Ying Tianfu Prison.

"It's time to eat!"

With the jailer's shout, in the dimly lit cell, the prisoners awaiting trial handed out their dirty rice bowls and put them outside, waiting for the jailer to give them a bowl of gruel with a wooden spoon.

In this dark prison, there are only two meals a day, and each meal is only a bowl of gruel and a pickle or two.

Every time the porridge is divided, there are two jailers, one carrying a bucket and the other holding a spoon, and the footsteps do not stop, and the amount of porridge depends on whether the jailer is steady.

The porridge is thin, the vegetables are scarce, there is no oil and water, and the jailer never looks back when he walks by, so every time the meal is served, all the prisoners have to wait in advance, just like feeding a dog.

There is only one exception.

There was no bowl outside his cell, and he did not see his hand outstretched, as if he were lying dead in a cell covered with straw.

The jailer was not surprised, stopped without an exception, knocked on the fence door with a wooden spoon, and said to the old man in his sixties, with gray and messy hair, and a stinking silk cloth, and said with a smile:

"Prime Minister Hu, have you eaten this meal?"

Hearing the words Prime Minister Hu, many prisoners looked at them with happy and resentful eyes.

What about the head of the hundred officials?

It's not like them, locked up in this damp and dark prison, yelling and scolding by the jailers they used to regard as cheap servitude, smiling and smiling for an extra pickle.

"Prime Minister Hu!"

The jailer raised his voice, his eyes greedily scanning the clothes worn by the old man inside.

In the end, when he was escorted in, the cell boss personally received him, and arranged wine and food in the evening, and many jailers accompanied him to drink, and drank for two days in a row, and the meal was served with good wine and food.

But three days later, the cell boss came back scolding, and when they asked, they learned that this Prime Minister Hu was nine out of ten dead!

Why?

Because these felons were imprisoned, and it was the prince who presided over the case, but no one came to interrogate Hu Weiyong, so he was kept behind.

It is clear that no matter whether he is guilty or not, whether he has evidence or not, he is dead!

"I want to see Your Majesty, I am wronged."

In the cell, Hu Weiyong shouted weakly in a hoarse voice.

"See the emperor? Save your energy! ”

The jailer with the spoon cursed and walked forward.

At this moment, there was a commotion outside, and the jailer turned his head to see the prisoner, the prison officer, and the prison warden all smiling on their faces, accompanied by a young man with a white face and beard.

Oh, not a man, it's a eunuch in the palace!

"Your Excellency!"

After the two jailers saluted, they hurriedly stood next to the wall.

Sneaking another look, the eunuch was followed by a group of guards with knives, all from the palace.

The two jailers looked at each other, both stunned, could it be......

"What about Hu Weiyong?"

The eunuch in the palace asked with his nose covered.

"Gonggong Li, Hu Weiyong is here!" The prison secretary smiled and pointed to a cell hallway.

Inside the cell.

Hu Weiyong's cloudy eyes finally gradually sobered up, and he rushed to the door of the cell and shouted, "Are you ...... Grandpa Li? Gonggong Li, please tell me on your behalf, Hu Weiyong asks to see Your Majesty!! Your Majesty, the minister is ...... Wronged!! ”

The screams are like a man in the water grasping a straw and struggling for his life.

It is enough to see that Hu Weiyong has been locked up for less than ten days, and he has already worn out his temper as a prime minister, and now he is only bent on living.

What I am afraid of is not interrogation, but what I am afraid of is that I will go straight to the end without even interrogation.

"Prime Minister Hu, I haven't seen you for a long time."

Gonggong Li smiled at him and said, "Let's talk about the rest later...... The miscellaneous family came to announce His Majesty's oracle and brought Hu Weiyong to meet His Majesty! ”

"Yes, father-in-law...... Someone, open the prison door! ”

The prison secretary had already confirmed, and immediately ordered someone to open the prison door and let the jailer take Hu Weiyong out and bring him to Gonggong Li.

A sour smell came over my face.

"Take him to rinse and change clothes! Cover the smell of your body, so as not to collide with Your Majesty...... Hurry up, Your Majesty is waiting! Grandpa Li pinched his nose and screamed.

"Your Majesty Longen !!"

Hu Weiyong was in tears.

Before the chains on his hands and legs could be unfastened, he was dragged by the jailer to the bucket, and his clothes were stripped from his home and poured down with a spoonful of water.

It was cold, but it also made Hu Weiyong gradually recover his senses, and began to think about why His Majesty was finally willing to summon him.

After rinsing and changing into a clean set of coarse linen clothes, he was escorted into the carriage by the guards of Yiluansi.

After getting out of the carriage, Hu Weiyong saw the majestic canopy hall, and the white jade railing and silver armor guards in front of the palace gate all showed the power of the emperor.

"Your Majesty——!"

Hu Weiyong knelt on the ground, kowtowed, and shouted at the Huagai Hall in a trembling voice, and the old tears fell again.

Many eunuchs, palace maids, and guards looked condescendingly at the prime minister who had committed an accident.

"Prime Minister Hu, get up, Your Majesty is waiting for you." Gonggong Li didn't believe him at all, but he was just locked up and pretended to be pitiful.

Hu Weiyong was escorted into the Huagai Palace, saw the governor Mao Xiang, and saw the dignified and indifferent Zhu Yuanzhang sitting next to the prince Zhu Biao.

"Your Majesty...... The criminal minister Hu Weiyong ......"

"Shut up."

Zhu Yuanzhang snorted coldly, grabbed the fold in front of him and threw it at him: "Look at the good things you have done, read them one by one, and give me a careful look to understand!" ”

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Hu Weiyong's face turned pale, and he knelt down to pick up the fold that fell to the ground.

It is full of things that have been done over the years, bribery, suppression, private torture, taking down the daughter of the criminal official and giving it to his subordinates as concubines......

It even wrote a lot of things that he only said at home, or to someone in private, but all of them were clearly investigated by His Majesty and Mao Xiang.

"Your Majesty...... Minister, damn it! ”

It was not until this moment that Hu Weiyong really understood how ridiculous he thought he was a good means of deceiving his superiors and subordinates in front of Zhu Yuanzhang, and some of his behaviors of wooing friends had already been clearly remembered, and he was still proud, and he was full of prestige in front of hundreds of officials.

How ridiculous!

"The minister deserves to die, the minister is guilty!" Hu Weiyong cried bitterly and kowtowed vigorously, and blood flowed out.

"Shut up!"

After drinking him, Zhu Yuanzhang asked Zhu Biao: "Prince, how do you think he should be punished?" ”

Zhu Biao groaned slightly, and said: "Hu Weiyong, as the prime minister, does not think about repaying the favor of the king, bends the law to benefit the crime, bends the government to slander the virtuous, the evidence of the crimes is conclusive, irrefutable, according to the law of the Ming Dynasty, the family is beheaded!" ”

Hu Weiyong's whole body trembled.

At this moment, he thought of Wang Guangyang and Yang Xian again.

"Yes."

Zhu Biao said: "I have been in Hu Weiyong's management for many years, and he has followed his father for many years, and he has worked hard. ”

Hu Weiyong didn't dare to breathe.

After waiting for a long time, he heard Zhu Yuanzhang speak slowly:

"I wanted to kill you on the fifth day of the first month."

Hu Weiyong's back was cold, and his neck ached.

"But Chu Zhenren gave me three words, you listen carefully."

Hu Weiyong hurriedly kowtowed vigorously, although he didn't know who Chu Zhenren was, why did he ask him to remember three sentences.

"The first sentence, spread the land into the acre."

What? Spread out... Into the acre?! Daming has no Ding tax!

"The second sentence is the integration of the officials and gentry to pay grain."

"This ......!"

Hu Weiyong was shocked and understood the meaning of His Majesty's words, exempting the official gentry from tax privileges!

"The third sentence, the fire is consumed by the public."

Hu Weiyong's face changed sharply, where are the three sentences, which are clearly the three strategies for governing the country, and His Majesty asked him to do these three things...... These three things are enough to shake the government and the opposition!

Zhu Yuanzhang said: "I give you five days, and after five days I am not satisfied, you die, I am satisfied, and you can live." ”

"Take him down and give him pen and ink."

Following His Majesty's orders, Hu Weiyong was carried out of the palace by two eunuchs.

"Wait!"

Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly stopped him again and ordered: "Write from top to bottom, from left to right, add symbols between pauses and sentence ends, and write in the vernacular." ”

He wrote a few symbols and ordered the eunuch to give them to Hu Weiyong.

Poor Hu Weiyong didn't have time to ask more, and was taken away again.

Everyone can see that this is a pre-palace exam for the prime minister, and the emperor came up with three exam questions for Hu Weiyong to answer.

If you answer well, he may still be able to be prime minister.

The answer is not good, it is useless to keep it, and it is all over the house.

Mao Xiao quietly wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"Mao Xiang."

Zhu Yuanzhang called his name, and Mao Xiao quickly got up from the chair.

"I want to abolish the pro-army Governor's Mansion, place the Jinyi Guard, and the captains of the Bannerman Thousand Households are also included in the Jinyi Guard, and you will be the commander of the guards, patrol and arrest, etc. What do you think? ”

"Minister Maoxiang, I am willing to serve Your Majesty!!"

Mao Xiang was overjoyed, although he didn't know exactly what Jinyiwei was going to do, but just "driving the guards, patrolling and arresting" was already a high power.

His Majesty must have guessed that he was worried about Hu Weiyong's retaliation, so he put him in charge of the Jinyi Guard.

"Let's go down and wait until I'm ready."

"Yes! Your Majesty. ”

Mao Xiang walked out of the Huagai Palace, walking like flying, his face was full of red light, and everyone who saw it knew that he was about to be promoted.

The first commander of Jinyiwei.