Chapter 5 Section five

He Shouci is a native of Puqi, Hubei. He was a Jinshi in the 21st year of Daoguang. Although he had a literary name, he was unwilling to join the power minister Mu Zhang's family. The head of the Ministry of Officials, in the early years of Xianfeng, once entered the army, served as Zhang Jing, and later made up the supervisory censor.According to the rules, once you become a speech officer, you can no longer stay in the military plane. He Shouci has become a censor, and he has also performed quite well.In his official career, he progressed steadily and steadily, and by the third year of Guangxu, he had climbed to the high position of Minister of the Ministry of Industry.

It's a pity that He Shouci no longer has the integrity of being unwilling to join the "Mumen" in the past.Not only did his family and children communicate with the book office, but he also made friends with a notorious businessman, which made him suffer a lot. The businessman's name was Li Chunshan, whose real name was Li Zhongming, and he was from Shanxi. He opened a huge pawnshop in Liulichang, with nine bays and a name of "Baomingzhai".Li Chunshan had long sleeves and was good at dancing. At that time, a group of famous officials and officials, even King Dun, were fawned on by him. He had a great reputation in Liulichang, and his eyes were higher than the top.As the saying goes, "Big deceit", Baomingzhai has such a large scale, and Li Chunshan has great hands and eyes, so the face of the clerk doing business is ugly. I don't know how many poor Hanlin in Beijing Have people been angry with them?It's fine for others, how can Zhang Peilun suffer from this generation's filth?Of course there will be revenge.

After inquiring, Li Chunshan's biggest "protector" is He Shouci.Among the elders in Beijing, Qingliu looked down on three people the most, one was Dong Xun, the other was Wan Qingli, and the other was He Shouci.Therefore, Zhang Peilun ruthlessly wrote a book: "Li Zhongming, a native of Shanxi, is Li Chunshan. He opened Baomingzhai pawn shop in Liulichang. He falsely called He Shouci, Minister of the Ministry of Industry, a relative of him. Down to the ministries and officials, the outside is big and small, and the state and counties are small. They all make contacts. They may arrange the reimbursement of the household department, or manage the staff of the bureaucracy to make up for it. , the material discussion is boiling. The house where I live is in the factory. The gate is tall and splendid. Every time an official introduces him for inspection and release, he often mixes with the officials on duty, and goes in and out of the Jingyun Gate without any scruples. The husband is a mere scholar, with such a luxurious family and such a great reputation, it is indeed an uneasy duty, no doubt At the time when the imperial court is rectifying the discipline, the ministers abide by the law and abide by the law. Under the chariot, how can they allow others to take advantage of the situation to recruit power, intervene in official affairs, incite officialdom, and corrupt the atmosphere? Please order the censor of the city of Shuntian Prefecture, and Li Zhongming is Li Chun Shan, you will be deported and returned to your hometown immediately, and you will not be allowed to stay and hide, so as to cause trouble."

Then he said: "Recently, literati and bureaucrats do not divide their grades, and the fashion is becoming more and more popular. To the extent that they show their rank and rank, they have love with officials and vassals, drinking Bo and watching dramas, rewarding and giving gifts, etc. Please order to rectify the injury."This also refers to He Shouci, he is endowed with extraordinary talent, he eats a lot, he can eat a fat duck and an elbow in one meal, Li Chunshan does what he likes, and often prepares rich meals for him.He Shouci also forgot that he was a first-rank official. After he came down to court, he went straight to Baomingzhai with his feathered crown brilliantly.

When the memorial arrived in front of the imperial court, the Empress Dowager Cixi couldn't help being surprised. Seeing He Shouci's extraordinary appearance, she also heard that he was quite learned, and he was good at poetry and writing. Moreover, she still remembered He Shouci's eldest son, He Liangzhen, who is now the magistrate of Nanchang. He has a prosperous family. Why doesn't he love himself so much?So I mentioned it to Li Lianying and asked him if he had heard anything. With An Dehai's precedent, Li Lianying was quite cautious, "I don't leave the palace for nothing." He said, "I don't know much about the things outside."

"Go and find out!" Empress Dowager Cixi said, and put Zhang Peilun's memorial aside. Li Lianying, who waited on the watch, was well aware of the habits of the Empress Dowager Cixi, that she would not deal with it for the time being, that is to say, she had to wait for him to inquire and understand, so she dared not neglect it.The next day, he left the palace early in the morning and came back at noon. While Empress Dowager Cixi was resting, he told the truth about the relationship between He Shouci and Li Chunshan. The Empress Dowager Cixi was very satisfied with her work done again, but in view of An Dehai's mistakes, she did not want to pretend to use words, for fear that Li Lianying would be arrogant and cause some trouble for her.

"Send Zhang Peilun's notes! See what the military plane says?" Among the ministers of military aircraft, no one else spoke, only Bao Jun felt that it was very unpleasant, and shouted loudly: "The first one who has contacts with Bao Mingzhai is Li Lansun! Why didn't Zhang Youqiao say anything?" Prince Gong thought his words were ridiculous, "Forget it, you!" He didn't need to use words when talking to Bao Jun, "Li Lansun and him didn't recognize any relatives, and they didn't go to the official banquet. If it's not breaking the law, why did Zhang Youqiao drag him into it?"

Zhang Peilun has a close relationship with Li Hongzao, and everyone in the court knows it. Shen Guifen calmly persuaded Baojun: "Pei Gong! Zhang Youqiao has to think of Li Lansun for this book. Since he dares to go up, he is naturally confident. What he relies on is what the sixth master said. It’s not against the law to buy books. It seems inappropriate to bring him into it.” "Be wiser!" Prince Gong warned: "The superiors are using Qingliu to clean up people's hearts. He Yunfu is too indiscreet. The more you press this book, the worse it will be. Let him understand the answer."

So the military plane drafted an order to ask whether Li Chunshan, also known as Li Zhongming, was related to He Shouci?He Shouci's replay said that "he has no real friendship with businessman Li Zhongming, and he has no contact with him on a daily basis. Please ask the Metropolitan Procuratorate to investigate whether he has bluffed and deceived outside." "I don't understand this!" The Empress Dowager Cixi pointed out He Shouci's language error very shrewdly: "What do you mean by 'no real friendship'? If you have it, you have it, if you don't, you don't have it.

Such a statement is unreliable. " "Maybe it's a dry relationship." Prince Gong answered vaguely. "Drying relatives is also kissing." Empress Dowager Cixi said, "Let's see if anyone speaks." She already has a complete understanding of the inside story, but she deliberately doesn't tell the truth. She wants to wait for the speech officer to express herself, and then act according to the camera, using the method of manipulating the words to coerce the princes and ministers.Of course Prince Gong knew her intentions, but in front of her eyes, her actions were all on the right path, and Qingliu opened her eyes for her, so he had no choice but to obey.

Therefore, for He Shouci's replay, he did not refute it, but ordered the Metropolitan Procuratorate to deal with Li Chunshan strictly in conjunction with the Ministry of Criminal Justice.So the Ministry of Criminal Affairs dispatched officers, together with the Xuncheng Yushi Zizhao Shuntian Mansion, to transfer officials from the Yamen of Wanping County to arrest people, and Li Chunshan was indeed skilled, and the officers did not dare to offend him, so he was "invited" to Baomingzhai. In the "squad room", he was not put in prison until the Metropolitan Procuratorate came with an official document of "detention". Just like that, it has caused a sensation in Nine Cities. I don't know how many people clapped their hands and applauded. At the same time, Li Chunshan's bad deeds were constantly revealed in the street talks.It turns out that Baomingzhai has a nine-bay facade, which came from the invasion of official land and the foundation of the poor's charity house.Li Fan, the imperial censor, reported the facts according to the facts, and sent the order to the Metropolitan Procuratorate to merge the case and find out exactly. Li Chunshan is doomed to be unlucky, but Qingliu thinks that if he only hits flies and not tigers, the people's hearts will be sluggish.Therefore, Huang Tifang launched an attack against He Shouci, the reason being: "The minister repeated the deception, and told the truth." What is false is naturally the sentence "there is no real friendship".He Shouci and Li Chunshan are not only relatives, but also "reciprocity" relatives.Li Chunshan's ex-wife, He Shouci, considered his adopted daughter. After his ex-wife died, He Shouci married a girl from his family as his daughter to Li Chunshan to fill in the house.So the father-in-law and son-in-law called very affectionately. He Shouci is more than a few years old, and his energy is not waning. As the "son-in-law", Li Chunshan specially recruited a stunning woman with a lot of money, and gave it to his "father-in-law" to entertain the elderly.He Shou Ciyuan's wife died early, and he became Li Chunshan's mother-in-law with his concubine.Therefore, the sharp-tongued Li Ciming said that they were indeed not "true friendships" but "fake and evil friendships". Huang Tifang is quite kind, and she only said half of this "fake and evil friendship". Everyone sees the ground as a hole, and the words of the previous replay are obviously deceiving." So the Empress Dowager Cixi took advantage of the topic to show her power, and this time the edict was strict: "As a minister, He Shouci, how can you allow a little concealment and self-examination when you are asked to inquire by order? This time Huang Tifang played each verse. The Shangshu replays it according to the facts, and it is not allowed to embellish a single word. If you dare to defend the prelude, if you are involved in a little deception, you will never be lenient if you don't find out. The above sections, together with the court officials of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, were included in the previous case, and together with the Criminal Department, Li Chunshan was severely interrogated. " As a result, He Shouci was not the only one who caused panic. If Li Chunshan confessed truthfully, many famous officials and officials would be involved.Therefore, at the entrance of Baomingzhai, there was a traffic jam, and those Beijing officials who had been in contact with Li Chunshan on weekdays, in the name of condolences to his family, actually came to inquire about the news.The person in charge of Baomingzhai, seeing this situation, knew that the owner would not commit any serious crimes. At that time, he vaguely stated that if everyone worked together to maintain Li Chunshan, then Li Chunshan would decide the inside story of the private and murder case, selling officials and lords, and taking over lawsuits. Will not spit out a single word.Otherwise, I have no choice but to tell the whole story. In fact, this is also a word of intimidation.Li Chunshan, who was imprisoned, knew better than anyone that he could not confess a single word of those shady activities.Once confessed, the crime is beyond reproach, ranging from exile to the army, to serious loss of head.If you don't confess, those famous officials and high officials who are related will have to try to excuse themselves. Even if minor crimes are unavoidable, there will be room for them to meet each other in the future, and they will not worry about not being able to resume their old careers.Therefore, he only told the family members who visited the prison: "Master Zhang is Master Li's protégé, if you get very close, you can only ask Master Li to take care of Master Zhang, and take a step back no matter what." Naturally, these words should be spoken to He Shouci, let him be the master.He Shouci thinks there is no need to do this, because Li Hongzao is going back to his hometown to bury his mother, so it is inconvenient to interfere, and he has a reputation of integrity, so he is afraid that he will not meddle in this matter.As for the fact that Zhang Peilun was very close to this teacher, it is true, but because of this, there is no need to ask for help.He Shouci still had a few unspoken words, Zhang Peilun attacked Li Chunshan only to vent his anger, and he was the target of his attack.As long as Li Chunshan's case is cold, he will be dismissed lightly, but his own disaster is just in the ascendant. Under strict responsibilities, He Shouci did not dare to refuse to accept a single word, the only way was to avoid the serious and take the light of it.In the replay, he admitted that he had bought books from Baomingzhai. This wording is more reasonable.For a seventy-year-old Minister of the Ministry of Industry to personally supervise the exercise of the "Dragon Bar" of Mu Zongzi Palace, after working hard all day, he stopped by Baomingzhai to rest and read books. This cannot be said to be a crime. Sure enough, because of his vague self-reported "achievements", the minister of military affairs could easily excuse him, and the empress dowagers of the two palaces felt that the situation was justifiable, and issued an order to "commit to the Ministry of Discussion". The Office of the Ministry of Officials came here under the order, "Performance of the Dragon Carriage" is a great funeral ceremony, how should we be cautious?Therefore, "reading books by the way" can constitute the crime of "great disrespect", but the decree only says: "The performance of the dragon car is an important task, and the so-called reading books by the way is also wrong." If you don't follow the law of "disrespect", the crime will be lightened. What is discussed is "downgrade to three levels and not allowed to offset". With an edict, He Shouci will lose his official position.Two days later, Pan Zuyin, who had just taken over Weng Tonghe's vacancy and was the censor of Zuodu not long ago, was appointed Minister of the Ministry of Industry.But He Shouci has no job to transfer for a while, but Bao Jun has promised him that once the limelight passes, he will definitely find a way for him to transfer his not-so-ugly lack of face. As soon as Mu Zong's funeral ceremony was over, the big news about Wu Kedu's body remonstrance came out.When everyone was watching the battle of succession, the Metropolitan Procuratorate and the Ministry of Criminal Affairs drafted Li Chunshan's charges, saying that he was donated by a businessman with the title of "Chief Secretary's Experience" and tested it as a "transcription". Received the "Discussion" reward.But when he became an official, he "still made a living in the market", and he also said that he "climbed to the prominent officials, made friends with the officials of the Sifang, bought temples and houses, built them arbitrarily, invaded the official streets, and concealed tax deeds".As for Zhang Peilun's original statement that "every time an official checks and releases, he often mixes with the officials on duty, and goes in and out of Jingyun Gate without any scruples", it is interpreted as "after the mission was over, he entered the Donghua Gate without authorization and entered the National History Museum to search for confessions. Seeking a job, hoping to get another discussion." This is nothing more than "disturbing one's duty", not a serious crime. Therefore, the charges proposed by the Metropolitan Procuratorate and the Ministry of Punishment are: "Sixty sticks, one year's imprisonment, deportation to return home after the expiration of the period, and strict control by local officials." Although this replay avoids the serious and light, and intends to justify it, but sixty boards and one year's imprisonment are not some kind of romantic crimes that are not painful or itchy on the cheek, so the court finally has an explanation.He Shouci, on the other hand, was exempted because he had already been demoted to a third level. In the two months before and after, because of Baoting, Huang Tifang, and Li Fan's pen, the incumbent Shangshu was knocked down, and Li Chunshan, who became the leader in the south of the city with great momentum, was sent to prison.In addition to the heart-warming words of "after all, there is still the king's law", everyone praised Qingliu's prestige, especially those officials and subordinates who played fraudulently, all secretly warned each other: Get over it, don't ask for trouble. But from Qingliu's point of view, he still feels that the evil has not been eradicated, especially for He Shouci. Zhang Peilun heard that he is still active, so he is extra careful, so he has no time to ask Wu Kedu's legacy.