Chapter 585: Falling Leaves, Knowing Autumn (Today, the editor-in-chief recommended it, so I’ll share it with you. Three more chapters)

That night, Xu Jie, who was staying in Hanshan Courtyard, couldn’t sleep all night.

He lay on the bed, recalling the trial that day and what happened afterwards.

After the seven main culprits had finished their statements, Xiang Tianci announced that the seven would be taken away, and their sentencing would be determined after the trials of all the other suspects in the same case were completed.

The next day was devoted to the trial of the Southern Imperial Examination fraud case in the first year of Longqing’s reign, involving 37 officials, 167 gentry from Jiangnan, and 247 other related persons. All of them were brought to court one by one, and the prosecutor presented the indictment, presented evidence, and summoned witnesses to give their testimony in court.
By dusk, most of the trial was over.

Xiang Tianci announced that they would try to finish trying the remaining criminals tomorrow morning, and make decisions and determine sentences for the criminals after deliberation in the afternoon.

In the evening, several people quietly came to Hanshan Courtyard and visited him.

They are all the most prominent gentry in Jiangnan and the leading figures of the aristocratic families.

After discussing for more than an hour, these people quietly left in sedan chairs.
Everyone realized that something was wrong and was unwilling to sit and wait for death.
“Grandfather.”

Xu Yuanchun’s voice sounded outside the door, and Xu Jie was startled.

“what’s up?”

“Grandfather, this is great news.” Xu Yuanchun walked in with an excited look on his face.

“What good news? Hai Rui died suddenly?”

Xu Yuanchun was stunned for a moment. I thought so too, but unfortunately things didn’t go as I wished.

“Grandfather, Ruan Rendao is dead.”

Xu Jie was stunned, his cloudy eyes almost bulged out, and asked in disbelief: “Dead, how did he die?”

“They said he died of poison in prison. He must have felt guilty, so he took poison!”

Xu Yuanchun said happily, if he hadn’t been trying hard to hold it back, he would have laughed out loud.

Xu Jie’s face turned pale and he was furious: “Idiots! A bunch of idiots who are dumber than pigs! It doesn’t matter whether Ruan Rendao lives or dies at this moment!
Why didn’t they kill him when he was arrested? Now that his confession is true and he has exposed all the people and events, why kill him?
To vent your anger!? “

Xu Yuanchun still couldn’t figure out what was causing his grandfather’s rage, so he just subconsciously replied, “They said that before, he was in the hands of the Jinyiwei, so they couldn’t do anything to him. But tonight, he’s in Suzhou Prefecture Prison, so we finally have a chance.”

Xu Jie sat down in frustration, not having the energy to curse anymore, and just sneered, “Well, now your whole butt is exposed.

Well, go ask which living Zhuge Liang came up with this brilliant plan.”

Seeing his grandfather’s livid face, Xu Yuanchun suppressed his anger, responded quickly, turned around and left.

After more than an hour, the gentry who had just left came back in a hurry with Xu Yuanchun, and when they saw him, they couldn’t wait to speak.

“Shao Hu Gong, it’s not us, definitely not us. We won’t do such a stupid thing that will not only do nothing but also cause endless troubles.”

“Who is that?” Xu Jie said unhappily, “Could it be that Ruan Rendao really has a change of heart and commits suicide out of shame?”

Jinshen Jia said, “Mr. Shaohu, I would rather believe that he is a loyalist of the Chu Party and wants to drag us down with him. Has a change of heart? What kind of conscience can such a person have?”

Jinshen Yi said, “Shaohu Lord, we are asking people to investigate. This matter has become a big fuss. When we first arrived, the guards not only took over the Suzhou government jail, but also patrolled all over the city, probably to hunt down the criminals.”

“With such a big commotion, and there must be someone inside the prison who did this, it should be easy to investigate. Lord Shao Hu, just wait a moment, we will definitely get to the bottom of it.”

Xu Jie felt something was wrong, “It’s really not you?”

Jinshen Jia stamped his feet and replied, “Shaohu Gong, we wanted to kill Ruan Rendao. When he was first captured, we thought of countless ways, but at that time we couldn’t even find out where he was, let alone kill him.

Now he has exposed all the people and events, and has signed his name long ago. He even pleaded guilty in court today, with thousands of eyes watching. What’s the point of killing him again?
We still understand this simple truth.”

Xu Jie’s expression became even uglier. “Who did that?”

At this moment, Xu Jie had a very uneasy thought in his mind. Ruan Rendao’s death had no impact on the trial of the case. Hai Rui had not suffered any loss, so the trial would continue as usual.

On the contrary, our already bad reputation became even worse.

He became angry and intended to kill to silence the witness.

Several gentry present also thought of these things one after another, and their faces looked extremely ugly.

Among them, Jinshen Bing couldn’t help but say, “Shaohu Lord, we have never been disrespectful to the emperor, why did you do such a cruel thing?”

Xu Jie closed his eyes slightly, and after a long while he slowly said: “Back then, Hu Ruzhen kept saying that he was Yan Song’s man. He had repeatedly told everyone, ‘The government and the public all know that I was supported by Lord Yan. Thousands of years later, I, Hu Zongxian, will still be recorded in history books as Lord Yan’s man. You rose because of this, and you will fall because of this. I was a man Lord Yan used very much, and one day I will fall with Lord Yan.’

Yan Song personally wrote a letter to Hu Ruzhen, asking him not to wipe out all the Japanese pirates, but to keep them for themselves, saying, “The Ming Dynasty cannot do without the southeast, and the southeast cannot do without Hu Zongxian. The Japanese pirates must be wiped out, but not all of them. As long as you, Hu Zongxian, are in the southeast, I, Yan Song, will not fall.”

What was the result? Yan Song’s son died and was defeated, and Yan’s party disappeared.

Hu Zongxian, who kept saying, “I have traveled thousands of miles to serve the king, asking for nothing in return. I know the hardships of the frontier, so why would I worry about my wife!”, became a great contributor to the suppression of the Japanese in the southeast, and also became the leader of the Crown Prince’s party.

I heard that when Hu Zongxian went to Beijing to report on his work, he said goodbye to the emperor, who was then the prince of Yu, in Xiyuan. The emperor said to him, “Grandpa thinks that if loyalty is not absolute, it is absolutely disloyal. But I think that as long as you are loyal to the Ming Dynasty, you are loyal to me.”

From then on, when the emperor ordered us to go east, Hu Zongxian did not dare to go west. A new southeastern party was formed. “

Several gentry looked at each other in bewilderment. What did Prime Minister Xu mean? Why can’t we understand?

Is it because Prime Minister Xu’s level is too high that we can’t understand what he is saying?
Xu Jie said slowly: “As long as you are loyal to the Ming Dynasty, you are loyal to the emperor. In one sentence, Hu Ruzhen and many famous generals and ministers in the southeastern faction were loyal and had no second thoughts.

Now, even the most loyal minister in the world has been bewitched by these words and turned evil, resorting to despicable means. “

Jinshen Jia’s eyes flickered, “Shao Hu Gong, are you saying that Hai Rui killed Ruan Rendao? No, that’s impossible. How could Hai Rui do such a thing?”

Xu Jie didn’t say anything.

We waited for more than an hour before someone came to report.

“Report, I found it.”

Jinshen Jia glanced at Xu Jie and asked quickly, “Who is it?”

“He is a scholar from Wujiang County.

His uncle was the prefectural official in Suzhou. His mentor was exposed by Ruan Rendao, and his family was about to be destroyed, so he begged his uncle to sneak into the prison of the prefectural government and poison Ruan Rendao to avenge his mentor.

“Where is this scholar now?”

“The Jiangsu Provincial Government and the Provincial Censorate are all trying to catch this scholar, and the Imperial Guards are also trying to catch him. However, it is said that after he poisoned the city, he immediately fled Suzhou and his whereabouts are unknown.

But everyone believes that he will not be able to escape the imperial court’s net and will be caught sooner or later.”

Several gentry breathed a sigh of relief and waved their hands to dismiss the servant who brought the news.

“Shao Hu Gong, now that the truth is out, you should be relieved.” Xu Jie smiled faintly, “Yes, I am relieved too.”

After the gentry left in a hurry, Xu Yuanchun didn’t know what was going on and couldn’t help asking, “Grandmaster, what’s going on?”

“A gentleman can be deceived by his own tricks.” Xu Jie replied slowly, “Unfortunately, the truth is cruel. They would rather believe the most illusory results than face the most real results. I am no exception.

Big brother.”

“Grandfather.”

“After daybreak, you must return to Huating immediately and buy three thousand acres of paddy fields at a high price. You must make sure that the transaction is mutually agreed upon. Then go to the Huating County Household Department to complete the transfer contract and register it in the Fish Scale Book.”

Xu Jie’s sudden explanation left Xu Yuanchun confused, but because of his grandfather’s prestige, he dared not ask any more questions.

“Grandfather, I will prepare now and set out at dawn.”

Xu Jie grabbed Xu Yuanchun’s hand and stared at him intently, which made Xu Yuanchun feel scared.

“Brother, remember the most important thing.”

“Master Ancestor, please give your orders.”

“These three thousand acres of paddy fields have been transferred to the Xu Family Ancestral Hall as charity fields for the Xu family. Do not register them in the name of the Xu Mansion again. Remember, remember.”

Xu Yuanchun was even more surprised.

Register it under the name of Xu Family Ancestral Hall and use it as charity land for the Xu family?

What happened to grandpa?
“Hurry up and prepare. Leave at daybreak. The sooner the better. No matter how much money it costs, buy the paddy fields as soon as possible. If you buy ten acres, transfer ten acres. If you buy one hundred acres, transfer one hundred acres. If you buy one thousand acres, transfer one thousand acres.

Quick, quick, quick! “

Xu Yuanchun didn’t dare to ask more questions, so he just bowed and said, “Yes, grandson will remember it.”

The next morning, everyone gathered in front of the Grain Supervisor’s Office again.

The news that Ruan Rendao, the main culprit of the fraud case in the Southern Examination in the first year of Longqing, was poisoned last night had spread throughout Suzhou City. Everyone stood in front of the government office, discussing and speculating whether the case would be heard as usual today.

With a creak, the door of the yamen opened and the police officers came out as usual. The guards still surrounded the entire Grain Inspectorate Yamen as they did yesterday.

After their identities and documents were verified, everyone entered the corridors and courtyards of the trial hall.

Xu Jie, Wang Shizhen and others sat down in their respective seats in the corridor one after another.

Everyone’s eyes were full of complicated expressions, and they were all wondering in their hearts what kind of medicine Hai Rui would sell next.

Xiang Tianci brought his fellow judges into the courtroom and the trial continued.

At the beginning, Xiang Tianci made a statement saying that Ruan Rendao, the main culprit in the Nanwei cheating case, was poisoned last night. The Jiangsu Police Department is hunting for the murderer and handling the case separately.

However, it will not affect the trial of the fraud case and the subsequent sentencing.

In the morning, Li Liangan prosecuted the remaining one hundred suspects in the fraud case. So far, all 411 officials and related persons involved in the fraud case have been prosecuted.

In the afternoon, after deliberation, Xiang Tianci, on behalf of the Jiangsu Provincial Procuratorate, pronounced the verdict, convicting 411 people of crimes, with the highest sentence of beheading 11 people, hanging 23 people, beheading pending 7 people, exiling 5,000 miles 75 people, exiling 3,000 miles 179 people, and the rest of the sentences ranged from 20 years to 5 years in prison, with confiscation of illegal gains, fines of a certain amount of silver, or confiscation of property.
The sentence is really heavy.

The gentry in the corridor couldn’t help but gasp when they heard this.

The criminals’ families were crying and many of them were kicked out.

The students and common people who were watching in the courtyard applauded, and some even shouted that the sentence was too lenient and that all these people should be executed immediately.

At dusk, Xu Jie returned to Hanshan Courtyard with a heavy heart. Several gentry came again. They were actually happy, as if they were relieved to have escaped.

Finally, someone managed to withstand the thunderbolt.

Jinshen Jia said, “Shaohu Lord, there is no other way to punish the Southern Examination fraud case severely. The public is watching, and the public sentiment is overwhelming. There must be an explanation.”

Jinshen Yi said: “The Nanjing Political Gazette, Jiangsu Political Gazette, and Shanghai’s Yangtze River Newspaper and Shanghai Commercial Newspaper, the mouthpieces of the Shaofujian, are reporting this case extensively.

Not only in Jiangsu, but also in Anhui, Zhejiang, and even in Jiangxi and Huguang, hundreds of thousands of students and scholars were discussing the matter and the public sentiment was overwhelming.

The wind and waves are strong, so it will take more effort to calm them down.”

Give an explanation?

As long as I don’t hand you over as an explanation, you won’t care who dies.

Now you are actually showing some sympathy for the imperial court.

I have seen through you selfish people.

Xu Jie did not point it out, but just said: “Let’s see what happens in the trial tomorrow.”

Several gentry looked at each other.

Everyone knows that the trial tomorrow will be about the three banned books cases, which are related to your eldest son Xu Fan, Mr. Xu.

They will also try a series of cases of corruption, abuse of power, land occupation, and bullying of men and women that stem from Tianjieyuan, the number one intermediary in the Nanwei fraud case. Among them, your second son Xu Kun and third son Xu Ying are both related, and they will be tried as one of the 367 criminals.

Jinshen Jia advised: “Mr. Xu, the second and third sons were not involved in the case too deeply, and they will probably just be given a few words of admonition. Even if they are sentenced to imprisonment, we are willing to go to the capital to lobby for a lighter sentence for Mr. Xu after the storm has passed.”

Yes, you have so many students and former officials to back you up, and your most successful student Zhang Juzheng is the Prime Minister. Even with such a trivial case, you can definitely ensure that the two young masters are safe and sound and return home in good health.

As for the eldest son Xu Fan, he was involved in the three banned books, especially the “Dream of Spring in the Western Garden”, which was a serious offense. If Emperor Taizu were alive, the Xu family would have been uprooted.

Although Xu Fan did not write the letter himself and was just the one who paid the money behind the scenes, it would not be a good thing to be accused of this crime. Who would dare to plead for him?

So everyone automatically omitted him.

Xu Jie did not say anything, but just bowed and said, “Thank you very much, wise men.”

After everyone left, Xu Jie was about to ask Xu Yuanchun to prepare him a midnight snack, but when the words came to his lips, he suddenly remembered that he had asked him to do something important.

He stood at the window with his hands behind his back, looking up at the waning moon. The night breeze was cool, and the sound of strings came from somewhere.

Today at the trial, some people’s families were destroyed, but tonight some people were celebrating.

Xu Jie suddenly thought, if the Xu family were to be destroyed, would there be more people mourning or celebrating?
After a long time, Xu Jie sighed softly.

“When the strings are played, the leaves fall, and autumn comes. The wind blows across the fields, and the water flows eastwards!”

(End of this chapter)