Brother Zhu Youxiao

Chapter 99
"Clang... clang... clang..."

Morning bells and evening drums, when the bells continued to ring in the city, all the officials in the capital rushed to the Forbidden City with a heavy heart.

This group of former officials and lords was in a hurry at the moment, and all of them headed for the Forbidden City with a heavy heart.

Soon, all officials entered the Donghua Gate before dawn, and at the same time, Zhu Youjian of Donggong Xuqin Palace was also woken up by Wang Chengen.

"Your Highness? Your Highness..."

Outside the curtains on the bed, Wang Chengen's shadow was illuminated by the candlelight, faintly visible.

Zhu Youjian's eyes were dim, and after rubbing, he got up and asked:
"what happened?"

Seeing that Zhu Youjian got up, Wang Chengen saluted through the bed curtain:
"Long live, there is an oral order. His Highness Xuan will also go to the Wenhua Palace today."

"Me?!" Hearing that he was about to go to court, Zhu Youjian's heart skipped a beat.

Apparently, the good emperor brother has no idea about the revision of the Jingcha time, and he wants someone to help make up his mind during the Chang Dynasty.

Brother Haohuang didn't have any ministers who could make up his mind, so he had to be invited to go.

However, Zhu Youjian also has a headache. Right now, he only thinks about hibernation. Once he gets involved in something like the Jingcha, all kinds of cronies will notice that he has pulled such a big influence.

But if he doesn't help Brother Huang, who will help Brother Huang?
No one can help the emperor, so the final outcome can only be reduced to the same as in history, the good emperor can only use Wei Zhongxian to balance the parties...

Thinking of this, Zhu Youjian could only bite the bullet and get off the bed, walked out of the Babu bed, raised his hands and said: "Changing clothes."

Hearing this, Wang Cheng'en and the three maids beside him started to get busy. Today is the regular court, so they don't pay much attention, but Zhu Youjian still changed into a scarlet python robe.

Putting on the python robe, gold, gemstone and jade crown, jade belt, and a series of cumbersome decorations, Zhu Youjian immediately felt six or seven catties heavier.

After he was all dressed, the maid began to clean his nails, face, and mouth.

After finally finishing everything, he got up and subconsciously put his hands on his belt, patted the jade belt around his waist, and couldn't help but smacked his mouth:

"This thing will be taken to future generations, and a suite in the capital has not escaped."

After finishing speaking, he simply ate some cakes and drank tribute tea, and then he ordered people to drive the chariot and drove to the Wenhua Palace.

Since the Wenhua Palace is not far from the East Palace, we crossed the Jinlong Bridge and turned a corner, and after walking hundreds of steps, we arrived at the Wenhua Palace.

"Isn't that the Fifth Highness? Why is he here?"

"I don't know, I think it was called by Long Live."

"It seems that there is indeed a big event today..."

Seeing Zhu Youjian's appearance, some officials without party affiliation whispered, and Zhu Youjian also got off the chariot in front of the Wenhua Palace, took Wang Chengen into the Wenhua Palace, and saw the dusty people at the first time Yang Lian.

"Your Highness..."

Yang Lian had already received the imperial decree this morning, and he arrived at the town outside Andingmen last night to settle down, and rushed here as soon as the gate opened today.

Everyone was not surprised by Yang Lian's arrival, they just wondered why Yang Lian saluted Zhu Youjian.

In their memory, Yang Lian seemed to be angry with Zhu Youjian when he appeared on the stage last time, but he only went to Changping for less than a month, and he was so polite to Zhu Youjian?
This scene successfully attracted the attention of Liu Yixiu, Fang Congzhe, Sun Ruyou, Guan Yingzhen, Gu Tianjun, Qi Shijiao and others.

Seeing this, Zhu Youjian could only sigh from the bottom of his heart, and then replied to Yang Lian:
"Yang Duge is in progress"

"clang!"

Suddenly, the minister of Honglu Temple rang the bell, and he also sang in response:

"Entry..."

As soon as the words fell, the ministers entered their positions in an orderly manner according to their official ranks, while Zhu Youjian walked to the side of the imperial case directly in front of everyone.

"He..."

"Fuck!"

Singing the ceremony again, the Jin Yiwei at the gate of the Wenhua Hall immediately whipped and exploded, announcing the start of the court meeting with clean whips.

At this time, Zhu Youxiao also came out from behind the screen of the Wenhua Palace, and after nodding with Zhu Youjian, he sat on the dragon chair.

"All the ministers are playing..."

The minister of Honglu Temple rang the bell and sang again, and when he opened his mouth, someone immediately stepped forward and said:

"Chendu Chayuan Youqian Du Yushi Qi Shijiao..."

"Censor Yushi Zhao Xingbang..."

"Ying Zhen, the young official of Chen Taichang Temple..."

"Wu Liang's heir to the minister's military department..."

"Yao Zongwen in the case of Chen Huke..."

"My minister Xu Zhaokui, the censor of Gyeonggi Province..."

"Long live, please reject the imperial decree of changing Beijing!!!"

The Wenhua Hall is not big, but it can accommodate more than a hundred people.

When nearly forty of the more than one hundred people stood up and sang to dismiss it, it was a shock to everyone.

But before Zhu Youxiao could react, Fang Congzhe, the chief assistant of the cabinet, also stood up and pointed to the thick memorial on the imperial case:
"Long live, this is the memoirs and postings of relevant officials before and after the imperial decree of the reform of the Jingchao system was left in China. There are eight volumes and three hundred and seventy-two posts in total."

"Among them, [-] posts are for please reject the restructuring of the Jingchao, and the remaining [-] posts are for the impeachment of Liu Yixiu, the second assistant of the cabinet, Yang Lian in the case of military affairs, and Zuo Guangdou, the censor of Zuoqin..."

Fang Congzhe eloquently read the names of more than a dozen people, basically summarizing all the main officials of the Donglin Party, and concluded with one sentence:
"If the courtiers are not eliminated, how can the family and the country be safe?"

Fang Congzhe's coercion taught Zhu Youjian a vivid lesson.

That is, in the face of power, even if Zhu Youjian helped Fang Congzhe, Fang Congzhe would not stand by his side.

However, Zhu Youjian never counted on Fang Congzhe. What he wanted was to end the support of the Donglin Party in the palace transfer case.

He needs a balance, a balance between the Donglin Party and other parties.

It's just that he tried his best to create a balance, but after less than two months, he announced the collapse, but he couldn't stop it.

Thinking of this, Zhu Youjian looked at the good emperor brother, but saw that the good emperor brother took out the memorials on the table unhurriedly, and read them one by one.

Zhu Youjian glanced at the pile of memorials, and he could see from the cover of the memorials how fierce the reaction of the parties was this time.

Qi Shijiao's "Great Chaos Generals", Xu Zhaokui's "Donglin Cheng Chen Shu", Wang Zhi's "Illness Returns", Yao Zongwen's "Elimination of Evil Officials", Feng Sanyuan's "Exposing Corrupt Officials and Evil Officials", Zheng Fang's "Evil Conspiracy" ", Shi Chaofeng "The Rebellious Party Has Been Planned for a Long Time"...

These memorials are like the open letters of later generations. A post can range from hundreds to thousands of words, and the content is so vicious that it makes one's scalp tingle.

It seems that in their memorials, the Donglin Party and others have all become corrupt officials, while they are the gods who stand in high positions and are responsible for supervising and judging.

"Sure enough, don't play with literati..."

Looking at this pile of memorials, Zhu Youjian didn't know how to deal with this situation for a while.

To put it bluntly, the highest level in his previous life was a grassroots poverty alleviation. Even the village failed to get rid of poverty, so he came to the Ming Dynasty. How could he have time to deal with this situation.

Dealing with the big soldiers of the Yanshan camp and dealing with the princes of the Forbidden City are completely two concepts.

Cold sweat broke out on his forehead, but at this moment, a piece of silk appeared in front of his eyes, and then he saw the worried expression of Brother Hao and said:
"Why are you sweating so much? Could it be that you caught the wind and cold last night?"

"..." For a moment, not only Zhu Youjian, but also the lords who were screaming a second ago all shut their mouths.

Zhu Youxiao's move seems to be concerned about Zhu Youjian, but it is actually delaying time.

He was delaying the Donglin party, and he was also delaying himself.

Sure enough, under such a delay, Liu Yixiu, the deputy cabinet assistant of the Donglin Party, stood up and said:
"Long live, I believe that the reform of the capital city should be done!"

"Long live, minister second!"

"Long live……"

"Long live……"

Suddenly, more than [-] officials stood up out of the [-] officials who had already stood up for more than [-] people. In the end, there were only more than [-] officials without party affiliation left.

Donglin Party officials agreed to reform the system one after another, and Yang Lian stepped forward holding the wat board:

"Long live, the former Taizu Emperor Gao stipulated that the Beijing-chasing examination should be held every three years, and later it was changed to every ten years. During the Hongzhi period, it was stipulated that it should be held once every six years."

"The reason for this is that most of the officials in the early Hongwu court were officials left over from the previous dynasty. These officials and subordinates were corrupt and broke the law. Therefore, it needs to be examined every three years."

"Afterwards, Emperor Taizu Gao relied on the three-year Beijing inspection to eliminate corrupt officials from all over the world, and then changed it to a ten-year examination."

"During the reign of Hongzhi, Emperor Xiaozong Jing believed that corrupt officials had reappeared in the world, so he changed the examination every ten years to every six years, which greatly curbed the breeding of corrupt officials."

"Right now, there are countless corrupt officials and subordinates in the world. In the land of Huaibei, due to insufficient storage of grain and fodder in official warehouses, the price of grain has skyrocketed, and hundreds of thousands of people have starved to death!"

"Could it be that the Jingcha Law cannot be amended in such a world?"

"The minister thinks that those who insist on not changing the Beijing inspection should be executed!"

Yang Lian was still that stubborn old man, the kind who would kill someone if he opened his mouth. He even thought that the famine in Huaibei was caused by the lack of food in the local government warehouses.

Why is there insufficient food in the official warehouse?It's very simple, because rats are rampant, so the rectification of the bureaucracy has come to a time when it has to be reformed.

Listening to Yang Lian's words, Zhu Youjian wanted to applaud the stubborn old man, but soon Sun Ruyou stood up:

"Long live, grand scholar of Chendong Pavilion, Sun Ruyou..."

"I think what Yang Du said in the matter was just catching wind and shadows."

"There are enough official warehouses in Huaibei, and only a dozen people died of starvation after winter."

"Ridiculous!" Zuo Guangdou took a step and shouted angrily:
"Those who went to Huaibei saw tens of thousands of corpses lying on both sides of the Huaibei road, stretching for hundreds of miles. Under the great hunger, millions of people suffered. Pizhou County even sold [-] Wen a catty of high-priced grain."

"It should be noted that ordinary people only save three or four taels of silver a year, and a grain of fifty Wen a catty, how many days can the common people eat?"

"That's right!" Yu Shi Yuan Huazhong also stood up and said:

"On August [-]rd of the first year of Taichang, Yang Sichang, the payment secretary, made a statement"

"The residents of Huaibei ate all the grass roots and bark, and even several cottages, closed-door women and children, and ordered them to live on bean skips and water chestnut stalks."

"After crossing the river, the kitchen households are scrambling for rice, and the hungry people are scrambling for grain. There are different places."

"As soon as you enter Zhenjiang, you can pay a hundred dollars for a bucket of rice. Gradually, it reaches Su and Song, and it grows to a hundred and thirty or forty. It's still not over. Merchant ships can't wait to close the rice, and the shops are almost closed. The small people are trying to make it quick."

"Even Zhenjiang and Su Song are like this. Isn't this enough to explain how serious the situation in Huaibei is?!"

Yuan Huazhong carried Yang Sichang out, and many Chu party officials were in trouble for a while.

Both Yang Sichang and his father Yang He are important officials in the Chu Party, so it is impossible for them to slap Yang Sichang in the face...

If Yang Sichang is slapped in the face, Yang Sichang's family will be implicated, and the power of the Chu Party will also be reduced by then, and Yang Sichang is a central official trained by the Chu Party for the future.

Thinking of this, Ying Zhen, an official of the Chu Party, thought about the half-percent discount Sun Ruyou promised, and then retreated to his position after weighing it.

Guan Yingzhen took a step back, and after being seen by Chu party officials, they also took a step back.

In an instant, the nine officials took a step back, watching the other parties gnashing their teeth, and Yao Zongwen of the Zhejiang Party wanted to bite the official Ying Zhen to death.

As for Guan Yingzhen, he didn't take a step back entirely because of Yang Sichang, the reason for his retreat was simply because he met Yang Lian when he was going to the Donghua Gate.

At that time, he saw Yang Lian bringing a few people. Those people spoke Wu dialect and were dressed very simply. They looked like ordinary people.

Therefore, after he thought of those people, he instantly had a bad premonition, and retreated to his position in time.

However, there are not many officials who know about this matter, so Sun Ruyou and others did not restrain themselves after hearing what Yang Lian and others said, but stood up and said:

"Whether there is starvation in Huaibei and whether the people are starving to death, send people down to check and find out!"

"In the sixth year of Wanli, the households in Huai'an Prefecture were [-], and the population was [-]."

"Go and monitor according to this household registration. If some people starve to death, I have nothing to say, and I am willing to resign and serve the people!"

Sun Ruyou uttered harsh words, even utterly categorical, not because he was hotheaded.

On the contrary, these words of his have passed his mind.

He clearly understands that under the current situation, he will not be able to keep Zhejiang party officials at all, so the best thing is to resign and return to his old age after this incident is over.

At that time, if anything happens to the Zhejiang Party, it will have nothing to do with him.

As for the country gentry and merchants and landlords in Zhejiang, it was too late for him to return to office, and it was impossible for him to return to his post.

To put it bluntly, Sun Ruyou really wanted to step down from this position.

Right now, he really feels like sitting on pins and needles when facing the methods of the two brothers Zhu Youxiao and Zhu Youjian.

However, his wish to retire safely is likely to be shattered, so at this time, Yang Lian, who had been waiting for a long time, stood up and said angrily:
"Okay! Since Pavilion Minister Sun said so, then I will invite the people of Huaibei to enter the Wenhua Palace and tell the tragedy in Huaibei to you personally!"

"!!!" Hearing Yang Lian's words, everyone was terrified. They didn't expect Yang Lian to find the people in Huaibei in such a short time.

"What's going on? Didn't they say that Huai'an Mansion has been sealed off..." Sweat dripped from Yao Zongwen's forehead during the incident, and Fang Congzhe also realized that Yang Lian was really not trying to scare people.

"Long live, I would like to invite Yang Lu, a talented person from Wuhe Town, Pizhou County, Huai'an Prefecture, into the palace to tell the truth about the Great Famine in Huaibei!"

Yang Lian turned around and saluted Zhu Youxiao's editor with a booming voice.

As for Zhu Youxiao, he didn't show his emotions or anger, he just nodded slightly and said: "Quite"

Seeing this, Wang An, who was serving beside him, ordered people to go to Donghuamen to take Yang Lu and others into the palace.

Somehow, Zhu Youxiao at this moment, even Zhu Youjian himself was a little afraid to face him.

But when Zhu Youxiao came to his senses, seeing Zhu Youjian's silent appearance, he forced a smile and said:

"I'm not angry at my younger brother, but at this court farce."

"That's good..." Zhu Youjian forced a smile, and Zhu Youxiao also smiled when he saw this, and then his face became calm again when he turned his head.

Looking at all this, Zhu Youjian could only sigh in his heart:
"My imperial grandfather is really good at teaching the art of the emperor."

"It's a pity, how can he not settle these things by himself, but leave it to us..."

With a long sigh, Zhu Youjian turned his attention to the Wenhua Palace.

At this moment, everyone was silent, their minds were spinning rapidly, wanting to know what to do next.

Zhu Youxiao, on the other hand, didn't feel happy or angry. Instead, he picked up the memorials on the impeachment of the Donglin Party and read them one by one.

It's just that this kind of calm was not long before it was broken by the singing of the eunuch on duty.

"Yang Lu Yang Gongcheng, a talented person from Wuhe Town, Pizhou County, Huai'an Prefecture, South Zhili Province, requested to enter the palace..."

"Sure!" Zhu Youxiao closed the memorial with a snap, and at this time, all the officials also looked at the entrance of Wenhua Hall.

I saw Yang Lu, who had changed into a silk Taoist robe, walked into the Wenhua Hall.

Taoist robe, this is a form of loose daily clothing that became popular in the middle and late Ming Dynasty. Most scholars basically wore Taoist robes and square flat scarves on their heads, and so did Yang Lu.

As a scholar, although he may be considered to have some fame in the local area, he seemed very nervous and cramped in the Wenhua Palace, which was full of officials above the sixth rank.

Zhu Youjian had no choice. After all, Yang Lu was brought out by his own people, so he said to him:

"Maocai Yang Gongcheng, you said you escaped from Huaibei, do you have evidence?"

Zhu Youjian's words actually only played a point-breaking role, because all the officials are not stupid. When they saw Yang Lu, they knew that Yang Lu might have really escaped from Huaibei.

Wuhe and Ming Dynasty scholars had many privileges such as exemption from military service. As long as ordinary people won the award of a scholar, they would be exempted from domestic servants and enjoy certain privileges of food exemption.

Ordinary talents only need these two privileges, and they can basically achieve half-time production.

Therefore, the image of a scholar is mostly good.

But now Yang Lu's face is haggard, her cheeks and eye sockets are sunken and black, obviously she has suffered a serious illness and even starved for a long time.

But with such an image, if it is said that Yang Lu escaped from Huaibei, and his status as a scholar is so miserable, then it is hard to imagine how miserable ordinary people are.

All the officials remained silent, and when Yang Lu saw a young man sitting in the hall, she knew that the one sitting was Wansui Today, and the one standing there was Wansui Today's only younger brother, His Highness Zhu Youjian.

Before entering the palace, Lu Wenzhao and Shen Lian had already told him that if His Highness Fifth Prince asked him anything, he would just answer honestly.

You don't need to trust civil servants and Yang Lian, but you must trust His Royal Highness Fifth, otherwise it will be difficult for his family to survive.

Yang Lu also knew and exposed the great hunger in Huaibei, he must have a strong backer, otherwise he would die.

Yang Lian is not qualified, only Zhu Youjian can keep him.

Thinking of this, Yang Lu edited:
"Yang Lu Yang Gongcheng of Wuhe Town, Pizhou County, Huai'an Prefecture, Huai'an Prefecture, Chennan Zhili, pay homage to Long Live, Long Live Sheng Gong'an, His Royal Highness, Thousand Years..."

"Okay..." Zhu Youxiao said with a cold expression:

"Yang Lu, tell me, what exactly did you see in Huaibei, and whether Huaibei is hungry."

"Long live the report!" Yang Lu suddenly remembered her own experience at this moment.

The slaves starved to death, as did the eldest son and daughter-in-law.

Recalling the scene when the eldest son could not find food and would rather starve himself and his daughter-in-law to death by the side of the road, Yang Lu's nose turned sore and her eyes flushed and said:

"Long live! Huaibei is more than just a big famine! It's already reached the point of changing children and eating!"

"Wow..." When Yang Lu spoke, all the officials, especially those without party affiliation, were shocked, while most of the Donglin Party were excited. For power, only a few like Yang Lian and Zuo Guangdou were angry.

Officials from the five parties of Qi, Chu, Zhejiang, Xuan, and Kun have their eyes on their noses and their hearts on their hearts.

From one action, it is not difficult to see who is doing nothing, who is greedy for power, who is disregarding human life, and who is serving the country and the people.

Among the hundreds of officials in the huge court, only Liu Yixiu, Han Yu, Yang Lian, Zuo Guangdou, Huang Zunsu and a few others could put on such an angry expression.

Are all the dozen or so people good officials?maybe.

The real good officials are one in ten thousand. It is impossible for a dynasty to require all officials to be good officials. If they are all good officials, then there will be no such thing as a dynasty without three hundred years of national fortune.

"Remember these expressions. Those who are angry are not necessarily good officials, but they must be officials. Those who do nothing may be honest, but it is not a good thing for the world..."

When Zhu Youjian looked at Baiguan's expression, Brother Haohuang suddenly spoke in a low voice, and Zhu Youjian nodded subconsciously when he heard it.

His previous experience told him that the more capable a person is, the more powerful he is, the more powerful he is, the more people will follow him and the more money he will receive.

Money and power are inseparable, and most people have a hard time saying no to large sums of money.

If you take bribes, the people will let you step down. The world will lose a capable official, but at the same time, it will also lose a corrupt official who robbed the people of their money.

An official who no one bribes you, most of them are mediocre and incompetent people, and only a few people can do something.

Although the common people will think that he is an upright official and support him, but no one bribes him, which only proves that his power is not strong enough.

If there is no one in the world who bribes officials, it can only prove that not all the officials in the world are of good character and style, but that the people live and work in peace and contentment and can live the life they want. There is no need to give gifts to improve own quality of life.

And this kind of ethos represents that the officials of the world and the court are doing nothing, and the people have no need to bribe them.

It is impossible for officials not to be corrupt. Even if the court gives them more salaries, they will still think that it is not enough and want more.

The water of the Yellow River and the Yangtze River, no matter how turbid, is good water as long as it can nourish the people. The only things that need to be treated are turbid and cholera, clear and poisonous turbulence...

(End of this chapter)