Chapter 62 Thirty-fifth round of officials offering sacrifices to Tong Liben and mercilessly burning down old alleys

Today is Tong Liben's public memorial day. Tong Liben has been dead for nine days, and there is an endless stream of people who come to express their condolences every day.The Yangwei Hutong where the Tong's house is located was originally not very spacious, but now it has already been filled with ghost objects such as scrolls, summoning souls, paper figures, paper horses and so on.The weather in the capital is surprisingly good at these times, the sky is blue during the day and full of stars at night.The plain paper and plain flowers that are not exposed to the rain are piled up in an alley that is long in the road, and they are piled up in clumps, with no room for feet.Early this morning, officials who participated in the public sacrifice came from all directions one after another, and all had to park their sedan chairs on the street outside the entrance of the alley.And a dozen signed bills and promised to welcome the guests, and they all moved from the front of Tongli's main courtyard to the entrance of the alley.From time to time, I heard them patchwork, shouting methodically:

 "Master Wailang Jiang, a member of the official department, has arrived——"  "Master Zhao, the doctor of the Ministry of punishment, has arrived—"  "Master Wailang Xia, member of the Ministry of Rituals, has arrived—"  "Master Jia, the head of the Armed Forces Department of the Ministry of War, has arrived—"  "Master Fang, Shaoqing of Dali Temple, has arrived—"  "Master Gu, the censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, has arrived—" Every roll call was followed by the deafening suona mourning music and the extremely skilled dry howling of the weeping women.Although Tong Liben's fate was difficult during his lifetime, the mourning and honor after his death was much stronger than that of Gao Yi, the Minister of Rites who died a month before him. This public sacrifice was initiated by Wang Xilie, so he naturally came earlier.He was very satisfied with the mournful atmosphere in the alley.At these times, Wang Xilie's mood alternated between excitement and depression. He competed with Zhang Juzheng. Although he was at a disadvantage, the occurrence of the Tong Liben incident gave him the upper hand.The pepper and sumac discount salary implemented by the Ministry of Households actually messed him up.

 During these times, he did a lot of things against Zhang Juzheng, and every time he made a move, Zhang Juzheng was passive.For this reason, he was quite proud of himself.But he also knew that he didn't have such a great ability in the first place, because Zhang Juzheng implemented the two things of "pepper sumac salary" and "Beijing inspection" when he took office. He hit a boat with a penny and offended almost all Beijing officials.As the saying goes, there is a fish where there is a fish, and there is a shrimp where there is a shrimp. If you talk about how to amass money and search for the people, in the officialdom where corruption is common, most officials have a story.Don't talk about taking two months of pepper and sumac as a discount, even if they take another two years, they will still eat delicious and spicy food every day, and their farts will smell of pastry.The reason why the Beijing officials are full of resentment is that, firstly, they feel that Zhang Juzheng, the chief assistant, is too unkind, and since he took office, he put on an iron cock, refusing to give any real benefits to his officials; , The "Self-Chen Buzhi Shu" of senior officials above the fourth rank has been submitted to the imperial court, and the self-reporting posts of officials below the fourth rank have also been collected in the yamen of the official department.Among them, whoever can stay in office will be demoted and whoever will lose their membership, and the cover will be lifted in a few days.Anyone with a discerning eye knows that the sternly worded decree issued by the young emperor at the beginning of the Jingchao was originally Zhang Juzheng's masterpiece, so it can be seen that the tone of the Jingchao this time was set by him.A few days ago, the Ministry of Officials even consulted with each yamen, affirming that those guilty of corruption, perverting the law, forming a party for personal gain, dereliction of duty, and engaging in evil activities will be punished more severely, and those who are corrupted by ink will be punished especially severely.Beijing officials took selfies in the mirror, all feeling a sense of crisis.Out of defense needs, those officials who thought they could not pass the test in Beijing took the initiative to move closer to Wang Xilie, using Tong Liben's death to make a big fuss, attacking this as "tyranny".There is also a saying in official circles that this approach is called "counter-control".Knowing that you want to punish me, I will seize your problem and make a big fuss before you do it, so as to have a good time.At this time, if you use your power to impeach and remove the attacker, it will inevitably arouse public outrage.Those involved often give up when they throw their hands at the mouse.Under normal circumstances, this kind of "counter-counter" struggle strategy will mostly be effective.

Seeing the rising dissatisfaction among officials day by day, Wang Xilie couldn't even mention how happy he was.At the beginning, he hoped that Wei Xuezeng would take the lead in causing trouble, but now he realized that his ability is not bad, so he did his part and regarded the Ministry of Rites as the base camp of the opposition.He and Wei Xue once discussed that Nanjing Huke would impeach Wang Guoguang by Gui Yuanqing in the incident, and try the wind direction.Three days later, the emperor issued a decree to punish Gui Yuanqing by cutting his nationality.After the officials saw the oracle in the mansion newspaper, they dared not speak out.In this situation, Wang Xilie discussed with Wei Xuezeng that he would find "his own people" among the six subjects and thirteen officials to follow suit, to complain to Gui Yuan, and then to impeach Wang Guoguang for the loss of salary of pepper and sumu.In short, what he thinks and thinks is to make this "counter-control" struggle in full swing and form a prairie fire.The person who wrote the impeachment papers on the other end was still collecting evidence and laying out rhetoric. On the other end, he taught Yang Yongcheng face-to-face how to be arrogant, and then sent Ji Yougong to the Ministry of Households to apply for money. department. "When you hit a snake, you need to hit seven inches. The 'seven inches' of Zhang Juzheng's poisonous snake is exactly the household department." Wang Xilie said this to his confidant when he was happy.He thought he was using a trump card.Unexpectedly, Yang Yongcheng and Ji Yougong came back one after another that day, and reported their experiences to him, and he suddenly felt that something was wrong.Jin Xuezeng, a small ninth-rank official, insulted and beat a sixth-rank official in the Ministry of Rites. Not only was he not punished, but was personally interviewed by Zhang Juzheng and Wang Guoguang; Track down the whereabouts of the five thousand taels of incense tax silver.Yesterday, there was even more shocking news: Empress Dowager Li ordered Yang Yongcheng to be arrested and sent to Jinyiwei Prison.And the auditing team led by Jin Xuezeng has also been formed, and will come to the Ministry of Rites for inspection soon.At night, he visited Uncle Wuqing's mansion and learned that the meeting between their father and son and Queen Mother Li was not satisfactory.All kinds of clues showed that Zhang Juzheng had regained the trust of Empress Dowager Li, and he was about to use his household department for surgery.Wang Xilie suddenly had the feeling that the end was imminent, but he didn't turn his head back. The situation has developed to this point, and he can only fight to the death.

Wang Xilie became cruel and planned to use Tong Liben's public sacrifice to launch another violent attack on Zhang Juzheng.Fortunately, the new minister of the Ministry of Rites has not yet been appointed, and he, the left servant, has the final say on all the affairs of the Ministry.Therefore, he ordered all the officials of the Ministry of Rites to dispatch, and all officials who had gone to Tong Liben's house to express their condolences would send an invitation issued by the Ministry of Rites to participate in the public sacrifice.  Now, Wang Xilie is walking in Yangwei Hutong, seeing more and more familiar and unfamiliar faces, and his self-confidence has increased to some extent.While walking and watching, I came to the gate of Tong Liben's yard unconsciously, and caught a glimpse of Tong Congshe sitting on a wooden armchair in filial piety, salivating, looking at him smiling foolishly, and feeling bored in my heart.He asked the Wang Dianli who had been handling the matter here:

 "Why is he like this?" Wang Dianli replied: "He is not bad now. When he was just carried out, he howled for a while, 'I want—father——', and then looked at these paper figures and horses, and smirked and shouted, 'It's beautiful—'. He doesn't know what happened when his father died." Wang Xilie was very good at learning, and Wang Xilie became more and more uncomfortable when he saw it, and ordered: "Move him somewhere. Come on, the adults will come later, it looks too indecent."  "Back to the adults, I think it's good to let him stay here," Wang Dianli blinked cunningly, and replied, "The public sacrifice can't Without the presence of a filial son, Mr. Tong is just such a baby bump right now."

 "Doesn't he still have a son?" Wang Xilie asked. "There is one. But I am far away from my hometown Panyu to participate in the provincial examination, thousands of miles away from the capital. I'm afraid I haven't heard the news of my father's death yet."The two were talking, sitting on the wooden armchair Chai Er suddenly yelled "Dad—" at Wang Xilie, Wang Xilie suddenly seemed to be stung by a scorpion, and hurriedly took a step away.  "Don't bark, if you bark again, I'll just—" Wang Dianli wiped Chai'er's neck, and Chai'er was so frightened that he burst into tears.

 "Tong Liben was so unlucky, it's better to die. The dutiful son in the world, this is the most decent one I've ever seen." Wang Xilie walked away with a sigh. There are more and more people in Yangwei Hutong.Wang Xilie was wandering around to exchange greetings with the officials who came, when he suddenly heard another loud roll call from the entrance of the alley: "Master Wei, the left servant of the Ministry of Officials, has arrived—" Wang Xilie hurried up to greet him.Wei Xuezeng walked over with his head held high and his face indifferent. After the two exchanged their salutes, Wang Xilie said excitedly, "Qiguan, look at today's situation, it shows that the official's heart is against him."

 Wei Xuezeng looked around and said: "There are quite a few people here, but I checked the registration book just now, and I saw some strange things. One is that none of the officials in the yamen of the capital came forward; the other is that the household Not a single official from the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Industry came to participate.” Wang Xilie replied: "It's not difficult to explain. The officials of the six departments and nine ministers were all recently replaced by Zhang Juzheng, so naturally Afu was the chief assistant. As for the household department, it is even more obvious. The instigator of the salary discount, the Beijing officials are all angry at the head of the Ministry of Households, how can they have the face to participate in the public sacrifice? The Ministry of Industry is an exception. I heard that Zhu Heng, a stubborn old man, has issued a death order. Any official who dares to come to the memorial ceremony will be severely punished. Therefore, although there are officials in the Ministry of Industry who sympathize with Tong Liben, they dare not come here. Unexpectedly, Zhu Heng, an old stubborn bull, was trained so obediently by Zhang Juzheng Wei Xuezeng said: "This is Zhang Juzheng's excellence. He is very familiar with capturing thieves and capturing kings." Speaking of this, he asked again, "I heard that Zhang Juzheng a few days ago I went to the Ministry of Accounts, you know?"

 "Not only do I know, there's a story here." Wang Xilie looked around, and replied worriedly, "I'm thinking, Zhang Juzheng went to the Ministry of Households, and he must have given advice to Wang Guoguang face-to-face, how to take action against our Ministry of Rites." Wang Xilie went on to elaborate on what happened in the past few days.After Wei Xuezeng heard this, he sneered and said, "I heard that Empress Dowager Li ordered Yang Yongcheng to be arrested because she read Zhang Juzheng's protégé Ou Sui's book. Zhang Juzheng has been silent for many days, and now he finally did it."

Wang Xilie felt dejected, and said resentfully: "Zhang Jiangling always strikes late, Brother Qiguan, we can't beat him, but we can't make him feel better." Wei Xuezeng nodded, half angry and half worried, and said: "You probably don't know that Qiu Deyong, the steward of the Qing Palace, has also been dismissed." "What, Eunuch Qiu was dismissed?" Wang Xilie was startled, and hurriedly asked, "When did this happen?"  "It just happened." "Yeah, did he meet Ji Yougong yesterday morning?"  "Why did they meet?" "I asked Ji Yougong to disclose to him that the Ministry of Accounts is going to investigate the Taishan Fragrant Tax Bank."Wei Xuezeng sighed and said: "Qiu Deyong's dismissal may have something to do with this matter. In Ou Sui's book , It is said that Yang Yongcheng was greedy for huge amounts of tax money, and instead framed the Empress Dowager Li. Brother Ru Ding, no matter what, as long as it involves the Qianqing Palace, you must be cautious." Wei Xue once said this because he knew that Wang Xilie wanted to use the Taishan Fragrant Tax Bank as a "game" to frame Zhang Juzheng.Wang Xilie was stunned for a moment, then muttered: "Well, after all, women have long hair and short knowledge." "Yes, there is a woman, a child, and a rootless man in Da Nei. There is no way for this official to become an official." Wei Xuezeng complained openly, and then said, "This morning, the Secretary of Send the emperor's decree to comfort Wang Guoguang to the Ministry of Officials."  "The emperor is only ten years old, what do you know? The emperor's decree, hmph, to put it bluntly, it's not Zhang Juzheng's false name!" Wang Xilie was so annoyed that he spoke with a gun and a stick, "When Gaoge Laobing was in the country, there was one in the court. When the wind blows and the grass stirs, all the officials from all walks of life swarm the papers. Now that such a big event has happened, we can’t give a fart to the matter. There are one or two who have agreed to write the papers, and a few days have passed, and they are still reluctant. It's really unreasonable to come out with something."  "This is called this moment and that moment." Wei Xuezeng suddenly became calm, "Brother Ru Ding, since you have done something, don't regret it. Before we got here today, we did the worst. Plan. When a new master comes to the throne, he always implements a benevolent government, but now it is a tyrannical government. As ministers, we have no reason to cower and admit traitors as loyalty."  "According to Brother Qiguan's opinion, what is the next step?"  "Anyway, you and I have no way out."  "We know this. We mean, how to make things bigger." Wei Xuezeng pointed to the elegiac couplets on the black curtains that filled the alleys, and said with deep meaning: "It is unprecedented in the history of the country to hold such a large public sacrifice for a sixth-rank chief who hanged himself. Brother, isn't this event big enough?" Wang Xilie smiled dryly, then lowered his voice and asked, "Do you think Zhang Juzheng will intervene?"  "How did he interfere?"  "Such as sending troops to disperse or something?"  "Wouldn't it be nice if he did that?"   two people have a tacit understanding.After the conversation, Wang Xilie was busy with the public sacrifice again with lingering depression.  Flip the Si card, and the public sacrifice begins.The alley was crowded with more than a hundred officials, and the citizens who came to see the excitement also blocked the three floors in the entrance of the alley and the three floors outside.On the walls of the houses on both sides of the alley, there are also many children standing on the sidelines.A small alley, crowded with thousands of people.Wang Dianli found a good quality coffin for Tong Liben, and now it is carried to the street outside the courtyard.When the master of ceremonies announced the start of the public sacrifice, everyone stood in silence.After the dirge and music were played, Wang Xilie, who was standing in front of the coffin, began to chant aloud his elaborate sacrificial oration that had been polished by several screen friends: On a certain day in a certain month, the funeral of Tong Gong, the head of the Rites and System Department of the Ministry of Rites.Wang Xilie, the left servant of the Ministry of Rites, made a sacrifice for the text and said: Tonggong Liben, with the word auspicious. . Ren's family name in Panyu, Guangdong.When he was young, he entered Xiangxu and read poetry and books.At the age of 27, he won the Zhongjuren, and in the 32nd year of Jiajing, he will take the Jinshi examination.The first supplement. The county magistrate, following the promotion of the state, was later transferred to the Ministry of Rites and was honored as the principal.Listed for more than 20 years, not flattering, not flattering, not only superior; official life. During his career, he has a righteous voice, integrity and integrity.In the seventh month of Renshen, the whole family's livelihood fell into a desperate situation due to the loss of salary of pepper and sumac.The public has a breeze in both sleeves, and refuses to report that it is trapped in a strong stem.So he borrowed the three-foot white silk to end his life decisively.Woohoo, this is Yuan Zhong's silence. Chen, suddenly become a ghost with a hanging beam and a belly.The body is not cold, and rumors follow.When people discuss public stupidity, I will argue it; when people discuss public stupidity, I will treat it as straight. Woo Hoo Tong Gong, I wanted to meet the Holy Lord with scriptures, but I often saw the ministers who were jealous of the Prime Minister.Opening a government place, pleading for the people, and being reasonable. ; promotion to the capital, assisting the monarch to make ceremonies, and Wenzao competing for work.However, the male fox with nine tails cannot walk with the tiger and the wild goose;As a human being, a man with yang hatred and yin virtue is the foolishness of great wisdom; a man who conducts the world with ignorance but acts skillfully is the clumsiness of great skill; .However, the character of the public is not tolerated by officials.After 20 spring and Autumn calendars, I only got the sixth rank and died in charge.The ancients said: "I don't want to be a marquis of ten thousand households, but I hope to know Han Jingzhou." Now Fu Gong's coffin is unavoidable. Sorrow and sigh: Li Taibai often exists, but Han Jingzhou, who is thirsty for talents, is rare in a hundred years. See……  Wang Xilie shook his head and recited so far, and choked up.This is because the scene is full of emotion, and its sorrow is not in the deceased, but in what happened to oneself.Seeing the chief priest weeping so loudly, all the officials present were also moved by it.Then there was a small commotion in the crowd, and whispered discussions could be heard occasionally: "Master Wang treats his subordinates so kindly, and Tong Liben is very pleased if he knows it." Well, now Jingzhou is Jingzhou, but things are different and people are different.” These words imply that the current Chief Assistant is also from Jingzhou. Someone muttered: "There are also people who say that if Lord Wang shows a little grace, Lord Tong will not end up like this."   various discussions. Wang Xilie originally had an element of acting, but this time he entered the role with emotion.Just as he took out his handkerchief to wipe his tears, Chai Er, who was sitting in the wooden armchair, became excited again for no reason.He had never been out of the courtyard, let alone such a scene, and he found it amusing to see so many people wiping tears together.Immediately, his head shook wildly, and he shouted: "Father—" Then there was a muffled sound from below, and everyone went in without knowing it, but after a while they all smelled a strange smell.  "What are you doing?" Wang Dianli asked.  "I, I pooped." Chai Er burst into tears, and a long stream of saliva hung from the corner of her mouth. Wang Dianli pinched his nose, and wiped Chai'er's neck again.Wang Xilie, who was standing in front of him, suddenly felt nauseated. He moved two steps away, held his breath, and managed to suppress the nauseating feeling of wanting to vomit.Although he lost his mind, he still held his nose and held his breath and read the sacrificial text: Woohoo Tonggong, a sixth-grade upright official, desolate and poor scholar; Luodang Xiancao, similar to commoner.Look at the frivolous guests of fur horses, singing and feasting forever; skirt clogs.But the father does not seek new clothes, and does not eat to fill his belly.The son is lame, and the concubine is blind.Five feet of life, a thin   donkey.He was originally an official of the imperial court, but he became starved to death in the emperor's hometown.Take off the official robe and commit suicide, hang up the hematodes and hang the beam.May I ask whose fault it is. Whose fault is it? After reading this, Wang Xilie was already hoarse. He saw muscle spasms on his face, his eyes were bloodshot, and he almost wanted to beat his chest.This emotion infected all the people present, and someone shouted angrily:  "Whose fault, whose crime, must be traced clearly!"  Immediately, another person answered: "Yes, how can I become a fish in a dry trough and a piece of meat on an anvil." These words were provocative, and the officials who were already suffocated were all furious at this moment, and the alley suddenly seemed like a pot that exploded.Seeing this scene, Wang Xilie was very excited. He exchanged glances with Wei Xuezeng who was standing beside him, waved his hand to signal everyone to be quiet, cleared his throat, and was about to read on, when someone let out a howl like a pig:  "It's not good, it's on fire!" Everyone who heard it was shocked, and there was a commotion in the alley again.Wang Xilie thought it was someone's prank, and was about to make gestures to calm everyone down and listen to him finish the sacrificial oration.When I looked up, I saw thick smoke rising from the entrance of the alley, and the paper figurines and horses piled up there burst into flames for some reason.He immediately threw away the manuscript in his hand, forced himself to be calm and shouted loudly: "Don't panic, everyone, quickly get water and put out the fire." The ghost vessel made of paper Zhabu is so dry that it will break when folded.Now that there are flames licking over, and the narrow alley is also a draft, it will soon become a prairie fire.The entrance to the alley has been blocked by onlookers.The fire rushed into the alley, and the officials rushed to escape to the depths of the alley.But the footless fire runs faster than the footed officials.In a short while, the alley was already in flames.The dark objects, chairs, cars and sedan chairs were all immersed in the raging fire.Soon the flames burst into the house again, and the entire alley was immersed in the flames, and everywhere was burned with the sound of beeping, crackling, clattering, clattering, clattering, clattering and clattering.The wall here in Banglong fell down, and the house in Palala collapsed.The officials and people fleeing for their lives panicked, and many of them were dazed by the thick smoke. They wanted to escape, but instead they burrowed into the sea of ​​flames.Wang Xilie has always regarded himself as elegant, but has he ever seen such a tragic scene?Suddenly frightened, his legs were like mud and he collapsed to the ground.The officials and the people fleeing for their lives are already too busy to take care of themselves, so how can they control him?They trampled on him one after another, and within a short while, he was trampled black and blue, his face was swollen and his body was covered with cuts and bruises.Thanks to the officials of the Ministry of Rites, they tried their best to drag him up from the ground, and fled in a panic. There is also a person in the alley who does not run away, and this is Wei Xuezeng.This minister, who had led soldiers and served as the governor in the Liaodong camp, when he saw something happened, his first thought was not to run for his life but to put out the fire.Seeing all the officials running away like hawks, he quickly jumped onto Tong Liben's coffin and shouted loudly: "Don't run away, fight the fire with me!" But no matter how loud he shouted, no one listened to him.These officials, who are pampered and pampered on weekdays, only hate that their parents have lost two legs.Seeing how selfish they are, Wei Xuezeng turned black-faced Baogong, regretting that he shouldn't get involved with these worthless people.Just at this time, the legs of the stool on which the coffin was placed were burned off, and the coffin fell over. Wei Xuezeng was thrown to the ground, and was instantly burnt into a burning man by the rushing flames. "Lord Wei, run away!" A low-ranking official ran over to help him.He jumped up and slapped the man on the face, and cursed bitterly: "Look, the houses of the common people are on fire. As an official of the court, there is no reason to run away!" The low-ranking official didn't dare to stand still and argue, covered his face, and slipped away like a wheel.Wei Xuezeng was the only one left at the gate of Tong's house. He ran into Tong's house against the flames, took out a bucket of water, and poured it on an old official who was lying convulsed on the ground covered in fire.