Chapter 57: Young Master Zhang of the Ming Dynasty

"I'm wronged-!" Zhang Shitou screamed, and knelt down in front of Master Zhang's desk with a thunderous voice, screaming with tears: "Sir, the little Wang Huazhen is wronged. The responsibility for losing Guangning is not with me, but with Xiong Tingbi! It was Guangning he lost, it has nothing to do with me! Master Qingtian, you decide for the Caomin-!"

"Bah!" Master Zhang flew over, lifted the awl made of chicken wings and mahogany, slapped the table suddenly, and roared: "Zhang Shitou, are you good to act like a little? Wang Huazhen is the former governor of Liaodong. He should claim to be a criminal, a criminal or a criminal. If you claim to be a young man, you will also have a gangster. It's inappropriate! Also, you are a waste, you won't even be able to shout for justice? Guangning was thrown in Wang Huazhen's hands. Everyone can prove this. He framed Xiong Tingbi, not asking for trouble. Think about it carefully. If you are Wang Huazhen, you want to survive and frame, where will you be the most effective place to call for justice?"

"This... Master, I have never been an official, I really can't think of it." Zhang Shitou knelt in front of Master Zhang and scratched his head, racking his brains to answer Master Zhang's question. In desperation, Zhang Shitou had to point at Lu Wanling who was standing behind Master Zhang to play the role of Master Zhang and said, "Young Master Lu, why don't you come? You are a tribute student, you are half an official, and you must be more like me."

"Brother Shi Tou, don't joke, I can't, I really can't." Lu Wanling quickly waved his hands, for fear that pretending to be a dying person and asking for trouble, and would bring bad luck to himself in the future. Master Zhang was a little moved and ordered: "Brother Lu Nian, why don't you play Wang Huazhen? First, you are a little bit like you, and second, you are familiar with the affairs of the officialdom, and you are easy to get close to Wang Huazhen in your thinking, and know how to make excuses the most useful - and you are similar to him. Oh, don't refuse, Shi Tou, quickly help Brother Lu Nian and kneel down." Forced to the point of helplessness, Lu Wanling had to kneel in front of Master Zhang, kowtowed like an official, and said with a fist: "The offender Wang Huazhen, has met the presiding master, the Duke, the Shangshu, the Minister of the Supreme Emperor (Left Censor), and the Minister of the Temple (Dali Temple)"

"Yes, this is how it's like this. - Brother Lu Nian, you wouldn't have been arrested in the yamen before, right?" Master Zhang praised, then slapped the arbor again and shouted: "Bold Wang Huazhen, in Guangning, you lost your troops and humiliated the country, causing the entire Ming Dynasty to be wiped out, and the Guangning Fortress and the entire Liaodong area were also reduced to the hands of the Jiannu rebels. What should you do?"

"The criminal is worthy of death, but the entire Liaodong area is lost. The criminal is not the main evil, and there are others in the culprit." Lu Wanling did learn well, and even Wang Huazhen's tone of refusal and shirking responsibility was learned vividly. Master Zhang slapped the agglomeration again and shouted: "Who is the crime?"

"Liaodong Strategic Envoy - Xiong Tingbi!" Lu Wanling replied with confidence. The auspicious wood sounded again, and Master Zhang shouted angrily: "Bold Wang Huazhen, before Guangning fell, the city defense was in your hands, and the 140,000 main soldiers in Liaodong were also in your hands, while Xiong Tingbi's five thousand troops were stationed in Youtun, forty miles from Guangning. You first lost Guangning and then lost the main force, and fled to Youtun alone for help. Xiong Tingbi accepted you without any grudges. Instead, you falsely blamed him? What does Guangning's mistakes and Liaodong's mistakes have to do with Xiong Tingbi?"

"Tanhua Gong, I can't remember how to answer. Let me see if the case file of Xiong Tingbi was in the last time I went to court to try Xiong Tingbi?" Lu Wanling asked with a sad face. Master Zhang pretended to be Zhang Qingtian and threw all the case files in front of Lu Wanling with a disappointment, and urged: "Look, think about how Wang Huazhen should answer and argue? How can he argue and deny it, we are the most difficult to deal with?"

Lu Wanling agreed repeatedly, quickly climbed into the pile of case files and analyzed the possible quibbling methods Wang Huazhen might have taken. At this time, Xiong Hu's master and servant slipped in from outside the door and saw Master Zhang sitting high in the middle of the gavel, Lu Wanling knelt in the pile of case files and was looking through. Zhang Shitou stood straight with a wooden stick, and Xiong Hu couldn't help but laugh and said, "Young Dog, Brother Lu, what are you doing? Are you singing an opera?"

"No, we are doing a court exercise." Master Zhang quickly explained: "The emperor has issued an order, and I will work with the three judicial officials, including the British Duke Zhang Weixian, to try your father's case in five halls. I am afraid of making jokes at that time, so I will let Lu Wanling and Lu Nian play Cheng Wang Huazhen, and practice how to pass the court and how to interrogate." Speaking of this, Master Zhang said seriously again: "There is another more important point - I have to guard against Wang Huazhen playing tricks and put all the blame on your father, so let Brother Lu Nian and Zhang Shitou help me think about and study, analyze what methods Wang Huazhen might use to quibble, and what tricks his accomplices and family are going to play, prepare countermeasures in advance, so I won't be caught off guard by him."

"Oh, it really makes you worry." Xiong Hu suddenly realized, and at the same time he also understood Mr. Zhang's painstaking efforts. If Wang Huazhen was so easy to deal with, Xiong Tingbi would not be cheated by him. He took a peek at the handsome appearance of Master Zhang's rare serious expression. Xiong Hu's pink face turned red for no reason, looked down at his toes and whispered: "Also, thanks to your money and effort to run up and down, my father's case was sent back to retrial. I don't know how to repay your great kindness."

"To repay? That's too easy!" Master Zhang's rare serious expression disappeared in an instant. He was about to say a few vulgar words. Xiong Hu, who knew Master Zhang's "integrity" personality, quickly changed the subject, "By the way, don't worry too much about the retrial of my father's case. I have heard that Jiu Qiansui is now in the court and is right. Since he nodded and agreed to exempt my father from his death sentence, no one dared to object. It is estimated that the retrial will be a formality and there will be no trouble."

"It's a big mistake. This matter is more complicated than you think!" Mr. Zhang indeed gave up his vulgar plan and shook his head with a serious expression and said, "Jiu Qiansui has already said hello to me, saying that I can let your father go, but I must follow the law and take out real evidence to release people. I can't just let people kill people in such a confused way. If the people are worthy of the people, it will affect the image that Jiu Qiansui finally established in the case of the six traitors in Donglin. Moreover, this time, there is also the respected British Duke Zhang Weixian accompanying the trial. He has a very high prestige among the people of the court. If I don't understand, I will release your father. He will just write a memorial to the court. It will not be good for me or your father."

"So it's still so troublesome? I thought you were the one who was in charge of my father's case, and my father would definitely be fine." Xiong Hu cried and said with a small face. Master Zhang smiled bitterly, "It's not just that troublesome, but there's another even more troublesome thing. The judge of the Zuodu Censor of your father's case, Zou Yuanbiao fell ill and was bedridden. This means that the chief officer of the Censorate who took over him to participate in the retrial must have become Zou Yuanbiao's deputy Yang Yuan--the mortal enemy of your father! In this way, during the five trials, only Zhou Yingqiu, the Dali Temple Minister who belonged to the Nine Thousand Years Party, must be on my side. Yang Yuan must be against me. The current Minister of Justice Li Yangzheng and British Duke Zhang Weixian are neutral factions. If I don't give up your father with a legitimate reason, they may not buy it."

"In addition to these, I'm worried about another thing." Mr. Zhang continued: "Wang Huazhen was the disciple of the former chief minister of the cabinet, Ye Xianggao, and Ye Xianggao strongly recommended him to serve as the governor of Liaodong. He has a very special relationship with Ye Xianggao. Wang Huazhen and your father were tried in the second year of Tianqi, and Ye Xianggao retired and returned home in the fourth year of Tianqi. He had previously controlled the affairs and official documents of the court. In the past two years, Wang Huazhen had enough time to destroy evidence and witnesses that were not conducive to him, and also enough time to forge evidence that was not conducive to your father. If he took out these evidences and argued and denied them during the court, how could I tell the truth?"

"Ah? Why are you getting more and more confused?" Xiong Hu was obviously not used to this complex struggle for power. She was so happy and worried about what Mr. Zhang said. Her heart was still in her throat. At this moment, Lu Wanling, who had been crawling in the pile of case files and was rummaging and thinking, suddenly cheered, "Brother Zhang Nian, I found the loophole in this case and knew how Wang Huazhen would argue and deny it! If I were Wang Huazhen, I would definitely drag Lord Xiong into the water in this place, and Lord Xiong could not find any evidence to refute it!"

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It was not too late to make up for the dead. Before the retrial of the Xiong Tingbi case was confirmed, Master Zhang submitted a report early to the court, requesting that Xiong Tingbi and Wang Huazhen, who were locked in the Tianzhu, be detained to the Dongchang prison cell to prevent someone from taking advantage of the relatively relaxed guarding in the Tianzhu, and get contact with Wang Huazhen. - Master Zhang, who has watched "What Things in the Ming Dynasty", was deeply impressed by the mysterious and mysterious hero Yan who lived in the Fushishi prison, so even if he was not so relieved, he could only imprison Wang Huazhen in the Dongchang prison directly under Wei Zhongxian, and ask his elder brother Xiao Chuan to stare at him personally.

Wei Liuxin. But Master Zhang really underestimated the strength of the group of people standing behind Wang Huazhen. He didn't know what trouble he encountered when his report hit him. He went around in the major yamen of the court and took three days to get approval for implementation. In between this, only God knows how much contact Wang Huazhen has with the outside world, how much information he has mastered and how many confessions he has connected. For this reason, although Master Zhang has lost his temper a lot, he has no choice. After all, since ancient times, he has had policies and countermeasures from the lower level. Now, Master Zhang, who is in a low position, does not have enough strength to cover the sky.

There were more than once before the retrial. According to Master Zhang's wishes, in order to prevent the long nights and dreams, it is recommended to set the retrial date on April 15th. Even if Wang Huazhen wanted to play new tricks, he did not have enough time to prepare. However, Yang Yuan, the old rival of Xiong Tingbi and the left deputy chief censor of the three dynasties, firmly opposed it, because the Xiong Tingbi case was of great importance and could not act hasty. The retrial period should be set at the end of May or early June. Moreover, Yang Yuan also proposed to send Ye Xianggao, who had retired and returned home, to participate in the trial as a witness, and to argue with Master Zhang with reason and not give in to each other.

Mr. Zhang knew Yang Yuan's sinister intentions - where is Ye Xianggao from? Fuzhou, Fujian! When Ye Xianggao, who was so old that he was about to walk, rushed from Fuzhou to the capital, it was estimated that the autumn ceremony would begin. Ye Xianggao had been the solemn prime minister for eight years and the chief minister for twelve years. His disciples and disciples were everywhere in the world, and he really let him come to the capital. His disciples and disciples had heads in groups, and they were still firing fire at Mr. Zhang? So Mr. Zhang made a quick decision and immediately gave up his plan to implicate Ye Xianggao, and used the excuse that Ye Xianggao had not actually involved in the Liaodong war, and firmly opposed Ye Xianggao's coming out to the hall to prove it. He also claimed that the evidence was conclusive, and there was no need to pass on other witnesses, just Wang Huazhen and Xiong Tingbi confronted him in the hall.

Both Mr. Zhang and Yang Yuan had their own reasons, so they naturally had a fight. In the end, Mr. Zhang, who was furious, almost fought with Yang Yuan on the spot. Finally, Li Yangzheng, the Minister of Justice, nicknamed Oil Loach, stood up and mixed up, persuaded both sides to take a step back, persuaded Yang Yuan to give up his plan to let Ye Xianggao come out to testify, persuaded Mr. Zhang to plead for retrial, and finally suggested that the retrial be set on April 25, and Xiong Tingbi and Wang Huazhen confront each other in the lobby of the Ministry of Justice. If the case cannot be decided,

Against this suggestion, Yang Yuan lowered his head and thought for a long time, and finally nodded in agreement. Master Zhang also had his eyes rolling around for a long time, and finally nodded in agreement. However, when Master Zhang left the lobby of the Ministry of Justice, he did not even return home, so he went to Dongchang to find Xiao Chuan. He also found several squads and foremen of Dongchang through Xiao Chuan. He threw out a thousand taels of silver and quickly obtained all the records of Dongchang's secret agents and surveillance Yang Yuan...

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The nervous arrangement and arrangements were underway. More than ten days passed quickly, and it was almost the day of retrial on April 25th. It was still dawn in the morning, and Master Zhang led his servant Zhang Shitou, small shop and temporary lieutenant Lu Wanling to the lobby of the Ministry of Justice to prepare for the retrial. But when he went outside the lobby of the Ministry of Justice, Master Zhang found that the situation was not good. The lobby was crowded with people in the capital who were watching the bustling, and it was almost crowded. Master Zhang couldn't help but sneer, "It's not bad, I can't tell that the old man Yang Yuan is quite smart. Knowing that the cabinet minister's rituals and supervisors had already turned to me, he actually thought of using public opinion to restrain me, so that I didn't dare to let go and get rid of Xiong Tingbi directly."

"Brother Zhang Nian, you are the presiding officer. You can order the door to close the door and not allow the people to watch the interrogation." Lu Wanling, a temporary dog-headed military advisor, suggested. Master Zhang was a little moved, but after a moment of thought, Master Zhang sneered again: "No, gentleman bare the balls, villain Chang Xixi, if I order the door to close the door to close the door and conduct a close trial, they will definitely spread rumors, saying that I deliberately shielded Xiong Tingbi, so I feel guilty. It is better to open the door to public trial so openly." Having said that, Master Zhang, who looks loyal and treacherous, still called the small shop in front of him and ordered in his ear: "Little shop, go home immediately and call our male servants and your friends on the street to watch the trial together. Then this is the case... When the matter is done, I will have a heavy reward!"

A small shop was sent, and Master Zhang left Zhang Shitou outside the lobby of the Ministry of Justice. Then he and Lu Wanling walked around the back door and entered the back hall of the Ministry of Justice from the back door of the Ministry of Justice. When he arrived at the back hall, he saw that British Duke Zhang Weixian, Dali Temple Minister Zhou Yingqiu and Local Snake Minister Li Yangzheng were all present, and the eunuch sent by the East Factory to supervise the trial also came - probably because Wei Zhongxian was deliberately taking care of him. The eunuch sent by him happened to be Song Jin, who had a good relationship with Master Zhang. Only the biggest risk factor in this retrial case, Yang Yuan had not arrived yet. Master Zhang had no choice but to hypocrite with a few jurors while waiting for Yang Yuan to arrive.

Waiting around, seeing that the opening time of Chen Shizheng was about to come, but Yang Yuan was still missing. Finally, Song Jin couldn't calm down and said, "Sir, Lord Yang has not come yet. We can't wait forever, right? According to our family, let's go to the church now. Lord Yang is neglecting official affairs, and our family will report to the emperor and Jiu Qiansui truthfully." Li Yangzheng and Zhou Yingqiu nodded and said yes. Zhang Weixian had no objection. Only Master Zhang knew that there must be something different, but he was not afraid. He just nodded and smiled, "What Master Song said is very true, let's go to the church."

"Magnificent—!" With the sound of the yamen runners in the lobby of the Ministry of Justice and the sound of the punishment sticks on the ground, Master Zhang was wearing a sixth-rank official robe and holding a Shangfang sword in his hand, and sat under the horizontal plaque with a 'gliding mirror'. Lu Wanling, dressed in a Confucian scholar, stood behind Master Zhang. Zhang Weixian, Li Yangzheng and Zhou Yingqiu Equinox, and Song Jin, the eunuch in the East Factory, sat on the right side of the lobby with a smile. He sat down. Master Zhang raised the sandalwood gavel and slapped his stern and shouted: "The criminal Wang Huazhen, Xiong Tingbi is here!"

"Slow down!" Before the head of the Ministry of Justice present agreed, Yang Yuan's voice suddenly sounded from the crowd outside the lobby. The crowd was surging, and Yang Yuan, who was fucking and thin, squeezed into the hall from the crowd, bowed to Master Zhang, Song Jin and others and smiled: "Mr. Zhang, Duke Zhang, Lord Zhou, Lord Li, and Eunuch Song, I'm really sorry, I'm late to get a post."

"Mr. Yang, this is the emperor's request. Why are you here now when you are concerned about the big case of nine thousand years old?" Song Jin said coldly: "You'd better give our family a reasonable explanation, otherwise, our family will be exempted from your judge's job now."

"Eunuch Song, I'm really embarrassed. I'm really delayed my errands." Yang Yuan bowed and bowed, explaining: "That's the matter. The Xiaguan had already arrived today, but the sedan chair was suddenly stopped. The people knelt in front of the sedan chair with a complaint in his hand, and wanted to sue an official in the court - and a lawsuit against an official present today. The content of the lawsuit was also related to today's case! The Xiaguan thought it was of great importance, so he delayed it."

"Stop the sedan chair and complain? Or sue an official present? Who should I sue?" Song Jin asked calmly. Yang Yuan smiled, straightened his body and pointed at Master Zhang, and said loudly: "It is to sue Lord Zhang, and we, Lord Zhang, who is the presiding judge!"

"Huh--!" The people outside the lobby were in a state of turmoil, and everyone was surprised. The presiding judge was sued on the first day of the opening of the court. This was definitely the first time in the Ming Dynasty. Our Master Zhang looked calm and asked with a smile: "Oh, it turned out to be suing me? Then Lord Yang, who was the person who sued me? What did you sue me?"

"The person who complains is claimed to be a servant who was expelled from the mansion by you, with his surname Kang and his name Liang." Yang Yuan shouted: "He sued you for having a relative with Xiong Tingbi, the criminal who passed away today, but he did not hide it! I suspect that you will commit favoritism and fraud during the trial, and the law enforcement is unfair!"

"I have a relative relationship with Xiong Tingbi?" Master Zhang asked in surprise: "What kind of relative relationship with Xiong Tingbi?"
Chapter completed!