Jingming

Chapter 174

"If you want to add a crime, why bother!"

Facing Gao Zhong's "translation", Zheng Cunzhong roared.

"Dare to say but dare not admit it, no eggs!"

Zheng Cunzhong was despised by the eunuch for having no eggs, and he was furious.

But Gao Zhong just didn't go out, just kept scolding him here.

Because he is boring.

He remembered that after His Majesty asked the staff to hold a meeting for a long time, the staff were all exhausted and in a trance.

He still remembered how Huang Jin and Commander Luo made Fang Muxian dizzy when he questioned him that day.

So Zheng Cunzhong could not be at peace.

Gao Zhong's journey was also a day and night journey. Although it was not as fast as the daytime journey when he went to Guangdong, Sheng also traveled by boat at night.

When entering the border of Huguang, there were officers and soldiers from Huguang to guard them along the way.

Gao Zhong lost the ease of completing the mission, and realized how important it is for this ship to enter Beijing smoothly.

Afterwards, they went down the river, and the Yangtze River Navy in Nanjing supported them all the way.

After turning into the canal, all the way north, there are relays.

Gao Zhong didn't know what arrangements His Majesty made after he left Beijing, and he didn't know what new movements occurred after the provinces received the news of Guangdong Daxing's lawsuit.

So he stared firmly at the bottom cabin, holding the small box in his arms all the time.

He knew: Xie Changjie was nothing, what His Majesty cared about was the things in his arms and the people in front of him.

The overwhelming pressure enveloped him, and one day, Zheng Cunzhong suddenly laughed crazily.

"Like facing a great enemy! Hahahahaha..." He laughed as if he was going to die, coughed for a while and then said, "New law...the truth...the filth...the sages are dead long ago! It is the sages If he is not dead, he will not be able to cleanse the world! Take me as an example? How ridiculous! Hahahahaha..."

The others were not as crazy as him, and they all glared at him, crying: "Zheng Cunzhong! Why are you crazy! What nonsense are you talking about?"

Gao Zhong lost the interest in saying something nasty to him, he just stared at Zheng Cunzhong.

Two days later, the official ship arrived in Tongzhou.

Zheng Cunzhong, who walked out of the bilge, squinted his eyes for a while, and then he got used to the crisp autumn air in Beijing in early September.

On the pier, he saw Jinyiwei, the flag boards of the Ministry of Punishment, the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and Dali Temple, and naturally he also saw the prison car.

The legs and feet of the other twelve Juren scholars who came together from Guangdong were weak, but Zheng Cunzhong stood up proudly with some excitement.

What a battle!
A well-thought-out game!

But how many people will listen to this class and change themselves?

The one who can have such childish thoughts is probably that passionate young emperor.

He boldly walked to the prison car and rushed to the stage.

At this point, he has torn off that layer of elegance and is just being himself.

Would the emperor and the world dare to listen to his words?

……

A long line of prison cars crossed the street and entered the prison of the Ministry of Criminal Justice. This is not a piece of news.

After the news of the hurricane and natural disaster in the south came more than a month ago, the imperial court has made many orders.

Ding Guogong went to Guangdong, Jiang Mian, a scholar, went to Nanzhili, and Zhang Yong returned to the capital from Shaanxi.

The party struggle between the new law and the old system, which began more than three months ago, has become more intense in the past month due to the typhoon in the south.

The selection and transfer of many low-ranking officials by the Ministry of Officials has not stopped for almost a day, and the inspectors of various provinces and the officials of various departments also handed over bullets like crazy.

The thirteen prisoners from Guangdong who were detained together by the three justice departments came to Beijing, and everyone in the Beijing officials knew that this might be the end.

Although not necessarily, but at least there will be a stage of results, right?
I can't continue to toss about it any longer. The past three months have been much more terrifying than before and after His Majesty took the throne last year.

In the past three months alone, a total of 32 Beijing officials have been sentenced to death by the almost permanent tribunal of the Tribunal, [-] were exiled from the army, and more than [-] were demoted or even demoted to civilian status.

The reason why I say more than seventy is because I don’t know if there will be one or two more today.

And tomorrow, it happens to be the seventh day of September, the court meeting day.

After five quarters of the ugly hour, the court counselors were fully dressed and ready to go out.

"Don't act rashly, just wait at home. If you have anything to do with your husband, you must bring up your children. I have exchanged some money and came back, and I am under the bed..."

"Husband..." The woman broke down in tears.

Although a bit absurd, this scene was actually staged in the homes of some court officials.

Before Yan Song went out, he looked at the sky calmly for a while, his eyes were extremely bright.

Today, he will be one of the protagonists.

The people in this play include both officials and gentry in the world, as well as the emperor.

The real drama is that after you become one of the characters, you will have emotions and sorrows because of the drama. Sometimes you will think: the script may not be like this, and some places need to be changed.

Yan Song believed that the emperor had seen through this point, and Yan Song had to prove once again that he had no scruples.

In Yang Tinghe's mansion, his second son Yang Dun looked at his father worriedly.

"You don't need to worry about it, you can study with peace of mind. Your elder brother is fine, and you will be fine as a father."

Yang Dun didn't know that everything was a situation that was about to span many years. In his eyes, his father began to bear the name of power and traitor, and became the object of secret curses by the gentry all over the world. enemy.

He couldn't figure it out: It wasn't like this before!

In the Qianqing Palace, Zhu Houcong had already dressed, and he was looking at the files that arrived yesterday again.

One after another, old cases fell into his eyes, but his eyes became more and more calm.

Compared with the accountant who lived a stable life back then, Zhu Houcong has the highest authority to see all the secrets he can see after he ascended the throne.

Death has become a number, the behavior of various people reveals to him the rules of the empire's operation, and the direction of various complicated state affairs is waiting for his decision.

It's really the easiest way to hang down and rule.

As long as he closes his eyes and doesn't care about these numbers, and surrenders to the powerful inevitability and inertia revealed by those rules, it doesn't matter what will happen to this country and its people in the future.

He already had his own child in this time and space, and the three hundred beauties were still waiting for him to select fifty beauties.

"Let's go."

He closed a file and put it on the plate held by the eunuch next to him.

"Get off!"

Huang Jin announced loudly.

Zhu Houcong walked out of the palace gate, walking quietly and unhurriedly.

The consultants want to perfect his set of academic ideas wholeheartedly, and they are very motivated in this matter.

What about the new law?
In this scene directed by Fei Hong, why didn't Yang Tinghe co-operate smoothly?

Playing the role of the people of the world, but also playing him as the emperor: let him face it upright.

When it comes time to finally decide whether to face all the problems, the test is not whether the new law can be implemented in the future, but the humanity of the emperor himself.

Frankly quarreling about all the problems, the emperor will have to face all of them in the future, he will be so hard, so tired, so angry and powerless to face many things.

Emperor, are you really willing to live like that?
Today is the resistance of the gentry all over the world, tomorrow is a sudden hurricane, and the day after tomorrow the miners will revolt.There are also the Yellow River, the Yangtze River, the earth dragon, the northern captives, the pirates, the barbarians of the southwest...

Emperor, there is really another way to live, which can also make Daming much better than it is now.

Zhu Houcong walked to Huagai Hall, sat down quietly and waited.

Zhang Jin, Huang Jin, Luo An, and Lu Song were all standing not far from him.

Zhu Houcong looked at the outlines faintly illuminated by the peripheral palace lanterns in the night outside the palace gate, and the Fengtian Palace, which was brightly lit inside to create a splendid momentum.

Like a heart that is cold on the outside but hot on the inside.

Although today is not the Great Court Meeting, it will be held in Fengtian Temple.

Zhu Houcong was thinking about Yang Ting and their reaction when he really expressed his firm determination to implement the new law there.

His "Draft of the Daming Fiscal and Taxation System" and some ideas related to it are just a piece of cake after all.

No matter how the law on the treatment of officials is formulated, in their view, it is impossible to compare with the benefits that officials and gentry can enjoy at the moment.

In the face of interests, what is it like to become a sage in the new era?The teachings of the sage Confucius, the Four Books and Five Classics, which are regarded as the standard, don’t they also say one thing and do another?

What you may gain in the future, what you will lose now and what you have to face.

Eighteen counselors, how many people have no scruples?
In the name of the new law, use more materials to make the paper more beautiful, and you can also gain a double reputation in the history of governing the country and learning. That will be the best ending.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The dull drum sound came faintly from a distance, and Zhu Houcong stood up.

Go ahead.

After all, you have come, and you must live up to your destiny.

After the calm etiquette process, Zhu Houcong said, "Bring it up."

"Post Guangdong imperial criminal Zheng Cunzhong and 13 people to the palace!"

"Press..."

……

The sound was transmitted to the Fengtian Gate in the distance, and Zheng Cunzhong took a deep breath with an unusually rosy face.

As Zhang Fujing said, he was wearing a shackle and there were shackles on his feet.

He could hear the weeping of some people behind him, the sound of gold and stone being dragged on the floor tiles of the Forbidden City, and even the crowing of chickens and birds from nowhere.

In sight, is the magnificent Fengtian Temple.

The imperial guards swarmed into a passage, some backs could be seen on the platform ahead, and the Fengtian Hall was brightly lit.

From here, Zheng Cunzhong could vaguely see the throne and the figure on it.

He quickened his pace without even feeling the pain increase much.

The distance was ten feet closer, and he began to walk up the steps.

In front of the hall, he was finally able to see the emperor's face a little bit clearly.

Therefore, regardless of the various gazes of the court officials next to him, and the fact that all the officials in red clothes in the hall were all staring back at him, Zheng Cunzhong approached the gate of the hall.

"Zhang Fujing said that Zheng Cunzhong's sharp mouth alone is enough, let him come in, and the rest are kneeling outside the hall."

The clear voice of the Son of Heaven came to Zheng Cunzhong's ears, and a slight smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, and he said loudly: "Thank you, Your Majesty, Long En!"

Afterwards, wearing the flail and kowtowing three times, Zheng Cunzhong's knowledge of etiquette can be seen.

He also seemed to be a real obedient citizen.

After entering the hall, he kept looking at the emperor without squinting. After walking into the hall, he knelt down and said with a grin, "The grassroots Zheng Cunzhong listens carefully."

Zhu Houcong looked at this Guangdong Juren.

Hair, clothes, and face are all taken care of.Although he is a prisoner, he wants to see him after all, so as not to startle him.

So now Zheng Cunzhong's appearance is not bad, he looks very gentle, his eyes are bright and energetic, and there is no trace of fear in it.

He said he was here for the trial.

Zhu Houcong turned his eyes to other people, and then said indifferently: "Because I want to try some new laws in Guangdong, I just cleared the land and changed the rules of the Shibo Department. It seems that the Ming Dynasty is about to turn upside down."

"...Your Majesty calm down!"

Hundreds of court officials knelt down together, and the voices sounded one after another, showing panic.

Zhu Houcong didn't let them get up, and continued: "Unexpectedly, this year's hurricanes at sea have hit one after another, and the people along the coast have been severely affected and miserable. Guangdong is not the worst hit, but the disaster is not over yet. The former chief envoy issued an order to warn the people not to miss this year's land tax."

"They are all good officials who are loyal to the emperor." Zhu Houcong paused, "compared with the life and death of the people under the rule, the court's regulations and the requirements of the superiors are more important. Natural disasters will naturally kill people, and the number reported is more or less. It also doesn't show their hard work in helping the disaster and reassuring the people. On the contrary, it can be seen at a glance that the fixed land tax cannot be paid in full. Whether there is a trial of the new law or not, most places will do this when they encounter disasters, I already know."

Zheng Cunzhong was surprised to hear the emperor say these things.

The words are not too literal, the tone is neither sad nor happy, and the content... is very realistic.

Only then did Zhu Houcong look at Zheng Cunzhong: "So it's the same if any Guangdong gentry did anything in it. If the matter is simple, the people's complaints will be suppressed smoothly. It's nothing more than natural disasters, bandits and other reports. I don’t necessarily know what happened locally. Zheng Cunzhong, tell me, will the new law be the same?”

Yang Tinghe, Fei Hong and the others looked solemn.

Zheng Cunzhong stared at the emperor for a moment, and then replied: "Return to Your Majesty, according to Caomin, they are all the same."

Fei Hong immediately said: "Your Majesty! With the vast territory of the Ming Dynasty and the difficulty of commuting, such disadvantages are unavoidable. However, to educate the world with rites, to spread the law between the upper and lower levels, and to restrain the officials and the people with laws, has actually been a thousand-year-old warning to future generations. This is the foundation of a unified dynasty! The situation in Guangdong is called the new law, but in fact the frontier province is far away from the center, and some officials and gentry are arrogant and perverting the law! In the frontier, the old system is even more difficult, please think carefully. "

After finishing speaking, he pointed to Yang Tinghe: "Shoufu knew this, why did he decide to try out the new law in Guangdong? Wouldn't it work in Huguang, Shandong, and Sichuan?"

Yang Tinghe said coldly and stubbornly: "If Guangdong is tried and effective, the implementation of the new law in other provinces will naturally be more promising. Everything is difficult at the beginning, and it is even more difficult to try the new law in Guangdong, but it will not cause turmoil in the hinterland! "

Zheng Cunzhong watched the quarrel of the great scholars at close range strangely.

Although Yang Tinghe's words are also reasonable, he did not deny that the new law may cause turmoil in the world.

Knowing that everything is difficult at the beginning, and knowing that it is even more difficult to try it out in Guangdong, when did you, Yang Tinghe, become so extreme?
So he looked at the young emperor and couldn't help but find it funny.

After all, is it really the sky fire poured into Guangdong by the intrigues between the emperor and his ministers in the court?
After Yang Tinghe and Fei Hong talked for a while, they stopped and looked at the emperor.

"Everyone, get up first." Zhu Houcong said calmly, "Huang Jin, please read aloud the Guangdong files submitted by Zhang Fujing."

Zheng Cunzhong pouted slightly in disdain.

What's the use of that?Your ancestors peeled the bark and pulled the grass, but they couldn't cut the world's selfishness.

Can the Zhu family be allowed to sit and enjoy the world, hoping that all the officials in the world will work hard and be poor, love the people like their own sons but ignore their own children?

In his sight, the emperor closed his eyes.

Afterwards, starting from Yang Tinghe, everyone took several files from their hands and began to read them with frowns, while Yang Tinghe began to read the first one.

Nothing new, nothing new.

Zheng Cunzhong originally thought that this would be an interrogation, either as an example of the need to implement the new law, or as evidence that the crime was too common and could only be taken lightly.

Looking at it now, after all, it was nothing more than countless court power struggles that have been staged in history.

If Fei Hongruo is really an old party member, the secrets of the Yang family's eighteen lifetimes have been dug out!
If Yang Tinghe is really a new party, why should Guangdong Juren go to Beijing?Let Zhang Fujing cut down a few Beijing temples in Guangdong!

The young emperor is probably the only one who wants to implement a new law.

... It seems that there is also Zhang Fujing.

One by one, the dossiers were read aloud, and the court officials seemed to have solemn faces when they heard it.

As time passed, the sky gradually brightened, until the brilliance of the rising sun passed over the palace, poured obliquely in from the gate of the hall, and shone on Zheng Cunzhong's back and the officials on his left.

The emperor suddenly opened his eyes and said, "Let's just read it up to this point, and the rest is the same. Afterwards, the six subjects will copy and pass it to each yamen to have a look."

Yang Tinghe put the dossier back to the eunuch and went to the tray in front of him, then bowed and said: "Your Majesty! The Cantonese are greedy, and the sage's teachings have been forgotten for a long time. It is shocking to read it! Hundreds of thousands of people in Guangdong live on less than [-]% of the land. , and shouldering the corvee of the entire province, it is like being in purgatory! Looking at the provinces of Ming Dynasty in terms of Guangdong, I am afraid that this is not the case! If things go on like this, there will be no place for the people to stand, and the Ming Dynasty will surely be overthrown! The minister thought that the court could not Let's keep fighting!"

Just as Fei Hong was about to speak, Zhu Houcong stood up.

When passing by Lu Song, the emperor drew out the "new" knife in his hand, and slowly walked towards Zheng Cunzhong amidst everyone's astonishment.

Zheng Cunzhong's eyes narrowed slightly when the tip of the knife passed by a ray of sunlight shining into the hall from a very low angle.

Then the emperor came to him.

"His Majesty……"

"His Majesty……"

The officials on the left and right could not help but turn pale with fright, and took two steps forward in unison.

As a result, the imperial guards immediately moved forward, and Luo An and Lu Song pressed Zheng Cunzhong's shoulders from left to right.

Zheng Cunzhong, with pupils constricted, watched the emperor place the blade on his shackle, aiming at his throat.

"Zhang Fujing said that apart from evading taxes and duties, the other things you did can't be regarded as serious violations of the national law."

Zheng Cunzhong looked up at him with his head held high, his throat moved, and he said: "Caomin is indeed guilty of evading taxation. His Majesty wants to kill or cut up the grassman. Let the grassman do whatever he wants."

"Your Majesty Ninth Five-Year Supreme, absolutely not..." Yang Tinghe said in a harsh voice, but only received the emperor's calm glance.

Yang Tinghe choked back the second half of the sentence.

Zhu Houcong continued: "Zhang Fujing said that he used a chess game as a metaphor for state affairs, white pieces as a metaphor for officials and gentry who have the teachings of sages in their hearts, and black pieces as a metaphor for officials and gentry who only have a small family but no great Ming in their hearts. You said that chess pieces are just chess pieces after all. If you change them In a game of chess, the pieces are still the pieces.”

"... Caomin did say it." Zheng Cunzhong calmed down and looked at the emperor.

It was very quiet in Fengtian Hall, Yang Ting, Fei Hong and others all stared in horror.

Zhu Houcong smiled at Zheng Cunzhong: "Well said."

Then he straightened his blade forward, and a ray of blood spilled from the shadow into the small square of light that Chaoyang cut in the hall.

Zheng Cunzhong couldn't speak, his eyes tried hard not to be distracted.

Why don't you listen to me more?
Since you have made up your mind to kill, why don't you listen to how cruel the reality is?

What the hell is going on with this court of yours?

The remaining [-] Guangdong "imperial prisoners" outside the hall were suddenly frightened and cried: "Your Majesty, please forgive me, Your Majesty..."

The faces of all the officials in Fengtian Hall were pale, and they looked at the emperor in disbelief.

Zhu Houcong let go of the handle of the knife and clapped his hands, exhaling the breath in his chest as smoothly as possible.

He knows that he has grown a lot, but as an emperor, he lacks this lesson.

Only the self from 500 years later must make up this lesson.

If he wanted to do something harsh, he couldn't be a murderous emperor.

And this is a "good" gentry who only bears a crime that 90.00% of the gentry in the world will have.

Zhu Houcong used this knife to tell his courtiers some determination.

He glanced at Yang Ting and them indifferently, then turned to look at Zhang Bi and Gu Dingchen.

"record."

"Drag out."

"Wash the floor."

"Bring water."

After the emperor arrived at the throne, he washed the blood off his face, and the Fengtian Hall was completely silent.

Zhang Bi tremblingly recorded in his daily life note.

【In the ninth month of the first year of Jiajing, Renzi, who was always in court at the Fengtian Palace, began to kill Zheng Cunzhong, a traitor in Guangdong. 】

　Recommend a friend's new book "Governing the Great Ming Dynasty": I have just traveled to Zhu Youtang and have not had time to adapt to the identity of the prince, so I have to take over the burden of China in a hurry, facing the coveted forces of all parties is like a Schrödinger's game cat games.Generous and kind?It is not good to go to hell for corrupting the ancestral system!Appoint an upright and clean minister?Minister Qingliu may not be able to do things or be honest, well, this is actually an excuse, but the matter is up to you civil servants, so what do you want the emperor to do?Govern the world with the scholar-officials?Isn't the law of the world fragrant when I say it?Let's look at the story of how a modern person's soul wears the sage Zhu Youtang to transform into a tyrant, and how he will lead China to the top of the world.

　　


(End of this chapter)