Baidu otaku as Chongzhen

Chapter 477 The Dust Settles
A new day has come.

This city frozen by the cold wind, the heart of the Ming Dynasty, gradually recovered. The flow of people, carriages and horses began to increase continuously, and lights and fires began to ignite continuously, constantly driving away the last darkness before dawn.

When the sun showed its small face in the sky, the whole city of Beijing was already full of people and traffic, and many shops facing the street were already emitting steaming heat, and the tempting aroma filled the air with the steaming heat. The whole neighborhood.

"Extraordinary, extraordinary..., salt merchants, check the salt merchants,...salt merchants, contact the salt merchants, check the salt merchants..." On the busy streets, the voices of newsboys came and went. Waking up completely.

"Give me a copy..." Quite a few people also got up just after dawn and rushed out to the teahouse to inquire about the latest news. When they heard the newsboy shouting, they bought a copy by the way, ready to see, this imperial court mouthpiece will say something.

"Give me a..."

"Give me a..."

Not long after, the newsboy's mansion papers were sold out. He happily counted the copper coins he had received, and hurriedly ran towards the place to pick up the mansion newspapers. It seemed that he could sell them a few more times today.

It was no news that the emperor suddenly made trouble with the salt merchants in the court yesterday, and it was frightened by the news in the court. The Donglin Party actually forced the emperor to abdicate in order to protect the salt merchants... This explosive news, even if Even well-informed people from the capital city were stunned and couldn't imagine that when they came to their senses, they would all scold the Donglin Party as shameful.

"Seven kills on salt merchants..." An old scholar shook his head and read the mansion newspaper, and a circle of people around him listened carefully to the scholar's reading. Some people were illiterate, but they bought the mansion newspaper , although I can't understand it, but black and white words can never deceive people, this is "evidence"!Bragging about this matter with their children and grandchildren in the future is ironclad evidence, and many people have carefully kept the mansion newspaper and prepared it as a family heirloom.

"One said: illicit communication with Eastern captives, betraying information.... betraying the details of my Ming Dynasty officials and soldiers, and causing the defeat of hundreds of thousands of my army in Liaodong. This one should be killed..." The old scholar said with a flushed face, this kind of big fight One by one, they shouted "beating and killing". This was the first time in this mansion newspaper. Killing people was really exciting. This time the salt merchant collapsed, how many people had to be killed?

"It should be killed, it should be killed..." Everyone said in unison.

"Second said: communicate with the Eastern captives and act as spies... When the Eastern captives attacked the city, they acted as spies, spread rumors in the city, set fire to it, robbed the city gates, let the Eastern captives enter the city, contacted the rebel generals, and caused me to count the cities outside the pass. Being robbed, these two should be killed..." When the old scholar said the word "killing", he had to tighten his teeth so as not to vibrate his voice.

"It should be killed, it should be killed..." Everyone said in unison again.

"San Yue: Collaborate with Eastern captives, smuggle grain and weapons...smuggle food and weapons... these three should be killed..." the old scholar read with a flushed face, and the more he read, the faster he went.

"Should be killed, should be killed..." Everyone applauded.

"Old Master, why does this sound like Shanxi Merchants! Why are you talking about Salt Merchants again? Old Master, I am also a rough person, can you explain it for me?" Someone also raised a question.

The old master blushed, took a sip of hot tea, and said, "Have you ever heard the phrase 'Qin opera is full of words and alleys'?" The old master began to be impatient.

"No, I haven't heard of it. The old master should just tell me what's going on." The literacy rate in the late Ming Dynasty was really not high. Even though it was the city of Beijing, facing a group of ordinary people hanging their book bags, they could still find a sense of superiority.

"Ahem, what this sentence means is that most of the people doing business in Yangzhou are from Shanxi, Shaanxi and Huizhou. Many of the salt merchants are Shanxi merchants. If something happens to the Shanxi merchants, can the salt merchants escape?" Old Master Show off the news from the court.

"Oh! That's the way it is, no wonder, it should be killed, it should be killed..."

After hearing this, everyone felt that it made sense, and clamored that they should be killed.

"Old Master, you continue to say..." Someone wanted to hear what was said next.

"Fourth: Collaborate with the Eastern captives and sell the stolen goods for the thieves.... Bring the gold and silver goods that the Eastern captives plundered from our Daming people back to the pass to sell the stolen goods, and encourage the Eastern captives to plunder more and more, and the stronger and more plundering, resulting in the death of our people in vain, and helping the tyrants to abuse. To help a tiger, these four should be killed..." The old scholar continued to read.

"Old Master, what's going on here?" Someone asked again, why does this seem to be similar to what I said before, and why is it listed as a separate crime?
"You don't understand this?" The old master blushed and asked intentionally.

"Old Master, please clarify..." someone asked.

"Think about it, this gold and silver treasure can't be eaten or worn, so what's the use even if you get it?" the old master explained.

"That's not right! Old master, why are these gold and silver goods useless? They can be used to buy rice, land, meat, and clothes. Why are they useless?" Someone immediately asked in puzzlement.

"Idiot! You are in the capital, so you can naturally buy these things. Think about it. Outside the pass, I, Daming, surrounded Donglu to death. I didn't sell them food, I didn't sell them, I didn't sell them. For him to wear, what use is he holding gold and silver? It’s no different from stones, these damned guys exchanged the gold and silver goods looted by Donglu for food, clothing, weapons, etc., for Donglu to use These things continue to rob our common people. The robbing by the Eastern Captives is getting stronger and stronger, and it is gradually getting out of hand. We ordinary people are suffering! They are drinking our blood and eating our flesh! Do you think they deserve to die? ?” said the old pedant.

"Yes...damn..."

"Yes...damn..."

"Yes, damn it..." Everyone shouted damn it.

……

"Fifth: Secretly inform the Eastern captives and default on the salt lesson. . . . Deliberately defaulting on the salt lesson, dragging down the court, making the court unable to use troops abroad, unable to relieve disasters at home, making our Ming Dynasty trapped inside and outside, unable to resist natural disasters and foreign thieves, the country gradually Decline, these five should be killed."

"Six words: Extravagance and extravagance, not afraid of clear theory, not afraid of clear discussion, sucking people's blood, devouring the country's righteous offering..."

Basically, everyone understands these two items. If it weren’t for the money owed to the emperor, the emperor wouldn’t take the salt merchants as a knife and suck people’s blood. Everyone has a deep understanding of this. Who doesn’t eat salt?To eat salt, you have to be exploited by salt merchants. Some people secretly thought, this time the emperor has established a salt merchant, should the price of salt also drop?

"Old pedant, His Majesty has set up a salt merchant, so the price of salt should be lowered..." Someone said.

"Coax..." Everyone booed and laughed, and the teahouse became even more noisy.

"Qiyue: Leaving the family and rebelling against the ancestors, willing to be a traitor... I have trapped tens of thousands of Han men in the situation of the fourth-class pariah, so I have to kill them." The old pedant ignored it and continued to slap today's head The headline read it.

"Old master, what are these fourth-class untouchables talking about?" Another person didn't understand.

"You don't understand the fourth-class untouchables? That's Qianyuan. At that time, Qianyuan divided our Han people into fourth-class untouchables. If someone kills you, you only need to pay a sheep. If someone sleeps with your wife, you only need Give a chicken, this is the fourth-class pariah, understand?" The old pedant suddenly opened his aura, stood up abruptly, and said angrily, his figure suddenly became abnormally tall.

"Ah!..." Everyone was surprised that this old pedant who was like a good old man was so angry, and they were also surprised by the treatment of the fourth-class untouchables.

"This group of damned salt merchants, damned beasts, should be killed..." The person who asked the question just now also shouted angrily. The words of the old pedant really touched him. What does it mean to pay someone for killing? a sheep?If my daughter-in-law gave me a chicken after sleeping, who would I be?

"Killing people to pay for their lives and debts to pay back money is justified. I said how this group of salt merchants even forced the current emperor to abdicate. No wonder, don't worry, if it falls into my hands, I will split them into eight pieces." Can't..."

"Yes, you should be killed, you should be killed!..." Everyone heard the treatment of the fourth-class untouchables, and immediately shouted angrily, seven can be killed, and finally touched the interests of the majority.

"Fuck his ancestors, these bastards..." More people echoed. Originally, they heard that the emperor set up a salt merchant, but it was based on sympathizing with the emperor and watching the show, but now, it really concerns themselves All of them shouted angrily.

"kill……"

"kill……"

"kill……"

In the whole teahouse, there was only one voice, and that was killing.

A timid guy looked at the shouting people in fear, and quietly asked the old scholar: "Old Master, is this true?" The more he thought about it, the more timid he became.

"It's still fake. Many Liaodong people who escaped from Donglu are now working in our capital. They know the situation on Donglu's side best. How can it be fake?" the old master said angrily.

"Ah!" The timid man hesitated and said aloud in fear. He may have remembered that he had also come into contact with a certain person from Liaodong. ..." Then he shouted a few words, let go more and more, and shouted more and more powerfully, and the red light on his face also shouted out.

……

Taimiao.

A group of officials knelt in front of the Taimiao hall with pale faces. They have been kneeling here since Mao Shichu, and no one stopped them. Now that the sun came out, they had persisted for an hour. Apart from being blown by the cold wind, their legs were even more numb very.

The leader was Qiao Yunsheng. He knelt at the front and looked straight at the Taimiao, hoping that he could force the emperor to change his mind. However, his complexion was very pale, and he was as confident as yesterday. He followed today, but During the half of the discussion yesterday, Qiao Yunsheng couldn't help laughing bitterly when he thought of this, this time, the defeat was extremely miserable.

Now the morning and office hours have been changed, unlike before, they got up in the middle of the night to work, so although Qiao Yunsheng and the others knelt for an hour, there was no movement at all, and the emperor did not send anyone to watch them, and there were no officials passing by. , except for a few eunuchs who clean up and guards, they seem to not exist.

It finally dawned, but there was still no one there, even the cleaning eunuchs left. Although the sun was shining on the body, it felt even colder.At this time, it is still far from the time for office work. The emperor usually handles the government affairs at the end of the hour and the beginning of the hour. Qiao Yunsheng's sore and numb legs are getting more and more uncomfortable. Qiao Yunsheng began to feel that he seemed to have chosen the wrong hour. Kneeling here so early, who is this kneeling for?
After a while, officials gradually came to work. They had to deal with some basic things before the emperor got up, and waited for the emperor to review after he got up.Seeing these officials kneeling on the ground, they shook their heads and hurried past one after another, and some even walked past with their heads held high.

……

Yang Reform had a good night's sleep today. Since becoming emperor, he has never slept so comfortingly and soundly. When he woke up early in the morning, the sun was shining brightly outside the window, and he was very refreshed.

"Today is a good weather!" Yang Reform felt the good weather today in the room, and said very happily.

"Your Majesty, this is a sign from the heavens. The heavens know that your majesty has eradicated the salt merchants, so it is such a good weather to praise your majesty." Wang Chengen quickly flattered him.

"Hahaha!" Yang Reform laughed for a while. He was really happy to win yesterday.

"Where are those people?" Yang Reform asked indifferently.

"Your Majesty, you've been kneeling outside for an hour or two. However, that's kneeling for nothing. Who are you kneeling for?" Wang Chengen said disdainfully. Now that the dust has settled, are you still kneeling?So what if you kneel to death?I didn't even look at what was written about salt merchants in the mansion newspaper today. These people probably didn't read the mansion newspaper when they came out, otherwise, they would definitely not kneel again.

"Hahahaha, how about today's mansion newspaper? Have you read it?" Yang Reform asked with a smile.

"Your Majesty, I've watched it. It's exciting. Do you want to watch it?" Wang Chengen replied with a smile.

"Well, show me." Last night, Yang Reform knew that he had won, so he slept peacefully. Today he just checked the situation and didn't care.

Wang Chengen handed over a residence report.

After Yang Reform took over, he glanced at it for a while and realized that this mansion newspaper did not disappoint him. Tonglu, the crimes that should be killed are listed one by one.

"It's well written, hehehe, how do the common people talk about it?" Yang Reform asked again, dismissing those kneeling people.

"Returning to Your Majesty, I think of His Majesty's kindness, and the crowd is so angry that they shouted to kill the salt merchants." Wang Chengen reported with a smile that Dongchang has been secretly controlling and collecting information in this regard. It's crystal clear.

"Oh..." Yang Reformed.Then he walked to the window, lifted the curtain, and looked at the sky outside.

……

The emperor woke up, and when it was office hours, more and more officials came to the Taimiao to do business. Seeing this group of people kneeling in front of the Taimiao, they shook their heads. Many people bought a residence newspaper before coming to the Taimiao. He wanted to pass the mansion newspaper in his sleeves to those people, but he dared not do so in public, under the eyelids of the emperor, so he could only stuff the mansion newspaper back, shook his head, and walked past with a sigh.

Qiao Yunsheng knelt there with a pale face as before, with a look of resignation to death, holding the memorial book asking the emperor to take back his fate in his hand, staring fixedly at the Great Hall of the Taimiao.The raised hand couldn't be lifted because it was lifted for too long, so it had to fall down, and it had already fallen to his leg.

Yang Reform has already stepped forward. Today's weather is beyond words. It couldn't be better. It seems that he has wiped out the cancer of the salt merchants.

"Big Companion, who wrote the Qikesha? Who read the stage?" Yang Reform suddenly asked.The headlines on this front page, the seven kills, are particularly eye-catching.

"Back to Your Majesty, why did Your Majesty forget so quickly, Mr. Niantai is Liu Zongzhou, Yin of the Shuntian Mansion!" Wang Chengen was taken aback when he heard the emperor's question, and then explained to the emperor with a smile.

"Oh, Liu Zongzhou? He really wrote it! Hehe, well, Fan Weicheng is really good at doing things, and he did a good job, beautifully..." Yang Reform praised.

"Hehehe, that's..." Wang Chengen couldn't help laughing along with the emperor a few times.

Seeing that the headline on the front page was written by Liu Zongzhou, Yang Reform came up with an idea, and asked again: "Are there any Donglin Party members who wrote something that was published in the residence newspaper?" Yang Reform suddenly asked.

"Returning to Your Majesty, there are many more. Apart from Liu Zongzhou leading the report today, more than half of it is written by members of the Donglin Party. Many Donglin Party members are eager to disassociate themselves from the salt merchants..." Wang Chengen smiled Said enthusiastically.

"Hey... let's go! Go and see those people who are still kneeling..." Yang Reform said with a dry smile before saying suddenly.

"Your Majesty, what are you doing with them? They are willing to kneel. Even if they kneel to death, it has nothing to do with Your Majesty. People in the world will only call them shameless..." Wang Chengen is quite disdainful to those people. Ever since he knew that the emperor can charge 1000 yuan a year After Wanyan class, I hated those people.

"Hehehe, no, I want to see what kind of expression they will have when they see this mansion newspaper, and how they can still kneel down, hahaha..." Yang Reform suddenly found something interesting.

……

Qiao Yunsheng led the people and continued to kneel there. To be honest, this feeling was really uncomfortable. If there was a court stick, he would rather suffer from the court stick, that is to say, he passed it with a push, but the emperor didn't use the court stick; this kneeling , but it was like an ant piercing his heart, his whole body was so itchy to kneel, the feeling was not to mention how uncomfortable, in order to show his determination, and it was difficult to move, he had no choice but to resist.

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty..." Qiao Yunsheng had sharp eyes and saw the emperor at a glance.The ministers who followed kneeling here also exclaimed one after another, their own kneeling finally had an effect, the emperor still cared about them, as if he saw a life-saving straw.

When the officials who came to Taimiao to do business saw the emperor appearing, they all saluted from a distance, and some even stopped to watch to see what would happen.

Yang Reform only showed his face, and did not approach the group of kneeling people. He watched from a distance for a long time, and Yang Reform waved his hand.A young eunuch quickly ran over, threw a copy of the residence report in front of Qiao Yunsheng, and left quickly.

Qiao Yunsheng and his group were grasping at straws to save their lives, but they didn't see the emperor coming. Only a young eunuch dropped the mansion report and came over. Qiao Yunsheng picked up the mansion newspaper suspiciously and looked at it.

"Qi can kill?" Qiao Yunsheng looked at the title and was not surprised. The emperor would definitely publicize it in the mansion newspaper. After reading it for a while, he didn't understand what the emperor meant.

Yang Reform watched as Qiao Yunsheng flipped through the mansion newspaper for a long time without any response, and said, "That's stupid..., buddy, send someone over to explain."

"Your servant obeys, let's go now!" Wang Chengen agreed, and then whispered a few words to a young eunuch.

The little eunuch nodded repeatedly, then ran towards Qiao Yunsheng, and after a while, whispered a few words in Qiao Yunsheng's ear.

Qiao Yunsheng was shocked!
Turning over the mansion newspaper again and again, looking carefully, his expression changed.

"Haha...hahaha..." Qiao Yunsheng suddenly laughed out loud, the laughter was miserable and terrifying.

The people kneeling behind were also shocked, and said one after another: "Shangshu, my lord..."

"Fighting with open fire! Fighting with open fire! Sure enough, you are right, Your Majesty, you want to fight with open fire!... Hahaha..." Qiao Yunsheng yelled a few times to declare the fight with fire, and suddenly fell forward and passed out.

(End of this chapter)