The first thing Wang Yuan heard when he returned to Beijing was that the emperor had set his palace on fire.
No matter how the butterfly's wings flapped, it could not scare away the fire in the palace!
King Ning still presented lanterns every Lantern Festival. This year's lanterns were numerous and beautiful. Zhu Houzhao asked the palace people to hang them on the pillars. This was already dangerous. What was even more ridiculous was that there were also felt curtains placed under the eaves. Fireworks, gunpowder and other items are stored in it.
As soon as the fireworks were set off, the lanterns were lit, and then the beams and pillars were lit. Hence Zhu Houzhao’s words: “What a big fireworks!”
The Qianqing Palace was burned to the ground.
And what is Qianqing Palace used for?
The place where emperors of the Ming Dynasty lived and worked!
As soon as Wang Yuan returned to the capital, he received the task of discussing government affairs. All officials must discuss government affairs and review the gains and losses of the emperor and ministers, because the fire in Qianqing Palace must be a sign from God.
This time, the ministers did not self-examine and pointed their finger at the emperor. Who allowed the fire to destroy the emperor's palace?
The content is nothing more than the following:
First, the emperor should not live in the Leopard Room for a long time, but should return to the palace to live.
Second, the emperor should not favor the border generals, but should transfer the border troops away from the capital.
Third, the emperor should not be close to foreign monks, but should respect Confucianism and cultivate literary virtues diligently.
Fourth, the emperor should not be lazy in government and tired of learning. He should be diligent in government affairs and attend court meetings and economical banquets on time.
Fifth, the emperor should not trust sycophants, but should accept the opinions of all officials.
Zhu Houzhao was sprayed bloody by the civil servants. He could not refute, so he could only lose his temper in the Leopard Room. After all, he did burn down his palace.
In addition, Zhu Houzhao finally became a believer in Buddhism and raised countless monks in the Leopard Room.
The reason was that Zhu Houzhao wanted to have a son and took Concubine Zhuang to the temple to worship. After Qian Ning found out about this, Qian Ning, who was falling out of favor day by day, immediately hired a so-called virtuous and respected monk.
Zhu Houzhao always wanted to be fresh in everything. After chatting with Monk Fan for a while, he became interested in Buddhism. Regardless of Concubine Zhuang's dissuasion, he left Monk Fan in the Leopard Room and built a temple for him. He also studied Sanskrit in a serious manner.
This is very Zhu Houzhao!
A few years ago, when Liu Jin was not dead, Zhu Houzhao once believed in Islam and gave himself an Arabic name "Miaoji Aolan", which means "the glory of Allah". But, everything is popular in three minutes , and soon turned his interest elsewhere.
…
Wang Zhai.
Wang Quan, Wang Jiangshi and Wang Meng hadn't left yet, so they waited for Wang Yuan to return home before setting off for Guizhou.
The maid brought a large plate of dumplings, and Huang E said with a smile: "Second brother, you must not have eaten well outside. This is flat food that I personally cooked for you! Dad, Mom, and eldest brother, you guys can eat too." "
Mrs. Wang Jiang beamed: "Brother Yuan, what a virtuous man you married. When you are away these days, Amei (Huang E) is running the house properly, and she still has to find time to help you compile that newspaper."
Wang Quan said: "That's right, you should treat her well in the future."
Wang Yuan nodded repeatedly: "My child, remember the teachings."
The whole family had a lively dinner, and that night, Wang Yangming was invited to dinner. His parents kept thinking about thanking Wang Yuan for being his mentor.
After working for a long time, Wang Yuan finally had time to be intimate with his wife, and then they hugged each other and talked privately.
"Did you miss me?" Wang Yuan asked with a smile.
Huang E snuggled into Wang Yuan's arms, with a trickle of sweat on his forehead, and gasped: "I miss you so much that I feel like I have lost my soul. I look forward to your return every day."
Wang Yuan slid his hands quietly and said jokingly: "What do you want me to do when I come back?"
"Oh, don't touch me randomly, you will do bad things," Huang E blushed, "I just want to talk to you every day and see you every day."
Wang Yuan asked: "Is there really nothing else?"
Huang E said in embarrassment: "A little bit. Sister Ning'er's child has been given birth by now. I also want to have a child with you."
Wang Yuan suddenly turned over: "Then try harder!"
Huang E was so embarrassed that he couldn't speak. He could only close his eyes, hug Wang Yuan tightly, and let this guy mess around.
After all the hard work, it’s time to wash up and go to court. Sleeping can be left at the court meeting.
After burning down the Qianqing Palace, Zhu Houzhao became more diligent in his work and had been in court for more than half a month. During this period, he also held several sutra feasts.
The ministers were a little uncomfortable with it. They suddenly had to get up in the middle of the night every day. Who could bear this? Everyone was secretly guessing how long the emperor would be able to work diligently this time. No one thought that the emperor could last more than a month.
While waiting for court, Wang Yuan saw his father-in-law.
Huang Ke's promotion in the past two years has been like riding a rocket. He is both Yang Tinghe's confidant and Wang Yuan's father-in-law, and anyone is willing to promote him. He was previously the right minister of the Ministry of Husbandry, and was promoted to the left of the Ministry of Punishment after returning from being in charge of grain in Henan. Minister, now he has been transferred (re-employed) to the rank of left minister of the Ministry of War.
Interestingly, the emperor seemed to have reached a tacit understanding with Yang Tinghe.
Once Yang Tinghe's people were promoted, they were often accompanied by promotions in the imperial party. When Huang Ke was transferred to the left minister of the Ministry of War, the emperor recalled a minister from Nanjing to serve as the right minister of the Ministry of War. At the same time, he promoted Yan Song to the rank of doctor of the Ministry of household affairs based on merit, and continued to manage Shandong's finances. And the salt tax in the world.
"Xian son-in-law, you have gone too far in Shandong, be careful of the secret arrows in the court!" Huang Ke reminded.
Wang Yuan said with a smile: "Thank you, Lord Taishan, for your concern. I can sit upright and walk upright, and I am not afraid of those who are cheating on me."
Huang Ke said: "What do you think about the rebellion of King Guishan?"
"Didn't King Guishan prove his innocence?" Wang Yuan didn't understand.
A prince's rebellion case could not be decided for a while. Even if the person handling the case was accomplices in the frame-up, everyone believed that there was indeed a rebellion, but months passed and they were still discussing how to deal with it. During this period, the news was blocked, and King Guishan was also in a state of insecurity. Under house arrest, Wang Yuan was busy controlling floods and did not even know that things had changed.
No one reminded Wang Yuan. Perhaps officials such as Li Chongsi thought that Wang Yuan was working with other investigators, so they did not dare to bring up this topic.
The ministers came to Fengtian Hall and stood up according to their shifts.
After Wang Yuan kowtowed to the emperor, he closed his eyes and took a nap. He had already practiced sleeping standing up.
Before the minister found out, Zhu Houzhao took the vaccine and said: "Today, no one is allowed to mention the fire in Qianqing Palace, and no one is allowed to mention the border general, Fanseng!"
The officials looked at each other, feeling that it was too boring to criticize the emperor for justifiable reasons.
Chief Assistant Yang Tinghe went out to report: "Your Majesty, please stop all work and reduce the weaving work in all areas. Except for the Secretary's Book Hall, the East Palace Room and the Jingcang, which need to be repaired, the rest of the military bureaus and Da Ci'en Temple need to be repaired. The construction of the monk's residence, the red shop on the Imperial City Street, the expansion of the Leopard House, etc. should all be suspended. Weaving in various places in Suzhou and Hangzhou in Nanjing should also be stopped immediately. It is true that the Ministry of Household Affairs does not have much money, so it is necessary to concentrate money and resources to rebuild the Qianqing Palace."
This was a serious matter and no one objected. Zhu Houzhao also said: "It's accurate."
The cabinet minister Liang Chu immediately came out of the procession and knelt directly on the ground: "I have not been strict in teaching my son, so much so that he has disregarded human life. I request that he be promoted to an official position and that the unfilial son be severely punished!"
Zhu Houzhao said impatiently: "The case is closed, there is no need to mention it again."
As an important minister in the cabinet, he is the target of public criticism. Any omissions will be magnified infinitely, not to mention that his son has three hundred lives in his hands.
Whenever something happens, this old case will be revealed.
It happened that there was a fire in the Palace of Qianqing, and some officials brought up the old matter again, thinking that the virtue of the cabinet officials was lacking, and God would send disasters as a warning. Liang Chu was scolded bloody along with the emperor.
A young man commented on the incident: "Your Majesty, the son of the cabinet minister Liang Chu killed three hundred people, but he was only sentenced to guard the border. It is really unfair. Please review this case!"
Zhu Houzhao was very irritable. He finally insisted on going to court and listened to these impeachment contents every day until he almost vomited. He immediately slapped the golden throne and said, "I told you not to mention this matter again!"
Wang Chun, the Shaoqing of Dali Temple, came out and said: "Your Majesty, the evidence for King Guishan's rebellion is conclusive. After discussion, some officials believed that King Guishan should be demoted to a commoner and sent to Suzhou to guard the border. Li Hanchen, the censor of Shandong Province, accepted Bribery was used to get King Gui Shan off the hook, and he should be severely punished!"
Cheng Qichong, the supervisory censor, came out and retorted: "Your Majesty, there are still many doubts about the rebellion of King Guishan. I would like to ask another official to re-examine it. In addition, there is a crazy rumor that the whistleblower Liang Gu is a disciple of Wang Shouren. He was of the same year and fellow disciple of the Hanlin Academy, Academician Wang. At that time, Academician Wang participated in the investigation, was he suspected of favoring his fellow disciples?"
Wang Yangming also came to court today. He did not expect that he would be involved in the prince's rebellion.
An Pan, who had had conflicts with Wang Yuan, came out: "Your Majesty, I impeach Wang Yuan, a scholar at the Hanlin Academy. He was domineering during the river governance in Shandong. He treated his subjects as domestic slaves, took life and death, embezzled and embezzled, and acted arbitrarily. As a result, Dongchang was destroyed. The people of the government are filled with resentment, and the officials, gentry, and gentry all suffer from the brutal government..."
"alright!"
Zhu Houzhao interrupted: "Let's talk one by one. Wang Erlang, what happened to King Guishan?"
Wang Yuan finally opened his sleepy eyes and walked out slowly: "Your Majesty, because thousands of people in Linqing gathered at the construction site, I was afraid of a civil uprising, so I left Yanzhou early. When I left Yanzhou, I signed the case settlement document, That document judged that King Guishan was innocent and had not committed any treason. As for why it developed into what it is now, I really don’t know the inside story."
Wang Chun and Han Duan, who had collaborated to frame King Guishan, changed their expressions upon hearing this.
Wang Chun quickly said: "After Bachelor Wang left, there were other clues to the case."
Wang Yuan asked: "What clue?"
Wang Chun said: "Chen Huan, a strong man in Yanzhou, and Li Zuoxiu, a charlatan, surrendered to expose the rebellion of King Guishan."
Wang Yuan asked: "Where are these two people?"
Wang Chun said: "I have committed suicide out of fear of sin."
Wang Yuan was furious: "After surrendering to the case and being exposed, he committed suicide in fear of guilt. Are you easy to fool the people of the world? Your Majesty, I request that the case be retried! Also, Li Hanchen, the censor of the patrol, knows the case better and should also be involved."
The unlucky censor Li Hanchen is still in prison, having been beaten half to death.
Zhu Houzhao said: "According to Wang Xueshi's wishes, the Chief of Ceremonies, the Jinyi Guards, and one person from Dali Temple will be sent together with Li Hanchen to try the case of King Guishan's rebellion. Before the case is found out, don't mention it again. I have been arrested by you. It’s very annoying! Wang Erlang, now let’s talk about your killing of officials in Shandong.”
Wang Yuan smiled and said: "I am the one who was impeached, so it is not convenient to say more. What I did in Shandong was seen by the ten censors, so it is most appropriate for them to comment."
Ten young censors came out together.
During the Li Ke incident, Cai You temporarily served as the censor to inspect the river control project. He sneered and asked An Pan: "In the An incident, if you go out of the capital to regulate the river, do you dare to take the initiative to ask your majesty to send ten censors to supervise you?"
? If Academician Wang is really corrupt and perverting the law, how could he make himself uncomfortable?"
An Pan said: "Don't talk about these lies. Did Wang Xueshi kill officials indiscriminately, did he enrich his own pockets, and did he make the ladies of Dongchang Mansion excited? Tell me about this!"
Zhang Aoshan, the supervisory censor, said: "During the Anji incident, do you know how much money and food it cost for Wang Xueshi to control the water and build one rolling dam, three gates, one canal and one reservoir?"
An Pan asked: "It must cost a lot of money."
Zhang Aoshan said loudly: "Only 3,728 taels and five taels of silver from the imperial court were used, and more than 90,000 shi of grain were used. This money and grain also included relief for 60,000 victims for three months and payment of travel expenses to the victims home.
Seeds and dry food, as well as two sets of cotton-padded clothes and cotton-padded shoes for each victim! During the arrangement, you said that Bachelor Wang had enriched his own pockets. If you were to supervise the construction of this kind of project, would it be possible to complete it at triple the cost?"
Cai You said with a smile: "It would be too difficult to triple the amount and I would be caught in the trouble. Maybe it is possible to triple it."
An Pan was dumbfounded: "How could it be possible to spend only this small amount of money and food? It must be exploiting the people and spreading all the money and food needed for the project on the people!"
Li Ke, who temporarily served as the censor, told Huang Chen: "Exploiting the people? Go and find out for yourself. On the day the project was completed, more than 60,000 people affected by the river control spontaneously knelt down to thank Master Wang. On the day that Master Wang returned to Beijing, Lin Ke
The people of the Qing Dynasty gathered on both sides of the Wei River and kowtowed to see Master Wang off. If you don't believe it and don't want to go to Linqing to ask, you can ask Shudu Censor and Yu Shilang, they also saw it with their own eyes!"
Shu Kunshan and Yu Lin both came out and testified to Wang Yuan: "It is indeed true. Tens of thousands of disaster victims and the people of Linqing all regarded Academician Wang as the blue sky. They cried and howled that day to persuade him to stay, and people everywhere knelt down to thank him for his kindness."
An Pan was confused: "If you don't put money and food on the people's heads, how can he create money and food by himself?"
Wang Yuan could only explain: "Your Majesty, there are illegal tycoons in the local area who colluded with Liu Liu and Liu Qi and incited the people to block the project, so I led the transportation army to ransack their homes. Some of the money, food and silver were also copied, and they were all used for
On the management of the river, all the money, including the money given to me by King Guishan, was used to control the river. I did not take any money, and the accounts were written very clearly. The actual money consumed was more than 40,000 taels of silver and 40,000 taels of grain.
Nearly one hundred thousand stones."
Only then did it make sense, and the officials were suddenly stunned.
But they all chose to keep their mouths shut, not daring to talk about the project funds anymore.
This money and food is enough for them to do projects, not to mention the fact that they also provide relief to 60,000 victims, and also distribute cotton-padded clothes, cotton shoes, travel expenses and seeds.
Honest officials and honest ministers!
Even An Pan stopped talking, bowed respectfully to Wang Yuan, and returned to his station to stand still.
Zhu Houzhao smiled and said: "Any meritorious service must be rewarded. Wang Erlang has done a great job this time and saved money for the court. He was promoted to the right minister of the Ministry of Rites!"
Yang Tinghe advised: "Your Majesty, Bachelor Wang is still the top scholar in this subject. Isn't it too hasty?"
Zhu Houzhao said: "There will be a master's degree examination in one month. Then, after the palace examination is over, Wang Erlang will be promoted to the right minister of the Ministry of Rites. As for other officials who have contributed to river control, the cabinet and the Ministry of Personnel will discuss a charter."
After the court meeting dispersed, many young officials bowed to Wang Yuan one after another, just to express their respect for the upright officials and ministers.