Imperial Master of the Ming Dynasty

Jing Qing was suddenly startled when he heard Zhang Anshi's sudden words.

".Little girl."

The images of his two daughters flashed through his mind, and Jing Qing felt as if his heart was being squeezed tightly by an invisible hand, his breathing became rapid and his heartbeat accelerated.

Jing Qing, who was originally a little crazy, seemed to be poured cold water from top to bottom. He woke up instantly. He slowly closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Then, the madness in Jing Qing's eyes The color faded away, replaced by dead silence.

This feeling is like a drowning person grabbing the last life-saving straw, but because the life-saving straw was taken away by others, he has endless despair. This is the case for Jingqing. He stood there dullly, his eyes were dull, his lips were Shivering.

Jing Qing suddenly staggered a few steps, holding on to the iron railing with both hands. His eyes suddenly opened wide, as if he wanted to see through Jiang Xinghuo outside the cell. However, all he saw was Jiang Xinghuo's calm face and deep expression. Eyes.

"Bitch thief! I want to eat your flesh and sleep on your skin!!"

Jing Qing used the remaining half of his tongue, gritted his teeth, and spat out these words word by word.

Immediately, he let go of the iron railing and squatted on the ground dejectedly. He picked up his dirty and messy hair and growled in pain: "Ah——!"

His voice was shrill and tragic, like a wounded beast struggling to its death.

Mei Yin, who was beside him, frowned slightly. He turned to look at the emotional Jing Qing, a complicated look flashed in his eyes, but he did not interrupt.

Although it sounds like the fate of Jingqing's two daughters was a bit tragic, Jingqing should have made such preparations when he was preparing to assassinate Emperor Yongle, and in the final analysis, these things had nothing to do with him.

Jiang Xinghuo looked at the crazy man in front of him, his eyes narrowed slightly, and he said quietly: "I sent your two daughters to a private school in the countryside. No one knows their identities, and no one will Disturbing their lives, as for your grandmother."

At this point, Jiang Xinghuo paused.

"The emperor did not make things difficult for her. She was released. She never gave up hope in you. She cried blindly. She even borrowed money from people she knew from door to door, hoping to rescue you from the prison."

Jing Qing's whole body trembled violently as if struck by lightning, "W-what did you say?"

Jiang Xinghuo raised his eyes, fixed his gaze on Jing Qing, and continued: "Anyway, you have a pair of daughters, and they are waiting for you to come home. If you want to see them, I can send someone to pick them up from the private school in a few days. return."

After Jiang Xinghuo finished speaking, he turned around and left without saying another word.

Jing Qing's assassination of the emperor was a capital crime of a bad nature. No one could save him. If there was any chance of atonement, it would be nothing more than a public announcement in the newspapers to show his remorse. He himself would still die, but his relatives would always be better off. some.

But a pedantic scholar like Jing Qing dared to risk the lives of his whole family to assassinate the king. If there were no special circumstances, it would be impossible to rely on this family affection alone to persuade him to give up the orthodoxy of "relationship between heaven and man" that he defended with his life. possible.

Zhang Anshi, Xu Jingchang and others also left the imperial prison after visiting Mei Yin. Xu Miaojin's daughter's family was not suitable for entering such a place, and they were still waiting for them outside.

Jing Qing collapsed on the cold and damp floor of the prison, tears rolling down the corners of his eyes and dripping on the dirty clothes, making filthy flowers bloom.

He lay on his back on the cold ground, holding his cheeks with his hands, letting the salty tears soak into his eyelashes, flow along his cheeks, and into his pale, dry lips. An inexplicable pain hit his heart.

Jing Qing's body kept shaking, and his arms tightened tighter and tighter, as if he was afraid of losing something. He buried his head in his legs, his shoulders twitching slightly, like crying, more like a helpless whine.

This night, Jingqing slept very uneasily.

He dreamed that he had turned into a fish, swimming in the lake, surrounded by all kinds of brightly colored fish, swimming and playing happily.

Jingqing was like a fish that had been forgotten for a long time. No fish wanted to get close to him, and they were all afraid to avoid him. He watched them play alone, and he was unwilling to sink into it, so he swam desperately to the shore, and finally He climbed ashore, but at the same moment he climbed ashore, the childish laughter of a child came to his ears.

Jingqing couldn't help but listen to those sounds, and then he saw the two or three-year-old baby.

The doll's appearance is very similar to Jing Qing's, especially the black and clear eyes, which are almost identical.

The doll was smiling, holding a red fruit in its hand, and then ran towards Jingqing with staggering steps. The doll opened its arms and said in a sweet voice: "Yuyu, eat the fruit."

The action of the doll made Jing Qing stunned. He stared at the doll blankly, and for a moment he forgot to stretch out his non-existent hand to catch the fruit handed over by the doll.

The doll seemed to notice Jing Qing's hesitation. She tilted her little head and blinked her eyes, looking innocent and ignorant: "Yuyu, eat~"

The doll's soft and waxy voice awakened Jing Qing. He looked at the doll's carved face and showed a gentle smile.

He tried his best to open his mouth to catch the red fruit handed over by the doll, and took a bite. The sweet taste spread in his mouth. Jingqing's heart was filled with happiness, and even the haze just now dissipated a lot.

However, just when Jingqing was enjoying the rare and wonderful feeling, the doll suddenly stood up on tiptoes, reached out and touched Jingqing's face.

"Aren't you a fish, daddy? How did you become like this?"

Jing Qing froze.

The dream suddenly shattered. Jingqing gasped for breath like a drowning man being fished out. The moonlight fell and reflected on the paper covering his face.

"Di Bao" clearly stated that Jiang Xinghuo believes that there are yin and yang, contradictions, and conjectures about cloud droplets in the "rain" Tai Chi. All these conjectures will be proven in public in March.

Jing Qing, who was no longer crazy, read "Di Bao" again. He leaned his back against the cold and clammy prison wall and murmured.

"Am I really wrong? Is there really no divine connection in this world?"

For the first time, Jingqing felt doubtful about the orthodoxy that he could sacrifice his life to defend.

"No! No! This is a world in which there must be a message from heaven and humans. It won't rain in Jiangnan! I want to live. I want to live to see that day!"

Mei Yin, who was next door, was woken up by him and saw that Jing Qing was going crazy again. Although Mei Yin did not agree with Jiang Xinghuo's theory of physics, she believed that relying on human power to make the sky rain was simply a fantasy.

But when Mei Yin thought about Jiang Xinghuo's character and style during the day, she couldn't help but shake her head.

Outside the small window of the dungeon, several wailing sounds were heard along with the sound of wind. Upon hearing these sounds, Mei Yin frowned deeply.

Could it be

——————

The timeline goes back to daytime.

Looking at Jiang Xinghuo, Xu Jingchang, Zhang Anshi, and Zhu Yong, who returned to the prison as naturally and familiarly as returning to his own home, the three boys looked at each other quite a bit.

Judging from Jiang Xinghuo's attitude towards Jing Qing's family just now, it seems that the Imperial Master is either too rich, or he is indeed a gentle and pure gentleman. The three of them are more inclined to the latter.

But what happened next quickly made them change their minds.

A gentleman cannot do such a terrible thing.

In the gloomy and silent execution chamber, the oil lamp on the wall flickered on and off. The light illuminated Ji Gang's calm and indifferent face, but it failed to dispel the madness and ferocity in his eyes.

None of Chu Daheng, Zong Chaoyi, and Fu Zhaobin, who took the lead in instigating the supervisors to cause trouble, escaped. They were all caught by the Jin Yiwei who acted efficiently.

"Master Imperial Master is here, let's begin."

Jinyiwei commander Ji Gang's voice was low and hoarse, which made Xu Jingchang and the other three who insisted on coming to observe the interrogation feel chills in their hearts.

These three and a half young men had never been to a place like a slaughterhouse. The blood stains on the floor and walls were so stained that it seemed they could never be wiped off.

Ji Gang's tone was still calm, but there was already a dagger in his hand. The tip of the knife was pressed against Chu Daheng's lower body. The cold and sharp touch made Chu Daheng swallow his saliva.

In Ji Gang's view, although this kind of threat is old-fashioned, it often has unexpected results, and is at least safer than direct execution.

If that doesn't work, it's not too late to be punished.

"What do you want to know?"

Chu Daheng finally relaxed and lowered his eyes slightly.

"That's right."

Ji Gang calmed down the violence in his eyes and returned to his smiling look, as if the scene just now did not exist at all. Even the fingers holding the knife seemed much more alive, twisting around on the handle.

"Tell me, why are you planning to incite the supervisors to go to Taiping Street in an attempt to hinder the reform?"

"Did you say you would let us go?" Chu Daheng raised his head and asked.

"It depends on what you said." Ji Gang was noncommittal.

"Ha!" Chu Daheng sneered, with a mocking arc on his lips, "Do you think I will believe it?"

Ji Gang felt that there was something tricky. The words of these supervisors were surprisingly tough, and they seemed to have already been determined to die. In the past few days, due to Emperor Yongle's request to go to the Sanfa Division for a joint trial in the future, the Jinyi guards were afraid that they would be killed. His body was covered with bruises, so he was not sentenced to death.

Ji Gang gave Jiang Xinghuo a look, asking if he wanted something serious.

Looking at these supervisors who almost caused the reform to fail, Jiang Xinghuo felt a little irritated for no reason.

But whether it was Jing Qing or these supervisors, they all looked as arrogant as martyrs, as if Jiang Xinghuo had become a heinous villain by promoting reforms.

Why is it so difficult to do something good for the Ming Dynasty and the people?

If Ming Dynasty clings to the concept of the connection between heaven and man, the Three Cardinal Guidelines and the Five Permanent Constitutions, won’t the final result be that he will continue to follow the same old path of his previous life?

In the end, the feeling of heaven and man was blown to pieces by Western cannons, and the three cardinal principles and five permanent principles were reduced to nothing in the violent changes.

Instead of being beaten passively, why not rise in advance?

Jiang Xinghuo had nothing to do with the stubbornness of these people's thoughts. He was a corrupt Confucian who had been fooled by studying Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism since he was a child. He firmly believed that what he did was right and that he was upholding the laws of nature, science, and reform. Any change in the status quo was wrong.

Jiang Xinghuo actually didn't want to be trapped in the center dealing with these messy things. He wanted to go deep into the countryside and get into the wave of manual factoryization that was about to begin.

But at the moment, it is obviously the most important thing to find out the mastermind behind it and eliminate hidden dangers for artificial rainfall in the near future.

Just when Jiang Xinghuo was thinking.

"Pooh!"

A mouthful of phlegm sprayed onto Jiang Xinghuo's extremely dense cloth shoes.

Chu Daheng laughed loudly and said: "Traitor, do you think we will give in?"

Ji Gang took out a white brocade handkerchief from his sleeve pocket, bent down and wiped it with Jiang Xinghuo, and then waved to the prison guard next to him.

A jailer approached suspiciously and said, "Commander Ji, please give your orders."

Ji Gang said: "Bring me water, I want to play slowly."

"yes."

The jailer responded, turned around and left quickly, quickly bringing a bucket of cold water.

Wow! Water splashed everywhere, and the several prison guards who were tied to the chairs were immediately doused with cold water.

Everyone cursed.

"Shut up!"

Ji Gang on the side immediately picked up a stick with tanned cowhide on it, dipped it in cold water, and beat him hard with the stick one by one. The beatings made the prison guards cry for father and mother.

However, despite this, several people were unwilling to reveal the person behind the scenes.

"Chu Daheng, my commander is asking you, why are you inciting the supervisors to cause trouble?"

Ji Gang slowly squatted down, stared into Chu Daheng's eyes and said.

Chu Daheng's turbid eyes flashed with hatred and resentment, and he snorted coldly: "I advise you to stop having delusions, I don't know anything!"

"Oh? Are you sure?" Ji Gang said calmly.

"Since you don't know anything."

Ji Gang's voice suddenly rose in pitch, and he raised his right hand and grabbed Chu Daheng's neck.

Chu Daheng's throat made a creaking sound, and he struggled desperately. With his limbs tied, he tried to break open Ji Gang's hand by turning his head, but no matter how hard he tried, he could not shake the latter's hand.

The pain of suffocation caused Chu Daheng's pupils to gradually dilate, and his face turned from rosy to purple.

Just when Chu Daheng was about to faint, Jiang Xinghuo stopped in time.

"enough!"

Ji Gang was a little angry. He was a professional in executions. If he didn't force them like this, how could he get them to reveal it?

Jiang Xinghuo called Ji Gang and Fu Er said something to him.

When Ji Gang heard this, his expression was quite strange.

"National Master, is this possible?" Ji Gang instinctively questioned.

Ji Gang had never heard of such "torture" and didn't know if it would work. He was really doubtful. However, since the Imperial Master had spoken, he could only do it.

But Ji Gang then thought about it, he was going to go to the Tribunal for trial anyway, so let’s try this method without causing serious injuries.

"Separate them, put each of them in a separate torture chamber, blindfold and tie them up."

Several guards in royal robes dragged away these rotten scholars who were sneering to themselves and looking like they were proud of themselves.

The three brothers Xu Jingchang, Zhu Yong, and Zhang Anshi, who were standing nearby and watching, also looked a little confused at this time.

Jiang Xinghuo didn't explain much, just said: "Notify me after the results are available."