As soon as money was mentioned, the suspicious and irritable emperor immediately lost his temper.
In fact, all the emperors in the middle and late Ming Dynasty loved silver, and it was not an ordinary love, and Chongzhen was no exception. They had no choice but to force it. Both the national treasury and the inner palace were poor. In recent years, even the chamber pots in the palace were poor.
Chongzhen, who secretly sold it for silver, now has green eyes when he sees the silver.
At this moment, he saw that someone was actually preparing to use one million taels of silver to fill the imperial treasury. It would be a lie to say that he was not moved. As a result, even the name Pang Gang began to change.
Wen Tiren and Yang Sichang couldn't help but swallowed their saliva at this time. One of them was the chief minister and the other was the minister of the Ministry of War. They didn't know how many people reached out to them on weekdays. Their lives were also difficult. Now they saw that there was someone who was taken advantage of.
To fill money into the treasury, it would be a lie to say that I am not excited.
However, the final decision on this matter was still in the hands of the emperor, and they could only pretend to wait eagerly for Emperor Chongzhen's decision.
Chongzhen rang for a long time, and then asked with some distress: "Two dear friends, what do you think of the self-defense excerpt sent by Pang Gang?"
"This..." Wen Tiren and Yang Sichang looked at each other and nodded in unison as if they had a tacit understanding."
Yang Sichang took a step forward and cupped his hands and said: "Your Majesty, the ancients said: Knowing your mistakes can make a lot of improvements. Although Pang Gang dared to resist the imperial envoy, it was not without his difficulties. Moreover, he was also willing to donate one million taels of silver to atone for his sins. Your Majesty is so kind, why?
Why can’t we forgive him for once?”
"Yes, Your Majesty." Wen Tiren also advised: "Your Majesty, although Pang Gang is hateful, I think Wu Yadong, the governor of Zhejiang, is even more hateful. I think that as the governor of Zhejiang, he has only paid more than one hundred taxes in recent years.
Ten thousand taels. That Pang Gang was able to turn over so much money to the court just by wandering around Hangzhou for a few days, and Zhejiang only had so much tax money in a year, which shows how derelict he was as a governor. On the other hand, although Pang Gang
He has a reckless temperament, but he is loyal to the court and the emperor. For this reason alone, the emperor should treat him lightly."
After hearing what they said, Chongzhen still did not express his position. He just leaned his head on the dragon chair and closed his eyes to rest without saying a word.
After a long time, Chongzhen opened his eyes and muttered: "The officials in Zhejiang are too incompetent. It's time to do something."
Although Chongzhen's words seemed to be meaningless, Wen Tiren and Yang Sichang were both veterans who had been in the officialdom for decades. How could they not understand what Chongzhen meant? They both looked at each other understandingly and smiled slightly.
Nodding, the two of them apologized and immediately left.
Although it is difficult for outsiders to understand the meaning of Chongzhen's words, it is actually not very complicated. To put it simply, Pang Gang has now grown into a local armed force that cannot be ignored, and this force and the imperial court
Although we have the ability to deal with him, the price is too high and not worth it. Now that he is willing to offer real money to atone for his sins, there is no need to fight with him and lose both sides. Well, now comes the problem.
If you want to pardon Pang Gang now, you must find a reason, and this reason must be sufficient and strong enough that neither the government nor the opposition can find any reason to oppose it.
In fact, it is very simple to find a reason, that is, to find a scapegoat, who should we look for? Whoever accuses Pang Gang, we will look for.
Wen Tiren and Yang Sichang acted very quickly. Early the next morning, they both presented a memorial at the same time. Wen Tiren wrote to the commander of Qingzhou and General Dingyuan to plead for mercy, saying that although he made a small mistake, he was loyal to the court and loyal to the imperial court.
I ask the Emperor to treat me with kindness.
Yang Sichang sued Wu Yadong, the governor of Zhejiang, and Xi Lianglin, the Zhejiang inspector, and others framed Zhongliang and deceived Shengting, forcing Qingzhou commander Pang Gang to have no choice but to ask the emperor to investigate the matter strictly.
As soon as these two memorials came out, all the officials in the court seemed to be suffering from collective sluggishness. They were all dumbfounded. It's not that I don't understand, but the world is changing too fast. Why did I still yell at Pang Gang yesterday?
Yes, today this person has become the persecuted Yue Wumu.
Chongzhen was also furious on the spot in the court, and immediately issued an order to remove Wu Yadong, Xi Lianglin and others from their posts, and ordered the Jin Yiwei to immediately arrest them and bring them back to Beijing for trial. In this way, an originally vigorous incident calmed down.
.
Qingzhou Commander Yamen, Pang Gang was taking Liu Zeqing to drink tea in a small courtyard. The two were talking and chatting. Since Liu Zeqing was captured by Pang Gang, Pang Gang did not put him in a cell, but let him live in
In a foreign courtyard, except that you can't go out, everything is no different from guests.
Liu Zeqing smiled bitterly and said: "Brother Pang, I can't thank you enough for your hospitality these days, but you have to understand that I have a young family and will not betray the emperor."
"Hahaha..." Pang Gang laughed, and he said with a smile: "Brother Liu, where are you thinking? You and I are colleagues, how could I harm you? Come on, come on.
....Drink tea!”
"Colleague, I'm afraid not now!" Liu Zeqing smiled bitterly and shook his head. The brother in front of him seemed like a mystery. As the contact increased, he felt more and more terrible about this brother, as if everything was under his control.
It's like it's under control.
Liu Zeqing took a sip of tea and asked: "Brother Pang, Brother Shu said bluntly, although you have defeated me, you are determined not to be able to defeat the imperial court with the strength of your state. You'd better go and go as far as you want."
Never come back again."
Pang Gang didn't expect Liu Zeqing to say such a thing. He was startled and then burst into laughter. Liu Zeqing was so confused that he laughed so hard that he finally said angrily: "Brother Pang, are my words so ridiculous?"
"No, no!" Pang Gang waved his hand, and just as he was about to say something, his soldier captain Shi Bowen came in and said respectfully: "Master Qi, the imperial envoy sent by the imperial court has arrived and is waiting for you in the front hall."
"Oh, you're here so soon? Which imperial envoy is here this time?"
"My lord, the imperial envoy coming this time is Eunuch Cao Huachun, the eunuch of Li Bingbi!"
"Haha, the background is not small." Pang Gang smiled slightly after hearing this, but Liu Zeqing on the side was dumbfounded and asked, "Why did the imperial court send an imperial envoy here again? What is going on?"
Pang Gang stood up and patted Liu Zeqing on the shoulder, "Brother Liu, please feel sorry for yourself first. I'll go to the front hall to receive the edict first. Don't worry, you can return to Jinan soon."
After saying that, Pang Gang strode towards the front hall, leaving only Liu Zeqing who was confused...