Meishan Su family, Su Yun is the most virtuous

Chapter 129: Unparalleled Eloquence, Jiangyou Su Lang! (Haha, this chapter is so cool!)

He Zhengchen's face changed drastically when he heard this. This was the most taboo thing in his heart.

It is a common consensus that "literary inquisition" was not prevalent in the Song Dynasty.

You can play a prank on someone in other ways, but you cannot find fault with their writing.

He falsely accused Su Shi, which led to Su Shi's arrest and imprisonment. Unexpectedly, the court and the public were shocked, and the literati and scholars all sighed and lamented.

Many senior officials and ministers came to the emperor to plead for Su Shi, and even Zhang Dun, a reformist, came out to plead for Su Shi, saying that Renzong had Su Shi as a treasure of his generation. Now that Your Majesty has thrown him into prison, I am afraid that future Your Majesties will not cherish talents but listen to flattery.

Wang Anshi, who was in retreat in Jiangning at the time, also wrote in a letter: How can a sage kill talented people?
He Zhengchen considered himself a capable leader of the New Law Faction. However, both the former leader of the Reform Faction, Wang Anshi, and the current leader, Zhang Dun, did not approve of his approach, and this matter had been a source of resentment for him.

At this time, He Zhengchen was ridiculed in front of many senior officials by a scholar who had no official position and no achievements. He Zhengchen was immediately furious and the anger that had been accumulating in his heart finally found its target.

He Zhengchen was furious, pointing at Su Yun and saying, "You are a descendant of a criminal official who wrote treasonous words, was a vagrant, visited prostitutes in brothels, engaged in business, and had a corrupt character. How dare you insult an official in person? You really don't know how to live or die. I must report Su Shi for the crime of allowing his relatives to commit murder!"

Su Yun laughed and said, "I don't dare to accept the talk of treason, as for the rest of the talk about being a vagrant, doing business, and having a bad character, I am just a commoner with no achievements or official positions, so what does it have to do with me?
As for you, Minister He, I heard, just heard, that when Minister He was the military judge of Yuanzhou, he once sentenced an unjust case for a thousand strings of cash, causing an innocent person to die tragically...

Oh, don't get excited. It's still unknown whether this is true or not. I just heard about it. You look so upright and you should have never done anything to frame others. This is definitely false. It's false."

He Zhengchen was more than just excited. He was furious, furious, furious. He pointed his finger at Su Yun with a trembling voice and said, "You are slandering me. I have never framed anyone for a thousand strings of cash! Tell me the truth, or today, either you die or I die!"

Su Yun waved his hands repeatedly and said, “I just heard it from others.

Before, I only heard it from a friend in Yuanzhou, and he spoke very convincingly.

The victim, Sun Yuan, had his ancestral land occupied by the evil landlord Li Rui, so he angrily filed a complaint with the Yuanzhou Provincial Court. The court found the case to be true after investigation and wanted to hold the evil landlord Li Rui accountable.

Li Rui was terrified and went to He Zhengchen, the military judge of Yuanzhou at that time, to plead for mercy. He Zhengchen asked for a thousand strings of money. Although Li Rui was reluctant to give it, he had to give it in order to get out of the situation.

As expected, the provincial court ruled again that Sun Yuan had made a false accusation. Sun Yuan was sentenced to prison for the false accusation. It is unknown how he confessed, but he died suddenly in prison a few days later. Sun Yuan’s ancestral land was also occupied by someone else.

Alas, I was furious when I heard that, but now it seems that my friend was just talking nonsense. "

Su Yun's account was indeed very detailed. The names of the victims, the evil gentry, the money involved, and the course of events were all in great detail. It did not seem like something that was made up on the spur of the moment. Many officials looked at He Zhengchen with strange expressions.

He Zhengchen was so angry that his face turned red. He had never done such a thing before. He had never heard of any of these Sun Yuan and Li Rui!
Su Yun looked at He Zhengchen who had lost his composure and was very impressed: As expected, the quarreling skills taught by Su Che were indeed extremely advanced.

This tactic can be described in the words of Su Che: When someone finds fault with you, don't prove your innocence, but throw dirty water on him and ask him to prove his innocence. In this way, the host and the guest will be in control.

The so-called Sun Yuan and Li Rui were completely fictitious and were made up by Su Yun on the spot. As a serious author who wrote the Romance of the Three Kingdoms with more than one million words, it was just a piece of cake for him to make up such a simple injustice.

As for the matter of He Zhengchen being the military judge of Yuanzhou, Zhang Dun only mentioned it in passing when he was talking about He Zhengchen.

At this time, Su Yun weaved all these details together, and it seemed so complete, as if it had really happened.

The senior officials looked at He Zhengchen's awkward appearance and thought, this must be true. If it was false, he would have the confidence to refute it one by one in a dignified manner. How could this be?

Thinking of this, the senior officials looked at He Zhengchen with a bit of contempt in their eyes.

He Zhengchen saw this contempt, and he was even more ashamed and angry. He pointed at Su Yun and said, "He is slandering me, he is slandering me. How could I do something that would kill people just for a thousand strings of cash?"

Su Yun quickly said, "That's right, that's right, I just heard it from someone, don't take it seriously!

Although my friend is from Yuanzhou, this kind of thing is most likely fake.

How can one bribe a judge with only one thousand strings of cash? Under him are the recorders, judicial officers, and so on. How can one bribe so many people with only one thousand strings of cash?

The salaries of officials in our Song Dynasty are the highest in history. Who would be embarrassed by such a small amount of money? Unless there is something else to gain...

Oh, Sun Yuan died suddenly in prison, and his land was occupied by others. This... this... Minister He, I am not doubting you. I am just analyzing it from the perspective of the case.

If Sun Yuan had thousands of acres of land, this good farmland could be sold for at least ten strings of coins. If it were thousands of acres, it would be worth tens of thousands of strings of coins.

This… this… it’s impossible, it’s impossible, how could a person with thousands of acres be involved by an evil gentry, hahahaha, I’m overthinking it, overthinking it.”

It would have been better if Su Yun hadn't said it. After he said it, everyone's expressions became even more strange. It was indeed mentioned before that Sun Yuan died suddenly in prison, and all the fertile land under his name was occupied by others. Haha, the water is really deep.

At this time, a person stood up in the corner. Su Yun looked over and saw that he was wearing green clothes. Hey, a touch of green suddenly appeared among a group of purple and red official robes.

As mentioned before, Green Robe was a minor official below the fifth rank, no wonder he sat in the corner feeling aggrieved.

Eh, that's not right. Looking at the momentum of this man when he stood up, it's not that he is sitting in the corner in grievance, but that everyone is avoiding him... In this case, this is the... Censor who is hated by everyone and undead?

The green-robed official bowed to Su Yun and said, "Mr. Su, I already know about what you reported. I will write an impeachment letter to impeach Minister He in a moment. You can then provide evidence for me."

Su Yun waved his hands repeatedly and said, "This is really just hearsay, don't take it seriously, and I won't use it as evidence. Everyone, just forget it after listening to it."

The green-robed official laughed and said, "If you don't want to testify, forget it. I will impeach you anyway."

Su Yun was shocked and asked, "Why don't you ask me who that friend is?"

The green-robed official said proudly, "It is our duty as censors to report rumors, and it is others' duty to verify them. I am only responsible for impeachment, and the rest is none of my business."

Good guy.

He Zhengchen was already very angry, and now this green-robed official suddenly wanted to impeach him. He immediately became anxious and said, "Man Zhongxing, don't make the mistake. Didn't this guy say that he just heard it from someone else? Why are you impeaching me? We were colleagues in the Censorate some time ago..."

"Shut up!" Man Zhongxing shouted with a tongue like spring thunder, "He Zhengchen, you used to be an imperial censor, so you should know that our duties as imperial censors are not tolerating you just because you were my colleague! If you have any grievances, go and tell the emperor! Anyway, I have decided on the impeachment today!"

Man Zhongxing said this, and then looked at the other purple and red officials fiercely. The officials looked abnormal and avoided his eyes. Man Zhongxing suddenly became high-spirited. Before, He Zhengchen, Shu Tan, and Li Ding formed a small group in the Censorate, excluded him, and suppressed him to the point of suffocation.

Now He Zhengchen was transferred to the Court of Examiners, Li Ding was in charge of the Court of Remonstrances, and Shu Dan was in charge of Imperial Edicts. Now it is finally his turn to speak in the Censorate. Hehe, you suppressed me before, and now, although you have been promoted, but... you have become my prey!
He Zhengchen's face was no longer red, but turned pale.

The censors in the Song Dynasty had independent status and high authority. Once an official was impeached by the censor, he would either be suspended from his post, resign voluntarily, or be demoted and transferred from his post.

He Zhengchen had just been transferred to the Court of Justice and had not had time to show his talents. If he was impeached at this time, even if he was not suspended from his post and was demoted to a prefecture or county magistrate, his future would be ruined!
The government promoted him because he was a vicious dog who could and dared to bite people, but now this vicious dog has been bitten by someone else. What does that matter?

Thinking of this, He Zhengchen had to humbly say: "Censor Man, just now I just had some disagreements with Master Su. Master Su said that he just heard it from others, and he might even have made it up. This matter is definitely not true, and you should not take it seriously. I will hold a banquet to apologize to you in a few days."

Su Yunha smiled and said, "Minister He, please don't say that. I heard it from hearsay, but I dare not make it up to frame an official of the imperial court. If you say that, I will not admit it."

Su Yun spoke in a pleasant manner, but Man Zhongxing said sternly, "He Zhengchen, you want to treat me, a censor, to a meal, but do you also want to bribe me?

I am deeply indebted to the Emperor. How could I forget my duty as an Imperial Censor and protect you for my own benefit? You are really blind!"

He Zhengchen was scolded in front of him, and he couldn't hold his face. However, the situation was stronger than him, so he could only hold back his breath and whispered: "We did go too far before, don't you think..."

Man Zhongxing laughed coldly and said, "He Zhengchen, are you accusing me of taking revenge on my own? You and Li Ding and Shu Tan have formed a clique to run rampant in the Censorate, and your arrogance has made all the officials hold their breath.

But I am not afraid of you. You can use whatever means you want. I will take them all. Let's see whether the ancestral law of the country is more powerful or your clique is more powerful!"

Hearing this, He Zhengchen's heart skipped a beat.

Forming a clique, these two words were taboos in the Song Dynasty!

During the Qingli Reform, because opponents impeached Fan Zhongyan and others for forming a faction, Ouyang Xiu wrote an article entitled "On Factions" to refute the accusation, saying that forming a faction among gentlemen is not considered forming a faction. This was tantamount to indirectly confirming that they were indeed forming a faction.

Although Renzong supported Fan Zhongyan, he would rather end the Qingli Reform than suppress the faction, which shows how much the emperor feared the faction.

If the Man Zhonghang were to confirm that they were forming a clique, they might never be able to return to the center!

Su Yun looked at He Zhengchen, whose face was ashen, and couldn't stop laughing in his heart, secretly praising Man Zhongxing in his heart.

He Zhengchen's face turned pale and he slumped down on the stool like a defeated dog.

Man Zhongxing, however, was like a victorious rooster general. He held his head high and sat back in the corner, still looking around proudly. The purple and red officials did not dare to meet his gaze and lowered their heads one after another.

At this moment, the eunuch standing at the door quietly disappeared into the door, and then trotted towards the Chongzheng Hall.

Sun Sigong was standing at the entrance of Chongzheng Hall. Seeing the eunuch coming in a hurry, he whispered, "You are in such a hurry. If you offend the noble, you will lose your life!"

The eunuch quickly slowed down his pace, and then whispered to Sun Sigong for a while. Sun Sigong looked a little surprised, and then asked some details, waved his hand and said: "Go and get two taels of silver."

The eunuch was overjoyed and turned around and left quickly.

Sun Sigong paced to the entrance of Chongzheng Hall and waited for a while. Then a senior official in red came out, nodded to him and left.

Sun Sigong quietly walked inside. Zhao Xu was half lying down to rest. Seeing Sun Sigong's strange expression, he raised his eyebrows and said, "Rest for a quarter of an hour, Mr. Qi. I will see you in a quarter of an hour."

There were the sounds of hurried footsteps leaving from behind the curtain, either going to the toilet or to rest their legs.

Zhao Xu nodded.

Sun Sigong immediately told the story in a low voice.

Zhao Xu looked a little surprised and a little amusement.

"Do you think what that boy said is true or false?"

Sun Sigong thought for a moment and said, "What he said has names of perpetrators and victims, and the stolen money involved is also detailed. There is even the matter of good farmland changing hands. After pondering the whole thing, it doesn't seem to be a temporary fabrication.

Moreover, he was summoned at short notice and had no way of knowing that he would meet Minister He, so it was impossible for him to prepare these things in advance.

I judge others by my own experience. If I were in his place, I would definitely not be able to fabricate such an unjust case that can stand up to scrutiny in a short period of time.

Of course, with Mr. Su's talent, he might be able to fabricate something like this on the spur of the moment.

However, whether it is true or false, the government will know once they investigate."

Zhao Xu laughed and said, "Interesting, this kid is really constantly giving me surprises.

Haha, a man in white clothes, with just a few words, forced a fourth-rank official into a state of confusion. How awesome!
The Meishan Su family is indeed a family of great debaters, such as Su Laoquan, Su Shizhan, and Su Ziyu!
Now a sixteen-year-old boy is actually like this, hahahaha, this is passed down from generation to generation!"

Sun Sigong was surprised and asked, "Sir, do you mean that this unjust case was fabricated by Master Su?"

Zhao Xu glanced at Sun Sigong and said, "I never said that."

Sun Sigong was startled and said quickly, "Yes, yes, it was me who said too much."

If Zhao Xu said that Su Yun fabricated the story, then the matter would be settled. In this way, He Zhengchen would get away with it, but Su Yun would be charged with framing a court minister.

Zhao Xu warned Sun Sigong, then rubbed his temples, pulled himself together, stood up and said with a laugh: "Go, ask this eloquent Jiangyou Su Lang to come see me. I want to see if he can still speak eloquently in front of me!"

Sun Sigong didn't dare to say anything more, so he quickly said yes and walked out quickly.

(End of this chapter)