Volume 4: Gathering of Sages Chapter 711: Domineering, Early Court
"Master, Master!"
After leaving the courtyard, Zhu Tingfang heard several anxious calls from the backyard. He smiled and said to the two guards and a middle-aged man who were guarding the gate. "It seems that Mr. Kong is mad at those servants in his family. Send someone to the Imperial Hospital right away. No matter if it's the hospital envoy or the hospital judge, call a good doctor here! "
Commander Lu of the West City Army had just watched the entire battle between Zhu Tingfang and Academician Kong at the gate of the courtyard. He had witnessed the anger of the cabinet academician who was squeezed by people. Now he might have suffered from his old illness. He was both impressed and terrified. However, now it was not a question of whether he wanted to get off the Zhu family's boat, but... he couldn't get off the boat at all!
Because of the continuous arrests last night, Zhu Tingfang claimed that he was acting on orders, and now he came to see Master Kong Jiu, even if it was more of a demonstration...but what if this was also the emperor's instruction?
Therefore, when Commander Lu saw the two guards responding sternly, he quickly followed Zhu Tingfang, who was walking out on his own, and kept complimenting him on his wise and powerful command last night. Although such flattery usually failed to win Zhu Tingfang's favor in the past, his immediate superior was obviously in a good mood today and actually laughed twice.
"What wise and powerful? I have been sorting out the people in and outside the capital these days. I already know which people the eldest prince interacted with most frequently during his time in the capital, and I have sent people to keep an eye on them all."
With the news of the second prince's shipwreck, how could Zhu Tingfang not be on guard against the eldest prince taking advantage of the opportunity to make a move? After all, none of the three of them were smart. It would be a big mistake to judge them by the thinking of a normal smart person! But he didn't expect that the eldest prince was not a smart person, and there were so many people who were not smart!
After walking out of the east corner gate of the Confucius Mansion, Zhu Tingfang saw the guards waiting there coming forward with horses. He took the reins and jumped on the horse. Then he slowly rode forward and nodded slightly to the dozens of people who had just accompanied him: "You worked hard last night, and everyone has contributed. I will naturally ask the emperor for your credit during the morning court today."
At this point, he heard the guards behind him whisper about the two slaves and gold beads that had been seized. He said nonchalantly, "Take the people and the things back to the West City Military Department first. After the interrogation, we will make a clear judgment immediately. Don't bother the Shuntian government office again. This case is easy to judge. Why should the Song Tuiguan, who has been too busy lately, bother?"
He paused suddenly, and when he turned his head and saw Commander Lu standing beside him, he said calmly, "As for the seized items, count them for me and give half of them to reward everyone. The Kong family is not good at managing their family, and they have such a treacherous slave who betrayed his master, but they still have to use the people of the Military Department to clean up the mess. This little bit of stuff is what everyone deserves."
He did not say this to Commander Lu in private, but in front of everyone. For a moment, countless people showed joy.
Zhu Tingfang was a strict person, but he was generous! In the previous clean-ups in and outside the capital, the Wucheng Bingmasi had raided many houses, and anyone who tried to smuggle would be severely punished. After several rounds, one-third of the people were eliminated. And all those who were clean and innocent were recorded one by one.
It is said that Zhu Tingfang asked the emperor for instructions, and the Wucheng Bingma Division issued bonuses based on performance. As for where the money came from, it is said that a portion was taken out during the series of house searches, and the rest was confiscated into the national treasury. Of course, Zhu Tingfang would never admit this. And the cold wind last night was indeed very hard, but since there was something to gain, of course no one felt it was hard! As for whether it was appropriate or inappropriate for Zhu Tingfang to divide up the money smuggled out by the servants of the current cabinet ministers... no one cared at this moment.
After saying this, Zhu Tingfang returned to the West City Military Division and left two guards to assist in the inventory. He then hurried back to the direct room to change clothes and rushed to Donghua Gate. When he was preparing to impeach the Kong brothers, he was also prepared to be impeached.
In such cold weather, attending court was naturally a chore. At this moment, no one knew how many low-ranking officials were hunching their hands and stamping their feet to keep warm. Therefore, when they saw Zhu Tingfang coming in gorgeous clothes and famous horses, many officials whispered to each other. Many were envious, many were frightened and afraid, and even more were hateful and disgusted.
However, Zhu Tingfang had long been accustomed to such sights, and took it as normal at this time. He quickly found the circle he was most familiar with, but he only saw his father, Duke of Zhao Zhu Jing, chatting and laughing with Duke of Qin Zhang Chuan, and at a distance, the Earl of Xiangyang was smiling at him. So, he did not go to his father's side first, but went straight to the Earl of Xiangyang.
"What are you laughing at me for, uncle?"
"I'm laughing at you because you've appeared now, and you look more evil than your father! Look at these guys, aren't they avoiding you like the plague? Your father has fought on the battlefield for most of his life to have the mighty and evil aura he has now. How old are you? What will you be able to do in the future? I'm happy to see you make fun of me. It will be interesting if your father can't control you, his son, in the future!"
Even though Zhu Tingfang knew that the Earl of Xiangyang was the most direct and the most irritable of the three brothers of the Zhang family, who said whatever he thought and would never consider the consequences of his words, he still couldn't help but smile bitterly.
But then, he saw the other party grinning at him again: "You are going to be a groom , but you don't know how to do good deeds and keep killing people. I received your invitation and was considering whether to go or not. But just because of your fearless and evasive personality, I will go and drink a glass of wine from you!"
"But let me make it clear in advance, there will be no gifts! A thief broke into my house last night, and almost everything was stolen!"
"You are an earl after all, with outstanding achievements, but you are so stingy that you can't even bear with a small gift? All your belongings were robbed, but I heard that the thieves were captured in an instant?" Zhu Jing came over quietly and asked with a smile. He saw that Xiangyang Earl Zhang Qiong glared at him and then simply looked up at the sky and ignored him. He didn't bother to argue with this idiot, and the father and son immediately went aside to talk.
Seeing this scene, Zhang Qiong thought of his eldest son, although he was somewhat promising, he was far behind the unicorn child of the Duke of Zhao's mansion. Not to mention him, even the several people in his elder brother's Duke of Chu's mansion were the same. He couldn't help but feel a little envious and sighed. But just as he was distracted, he suddenly heard a familiar voice coming from behind him.
"Why is the Earl of Xiangyang standing here alone?"
Zhang Qiong, who hadn't had time to look up yet, saw that the man was dressed like a civil official, and wondered what kind of civil official would come to flirt with a military commander like him. But when he looked up and saw that it was Zhang Shou, he couldn't help but widen his eyes slightly: "What are you doing here? Aren't you not going to the morning court?"
Even if I really didn't attend the morning court, you would be the only one who would ask such a direct question! Zhang Shou had just walked along the road, and he was treated with collective attention, but others were just curious, suspicious, puzzled, and even hostile. In addition, he didn't have many good colleagues in the officialdom, and his senior brother Chen Shangshu and a few familiar people hadn't arrived yet, so Xiangyang Bo's words could be said to have expressed all the doubts in others' hearts.
He could only shrug and say , "Lord Xiangyang, you asked me this question... Who should I ask? I slept until early in the morning and then I found out that something happened at home. But before I could figure out how to deal with it, someone from the palace came to summon me to court!"
As soon as Zhang Shou finished speaking, he saw Zhu Jing and Zhu Tingfang, father and son, looking at him not far away, as if they were a little surprised by his arrival. But then he found that the eyes of his future father-in-law and brother-in-law seemed to be behind him.
He immediately turned his head and saw that it was Principal Yue, Principal Xu and Principal Xiao who came together. They were all wearing robes specially granted to the lecturers of the Eastern Palace. At first glance, there was not much difference between their robes and his own - after all, even if they had no rank originally, in order to show respect for the Eastern Palace teachers, the emperor granted all lecturers the robes of the fifth rank.
In Zhu Ying's words, he worked hard to get promoted, but he suffered a loss. Zhang Shou couldn't figure it out. He was promoted to the fifth rank in just over a year. If he was promoted hard, then what about other officials who worked hard for more than ten years?
After all, they were colleagues, and these three were not stubborn old men like Hong Shanzhang, so Zhang Shou stepped forward and greeted them with a smile. After asking, he learned that, like himself, they were also specially summoned by the emperor. When he heard that someone had actually invaded the Yashe last night, and one was killed, five were captured, and two escaped, he was shocked.
If the guy behind the scenes who sent people from the charity hall owned by the Imperial Household Department to try to invade the Tiangong Workshop was a bit smart, then the intention of sending people to invade the elegant house where the three mountain masters and several respected old scholars of astronomy and numerology lived was really confusing. What was the purpose of this?
Seeing Zhang Shou's expression, Yue Shanchang asked tentatively, "Could it be that Mr. Zhang's home was also attacked?"
Before Zhang Shou could answer, someone behind him said, "Not only Scholar Zhang, but also the residences of the Duke of Zhao, the Duke of Qin, the Earl of Xiangyang, the Earl of Weinan... The thieves also broke into the residences of Lord Wu and Grand Scholar Zhang, but they were all repelled. In short, these thieves are like headless flies, bumping into everything."
Hearing Zhu Tingfang's voice, Zhang Shou turned around and greeted him with a smile. After Zhu Tingfang returned the greeting, he smiled and bowed to Yue Shanzhang and the other two. Then he said nonchalantly, "The funniest thing is that I encountered a thief with a crossbow and stabbed me. People on the street spread rumors that I was seriously injured and dying. The person who spread it the most enthusiastically was Doctor Kong of the Taichang Temple."
"However, the origins of most of these thieves have been found out. So last night, there was a lot of horse racing in the capital. I just went to the Kong Mansion on purpose. There were servants in the Kong Mansion who thought I was going to call them to task, and they took away the Kong Mansion's property and ran away. They abandoned their master and fled before their master could call them to task. This kind of servant is really laughable."
Originally, some people wanted to question Zhu Tingfang, but when they heard the word "Kong Mansion", they guessed that Zhu Tingfang was probably talking about Academician Kong. Moreover, when they heard how things had progressed, most people immediately backed off.
Why would you provoke this evil star? Mr. Kong hasn't arrived yet, but the joke at home is going to spread everywhere. Isn't this just making things difficult for yourself?
Zhang Shou really wanted to ask Zhu Tingfang for the details. After all, it was a very happy thing for him to see that Confucius was in trouble. But someone came to inform him in a moment, so he had to return to his train with Yue Shanchang and others. When the train entered Donghua Gate and lined up for court, the cold wind blew on the warm body, which was really cold.
It is no wonder that when the founding emperor Taizu restored the old system of the Tang Dynasty, not every official had to attend the morning court every day. For example, the morning court of the Ming Dynasty, which only discussed three things, was purely for show. It was better not to have it! Moreover, in the middle of winter, the court was often held outdoors, which was simply a waste of time and energy for the emperor and his ministers to torture each other!
Although the general agenda is set for the morning court today, no more than three items can be added at the end, and the ministers can debate. It is like moving scenes from film and television dramas into reality, so although it is tiring, at least it is not so boring.
So, after the routine storytelling ceremony, when several important events that had been decided long ago were publicly announced in the court, the emperor brought up the series of events that happened from day to night yesterday. This time, there were more than one or two people who were excited as if they had been injected with chicken blood. Especially the imperial censor who came out to bitterly describe what happened last night, every word was so heartbreaking and painful.
But Zhang Shou was really annoyed and speechless when these people liked to use parallel prose even when speaking in court. Fortunately, he now gave people the impression that he was proficient in mathematics and not very good at other things, so when he saw many people whispering, he took the opportunity to pull Yue Shanzhang aside and asked, "What are those strings of gorgeous parallel prose just now talking about?"
Seeing that Zhang Shou asked so directly and was not afraid of being laughed at at, Shanzhang Yue didn't know whether he should be happy or smile bitterly at Zhang Shou's open-minded attitude.
But now he has thought it through and knows that it is a bad idea to argue with Zhang Shou rashly, so he thought for a moment and smiled, "He is accusing your uncle of acting on his own initiative, ignoring the city inspector and not following the rules. And that parallel prose... well, it's just using some animals as an analogy, and the allusions are rather obscure. Mr. Zhang, you don't have to belittle yourself, you see many people look confused."
Seeing many nobles and military officials frowning and puzzled, and even some civil officials showing impatience, Zhang Shou suddenly laughed. It's okay for teachers to show off their knowledge, but it would be a laughing stock for the censor to do such a .
Sure enough, before he finished speaking, which sounded like he was reciting a memorial, the emperor had already slapped his armrests twice: "Okay, no need to show off your literary talent! The city patrol censors are an old system, but when I supervised the military command of the five cities in previous years, I didn't see much improvement in the public security of the inner and outer cities. I also heard that before, it was not that no one wanted to clean up the capital and restore a clear and bright world, but the result was that the city patrol censors and the military commanders hindered each other instead of complementing each other?"
Seeing that the eloquent inspector had suddenly turned pale, the emperor made the final decision: "In the future, the inspectorate will be set up in a separate office from the military commander to avoid hindering each other. The inspector will only be responsible for supervision. If the military commander fails to supervise, he will be impeached. As for this time, Zhu Tingfang will be recorded as a mistake, and he will be rewarded for his merits last night!"
The dispute was settled with one final decision, and the emperor changed the subject and said, "It is said that several lecturers in the Eastern Palace were frightened last night, so I summoned you to the palace to inquire. Has anyone met the thief?"
