There is never a lack of sunshine in the summer in the north. Today is no exception. The bright sunshine is as warm as fire. The whole earth seems to be baked on fire. Even under the shade of trees, there is no escape from the summer heat. The sunlight shines through the gaps between the leaves, transmitting rays of light and heat.
In Tingyuxuan of Linhuaihou Mansion, there was a recliner under the shade of a tree, and lying on the recliner was a young man dressed in a somewhat alternative way.
He was wearing a short-sleeved shirt and shorts, and had a folding fan covering his face.
At first glance, I thought it was a modern teenager on vacation at the beach.
But if you look closely, the short-sleeved shirt and big shorts worn by the boy on the recliner are different from modern ones and are very retro.
The material of the clothes is also antique, made of burnt cloth, or more precisely "banana cloth". The so-called banana cloth is made from the stems of banana trees, which are then soaked in warm water mixed with plant ash to remove impurities. Then, the banana stem fibers are carefully picked out one by one with a fine embroidery needle, which is much slower than reeling silk. The picked banana fibers are then woven into cloth. Clothes made of this kind of cloth are lighter and cooler than those made of yarn, just as Zuo Si of the Western Jin Dynasty said in "Ode to Wudu": "Banana and kudzu are better than silk."
The big shorts that the boy wore were modified from the ancient trousers, but they were shorter than trousers and longer than modern shorts, and were below the knee.
The short-sleeved shirt that the boy wore was modified from the ancient bijia. The bijia was an ancient sleeveless, collarless, double-breasted vest with slits on both sides to below the knees. The short-sleeved shirt that the boy wore was a bijia shortened to the waist. It was retro with a modern and simple feature, a bit similar to a modern short-sleeved shirt, with bamboo and rock pictures embroidered on it.
If you can see his back, you can see a poem embroidered on his short sleeve: "Holding on to the green mountains, I will never let go. My roots are in the broken rocks. After thousands of blows, I am still strong. No matter which direction the wind blows."
The signature is Zhu Ping'an.
The young man was lying lazily on the recliner, his face covered with a folding fan, a volume of "Chuan Xi Lu" in his hand, half hanging on the side of the recliner.
There was a table on the side of the lounge chair, on which were a pot of hot tea, a set of teacups, and a plate of seasonal fruits.
On the other side of the recliner was an embroidered cushion, on which sat a chubby girl with her hair casually tied into two hanging buns. She was wearing a light blue gauze skirt and a pink ribbon tied around her waist.
The chubby girl was sitting on an embroidered cushion. The fat boy was holding a bamboo-handled fan with embroidered butterflies in his hand. He was gently fanning the boy on the recliner. The cool breeze blew on the boy's cheeks. Listening to the boy's comfortable humming, the corners of the chubby girl's mouth raised up a beautiful arc.
"Grandpa, grandpa, when you checked the treasury yesterday, did you really...really take off all your clothes?" The chubby girl asked the young man on the recliner with her chubby face, fanning herself and blinking her big eyes.
"Take it off... This is the third time you've asked..." The young man reached out to take off the folding fan covering his face and replied helplessly.
After taking off the folding fan, the face of the young man under the fan was revealed. It was Zhu Ping'an who was rarely free. The girl with buns fanning the fan was Li Shu's personal maid, Hua'er.
"But it's hard to believe." Hua'er, the little maid, blushed and bit her lip and whispered, "It's so embarrassing in front of so many people."
"We are all men, what are we afraid of?" Zhu Ping'an curled his lips indifferently.
Um.
That’s right, he didn’t know that there was a girl present that day. Not only was there a girl, but she was also a prominent princess of the Ming Dynasty.
"That's embarrassing." The little maid's face turned even redder.
"Have you heard the saying, it's not a big deal to wear the same clothes as others, but the one who is ugly will be embarrassed." Zhu Ping'an said slowly.
"Ah?" The little maidservant looked confused. She shook her head and blinked her big watery eyes at Zhu Ping'an.
"You will slowly understand it." Zhu Ping'an smiled slightly, opened the "Chuan Xi Lu" in his hand, and began to read it quietly.
Yesterday evening, Emperor Jiajing sympathized with Zhu Ping'an's hard work in inspecting Taicang and personally approved a ten-day leave for Zhu Ping'an. A ten-day period is ten days, which means that from today on, Zhu Ping'an has ten days of vacation.
Originally, Zhu Pingan was going to look for Zhang Siwei and Wang Shizhen, but two days ago, when Zhu Pingan was busy inspecting Taicang, Zhang Siwei and Wang Shizhen's family visit leave had ended and they had to report to work on time. Therefore, Zhu Pingan could only enjoy the ten-day holiday alone.
Of course, we can’t say that only one person is here, Li Shu and the others are also here.
Li Shu was taking a bath at the moment. She had just played the pot-tossing game with Zhu Ping'an outside and was sweating. Li Shu was a clean person, so she went to take a bath because she felt uncomfortable.
While Zhu Ping'an was enjoying his vacation, the trial of the Taicang silver treasury deficit case had already begun.
The court was set up in the largest outer courtyard of the Ministry of Justice.
Both its specifications and scale are rare since the founding of the Ming Dynasty.
The high-level chief judges included Yan Song, Grand Secretary of Huagai Palace, Xu Jie, Grand Secretary of Wenyuan Pavilion, Li Mo, Minister of Personnel, and He Ao, Minister of Justice. All officials above the third rank in the entire capital were ordered to attend the trial. Civil officials sat on the left and military officials on the right. More than a hundred officials almost filled the yard.
There were many suspects in the court, and they were mainly divided into two categories, one standing and the other kneeling.
There were dozens of suspects standing, all of them were officials, including former officials of Taicang and censors who inspected the treasury; there were nearly a hundred people kneeling on the ground, including former treasury soldiers and Taicang's cooks, cooks, accountants, etc.
In the court, Prime Minister Yan Song had a sullen look on his face and looked extremely serious. He stretched out his right hand and slammed the gavel heavily.
To be precise, the gavel in Yan Song's hand should be called "Zuo Chao Gang", which is one size larger than the gavels in ordinary government offices. Because the gavel has different sizes and patterns depending on the person using it, it is also called a different name. The gavel in the hands of the emperor is called "Zhen Shanhe", in the hands of the empress it is called "Fengxia", in the hands of the prime minister it is called "Zuo Chao Gang", in the hands of the general it is called "Jing Hu Dan", and in the hands of other civil servants it is collectively called "Jiao Tang Mu".
Yan Song was the chief minister of the cabinet, whose position was equivalent to that of the prime minister, so the gavel in his hand should be called "Zuo Chao Gang".
"Duang!"
A shout of "Zuo Chao Gang" echoed throughout the court. The court suddenly became quiet and the sound of falling hair could be heard.
Next, the entire courtroom was filled with Yan Song’s angry roar.
"What you have done is unprecedented in history. When I heard about this, I couldn't help but feel angry. Where is Taicang? It is an important place in the country, the foundation of the country! What is stored there? The main money and grain of the country are related to the country, the country's economy and the people's livelihood! Your responsibility is so heavy! But what have you done? You have no intention, but you are so bold! You stole from the public, colluded with cheating, and grabbed things at will. You are so heartless and unscrupulous, just like thieves who betray the country!"