After entering the palace, Li Jinglong was suddenly stunned.
Because there is not only the emperor inside, but also others.
~~
Zhu Yunxi was wearing an apricot yellow round-collared uniform and was sitting cross-legged on the Arhat bed by the window. Next to him, the Minister of Household Affairs, Zhang Yan, and the Minister of Integrity, Ducha Yushi Baozhao, were sitting on stools.
The monarch and his ministers all held documents in their hands, and they were obviously discussing something just now.
"Your Majesty, Li Jinglong..."
"Get a stool for Mr. Cao Guo!" Zhu Yunxi said, "Sit down and talk!"
"According to the order!" Li Jinglong sat down with his back straight. As soon as his butt touched the stool, he couldn't help but lift it up immediately and let out an almost inaudible hiss.
Zhu Yunxi put down the document in his hand and turned to look at Li Jinglong, "The saddle horse is tired, thank you for your hard work!"
"I don't dare! It's all a matter within my responsibilities. I shouldn't expect Lord Long Live to act like this. I'm terrified!" Li Jinglong stood up immediately and said, "Lord Long Live has killed me!"
Although Li Jinglong was submissive in the past, he was never like this.
Zhu Yunxi already knew why he was like this. In fact, it was not just Li Jinglong, most of the courtiers he met in Qianqing Palace in the past few days were like this. They were all walking on thin ice, even the old iron-head Linghan behaved and did not dare to show off his seniority. .
"Is everything going well?" Zhu Yunxi asked.
Li Jinglong looked at the other two people first and then said, "Back to the emperor, everything is done!"
"Zhang Zhen and Bao Zhao are not outsiders, you don't need to be vague, just say it!" Zhu Yunxi said with a smile.
"Back to the emperor, everything went well. When I arrived in Kaifeng, His Royal Highness the King of Zhou was not in the city but went to see his mausoleum. I arrived with the troops, Xiaoming spoke frankly about the pros and cons, and the thousand-year-old King Zhou also bowed his head and admitted his mistake, and set off from Kaifeng Heading to Fengyang. He was accompanied by the Crown Prince of Zhou and others. In addition, I was afraid that the King of Zhou would not have anyone to serve him on the way, so he chose a concubine who was thousands of years old from the palace to follow him. The inner palace of the palace was temporarily under the control of Princess Zhou, and the ministers and vassals were responsible for protecting the army. To the Chief Secretary!”
What he said was brief, but the truth contained great meaning.
Especially the sentence, "Those who lead the troops will speak frankly about the pros and cons with great righteousness."
In other words, he used both soft and hard tactics, and the King of Zhou did not obey obediently.
Thinking about this, Zhu Yunxi frowned slightly.
Among the kings, the King of Zhou was actually a soft persimmon. If it were other vassal kings, he might not be so easy to obey.
"Another crime has been added!" Bao Zhao sneered and said, "As a vassal king, he is not in the fiefdom, and he leaves the fiefdom without permission, huh!" After saying that, he stood up and cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, I would like to ask you to rectify the oversight of the Central Plains Governor. sin!"
"Yes!" Zhu Yunxi thought for a moment and said, "I will be fined for one year, and I will keep the third level in office to see the effects."
Although the vassal kings of the Ming Dynasty had great power, it was within their own fiefdoms. Local officials also had the responsibility to supervise the vassal kings, and the vassal kings were not allowed to leave their fiefdoms without permission unless there was war.
However, the sons of the old man have a bad temper, and this rule has been adopted by local officials in recent years. As long as the feudal lord does not go out of line, he can go out and wander around as if he didn't see him.
But now, once the emperor follows the rules.
The unwarranted disaster of Pan Boyong, the chief minister of the Central Plains, was the emperor's warning to local officials.
Zhu Yunxi looked at Li Jinglong again, "Did he say anything else? Did he cry on the way?"
"The thousand-year-old King of Zhou has been saying that there is a treacherous minister in the court, sowing kinship between the Tian family and slandering the emperor. He has also been saying that he wants to see the Supreme Emperor, but he has said nothing else!" Although Li Jinglong spoke quickly, But his mind was spinning faster, "After I respectfully invited Chitose to the carriage at the mausoleum of King Zhou, I did not let Chitose see any outsiders again. So these words are just what King Zhou said himself!"
"Hmph!" Bao Zhao said again, "There is a traitor in the imperial court? Who is the traitor?"
Zhu Yunxi also laughed, "My fifth uncle, he is so old and still hasn't figured it out. In his heart, he still doesn't think he was wrong, let alone think about where he went wrong!"
As he spoke, he sighed, "The punishment must be too severe. Others say I don't care about family ties. The punishment must be too light. It's hard to explain to the world!"
Hearing this, both Li Jinglong and Zhang Yan remained silent.
Only Bao Zhao stood up and said, "Your Majesty, if the punishment is not severe, where is the law of the country and the justice of heaven?"
Zhu Yunxi nodded frequently, but his face was full of confusion.
"I've seen a gunman before, but I've never seen a gunman like you. The Emperor didn't even use his strength, so you just hit him forward. Every time, you still hit the vital points!"
Li Jinglong cursed in his heart, "Stay away from Bao Zhao from now on. This kid will die one day without even knowing how he died!"
"Bao Aiqing is right!" Zhu Yunxi said, and then looked at Li Jinglong, "The fifth uncle's matter involves Sheng Hengda Bank, and you also know about Sheng Hengda's matter. So, you also follow the staff!"
"I didn't want to follow the staff officer. I didn't have time to hide. Why did you drag me in in the blink of an eye?"
Li Jinglong was complaining in his heart, wishing he could give himself a slap in the face, "If I had known that something like this would happen, why would I have come to the palace for this? Can't I go home and have a rest first? Isn't this the tip of a spear?"
Thinking in his mind, he caught a glimpse of the bastard standing at the door and secretly resented it, "You old dog is so harsh-mouthed. You didn't even mention that there was someone around the emperor the whole way!"
But the matter has come to this, and he cannot refuse, so he can only bite the bullet and say, "Yes!"
"I know that you have always been someone who likes to avoid the important and take the easy. If you don't listen, you will avoid the powerful!" Zhu Yunxi still looked at Li Jinglong, "You sent the fifth uncle to Fengyang. He is a vassal of the royal clan Wang Daming. Deal with him.
Just relying on civil servants is not enough. You are a relative of the royal family, a noble family named on the emperor's ancestral list."
"Your identity is here. Letting you come in as a consultant can, firstly, show the fairness and impartiality of the court. Secondly, it is also persuasive. Do you understand?"
Li Jinglong couldn't sit still anymore, he stood up and said in panic, "Your Majesty is working so hard, how dare you hide your selfish motives!"
"That's best!" Zhu Yunxi nodded.
"It's so damn scary!" Cold sweat broke out on Li Jinglong's back, "The emperor seems to have changed into a different person, and now every word he speaks touches people's hearts!"
At this time, Zhu Yunxi picked up the documents on the imperial case and shook them, "Everything is illegal, shocking and appalling!" He said with a sneer, "Zhang Yan, tell me!"
"Yes!" Zhang Yan spoke slowly, "I originally thought that Zhou Fan embezzled military pay and granted it to Sheng Hengda to lend money to businessmen. Later, I reviewed the questionnaire account books in detail and found that a lot of money was directly given to middle peasant families."
"Huh?" Li Jinglong was shocked again, "Is it involving ordinary people?"
Zhang Xun continued, "Of which 180,000 taels were released through the government to the people before spring plowing, so that they could buy farm tools and livestock. The loan document did not say that the land was used as a mortgage, but that some of it was used for grain.
But in fact, it requires real money and silver, and some people are unable to repay it when it is due, or they cannot collect the money, so they directly seize the land, causing the people to become homeless!"
"Currently, the Lord and I have made a rough inspection. It involves three prefectures and eight counties, and handles forty-two officials, including countless officials!"
"Damn, this is a shocking case!" Li Jinglong was so shocked that he almost bit off his tongue.
Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, in order to appease the people, unowned land was granted to them to build houses and reclaim wasteland. Because iron was a state monopoly, the government had to provide farm tools, cattle and horses and other livestock.
In some densely populated developed areas, people had to buy ironware and livestock from the government. The government had to buy ironware and livestock at low prices and was not allowed to make profits from it. However, there were also people who couldn't come up with the money, so the court allowed temporary credit.
This was all good policy, but under the control of those unscrupulous businessmen and officials, it actually turned into a loan!
You must know that the people work hard all year round, and even a medium-sized farmer's family cannot see much money. Most of the people barter, and the people can only sell food at low prices in order to repay the loan.
This can be said to be a good year, but if there is a bad year, what will the people sell?
The people who had no food to sell had no choice but to let others take away their land.
Li Jinglong knew all these things, and he quietly looked at Zhu Yunxi's profile.
The emperor was sitting at the window, expressionless.
"In addition to lending, we also charge low and sell high!" Zhang Yan continued in a deep voice, "The prefectures and counties involved have a monopoly. Food can only be collected by them, and they set prices. They collect it from the people at low prices.
Come, and then sell it to the official warehouse at a high price. The people's hard work is less than 10% or 20%, and the court spends a lot of extra money in vain, allowing people to make extra profits!"
"Sheng Hengda was under the control of Zhou Fan. Once in the official warehouse in Luoyang, a carriage loaded with grain passed by the weighing scale three times. Moreover, the grain and beans sold were mostly mixed with sand, gravel and soil to make up for the price."
Zhang Yan said, pausing for a moment, "I have read through history books and have never heard of such evil behavior of animals!"
Bao Zhao gritted his teeth, "How can the word "kill" relieve the hatred in his heart?"
At this time, the shameless bastard quietly walked up to Zhu Yunxi and said, "Long live the Lord, the royal guards..."