Brother Zhu Youxiao

Chapter 622 Yanshan Falls

"Selling newspapers and selling newspapers, long live the decree that the country will be exempted from land taxation for two years, so as to ease the suffering of drought!"

"Selling newspapers and selling newspapers! Long live the decree that the country will be exempted from land taxation for two years, so as to ease the suffering of the drought!"

At the end of March, as spring is about to pass, farmers all over the world know that summer is coming.

Although Qin Tianjian in the "Da Ming Pao" has said that the severe drought will only get worse this year, but many people are still worried about the lack of food harvest and the soaring price of food.

However, as the "Da Ming Pao" announced the national land tax exemption for two years to the world, many people were excitedly beating their chests and feet, and some even danced the unicorn dance that was only performed during festivals.

The whole country was exempted from land tax for two years, which was unprecedented in the country, so poems and novels praising the emperor came out frequently.

It's just that compared to the joy of the common people, the people in the temple couldn't sit still.

"I have been exempted from the land tax for two years, and now there is no other way."

"His Royal Highness sent many officials who returned from the Qi Kingdom to replace local officials last month, and it is estimated that by October, he will be planning to replace village officials with students from prefectural schools."

"What should I do next?"

"What else? I think it's better to give in to His Highness."

"It's not that I haven't been softened before, but His Highness has turned a deaf ear to it. Obviously, we have already become a thorn in the side and a thorn in the flesh of His Highness."

"The whole country is exempted from land taxation. I think that Jin Xuan and Yan Yinshao will definitely chase me and beat me in the temple tomorrow."

In the bureaucracy of the capital, when the news of "the whole country is exempted from land taxes" spread, the officials of the Yanshan faction, who had been kept a secret for a long time, finally knew why the king of Qi was delaying his time.

No matter how they thought about it, they never thought that King Qi dared to exempt the land tax, and it was only two years.

The two-year exemption will at least cause the Ming court to bear a debt of 8000 million taels. They don't know where King Qi's confidence comes from.

For a moment, Chengde's courtyard was full of people, and everyone was chattering like a noisy vegetable market.

"Oh!"

"All right……"

Cheng De was so annoyed by the quarrel that he couldn't help complaining, frowning at everyone and teaching him a lesson:

"Right now, if you know you will lose, you will be in a mess. If this is the case, don't be so aggressive earlier."

"Don't think..."

"boom--"

Cheng De's voice hadn't finished yet, when the gate of the small courtyard was suddenly kicked open, and groups of brocade guards armed with rifles rushed into the small courtyard, making the already crowded small courtyard even more crowded.

"Since they are all here, then things will be easy to handle."

Lu Yuangao walked in from the door, and couldn't help smiling when he saw more than 50 senior Yanshan officials crowded in the courtyard.

"Following the order of the king of Qi to investigate the case, all the adults here, please come with me."

As soon as Lu Yuangao finished speaking, an official drew out his long sword from his waist, pointed at Jin Yiwei and said:

"We are all ministers of the imperial court, how dare some eagles and dogs catch me!"

"I'd rather die than go to prison!"

As soon as this man drew his sword, many Beijing officials who knew what it would be like to enter the imperial prison drew out their long swords one after another.

They all knew the difference between Jin Yiwei and You Sans.

The arrest of the third secretary is to investigate the case, and the arrest of Jin Yiwei is to finalize the case.

After all, the more than 50 high-ranking officials in the courtyard have experienced many years of anti-corruption in the Ming Dynasty. In this position, their buttocks have long been wiped clean by them.

If it was taken by Sansin, then they would not be afraid at all.

But if it was Jin Yiwei who took the person, it would not be an investigation, but a final case of torture.

That is to say, when dealing with the Yanshan faction, King Qi never thought of going through the formal process, all he wanted was to kill the Yanshan faction.

"Your Highness is like this, aren't you afraid of breaking the promise of the world?!"

Jin Yiwei took one of the joints, and many people immediately thought of Zhu Youjian, and couldn't help questioning him.

Regarding their problems, Lu Yuangao also felt very helpless.

Zhu Youjian's torture like this may break the political structure of Ming Dynasty, but...

"Catch me all!"

Lu Yuangao drew his sword and shouted. He knew in his heart that the winner is a prince and the loser is a thief. As long as he is convicted, the Yanshan faction will never be able to turn himself over for the rest of his life.

"I see who dares!"

"boom!"

An official held a sword and shouted, but was frightened by the sound of gunfire the next second.

"Disarm!"

As soon as Lu Yuangao opened his mouth, the Jinyi guards stepped forward and smashed the long swords in the hands of the officials with their rifles.

Seeing how easy they were, Lu Yuangao couldn't help mocking: "Didn't you say that Yanshan students are proficient in the six arts? How come they are so soft when holding a sword?"

His ridicule made many officials blush.

They used to be proficient in the six arts, but as they entered the officialdom, they were basically thinking about tactics and promotion, so there was no time for training.

In the long run, the so-called six arts have long been abandoned.

Without any obstruction, more than 50 officials were escorted out of the small courtyard by Jin Yiwei, and only Chengde was left in the end.

Faced with this situation, Cheng De had expected it a long time ago, before Jin Yiwei stepped forward to take him, he followed Jin Yiwei to the carriage outside the courtyard.

This kind of scene is being staged everywhere in the current official square, and most of the people watching the excitement are Yanshan and neutral officials of Jin Xuan's faction.

After the incident, Zhou Yanru, Wen Tiren, and Feng Quan of the old school gathered together.

"Your Highness's move is very unique, it just ruined my reputation."

In the Wen Mansion in Dashiyongfang, when Zhou Yanru frowned and said these words, Feng Quan, who was sitting opposite him, couldn't help nodding:
"Fame is nothing, but His Royal Highness's planning started a few years ago, and he dared to be exempted from the land tax for two years. This is what I admire about him."

"However, I am also concerned about what Your Highness will rely on to repay the more than 8000 million taels of debt due to the two-year exemption of Tian Fu."

"The deposit in the bank has been stuck, and another 200 million taels was misappropriated last year, and now there is no way to move it."

"Besides, there are more than 8000 million taels in arrears. If you really want to get it from the bank, you may be able to empty the bank at once."

Feng Quan didn't know how many deposits Daming Bank had, but it shouldn't be too much, otherwise the bank wouldn't have been able to lend 200 million taels to the household department last year.

Since the bank couldn't provide the money to fill the land tax, Feng Quan was very curious about where the money came from.

"What I'm thinking about now is when His Royal Highness will leave the domain, and whether we can rise again after the transition."

As soon as Wen Tiren opened his mouth, he immediately attracted the attention of Zhou Yanru and Feng Quan.

Zhou Yanru and Feng Quan, one was once the current leader of the Qi Royal Party, and the other is the second in command of the Zhejiang Party. They are not inferior to Hong Chengchou and others in terms of resourcefulness and strategy.

After watching Yanshan's end, Wen Tiren felt that the conservatives might be the next Yanshan.

If the old school doesn't think about changing, I'm afraid...

"I should be fine..." Feng Quan saw it clearly, and couldn't help saying:

"Our foundation is in the gentry, and the gentry is currently being relocated overseas and outside the customs by the King of Qi by various means. It means that we have no foundation in the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Central Plains."

"What is the role of us waiting? You have to understand this before you can know how His Highness will deal with us."

"Although the Yanshan school is being suppressed right now, don't forget that there is also the official school like Yanshan."

"The official school hasn't emerged yet, but when they do, the temple also needs to contain their power, and that's what we do."

In Feng Quan's view, the conservative faction is almost suppressed, not to mention the Zhejiang Party, even the former Qi Royal Party, now there is no one in ten.

This is the case with feudal centralized dynasties. As long as the monarch has enough reserves of talents, he can decide the life and death of the party at will.

In the Ming Dynasty, the monarch's instruction became the focus of competition between major parties.

Zhu Yuanzhang was unhappy with Huaixi, and East Zhejiang could hit Huaixi hard immediately.

Zhu Di was unhappy with Jiangnan officials, and northern officials could immediately suppress Jiangnan officials.

Jiajing was unhappy with Yan Song, and Qingliu immediately overwhelmed Yan Dang.

Wanli and Empress Dowager Li supported Zhang Juzheng, and Zhang Juzheng immediately overwhelmed Gao Gong.

Zhu Youxiao was unhappy with the five parties of Qi Chu, Zhejiang, Xuan and Kun, and the Donglin Party immediately occupied the political high ground.

He was unhappy with the Donglin Party, and the Eunuch Party immediately broke the backbone of the Donglin Party.

This kind of thing basically happened to Zhu Youjian, and compared with other monarchs, he has a talent reserve that is beyond the reach of the kings of ancient and modern dynasties.

It is very easy for him to change a party. In the struggle with the Yanshan faction, the Yanshan faction basically retreated steadily, and Zhu Youjian sat firmly on the Diaoyutai.

Although the local money bag is very important, there are too many ways to crack it.

"Tuk-tuk-"

When Feng Quan mentioned the role of the old school, there was a knock on the door of the Wen Mansion, and the conversation between the three came to an abrupt end.

The head of the mansion ordered someone to open the door, but when the boy opened the door, the person who appeared outside the door almost made his legs go weak.

"Chairman!"

"Jin Yiwei handles the case!"

Just as the servant yelled out, he heard dense footsteps passing around the screen wall, and Jin Yiwei in scarlet round collar robes appeared in Wen's mansion one by one.

The three of Wen Tiren stood up in an instant, and Lu Wenzhao also walked out from behind the screen wall, and bowed to the three of them in the air:
"According to His Highness's order, I invite Feng Shilang to go to the prison."

"..." Hearing that he was going to prison, Feng Quan's legs went limp, and he didn't know what he had done to be worthy of being invited to prison.

Zhou Yanru and Wen Tiren's faces were also pale when they heard the words, and they didn't dare to move for a while.

"Feng Shilang can't walk, please help him."

Lu Wenzhao glanced at the people next to him, and then two Jin Yiwei stepped forward to support Feng Quan.

The third-rank servant who was sitting on a chair a second ago pointing out Jiangshan, was dragged out of the Wen residence like a dead dog.

During this period, Wen Tiren and Zhou Yanru didn't dare to move. They didn't breathe a sigh of relief until Feng Quan was dragged out and they were sure that they were fine.

It's just that they breathed a sigh of relief just now, but Lu Wenzhao said again:

"According to His Royal Highness's decree, the Grand Court Meeting postponed from the Zhengdan Festival will be held on the first day of May. At that time, Long Live will return to Beijing to preside over the court meeting. I invite the two cabinet ministers, Mr. Sun Ge and Li Gechen, to make arrangements."

"I'll take orders..." The two bowed to each other pretending to be calm, Lu Wenzhao twitched his lips when he saw this, turned around and led them away from the Wen residence.

After a while, Wen's residence fell into peace again, but for Wen Tiren and Zhou Yanru, they were not at peace.

Feng Quan is the third in command of the conservative faction, and his arrest means that King Qi is beating the conservative faction.

They didn't expect that one second before Feng Quan was convinced that the role of the conservative faction was to balance the parties in the future, but the next second he was arrested.

This means that although Zhu Youjian needs them to balance the parties, he did not say that they cannot be suppressed.

If they are disobedient one day, other parties will naturally take their place.

Feng Quan was arrested, which is how Zhu Youjian beat them.

Working with Zhu Youjian, it can be said that being with you is like being with a tiger...

Wen Tiren and Zhou Yanru looked at each other, and after a brief bow, Zhou Yanru left the Wen residence.

At the same time that Zhou Yanru left Wen's residence, news began to spread that officials of the Yanshan faction in Beijing were arrested and imprisoned.

Jin Xuan, who belonged to the same workshop as them, also learned the news of the collapse of the Yanshan School soon after being informed by caring people.

Hearing the news, he froze in place, then sat back to his seat, did not regain consciousness for a long time, as if he couldn't believe that the Yanshan faction was so easily cleaned up.

Originally, Jin Xuan thought that His Highness must at least mobilize the common people in order to completely uproot the Yanshan faction.

As a result, it now appears that His Royal Highness was completely struck by a thunderbolt, first destroying the upper echelons of the Yanshan faction.

As long as the upper layer is destroyed and the middle layer is slowly replaced, the lower layer will naturally be torn apart due to the loss of the backbone.

These methods, step by step, Jin Xuan can understand, but combined together, he can't understand.

In particular, the severe drought reduction and tax exemption, which were fatal blows to the Yanshan School, simply cut off the roots of the Yanshan School.

How does His Royal Highness know that the drought has subsided this year and the people will not be encouraged?

If there is no fleet due to the drought this year, even if it is avoided, Yanshan officials can encourage the people.

It can be said that as long as the chess is wrong, the Yanshan faction can gain the upper hand again. The result is a severe drought, and the Yanshan faction fails.

Jin Xuan sighed, still unable to figure out how his Highness could accurately predict the subsidence of the drought.

However, compared to the problem of drought, how to accept the vacancy after the Yanshan faction is about to fall is the biggest problem.

"Bo Yu!"

Not long after, Yan Yinshao's voice sounded outside the door, and Jin Mu, who was washing vegetables in the courtyard, also walked to the door and opened it.

Seeing Jin Mu, Yan Yinshao quickly saluted, then quickly walked into the small courtyard, came to the meeting hall and smiled at Jin Xuan:

"Wang Kejian and the others have been arrested and sent to prison. I guess Li Demao and Zhang Maocai from Anxi will not be able to escape either."

"In the next few months, I'm afraid Guochao will have a headache to fill the official vacancies. You and I have to prepare early."

"In addition, after Wang Kejian and the others were arrested, we had to win over the officials in the villages and towns to minimize the influence."

Yan Yinshao talked about the shortage of officials. In essence, after the fall of Yanshan, Daming would still be short of officials, but under the arrangement of Zhu Youjian, the gap in official positions was not too big, and it basically could not affect the normal operation of the court. .

However, there are good and bad official positions, big and small powers, and how to arrange them depends on Yan Yinshao and Jin Xuan.

In addition, the Yanshan officials at the grassroots level have no backbone. At this time, Jin Xuan and Yan Yinshao, both from Yanshan, can take the opportunity to win them over.

The Yanshan faction is so powerful that it cannot be destroyed at once, but Zhu Youjian can replace middle and upper-level officials with Jin Xuan and Yan Yinshao, and change their political demands in the short term.

Jin Xuan has already figured this out, so he also knows that unifying the Yanshan faction is something he needs to do right now.

For the hundreds of thousands of Yanshan faction officials, their current political appeal is to get promoted and get rich, which is an excellent candidate for officials in overseas countries that lack people.

Therefore, Jin Xuan didn't talk nonsense when he saw this, and Yan Yinshao immediately discussed how to win over the grassroots Yanshan officials.

While they were discussing, Jin Yiwei, who had spread outward from the capital city, had already begun to frantically recruit people.

The sound of kicking the door may be the most frequent sound in the entire Ming Dynasty today. There are not a few Yanshan officials whose doors were broken down, and Yanshan officials who are above the seventh rank are the targets of this arrest.

There are more than [-] of them in number.

Although there are fewer than hundreds of thousands of grassroots officials in Yanshan, it still needs to mobilize a large number of people to arrest them.

Under the current situation where the sound of breaking the door kept ringing, Zhang Maucai, the chief minister of the Beiting, who had always been strong, stepped on the chair and put his head into the cloth belt hanging on the beam.

As he kicked down the chair with both feet, Zhang Maocai instantly jumped up his legs, saliva poured out of his mouth, but he stopped moving after a while.

After a while, the Jin Yiwei who broke open the gate rushed into the mansion in large numbers.

When they saw Zhang Maocai who had hanged himself to death, their first reaction was to save others.

It's just a pity that Zhang Maocai has been dead for a long time, and he has long been unable to recover.

Compared with Zhang Maocai, Li Demao, who also lives in Anxi City, is more stubborn.

He lit the house with a fire, and buried his whole family in the sea of ​​flames.

When the news of the two people's death came back to the capital, Jin Yiwei had been arresting officials above the seventh rank for six days.

The middle and upper-level officials of the Yanshan faction were wiped out, and Zhu Youjian could walk out of the Qi Palace.

On days like the sixth day of April, instead of going to the palace to visit his elder nephew, he chose to come to the fields to visit the people who were working in the fields.

Although it is summer, the momentum of the drought has slowed down, many rivers have recovered, and rice has appeared in the fields in Beizhili again.

Zhu Youjian sat watching the pieces of rice being ups and downs by the strong wind, but he felt an indescribable feeling in his heart.

He handed the letter paper in his hand to Cao Huachun, who was waiting beside him, and said with mixed feelings: "Their temperament has not changed for many years."

Zhu Youjian was talking about Li Demao and Zhang Maocai, and Cao Huachun who heard the words also took the letter paper, and then said:

"It's too easy to deal with Yanshan this time, even the servants find it unbelievable."

"You also think it's easy?" Zhu Youjian looked at the rice field with a calm expression, and his words seemed to be saying that he himself thought it was too easy.

"It's not easy because we are fast, but because someone didn't use the means to fight."

"Your Highness is saying... Chengde?"

After Zhu Youjian's words made Cao Huachun hesitate again and again, he said Chengde's name.

He thought about it carefully. Although Chengde was the leader of Yanshan, he did not cause any bloodshed, nor did he use weapons, so that most of the Yanshan faction was suppressed without even using the means of killing fish and nets.

"How is he in prison?"

Zhu Youjian thought of Chengde who was in the imperial prison, and saw the memories of himself and the old people from Chengde.

"Just locked him up, didn't use torture, and served him with good wine and good food."

"If he is released right now, maybe he will become the target of Yanshan officials."

Cao Huachun sees it clearly, no matter whether Chengde intends to help the Qi Palace to cut off the most unstable factors in the Yanshan faction, but he cannot enjoy the benefits.

Once Chengde enjoys the benefits, or is released immediately, then Chengde will have to be targeted by Yanshan officials and conservative officials.

Cheng De was in charge of Yanshan, excluding incorruptible officials internally, and oppressing conservative parties externally.

It can be said that under Zhou Yanru's command, most of the former Qi royal party officials were cleaned up by him with the Metropolitan Procuratorate.

Those incorruptible and idealistic officials who were expelled from Yanshan were also facilitated by him, or he sat by and watched.

He is in trouble now, and there are not a few people who want to step on him.

Putting him in prison has instead become a means of protecting him.

This kind of method made Cao Huachun think of someone, so he looked at Zhu Youjian who was looking at the field calmly, and asked cautiously:

"Your Highness, do you think of Yang Lian?"

"Hmm..." Zhu Youjian responded, with a somewhat moved expression on his face:

"When Chengde was suffering, I still had the energy to help him, but Yang Lian was imprisoned back then..."

Zhu Youjian was suddenly silent, and finally said: "He is more suitable for teaching and educating people, and the officialdom is not suitable for him."

"But Chengde is very suitable for officialdom...so the maidservant feels that Chengde may be preserved." Cao Huachun added when Zhu Youjian finished speaking.

Obviously, Cao Huachun and the others don't have any hatred towards Cheng De.

They all knew that Chengde was put up by the general trend, and he also asked for it on his own initiative.

Without Chengde, the Yanshan faction has become a runaway wild horse these years. In the attack on Yanshan this time, if the people in power were radical people like Zhang Maocai and Li Demao, that war would have been inevitable.

Their determination is far worse than that of Chengde. Seeing that the situation is irreversible and Zhu Youjian will not compromise, they will encourage the officials and people in Yanshan all over the world. No matter what means they use, the national power of the Ming Dynasty will suffer. damage.

"Your Highness, Chengde has contributed to the country..."

Cao Huachun continued to speak cautiously, but Zhu Youjian smiled when he heard the words:
"There are merits and demerits, even if it's what I said, it doesn't count. Lock him up, and don't eat less wine and meat."

"Let him out after I'm gone, otherwise, with his character, he'll stop me after he comes out."

The political appeal of Li Demao and other Yanshan faction is to restore the punishment of scholar-bureaucrats, but Chengde's political appeal is very simple, that is, Zhu Youjian should not become a vassal.

As long as he can still move, he will go to school again and again, or use various means to prevent Zhu Youjian from becoming a vassal.

It was this action and thought that made Zhu Youjian think of Yang Lian back then.

As long as Yang Lian is still active, he will go to the echelon again and again to force his brother to cancel the suppression of the Donglin Party.

The two are not the same, but the behavior is very similar.

Zhu Youjian is of great use to Chengde, but he can't let him out now.

Not to mention that now is the cusp of the storm, Zhu Youjian cannot satisfy Chengde's demands alone.

Lock him up for two or three years first, and then let him out after he becomes a vassal.

By then, Daming's officialdom will be rectified better, and most of his enemies will be eliminated.

When the time comes, what he will have to do is to honestly assist his disciples in governing the Ming Dynasty.

Thinking of this, Zhu Youjian took a deep breath, looked at the rice fields and said with a smile:
"This year, people can have a good year..."

　It will be updated at six o'clock in the afternoon.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)