Rule over Ming Dynasty

Chapter 295: Lightning Strikes Rebellious Officials, The Empire Is Trapped

wow...

The messenger officer stepped heavily on the newly formed puddle with one foot, and the water in the puddle splashed in all directions, but he had successfully attracted the attention of all the officials.

The rain came fast and violently, and the bodies of most officials have been soaked.

The officials who were still forcing the palace just now saw someone running out behind them to interfere with their plan to rescue Zhou Nai, and an officer of science and ethics immediately stepped forward and reprimanded: "This is the place of the early court, don't let it go..."

It's just that the last word "四" was not uttered. After passing through the rain curtain, the messenger officer who had already seen here was holding a pond newspaper in his hand, so he swallowed the last word.

Since Hongzhi ascended the throne, the Ming court established the pond newspaper system.

Now the officials of the pond newspaper sent the pond newspaper here anxiously at this time, either there was a major military situation in the border area, or something terrible happened.

For a while, more than 1000 civil and military officials present all looked at the people, wondering what kind of Tang newspaper actually allowed Tang newspaper officials to directly break into the early court scene.

Ha ha……

Liu Jian, the left servant of the Ministry of Rites, looked at the panicked appearance of this official, but knew that this time must be a misfortune rather than a blessing, so he couldn't help laughing to himself, but looked at Zhu Youtang gloatingly.

He knew that the biggest military action of the Ming court in the near future was to prepare for the elimination of the Jurchen in Jianzhou on the grounds of insufficient deer tendons. At present, the granary in Liaodong has been rammed, and the troops from all walks of life have already stationed troops in Shanhaiguan.

As long as the emperor gives an order, the army stationed in Liaodong can invade the Jianzhou Jurchen territory.

Obviously, this pond report is related to Liaodong, and now there may be an accident in the war in Liaodong, and the Jianzhou Jurchen may have taken Shanhaiguan in turn.

Originally, the best way for the Ming Dynasty was to recuperate, use the Great Wall as a line of defense to control the world, and then govern the world with the scholar-officials to share the blessing of peace.

It turned out that this ambitious and talented emperor dared to provoke the Jurchens, which was a stupid act of asking for trouble, and now he was slapped in the face by the Jurchens.

Shame, really shame, how did I teach such a stupid student?
thump!
When he came close, the letter reporting officer revealed the poor physique of the scholar. At this moment, he was already out of breath, and he suddenly fell to the ground.

It's just that loyalty is worthy of affirmation. As if he didn't dare to delay the pond newspaper in his hand, he still held it up to Zhu Youtang and said, "Your Majesty, no... it's not good!"

not good?

Although Li Yu, Minister of the Ministry of Officials, and other officials had already guessed, they couldn't help but sink to the bottom of their hearts when they heard what the reporting official said.

Obviously, Daming didn't report a great victory, but a bad situation.

Boom!

There was another thunder in the sky, and the rain that fell on everyone became even colder. The sky at this time seemed to indicate that the dynasty was suffering a catastrophe.

The commander of Jin Yiwei made Wang Xiang let the rain fall on him, quickly stepped forward to take the pond newspaper, then turned around and handed the pond newspaper to Zhu Youtang.

"What bad thing happened? God bless me, Daming!"

Officials such as Li Si, Minister of the Household Department, were attracted by the pond newspaper, but they were curious about what kind of devastating news the pond newspaper brought, and at the same time prayed silently.

Zhu Youtang opened the pond newspaper under the eyes of everyone, only to see the content on the pond newspaper, and the qi-nourishing kung fu since ascension to the throne broke the defense.First, his eyes were red, and then a surge of anger surged from his feet.

Huh?
Wan An and Liu Ji couldn't help but looked at each other. They were the closest to Zhu Youtang, so they could clearly feel the rare anger emanating from Zhu Youtang.

This……

Li Yu and other officials, Minister of the Ministry of Officials, also realized that Zhu Youtang was like a lion waking up. When they saw Zhu Youtang looking around at all the officials present, they immediately surrendered to the emperor silently.

Zhu Youtang finally suppressed his anger, but asked without a trace of emotion: "Who said just now that I ordered the Metropolitan Procuratorate to release Zhou Nai?"

"It's my minister! Zhou Nai has contributed a lot to water and water control for so many years, and I implore His Majesty to order the Metropolitan Procuratorate to release Zhou Nai!" Liu Jian, the left servant of the Ministry of Rites, felt a little uneasy, but stood up and expressed his position with no way out.

Zhu Youtang knew that Liu Jian could be kicked out, but suppressed his anger and asked, "Who else?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, there are 19 people in total, and I have already recorded them!" Li Yu, Minister of the Ministry of Officials, has the ability to remember with a photograph, and immediately stood up and responded.

Zhu Youtang was very satisfied with Li Yu's ability, so he ordered lightly: "After you go to court, you immediately copy the list to me!"

"Your Majesty, Zhou Nai has made great contributions to water and water control for so many years. If the Metropolitan Procuratorate arrests people without evidence, even if they sign and pledge, they will be tortured!" Liu Jian knew that something might have happened to Zhou Nai, but he still tried to get away with it. .

Realizing that Zhou Nai's situation might change, the other officials secretly admired Liu Jian's quick wit, and they echoed one after another: "Your Majesty, the Metropolitan Procuratorate arrests people without evidence. Think twice!"

Zhu Youtang looked at the officials who were about to seize the "beating into tricks", but he raised the pond newspaper in his hand: "The news just came from Henan that the Kaifeng mansion broke the embankment several times the night before yesterday, and the city of Kaifeng was flooded. Hectares of fertile land were destroyed, and countless people were displaced. Last year, the imperial court ordered the river channel to be strengthened in Kaifeng, and the Ministry of Finance allocated a total of more than [-] taels. This summer, the embankment broke before the flood season, and the newly built Jinglongkou embankment was actually an earthen embankment. Dam, who dares to protect the governor of the river? Stand up and let me take a good look at it!"

A white lightning flashed across the sky, as if it was looking for a target, and it seemed that it would strike down at any time, so that everyone dared not breathe heavily.

The new embankment broke?

Liu Jian, the left servant of the Ministry of Rites, and other officials thought that Zhou Nai had confessed to corruption, but they couldn't help being dumbfounded when they heard that the Kaifeng mansion burst its embankment and the entire Kaifeng city was flooded.

Although everyone has long been tacitly aware of the corruption of ink in projects, after all, the main way for local officials to squeeze local people is salt, but the salt administration has been rectified last year, so now the biggest source of corruption in ink is project funds.

It's just that no one expected that the river officials were so bold this time. The newly built Jinglongkou embankment was a river project that the imperial court focused on, and they cut corners to an outrageous extent.

Such a governor of the river, who dares to protect, who can protect?

This……

The face of Liu Jian, the left servant of the Ministry of Rites, suddenly felt hot. Originally, he wanted to shape the image of a straight minister to escape the predicament, but he didn't expect that Zhou Nai, whom he wanted to protect, would indirectly kill thousands of people.

Zhou Nai was destined to be beheaded on the guillotine when the incident on the east window of the new embankment built last year happened, and even a large number of officials and eunuchs who supervised the work were beheaded.

The Minister of the Ministry of Officials and other officials felt very sad, and immediately knelt down in unison and said: "Your Majesty, please thoroughly investigate the river course, and don't let innocent people die in vain!"

The voice was very loud. Since it was a petition issued by more than 1000 civil and military people, the voice of Liu Jian and others to save Zhou Nai just now seemed insignificant.

Back in time, the disaster in Henan reappeared.

It's night, the Yellow River floods.

The newly built Jinglongkou embankment in Kaifeng burst, and the Yellow River suddenly diverted to the north, but the new channel was blocked by mountains, causing the river bank to rise suddenly, and the Yellow River temporarily became a barrier lake.

This incident seemed to have a domino effect, and something that shocked the world unexpectedly occurred, and the north of Kaifeng city burst.

With the collapse of the north embankment, the whole river entered Bian, the river roared like thunder, the north gate rushed along, the men and women of Shecheng wailed, and the palace of the king and the common people rose to the top of the house.

In the middle of the night, the depth of the water was several feet, and the floating corpses were like fish, which was horrible.

Kaifeng, this is the capital of the Song Dynasty, and even once hoped to become the capital of the Ming Dynasty.

In the first year of Hongwu, Kaifeng was upgraded to Beijing, which was equivalent to the accompanying capital of the Ming Dynasty. Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang personally visited Kaifeng and came up with the idea of ​​moving the capital to Kaifeng.

In the second year of Hongwu, in view of the dilapidated city walls and various projects of Kaifeng Mansion, large-scale infrastructure construction around Kaifeng Mansion began.

It was only in the process of this construction that the Ming court discovered various disadvantages of Kaifeng City.

Because Kaifeng Prefecture has convenient transportation and extends in all directions, there is no danger to defend. The most important thing is that Kaifeng City is located in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River, so breaches and floods often occur, submerging large areas of cultivated land and villages.

In the eighth year of Hongwu, the embankment of Taihuang Temple in Kaifeng was decided, and 3 civilian husbands were ordered to participate in politics in Henan.

In the 17th year of Hongwu, Kaifeng Dongyue Dike was decided, and it flowed for dozens of miles from Chenqiao to Chenliu.

In the 30th year of Hongwu, Kaifeng was decided in August, and three sides of the city were flooded.

It was only in the second year of Hongzhi that the imperial court was worried that the river section of Kaifeng City would break its embankment. After all, the Yellow River is now known as the "Heavenly River", so it specially allocated funds to protect the embankment.

No one thought that the corruption of the Daming River was so serious that the newly built Jinglongkou Dike not only failed to better fulfill the duties of protecting the river, but became the biggest culprit for the breach of the Kaifeng North Dike.

The embankment in the north of Kaifeng City broke, and the entire Yellow River diverted to the south. The water of the Yellow River directly broke down the breakwaters around Kaifeng City, and a large amount of river water poured into the streets of Kaifeng City from the north gate.

The time happened to be in the middle of the night, and countless people were drowned by this sudden flood while they were still asleep, and became ghosts one by one.

This time it was a natural disaster, but it was also a man-made disaster.Even if Zhou Nai, the governor of the river, did not take any money, the poor performance of Xindi alone was enough to execute Zhou Nai Lingchi.

As the Yellow River diverted and flowed into Kaifeng City, not only the lives of a large number of people were threatened, but also the crops waiting to be harvested were flooded, and even the land could not be found.

According to preliminary estimates, the economic losses this time have reached several million taels, and there may be millions of disaster victims in Henan.

When the news spread to the capital, although Zhu Youtang wished to kill all the river officials, the most urgent task at the moment was how to provide disaster relief and find a way out for the affected people.

The early court ended in Zhu Youtang's wrath, while Liu Jian, the left servant of the Ministry of Rites, and other officials left in a daze.

Liu Jian knew that even if His Majesty could continue to tolerate him, it would be impossible for those officials to let him go just because of his position of protecting Zhou Nai, the governor of the river.

It's just that Huaxia's giant ship is rolling forward under the helm of Zhu Youtang, but it is impossible to stop for half a point because of Liu Jian.

Imperial study room, the highest meeting.

The six hall officials and two elders gathered together, while Emperor Hongzhi was drinking tea in the attic.

In this kind of agricultural society, although it is due to human factors this time, natural disasters cannot be avoided. Therefore, a strong imperial court is needed to solve disasters in various places through resource allocation.

Like the flood in Shandong the year before last, the imperial court distributed rice and grain for disaster relief, so an effective disaster relief system already existed.

It's just that the area affected by the disaster is too large, not to mention that it is difficult for the surrounding counties to mobilize enough rice grains, and the imperial government's disaster relief expenses will be a huge expenditure.

In addition, no one can guarantee that the officials in charge of disaster relief will not fill their pockets, and how much disaster food or disaster money will reach the hands of the victims.

Of course, even with all kinds of concerns, there are many places where officials can take advantage of loopholes, but human lives are at stake, and the court still has to distribute disaster relief food and relief money as soon as possible.

After finalizing the disaster relief in Henan, Zhu Youtang proposed that this disaster relief should have innovative thinking, to better relieve the millions of victims, and even consider how to better resettle the victims.

After careful consideration, Li Si, Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, proposed an innovative plan: "Now Henan is in the summer flood period, and the territory is not only rainy, but also the roads are muddy. If it takes a lot to transport silver and grain, the imperial court will issue food stamps to relieve the disaster. Bar?"

"What are food stamps?" Xu Qiong, Minister of the Ministry of Rites, listened very carefully, and immediately asked in doubt.

Li Yu, Minister of the Ministry of Officials, and other officials faintly felt that this was a great innovation, and couldn't help turning their heads to look at Li Si.

Zhu Youtang was drinking tea on the pavilion, the corners of his mouth involuntarily raised slightly.

He found that his painstaking efforts were not in vain, and today's important ministers are more and more willing to use their brains instead of following the rules when they encounter everything.

Li Si, Minister of the Ministry of Households, met the eyes of everyone, and said his idea: "The food stamps are similar to the cloth stamps, but instead of cloth, there is a stone of grain written on them. This stamp is printed by our Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Households will also Recycling is just to stimulate the enthusiasm of grain merchants. One stone of grain can be exchanged for five coins. In addition, this ticket can be used to offset the grain tax levied by local officials. In this way, the imperial court no longer needs to escort silver and rice to Kaifeng, and the people who get the food stamps can go to the surrounding places to exchange for food to survive the famine.”

"This is a strategy for the country!"

"If this is the case, more disaster victims can be saved!"

"Although this method is good, what if the local officials don't recognize it?"

"Let's issue food stamps to local officials' salaries, so that local officials can easily identify them!"

"This method is very good. As long as we can be united as one, we will surely help millions of victims survive the disaster!"

……

Li Yu and other officials, Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, unanimously approved of Li Si's innovative plan after hearing Li Si's idea, and then improved it, and felt that the way of food stamp relief was more convenient.

The floods in Kaifeng Prefecture this time were mainly caused by human factors. The affected area was not thousands of miles of terracotta land, but mainly concentrated in the flooded area.

Tongzhou has a full 2000 million shi of grain, which is more than enough for disaster relief.

There is only one problem here. It would be good to have half of Tongzhou's 2000 million stone grains transported to Kaifeng, not to mention that it will take time?

If the flooded people get food stamps and then order the government to set up porridge sheds along the way, then the flooded people can disperse and use the local or capital granaries to find a glimmer of life.

Just like this, the food coupon disaster relief method proposed by Li Si, although one tael per person is a huge expense, is undoubtedly more efficient than the traditional disaster relief method.

Zhu Youtang was very impressed with the fair-looking Li Si, so he made a final decision: "Since all the ministers and workers have no objections, then this time it will be settled! The Ministry of Households will lead, the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of War will assist, and the Ministry of Officials will also Make every effort to urge local officials to implement the government order!"

"Your Majesty is wise, and the ministers will obey the order!" A total of twelve officials from the Ministry of Officials, the Ministry of Households, the Ministry of Industry, and the Ministry of War expressed their stance at the same time, appearing to be full of fighting spirit.

They like the current way of handling government affairs, discussing issues together, and now the various yamen cooperate with each other, so that things are handled beautifully.

What they are facing now are millions of disaster victims. If they can get things done, they will be famous in history, not a mediocre official with a dead body.

It's just that everyone was not happy for too long, and another more difficult question followed: "How to resettle the millions of residents affected by the disaster?"

"This matter has been settled long ago, so I still need to ask? Naturally, they are allowed to return to their respective residences to continue production!" He Qiaoxin, Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishment, took it for granted that he had high qualifications.

Wu Yu, the right servant of the household department, looked at the Shangshu of the Ministry of punishment who had been promoted from Nanjing, but shook his head gently: "Shangshu He's words are inappropriate! The yellow water is sandy, which is the consensus of the whole world. After the flood, many victims even Returning to their hometown, but their fields must be buried by the sand of the Yellow River. If this is done, hundreds of thousands of people may not be able to continue farming, and may even be reduced to refugees and die in the mountains!"

When it came to the end, it seemed that it was recalling a past event, and tears welled up in the eyes.

Seeing this, He Qiaoxin, Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishments, cast a contemptuous look. This kind of young officials who moved up did not understand that this is the era of cannibalism, and immediately said with disapproval: "This is something they should consider. It has been treated like this until now, it is really impossible for them to be tenants for others! As long as you are not a lazy person, you can always have something to eat!"

"Tenants, tenants, you just think that the common people will have to sell themselves to your gentry's family as slaves and handmaids?" Wu Yu asked with tears in his eyes as if he was stimulated.

He Qiaoxin, Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishments, had a gloomy face, but he responded loudly: "This is the practice of the past dynasties, what are you doing against me? If you are really capable, if you come up with a feasible plan, then the old man will not mention it anymore! "

"I...I didn't think of a good solution, but I...I believe that His Majesty must have a solution! Your Majesty, I am incompetent, please show me the regulations!" Wu Yu had a mysterious trust in Zhu Youtang, but suddenly Knelt down and said.

This……

Officials such as Minister of the Ministry of Officials, Li Yu, and other officials looked at the bold and reckless Wu Yu with complicated eyes, but they did not expect that this little servant of the household department would dare to kick the ball at the emperor, but the current emperor is probably the only one who can crack this millennium. difficult people.

For a moment, all the officials present looked at the attic in unison, at the emperor who was on top of the dragon.

(End of this chapter)