Chapter 95: I Am Truly Not Attending to My Proper Duties

Zhang Zhang Juzheng felt a slight sense of pity for Xu Fan. His father was absolutely no simple character; how many times could Xu Fan save him?

Even if Xu Fan could save his father, could he save all the gentry, powerful families, and magnates in the Southern Metropolitan Area?

Zhang Zhang Juzheng sat in his grand armchair, aiming his telescope at a star in the sky that was shining with a reddish-yellow light, as large as a lamp, bright as day; it was a "Guest Star of the Pavilion Path."

The Purple Forbidden Enclosure is the entire star palace where the Heavenly Emperor resides. The three stars on the left are called the Heavenly Spear, the five stars on the right are called the Heavenly Flail, and the six stars behind, stretching across the Milky Way to the Camp Chamber, are called the Pavilion Path.

It resides among the stars like a guest, not constant, hence it is called a Guest Star.

In the Heavenly Palace, the path from the Southern Heavenly Gate into the Purple Forbidden Enclosure is called the Pavilion Path. A star that should not be there suddenly appeared on the Pavilion Path, and it was as large as a lamp, reddish-yellow. This kind of star appears suddenly and then suddenly dissipates, like a guest, so it is called a Guest Star.

On the third day of the tenth lunar month last year, the Great Ming Dynasty's Imperial Observatory observed this new star. Over a total of nineteen days, this suddenly arrived star became brighter and brighter, scaring the Imperial Observatory into reporting it in a panic. Not to mention the two Empresses Dowager, even the Imperial Observatory, which specialized in observing celestial phenomena at night, was seeing such a legendary thing as a Guest Star for the first time.

Afterwards, the Great Ming Dynasty initiated a ritual that had not been opened for who knows how many years: divination.

After divining more than ten times, the results were different each time, leaving the Imperial Observatory with no choice but to select the best prophecy to report, saying that for a prosperous dynasty, it meant there were great sages in the court, a sign of great fortune!

However, among the common people, it was completely different. Everyone believed that Zhang Zhang Juzheng had driven away Gao Gong, inviting a warning from Heaven. The position of this Guest Star was on the Pavilion Path, and the Pavilion Path was within the Purple Forbidden Palace, so the prophecy "The Guest Star offends the Emperor's seat, a treacherous minister usurps the master's position" spread widely among the people, and this prophecy circulated extremely broadly.

This put Zhang Zhang Juzheng in a passive position. At the time, Zhang Zhang Juzheng submitted seven consecutive memorials requesting to retire to clear his name.

Celestial phenomena are celestial phenomena, and handling affairs in the court is handling affairs in the court. There was simply no one who could replace Zhang Zhang Juzheng and preside over the court situation while the Emperor was young, so the palace did not approve Zhang Zhang Juzheng's retirement.

At that time, people were truly panicked, as if a great disaster were about to happen. Zhang Zhang Juzheng wanted to resign again, and the young Emperor summoned Zhang Zhang Juzheng in the palace, with the two Empresses Dowager asking from behind the curtain what should be done.

In order to dispel the celestial disaster, Zhang Zhang Juzheng replied: "The ruler and ministers are one body; please carry out a thorough self-reflection among all inner and outer offices."

Self-reflection meant cultivating oneself and reflecting, reducing extravagance, reducing sacrifices, observing rites and music, reflecting on one's own faults, etc., and it had to be maintained until the day the Guest Star disappeared.

A year has already passed, and this Guest Star is still shining brightly in the Pavilion Path, but its light is far less than before.

"'The Guest Star offends the Emperor's seat, the Grand Historian reports the astronomy; old friends believe in prophecies, three parts are like floating clouds.'" Zhang Zhang Juzheng put down the telescope, carefully tightened the dust cover, and made his own judgment on this Guest Star.

Zhang Zhang Juzheng did not believe in the theory of prophecies at all. If the Guest Star really offended the Emperor's seat, wouldn't that mean the Emperor's throne was in jeopardy? But this Guest Star was already far less bright than before; where was the treacherous minister usurping the master's position?

Over the past year, Zhang Zhang Juzheng had been extremely passive because of this suddenly appearing star. In the memorials impeaching Zhang Zhang Juzheng, the censorate officials always brought this matter up. One mention was that the mysterious phenomenon showed an anomaly, another was that the late Emperor was angry, and another was that Heaven was warning him. As long as they impeached Zhang Zhang Juzheng, they would mention this sentence.

But as this star became dimmer and dimmer, Zhang Zhang Juzheng's political passivity was finally alleviated. The censorate officials no longer talked about this Guest Star. Recently, the censorate officials had also repeatedly petitioned the All-Chu Guild Hall, hoping to cancel the regular court session on the third of every month.

The Emperor would call names at random, and immediately there would be no one missing from the court. When the young Emperor scolded people, he truly didn't use a single dirty word, yet every word and sentence was a fatal blow to the heart. The cold and ungrateful appearance of the Zhu family Emperors was vividly portrayed.

And the censorate official Hou Hou Yuzhao, who brought this up, had also been squeezed out recently. Almost everyone cursed Hou Hou Yuzhao for meddling in other people's business and breaking the rules.

If the Emperor doesn't hold court, he doesn't hold court. The Great Ming Dynasty hasn't held major court sessions much for over thirty years!

On the third of every month, the young Emperor would hold a large pile of memorials, call names one by one, his words sharp and his logic meticulous. With his left hand he held "Zhixing Zhixing Heyi of Knowledge and Action, Extending Conscience," and with his right hand he held "Contradictions Succeeding to Explain All Principles," attacking from both sides, slapping them one after another, leaving the censorate officials truly ashamed and unable to bear it.

"Zhixing Zhixing Heyi of Knowledge and Action, Extending Conscience" was what Yang Bo taught the Emperor by his own example. When Yang Bo finally left, he did not leave behind an unmanageable mess, but rather, by leveraging the general trend, he suppressed Zhang Zhang Siwei's status as the leader of the Jin Party.

"Contradictions Succeeding to Explain All Principles" was a recently extremely popular theory, known as the Jiangling School. It was a sharp theoretical weapon that Zhang Zhang Juzheng, Zhang Jiangling, handed to the Emperor, which truly killed anyone who stood in his way, even if it were a Buddha.

Being scolded at random like this was not as good as being beaten twice by the Emperor with court sticks!

Being beaten with court sticks could still earn some political capital, but what kind of thing was being scolded every day?

"Zhang Zhang Siwei came today, wanting to use silver to save Jia Jia Sanjin." You Qi said, seeing that Zhang Zhang Juzheng was no longer looking up at the starry sky, and spoke of the visiting cards in the mansion today. Zhang Zhang Siwei tried to win over Jia Jia Sanjin, but Jia Jia Sanjin ended up missing court, being dismissed, stripped of his official status, and sent home to live in leisure. The Ministry of Personnel's procedures were still ongoing, so Zhang Zhang Siwei could be considered to have done his best, running around for Jia Jia Sanjin.

Zhang Zhang Siwei looked for Ge Ge Shouli, but Ge Ge Shouli spread his hands, indicating there was nothing he could do. Jia Jia Sanjin missed court and got drunk, simply losing all the face of the censorate officials. He had already been characterized by Hai Rui as having no integrity, so how could Ge Ge Shouli save him? Ge Ge Shouli was just a party leader; how could he have such great ability?

Zhang Zhang Siwei also looked for Tan Lun. Tan Lun was the leader of the Zhe Party, but Tan Lun was a traitor to the Jin Party. Now that Yang Bo had also left, whether he was a traitor or not couldn't be said anymore, and the last trace of connection with the Jin Party was broken. Tan Lun simply didn't see Zhang Zhang Siwei, giving him the cold shoulder.

Now Zhang Zhang Siwei had found Zhang Zhang Juzheng, hoping to save him.

"What is Zhang Zhang Siwei thinking? Is this a matter of silver? Can I save him? Do I have that kind of ability? That is the five constant ethics of ruler and subject that have existed for thousands of years. Even if I speak well for Jia Jia Sanjin, what use would it be?" Zhang Zhang Juzheng shook his head and gave You Qi an answer; he couldn't save him.

He was only the Senior Grand Secretary. Jia Jia Sanjin could only bear the consequences of the mess he had created himself. Jia Jia Sanjin's efforts of a lifetime went down the drain just because he got drunk and missed the court session.

Missing court would at most result in a salary deduction. Jia Jia Sanjin missed court, lost decorum, and was unfilial. Jia Jia Sanjin only ended up with the punishment of being stripped of his official status and sent home to live in leisure. He should thank himself for being a censorate official. With a young master and a powerful minister in charge of the country, if the channels of speech were blocked again, that would truly be the Guest Star offending the Emperor's seat.

Zhang Zhang Juzheng couldn't quite understand Zhang Zhang Siwei's thinking. Zhang Zhang Siwei clamored every day that he, Zhang Zhang Juzheng, was overawing the master. Did he really think that he, Zhang Zhang Juzheng, could settle everything?

Regarding this matter, even if Zhang Zhang Juzheng himself had committed it, he would only have had this kind of outcome.

Zhang Zhang Juzheng said with an extremely relaxed expression: "What has Zhang Zhang Siwei been doing recently?"

You Qi took out a small notebook and said: "Zhang Zhang Siwei has been doing a few things recently. The first is hosting censorate officials. When they get together, it's just drinking and poetry, wanting to run around and ask the Emperor to show mercy, or to stop the regular court session on the third of every month. I have to say, those words of the Emperor were truly insulting to the extreme."

I don't know who the young Emperor learned it from, but he's sharp-tongued.

You Qi continued: "The second thing is studying the theory of contradictions, blowing it everywhere that this theory of contradictions is a great heresy. But after he bought it himself, he couldn't put it down, studying it every day, often saying to his subordinates that to refute it, one must first be proficient in it."

"The third thing is that he has a concubine who gave birth to a son, but this concubine was drowned in a well, and the child was brought back to the mansion. It can be considered a scandal. Recently, Zhang Zhang Siwei's wife, Lady Wang, reported this matter to the two Empresses Dowager, causing a huge uproar in the city."

You Qi said with some schadenfreude: "I'm afraid Zhang Zhang Siwei won't have a pleasant New Year."

Zhang Zhang Siwei's wife, Lady Wang, was from a powerful and wealthy family in Shanxi, officials for generations, a family of poetry and rites. Zhang Zhang Siwei came from a merchant family; his father, uncle, and younger brother were all Jin merchants. Merchants were inherently lowly. If it weren't for Wang Wang Chonggu arranging it, Zhang Zhang Siwei wouldn't have been able to marry Lady Wang. If he had taken a concubine, that would be one thing, but keeping a concubine outside—it's no wonder Zhang Zhang Siwei's wife was unhappy.

It seems Lady Wang was not happy about Zhang Zhang Siwei taking a concubine. If he could have taken a concubine, Zhang Zhang Siwei wouldn't have had to keep one outside.

Zhang Zhang Siwei's wife, Lady Wang, had a title of honor, the mistress of the six palaces, and also restrained the noblewomen of the world, so it's not strange that Lady Wang reported it to the palace.

"How are the prices in the capital and the Nine Frontiers?" Zhang Zhang Juzheng asked about the prices of firewood, rice, oil, and salt. These prices concerned the people's livelihood, not just the capital, but also the prices in the Nine Frontiers such as Liaodong, Jia Shanhai, Yongping, Jizhou, Xuanfu, and Datong.

When Zhang Zhang Juzheng did things, he naturally wanted to build a grand framework, and the New Policy couldn't do without these, but he never failed to ask about firewood, rice, oil, and salt.

"Rice is expensive in Xuanfu and Datong." You Qi told Zhang Zhang Juzheng the prices he had collected. A picul of rice in the frontier cost about two taels, while a picul of rice in the capital only cost four mace. Xuanfu was outside the Juyong Pass, and the distance from the capital to Xuanfu was not far, but it was mostly mountainous, making grain transport extremely difficult.

The next morning, it started to rain, and as the northwest wind blew, it turned into snow, drifting in the air like goose feathers, and several memorials entered the capital from the official post roads, stepping on the snowflakes.

The Yingtian Prefecture Southern Yamen of the Yingtian Provincial Governor Song Yangshan arrested private salt merchants. The private salt merchants resisted with force, and a conflict broke out with the Southern Yamen runners. This conflict immediately expanded into a conflict between the salt-boiling households and the Southern Yamen runners, killing more than a dozen salt guards and three Southern Yamen runners. This matter caused a huge uproar in the Southern Metropolitan Area.

Songjiang Provincial Governor Wang Daokun woke up in the morning and suddenly saw an extra woman beside him. Soon this matter was heard by the censor, and Wang Daokun was impeached for raping a woman.

The Nanjing Military Supervisor Eunuch Zhang Jin and the Songjiang Provincial Military Commander Eunuch Zhang Cheng got drunk and beat the Nanjing censorate official Wang Yi. The censorate officials immediately exploded, biting onto the matter of Zhang Jin beating a censorate official and refusing to let go. The impeachment memorials drifted into the Grand Secretariat like the snowflakes of this twelfth lunar month.

A four-hundred-picul warship patrolling the Yangtze River accidentally sank. Fortunately, those on the ship were Southern soldiers, and there were no major casualties. The Songjiang Regional Commander Yu Yu Dayou was impeached by the Zhejiang Provincial Governor and the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner for dereliction of duty, and the Assistant Regional Commander Chen Lin was impeached for letting his soldiers be arrogant and swaggering through the streets, causing astonishment among the people, and requesting orders to restrain them a little.

Xu Fan stayed overnight in a brothel, beat one prostitute to death, beat one servant to death, and injured four people. The Nanjing Censorate Chief requested the court to strip Xu Fan of his official status and academic honors, and never employ him again, as a warning to others.

Zhang Zhang Juzheng held these six memorials in his hand: Song Yangshan, Wang Daokun, Zhang Jin, Zhang Cheng, Yu Yu Dayou, Chen Lin, and Xu Fan.

The Imperial Envoys sent by the Great Ming court to handle the Xu Xu Jie land-return case in the Southern Metropolitan Area seemed to have suddenly fallen ill collectively, with none escaping. Even Xu Fan was caught with evidence, staying overnight in a brothel, killing and injuring people.

Zhang Zhang Juzheng took out another six memorials and placed them on the table, saying: "Since receiving the memorials, issue orders to the Southern Metropolitan Area to order all officials to state the facts."

"Yingtian Prefecture Magistrate Gu Gu Zhangzhi is suspected of indulgence."

The Great Ming salt administration had long been corrupted. Salt-boiling households, who were salt guards specializing in boiling salt, had mostly paid silver to escape their duties. This was part of the four-silver labor service. This inspection of private salt, since the Great Ming Emperor Xiaozong started the "paying silver to open the salt trade" method, and after the salt administration was completely corrupted, inspecting private salt became a way for local yamens to increase their income.

The Great Ming almost had no official salt, only private salt. Inspecting private salt was something local yamens did when they had a deficit, so they would go to salt merchants to make up for their deficit. And local yamens also turned a blind eye to private salt. A more professional way of saying it is "governance achieved through bribery."

This time, inspecting private salt, being able to cause a conflict between Southern Yamen runners and private salt merchants, and even killing so many people, was truly somewhat abnormal.

Song Yangshan heard that people had died and immediately started an investigation. The whole process of the conflict was very clear: the Southern Yamen went to increase income, but the private salt merchants, who were usually very obedient, suddenly refused to pay money and gathered salt guards to resist. Everyone had deep grievances, and when they fought, they didn't hold back, killing many people.

Private salt merchants were also called the Salt Gang, and they were all fierce people.

The biggest question in this case was: the Southern Yamen runners of the Soap Class testified that at the time, the official in charge of the Personnel Office said that if the tax collection was not favorable, they didn't need to come back.

And the official in charge of the Personnel Office firmly denied having said this. This created a conflict and a question. And this official in charge of the Personnel Office was a cousin of Gu Gu Zhangzhi, a Juren by background.

Song Yangshan, as the Yingtian Provincial Governor, trying to increase income and collecting the four-silver labor service, ended up causing deaths. That was the crime of improper handling, excessive law enforcement, and being too demanding.

Zhang Zhang Juzheng saying that Gu Gu Zhangzhi was suspected of indulgence was because of this doubt about whether the official in charge of the Personnel Office had instructed the Southern Yamen runners to pursue it excessively, triggering the doubt.

"Inspecting private salt was also requested by Yingtian Provincial Governor Song Yangshan. He is still the main person responsible. Since he wants to inspect, or rather, equalize taxes and organize the chaotic tax situation in the Southern Metropolitan Area, he should have been extremely cautious." Ge Ge Shouli, as the Chief of the Censorate, expressed his point of view. Song Yangshan not only cleaned up the encroachments in the Southern Metropolitan Area, but also this labor service silver. He handed the matter down, and when something went wrong, Song Yangshan was of course the main person responsible.

Hai Rui had been the Yingtian Provincial Governor. He shook his head and said: "Old craft."

"Chief Hai has also suffered this kind of hardship?" The Minister of Personnel Zhang Han asked with great surprise.

"Yes, when I was the Yingtian Provincial Governor, at that time dredging the Huangpu River, several laborers went missing for no reason." Hai Rui mentioned the embarrassment he encountered when he was governing water in Songjiang Prefecture. The methods were extremely familiar. If you want to do things, someone will be in the middle to ruin things.

Zhang Zhang Juzheng looked at the memorial impeaching Song Yangshan, shook his head, and said: "Demote Song Yangshan by three grades, keep him in office to make amends for his crimes. If there is a next time, he will definitely be dismissed."

If you do something wrong, you should be punished. Zhang Zhang Juzheng wanted to protect him but couldn't, so he could only give Song Yangshan a punishment.

"The case of Zhang Jin beating the censorate official Wang Yi." Zhang Zhang Juzheng brought up the second case.

Feng Bao took over the conversation and said: "This Wang Yi spoke rudely and scolded Zhang Jin. It was like when Wang Wang Chonggu scolded us for being a eunuch party. It was like beating a blind man and scolding a mute. Wang Yi scolded Zhang Jin for not having a man's root, and they fought immediately. At that time, Wang Yi had seven people in total, and Zhang Jin had six secret agents. Including Zhang Cheng, the Songjiang Provincial Military Commander Eunuch Zhang Cheng was handling affairs in the Southern Metropolitan Area at the time."

"The conflict between Zhang Jin and Wang Yi was mainly because Zhang Jin was selling books in the Southern Metropolitan Area and raided the illegal printing house in Wang Yi's home. Zhang Jin didn't know that Wang Yi was a censorate official to his face, and only found out after he finished beating him."

Feng Bao finished explaining the matter from Zhang Jin's perspective.

The conflict was triggered by the illegal printing of the imperial manor's expanded version of "Theory of Contradictions." The expanded version had a few small stories of ruler-subject dialogues, which looked better than the dry "Theory of Contradictions," and had examples. It was considered imperial permission, after all, it was the Emperor's business, and only the Emperor's servants could print it.

Zhang Jin went to drink, Wang Yi angrily scolded the eunuch party and also scolded Zhang Jin's shortcomings, so they fought.

Zhu Zhu Yijun tapped his pencil, coughed lightly, looked at Feng Bao, and asked: "Attendant Feng, Zhang Cheng also participated? Did Zhang Jin win?"

"Uh... Zhang Cheng was in the Southern Metropolitan Area looking for boatmen and shipbuilders. He had just arrived in Nanjing, and Zhang Jin was entertaining him, so he met Wang Yi. Zhang Jin and the six secret agents were uninjured, and Wang Yi and the other seven were injured. Wang Yi had four teeth beaten out." Feng Bao simply reported the results. Not only did they win, but it was a complete victory!

When things were so serious, the Emperor asked about the result of the fight as soon as he opened his mouth. It seems the Emperor really likes watching the fun!

"Hmm." Zhu Zhu Yijun showed a smile and said: "It's fine, you guys continue to argue... Court discussion, let's have a court discussion."

Faced with eunuchs, and secret agents of the Eastern Depot who were investigating, it was naturally difficult for scholars who couldn't even tie a chicken to win!

It's good that they won. If they had lost, he would definitely have dragged Zhang Jin and Zhang Cheng back to the capital to practice well, so as not to go out and lose face for the Emperor. Zhu Zhu Yijun greatly appreciated the behavior of the adopted son of the Old Ancestor and the adopted son of the Second Ancestor working together to beat people up.

In the palace, no matter how fiercely they tore at each other or how fiercely they fought, once they left the palace, they were all palace people. When something happened, Zhang Cheng didn't stand by and watch. He did well.

The conflict between the inner court and the outer court has come. If Zhang Jin and Zhang Cheng are not punished, then in the future, eunuchs beating court officials will become a common practice, and this trend cannot be allowed to grow.

If Zhang Jin and Zhang Cheng are strictly punished, then the eunuchs supervising various places don't need to be sent out at all, and the inner court doesn't need to be called the inner court.

This thing is not just a case of beating people, but also a conflict between the inner and outer courts, which is relatively difficult to handle.

Feng Bao thought for a while and said: "Wang Yi deserved to be beaten. Censorate officials speak rudely and do not cultivate their character. Because of business matters, he cursed, which is something even eunuchs wouldn't do. He should be admonished."

"Zhang Jin and Zhang Cheng were also wrong. Beating court officials is truly somewhat excessive. They should be beaten ten times as a warning to others."

"What does the Senior Grand Secretary think?"

Feng Bao's meaning was to punish both sides equally. Zhang Jin and Zhang Cheng beating people was certainly wrong and should be punished with court sticks, but from the eunuchs' perspective, Wang Yi was too damn asking for a beating. Were those human words?

Stealing imperial manor publications for profit, and then holding a grudge after being fined.

Feng Bao didn't ask for leniency. Beating people was wrong, and if they should be punished, they must be punished.

"What do you all think?" Zhang Zhang Juzheng looked at Hai Rui, asking for the opinion of this bone-stiff person on this way of smoothing things over.

Hai Rui looked at the Senior Grand Secretary asking him, thought for a while, and said: "Old craft."

Ge Ge Shouli frowned and said: "This is also an old craft?"

"Yes." Hai Rui said with great emotion: "In my opinion, it's just that they didn't win the competition for profit, so they cursed, and then got beaten."

"If they had won, they would definitely have been smiling and welcoming. The matter of the imperial manor printing these ruler-subject dialogues had already been stated in advance that private printing was not allowed. According to the ancestral system of Emperor Hongwu, anyone who creates prophecies, heretical books, heretical words, and uses them to confuse the public shall be beheaded. In the thirteenth year of Hongzhi, the "Questioning Penalties Regulations" were supplemented, and this clause was deleted."

"Otherwise, this Wang Yi would have to be convicted of the crime of prophecy."

The Great Ming law was not immutable, and it was executed from the first year of Emperor Hongwu to the seventeenth year of Emperor Chongzhen.

Every generation of emperors had additions and deletions. The "Questioning Penalties Regulations" in the thirteenth year of Hongzhi of the Great Ming Emperor Xiaozong deleted this clause.

In Confucian rites, the Emperor's words are the law. If one privately prints the Emperor's words without the Emperor's approval and interprets them indiscriminately, one will be beheaded! So Zhang Jin raiding Wang Yi's printing house was completely legal, and even deserved a reward of fifty taels of silver.

Although this clause was deleted, it was after all the ancestral family law. Privately printing the Emperor's words among the people was also prohibited.

"Being so greedy for profit, how can one cultivate bone-stiff integrity? Pure stream, pure stream, a stench of copper." Hai Rui put forward a strict criticism of Wang Yi, this censorate official. A pure stream should look like a pure stream. Being so greedy for profit, what kind of pure stream is he?

"What does Chief Ge think?" Zhang Zhang Juzheng looked at Ge Ge Shouli, asking for Ge Ge Shouli's opinion.

After all, it was a censorate official who was beaten.

"He also has the nerve to complain." How did Ge Ge Shouli evaluate it? He couldn't bear to look.

Scholars engaging in business is called abandoning Confucianism for business, which is a downward self-degeneration. This Wang Yi did business, and it was known by others. After it was known, his stall was overturned. After his stall was overturned, he was still unconvinced. Being unconvinced was one thing, but he also fought with others in a way that insulted the scholars.

Fighting is one thing, but he didn't even win!

How to look at it.

It's somewhat unbearable to look at.

"Then let's do as Attendant Feng said." Zhang Zhang Juzheng saw that the two Chiefs had no objections, and they were somewhat disdainful of Wang Yi, so he wrote his opinion on the floating ticket and presented it to the Emperor for the seal.

The reason Yu Yu Dayou and Chen Lin capsized was because the ships were too old. These were all old ships from the time of suppressing the Japanese pirates. The age of the ships was more than twice the age of the young Emperor. This was also the reason why Zhang Cheng ran to the Southern Metropolitan Area to find people to build ships. How could dry ducks running on land be considered a navy?

So Yu Yu Dayou and Chen Lin were at most reprimanded, told to check well before going to sea, and strictly restrain their soldiers, etc.

"The case of Wang Daokun raping a woman." Zhang Zhang Juzheng said extremely helplessly: "Wang Daokun is fifty years old after the New Year, and he still has such great energy."

This case is the most difficult to handle. "Rape" is just a word. If they say you raped, you raped. How do you distinguish it, and how do you prove your innocence?

Hai Rui thought for a while and said with great emotion: "Old craft."

"Another old craft?!" Ge Ge Shouli looked at Hai Rui. What exactly did Hai Rui experience when he was the Yingtian Provincial Governor?

Hai Rui looked at Ge Ge Shouli and said with a smile: "When I was the Yingtian Provincial Governor, I was also framed like this. However, because I kept a few more eyes open at the time, the villain didn't succeed. With some silver, one can use a woman's reputation to destroy another person's reputation."

"Whether it's you who did it or not, it's all yellow mud falling into your pants; you can't explain it clearly."

"You scholars, you really play dirty." Feng Bao listened and twitched his mouth. Feng Bao found that he was really not shameless enough. Look at the means of these scholars, breaking the bottom line!

Zhang Zhang Juzheng took out Wang Daokun's statement and said: "Wang Daokun stated that when he woke up, he saw an extra person beside him. He didn't know why. After investigating for a long time, the Songjiang Prefecture Southern Yamen could only define it as a rape case. This woman is indeed a good family woman, who kept crying and complaining to the Southern Yamen, unwilling in every way."

"The Zhejiang Provincial Governor and the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner impeached him to retire and live in leisure."

"Wang Daokun was ashamed and requested to retire and be stripped of his status."

The curtain of the Songjiang Prefecture had just been pulled open, and the person in charge, Wang Daokun, was unable to protect himself because of the rape case. The court officials were silent and didn't speak. Everyone in their hearts was as clear as a mirror. Wang Daokun went to Songjiang Prefecture to investigate the encroachments, but brought disaster upon himself. Not only could he not keep his official position, but he was also afraid that his pure reputation would be lost completely.

"Why are they all going for the lower three paths? If this isn't a low-class method, what is?" The newly appointed Minister of Personnel Zhang Han, although he had no foundation in the court, had also rolled up step by step. He naturally knew what the matter was really about, and said somewhat indignantly.

Tan Lun looked at Zhang Zhang Juzheng and said: "Punish him. He has no ability himself and cannot protect himself within three feet. He was set up by others. Who can he blame? If you can't handle the job, you are incompetent. If you are incompetent, go home and grow sweet potatoes, so as not to lose face."

Wang Daokun was of the Zhe Party, and Tan Lun was the leader of the Zhe Party. The leader of the Zhe Party refused to protect him, and Wang Daokun immediately became precarious.

"Approve his retirement." Zhang Zhang Juzheng saw that everyone had expressed their stance and chose to approve Wang Daokun's retirement memorial. Of course, what he wrote on the floating ticket, no one knew.

The memorial circulated to the Emperor, and the young Emperor looked at it for a long time and said: "It's clearly a miscarriage of justice, yet it's still handled like this? Senior Grand Secretary, I don't understand."

"Before, I asked the teacher, after Emperor Ai of Han succeeded to the throne, the Chancellor Yu Xue Xuan and the Attendant Shen Zhang Xian had grievances. Yu Xue Xuan hacked and injured Shen Zhang Xian, drawing eight lines on Shen Zhang Xian's face and cutting off Shen Zhang Xian's nose and lips. Since then, Shen Zhang Xian could not be an official."

"This injury to the face and this sending a woman to the bed, ruining a person's reputation, what is the difference?"

"This case, handled like this, is inappropriate."

The Great Ming Emperor clearly opposed the Great Ming Senior Grand Secretary's handling opinion, and put forward a question to the Senior Grand Secretary's handling by citing classics!

Everyone knew that the ten-year-old master was indeed young, but not easy to fool.

"Your Majesty, I also feel it's inappropriate. But if it's not handled, the world will think it's a rule to follow, and everyone will think that doing this won't be punished, and others will follow suit and commit crimes, and the administration will be completely corrupted." Zhang Zhang Juzheng bowed and answered why it should be handled this way.

This is the law of the court, it must be punished, otherwise other officials in the future will learn to do the same.

It's hard to be a good person, hard to be a good official, and a good official must be more cunning and treacherous than a bad person to do a good job.

"What the Senior Grand Secretary said is reasonable." Zhu Zhu Yijun still refused to put the seal and said: "One is one, two is two. Don't let the bad guys go, and don't wrong the good guys. It's better to send secret agents to investigate the origin of the matter. If it's really like this, then handle it like this. If not, then pursue the mastermind behind it, kill one to warn a hundred, as a warning to others."

The young Great Ming Emperor had gradually shown his cruel side, shouting to fight and kill.

It can't be investigated clearly. This kind of rape case is really hard to figure out in the Great Ming Dynasty. In fact, the young Emperor is also using the "drag" tactic. By dragging and dragging, there will be new events that cover up this matter, using the rigidity of the system to delay indefinitely, and finally turning big things into small things and small things into nothing.

The Weng Dali Temple Chief Sun Sun Piyang, who previously impeached Gao Gong, was imprisoned and dismissed, and ordered to be stripped of his official status and sent home to live in leisure. The process took a whole year, dragging until Gao Gong fell, and Sun Sun Piyang was re-employed.

Court officials will use this move, and the young Emperor will also use this move.

"I will respectfully follow the imperial decree." Zhang Zhang Juzheng heard that the young Emperor wanted to send secret agents to investigate, and showed a smile.

On the floating ticket, what he wrote were the dirty dealings behind Wang Daokun's rape case, the power struggle behind the cleaning of the seventy thousand qing of regular fields encroached upon in the fourteen prefectures of the Southern Metropolitan Area, and the contradiction between the gentry in the Southern Metropolitan Area who opposed the cleaning and land measurement and the Great Ming Imperial Envoys.

In the theory of contradictions, borrowing from Guanzi's "Light and Heavy" chapter, contradictions are divided into primary contradictions and secondary contradictions. When encountering a matter, one must clearly distinguish its primary and secondary contradictions. Only when the primary and secondary are clear can one handle it properly.

As for the handling opinion, Zhang Zhang Juzheng did not say what he said, that he wanted to approve Wang Daokun's retirement, but did not express his stance.

This matter needs to be pursued, and secret agents need to be requested. The secret agents of the Northern Depot of the Great Ming Embroidered Uniform Guard are in charge of the palace ban. Mobilizing secret agents to investigate cases is the core of imperial power, involving the stability of the Emperor, so Zhang Zhang Juzheng couldn't say anything.

The Emperor's teacher didn't say it, but obviously, the young Emperor knew how to use it very well.

Zhu Zhu Yijun tore off Zhang Zhang Juzheng's floating ticket, picked up the vermilion brush, and wrote: "Send the Criminal Thousand-Household Officer Luo Luo Bingliang to Songjiang Prefecture to investigate and report."

After writing, Zhu Zhu Yijun picked up the Emperor Wanli Treasure, stamped it on the memorial, and said: "Issue the order to the Northern Depot to supervise the handling."

The Great Ming Emperor and the Great Ming Senior Grand Secretary seemed to have had a disagreement on the handling of Wang Daokun's case, and the matter ended with the Senior Grand Secretary bowing his head. But which of the court officials was not a smart person? They all guessed that what Zhang Zhang Juzheng wrote on the floating ticket should not have been to approve Wang Daokun's retirement, but to defend Wang Daokun.

Tan Lun, the leader of the Zhe Party, was too open-minded, not fighting for anything, and not protecting anything.

Zhang Zhang Juzheng took out another memorial, the Xu Fan murder and injury case.

"Even a tiger doesn't eat its cubs." Tan Lun said with amazement: "Xu Xu Huating is truly a ruthless person. His own son blocked the way, and he could still take action. I am truly not as good as Master Xu Huating."

Correcting a mistake: the first Fengtian Hall was renamed Huangji Hall in the forty-first year of Emperor Jiajing, and it has been changed throughout the book. It is the place where the Emperor holds major court sessions.