Jingming

Chapter 357 The emperor made a big fuss?

Tana didn't understand what the emperor asked Jin Yiwei to send people to thoroughly investigate, but the other courtiers in the imperial study were all terrified.

"Your Majesty! You must not do it!" Yang Shen was the first to speak, but his expression remained firm in the face of the furious emperor, "It is true that the weather is strong, and it is true that there is a disaster! Although the disaster reported by the Suzhou Prefecture is particularly serious, it cannot be It means there is something hidden! Governor Yingtian, the Grain Supervisor, and the Supervisory Censor can go and verify what happened! The Jinyi Guards went south, and they discovered a serious problem even though there was no hidden secret!"

Zhu Houcong stared at him immediately.

The emperor's eyes were very cold, and Zhang Fujing couldn't help looking at Yang Shen: "It's still as fierce as it was in Guangzhou Mansion..."

Yang Shen did not back down and continued: "I know that your Majesty is worried that the grain tax collected by the Ministry of Household Affairs in Nanzhili and the three provinces this year will be levied by the Ministry of Household Affairs in Beijing. Even so, the State Palace has been established, and the grain tax will be collected. It is my duty to do this, and I will do it on my own! A report from the district government revealed why His Majesty was so aggressive. Even General Assistant Fei, Zhang Guowu and the ministers were summoned to inquire about the matter, and the Jin Yi Guards were also sent to investigate thoroughly. Have you actually decided that this is a major case?"

Fei Hong also looked sideways: Yang Tinghe, your son... has a very different temper than you.Thinking about what happened back then, was it really true?

Now Yang Shen is the emperor directly, blame him for making a fuss over a molehill.

More importantly, he vaguely accused the emperor of not intervening so easily in some civil affairs that had been delegated power.

After Yang Shen said these words, the imperial study room became extremely silent.Zhu Houcong's own breathing made the loudest sound.

"According to what you said, maybe Suzhou Mansion really suffered such a severe disaster?" After a while, Zhu Houcong calmed down a little and asked lightly.

"It's the eighth year of Jiajing, who has the guts to be so rampant?" Yang Shen raised his eyebrows without hesitation, "Even if it's not all caused by natural disasters, this man-made disaster, I'm afraid it won't find anything after investigation. Clean up the water conservancy."

"... Clean up the water conservancy?" Zhu Houcong was a little surprised.

Yang Shen nodded: "Although the report from the Suzhou Mansion only mentioned one sentence, with His Majesty's sageness, you should have noticed it. I know that Your Majesty is often depressed because of the incident with the Concubine An and the Prince at the beginning of the year. Your Majesty has great affection, and I deeply admire it. However, state affairs are inexhaustible, so we must not deal with them hastily!"

Lu Bing looked at Yang Shen blankly: So brave!
Although I don't know why, His Majesty has always been brooding over An Pin's death in childbirth.Everyone in the palace knew this, so few people dared to mention it.Now Yang Shen not only mentioned it in person, but also brought it up when the emperor himself was furious, and even blamed him for losing his mind and handling state affairs hastily.

Zhu Houcong was also taken aback for a moment, but then became calmer and remained silent.

After Yang Shen reminded him, he also remembered that the Suzhou Mansion Report had indeed mentioned a sentence: the typhoon and the wind and waves brought by it in the past two months destroyed some seawalls and river embankments, which destroyed a lot of fertile land.Now that the statistics are out, the Suzhou government can only collect [-]% of the quota for food and taxes this year, and they still have to provide disaster relief.

If there is any reason why other prefectures are not so serious, then it is because Suzhou Prefecture had engineering problems in the process of cleaning up the water conservancy. After all, this year's typhoon did not land from Suzhou Prefecture.

And if there is a problem with cleaning up the water conservancy, the water patrol censor sent to Nanzhili at that time was the first batch of trusted officials of the new law, and now he has been ranked as the fourth-rank general director of the Ministry of Industry.

Zhu Houcong finally understood what Yang Shen meant and looked at Zhang Fujing and Fei Hong.

Seeing that the emperor's eyes became colder again, Fei Hong smiled wryly: "Your Majesty, it is reasonable to use rhetoric. What is the truth? Although Nanzhili is not a province and does not have a capital inspectorate, Governor Yingtian and Governor Huaiyang are both Withdrew, but after all, there are still Yingtian governors, inspectors, and supervisors. The crops have been destroyed by [-]%, so they dare not cheat. In any case, food collection and disaster relief, these two things have to be done. Let's continue to investigate..."

Zhu Houcong remained silent and looked at Zhang Fuking again.

"...Your Majesty, it has been eight years since the new law was tried out in Guangdong in the first year of Jiajing. In eight years, I have no distinction between the new party and the old party..."

Zhu Houcong finally spoke: "Why don't you make your words clearer? Isn't there me in you again, and you in me?"

Everything comes back to people in the end.The original Xinfa go-getters embarked on a stable promotion channel.For such a long time, new friends, new in-laws, and new mentors and apprentices have entangled interests with each other. You know my details, and I know yours.Yang Shen said that even if there is a disaster, the investigation will not find the head of the original new law.I really found something, do you want to continue the investigation?

Fei Hong and the others remained silent, while Zhu Houcong continued: "The three of you have heavy burdens. The Northern Expedition, the reform of the military system, the expansion of the capital, the control of floods, and the promotion of new learning require money and food everywhere. The new law has reached this stage, and you all need money and food. Think calmly. But since you know that there may be disasters, do you also think it is not appropriate to go to war?"

"You should investigate and investigate! If someone is in trouble, you should investigate and deal with it!" Yang Shen looked at Lu Bing, "I just think that the Jin Yiwei specializing in handling this case will frighten all the local officials."

Fei Hong quickly added: "Let the Metropolitan Procuratorate conduct verification first before talking."

Lu Bing couldn't help but look at the emperor, feeling a little nervous.

Although it was just a trivial matter, this incident became a microcosm instead.

Even if he was as well-behaved as Fei Hong, he would not want the emperor to personally intervene and leave the Metropolitan Procuratorate to investigate because of this trivial matter. This would shake the prestige of the State Palace and the Prime Minister and Minister of State.

Zhu Houcong closed his eyes, thought for a while before saying, "Then I will give you three months."

"The ministers and others lead the decree..."

"The foundation of a tax-paying country, those hats of tax resistance and tax evasion that were only put on the heads of some so-called unscrupulous people in the past, I know exactly who should wear them! It is clear. Qing and others said that it will take time, but I am still fully aware of it. Since the 16th year of Zhengde, from the capital to the local government, from the chief official to the subordinate staff, the family members, the honorable ministers, the virtuous gentry in the village, how much has changed, I and the government and the public are all clear. !"

After the four were spoken clearly, Zhang Fujing felt like a heavy burden was on his shoulders.

He knew what the emperor was going to say.

"The changes have been so great, but what remains the same is the collusion between the officials and the gentry, trying to escape the tax and labor, and changing the soup without changing the medicine!" Zhu Houcong said solemnly, "I said it first. The soldiers in the border town sacrificed their lives, and this is the victory over the northern captives. , so that the provinces in the hinterland can sit and enjoy peace. The troubles in the north are not over, and now is the time for everyone to perform their duties and fulfill their righteousness. I will teach them how to behave in their next life!"

……

The three people who left the imperial study room felt heavy.

Even Yang Shen, who was the most naive in the past, is no longer a fool now.

Even Zhang Fujing, who was considered the strongest pioneer of the new law, could not easily keep up with the emperor now.

After walking outside the Fengtian Gate, Zhang Fujing sighed: "Your Majesty understands the principles of human nature, how can you not know that this is harshness? There are so few saints. This is what Your Majesty said. Overcorrection must be overcorrected. The Ming Dynasty is too big. There are too many officials and gentry, so let’s handle this case carefully and set some rules. Yongxiu, what your Majesty says today is that the most important thing is that we and the three of us are safe."

Yang Shen snorted softly: "Your Majesty can be demanding, but as a subject, I still put things on the safe side. The Minister of State is in charge of a job, and Zhang Guowu and I, don't it just happen that one is a bad face and the other is a bad face? It's easy to handle the case well. It is easy to establish rules. But now in the Ming Dynasty, there are more than [-] officials and millions of gentry and rich households. It is necessary not to be lazy but also to be stable in the hearts of the people. ?”

Fei Hong had a big head: "Since you understand this, why are you so... admonishing His Majesty today?"

Yang Shen said with a straight face: "Your Majesty, the king of the country, why do you behave like a little girl and grieve for a small matter in the harem for so long? Now that you are so angry after hearing the report from Suzhou, it shows that you are in an unstable state of mind. This is not a blessing for the country, and it is even worse than The matter in Suzhou is important, how can I not speak out and give advice?"

Fei Hong could only mutter in a low voice: "It's strange to say that apart from the queen and the empress in the harem, your majesty actually loves the second concubine and concubine Jing more, so why would you care about the concubine..."

Don't look at the three people who were very dignified when they were in the imperial study, in fact, everyone was transparent, and now Fei Hong took the initiative to chat about the little gossip about the emperor.

They really couldn't understand why the emperor did this. To put it bluntly, being placed in an ordinary official and gentry's family was equivalent to the unfortunate death of a concubine... If you want to talk about the prince, the emperor is not an heir. It is difficult.It's okay to be sad for a while, but it's been so long and still emotionally unstable, it's really not like the emperor in previous years.

In the Hall of Mental Cultivation, Zhu Houcong was silent for a long time after they left, neither Huang Jin nor Lu Bing could speak.

Lu Bing was even more embarrassed. He was called over. It turned out that the emperor wanted him to send someone to investigate the case, but Yang Shen and the others persuaded him to go back.

Now that the emperor has not spoken, it is not easy for him to just resign and return to Jin Yiwei.

In the end, it was Huang Jin who spoke first: "Your Majesty, the beauty presented by Duo Yan is still waiting in the backyard."

"I know." Zhu Houcong finally raised his head and asked after seeing Lu Bing, "Why are you still here? Since the Metropolitan Procuratorate sent people to investigate first, you should go back."

"...Yes." Lu Bing bowed and took two steps before he stopped and asked, "Your Majesty, I have made arrangements to see the army team fighting for the championship in October. Your Majesty said that all the ladies will go, so this Duo The empress offered by Yanbu, will you also arrange for escorts on chariots?"

"Make arrangements."

After Zhu Houcong finished talking casually, he still sat there.

Zhu Houcong didn't expect that Yang Shen complained about his emotional instability because of the Suzhou Mansion incident.

After Huang Jin was the only one here, he asked, "Did I feel unhappy from time to time in the past few months, so that I mishandled state affairs?"

Huang Jin thought to himself, don't ask me such a difficult question. He looked awe-inspiring: "Your Majesty's sage is rare in ancient times and modern times. How can you handle state affairs inappropriately? Yang Shangshu is really bold. That is to say, His Majesty is very broad-minded. I have just thought about it." He was scolded. It’s just that His Majesty has instructions on weekdays, and Yang Shangshu was talking about state affairs, so I didn’t say anything!"

"...That is, it is true that you are often in a bad mood, and you are all trembling." Zhu Houcong sighed.

Huang Jin's eyes were reddish, and he said softly: "Your Majesty, Concubine An's fortune is poor, and this is fate. Your Majesty is so sad, and Concubine An's Majesty knows it, and she can't bear it."

Zhu Houcong remained silent.

Mayong's daughter was adopted as one of the nine concubines for political purposes.After entering the palace, Zhu Houcong was not close to him.Even if she was pregnant last year, when the monarchs and ministers were still paying attention to the changes in the situation on the grassland, Zhu Houcong didn't care too much, at least much less than when Sun Ming and the others were pregnant.

Having had princes and daughters continuously and steadily, Zhu Houcong was not so worried about her childbirth.It's just that after the incident, all kinds of feelings came to him.

After all, unlike people in this era, Zhu Houcong experienced such a thing, and his grief and self-blame seemed to be stronger.After all, that was a woman who had had skin-to-skin contact with him, who was only respected by him, who was famous and important, and who was his son who had never seen the world.

Coupled with the invisible pressure brought about by the changes in the situation after the change of ownership in Qinghai, Zhu Houcong has had this knot in the past few months.

More knots are facing the future - due to the limitations of technology, in his long life, his wife's death, the death of his children, the death of his close and trustworthy ministers, I am afraid that there will be many, And it's getting denser.

Zhu Houcong thought that after all these years, he actually had the cold-blooded and ruthless emperor.But he found that some deep-rooted concepts in his heart would still violently impact his emotions under certain circumstances.

After a while, he smiled to himself: "I'm no different. Let's go and see her."

What was said before that some people enjoy their benefits but not their righteousness, so what is the difference between him in this harem?
All the beauties in the palaces are looking forward to his rain and dew grace, Zhu Houcong is happy when he is happy, can he usually make everyone happy?Now that I have encountered this kind of thing, I have been in a bad mood for several months. Is it hypocritical, just to satisfy some so-called moral requirements in my heart?
He didn't want to give up this kind of happiness.It's like asking those wealthy officials and gentry to "pay all their dues if they have a correct mind" without engaging in some behind-the-scenes operations. They can't do it either.

This is human nature, no one is more noble than anyone else.

Thinking of this, Zhu Houcong felt that his mood was a little different.

Seeing that Zhu Houcong was interested, Huang Jin couldn't help but cheer up, and hurriedly sent people over to make the beauty ready to meet him.

Zhu Houcong walked steadily.

You see, when I was thinking about something just now, because Huang Jin reminded me, didn't he become a little more curious about the beauty on the prairie?
It is true to govern diligently for the country and the people, and it is true to indulge in selfish desires and indulge in royal power.

Walking on the road, Zhu Houcong thought of Yang Shen again.

Zhu Houcong's anger before was not fake, why is Yang Shen so stubborn?Why did he seem to wake up a little when he mentioned his emotional problems?Why did I feel a little embarrassed when I thought about it carefully and found that what he said made sense?
The last bit of harsh words was partly because Zhu Houcong really thought it was time to give him a good beating, and partly because he was trying to smooth things over for his previous angry appearance.

Zhu Houcong felt a little depressed as he walked.

I knew I wouldn't prostitute his poem for nothing on a whim, and now I feel a little guilty in front of him because of the merits he has done and the historical reputation he lost.

He is so new now, is it because he noticed something after receiving his own feedback after being repeatedly persuaded by the court staff?
You won't stick to your nose and face again and become a Wei Zheng-style figure, right?
While drinking tea and sitting there thinking wildly, he casually looked up after hearing the unfamiliar sound of worship and salute.

Zhu Houcong was dumbfounded.

Tana was kneeling on the ground. Although she lowered her head, she looked like a turtle with its head extended because she was peeking at him curiously from below.

The strange appearance made Zhu Houcong laugh.

(End of this chapter)