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Chapter 946 The building will collapse

Hearing this, the emperor seemed to understand why the ministers were so worried and unwilling to express their opinions easily. However, he did not intend to grant them special leniency for the sake of the overall situation. The reason was simple: he was unwilling to make this concession.

If there is a first, there will be a second. If loopholes continue to be made, the court will follow suit. The Ming Dynasty laws will soon become meaningless and eventually become rules specifically designed to restrict powerless people, which will be no different from the old laws. This is tantamount to slapping oneself in the face.

"Of course, I will not wrongly accuse a meritorious official of the imperial court for no reason. We must first find out the whole story before making a decision. Governor Yuan is still recovering from his injuries and needs to rest. Do you have anyone to recommend who can take on this important task?"

But after a period of righteous speeches, the emperor suddenly changed his tone, as if he no longer intended to pursue the matter to death. Instead, he proposed to send people to Yunnan to investigate thoroughly and then deal with it appropriately.

"……" However, none of the more than ten ministers of the General Staff present took the initiative to recommend candidates. The Left Censor-in-Chief Gu Dazhang simply picked up the report and continued reading, as if he did not hear the emperor's question. The scene was a bit awkward.

"Well, this matter is indeed not easy to handle. Yunnan is located in the borderland and has many ethnic groups. It is difficult to gain anything unless you stay here for a long time. Zhou Jiaqing..." The emperor did not seem to be in a hurry. He took a puff of his cigar from time to time, looking at the light blue smoke rising slowly, as if he was in a trance.

A few minutes later, he suddenly regained his consciousness. He neither blamed the ministers for failing at the critical moment, nor did he forcibly assign anyone to go to Yunnan to investigate the case. Instead, he appointed the Jinyiwei commander who was sitting by the wall.

Wang Zhizhen, the commander of the Jinyiwei, had been bedridden since the beginning of the year. Although he was treated by the imperial physician, he was too old and exhausted to survive the winter. After careful consideration, the emperor appointed Zhou Jiaqing, the former commander of the Nanjing Jinyiwei, as his successor and temporarily took charge of the Jinyiwei.

Who is Zhou Jiaqing? Is he capable of taking over Wang Zhizhen's business? In fact, Zhou Jiaqing was Wang Zhizhen's subordinate and best friend. He stayed with him during the years when he was ostracized. He even personally rushed to the front line to kill Luo Sigong and his gang.

Later, the emperor wanted to send someone to monitor every move in the Nanjing court, and Wang Zhizhen recommended Zhou Jiaqing. More than ten years passed in a blink of an eye, and Zhou Jiaqing remained tepid in his post as Nanjing Jinyiwei, and did not make any major moves.

However, he did a solid job in intelligence work on the officialdom of Nanjing and the surrounding prefectures and counties. He established files for almost every official and updated them regularly. He was a man who worked quietly and did not like to show off.

Not to mention being unknown, his actions were recorded in detail by Gehu. When the emperor needed someone in a certain area, Wang Chengen would find the corresponding person from the archives for selection.

"I'm here!" Hearing the emperor's call, Zhou Jiaqing immediately stood up from his chair and responded in a low voice.

"You are to lead the Jinyiwei to Yunnan to investigate the assassination of Yuan Keli, the governor of Southwest China. I grant you the right to act at your discretion. Go and come back quickly! If you have no objection, we will disperse now!"

The emperor made the arrangement casually, and then inspected the ministers around the table. Seeing that no one objected, he turned and walked towards the back hall. His expression was full of silent loneliness, as if he was not satisfied with the decision.

It was late autumn, and the setting sun shone on the Forbidden City, stretching everything out. Four people walked slowly across the empty square, leaving long shadows on the brick and stone ground. Their every move seemed very strange, as if they were being pulled by invisible threads.

"Oh..." Gao Panlong glanced sideways at the figure on the ground and sighed.

"Brother Cunzhi, why are you sighing?" Yang Lian, who was walking beside him, frowned and asked. "Is it the military secrets of the General Staff? Sometimes I have to work on the string." Gao Panlong pointed at the shadows stretched by the setting sun and answered with a wry smile.

"Brother Cunzhi, why do you say that?" Wang Zaijin, the Minister of War, who was walking on the other side, heard it clearly and was very surprised. Comparing the General Staff to a puppet not only belittled himself but also implicitly mocked the emperor. It was too heavy.

"Today's imperial meeting was decided by your majesty, and we were all kept in the dark. How are we different from puppets?"

Gao Panlong raised his eyebrows, his tone not only full of resentment but also of blame. It was unclear whether he was blaming his colleague for being too slow, or blaming himself for being too weak and not daring to point it out in class.

"...Why did Your Majesty do this on purpose?" Wang Zai Jin and Yang Lian looked at each other, but did not find the answer in each other's eyes and continued to ask.

"Why else? The Mu family in Yunnan. The day Zhou Jiaqing arrived was the day Mu Rui died. It is still unknown whether there will still be Duke of Qian after this!" The one who answered him was not Gao Panlong, but his own descendants.

Left Censor-in-Chief Gu Dazhang took a step away from the three people and watched his shadow adjust his steps and arm swings. But no matter how he adjusted, he couldn't get rid of the appearance of a puppet, and it became more and more like a puppet.

"Your Majesty wants to take action against the Mu family...but, but Mu Rui has not done anything inappropriate. Why is there such a big fuss?" Upon hearing this, Wang Zai Jin was stunned and his expression became extremely incredible.

I wanted to refute it, but I couldn't find a reason for a while, but I couldn't believe it. At the critical moment when the whole of Yunnan was changing the land system to the public, why did the emperor want to touch the Duke of Qian? Isn't this just asking for trouble? Even if nothing unexpected happened, it would cause a big shock in Yunnan, which would not benefit anyone.

"It must be for the land! Governor Zhou Jiamo once listed it in his memorial, saying that in addition to the granted land, the Mu family also has hundreds of Mu villages in Yunnan, and no less than ten thousand hectares of dry land and paddy fields. It's a pity that the Mu family's hundreds of years of foundation and reputation will be destroyed by their unworthy descendants. They are ashamed of their ancestors."

At this moment, Yang Lian suddenly realized something and blurted out the root cause of the Mu family's misfortune. Then he sighed and lamented deeply for the Mu family's fate, as if the matter was a foregone conclusion.

"Why is it land? I've also read Zhou Jiamo's memorials, which focus on hiding people, concealing taxes, and increasing labor. Wouldn't it be easier to punish those suspected of usurping power, such as driving hundreds of eunuchs and having a harem full of beauties?"

After Yang Lian's reasoning, and the confident expressions of Gao Panlong and Gu Dazhang, Wang Zaijin basically agreed with the fact that the emperor wanted to take action against the Mu family. But he still didn't understand one thing, the purpose of doing so.

The emperor would never try to make trouble for anyone he disliked. It was a bit unreasonable for him to suddenly attack the Mu family for land at the critical moment of Yunnan's land reform.

Those lands were not seized by Mu Rui, but were obtained by the Mu family through continuous occupation from generation to generation. There was no need to tear each other apart if they wanted to take them back. Sending an imperial envoy or issuing an imperial decree, would the Mu family dare not hand them over?

In addition, the Mu family has been operating in Yunnan for more than 200 years, and the wealth they have accumulated is probably much more valuable than the land. If they want to take advantage of the opportunity to eat up the rich and enrich their treasury, they should be going for the valuables.

(End of this chapter)