Rebirth of Zhu Di's son

Chapter 290: The King of Han is suspected of fraud?

As mentioned earlier, from the seventh year of Yongle to the tenth year of Yongle, seven kings including Zhu Chun, king of Shu, Zhu Bai, king of Jin (formerly King of Xiang), Zhu Mei, king of Su, Zhu Zhi, king of Liao, Zhu Zhu, king of Qing, Zhu Chu, king of Min, and Zhu Su, king of Gu, successively It was moved to the south and west of the Peacock Peninsula.

In the 15th year of Yongle, Zhu Gaochi, the king of Han, and Zhu Gaosui, the king of Zhao, were also granted by Zhu Di to establish their country on the Peacock Peninsula.

Therefore, there were far more than four Ming vassal states surrounding Han, but only four adjacent to it.

Those Ming vassal states that established their country on the Peacock Peninsula used the "national system" as a good strategy to transform local indigenous residents into "Han people." After more than ten years of development, the country has absorbed no less than [-] households of Han Chinese people as Chinese citizens.

Being able to speak Chinese is a prerequisite for local indigenous residents to become citizens of the Ming Dynasty.

Fortunately, the local states had never treated the lower class people as human beings before. This gave the Ming vassals the opportunity to win over the local lower class people with food, money, and status.

In other words, when King Zhu Gaochi of Han Dynasty, as the first king of Han Dynasty in the Ming Dynasty, issued a royal order to select concubines for his son, most of the people under his rule would not object, but would actively participate.

This is the influence of the founding king, even though King Zhu Gaochi of Han was only a small king of the Ming Dynasty.

"However, any woman who participates in the selection must pay ten silver coins as a participation fee. The King of Han promises that if the candidate is unsuccessful, the participation fee will be refunded in full."

"In this way, the selected ones will enter the palace of the Han Dynasty and become the concubines of the crown prince of the Han Dynasty, and the unsuccessful ones will not lose any money. Therefore, more than [-] women signed up to participate in the election in the Han Kingdom alone. But later, this news came out somehow It spread to the four vassal states adjacent to the Han Kingdom."

"Women from Zhao, Liao, Jin, and Shu did not hesitate to cross the border into Han to participate in the draft. It was reported that more than 6 women participated in the draft, and the total participation fee converted into silver dollars was as high as [-] yuan.”

"According to the imperial censor's secret report, the King of Han finally selected ten women as the crown prince's concubines in this draft, which did not violate the provisions of the "Zongfan Regulations". However, his promise to refund the participation fee has not been fulfilled. This move has attracted a lot of criticism. .”

Liu Jing said slowly while observing Zhu Gaoxu's expression.

He did not name the censor to avoid leaking the information, otherwise the censor would probably be retaliated by the King of Han in the future.

Zhu Gaoxu had a sullen face and said coldly: "The King of Han is my eldest brother. He has always been generous to others. He will never be greedy for this little money. If you are sincere, you must not be taken advantage of by people with ulterior motives."

Liu Jing looked frightened and quickly bowed: "I would like to follow your Majesty's instructions."

Of course he understood that what Zhu Gaoxu said was just for show.

At that time, Uncle Chengyi Liu Jing was Zhu Gaoxu's prince Zhan Shi, so he knew Zhu Gaoxu's character very well, and knew that Emperor Qianxi, like his father Emperor Yongle, was a kind-hearted person with a dark heart.

In Liu Jing's view, Zhu Gaoxu wished that the King of Han had violated the "Regulations on Suspensions and Vassals", so that he could justifiably deal with the King of Han.

Because of this, he dared to take the initiative to mention the King of Han's suspected abuse of the people in Fengtian Palace.

Liu Jing paused and bowed again: "Your Majesty is very aware of everything, and I admire it. It is true as your Majesty said, the King of Han is really a wise king of a generation. After learning that the emissary and relevant officials had not returned the election fees as scheduled, he sent people to carry out the investigation. An investigation.”

"When the King of Han learned that the election fees had been embezzled by the emissaries and officials sent out, in order to give an explanation to the candidates, he specifically ordered the execution of the emissaries and officials who had embezzled the election fees, and sent the crown prince to personally lead people to track down the participants. Regarding the whereabouts of the election fees, we demand that the participation fees be returned to those who lost the election as soon as possible.”

"After that, the Crown Prince of Han executed several more internal envoys and officials, and indeed sent people to refund part of the election fees. However, according to the censor's secret report, as of the end of the first year of Qianxi, there were still at least [-] people who had not yet returned. Receive the election fee that should be refunded.”

When Zhu Gaoxu heard this, he stroked his beard and thought: "Uncle Chengyi, how do you think the court should handle this matter?" "Reporting to your Majesty, I think that we should send an imperial envoy to make an unannounced visit in secret to find out the truth of the matter. If the election fee is really used by an insider. When the officials found out that they were corrupt, they ordered the King of Han to advance the payment in advance to appease the people's anger."

Liu Jing bowed and replied: "On the other hand, if there is something hidden, we will refer to the specific investigation results to discuss the corresponding handling measures."

His so-called "hidden secret" refers to the fact that the embezzlement of election fees by Han Dynasty envoys and officials was just a cover, but the truth was that Han King Zhu Gaochi defrauded the people of their election fees on the grounds that his son chose a concubine.

Zhu Gaoxu did not nod, but looked around the ministers in the palace and asked, "What do you think?"

"Your Majesty, the old minister seconded the proposal!"

As a die-hard supporter of Zhu Gaoxu, Qi State Duke Qiu Fu, like Liu Jing, is also a veteran who has followed Zhu Gaoxu for many years. Now, at the age of 83, he stands firm in the court and is the first to speak out in support of Liu Jing. Jing's suggestion.

Probably inspired by Qiu Fu, more than [-] officials successively expressed their "secondary opinion" to Liu Jingzhi's words.

Among these people were Yu Yanzhao, the Minister of Rites, Qitai, the Minister of War, Xiong Gai, the Minister of Punishments, and Gu Zuo, the censor of Youdu.

Originally, most of the officials in the court did not dare to say anything about the affairs of the King of Han, for fear of getting into trouble.

However, with senior officials such as the Six Ministries and Nine Ministers taking the lead in expressing their opinions, the other officials could not guess what Emperor Qianxi meant, so they all expressed their support.

At this moment, the commander of the Jinyi Guards, Sai Hazhi, entered the palace and reported: "Your Majesty, I have found out the source of the drum sound, and it is indeed the sound of the drum. As for the person who beat the drum, I have brought him to the palace. outside."

Zhu Gaoxu said without hesitation: "Send this person to the palace."

After a while, a young man in his early thirties, with dark skin and wearing a brown cotton-padded jacket, pulled a girl who looked about eight or nine years old and also wore a brown cotton-padded jacket and walked into Fengtian Hall together.

"Caomin Meng Xiaowen pays homage to His Majesty, long live my emperor!"

Meng Xiaowen knelt down and kowtowed.

The girl next to him also knelt down and kowtowed in a decent manner, and said loudly in a childish voice: "Meng Youniang, a common man, pays homage to your majesty, long live my emperor."

"Let's all be flat."

Zhu Gaoxu first raised his hand and waved. After the two stood up, he then asked: "What is the relationship between you two? Why are you beating the Dengwen drum?"

"Your Majesty, this is Cao Min's sister."

Meng Xiaowen turned to look at the girl next to him and introduced him slowly.

Afterwards, he began to get excited, tears soon appeared in his eyes, and he choked with sobs: "Your Majesty, the ordinary people beat the Dengwen drum because they are really desperate and have no choice but to do it."

Immediately afterwards, Meng Xiaowen told the reason for playing the drum while crying.

(End of this chapter)