Survival countdown

Chapter 18

The capital prison of the government government.

"What's the matter? Grandson still dares to beat grandpa? I tell you, even your immediate magistrates have to bow their heads and make amends when they come here! How many Beijing officials from the two governments, three divisions and six departments have taken my filial piety? Get some face!"

As soon as Zhao Baiyu walked in, he heard the arrogant provocations of several prisoners, stood still and listened for a while, and asked the left and right: "Who are these people?"

"A traveling merchant from out of town."

"Arrogance, what kind of backstage are they?"

"I'm not sure. It sounds like the Beijing officials are their backers. My lord, don't believe what they say. It's just nonsense. I've been on duty for so many years. Who hasn't met? Some people claim to be relatives of the prince, but people She is a servant of a concubine’s natal family in the prince’s backyard!”

"Not to mention the servants of the prince's concubine's natal family, even the concubine's parents and mothers, she is a bastard who can't be caught in this capital mansion. My lord, it's better to teach them a lesson! Whip eighty according to the law, Even if we talk about it on the street, we can't say that we are cruel officials who beat prisoners."

"It's just talking big, there's no need to argue with them." Zhao Baiyu waved his hand: "As usual, just interrogate and write a statement."

The jailer had no choice but to be obedient, beating the captured prisoner viciously, but not whipping or ill-treating him.

The traveling merchants in the prison couldn't help being surprised when they saw that no matter how provocative they were, they couldn't get a beating. Generally speaking, when they entered the government prison, they would be beaten first, regardless of whether they were guilty or not. This is called killing power.

But a few of them quarreled and scolded, but there was no punishment to serve them. If it was said that they were afraid of the backstage in their mouths, dozens of other ordinary people were not beaten.

The perplexed traveling merchants made a plan and paid some money to bribe a jailer to take one of them out and flog him eighty times. If it hurts the skin but not the bone, it’s fine to see the bloody flesh and blood. .

The jailer didn't understand, but he still obeyed under the order of Baihuahua's silver.

***

Huo Jingtang read the notes presented by the prefect Ji.

"It's a wonderful idea, you can try it."

Adjutant: "Unexpectedly, Zhifu Ji has such talent. He has proposed other reform plans before, and they were all adopted, and the results were immediate. He is indeed a capable official."

"Do you think Ji Xingbang suggested it?"

"Isn't it?" The adjutant was stunned for a moment, and said suspiciously: "Could it be someone else? No, if this proposal to promote the opening of the night ban in Kyoto is implemented, it will be a real political achievement. No one will take credit for it." pushed?"

"Ji Xingbang's weight is not enough to persuade the Holy Master to promote the opening of the night ban. He needs to find someone from above. Compared with me who has no friendship with him, isn't Uncle Ten more suitable as his mentor?"

"You mean?"

"Another person recommended me to him, and he is the one who wrote this note."

"But why did he recommend you?"

Huo Jingtang stuffed the bag back into the wide sleeve of his official robe, lifted his chin, glanced at the adjutant and said, "It's a gift in return."

Why do you feel a little proud?The adjutant Zhang Er was puzzled, and asked curiously: "What gift in return? Thank you? No, General, you must repay every grievance. Have you ever given favor to others—"

Under Huo Jingtang's icy cold gaze, the adjutant gradually fell silent, and buried his head in his chest like an ostrich. It took a long while before he heard Huo Jingtang snort: "You are a reckless man, what do you know about throwing wood to report Qiong! Go back and copy all four books three times." all over."

adjutant:"……"

Huo Jingtang didn't have any real power, except when he was summoned or temporarily appointed to a position, he had to go to the court to report his official duties, and he didn't have to go to the court office for the rest of the time.Now that he has been dismissed from his position as Minister of Dali Temple, Huo Jingtang can only take the initiative to enter the palace to submit this proposal to cancel the curfew and open the night market.

Once the night ban is opened, it is not a matter of the Kyoto Prefecture, but the 38 provinces, 250 prefectures, and [-] four prefectures have to open the night ban. They must set up special areas, corresponding offices, and fire agencies, etc. The scale is quite large. huge.

At the same time, a more open trading environment will bring spectacular profits.

The previous dynasty was incompetent and dishonest, and the current dynasty has been established for less than a hundred years. After three dynasties, the emperors of the three dynasties were diligent and cautious day and night, but the national treasury and internal treasury were still seriously deficient, so the proposal brought by Huo Jingtang The extremely spectacular profit behind it deeply attracted Emperor Yuanshou's heart.

Emperor Yuanshou summoned the officials who worked in Da Nei overnight, and officials above the third rank jointly studied whether the proposal was feasible.

***

On the morning road, Huo Jingtang deliberately lagged behind all the officials, waiting for Chen Shidao to take the initiative to come forward and bow his hands to express his thanks.

Chen Shidao: "The lower official has not yet thanked the prince for taking care of him in the prison, so that the lower official can be spared from the shackles."

Huo Jingtang: "Your Excellency has served the three dynasties, and is highly respected. What's more, there is no evidence to prove that Your Excellency participated in the fraud in the examination room, and this king is only dealing with it impartially."

Chen Shidao looked up at Huo Jingtang. After leaving Dali Temple, he inquired about the ins and outs of the fraud case in the examination room. It was the Prince of Lin'an who single-handedly found out that King Qin colluded with the chief examiner in Jiangnan to overthrow the shady scene in the Jiangnan examination room. It was ridiculous that he thought this small county The king can only fight, not the way of being an official.

It can be seen that he handled the whole process from taking over to closing the case very beautifully. He should have offended all the officials but was perfectly invisible, and he was able to fish him out with the help of Zhao Baiyu. I am afraid that this sophisticated method will not be able to survive 20 years of immersion in the officialdom. Must have.

"The kindness of the king of the county is as high as the mountain and the sea is deep, and the lower officials can't repay it. As long as he doesn't deceive the emperor and the ancestors, or do harm to the people, Chen Shidao will be smashed to pieces, regardless of himself! But the son of the Zhao family, Zhao Baiyu, has a childlike heart and is sincere and true. Fengchu, it's a pity that the time is bad, and the fate is too many. Even so, the official still wants to do his best to protect him, and hope that the little county king will take pity on me and let Zhao Silang go. If not Marrying into the county prince's mansion, Zhao Baiyu will be my great minister in the future! Look at the little county king, show pity for talents and cherish talents, don't ruin Zhao Baiyu!"

Chen Shidao was about to kneel down as he said that, Huo Jingtang quickly helped him up, saw the memorial and the ivory wat in Chen Shidao's official robe, his thoughts changed, and he understood what he wanted to do.

"I understand Mr.'s love for the students, but have you ever thought about the consequences of disobedience? Have you ever thought about the words of the emperor, the golden rule, and the king's nonsense? If you crashed into the temple today, can you force your majesty?" Withdrawing the decree that has been made, will the elders of the three dynasties go to the temple to kill him again in the future, can he also force His Majesty to withdraw his order, and can he still coerce His Majesty to say the decree that is harmful to the country? Everyone in the world knows that the threat of death can change the court order overnight , does the Son of Heaven still have majesty?"

Since ancient times, there has been no example of the retraction of the spoken will, and the emperor cannot be wrong.Even if you are guilty, the imperial edict is used to calm people's hearts when the court is in crisis, not for the emperor to make mistakes.

"Mister is in a hurry and confused." Huo Jingtang comforted Master Chen in a low voice: "It's just a gift of marriage. There is no law in my dynasty that a son-in-law cannot be an official, let alone a county princess. After entering the county palace, Zhao Baiyu can still be an official. When you become an official, if you are worried about his future, wait a few years after marriage, and then get divorced separately—there is no clear rule that the marriage cannot be reconciled if the Holy Majesty bestows marriage, isn’t there an example of the princess giving up her son-in-law in the previous dynasty?”

"Is it really possible to reconcile?"

"of course."

Chen Shidao couldn't help nodding his head, thinking carefully about Huo Jingtang's words, he broke out in a cold sweat at the moment, the majesty of the emperor and the king's nonsense, it's not just empty words, his mind was locked up and confused, and he was also confused when he was teaching in the Imperial College these years, and he almost died Forget the most basic way of being an official:

There is no such thing as a king in the world.

Even if he kills the court, it is impossible to force His Majesty to take back his order, but it will anger the king and implicate the Chen family and Zhao Baiyu.

Chen Shidao couldn't stop patting his head: "I'm confused, I'm confused. Thank you, the king for reminding me." He sighed in his heart, but the little king is gentle and kind.

The "gentle and kind" Prince of Lin'an smiled and accepted Chen Shidao's gratitude frankly.

During the court meeting, it was routine to report the affairs of the court, and when it was about to end, the supervisory censor walked out of the queue and said: "The minister Shen Jingdu Shaoyin Zhao Baiyu beats the prisoner without asking why!"

Upon hearing Zhao Baiyu, Emperor Yuan Shou glanced at Huo Jingtang who was presenting the fraud case in the examination room today, and said with great interest, "Explain in detail."

Supervising censor: "Li Dong, a man from Kyoto, works under the Ministry of Household Construction case. The day before yesterday, he was arrested by the military patrol shop for violating the night ban and sent to the prison of the Yamen of Kyoto Prefecture. He was whipped eighty times."

Emperor Yuanshou: "According to the law, the punishment is appropriate."

Supervising the censor: "Your Majesty only knows one thing but not the other. Li Dong's night ban was probably due to the death of his mother at home. He went to the funeral at night. According to the law, there was a reason and he was not punished properly. The Shaoyin of the Kyoto Prefecture should be responsible for picketing. Zhao Baiyu will not Beating people half to death after asking why, is a reckless disregard for human life!"

The prince looked back and saw that the fifth prince had a determined smile on his face. He immediately understood that it was the fifth younger brother who was punishing Zhao Baiyu and venting his anger on his behalf. , When reviewing large and small cases, the police should return the people's innocence before and after the incident, and beat criminals without asking the reason. Father and Emperor Rong Erchen will handle this matter."

Emperor Yuanshou: "You are Zhao Baiyu's superior, so it's reasonable to handle this matter yourself." He patted his thigh, looked around the hall, his eyes fell on Huo Jingtang for two or three seconds, then naturally moved away, got up and said: "It's okay to retreat."

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The author has something to say:

"Throw the wood to repay Qiong." Lao Huo raised his chin: "It's hard to say that it's not a gift from Na Zheng."

Sacrifice: The man sends the letter of engagement, letter of ceremony, dowry, gift money to the woman's home. At this time, the woman's family needs to return the gift.