Pang Gang didn't expect that Emperor Chongzhen would do such a thing to him. He couldn't help but be stunned for a moment, and a cold sweat broke out on his back. He was busy fighting these days, and he had already forgotten everything about Qingzhou.
Now that Chongzhen suddenly mentioned it in front of the palace, even though he had always been bold, he felt a little confused.
"Pang Gang, why are you silent? As a military general, you killed innocent grain merchants and opened warehouses without permission without reporting it to the court. In your eyes, you still have me and the king of the court.
Law?" Chongzhen's voice became louder and louder, and even the officials lined up outside the hall could hear it clearly.
Chongzhen's roaring voice echoed in the hall, like thunder in Pang Gang's ears, and a majestic light shone in his eyes that were originally a little tired.
"Damn! You don't need to accuse me of such a big crime at the beginning!" Pang Gang said in his heart at this time that he was not afraid, which would be a lie, but he also knew that if someone didn't answer correctly at this time, he would probably end up in the wrong place.
A dismissal and investigation even suggested that he would be beheaded at the Meridian Gate. He was so excited that he could not care so much. He suddenly stood up and looked at Chongzhen sitting on the dragon throne and said loudly: "Your Majesty, what are you talking about?"
I have nothing to say for killing the grain merchant without any official documents from the imperial court, but if you say that the grain merchant is innocent, I will not accept it!"
"I will not surrender!"
After Pang Gang said these words boldly, the hall was completely silent for a moment.
"Be bold!"
"You are so bold that you dare to roar openly in front of the Emperor!"
"Arrogant man, take him down!"
As soon as Pang Gang spoke, there was silence in the main hall, but then there was an uproar. Several civil servants jumped out and pointed at Pang Gang and shouted loudly. Some even called the guards to take it down. The main hall was in chaos.
A bunch.
But Lu Xiangsheng and the generals behind him were dumbfounded. Liu Zeqing, a rude guy with a sinister face, also murmured: "Damn it, this kid is much braver than me, Old Liu, and he dares to hedge in the hall.
Yelling at the emperor."
"You...you..." Chongzhen was so angry that he pointed at Pang Gang's hand and trembled. He had been on the throne for more than nine years. Although the country's affairs were deteriorating, no minister had ever dared to confront him.
He was barking at him, let alone yelling at him in front of all the civil and military officials. For a moment, he was so angry that he could not speak.
Seeing that the emperor was very angry with Pang Gang, Lu Xiangsheng quickly stepped forward and shouted at Pang Gang: "Pang Gang, what nonsense are you talking about? Why don't you apologize to the emperor quickly!"
Pang Gang's mind also turned around at this time. He suddenly thought that Chongzhen said this in the hall just to beat him, not to punish him, otherwise he would not have done it in front of all the civil and military officials.
His case has been brought before him. If we really want to punish him, all we have to do is capture him when he enters the palace.
He knelt down with a "pop" and said loudly: "Your Majesty, if you want me to die, I have to die, but if the emperor convicts me of Shi Cai's crime, I will refuse to accept it."
At this time, Chongzhen also recovered from the shock. He sat on the dragon chair and looked at Pang Gang, who was kneeling on the ground and stubbornly raised his head to express his dissatisfaction. He gritted his teeth and said word by word:
"Okay, okay, if I punish you now, it would seem that I am punishing you without teaching you! Pang Gang, tell me, if you can't say something ugly, I will never spare you!"
"Say what you say!" Pang Gang also took the risk and said proudly: "Just now, the emperor said that the wealthy gentry in Qingzhou jointly filed a petition, saying that the ministers were killing grain merchants in Qingzhou, intimidating the wealthy gentry to donate money and grain, and opening warehouses without authorization.
Food, but you only know one thing but not the other. On that day, 50,000 refugees gathered in Qingzhou City, but the government was already unable to provide relief. Tens of thousands of victims were crying in Qingzhou City, and hundreds of refugees died every day due to hunger and cold. And now
At that time, the Chuang bandits also sent hundreds of bandits into Qingzhou City with the intention of rebelling in Qingzhou. The situation was already critical, but at that time there were only old and weak soldiers in Qingzhou City and less than a thousand soldiers. If the refugees rebelled against Qingzhou, they would definitely fall into the hands of the bandits. However, Qingzhou City
The four major grain dealers in the area took the opportunity to hoard and never sold a grain of grain. Even if they were willing to sell it, it would be at a sky-high price. I wonder how the refugees could afford it.
Seeing that public anger had accumulated to the extreme, rogue bandits also took the opportunity to stir up trouble everywhere, and the ministers were ordered to raise grain. At first, they also begged the grain merchants and gentry to donate some grain to help the victims, but they still had nothing.
I also received a secret message, saying that the Zheng family, a grain merchant, secretly colluded with the bandits and wanted to rebel, so I had no choice but to use this thunderbolt method to capture the Zheng family. Long live, do you know how much grain I found after entering the Zheng family that day?
Really? That’s a full 20,000 shi of grain!”
"Twenty thousand stones!" As soon as Pang Gang said this, even Chongzhen was startled. He frowned and said: "Pang Qianhu, are you right? How could a mere grain merchant in Qingzhou find out twenty thousand stones?"
Stone grain, that is more than three million kilograms of grain, enough to feed 50,000 refugees for several months."
Pang Gang said solemnly: "When I said to the emperor, Wei Chen was right, it was twenty thousand shi of grain. Think about it, a mere grain merchant actually had 20,000 shi of grain in his house, but refused to sell it. Don't he know that if
If the refugees start a riot, will their food be robbed? What is his intention? If not such a person, who can he do? But what makes Wei Chen puzzled is that those wealthy gentry who were lucky enough to save their lives actually
You still have the nerve to frame Weichen, Your Majesty. Weichen devoted himself to the imperial court and the Ming Dynasty, but in the end he was accused of killing an innocent person. I am so unjust!"
After listening to Pang Gang's words, the main hall was silent. Who could stand in the main hall who was not a human being? They knew that Pang Gang's words were absolutely correct as soon as they heard them. They knew the habits of those businessmen very well.
Asking them to donate food and make porridge would be more painful than cutting their flesh. They don't care whether your homeless family has food or whether they will starve to death.
Pang Gang continued: "Besides, after the incident, Lord Wei, the prefect of Qingzhou, and Lord Song, the commander, also wrote special memorials to report to the court. Didn't your Majesty see it?"
Chongzhen's brows suddenly frowned. He really couldn't remember receiving such a memorial, but he just used this matter to beat Pang Gang. Now after hearing Pang Gang's explanation, he also took the opportunity to go downhill.
He smiled and said: "I have never received such a memorial, but it seems that I have really wronged you. Pang Aiqing, please get up first!"
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
Looking at Pang Gang who was standing solemnly aside, Chongzhen smiled and said: "Pang Gang, you are so brave. Yesterday you fought bravely for the imperial court to kill the enemy. I am very pleased. Lu Aiqing, all the soldiers came forward to listen to the seal!"
Chongzhen waved his hand, and a eunuch holding an imperial decree stood up.
"Crash..." At this time, Lu Xiangsheng and the generals also quickly knelt down.
The eunuch's sharp voice rang out in the hall: "According to the emperor's edict, Lu Xiang was promoted to a duke and loyal to the country. He lived up to my expectations and led an army to defeat the bandit chieftain. He was specially granted the title of Prince Shaobao and was rewarded with five hundred taels of silver and five pieces of brocade.
.Datong Commander-in-Chief Wang Pu rewarded... Qingzhou Lingshan Guard Qianhu Pang Gang was promoted to the rank of General Dingyuan, commanded the envoy of Qingzhou and guarded Qing, Laizhou, and Dengzhou East Road, and was rewarded with a silver pattern
....."
Pang Gang couldn't hear the following words clearly because he was already in ecstasy at this time. He was a general with the rank of General Dingyuan. He commanded envoys from Qingzhou and guarded Qingzhou, Laizhou and Dengzhou East Road. Wouldn't that be a general?
Are you saying that he wants to take over Song Xinghe's team? Now he is very prosperous. Among the three titles of Staff General, Dingyuan General and Qingzhou Commander, General Dingyuan is a false title and can be set aside for now, but Qingzhou Commander
The commander had actual duties, and together with the rank of general of the three states of Qingzhou, Laizhou and Dengzhou, this meant that Chongzhen had put all the military forces along the East Coast Road in Shandong under his control, and besides, he was from a
Qianhu, who was in the fifth rank, suddenly jumped to being a general in the third rank. This jump was not a big one for Pang Gang. It was not an exaggeration to say that it was like a fish leaping over the dragon's gate. Now Pang Gang could pat his chest and say that he was a senior cadre.
Already.
"Thank you, Your Majesty, long live my Emperor!" After hearing the reward, Pang Gang was so happy that he almost danced and knelt down again with everyone.
Emperor Chongzhen was sitting high up, and Pang Gang's ecstatic expression was clearly reflected in his eyes. He couldn't help shaking his head and laughing. After everyone thanked him, he said kindly: "My dear friends, the so-called thunder and rain are all
This is all for Your Majesty's favor. I hope you and others will redouble their efforts to serve the Imperial Court in the future and do not let down my high expectations."
All the generals said in unison: "I will obey the Holy Spirit. Long live my emperor!"
Chongzhen nodded and smiled and said: "Okay, Lu Aiqing, please lead the generals to retreat first. After completing everything in the capital, return to the military camp immediately. Do not stay in the capital for a long time."
"Yes, thank you, Your Majesty!"
Lu Xiangsheng led the generals to retreat. After everyone left the Hall of Supreme Harmony, they took a long breath. Lu Xiangsheng first blamed Pang Gang and said: "Chaodong, why didn't you tell me that you had done such a big thing in Qingzhou? You are good at killing grain merchants."
It’s not a trivial matter, it’s no joke if those rich country squires make a fuss.” Lu Xiangsheng was very aware of the energy of those rich country squires. If Pang Gang had not made great achievements, Chongzhen would have had a good impression of him.
Punish him.
Pang Gang smiled bitterly and said: "Everything has been done, what else is there to say, but today is not in vain. I didn't expect that I even got a general from my humble position." After saying this, Pang Gang became happy again.
Lu Xiangsheng also smiled, "Chaodong, you are now a general and no longer a low-ranking Qianhu. You can call yourself the last general this time. The emperor values you very much and has asked you to take charge of the defense of the three states. Can you
I must share my worries with the Emperor."
Pang Gang also bowed and said: "Yes, humble... I will obey the command of the governor!"