Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 235 Attitude Change
Ever since meeting Feng Quan, Zhu Shenzui has been patiently waiting for the follow-up.

A few days later, someone came to invite Zhu Shenzhui to his house. The person was Feng Quan's man. Zhu Shenzhui immediately knew what was going on. He readily agreed, changed his clothes and went to Feng Quan's place.

"Master Feng, what are you doing...?"

When he saw Feng Quan this time, Zhu Shenzhui was stunned and a look of shock appeared on his face.

"Lieutenant..." Feng Quan saluted Zhu Shenzhui without saying a word. This salute was solemn and there was no longer the casualness in his expression.

"Lord Feng..."

"Thank you for your reminder, Lieutenant. I am very grateful to you."

“No, no, I’m just giving you a friendly reminder. But why are you dressed like this today, Lord Feng…?” Looking at Feng Quan in mourning clothes, Zhu Shenzui couldn’t help but ask again.

Feng Quan's eyes suddenly turned red. He invited Zhu Shenzhui to take a seat. After they sat down, he told Zhu Shenzhui that his father Feng Shengming had passed away.

"Ah! Master Feng... this... when did this happen?" Zhu Shenzhui quickly stood up and asked in surprise.

Feng Quan raised his hand to wipe the tears from the corners of his eyes, and told Zhu Shenzhui with a sad face that it happened a few days ago. Ever since his father Feng Shengming was arrested on the charge of impeachment by the Donglin Party and imprisoned in the Ministry of Justice, the court soon made a judgment.

Perhaps it was because it was too far-fetched to link Feng Shengming with the Liaodong War. How could a Left Governor in Henan know about the situation of the Liaodong War? And how could he conclude that Liaodong would be defeated before the Liaodong War even started, and abandon his post and flee in fear?
This kind of thing is justifiable in any way and no one can believe it. The Emperor Tianqi was not stupid. Feng Shengming was the Left Governor of Henan, not the Left Governor of Shandong, nor the Governor of Liaodong. The war in Liaodong had nothing to do with him. The Donglin Party pulled these things and made Feng Shengming a target for two reasons. One reason was to exonerate Wang Huazhen of some charges. Although Wang Huazhen had been sentenced to death, as a member of the Donglin Party, there were still many people in the Donglin Party who wanted to rescue Wang Huazhen. If more people could share the responsibility, Wang Huazhen's crime could be lighter, and it is not impossible to find a way to get him out when there is a chance in the future.

Secondly, Feng Shengming had applied for leave three times but was not approved by Zhang Woxu, so he had no choice but to resign on his own, which was tantamount to losing face for Zhang Woxu. Zhang Woxu was also a member of the Donglin Party. If others followed suit, where would the dignity of the Donglin Party be?
Killing the chicken to scare the monkey, dragging Feng Shengming into the Liaodong war, so that everyone in the world can see the consequences of offending the Donglin Party, this is another intention of the Donglin Party. Unfortunately, Feng Shengming became the monkey and suffered a great misfortune.

In the eyes of the Donglin Party, Feng Shengming was just a former Henan Left Governor who had left his post. He was not a member of the party and had no big background or support in the court. And his son Feng Quan was a nobody in the Hanlin Academy. A mere seventh-rank Hanlin Academy reviewer was nothing at all. It was most appropriate to target them.

After Feng Shengming was arrested, the Donglin Party originally planned to severely punish him, but the Tianqi Emperor saw through the Donglin Party's intentions at a glance and found something fishy. In the end, under the intervention of the Tianqi Emperor, Feng Shengming was not punished for the Liaodong War. However, in order not to irritate the Donglin Party, the Tianqi Emperor still sentenced Feng Shengming to caning and dismissal from office on the grounds that Feng Shengming had left his post without permission. According to the provisions of the Ming Dynasty Law, "Any official who leaves his post without reason shall be caned 40 times; if he is away from home due to seeking refuge, he shall be caned 100 times and dismissed from office without re-employment."

After the verdict was handed down, Feng Shengming was sentenced to 100 strokes of the cane and dismissed from his post. Poor Feng Shengming, an old man over 50 years old and in poor health, was beaten with a full 100 strokes of the cane and almost beaten to death.

After the beating, Feng Shengming was released and returned home, but he died a few days after arriving home. At this time, Feng Quan had just sent someone back to Beijing to inquire about the news. When the person sent back to Beijing heard about this, he rushed back to report to Feng Quan overnight. Feng Quan screamed and fell to the ground instantly. Others rushed to treat him. After Feng Quan woke up, he burst into tears, beat his chest and cried loudly.

Feng Quan never expected that things would turn out like this. His father worked diligently for the country for decades and was promoted to the position of Left Governor (a high-ranking official), but ended up like this just because he asked for leave due to illness. Thinking of the cruelty and shamelessness of the Donglin Party, Feng Quan was so angry that he gnashed his teeth and wished that he could cut Zhang Woxu, Zhang Shenyan and others into pieces to relieve his hatred.

When Feng Quan came to Shanxi, he wanted to do something to make a name for himself. After arriving in Shanxi, although he encountered many difficulties in the investigation, Feng Quan did not give up and continued to think about how to deal with it and give an explanation to the emperor and the Donglin Party.

But now he was working in Shanxi, and the Donglin Party in the court attacked him and his son, and even beat his father Feng Shengming to death. The hatred for killing his father was irreconcilable, and Feng Quan now regarded the Donglin Party as an enemy. How could he be a son if he didn't take revenge?

With the change of his mentality, Feng Quan no longer had the idea of ​​continuing to investigate Zhu Shenzhui, because even if he found out Zhu Shenzhui's problems, what would that mean? Would he be working for his enemy?
Besides, Feng Quan had already seen clearly during his time in Shanxi that Shanxi was a very complicated place. Whether it was private salt or smuggling trade, there were many conflicts of interest. Not to mention that they had not yet found Zhu Shenzhui's problem, even if they caught him, what would it matter? If Feng Quan was not wrong, not to mention whether there was smuggling with the Mongols, there was already the shadow of Wei Zhongxian behind the private salt. Once Wei Zhongxian was involved, Feng Quan would not be able to bear the responsibility.

"Revenge! Revenge!" Now Feng Quan kept repeating these two words in his mind, and his mind was full of thoughts of avenging his father.

But how easy is it to take revenge? Feng Quan, a mere seventh-rank Imperial Academy reviewer, is like an egg hitting a stone when he wants to fight against the Donglin Party. To deal with the Donglin Party, one must have a strong backer, but this backer is not so easy to find. The Emperor Tianqi is naturally the best candidate, but with his current status, it is good enough to meet the emperor once, how can he take the emperor as a backer?

Apart from the emperor, the only person who could compete with the Donglin Party was Eunuch Wei Zhongxian. As Wei Zhongxian's power grew, the conflict between him and the Donglin Party became deeper and deeper. Feng Quan, a member of the Hanlin Academy, was very clear about this situation.

But Feng Quan had no way to get in touch with Wei Zhongxian. Although he was accompanied by people from the East Factory when he came to Shanxi on official business, he had already felt that these people from the East Factory did not fully cooperate with him, and on the contrary, they were secretly monitoring him.

Especially after he found out that Wei Zhongxian was behind Zhu Shencui's private salt business, he could no longer trust these Dongchang thugs. It was impossible to get in touch with Wei Zhongxian through these thugs. The only person in front of him was Zhu Shencui.

It's funny to say that Feng Quan came here to investigate Zhu Shenzhui, but now he is asking Zhu Shenzhui for help. The development of the matter has completely exceeded the initial expectations of the two and has become what it is now.

Feng Quan invited Zhu Shenzhui today with the intention of having a frank talk with him in private. He told Zhu Shenzhui that he could let the matter of Shanxi go and reply to the emperor that there was no case of royal family members in Shanxi engaging in smuggling, but he also had a condition, which was that he hoped to establish a relationship with Wei Zhongxian through Zhu Shenzhui.

"Master Feng, me and Eunuch Wei?" Zhu Shenzhui looked shocked and shook his head like a rattle. "How can a member of the royal family like me have any relationship with Eunuch Wei? Master Feng, you can't say such nonsense. If it gets out, it's fine for me, a member of the royal family, but what if Eunuch Wei..."

Feng Quan slapped his forehead with a "slap" sound, and immediately said in shame: "The lieutenant is right, Feng said the wrong thing, the lieutenant naturally has no relationship with Eunuch Wei, Feng can guarantee this. But Lieutenant, Feng just wants to ask the lieutenant, after all, the lieutenant is a royal family, do you know how to worship Eunuch Wei?"

"Master Feng, what you said is true. I am a royal family member, but royal families have their own rules. Collusion with the palace is a taboo. How can I know about Eunuch Wei's situation? What's more, I have never even seen Eunuch Wei in my life. Master Feng, you are asking the wrong person. Please don't hurt me!"

"This..." Zhu Shenzhu denied it flatly, leaving Feng Quan speechless for a moment, not knowing what to do. He originally thought that if he spoke to Zhu Shenzhu openly today, Zhu Shenzhu would be able to show him a way forward. But he didn't expect Zhu Shenzhu to be so cautious and not reveal his relationship with Wei Zhongxian at all, and refused to admit it no matter how much he begged.

Feng Quan's face looked a little ugly. He thought for a while and lowered his voice to tell Zhu Shenzhui that he had asked him for this matter. As long as Zhu Shenzhui agreed, everything in Shanxi would be easy. He would not tell anyone about his instructions, and everyone understood it tacitly.

"Lord Feng, what you said makes me more and more confused. What's going on in Shanxi? What's going on in Shanxi? What's going on with me?" Zhu Shenzhui asked meaningfully with a faint smile on his face.

"The matter in Shanxi..." Feng Quan was about to speak, but when the words came to his lips, he suddenly understood something and immediately changed his words: "Haha, the lieutenant is right, there is indeed nothing wrong in Shanxi, and it has nothing to do with the lieutenant."

"Really? Is it really alright?" Zhu Shenzhui asked with a half-smile. Seeing Feng Quan slightly stunned, he took a sip of tea and said slowly, "I heard that something happened in Shanxi. Could it be that Lord Feng didn't come here for this? It is said that someone in the court colluded with Shanxi merchants to make profits? There is also the case of smuggling to Mongolia. I don't know whether this is true or not. Why doesn't Lord Feng check it out?"

Feng Quan was stunned again, and then he understood something. He looked at Zhu Shenzhui deeply and nodded slightly: "What the lieutenant said makes sense. This matter really needs to be investigated carefully. By the way, lieutenant, I remember you mentioned the matter of royal family salaries in the general's mansion before?"

"Oh, Lord Feng still remembers that?"

"Of course I remember. If you have nothing to do today, why don't you talk to me about the royal family's salary? Oh, do you have the booklet you brought last time? Can you lend it to me? I will return to the capital to report after I finish my official business. If I can see the emperor at that time, I may be able to ask for the salary for you to help the royal family solve their urgent needs."

"Haha! Hahaha!" Upon hearing these words, Zhu Shenzui suddenly laughed out loud. As his laughter sounded, Feng Quan's heart gradually calmed down, and a meaningful smile also appeared on his face.

(End of this chapter)