The case of the third son of the Shen family communicating with the Japanese has been closed. Although there are still many suspicions about the Japanese pirates who have arrived ashore, the Zhang family is suspected of "communicating with the Japanese", the He family is suspected of "communicating with the Japanese", etc., but according to the conclusion of the imperial envoy in the hall that day, the case of the Japanese in Songjiang is in chaos It should be considered to be a conclusion, and the rest will be brought to the prisoner and witnesses to return to Beijing for retrial.

Considering the days, it’s time for the two imperial envoys to return to Beijing.

Chen Li, Shen Rui didn't expect that when he saw Wang Shouren, he got the news that they "don't go back to Beijing for the time being."

"The criminal, the witness was escorted back to Beijing by the Qianhukou, Jinyiwei, in the past few days." Without outsiders, Wang Shouren did not hide it and said, "Eunuch Zhang and I stayed behind to wait for news from Beijing, or returned to Beijing, Or go to Taihu Lake.”

Taihu?

Ning Wang’s private soldiers! Shen Rui immediately thought of this and asked, “But you have to do it?” As soon as he said that, he felt it was unlikely, “Can the court respond?”

Civil officials generally believe that "weapons are weapons, and saints have to use them." When encountering war, they often look forward to the front and back. The various departments in the court will also argue about various wars and it is difficult to quickly draw conclusions on the launch of troops. , often dragged until the daylily becomes cold.

Not to mention that the "Jingnan Campaign" was ahead, the court would not easily move the vassal kings. After all, the new emperor was only fifteen years old and was prone to turmoil.

"I have already reported to the emperor through the channels of the Jinyiwei." Wang Shouren is not the one who waited for the rules. "I am afraid that the court will not be able to send troops. This year, Datong has not been peaceful, and the cabinet masters will not allow another military service. ”

It’s not that this year is not peaceful, it’s that there has never been peace in any year.

Shen Rui sighed in his heart, border troubles have always been a heavy burden for the Ming Dynasty court.

Chen Li nodded and said, "The treasury is tight now, so he will not raise an army lightly."

Wang Shouren said: "Although this is the case, the Taihu water bandits must be wiped out as soon as possible. They just robbed a bet and if they dragged it for a while, the money would turn into food, grass, weapons and ships, which would be even harder to fight. There were also those who would take it back. The people are dissatisfied even if they are temporarily forced into the gang. The imperial army will turn against each other immediately as soon as it reaches 800, but it will be hard to say if it is delayed for a long time."

Shen Rui agreed with this view and asked: "Where is the teacher going to build a large army from the court if he doesn't send troops?"

Could it be the Jinyiwei? Shen Rui did not look down on the Jinyiwei, but he had an inherent impression that the Jinyiwei was a good candidate for arresting and interrogation. This marching and war, especially water combat, did not have any advantages.

Wang Shouren didn't feel funny and said, "Where do you think I can piece together a large army?"

Shen Rui laughed dryly and thought to himself: In later history books, you are an expert who recruits mobs to defeat the more with few.

But there was no such thing as the "Taihu Bandit Suppression" in later generations. Was it because its butterfly wings stirred up the ripples of history, or was it that the Taihu Bandit Suppression campaign was rejected by the court and was not carried out at all?

He couldn't help but pay more attention to Wang Shouren's next actions, and unconsciously stared at Wang Shouren nervously.

Wang Shouren found it even more funny and did not keep it a secret. He said directly: "The emperor ordered a sign from the Nanjing Ministry of War to transfer the people here to suppress the bandits. Wang Shi, the Minister of War in Nanjing, is the most honest and upright person. He does not avoid labor and danger when encountering problems. He has a voice. . He made great contributions to suppressing Guizhou in the first few years. If he had helped, it would be no problem to pacify Taihu Lake."

After hearing this, he also praised Wang Shi and Shangshu.

Shen Rui is not familiar with this big man. Even if he has paid attention to the court before, he is still the masters who have left their names in history. At most, he will pay attention to the outside of the Great Wall. He has not paid attention to the southwest border, let alone a few years ago. fighting.

However, since he was praised by Wang Shouren and Chen Li, he was able to achieve great victory in a place with complex terrain like Guizhou, he was obviously a powerful character. With his help, I think it would be much smoother to suppress bandits in Taihu Lake.

When Shen Rui saw Wang Shouren talking about suppressing bandits, his face shone with glory. He was so happy for him that the teacher could show his ambitions so quickly.

Instead, the bandits in Taihu Lake robbed Songjiang. Thinking of the missing brother Xiaodong and Shen Qi's wife and children who were abducted by the clan house, Shen Rui felt sad again and said to Wang Shouren: "Teacher, I have something to ask for..."

As he said that, he simply talked about Brother Xiaodong and Shen Qi’s wife and children.

The Shen family wanted to completely get rid of their involvement with the vassal kings. The best choice was to "school funeral" for them directly, so as not to be said to be "the eldest grandson, wife and children are the vassal kings."

But how important is the eldest grandson of the clan house, it is impossible for the clan house to give up directly.

The fifth house attaches importance to flesh and blood, and Chen Qi is definitely unwilling to give up his wife and children like this.

Therefore, Shen Rui still asked Wang Shouren and said, "Although I don't know whether they are in Nanchang or Taihu Lake, I still want to ask the teacher to meet the people who were captured when suppressing bandits in Taihu Lake, and help me pay attention."

Wang Shouren nodded and responded solemnly.

Shen Rui also breathed a sigh of relief and prepared a few more portraits when he went back and asked Zongfang and Wufang to prepare. Of course, he could not reveal the news of Taihu bandit suppression, but only said it was spared.

After the Taihu bandit suppression, the Chen Li talked about returning to Beijing. Wang Shouren was an imperial envoy and had Zhang Yongzai around him, so the news in Beijing was even more well-informed.

"There have been frequent changes in officials these days, and all three cabinet subordinates have them." Although Chen Li is the son-in-law of the old master Xie, Wang Shouren has been with him for many years and has a relationship with Shen Rui, so he does not avoid the fact that the three cabinet masters are fighting. : "Almost every day, one or two people are either promoted or lower. There are also those who are externally transferred. If there are too many six departments, they may not be fully promoted from the Hanlin Academy to make up for the vacancies."

Chen Li nodded slightly to express his understanding. But with his understanding of Mr. Xie, Mr. Xie would not push his son-in-law to the front desk now, and he himself did not want to jump out of such a dispute.

"There are many memorials that have been imprisoned by the inner ministers recently. The northwest side is indomitable in victory or defeat, and the impeachment of Miao Kui has never been completed. That's all, but the eunuchs in various places have been repeatedly impeached." Wang Shouren said.

Baoguo Duke Zhu Hui led his troops to collect troops in Xuanfu, and the eunuch Miao Kui was the military supervisor.

Chen Li was slightly stunned and didn't care. The military supervisor was a regular visitor to impeachment, regardless of whether it was said that the eunuchs in various places were illegal, and being impeached was normal.

Shen Rui was thinking.

Wang Shouren sighed in his heart. When Shen Rui told him that "Zhuangsheng dreamed of butterfly", he clearly pointed out that "the eunuch is resurrected". Since then, Wang Shouren has paid great attention to the internal officials.

It seems that Shen Rui obviously had not mentioned to Chen Li. Wang Shouren did not want to say much, so he said: "It is fifteen now, and the palace has issued an imperial eunuch, and ordered the eunuch Gao Feng to take charge of the marriage matters of Your Majesty."

In fact, they didn't know about this before leaving Beijing, but the case was settled a few days ago. Gao Nianen and Zhang Yong and Wang Shouren chatted at the banquet, and talked about his godfather Gao Feng being entrusted by the Empress Dowager for marriage. Heavy duty.

Of course, at that time, Zhang Yong praised Gao Feng, but there was no smile in his eyes. The internal officials were fighting, even more so than civil officials.

Chen Li frowned after hearing this, "Your Majesty's wedding as soon as possible is also a happy event. It's just that the internal officials choose the marriage, and there are fears that the various places will be in chaos for a while."

Nowadays, the selection of concubines is different from the founding of the country. Royal marriages were chosen by nobles. In order to prevent the tyranny of the relatives from being an independent, royal marriages are mostly homes for minor officials and common people.

If a palace maid is chosen, the people will rush to marry their daughter first, so as not to go to the palace to do labor. How many people are most of them bury their bones in the palace. In the trend of robbing their daughters, there are often people who are robbing their daughters. All kinds of ridiculous things about marrying a daughter randomly.

If you choose a concubine for the dragon, son, phoenix, or even the emperor, it is different. If you fail to choose a marriage, the girl will be returned without delaying the marriage. If you win, it will fly up to the branch and turn into a phoenix and become a palace concubine immediately. The family also became royal relatives and enjoyed endless wealth and glory. Therefore, many low-level officials and gentry families flocked to select concubines and competed to buy officials who came to choose concubines.

Not to mention that it is now a marriage choice for the emperor, which can win the highest position and benevolence to the world!

Not to mention it, the Zhang family of the Empress Dowager's mother, is the best role model for these people. The Grandpa Jin, the wife of Changguo, resolutely sent her daughter to choose the crown princess, which really made the Zhang family rich now.

It turns out that those people robbed the money and sent their inner officials to choose marriage. The inner officials were greedy and cruel, and they were afraid that they would slaughter the ground and harm the place.

Shen Rui's focus was different. He paid more attention to Shou Ge, because he asked: "Your Majesty will be in charge of the government after his wedding?"

Wang Shouren couldn't help but smile and said, "Now many things are also the Holy Tribunal of Your Majesty."

Shen Rui smiled and said that he was constrained and was able to send Wang Shouren as the imperial envoy, which means that Shou Ge is reliable and does not have the right to speak like those young emperors who have not taken power in the film and television works. Everything is subject to control. Cabinet ministers.

Wang Shouren said again: "But after the wedding, it is much more comfortable than it is now. I just don't know when the marriage choice will be a result."

Shen Rui sighed when he heard this, and it was obvious that although Shou Ge could make up his mind, in the eyes of the ancients, he could only become an adult after a wedding, and he could only make decisions on many things by himself.

Then, will anyone not want him to make decisions so quickly?

And I don’t know how many forces intervene when choosing a marriage, and they all have their own ulterior motives. I still don’t know what the event will eventually go.

Speaking of the emperor's wedding, Shen Rui really couldn't remember who Zhengde's queen was. All he could think of were the unofficial gossips of Li Fengjie's gossip. It seemed that Liu Liangnu was also very much after Zhengde went to Datong later. What happened before? It seems that the very arrogant relatives of the Zhengde Dynasty only had the Zhang family of the Empress Dowager's parents, and there was no trace of the Empress's parents.

He was still thinking about it, and Chen Li sighed when he heard this. Which dynasty and which dynasty choose a concubine did not cause a storm. Originally, the new emperor ascended the throne, and the new and old ministers would have a fight to get in the election. Later, the situation in Beijing will only become more chaotic.

*

August 7th.

Monkeys rush to tigers on the sun, and they will destroy the south.

It is advisable to be buried and sacrifice; it is not advisable to set up a bed or marry.

Shen Ling was in funeral on this day.

Although Shen Ling did not record the Hui family genealogy, the popularity of the tribe is really good. Moreover, the unjust case is known to all the clans. At that day, the clan members saw all the family affection of the three families, and many people gave him mercy to Shen Ling. I felt sympathetic. Therefore, there were many tribe members who came to see the funeral.

Chen Jun was barely able to get out of the ground, so he asked someone to help him and cried with Chen Qi to send off this brother who was suffering from prison.

But I saw a sea of ​​silver, and the vast whiteness covered the entire street.

Passers-by saw it on the street and heard it was a soldier who was tortured to death in the Tongwu case. When he saw the young woman walking in front of the team, he looked haggard and the young child in his arms was still holding in ignorance, and he sighed. , say one word to commit sin.

The major families in Songjiang also set up road festivals. The funeral scene was quite big, no worse than the funeral of the children of the legitimate branch of the Shen clan.

Although Chen Zhou agreed to do everything in the funeral and Shen Rui took care of it, Chen Zhou still worked hard and personally inquire about everything. Finally, Chen Zhou was relieved when he saw this scene.

When he arrived at the cremation site of Shen Ling as the Fengshui Taoist, firewood was piled up in advance. The coffin was placed on it and the cabbage was poured with vegetable oil. Chen Quanben wanted to go forward to light the fire, but was stopped by He.

He's eyes were red and swollen, but there were no tears on his face. It seemed that all the tears of his life were flowing, and he could not shed another drop. His throat was so dry that he could hardly speak, but he stubbornly signaled her to come.

After taking the torch, He did not hesitate at all, and threw it out without any hesitation.

With a shout, the fire rose into the sky.

In August in the south of the Yangtze River, although it was already autumn, the sun was still very poisonous, and the fire caused a heat wave, making people unable to get close to it. The children of the tribe helped to throw gold, silver, paper, and horses into the fire one by one, and they had to be stationed. I had to push it with a hoe from a distance, for fear that it would burn me closer.

Only He, standing very close to the fire, was motionless like a wooden sculpture.

Sweat had wet her hair and flowed down her thin face, but she didn't realize it, just standing there, staring at the fire.

There is no precedent for cremation, and there are no rules to pay attention to. The time for burning corpses is quite long, so there is no need for the funeral tribe members to wait together.

Moreover, the weather was so hot that many weak and elderly people could not bear it. Shen Rui, Chen Lian and others began to send their tribe away. Some of them refused to leave and were sent to the awning built in the open space early in the morning.

Mrs. Lian Si took Brother Nan into the awning early and took turns to call He and a few female relatives, but He refused to move.

Chen Zhou was also exhausted after this trip. He went into the awning and drank two cups of tea to calm his mind. Seeing that He was still standing there in front of the fire, he was afraid that she would have an accident with heatstroke, so he had no choice but to go there in person.

He heard the voice of Chen Zhou's persuasion. He drooped his eyelids, suddenly spoke, and asked, "The niece-in-law has something that I have always wanted to ask my second uncle for my husband. My husband has always admired my second uncle, but I don't know if I don't know. My uncle doesn’t choose my husband as his heir. What’s wrong with him? My niece-in-law is too talkative and wants her second uncle to tell her to let her husband be a wise ghost..."

He's voice was hoarse, as ugly as an old pike, indifferent and chilling, but it hit Chenzhou's heart. The guilt, regret, and fear surged for a moment, even more burning than this heat wave, making him almost unable to stand. I couldn't help but stagger.

Shen Rui was paying attention to this place, fearing that someone would faint in the heat. Seeing Chen Zhou shaking, he was scared to sweat all over, so he ran over and held Chen Zhou.

Chen Zhou seemed to be a little crazy, leaning on Shen Rui's hand, but it seemed that there was no one around him. He didn't look at him, staring at the fire, and for a while, he said, "How come I... don't want to pass on Brother Ling." I was so sad about Brother Ling. I was ungrateful back then, and God punished me... My Brother Luo, my Brother Jue, are all fifteen or sixteen, but they are in a state of sorrow... Ling Brother is a Ding, but I had the idea of ​​adopting him. He died in less than half a year... I was tired of them..."

Shen Rui was a little stunned when he heard this. He knew that Chen Zhou was confused and pushed him in a panic, for fear that he would be confused.

Chen Zhou turned his head when he was pushed. Although his eyes looked at Shen Rui, he seemed to be looking at nothing through Shen Rui, and his voice was even more vague: "Brother Rui, don't be a good person, I am an ominous person... ...I cannot adopt Brother Xiao Nan, I am an ominous person... I am unfilial and unrighteous, and I am not worthy of my descendants to send my children to the end. I cannot adopt him, I cannot adopt you, I cannot harm you..."

Shen Rui's heart is mixed, and it turns out that Chen Zhou thought so. Even if he traveled through time, he didn't believe in gods and ghosts. He knew that although these three people were all strange disasters, they were also man-made disasters, which was purely coincidental. .But Chen Zhou is like this...it may be a shame and he is obsessed with it...

The sun is bright and the flames are blazing. Shen Rui looks up at the sky and sighs slightly. The sky does not revenge people, and they are all demons in the heart.

But He had a completely different reaction.

The moment Shen Zhou expressed his true thoughts, He suddenly closed his eyes, knelt in front of the burning coffin with a thunderous sound, and hurried on the ground.

The tears quickly dried up, and her throat could not make any sound. But she said to Shen Ling crazily in her heart: "Second brother, listen... the second uncle didn't abandon you!"

"He knows all your hard work! He recognizes you and is willing to adopt you!"

"He didn't give up on you. He gave up on Brother Xiao Nan. He wanted to protect Brother Xiao Nan!"

"Second brother, you, go with peace of mind..."

*

After a funeral, Chen Zhou and He both got sick. Fortunately, Doctor Zhang was there and prescribed the prescription, and the two of them got better quickly.

This disease delayed the trip for a few days. Although August 15th is approaching, the relatives are all far away, and Shen Rui has no intention of staying to celebrate the festival. Moreover, Chen Li asked for leave for one month, which is already due, so it should be time to set off. .

Fortunately, there is another good news before departure. Wang Shouren sent Wuyan to send a message to Shen Rui. The matter of Taihu is already approved and Nanjing is in preparation.

Shen Rui and Chen Li said that both of them were refreshed and swept away the gloom of the days.

After booking the day of departure, it was Chen Li. Shen Rui and He's mother and son returned to Beijing, while Chen Zhou took Chen Yu's family and Chen Chen's family back to Nanjing.

These two families were happy to hear that they could work with Chenzhou. Chen Yu and Chen were both proficient in common affairs and were quite simple in character, and Chenzhou was also very satisfied.

On the dock, both sides set off on their way, and many of the tribe members came to see each other off, and everyone bid farewell to each other.

After Chen Zhou gave Shen Rui a few words, he looked up and saw Brother Nan holding in his arms. His eyes unconsciously showed love and reluctance.

After saying those words that day, Chen Zhou almost fainted in a daze. He was dragged back to the pergola by Shen Rui and forced a cup of tea before he recovered. He became sick when he returned. After that, he was afraid that he would get sick and never again. I have seen each other, but I don’t know how many years I will see you again.

After hearing what happened that day, He thought about it for a few days, and had already let go. Seeing this, he hugged Brother Nan and bowed to Chen Zhou and said, "Take care of your second uncle."

Chen Zhou sighed and wanted to say a lot, but in the end he only said: "Your uncle and third aunt are kind people, don't be afraid, just tell them if you have any problems."

He nodded.

Chen Zhou looked at Brother Xiao Nan reluctantly for a few more glances, then he turned around and strode to the boat.

The He family also followed everyone on the boat to the north.

After everyone had settled it, Shen Rui handed a bag to He and said, "Uncle Second said that the price of the capital is high, and Brother Ling's second brother has not yet arrived in Songjiang. I am afraid that Ling's second sister-in-law will not keep it up for a while, and I am afraid that I will give it to you directly and you will not accept it, so I will let you get on the boat and hand it over to you.”

When the bag was opened, in addition to the gold and silver ingots, there was also a thick stack of silver notes.

This was more than 30,000 taels of silver that Chen Zhou brought from Nanjing. He wanted to handle a lawsuit, but since he couldn't use it on Shen Ling, he simply gave it to Shen Ling's wife and children.

He couldn't hold it anymore, and tears filled his eyes. He picked up Brother Nan and claimed the crime to Shen Rui, and then quickly walked onto the deck.

The ship from Shenzhou had already sailed far away and was transported into a sail, and could not be found again.
Chapter completed!