Chapter 838: Dig deep and don't let go, the gift list on the winter solstice

The half-month deadline given by Empress Dowager Zhang passed quickly, however, when she saw the inscription sent by Lu Feng, she frowned. In the past three years, Jingwei has added one hundred and twenty-two hereditary officers, of which there are thirty-two impostors! Some have no heirs and do not report to the peak and inherit them privately as nephews or clan nephews, some are inherited by adopted sons, and some are inherited by people who have nothing to do with each other and inherit military positions. When Jinyiwei began to investigate, except for a few people who confessed, most of them fled after hearing the news, and now the criminal department has issued a sea arrest document, and Jinyi guards in various places have also been ordered to investigate.

However, the digging of relevant clues has reached an impasse. In addition to the dead Shang Yong, the military department is Zhou Ping'an, who was imprisoned, and the firewood car that just returned to Ren Langzhong in the military department a few years ago should have nothing to do with it - Zhang Yue failed to keep him in his original position, but Empress Dowager Zhang still knew about this old man who joined the military department during the Yongle period, so she did not doubt this. But the rest of the people who dug up were either the petty officers of Jingwei or the experience and affairs of the Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies, and the next ones were the micro people who did not enter the stream at all, as if all the clues were broken if they went up.

"The previous inscription was sent to Xingzai with an expedited of eight hundred miles, and the emperor was furious after reading it, and now this Zhu batch has returned, in the final analysis, there are only two words - thorough investigation!" Empress Dowager Zhang gently put the inscription aside, and then said coldly to Lu Feng, "On the surface, this case is over for the time being, but in fact, it is far from passing, you must investigate it thoroughly!" ”

Although he was also an old man in the palace, Lu Feng always felt a deep pressure in front of Empress Dowager Zhang, so he knelt down and kowtowed at this time. After getting up, he hesitated for a moment and then said: "There is one thing that has not yet been a shadow, and Xiao Yuan does not dare to report it in vain, but after thinking about it, he still does not dare to hide it from the Queen Mother." Among the soap subordinates caught this time, a few of them came from the Governor's Mansion of the Left Army, although they confessed under severe punishment that they had nothing to do with those nobles, but there were two people who had served the Marquis of Wuding. ”

The three words of Wudinghou suddenly touched some bad memories of Empress Dowager Zhang. During the Hongwu period, the elder relatives were often married to the nobles, and a large group of relatives such as Zhu Zhang, the king of Qin, Zhu Di, the king of Yan, Zhu Gui, and Zhu Yun, the king of Liao, were all married to the daughters of the nobles, and when the young princes and the next generation of princes and county princes took concubines, Zhu Yuanzhang gradually set the rules, and the princesses and princesses were often good women from small families.

The Zhang family is not a famous family, but Zhu Gaochi became the concubine of the crown prince and was almost all famous. Fortunately, because Zhu Di valued her as the eldest daughter-in-law, her father named Peng Chengbo, and during the Hongxi period, Zhu Gaochi even made her brother hereditary Peng Chenghou, which can be regarded as a reward for her many years of help. However, at the same time as canonizing the Marquis of Pengcheng, Zhu Gaochi changed hands and gave the title of Marquis of Wuding to Guo Guifei's brother Guo Xuan. Although she did not express any objections at that time, a knot formed in her heart, and later Zhu Gaochi died young due to excessive indulgence, and Guo Guifei was martyred by herself, although she was relieved, she did not have the slightest good impression of the Guo family.

However, being in a high position, he can't make decisions based on personal likes and dislikes, not to mention that Zhu Zhanyun, the king of Wei, is still raising the palace, and this child is also quite attached to her mother-in-law. Therefore, after muttering carefully, she nodded and said, "You should pay attention to this matter, don't chase the wind and shadows." The matter of the pioneer camp has caused a lot of discussion in Beijing, and this time it is even more prudent. ”

Lu Feng is just mentioning it, after all, rashly involving Xungui, he, the governor of Dongchang, can't afford to be guilty. Just as he was about to retire, he heard another order from the Empress Dowager Zhang.

"A-Ning mentioned to me about King Xin'an a few days ago, but he reminded me. You ask the people below to pay more attention to the movements of your relatives. It's just that they are doing anything wrong in the fiefdom, and if there is any unpredictable plan, they must not be guarded against. ”

After Lu Feng retreated, Fan Hong, who had been waiting outside for a while, entered inside, holding a carved lacquered wooden box in his hand. Because it was raining outside, the hem of his clothes was still stained with mud, but he knew that Empress Dowager Zhang didn't like luxury, so he didn't deliberately change his clothes. Seeing that Empress Dowager Zhang took out the notebook and looked through it all the way, pinching or ticking the points, and finally the Zhu batch was stamped, he said next to him: "Elder Yang Ge also asked the little one, the most important thing now is whether the military selection of this military department should be restored?" ”

"After stopping for so long, we can't delay it forever, Wu Xuan should naturally be restored, and the emperor also means this. Let Zhang Yue personally preside over it, so as not to make any mistakes. The emperor also approved the matter of martial arts and martial arts that he said, and it was approved, but the stakes were very high, and the five mansions could not be set aside, he happened to be the son of the old Xun, so let him go and discuss with those nobles. But the martial arts students can't be too indiscriminate, because the previous batch of people was promised by him, so they were temporarily accepted, but after that, they had to be strictly screened. This is where the imperial court trains officers, don't take cats and dogs in, you can't afford to spend so much money and food. ”

With Empress Dowager Zhang's words, Zhang Yue naturally personally presided over the promotion election at the end of the year. Because there has just been such a big case that shocked the government and the opposition, no matter whether there were such and such drawbacks in the past, no one from top to bottom dared to use their brains this time. It's just that this is different from the competition of hereditary officers, and there was no need to go to the colonel's field, but Zhang Yue still saw them one by one when they were to be promoted. He tested his physique and language, and then tried his hand at arching horses, and only then did he sign and seal the final roster. By the time all this is over, it will be the winter solstice holiday.

In addition to the three-day holiday of the winter solstice, the civil and military officials in Beijing were given another seven days of leave, and the political departments and prefectures and counties outside were five days, but the yamen still had to arrange shifts and keep people. After all, this is not the time when the Yamen seal is not in charge from the lunar month to the first month, so there is no room for sloppiness. However, after all, this is a rare holiday throughout the year, especially for Zhang Yue, who has no weekends and other holidays, this season can not only relax and reunite with his family, but also set his mind to do something else.

The emperor was not in Beijing, and on the winter solstice, hundreds of officials gathered to kowtow, but Sun and Du Juan had to go to Renshou Palace to see Empress Dowager Zhang according to their makeup. Therefore, when Zhang Yue, who was wearing a sable fur, rushed home, the next person reported that his wife and young grandmother had not returned, and only sent a letter in advance to say that the queen mother had given him food. Zhang Yue rushed back early to have a good meal as a family reunion, but when he heard this, he couldn't help but feel a little helpless, thinking that this meal could only be moved to the evening. When he asked about his father, Zhang Zhuo, the porter said that the old man went out early in the morning, saying that he would come back in the evening.

That's not all, he entered the second gate happily, but remembered that Zheng Fangfei sent someone to send a post early in the morning, saying that he was going to invite Jingguan Sansan and Zhang Jingzhang, who were at home on vacation, to go over to play, and Fang Jing was busy preparing to be his mountain chief, and no one in the family was there at this time. So, after only a few steps, he simply stood up, and then turned around and walked out.

"Young Master, ...... you are"

"When I went back and waited for someone to come back, I said that I would go to the Du family in Wugong Hutong."

The Du family's house was originally a little far away from the imperial city, Du Zhen entered the cabinet from the Hanlin lecture official, not only can not be absent from the Japanese court, but also returns every day and night, so soon after Zhu Zhanji ascended the throne, he and other ministers, got a three-entry courtyard very close to the imperial city, in the Wugong Hutong near West Chang'an Street and Xuanwumen Street, that is, the Du Bachelor Hutong in the mouth of outsiders.

Zhang Yue didn't go far when he went out, and then he remembered Du Zhen's northern tour, and Qiu's family was probably also in the order to leave food. But when he came out, he had a sense of luck. When he arrived at Wugong Hutong and saw a carriage and horses parked at the door, he suddenly felt a little strange, and after a little groaning, he did not turn in, but beat the horse around the back door, and just saw an empty cart coming out of the corner gate.

Compared with the winter solstice in later generations, it almost faded out of people's sight, but now the winter solstice is one of the three major festivals of the year, coupled with the New Year is imminent, the weather is cold, the people go to the cellar of the house to store all kinds of meat, and the purchase of each mansion has also increased a lot more than usual. Zhang Yue took Zhang Bu and Niu Dare to whip over, and dismounted at the back door, a little girl who was kicking the shuttlecock at the door happened to see him, and immediately dropped the shuttlecock and ran inside.

"The eldest aunt is here, the eldest aunt is here!"

At this shouting, a mother-in-law soon came out, and when she saw that it was Zhang Yue, she hurriedly stepped forward. Seeing that Zhang Yue threw the reins to the entourage after dismounting, she smiled and said, "The eldest aunt must have seen that there were many people in the alley in front of her, so she went through the back door, right?" The lady has entered the palace, but the person has not returned. Who would have thought that when the master was there, no one dared to come to the door, and at this time, he was on a northern tour, and as a result, the house suddenly became lively. Now there is only the second lady here, and I am worried that I can't cope with it, since you are here, please help deal with one or two. ”

Is that an exaggeration?

Zhang Yue originally thought that since there was no one, he could only find another place to spend time, but when he heard this, he changed his mind. He followed the woman into the back door, asked a few more questions along the way, and when he passed through the first door to the main hall, and through the instrument door, he found that the truth was far more exaggerated than he imagined. The noise outside has not stopped, and the few subordinates of the Du family are running back and forth without touching the ground, all of them are sweating profusely in the cold weather, and Xiao Wu can still be heard in the main hall to raise his voice to a little anxious.

"Didn't you say that your brother-in-law has already come, why hasn't anyone arrived yet?"

Xiao Wu asked again angrily, and saw that the willow green curtain in front of her was raised high, and she didn't even have the heart to wait for someone to come in and rushed over, and when she saw Zhang Yue, she said with a slashed head and face: "Brother-in-law, look at it, it's all about giving gifts when my father and mother are away!" Fortunately, I came, and the housekeeper in front of them couldn't stop them at all, and they all said that they were thin gifts, but the things in it were precious one by one. I can't handle it, you go and take a look, maybe you provoked it! ”

Only when he entered this warm main hall from outside the howling cold wind was so clear, Zhang Yue only felt that he couldn't cry or laugh. Seeing Xiao Wu's expression that I will push you out if you don't go, he sighed helplessly: "Okay, okay, I'll send someone." ”

"That's right! Brother-in-law, you are a ghost, they will be afraid as soon as you show up! ”

With the ghost of this little five, as soon as Zhang Yue came out of the door, his face became more black than the charcoal of the pot. I don't know who opened his voice and shouted, and the people who were there to explain to people that their master would never accept gifts immediately turned their heads in unison, and then they all ran over. And those domestic servants who originally wanted to leave the gift immediately stopped instinctively after hearing the eldest aunt.

"I didn't expect that my father-in-law was not at home, but there were so many people who gave gifts to the door."

Zhang Yue's words were polite, but the tone was by no means polite, coupled with the frosty face on his face, combined with his reputation, it naturally brought out an indescribable deterrent. He walked forward slowly, picked up a gift list and swept it with his eyes, then chuckled, and flicked his fingers again: "This is ginseng and deer antler, my father-in-law probably can't afford it." If you insist on leaving gifts, then I have to trouble a little bit, and in the afternoon the family will come to the door to return the gift. ”

After saying this, all the servants looked at each other, among which those who had dealings with the Zhang family had to come forward to explain with a smile, and those who had no friendship thought for a while, and quietly slipped away with their own shares. However, after a quarter of an hour's effort, the originally noisy front yard was suddenly gone, and the sweat on the foreheads of many people in the Du family had not stopped.

Ming Di and Mo Yu followed Du Zhen away, although there was a housekeeper at home, but Yue Shan, who was in charge of the gatehouse, and Nan Bo, who was in charge of the study, were the biggest. The two of them instructed the others to go to work, and then they stepped forward to see each other, and Yue Shan smiled and said: "It's still the eldest aunt who is capable, and she will get everyone away with just two words." It's just that we didn't use it just now, and the first five or six gifts couldn't be stopped. ”

"It doesn't matter, since it's a gift, there is always a name post, and I will let people send it back one by one in the afternoon." Zhang Yue waved his hand disappreciably, and then asked suspiciously, "What the hell is going on, isn't my father-in-law's temperament known to everyone in the capital?" ”

"I didn't know what to do at first, but then I heard about it because they showed a lot of it. I don't know where the message came, saying that he would be appointed as a Beijing official in the future, and the officials said that it would not count, and that someone in the cabinet must recommend him before he could be included in the court recommendation. "After all, Nan Bo is a person who has been serving Du Zhen for a long time, and he is also quite familiar with the personnel system of the DPRK and China, so he seems a little worried after saying this, "The strangest thing is that some people say that the emperor likes to use his prime of life, and Master Jin is not in good health, and Master Yang went to Yunnan, but my master is in the prime of life." After this northern tour, it is very likely that my lord will replace Yang Ge Lao......"

"Where is this nonsense, I've been in court all day, why haven't I heard of it?"

Zhang Yue was shocked and angry, and took the few gift sheets left behind, only to find that the names on them were very unfamiliar. At this moment, he didn't care about any afternoon, so he directly called Niu Dang and Zhang Bu, and asked them to send the gifts back one by one according to the gift list, and gave such and such an order.

It doesn't matter if this rumor is heard by the bigwigs of the six cabinet departments, or it is heard by people who know it, but it is hateful when the rumors spread. His sources are better than ordinary people, and he has never heard of this, that is, these gift-givers are playing tricks!