Chapter 17 Chapter 17 Questions
As spring comes to an end, even the morning wind becomes dry and hot, blowing head-on, which makes people feel bored; after washing, Empress Zhang also sat alone in the past, reading a book, so that her spirit was completely refreshed. Breaking away from the real environment, entering the high and cleanness in the book.
She hummed the verses in the book intently:
The road ends with white clouds, and spring and Qingxi are long.
There are falling flowers from time to time, and the fragrance is far away with the flowing water.
The idle door faces the mountain road, and the Shenliu reading hall.
Every day is reflected in the shadows, and the clear light shines on the clothes.
The lines of the poem are "Que Title" written by Liu Shenxu in the Tang Dynasty, but she intuitively thinks that it is her own voice; the situation in the poem is what she has always yearned for, pursued, and dreamed of. Na Huan blessedly, relying on this harvest to forget the dangers and pains in real life.
In terms of status, she is the queen who is the mother of the world, but in reality, she lives in the danger of being killed at any time, and her life will be taken away by Wei Zhongxian and Rong Qingfeng at any time, just like the fetus in her womb.
When she first entered the palace, she was smart and quickly discovered Wei Zhongxian and Rong Qingfeng's power and power in the palace. At that time, she wanted to suggest to Emperor Tianqi to expel these two people from the palace; but Soon after, she discovered the abnormal and abnormal relationship between Emperor Tianqi and Rong Qingfeng, and Emperor Tianqi was so stupid that she was controlled by her. After several considerations, she gave up the idea of talking to Emperor Tianqi. She was spared by Ke and Wei's poisonous hands.
Of course she understood that she would be a thorn in Rong Qingfeng's side, but she never expected that Rong Qingfeng would use such vicious and despicable methods.
When she just lost her fetus, she was in pain and refused to eat. It was all thanks to Concubine Liu Zhao of Emperor Wanli who extended a loving hand to her, took care of her several times, and enlightened her politely. Only then did she regain her courage, become stronger, and overcome her grief .
Although Concubine Liu Zhao, who is as high as a "twilight concubine", has nothing to do with Wei Zhongxian and Rong Qingfeng, and even can only avoid the limelight and seek perfection in the way of "being wise and safe"; but Concubine Liu Zhaofei is old after all, and has gone through three dynasties , I have seen people who have changed, and I have some understanding of life in my heart. What I often say to persuade her is: "Look at everything in the long run, take a step back and think about it, and there will be nothing difficult in your heart!"
Even Concubine Liu Zhao hinted at the example in front of her: "Concubine Zheng was the crown jewel in the harem back then, and Xi Li was proud and prestige. Now, it's 'Whether Tai Chi is coming'! Those who have survived for a long time will finally see Get the 'Reporter of the World'!"
Save your own life and see what happens to others—Concubine Liu Zhaofei has a unique outlook on life, which has also begun to affect her.
In her spare time, Concubine Liu Zhao even recounted the three cases of "Striking", "Hongwan" and "Moving the Palace" for her from the beginning, so that she could learn more about the affairs of the palace and think about how to protect herself In this complex and corrupt deep palace, he will not be harmed again.
Misfortunes happened one after another in the palace, and Ke Qingfeng's clutches were instigated by jealousy to many innocent women. Wei Zhongxian acted as a minion, devouring the flower-like lives one by one.
Guangzong's Zhao Xuanshi was ordered to commit suicide, and the crime was also "unnecessary". The poor innocent, helpless, and helpless weak woman had to display all the things Guangzong bestowed on her, and worshiped the Buddha in the west. hang himself.
Concubine Zhang Yu is beautiful and has a strong personality. Of course, she has become the person Ke Qingfeng wants to leave quickly. She can't find a crime to "deal with", but Ke Qingfeng sent eunuchs to force her to be imprisoned in another palace. , cut off her food, and wanted to starve her to death; it was raining heavily, and the hungry Concubine Zhang Yu crawled to the threshold, trying to catch the rainwater falling from the eaves, but she just died in the cold rain, thin and thin. Her body was notified by the guarding eunuch after two days of being stiff and haggard.
Concubine Fan Hui was pregnant and could not escape the bad luck of being murdered by Ke Qingfeng; the child was gone, and she was accused of negligence as a "perishing prince" in turn; At that time, she quietly begged for mercy from Emperor Tianqi for her, but how could she know that the "careless" Emperor Tianqi told Ke Qingfeng about the matter, so of course Concubine Li Cheng suffered a disaster.
She was imprisoned in the same way, and she was cut off from food and drink just like she was with Concubine Zhang Yu...
After the incident, one after another spread to her ears; she also wept for these women who withered like flowers, and mourned for many days; Sleepless all night, I prayed silently to the sky for these victims and prayed that they would not enter the emperor's house in the next life, but I would not try to propose to Emperor Tianqi to rectify the harem like "eggs hitting a rock", let alone reading "Zhao Gao Biography" Ridicule Wei Zhongxian.
She guided her heart into the pages of the book, where there was a piece of pure land, and she took refuge as if practicing cultivation, and her heart began to gain peace and tranquility.
Houses are being built in the palace again, and the chaotic sound of knocking makes others feel irritable, but she has never heard of it; Emperor Tianqi will occasionally send someone to send carefully finished wooden utensils, and she no longer has any expectations for him He didn't look at it more, and didn't take it to heart, as if there was no such thing in the world.
She only concentrates on reading, and only occasionally thinks of the names of Wei Zhongxian and Rong Qingfeng inadvertently, but she just let out a soft sigh and let it go. At that moment, the thoughts that floated in her mind were nothing but Concubine Liu Zhao's words: "Save your own life and see what happens to others!"
She will wait patiently to see what happens to Wei Zhongxian.
But in Wei Zhongxian's heart, she no longer has her name—what cares about such a queen who has no real role or influence?
The people he cares about now are all the people who have embarrassed him in the past—the people in Donglin, even if they didn't really form a "party", they are now called "Donglin Party" by him.
Anyway, it is to incriminate people, and it is the same no matter what name you add!
Cui Chengxiu, Wang Shaohui, Wei Guangwei and others under his command compiled a roster, listing everyone who had a little relationship with Donglin. According to the principle of not leaking one person, list as many as possible and try to make it as wide as possible, so several thick books were made in the roster for him to send Jinyiwei or Dongchang eunuchs to arrest at any time.
As for the six people including Yang Lian who have already been imprisoned in Zhenfusi Prison, these people are also deliberately plotting for him.
He made a key instruction: "These people are too hateful, they must be 'capitally punished'!"
Therefore, Wei Guangwei and others first discussed the method in private.
It is easy to commit a crime, but to commit a capital crime would have to inflate the charges several times...
After the discussion, the party members came to him and said: "Originally, six people including Yang Lian were arrested on the grounds of Wang Wenyan. What was implicated in Wang Wenyan's confession was that these six people were 'corrupt and perverting the law', and the charges are not enough to warrant death. ; Why don’t you change the confession to say that Yang Gao and Xiong Tingbi’s stolen goods have delayed the military aircraft and led to the defeat of Liaodong——then the matter of sealing up the frontier is big enough to be considered dead!”
This suggestion was more in line with his desire: "Great! I'm annoyed by Xiong Tingbi, and it's just because of this reason that I'm late together!"
It has been three years since Xiong Tingbi was imprisoned due to the fall of Guangning. During this period, there were many opinions advocating the death penalty. In the end, the Ministry of Punishments also decided the death penalty; Ten thousand taels of silver, please avoid the death penalty.
He agreed without hesitation, so he confessed that the execution would be postponed, and he was going to instruct the censors to intercede for Xiong Tingbi as soon as he received the money. Sin out of prison.
Such a perfect method of carrying out has been thought out, and the candidates for execution have also been selected, but Xiong Tingbi didn't really send the 40,000 taels of silver by "talking but not practicing". He sent someone to remind him, but said: "The family is poor, It is difficult to raise money, and I am trying to get it together." After repeating it several times, he completely changed his mind.
And the party members who catered to his wishes immediately said: "A mere 40,000 taels of silver, how can you put it in the eyes of Jiu Qiansui? Jiu Qiansui is angry at him for his disrespectful attitude! Such a person, sentenced to Ling Chi is still disgusting." light!"
And when the "Di Bao" that recorded this matter was sent to Shanhaiguan where Sun Chengzong was located, he only read two lines, and his calm mood, which he had tried his best to maintain for a long time, became agitated again, and he could no longer maintain and control it. ...
The only real objects of Ming Dynasty mansion newspapers handed down today are the twelve volumes of "Chongzhen Annals and Remnants" collected by the Institute of History and Philology of the Academia Sinica in Taipei. After research by Mr. Su Tongbing, he concluded three main points:
They are manuscripts written on lined paper.The daily text content can be as many as 10,000 words.
The mansion newspaper mainly focuses on passing on banknotes and chapters, and occasionally touches on the personnel dynamics in the court.
The mansion newspaper bound into a book, with each day as a book, has the main purpose.Except for the important chapters and complete banknotes, for routine and unimportant chapters, only the reasons and circumstances of the orders are extracted.
For its detailed content and related issues, please refer to "Residence Newspapers of the Ming Dynasty", "Residence Newspapers of the Ming Dynasty and Related Issues" and "Commentary" written by Mr. Su Tongbing.
He subconsciously slapped the table with his palm, shaking the decorations on the table and the teacup in front of him; then, he ordered his servants: "Master Yuan and Zongbing Ma come quickly!"
While waiting for Yuan Chonghuan and Ma Shilong to arrive, his mood became more and more irritable, and he couldn't even sit still. He walked around the room with his hands crossed behind his back; This way, it can't be resolved - when the two arrived, his mood was so bad that his anger rose rapidly, and his eyes were forced to turn red.
Therefore, the two were taken aback as soon as they entered the door. The sensitive Yuan Chonghuan blurted out and asked, "My lord, what happened?"
"Xiong Tingbi was convicted of 'executing Ling Chi and passing on the first nine sides'. Not only did Dong Lin lose power, but Yang Lian and other six princes have been imprisoned. The crime was actually bribed by Xiong Tingbi!"
When Yuan Chonghuan heard it, he subconsciously exclaimed: "Nonsense! Xiong Tingbi and Donglin have always been enemies, and they have been at odds for many years. How could there be 'bribe' between the two parties!"
However, as soon as he finished speaking, he also immediately came to his senses: "Song Zhiyue Fei, isn't the charge 'unfounded'?"
Immediately afterwards, a sense of grief and indignation surged up: "Xiong and Yang Zhujun are all clean and impoverished people, and Wei Zhongxian has such a stigmatization—"
As he spoke, his eyes also turned red.
And Sun Chengzong still considered other aspects: "According to this situation, Wei Zhongxian has made it clear that he wants to punish the people in Donglin-I am afraid that not only arresting Yang, Zuo and other six people will give up. !"
As far as he knows, these six people are not the only ones who have grudges in Wei Zhongxian's heart: "Zhao, Zou, Ye, Han—I'm afraid, as long as they are related to Donglin, or have discussed and impeached Wei Zhongxian in the past People who are here will be in trouble!"
He said this to remind Yuan Chonghuan that Yuan Chonghuan is related to Donglin, because his teacher is Han You, and Hou Xun, who recommended him from the county magistrate to the head of the Ministry of War, is also listed in Donglin. They are all thorns in Wei Zhongxian's eyes!
As for his own situation, it is even more unknown...
He suddenly twisted his mouth as if laughing, looked straight at Yuan Chonghuan and said: "The old man said that Xiong Tingbi's offensive and defensive 'three-party arrangement' is the best strategy. Wang Huazhen didn't know that it was caused by the soldiers, and that it was not a crime of war. In response to Xiong Tingbi's release from prison, he returned to serve in Liaodong, and redeemed his past—how long ago did this happen? That memorial should have been in Wei Zhongxian's hands long ago, right? !"
As he said that, he immediately looked up to the sky and burst out laughing, laughing so hard that he fell back and forth, and then burst into tears.
Yuan Chonghuan and Ma Shilong, who saw his "faint" expression for the first time in their lives, couldn't help but exchanged glances with each other, but they immediately lowered their heads and remained silent.
After finally waiting for his laughter to stop, he immediately continued to speak: "Come, come, come, let's count, since ancient times, how many loyal ministers and good generals died not in the battlefield against the enemy, but Died under the framing of the court and the group—"
Yuan Chonghuan, whose heart was pierced by a knife, replied smoothly: "The biggest hatred in Xiong Tingbi's life is that he was never able to compete with Nurhachi on the battlefield, but died in the hands of Wei Zhongxian!" Sun Chengzong said sadly: "In the past, before Wu Zixu was about to die, he said sharply that he would poach his eyes and hang them on the city of Gusu. He wanted to see the Vietnamese army invade the country of Wu with his own eyes——Xiong Tingbi will pass on his head to Nine Sides, and wait for his head to come. At Shanhaiguan, I will also hang his eyes on the tower!"
He pointed out that he had given up hope for the border affairs in Liaodong. In the past few months, although he "maintained calm" and presided over the overall situation of Liaodong, the war did not happen. On the surface, everything was peaceful. But in essence, his life is getting more and more difficult day by day, and it is an invisible difficulty, so rare that he can't express it, and he is powerless and unable to improve.
Wei Zhongxian retained him under the decree of Emperor Tianqi. On the surface, he seemed to respect him very much, but in fact he still imposed "constraints" on him; the first method he used was not to allocate enough food and salary.
It's hard for a clever woman to cook without rice, and he has hundreds of thousands of troops under his command to take on the important task of guarding the border. The consequences of lack of food and pay will be unimaginable; at least, there will be a mutiny in the army, and at worst, he will simply defect to the enemy country - he is very worried about this. Thinking hard about a good way to deal with it, he sent several memorials to Beijing every day to collect food and pay, and at the same time planned disarmament, reducing the number of personnel, so as to reduce food and payment expenditures; There is only one thing: "Fortunately, Nurhachi didn't take advantage of this time to call over!"
Of course, his principle of disarmament is to "eliminate the weak and retain the strong", and dismiss the incompetent generals together to save money; One after another, he will always have to use his strength to deal with Wei Zhongxian's constraints!
And all of this, Yuan Chonghuan knew it well, after listening to Sun Chengzong's words, he thought even more sadly: "He really can't do his best for Liaodong—Donglin has lost power, and Wei Zhongxian's party will never allow him to control Liaodong again— —”
Originally a strong and positive character, he was brave enough to go forward in everything, but for the first time in his life, he felt a sense of powerlessness in his heart; he also guessed that Sun Chengzong was bound to go to the third "begging for a divorce", and he had exhausted all his efforts. He tried to persuade Sun Chengzong to dismiss his resignation, but he was too tired to say anything anymore.
Although there are still some thoughts that are different from Sun Chengzong's in my heart, although there is also a faint impulse in my heart, I want to shout to Sun Chengzong: "Know it and do it! Nurhachi's army is ahead, and we will work together to stop the day." Just let it be a day!"
However, the power of this impulse was too weak, and it receded before it took shape. He didn't say anything, and after returning to his own place, his mood became even heavier.
The situation was so bad that he couldn't help thinking pessimistically: "Will Liaodong after Mr. Sun's departure be able to stop Nurhachi's Eight Banners cavalry?"
If Sun Chengzong becomes an official, the imperial court will of course send someone to take over his position, and the person they send must be Wei Zhongxian's men...
"If it's someone who doesn't understand military affairs, such as Wang Huazhen, Wang Zaijin, and Wang Xianggan, Liaodong will be over!"
He has already "learned" the military knowledge of Wang Zaijin and Wang Xiangqian, and thinking about it adds to his sense of fear, which makes him even more "unfounded" assumptions: "No matter what other conditions are, as long as he does not understand military affairs, or is timid and afraid of getting into trouble, Like Wang Zaijin, he will insist on adopting the policy of 'guarding the inside of the pass' and abandoning the land thousands of miles away from the pass—"
Thanks to the knowledgeable and responsible Sun Chengzong, he had a strong support for the strategy of "keeping the distance" that he had drawn up himself; but once Sun Chengzong is gone, can the plan continue? "Guarding inside the gate" is a wrong strategy, and what if the new supervisor insists on guarding the gate...
He couldn't help but recall the past when Zu Dashou didn't try his best to build the city...
In this way, thinking about the past and the past over and over again, the boulders in his heart piled up one after another, pressing down on his chest as if he was about to suffocate, and he couldn't get rid of it; the uncomfortable feeling engulfed him like a turbid wave.
However, the news that came from the court immediately became worse and worse, so bad that there were no words to describe it, and it also made his mood so bad that no words could describe it.
The arrested Donglin people were all sentenced to death in prison...
The first to be tortured to death was Wang Wenyan. Because he refused to admit in his confession that Yang Lian and others had accepted Xiong Tingbi's bribes, he was poisoned.
And even if Wang Wenyan refuses to falsely accuse him, it doesn't hurt Wei Zhongxian's goal of putting everyone in Donglin to death—what's the difficulty in writing a confession for the dead Wang Wenyan?
Thus, Yang Lian, Zuo Guangdou, Wei Dazhong, Zhou Chaorui, Yuan Huazhong, and Gu Dazhang all became corrupt individuals; then, under the auspices and arrangements of Xu Xianchun, the six were handed over to Jin Yiwei Governor Tian Ergeng to torture and recover the stolen goods.
"These are the people that Nine Thousand Years hates the most—"
Xu Xianchun just said that, and Tian Ergeng knew how to curry favor with Wei Zhongxian.
What he used was the cruelest torture in the world, and he was tortured every five days. During the interrogation period, the six people were completely shattered, their bones were broken and their teeth fell off. They could not live or die; The family members of these six people must be implicated and ordered to hand over the stolen money; the atmosphere of terror like a bloody storm will be stirred up even more.
The matter was delayed until July, and Yang Lian, Zuo Guangdou, Wei Dazhong, Zhou Chaorui, and Yuan Huazhong, who had been devastated, were sentenced to death in prison, and Gu Dazhang hanged himself to death.
Then, the spearhead was pointed at Zhao Nanxing, the leader of Donglin who was also hated by Wei Zhongxian.
Anyway, it was just a "crime to be imposed", so Xu Xianchun also used "Wang Wenyan's involvement in prison words" as an excuse to arrest Zhao Nanxing for questioning, humiliate him, and finally convicted him of embezzlement of fifteen thousand taels and ordered him to recover it.
And Zhao Nanxing has been a clean and honest official all his life, and his family has no permanent property. How can he get such a large amount of silver?Relying on donations from relatives to make it all together; and "living crimes" are still inevitable. The elderly Zhao Nanxing was sentenced to be sent to the garrison, and his son and grandson were also sent away.
Next, discuss Zou Yuanbiao.
Zou Yuanbiao had already retired and returned to his hometown, and had died a few months ago, so there was no need to be charged with any crimes. Therefore, Wei Zhongxian only instructed: "Just find a good time to destroy the Shoushan Academy—whatever the book is not an academy, don't let it go." It’s just like Donglin’s, gathering people to give lectures, and saying some outrageous things, it’s really disgusting!”
But for the dead Li Sancai, Gu Xiancheng and others, he did not "treat them leniently"—he instructed: "These people, who took the lead in making troubles in the 'Donglin', will deprive the former nobles even after they die— —Let’s find some censors to discuss it!”
As for Xiong Tingbi, since the crime and punishment have been set to "execute Ling Chi and pass on the first nine sides", of course there is no need to bother.
"Just wait for the autumn decision!" August is coming soon.
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