Chapter 589 If you don’t change your mindset, change your brain

Xu Jie followed him to the gate of Suzhou Prefecture Prison, and saw the rows of soldiers standing on both sides of the gate and under the high walls. They had extraordinary postures and were definitely not police officers or ordinary prisoners.

When I got closer and took a closer look, I could tell from their new uniforms that they were a garrison.

Xu Jie’s face was shaking with surprise. “Zhenwei Army, Hai Rui actually called in the Zhenwei Army?”

Shu Youliang smiled and replied, “Two days ago, the main culprit of the Southern Examination fraud case, Ruan Rendao, was poisoned in prison. My master felt that the court had lost face, so he took the tiger talisman given to him by the emperor and dispatched a battalion of the Shenjie Army to come for protection.”

The Divine Victory Army.

The skeletons were the elite troops who fought against the Japanese pirates in those days and were familiar with the situation in Jiangnan. However, it was difficult for the wealthy and powerful families in Jiangnan to intervene.

Hai Rui actually transferred this army to guard the prison and the important criminals inside.

Ruan Rendao was transferred here because he was poisoned. I don’t believe you at all!

Hai Rui was really cautious. If I had known
What’s the use?
The chess pieces are set, and the game begins. The Jiangnan family and I are like fish on the chopping board. If we dare to struggle, we will die.

Shu Youliang stepped forward and presented the ivory plaque and documents to the battalion commander in charge.

After checking again and again, the camp commander let Shu Youliang, Xu Jie and their servant in.

Turning into the depths of the prison, it was dark and eerie, filled with a disgusting smell.

According to Shu Youliang’s instructions, the prison team was taking Xu Kun to a separate cell. Shu Youliang and the steward servant were waiting outside, and Xu Jie went in alone.

There was only an oil lamp hanging on the wall outside. After entering the door, Xu Kun saw a fence and huddled inside. When he heard the door being pushed open, he turned around and rushed over in surprise, holding the fence tightly with both hands and shouting hoarsely.

“Daddy, save me! Daddy, save me!”

Xu Jie looked coldly at Xu Kun behind the fence. The second brother, who used to live a life of luxury, now looked like a beggar, his eyes filled with pleading and longing for life.

“Father, I was deceived and seduced by a villain and committed this heinous crime. I didn’t mean it. It was just a game. I was just playing around.”

Xu Kun burst into tears and kowtowed repeatedly.

“My son, it doesn’t matter whether you have the intention or not. The emperor only cares whether you have the intention or not. It’s just a joke, a game. Haha, you are really brave.

The emperor stared at Jiangnan, looking for mistakes, his eyes almost popping out, but you are so bold and overestimate your own abilities that you are playing the game of treason and regicide.

Do you realize you are wrong now? It’s too late! “

Xu Kun said in disbelief: “Dad, I was deceived and seduced by the wicked. Father, you know me, how dare I do such a thing.

And those things, after we played the game, we asked someone to burn them, and we all saw the ashes, so how did they appear again? We don’t know!”

Xu Jie leaned against the cold wall, trying not to collapse on the ground, “Of course I know that you don’t have the guts to commit treason and regicide, and of course I also know that there are traitors and traitors in your Fuxing Society!
They coaxed you, led you, of course the evidence must be kept, how could it be burned? Ashes, just burn a book, burn a few pieces of paper, do you know whether it is true or false?

But I don’t know whether these people are the Jinyiwei, Dongchang or the Commercial Investigation Department.

But so what?
Now the evidence is irrefutable, treason and regicide are punishable by death.”

Xu Kun shouted frantically: “Dad, you are the Prime Minister of the Cabinet, second only to the emperor and above everyone else! Can’t you even protect your own son?”

Xu Jie opened his eyes, rushed to the fence, his hair and beard all standing up, and shouted angrily: “Evil son, you used to rely on my power to call the wind and rain in the southeast, do you really think you can call the wind and rain, and think that I can cover the sky with one hand?

Wrong! In my Ming Dynasty, only the emperor can call the wind and rain, and only the emperor can cover the sky with one hand! “

Xu Jie roared loudly, yelling at Xu Kun, and also yelling at himself.

I’m so confused. Why was I so confused in the past?
You can’t see the emperor clearly, and you can’t see yourself clearly, which is why you end up like this!
“You want me to protect you from the wind and rain now, but it’s too late! I am standing in the wind and rain, soaked to the skin, and a laughing stock to the world.

There are all kinds of games he can play, but he was actually instigated and lured into playing the game of treason and regicide, which caused him a big disaster!

In all dynasties, nine clans were exterminated, but our dynasty exterminates ten clans!
Kill all ten clans of your clan, you evil son!
I have worked hard for decades to finally make the Xu family the most prestigious family in Jiangnan, but you destroyed it all in one day, all in one day!”

Xu Kun was shaking all over, maybe because he was scared, he grabbed the wooden fence, his eyes were about to pop out, and he said frantically: “Uncle Zhang, he is the prime minister of the cabinet, he is the emperor’s teacher.

Father, Uncle Zhang is your favorite student. Please beg him to save your son. I will work like a slave for him and even be his godson. “

Xu Jie staggered back a few steps, leaned against the wall again, closed his eyes in pain, and his tone became softer and more desolate.

“Ask Uncle Zhang to beg for mercy?
In the past, I saw him attacking officials with heavy fists, but being submissive in front of the emperor, and I thought he had changed his personality. Now I understand that his years as the teacher of the crown prince in the Xiyuan Xi’an Gate Academy were not in vain.

A child of three can tell a person’s future. When he was six or seven years old, he saw through our emperor clearly. He understood the emperor’s methods better than any of us.

Everyone says Gao Gong looks down on the young emperor, but in fact, when have I ever looked up to him?”

The look flashing in Xu Jie’s eyes was like the surging sea under the moonlight, difficult to fathom.

“I never thought that the emperor, at such a young age, not only had the deep scheming and meticulous mind of the Shimiao Emperor, but also had the same killing and decisiveness as the Taizu Emperor, a killing and decisiveness that regarded thousands of lives as worthless!

Not only that, he also has his own unique method, which combines the scheming and decisiveness of killing to kill people and destroy their hearts!
When I look down on him, I am actually looking down on myself and Emperor Shimiao.

Emperor Shi Miao treats Yang Tinghe and Xia Yan as nothing, and drives Yan Jiexi and me like running dogs. The good saintly grandson he chose is no ordinary person.

In the first year of Longqing, he and Yan Jiexi were playing the same tune, and I should have understood it clearly.

But there is no regret medicine in this world!”

Xu Jie finally looked at Xu Kun and said with a wry smile: “I envy Yan Song for dying without any disease. I envy him. I should envy him even more. He only has one son, so I can just give him up and let him be.

But I have three evil sons. I could hold down one but not the other. In the end, the three brothers died in the underworld, all in good order. “

Xu Jie pushed open the door and walked out.

Xu Kun shouted frantically from behind: “Father, Daddy, Master, you can’t abandon me, I am your biological son!”

“My dear son. When the nest is overturned, no egg can remain intact. Second son, give up. It won’t be long before I come down to accompany you.”

After Xu Jie finished speaking, he left without looking back.

Supported by the steward and servants, Xu Jie walked out of the prison gate. Looking at the blue sky and white clouds, he was overwhelmed with grief and burst into tears, crying his heart out.

Tears ran down her wrinkled face, her white hair was scattered, drifting in the wind and amid her crying, it was a heart-wrenching sight.

Shu Youliang looked at it and couldn’t help but sigh.

Suddenly, someone from the crowd watching nearby shouted loudly.

“Bah! You’ve done so many bad things, and now you’re crying? It’s too late!”

“Old thief! What were you doing when the Xu family occupied so much land and forced so many people to become homeless and cry?
“Now that disaster has come, you’re crying? Ugh!”

Xu Jie stood there in a daze. There was nothing more sad than a dead heart. He wanted to cry loudly, but he couldn’t. He glanced at the people around him. There were thousands of them, all of whom had just followed the escort team from the trial hall to here.

Thousands and tens of thousands of eyes, which used to be filled with admiration, fawning, fear and adulation, are now filled with disdain, indifference, sarcasm and anger.

Xu Jie couldn’t help but look up at the sky. The sun was shining brightly, but he felt bone-chillingly cold.

In the afternoon, the trial hall continued to hear the major case of treason committed by the Fuxing Society.

The total number of principal offenders, secondary principal offenders, accomplices and accessories was 1,772 people, including 591 officials and 675 Jiangnan noble families.

Cui Caihu only sentenced the accomplices and others to the minimum sentence of exile of 5,000 miles. As for the officials and Jiangnan families involved in the case, Liang Shengtao, the Jiangsu Provincial Surveillance Commissioner, announced that he had cooperated with the Jinyiwei Zhenfu Division and the Guard Army to control all the officials and Jiangnan families involved in the case and wait for the special task force to deal with them further.

As soon as the trial was over, the brothers Wang Shizhen and Wang Shimao, together with Tu Long and Pan Zhiheng, chartered a boat to leave Suzhou overnight and rushed back to Taicang, as if they would be arrested together if they left a step later.

Hu Yinglin and Shen Mingchen stayed and went to Nanjing together at the invitation of Lu Yong.

On the boat, brothers Wang Shizhen and Wang Shimao, along with Tu Long and Pan Zhiheng, looked at each other in silence for a long time.

Wang Shimao didn’t speak until the boat passed Kunshan and continued on the river to Taicang.

“In total, the Renaissance Society’s conspiracy to treason affected 675 families in the south of the Yangtze River. Almost all the wealthy families were wiped out.

I also looked at the list of secondary principal offenders, accomplices and accessories. There were more than 400 famous scholars from Jiangnan on the list. It was said that they had all been arrested by the National Police Department and were awaiting trial.

The huge waves caught people off guard. “

Wang Shizhen glanced at Wang Shimao, let out a long sigh, and said quietly.

“I heard a few words from a good friend. They were all said by the emperor in closed-door meetings of certain departments. Although they were not publicized, they were recorded and included in the imperial archives. Officials who knew about it spread speculation.”

Wang Shimao, Tu Long and Pan Zhiheng all perked up and listened attentively.

“First, advanced productive forces must have appropriate production relations. I used to be puzzled by this sentence. During the Suzhou trial, the Jiangnan family suffered a heavy blow, and I suddenly became enlightened.”

“Brother, what is the connection between the two?”

“I guess that with the booming industry and commerce, all kinds of new things are emerging in Shanghai, Luanzhou and Taiyuan. New water-powered and animal-powered spinning machines, looms, blast furnaces, forging machines, coal, iron, cotton cloth and cement are being produced at a speed we could not imagine.

In addition, the silk cocoons and silk fabrics that we have been operating and are relatively familiar with are also changing with each passing day.

On the sea, there are huge sailing ships as tall as city walls that can destroy cities and countries. They not only conquer the South China Sea in one fell swoop, but also sail across the sea to places we have never thought of.

Perhaps this is what the emperor means by advanced productivity.”

Wang Shimao, Tu Long and Pan Zhiheng were all smart people. They looked at each other and suddenly realized, “In the eyes of the emperor, most of the Jiangnan families, the gentry and the wealthy who do not accept the emerging advanced productive forces, are unsuitable production relations! Get rid of them and replace them with new, suitable production relations.”

Wang Shizhen did not comment, “Maybe. We don’t know what the emperor’s intention is. But my friend told me another sentence the emperor said, which is still fresh in my memory.”

“Brother, what did you say?”

“If you don’t change your thoughts, change your brain.”

Wang Shimao, Tu Long, and Pan Zhiheng looked at each other in shock and murmured, “Your Majesty’s talent and strategy are even greater than that of Emperor Taizu.”

A few days later, an official ship was sailing on the river towards Shanghai.

In the cabin, Huangfu Tan was holding a memorial and looking at it carefully.

This is Hai Rui’s summary of the Suzhou trial of the Fuxing Society’s treason case, the Southern Imperial Examination fraud case, the banned book case, and other major and minor crimes, all written in this memorial.

Before taking office, he asked his student Huangfu Tan to proofread it, which was actually to teach him how to write and read memorials.

The boat was sailing very smoothly. The river breeze blew in from the window, bringing a faint fishy smell, brushing against people’s faces, feeling a little cool and gentle.

Hai Rui was sitting on the other side, playing chess with Shu Youliang, not Go, but Chinese chess.

Shu Youliang assigned Hai Rui one horse and one cannon. After two quarters of an hour, Hai Rui mobilized the only remaining pawn, horse, elephant and soldier, and struggled to hold on under the overwhelming attack of Shu Youliang’s two pawns, one cannon, one chariot and one horse.

“Master, I will make you regret this.” Shu Youliang said with a smile.

Hai Rui snorted coldly and continued to resist stubbornly.

Zhang Dao, Zhao Kuan, and Wang Shiqiu were patrolling outside. Fang Zhiyuan was sitting next to Hai Rui, his thighs were bruised from slapping his hands.

“Brother Fang, you are really a man. A true gentleman plays chess without saying a word. You would rather slap your thighs until they are blue than make a sound.” Shu Youliang gave Fang Zhiyuan a thumbs up.

The cabin was peaceful, but Huangfu Tan’s face became increasingly ugly, with white beads of sweat on his forehead.

Finally, Shu Youliang snapped.

“General, sir, you have no chess pieces left.”

“If you lose, you lose. Victory and defeat are common in the military. I don’t take it to heart, sir.”

Shu Youliang chuckled, turned around and saw Huangfu Tan’s expression, and was very surprised, “Haoju, when I first read a banned book that I shouldn’t have read, I wasn’t as nervous as you.”

Huangfu Tan turned around and said in a panic, “This memorial from my teacher is so written that it makes me feel uneasy.”

Shu Youliang curled his lips, “When our master submitted a memorial, it attracted worldwide attention. Once it was published, thousands of people became restless. Hiss, Haoju, you are not a criminal, so why are you so restless when reading the master’s memorial?”

Hai Rui came over and said calmly, “Hao Ju is worried about me.

Once I submitted this memorial, I was able to help Uncle Zhang out of his predicament. All the accusations and scoldings would no longer be directed at him, who was currently taking the examination, but at me.

I will replace Zhang Shuda and become the person most hated by officials and gentry.”

Shu Youliang was shocked. “Even more hated than Uncle Zhang? Doesn’t that mean I’ll be beaten up every time I go out? Master, how about we take it easy and let Uncle Zhang get all the hatred first, and then we can go in?”

Hai Rui stood outside the window, pointing to a dock outside where a ship was carrying people.

“See? What’s that doing?”

Fang Zhiyuan leaned out and looked at it and said, “That’s because the master, in the name of the governor, ordered all prefectures and counties not to stop the people from heading to Jiading, Shanghai and Wusong, and also encouraged the factories in Shanghai to rent ships to pick up the people looking for work.

This ship is for these people.”

The people included men and women, young and old, ragged, and families with them, but with smiles on their faces and full of expectations, they boarded the boat to hope along the plank.

Hai Rui looked at these people, with a smile on his face and tears in his eyes, and said leisurely: “Wherever the truth is, I will go even if there are tens of thousands of people.”

(End of this chapter)