Chapter 25 The twenty-fourth round of the Dongchanghao School plan to punish demons and the old officials of the Ministry of Industry angrily broke into the imperial gate

The gate of the East Factory faces west, and there is an open space at the entrance, full of flowers and trees, and a brick awning road in the middle leads directly to the duty hall.There is a small hall connected to the left of the hall, in which there is a shaft of Yue Wumu. The blue brick screen wall at the back of the hall is full of beasts such as Suan Ni and the story of Di Renjie breaking the tiger.On the right side of the hall is an ancestral hall, which contains the title tablets of all the eunuchs in charge of the factory since the establishment of the East Factory.There is a stone square in front of the ancestral hall, on which hangs a plaque "Liufang forever", which is written by Emperor Jiajing.To the south of the ancestral hall is the heavy prison of Dongchang, where the serious prisoners who directly handle the cases of Dongchang are detained.Wang Jiusi is locked inside now.

Qin Yongxi and Wang Zhuan followed the palm post into the gate of the East Factory and came to the duty hall.Entering a side room, I saw that there was already a person sitting in it.About thirty-five or sixteen years old, with a monkey face, cheeks swollen like fleshy balls, a nose with a big head, a pair of deeply sunken eye sockets, and two eyes shot out, with a brutal and murderous air.He wore an embroidered python straight gown made of the finest soft and thin yellow silk cloth from Chaoyang, Guangdong, and reclined on the Taishi chair with his legs crossed. "Master Zhang," said the palm post, knelt down and said, "Master Qin, the member of the Ministry of Punishment, and Lord Xuncheng Censor Wang came to inform us." After finishing speaking, he turned back and said to Qin and Wang. , "This is our Master Chen."

"I'm next, Chen Yingfeng," Chen Yingfeng put away her legs, moved her fat body slightly as a courtesy, and continued, "My lords, please sit down." Qin Yongxi and Wang Zhuan felt humiliated, but since they were on an errand to ask for help, they could only put up with the bad breath for the time being.The two sat down with hands folded habitually, drank a few sips of the herbal tea served by the messenger, Qin Yongxi licked his lips, and asked: "Chen Zhanggong, isn't Eunuch Feng here?" Chen Yingfeng replied carelessly: "Our Mr. Feng, we accompany the emperor every morning. If you two adults have anything to do, just tell me."

Seeing his two or five virtues, Qin Yongxi wished he could walk away, but he could only bear with it, and asked again: "Have you received the message from the Ministry of Punishment?" "What message?" "About the transfer of Jiu Si, the demon king." "Ah, I have received this article, but Mr. Feng is too busy to read it." "Didn't Mr. Chen say just now that you can decide the affairs here?" Wang Zhuan seized the opportunity and asked in a sarcastic tone. Chen Yingfeng glanced at Wang Zhuan, then crossed Erlang's legs and said, "I can decide everything except Wang Jiusi."

Qin Yongxi knew that there would be no results in three days or five days if the conversation continued like this, so he changed the subject and asked, "I heard that you have passed several courts since you captured Wang Jiusi. Can we see the file today." "Our files here, without the emperor's will, no one can read." Chen Yingfeng completely blocked it all at once, and Qin Yongxi had nothing to say about the privilege of the East Factory.But it was Wang Zhuan who was tricky and asked a tricky question: "What about people, can we meet people?" "You mean Wang Jiusi?"

"Exactly." Chen Yingfeng grinned, and replied: "I know what the two adults are thinking. I'm afraid that Wang Jiusi will not be here, am I? Our East Factory has always implemented everything one by one. It's okay, I can do this, come here!" Immediately, a man in a black crew-neck sweater ran into the door and knelt down, "What do you want Master Zhang to do?" "Pass my words, open the cell door, and I will accompany the two adults to have a look." "yes!" The stall leader ran like a melon, Chen Yingfeng got up and straightened his skirt, stretched out his hand and said, "My lords, please." After saying that, he led the way and went south. The security is heavy.After a while, Chen Yingfeng came to the gate of the prison, and Chen Yingfeng waved his hand. Two guards stepped forward and unlocked the lock with a big scorpion cast on it. They pushed open the gate, but it turned out to be a courtyard sealed off by a high wall. The room, and then enter the second door, which is another courtyard.The houses on both sides were dark, and because of their height and narrowness, the sunlight from the central patio also looked bleak.In order to adapt to the dim light here and adjust his eyesight, Chen Yingfeng led Qin and Wang to stand at the gate of the courtyard. Suddenly, they heard a scream from the first room on the right, which made people feel horrified. Both Qin and Wang are criminal officials, so they are used to this kind of voice.Qin Yongxi asked: "Is this the execution room?"

Chen Yingfeng smiled, and said slyly: "The torture room is only available to you in the Ministry of Criminal Justice. We don't call it the torture room here, but the snack room." Wang Zhuan has only been the censor of the city for one year, and he has not yet fully understood the depth of the various criminal yamen in the capital.He had heard about the cruelty of the Dongchang Criminal Law, but he had never seen it. Since he came here today, he simply wanted to find out, so he asked: "Why is it called the dim sum room?" Chen Yingfeng was originally a persevering master, so he was happy to introduce him. He pointed to the rooms on both sides and said: "There are a total of eight rooms here, four on the left and four on each side, and each room serves a dessert. The first room on the right side , it was the one that made the cry just now, it was the first snack, telling the hungry eagle to rush to eat."

"Hungry eagles rush to eat, how do you say that?" Wang Zhuan asked. "What are you talking about, you'll know when you look at it." After Chen Yingfeng finished speaking, she led the two officials to the door of the first room.There was a beam hanging in the room, and a man was tied to death with his feet, and he was hanging upside down on the beam with his face facing the door.The inner wall is densely nailed with sharp iron nails.Apparently, if someone pushed the man who was hanging upside down, the back of his head would hit the nails on the wall.The light ones pierce the flesh, and the severe ones will pierce the back of the head into a hornet's nest.At this moment, I saw that the hanging man had passed out with blood all over his head and face.

Seeing Chen Yingfeng coming, the two guards who were tortured in the room were about to kneel down and salute, Chen Yingfeng motioned to excuse him, and asked, "Who is this bird man?" Fan Yan replied: "Back to the master, it is the thief who stole wine from the imperial wine room last night." "Ah, I got it," Chen Yingfeng turned her head and said to Qin and Wang, "this unlucky ghost was originally a small fire in the imperial wine room, and he repeatedly stole and sold the wine in the imperial wine room. Last night, he stole two more cans, and let the wine come out." The guards who watched the night were arrested. Eunuch Meng was not strict in enforcing the law, and the Forbidden City became a den of thieves. Mr. Feng took over and was determined to renew the rule. For these thieves, one will be arrested one by one, and two will be caught in pairs.”

Qin Yongxi looked at and talked for a while, but the little fireman was still unconscious, and felt that Dongchang was careless about human life, so he whispered: "It's just a rat, so it doesn't need such a severe punishment." Chen Yingfeng shrugged his big nose, and said contemptuously, "Master Qin is a criminal officer appointed by the imperial court, so he should know the truth about killing chickens for monkeys to watch. Then again, there are eight snacks, and hungry eagles will eat this dish." Desserts are the easiest to eat, so let’s take a look at the second dish.”

After speaking, he moved to the second door, Wang Zhuan looked up and saw that it was an empty room, and asked in puzzlement, "What mechanism is hidden in this room?" "Nothing is hidden. When the dim sum comes, you will know. This second dim sum is called Bean Stuffed Pancake." Qin Yongxi was preoccupied with Wang Jiusi's affairs, not in the mood to waste time so endlessly, and said, "Mr. Chen, let's get down to business first and go see Wang Jiusi." "Okay, you can watch it if you want," Chen Yingfeng agreed readily, and then asked Wang Zhuan, "Master Wang, do you want to see what pancakes with bean paste are?" Wang Zhuan wanted to see the new stuff in this "snack room", so he made a face at Qin Yongxi and said, "Master Qin, no matter how urgent you are, at this moment, what kind of snacks are pancakes with bean paste?" , we can also open our eyes." Qin Yongxi agreed in silence.Chen Yingfeng spat with her mouth open, and asked a man standing beside him who was as strong as a cow and dressed in a prison head with a face full of flesh: "Black fifth, what newcomer has entered the prison?" Hei Lao Wu responded: "Back to Master, just accepted a man surnamed Zheng this morning, he is an old man." "What crime did you commit?" "He set up gambling on the street to cheat money." "Go, get him, make a bean stuffed pancake, and let the two adults see it." "yes." Black Fifth agreed, but didn't move.Chen Yingfeng glared at him and bluffed, "Go quickly." Hei Laowu hesitated for a moment, then replied timidly: "Master Zheng, this old man Zheng is over sixty years old, and he is as thin as a stick. I'm afraid he can't bear this torment." "Ah, who else is there?" Hei Wu scratched the back of his head, and said awkwardly: "Those who can survive this punishment have been used, and the rest can't bear it." Upon hearing this, Qin Yongxi quickly interjected, "Since that's the case, let's not watch it today, let's go and see Wang Jiusi." Wang Zhuan shook his head and said dejectedly, "That's the only way to go." Everyone was about to walk inward, but the black old five said something extra: "This Wang Jiusi has never used this dim sum." Chen Yingfeng rolled his eyes when he heard this, and felt that the opportunity had come.Before Qin and Wang came, Xu Jue had conveyed to him the secret message of Feng Gonggong, and he wanted to take the opportunity to kill Wang Jiusi without anyone noticing, and it would be best to blame others.The two thought for a long time but couldn't come up with an idea.It is not difficult to kill, but the difficulty lies in blaming others.If Wang Jiusi were allowed to die in front of Qin and Wang, this "disaster" would be considered a marriage.Having made up his mind, he immediately stopped, patted the shoulder of Hei Lao Wu who was leading the way, and asked, "Hei Lao Wu, which one of these eight desserts has Wang Jiusi eaten?" Hei Laowu murmured in his heart: Did Wang Jiusi ever use punishment? Don't you know, Mr. Zhang?Why are you asking me this?Looking up, I saw Chen Yingfeng winking at him, and didn't understand what it meant, so he had to bite the bullet and answer: "Master Hui, this monster has never suffered a little bit of flesh and blood since he was imprisoned, because Mr. Feng has confessed that Wang Jiusi is a criminal, and he cannot be allowed to die in prison before the official punishment.” "I know this, except that there is no woman to sleep with, this demon is more comfortable than living at home." Chen Yingfeng said indignantly, then smiled self-consciously, shook his head and said, "However, even if you use torture, you can also use this demon." There is no way." "How do you say that?" Wang Zhuan became interested again. "I heard that this demon way really has some skills, black fifth, tell the two adults what you know." It was only now that the naive black old fifth realized that Chen Yingfeng winked at him to tell him about Wang Jiusi's various "capabilities". After getting this hint, he immediately cheered and said: "This demon skill is really amazing. I remember that he came in for the first meal. He ate the vegetables first, and then the dishes. Wanting to drink water, I asked my staff to boil a piece of boiling hot water in Choshi, and he took it and gulped it dry in one gulp. One drop on our hands would definitely cause a big blister, but the monster drank like a normal person, as if his throat was made of copper." Several officials stood by the courtyard and listened to the black old five's talk. Wang Zhuan smiled and asked Qin Yongxi: "Master Qin, do you believe what this black old five said?" Qin Yongxi has a quick temper, but he is a responsible person. He thought for a while and replied: "Wang Jiusi's evil sects, I have heard of them before, but I can't take it seriously." Wang Zhuan took over the conversation, glanced at Chen Yingfeng and said, "Lord Qin is right, what you hear is not what you hear, what you see is what you see. Mr. Chen, can you let Wang Jiusi perform a trick or two for us?" This was what Chen Yingfeng wanted, and he immediately replied: "It's not difficult, but I don't know what Master Qin wants." Qin Yongxi thought to himself that as long as he could see that Wang Jiusi was alive, he replied, "It's not a bad idea to have a look. What is Master Chen planning to let Yao Dao perform?" "It's not too much trouble for you two to move," Chen Yingfeng pointed to the empty room, and said, "Let Yaodao come here and perform pancakes with bean paste." "What the hell is bean stuffed pancake?" Qin Yongxi asked worriedly. "This is a riddle, so it's meaningless to tell it first." Chen Yingfeng's sunken eye sockets flickered, and she said, "Hey old five, you can take care of the affairs here, and the two adults will follow me to the front courtyard first." Drink tea in the house, come back later to see." Qin Yongxi and Wang Zhuan followed Chen Yingfeng to drink tea in the prison room in the front yard. During this period, Chen Yingfeng came out again and whispered something to the black old five in the "snack room".Finally, he whispered: "You go to the ear room of the duty hall to ask Uncle Xu for instructions. If he agrees, you can do it later." After speaking, he returned to the small room. This time, after drinking tea for about half an hour, Hei Laowu came to invite them back to the dim sum room.As soon as the three of them entered the yard, they saw two guards standing on the corridor, escorting a prisoner whose hands were clasped behind his back and tied with thick hemp rope, and whose head was covered with a black cloth cover. "This is Wang Jiusi." Chen Yingfeng introduced. Qin Yongxi had never met Wang Jiusi, so he asked Wang Zhuan, "Is he a demon?" Wang Zhuan turned to ask Chen Yingfeng: "Mr. Chen, can you take off his hood?" Chen Yingfeng nodded, and with a gesture, the jailer removed the prisoner's hood.Wang Zhuan glanced over and recognized Wang Jiusi without a doubt.It's just that he's been in prison for more than a month, and the guy's arrogant and domineering spirit is gone. "Yes, it's him." Wang Zhuan whispered to Qin Yongxi. At this time, the two guards pushed Wang Jiusi and shouted, "Kneel down!"Qin Yongxi and the others looked down, only to find that Wang Jiusi was barefoot, with a pair of large iron shackles tightly around his ankles, which looked like he weighed seventy or eighty catties. Wang Jiusi glared at the three officials in front of him evilly, neither speaking nor kneeling.Two guards stomped hard from behind, stomping on his knees. "Master Wang, are you safe and sound?" Wang Zhuan paced forward, looking at Wang Jiusi like he was examining prey in a cage. Wang Jiusi glanced at him contemptuously, then looked around at the people present, and said nonchalantly: "You are a dick, Emperor Longqing is dead, and now I am in your hands, you can kill me or cut me up." A dignified court official was scolded by criminals. Wang Zhuan couldn't hold back his face. He was furious and was about to explode. Just wait and see how I, Master Chen, deal with you." After all, with a wave of their hands, the two jailers put the hood on Wang Jiusi as before.At this time, two servants brought in a large vat with a cover, walked to the door of the empty room and rested, lifted the cover, and saw green smoke rising from the vat.Qin Yongxi and Wang Zhuan stretched their heads to see that the jar was full of small pebbles the size of soybeans, each of which was burnt black and scorching hot.The two guards used the wooden-handled shovels they brought with them to shovel the stones in the jar onto the floor of the empty room. A scorching heat wave rushed outward, making Wang Zhuan and Qin Yongxi unable to stand. Had to retreat to the other side of the patio. "Put the demon way in!" As soon as Chen Yingfeng spoke, the prison guards in charge joined hands, lifted Wang Jiusi and went into the empty room.At this time, all the hot stones in the vat had been thrown on the ground, and Wang Jiusi, who was wearing a hood, was thrown into the room on all fours. Call.I saw Wang Jiusi rolling all over the ground -- but he didn't know that the rolling burned countless hot stones all over his body. In a short while, Wang Jiusi's clothes were completely burnt, and his whole body made a "cracking" sound. Smoked from being scalded by small stones.The thick hemp rope binding his hands was also burned, and the headgear was also burned.Perhaps it was the instinct to survive, Wang Jiusi stood up like a carp, and ran towards the door like crazy.Seeing this, Hei Wu hurriedly went up to block it. Wang Jiusi didn't know where the strength came from, but he picked up the bull-like Hei Wu with both hands like a chicken, and slammed it into the house.This time, it's the turn of Hei Wu to make "bean stuffed pancakes".All of a sudden, there was a howling like a pig being killed in the house.At the same time, Wang Jiusi snatched a knife from Fan Ye, and endured the pain of thousands of arrows piercing through his heart to chop off the iron chain between the shackles, but the iron chain was thicker than a fist, how could this knife break it? of?Wang Jiusi "Qiang, Qiang, Qiang" cut several times, and the knife edge was cut into several large pieces, leaving only a few marks on the iron chain.Wang Jiusi had no choice but to give up, so he limped towards the outer courtyard with an iron chain in one hand and a knife in the other. Besides, Wang Zhuan and Qin Yongxi, who originally wanted to see something strange, including Chen Yingfeng, did not expect things to change like this.When Wang Jiusi hurried out the door, all three of them were dumbstruck, unable to move even half a step.When Wang Jiusi slashed the chain with his knife, someone shouted "Run!", and the three of them ran towards the outer courtyard like hawks.After all, this place is a place of prison and confinement. Whenever there is any movement, swordsmen rush from all directions.When the three of them ran to the outer courtyard, they saw that there were already more than a dozen soldiers with guns and knives, and the gate of the courtyard was tightly sealed.Seeing these subordinates, Chen Yingfeng calmed down a little, and he immediately ordered: "Quick, you rush in and catch Yaodao." Before the words finished, Wang Jiusi stumbled to the front yard.At this time, he was naked all over, his skin was torn apart.His face was covered with stones and dirty blood, and one eyeball was burned out and rested on his cheek.This is like a devil, and anyone who sees it is afraid. "Quick, kill him!" Wang Zhuan shouted nervously. "No, you can't kill him." Qin Yongxi immediately stopped him sharply. Although he was still in shock, he still did not forget his duty and wanted to bring a living person back to do business. Whether to kill or not to kill, Wang Jiusi didn't seem to hear these yells at all. At this moment, he pressed the knife on the ground with one hand, and stretched out his other hand to his face to touch the burning eyeball. He put it in his mouth, chewed a few mouthfuls and swallowed it, then laughed wildly and said, "I swallowed a Yin-Yang Dabu Dan." As he spoke, his body twitched, and then his whole body convulsed.He loosened his grip on the knife and grabbed his chest with both hands. "What happened to him?" Qin Yongxi asked in horror. "It hurts." Chen Yingfeng said happily.At this time, he had completely recovered his normal state, nervously watching the good show he directed. After scratching wildly, Wang Jiusi suddenly lost his eyes, fell to the ground, moved his limbs a few times, and then died of bleeding from his seven orifices. "he died!" Chen Yingfeng shouted, her tone was particularly excited.Qin Yongxi hurried forward and leaned over to roll over Wang Jiusi's eyelids. Sure enough, his pupils dilated and he was no longer breathing. "Hurry up and save Hei Laowu." Someone shouted. Everyone flocked into the "snack room" again, only to see that the black fifth child had already died on the threshold of that room, bleeding from all seven orifices. Chen Yingfeng knelt down to look, then stood up and stomped her feet, pretending to be in pain, and shouted: "It's just you two adults who insist on watching some pancakes with bean paste. Five compensations and go in. I will enter the palace and report to Mr. Feng." After saying that, he was about to leave, but Wang Zhuan grabbed him and argued, "Mr. Chen, don't slander others when something happens. It was you who wanted us to know what bean stuffed pancakes are, and how did it end up being our business?" Chen Yingfeng said: "Why not you? You said you wanted Wang Jiusi to perform a trick or two. Master Qin also nodded in agreement, so I ordered the Wang Jiusi figured it out." Chen Yingfeng refused to let anyone know what to do, and kept talking.Although Qin Yongxi and Wang Zhuan didn't understand how big a conspiracy was hidden here, they already realized that they had fallen into Chen Yingfeng's trap.Since the matter was so important, Wang Zhuan still wanted to reason, but Qin Yongxi stopped him and said calmly: "Mr. Chen, Wang Jiusi and Hei Lao Wu all died of bleeding from the seven orifices. This is definitely not a symptom of being scalded." Chen Yingfeng snorted and said arrogantly: "That's the way to die with bean stuffed pancakes." Grasping this point, Qin Yongxi asked: "Since you know that this criminal law will kill people, why do you insist on doing it?" Chen Yingfeng bit her to death: "It's not me, it's you two adults who want to see it!" "Since Wang Jiusi is dead, can we carry him away?" "It's not good to live, it's even worse to die." "why?" "This is the rule of Dongchang." Qin Yongxi and Wang Zhuan looked at each other, feeling helpless. After hearing the news of the death of the demon king Jiusi, Liu Ziqiang, Shangshu of the Ministry of Justice, felt that the matter was not trivial, so he hurried to the cabinet with Qin Yongxi to report to Gao Gong.Ever since the three speakers in the Sixth Branch Corridor sounded the Dengwen drum in the morning, there has been uproar inside and outside the Forbidden City. When no one is safe, one can imagine how busy the cabinet is.Both Zhang Juzheng and Gao Yi were sick and stayed at home, so Gao Gong was on duty alone.The people who came to see him came one after another. Some of them had routine business, such as officials from other provinces coming to Beijing to make a pilgrimage to the cabinet to listen to the instructions of the chief minister, and some of them were unable to sit still because of the beating of Dengwen's drum, so they came to the cabinet to inquire about news.The latter are all princes and relatives, such as Zhu Xixiao, the Duke of Cheng, Xu Congcheng, the Prince Consort, and so on. They are not such people, and Gao Gong will not meet them.Just a dozen or so groups of people came to receive them like a revolving door, and it was already the closing time in the afternoon.Gao Gong didn't even bother to eat lunch, he just sat in the guard room and drank a bowl of vegetable soup indiscriminately, and ate two corn buns.There were three or four groups of people waiting outside, but Liu Ziqiang jumped in because it was urgent.As soon as he finished speaking, Gao Gong let out an exclamation: "What, dead?" Gao arched his body upright, and nearly knocked over the grand master's chair he was sitting on.Liu Ziqiang knew that Gao Gong was impatient, and he was afraid that he would say something unpleasant next time, so he said cautiously: "Death is definitely dead, but it is very strange. Qin Yongxi saw it clearly at the scene, and Wang Jiusi , and the prison boss, the black fifth, all died of bleeding from the seven orifices, which is obviously not scalded to death." "You said, how did you die?" Gao Gong asked Qin Yongxi. Qin Yongxi has been embarrassed because he failed the errands twice, and now only half of his buttocks are sitting on the stool, and he replied timidly: "According to the suspicion of the next official, those hot stones contain See the poison that seals the throat with blood." "Feng Bao is killing people to silence him." Liu Ziqiang interjected. Gao Gong didn't make a sound for a while, and after taking a long breath, he said slowly: "Killing people to kill people, there is no doubt about it, Feng Bao's methods are poisonous." "Shoufu," Qin Yongxi raised his head, and said bravely, "Before coming, the lower officials suggested to Mr. Liu in the Ministry Hall that the Ministry of Punishment should issue another public complaint to impeach Feng Bao on this matter." "Impeach him for what?" Gao Gong asked. "Just impeach him and kill him." Gao Gong shook his head and said with a smile: "Qin Yongxi, you are not impeaching Feng Bao, but praising him for doing good deeds." "what?" Both Liu Ziqiang and Qin Yongxi were slightly surprised. Gao Gong continued: "The current emperor is young, and now Li Guifei is really in charge. Think about it, does Li Guifei want Wang Jiusi to die, or does she want Wang Jiusi to live?" "Of course I want Wang Jiusi to die," Liu Ziqiang replied. "That's right," Gao Gong stared at the two of them with piercing eyes, and said with emotion, "The old man suggested that the Ministry of Criminal Affairs be punished, and that Wang Jiusi should be transferred from the East Factory to the Sanju Judiciary for arrest and conviction. He was also asked to die. It’s just the punishment of the Ming Dynasty. Just sent the court tickets in yesterday, and the emperor’s approval of Zhu has not yet come out. The Dongchang side killed Wang Jiusi in front of you, a member of the Ministry of punishment, Wai Lang, and the patrolling censor. This is a preemptive move. The man was caught by Dongchang, and then three people faced Liumian and died in Dongchang. In this matter, not only would Concubine Li not convict Feng Bao, but on the contrary, she would say that he had done a great deed. " After listening to Shoufu's analysis, Qin Yongxi blushed and muttered: "Since this is the case, why should we go to Dongchang to ask for someone?" Gao Gong rolled his eyes at him, and reprimanded angrily: "Fortunately, you are still a member of the Ministry of Criminal Affairs, and you ask such stupid things. The three courts detain you and ask the case. This is the government's normal course. What is Dongchang? Shameful espionage activities. They caught Wang Jiusi, how can the government not say a word, not even have an attitude?" Suffering from this robbing, Qin Yongxi was so ashamed that he wished he could find a crack to get in.Seeing the embarrassment of his subordinates, Liu Ziqiang felt sorry, so he stood up to smooth things over and said: "This matter has not been handled well, and I, as an official of the Ministry of Punishment, should also be responsible. The only remedy now is to report to the emperor quickly, Report the news of Wang Jiusi's death, stating that Wang Jiusi died during the negotiation between the Ministry of Criminal Justice and Dongchang. The second is to publish the news in the Dibao, and at the same time list Wang Jiusi's various crimes in detail, and use it as a warning to the world. Is it appropriate to deal with it? Supplementary indication." Gao Gong thought that everyone was dead, and he would be at a disadvantage no matter how to remedy it, so he didn't want to waste his brains on this matter, so he replied impatiently: "Just deal with it as you said, and the writing should be considered, don't bother What kind of mistake did you make?" After saying that, he raised his hand to see off the guests. Liu Ziqiang and Qin Yongxi had just left when Gao Gong said he would take a nap on the Taishi chair before receiving the next guest, when he suddenly heard the door slam, as if it was knocked open instead of being pushed.Opening his eyes, Han Yi was already standing in front of him panting. "Shou Fu," Han Yi yelled angrily before he even had time to salute, "Is something serious going on again?" "What's the big deal?" Gao Gong suddenly stood up. "The Minister of the Household Department, Zhu Heng, is also going to beat the Dengwen Drum." "He beats the drum? Why does he beat it?" "It's still about paying for the Chaobai River project." "Have you persuaded him?" "Luo Zun is persuading us, but Master Zhu thinks he is a veteran of the court, so he doesn't take us seriously. Unless the chief assistant comes forward in person, otherwise..." Before Han Yi finished speaking, Gao Gong had already flashed out the door with his official robe in his hand. Han Yi was taken aback, grabbed a handful of gold-painted crow bone fan that Gao Gong had left on the table, and trotted out after him. It was not far from the cabinet to the Huangji Gate where the Dengwen Drum was erected. As soon as Gao Gong came out of the Huiji Gate, he saw about a dozen people surrounded by the Hongzheng Gate at the east end of the Huangji Gate.Among them was a hale and hearty old man in a second-grade Golden Pheasant Xiabu official robe, who was gesticulating and arguing with others. This person was Zhu Heng. However, he said that Zhu Heng went to the cabinet to find Gao Gong for the payment of the Chaobai River project a few days ago.At that time, Gao Gong tried to persuade him and promised to solve it within two days.Unexpectedly, two days later after the deadline, the household department still refused to allocate funds.The Chaobaihe construction site was forced to suspend work due to running out of money and food, and some workers who could not get paid would gather crowds to make trouble every few days.If it continues like this, not only will all previous efforts be wasted, but if it is not done well, a major rebellion by migrant workers will break out under the eyes of the emperor.Zhu Heng is not only the Minister of the Ministry of Industry, but also the Director of Engineering of Chaobai River. How can he not be in a hurry when he sees the situation?This morning he went to the Ministry of Households to negotiate again. Zhang Benzhi, Minister of the Household Department, heard that he was coming, but he knew he couldn't handle it, so he slipped out the back door.Only one Yuanwailang who can't be a family member is left to deal with him.Zhu Heng went straight to the point and explained what he came for. The Yuanwailang smiled and said, "No matter how urgent Mr. Zhu is, it will take two days. If you have money, you can start the Chaobai River project. If you don't have money, you can stop work. No one will fight with you." Seriously." Zhu Heng answered unhappily: "The Chaobai River project is a major event set by the late emperor, and the completion time of the project scale is set before the emperor. As the governor of engineering, how dare I neglect the important matter of the court!" Mr. Shangshu has a long history, so he simply pointed out: "The most important thing for the imperial court at the moment is how to take over the power of affairs to the government. This morning, the three officials of the Sixth Section Corridor knocked on the Wengu and folded bullets to impeach Feng Bao. I think Mr. Zhu I don’t know.” Zhu Heng was tired of this Yuanwailang’s slick tongue, but because of his status, it was inconvenient for him to attack, so he replied patiently: “The battle between the palace and the government is certainly a big event, but it’s impossible to let all the court officials stop doing their jobs , and swarmed to participate in these endless power struggles. Now you have to answer, will the construction funds of Chaobai River be paid or not today?" Yuan Wai-lang thought to himself that Master Zhu was an elm-headed man, Then he declined and said: "I don't know the details of this matter, so we have to decide on it. The Lord of the Ministry goes out to do business. If you want to transfer money, you have to wait for him." Leave Zhu Heng alone in the duty room and wait foolishly.After waiting for almost an hour, Zhang Ben went straight back to the Yamen.It was still an old servant who secretly said to Zhu Heng when he came in to refill tea: "Master Zhu, you don't have to be a fool to wait for a girl here. Our minister just avoided walking away when he saw you coming. You are If you wait here for a whole day, you will definitely not see him." Zhu Heng was furious when he heard this, and he left the household department and boarded the sedan chair to go back to the yamen.The more I thought about it, the more uncomfortable I felt, so I simply wrote a report to impeach Zhang Benzhi for his dereliction of duty and delaying the country's water transportation.After the draft was corrected, it was transcribed into two copies, and then carried to the Meridian Gate of the Forbidden City in a sedan chair.From here, I got out of the sedan chair, and went to the Sixth Section Corridor to inform Huke to Shizhong Luo Zun, and gave him a copy of the booklet for filing, while I took the original copy and walked with eight-character square steps to knock on the door of Huangji. smell the drum. Since Cheng Wen, Luo Zun and Lu Shude played the Dengwen Drum in the morning, a group of officials in the Sixth Division Corridor were as excited as if they had won an examination in the examination hall, thinking that this must have left a name in history.In addition, relevant and irrelevant officials from all yamen in the capital came to express their opinions and congratulate them.At this moment, it suddenly broke out that Zhu Heng, the Minister of the Ministry of Industry and Industry who had gone through three dynasties, was also going to beat the drum, but it was Zhang Benzhi, the Minister of the Ministry of Households of the other Da Jiuqing, who was impeached.Isn't this the government's "internal strife"?If the Dengwen drum sounded for the second time, the situation that had already formed a one-sided situation with the same hatred and hatred would become unpredictable, and the officials of the Sixth Section Corridor were all startled to sweat.Han Yi immediately reported to the cabinet, and Luo Zunze led several people to follow Zhu Heng towards Huangji Gate. Before the sun was set, although the sun was already in the west, the sun was shining obliquely, and it was still burning like oil.It was only a few hundred feet away from the sixth branch gallery to the Huangji Gate. When Zhu Heng stepped on the brick road to the ground, his sweatshirt was soaked through, and large areas of sweat stained his official robe.At this time, apart from the imperial guards guarding the gate, there was not a single idler at Huangji Gate.The Chuanzhe eunuch who was usually on duty at the gate didn't know which room he went to enjoy the cool.Standing in the shade under the eaves of the door, Zhu Heng gasped for a few breaths, then raised his hand to get the drumsticks from Dengwen's drum stand. Luo Zun stepped forward, held down the drumstick, and persuaded him bitterly: "Master Zhu, once this Dengwen drum is struck, it will be overwhelmed, and I hope you will think twice about it." Zhu Heng gave Luo Zun a blank look, and reprimanded: "What is your intention to stop me so many times?" Luo Zun said: "The lower officials feel that the boss's matter can be resolved by the government, and there is no need to disturb the emperor." The "government" that Luo Zun refers to actually refers to Gao Gong.It is this "government" that shirks the blame for Zhu Heng's anger.Gao Gong coaxed him to drill the chimney, but Zhang Benzhi let him shut the door.This letter shows the impeachment of Zhang Benzhi, and Gao Gong is involved in the stumbling behind the text, but this level cannot be explained.Seeing that Luo Zunhu held the drumstick tightly and refused to let go, Zhu Heng became anxious, and almost poked Luo Zun's nose with his finger. He gritted his teeth and said, "If the government can solve it, I'm still here to do something. Crazy? Seven years ago, this Dengwen drum was knocked by Hai Rui once, and that time he carried the coffin. This morning, you knocked it again. Now, I have made up my mind and made a final decision. Get out of the way!" Seeing Zhu Heng being so stubborn and hurting people with his words, Luo Zun, who had been smiling all the time, couldn't hold back, and he didn't care about the rank of the official, so he said: "Master Zhu, don't rely on the old and sell the old here. To put it bluntly, if you beat this drum, you will be condemned by the people of the world!" "I've been through three dynasties, and I've been appointed to the rank of Jiuqing. I'm still afraid that you, a little speech officer, will scare me? Get out of the way!" Zhu Heng was already furious at this point, and was about to push Luo Zun away to take the drumstick, when he suddenly heard someone shouting from behind: "Brother Shi Nan, please calm down." Turning his head, he saw Gao Gong slipping down the brick road trot over. "Chief!" All the officials shouted and avoided the road to salute.Zhu Heng was in a fit of anger, when he saw Gao Gong coming, he just snorted, clasped his fists with both hands and forced a meeting salute. "Brother Shinan, why did you come here?" Gao Gong asked knowingly. Zhu Heng took out the notebook from his bosom, handed it to Gao Gong and said, "You can see it after reading it." After Gao Gong finished reading the scriptures, he took a step closer and whispered to Zhu Heng, "Brother Shi Nan, the forbidden area of ​​the imperial gate is not a place to discuss issues. Can we take a step to talk?" Zhu Heng made up his mind to beat the Dengwen drum, but still replied angrily: "I'm here to play the drum, what else is there to discuss!" After eating this "choke", Gao Gong was stunned for a moment, and then said: "Brother Shinan, I am not stopping you from beating the drum. Even though I am the chief assistant, I have no such right. Going down, I'm afraid I will wrong a good person." Zhu Heng heard something in Gao Gong's words, and asked, "Who did I wrong?" "Zhang Benzhi." "He repeatedly delayed the payment of the project fee and delayed the major project. How could he be wronged?" "The delayed payment of the Chaobai River project was originally the old man's instruction," Gao Gong knew that he could no longer hide it, so he simply explained the whole story.Then he explained, "The Ministry of Rituals is 10% off. The cabinet's proposal has been sent to the palace. The emperor's approval is just a matter of two days. If the emperor is sympathetic to the country's difficulties and waived this etiquette, I owe you a project of two hundred thousand taels." Payment will be made immediately.” "What if the emperor approves the performance of the Ministry of Rites?" “潮白河的工程款还是要给，只是得拖延几日，”高拱叹了一口气，揽起袖口擦试满头的热汗，韩揖趁机递上那把描金乌骨折扇，高拱一边扇一边说道，“士南兄，张本直对你避而不见，并不是故意推诿。他一半原因是怕见了你不好交待，另一半的原因乃是老夫给他下了死命令，务必三两日内，一定要筹集到二十万两纹银交于你。” 朱衡虽然生性秉直，是九卿中有名的倔老汉。但毕竟身历三朝，官场上的各种把戏看得多了，因此心堂透亮。高拱这么急急忙忙前来劝阻，原意是怕他杀横枪，打乱他围剿冯保的全盘部署。另外还不显山不露水地透出一个威胁：这二十万两银子是为当今皇上生母李贵妃备下的——现在惟有她能代表全体后宫嫔妃的利益。你这道折子递上去，岂不是往李贵妃的脸上抹锅烟子？这后头的结果，难道你掂量不出来？ 朱衡悟到这一层，顿时觉得拿在手上的这道折子如一个烫手的山芋。但他心中仍有一种受了愚弄的感觉，因此愤愤不平地说：“首辅大人，说起来你们全都有理，我按章程办事，反倒是无理取闹了。” “你是部院大臣中难得的秉公之士，谁说你无理取闹了？”高拱听出朱衡有借机下台阶的意思，连忙沉下脸来对侍立一旁的言官们吼道，“你们这群瞪眼鸡，还不过来给朱大人赔个不是。” 言官们纷纷打躬作揖道歉，然后七嘴八舌硬是把朱衡劝着离开了皇极门。