The Fourteenth Year of Chenghua

Chapter 3

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After a few more greetings, Pan Bin got up and said goodbye. Before leaving, Tang Fan said to Zheng Ying, "Master Hou, this is unusual. For the convenience of inspection, we hope to take your son Ling's body away."

Zheng Ying frowned, obviously not happy: "Is there no other way?"

Tang Fan: "To find out the cause of Young Master Ling's death, we have to start from here."

Zheng Ying: "My son is the eldest son of the Marquis of Wu'an. How can he be regarded as a common man? His body will be kept in the Marquis' residence, and the coffin will be buried within seven days."

The implication is that if you can't find out the truth in seven days, my son can't wait that long and must be buried.

Before Tang Fan could answer, Pan Bin said, "Naturally, the dead are the bigger ones, and it's better to go to the ground for safety. The Hou Ye mourns and changes, then we will say goodbye first."

Tang Fan: "Master Hou, that maid named Alin, according to the rules, Shuntian House will also take it away."

Zheng Ying didn't say anything this time, just waved her hand and asked someone to bring the maid over and hand it over to the yamen of Shuntian Prefecture.

As soon as he left the Marquis of Wu'an Mansion, Pan Bin scolded Tang Fan with a straight face: "Runqing, you are too impulsive about today's affairs!"

Tang Fan looked innocent: "Sir, where did you start?"

Pan Bin: "You shouldn't have said those words to the Marquis of Wu'an just now. Is there any other reason for Zheng Cheng's death? In the end, it's just your speculation. What if you find out something? Why did the Marquis of Daowu An send us out, his attitude changed drastically, he was just afraid that the murderer would have something to do with the inner house, then the death of a son does not count, maybe he will have to catch another."

Tang Fan sighed: "Sir, if we sit back and watch, I'm afraid it will lead to an unjust case."

Pan Bin was very displeased, and thought to himself, how can I call this on, you still haven't figured it out? Zheng Ying's own son died, and even he hoped that the big thing would be reduced, so what are we still busy with? Besides, the emperor will definitely take care of Zheng Ying's feelings on the love of Xunchen. If the Shuntian Mansion really finds out something at that time, it will offend people.

Tang Fan was also a little helpless. The Shuntian prefectural governor was a high-ranking court official no matter what, but Pan Bin was so afraid that he even looked forward to investigating a murder case. It's no wonder that this lord has been working for so many years, but he has never been able to rise further. .

The two spent most of the night in the Marquis of Wu'an's mansion. When they came out, the morning drum had just been played outside. The number of pedestrians who got up early gradually increased, and the air was still filled with frost and dew. Someone set up a breakfast stall and smiled at Pan Bin: "Senior brother, you should be hungry after a busy night. How about I treat you to breakfast?"

Hearing that Pan Bin changed this title, the original color of Bu Ji softened a little, and he also felt a little hungry.

Both of them are dressed in regular clothes, but they are not eye-catching.

When the stall owner saw that they had found a place to sit down, he didn't come, so he stood there and shouted, "Two waiters, what would you like to eat?"

Tang Fan: "Two bowls of noodles with meat and meat!"

The boss replied loudly: "Okay!"

After a while, two bowls of steaming meat noodles were placed in front of the two of them.

The fragrant hot soup is sprinkled with verdant minced green onion, which really increases the appetite.

Pan Bin and Tang Fan were also really hungry, so they picked up their chopsticks and ate without saying a word.

Tang Fan's eating is very gentle, but his speed is not slower than Pan Bin, or even faster.

By the time Master Pan had finished drinking the noodle soup, Tang Fan had already put down his chopsticks.

Before Pan Bin wanted to teach him a lesson, Tang Fan had already said, "Senior brother, in fact, even if the Marquis of Wu'an wanted to suppress him, he might not be able to suppress it."

Pan Bin: "Why did you say this?"

Tang Fan: "Senior brother, do you still remember what happened last year?"

Pan Bin thought for a while, and his face changed: "You mean...?"

He picked up a chopstick and dipped it in the noodle soup and wrote the word "West" on the table.

Tang Fan nodded.

The word "west" refers to neither the west, the east, the north, the south, nor the west of the blissful world.

But the West of the West Factory.

When the Ming Dynasty spread to the current Chenghua Emperor, he was already the eighth emperor.

When Emperor Chenghua's father, the late Emperor Yingzong, was in power, there was a major event that was enough to go down in history - the change of Tumubao. To put it bluntly, in fact, it was a eunuch named Wang Zhen who would not die if he did not commit suicide. He encouraged Emperor Yingzong to conquer Tara himself. Emperor Yingzong really obeyed, and brought a group of civil and military ministers to the expedition. As a result, the dead eunuch was killed and the emperor was captured. All the ministers of civil and military affairs all died. At that time, Oulao was about to enter the city of Beijing, but Yu Qian stood up in the face of danger. This saved the capital and prevented Taizu and Chengzu from jumping out of the coffin and scolding them. descendants.

During Chenghua Emperor's capture, because Emperor Chenghua was still young at the time, and the country could not be without an owner for a day, in order to avoid being threatened and extorted by Oirat, Yu Qian established Yingzong's younger brother as a civil servant, who was also Emperor Chenghua's uncle. the emperor.

As a result, the immoral Wa Lai actually put Emperor Yingzong back, and there was no room for two tigers in one mountain. How could Emperor Chenghua's uncle give way to his brother again, and put Emperor Yingzong under house arrest.

One night a few years later, Emperor Yingzong ascended the throne with the support of several ministers.

A few years later, Emperor Yingzong died and went around in circles, and the throne finally fell to his son, Emperor Chenghua.

When Emperor Chenghua, who almost passed by the throne, was just enthroned, the administration of officials could be called Qingming, but the good times did not last long. He was not a diligent person in the first place. It's hard to be more diligent.

Although both inside and outside the DPRK said that Concubine Wan is the source of the disaster, Tang Fan didn't see it that way. No matter how bad a woman can be, her ability is limited. The arrogant and domineering concubine was only in the harem, and had little impact on the previous dynasty. In the final analysis, it was Emperor Chenghua himself who didn't want to work. He liked alchemy and pushed all the affairs of the court to the courtiers, and he also favored the eunuchs, which caused the chaos inside and outside the court day after day.

Relative to courtiers, eunuchs are the people who are closest to the emperor. For the convenience of doing things and for various interests, courtiers naturally get closer to eunuchs. As a result, there is a saying in the court that "Paper paste three pavilions old man." , Clay Sculpture Six Books" joke, which means that these old court officials hold the power of the state, but they watch the eunuchs beside the emperor all day long, and they do nothing but promise.

Under such circumstances, of course, it is impossible to hope that the state will be clear and bright. People of insight sigh and say that the emperor is surrounded by villains, there are eunuchs to cause disasters, and there are mediocre ministers outside the road. Don't think about it, it's hard to say whether it can be restored to the Qingming era of Emperor Renzong and Xuanzong.

Just last February, the eunuch Wang Zhi was ordered to set up the West Factory. In order to establish his prestige, he arrested a lot of people as soon as he was established. Among them are not only ordinary people who "arbitrarily discuss the state affairs", but also serious court officials, such as Jiang Zongwu, who was sentenced by the Taiyuan Hospital, needless to say. Even the six ministers and the local envoys were not spared. Wang Zhitong was arrested without a petition. Because someone in the palace spoke for him, and he was quite courteous, Emperor Chenghua didn't even hold him accountable. There was no hope of impeachment, but Wang Zhi retaliated instead.

For a time, the power and arrogance of the West Factory was so powerful that it approached the East Factory and Jin Yiwei. So much so that Pan Bin didn't even dare to call out the name directly, but only dared to use the word as an endorsement and write the word "West".

Seeing Tang Fan nodding, he asked, "What does that place have to do with the Marquis of Wu'an case? Don't get involved!"

Tang Fan: "Senior brother, do you still remember the 'Monster Fox Night Out' case two years ago?"

Pan Bin's expression changed again.

Tang Fan smiled: "Senior brother, there is no need to be nervous, it is hidden in the city, but no one pays attention to talking here."

Two years ago, a story of a long-tailed monster with golden eyes and long tails suddenly spread in the capital. It was said that as long as someone bumped into the monster, the person who bumped into the monster would go into a coma. The monster was stripped of its skin and put on it, and transformed into the man's appearance, spreading rumors and people panicking. At this time, a Taoist priest named Li Zilong appeared, who used magic to make friends with the officials in the palace, in order to wait for an opportunity to kill the king. Some people linked the monster with Li Zilong, and said that Li Daoshi was actually a demon fox that was killed by Emperor Taizu back then. Now that Emperor Taizu was gone, he came to seek revenge on his descendants.

Although Li Zilong was later beheaded and the rumors gradually subsided, Emperor Chenghua was frightened when he heard about this, and even thought that Dongchang and Jinyiwei were unreliable and needed to set up a new spy agency to serve him Service, the West Factory also came into being.

Tang Fan: "After the demon fox case, the West Factory was established, which is just an excuse to arrest a group of people. In addition to wanting to show his face in front of His Majesty, saying that the West Factory can do more things than the East Factory and Jinyiwei, I still want to He wanted to stand up for power, and all the officials were afraid when they saw him. Now that Zheng Cheng has happened, even if the Marquis of Wu'an himself likes to make things small, Wang Zhi will definitely use the topic to ask His Majesty for a thorough investigation to the end, and maybe he will intervene. Among them, only in this way can the prestige of the West Factory be displayed.”

Pan Bin shook his head: "Impossible, although Xichang is in full swing right now, but Wang Zhiping has no reason, why should he offend the Marquis of Wu'an?"

Tang Fan: "In order to establish his prestige among the princes and nobles, and to let the world know that he not only dared to arrest hundreds of officials, but even those noble officials and families were not stingy to offend them, so that everyone in the world fears him, what does he want to do in the future? , it is more convenient.”

Pan Bin: "Then let's wait for the West Factory to intervene. If the West Factory is willing, the Shuntian Prefecture can push the boat along the way and push such troublesome things to them."

Tang Fan shook his head, feeling a little helpless. Their teacher once commented on this senior brother with him, saying that Pan Zibin "doesn't get things done enough, plans mediocre things, and retreats before a fight happens."

Pan Bin on the other side was afraid that something would happen to Tang Fan on his own initiative, and in turn told him: "This matter will definitely be played by the Marquis of Wu'an, and I will talk about it when His Majesty has any will, and you must not go to the Marquis of Wu'an. What does the government want Zheng Cheng's body?"

Tang Fan laughed: "Senior brother, do you think I look like such an impulsive person?"

Pan Bin was not angry: "I think it's like, the teacher also said that you are 'elegant and elegant, and have the style of an ancient gentleman', and you just said the amazing words in the Marquis of Wu'an mansion, which is more reckless. !"

Why does the Shuntian governor of the third rank and the minor officials of the sixth rank call each other brothers and sisters

It's not unusual, because they both have a common teacher, Qiu Jun.

Qiu Jun is an all-rounder. Not only is he a good official, he is also involved in history, science, economics, and even medicine. He has a wide range of knowledge and a wealth of works. Respect, if people can worship him as a teacher, it would be a blessing for three lives.

Pan Bin was Qiu Jun's disciple in his early years, and it was funny to say that the disciple had a prosperous career, and now he is a third-rank Shuntian governor, but his teacher is still offering wine from the fourth-rank Guozijian. Taller than the teacher, Pan Bin still respectfully holds the disciple salute in front of the teacher.

Three years ago, in the eleventh year of Chenghua, Qiu Jun was appointed to preside over the general examination of the Yiwei subject, and Tang Fan also took the examination of that subject. The top high school in the top two.

Although the imperial examinations are held every three years, the world does not know how many talented people have been in succession, and they have wasted their time on this. At the age of Tang Fannian's weak crown, the first place in the second class is enough to be envied by scholars all over the world.

But it is said that the Chenghua Emperor had originally appointed Tang Fan to be the champion, but because the chief assistant Wan An said that Tang Fan was too young, it would be better to move the ranking down a bit, lest the young people get carried away and be killed. , the wind will destroy it.

The emperor thought it was justified, so he changed his ranking and moved Tang Fan to No. 1 in the top two. He also joked regretfully: "Tang Runqing's literary talent and knowledge are all the best choices, rare and young and handsome, if he becomes the champion, only I'm afraid that from now on, the champion, standing next to him, will hide his face and feel ashamed!"

Therefore, three years ago, although Tang Fan finally did not win the title of champion, he became famous all over the world because of the emperor's words.