Brother Zhu Youxiao

Chapter 330
"The things in Weibei have gone too far..."

"The servant is guilty..."

In the inner court and the imperial garden pavilion, when Zhu Youxiao's voice sounded, the Hakka family and Wei Zhongxian knelt down one after another.

Regarding their actions, Zhu Youxiao took a sip of the tribute tea in a leisurely manner, and then said:

"From now on, Wei Liangqing and Hou Guoguang will be dismissed from all official positions and returned home."

"Thank you Long Live Ron! Thank you Long Live Ron!"

When Ke Shi and Wei Zhongxian heard about the disposal, they began to thank them again and again, and kept checking their leaders.

Zhu Youxiao's doing this is equivalent to protecting the two in disguise. Although their party members will definitely be liquidated after they are removed from office, it is no longer easy for Zhu Youjian to track down the two.

As long as the two lives are saved, everything else can be brought back from other places.

Thinking of this, Wei Zhongxian and Keshi just breathed a sigh of relief, but they heard footsteps behind them, and then saw Zhang Yan passing the two of them, bowing to Zhu Youxiao in front of the pavilion:
"Long live……"

"What's the matter with Baozhu?" Seeing Zhang Yan coming, although the sweet period of the newlyweds has passed, and many new lovers have been changed, but Zhang Yan is the queen after all, Zhu Youxiao still asked nicely.

"Long live, if the rest of the accomplices in the Weibei case are indulged, how will the common people view the imperial court?"

"You often tell your concubines that you want to get close to the King of Qi. Everything that the King of Qi does is for the court and for the Zhu family, but now you stand up and cover up the accomplices. If the King of Qi knows about this, I'm afraid you will be disappointed. .”

No one thought that Zhang Yan, who had always been at odds with Zhu Youjian, would come to persuade Zhu Youxiao at this time.

Regarding Zhang Yan's words, Zhu Youxiao's expression froze slightly, and then he frowned and said:

"The inner court is not allowed to interfere in politics, you are overstepping a bit."

"The concubine does not want to be in politics, but just wants to tell you that it is what a wise king should do to be close to virtuous ministers and far away from inferior talents." Zhang Yan added every word without waiting for Zhu Youxiao to speak:
"The folks are saying that this is the rule of the apocalypse, the prosperity of the apocalypse, but long live your apocalypse prosperity, but such a thing happened."

"During the Wanli period of Emperor Shenzong Xian, the people also called it Wanli Xinfeng, a prosperous and prosperous age, but as a result, Emperor Shenzong Xian abandoned the government and favored traitors. He forced the people to change their praise of the court into verbal criticism."

"Such a recent example is placed in front of Banzai, doesn't Banzai understand?"

Zhang Yan's questioning made Zhu Youxiao's expression a little ugly, but she continued:

"The concubine thinks, Wansui is clear and aware of it, and the reason why Wansui committed a crime knowingly is because he thinks that you can cover up this matter so that the people will not know about it."

"But long live, don't forget that all the officials above the court and the daily officials are staring at long live. If you condone your accomplices, they will be lucky, and there will be a record in the history books that you condoned the eunuch's little eunuch." human deeds."

Zhang Yan's words made Wei Zhongxian and Ke Shi feel scared to death, but at the same time they hated her to death.

Zhu Youxiao was a little speechless by what Zhang Yan said, and was about to say something, but saw Wang An walking from the stone road.

He waited for a few seconds, Wang An went to the pavilion and said:
"Long live, His Royal Highness King Qi asks your servants to tell Long Live that if you want to cover up the accomplices, you can first think of the hungry people who died in the Huaibei Great Famine."

Think of the starving people dying...

To be honest, Zhu Youxiao didn't particularly care about the starving people who died, otherwise he wouldn't have set the tone of the Huaibei famine case so calmly.

Right now, Zhu Youjian's words are more like telling Zhu Youxiao that for things like the Huaibei Great Hunger, it is enough for Zhu Youjian to bear it once.

It is true that if Zhu Youxiao spoke up, then Zhu Youjian would not hold Wei Liangqing and Hou Guoguang accountable, but the relationship between the two brothers may have some cracks.

Zhu Youjian is saying in disguise that he can only choose one brother or slave.

"Long live……"

As soon as Keshi heard Zhu Youjian speak, she immediately begged Zhu Youxiao sadly, and Wei Zhongxian knew that he had better not ask for mercy at this time, because he was not as close as Zhu Youxiao and Keshi.

Ke Shi's intercession made Zhu Youxiao's face uncertain, and everyone was waiting for him to speak.

As time passed, the two Ke's hearts became more and more tense.

After a cup of tea, Zhu Youxiao finally sighed: "That's all..."

He looked at Ke Shi with a hint of apology, which made Ke Shi despair: "Let my younger brother decide this matter."

"Long live!" Ke Shi scrambled forward, trying to hug Zhu Youxiao's leg, but Zhu Youxiao suddenly got up and walked out of the pavilion.

"Long live--"

Wei Zhongxian's heart was saddened by Ke's sternness, but Zhang Yan took the palace servants away without even looking at it.

On the other hand, Wang An felt indescribably comfortable seeing the miserable situation of the two of them.

But after looking at it for a while, Wang An turned around and left, and conveyed Zhu Youxiao's meaning to Zhu Youjian.

After Zhu Youjian heard the news, the meeting in the study of King Qi's Mansion had ended, but he himself changed his anger in the study, and now he was leisurely sitting in the pool of Prince Qi's mansion and boating.

Yang Rushi is playing the piano, Yang Yuan loves making incense, and the two brothers Cao Bianjiao and Cao Dingjiao are rowing, looking at Zhu Youjian from time to time.

Obviously, they couldn't figure out why Zhu Youjian, who was so furious a second ago and scolded all the officials, could be so leisurely now.

Lu Wenzhao knelt on the deck, while Zhu Youjian stood at the bow of the boat, feeling the lake wind on his cheeks.

After a while, he said: "This year, there are [-] students in Yanshan. After graduating from Enke in ten days, [-] people will go to the Supervision Department, [-] people will go to the Military and Horse Division, the Yamen, and the Dali Temple, and the remaining [-] people will go to the Imperial Horse School." Prison, and enter the Metropolitan Procuratorate as the local inspector censor."

"Yes..." Lu Wenzhao bowed his head in response, and Zhu Youjian also glanced sideways at him:
"Wen Zhao, there won't be too many opportunities. If you don't care about things..."

"Understandable!"

The noon sun was scorching hot, but Lu Wenzhao's hands and feet were cold. He knew very well that this was Zhu Youjian's last chance, because this was the third time that Jin Yiwei had attacked Jin Yiwei's interior and Yumajian.

There are only three things, and three is already the ultimate.

Because of this, after Lu Wenzhao got off the ship, he closed his door and saw no guests for ten consecutive days, and Enke of the imperial court suddenly changed the time, from September in the past three years to March.

This has caught many non-governmental students preparing to participate in Enke by surprise. Those who don't know why can only complain, while some people who know Enke can smell the tricks in it.

Some students who were still on their way to the capital to participate in the Enke were yelling at them when they heard about it, and Zhu Youjian had to let others know that there were two Enke games this year, and the Enke in October will continue as usual. Many students did not make a trip in vain.

Ten days passed quickly, and with the arrival of Enke, this year's Enke was even bigger.

The original Dongxi City has already lived in many people, so Enke's examination room this year was actually built last year.

Covering an area of ​​[-] mu, the examination room, which can accommodate [-] people, was built on Cuiming Lake, [-] miles north of the capital. The scribes were a little numb.

When the last candidate entered the examination room, the prelude to Enke's eight years of apocalypse was also kicked off. There were more than [-] candidates, and Zhu Youjian couldn't help frowning when he heard the news.

"More than half of the candidates are still on the way this year. If all of them arrive, the examination room may not be able to handle it."

Walking in the examination room, Zhu Youjian followed Gu Bingqian, Gu Bingqian explained as he walked, and Zhu Youjian also said:

"Since it is not enough, we will build two more examination rooms in the west city and the east city respectively."

It is said to be an examination room, but it is actually the same as a small city, but the difference is that there are no wide streets in this city, and all are trails ten feet wide.

An examinee's examination room is about four square meters. Although it is not big, it is actually quite large compared to the previous examination room that was less than two square meters for one person.

"His Royal Highness, you can actually build an examination room above the state capital, and select the first class in the capital to take the examination..."

"No."

Gu Bingqian's idea is to share the pressure and reduce the time wasted by students, but Zhu Youjian's consideration is to prevent the formation of a "student and teacher" nepotism in the local government.

Zhu Youjian is the invigilator of Enke's exam every year, so if the folk students who pass the exam are the lecturers, he is naturally him.

His appearance alone directly destroyed the possible nepotism in Enko.

If he is left alone, his hard work will be in vain.

What's more, Enke has actually saved students from waiting for several years, and the only thing left is the exhaustion of boats and cars within one year.

One year, even walking from Hexi to the capital, is enough time.

He would rather spend tens of thousands of taels of silver to build an examination room than to delegate power to the local government.

With this in mind, Enke ended successfully in a few days, and after the end, the number of people who were admitted as officials was greatly increased.

There are more than [-] people, and [-] people are selected. They will all become local officials, while the rest will be awarded some official positions based on their achievements.

Since scribes were also included in the official system of Ming Dynasty, not many people resisted.

However, it is inevitable that some people feel that they did not do well in the exam, and they plan to find a job in the capital, and wait for Enke in the second half of the year while working and studying.

Zhu Youjian didn't care about this either. The [-] Enke candidates were enough for him to finish his current work.

Enke candidates are being allocated, but compared to this large-scale Enke, everyone's eyes are focused on the Shaanxi civil uprising.

"boom!"

When Zhang Zhijie, who was sleeping soundly, heard the sound of kicking the door, he quickly pushed away the maidservant next to him. Just as he wanted to get up, he felt something cold against his neck.

"Prefect Zhang, please come with us."

In the middle of the night on March [-]th in the eighth year of Tianqi, when the door was broken, the cold voice came into the bedroom through the crack of the door,
Zhang Zhijie, the magistrate of Pingyang, who was wearing a middle coat, had a haggard face. Looking at the young brocade guards standing at the door in scarlet robes, he felt weak in his hands and feet and felt cold all over his body.

Seeing that he hadn't moved, the brocade guards immediately set him up and walked towards the temporary station of the Supervision Department.

It's just that Zhang Zhijie explained everything in one go on the road before he reached the Supervision Department.

From the powerful gentry who colluded with him to the merchants who bought and sold food stamps, everyone was shaken out by him, and this included the Eight Great Masters of Shanxi Merchants that are well-known to later generations.

Among the eight families, the heads of each family are Shanxi merchants Fan Yongdou, Wang Dengku, Jin Liangyu, Wang Dayu, Liang Jiabin, Tian Shenglan, Zhai Tang, and Huang Yunfa.

Fan Yongdou and other eight wealthy imperial merchants are veritable traitors. Long before Jianlu entered the pass, they often went back and forth inside and outside the pass, colluding with the frontier army, and selling contraband to the Hetao Department, Tumote Department, etc. Mongolia came to capitalize on the enemy.

At the juncture of political corruption and social turmoil in the late Ming Dynasty, merchants' unique keen sense of smell enabled them to see the rise of Jianlu and his ambition to unify the world.

So after Huang Taiji conquered Tumed Mongolia, Shanxi merchants finally bordered on the territory of Houjin, so they began to use trade to fund Jianlu.

In addition to normal trade, they secretly transported military supplies for Jianlu, provided various information in the pass, and engaged in political business.

After Jianlu entered the customs, Shunzhi did not forget the eight great masters who had made great achievements in the Central Plains for himself. He held a banquet in the side hall of the Forbidden City, summoned them in person, and gave them costumes.

At the banquet, Shunzhi wanted to confer titles and honors on them, the Eight Great Families were flattered and tried their best to decline.Therefore, Shunzhi named them "Imperial Merchants" (registered under the Ministry of Internal Affairs).

Fan Yongdou was ordered to preside over trade affairs, and "gift Zhangjiakou as a world business", and the other seven families also received awards.

Since then, Fan Yongdou and others have obtained political and economic privileges that other businessmen cannot enjoy.

Fan Yongdou not only purchased goods for the royal family, but also relied on the power of the royal family to open up avenues of wealth and start doing business all over the sky.

In addition to running the salt industry in Hedong and Changlu, he also monopolized the market of ginseng and other precious medicinal materials in Wusuli and Suifen in Northeast China, so he was also called "Shenshang" by the people.

In a blink of an eye, Fan Yongdou became a big imperial businessman with millions of dollars, the best among the eight great masters.

Jianlu's emphasis on the eight major merchants is determined by their contributions to the Qing court.

Just the existence of the eight Shanxi merchants does not mean that the eight Shanxi merchants betrayed the country at the end of the Ming Dynasty, because before Huang Taiji subdued Tumote, Shanxi merchants had no access to Houjin, and at this time Houjin had been established for more than ten years .

Merchants in North Korea and Qilu, as well as those in Jiangnan, were actually accomplices in disguised forms of funding Jianlu's entry into the customs.

However, no matter who the collaborators and traitors are, none of them can escape...

------

"It's bad, it's bad...that guy Sun Chuanting is going to attack! Zhang Zhijie from Pingyang has been arrested!"

In Taiyuan in April, when Wang Dayu, one of the eight Shanxi merchants, broke into the other courtyard, several other family heads who had already been sitting in the courtyard frowned.

"What are you panicking about? No matter how capable Sun Chuanting is, he can still ignore the resistance of our eight thousands of shops and tens of thousands of employees, and directly arrest us?"

"Besides, many ministers and workers in the DPRK are already waiting for me. His Sun Chuanting is just a barking dog under Zhu Youjian's command!"

Faced with Wang Dayu's panic, Fan Yongdou, the head of the Fan family who controls the salt and iron trade among the Eight Great Families, also got up and scolded.

When the Shaanxi civil uprising occurred, Fan Yongdou realized that something was wrong. Although the incident was not so big at the time, he also captured some information through his keen sense of smell.

First of all, there are too many yamen involved in the civil uprising in Shaanxi, and the corruption of Yumajian and Jinyiwei is inevitably involved. Secondly, the disaster victims are too widespread. Since this kind of thing happened in Shaanxi, other provinces can't say it well.

All these signs indicate that an unprecedented crackdown is about to break out, and as a businessman whose hands and feet are not clean, Fan Yongdou has already started to use connections and connections to protect himself.

"Bam—"

"Jinyiwei Supervision Department handles the case, please come with us!"

When the gate of the other courtyard was kicked open, a group of guards in armor, riding blunderbuss, and armed with wild goose feather knives walked into the other courtyard of the Fan family.

Fan Yongdou also felt tense when he saw Qianhu, the Supervisory Division wearing mountain armor.

"Fan Yongdou, may I ask Qianhu what crime did we commit?"

In the face of Jin Yiwei Fan Yongdou of the Supervision Department, he could still muster a little courage, but the next words of the Supervision Department Jin Yiwei made several people extremely desperate.

"What crime did you commit?" Supervising Division Qianhu sneered:
"I have been smuggling ordnance and tea to the Hetao Department and Tumote Department all the year round, and even bribed the frontier army and officials in Shanxi. What kind of crime can you tell me?"

"It's not about the disaster victims..." Fan Yongdou's face turned pale when he heard the words of Supervisor Qianhu, and the rest of the people were also on the spot in a daze.

They all thought that the incident of buying and selling food stamps with corrupt officials broke out and they were implicated, but they didn't expect Zhu Youjian to bring out the evidence of smuggling by the eight of them in the San Niangzi case at this time.

If it's just buying and selling food stamps, the law in the late Ming Dynasty will at most mean fines and refunds, but if it's smuggling...

For a moment, the heads of the various families collapsed on the ground, and Qian Hu from the Supervision Department waved his hand to signal everyone to take them away when he saw this.

The dispatch of the Supervision Department of Qianqian Jinyiwei blocked the shops, mansions, and other courtyards of the Eight Great Families in various places in Shanxi within a short period of time.

Fan Yongdou and the others lay limp on the ground like dead dogs. After being dragged out of the other courtyard by Jin Yiwei, they were locked in the prison van one after another.

Obviously locked into the prison van, Fan Yongdou whispered to Qianhu from the Supervision Department with luck:

"My lord! Please spare my life and give me a way to survive. My Fan family is willing to pay three hundred thousand taels of silver!"

"Huh? Thirty thousand taels is indeed a lot, but I'm afraid I'll lose my life if I have money." After finishing speaking, Supervisor Qianhu signaled Fan Yongdou to look ahead.

When Fan Yongdou looked to the front of the prison car, he knew he was finished.

Because in the prison car in front, the eunuchs of Huangdian and Huangzhuang in Taiyuan Prefecture, as well as Qianhu of Nanzhen Fusi Qianhu Office were all imprisoned in it.

These powerful people have been arrested and brought to justice, so what else can he talk about as a businessman?
Fan Yongdou was paralyzed in the prison car, and without accident, their end would be the guillotine by the Yellow River...

"cut!"

"Pfft-"

At the Yumen Ferry in Pingyang Prefecture, following Sun Chuanting's order, a row of more than a hundred officials in prison uniforms ushered in the head-on knife while crying.

Hundreds of heads rolled down the low slope and fell into the Yellow River, and the corpses were lifted down by the executioner.

Hundreds of executioners spit two mouthfuls on their hands and turned their heads to look behind them.

Behind them and in front of Sun Chuanting, thousands of officials in prison uniforms were lying limp on the ground. The soldiers of the guard camp had to drag them to the bank of the Yellow River before they could be tortured.

These thousands of officials are only officials from one area of ​​Pingyang Prefecture, and they have not even been completely arrested.

"There are nearly ten thousand officials in the Pingyang Mansion, and there are more than a thousand people who have committed capital crimes. This is really..."

Standing next to Sun Chuanting, the officials didn't know what to say, but Sun Chuanting said with a cold face: "This is just a drop in the bucket."

"There were not a few people like this in the Ming Dynasty. Even if the officials killed more than half of them, they wouldn't wrong many people."

"How many people have been exiled for crimes?" Sun Chuanting turned to ask Guan Fumin, and Guan Fumin also bowed:

"[-] people in Yan'an Mansion, [-] people in Pingyang Mansion, [-] people in Xi'an Mansion..."

Speaking of this, the official Fumin paused: "At present, I have only inspected the land of these three prefectures, and there are still more than ten prefectures that have not been inspected."

"Only in these three prefectures, there are more than [-] officials who committed capital crimes. After inspections in more than ten prefectures and counties, I am afraid that there are no less than [-] officials who have committed capital crimes, and there are no fewer than one million officials and their family members involved in exile."

"According to His Highness's order." Sun Chuanting was neither sad nor happy, obviously he had already guessed how damned these officials were.

Zhu Youjian did not choose to exile these [-] people this time in accordance with past practice, all because the scale was too large this time, and he needed Sun Chuanting to make an example of others.

Even if this kind of thing can only be managed for a period of time, this period of recuperation can also allow the people to breathe a sigh of relief.

"Governor, the corrupt documents have been calculated..."

While Sun Chuanting was chatting with officials and people, an aide presented several thick books.

Sun Chuanting took a copy and opened it, and immediately clenched the document with both hands.

[Corrupt officials in Yan'an Prefecture embezzled more than [-] shi of food stamps, and [-] shi of labor bank...]

"Bastard!"

How can Sun Chuanting not be angry that the government has corrupted nearly a quarter of the money and food distributed by the state treasury?
"After inspections by the Supervision Department and me, there are no less than [-] people who starved to death in Shanxi and Shaanxi..."

The staff bit the bullet and spoke again, and this sentence completely ignited Sun Chuanting.

"These powerful gentry and corrupt officials should all be damned! Damn them!"

Sun Chuanting slammed the document on the table, and the officials and staff also bowed their heads.

Judging from Sun Chuanting's emotions, he is so angry, then His Royal Highness Qi Wang who saw these documents, I am afraid...

"Send the document to the capital, and please send Enkezi to inspect the three provinces as soon as possible, and it is best to inspect the remaining five provinces affected by the drought as well."

"Yes……"

The officials and the people bowed in response, while Sun Chuanting looked at the rows of corrupt officials who were escorted to the bank of the Yellow River and beheaded.

After holding it in for too long, he even felt a little sour in the nose and moist in the eye sockets.

At this moment, he has the same idea as Zhu Youjian once.

The Ming Dynasty is expanding its borders and stabilizing people's hearts, but why are there still so many corrupt officials to hinder it?

Is there any benefit to them if the Ming Dynasty falls?As an official, do you only know about corruption?

I have invested in the army for many years, but in the end the people are still without food and homeless.

For a while, Sun Chuanting didn't know what he was doing all these years...

　it's a bit late, sorry sorry
　　
　
(End of this chapter)