Chapter 582: A Life of Bitterness and Worship
“Xu Xiangguo!”

“Xu Gong!”

“Shao Hu Gong!”

Countless pairs of eyes looked at the old man who came out of the sedan chair.

He was dressed in a Confucian robe, a square scarf on his head, and had a beautiful beard hanging down to his chest. He was old but still elegant.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, he bowed amiably and walked among the crowd.

“Mr. Xu, we support you!”

Suddenly, a voice broke out in the crowd. No one knew who shouted it, but the voice was clear and it was obvious that it came from a young person.

Then there was a burst of cheers, like the Qiantang River tide, blowing over the heads of the crowd and converging towards Xu Jie.

“Three-dynasty veteran!”

“The king’s lord!”

“Master of literature!”

“A role model for us!”

Shouts continued to erupt from the crowd, and every shout was met with overwhelming cheers.

With every shout and cheer, Xu Jie would bow and salute in that direction, which would then cause even louder cheers.

Xu Jie’s eldest grandson Xu Yuanchun followed beside him, his face flushed with excitement and his whole body trembling.

When we entered the main gate of the Grain Inspectorate, a clerk came forward to greet us.

“Mr. Xu, this way please.”

As they walked inside, Xu Yuanchun suppressed his excitement and said to Xu Jie.

“Grandfather, this is the will of the people, the overwhelming will of the people!”

Xu Jie turned his head and glanced at Xu Yuanchun. The excitement and emotion on his face just now disappeared in an instant. There was a coldness in his cloudy eyes.

“Do you think this is public opinion?”

His eldest son Xu Fan, also known as Monk Deshen, unfortunately fell into the “law net” while in Tianjie Temple. Then the second son Xu Kun, the third son Xu Ying, and his younger brother Xu Zhi were successively arrested by the Jiangsu Censorate because of the case.

Now only his eldest grandson Xu Yuanchun is left by his side.

Looking at his grandfather’s eyes, Xu Yuanchun’s hot and boiling heart suddenly fell into an ice cave, and he felt cold from head to toe and from the outside to the inside.

“Grandfather, isn’t it?
“Although the duties of an official are limited and he cannot go to the outer court to toast, he can also express his feelings and compose poems when the people agree with him.” There is also an old saying that goes, “The one who knows the leaks in the house is under the eaves, and the one who knows the mistakes in the government is in the grass.” If the court willfully violates the will of the people, the people will be uneasy, and if the people are uneasy, the country will be in chaos!”

Xu Jie sneered a few times: “You can recite allusions by heart, but do you really know what public opinion is? The surging outside is not public opinion, but fence-sitters. Now that the wind blows this way, they lean towards this side.

When the wind blows that way, they will naturally fall that way.”

Xu Yuanchun’s face turned pale, and he stammered, “Grandfather, then… then Hai Rui can ignore the surging public opinion outside and humiliate you and our Xu family at will?”

“Do you know why I am so wary of Hai Rui?”

“My grandson doesn’t know.”

“Hai Rui himself is the will of the people. Now that he is handling the case under the order of the emperor, he represents the will of the emperor. The will of the emperor and the will of the people are actually shouldered by him alone.

If anyone stands in your way, kill him. If a Buddha stands in your way, kill him. Emperor Sejong, please leave your Majesty a sword that can open up the world.”

When they reached the middle courtyard, Shu Youliang came up to them, wearing a green robe and a small hat, and saluted with his hands crossed, then said with a smile: “I am Shu Youliang, a senior attendant of the Hai Mansion, and I am here to meet Mr. Xu.

My master is busy with important matters in the yamen and cannot be away, so he asked me to come and receive the guests.”

Picking up guests?

Xu Yuanchun’s face turned dark.

Xu Jie laughed, “Are you Shu Youliang?”

Shu Youliang’s eyes lit up: “Mr. Xu, do you know my name?”

“Shu Youliang, Hai Rui’s personal attendant, is very famous and everyone in the world knows him.”

“Mr. Xu’s words really make me feel guilty. They all say that I am the most polite person in the Hai Mansion. I didn’t expect it to be true.”

Xu Jie smiled even more: “It’s absolutely true. You are the most respectable person in the Hai Mansion. You are busy and take care of everything.”

Shu Youliang’s not-so-young face was smiling like a sunflower, he was so happy that snot bubbles came out, but he still waved his hands repeatedly in a reserved manner.

“It’s nothing! It’s nothing. Sigh, for decades, I have been working so hard for the Hai Mansion. To be frank, if it weren’t for me, the Hai Mansion would have been ruined long ago.

My master is well-known throughout the country for his reputation as an upright official. I have contributed at least three times to his achievements, right?”

Xu Jie smiled and replied, “More than 30%, at least 50%?”

Shu Youliang scratched his head and instantly turned into the Monkey King who had just occupied the Water Curtain Cave. “Fifty percent? Fifty percent, Mr. Xu, isn’t that a bit too much?”

“Is it a lot? Not much! Youliang, not much at all!”

Shu Youliang smiled so much that his eyes only slitted open: “Xu Gong’s praise makes me feel half as light as before. If the wind is a little stronger, I will float away.”

Xu Jie was laughing beside him, but Xu Yuanchun looked at Shu Youliang as if he was looking at a giant monkey or a clown.

Shu Youliang led Xu Jie and Xu Yuanchun to a quiet room and sat them down. He bowed, said goodbye and left, then turned back when he reached the door.

“I just received the kind words and kindness from Mr. Xu. I am very grateful. I would also like to give Mr. Xu a kind word of advice: ‘Looking back at the desolate place, I return home, neither wind nor rain nor clear.'”

After saying this, Shu Youliang spoke respectfully. Xu Jie’s face changed, and he bowed to him solemnly.

Helping Xu Jie to sit down slowly, Xu Yuanchun couldn’t help but ask, “Grandfather, why are you so polite to a clown?”

“A clown? This person is a man of great wisdom.”

“Great wisdom?”

Xu Yuanchun was stunned. Could it be that his grandfather had become senile and confused?

“Grandfather, this man speaks incoherently and without restraint. He is ridiculous. I don’t think he is a wise man at all.”

“If one is dull at heart, everyone will be dull in his eyes; if one is funny at heart, everyone will be funny in his eyes. Hai Rui sent Shu Youliang to meet me, which clearly shows that he has little regard for personal friendship and no regard for personal feelings. He will handle the next case impartially.

Shu Youliang is Hai Rui’s most trusted person, don’t you think he doesn’t know something about the case? He showed his vulgarity when he met you, which made you laugh. In this case, would you still ask him about the case? “

Definitely not. After hearing him say the word “receive guests”, Xu Yuanchun gave up the idea of ​​winning him over and spying on him. Xu Jie continued, “He revealed his vulgar nature. It’s not surprising that he talked nonsense and rambled on. He made jokes along the way, but he didn’t say a single useful word.

Xu Yuanchun reviewed it in his mind and thought, hey, really not.

At this moment, he began to believe what his grandfather Xu Jie said. This was just a black old loach!
“Master Zuweng, what did his last words mean?”

Xu Jie looked at Xu Yuanchun, his eldest grandson, whose face was about 40% similar to his own, and so young.

He seemed to be in a trance, as if he had returned to forty years ago.

At that time, I was full of vigor and vitality, and I took it as my responsibility to save the world and the people. I had lofty aspirations and even a kind of passion in my heart that was “If Zi Sheng cannot come out, what will happen to the people?”

Decades have passed in a flash, how did I end up in this situation?

“Lonely orchids grow old together, floating duckweed and algae float in the autumn waves. I heard that you are interested in sewing clothes recently, but the knife and ruler are cold and what can I do?”

“Grandfather!” Xu Yuanchun’s call from the side brought Xu Jie back from his thoughts.

He couldn’t help but sigh, as if he had aged ten years, “‘The rise and fall of all things is determined by God, and the suffering of being bound by a body is not important to ordinary people.'” They all understand, why do I insist on being stubborn and stubborn?
It’s too late! “

Xu Yuanchun wanted to ask a few more questions when he heard a police officer outside banging a gong and shouting, “Mr. Hai has ordered the trial to begin. Let the people in! Everyone listen quietly. Anyone who dares to cause trouble in the court will be kicked out immediately!”

All I could hear were footsteps and noise, rushing towards me like the sound of rising tide.

In front of the Grain Supervisor’s Office are a hall and a courtyard, and in the back are a pond and a rockery.

It was originally the Jingu Garden of Qian Yuanling, the son of Qian Liu, King of Wuyue during the Five Dynasties.

During the Early Song Dynasty, it was the Lepu of the literary master Zhu Changwen, and it has experienced many ups and downs since then.

During the Zhengde and Jiajing periods of the Qing Dynasty, it was first changed to Xuedao Academy and later to Duliang Dao Office.

Although this garden is smaller than other famous gardens in Suzhou, it is very imposing, especially the hall in the front part.

The trial court was set up in the Simian Hall, the largest single building in the garden. It was surrounded by corridors on all four sides, was three rooms wide and five steps deep. A plaque was hung in the hall with the words “Supervising Grain with Justice” inscribed on it.

Now it has been converted into a trial hall, and its layout is similar to that of the one Yuan Xian’an used to try cases in the Tongpan Office of Shuntian Prefecture.

In the center are the presiding judge and co-judges, in front of them is the clerk, on the left are the prosecutor and the judge, and on the right are the attendees.

However, this place is more than twice as spacious as the Shuntian Prefecture Tongpan Office. It is surrounded by corridors on three sides and is filled with people. The hall is also full of people, most of whom are wearing long robes and square scarves. They are all scholars and literati, about a thousand people.

Only four or five hundred citizens who loved to watch the fun were allowed in. They were squeezed to one side, shamefacedly, and did not dare to compete for seats with these scholars and jinshi masters.

Even more people gathered outside the yamen, about six or seven thousand people.

To the sound of drums, the prosecutor, Li Liangan, the chief prosecutor of the Jiangsu Provincial Procuratorate, and three assistants walked in first and sat down in the prosecutor’s seat on the left side of the court.

More than twenty officials came out from the seats on the right. Most of them were wearing green robes, and there were two or three wearing red robes. They did not sit down, but stood and talked to Xu Jie and Xu Yuanchun.

They uttered flattering words, but no one asked Xu Jie to sit down in the row.

They seemed to have reached a tacit understanding. They didn’t speak, and no one spoke. They waited for today’s chief officer Hai Rui to come out and speak. They would see which seat he would arrange Xu Jie in.

Most of the people gathered were officials from the Jiangsu Provincial Government.

There were left and right councilors, councilors from the six ministries of Personnel, Revenue, Rites, Punishments, Works, and Military, as well as directors of various departments and bureaus, including the prefect and associate prefect of Suzhou.

After waiting for a while, Hai Rui came out accompanied by Jiangsu Governor Huang Huian, Provincial Surveillance Commissioner Liang Shengtao, and the left and right deputy provincial surveillance commissioners.

The peaceful voices coming from the seats on the right suddenly stopped. Dozens of eyes in the court were staring at Hai Rui, wondering where he would arrange Xu Jie, whether to sit above him or below him.

In official circles, seating arrangements are a very subtle and sensitive expression of one’s stance.

The Jiangsu officialdom was eager for Hai Rui to make a public statement.

Hai Rui walked straight up to Xu Jie, bowed and said, “Student Hai Gangfeng greets Lord Shaohu.”

Everyone could hear that Hai Rui was paying his respects to Xu Jie as a junior visiting his senior, rather than as a subordinate in the officialdom.

The relaxed muscles on Xu Jie’s face twitched a few times, and he said with a half-smile: “Gangfeng has made great progress. He has been promoted to Fangbo and is in charge of a place.”

Hai Rui seemed not to have heard it. He stood up and said to his attendants, “Come here, find a spacious seat for Shao Hu Gong on the front porch.”

Front porch?

They were actually sent directly to the front porch. Although it was the center of attention, it was the audience seat for reporters, victims, and families of criminals.

Hai Rui treated Xu Jie completely as a criminal’s family member, and the only privilege he showed him was finding him a spacious place.

Xu Yuanchun was so angry that his face turned pale, and he wanted to rush up and bite Hai Rui.

Xu Jie’s eyes were cold, and he saw something in Hai Rui’s unyielding gaze. His eyes dimmed, and he turned and walked towards the front porch. Xu Yuanchun gave Hai Rui a fierce look, and hurried forward to support his grandfather Xu Jie.

Everyone stared in amazement at Xu Jie and his grandson, who sat down in the center of the front porch.

“Sit down!” Hai Rui said, his tone leaving no room for doubt.

Huang Huian and Liang Shengtao sat down on his left and right, and the others also hurriedly found their seats and sat down.

Three more drum beats were heard, and the chief judge, Xiang Tianci, the Tongpan of Huai’an, and two co-judges, You Zhushi and Zhang Zhushi, the directors of the Jiangsu Provincial Surveillance Department, came out and sat down at the head of the court. The three clerks also quietly sat down in their seats.

The air in the courtroom was a little tense, especially for Xu Yuanchun, who wished he could blast a crack in the ground and crawl in.

He felt that it was a huge shame for him and his grandfather to sit here.

“Brother, do you know why Hai Rui appointed Xiang Tianci, the magistrate of Huai’an, as the chief judge, and transferred the magistrates from Huai’an and Xuzhou as co-judges, and Li Liangan, the chief prosecutor, was also transferred from Yangzhou?”

Xu Yuanchun was so confused that he had no time to think about these things. He nodded randomly and replied, “Grandfather, I don’t know.”

“When Wang Yi’e was the governor of the transport system, he was stationed in Huai’an. As one of the most capable and capable ministers in the country, he had already sorted out the Huai’an Prefecture where he was stationed, as well as the nearby prefectures of Xuzhou and Yangzhou.

He was the first to support Zhao Zhenji’s judicial reform pilot, and he quietly carried it out in these three prefectures. They are all elite soldiers and generals, all elite soldiers and generals trained by my favorite students, and now they have become Hai Rui’s sharp weapons. “

Xu Yuanchun became even angrier after hearing this.

“Grandpa, they are all a bunch of ungrateful wolves.”

“Wolves, whether they have white eyes or black eyes, want to eat people.”

Xu Yuanchun was startled, but before he could say anything, there was a loud bang.

Xiang Tianci slammed the gavel and shouted, “Silence, the public trial of the Southern Examination Fraud Case in the First Year of Longqing will begin now!”

The entire hall, corridor and courtyard were quiet.

(End of this chapter)