First Minister of Ming Dynasty

Mao Gui hurriedly waved his hands, his old face was flushed, and he was quite guilty.

"Thank you King Yue for your hard work. Speaking of it, I should have led the troops to join the Central Route Army and attack Dadu together. In the end, I and the Udun army were defeated, which delayed the opportunity of the war, and forced them to go to the desert grassland and travel thousands of miles. ...I, I am ashamed of my friend!"

Mao Gui presented the gift slip with both hands, then took out another gift slip and handed it to Fang Guozhen.

"This is 3 taels of gold, 20 taels of silver, and ten boats of jewelry and antiques... I plan to send them to the south of the Yangtze River and hand them over to King Wu. How much food and weapons can I get in exchange? Brother and Brother Pan's help is my heart."

Fang Guozhen was startled, he looked at the gift list, then at Mao Gui, and suddenly let out a long sigh.

"It's no wonder His Highness King Wu values ​​you so much. I'm afraid there may not be another person in Han Song Dynasty!" Fang Guozhen said: "Originally this time I only went out of the fleet, but everyone is so proud. Don't be ashamed. The [-] sailors in my fleet also went ashore to join forces with their central army, and we will fight the Yuan Tartars!"

"Yes! And us! Our days are over!"

Zhang Dingbian reported the disappearance of Tianwan Kingdom.

These few people looked at each other, really feeling extremely emotional.

Mr. Guan and Potou Pan were generals of the Han and Song Dynasties, Mao Gui was born in Haozhou Red Scarf, Zhang Dingbian was a member of the Tianwan Peng Party, and Fang Guozhen was one of the first people who rebelled against the Yuan court.

Besides, their boats carried Zhu Yuanzhang's food and weapons, and even Zhang Shicheng's drinks!

It is true that the Red Scarf is a family!

"What King Wu said in Yashan was right. It was us bandits who went on and on, killed countless people, shed countless blood, and forced the Yuan court into a precarious situation, almost destroying the country! We single-handedly created a new chapter. In Yashan, Huaxia prospered in our hands!"

Zhang Dingbian's face was as red as blood, and his fists were clenched tightly. In front of Yashan, the scene of Zhu Yuanzhang offering sacrifices to heaven and earth appeared before his eyes again. He, a tough man, actually burst into tears.

"I am convinced, I am convinced! Mao Gui, you are also a man, think about it carefully, what path a good man should take! I, Zhang Dingbian, have already thought about it. With this knife in my hand, I will never kill all the Tartars. Let it go! Think for yourself!"

Zhang Dingbian turned and boarded the boat, and went away proudly, Fang Guozhen even cupped his hands and said: "Mao Pingzhang, the military situation is urgent, and rescue is like putting out a fire, so I won't stay any longer. Let's cherish each other. In the future, we will have a good drink in Dadu!"

Mao Gui was stunned, but his heart was full of excitement, "I am so lucky to be able to live the same life as the princes! I wish you all the best!"

Mao Gui bid farewell to everyone, but he also arranged a fleet, and ordered the soldiers and civilians along the coast to reward the friendly troops and go to aid the central route army together.

Returning from Jiaozhou, Mao Gui's heart was full of excitement, and he couldn't calm down for a long time... It would be a lie to say that he was not surprised. Zhu Yuanzhang sat off the southeast, and after learning about the situation of the Central Route Army, he sent a navy to the north. Fang Guozhen, a thief, was also willing to contribute , On the other hand, the generals of Han and Song Dynasties did nothing, and they were still fighting among themselves.

I have to say, this gap is a bit big!

Mao Gui sighed, just arrived in Yidu, Zhao Jizu actually arrived with Liu Futong's letter.Originally, Zhao Jizu didn't think about anything else, but he heard that Mao Gui had sent a lot of gold and silver treasures to Zhu's army, so he couldn't sit still.

"You, how could you do this?"

Mao Gui sneered, "Guan Duo and the others are not our people? King Wu, King Yue, Zhang Dingbian, Zhang Shicheng, everyone is willing to contribute. If I don't pay some money, I'm afraid even Liu Taibao will lose face! "

"You, you..." Zhao Jizu was speechless, and the two broke up unhappy.When he came, he had [-]% trust in Mao Gui, but now it's probably less than [-]%...

3 Chapter Ninety

"Brother, Han Song is not Song, and Mao Gui cannot be Yue Fei. I think it is impossible to expect Liu Futong to destroy the Great Wall himself."

Although Zhu Ying cut off Zhang Ximeng's contact with the outside world and forbade him to read all kinds of secret reports, how could this kid hold back?

What's more, he also knew that Zhang Ximeng's health was almost recovered, so he used fishing to talk to Zhang Ximeng.

"Your words are correct. Of course Mao Gui is not Yue Fei, but he can turn the dark side to the bright side!"

Zhu Ying was startled, and couldn't help but said: "Brother, are you planning to recruit Mao Gui?"

Zhang Ximeng didn't speak, but just looked at the mountain, stream and pool in front of him.

"The mountains and rivers are clear and cold, and there are not many fish. The Yuan court slaughtered the Central Plains and trampled the mountains and rivers. How can it be so easy to restore this vitality? Mao Gui is a man, and he should have a brighter future. Guan Duo and the others That's right, including Ming Yuzhen from Bashu, as long as it can be used by me to revive China, I can't give up easily."

Zhu Ying squatted beside Zhang Ximeng, lowered her head and poked the ant nest with a wooden stick, and said suddenly: "Brother, you have such a broad mind, even Confucius can't compare to it."

Zhang Ximeng put down the fishing rod in his hand, couldn't help touching Zhu Ying's head, and said with a smirk, "Don't talk nonsense, you can become a saint after death, I live well now, do you need to curse me?"

Zhu Ying blinked her eyes, "Brother, I heard people say that once you curse, you will live for ten years. If I curse you hard, you will live a long life. How wonderful!"

"Pooh!"

Zhang Ximeng was so angry that he gave him a brain collapse, "As long as you don't get angry with me, I can live a few more years."

Zhang Ximeng simply leaned over, grabbed the fishing rod, stopped fishing, and said to Zhu Ying, "Actually, what I have done now is just a framework... It is far from simple to replace Confucianism."

Zhu Ying was curious, "Brother, do you think Confucianism is really that powerful? Why can't I feel it?"

"It's just because you can't feel it, it's so powerful!" Zhang Ximeng breathed out slightly, "The Confucian system is not just those few books, those few sour Confucians. It has monopolized almost 2000 years of enlightenment. Counting upwards, the courtiers are all scholar-bureaucrats Looking down, the aristocratic families and gentry control the locality. Not to mention that they make the national law beneficial to the scholars, and the local patriarchal clan is more supportive. This is something more stubborn than the national law, and it goes deep into the people and firmly takes root in people's hearts... …Zhu Ying, do you think such a deep-rooted Confucian system will collapse because of my few articles and formulations?"

Zhu Ying took a breath, the little guy was still very smart, "Brother, do you mean to fight for a long time?"

Zhang Ximeng nodded, "I encouraged my lord to re-establish official positions, re-establish schools, and cultivate my own talents, but these are still superficial tasks... There are more changes, and it will not happen overnight."

Zhu Yinghu put on a face, paused, and said helplessly: "No wonder brother is tired, you think too much... I am not young now, if I can help you, just tell me, let me do anything! "

Zhang Ximeng couldn't help laughing, "What can you do? If you are really interested, go to the place to investigate and learn about various things among the people. Take this Xingzi County as a sample. Before I return to Yingtian, you write me a letter. Report it."

Zhu Ying immediately agreed, nodded vigorously and said, "Don't worry, brother, I promise to help you write it."

After finishing speaking, Zhu Ying ran away in a hurry... That afternoon, this kid called a large group of people over, and he said to the group: "I have a task for you, let me investigate the people's situation immediately, find out the matter, Tell me all!"

The talented people under Zhu Ying look at me, I look at you, Gong Bo then coughed, "Um...eldest son, let us check the people's conditions, there must be a direction, we can't even tell you about eating, drinking, and lassing, right?" ?”

Zhu Ying blinked, that's what he said, but the problem is that he doesn't know what to check?

Investigating people's sentiments must not be an ordinary thing, it must be something that can make you terribly frightened or angry... "Well, you go and inquire, inquire about the kind that makes people gnash their teeth and wish to clench their fists, go up If you have any injustices, tell me when you come back!"

Big guy, you look at me, I look at you, why are you looking for such a thing?

Do you still want to fight against injustice?

"Don't be dazed, my godfather has given me the power, if you are not convinced, can you tell him?"

What else can you say, just do as you are told!

If there are no accidents, there will still be accidents... What Zhang Ximeng said about understanding the people's conditions is population, acres of land, education, family surname distribution, number of temples, and folk customs... To put it bluntly, it is to find out the basic situation, and then Prescribe the right medicine.

But Zhu Ying understood it as a curiosity, looking for explosive news.

And this group of crouching dragons and phoenixes went looking for various "shock bodies" without hesitation.

To say that the efficiency of this group of people is really high, within two days of being there, they have piled up a lot of content on Zhu Ying's desk.

Shocked, a woman gave birth to triplets, the whole village celebrated, and the water banquet was set up for seven days.

Unbelievably, a drunk man fought with the dog and bit the big yellow dog's neck.

Absurd, a woodcutter said that seeing clouds and dragons boiling in the mountains, it seems that there are great sages living here.

……

"Hey, just say that my elder brother is here! What kind of things are you all looking for! Can you show my elder brother just such a crap? I don't even bother to look at it!"

Zhu Ying was furious, "Can't you find something profound and thought-provoking, someone who can make my elder brother write some articles and express his opinions? What do I want you to do? They are all living for nothing? Usually they are so great, but now they have become Waste, useless! Shame!"

The big guy was scolded bloody by him, and there is nothing he can do, so let's keep looking.

But when everyone went down, Lu Qiuyun stayed at the end.

"That eldest son, when I came back, I heard something, and I didn't have time to write it down. I don't know if Zhang Xiang would be interested?"

Zhu Ying hardly had any hope, just crossed her legs and said helplessly: "You tell me, I'll listen."

Lu Qiuyun took a deep breath, and suddenly lowered his voice, "My lord, do you know about being buried?"

"I know!" Zhu Ying said lazily: "Isn't it that the emperor of the Yuan court died and was buried with concubines and beautiful women? Dozens, hundreds, I heard my elder brother mention it. These are all bad habits and need to be corrected." .”

Lu Qiuyun pondered for a while, he was a little sure, this matter could really alarm Zhang Ximeng.

"Has the eldest son heard of folk burial?"

"Folk?" Zhu Ying was startled, "How to be buried? Husband died, let his wife die with him?"

"Not only wives, but also concubines!"

"What? It's not enough for one person to die, and several people are needed to accompany him. What kind of nonsense is this?" Zhu Ying was greatly surprised. After pondering for a while, he grabbed Lu Qiuyun and rushed to see Zhang Ximeng.

Don't say it, this is really a big deal!

Since the Han and Tang Dynasties, there has been no habit of burying living people in the Central Plains, but with the founding of the Liao and Jin Dynasties, this bad habit has gradually revived.

In the Yuan Dynasty, the development reached its peak. What was even more frightening was that after Genghis Khan's death, wherever the coffin passed, all the people he encountered were killed, and there were as many as 40 palace ladies buried with him.When the Khans of the past dynasties died, they could kill tens of thousands of people at most.

This is not only the case in the court, but even among the people, wives and concubines are also encouraged to be buried. If they can die with their husbands, they will even be commended as chaste and martyrs.

Such examples abound: Hu Runnu, the wife of Ma Ben in Shunde, Zhou Shi, the wife of Zhending Min, Wei Yihong, the wife of Ji Ning Min, hanged herself and buried her husband after her husband's death, and the Yuan court rewarded her family; When the husband dies, he is buried with his own body, and he gets the door.

In other words, it is very encouraging for a wife to die with her husband.

The imperial court rewards, the family is proud, the neighbors are envious, and there is honor.

It's just that after Zhang Ximeng heard about it, his face immediately sank.

He only knew that the Ming Dynasty continued the bad habit of burial, and it was banned after the founding of the country.According to Zhang Ximeng's intention, after proclaiming himself emperor, the rules and regulations would be formulated, which would be abolished by the way, with little effort.

But he never expected that the folks still have the habit of burial.

"Human life is not trivial, so how can it be easily buried? No matter what, this matter will not work." Zhang Ximeng said in a deep voice.

Zhu Ying immediately gritted her teeth, "Brother, do you want me to go straight over and arrest that family? And then give an order that burials are strictly prohibited. Anyone who dares to do this will be killed immediately!"

Zhang Ximeng waved his hand and quickly stopped the kid.

"Lu Qiuyun, you call Gong Bosui, you go to investigate carefully, ask in detail, don't miss any ins and outs, the identity of the buried woman, the woman's family... In short, you must ask clearly. They don't take human life seriously."

Lu Qiuyun immediately agreed, and he and Gong Bosui went together. When asked that day, the two of them were speechless. They have a deep relationship between husband and wife, and the family is harmonious. When the husband died, he had one wife and one concubine, and they were all willing to go with him. Touch your lips, just wait for the burial, and bury them together.

I asked the folks in the same village, and they all said that this family has a good family style, which is enviable.

Some people even said that they should ask the government to praise them and build a chastity archway or something.

There is such a family of strong women, and the village will have a bright face when they tell it!

"I said, Lao Lu, even if it's inappropriate for such a thing you like and I want, I'm afraid there's nothing else to say! Let's report to Zhang Xiang and order it to be banned."

Lu Qiuyun heaved a long sigh, "I said you believe in one wife and one concubine, are you willing to bury your husband? They are not very old, do they really have such deep feelings? Are you even willing to live?"

Gong Bo said helplessly: "I don't believe it either, but that's what people say."

Lu Qiuyun's eyes rolled wildly, and suddenly he snorted coldly: "If you don't believe it, you don't believe it! I don't believe it! We have been in and out of wealthy families all these years, as if walking on the ground, this thing can't help me, I will go to the bottom of the wall, no matter what, I will Listen and understand!"

Lu Qiuyun was really pissed off. He went out with the lamp every day and came back at dawn. After running for two days, he finally blocked him.After Lu Qiuyun understood, he almost ran away on the spot.

Suppressing his anger, he rushed back and told the story.

"There are two younger brothers in this wife's family. His parents agreed to the request of his parents-in-law and buried his daughter in exchange for five hundred coins! Marrying the daughter earned a lot of money, and letting the daughter be buried made another fortune. They This parent deserves it!"

Chapter 391 The sky is big and the earth is big, the law of the country is the biggest

"Zhang Xiang, the situation is roughly like this. Two people died at the same time. Please give Zhang Xiang an order. We will arrest the two families immediately!"

Gong Bo then bowed and begged very eagerly.

Human life is at stake, and there are two young women, how can they be sloppy?

But compared with them, Zhang Ximeng was much calmer. He lowered his eyelids, and after thinking for a while, he asked, "Where do you think the key to this matter is?"

Gong Bosui immediately said: "Of course the girl's parents are asking for money, selling the girl for money!"

Zhang Ximeng was noncommittal, but Lu Qiuyun said again: "Is the husband's family paying for his life?"

Zhang Ximeng still shook his head, "An evil incident of burial and two lives, the whole village feels that it deserves to die. From this, it can be seen that the illness is serious! How can it be a family? How can a living person face a life-and-death situation? Sitting there waiting to die? Isn’t something strange?”

Zhang Ximeng said: "At the end of the day, we have to start with this woman. I remember that Han Xiuniang passed the commercial special examination. As a woman, it will be easier for her to do this. You can arrange it."

A few people nodded, and Zhang Ximeng added: "This is not a trivial matter, it needs to be thoroughly analyzed, it is to be placed in the world, and it will be tested by the history books for thousands of years!"

This sentence raised the case to the point where it cannot be added.

Everyone knew that Zhang Ximeng had worked with the Ministry of Criminal Justice to re-draft the law.However, Jiangxi is a newly acquired land, and even the equalization of land has not been completed, and the implementation of the new law is even more out of the question.

Moreover, the new law did not come out all at once. In fact, many laws and regulations first had cases, and after investigation and trial, they became classic cases and were widely accepted by people.

For example, the case of Han Xiuniang has already been written into the classic case, and if nothing unexpected happens, another one will pop up in front of us.

After receiving Zhang Ximeng's instructions, everyone acted immediately, and Han Xiuniang also hurried over from Hukou. Although she was a girl, she still had a blue official uniform after passing the exam. Next, go directly to the house where the incident happened.

This family's surname is Qin, and they are not considered high-ranking, but they are also very wealthy. The previous generation was an official in the Yuan court, and the family is very rich and dignified. .

When Han Xiuniang arrived, she found a white flag hanging in the air, and people came and went in the yard to express their condolences.

After she arrived, she was about to go inside when suddenly several men rushed out, leading by an old man who glared at him as if he had been greatly offended.

He stared at Han Xiuniang viciously, and said angrily: "The new funeral home, it's the time of the funeral, women are not allowed to go through the main entrance... If you want to come to ask for a glass of water and wine, please go behind and stay with those village women!"