Zhu Yunxi held Liujin's hand and walked quietly through the courtyard in the Forbidden City.
The little hand in the palm is fleshy. Although it is small, it suddenly feels extremely reassuring and warm, and even a kind of power lingers in my heart.
This should be the feeling of blood, the echo of flesh and blood relatives.
The two of them quietly walked through the Imperial Garden where the old man liked to wander, past the magnificent Fengtian Palace, past the Yong'an Palace where the old things were as new as ever, and past the one-third acre of land that the old man had reclaimed.
The night wind blew gently.
Chi Chi…
Gu Gu...
The sounds of insects and frogs kept coming from the one-third of an acre of land that the old man had been tinkering with.
The rice in the paddy field has grown up to the knees. Looking at it at night, it looks like surging waves.
"Father!" Liujin murmured softly, "Don't ever touch these places, okay?"
Zhu Yunxi looked down at him, smiled and said nothing.
"When autumn comes, you bring your son to harvest, just like when our ancestors were here!" Liu Jin tilted his head, his eyes sparkling, "You bring your brothers and my aunt as well, and the whole family will be happy.
Harvest the rice happily, and then eat steamed buns, noodles and rice beside the rice field!"
Having said this, Liu Jin turned around and looked at the Yong'an Palace with twinkling lights beside him, "You can never move here. It was like it was when the ancestor was here, and it will be like that in the future. But people have to come and clean it every day.
Zu likes things neat and tidy!"
"Okay!" Zhu Yunxi said softly, pinched his son's little face and asked with a smile, "Why can't you move?"
"Because..." Liujin tilted his mouth and almost cried, "My son is afraid! My son is afraid that everything here has moved and changed. In the future, when I think about my ancestor, what is going on in his mind, he said
None of your words are right!"
Zhu Yunxi felt sour in his heart, "Good boy, I didn't hurt you in vain!"
Suddenly, Liu Jin's eyes widened brightly and he pointed to the sky, "Father, look, that star is so bright!" As he said that, he turned around and hugged Zhu Yunxi's waist, raising his head, "You said, that's the ancestor.
?"
Zhu Yunxi smiled and said, "Aren't you a bachelor who told you that when a person dies, he is dead?"
"No, that must be the ancestor!" Liujin nodded vigorously, "Son, I believe you, the ancestor must have become the brightest star in the sky!" Then he turned his head and pointed at the countless stars in the sky, "Those
,Those, those..."
Zhu Yunxi squatted down and said, "Are those ancestors?"
"Those are all old people who left the world just like our ancestors!" Liujin said solemnly with a straight face, "They all turned into stars!"
Zhu Yunxi also looked at the stars in the sky, "Then why did they become stars and not something else?"
"Because only stars appear at night to light up the night sky!" Liujin clapped his hands gently, "They are afraid that their sons, grandsons, and great-grandsons are afraid of the dark. That's why they appear at night to bring light between heaven and earth."
Having said this, Liujin clasped his hands together and said, "Ancestor, dear stars, please bless your descendants on earth to be safe and sound!"
Zhu Yunxi thought it was a little funny at first, but the next second he clasped his hands together and said in his heart, "Grandpa Emperor, the spirit in heaven bless the world, bless the Ming Dynasty, and bless our grandchildren!"
(Hospitalized, surgery tomorrow!)
~~
The night gradually passed, and dawn came again.
Outside the Meridian Gate of Nuo Da, there was only a figure of Li Zhigang alone.
In his nearly thirty years as an official, this was the first time he had been summoned so early by the emperor alone.
It stands to reason that he should be overwhelmed with emotion at this moment, but the real feeling deep in his heart right now is that he is extremely uneasy.
I was even more nervous than when I took the Jinshi exam!
Follow the guard through the outer court, and in front of the imperial garden, the guard retires and is replaced by a young eunuch in blue.
It's not really bright yet, so the little eunuch is still holding a gauze lantern in his hand.
Li Zhigang's heart beat randomly with the shadows on the ground, and his breathing became rapid.
"We're here!" The little eunuch stopped in front of Lezhizhai, said softly, and slowly retreated.
At this time, Li Zhi came to his senses and said quickly, "Thank you, father-in-law!"
"Shilang Li is here!" Wang Bashi came out of Lezhizhai and said with a smile, "Long live the Lord is waiting for you, come with the Za family!"
"Excuse me, Chief Manager!" Li Zhigang quickly clasped his fists.
The sound of "General Manager" made the bastard's eyebrows twitch slightly, and the smile on his face became thicker, "Sir, the Minister is joking, what kind of manager is the Za family!"
"If you are not the general manager, then who is the general manager?" Li Zhigang continued to laugh.
~~
In the bedroom, Zhu Yunxi had just stood up. He was wearing a bright yellow coat and his black hair was casually draped behind his head.
He sat in front of the mirror, turned on the light, squinted at the memorial in his hand that he had not finished reviewing yesterday, and looked a little serious.
"Li Zhigang, the minister of the Ministry of Rites, comes to see the emperor!"
When Zhu Yunxi heard the sound, he turned his eyes and saw a figure kneeling outside the threshold of the palace.
He slowly put down the memorial in his hand, picked up a cup of tea on the mirror table in front of him, and took a sip.
The emperor did not ask him to lie down, so Li Zhigang's body fell even lower.
Looking out from the bedroom, his butt is higher than his head.
"You handled the case of the Kong family in Shandong!"
In the silent palace, the emperor's voice echoed, soft but majestic.
"Yes!" Li Zhigang said hurriedly, "On that day, I was ordered to hear the case of the Confucius family occupying civilian land in Qufu!"
"Well!" Zhu Yunxi put down the tea cup, "What do you think?"
What do you think?
Li Zhigang was stunned for a moment and didn't know why, but he still said bravely, "The descendants of the Kong family are descendants of saints, and they have been blessed by heaven for generations. We should have followed the saint's words, abided by the ministers' rules, and set an example for the world's scholars. Instead, we have been oppressed.
Common people, thieves who use the name of their ancestors to make money and gain fame! In my eyes, this is a serious crime of disloyalty, filial piety and disrespect!"
He didn't know the emperor's true intention, but he thought that at this moment he could only scold the Kong family as hard as possible.
"Well!" He continued after thinking about it, "In fact, in my opinion, the handling of this case is quite light!" As he said, he kowtowed heavily, "I am confused, thinking about protecting the saint's face, thinking about giving the saint's descendants
There is no room for descendants, so there is no trace to the end!"
Zhu Yunxi squinted his eyes, and no one could see his expression clearly.
"There is something very strange to me!" He didn't seem to care at all about what Li Zhigang said, whether the punishment was light or heavy, and continued, "Why hasn't any local official reported the Kong family's affairs in these years? There has not been a censor.
Impeach?"
"This..." In an instant, a layer of cold sweat broke out on Li Zhigang's back.
"I have read the memorials of the Kong family's land embezzlement over the years!" Zhu Yunxi said calmly, "If you don't read it, I will be shocked. Except for the land in their public house, it is just the name of each house owner of the Kong family.
The land is as high as ten thousand acres!"
After saying that, he paused and said, "Because of Yan Shenggong's privileges, these lands are not taxed at all. But I heard that the real owners of the lands in the name of the Kong family have to pay them a sum every year.
Tax-free money!”
Speaking of this, Zhu Yunxi turned his head sharply and looked at Li Zhigang, "Really?"
"Go back to the emperor, it is indeed true!" Li Zhigang was a little flustered and could not keep up with the emperor's words, so he could only speak hurriedly, "When the case was heard, it was indeed found that many people had hung their fields on the heads of the houses of the Kong family.
It was used for tax exemption under the name of the Confucius family. Therefore, when dealing with it, I treated it according to the land embezzled and annexed by the Confucius family, and it was all turned into official land. Now the land deeds are in the hands of the Chief Secretary of Shandong, and they are ready to be sold to the people in Qiufa!
"
As he said this, he couldn't help wiping off his sweat, "Actually, this kind of thing happens all the time. It's not just Yan Shenggong and his family. Officials and scholars are exempt from tax. There are also many large private households who give them a small sum of money on the pretext of not paying the royal ration.
Save yourself the trouble of paying it to the court every year..."
Suddenly, Li Zhigang's heart skipped a beat.
He said something he shouldn't have said!
Just when he was feeling regretful, he remembered the emperor's questioning again, "Say, keep talking!"