Jiajing Chengming

Chapter 39 Lu Bing complains to Jiajing

Zhu Houcong then returned to Qingning Palace.

Wei Bin returned to the Imperial Household Department and drafted an imperial decree to put himself in prison.

When Wei Bin finished drafting the edict and used the seal, he turned around and saw Wang Yue, Zhou Xian, Qin Wen and other eunuchs promoted by him kneeling in front of him, crying like rain.

Gu Dayong, Zhang Yong, Qiu Ju and other eunuchs who were listed as the "Eight Tigers" of the Zhengde Dynasty together with Wei Bin also came here.

Wei Bin smiled and looked at Wang Yue, Zhou Xian, Qin Wen and others:

"Why are you crying? The emperor didn't say he wanted to kill me. He just wanted me to stay in the imperial prison for now, just to show off to the people outside."

"Godfather, what should we do if you leave?"

At this time, Wang Yue asked a question.

Wei Bin helped Wang Yue up, then helped the other eunuchs up, and said with a smile:
"Don't be afraid! Since the emperor has put me in prison, he shouldn't do anything to you. At least he won't raid your house or take your life."

Speaking of it.

Wei Bin looked at Wang Yue and the others and said, "But you must remember not to get involved with the civil officials of the outer court, nor with the nobles. Don't follow my old path. Be loyal to the emperor, cooperate with Qing Tian, ​​and help the people around the pope learn to deal with the outer court and learn to manage things. Then you can retire smoothly and live a stable life in your old age."

"My sons remember this."

"Godfather, after you go to the Imperial Prison, where do you plan to go in the future? If you really want to retire in the future, your sons will follow you."

Qin Wen also asked at this time.

Wei Bin smiled as he walked out and said, "I plan to ask for permission to be exiled to Tianshou Mountain to look after the late emperor's mausoleum."

"The late emperor will be staying there alone in the future. I am worried about the officials in the Ministry of Works who are supervising the construction of the imperial mausoleum. I have to keep an eye on it carefully."

As Wei Bin spoke, he put his hands behind his back and looked at the lonely moon in the sky. He laughed again and said:
"Now the emperor has known the late emperor's kindness and is willing to spare my life because of his kindness. This shows that the emperor is kind. If I find any problems with the late emperor's tomb and report it, the emperor will not ignore it."

Wei Bin then walked over to Qiu Ju, Zhang Yong, and Gu Dayong, bowed and said, "From now on, the Emperor will be in your service."

Qiu Ju, Zhang Yong and Gu Dayong returned the gift.

then.

Wei Bin went to the imperial prison.

Wang Yue, the governor of the Eastern Depot, followed.

The next day, Zhu Houcong asked the eunuch Gu Dayong who was on duty, "Did Wei Bin go to the imperial prison?"

Gu Dayong replied: "Yes!"

"Let Wang Qiong also go to the Imperial Prison to accompany him!"

"Tell the prison staff to find a separate courtyard for them to live in. They don't need to wear shackles or torture. Let them confess their crimes. All their requests, as long as they don't violate the law, will be met."

Zhu Houcong narrowed his eyes and spoke thoughtfully.

Although Wei Bin and Wang Qiong did commit crimes, they were still valuable for Zhu Houcong to exploit, so Zhu Houcong chose to give them some decency, saying that they were imprisoned in the imperial prison, but they were only temporarily under supervision.

When Zhu Houcong was thinking about this, he suddenly asked Huang Jin: "How is Lu Bing now?"

After Zhu Houcong entered the palace, Lu Bing no longer served as his attendant.

The main reason was that Lu Bing was too young, and the guards around Zhu Houcong were all official positions in the Jinyiwei system.

Therefore, if Lu Bing wanted to continue to stay beside Zhu Houcong as a personal bodyguard, he had to have a formal official status.

Zhu Houcong had not yet decided what official position to assign to Lu Bing, mainly because he had not yet decided what assignment to assign to Lu Bing.

Because Lu Bing is only twelve years old now, if he were to enter the palace as a guard, he would definitely not be able to bear the workload of a palace guard.

After all, the palace is different from the royal palace. The system is stricter and the requirements for guards are higher.

Now, when Zhu Houcong asked about Lu Bing, he thought of Lu Bing's main role in history as being in charge of the Jinyiwei Prison for Jiajing, so he asked about Huang Jin.

Huang Jin immediately replied, "Your Majesty, he is being closely monitored by his father and is forced to study all day long."

"is it?"

"Send him to see me."

Zhu Houcong asked.

Not long after.

Lu Bing came to Zhu Houcong.

As soon as Lu Bing saw Zhu Houcong, his eyes welled up with tears.

This was mainly because Zhu Houcong had always been like his own brother in Lu Bing's eyes, whom he admired and respected.

It was Zhu Houcong who took care of him since he was a child and gave him all the delicious and fun things.

Therefore, Lu Bing basically did not hide his emotions in front of Zhu Houcong. Besides, he was still young.

When Zhu Houcong saw him like this, he asked him, "What's wrong with you?"

"My dad won't let me play anymore, woooo!"

"My father sold the family's land and hired two masters for me, one is a civil master and the other is a martial arts master."

"Now he wants me to get up at five in the morning to study, and then he wants me to practice martial arts in the afternoon. Today, just because I was a little lazy, he whipped me with a whip!"

When Lu Bing said this, he wiped his eyes and started crying.

"Huang Jin, take a handkerchief and wipe him."

Upon seeing this, Zhu Houcong hurriedly gave an order.

Huang Jin bowed and said yes, then walked over to Lu Bing, wiping his face and saying, "Why are you crying? Your father is doing this for your own good. You are no longer the Crown Prince's foster brother, but the Emperor's foster brother. You can't just catch crickets and birds, you must be more proficient in both civil and military affairs!"

"Why are you lecturing me like my father?"

Lu Bing glared at Huang Jin.

Zhu Houcong then asked with a smile: "Why is he the same as your father?"

Lu Bingze bowed politely to Zhu Houcong:
"Your Majesty, my father said that our Lu family is an old member of the palace and we are supposed to do more for Your Majesty. If we are not good enough, we will fail the grace of Your Majesty and the previous prince. So he wanted me to be good enough and said that he would rather force me to death than let me live and become a burden to Your Majesty."

"That being said, your father is too strict."

"How about this, I'll give you a job. You go to the Imperial Prison and guard a man named Wang Qiong as a member of the Imperial Guards."

"This way you don't have to stay at home and be tortured by your father every day."

Zhu Houcong spoke at this time.

Lu Bing was overjoyed at this time, and he quickly prostrated himself on the ground: "Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Zhu Houcong waved his hand and said, "I still have some government affairs to deal with. You can go back first."

Afterwards, Zhu Houcong instructed Gu Dayong, "Take him to buy a suitable brocade robe."

Gu Dayong bowed and agreed, then took Lu Bing away.

Zhu Houcong then said to Huang Jin, "Tell the East Factory that after Wang Qiong is imprisoned, ask him to teach my foster brother a lesson without reservation. Send someone to inform Lu Song about this matter and let him, as his father, supervise it. Just don't say it was my intention. You should also go to the East Factory to look after Wei Bin. It's time to let Zhang Zuo and others under you take care of the matter on their own."

Zhu Houcong knew Wang Qiong's abilities.

He knows military affairs, knows people, and has amazing insight.

When he was governor, he repeatedly made meritorious services in border towns. Even in his later years, when he was reinstated as the commander-in-chief of the three border areas by Emperor Jiajing, he continued to make military achievements.

When Wang Qiong was the Minister of War, the governors and governors-general he selected were all talented. Among them, Wang Yangming was the most outstanding. When Prince Ning rebelled and the whole court was in panic, he was the calmest. It was said that the reason for arranging Wang Yangming and other governors-general was to guard against this day, and that he had already set up a dragnet for Prince Ning.

Later, Li Zhi once commented on Wang Qiong:

"The whole court accepted bribes from Chen Hao, except Jin Xi and Liang Chu. Yang Tinghe was the prime minister, accepted bribes from Chen Hao, and took the initiative to appoint guards... Alas! He did not take bribes from Chen Hao, but made friends with Wang Shouren, who was in the upper reaches to capture Hao. He knew that Shouren would not give a penny to anyone and did not know him, but he still trusted him with his work. Why? Anyone with a little insight should know it."

It can be seen that although Wang Qiong was greedy, he had an amazing foresight. He guessed that Prince Ning would rebel, so he confiscated Prince Ning's money.

Because Zhu Houcong knew that Wang Qiong was very capable, he had no intention of letting him stay in the imperial prison in vain, but asked him to train Lu Bing for him.

Huang Jin said yes and left.

He was older than Lu Bing, so naturally he didn't need Zhu Houcong to give him many instructions and he could understand Zhu Houcong's deep meaning.

It is said that the cabinet soon received an imperial decree asking them to change their vote and send Wei Bin and Wang Qiong to prison.

Jiang Mian and Mao Ji were naturally happy about this.

Because being imprisoned by imperial decree was always more terrifying than being imprisoned by the Censorate, prisoners often died of starvation or torture.

Liang Chu sighed: "Well, it seems that I really have to beg for mercy in the future."

After Liang Chu said this, he did not dissuade the matter and changed the draft according to the imperial edict.

When Wang Qiong received the news that he was imprisoned, he was naturally horrified.

After all, the imperial prison is a place that makes people shudder with fear.

He was extremely scared at this moment!
His family members burst into tears.

"Your Majesty! I have made great contributions to the Ming Dynasty!"

"I have really made contributions to the Ming Dynasty!"

When Wang Qiong was being taken away by the Jinyiwei, he could not help but shout loudly. He hoped that Zhu Houcong would hear what he said later and not really kill him for his merits, so as to appease the clean people in the world.

But when Wang Qiong was dragged to the imperial prison trembling all over, he found that he was actually brought to a small courtyard with clean windows and elegant and exquisite decoration, instead of a dark and damp underground prison.

(End of this chapter)