"Huh...huh...huh..."

With rapid footsteps and heavy breathing, after galloping for an hour, Shen Lian finally arrived in the capital an hour after Zhu Youjian and the others arrived in the capital.

Holding Cao Huachun's token, he jogged all the way towards Xuqin Palace, his physical strength almost exhausted.

Changing horses for an hour without changing people, and running from Donghua Gate to Xuqin Palace were all a challenge to his physical strength.

Finally, when he was extremely tired, he saw Wang Chengen and a group of young eunuchs and maids standing at the entrance of Xuqin Palace.

Wang Chengen met Shen Lian and saw his anxious look. He immediately realized the seriousness of the matter and stepped forward to support him:

"What's wrong?"

"If there is something important, it must be said in front of His Highness." Shen Lian took a breath and paused before saying.

"You wait first." Wang Cheng'en heard the words and comforted him, then turned and walked into Xu Qin Palace, interrupting Zhu Youxiao and Zhu Youjian who were chatting and said:

"Your Highness, Shen Lian, the chief flag officer of Nanzhen Fusi, has asked to see you. He said he has something important to do."

"Shen Lian?" Zhu Youjian was not angry when he was interrupted, but wrinkled when he heard Shen Lian's name.

If he remembers correctly, Shen Lian should be the flag officer of the Imperial Guard under Lu Jianxing.

"If he doesn't stay with Lu Jianxing, why is he in the capital?"

Zhu Youjian suddenly realized that something was wrong, and said to Wang Chengen: "Ask him to come in."

"Slave, take your orders..." After hearing Zhu Youjian's words, Wang Chengen turned around and gestured to Shen Lian, who was resting not far away.

Upon seeing this, Shen Lian hurriedly walked into Xu Qin Palace, bowed and said: "Shen Lian, Chief Banner Officer of Fusi in Nanzhen, your Highness...Long live?!"

Shen Lian didn't expect that Zhu Youxiao was here, but fortunately he reacted quickly and added the "Long live" title.

"Tell me, why did you come to the capital?" Zhu Youjian looked at Shen Lian and asked, while Zhu Youxiao next to him was absent-minded.

Facing the inquiry, cold sweat broke out on Shen Lian's forehead, just because he did not expect that the emperor was also in Xu Qin Palace.

Therefore, once he told the situation in Huaibei, there would be no turning back, and even Zhu Youjian had no time to react.

Shen Lian's hesitation was noticed by Zhu Youxiao.

It has to be said that he is much more sensitive than Zhu Youjian on this kind of matter. Seeing Shen Lian's hesitation, he knew it must be a very important matter, so he frowned and said:

"If you have anything to say, just say it. Is there something that I can't listen to?"

Zhu Youxiao rarely used the title "I", which shows that Shen Lian has no room to retreat.

Different from previous dynasties, the royal family of the Ming Dynasty were mostly close to ordinary people in terms of address. Whether it was daily or regular affairs, they often called themselves "wo" and "wo".

Therefore, once the emperor calls himself me, and it is not during a court meeting or other occasions, he will probably be a little angry.

There was no other way, Shen Lian could only say:

"I and Lu Jianxing, a hundred-household official in Nanzhen Fusi, were ordered by His Highness to go to the south of the Yangtze River for business. When they heard about the great famine in Huaibei, they thought of selling their grain and heading to Huaibei."

"Who would have ever thought about going to Huaibei..."

As he spoke, Shen Lian explained the process of his and Lu Jianxing's journey to Huaibei in detail, and also told all the scenes he saw without any concealment.

His words made Wang Chengen break into a cold sweat at the door, and Zhu Youjian clenched his fists even more. He couldn't imagine that at this time of internal and external troubles, there were still people who dared to use the lives of millions of people to make money.

Thinking of this, a flash of memory suddenly flashed in Zhu Youjian's mind.

In the second year of Tianqi, Xu Hongru of the White Lotus Sect in Shandong revolted!

It is now the first year of Taichang, which is less than two years since Xu Hongru's uprising.

Historically, Xu Hongru, Wang Haoxian, Yu Hongzhi and other White Lotus followers had been hiding secretly for more than 20 years. In the second year of Tianqi, the three of them made an appointment to uprising simultaneously on the Mid-Autumn Festival in Jingzhou, Jizhou, Hebei, and Yuncheng, Shandong.

Due to poor cooperation, Xu Hongru led the White Lotus cultists in Caozhou Prefecture in advance, together with the peasants who could not bear the oppression, to revolt. Flags were fluttering, swords and guns were like a forest, the shouts were loud, the crowd was passionate, and tens of thousands of people gathered.

In just half a month, the uprising grew to 600,000 people.

Seeing Xu Hongru's horn blowing, White Lotus believers from all over the Ming Dynasty responded to Xu Hongru's uprising.

In July, Yu Hongzhi revolted in Baijiatun, the border area between Wuyi and Jingzhou.

In September, Kang Fufu of Ze County led an uprising in Gushi County, Runing Prefecture, Henan Province to support Xu Hongru.

In October, Sichuan White Lotus believers also revolted in response to Xu Hongru.

For a time, the beacon of uprising was burning all over the sky, sweeping the country and shaking the rule of the Ming Dynasty...

Although the subsequent uprising by Xu Hongru and others was put down in just six months, it caused the displacement of millions of people and turned the originally prosperous Jinan and Qingzhou prefectures into barren lands caused by cholera.

If the suppression had not been fast enough and Xu Hongru had not been prepared enough, water transportation would have been cut off and millions of people in the capital would have faced food shortages.

More importantly, historically, Xu Hongru's uprising in Shandong failed because Yang Zhaoji, Zhao Yan and others commanded properly to block the rebel front and successfully encircled and suppressed Xu Hongru.

But if Zhu Youjian remembers correctly, Wu Aheng and Sun Chuanting played a great role in blocking the White Lotus rebels, so they were promoted one after another after the war.

But now, both Wu Aheng and Sun Chuanting have been transferred to Sichuan and Guizhou. Whether She Chongming can be pacified in two years is still a question.

The famine in Huaibei this time must have something to do with Xu Hongru's ability to raise a banner and get hundreds of thousands of people to respond.

Therefore, this famine must be contained in a short time, and the people of Huaibei must be properly able to live a better life, so as not to respond to Xu Hongru's rebellion two years later.

But according to the situation in Huaibei described by Shen Lian, it is obvious that this was not a famine caused by a normal natural disaster, but a man-made disaster.

Zhu Youjian understood the situation of the imperial court. The granary in Tongzhou was less than three million dan of grain, and the Taipu Temple and Taicang in the capital together were less than 2 million dan.

There is already a shortage of food in the capital. If food relief needs to be provided, it can only come from the south of the Yangtze River.

But considering the current situation, even if it is the will of the good emperor brother, it may not be possible to ask Jiangnan officials to release food.

Most of them are still counting on the famine in Huaibei to make money...

Thinking of this, Zhu Youjian looked at the good emperor brother, but at this moment, Zhu Youxiao had a gloomy face, and the appearance of a faint attack was heart-stopping.

After a while, in the silence of Xu Qin Palace, Zhu Youxiao suddenly said:

"Qi Yuanfu...how many troops have he recruited..."

"About six thousand people..." After hearing this, Zhu Youjian could only tell the specific number, but then he was afraid that his good brother wanted to use force, so he explained:

"Qi Yuanfu went south to the south of the Yangtze River for only twenty-two days, and he recruited troops and horses in Zhejiang for less than half a month. It seems that the troops and horses have not yet formed combat capabilities."

"I know..." Zhu Youxiao's eyes were indifferent, he showed the majesty of the emperor and said softly:

"Pass the decree to promote General Qi Yuanfu to Wu Song's Commander-in-Chief."

"The military department was promoted to Shi Zhong, and Yang Lian was promoted to the official department, and both officials were assigned to Shi Zhong. The Southern Zhili Supervisor of the Imperial Procuratorate was responsible for supervising the censor, and controlled Qi Yuanfu, the commander-in-chief of Wu Song."

"He ordered the commander of Nanzhen Fusi, Lu Wenzhao, to go south. The two of them will jointly inspect Huaibei and go to Nanjing to escort the grain to the north for disaster relief. At the same time, they will escort the grain to the north and send additional silver to Shuntian!"

"In addition, the capital inspection was changed from six years to three years. The capital inspection will start from the first month of the next year. Zuo Guangdou is promoted to the imperial censor of Zuo Qiandu of the Imperial Inspection Yuan to assist Zuo Du censor Zhang Wenda and the imperial inspection of the world!"

Zhu Youxiao didn't want to bear it anymore, or in other words, he couldn't bear it anymore.

Zhejiang Party and Qi Party officials from the Jiangnan faction must have been the main driving force behind the famine in Huaibei.

Since the merchants under the Zhejiang Party and the Qi Party have no regard for the Ming Dynasty, then send Yang Lian and Zuo Guangdou from the Donglin Party to investigate them!

"Brother..." Zhu Youjian suddenly became anxious when he heard that his good brother had disrupted all his plans, but Zhu Youxiao raised his hand to stop him:

"Alright brother, I have made up my mind. Let's prepare a decree and send it to the cabinet!"

"Your servant accepts the order..." Upon hearing Zhu Youxiao's words, the eunuch and the eunuch, the Chief of Ceremonies, quickly bowed in response.

Everyone knows that the Ming Dynasty is about to change.

The six years of Jingcha were changed to three years. This kind of intensity only appeared in the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty. This also means that Zhu Youxiao is going to overturn the table.

After all, the Beijing inspection has long been an important means of party struggle. This time, Zhu Youxiao completely bypassed the cabinet and directly announced his decree, asking the Donglin Party to organize the Beijing inspection.

Although the next Beijing inspection was originally organized by officials from the Donglin faction, it was carried out two years in advance, which can be said to not give other parties a chance at all.

The conclusions of the Beijing inspections in the Ming Dynasty were relatively vague and rough, but the procedures were serious and strict, and they did not seem to have anything to do with vagueness and roughness.

The inspection was co-hosted by the Ministry of Personnel, the chief of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and the censors of the thirteen provinces, and was assisted by the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, the Minister of Literature and Selection, and the Minister of Examination and Examination, and the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel had the greatest authority.

Before the Beijing inspection, the Ministry of Personnel will issue an interview sheet to Jiuqing Kedao officials about the status of each official, similar to today's questionnaire survey.

The interview forms for selecting officials require names, but the interview forms used for inspections do not need to be named, which inevitably makes some returned interview forms look like letters of complaint or even false accusations.

However, this kind of "filthy-looking" interview list is generally in the hands of the official minister, and will not be submitted to the emperor, nor will it be disseminated. It is only used as a reference for the Beijing inspection.

But there are exceptions. For example, during the imperial inspection in the 39th year of Wanli, Shangshu Sun Piyang submitted an interview order about Ding Clu. The emperor was furious, and Ding Clu was dismissed and sent to the garrison.

Moreover, even if an official is rated as inferior, the punishment will not be drawn immediately. Instead, the decision will be made through a vote of the cabinet, or after review and discussion by the lower house of ministry.

The Jingchao, which seemed to be so complete in terms of procedures, simply became a weapon for various parties to deal with their political opponents due to the party disputes in the late Ming Dynasty.

This time, Zhu Youxiao asked the Donglin Party to inspect them, and put Zuo Guangdou and Yang Lian in Nanzhili. Basically, he wanted to cut off the Zhejiang Party!

It was impossible for Zhu Youxiao to let the Donglin Party go directly to Zhejiang and confiscate the Zhejiang Party's hometown, but after investigating the officials in Nanzhili, the Zhejiang Party changed from a force that occupied one-third of the tax-rich land in the Ming Dynasty to one-fifth.

.

It seems to have dealt a blow to the Zhejiang Party, but the problem is that the strength of the Donglin Party will definitely expand as a result, and there are also many moths in the Donglin Party.

Maybe after the Beijing inspection, Southern Zhili will be in peace for two years, but who can guarantee it after two years?

Thinking of this, Zhu Youjian wanted to admonish the good emperor brother, but the good emperor brother seemed to have guessed his thoughts and turned to him directly and said:
To be continued...