After Zeng Xin was beheaded, Xia Yan was also imprisoned by the Jinyiwei and tried for his crimes.
From this point alone, it can be seen that in the Emperor's mind, Xia Yan's guilt is more serious than Zeng Xin's.
After all, Zeng Xin was imprisoned in the Ministry of Justice before being convicted, while Xia Yan was imprisoned in the imperial prison.
Since the establishment of the imperial prison, countless ministers have been imprisoned. How many of them came out alive?
For Yan Song and his party, this was naturally something worth celebrating.
As a "meritorious person" of the Yan Party, Zhao Wenhua was praised by Yan Song and Yan Shifan, and became very popular among Yan Song's many godsons.
As long as Xia Yan died, the court would belong to the Yan Party, and Xia Yan's disciples and former officials would no longer be able to cause any trouble.
Zhao Wenhua felt that he was much closer to the position of Tongzhengshi.
He returned home, took a comfortable tub bath, and prepared to have some romance with his new concubine, but at this moment he received a letter from home in Hangzhou.
The letter home was written by his younger brother Zhao Wenjie.
Zhao Wenhua had assumed the letter was just a casual chat, but Zhao Wenjie actually lamented the humiliation his family had suffered in Hangzhou. He had even been stripped of his pants and given forty lashes of the cane by Governor Zhu Wan in public. Not only had he been bedridden for a month, he had also suffered utter disgrace.
Zhao Wenhua couldn't help but get furious.
Although Zhu Wan hit Zhao Wenjie's butt, it was Zhao Wenhua's face that was actually slapped.
The Governor of Fujian and Zhejiang was just an official with such great power that he didn't take the Zhao family seriously at all.
Zhu Wan didn't even open his eyes to see who Zhao Wenhua belonged to, and who had the final say in the court now.
This guy is really courting death!
Zhao Wenhua thought about it carefully and realized that Zhu Wan had no connection with the Yan Party. So he had no worries at all and could do his job with ease.
...
...
Many officials from Zhejiang lived in the Zhejiang Guild Hall in the capital.
Most of the officials living here are newly appointed officials who have only recently been appointed and have very little financial resources.
Rice is expensive in the capital, and it is difficult to live there.
They couldn't afford to buy a house, so they lived here temporarily.
Cui Lu, the military censor, was one of them.
He was a Jinshi in the 26th year of Jiajing's reign, and now, a whole year after passing the imperial examination, he still couldn't afford to buy a house.
This is naturally a shameful thing. You know, it is impossible to buy a three-story house in the capital with just the salary from the court.
In desperation, Cui Lu chose to join the Yan Party.
It's nice to take shelter under a big tree. Having a backer not only makes it easier to get promoted, but also makes money.
Of course, a seventh-rank official like Cui Lu could not have contact with Yan Song.
The officials from the capital who were rushing to give gifts to Lord Yan could line up from Yan’s mansion to outside the city gate, so how could it be Cui Lu’s turn?
As a seventh-rank official in front of the prime minister, I'm afraid even the gatekeeper of Yan's mansion would not even look at him.
As a second best option, Cui Lu chose to join Yan's party's number one lackey, Zhao Wenhua.
This man is the godson that Lord Yan praises highly. If Zhao Wenhua says he is second to none in being a bootlicker, no one dares to say he is first.
Of course, even Yan Song's godson had a huge appetite.
With Cui Lu's salary, he couldn't even afford to buy a shabby gift.
But Cui Lu has power.
The Ming Dynasty had a very complete supervisory system, and supervisory officials were mainly based on censors.
The six departments are the Jieshizhong, and the dao are the thirteen supervisory censors.
The thirteen censors were responsible for supervising the provincial governments, while the six censors were mainly responsible for supervising the six ministries.
But the rules are dead and the people are alive.
It does not mean that the Censors can only supervise local areas, nor does it mean that the Six Departments’ Secretaries can only supervise the six ministries.
In fact, the Jieshizhong could not only impeach local officials, but could even impeach and advise the emperor.
During the Hongzhi period, the Imperial Censorate would often refute the emperor's edicts and point out his shortcomings from time to time.
But in the Jiajing period, this right of the Jieshizhong was basically meaningless. Except for those ruthless people who deliberately cheated to gain fame by being caned in the court, who would go against their own future for no reason? If they were not careful, they would be beaten to death by the court.
To put it bluntly, the censors were bullies who only feared the strong and bullied the weak. Seeing that Emperor Hongzhi was easy to bully, they rushed forward and spitted everywhere. Seeing that Emperor Jiajing was cruel, they obediently became his subjects.
After all, the terrifying ceremony of beating people with sticks broke the spines of Ming officials.
You can’t criticize the emperor, but you can still criticize others.
Zhao Wenhua valued Cui Lu's power to criticize others and recruited him under his command.
Today is a day off, and Cui Lu finally has time to rest.
He was in the Zhejiang Guild Hall, drinking tea and eating oranges, and was in a very good mood.
Just then he saw a luxurious sedan parked at the door of the guild hall and became interested.
There are strict regulations on the sedan chairs used by officials in Beijing. Officials of different ranks ride in different types of sedan chairs, and any violation of the regulations is strictly prohibited.
Only officials of the fourth rank or above would sit in a luxurious sedan like this.
Soon an official in a red robe walked out of the sedan chair. Cui Lu felt that he looked familiar, but he could not see clearly because he was too far away.
What was even more amazing was that the official in the scarlet robe was walking straight towards him.
Getting closer, becoming clearer.
Soon Cui Lu saw the face clearly.
Isn’t this Zhao Wenhua, the number one lackey of the Yan Party?
"Zhao Tongzheng's presence has brought honor to my humble abode!"
Cui Lu went out with a big smile on his face, hunched over like a shrimp.
Zhao Wenhua coughed and asked, "Cui Bingke has always lived in the Zhejiang Guild Hall?"
Cui Lu smiled and said, "I just can't bear to leave these fellow countrymen."
Zhao Wenhua thought to himself that it was obvious that you couldn't afford the house, yet you spoke so righteously.
"It's rare that Cui Bingke never forgets his roots."
Cui Lu quickly extended his arm and said, "Zhao Tongzheng, thank you for your compliment. Please come in."
Zhao Wenhua was not polite either. He strode ahead with one hand behind his back.
Cui Lu followed closely, always half a body length behind Zhao Wenhua.
When Zhao Wenhua walked to the front of the house, Cui Lu hurriedly opened the door for him.
As soon as Zhao Wenhua entered the house, he was greeted by a musty smell, which made him frown and pinch his nose.
"Why is the smell so strong?"
"Hey, this room is in the shade and the rent is cheap..."
Cui Lu explained somewhat awkwardly.
"Zhao Tongzheng, please take a seat."
Zhao Wenhua glanced around the room. There were only two chairs in total, and there wasn't much to choose from.
He randomly picked a chair and sat down. Just when he was about to drink a cup of tea, he saw the orange peels on the small table, and for a moment, all his desires disappeared.
The sanitary conditions of this house are very worrying!
"If Zhao Tongzheng has any instructions, just send someone to summon me. I am always available. How dare I trouble Zhao Tongzheng to come to my humble home in person?"
Zhao Wenhua thought to himself, you keep calling this house "my humble abode" as if it really belongs to you, but it's not rented.
He tried to be courteous and cleared his throat, saying, "Cui Bingke is a pillar of the country. Don't underestimate yourself. God helps those who help themselves."
Cui Lu hurriedly climbed up the pole.
"Zhao Tongzheng is absolutely right. Listening to your words is worth ten years of reading!"
After a short pause, Cui Lu thought that he had nothing to offer Zhao Wenhua, so he picked up an orange and handed it to Zhao Wenhua, saying, "Zhao Tongzheng, have an orange."
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