Imperial Master of the Ming Dynasty

The night is getting darker, and the sound of wind whistling outside the window seems to be telling that autumn is coming.

The oil lamp in the room was still on, and the dim and warm light shone on the whole room, but that kind of warmth did not make people feel any heat. Instead, it made people feel depressed and breathless.

The imperial guards outside had already begun to take action, but the two clerks in the room were unaware and seemed to be still arguing about something.

Guo Jing sat cross-legged on the couch, holding hands and talking.

"In any case, if we follow Mr. Jiang's statement, copper coins must be abolished when issuing silver banknotes. But copper coins have existed for so many years. We don't consider the national interests first, only consider the people. If copper coins are rashly abolished, what serious consequences will there be? ?”

Chai Che also nodded, "That's true."

Guo Jing continued: "The people may not really abolish copper coins. Just like in the Yuan Dynasty, the state did not allow them to be used, but the people still circulated them. After all, this is the wealth they have worked hard for, and they are reluctant to part with it."

"In other words, Mr. Jiang should have considered this before designing a process to increase the value of the banknotes in order to exchange them for silver banknotes. This process, which may last five to ten years, can also be said to be a gradual process of The process of copper coins withdrawing from circulation."

Chai Che replied dully: "That's right."

Guo Jing took a sip of hot water, covered the cup, watched the white smoke curling up, and sighed.

"Brother Shuyu, Mr. Jiang's wisdom is as profound as the sea and as profound as the abyss. It is really beyond the reach of us people."

"Brother Shi Yong."

Chai Che hesitated for a moment, but finally said what was on his mind.

"Do you think we can still get out alive?"

"Why not?" Guo Jing's face froze, "His Majesty has personally agreed to let us keep what we heard rotten in our stomachs."

"That's not what it means."

Chai Che's somewhat dull eyes were also staring at the white air floating and dissipating in the cup, and he said slowly.

"Dead people can also rot in the stomach. If Your Majesty doesn't kill us, won't Ji Gang kill us? Or, if Ji Gang doesn't take action, can't Huang Wei do it?"

"Huang Qianhu is a normal person, alas." Guo Jing couldn't say anything anymore and became a little worried.

"These things I learned from Mr. Jiang are indeed things I will never hear in my life without the chance." Chai Che's Chinese character face also looked quite worried at this time, "But these things are hard to hear for little people like us. It’s also fatal.”

"What should we do? Who do you think, Brother Shuyu, can protect us?"

Guo Jing, who had been talking eloquently just now, was no longer so calm and began to ask anxiously, not only to Chai Che but also to herself.

"Gong Cao Guo?"

“No, the embroidered pillow has a shiny surface”

"Second Prince?"

Guo Jing asked and answered: "No, the second prince may be hiding in the abyss, but if His Majesty wants to kill us, he can't stop us."

Chai Che took a sip of hot water and said, "Mr. Jiang, you can."

Guo Jing was stunned for a moment, but then he reacted.

If the emperor wants to make great use of Jiang Xinghuo, then the two of them are considered half-disciples, and they have listened since the first lesson. Then they can definitely fight, and their lives will naturally be saved.

But before Guo Jing's thoughts could spread, the door was unlocked and pushed open with a bang.

The fallen leaves on the gray brick floor were wrapped and swirling in, and the iron chains and locks were hanging on the door.

Guo Jing and Chai Che both shivered in the cold wind.

"Old Wang?" Guo Jing looked at the person entering the door with some doubts.

Lao Wang is the jailer who is usually responsible for taking care of their daily life. As for their custody, the two confidants Jin Yiwei assigned by Ji Gang are responsible for their custody.

Their door was always locked, and there was no window. The door was wrapped with a chain and locked in Lao Wang's hands.

Lao Wang outside the door would not open the door for them to deliver anything, and they would not be able to leave until the noon lecture.

And now, in the middle of the night, why did the door suddenly open to them?

Lao Wang is wrapped in a ragged fur, which his daughter gave him seven or eight years ago. Now that the fur has fallen out, he still treats it as a rare treasure and wears it every day.

"Old Wang, why are you shivering like this?" Guo Jing asked in confusion, "Also, what door should I open at this time?"

Lao Wang's teeth were chattering, and the attentive Chai Che saw the blood stains on Lao Wang's torn fur with the help of a not-so-bright oil lamp.

Chai Che turned over and lay down, holding Old Wang's shoulders, and said in a deep voice: "Old Wang, what happened, you and I will tell you slowly, don't panic!"

Lao Wang was still so frightened that he couldn't speak, but he held out his hand and opened his palm. A piece of paper in his palm was already half wet with sweat.

After handing over this note, Lao Wang seemed to have a switch turned on halfway, opened his mouth with his front teeth bared, and said tremblingly.

"I, I can't read. The Jin and Jin Yiwei outside started to kill each other. The two people watching you were also transferred to support. I'm afraid they are dead by this time. Huang Wei led others to see, see people Just kill, what on earth is going on?"

Guo Jing and Chai Che stretched out their hands and stretched out the slender piece of paper. There was clear handwriting on it in small regular script.

"I ordered thousands of households to be imprisoned by Huangwei to hide their armor and gather soldiers. It seems that they are cooperating with the king of the valley and intending to rebel!"

With a "bang" sound, the small stool under the couch was kicked over, and Lao Wang was so frightened that he fell to the ground.

The two looked at each other and Chai Che said hurriedly.

"Run! Run quickly!"

Lao Wang said with difficulty: "Run, you can't run. The guards outside have already searched here. If you want to run, you can only run in the direction of the prison."

"Isn't that a dead end?" Guo Jing looked embarrassed.

Before they were captured by Ji Gang to record "Teacher Jiang's Lecture Notes", they were recruited (forcibly recruited) into the Jinyi Guards. They were responsible for the paperwork of the prison. Their job was to record the roster of prisoners and follow them to various prisons. The number of people is very familiar with the imperial edict.

Therefore, the architectural topography of the prison appeared in Guo Jing's mind almost instantly.

The imperial prison runs from south to north. The south gate is the main entrance, and the north gate has been blocked. There is a wall for throwing corpses on the east side, and there is a dog hole under the wall.

The imperial prison is divided into two parts: civilian prison and official prison. Common people, gangsters, etc. are generally imprisoned in the civilian prison on the west side of the third entrance. However, the dungeon of the civilian prison was abolished during the Hongwu period. , no one looked after it, so part of it was abandoned, so some were placed in the official prison on the east side.

In the official prisons, officials who have committed crimes and criminals who have been implicated are detained.

Their current location is in the middle of the northeast corner of the prison.

The rooms for the royal guards are in the northernmost position.

So if you go north, you will run into the rebellious Jinyiwei. If you go east, there is a very high wall, so you can only go south first.

"It's not a dead end!"

Chai Che made a quick decision and hurriedly explained: "Let's go south and then turn east. But we can't go directly. Many doors in the south and east are impassable. At our speed, Jin Yiwei can't escape without someone behind us." "

"What should we do?"

"Let the prisoners out." Chai Che pursed his lips and said, "Even in official prisons, there are still many extremely vicious people imprisoned. Let's go get the key and open the door. After these people are released, no matter how they escape, Or if you can't see the road clearly at night and bump into Jin Yiwei, you can buy us time."

"Wouldn't it take more time to open the door? And how to get the key?" Guo Jing asked repeatedly.

Lao Wang trembled and said: "The key is hanging in the check-in room. I went to tell the jailer that the Jinyiwei was rebelling and let the prisoners out to resist for a while. As for opening the door, it was very fast. The high-ranking officials were detained in single rooms, and there were Datong shops there. , a dozen people can be released from one cell, and if we open the doors separately, it only takes tens of breaths to release hundreds of people to disrupt the view."

"The jailers don't doubt you? If you don't doubt any of them, then how about so many prison areas!"

Chai Che dragged him and walked out the door. As he walked, he said: "We are not going to release everyone in the prison! The jailer of the prison area who imprisoned those gangsters, Lao Wang has a life-long friendship with him. If we don't do this now, If we don't make any noise and let these people distract Jin Yiwei, we won't be able to escape through so many locked courtyard walls, and we will be overtaken, do you understand?"

Why didn't I know about this relationship? Guo Jing staggered a few steps, and after feeling confused, she also knew that the other party was right.

Since the Jin Yiwei led by Huang Wei in the prison had conspired to rebel and killed anyone on sight, they would definitely kill them, not to mention that they already knew the secret.

Guo Jing asked as the three of them ran outside.

"Where did you get this note from?"

"I, when I was peeing, Deputy Lu Qianhu somehow stuffed a wax pill into the pocket of my fur robe. I didn't dare to say anything at the time, and I didn't know how to read, so I was driven here."

"You want to let us take a look and make some calculations?" Guo Jing gasped.

"Exactly."

The place where they were imprisoned was only separated by a wall from an official prison on the east side of the prison, and Lao Wang had the keys to both doors.

When he arrived at this place, Lao Wang woke up the middle-aged jailer who was lying on the table in a daze. He only said a few words. Coupled with the strange silence outside and the occasional two screams that could not be carried far, the middle-aged jailer was stunned. The jailer was also a cheerful person and immediately agreed to Lao Wang's request.

Several people took the keys and opened the door to a group of prisoners while shouting, "Jin Yiwei is plotting a rebellion. Open the door and run west and south quickly."

When the group of hundreds of bandits who were detained in the official prison rushed out, they indeed played a role in stopping the Jin Yiwei who were searching. Several people had already mixed in with the fleeing prisoners and tried to throw the prisoner's body towards the east wall. He ran towards the wall. At this point, he was no longer blocked by the insurmountable high wall. Although he still needed to climb several courtyard walls in succession, it was still a relatively short way to survive.

After climbing over another wall, the diesel truck suddenly stopped.

"What's wrong with you?" Guo Jing asked doubtfully, holding on to her knees that were almost torn after jumping off the wall.

"The prison area in front belongs to Mr. Jiang, the second prince, and Duke Cao. Do you want to release them?" A strange look flashed in Chai Che's eyes.

"Is life more important or letting them go?" Guo Jing took two steps forward, feeling as if her entire leg was no longer her own.

Chai Che turned slightly and walked towards this prison area, saying: "If we don't let them go, the rebellious Jin Yiwei will kill them. Even if you and I run out, will we still be alive? Even if we run into the deep mountains and old forests to hide, , where are the family members? So many people saw that we released the prisoners, and if we don’t release them at this time, Your Majesty will not spare us and our families. Besides, if we release them, it will be a great achievement and wealth!"

Of course Guo Jing didn't want Emperor Yongle to bury his second prince with his family members playing Nine Clans Games. After hearing Chai Che's words, he felt that it made sense and followed him with his hands on his knees.

Lao Wang glanced at the direction of home, gritted his teeth, and followed.

At this time, Jiang Xinghuo, who was in the prison area, happened to not be asleep either.

It's not like he's nervous or excited about Qiu Zhan tomorrow.

Jiang Xinghuo has died several times and is no longer afraid of death.

But Jiang Xinghuo was thinking seriously, how could he pretend to be so big before he died?

It must be the kind that can safely enter the thirty-first volume of biographies of Ming Dynasty!

"Songs of generosity in the city of Yan, and calmness of being a prisoner of Chu."

"You can achieve success with a sword, and you will live up to your youth!"

"Bah bah bah poems are good poems, but why do you feel so unlucky when you read them?"

Jiang Xinghuo held the pen, looked at the pitch-black wall and muttered to himself.

"Looks like I need to change it."

Jiang Xinghuo picked up the brush and compared the size of the words he wanted to write on the wall.

Then, the pen and ink Li Jinglong gave him came into full use.

But what should I write in the preface?

Since the Song Dynasty, every poem that has been handed down from generation to generation should always have a preface. For example, Su Shi's "Shui Diao Ge Tou" says "Bingchen Mid-Autumn Festival, drinking happily until the end of the day, getting drunk, writing this poem, and pregnant with children", and For example, Jiang Kui's "Yangzhou Slowness" said, "On the solstice of Chunxi Bingshen, I passed Weiyang. The snow started to fall at night, and the shepherd's wheat could not be seen. Entering the city, one looked around in the depression, the cold water turned green, the dusk gradually rose, and the garrison horns mourned. ".

Although he only needed to write a few sentences, Jiang Xinghuo was still stumped.

From a practical point of view, I am very grateful to Zhu Di for helping me speed through the Ming Dynasty.

But if you want to gain a reputation in the history books, you definitely can't say this.

The only one he can enter is Volume 31 as Jianwen Gukun, and his identity is indeed very consistent with this persona.

So what words should I use to express the excitement and anger in my heart as a loyal person who was punished by ten tribes?

Is it 'If you have the intention to kill a thief, you will be unable to recover', or 'Jade can be broken but its whiteness cannot be changed, bamboo can be burned but its joints cannot be destroyed, although the body is dead, the name can be hung on the bamboo and silk'?

Jiang Xinghuo touched the sparse stubble on his chin, showing a thoughtful expression.

Then he shook his head again.

"Forget it, I don't want to, it's too fake."

"I've always been honest."

"I just have to be my truest self. This is the quality of an excellent time traveler."

Perhaps it should be more straightforward:

On the 21st day of the eighth month of the Renwu year, Jiang Xinghuo, the queen of Jingting Mountain, wept and shed tears in prison.

"Well, saying it this way will make me appear more sincere."

Jiang Xinghuo made up his mind, then filled the pen with ink and began to splash the ink eloquently.

After a while.

The entire "Prison Essay" was finally completed.

Jiang Xinghuo put down the brush in his hand and raised the corners of his mouth slightly.

Although he is not a professional calligraphy enthusiast, his handwriting is not even very beautiful.

However, it is better in its simplicity, elegance, and elegant style.

"Looking at the door and stopping to think of Zhang Jian, I bear death for a moment and wait for Du Gen."

"I will smile to the sky from my horizontal sword, leaving my liver and gallbladder intact!"

"Is it okay now?"

Jiang Xinghuo patted the dried rice paper beside him and said to himself with satisfaction.

He is now waiting for the autumn execution to begin tomorrow and reciting this "Prison Essay" in public.

Let the people of Ming Dynasty know that when it comes to not being afraid of death, I, Jiang Xinghuo of Jingtingshan, say I am second, and no one dares to say I am first!

When I think of Qiu Zhan on the execution ground, others are frightened to the point of peeing, but I am the only one who generously recited poems and composed quatrains that will go down in history.

With such a strong sense of contrast and the majesty of being a saint in front of others, Jiang Xinghuo had a little expectation.

But soon, Jiang Xinghuo's little expectations were shattered.

Two men dressed as minor officials rushed to him, opened the cell door and shouted at him.

"Mr. Jiang, leave quickly!"