When Zhu Changjin came back to report the situation, Zhu Yijue frowned. Su Hao told Zhu Changjin not to reveal the conversation between the two parties to Li Hui. The subtext was that there might be something wrong with Li Hui, which Zhu Changjin could naturally understand.
After returning to the palace, he quickly reported the situation to his father Zhu Yijue.
"Steward Li has been in the palace for many years. He has always been diligent and loyal to the palace. Is Su Hao making such wild remarks just to sow discord?" Zhu Changjin said. His words were actually retreating in order to advance. In his heart, it was
He believed in Su Hao's judgment more, but he could not express this idea because Li Hui was a person Zhu Yijue trusted. If Zhu Changjin made false claims about Li Hui's fault, he would probably make Zhu Yijue unhappy.
"Loyalty?" Zhu Yijue smiled coldly and said: "How can there be such a thing as loyalty in this world? Su Hao's doubts about Li You are probably not groundless. I have heard people talk about it in the past.
, saying that Li Hui secretly kept a house of concubines outside. With the salary he received in the palace, he could afford to keep a house of concubines, but why did he hide this matter from the king? "
"Could it be that... the money he paid to raise this concubine was not from the right source?" Zhu Changjin said following Zhu Yijue's words.
"In this turbulent time, it is always right to be more careful." Zhu Yijue said, "Jin'er, you can have someone secretly investigate Li Hui's daily expenses, and who he often hangs out with. We
We need to be prepared. Whether Su Hao is specifically targeting us or something else involves us, in short, we should first make our own fences stronger."
"I understand." Zhu Changjin agreed and went down to make arrangements.
The wave caused by Su Hao in Runing City finally spread to the capital thousands of miles away. The investigation report written by Li Zhi and signed by Su Hao has been delivered to Wang Xijue. At the same time, nearly a thousand officials from Runing Mansion
, a letter of accusation jointly signed by the squires was also delivered to the house of Chief Assistant Shen Shixing through Liu Qichang's channel. In the teahouses, an article titled "Beating the Scoundrel Su Haoxi" was widely circulated.
"This Su Hao is completely a bandit. He relies on the eunuchs as his backers and goes unscrupulous in Runing Mansion, oppressing the people and extorting money. If any merchants resist at all, they will be forcibly taken away by his minions, and then beaten into submission. Luo Zhi comes out
What kind of crime is this? Runing Mansion was originally a paradise on earth where singing and dancing led to peace, but now it has been turned into a mess and the people have no way to live."
At the Liuqianfang Teahouse, a group of candidates who had just finished the examination were gathering. One of them shook his head and told his companions about Runing.
"Brother Jia, why did I hear that Su Hao had a good reputation in Huai'an Prefecture for pacifying the Japanese emperor? Could it be that after he arrived in Runing, he completely changed his appearance?" Another scholar was quite interested in what his companion said.
There are some doubts.
The man surnamed Jia said: "Brother Guo is probably mistaken by the rumors. Has anyone seen the pacification of the Japanese in Huai'an Prefecture? More than a hundred Japanese pirates were defeated by Su Hao. I'm afraid such a thing is
It's just rumors. As for the explanation, my younger brother has also inquired. In fact, it was Su Hao who sent troops to force each squire family to hand over a certain amount of land to the government to resettle the refugees. It was the squire who paid the money, and it was Su Hao who got his name. Many of them
As a result, the squire lost everything. Those who got the land were mostly lawless people who liked to live in leisure and hate work. I don't see anything worthy of bragging about such a pure father."
"I have not experienced these things personally, and I don't know whether they are true or not. Brother Jia, you are a Juzi from Zhejiang Province. Why are you so familiar with things in South Zhili and Henan?" the Juzi surnamed Guo asked in return.
Juzi surnamed Jia said: "Everything I know comes from the popular appeal against Su Hao. Do you know who wrote this appeal? It was Cheng Dong, a Juzi from Jiangxi! This Cheng Dong is a famous person, don't look at him
Although he is young, he has outstanding literary talent and has the ability to aspire to be one of the top three. This is a heart-stirring piece of writing, and it can be called a masterpiece that will last forever."
"It turns out that this essay was indeed written by Cheng Dong. No wonder the writing style is so sharp. However, I remember that Cheng Dong was also taking exams in the capital these days. How could he know what was going on in Runing?" Guo Juzi was still a little unconvinced.
, continued to ask.
"Well..." Juzi Jia was at a loss for words. He was just a fan of Cheng Dong and was not familiar with him. How could he know how Cheng Dong learned this information?
At this moment, a young scholar came over, raised his hand to the man surnamed Guo and said: "Brother Guo has invited me. My younger brother is Cheng Dong. This article about Su Hao was written by my younger brother. Brother Guo has
He Jianjiao?"
As soon as these words came out, the scholars in the teahouse who did not know Cheng Dong were all amazed:
"Is he Cheng Dong?"
"Wow, you look so young!"
"Oh, when I saw Brother Cheng, I realized that we have grown like dogs."
It turned out that after Cheng Dong passed the Juren examination, he left Jiangxi and went to academies in Wuxi to study. He was originally very smart, but after receiving the guidance of some famous teachers, his knowledge improved by leaps and bounds.
At that time, Jiangsu and Zhejiang were places where academic thought was very free. In addition to studying homework and preparing for the imperial examinations every day, the scholars in the academies often devoted a lot of energy to discussing current affairs and criticizing current ills. Cheng Dong experienced many things in his childhood.
The society was unfair, so his thoughts became more extreme. Under the instigation of his classmates, he wrote many articles commenting on the current situation, in which the words were very harsh and the views were very provocative.
These articles quickly spread among the scholars, and Cheng Dong also gained a reputation as a talented and outspoken person. He was quite influential in major academies, so as soon as he appeared, he attracted everyone's attention.
exclamation.
This time, Cheng Dong came to Beijing to take the exam together with some classmates. After the exam, while waiting for the results, someone suddenly approached him and asked him to write an article criticizing Su Hao. Article
The material was prepared by the people in Runing, and it was nothing more than how Su Hao relied on the military power in his hands to bully good people, and so on. The reason why the people in Runing found Cheng Dong was because they took a fancy to his reputation.
and writing skills, but before finding Cheng Dong, they were not sure whether Cheng Dong would help him.
What the people from Runing never expected was that as soon as Cheng Dong heard that the matter was related to Su Hao, he agreed without saying a word. He didn't even pay special attention to the high retouching fee given by Runing. Because
The material was sufficient, and Cheng Dong had long harbored resentment against Su Hao. This essay took only one night to complete. People from Runing were amazed after reading it.
The article quickly spread among the people. This article captured some eye-catching words such as "eunuch" and "wufu", which aroused the public indignation of scholars, so it was widely sought after. Many scholars had just finished taking the exam.
, it is when I am very bored, there is such a topic, and I can still not discuss it.
Seeing Cheng Dong appear, Juzi Guo also quickly stood up and saluted. Cheng Dong asked: "Brother Guo just asked me if I have been to Runing. To be honest, I have never been."
"This..." Guo Juzi said hesitantly, "Then how does Brother Cheng know what Su Hao has done? If it is just hearsay, I'm afraid it will be biased, right?"
Cheng Dong said: "When I was studying in Jiangxi, I had a relationship with Su Hao, and I am very familiar with this person's temperament. This person has always been good at speculation, and when he was in Jiangxi, he once offered a gold mining plan in order to please the mine supervisor.
As a result, the gold mine collapsed, resulting in the death of several innocent miners, one of whom was the brother of my classmate and friend."
"Is this happening?" Everyone was surprised. Su Hao is also a small public figure, especially the students from Huai'an, who have quite positive comments about Su Hao. Now they hear Cheng Dong say this
He said, this person is simply a heinous and polite scum. What such a person did in Runing is really outrageous to all gods.
"Everyone in the same year, my younger brother heard the news that Runing has become a hell on earth. Nearly a thousand merchants and gentry in Runing Mansion jointly submitted a letter asking the court to investigate Su Hao. This letter of ten thousand people has been sent to the capital a few days ago. The court
We will send important ministers to Runing in the near future to find out the truth. If given the chance, I am willing to follow and uncover the true face of Su Hao." Cheng Dong assured everyone.
The former Juzi named Jia praised: "Brother Cheng really combines knowledge and action. This truth-seeking heart is worthy of our generation to emulate."
"Elite scum should be despised by everyone. I'm just fulfilling my duty as a scholar." Cheng Dong said with dignity.
No one noticed that in a corner of the teahouse, two old men in casual clothes were sitting. They were Wang Xijue and Wang Yi'e, the Minister of War. They had been listening to the conversations of the scholars and heard everyone denounced Su Hao.
, the two couldn't help but look at each other and smile, with helpless expressions on their faces.
"Wang Cifu, this child Su Gaizhi has been tricked by you." Wang Yi'e said to Wang Xijue with a smile.
"He obviously brought it upon himself." Wang Xijue said in a disrespectful manner, "Who made him attack so harshly? He almost uprooted the entire Runing Mansion. If he cut off other people's wealth, how could they not look for him?
trouble?"
"What does your Majesty mean by what happened this time?" Wang Yi'e asked with concern.
Wang Xijue said: "Both sides now have their own opinions. Shen Shoufu is leaning towards Liu Qichang's opinion, so the Holy Emperor is also undecided. Recently, he indeed plans to send senior officials to conduct a thorough investigation. If what he said is true, everyone in the Runing Mansion will
, I’m afraid at least dozens of heads will fall to the ground.”
"In my opinion, I believe in Su Gaizhi more. This time, there is one of our veterans who went to Runing with Su Gaizhi, named Xu Guangzu. This man has always hated evil. If Su Gaizhi really did something wrong, Xu Guangzu would be the first to do it.
I won't agree." Wang Yi'e said.
Wang Xijue said leisurely: "Runing's matter did not come out in one or two days. It would be strange if people like Liu Qichang had no problem. Now it depends on whether Su Gaizhi's work is solid and whether he can handle this case.