After the fourth watch of the drum, the waning moon is like a hook...
The dawn of autumn is dark and bone-chilling, so cold that people shrink their necks and horses snort. Sneezes come and go, mixed with the sound of shouts, the sound of sedan chairs, the sound of horse hooves, and the sound of singing, reminding the half-asleep and half-awake people of Bianjing,
Today is the day of the regular morning..
Official sedans and horse-drawn carriages gathered from all directions to the waiting courtyard in front of the imperial city gate. Outside the waiting courtyard, it was already brightly lit and full of people setting up stalls selling breakfast. People paid for breakfast and there was a lot of noise.
Not much different from usual.
What was unusual inside the courtyard was that it was as noisy as outside. Officials were rushing back and forth in various rooms, inquiring about the latest news, and discussing the situation that would arise at the court meeting. No one stopped them, because the censor on duty,
I am also distracted, listening with my ears perked up...
Suddenly, the noise subsided. Usually three situations will lead to this situation: first, the leader has arrived, second, the person responsible for discipline has arrived, and third, the person responsible for the topic has arrived.
Now comes the third situation. A skinny old man wearing gold and purple robes appeared tremblingly in the courtyard with the support of a young official. The old man was Zhao Yunrang, the king of Runan County.
"Your Majesty." "Why is Your Majesty here in person today?" Everyone hurried to greet him. This was a rare visitor. It has been almost a year since he was ill two years ago, and the old Prince has not been to court very often.
"It's so embarrassing," Zhao Yunrang hugged everyone and sighed, "We'll talk about it later in the court." Everyone didn't feel like asking any more questions, so they helped him into the room to rest.
Tang Jie and Fan Zhen also arrived. Before they could enter the house, Wang Su stopped them and asked in a low voice: "What's going on?"
"Lao Bao said he would give me a letter this morning." Tang Jie looked around and said, "Isn't he here yet?"
"No." Wang Su said, "This doesn't look like him." Bao Zheng was always one of the first to arrive every morning.
"He will come sooner or later." Tang Jie looked at Wang Su and suddenly sighed: "You have to be prepared."
"I know." Wang Su smiled bitterly and said, "That old man is too stubborn."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As time passed, the white fish belly appeared in the east. When all the princes arrived, the melodious and majestic bells also rang on the tower.
The officials quickly, led by the censor on duty, filed out of the waiting room and lined up in groups outside Xuande Gate. The palace's red-lacquered and gold-nailed gate was also slowly pushed open by Si Yan.
A burst of hurried footsteps sounded from the team, and the officials looked sideways and saw Bao Zheng arriving in a hurry, finally not delaying the morning meeting.
His colleagues had reserved a spot for him. After Bao Zheng stood still, he took a good breath for a while, and then he saw that what was standing next to him was no longer the original Zhizhigao Liu Chang, but the Sansi
Let Han Qi.
"How come you are here, Prime Minister?" Bao Zheng is nine years older than Han Qi. The two are Jinshi in the same field and have good personal relationships, so he joked rudely: "Maybe he changed jobs with Lao Liu
?”
"Just curse me." Standing with the old man with disheveled beard and unkempt appearance, Han Xianggong looked more and more tall and tall. A wry smile hung from the corner of his mouth and he said: "Why do you, old man, have such red eyes?"
Crying like a rabbit?"
"I'm just crying. I haven't slept all night." Bao Zheng was arranging his beard and turned around. Sure enough, he saw Tang Jie and Fan Zhen looking at him longingly.
It wasn't just the two of them. Almost everyone looked at him. Bao Zheng shook his head with a solemn expression, then turned back and stood up.
"What are you shaking your head for?" Under the guidance of the censor, the officials began to enter the palace. Han Qi asked as they walked.
"Move your neck." Lao Bao chuckled.
"Seriously." Han Qi didn't listen to him.
"Okay." Bao Zheng tilted his head to look at him and whispered: "I never thought that you, Han Qi, could also be a lobbyist for others."
"I'm here for you, old man." Han Qi smiled noncommittally and said, "Tai Jian and other ministers will jointly initiate the establishment of a reserve bank later. If you come out at this time, you will cause public outrage."
"If you commit it, commit it. My old man, Bao, will be a monk for a day and beat the clock for a day, but I don't want to be an abbot." Bao Zheng curled his lips and said with a smile: "In the worst case, I will go home and farm."
"Are you really prepared to poke this huge trap?" Han Qi asked as he looked at the palace, which was getting closer and closer.
"What kind of sky is Zhao Zonghan? King Runan can't do it either." Bao Zheng sneered: "There is only one sky in the Song Dynasty. That is the people's heart."
"Okay," Han Qi said seriously: "Then since you want to do it, this case must be investigated thoroughly to the end!"
Bao Zheng was a little surprised, and at the same time he cheered up and said: "This is like human talk."
"One moment and another. If you wanted to ask me last night, I would definitely stop you from poking this hornet's nest." Han Qi said with a 'I'm doing it for you' look on his face: "But now, since you want to open the case, If you don't get to the bottom of it, they will use false accusations to deal with you. So at this point, you have no choice but to fight."
Bao Zheng looked at Han Qi with wide eyes and said, "It seems that I really blamed you wrongly."
"It's okay, I've long been used to it." Han Qi said without blushing and without a beating heart: "But you have to be careful not to hurt innocent people."
"That's natural." Bao Zheng nodded.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After a relatively simple ceremony, the official went to court. He saw Zhao Yunrang at first glance and said with a sincere smile: "Brother, why are you here today? Come and watch."
Then some eunuchs moved a golden pier over. Unexpectedly, Zhao Yun did not sit down after letting him express his gratitude. Instead, he slowly knelt down while supporting the pier.
"Hurry and help the Prince of Runan County up!" Zhao Zhen said horrifiedly. In the Song Dynasty, there was no kneeling ceremony. Even ordinary people would not kneel when they met an official, let alone a dignified prince.
Except when worshiping ancestral gods, there are only two types of people who kneel, one is slaves and the other is criminals.
Although he was helped up, Zhao Yunrang was already in tears.
"Brother, what's going on?" Zhao Zhen straightened up and asked.
"There is an unscrupulous son in the family, which is embarrassing for the old Zhao family and the official family." Zhao Yunrang said while crying: "I beg the officials to punish him, I beg the government to punish him according to the national law!"
"What's wrong with you?" Zhao Zhen looked confused and said to the ministers: "My uncle is too excited. Let him calm down first. If anyone in your family knows anything about it, you might as well help tell them."
"Report to the officials." Bao Zheng naturally came out and said: "The old prince may have done it because the Kaifeng Mansion arrested his family's old man, the Sixteenth, yesterday."
"Ah, what nonsense!" Zhao Zhen said in shock: "How could you arrest my nephew without asking for permission? What crime should you be punished for?"
"The officials calmed down. Bao Longtu enforced the law impartially. He didn't know at first that he bumped into the door of that evil beast. What exactly was the crime?" Zhao Yunrang wiped away his tears and came to the rescue of Bao Zheng: "It is said that we searched his house. They came out with bows, crossbows, swords and guns, and a bunch of bandits with bad records, so it’s clear that they were not captured unjustly!"
"Oh?" Zhao Zhen then sat firmly and said, "Bao Qing's family, tell me the story of the future as soon as possible!"
"Yes." Bao Zheng started from yesterday's kidnapping case, briefly and accurately described the entire case, and finally said: "According to last night's surprise interrogation, the gangsters confessed to dozens of murder cases, but there is still more to do.
Check it out!"
"Brother, didn't you know what Zhao Zonghan did before?" Zhao Zhen frowned.
"Old minister, I feel ashamed. I have too many children at home, and I really don't have the experience to supervise them one by one. In addition, many people moved away from the palace when they became adults, and it is beyond my reach." Zhao Yunrang said sadly: "In the past, I always regarded that evil beast as
The kid thought he was just messing around outside, but he turned out to be a gang leader who does all kinds of evil..."
"Uncle Huang is telling the truth. If you have too many children, you really can't manage them." Zhao Zhen didn't know whether he was envious or jealous: "Besides, Sixteen is still young, so he probably just thinks it's fun, and he just messes around and doesn't know how to do anything.
"
"The officials say this because of their generosity, but if you fail to raise a godfather, I, as the father, must also bear the sins of the evil beast." Zhao Yunrang said with a sad face: "Wei Chen, please resign from the post of Zhizong Zongsi.
, please strip the king of his title and all his positions, please compensate all the innocent families who suffered, and request that the beast be severely punished!"
This series of "pleases" stunned the civil and military officials of the entire court, including Zhao Zhen, who also looked at the imperial brother with admiration... Such heartbreaking reflection and such sincere atonement are not something ordinary people can do.
Bao Zheng was also secretly frightened... He heard that last night, Zhao Yunrang went to find Han Qi in person. It seemed that he had come up with such a trick. Thinking of Han Qi's abnormal behavior when he entered the court, how could he not understand?
That guy was testing the truth to determine whether the strategy should be implemented.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Zhao Zhen is a soft-hearted official and has a good face. Han Qi took advantage of this to make a fuss and asked Zhao Yun to admit his mistakes as soon as he came up and say whatever he said to him. All of this was to silence the public.
, so that they could not accuse him, let alone use it as an excuse.
Anyway, with Zhao Zhen's temper, he would always give discounts and discounts. In the end, he was able to get through this test without breaking his bones.
However, Mr. Han made a small miscalculation - he used ordinary officials to speculate on Zhao Zhen's reaction at this time. He obviously regarded people as immutable and ignored various factors such as emotions and interests, as well as his attitude towards people and decision-making.
Impact.
There is a saying in later generations that people's emotions are like springs. The tighter you press them, the harder they rebound. This is the case for Zhao Zhen, an official. Don't forget, it has been almost half a year from the beginning of the year to now.
What kind of life did he live - when the ministers met him, they said to him, "You have no son, you have no son, you have no son!"
