After leaving the Qianhu Office angrily, Hu Wei opened the sedan curtain and ordered outside: "Go to the Chasi Yamen."
As the sedan walked through the streets of Hangzhou City, the anger on Hu Han's face disappeared, leaving only a cold smile. He was deeply scheming, beyond imagination. His anger was for others to see, but he had already clearly calculated the pros and cons in his heart.
, when the sedan came down from the Chasi back office, the bearer opened the sedan curtain and saw Zhou Xin in casual clothes standing in the courtyard, still smiling.
But being able to come out to greet him already shows his status in Zhou Zhitai's heart.
"Ashamed, it's a disgrace to the mission." After getting off the sedan, Hu Tong smiled bitterly and said, "I can only keep that kid safe."
"It's already very good," Zhou Xin extended his hand to greet him: "Zhuo Jing went to the kitchen and prepared a few side dishes. Let's talk while eating."
"Haha, Mrs. Sister-in-law's craftsmanship is outstanding," Hu Tong said with a delighted smile.
Zhou Xin is from Guangzhou, and his wife cooks excellent Cantonese cuisine. Cantonese cuisine pays attention to quality and taste, with a light taste, freshness in the freshness and beauty in the lightness. It is in line with the taste of scholars and has always been on par with Huaiyang cuisine.
A dish of plain-cut chicken, a plate of taro pork belly, and a bowl of cordyceps and bamboo shredded chicken soup completely subdued Hu Wei's stomach, making the slightest bit of unhappiness in his heart due to being plotted disappear.
The scholar talked without saying anything while eating and sleeping. After dinner, the two of them went to Zhou Xin's study room and spent some time together in front of Ming Dynasty before the atmosphere of conversation changed.
"Brother, you are so kind to us," Hu Ting said with a smile, sitting in Zhou Xin's study, feeling a thousand times more comfortable than sitting in Qianhu's office, "Is it because of an uneasy conscience?"
"Why are you uneasy?" Zhou Xin said calmly.
"If you hadn't used Wang Xian as bait, would I be in Hangzhou right now?" Hu Han said with a half-smile but not a smile: "I heard that he was captured by the Jin Yiwei, so I used both soft and hard tactics to lure Zhu Jiu, and traveled under the stars for three days and three nights. What was the result?
"Although I am relieved, I still feel a little angry when I mention it.
"He was indeed arrested." Zhou Xin said without changing his expression.
"But we were arrested just this afternoon. Why did you inform me three days ago?" Hu Xing smiled and said, "Could it be that I have foresight?"
"It's obvious that Jinyiwei will take advantage of the hospital to test people," Zhou Xin said calmly.
"I don't believe that you, a dignified Zhejiang inspector, can't protect a subordinate, but you have to give up the near and seek the far away." Hu Wei said with a half-smile but not a smile: "I don't want to cause trouble, but I invite others to jack the cylinder. Seeing how upright I am, I didn't expect that I am also a slippery man.
Le”
"I can indeed protect him," Zhou Xin did not deny it, but the next moment, he sighed with a heavy expression: "But I can protect him for a while, but not for a lifetime." He pointed to the window and said in a more serious tone: "As long as Jin Yiwei doesn't
If he gives up his thoughts, he will never have peace."
"..." Hu Yan was silent for a moment and said slowly: "I can't go through such a big deal for a Wang Xian, right?"
"Yes." Zhou Xin did not mince his words. He nodded and said word by word: "Not only Wang Xian is in danger, but millions of people inside and outside Hangzhou are also in dire straits."
"..." Hu Yan also felt sad when he heard this, and said in a low voice: "The Jinyiwei is really making trouble in Hangzhou. I heard about it when I was in the capital of southern Zhejiang.
"It's not outrageous, it's sensational." Zhou Xin suddenly raised his voice and said: "The Jinyiwei Zhejiang Thousand Household Office has only been officially opened in Hangzhou for two months. It has arrested more than 600 officials, gentry and common people, with an average of more than a dozen arrested every day.
Isn't it just these six hundred people who suffered? There are also six hundred of their families whose homes were confiscated and their losses amounted to hundreds of millions of taels." The more he spoke, the more excited he became, and his face, which was as cold as ice for thousands of years, was full of words.
Deeply painful: "How many women were raped and how many innocent people were killed during this period. The complaints, written with blood and tears, were piled up in my detention room."
"Really?" When Hu Yan heard this, his scalp exploded.
"I have been secretly investigating for a long time. The cases in the past two months have been recorded one after another. You can refer to them at any time." Zhou Xin said solemnly.
"No, I believe it..." How could Hu Tong not believe Zhou Xin's words? He took a breath and said, "I only knew that they were doing random things in Hangzhou, but I didn't know that they had reached the point where they are disgusted by both humans and gods."
"It's so appropriate that both humans and gods are disgusted." Zhou Xin said, looking at Hu Tong with warm eyes: "Jie'an is the emperor's imperial envoy, patrolling the sky on behalf of the sky. I saw that this place in Zhejiang has become a ghost on earth.
How can we not go up to Heaven to listen?"
"Uh..." Hu Yanxin said. Sure enough, he wanted to use my mouth, but he said calmly: "I'm a provincial official, and my actions are the same as those of the Metropolitan Procuratorate. Why should I use someone else to do it for me?"
"Jie'an, don't think that I still have any thoughts of being wise and protecting myself," Zhou Xinsurong said: "As the saying goes, when I am in my position, I plan for my government and support the province. I risk my life, and I should protect the safety of the province. Now Zhejiang
The people of a province are in ruins, and the principles are often turned upside down. How can I stay out of it?"
Seeing that Zhou Xin was full of loyalty, Hu Tong also said solemnly, "I was the one who said something frivolous."
"It doesn't matter." Zhou Xin slowly shook his head and said with a bitter expression: "It's just that the establishment of the Thousand Households Office shows that the emperor does not trust me, Zhejiang Civil and Military. I am in a place of suspicion, and I am still the subject of Jinyiwei's investigation. What I said
How can it be useful?"
"Yeah." Hu Wei nodded seriously. Now the scope of the investigation has been narrowed down to the three magistrates in Zhejiang. It is really difficult to talk to the three people until they prove their innocence... Of course, he will not say this to Zhou Xin.
: "It's better to wait a moment..."
"I can wait, but the people of Zhejiang cannot wait." Zhou Xin sighed deeply, cupped his hands towards Hu Han and said: "Brother Qiu Jie'an, for the sake of the people, reported the situation in Zhejiang to the Emperor. The Emperor is wise and benevolent. He must not bear to see his people suffer.
Being killed..."
"Of course there is no problem in playing for you." Hu Tong frowned and said: "But this matter is not a trivial matter and needs to be considered in the long run. I am not pouring cold water on you. The officials and people of Zhejiang have touched the emperor's objections this time. Although the emperor loves the people, he will not do it this time.
I will definitely love the people of Zhejiang..."
"Alas..." Zhou Xin knew that what Hu Wei said was true. Today, he is moody and unpredictable. Sometimes he is as kind and compassionate as Yao, Shun, and Yu Tang, and sometimes he is as cruel and cold as Emperor Qin and Sui Yang. For example, Jing Nan was
After his success, he swore not to kill Jianwen's ministers, and he did so at the beginning. However, after being angered by Fang Xiaoru and punishing his ten clans, he lost control. He not only killed the old ministers in the world, but also sold his wives and daughters.
From this point of view, Zhou Xin was full of resentment towards Fang Xiaoru. He believed that for the so-called morality, this man not only caused his own relatives to be slaughtered, but also caused countless people to die without burial.
Not real morality
After returning from a moment of trance, Zhou Xin looked at Hu Xin sadly and said: "Today...do you really mean to punish Zhejiang?"
"How could the emperor say such a thing? This is just the speculation of the people below." Hu Wei pretended to clarify something for Yongle, and said: "Otherwise Zhejiang is so close to Zhili, Ji Gang dares to let his subordinates do this? I
I heard that in order to win the Qianhu Office in Zhejiang, his subordinates vied with each other in bidding, and this man named Xu paid 500,000 taels of silver a year to get this job."
"It's really lawless," Zhou Xin said angrily: "No wonder he started searching for dead people as soon as he took office." It turns out there are targets.
"So I guess that within a year, the emperor will not care about Zhejiang's affairs." Hu Wei sighed: "Even if there is a falling out."
"I believe it's because the emperor doesn't know the details, right? If he knew the truth, he wouldn't have allowed them to do whatever they wanted." Zhou Xin said coldly, "Don't forget, Zhejiang is the wealth center of the Ming Dynasty, with hundreds of millions
How much of the two taels of silver will flow into the national treasury? Not to mention that the Ming Cult is still eyeing it."
"What you said makes sense, but that's not what I can say." Hu Han said with a wry smile on his face: "As a great imperial envoy, if I can fool around in the province, what does it matter if I return to the capital?
He is just a fifth-grade official, is this what I should advise the emperor?"
"I can only... do it reluctantly." Zhou Xin also knew that this was a bit difficult.
"It's okay to let me eat stuffed rice, but there's no guarantee that I won't have diarrhea." Hu Wei said with a bitter smile: "It's just a trivial matter for me to be dismissed from my job or lose my official position. Anyway, I've already had enough of being a wild official who spends all my time in the ravine," he said sternly.
: "But if you can't succeed in this kind of thing in one fell swoop, it will be difficult to do it again, and it's easy to kill the snake but suffer the consequences, so you have to think about it in the long term..."
"Then let's discuss it," Zhou Xin said in a deep voice: "Anyway, it's still a long time before dawn, we can definitely come up with a solution together."
"If we can't think of a solution together, we won't let him sleep?" Hu Wei said with a bitter smile.
"I'm sorry Jie'an, I'm at the end of my rope," Zhou Xin said firmly, "If you don't help me today, I will go directly to Beijing to file a complaint."
Hu Tong looked at Zhou Xin's expression and knew that he was serious. He couldn't help but stir up a huge wave in his heart. He went to Beijing to complain to the imperial emissary. Regardless of success or failure, his official career was ruined. The reason is simple, as long as you don't have ulterior motives.
, then reducing big things to small things is the way to serve as an official and a minister. Zhou Xin brought matters that were limited to Zhejiang Province, or even Hangzhou Prefecture, to the capital, turning them into major events that attracted the attention of both the government and the public. Of course, the court
He wanted to give an explanation to everyone in the world, but one can imagine the dislike towards Zhou Xin from the emperor to the cabinet.
What's more, after slapping Ji Gang so hard, how could he not hate Zhou Xin to the bone? If he had offended the emperor and was targeted by the leader of the Jin Yiwei, no matter how famous Zhou Zhitai was, he might not be able to end well...
Therefore, Zhou Xin's statement that the cauldron will sink the boat is no exaggeration at all.
"You can't do this unless it's absolutely necessary," Hu Yan said decisively.
"I am lonely by nature and don't have many friends. If something happens, please take care of my family." Zhou Xin whispered.
Hu Tong was startled for a moment, then remained silent for a while, and finally said: "Things probably haven't reached this point yet. If I can't solve the problem, we can still find someone else..."
"Who?" Zhou Xin's eyes lit up and he asked.
Hu Chan looked at Zhou Xin, and a sudden realization came to his mind. He pointed at him and cursed with a smile: "Well, you Zhou Xin, you're just waiting for me to say this, right?"