The Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty《成化十四年》Chengnian Shisi Nian
The Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty vol 1, Chapter 4: Countering the Eunuch's plots
As one of the examiners, Qiu Juan naturally became a mentor to the candidates in that subject.
Among all the students, Tang Fan is the most famous one. Qiu Juan thought that if he worked hard on his studies, his future achievements would not be inferior to his own, so he accepted Tang Fan as his disciple. This is also a good story in the scholars at that time.
After Tang Fan was listed, he spent three years in the Imperial Hanlin Academy, and was assigned to the Shuntian Prefecture by the Ministry of Appointments, where he was the senior brother Pan, or he would have been assigned to the Imperial Hanlin Academy, or he would have been assigned to a remote county as a county magistrate.
It's common for an academic to sit on the bench or be assigned to a remote county to be a county magistrate. Although the party in charge of the government sounds more powerful than being a Prerfect, the emperor is far away from you. Who knows when you will be remembered by the emperor? After three years, there will be a new top scorer. Who will remember the name in a vast sea of people?
With this layer of the relations, the relationship between Tang Fan and Pan Bin can't be said to be not close.
Tang Fan also knew that his senior brother was not a treacherous official, only that he was a bit more mediocre and was afraid of getting into trouble, so he did his best for Pan Bin. After hearing pan Bin's complaints, he was not upset. Instead, he smiled: "how about a bet with my senior brother?"
Pan Bin was a bit unhappy, thinking that although it was fine to call out senior brother in private, I am still your superior officer, how could you be so respectful? However, due to the teacher's face, he couldn't care too much. He coughed softly and said, "You can have a lead?"
Tang Fan pointed to the empty bowl in front of him: "If I win, senior brother will return the favor by treating me to a bowl of minced pork noodle soup."
Pan Bin laughed, "Yeah, looks like you're going to treat me to another one."
Although Pan Bin has been taking care of the young brother because of his teacher, he has not taken Tang Fan's words seriously. In his opinion, Tang Fan is a newcomer to the officialdom and young enough to know what's at stake, as long as he doesn't get into trouble it’s all good.
As for his teacher's praise of Tang Fan, Pan Bin is even less concerned about it. He feels that his teacher is a great scholar, but he is really not good at being an official. Otherwise, he won't be on the same post many years later. His official position is even lower than that of a student.
The sudden death of the Marquis of Wu'an Mansion eldest son was quickly reported to the Shuntian Prefecture, and Pan Bin did not take Tang Fan's advice to pursue the matter, but after communicating with the Marquis of Wu'an in private, he directly identified Zheng Cheng as "Suddenly dying from a sudden attack of acute disease", thus, A-Lin, the servant girl present at the time, could not be blamed.
However, the Shuntian Prefecture is not in a position to say what the final decision will be, because the Marquis of Wu'an Mansion is involved, and the Marquis of Wu'an himself will certainly go to the emperor, and the emperor will certainly decide in the end.
In fact, A-Lin didn't kill him directly. Even if she really seduced Zheng Cheng, the man die indirectly of her ministrations. Even if she did, she would not be guilty of capital punishment. At best, she would be exiled. But how much crime would a single woman suffer after being sentenced to exile? Just think about it, she won't be able to or get to the destination along the way. What's more, the Marquis of Wu'an, if the Marquis of Wu'an wants to strangle a weak woman who is powerless and weak? He doesn't have to think about it. It's so easy.
Anyway, pan Bin's side is clear of responsibility.
The Marquis of Wu'an wanted to crush a weak woman who had no power and no authority, so it was easy.
Either way, Pan Bin's side is sort of off the hook.
But heaven forbid, the more Pan Bin wants big things to be small, the more things will go against his will.
The year was destined to be an eventful one, after all.
The cause of the incident goes back two months, in March, the Right Deputy Imperial Censor Chen Yi wrote a petition to reopen the Liaodong province horse market, about which the old feud between Duoyan Sanwei and the Ming Dynasty can be traced back to the time of Emperor Yongle, who was like an old woman's shrouded and feet bound, smelly and let’s not talk about it. [1] The Censorate is a supervisory agency like the Overseers of other ministries.
Some people thought that Duoyan Sanwei should strangle their throats and not let go of their upper hand, and that reopening the horse market was tantamount to taking the initiative to back down from Duoyan Sanwei, and that the court would not be able to face the future without saying so, and would let these people get an inch in their way. However, because of Wang Zhi's support, the emperor finally agreed with Chen Yi's present a memorial to the emperor, and he let Chen Yi go to Liaodong Province and be the governor.
As a result, in less than two months, Chen Yi falsely claimed the establishment of Jurchen clan as a plot a rebellion; a crime to conspire against the state, make a surprise attack; to pounce people's heads as merit and report it, causing the Liaodong province riots, after being reported and exposed, the emperor naturally sent his men to find out the truth and in the meantime appease those who were harassed by Chen Yi, at which time the Western Depot official Wang Zhi volunteered to serve the emperor.
Of course, Wang Zhi was doing it for the sake of merit, but this kind of thing has been done by many people, and it is very common in the political circles of The Great Ming.
But the Ministry of War minister Yu Zizhun came out against it, arguing that the most pressing task now was to send someone who was well versed in military affairs, so as to solve the problem quickly. The implication is that Wang Zhi, a layman, should not go there as it may cause more troubles.
Of course, Wang Zhi was furious. He found out that although he was favored by the emperor and had established the Western Depot, he was not yet able to pull the strings because there were still many people opposing him.
At the right time, there was a series of earthquakes in Taiping Prefecture of Guangxi and Yanjing fortification in Sichuan, causing serious casualties. Wang Zhi, on the pretext of warning from heaven, said that the imperial ruler had some treacherous people at his side and took the opportunity to make a complaint before the emperor, first kicking Yu Zizhun's brother, Ma Wensheng from the Ministry of War, to the Liaodong province, breaking one of Yu Zizhun's arms, and then, on the pretext of letting the Imperial Censor monitor the local disaster relief, so that no one would be enriched off the back off the coffers, he kicked the Imperial Censor, who spoke on Yu Zizhun's behalf, to the local area and completely isolated him.
The struggle of these central chiefs of the court had nothing to do with Pan Bin. However, the Marquis of Wu'an Mansion's murder case coincided with the time, and Wang Zhi took it to the Emperor to demand a thorough investigation, saying that the Western Depot could join the investigation if necessary, and that the Marquis of Wu'an must be allowed with the truth.
When this news came out, Pan Bin couldn't sit still anymore, and things turned out exactly as his younger brother had said!
The other party is only in their early twenties, although talented, the teacher also admired, accepted him as a disciple, but after all, he is just out of the hut, just entered the officialdom, Pan Bin did not take Tang Fan's words to heart, and because of this, he felt that Tang Fan is just a young man too arrogant, uninformed, there to point out the machinations of things just a little bit, who knows that not long after, the words of the same master young brother came true one by one, not a bit different.
On the other hand, as the Shuntian Prefecture's Master, a Regular Third Rank officer, he has half-stepped into the middle of the mess, but he still has no idea what to do. Yet, he doesn't see things clearly like a small Prefect from a Lower Sixth Rank
The matter has come to this, he hastened to call Tang Fan here, in a hurry to turn to the doctor in a hurry, in the past, he used to hold up a prideful self and not call out to his younger brother, now there is no psychological obstacle. He said the causes and consequences again, and finally said: "younger martial brother, in your opinion, there is still room for mitigating this situation?"
Given Pan Bin's status, the speed of getting the news was of course much faster than Tang Fan, and Tang Fan was not surprised, his face was even less flashy as he pondered for a moment and said, "It depends on what Senior Brother wants to do."
Pan Bin said in his heart how else do I want to do, of course I want to keep my official position and not be held accountable!
He coughed lightly, "The Marquis of Wu'an said to me in private that he wanted to make this case a small one, but Wang Zhi is so strong this time, and he has the trust of His Majesty, so I am afraid it will be difficult for him to do well. I'm impeached. I can't say that the Shuntian Prefecture is going to be involved. If you have a way, you can say it."
Tang Fan said: "The Marquis of Wu'an and Senior brother have no grudge against Wang Zhi, and the murder of Zheng Cheng has nothing to do with him, he will not be at fault with you for nothing. If it happens like this, it's just that Wang Zhi wants to establish his authority and frighten the courtiers."
Pan Bin grimaced bitterly, "It's none of my business if he makes his mark, it's not like I'm Yu Zizhun, nor have I offended him!"
Tang Fan: "Minister Yu is an old minister of the former dynasty, and has always had prestige, Wang Zhi can't take him on for a while, so he can only find someone to take his revenge, as the saying goes, a fire at the city gate is a calamity for the fish in the pond."
Pan Bin was in a bad mood, "You still have the heart to laugh, your senior brother is going to be dismissed, are you happy?"
Tang Fan was not panicked either, arching his hands, "Senior brother, forgive me, but has Master ever asked a few of his men what they said?"
Pan Bin had two handlers, one named Lu Feng and one named Jiang Dongyuan, both of whom Tang Fan had met.
Pan Bin sighed, "One of them told me to go and make amends to Wang Zhi and give gifts, and one said to present a memorial to the emperor to please him!"
Present a memorial to the emperor is a must, now Wang Zhi in front of the emperor to counted down the Shuntian Prefecture's incompetence, Pan Bin must present a memorial to the emperor, but how to write the counter memorial is also an art, more importantly, we also need to see the emperor's mood, and if the person who wrote the memorial in front of the emperor cannot speak well its bad news, Pan Bin is worried that once his memorial is presented, Wang Zhi will front of the emperor to provoke him a few sentences, let the emperor feel that Pan Bin is very incompetent, then the end Shuntian Prefecture's Master is decided.
Pan Bin was a bit hesitant to give Wang Zhi a gift to make amends.
The dynasty is now divided into three main factions: those who depend on Wang Zhi, and those who oppose Wang Zhi.
There were also neutral ones, such as Pan Bin and Tang Fan's teacher Qiu Juan, whose old man was just the Imperial College man, so neutral would be the definition on neutral, and no one would bother to pull him along.
Pan Bin wants to be a neutral too, both ways, but in his position, it's a bit harder.
See, originally a small case, although the identity of the deceased is not simple, but carefully investigated and dealt with and it will be just that, but now because the dynasty is involved in the dispute between the various factions, suddenly the small case became complicated.
Tang Fan: "Senior brother, what do you think of this person, Wang Zhi?"
Pan Bin froze and thought for a moment, "Not simple."
It is indeed not simple.
An inner eunuch younger than Tang fan suddenly rose in just a year, gaining the trust of the emperor and the imperial noble consort Wan, and establishing the Western Depot, which was powerful one. Pan Bin heard that an official who went to the capital to report on his duties met Wang Zhi, who was not overbearing or humble, and did not curry favor with him as other people did, but scolded him in public, after which Wang Zhi not only did not care, but also praised the official for his dignity, and rumor has it that he was tolerant of people, and he arrested and killed many officials through the Western Depot, and set up many enemies, acted brutally, and was very much indifferent to command, and caused trouble to others.
All in all, this is a person who can take advantage of the momentum, if in a chaotic world, it cannot be said that one side of the lord is right, but if the general civil servant want to treat eunuchs with the kind of disdain, then the only person who will suffer in the end is that person himself.
Tang Fan: "Generally eunuchs are not greedy for money, but Wang Zhi is an exception, he does not love money, but loves fame and power. The fact that he helped His Majesty in that matter two years ago, and took advantage of the 'Demon Fox Case', he was able to pull up a banner and build the Western Depot, pulling in his own power, two years ago, how many people had heard of the name Wang Zhi, and now you have to ask again, how many people don't know Wang Zhi these, so giving gifts and bribes, it works for the ordinary little Yellow Sect, but not for Eunuch Wang."
He speaks in an unpleasant tone, pious, yet gives off a sense of composure and reliability.
After analyzing the reasoning, Pan Bin was completely convinced and nodded his head: "Not bad, Lao Jiang has been my advisor for some years in vain, but his knowledge of Wang Zhi is not as good as yours. So what should I do according to you?"
Tang Fan: "Present a memorial to the emperor is a must, but senior brother can do it like this...."
Hearing this, Pan Bin's eyes lit up and he laughed, "That's a good idea!"
The next day, Pan Bin made a memorial.
First, he earnestly pleaded his guilt and told the emperor of all his unavoidable hardships. Then he turned to the Emperor and said that since Eunuch Wang had impeached the Shuntian Prefecture, it must be that there was still room for improvement, so he might as well ask the Western Depot, the Eastern Depot, Jinyiwei, the Ministry of Justice, the Dali Temple to intervene in the investigation, so they can return the truth to the Marquis of Wu'an Mansion eldest son’s death.
The politic pool was already unclean, and Pan Bin simply stirred it up even more.
That's the idea Tang Fan came up with for Pan Bin.
Wang Zhi was too overbearing, and there were not a few people he didn't like. This proposal was exactly just what some people in the dynasty wanted, and Tang Fan was able to get them to do the same, and once Pan Bin played his part in presenting the memorial, the others encouraged him, and the proposal was quickly approved by the Emperor.
With so many authorities involved, no matter what the end result was, the Shuntian Prefecture's responsibility would naturally be much lighter. As the saying goes, the fish all fled in a scattered manner, and there was no point in killing one if you were looking for the lot. [1] Basically if you were looking get a Bugatti and the seller says it’s not available and tell you to get a Peugeot even if they are both cars. It’s better to leave it. The Shuntian Prefecture will get less punishment, but not total closure and demotions
The Marquis of Wu'an Mansion case, which was already nearing completion, was back to square one, starting over again, and it's laughable.
No one would have thought that the person behind this was a small official from the Lower Sixth Rank.
- The Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty -
The author has something to say: 1, In fact, Eunuch Wang also loves money, not like in this article is written only like fame and power, haha.
2, about the reopening of the Liaodong province horse market, although there is such a thing in history, but here was added some fictional plot, no need to delve deeper.
3, you should notice that although the story begins with a case, it is not only about the case, but also involves many aspects of the struggle for power and profit. Pan Bin's desire to be a non-meddlesome official is not offended. There is such a beautiful thing. There has never been such a thing in the world. If there is, both sides of the story must be idiots~
Hai am dina, i so love this novel. May i translate to Indonesia
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