After Hu Mu finished speaking, Zhu Di frowned. He had obviously heard what was going on behind the scenes.
So Zhu Di put his palms on the imperial case and stood up slowly.
Zhu Di did not expect that Hu Mu from the Postal Department would be involved in the yellow book.
Zhu Di was generally satisfied with the matter of Huang Ce, because this time the number of people in the world increased by 70%. This was a rare happy event for Zhu Di.
Just when Zhu Di had a solemn expression.
Although all the great scholars were shocked, they soon calmed down.
Xie Jin, in particular, had an attitude of being unconcerned and unconcerned.
Hu Guang, on the other hand, felt a little thump in his heart.
He couldn't help but secretly scold his stupid son for not being his postal transport envoy instead of wading into troubled waters. He really hadn't learned a single bit of the merits of his father.
Hu Mu's words alone have offended everyone in the world.
Not only that, His Majesty is rarely overjoyed over the issue of the Yellow Book, but at this stage, any memorial may lead to backlash if it is not handled well.
Not only is His Majesty displeased, but these hundreds of officials must also attack in groups.
Therefore, Hu Guang even had the urge to stand up directly and ‘remind’ him.
Fortunately, I knew that Yu Qian still held back after all.
As for the superiors and subordinates of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, when everyone looked surprised, they couldn't help but feel wary in their hearts.
The matter of Huang Ce has been reported by the emperor to both the Imperial Procuratorate and the Procuratorate, and many people have taken credit for it. But now, someone suddenly mentioned it, which is enough to make people feel that it is a little unusual.
Zhu Di's face was still calm and calm, he just smiled and said: "Huang Ce? What's wrong with Huang Ce?"
Hu Mu glanced at Zhang Anshi, as if he had drawn courage from Zhang Anshi, so he continued: "The Postal Department recorded the household registrations in the world, and from this... the total number of household registrations in the world was obtained."
Zhu Di said: "The imperial court has just conducted an inventory. Why, the Postal Department has also conducted an inventory?"
In fact, this question was not asked to Hu Mu, but to Zhang Anshi.
Zhang Anshi understood and immediately replied: "Your Majesty, it is not the Postal Department who takes the initiative to investigate, but in order to deliver letters, subscribe to newspapers, etc., it is necessary to identify thousands of households in the world. If you don't know who they are, you don't know who they are. Its address, so how to deliver letters efficiently and quickly?"
Zhu Di nodded, then smiled and said: "It took just a few months for a postal department to find out?"
You must know that although the imperial court's large-scale investigation took several months to complete, after all, it mobilized the imperial court, the three divisions, the government, and the county, as well as countless Jia chiefs and security chiefs, which is equivalent to all the officials in the world. Already.
In addition, the vast majority of them are parents and officials in the county who know the local situation thoroughly, but even so, it took several months of effort.
Although the Postal Department has spent a lot of money and food, it has only been established for more than half a year after all. Most of the people are newly recruited. As for Hu Mu, he is also young and has very little qualifications.
If they were said to be more efficient than all the prefectures and counties in the world, this was something Zhu Di could not imagine.
Hu Mu replied: "It has indeed been checked out."
Zhu Di smiled, stared at Hu Mu, and said, "Okay, then I would like to hear how many people have been found out?"
Hu Mu then said: "Your Majesty, today, in the two capitals and provinces, the households that have been checked... are..."
Hu Mu paused here and then said: "Twenty-two and seven million households."
As soon as this statement came out...
There was a deathly silence in the palace.
Zhu Di's eyes turned from dull just now to bright and lively.
Even his tiger body couldn't help but tremble.
Then he said in an aggressive tone: "How much?"
"Twenty-two and seven million..." Hu Mu was also very nervous at this time, as if he was afraid that Zhu Di would think that he was lying, so he answered in more detail: "Another nine thousand, four hundred and fifty-nine households."
Zhu Di: "..."
The palace was still silent.
The great scholars of Wenyuan Pavilion have already turned their heads to another place one by one.
At this time, it is better to leave the matter alone and feel more secure!
Hu Guang was suffocating.
Obviously, the numbers don't match up.
No, not only are they incompatible, they are simply completely different.
Originally, there were more than 8 million households in the world, but after a census, the number increased to 12.7 million households.
But now... on this basis, the number has almost doubled, reaching 22 million households...
The difference is enough to make tens of millions of people's heads fall to the ground.
The question is, who wants to be killed, the officials or his stupid son?
No matter which one it is, it is not what Hu Guang wants to see.
At this time, Hu Guang's heart began to beat, and he turned to look at Zhang Anshi with a resentful look.
He had always known that Zhang Anshi was the devil incarnate, and he would always make shocking remarks that would kill him.
It's fine now. Zhang Anshi just did it on his own, and even dragged Hu Mu into the trap.
In this mixed emotion of worry and fear, finally, whispers began to appear in the palace.
The censors have changed their minds.
No matter how stupid they are, they still know the dire consequences that may arise when this number comes out.
But the smile on Zhu Di's face had long since disappeared, and his eyes had begun to become sharper.
"Twenty-two and seven million households?" Zhu Di seemed a little unconvinced by his ears and confirmed again.
Hu Mu said firmly: "Exactly."
"But lies?"
Hu Mu had no choice but to say: "I... don't dare to lie, so I went to the palace to see you and inform your majesty..."
Zhu Di still seems to be a little unconvinced, because in fact, he can understand if there is an omission.
Zhu Di is not a person who can't tolerate sand in his eyes, and he also knows that... in the actual process, there must be some illegal and omissions.
But he was also confident that he was under Long Yan's wrath. In order to make up for his mistakes, the officials must work harder and give him, the emperor, an explanation.
Therefore, he can accept the previously reported result of 12 million households. He believes that even if there is an error, it should be around one million households at most.
But Zhu Di did not expect that this underreporting and illegal concealment would reach tens of millions in scale.
Zhu Di also seemed to hope that he could find some clues from Hu Mu to make a judgment, and said: "Do you know the consequences of deceiving the emperor and ignoring the superior?"
Hu Mu said: "If I know this, I will exterminate the clan!"
Hu Guang was trembling all over.
Zhu Di looked at him solemnly and said, "Now that you know the consequences, you still dare to lie?"
Hu Mu said: "If I report my mistake, I would rather exterminate the clan!"
Zhu Di glanced at Hu Guang subconsciously.
In fact, everyone's eyes were on Hu Guang.
Hu Guangren was numb, his heart was beating extremely fast!
Probably scared!
He felt that he should clarify a few words, but when he opened his mouth, his throat seemed to be blocked and he couldn't make a sound for a while.
Zhu Di's eyes narrowed into a slit, and then he set his sights on Hu Mu.
He asked: "More than 20 million households? Why did the imperial court find only 12 million households?"
"Your Majesty, the facts are more terrifying than the apparent data gap." Hu Mu had obviously given up and was actually calmer than before.
More terrifying?
Zhu Di asked in surprise: "What's so scary?"
Hu Mu said more and more calmly: "The fact is that in many prefectures and counties recently, there have been cases of house demolition, and even...it has even happened that the father and son were originally one household, living under the same roof.
They had to be split into two households. There was even a man with two sons. The eldest son was only nine years old and the second son was seven years old, but they were split into three households... And the age of the eldest son was actually changed to seventeen...
…”
When Zhu Di heard this, his eyes widened slightly, and for no reason, he actually felt creepy.
People like Zhu Di were killed from a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, and their courage was extraordinary.
In the past, even if there were corpses everywhere, he would never frown.
But after hearing this, I felt an indescribable chill.
Zhu Di sat upright, as if he was adjusting his breathing, his face remained calm, and he stared at Hu Mu and said: "How do you know this...?"
Hu Mu immediately said: "When the Postal Department checks every household, it also needs to check the person. Naturally, it will be known."
"His Majesty!"
At this moment, someone let out an angry roar.
Everyone looked subconsciously and saw that it was Shi Zhongcheng, the censor of Zuodu.
Speaking of the censor of Zuodu, he is the most noble. After the original censor of Zuodu, Chen Ying, was convicted, Shi Zhongcheng took his place and became the head censor from then on.
As the chief official in charge of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, Shi Zhongcheng was not well-known, but his status was quite high.
After all, the Zuodu Censor is only a third-rank official on the surface, and his official position is even lower than the Minister of the Ministry of Industry and the Minister of the Ministry of Justice. But once he wants to be promoted, he will never succumb to the Minister of the Ministry of Industry or the Minister of the Ministry of Justice. It is usually the Minister of the Ministry of War who starts, and also the Minister of the Ministry of Justice.
Or it may be possible that he is the Minister of the Ministry of Hubu, or even the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel.
Shi Zhongcheng looked very ugly at this time. Normally, the Metropolitan Procuratorate would impeach others, but today, what Hu Mu said was equivalent to this person impeaching the entire Metropolitan Procuratorate, not to mention Tianxia Prefecture, which was involved in this matter.
Mansion.
Shi Zhongcheng said with a sullen face: "Your Majesty, this son's words cannot be trusted. During the investigation, there were some illegal acts, which I believe. But in this investigation, not only did all the ministries of the imperial court do their best, Wenyuan Pavilion
They are also supervising day and night. There is no need to mention the three departments, prefectures and counties below! How can there be 22 million households in this world? As for the division of households, maybe... it may not be a small number of people practicing favoritism and fraud.
!But if you...say...this is the case in most of the world, I...think that this statement is just grandstanding and not worth mentioning."
He was talking eloquently, but even Hu Guang could tell at once that his words were full of murderous intent.
On the one hand, Shi Zhongcheng talked about how this investigation was the result of the joint efforts of the emperor, Wenyuan Pavilion, various ministries and officials from all over the world. In other words, if Hu Mu dared to overturn this result, it would be tantamount to...
People declare war.
On the other hand, he also left a little leeway. Such a situation is of course not surprising. But if you want to take some local situations and use them to criticize and investigate, then...it shows that this person is ambitious.
Following the lead of the Zuodu Censor, other censors also nodded, and some immediately stood up and began to speak plausibly.
Suddenly, the scene got out of control.
After all... once Your Majesty is convinced by Hu Mu's words, the consequences will be unpredictable.
Even if it is not to show off one's words, one cannot rest just for the sake of one's own head.
Perhaps it was because Hu Mu's report was so terrifying that Zhu Di couldn't tell the difference for a while, so he simply kept silent and watched as the censors from the Metropolitan Procuratorate began to question, but he took advantage of this to see some clues.
Therefore, Zhu Di did not stop it.
Zhang Anshi said at this time: "Why don't you ask the Postal Department's transfer envoy... to finish your words."
Shi Zhongcheng said arrogantly: "I have never heard of any transfer envoy from the Postal Department. I have only heard of the transfer envoy from the Salt Transportation Department. I wonder how high this transfer envoy was during the imperial examination. What is his seniority after entering the court?"
Zhang Anshi suddenly became angry and said angrily: "He is the son of the great scholar Hu Guang."
Hu Guang: "..."
Hu Guangren was numb again. At this time, he was completely confused. When he heard the four words "Hu Guang's son", he subconsciously wanted to argue, but found that this was a fact, and it was an indistinguishable truth.
Shi Zhongcheng was furious at this time and said angrily: "Even if Hu Guang utters slanderous words like this, I will still speak uprightly. I only look at right and wrong, not who it is. Even if Hu Guang is a great scholar, he has
What qualifications do you have, and why do you say such things?"
Hu Guang: “…
Zhang Anshi sneered: "You will have proof by then, why do you deliberately want to take advantage of this opportunity to make trouble!"
Shi Zhongcheng's face was livid, his eyes were widened, and his teeth were bared. After all...this was about his life and fortune. He couldn't care about anything else at this time. He would bite anyone who messed with him.
At that moment, Shi Zhongcheng couldn't help laughing and said: "What a proof. Since there is real proof, I have something to ask this son of Hu Guang."
His tone was full of ridicule, and he even disdained to call Hu Guang Hu Gong.
For this reason, you, Hu Guang, indulged your son and wanted to put him to death. It would be polite not to call you Hu Guang, "Hu Guang's old dog."
After Shi Zhongcheng said this, the noise in the palace barely subsided.
Shi Zhongcheng immediately said to Hu Mu angrily: "Since you dare to report, then... dare to ask, why do you say that there are 22 million households in the world?"
"The Postal Department... has recorded the amount." Hu Mu's voice was obviously not as confident as before. In fact, Hu Mu was also a little timid at this time. After all, it was the first time he encountered such a big scene.
Shi Zhongcheng felt that he was trying to hold on, so he laughed and said, "Is it okay to just remember a number?"
Hu Mu said: "Every number has its basis."
"Every one?" Shi Zhongcheng still wanted to press forward step by step, but when he heard each one, he seemed to immediately find the loophole in Hu Mu's words: "You mean...these 22 million households
, do you have credentials for every household?"
When Hu Guang heard this, he was already anxious. He was insulted by Zuodu Yushi. In fact, Hu Guang didn't care, because when the matter got to this point, how his father and son escaped was the most important issue.
But now, he obviously had a premonition that his son was really stupid. It didn't take long before Shi Zhongcheng caught the blame.
Shi Zhongcheng had calmed down a lot at this time, but he calmly grabbed his beard and said: "Okay, I want to see how each of these 22.7 million households can do it! It's quite good.
I would like to ask, where are these people...where are they from, how old are they, how many children do they have, where are their parents, and what is their appearance..."
"Yes..." When Hu Mu heard this, he actually calmed down. After all... debating is not his specialty, but he happened to be asked about his best field, didn't he perk up?
"Some of them have age, place of origin, name, description, and every household has a newspaper box hanging in their home with their number..."
Shi Zhongcheng: "..."
Suddenly, his expression turned ugly, and a flash of hesitation flashed across his eyes.
In fact, according to Shi Zhongcheng's understanding, it took only a few months for a mere postal department to carry out such a detailed investigation. At most, it was just a calculation and used for grandstanding.
Unexpectedly, his question happened to be about his area of expertise.
So Shi Zhongcheng had no choice but to continue to maintain a calm attitude and said: "Humph... there are 22 million and 700 thousand households, right?"
"Yes, both!" Hu Mu answered very firmly, without any hesitation.
Shi Zhongcheng's face also began to look a little less confident.
He took a deep breath, calmed down, and then said: "Where is it? In that case, why not take it and test it and you will know."
Having said that, that's all there is to it.
Hu Mu frowned and began to feel in a dilemma.
Seeing the suspicious look on Hu Mu's face, Shi Zhongcheng seemed to have confidence again. He cheered up and felt that he must have hit the opponent's pain point. He immediately sarcastically said: "Why...can't you get it out?"
"It's not that I can't take it out...it's just...too many..." Hu Mu said in embarrassment: "There are dozens of warehouses...even if they are moved to the palace...I'm afraid...it won't be...too...
...It will take a day or two... Moreover, most of the documents have been sorted into categories. If they are moved without authorization, I'm afraid...it will take a lot of manpower and material resources to clean them up..."
Shi Zhongcheng: "..."
Zhu Di had been looking at the two of them coldly, talking to each other, but now looking at Hu Mu's appearance, he felt that... this matter might not be impossible.
Just at this time, a censor said: "This is just a shirk. This person is wagging his lips and tongue. He is definitely not a kind person. You must not listen to his nonsense."
Zhu Di thought for a moment and said, "All the documents are at the Post Office?"
Hu Mu said: "Your Majesty, they are all at the Postal Department."
Zhu Di glanced at the officials with serious faces before saying: "This is a big matter. How can I convince the public if I don't verify it myself? Today, I have to distinguish right from wrong. Come, take the lead and go to the Post Office!"