The four-wheeled carriage stopped at the door. Huang Daozhou opened the door and got out of the car first, then opened the door for Zheng Sanjun and helped him get out of the car. Zheng Sanjun, who had been in the prison for a while, was dressed in civilian clothes. The door of Zheng's house was surrounded by Jinyi guards. Li Guofu
He put his hands in his sleeves and looked at them condescendingly with a bit of amusement.
Zheng Sanjun gently pushed Huang Daozhou aside, stepped forward and entered the door with his head held high.
Li Guofu stood in front of him, and the waiter next to him was holding a plate.
"Your Highness is merciful, Mr. Zheng can choose one by himself."
Three feet of white silk and a pot of poisonous wine.
Zheng Sanjun chose Bai Ling.
Enter the house.
The children of the Zheng family in Beijing all knelt on the ground to greet him in mourning clothes.
"Ancestor!"
Zheng Sanjun became an official and resumed his career, but this time he was almost eighty years old and could not escape death. He even implicated his family, ransacked all the houses, and exiled the whole family.
This is a devastating disaster for the entire Zheng family.
These children of the Zheng family have just been released from prison. They have not received any punishment these days, but prison will never be a pleasure. If they have a choice, they all hope that their ancestors have not been involved in this crime.
Before being imprisoned, some of these children of the Zheng family were officials in the ministry, and some were studying in the Imperial Academy's Martial Arts Hall. They were all the proud sons of heaven, children of famous families, and they prided themselves on being romantic, and even some young people could not help but be a bit exaggerated.
I don’t usually say that my eyes are higher than my head, but I do like to comment on current events and make friends. Who can imagine that yesterday I was high and mighty, today I am a prisoner, and tomorrow I will be exiled to the countryside.
Many young people could not help crying.
Zheng Sanjun glanced at these nephews and grandchildren, feeling a little guilty.
"Shut up, stand up, don't cry like a child, go to the frontier, and strengthen yourself."
After saying that, he walked towards the main hall.
Bai Ling is placed on the table. Looking back on this life, it flashes by like a marquee.
He picked up the white silk, threw it on the beam, stood up on the stool, tied a knot, and hung it under his neck.
Huang Daozhou couldn't help but hug his legs.
Zheng Sanjun lowered his head and said, "Thank you for taking care of my funeral. All my manuscripts and notes are in the study. You can keep them for me after I die." Zheng Sanjun turned his head. At this last moment of his life, he could not help but feel a little regretful.
Zheng Sanjun was not actually from the Donglin Party at first, but because he opposed the Eunuch Party and was at odds with Wen Tiren and others, he was eventually pushed to the Donglin Party.
Zheng Sanjun was blocked from the cabinet by various parties several times, and finally returned home in the 16th year of Chongzhen's reign as Minister of Civil Affairs.
The following year, Li Zicheng invaded Beijing and Chongzhen hanged himself. After Zheng Sanjun heard about it in his hometown, he put on black clothes and went to the mountains. He built a small house called Ying'an and called himself Old Man Chaoyun. He devoted himself to organizing his works in the mountains, nicknamed "Ying'an".
"Escape from the husband" means escaping into Buddhism and meditating to realize the Tao.
He is the author of Chao Yun's poetry collection, Ying'an's poetry collection, Yuan Yue Gong's collection of memorials, Xuezheng's manuscripts, Liuzhong's complete works, He Gong's manuscripts, etc.
But just like when he recommended Wu Chang, a member of Zhou Yanru's party, this traitor made a wrong step, and he finally came out of the mountain.
Although he refused the call from Emperor Hongguang of Nanjing to be a bachelor of Wenyuan Pavilion and a minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, he later accepted Zhu Yihai's call to serve as Prince Shaobao and Shaofu, and became an advisor to the emperor.
Now the fallen three-foot white silk ends.
I shouldn’t regret it.
"Times have changed." Zheng Sanjun sighed and kicked the stool over.
Huang Daozhou couldn't help but wanted to step forward. Li Guofu's eyes signaled that several guards in uniforms stopped him, "Mr. Huang, avoid it. It doesn't look good."
Huang Daozhou couldn't help but shed tears.
Looking at the most honest and upright minister, struggling there and slowly becoming motionless, he asked himself, is he the second most honest minister today, Chongzhen, or Hongwu?
Is this a new beginning for revolutionary politics, or the beginning of the emperor's mediocrity?
Li Guofu waited for a long time before having Zheng Sanjun's body removed.
Huang Daozhou stayed to deal with Zheng Sanjun's funeral affairs. The Zheng Mansion burst into mourning. The white lanterns prepared in advance were put on, and everyone in the house cried.
Crying about the fall of a wealthy family.
However, Li Guofu took people to the Hou Mansion. Hou Xun, Hou Fangyu and others were also granted special permission by the prince to commit suicide, and he went to supervise it.
Hou Xun and his son chose poisonous wine.
Father and son sat opposite each other and put on their clothes in advance.
Hou Fangyu's concubine Li Xiangjun, who was once a famous prostitute in Qinhuai, had already cried and her eyes were red and swollen.
When she was five years old, Li Xiangjun's father was imprisoned for being involved in party strife. The Wu family was backward in economics. At the age of eight, she became the adopted daughter of Li Zhen, a brothel owner by the Qinhuai River, and changed her surname to Li.
Many years later, it was unexpected that the Hou family would end up in such a miserable state due to forming a clique again.
Hou Fangyu originally served in the lower government in Taiwan, and this time he came to Beijing to attend the imperial meeting. Unexpectedly, he was involved in this big scandal, and even his father was not spared.
"Xiangjun, fill the glasses with wine for my father and son."
"Can you sing and dance for me again?"
Li Xiangjun was not only proficient in the rhythm of poetry, but also good at playing the pipa strings. She also had a very sweet singing voice. She also won the popularity of the entire Jinling scholar at Meichun Tower.
I stayed with Hou Fangyu for ten years.
Back then, it was Ruan Dacheng who asked Yang Wencong to redeem Li Xiangjun for Hou Fangyu, who was shy about the money, and achieved a beautiful love.
Li Xiangjun knew that the money was provided by Ruan Dacheng, so he finally gave all his private property to Hou Fangyu, asking him to return the favor and prevent him from joining the traitors in order to maintain his reputation.
But now, Li Xiangjun couldn't help but asked while holding the wine pot, "Ruan Dacheng, Ma Shiying, and Yang Wencong are all saints' favorites, and the Ruan sisters are even more favored in the palace. Why don't you ask them for help? If it is inconvenient for you, I am willing."
run."
Hou Fangyu rarely showed an extremely free and easy behavior at this time.
"If you want your minister to die, you will have to die."
Hou Xun is also very calm.
Both father and son are smart people, and they know very well that they have completely violated the line this time, and there is no chance of it. The emperor originally intended to kill the chicken to scare the monkeys, how could he change his order overnight, even if the father and son regret it now and want to change their attitude again
, too late.
After all, Hou Xun was once a governor and a minister in the Chongzhen Dynasty. He had experienced so many bad party and political struggles, and he knew what the key to this matter was.
No luck at all.
"Today he is really a decisive and decisive emperor. To be able to have such determination and courage at this time is certainly a tragedy for us, but it may be a blessing for the world." Hou Xun raised his wine glass.
"He can compromise when he should compromise, and he can persist when he should be tough. This emperor is really remarkable. If Chongzhen could learn from his compromise, he would not have ended up hanging himself after seventeen years of reign. And if Hongguang could have him,
This kind of toughness will not allow Nanjing to collapse in just one year."
The father and son can only say that they just happened to be on the edge of a knife. The matter of forming a clique is not completely innocent, but if it is said that the clique is formed for personal gain or even deceiving the emperor, it cannot be said. It can only be said that they are still acting in the same way as the old dynasty.
, even in this incident, he took the lead, so if he shoots the leader, it is not innocent at all.
But they didn't expect that the emperor would act so quickly and cruelly.
They didn't even have a chance to escape.
Although many people begged for mercy, the voices gradually dissipated after the Taiwan Court and factory guards implicated more than a dozen officials and convicted them.
Everyone understood that the prince had the emperor's backing, and the remaining princes were even more monolithic.
Twenty admirals from the Northern and Southern Yamen even went to see the prince together, but not to plead for support for them, but to express the imperial army's support for the prince and the remaining imperial court.
It is said that the admirals of the imperial army paid homage to the prince because they actually received the emperor's instructions.
After the prince met with the admirals of the Forbidden Army, he took advantage of the situation and held a military parade and rewards in the southern suburbs.
All the sounds are gone.
Either the matter ends here, or I invite you to surrender and surrender yourself to the trap.
The young Crown Prince responded to these noisy voices with the strongest actions, and the world became quiet.
Hou Xun and the others could only become abandoned sons. Although they once thought that they could become a voice in the court, and might even gain more political prestige capital for the Hou family, father and son, and the Hou family, now they have all become a mirror image.
It was wrong after all.
The wine glass is filled.
The two men raised their glasses.
"May the world be prosperous and prosperous as long as I wish!"
Drink the poisonous wine in one gulp.
The two of them sat quietly, silently waiting for that moment to come.
Li Xiangjun saw that the expression on Hou Fangyu's face began to turn painful, and she cried bitterly while holding him. When he completely stopped moving in her arms, Li Xiangjun wiped his face clean, then picked up his empty cup and poured out the rest of the pot.
When the poisonous wine was filled, he drank it all in one gulp.
The Hou family's father and son committed suicide, the family property was confiscated, and three generations were exiled to the frontier.
Li Xiangjun chose to follow Hou Fangyu, met at the Qinhuai River, and stayed with her for ten years, reluctant to part ways.
All the people in the Hou Mansion are dressed in plain clothes.
Many women chose to commit suicide rather than be exiled to the frontier and face unimaginable or even unbearable difficulties.
Beijing city.
In one day, thirteen ministers of rank three or above committed suicide, and half the city was mourning.
this day.
The markets in Beijing are all closed, and there are few people on the streets.
The Imperial Guards were on double duty.
The Imperial College also had a special day off.
Everyone is silent.
This day is a day worth remembering for everyone.
This day also made everyone understand that whether they were the emperor or the prince, they were equally ruthless when they raised their swords.
No one can kidnap that father and son.
Ding Kuichu also chose poisonous wine. Before his death, he was unwilling to accept it and was also very confused as to why it was okay for him to rely on the traitorous ministers of the eunuch party, why it was okay for him to plunder money in Guangdong and Guangxi and commit corruption, and why he was now an idle and official official.
There are no soldiers, no power, and no official position. But I have said a few words for those students who are striking out for exams, for the imperial court to move the gentry to Beijing, and for the officials and gentry to work together, even just a few words.
Just complaining to relatives and friends and end up like this?
Don't understand, don't understand.
Ding Qirui, who chose Bai Ling, didn't understand even more. He surrendered to the Tartars, and the emperor could forgive him and even give him a rank, but why did he explode at the slightest touch?
They never die with their eyes in peace.
But their deaths made many people who didn't understand or care finally see clearly the emperor's red line, a red line drawn with blood that could not be crossed.
One of the four young masters died, and the remaining one, Fang Yizhi, went to the border area, and Chen Zhenhui came to express condolences. They all withered like eggplants beaten by frost.
"Without the threat from external enemies, we have begun to organize internal affairs."
"With the Jianlu gone, didn't we declare war on Tsarist Russia and Yarkant again?"
"That's not considered a foreign invasion. They don't deserve it."
"Well, Zhu Chenggong used troops in Japan, Zeng Ying also marched from Zhennan Pass to Lang Son, Gaoping, and took action against Annan. If there are not enough foreign enemies, then create a few more."
The three Fushe young men said calmly. Compared with the young and energetic people who pointed the country more than ten years ago, now they can look at the problem and get straight to the essence.
The reason why the emperor killed Hou Fangyu and others this time was to put it bluntly because the foreign enemy had been defeated, so he could free up his hands to deal with internal affairs. The current problems have existed before, and they have always existed, but in the past the emperor did not have the energy to deal with them, so he compromised and gave in.
Now the emperor has the ability not to give in anymore.
This is the truth.
"Let's go all the way!" The three of them sighed together and gave their former friends the last ride.
