they were all more obedient. Song Nan, this method is really fun. ”

Zhang Yongyu smiled: "Yes, it's wonderful, if they are disobedient in the future, the emperor will play with the Marquis of Song again, as Marquis Song said, their buttocks are itchy, just beat a dozen." ”

Song Nan frowned and said: "Gonggong Zhang shouldn't say such things, this time it's just a helpless move, it's not a glorious thing, it's just a means to warn the outer court; The Ming Dynasty relied on civil and military officials to govern the country, everyone is a person in the same boat, but it is not a great enemy of life and death, there is really no officials from the outer court to govern the country for the emperor, and the Ming Dynasty will be in chaos. I hope that Gonggong Zhang will not say such things in the future, and this method should not be used again in the future. ”

Zhang Yong smiled awkwardly: "Yes, yes, our family just said it casually, in short, there is Marquis Song to share the emperor's worries, and our family can run errands on the side." ”

Zhengde said with a smile: "Song Nan, don't be like this, I know that this time will definitely damage your reputation, and the officials of the foreign court will also be dissatisfied with you, I remember your favor." ”

Song Nan said: "For the sake of the overall situation, Emperor Jianjian issued an edict to comfort Yang Tinghe and others, indicating that they still trust and rely on their attitude, so that they can serve the country with peace of mind, so as not to make people panic." As for the minister's impression in the eyes of the outer court, the minister has never had a good image, and I don't have to bother to think about what they think of me. It's just that this time Yang Ting and them must be angry enough, the bad guy minister will do it, and the minister doesn't mind at all. ”

Zhengde was moved: "I have taught you to be wronged, I know what to do, tomorrow Zhang Yong will go to the Sixth Department of the Cabinet to send a decree to commend the contribution of the outer court to stabilize the situation during this time, and the relevant people will reward them with some silver taels of cloth to comfort them." Also, the Ming Tai Hospital sent someone to show Zhang Qing the wounds, so that they could understand that I had actually forgiven Zhang Qing for what he had done. ”

Song Nan pointed tall and said: "The emperor is becoming more and more like a wise man." ”

Zhengde deliberately said with a straight face: "Do you mean that I was a faint monarch before?" ”

Zhang Yong was startled and looked at Zhengde and Song Nan nervously, and heard Song Nan laugh and say, "Does the emperor want to beat the butt of the minister?" The minister's ass is not itchy. ”

Zhengde laughed out loud and said, "No one can beat your Song Nan's ass, put your ass away, I'm not interested in men's ass." ”

……

On the way out of the palace, Song Nan's thoughts were like a tide, and the farce in the palace today was directed by himself, but Song Nan was not proud of it. Objectively speaking, Yang Tinghe's proposal to restrain Zhengde is also for the sake of the Ming Dynasty. It's just that their subjective purpose in doing this is to assert the power of the outer court, which is the most intolerable place, and these arrogant guys must be attacked. For Song Nan, it doesn't matter who is right or wrong, the important thing is to achieve a balance of power in the imperial court, so as not to let the power of the outer court swell too much and develop to threaten his own living space, which is what Song Nan needs to consider.

In Song Nan's view, the prosperity of the Ming Dynasty can not be pinned on Zhengde to become the emperor of the ages, in Song Nan's mind, Zhengde is basically a type of emperor who is not saved, but in any case, he is not a terrible emperor, and more importantly, he needs Zhengde.

Song Nan knew in his heart that after today's events, he would undoubtedly become a thorn in the side of the outer court, but he had to do this, for the sake of righteousness and for himself, he had to do whatever it takes; This farce of pointing the deer as a horse is not kind, but as long as Yang Tinghe can understand that the situation is not as optimistic as he imagined, and Yiqiē is not under his control, so as to make Yang Tinghe and the outer court presided over more pragmatic and restrained, and return the court to a peaceful period, this qiē will be worth it.

But even so, Song Nan didn't want to become the target of public criticism so quickly, he decided to keep a low profile for a while after finishing the few things at hand, at least not to express more opinions in government affairs, and slowly ease the hostility of the outer court to himself, and give himself room for development.