The first main gate of the imperial city is called "Daming Gate", which is also known as "Da Qing Gate" in the Qing Dynasty and "Zhonghua Gate" in the Republic of China.
However, the Daming Gate will not be opened except for national ceremonies, and officials can only enter and exit through the East and West Chang'an Gate.
Zhou Chong was guarding outside the West Chang'an Gate at the moment. Although he was the chief steward, he personally led the horse to escort Wang Yuan at night every time he went to court.
Ah Hei was tied to the horse post at the door, which was equivalent to the parking space for civil and military officials.
There were two carriages parked next to them, belonging to Zhang Heling and Zhang Yanling respectively.
"Brother, are we really going to curry favor with that Wang Erlang?" Zhang Yanling's tone was filled with reluctance.
Zhang Heling said depressedly: "You think I want to curry favor with him? Without His Majesty's support, he is nothing!"
Zhang Yanling muttered: "I just feel embarrassed."
"Face is more important, or is it more important?" Zhang Heling said indignantly, "His Majesty will fall out whenever he wants. He lets those officials impeach us, and even lets the royal guards arrest many of our slaves. Let alone driving around the streets now, even Leopard
We can't even enter the room, and the eunuchs and royal guards are hiding from our brother. If we want to please His Majesty, we have to start with Wang Erlang."
Zhang Yanling thought about it and said: "Brother, are you saying that His Majesty is really not our nephew?"
"Shut up, you want to die!" Zhang Heling was so frightened.
Zhang Yanling said: "I'm just a little curious."
Zhang Heling said: "This matter cannot be talked about. The Queen Mother will not admit it, and the Emperor dare not pursue it. Anyone who gets involved will be punished by death!"
The life of the two uncles was very difficult. They were impeached every now and then, and a lot of old scores were uncovered. The civil servants, regardless of their factions, all wanted to attack nobles and relatives. This time they finally took advantage of the opportunity.
In less than a month, more than thirty of them were captured as domestic slaves and tortured to death. The Zhang brothers were forced to vomit more than a thousand acres of fertile farmland in the suburbs of Beijing.
Now, even ordinary people in the capital know that Uncle Guo has lost his favor. There are gangsters who come to blackmail people. If they don't give enough money, they will report that Uncle Guo has committed suicide in a certain year and month.
Zhang Heling got off the car and came to Zhou Chong's side. He smiled and chatted up: "This horse is really a great horse!"
"I've met the Marquis." Zhou Chong saluted with a neither humble nor overbearing greeting, and then stood there without saying a word.
Zhang Heling asked again: "Isn't it Wang Erlang who rode this BMW into the war?"
"Exactly." Zhou Chong didn't want to say anything, and his personality was much calmer. In the past, he would have started bragging.
Zhang Heling said with a smile: "Last spring, thieves attacked my manor in the southern suburbs and burned my house to the ground. Thanks to Wang Erlang's rescue, I was able to save countless belongings. Unfortunately, I am usually too busy and have never had time to express my gratitude."
Zhou Chong said: "Kill the thieves out of justice without asking for thanks."
Zhang Heling looked inside the door and said, "Wang Erlang hasn't come out yet. He must have been summoned to the Leopard Room by His Majesty."
Zhou Chong said: "I don't know."
…
Wang Yuan was chatting with Zhang Lun. When he came out of the Meridian Gate, he found that Zhang Lun had been waiting.
"Thank you so much, Master Wang!" Zhang Lun said, cupping his fists.
Wang Yuan quickly returned the greeting: "You shouldn't, Zhang Jiqing's words are serious!"
As the minister of Dali Temple, Zhang Lun was one of the nine dignitaries. He sighed: "In this major case involving three hundred lives, no one in the six departments, six departments and cabinet dared to uphold justice. Only Wang Erlang was willing to hand over the memorial. Alas,
If the world is like this, the country will no longer be a country."
"Why did Zhang Jiqing say this? The world is unfair, and we should work harder to maintain it." Wang Yuan heard the subtext in the other party's words and asked, "Does Zhang Jiqing want to resign?"
Zhang Lun said: "If the principal in this case escapes the death penalty, I will definitely resign and return home."
Wang Yuan smiled and said nothing.
Whoever believes in a civil servant's mouth is a fool. Zhang Lun is probably using this to gain fame. When he went against the two cabinet ministers Yang Tinghe and Liang Chu, he probably did not want to create an unjust case and take the blame, rather than truly maintaining judicial justice - of course
, this is commendable, at least he is still showing off, while the other two presiding judges are not even showing any respect.
In fact, if Wang Yuan had not flapped his butterfly wings, Zhang Lun would have ceased to be the minister of Dali Temple last winter. Only because the emperor promoted Wang Yuan to the rank of bachelor, which caused a series of changes in official positions, Zhang Lun continued to sit in this position.
A few days later, Zhang Lun was transferred to the Ministry of Industry as the Right Assistant Minister and was no longer responsible for hearing the case. He was definitely promoted based on his rank, but what happens next depends on how he will be promoted next time.
Zhu Houzhao was very interesting. He obviously hated Yang Yiqing at first, but he asked Yang Yiqing to recommend the new Minister of Dali Temple.
Yang Yiqing was absolutely competent in his duties, and even recommended Yan Zhong, the right deputy imperial envoy. Yan Zhong, the new minister of Dali Temple, behaved more staunchly than Zhang Lun, and under great pressure from the two cabinet ministers, he was determined to bring the mastermind of the case to justice.
Zhu Houzhao secretly watched the show, changed his mind about Yang Yiqing, and sent people to investigate the details of Yan Zhong.
The result surprised Zhu Houzhao. Yan Zhong had been an official for decades, and his family had no money. He barely lived on his salary and had few servants. His life was very miserable.
Compared with Yan Zhong, Zhang Lun is nothing!
It can be seen from this that Yang Yiqing is very suitable to be the Minister of Civil Affairs. The talents he recommends are all real talents, and the personalities and abilities of these talents are consistent with the positions.
When the new official of Yanzhong took office, he tried a large number of backlogged cases and reviewed all the previous unjust cases. Jin Lei and Chang Lun were highly regarded by Yanzhong. After the petition was approved, they were both appointed as Dali Temple judges (judges of the Supreme Court).
Finally I no longer have to be an intern.
…
After leaving Chengtianmen, Wang Yuan and Zhang Lun said goodbye, one headed west, the other east, and went home respectively.
Zhang Heling immediately greeted him with a smile: "Last year, fortunately, Academician Wang killed the bandits and was able to save some money. It is really rude that I never came to thank you."
"It's just a little effort." Wang Yuan said with a smile.
Zhang Yanling also came over and said, "The football match played by Mr. Wang was so good that I went to support it every time."
Wang Yuan smiled again and said: "A few little tricks, nothing to mention."
Zhang Heling smiled apologetically and said, "Are you free, Mr. Wang, today? We two brothers are hosting and inviting Mr. Wang to have a few drinks."
Wang Yuan declined politely: "It's really a pity that I can't get away."
Such lack of face made the two uncles very unhappy, but they did not dare to show it on the spot. They laughed and talked nonsense with Wang Yuan before saying goodbye and leaving. However, they also achieved their goal, that is, they bought two pairs of Qianli from Wang Yuan.
mirror.
The telescope is a royal item and can only be purchased at Baofang Shopping Street. Many merchants cannot buy it if they have money.
As long as Zhang Heling and Zhang Yanling take out their telescopes, they can prove that they have a good relationship with the emperor, and at least they will not be blackmailed by gangsters anymore.
That afternoon, the Zhang brothers sent three thousand taels of silver.
Among them, one thousand taels were used to purchase two pairs of telescopes. The remaining two thousand taels were a gift to Wang Yuan as a thank you for Wang Yuan's action in killing the rebels who looted the manor last year.
Wang Yuan happily accepted the three thousand taels of silver and conveniently gave Zhu Houzhao one thousand five hundred taels. The emperor and his ministers divided the spoils without leaving any clue.
evening.
The craftsman came over with the newly polished lenses and said, "Please audition, Master Wang!"
Wang Yuan assembled the lenses. The telescope was more than three feet long, and it was clearly an astronomical telescope. It had failed twice before, mainly due to problems with the aperture and focal length. Wang Yuan could only make repeated modifications based on the failures.
On a full moon night, Wang Yuan looked up at the stars. The astronomical telescope was his eyes.
"Sir, have you seen the moon?" Du Jin has officially become a disciple. He is ten years older than his teacher Wang Yuan.
Wang Yuan said: "Come and see for yourselves."
Du Jin came over curiously, took one look, and then trembled: "This, this, this... is this the moon?"
"Let me take a look." Bao Chaozhen said with a smile.
After a few breaths, Bao Chaozhen was also speechless.
Although Wang Wensu has served in the Ministry of Household Affairs, he still lives in Wang Yuan's home and is just a ninth-grade sesame official. If Wang Yuan goes out in the future, he only needs to say a word to take Wang Wensu, the human calculator, out.
Wang Wensu looked at it repeatedly for a while, then moved the telescope, trying to observe other stars.
"Why is this happening?" Bao Chaozhen asked.
Wang Yuan smiled and said, "Don't talk nonsense. I will go to see Your Majesty tomorrow to see what His Majesty's attitude is."