Jiajing Chengming

Chapter 382: Yan Song bullies the gentry, and the investigation into the royal family proceeds smoothly!
"How do you want us to submit a petition?"

Xia Congshou sneered and replied.

"We will be arrested and taken to Beijing soon. We don't know whether we will live or die!"

then.

Xia Congshou said this again in a harsh voice, looking depressed.

He was indeed depressed.

After all, before this, he had asked the governor to report the deficit in his provincial treasury, and there was even an incident in Henan where an imperial envoy was murdered, which made the emperor very angry, and he wanted to arrest these people and bring them to the capital.

This means that the local officials in Henan will be lucky to be able to keep their lives, and it is inevitable that they will be stripped of their official titles and their property will be confiscated.

And it just so happened that it was these wealthy gentry who were responsible for all this. It was these wealthy gentry, the so-called local tyrants, who were so bold that they dared to do things that harmed the imperial envoy and betrayed them. This naturally made him depressed.

"You really have to be hit by a stick before you know how painful it is!"

"Everyone always thinks that His Majesty will only target us officials, but they don't know that His Majesty is such a wise and holy ruler. How could he not know that you, the gentry, are the cancer that undermines the administration of the court?"

Dong Chong also said depressedly.

After hearing this, Lu Lai also fell silent.

after awhile.

Lu Laicai said solemnly, "We were short-sighted this time! We only thought about His Majesty's failure to solve the royal family issue, and we couldn't find out what we retired officials did in the Ministry of Rites. We forgot that His Majesty had long regarded us gentry as enemies and wanted to bully us!"

"But although you are officials in the court, you are also members of the gentry at home. We are all the same. We must think of a strategy to deal with it. What's the point of criticizing and teaching anyone a lesson at this time?"

After Lu Lai said this, he took the initiative to suggest:
"How about this? We agree to cooperate with the government to distribute enough rice to the government, and then ask the government to report to the court and say that the deficit has been made up because the wealthy families in various places donated money enthusiastically to support the court in solving the royal family problem and to show their loyalty?"

"useless!"

"Even if Your Majesty is willing to suspend the investigation and the imperial examination, the newly appointed officials and scholars from other places will not be willing to give up!"

"It's hard to undo what has been done. After all, the court is not short of officials!"

"I have finally been promoted because of this opportunity, how could I willingly go back?"

"What's more, they are also doing this for the sake of clearing up deficits for the court and rectifying the administration of officials. In this case, even if Your Majesty wants to stop, you can't!"

Dong Chong said helplessly.

Xia Congshou echoed, "That's right!"

"You can either rebel directly or find out the real culprit behind the murder of the imperial envoy."

Xia Congshou said this and looked at Lu Lai.

Lu Lai just smiled bitterly.

How could he dare to abandon his family property to rebel? How could he know who the real murderer was? Moreover, how could the rich families who were really bold and wanted to intimidate the imperial envoys tell him in advance?

But as Xia Congshou and Dong Chong said, the newly appointed officials of the Ministry of Personnel were only excited and praised the emperor's wisdom and shouted about the emperor's great grace, but no one sympathized with the officials and gentry where the incident occurred.

For example, before the newly appointed Henan Governor Yan Song arrived in Henan, he sent soldiers on fast horses to deliver a message to all counties and prefectures, clearly ordering that no fire or theft should occur in any warehouse in the counties and prefectures. If any incidents occurred, it would be claimed that the local customs were not right, and the emperor would request an imperial decree to suspend the county and prefecture examinations for another three years.

Then, Yan Song also asked the wealthy families in the military blockade areas to help the court control the local people. Otherwise, if there was a riot, he would directly use the reason that the area had rebelled and launch a military crackdown!

For Yan Song, this was his first time to serve as a high-ranking official such as governor.

He needed to show his military and political abilities to the Emperor. As for the feelings of the wealthy gentry in Henan, he had no time to care.

After all, the wealthy gentry in Henan are not his fellow townsmen.

Therefore, Yan Song only wanted to seriously lead the officials who were investigating the embezzlement and the murder of the imperial envoy to find out the money and grain retained by the government offices in Henan and the real culprits behind the scenes. He had no intention of sympathizing with the gentry in Henan and sheltering them.

"How dare we!"

"This Yan is also a treacherous official who only knows how to flatter his superiors!"

When Lu Lai learned of Yan Song's order, he became so angry that he banged his cane on the ground and started cursing Yan Song.

Lu Lai's fellow countryman and friend, Jinshen Feng Siyu, said: "Although we dare not, it does not rule out the possibility that there are extremists who dare not, so we'd better help and watch!"

After hearing this, Lu Lai naturally nodded in agreement: "That's right, not only do we have to help watch over the warehouse, we also have to help protect the imperial envoys who come to investigate the royal family, so as to prevent any trouble from happening again and reducing our children's chances of passing the imperial examinations!"

But after saying this, Lu Lai still said rather aggrievedly: "But what is this all about? We have suffered a great loss, and we have to take the initiative to help the court look after the imperial envoy and the warehouse!"

"no way!"

"The gentry and wealthy families across the country are not united, and the emperor is really powerful today. We gentry and wealthy families can only live a hard life."

Feng Siyu replied.

Lu Lai also sighed and echoed, "Yes, if the emperors in the past had done this, there would have been fires in the harem a long time ago!"

"But now, this emperor chooses not to wrong the harem and the inner court, but only unites the refugees and the relatives of the emperor to stir up trouble. He also uses the strategy of division and disintegration on us gentry. We limit the imperial examination here, but other places have special examinations! The strategy of using one side to attack the other is too obvious!"

It is true that Zhu Houcong did not, like Jiajing in history, choose to cut inner court and harem expenses to solve financial difficulties because he was still young at the beginning, thereby offending the inner court, harem and clean civil officials. Instead, he chose to offend only clean civil officials and foreigners. Therefore, he can now use power unscrupulously.

"cut!"

Yi Ke, the former deputy director of the Ministry of Rites and Ceremonies, had his family members in Beijing commit suicide by taking poison in advance because of his malicious opposition to the court. He was beheaded in the market at noon on February 16, the sixth year of Jiajing.

And with a command from the executioner, all of Yi Ke's family members were beheaded.

Although their families may not have been directly involved, since they enjoyed the benefits brought by Yi Ke's corruption and did not take the initiative to stop his actions against the court, they cannot be considered completely innocent because they are now implicated by him.

Moreover, this can at least serve as a warning to the officials behind.

As for the other officials imprisoned in the imperial prison, Zhu Houcong had not yet planned how to deal with them. He wanted to wait until the local officials were also brought in before making any decision.

Now, what he cares most about is whether the royal family reform can be completed as soon as possible.

After all, this is related to the fact that his base can be expanded as quickly as possible so that he can continue to consolidate and strengthen his imperial power.

Good thing...

Because many wealthy families in Henan and other places had to take the initiative to maintain local public order and protect the imperial envoys, other imperial envoys and newly sent imperial envoys who were investigating the situation of the royal family also arrived at the locations of the various royal families smoothly.

In Kaifeng, Henan, Han Zaiting, the Left Censor of the Ministry of Rites, who was ordered to investigate the situation of the royal family, arrived here smoothly. After meeting the royal family and officials and gentry in the Zhou Mansion here, he began to investigate the situation of the royal family here.

"Is he really the son of Zhu Tongxia, the general of your government?"

During his investigation, Han Zaiting first found out that the son of General Zhu Tongxia, who was recorded in the Imperial Book as having passed away, was actually still alive and was a man over 40 years old. Therefore, he specifically asked about Zhu Muliang, the King of Nanling, who was ordered to assist him in the investigation.

Zhu Muyan replied, "That's right. His servants and his brothers testified to it, and his father's handwriting also testified to it."

After hearing this, Han Zaiting said, "But the Ministry of Rites reported that he had passed away, so the marriage proposal was untrue! I didn't expect he was still alive."

(End of this chapter)