Xia Yuanji has been in Jinyiwei's prison for almost two months.
The reason is very simple, because when Liu Sheng came over with sweet potatoes and other crop seeds, Xia Yuanji found this blank document at the same inn and felt that there might be something wrong with it.
After returning to the household department to report on his work, he reported this matter.
Immediately afterwards, the Jin Yiwei came and took him to the imperial prison.
However, it had been so long since this incident, and no one came to interrogate him, and no one told him what kind of crime he had committed.
"My lord, it's time for dinner."
The young jailer came over with several plates of dishes and rice, and his words were polite.
"Can you help me spread the word that I was wrongly accused? There must be a big problem involved. The matter is of great importance and cannot be delayed."
Xia Yuanji did not take the food immediately, but said with a heavy expression.
"Sir, please don't embarrass me. Don't tell me that I'm just a little jailer. Even if I can really tell you, my lord, you must understand the rules in this prison after you have been here for so long."
"Don't go hungry. It's better to eat your food as soon as possible."
The young jailer said with some helplessness that conversations like this had actually happened many times in the prison.
That is to say, this young jailer has a good temper and always answers a few questions.
Instead, the old jailer came over, put down the food and left directly.
Xia Yuanji reluctantly took the meal and started eating in the cell.
The conditions in the imperial prison are of a much higher standard than ordinary cells outside.
At least the smell is not that pungent, and the sanitary conditions are much better.
Firstly, most of the people who enter here are officials, and secondly, many times, the emperor will also come here.
If it was so bad that it disgusted the emperor, it would be a serious crime of disrespect.
"I have to live well. Only by living can I have hope. The forces behind the scenes are very powerful. I, a sixth-grade official, was arrested and no one cares about me until now. This can be seen from this."
"Only by letting His Majesty know about this matter can we completely resolve the hidden dangers."
Xia Yuanji thought as he began to eat the food with great effort.
The food in prison was not very appetizing, but basically every meal was somewhat meaty. Xia Yuanji, apart from looking dirty, actually gained a little weight after staying there for two months.
At this moment, in the Jinyiwei Yamen, Song Zhong came to the lobby with several boxes of files.
"Your Highness, Duke Liang, here are the files of all the prisoners currently in custody, a total of 272 people."
"These three boxes include those who have been convicted, those who are under trial, and those who have not yet been convicted and interrogated."
In other words, there are currently almost 300 officials involved in Jinyiwei Prison.
This is a prison under normal conditions. If there is any big case, more officials will be involved.
For example, in the Guo Heng case, the imperial edicts could no longer accommodate anyone.
Zhu Ying nodded slightly when he heard this and asked casually: "What is the largest official position in this prison now?"
Song Zhong hesitated for a moment, and then replied: "Reporting to Your Highness, I am the head of the Household Department of the Sichuan Administration Department."
Zhu Ying had no interest in it at first, but when he heard that it was from Sichuan, he couldn't help but ask: "How come the heads of the household department in Sichuan were all caught in the capital? How much money was embezzled?"
The Ministry of Revenue is the money bag of the Ming Dynasty. Generally speaking, as long as there is a crime, 99% of it is related to treasure money.
This made Zhu Ying a little more interested.
Song Zhong said with some embarrassment: "Your Highness, Xia Yuanji, the head of the Household Department of the Sichuan Chief Secretary, was on his way back to the capital to report on his duties. He came across sweet potatoes and other crops that your Highness had shipped from the Western Regions."
"Then it might be a problem with the empty printing documents, which led to Xia Yuanji's conflict with him."
"After returning to the capital, Xia Yuanji secretly inquired about sweet potatoes, and was reported secretly by the Jin Yiwei, so he was directly detained in the imperial prison."
In fact, at that time, Jinyiwei did not know that those goods were sweet potatoes, but because the person Xia Yuanji provoked was a disciple of His Highness Taisun, there was no need to worry too much, and he would be detained first.
The imperial prison is a place where it is easy to get in but difficult to get out.
When you come in, there are no procedures or approvals required.
But this release, the process approval seal, cannot be missing, otherwise there will be accountability.
After all, it is related to His Highness the Grand Sun. Who wants to get involved in such a matter, so naturally they all avoid it. Anyway, you are dragging me, and I am dragging you.
The officials of the Household Department knew that Xia Yuanji had been captured by the Jin Yiwei, so they dared to ask more questions.
Therefore, he successfully performed the role of an official of the sixth rank of the Ming Dynasty, who was in the imperial prison of Jinyiwei, unable to go to jail, and has been locked up until today.
If Zhu Ying hadn't asked him casually, he wouldn't have known how long he would be detained.
"Xia Yuanji?"
Zhu Ying was slightly startled when he heard this. The name seemed familiar.
It's just that the impression is not very deep.
After two lifetimes, Zhu Ying's memory has improved a lot. Some of the subtle things in his past life can be recalled in detail after some contemplation.
‘Zhu Di Money Bag’ Xia Yuanji.
Such a word popped into Zhu Ying's mind.
The name suddenly became familiar.
"Your Highness knows him?" Song Zhong asked cautiously.
Zhu Ying smiled and said: "It's not bad. I saw the memorial from Sichuan earlier. This person is in the Sichuan Ministry of Household Affairs and is a good and capable minister. He can really do practical things."
"Go let him go and bring him here to see him."
Song Zhong said quickly: "I respect your Majesty's decree."
In prison.
Even though he was in a prison cell, Xia Yuanji did not stop studying, but without books, he could only rely on memory to calculate.
The walls of this cell are covered with writing.
And these words are exactly the famous Nine Chapters of Arithmetic in ancient and modern times.
Nine Chapters on Arithmetic is the classic arithmetic learned by scholars in the Ming Dynasty today. It is divided into nine chapters: Fang Tian, Corn, Decline, Shao Guang, Business Merit, Loss of Loss, Profit and Deficiency, Equations, and Sentences.
What Xia Yuanji is studying now is the annotation of "Nine Chapters" written by Liu Hui in the fourth year of Emperor Jingyuan of Wei Yuan during the Three Kingdoms period, which is considered extremely complete.
Compared with later generations, although the level of Jiuzhang arithmetic is not high, it is comprehensive from junior high school to higher, close to the level of high school teaching.
At a time when the Western Renaissance had not yet emerged, Jiu Zhang arithmetic can be said to be the most advanced applied mathematics in the world today.
This classic is also a must-read for officials of the Ministry of Household Affairs.
Just when Xia Yuanji was thinking about a difficult problem regarding Shang Gong, the young jailer suddenly came over happily and said, "Sir, His Highness the Grand Sun wants to see you by name. Follow me to bathe and change clothes."
When Xia Yuanji heard this, he paused for a moment, then asked in surprise: "It's true!"
"This is His Majesty the Grand Sun, how can he still be fake?"
The young jailer said as he quickly opened the cell door.
Xia Yuanji immediately followed.
Of course, Xia Yuanji at this moment did not know that His Highness Taisun was Zhu Ying, and thought he was Zhu Yunwen.
Because he was imprisoned too early, the cell was also isolated from the outside world.
It is naturally impossible for the jailer to tell the prisoners about the current situation outside.
This also caused Xia Yuanji's impression to remain at the same level as before.
At this moment, Xia Yuanji made some calculations in his mind, and sure enough, the canonization ceremony of His Highness the Grand Sun had already passed.
While taking a bath, Xia Yuanji suddenly remembered that he and Huang Zicheng had a good relationship.
Perhaps through His Highness Taisun, we can find out the mastermind behind the empty-printed document.