Daming heir

Since the disaster victims outside Kaifeng Prefecture at this moment are not the real disaster victims in Henan Province, then those real disaster victims must be in other places.

Where are the real victims of the disaster in Henan Province.

This became a question that lingered on everyone's mind.

However, Pei Benzhi did not answer this question immediately, but looked at the fake disaster victims around him with flickering eyes.

"How does His Highness plan to deal with these people?"

Zhu Yunxi smiled slightly: "Magistrate Pei has been in Henan for a long time, so he knows the situation of these people best. I am alone in everything in Henan, and I have heard the advice of County Magistrate Pei."

As soon as Zhu Yunxi's words fell, there was a burst of soft cheers from the group of officials around him.

Xiaopang standing beside him also looked over in surprise.

There is something in the words.

Pei Benzhi looked up at the emperor's grandson who was staring at him deeply, and said in a low voice: "There was an accident in Kaifeng City last night, and today these people gathered outside Kaifeng City. I think these people are following around Kaifeng City. The gentry’s family, and the merchant’s family who settled in the vicinity of Kaifeng Mansion. The minister believes that the crime of defrauding all the people today should be held accountable, and the law should be punished.”

Zhu Yunxi smiled, waved his hands, and looked back at Gao Guang and the others: "Do you think it is appropriate for Pei Benzhi to be convicted like this?"

Gao Gaoguang and the others are already running rapidly in their heads at the moment.

Now the two yamen of Henan have all been arrested, interrogated and interrogated from the chief envoy, the procurator, and the third class of yamen servants.

At this moment, Pan Deshan, who was left in Lanyang County, was already on his way to Yingtian City with the memorial of the emperor's grandson pleading for orders to be the minister of the Yellow River.

Right now, the most important thing for the entire Henan Province is to stabilize the government first, and then stabilize the people's livelihood, step by step to make Henan Province change from the past and take on a new look.

As the emperor's grandson said, Pei Benzhi had been an official in Henan Province for many years, although he had always been the magistrate of a small county, but that was also because he was not tolerated by the yamen at all levels in Henan Province.

Once Pan Deshan became the Minister of River Control, it must have a chief official of the two departments who is familiar with the situation in Henan Province to cooperate with Pan Deshan to promote the various policies of the future imperial court in Henan Province.

Gao Gaoguang only took a breath of effort to think through all the problems before and after.

Gao Gaoguang said immediately: "As Your Highness said, the county magistrate Pei has been an official in Henan Province for a long time, and he is familiar with the government affairs of Henan Province. Now that there is a big disturbance in Henan Province, the county magistrate Pei is one of the few capable ministers. His advice, ministers, etc. Think it’s impossible.”

Higher than light is crisp.

It is true that I am temporarily taking over the errands of the chief envoy of the two yamen of Henan Province, but that is also because all the two yamen of Henan Province were arrested and detained for interrogation last night.

As for his future official career arrangements, in Gao Guang's opinion, it is probably impossible to directly serve as a chief official.

Lifting Pei Ben's hand at this time can be regarded as leaving a trace of officialdom in advance.

really.

After Zhu Yunxi heard Gao Guang's response, the smile on his face became more intense. He looked at Pei Benzhi and said, "Since Chief Gao and the others have no objections, it's up to you to decide how to convict these people."

Pei Benzhi nodded. The Ming Dynasty has only been established for less than 28 years, and the ruling and opposition parties have not yet reached the point where one carrot and one pitfall exist.It's not like there have been no big officials who rose up suddenly.

The young chief envoy of Jiaozhi Road has been a popular figure in the court in recent years.Although he has never made a sound in the court hall of Yingtian City, and he is still far away from Jiaozhi Road, no one can ignore the existence of that young frontier official up and down the court.

The Jiaozhi Road accounts for [-]% of Ming Dynasty's annual revenue, and it is steadily increasing. The Jiaozhi Road controls the Zhancheng Road and all the new lands under the Southern Expedition Army.

Although I have been the magistrate of a county in Chenliu County for many years, I can become a big official in Henan Province.

It's just that Pei Benzhi was still calm and never showed any joy.

After receiving the order, Pei Benzhi stood aside with his hands in suspense, and said in a low voice: "Does Your Highness want to see the real situation of the victims in Kaifeng Mansion?"

Zhu Yunxi set his eyes on Pei Benzhi with certainty.

Pei Ben nodded knowingly.

Immediately, he went straight to the leader of the army from Chenliu County, and rushed to the front of Tang Bi, the commander of the direct relative army Habayashi guard outside the city of Kaifeng.

"General Tang, please take the brothers under his command to detain these people first, and after the subordinate officials drive back to the city, they will issue official documents to convict and punish them."

At this moment, Pei Benzhi is completely looking like he is in charge of Henan Province, but he has never stated it, but he has done so.

Gao Guang and others had no objection, nor did Zhu Yunxie.

At this time, no one who can take the initiative to provoke the burden of the dilapidated Henan Road will criticize what is lacking in these red tapes.

Naturally, Tang Bi didn't have any opinion on this.

Since he led the army to sit in Chenliu County, he has been with Pei Benzhi, the iron neck of Henan Province, for a long time, and he knows this person's temperament best.

Is a good officer.

This is the clearest point among Tang Bi's many impressions of Pei Ben.

And as long as you have this impression, other things will not be a problem.

Tang Bi nodded, and with a wave of his hand, the officers and soldiers of the Habayashi Guards under his command will start to detain and tie up those people pretending to be disaster victims in front of the city gate here.

Pei Benzhi here is facing Zhu Yunxi and others and made a gesture of asking for instructions.

"Master Gao has arranged for the people who will stay in Kaifeng Prefecture to continue to take over the affairs of the two departments of Henan Province and the yamen of each department of Kaifeng Prefecture. The rest will go with Gu to see the real victims of the disaster in Henan Province."

After Zhu Yunxi left a word, Gao Guang and the others immediately made arrangements.

After a while, a large number of teams began to leave in groups from Kaifeng Fucheng.

And those who intended to arouse public opinion and coerce the court to forgive officials in Henan Province could only leave a meaningless cry of grievances.

……

Kaifeng Mansion is a very boring place. Looking up, the sky is like that, and the earth is like that.Looking out at a glance, the ground is flat all the way to the horizon and blends with the sky, without any ups and downs or waves.

The only place with ups and downs is the Yellow River embankment built over the years along the course of the Yellow River.

Besides, Kaifeng Mansion is really a boring place.

It is precisely because of this that many families who lived in Kaifeng in many eras and whose families have lasted for tens or hundreds of years have built high-rise courtyards one after another, and because Kaifeng was the capital of the Central Plains Dynasty in the former Song Dynasty, the ruling and opposition parties liked the Jiangnan style. .In Kaifeng mansion up to now, most of the houses built by the people also have a Jiangnan style.

The Taihu stone, which seems to be mined forever, is the most common thing in Kaifeng.

In the old days, the royal family of Zhao and Song Dynasties used the Taihu stones transported by large ships, and ordinary people used the Taihu stones pulled by small boats and carts.

All kinds of trees and flowers should also be built according to the Jiangnan houses.

From Kaifeng Prefecture to Zhongmou County, there is a water swamp called East Lake.

A place like East Lake can be regarded as a place with good feng shui environment in the entire surrounding area of ​​Kaifeng Mansion.

It is precisely because, around the small East Lake, there are four or five luxurious houses all around.

At this moment, outside a house by the East Lake, a group of people came in a hurry from the direction of Kaifeng Fucheng.These people did not stop at the gate of the mansion, the servants guarding the gate of the mansion saw these people from a distance, and opened the gate of the mansion.

The crowd walked into the gate of the mansion, and then the gate of the mansion was closed by the servants.

From Shaoqing to the backyard of the mansion, it is close to the water lake of East Lake, and you can overlook and see a piece of garden on the lake.

Several elegantly dressed old men and middle-aged people have already gathered here to cook new tea and enjoy the scenery.

"Although Kaifeng Mansion was hit by a disaster this year, each family has gradually transferred a lot of land."

"Although the spring plowing of many good lands has been delayed, I think the court will be exempt from tax, so this year is not too bad."

"It's probably like this. I heard that the imperial court's tax exemption is already in the pipeline. At that time, maybe we can take the opportunity to exchange some money with those mud legs."

Several people walking on the guest seats talked softly and with laughter, talking to each other about the progress of each family this year.

Sitting on the main seat is a middle-aged man already wearing brocade.

The face of a very ordinary Central Plains man.

However, they always behave like scholars and Confucians, because this family has successively produced several scholars and candidates in recent years.Although not only the main vein came out alone, but other branches were also included, but it was also a family with the same surname.

Now, as long as there is another Jinshi, he can say a few more words in Kaifeng Mansion.

It is precisely because of this that this place has become the most frequent gathering place for people around the East Lake in recent years.

The middle-aged man said in a deep voice: "Everyone knows what happened in the city last night. The two yamen and the Kaifeng government yamen were taken down by the court. I just want to say one thing, as a reminder. Count it as a peace of mind."

The master opened his mouth, and everyone present stopped talking, and all looked up and looked sideways.

The middle-aged man continued: "How the officialdom in Henan Province has nothing to do with me and others. I told you in advance about what happened outside the city today. If you still participate, don't blame me for not reminding you.

We just need to remember one thing, no matter who comes to Henan Province to be an official, as long as they get into the game, they have to think about us, and we must not forget our benefits. "

"It's natural, it's natural."

"You have to have a long-term vision. If you hadn't reminded us in advance, we would have given up all our efforts to deal with what happened outside the city of Kaifeng today."

"It doesn't matter who he is, as long as he becomes an official in Henan Province, we will give him a lot of silver if he is greedy for money, and we will give him a lot of little ladies if he is lustful. If there is no shortage, we will give him a great achievement !"

"I don't believe that these officials can leave Henan Road cleanly!"

The middle-aged man was very satisfied with this answer, and nodded: "It should be the truth. Right now, the grandson of the emperor and the accompanying officials of the imperial court may have to stay in Henan Province for a long time. I heard that, other People are starting to feel restless, thinking that all the officials in the yamen have been arrested, and then they are there, it seems that there is some connection, intending to do something that everyone doesn't want to see..."

Having said that, the middle-aged man stopped and looked at everyone.

Everyone shook their heads.

"We are all good people, how can we do such rebellious things?"

"Such a thing, we will definitely not do it."

Just at this time, a group of people who had just entered the mansion outside the courtyard finally rushed over.

Among them, the leader came directly in front of everyone.

The middle-aged man frowned and looked at the person coming, and said in a deep voice, "What happened?"

"Reporting to my lord, Pei Benzhi, the magistrate of Chenliu County, brought the officers and soldiers of the Habayashi Guard who had been stationed in Chenliu County for many days to Kaifeng Fucheng today. After arriving, Pei Benzhi took down all those who made trouble outside the city today, Now he is leading the emperor's grandson and others to the East Lake."

"Towards the East Lake?"

During the banquet, someone stood up suddenly, his face was full of surprise.

The rest of the people also looked at the middle-aged man sitting on the main seat, all showing worried eyes.

"quick!"

"Let those people go up!"

"Tell the people in Zhongmou County, tell them to be careful in what they do, and don't show their feet."

"Warning those mud-legged people again, if you dare to speak up in front of the emperor's grandson and the servants, the labor and management will send all their wives and daughters into the courtyard!"

The middle-aged man immediately gave orders to the person who rushed back from Kaifeng Fucheng, and the person turned around and left quickly.

The man looked at the tense faces of the people present, smiled and said: "It seems that today's tea will be reserved until tomorrow, everyone should go home quickly and arrange it, then follow the previous agreement, don't worry Urgent, the imperial court has never discovered it before, so can it be discovered now?"

At this time, how could the crowd dare to stay, and they didn't even leave a word, so they stood up with their hands together, turned and left.

……

"The walls are built with muddy soil mixed with straw. A few beams and vertical beams are pressed down layer by layer with the straw. It is considered a good house."

"Tiles are not something that ordinary people can use."

"If it's a heavy rain day, heavy rain outside, light rain at home, this is a normal thing."

On the north side of Donghu Lake, outside a cottage near the embankment of the Yellow River, Pei Benzhi was riding on a horse, explaining softly to Zhu Yunxie, Zhu Gaochi and others.

In front of everyone's eyes was a village made up of low houses.

In the village, most of the houses have holes in the soil walls, or the roofs are sunken.

Outside the village, in the endless fields, there are still river silt and sundries left over from the flood in the six prefectures this time.

Pei Benzhi waved his finger and pointed to one place: "Over there, it was originally a village. When the official first came to Kaifeng, he came here. After the establishment of my dynasty, the whole village was built with tiled houses, but it was useless for a few years. , The entire village is gone, and everyone has become tenants of those families. The houses are gone, and they have been turned into land, but there is no record in the tax books of the Yellow Book in Zhongmou County."

Push the house into the field, do not record the yellow book.

This is the most common form of exploitation.

But Zhu Yunxie, Zhu Gaochi and others who witnessed it with their own eyes turned pale.

Today, Pei Benzhi seemed to deliberately give them eye drops, and with a wave of his finger, he pointed in another direction.

"It looks like a cemetery over there, but as long as you remove those mounds, you will see that there is nothing underneath. Looking at the new soil, you know that it is prepared for the imperial court's relief to the six prefectures this time. "

"And over there, even if a naughty boy jumps in, he can't drown anyone, and the bottom is black mud, and the water one foot deep will look bottomless."

As Pei Benzhi talked, his expression became a little sad: "This is just the most common method. As long as the land is not counted as a field, it will not be included in the two tax accounts of the imperial court. But in the end, those people are still If the tenants are asked to cultivate, they will always be given rations."

It was the first time for Zhu Gaochi to see and hear about these things at the lowest level of the Ming Dynasty.

He opened his mouth, his face full of disbelief: "There are still such things."

After finishing speaking, Zhu Gaochi looked at Gao Guang and others with unkind eyes.

This group of people also entered the imperial examination, and they also came up from the bottom of the Ming Dynasty.

Embarrassed expressions appeared on everyone's faces.

Gao Gaoguang said in a low voice: "I am in my hometown, there is absolutely no such thing."

Zhu Yunxi turned his head lightly: "If you come to Henan Road with Gu, you will be checked by the Jinyiwei. Even tenants under your family's name can have a meal. Mr. Gu can't really Think of everyone as a sage.”

Zhu Yunxi seemed to be laughing at himself for a while.

Gao Gaoguang and the others got off their horses immediately and knelt on the ground.

"The minister went home today after writing the book, and asked his family to retire the tenants under his name and return the land to the common people."

Zhu Yunxi shook his head: "It's really a family that can't survive. Even if you become a tenant, you have no reserve price to run on the land, and even force them to sell their wives and children. You can be regarded as an innocent family. But if they go to Later, if you want to change back to transformation, you and others are unstoppable."

Gao Gaoguang and the others were already in cold sweat on their backs at this time, and they nodded in agreement without daring to say anything more.

Zhu Yunxi also didn't want to play Tai Chi with these people anymore. There are too few people who can be officials with a clean slate. As long as they don't exploit the people and harm the good and the poor, it's justified.

He turned his head and looked at Pei Benzhi: "Tell me, where are the real disaster victims?"

Pei Benzhi thought for a while, then looked ahead: "Just ahead, if I remember correctly, there is a river over there, connecting Yanming Lake in the north, all the way to the Yellow River. This time it was silted up, and the victims They are all working there to clear the silt.”

Zhu Yunxi nodded: "Then go and have a look."

Once again, the team sped up their horses and rushed towards the river and Yanming Lake.

After a while, when bursts of yelling came to everyone's ears, Pei Benzhi showed a smile on his face, and then became serious again: "Your Highness, this is here, and this is the place where the most disaster victims gather in the entire Kaifeng Mansion." place."

After turning over a high slope that can be regarded as a rare high slope in the boundary of Kaifeng Prefecture.

A silted river course running north-south appeared in front of Zhu Yunxi's eyes, and when he looked again, countless people on the entire river were cleaning up the silt in the river.

For the arrival of Zhu Yunxie and others, not many people seemed to be able to pay attention.

But when everyone had just arrived, there was a burst of noise not far downstream.

"It's dinner time!"

"It's dinner time!"

"All the folks, put down your work and come over for dinner."

"Today's pickled vegetables, fat and dried meat are full of oil and water!"