Chapter 52 232 Hai Rui is Upright and Upright

During the days when Yan Song was in power, not to mention the Yan family father and son, even their subordinates, there was not a single one who did not rely on the official position and act as a domineering.From the court ministers to the local officials, everyone gave them some points. However, in Chun'an County, Zhejiang Province, there is a small county magistrate who can handle affairs impartially and shows no mercy to Yan Song's subordinates.His name is Hai Rui. Hai Rui is from Qiongshan, Guangdong.His father died when he was young, and he was brought up by his mother, and his family life was very poor.In his twenties, after he won the Juren Award, he worked as a teacher in a school in the county, educating students very strictly and conscientiously.Soon, his boss transferred him to Chun'an, Zhejiang Province as a county magistrate.In the past, officials in the county tried cases mostly by accepting bribes and deciding cases indiscriminately.Hai Rui arrived in Chun'an and seriously tried the backlog of cases.No matter what difficult cases were in Hai Rui's hands, they were investigated one by one to get to the bottom of the truth, and they never wronged good people.The local people call him "Qingtian".

Hai Rui's immediate boss, Hu Zongxian, governor of Zhejiang Province, is Yan Song's accomplice. Relying on his backing, he is extorting everywhere. Once, Hu Zongxian's son took a large number of entourages through Chun'an and lived in the official post in the county.If it was changed to another county, it would be too late for the officials to flatter the governor's son.But in Chun'an County, Hai Rui made a rule that no matter the high officials or their relatives, they would treat them as ordinary guests. Hu Zongxian's son, who was used to being pampered, saw the food served by the post official and thought it was intentional to neglect him.

The guards in the post immediately reported to Hai Rui.Hai Rui knew that Mr. Hu was ostentatiously crossing the border, and he was already tired of it; now that he hangs up the postman, he feels that he has to control it. After listening to the officer's report, Hai Rui pretended to be calm and said, "The Governor is a clean and honest minister. He has ordered all the counties to entertain past officials without extravagance and waste. The playboy who is here now is ostentatious and has an arrogant attitude. It can't be Mr. Hu's son. There must be bad guys from somewhere pretending to be the son and coming to this county to bluff."

As he spoke, he immediately brought a large number of servants to the posthouse, arrested Hu Zongxian's son and his entourage, and brought them back to the county government office for interrogation.In the beginning, that Mr. Hu was furious because of his father's position, but Hai Rui insisted that he was a fake Mr. and said that he would be dealt with severely, so he was discouraged.Hai Rui found several thousand taels of silver from his luggage, confiscated them all, gave him a severe lesson, and kicked him out of the county. By the time Mr. Hu returned to Hangzhou to cry to his father, Hai Rui's report had already been sent to the governor's office, saying that someone pretended to be the son and illegally hanged and beat the post officials.Hu Zongxian knew that his son had suffered a great loss, but Hai Ruixin did not implicate him. If he made the matter public, he would lose his dignity, so he had no choice but to knock down his front teeth and swallow it in his stomach.

Not long after, another censor, Yan Maoqing (野音yan, Maoyin mao), who was dispatched from Beijing, was sent to Zhejiang for inspection.Yan Maoqing is Yan Song's godson, and his methods of extortion are even more ruthless.When he went to a place, if the local officials did not "respect" him a large sum of money, he would not let it go.Officials from all over the country were worried when they heard the news that Yan Maoqing was coming to inspect.But Yan Maoqing wanted to pretend to be law-abiding, so he informed the local people that he always liked simplicity and plainness, and he didn't like flattery.

Hai Rui heard that Yan Maoqing was going to Chun'an, so he sent a letter to Yan Maoqing, saying: "We have been notified that we should entertain Cong Jian. But as far as we know, you hold a big banquet every time you go. Spoiling and debauchery. This is embarrassing for us! If you want to act according to the notice, you are afraid of neglecting you; if you are extravagant like other places, you are afraid of going against your wishes. What should I do?" Yan Maoqing gritted his teeth in annoyance when he saw this letter revealing his truth.But he had heard that Hai Rui is a tough guy with a stern face, and he knew that Hu Zongxian's son had just suffered a big loss in Chun'an, so he was a little scared, so he changed his mind temporarily, bypassed Chun'an, and went elsewhere.

Because of this matter, Yan Maoqing held a grudge against Hai Rui, and later ordered his party to sue Hai Rui severely in front of Emperor Shizong of the Ming Dynasty, and Hai Rui was finally removed from the post of magistrate of Chun'an County. When Yan Song fell from power, Yan Maoqing was exiled to other places, Hai Rui resumed his official position, and was later transferred to the capital. When Hai Rui arrived in the capital, he saw more about Ming Shizong's stupidity and the court's corruption.At that time, Ming Shizong had not been in court for more than 20 years. He hid in the palace and kept fooling around with some Taoist priests.None of the courtiers dared to speak.Although Hai Rui had a small official position, he boldly wrote a memorial to Emperor Shizong of Ming Dynasty.He quickly exposed the corruption caused by the Ming Dynasty.He wrote in the memorial: "Now the officials are corrupt and the people are in dire straits. The common people in the world have long been dissatisfied with His Majesty."

After Hai Rui sent this memorial, he probably would offend Emperor Shizong of the Ming Dynasty and might lose his life.On the way home, I stopped by to buy a coffin.His wife and son were all petrified.Hai Rui told his relatives about this incident, and explained everything after his death. He also sent away all the servants at home, and was ready to be arrested and executed at any time. Sure enough, Hai Rui's memorial caused a sensation in the court.Ming Shizong looked at it, angry and hated, threw the memorial on the ground, and said to the left and right attendants: "Catch this man quickly, and don't let him run away!"

An eunuch next to him had heard about Hai Rui's reputation and said to Ming Shizong, "This man is a famous nerd. He knew that he would not survive if he offended His Majesty, so he made arrangements for his funeral. I don't think he will run away." .” Later, Ming Shizong ordered Hai Rui to be arrested and handed over to Jin Yiwei for torture: Hai Rui was not released until Ming Shizong died.