There was only a baby corpse there, and the dignified Governor of Zhejiang actually knelt down and muttered to himself.
Wang Shao, Xu Fan and other officials were thoughtful, while a few officials and gentry were dubious. After all, many people at this time believed in the existence of ghosts and gods.
A gentleman named Zhang couldn't help but ask: "Mr. Wang..."
"Silence!" Yuan Da scolded in a low voice.
The man immediately shut up, and the other officials and gentry did not dare to speak any more.
I saw Wang Yuan saying to the air above the infant's body: "The Concubine Tian is merciful, but such heinous crimes cannot be tolerated by the national law and must be severely punished!"
After saying this, Wang Yuan stared ahead, as if listening to some kind of voice in the dark.
After a while, Wang Yuan said to the air: "The female family members of the Li family cannot be lenient, especially Li Bohan's wife Du. Her own flesh and blood were carried by the servants and drowned. As a mother, she did not stop her. How could she have the face to ask for forgiveness?"
?”
There was another moment of silence, as Wang Yuan seemed to be waiting for Concubine Tian to speak.
Sure enough, Wang Yuan quickly said: "Tianfei is a beautiful lady. Although Du is forced by her husband, she can be forgiven by emotion, but it is difficult to tolerate the law. The law is the foundation of the country. If any violation of the law cannot be violated, then where is the prestige of the court?"
The empress said that as far as the main culprit was concerned, the governor did not agree to let the male and female servants of the Li family go. Although these servants could not stop the master from doing anything, since the governor had announced severe punishment for infanticide, they should report it quietly to the governor's mansion. The family cried,
Why cry all the way?"
There was another moment of dead silence.
Wang Yuan suddenly kowtowed to the air: "The Concubine Tian is wise, I will send your soul back to its throne."
Then Wang Yuan stood up, walked to the infant's corpse, took out a talisman from his arms, formed a seal and recited a mantra: "Tai Shang Tai Xing, adapt to changes without stopping. Protector kings, guard and recite sutras. Powerful gods from all directions, help me."
Support the soul. The soul returns to its place, and the energy of the Tao will last forever. The urgency is like a law or order, an edict!"
Wang Yuan's handprint suddenly changed, and when he rubbed it on the talisman paper, the talisman immediately ignited without fire.
Everyone present, both officials and civilians, was frightened. Zheng Wuzuo even threw himself on the ground and kowtowed.
Wang Yuan's fingers were burned. He was so painful that he quickly threw away the talisman and said nonchalantly: "There is no need to kneel down and worship, Tianfei Yuanshen has already left."
A gentleman surnamed Chen asked: "Governor Wang, was Concubine Tian really here just now?"
Wang Yuan corrected: "It's not the Concubine Tian, but a ray of her soul. When I was a child, I learned skills from a stranger in the mountains, and my eyes were opened to communicate with gods. Yesterday, the Concubine Tian's soul told me in a dream that she had reincarnated.
She was born into the common people but was drowned by her parents in this world. Please help me return her soul to its rightful place."
All the officials and gentry were half-convinced by this nonsense, but there were also a few who believed it firmly.
Someone asked in shock: "The drowned baby girl of the Li family is actually the reincarnation of the imperial concubine?"
Wang Yuan nodded and said: "Exactly, Tianfei was born after a calamity, and the family she was reincarnated into was destined to be rich and wealthy for ten generations. Maybe the Li family could produce another number one scholar. However, Li Bohan drowned his daughter to death, causing Tianfei to die.
The soul is bound here, so I can only entrust my dream to the governor to help her soul return to its place."
"The Heavenly Concubine is as powerful as a prison, can her spirit be restrained?" Someone else praised her.
Wang Yuan explained: "It should be noted that drowning of infants is a great evil, and Duan is extremely cruel. If an ordinary female ghost reincarnates and is drowned by her parents, she will never be reincarnated. She will turn into a fierce ghost and stay in the family forever. It is a ray of the concubine's soul.
Even if you are reincarnated and drowned by your parents, you will be bound to the place where you are buried. If there is no protector to see you off, it will take at least seven or seventy-nine years for Tianfei Yuanshen to return to her original position."
This rhetoric has made it difficult for many people to distinguish between truth and falsehood.
The main reason is that the spontaneous combustion of the talisman just now was very magical, and Wang Yuan was pretending to be an expert with real magic power. In addition, Wang Yuan became the number one scholar in more than ten years old, suppressed bandits and thieves, raised armies and destroyed countries, and was both civil and military. His own experience
It has a legendary quality.
Combining the two aspects, everyone secretly thought: This governor is afraid that he really has special powers and has the power to communicate with gods!
Wang Shao, Yuan Xuan and Xu Fan were all veteran officials, so naturally they could not be fooled by Wang Yuan's pretense. But they did not dare to speak, let alone expose it, so they could only pretend that they had not seen anything today.
"I am quite exhausted from what I have done. I have to rest for a few days. Please take your leave!" Wang Yuan pretended to be intimidated and ran away.
Everyone looked at each other and dispersed.
The body of the baby girl was taken away by the government and temporarily used as physical evidence. After two days, it was burned into ashes and sent to the temple for burial.
Zheng Wuzuo has been dealing with the dead all year round and is very superstitious. He prays to gods and worships Buddha in various ways on weekdays. He stayed to cooperate with the trial of the case, but when he returned home in the middle of the night, his wife Yang asked him if the Li family had been ransacked.
"There was no confiscation of the house," Zheng Wuzuo said. "Governor Wang had rules and regulations. The imperial court stipulated that infants should be drowned and banished to the army. A large number of the Li family would definitely be deported. Many of the female relatives in the family would also be consigned to music and sent to the Jiaofang Bureau.
"
Mrs. Yang clicked her tongue and sighed: "Governor Wang is really amazing."
While soaking his feet, Zheng Wuzuo said: "It's more than amazing! Let me tell you, the baby girl who drowned in the Li family this time was the reincarnation of Tianfei's soul. Why do you think the Li family was caught drowning a baby? Then
It was the Heavenly Concubine who entrusted a dream to Governor Wang, asking him to help her soul return to its rightful place."
"That's nonsense," Ms. Yang said amusedly, "a few days ago, you went to the Huang family in Yuhang with Governor Wang. Could it be that the Concubine was also asking for a dream?"
Zheng Wu scolded: "What do you know, woman? I went to the Huang family the day before yesterday. Someone exposed the Huang family's drowned daughter. Governor Wang went there and found out that it was a false accusation. This time it was really a dream from the concubine, and Governor Wang also took it with him
It’s holding a magic talisman!”
"Spirit talisman?" Yang said excitedly.
Zheng Wuzuo said quite exaggeratedly: "At that time, the soul of the imperial concubine flew out of the baby girl and talked to Governor Wang for a moment. Governor Wang took out the magic talisman, pinched the seal, and recited the incantation, and the magic talisman suddenly ignited.
, there were bursts of fairy music in the room, and divine lights were shining everywhere. Don’t believe it, there were many people in the room at that time, and everyone could see it clearly.”
Yang was surprised and said: "Governor Wang can still practice and recite mantras?"
Zheng Wuzuo said: "Governor Wang won the first prize when he was more than ten years old. He killed countless thieves on horseback. How do you think you got here? He has learned magic since he was a child. He has opened his eyes and can see ghosts and gods in all directions. You have also heard that Governor Wang led
With two hundred soldiers, he defeated more than ten thousand thieves. Is this something that ordinary people can do? Governor Wang must have attracted the protection of gods, and all his soldiers are invulnerable. Only then can this make sense!"
"I'm afraid this is true, otherwise how could two hundred officers and soldiers defeat more than ten thousand bandit soldiers?" Yang believed it instantly.
Zheng Wuzuo said solemnly: "I heard from Governor Wang's gunmen who came from the capital that the pirates in Zhoushan were also surrendered by Governor Wang. Moreover, Governor Wang alone floated from Hangzhou to Ningbo on bamboo poles.
, frightened those pirates so much that they knelt down and begged for mercy. Those pirates had been free for decades, and the government could not wipe them out. However, they surrendered as soon as Governor Wang left. How could they have done it without the help of gods?"
Yang guessed: "Governor Wang must be which star in the sky descended to earth."
"Of course, what do you have to say? The number one scholar is all Wenquxing." Zheng Wuzuo said with a smile.
Yang rolled his eyes and said, "Sir, he said that our elder man is a good scholar. Did you get anything from you when you followed Governor Wang?"
Zheng Wuzuo took out a tea bowl from his arms and said proudly: "This is the tea bowl that Governor Wang drank from. It is stained with Wen Quxing's spiritual energy. I brought it back quietly. From tomorrow on, you can use this bowl to make tea for Dalang.
If he is exposed to spiritual energy every day, he might be able to pass the Jinshi examination."
Yang said angrily: "What a good thing, why did you just take it out now? Put it away quickly, don't break it!"
Zheng Wuzuo suddenly had a serious expression on his face and warned: "Go back to your parents' home and tell them to stop doting on girls. Governor Wang said that if you dowed a baby, you will turn into a ghost and you will never be reincarnated. You will have to stay in your parents' home to cause trouble."
"
"I don't have to, I'll talk to you tomorrow," Yang said.
The next day, Mrs. Yang returned to her parents' home and added fuel to the fire. After a few days, the news spread throughout the neighborhood.
In the county government, the disease spread faster, and it has evolved into several versions when it spread to the streets.
Not only that, there are also people who secretly add fuel to the flames and carry out planned and large-scale propaganda. Hangzhou is a commercial city with many tourists traveling from south to north. These stories quickly spread with merchants to the north and south provinces.
The common people may not see any effect, but the gentry and wealthy merchants in several counties of Hangzhou Prefecture immediately dare not commit the crime of drowning infants. They were simply frightened by Wang Yuan's deception and frightening.
Li Bohan's house was not confiscated, but twenty-four (male) members of the Li family were expelled from the army, and twenty-seven (female) members of the Li family were imprisoned in the Jiaofangsi. His family was completely destroyed, and only Li Wanqing, an official in Guizhou, was left.
, it looks like I can’t have another son.
Even Li Wanqing's wife and Li Bohan's mother were sent to the Jiaofang Division.
This official wife was in her forties. Because she had no official title, she was severely punished by Chang Lun in accordance with the law. Moreover, at that age, she could not entertain people with sex, so she could only do odd jobs like washing and sewing in the Jiaofang Department.
This move scared the gentry in Hangzhou into silence. No one dared to touch Governor Wang's bad luck, including Chang Lun, who displayed great official power.
Any wealthy and powerful family in the area would send people to the Governor's Mansion to inquire at any time. Once they discovered that the Governor had issued a new decree, even if they did not fully support it, they would hide it obediently and not oppose it.
joke!
Li Zhuangyuan had only died a few years ago, and the third wife's legitimate grandson was expelled from the army. The third wife's daughter-in-law and granddaughter-in-law were also thrown into the Jiaofang Department. What couldn't Governor Wang do?
Together with this, the construction speed of the angry-looking Guanyin statues in major temples accelerated instantly. The gentry and wealthy families donated money to help the temples build the Guanyin statues. While accumulating merit, they could also please the Governor Wang, which could be said to kill two birds with one stone.
The Zhejiang garrison eunuch Wang Tang was so frightened that he went to fast and chant Buddha's name. He did not dare to send out his minions to collect money and harm the people. He was afraid that Governor Wang would have a seizure and he would be punished.
For a time, Hangzhou government was in good order. Officials were honest, wealthy families were charitable, and people abided by the law. It was a prosperous governance scene!
At the end of the year, Governor Wang mentioned that he wanted to build a vocational college in Hangzhou, and he received more than a thousand taels of donations in an instant. The governor was very touched by the kindness of the gentry and wealthy businessmen in donating money for education.
In fact, the wealthy gentry and merchants of Hangzhou Prefecture wanted to donate money to Wang Yuan to buy an official position.
It's a pity that they don't have the ability. Wang Yuan is already the right minister of the Ministry of War, and money can't help him get promoted again.