While waiting for the emperor's approval, the people watching outside the government office were all praying for a miracle to happen and they knelt down devoutly.
They hope that justice can triumph over evil, they hope that heroes can break free of their chains and win the final victory...
So they prayed for a miracle.
Looking at the people kneeling and praying outside the government office, Zhu Ping'an could not help but close his eyes. He could not bear to see them praying to the gods and Buddhas with hope, because reality was bound to disappoint them.
Miracles like sparing lives from being executed often occur in opera literature and are almost non-existent in reality.
Zhu Ping'an couldn't bear to see their faces filled with sunset, for he was afraid to see them look disappointed.
However, while they were waiting for the emperor's approval, an unexpected incident occurred. The crowd outside who were watching and praying suddenly became excited and excited. They ran around telling each other that a miracle was brewing and would happen soon.
After this incident, some officials who were listening to the trial could not help but whisper to each other, feeling that the case was about to take a turn.
Here's the thing.
Before this, Yan Shifan had written the defense letter himself and ordered the Ministry of War and other relevant government offices to copy it and submit it to the court in their names.
This matter has been exposed!
The Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Revenue and other government offices all copied the defense letter in their names according to Yan Shifan's wishes and submitted it to the court.
However, Yan Shifan's plan suffered a major setback at the most critical office of the Ministry of War's Military Selection Office.
The Military Selection Department of the Ministry of War was a key office for Yan Shifan's book debate.
Because Yang Jisheng impeached Yan Song in his memorial for using his power to claim military merits for his two grandsons. First, he claimed the merit of the victory in Guangdong and Guangxi for his eldest grandson Yan Xiaozhong, and promoted him to the position of Jinyiwei. Then, he claimed the merit of a man in Qiongzhou beheading seven people and submitted it to the Ministry of Personnel. Yan Xiaozhong reported illness, so Yan Song ordered his second grandson Yan Hu to take over. Yan Hu also reported the merit of his previous loyalty and was promoted to Jinyiwei Qianhu, and was promoted to Qianhu Manager. Yang Jisheng said that Yan Xiaozhong and Yan Hu were two young children who had never been in the army, so how could they have military merits? !
Moreover, Yang Jisheng stated in his memorial that the above impeachment facts were supported by the Draft of the Wuxuansi No. 19 as evidence.
Therefore, Yan Shifan devoted a lot of words to this in his defense letter and spent a lot of effort on it. He also specifically emphasized to the Yan party officials who were handling the matter, asking them to find officials from the Military Selection Department of the Ministry of War to copy the defense letter in the name of the Military Selection Department, saying that after verification, Yang Jisheng's impeachment was untrue, and the Military Selection Department's Draft No. 19 had nothing to do with the impeachment.
The official of Yan's party who handled the case went to the Military Selection Department of the Ministry of War and, strictly in the name of Yan Shifan, found Zhou Mian, the only leader working in the Military Selection Department at that time - a doctor of the Military Selection Department of the Ministry of War. They brought out Yan Shifan's name and ordered him to copy Yan Shifan's defense letter in the name of the Military Selection Department of the Ministry of War and submit it to the court.
However, the official who handled the matter may not have checked the almanac or done enough homework before going out, and he did not know who Zhou Mian was. He did not know that Zhou Mian, the doctor of the Military Selection Department of the Ministry of War, was not a yes-man who was afraid of the Yan Party.
Zhou Mian was a tough guy who was no less tough than Yang Jisheng. His life motto was "die for remonstration in civil affairs and die for battle in military affairs". He was a man who was not even afraid of the emperor, so how could he be afraid of the Yan Party!
The caning in court!
Before impeaching Yan Song, Yang Jisheng had been beaten with a stick in the court once; but Zhou Mian had been beaten with a stick in the court twice.
The first time he was beaten with a stick in the court was because of the construction of the Imperial Ancestral Temple by Emperor Jiajing. At that time, it was only a few years after the Great Etiquette Dispute, and Emperor Jiajing rebuilt the Imperial Ancestral Temple to worship his ancestors. However, after the completion of the Imperial Ancestral Temple, Emperor Jiajing did not personally go to enshrine the gods of his ancestors, but instead practiced Taoism and alchemy in the palace devoutly, and only sent officials to worship the gods on his behalf. This was an act that violated the ancestral system, so an official raised this point. When Emperor Jiajing heard the news, he was furious and issued an edict to warn the civil and military officials that any official who had such an idea was trying to coerce me in order to improve his own reputation. If any official wanted to gain fame from me in the future and talked too much, I would punish him severely. This happened not long after the Great Etiquette Dispute. In view of the residual power of Emperor Jiajing's Great Etiquette Dispute, no official dared to mention it again. Only Zhou Mian showed no fear at all. He resolutely submitted a memorial to oppose and condemn the behavior of Emperor Jiajing. His words were much more intense than those of previous officials. Emperor Jiajing was furious and ordered Zhou Mian to be beaten with a stick in the court and then put him in prison.
The second time Zhou Mian was beaten with a stick in the court was six years ago, when Zhou Mian had just been released from prison for a few years. At that time, the former crown prince had not yet left the palace to give lectures. Zhou Mian thought that this was not okay, and the crown prince could not neglect his studies. He should quickly select great scholars with both good character and good learning to give lectures to the crown prince. People reminded him that this was the emperor's private matter, but Zhou Mian didn't care. He felt that this was not good for the future of the Ming Dynasty, and resolutely reported to the Emperor Jiajing to remind him. Sure enough, after the report, the Emperor Jiajing was furious, thinking that Zhou Mian had ulterior motives and even locked up the affairs of the royal family. In a rage, he had Zhou Mian beaten with a stick in the court again and demoted him directly to a small county in Yunnan, which was full of smoke and miasma, to be a clerk.
Even after being demoted to a small county in Yunnan, Zhou Mian remained as vigorous as ever, his life creed remained unchanged, and he still refused to succumb to any power or pressure, making the people in this small county appreciate his toughness and stubborn temper.
Remarkable achievements.
So he was recalled to the capital again and appointed as a military selectman in the Ministry of War.
If the Yan Party official in charge of the matter did his homework and checked Zhou Mian's resume, I believe he would never dare to hand the matter over to Zhou Mian.
However, there are no ifs. He did not do his homework or check the almanac. When he arrived at the Military Selection Department of the Ministry of War, there was only Zhou Mian, the leader working in the yamen. The others were minor officials and not important enough.
When he handed Zhou Mian the defense letter written by Yan Shifan and told Zhou Mian his request, Zhou Mian smiled.
The Yan Party official who was in charge of the task saw Zhou Mian smile and smiled too, thinking that Zhou Mian was quite sensible.
However, when Zhou Mian finished writing the memorial, the officials on duty could no longer laugh.
"Yan Shifan ordered me to copy the defense letter and submit it to the emperor. However, I have carefully investigated and found that no one with the name of loyalty has ever been appointed to the army. Hu is not a loyal brother. His name is fabricated and there is no real evidence of his head... My duty is related to this matter and I dare not hide it. I beg you to investigate and correct it so that the world will know that court officials have merits that cannot be taken advantage of and laws that cannot be violated. Although I have committed a crime, I will die with no regrets!"
Zhou Mian's memorial not only did not copy Yan Shifan's defense letter, but also exposed it, and further exposed the truth that Yan Song had taken credit for the crime. Then, without stopping for a moment, he submitted the memorial to Xiyuan.
The Yan Party official who was in charge of the matter was so frightened that he hurried back to the government office to report to Yan Song and his son, but the truth could not be hidden and the news soon spread.