In Lao Zhu's view, the most important thing now is to calm down the matter. As for the truth of the matter, it is not important!
If you want Liu Sanwu to give in, you need to persuade him. Lao Zhu couldn't leave such a matter to others, so he thought about it and summoned Han Du into the palace.
Originally, Lao Zhu wanted Han Du to persuade Liu Sanwu, but when things came to pass, Lao Zhu felt that it was better for him to go there in person to have a greater chance of convincing Liu Sanwu.
Therefore, in order to persuade Liu Sanwu, Lao Zhu had to personally set foot in the prison of the Ministry of Punishment.
Han Du followed Lao Zhu in confusion. He didn't know why Lao Zhu summoned him into the palace, and he didn't even know why Lao Zhu summoned him to the Prison of the Ministry of Punishment before he even arrived at Fengtian Palace.
Lao Zhu was right in front of him, and Han Du didn't dare to ask, so he had to just lower his head and follow.
The environment in prison will never be good, and it is even worse now than it was a few years ago. The indescribable smell can be smelled as soon as you enter the prison.
Han Du couldn't help but frown, and subconsciously stretched out his hand to cover his nose, so as to feel better. However, Lao Zhu walked in expressionlessly, which surprised Han Du. He didn't expect Lao Zhu to be able to endure the smell.
The only thing that makes Han Du feel better is that Liu Laotou is still here, continuing his work as usual. We haven't seen him for a few years. Except for a few more wrinkles on his face, Liu Laotou seems to be the same as Han Du.
There was no difference the first time I saw him. .??.
"Where is Liu Sanwu, take me there." Lao Zhu said in a deep voice to Old Man Liu who was kneeling in front of him.
Lao Zhu came to the prison suddenly this time, hoping to ask Liu Sanwu to give in privately, so he did not even notify the Ministry of Punishment, and only a few guards led by Han Du and Mao Xiang accompanied him.
Bringing Mao Xiang here was obviously to protect Lao Zhu. Lao Zhu didn't say why Han Du was brought here, and Han Du didn't know either. He could only take it one step at a time.
"Yes, Your Majesty." Liu Laotou knelt on the ground, quickly stepped back a few steps, and then stood up. He bowed his waist, lowered his head, and led the way.
Arriving at the door of a cell, Old Man Liu carefully stretched out his hand and said, "Go back to the emperor, this is the place."
"Open the door and go down." Lao Zhu said calmly.
Old Man Liu skillfully took out the key that he had prepared, untied the chain and put it away, then quickly bowed his head and stepped back, not even daring to raise his head during the whole process.
This cell was fairly clean, at least Han Du could tell. The cell had just been cleaned not long ago, and there was a table and four benches in the middle. There was also a simple wooden board against the wall, which was covered with
So is straw.
Showing a brand new yellow-white color.
An old man is sitting behind the table, wearing white clothes. His white hair is falling freely. Perhaps because he hasn't taken care of it for a while, his hair looks a little messy. But he is in good spirits and his whole body is upright while sitting on the bench.
Straight and straight, there is no trace of the decadence of the prisoners.
Hearing Lao Zhu's voice, Liu Sanwu followed the etiquette calmly and bowed: "Your Majesty, Liu Sanwu, pays homage to the Emperor."
Mao Xiang quickly stepped forward and pushed the door open. Lao Zhu stepped in and walked up to Liu Sanwu.
Hearing that Liu Sanwu only referred to himself as a minister, but did not claim to be a guilty minister, Lao Zhu's face darkened, and he asked slightly dissatisfied: "Liu Sanwu, you are in such a situation, are you unwilling to plead guilty?"
Liu Sanwu raised his head when he heard this, looked at Lao Zhu with a smile on his face, and asked: "I am so stupid that I don't know what my crime is?"
"You!" Lao Zhu suddenly turned red with anger, suddenly waved his sleeves, and looked at Liu Sanwu with a dissatisfied look on his face.
Facing Lao Zhu's anger, Liu Sanwu was unafraid. Even when he knelt on the ground, he still knelt upright despite his age. He said calmly: "The emperor said that I am guilty. How dare I ask where the crime is? The emperor ordered
I am presiding over the Ding Mao Examination. Did I fail to judge impartially, or did I cheat and favor the southern scholars? If so, I will ask the emperor to punish me for my crime, and I will have nothing to say. If not, then I cannot make excuses out of thin air and plead guilty myself."
Favoring southern scholars? What's going on? Han Du looked confused. Although he didn't understand the situation, looking at Lao Zhu's attitude, the matter was probably not trivial.
No, I can't continue to be kept in the dark. I have to find out what's going on. If I don't know anything, it will be bad if I make a mistake and get involved in some trouble.
But who here can tell him what happened? Lao Zhu must have no time to pay attention to himself at the moment. Han Du looked at Lao Zhu's back and thought.
Suddenly Han Du caught a glimpse of Mao Xiang who was guarding the door of the prison. He silently took two steps back and quietly stood in front of Mao Xiang, asking him what happened.
Mao Xiang didn't understand what Han Du meant for the first time. He didn't wake up until Han Du signaled again. After pondering for a while, Mao Xiang whispered the whole story to Han Du.
Originally Mao Xiang was not prepared to tell Han Du, but he saw that Han Du had helped him out several times in the past.
, In addition, even if Han Du doesn't know anything, Han Du will naturally be cautious in his words and actions with his intelligence, and there won't be any big trouble. In this case, it is better to tell Han Du as a favor.
When Han Du heard this, he felt a turmoil in his heart. The scholars were making trouble, and they were clearly divided into the north and the south. This trouble caused shock to both the government and the public. If someone did not go well, he didn't know how many heads would fall to the ground.
Lao Zhu's eyes widened due to Liu Sanwu's anger, and he stared at him fiercely. But after a moment, Lao Zhu sighed and took the initiative to relax. He glanced at Liu Sanwu, who was still kneeling on the ground, and saw that he had a full head.
Baifa felt soft and said, "Pingshen, get up."
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Liu Sanwu was not stubborn and quickly stood up after receiving permission. Kneeling on the ground was not a comfortable thing, especially since he was old. Kneeling like this was a huge burden for him.
.
Lao Zhu opened a bench and sat down. Seeing that Liu Sanwu was still standing, he motioned to the bench and said, "You can sit down too."
Liu Sanwu bowed again and said: "Thank you, Your Majesty." Then he sat down opposite Lao Zhu. Even when he sat down facing Lao Zhu, his back was straight and straight, as before, without any change.
Lao Zhu quietly looked at Liu Sanwu's serious face, wondering how to persuade this stubborn old man.
After a while, Lao Zhu sighed and said: "I ordered Wen Guangfeng and others to review all the test papers of Ding Mao Ke."
As he said that, he looked towards Liu Sanwu, wanting to see what the old man's reaction would be. .??.
What Lao Zhu didn't expect was that Liu Sanwu actually handed over his hand and said: "If any of the people I choose have insufficient talent and learning, I am willing to take the blame."
On the surface, Liu Sanwu was bowing to Lao Zhu, but in fact, he was trying to silence Lao Zhu with words. There was one person who did not learn enough, and Liu Sanwu was willing to take the blame, but conversely, it meant that if everyone learned with their true talents,
If he is admitted, then Liu Sanwu is not guilty.
He went around and around and back again, Liu Sanwu just didn't want to plead guilty without reason.
Lao Zhu stared at Liu Sanwu angrily, but in the end he couldn't stand him anymore, so he had to sigh and said: "I won't beat around the bush with you, I'll just tell you the truth. This time the matter is too big, if I don't blame you,
There is no way to end it."
At this point, Lao Zhu stared into Liu Sanwu's eyes and said: "If you are willing to plead guilty, I will demote you a few levels, which will be an explanation to the scholars. After a year or two, this storm has passed, and I
How about promoting you back and I will reward you?"
Faced with the emperor's pressure, Liu Sanwu just smiled and shook his head, saying: "I have already said that if I am unfair in selecting talents, I will plead guilty."
Lao Zhu's expression suddenly turned cold. For an emperor to say such things, he had given Liu Sanwu enough face. But Liu Sanwu was still stubborn and refused to give in.
This made Lao Zhu feel that he had taken the initiative to step down for you. He didn't expect that Liu Sanwu would not dare to step down, which made Lao Zhu embarrassed.
Lao Zhu suddenly stood up, stared at Liu Sanwu, and said through gritted teeth: "I will give you three days to think about it. If you don't give me a satisfactory answer after three days, you can do it yourself."
Liu Sanwu smiled lightly and wanted him to plead guilty. This was contrary to the gentlemanly etiquette he had upheld since he was a child. He would rather die than lose his bail at night. Let alone three days, even if he was locked up in this prison for three years,
He won't change his mind either.
Now that he had put down his words, Lao Zhu ignored Liu Sanwu, turned around and left angrily.
But just when he was about to leave the prison, Lao Zhu suddenly stopped, turned around and said to Han Du: "You have many evil ideas. You can help me persuade him later."
Although Liu Sanwu was given a death order, Lao Zhu felt that with his stinky and stubborn temper, there might not be much change in three days. Han Du happened to be here, let him try, maybe there would be a way.
?
I, Han Du, suddenly woke up after hearing Lao Zhu's instructions. After hearing the whole story from Mao Xiang's mouth, Han Du felt that this was a big trouble. He even held his breath and did not dare to say anything more.
The noise was made because he was afraid that Old Zhu would accuse him and cause trouble. But he never expected that in the end, he still couldn't escape.
"Your Majesty, I obey." Han Du bowed and the moment he lowered his head, he gritted his teeth until they itched.
When Lao Zhu saw Han Du agreeing so simply, he felt a lot more relaxed for some reason, and left with Mao Xiang satisfied.
Han Du stopped at the door of the prison and watched Lao Zhu leave with Liu Laotou.
"Master Marquis, do you have something else to do? You're welcome. Just give me your instructions. I will definitely do everything for you." Liu Laotou patted his chest and took care of everything.
Ever since the last time Liu Laotou bragged in front of his nephew, saying that he had a way to send his nephew to the Imperial Academy of the Ming Dynasty, his brother took advantage of him and insisted on sending his nephew to the academy.