Chapter 82 The Nineteenth Chapter Punishing the Crafty Servant and Enraged Zhang Shoufu Sues the Imperial Court to Coerce the Angry General

In a blink of an eye, it is the twelfth lunar month of winter, which is exactly three or nine days.Several days of heavy snow turned the city of Beijing into a world of jade and silver.The weather is short this season, and it is only after Youshi, and the sky is already completely dark, and everyone walking on the street has lit up lanterns.Zhang Juzheng's official sedan chair had just been carried out of the east corner gate of the imperial city.Due to the filling of vacancies by several local officials, he had a long discussion with Zhang Han, the current Minister of the Ministry of Officials, so he came out late.At this time, there were very few pedestrians on the street, and there were swirling snowflakes everywhere in the sky and on the ground. Although the sedan chair was covered with thick felt, Zhang Juzheng still felt cold under his feet.He rubbed his hands, suddenly thoughtful, picked up the small gavel in front of his heels, and knocked on the front panel of the sedan chair.Immediately, someone outside the sedan chair said:

"What are your orders?" This was the voice of Li Ke, the leader of the guards. Zhang Juzheng lifted a corner of the tightly covered car curtain, and immediately, the biting cold made his cheeks ache.Zhang Juzheng covered his mouth with his hands and ordered: "You send someone to inform the Wucheng Bingma Division that more people will be patrolling the streets tonight. If you encounter homeless beggars, arrange them as much as possible to keep them. Don't let these people freeze to death on the street." "yes." Li Ke took the order.Zhang Juzheng lowered the car curtain, the heavy cold made him cough a few times.At this moment, he was in a very bad mood—not because of the bad weather, but because of something that happened in the afternoon.

Before meeting with Zhang Han to discuss matters, he first summoned a member of the Household Department of the Sixth Branch Corridor.This person is Meng Wuyou, who was promoted by Jingcha from a magistrate of a county in Shaanxi to his present position the year before last.A few days ago, Meng Wuyou wrote a memorial to the emperor about the malpractice of horse administration.Zhang Juzheng's interest was aroused by the questions articulated in the booklet.So they sent someone to call Meng Wuyou to the cabinet for face-to-face questioning.During the conversation, Zhang Juzheng discovered that Meng Wuyou had thoroughly studied the pros and cons of horse politics in previous dynasties.I already had a good impression of him in my heart, so I praised him a few words in a very measured manner.Meng Wuyou smiled when he heard this, and took the opportunity to say:

"Thank you for your cultivation, Mr. Shoufu. No matter whether it is public or private, I, Meng Wuyou, will always follow Mr. Shoufu's lead." Hearing this, Zhang Juzheng cast a blank glance at Meng Wuyou, and asked, "What's public and private?" Meng Wuyou twitched a bit, and replied embarrassingly: "I am the cousin of Lord Shoufu, no, it is You Qi, the housekeeper of Lord Shoufu, so we can be regarded as close relatives." "Are you related to You Qi?" Zhang Juzheng sneered, shook his head and said, "All his relatives are in Jiangling, I don't know any of them, what kind of relative are you?"

"In-laws:" Meng Wuyou replied. "You Qi's wife is also from Jiangling, her surname is Wang, not Meng." "He asked for a second room this year." "Ah, so you are..." "You Qi's second room is my younger sister." As soon as Meng Wuyou's words fell, Zhang Juzheng's heart suddenly rose up with an unknown fire, but it was not easy to flare up in front of Meng Wuyou, so he only asked lightly: "what's your name?" "Meng Wuyou." "Well, people don't have long-term worries, but they must have near-term worries. Let's go."

As soon as Meng Wuyou came out of the house, Zhang Han arrived, and Zhang Juzheng focused on studying with him the candidates for the alternate officials, so he put aside his anger for the time being.Now sitting in the sedan chair and thinking of Meng Wuyou again, the unknown fire in my heart suddenly resumed. However, since Zhang Juzheng became the chief assistant, he has been extremely strict with his family members and distant relatives, and he will never allow anyone around him to support him in the officialdom in his name.There was an incident last year, someone falsely claimed that his cousin was cheating in Yangzhou, Nanjing, south of the Yangtze River, and he succeeded repeatedly.Some local officials competed to curry favor and spent a lot of money, and even Ying Tianfu Yin was deceived by him.In addition to feasting and entertaining, he was also given generous Sichuan funds.If Mr. Fu Yin hadn't written a letter to Zhang Juzheng to "show merit", Zhang Juzheng would still be in the dark.Although Zhang Juzheng immediately instructed the Ministry of Punishment to move Wenying Tianfu to arrest the fraudster after receiving the letter, but after all, the thief passed through the door and has not been found yet.Through this incident, Zhang Juzheng became more vigilant towards the people around him.The officialdom is dangerous, and he is really afraid that his family will find something wrong for him.

The snow fell harder and harder, and it rustled on the roof of the sedan chair in clusters. Fortunately, it was close to the mansion.After getting off the sedan chair in the sedan chair hall, You Qi opened the sedan chair door to greet him as usual.Zhang Juzheng gave him a blank look, and didn't say hello to him, but went to the back hall to change clothes.The house was burned with earth dragons to keep warm, so Zhang Juzheng changed into a light silk-cotton Taoist robe in addition to his crown clothes. After dinner in the dining hall, he went to the living room in the front yard.Not only did he come, even his wife, Mrs. Gu, followed.At this time, about twenty or thirty servants with some dignity in the Grand Scholars' Mansion were called to the living room. Everyone didn't know what happened, and they stood there whispering to each other and guessed. Lin Quezi suddenly became hoarse and fell silent. Seeing his master take his seat, they stood with their hands down, each with dumbfounded faces.

"You Qi!" Zhang Juzheng shouted. "The little one is here." You Qi walked out from the crowd, and since Zhang Juzheng got off the sedan chair, he could tell that the momentum was not good.Usually, Zhang Juzheng would let him know in advance which servants were going to be taught a lesson, but today even he didn't know about it, so You Qi guessed that this matter had something to do with him, and his heart was extremely nervous. Zhang Juzheng looked at the big housekeeper he had always relied on, and asked in a stern tone: "What have you done recently?" You Qi tried his best to conceal his inner panic, and replied with a smirk: "I report to the master every day what I do."

"Didn't you hide anything from me?" "No." You Qi was evasive.For more than a year, under the instigation of Xu Jue and others, You Qi is no longer the cautious You Qi he used to be. Twenty years ago, he gave himself an elegant nickname, Mr. Chu Bin. It has never been called out, and now, this name is like thunder in the official circles of the capital.How many people wanted to curry favor with the chief assistant and have nowhere to go, so they got acquainted with Mr. Chu Bin in order to climb up.Not to mention those mid-level officials, even among the senior bureaucrats of the third rank and fourth rank who opened the mansion and built the government, there are many people who call him brothers and sisters.Therefore, he took a lot of bribes in private, and bought hundreds of acres of high-quality good land in his hometown without telling Zhang Juzheng. .

Seeing that You Qi refused to invite him for two consecutive questions, Zhang Juzheng was furious, so he raised his voice and reprimanded loudly: "When did you ask for a second room?" "It's been almost four months, and the door passed on August 15th." Seeing that the master asked this, You Qi was relieved. He glanced at Mrs. Zhang and said with aggrieved words, "Please ask for this second room, my little one." I told my cousin." Although You Qi calls Zhang Juzheng a master, he still treats his wife according to relatives.It's been a long time, and they don't think it's strange to each other. At this time, Wang nodded and said to Zhang Juzheng:

"You Qi told me about it. I remember you were in Jixianglu at that time, so you didn't have any wedding wine. After you came back in a few days, I told you." Zhang Juzheng vaguely remembered this incident, but he still replied angrily: "But you didn't say anything about the origin of this second wife." "In terms of origin, I only know that her surname is Meng, her name is Meng Fang, she is originally from Shaanxi, and she lives in the capital city. I don't know the rest." Gu replied. "You Qi, tell me, what are you hiding?" Zhang Juzheng asked himself regardless of his wife's intention to protect You Qi. You Qi heard from the gaps in Zhang Juzheng's words that he already knew about this matter, and he couldn't hide his knowledge, so he had to tell the truth: "Meng Fang was born in an official family. Her father was a member of the state council and had retired long ago. Her brother's name is Meng Wuyou, and now he is in charge of the household division." "Ma'am, did you hear that?" When Wang heard about the family tree, she was also taken aback, and said, "I didn't expect You Qi to be so lucky to marry a lady from an official family as the second wife. I really should congratulate you." Zhang Juzheng replied angrily: "Congratulations, what do you think this is a marriage made in heaven? Bah, this is a dirty deal!" "Deal?" Wang was at a loss. "Think about it, You Qiyi has no fame, no property, a lady from an official family, why should she marry him? If it's the main wife, it's justified, but he's a second wife, why should he marry him?" Wang didn't think of this level before, so she followed her husband's words and asked You Qi: "That's right, You Qi, what do you mean?" You Qi was stunned, and replied with a blushing face, "This is a matchmaker. I met Meng Fang and we fell in love with each other, so we made an appointment for this marriage." "It's really that simple?" Zhang Juzheng sneered, "Do you know what Meng Wuyou said to me in the value room this afternoon? He said that he said it was public and private, and he always looked after me, the chief assistant. Am I dating relatives? Just this one sentence will completely expose his intention of marrying his sister to you." Only then did You Qi realize that Meng Wuyou had slipped his mouth. He wanted to help this brother-in-law, but he couldn't find a suitable opportunity.Now that something went wrong, he suddenly became paralyzed.Emotional knowledge, denial and sophistry will only arouse Zhang Juzheng's greater anger, so he can only plop down on his knees, begging: "Master, I know I was wrong. Before marrying Meng Fang back, I should tell the master about her background." "It's good to know what's wrong." Wang wanted to calm things down. Zhang Juzheng absolutely refused to show his wife face, and reprimanded: "Since the mistake has been committed, it must not be lightly forgiven, come here, and the family law will take care of it!" Li Ke, who had been waiting in the right wing earlier, brought four soldiers and came in upon hearing the sound.Seeing that they all had sticks in their hands, You Qi was so frightened that his face turned ashen, and he quickly kowtowed and begged: "Master, forgive me this time, little one." At this moment, all the servants in the living room were terrified, they all knelt down and begged in unison: "Master, please forgive Director You." Wang also wanted to intercede, but when she saw Zhang Juzheng's face was livid, knowing that speaking at this time would be like adding fuel to the fire, she could only cover her face and sigh.Zhang Juzheng originally wanted to kill the monkey, seeing all the servants begging on their knees, he became more determined.He glared at Li Ke and shouted: "Why are you so stupid, take off his coat, and hit me with twenty sticks hard, and you must hit me hard." Li Ke didn't dare to be negligent any more, and ordered the soldiers to take off You Qi's padded robe, leaving only a pair of underpants. You Qi was a thin man with pitifully little flesh on his dry buttocks.Although the soldiers didn't really swing their clubs hard.But even with moderate strength, the thick chestnut stick in the wine cup still has the power to stick to the flesh.After hitting twenty big sticks, You Qi collapsed on the ground, his whole body convulsed and moaned uncontrollably.Zhang Juzheng looked at his miserable state, and felt uncomfortable, but he still reprimanded viciously: "Tomorrow, you can send someone to tell your brother-in-law. This afternoon, I have notified Mr. Zhang, Minister of the Ministry of Officials, that Meng Wuyou will be transferred to Wandian Prefecture, Yunnan Province, and will be demoted to two levels. Li Ke, take him home. Rest." Li Ke sent a sergeant to carry You Qi away when he suddenly saw a messenger coming to report: "My lord, Marshal Qi Jiguang is here to visit." "Ah, he is here, please hurry up!" Zhang Juzheng stood up and wanted to go to the sedan chair hall to greet him. When he moved, he said to the servants who were still kneeling together, "Everyone step down, remember, who will dare to carry me behind my back from now on with the officialdom?" If you associate with someone else, once you find out, you will be punished severely!" All the servants retreated like a gourd, and Mrs. Wang returned to the backyard with the help of her maid. Just as Zhang Juzheng said he was going to the sedan chair hall, he saw Qi Jiguang rushing in with a chill in his body.In terms of age, he is three years younger than Zhang Juzheng, but because of years of wind, sun, sun, frost and snow, he looks older than Zhang Juzheng.But a pair of falcon-like eyes and two knife-like decrees around the mouth under the nostrils exude a heroic and fierce aura. At first glance, he looks like a hero who commands thousands of troops.During the Jiajing period, Fujian and the southeast coast of Zhejiang produced two famous anti-Japanese generals, one was Yu Dayou, and the other was Qi Jiguang.For these two people, Zhang Juzheng always admired them.He has been in charge of the military since he was in the second year of Longqing.It was because of his strong recommendation that Qi Jiguang was promoted to the chief soldier and transferred from Zhejiang to Jiliao, taking on the important task of defending the capital.After Zhang Juzheng became the first assistant, he gave Qi Jiguang more power. First, he lobbied the emperor to withdraw the eunuchs who had been in charge of the army, and second, he was allowed to recruit recruits from Zhejiang.These two points are against the ancestral system. The supervising army represents the emperor's right to control the military, and the hereditary system of military status implemented since the Hongwu emperor, that is, the main soldier system, cannot be changed.These main soldiers are undisciplined and have no combat effectiveness at all.Zhang Juzheng's support for Qi Jiguang's recruitment of guest soldiers is actually an innovative move to improve the combat effectiveness of the troops.Qi Jiguang's position as the commander-in-chief of Jizhen has neither the supervision of the army nor the newly trained sharp brigade of Zhejiang guest soldiers.Therefore, the line of the Great Wall from Gubeikou to Shanhaiguan is as solid as gold in his hands.The hussars of Alda, Tatar and other nomadic tribes outside the Great Wall, who have always been a headache for the imperial court, have not dared to cross the border for three years.In view of this, from Emperor Longqing to the current Empress Dowager Li, as well as all the ministers in the court, they all believed that Zhang Juzheng was suitable for employing people.One Qi Jiguang is worth a million soldiers.This feeling of sympathy and admiration for each other made the relationship between the two of them extraordinary.When Qi Jiguang encountered difficult problems that could not be solved, he would often drive his horse into Beijing and go straight to Zhang Dashi's mansion in Shamao Hutong.The guards in Zhang Juzheng's mansion knew the relationship between Qi Jiguang and Zhang Juzheng, so they never stopped him.However, this is the first time to visit at night in the snow and cold.Hearing the sound of horses snorting and trampling snow outside the door, Zhang Juzheng ordered his subordinates to arrange Qi Jiguang's entourage to rest in the waiting room.He and Qi Jiguang sat down separately in the living room.The waiter made hot tea, Qi Jiguang's lips were black with cold, and he didn't know it was hot, so he drank half a cup in one gulp. "Brother Yuan Jing," Zhang Juzheng called out affectionately, "It's snowing so hard, and it's night, what's the matter with you coming to the capital from Ji Town?" "We didn't come from Ji Town, we came directly from Gubeikou of the Great Wall." Qi Jiguang spoke loudly. "You came down from the Great Wall, is there any enemy?" "Worse than the enemy's situation," Qi Jiguang stomped his feet and gritted his teeth, "Shoufu, I'm here to sue!" "Complaint, who is the complaint against?" "Governor Wang Chonggu." Zhang Juzheng was taken aback when he heard this. In his impression, Wang Chonggu and Qi Jiguang got along well.According to the strategy of the imperial court's employment, the governor of the nine borders must be a civil servant, while the commander-in-chief is a military post.Historically, there are not many governors and chief soldiers who can work together and live in harmony.Zhang Juzheng was well aware of its disadvantages. After he became the chief assistant, he arranged for the local governors of the nine borders and repeatedly warned them to respect the general soldiers.In the past two years, the Nine Frontiers military yamen has rarely been dirty. Qi Jiguang also said more than once that Wang Chonggu was very respectful to him. Why did his attitude change so much tonight? Zhang Juzheng was eager to know the reason, and asked eagerly: "Why did Lord Wang offend you?" "It didn't offend us, but killed our soldiers." After Qi Jiguang finished speaking, he shouted, "Jin Yu!" Jin Yu, who was five or six rooms away, heard the mountain roar, and immediately ran out of the waiting room. This Jin Yu is a partial general under Qi Jiguang's command, and he is in charge of military supplies.He strode into the living room, knelt down on one leg towards Zhang Juzheng, and said loudly: "The last general, Jin Yu, see Lord Shoufu." Zhang Juzheng signaled him to get up, Qi Jiguang ordered from the side: "Bring up the things and ask the Chief Assistant to look at them." Hearing this, Jin Yu untied the burden on his back, opened it and took out a quilted arrow jacket. Qi Jiguang took it and shook it out for Zhang Juzheng to see. He saw that the cotton arrow jacket was full of torn holes. After taking a look, the cotton is all yellow and black and moldy. "Whose cotton coat is this?" Zhang Juzheng asked. "These are the cotton coats that all the soldiers in our town just changed this year," Qi Jiguang said angrily, "it was given to us by Mr. Wang Chonggu." "Why are the cotton-padded clothes that have just changed out of season so worn out?" Zhang Juzheng stretched out his hand to pinch the cotton-padded arrow jacket, feeling uneasy, "How can a soldier keep out the cold with such clothes?" "After several days of blizzards, the road to the Great Wall was cut off. Not to mention that the officials and gentry in the capital can sit around the stove to keep warm and cook wine to cool off the cold, even ordinary people with big ears can sit on the hot kang and enjoy family happiness. , but only our soldiers are still guarding the Great Wall at this time. If the snow in the city is one foot deep, the snow on the Great Wall will be one foot higher. If the north wind at the entrance of the alley in the city can cut off people's ears, then the north wind on the Great Wall We can push the walls and push down the mountains and cracks. Yesterday we managed to get through the snow road and went to Gubeikou to visit the soldiers guarding the Great Wall. The cotton arrow jackets they were wearing were torn to pieces by the north wind. These soldiers are all guest soldiers recruited from Zhejiang, and they are not resistant to freezing. In addition, wearing such a rotten cotton coat, it is equivalent to standing naked on the Great Wall that is dripping with water. How many of them can resist? I know that the guest soldiers trained by Qi Jiguang have extremely strict military discipline, and they are all hard-nosed characters who would rather go half a step forward to die than retreat half a step. Because of this, just yesterday, nineteen people died of freezing on Gubeikou. Individuals. Those are nineteen young people who are alive and well! If it weren’t for the poor-quality cotton clothes, how could they have died so miserably!” As Qi Jiguang spoke, his throat choked up, and two bubbles of hot tears swirled in the circles of his eyes.Zhang Juzheng and Qi Jiguang have known each other for seven or eight years, and they have never seen him so emotional.However, this incident itself also filled Zhang Juzheng with grief and indignation.In front of his eyes flashed the Great Wall in the wind and snow, and flashed the nineteen frozen corpses.His hand holding the teacup trembled, and suddenly he threw the teacup on the ground. With a "boom", Zhang Juzheng roared like a roar: "It's really unreasonable!" Everyone in the living room looked at each other in blank dismay. Although Qi Jiguang was a figure who commanded thousands of troops, he was still shocked by Zhang Juzheng's fury.He still had a lot of anger to accuse one by one, but at this time he was silent.Zhang Juzheng stabilized his mood, and asked again: "Marshal Qi, how do you want to deal with this matter?" "Refer to him for writing the excerpts." Qi Jiguang replied angrily. "Who is participating?" "Lord Wang Chonggu." "What's the use of participating in him?" Zhang Juzheng sighed, and smiled wryly, "Brother Yuan Jing, you only know that Wang Chonggu made cotton coats for your soldiers, but you don't know anything else." "What else is there to hide?" "This cotton coat was purchased by Wu Qing Bo Li Wei." "How could it be him?" Qi Jiguang suddenly stood up from his seat, then sat down dejectedly, and said dejectedly, "So, my soldiers died in vain." "A soldier cannot die in vain, no matter who it is, this account must be settled!" Zhang Juzheng uttered words like fire, seeing his face full of inviolable righteousness, a wave of heat rose in Qi Jiguang's heart. The heavy snow fell intermittently throughout the night, and even though the five city soldiers Masika sent patrol soldiers, many beggars in the city froze to death.There are also some dilapidated houses and temporary huts built by homeless people, all of which were collapsed by the heavy snow.Many of the sparrows that made their nests in the cracks of the eaves were frozen into ice balls.This kind of heavy snow has not fallen in the capital for several years.It just so happens that the next day falls on the ninth day, and it is the day of the regular court. If Emperor Longqing encounters such bad weather when he is in charge, he will definitely send an order to avoid the court. However, under the guidance of Zhang Juzheng, the young Wanli emperor is determined If you want to be a Mingjun who works hard to govern, even if there are knives in the sky, you will never be spared from the court.Therefore, on the first day of the Yin Dynasty, the main streets of the capital were lit with flickering lanterns, which were patrolling sergeants to show the way for the officials of the upper court.One sedan chair after another hurriedly came to the Forbidden City. The square outside the Meridian Gate of the Forbidden City was completely clean due to soldiers sweeping the snow all night.The officials arrived here one after another, and they hadn't heard the whip of the preface, so they all gathered together in groups of three and five to chat.However, under the high wall in the southeast corner, several members of the Sixth Section Corridor gathered together to talk, among them were Liu Xuan from the Official Section, Chen Wude from the Ritual Section, and Meng Wuyou from the Huke Section.These officials are all brocade robes and carved bags, with their hands in their sleeves, and they feel cold when they stamp their feet.Among them, Chen Wude didn't wear earmuffs, so he stretched out his hands to cover his ears and kept rubbing them. Liu Xuan saw him like that, so he laughed and said: "Master Chen, what would you say is the least frost-resistant beast in the world?" "Pig," Chen Wude said angrily, "this animal, when it's cold, hides in the enclosure." "Brother, it's bad," Liu Xuan said pretending to be profound, "It's not pigs that are most afraid of the cold, but chickens." "Chicken? What is your basis?" "You said, if people are cold, where do they start from?" "foot." "wrong." "Then where did you say it came from?" "ear." "What proof?" "If your feet are cold, you can stamp or run. If your ears are cold, there is no way to save yourself. The only way is to follow you, Brother Wu, to rub your hands together." Meng Wuyou listened quietly to the lawsuit between the two, and then interrupted: "Brother Wu, even if your fallacious reasoning is true, it won't be a chicken." "Why can't you talk about it? Chickens are afraid of the cold, so they just grow two ears smaller than mung beans, like our Master Wu." Liu Xuan went around in circles for a long time, and it turned out that he was teasing Chen Wude in a different way-his small ears are famous in the Sixth Section Gallery.The crowd suddenly burst into laughter. Although Chen Wude suffered a dull loss, he was not annoyed, but said jokingly: "Brother Liu Xuan, you don't know something, I happen to be a chicken." "That's good, everyone can call you brother chicken." Brother Chicken is the same as "chicken breast". Seeing Chen Wude's stick-like figure, everyone laughed even harder.Chen Wude was still not annoyed, but mysteriously put his mouth close to Liu Xuan's ear, and asked in a low voice: "Do you know what Queen Mother Li is?" "have no idea." "Chicken!" "you……" Liu Xuan didn't dare to say a word anymore, and everyone was stunned.Chen Wude, who had been being fooled all this time, laughed heartily at this moment. He pointed at Liu Xuan and Meng Wuyou, and said mockingly: "I think you are really worthless, all of you are wearing earmuffs. You are not 'chicken brothers', why do you have to cover your ears?" "Your ears are afraid of cold." Meng Wuyou took the initiative to strike up a conversation to ease the atmosphere. "You also know that your ears are afraid of cold?" Chen Wude sneered and sneered, "Who canceled the earmuffs given to us by the court?" Everyone understands the angry words Chen Wude said: the imperial court used to have a rule, every year at the beginning of summer, all officials in the yamen of the capital can receive a folding fan from the Ministry of Industry, and two ear protections at the beginning of winter every year.The year before last, Zhang Juzheng asked the emperor to cancel these two statutes.The reason is that the officials of the capital are all sitting in the conservatory. If they can get the ear protection bestowed by the emperor, then the 600,000 soldiers on the nine sides of the north who lie on the ice and step on the snow to defend the imperial territory should be even more deserving.Although this is a trivial matter, it caused dissatisfaction among many officials because of the change of the ancestral system.Whenever the court encounters bad weather in winter, some officials complain, and Chen Wude is one of them.Meng Wuyou heard that Chen Wude's words had the meaning of ridiculing the chief assistant, and immediately retorted with a sullen face: "Master Chen, you really dared to commit a crime today." "Who did we offend?" Chen Wude tilted his head and asked. "You fight cattle across mountains." "You shouldn't go to your sister-in-law to sue me." Chen Wude looked listless, but what he said was like a knife.Meng Wuyou was most afraid of his colleagues mentioning the matter of his marriage with You Qi, now that Chen Wude poked a sore spot, he was immediately annoyed, and was about to explode, when he suddenly saw Bing Ke, Zhong Ji Keguan, running over panting.Everyone saw that his expression was wrong, and someone hurriedly asked: "Master Ji, what happened?" Ji Keguan answered irrelevantly: "We didn't close our eyes all night." "What are you doing?" Liu Xuan asked. "The chief assistant sent me to his house." However, after Qi Jiguang entered Beijing last night, Zhang Juzheng brought Tan Lun, Shangshu of the Ministry of War, Zhongji Keguan and other relevant officials of the Ministry of War to his home, and discussed the disposal strategy overnight.After coming out of Shoufu's house, Ji Keguan stayed up all night to write a memorial to impeach Wang Chonggu according to Zhang Juzheng's request.The officials present didn't know what happened last night, so they asked: "What did the Chief Assistant ask you for?" "Something has happened." Ji Keguan wanted to say something, but saw that Zhang Juzheng's sedan chair had been carried into the square, he hurriedly said, "You will find out later." After saying that, he moved aside. At three quarters of Yin time, it was time for the regular court. With the sound of three whips, all the officials quickly finished their shifts. The little emperor Zhu Yijun took his seat on the golden platform of Huangji Gate. After the necessary ceremony was performed, Zhu Yijun raised his seat. With a voice like a silver bell, he said to the servant beside him: "The guide officer of Honglu Temple." The servant hurriedly walked out of the golden platform and sang loudly: "The guide officer of Honglu Temple——" Immediately, a guide officer of Honglu Temple, dressed in a five-rank official uniform, ran into the golden platform like a gourd, bowed to the throne, and shouted: "Courtesy and grandson respectfully meet the emperor." Zhu Yijun sat upright, looked at Sun Qili who was leaning over the steps, and asked, "Are there any officials out of order this morning?" Sun Qili replied: "To report to the emperor, there are sixty-nine officials who did not participate in the regular court." "What is the reason?" "I don't know," Sun Qili answered and felt it was inappropriate, so he added, "Probably due to fear of the cold." Zhu Yijun said with a sullen face: "I am not afraid of the cold, Yuanfu Mr. Zhang, and the second assistant Lu Tiaoyang are not afraid of the cold. Who are those who do not participate in the regular court? How dare they despise the court's Dafa, huh?" The high-ranking officials on both sides of the Jintai Hatchback were silent when they heard this. They obviously felt that this little emperor was much stricter than his father, and this was probably the result of Zhang Juzheng's training.Sun Qili, who was lying on the ground, also didn't dare to answer half a word. "Sun Qili, I'll ask you again, can there be officials of the third rank or higher for those who are out of order?" "No." "What about the fourth product?" "Not at all," Sun Qili replied timidly, "There are two fifth-rank officials, one is Yushi Fu Yingzhen, and the other is Zhang Youlong, Deputy Minister of Taipusi." "Eunuch Feng has passed on my decree that these two people will be fined for three months, and the rest will be fined for one month." "The slave is leading the order." Feng Bao, who was on the side of the throne, replied. Zhu Yijun waved Sun Qili back, and then asked Zhang Juzheng who was sitting on the left side of the throne: "Mr. Zhang, is this a proper way of dealing with it?" Zhang Juzheng looked at the high-ranking officials standing on both sides of the hatchback, leaned forward and replied: "The emperor is lenient, and it is only a small punishment for officials who are out of order." "How should it be?" "For those who are out of order in the regular court, the emperor must say, 'ask with the name of the Jinyiwei'. This is the rule of the previous court." "I see:" Zhu Yijun's order was inconvenient to be changed, so he moved on to the next procedure, and he asked again, "Is there anything to be announced by each yamen?" According to the series of events, it should be arranged in order of officials, households, soldiers, criminals, courts, Dali Temple and other yamen.Today, the order was disrupted, and an official from the Department of General Affairs who was in charge of arranging the event came out to report: "Report to the emperor, Qi Jiguang, the chief soldier of Ji Town, has something urgent to report." "Qi Jiguang?" Zhu Yijun asked Zhang Juzheng, "Yuanfu, isn't Qi Jiguang in Ji Town? He also participated in the regular court." Zhang Juzheng replied: "Officials who are not included in the regular court can make an exception if they have urgent matters to report." "Okay, let's announce to Qi Jiguang." Following the sharp shout of "pass Qi Jiguang——" from the attendant in the singing class, Qi Jiguang, who was waiting outside the gate of Huangji, strode to the front of the golden platform, knelt down calmly under the eyes of everyone, and played loudly: "Qi Jiguang, the third-rank military officer of the general army of Jizhen, kowtowed to the emperor." The little emperor liked Qi Jiguang's heroic spirit very much, looked at him for a while, and then asked: "General Qi, what's the urgent matter for you?" "I invite the emperor to look at something." After Qi Jiguang finished speaking, he raised the ragged padded jacket he brought with him over his head, and a servant took it over and presented it to the little emperor. Zhu Yijun stretched out his head to look, and asked in surprise: "General Qi, what is the purpose of showing me a ragged padded jacket?" "My Majesty, these are the cotton coats worn by soldiers in Ji Town this year." "Why are the cotton clothes you just changed so worn out?" "Your majesty is a good question. This cotton cloth is like a fishnet, and the cotton is like a reed flower. They are all moldy and inferior products." Qi Jiguang raised his head suddenly, looked at the emperor with lightning-like eyes, and said angrily, "Your majesty, the soldiers in the tie Nineteen people froze to death on the Great Wall at Gubeikou the day before yesterday just because of wearing such padded clothes.” "Ah!" Zhu Yijun's expression changed when he heard the words, and he suddenly stood up and asked eagerly, "You mean, the soldier froze to death?" "yes." Zhu Yijun's face turned red, and he glanced at Zhang Juzheng, only to see that the bearded master was also staring at him intently.He avoided that gaze, stepped down from the throne, walked up to Qi Jiguang, and asked anxiously: "Who made this coat?" "It was sent by Master Wang Chonggu." "Let the King Chonggu!" "Go back to the emperor, Mr. Wang is still in Ji Town." "Let him rush to Beijing!" "yes." Feng Baozheng was about to convey the decree, but Zhang Juzheng interjected: "Your Majesty, General Qi has not finished speaking." "Go on." Zhu Yijun paced back and forth on the spot, and the ministers in front of him could see clearly. Even though it was the severe cold and snowfall, the little emperor's fair face was already dripping with fine beads of sweat. Qi Jiguang didn't look at the emperor's face, and played out: "The minister has investigated and found out that Lord Wang Chonggu gave all the seasonal cotton clothes for the soldiers in Ji Town to Li Wei, Wu Qing Bo, to make." "What, the padded clothes made by Uncle Wu Qing? General Qi, are you right?" "Return to the emperor, it is absolutely true!" Zhu Yijun, who had just returned to the imperial tent with the help of Feng Bao, was paralyzed like a clay figurine. Seeing that the situation was not good, Feng Bao yelled: "Retire!" As soon as I turned over the maoshi sign, the snow that had stopped for half an hour began to fall again, and the Forbidden City was in chaos and confusion: the little emperor who had retreated from the court was sitting in a warm sedan chair with heavy thoughts, and Qi Jiguang's sad and angry face was waving in his mind don't go.Just now in the Golden Terrace Royal Warehouse, although he was restless and behaved in a panic, when he was wrapped up by Feng Bao and a group of servants and retreated from the court, he still did not forget to ask the servants to take the ragged cotton coat.Now sitting in the warm sedan chair, he flipped through the cotton-padded coat several times, only to feel a heavy stone on his head.As soon as the warm sedan was carried into the gate of Qianqing Palace, he pedaled desperately on the sedan chair and shouted to stop the sedan chair.Those who carried the sedan chair did not dare to resist, so they stopped on the snow-covered brick road.Zhu Yijun got out of the sedan chair with the ragged cotton coat in his hand, staggered for dozens of steps, and arrived at the promenade at the entrance of Qianqingkou. He knelt down on the ground and shouted: "Mother!" Every court, Empress Dowager Li would accompany her son to get up together. After the son went to court, after she washed and dressed, she would start her daily homework—burning incense and copying Buddhist scriptures.At this moment, she had just copied two pieces of paper, and when she heard her son calling, she hurriedly put down her pen and came out. Suddenly, she saw her son standing upright and kneeling in the snow, holding a ragged white cotton coat in his hand. "Jun'er, what are you doing?" Queen Mother Li asked in surprise. "Mother,..." Zhu Yijun was choked with sobs and couldn't speak. He handed the cotton-padded coat to his mother with both hands, and looked up with tears streaming down his face.