Daming Crazy Emperor

Chapter 155
Shangzhou is located at the southern foot of the eastern Qinling Mountains. It is a typical mountainous area with extremely rich forest resources. Moreover, the river system in the territory is densely covered, and the population is not very dense.

Logically speaking, such a place should be the least affected by the drought.

Because the population here is not large, and there are mountains and rivers everywhere, there are a lot of wild animals and plants, and there is a lot of food, even if the common people can't grow food, they should not be so hungry to rebel.

However, in this place where rebellion is least likely, the victims were forced to rebel.

I really don't know how vicious these corrupt officials are.

Taichang looked at the dense jungles on both sides of the official road and the scene of the first snow dotted in it, but there was only one word in his heart, kill!

However, he did not show it in front of Liu Yuanyuan.

Liu Yuanyuan has also realized that the emperor is quite majestic in front of outsiders, but he is considerate and considerate in front of his own family, without any airs.

At this moment, she dared to chat with the emperor like a little daughter-in-law, and when she saw a beautiful scenery somewhere, she couldn't help cheering and amazed again and again.

At this time, Taichang would smile and accompany her to take a look, or even comment a few words, without seeing anything unusual.

However, when they arrived at the Zhizhou Yamen in Shangzhou, Taichang got off the carriage, and his face immediately became extremely cold.

As soon as he got off the carriage, the general of the Shenwu Battalion who led the troops came over respectfully and whispered in his ear: "Your Majesty, according to the account of the guards of Huashan Guard, Xue Zhen lied about the military situation, and at least half of the rebels escaped into the mountain. Xue Zhen took credit for killing the victims along the way!"

Hearing this, Taichang gritted his teeth angrily.

This Xue Zhen really killed the good and pretended to be meritorious.

What's even more hateful is that he let the rebel escape.

Since these rebels have rebelled, it is very likely that they will go all the way to the dark. These are all flames, the kind that scurry everywhere.

If these rebels are allowed to run around, the Northwest is likely to be in chaos!
The problem is that the Qinling Mountains are thousands of miles away, and the rebels have been running for several days, how to chase them!
He stood there with a livid face and thought about it for a while, and then waved Liu Shiyou to take a team of Jinyi guards to protect Liu Yuanyuan and his daughter and settle down in the guest house in Zhizhou Yamen, while he walked quickly to the lobby.

At this time, he was really furious.

I don't know how much trouble these beasts have caused him.

At this moment, outside the city of Shangzhou, I don't know how many victims are shivering in the snow. There are only a few porridge sheds outside the city, not as many as in Huayin County.

If he came later, the people here might be forced to rebel.

In such a cold weather, the common people don't know how cold it is, how hungry they are, but these beasts can still stuff all the relief money and food into their pockets, and they can even ruthlessly collect all kinds of exorbitant taxes!

In the huge places of Xi'an Mansion and Hanzhong Mansion, I don't know how many ordinary people were forced to rebel by them. If those fleeing rebels set fire everywhere, the consequences would be unimaginable!

Angrily, he walked to the back of the case, sat down on the big chair, picked up the gavel and slapped it hard, and then said sharply: "Bring all the corrupt officials to me."

Soon, several eunuchs headed by Guo Ruan were carried to the lobby by Jin Yiwei.

Guo Ru'an was originally the censor of the court, so he had naturally met the current emperor.

When he saw that the current emperor was sitting in the hall, he was so frightened that he kowtowed vigorously on the ground and said, "Your Majesty, spare your life, Your Majesty, spare your life!"

When the other officials heard the word "emperor", they were almost paralyzed with fright, and they all kowtowed like quails on the ground.

Seeing this, Taichang couldn't help but picked up the gavel and slapped it vigorously, and then said sharply: "You still know that Daming returned me as the emperor? You still know that you have committed a capital crime? Since you know everything, why How dare you be so insane?"

Guo Ruan trembled in fright and said, "Your Majesty, please forgive me, we are only following orders, and there is nothing we can do about it!"

Are you a liar?

Taichang roared angrily: "What are you ordered and what are you doing? If you don't want to do this kind of cutting off children and grandchildren, can't you play it? Can't I save your lives? You have done it so well that you have killed all the victims. You are forced to go against your will, and you still follow orders? As long as you have a little conscience, can you do such a utterly unconscionable thing?"

Guo Ruan was speechless.

He did come here on his own initiative, and he was very greedy, even more greedy than others. Therefore, in this place where rebellion was least likely, all the victims were forced to rebel by him!
Taichang then asked coldly: "Tell me, did Xue Zhen lie about his military achievements, did he let most of the rebels go away, did he kill good men and pretend to be meritorious service along the way?"

Guo Ru rolled his dark eyes, nodded again and again, and said, "Yes, Your Majesty, Xue Zhen is in a frenzy, not only ordering us to help him embezzle the food and salaries for the disaster relief, but also imposing exorbitant taxes to drive the victims back. A thief, who still kills the good and pretends to be meritorious, and deceives the emperor, he, he is nothing at all!"

Do you still want to shirk responsibility?
You are a thing?

Seeing the fat heads and big ears of these beasts, Taichang thought of the yellow, emaciated and trembling victims outside the city.

It’s too cheap to just kill these bastards. He thought about it for a while, and then shouted violently: “Come on, take them outside, strip off their clothes, pour a few buckets of cold water, let them feel the common people How did it go?"

In this icy and snowy place, it's unbearable to throw the naked clothes outside, and pour a few buckets of cold water, it will really freeze to death!
Guo Ruan and the others were so frightened that they screamed for mercy, but Jin Yiwei pulled them outside without hesitation, stripped off their clothes, and poured buckets of cold water on them.

In the beginning, these people still had the ability to ask for mercy, but after a while, these guys were so cold that their teeth were chattering, and they couldn't scream at all.

Seeing this, Taichang breathed out slowly, and then said in a loud voice: "Bring up the sons of gentry from all counties in Shangzhou."

Shangzhou is not very big, and there are only Luonan, Shangnan, Shanyang, and Zhen'an counties below. There are not many gentry, and even fewer have obtained fame. Jinyiwei only brought about twenty people.

As soon as they heard that the person above the hall was the emperor, they all got down on the ground in fright, and said in unison: "Students pay homage to the emperor."

Taichang glanced around for a while, and then said calmly: "Get up, and use your own money and food to give porridge outside the city. Those who help the victims stand on the left, and those who have not given porridge stand on the right."

These people didn't know what the emperor meant, so they naturally didn't dare to bully the emperor face to face. After all, they didn't give porridge and didn't violate any laws, so there was no need for them to risk beheading to deceive the emperor.

Soon, a group of people was divided into two piles, with a little more on the left and a little less on the right.

It seems that these local gentry are not so bad, at least most of them still know how to give porridge to the disaster victims.

However, there are only four counties in Shangzhou, including the city, there are only five places in total, and there are more than ten porridge donors. What should we do?

Taichang thought for a while, then said coldly: "The one on the right, go out and stand there, and see what happens to those corrupt officials."

They came in from the outside, so they naturally saw the few bachelors shivering from the cold.

The children of the official family who didn't give the porridge all walked out with shame on their faces.

Immediately afterwards, Taichang ordered again: "Go, move a few desks, and find more than ten sets of four treasures of the study."

After a while, a team of brocade guards came in carrying a table and carrying the Four Treasures of the Study.

Taichang immediately said to the dozen or so people who stayed behind: "Now, I will give you a question. If you are asked to take the post of magistrate or county magistrate temporarily, and if you help the victims, I will give you a quarter of an hour to write an outline."

A quarter of an hour!

More than a dozen people hurriedly sat down at the table, picked up a pen, thought about it, and then began to write.

When a quarter of an hour was up, Taichang took a look at everyone's answer sheets, and he had an idea in an instant. He kept the five who wrote about opening warehouses, releasing grain and even distributing money, and asked them to receive official seals and take up their posts. up.

Extraordinary measures must be taken in extraordinary times. Now, he can only use this method to stabilize these places first.

As for those corrupt officials, he didn't say coldly until the bastards passed out from the cold, "Burn some hot water, and chop them up when they wake up!"

Early the next morning, he went straight to Yunyang with five thousand horsemen from the Shenwu Battalion and his bodyguards.

There was no word all the way, and after another two days, they rushed to the Fuzhi Yamen in Yunyang.

At this time, the infantry of the [-] Shenwu Battalion had already made the inside and outside of Yunyang City like an iron barrel, and Xue Zhen and her cronies were all arrested.

Now he doesn't bother to chatter with these bastards anymore, it's still the old rule, throw it outside first, pour cold water on it to freeze, then boil it to wake up and chop it up!

As for the local officials here, he doesn't need to take care of them, Cao Yubian will take care of them naturally.

Immediately afterwards, he ordered Cao Wenzhao to escort Zou Weilian to Hanyang Mansion with [-] horsemen from the Shenwu Battalion, and left [-] soldiers from the Shenwu Battalion to help Cao Yubian remediate the place and blockade various post stations. With the master guards beating their horses, they went straight to Tongguan.

It's almost Chinese New Year, and he has to hurry back.

If he, the emperor, doesn't show his face during the Chinese New Year, then in all likelihood he will.

As for Cao Bianjiao and the infantry of the [-] Shenwu Battalion, there was nothing he could do. There were not so many ships at the moment, and these people could only walk back to the capital slowly on their feet.

(End of this chapter)