Zhu Shiyang completely understood, and said: "This method is also fresh enough, since you know that the beggars and homeless people are in the City God Temple, then it is clear that it is enough, why bother to play dumb riddles with me, so that I almost blame him." ”

Lu Wenyuan said with a smile: "This is the beauty of folk artists, they have hardships, but they don't understand justice, and when dealing with them, you have to start from their position to get twice the result with half the effort." ”

Zhu Shiyang nodded yes.

The three of them asked a few more people on the street, inquired about the location of the City God Temple, and then came to the City God Temple together. I saw that this temple was built on a hill outside the city, and the city gate of Zhu Shiyang's boat was exactly the opposite, because the people of Shenzhou Mansion were prosperous, the market was prosperous, and there was no shortage of incense to worship.

When the group came to the door, they were stopped by several people dressed as prefects, who had been arranged here to take care of the beggars and homeless people in the temple since a few days ago, so they did not see Zhu Shiyang enter the city, and naturally they did not know him, but they only regarded him as an ignorant rich man, and drove him away: "Go and go, haven't you seen the official report sent by the prefect's yamen? ”

Zhu Shiyang just didn't see them, and went straight inside, and when the officials saw this, they took their waist knives out of their sheaths in a vain attempt to stop him, but they were restrained by the brocade guards who rushed up behind him, twisted to the ground and tied them firmly.

Zhu Shiyang entered the temple, only to see that the underground of the courtyard and the temple were full of people, their clothes were almost tattered, and they couldn't tell which were beggars and which were homeless, some were basking in the sun, their faces were vegetable, their eyes were closed, they didn't know whether they were dead or alive, and some were lying under the damp walls, with only a few rotten straws under them, and the shape was very miserable.

Zhu Shiyang looked at it a few times and felt shocked, although he had seen the tragic situation of the victims in Beijing before, but after all, it was in the distance, not as immersive as now. He tentatively took two steps in the gap in the crowd, and Lu Wenyuan and Zhu Shiji also followed from outside, and the three of them stood among the displaced people all over the ground, all at a loss for a while.

Lu Wenyuan saw that some of the homeless people were looking at them curiously, so he asked the nearest one beside him, "Who are you, why are you all staying in this City God Temple?"

The man said: "We are the victims who came here from Henan, and some of them are local people called Huazi. A few days ago, when the prefect heard that the emperor was coming, he was afraid that the emperor would be unhappy to see us, so he asked me to gather here, saying that he would let us go out when the emperor left. ”

When Lu Wenyuan heard this, he said, "But now that the guards have been subdued, you can go out now." ”

Lu Wenyuan amplified his voice when he said this, and said it to the people in the entire City God Temple, so many people widened their eyes after hearing this, and turned their heads to look at the officials at the door. Zhu Shiyang saw that he had rescued so many people, and he just wanted to be proud, but he heard someone in the distance raise his voice and ask, "Then who are you?"

Lu Wenyuan was stunned by the question, knowing that he couldn't be the master, so he turned his head to look at Zhu Shiyang. Zhu Shiyang thought for a while and said, "It doesn't matter who we are, the important thing is that you can go out and don't have to be imprisoned here." ”

He thought that if he said this, how could he get a burst of cheers from the homeless, but who knew that the voice fell for a long time, and the people around him were still silent, and the underground homeless people looked at me, I looked at you, as if they were not happy that someone had rescued them, but they were all suspicious.

Zhu Shiyang was wondering to himself, but he heard someone ask in the distance: "Is the emperor Laozi gone?" But the prefect sent you to let us out?"

Zhu Shiyang was stunned for a moment, thinking that this Tang Zongcheng treated you so harshly, why did he still call him an adult again and again? The Emperor is now in the city, and if you have any grievances, you can go to him and tell him. ”

It was good that he didn't say that, but when he said this, the displaced people who had already gotten up and planned to leave sat down back one after another, and some even shouted: "We will not leave here without the permission of the prefect." ”

Zhu Shiyang and the others were so surprised that they couldn't close their mouths, but they just asked, Could it be that these homeless people are used to being enslaved by the government? Lu Wenyuan hurriedly asked the people around him: "This Shenzhou prefect treats you like this, why do you still obey him?"

The man shook his head and smiled, "This boy, you are wrong. The prefect is not as you think, and we are not imprisoned here, but came of our own free will. ”

These words were far beyond the expectations of Zhu Shiyang and others, and the three of them looked at each other, not knowing how to react for a while. The exile then explained: "The prefect is really a good official, and we were exiled from Henan to this place, and the whole of them was taken in by the Lord to stay in the city, and he also instructed the people in the city not to drive us out. In the past few days, we have gathered in this city god temple, and the prefect has not been slow at all, and three meals a day are prepared by the officials, and we are living better than when we were in the city. ”

Zhu Shiyang and the others were even more surprised, so they heard another person not far away: "The prefect has always taken care of us who ask for food, and never let the officials drive us away. Although we are humble and poor, we have nothing to repay the adults, but we always keep the benefits of the adults in mind. A few days ago, the lord called us to the official office, saying that the emperor was coming in a few days, and the words were quite difficult, so we took the initiative to come to this city god temple to take refuge temporarily, to help the lord deal with the emperor's inspection, and to answer a word or two about his kindness. ”

Zhu Shiyang has been deceived by Tang Zongcheng a lot these days, so he will inevitably be suspicious of the words of these two people, but looking at the shape of these two people, their rags, their unkempt hair, especially the vicissitudes of life on their faces, if they have not experienced the life of exile, they will never be able to disguise it.

Zhu Shiyang frowned slightly and glanced around, looking around, the homeless beggars around him nodded one after another. Only then did Zhu Shiyang realize that although these homeless people and beggars were dressed in tatters and their faces were dirty, their spirits were not bad, and they did not seem to have been imprisoned and mistreated. If you look closely, there are indeed a few cauldrons in the corners of the wall in the distance, and the displaced people also have broken bowls on the ground in their hands, and some of the bowls still contain the rest of the food.

Zhu Shiyang saw that these homeless people really refused to leave, so he had to order Jinyiwei to release the servants and lead Zhu Shiji and Lu Wenyuan back to the house to make plans.

The three of them discussed uncertainly along the way, and they really couldn't figure out what kind of person Tang Zongcheng was. If he is said to be a good official, then what is the matter with him deceiving his superiors and subordinates, flattering him, and openly deceiving him these days? If he is said to be unkind to officials, then what is the matter with the outcasts and beggars praising him?

When the three of them returned to the mansion, Tang Zongcheng had already received the news that Zhu Shiyang and others had been to the City God Temple, and knew that they could not avoid this matter, so they pleaded guilty in the main hall of the Tang Mansion. When Zhu Shiyang and the others passed by the main hall, they saw him kneeling on the ground, and the family members and officials present were also kneeling around, bowing their heads and not daring to say anything. Zhu Shiyang frowned, and just wanted to ask, but Tang Zongcheng had already knelt down and took two steps forward, kowtowed at Zhu Shiyang's feet, and said, "Please forgive Weichen for the death penalty." ”

Zhu Shiyang glanced at him with disgust, then moved his gaze to a few calligraphy and paintings on the wall of the main hall, and said coldly: "What are you guilty of?"

Tang Zongcheng heard that his tone was not good, and he knew that he already knew everything, and hurriedly kowtowed to the ground and said: "Back to the emperor, Weichen deserves death, Weichen is guilty of defrauding the king, and the homeless people and beggars of Shenzhou Mansion are confined to the Chenghuang Temple in the suburbs without authorization, in order to cope with the emperor's inspection, Weichen is really confused, please forgive the emperor." ”

Zhu Shiyang had already expected that he would not admit himself, and secretly sneered, but his face was not moving at all. calmly walked over to the table and sat down, straightened the clothes on his knees, and then said slowly: "Lord Tang is well-informed, since you know that you have committed a great crime of defrauding the king, how can you dare to beg for my forgiveness?"

Speaking of the second half of the sentence, the tone has suddenly become tough. Tang Zongcheng was already a frightened bird, how could he stand such a fierce question, he couldn't help but be so frightened that he collapsed on the ground and cried: "Weichen Wanwang Emperor forgives sins, Wanwang Emperor forgives sins......"

Zhu Shiyang snorted coldly, and after a long while, he said: "If you want to forgive you for your capital crimes, you can take a trick of those disgusting deeds you have done in the past few days, if you say it well, I may leave you a dog's life, if you say it badly, I will immediately strip you of your official uniform and hand it over to the Criminal Department for disposal." Master Tang has to think about it. ”

Zhu Shiyang raised his eyebrows obliquely, staring at Tang Zongcheng on the ground for a long time, and his tone was cold like a cold wind that penetrated his bones. Tang Zongcheng didn't dare not move, and immediately lay on the ground and said in a loud voice: "Weichen Zhao, since Weichen learned the news of the emperor's microservice, he began to prepare in the city, sending spies to visit the emperor's whereabouts every day, and also gathered the people together to admonish etiquette. ”

Zhu Shiyang let out a "hmm" from his nose, and the meaning was unknown: "What else?"

Tang Zongcheng said prostrately: "Weichen also sent people to monitor the emperor, only took the emperor to patrol a few prosperous streets in the city, deliberately avoided depressions, and even put beggars and victims from Henan who came here under house arrest in the temple outside the city......" As he spoke, he probably realized that his behavior was really excessive, and he knocked his head on the ground.

When Zhu Shiyang heard him say this, he finally couldn't help it, and raised his hand and slapped it on the table: "Look at what good things you have done! In vain, those beggars and homeless people are still interceding for you in front of me, how can you repay their trust and support? I and the face of the Ming court have been lost by you!"

Tang Zongcheng said in a panic: "Yes, yes, the emperor taught me a lesson." Wechen is sorry for the people, sorry for the trust of the emperor and the court, Wechen really deserves to die, now Wechen has known his mistakes, and only asks the emperor to give Wechen a chance to make meritorious contributions. ”

Zhu Shiyang had the intention to dismiss him at this time, or at least to demote him, but after all, the prefect is a fourth-grade official, and it is not appropriate to be too rash to promote or promote, Zhu Shiyang also understands this truth, so he threw the question to Lu Wenyuan: "Lu Qing is my official secretary, tell me, how to deal with this criminal minister?"

As soon as Tang Zongcheng heard this, he hurriedly raised his head to look at Lu Wenyuan's face. Lu Wenyuan seemed to be a little surprised, but even though he returned to normal, he said: "Your Majesty, the appointment and dismissal of local officials need to be cautious, and the ministers cannot reply to the emperor hastily." ”

Zhu Shiyang nodded and said, "That's right, then this matter will be discussed when I go back to the room later." ”

This was their last stay in Riverhouse. After dinner, the three of them all gathered in Zhu Shiji's room, Zhu Shiji's room was closest to the pond in the courtyard, which was cooler than other places, but it also attracted more mosquitoes. Zhu Shiyang was so annoyed that he simply ordered the doors and windows to be covered, sat on the couch and shook the folding fan, shook it for a long time, and suddenly closed the folding fan with a "snap", and said, "You all came to tell me, what should I do with this Tang Zongcheng?"

Lu Wenyuan asked, "What does the emperor want to do?"

Zhu Shiyang said: "I want to dismiss him, at least demote and transfer, this kind of official staying in the local area will only bring disaster to one side, I don't want my people to live a good life." While speaking, he caught a glimpse of Zhu Shiji still cleaning up things at the table, so he "tsk" and said: "Those jobs are left to the next person to do, King Kangping, you also come and talk about it." ”

Zhu Shiji had no choice but to walk to Zhu Shiyang and sit down, and said: "Where do the ministers understand the affairs of the court, since the imperial brother wants to depose him, the ministers and brothers have nothing to say, such officials deceive and conceal their superiors and subordinates, and they are unkind to the officials, and keeping them is also to increase the disaster for the disciples of my Daming Society, it is better to cut through the mess quickly, and also serve as a warning for other officials." ”

Zhu Shiyang nodded slightly: "King Kangping and I want to go together, but I still have a concern, after deposing Tang Zongcheng, who should take his place?"

To say that Zhu Shiyang has indeed matured a lot since he became pro-government, and he is no longer as rash and arbitrary as before, Zhu Shiji obviously did not think of this, and pondered for a long time before he said tentatively: "The minister remembers that the local prefect was promoted and transferred, and if there is no accident, the position should be replaced by the next level of governor, of course, there are also supervisors of the imperial history who temporarily do it." As he spoke, he felt unsure, so he turned his head and asked Lu Wenyuan, "Yes, Lord Lu?"

Lu Wenyuan nodded and said, "The prince is right. ”

Zhu Shiyang said: "In this case, Lu Wenyuan, as the secretary of the ministry, do you know who will succeed Tang Zongcheng?"

Lu Wenyuan lowered his head and thought for a while, and said in a deep voice: "If the minister is not mistaken, it should be Chen Guangde, the governor of Cangzhou, and the current superintendent of the imperial history is Zheng Zixian and Lord Zheng." ”

Zhu Shiyang sneered when he heard this, and said unhappily: "What Lord Zheng, I sent him to supervise the imperial history, that is, I wanted him to supervise the local officials, but now that Tang Zongcheng has done such a dirty thing, I don't see him to report to me, it can be seen that he is not a good official who is conscientious, where can this kind of person be a candidate for replacement?"

Zhu Shiji said: "What about Cangzhou Zhizhou?"

Zhu Shiyang said: "Lu Wenyuan, do you know what kind of person Cangzhou Zhizhou is?"

Lu Wenyuan said with a sad face: "This ...... Please forgive the emperor for not knowing that the ministers did not bring the official assessment records with them this time, so there is no way to check it. After a pause, seeing Zhu Shiyang's gloomy face, he hurriedly knelt on the ground and said, "The minister is derelict in his duties, please ask the emperor to surrender." ”

Zhu Shiyang waved his hand and said, "Forget it, it's no wonder you." There are hundreds of officials at all levels of the imperial court, and even I can't remember them all, let alone you. Get up. ”

said so, but Lu Wenyuan inevitably felt guilty in his heart. sat down again on the side of the couch, and saw that Zhu Shiyang was still worried, so he hesitated and said: "Tang Zongcheng has an opinion on this matter, I don't know if the emperor wants to hear it." ”

Zhu Shiyang said: "Oh? ”

Lu Wenyuan said: "It's better for the emperor to temporarily let Tang Zongcheng stay in office, and it is not too late to make plans after the southern tour of Beijing." ”

Zhu Shiyang was disgraced when he heard this: "How can this be done? Can you just let him do such a disaster to the people, fish and meat in the township?"

Zhu Shiji was also surprised: "Yes, Lord Lu, don't you often say that rewarding and punishing people is the way to control the courtiers? If the emperor connived at Tang Zongcheng today, then the other officials in the court and the central government are afraid that they will be even more unscrupulous and do whatever they want." ”

Lu Wenyuan shook his head and said: "The emperor and the prince are wrong, Tang Zongcheng is not from the fish and meat township, and the emperor is not conniving at him by allowing him to stay in office. ”

Zhu Shiyang frowned when he heard this, and Zhu Shiji asked, "How can Lord Lu say this?"

Lu Wenyuan said: "After these days of observation, the minister found that although Tang Zongcheng was a mediocre official, he was quite honest, and in the City God's Temple outside the city, the emperor and the prince also saw that those beggars and homeless people were willing to take the initiative to intercede for him, which shows that he is not bad to the extent of being in the fish and meat country. ”

Zhu Shiyang just wanted to refute that he could not only admonish the people to salute him, but also admonish those beggars and homeless people to speak in unison, but helplessly, their sincere and simple faces still appeared vividly in front of him, not as if they were being coerced, so Zhu Shiyang hesitated and stopped his mouth.

Lu Wenyuan continued: "The minister asked the emperor to allow Tang Zongcheng to stay in office, and it was not conniving at him, but now that the emperor has just settled down from the turmoil of the drought in Henan and the uprising of the displaced people, the government must be mainly peaceful, and the rash dismissal of officials will inevitably cause waves in the court, and it will take a while for the local people to adapt to the new officials, which is not conducive to the development of production. ”

Zhu Shiyang listened carefully, nodded slightly, and groaned.

The next day, the group continued to travel by boat. Before leaving, Zhu Shiyang finally followed Lu Wenyuan's suggestion and allowed Tang Zongcheng to stay in office, and then decide whether he would stay or go after he toured Beijing in the south. Tang Zongcheng was sincerely frightened, and promised again and again, and he was grateful to Zhu Shiyang.

A group of people continue to go south, soon into the territory of Anhui, this day to Luyang area, Luyang is the hometown of Zhou Yu of the Three Kingdoms, there is a lonely mountain of Chaohu Lake nearby, Zhu Shiyang has always loved the landscape, so he proposed to stay here for a few days. From Luyang to the east is only a few dozen miles to the capital of Nanjing, Lu Wenyuan and Zhu Shiji are not in a hurry, and come to the Luzhou Mansion of Zhili with Zhu Shiyang.

The prefect Wu Shizhen and the imperial history Wang Lin came to greet him. Seeing this, Zhu Shiyang couldn't help but be a little surprised: "Hey, I came all the way from the capital, and it was the first time I saw the prefect and the imperial history together. Other local officials and envoys are eager to die and not get along. ”

Although Zhu Shiyang is a little careless in doing things on weekdays, his insight should not be underestimated, and his words are often to the point, pointing to the point. Wu Shizhen and Wang Lin were really frightened, it turned out that the supervision of the imperial history was originally sent by the imperial court to supervise and contain local officials.

Wu Shizhen and Wang Lin glanced at each other, only to take over the panic, but they didn't expect to go to this floor, for fear that the emperor would blame, Wang Lin hurriedly knelt down and took a step forward, and said: "Back to the emperor, Weichen and the prefect are discussing the matter of improving the species in the yamen, and they don't know that the emperor is here." If you miss the distance, you hope that the emperor will forgive you. ”

Zhu Shiyang replied casually, as if he didn't care about such an explanation. Lu Wenyuan said on the side: "For the sake of this improved species, Lord Wu and Lord Wang have been debating a few months ago, and the messenger's legs are about to break, right?" He rarely said a joke, but he was quite committedly for these two people to focus on political affairs: "I wonder how the two adults are discussing now?"

Lu Wenyuan didn't ask this sentence, but when he asked this sentence, he saw that Wang Lin immediately changed his face and said: "Wechen has always said that oranges are oranges in Huainan, and oranges are oranges in Huaibei, and the rice and wheat in the Sichuan and Shu areas are moved to Luzhou to plant may not be high-yielding, but the prefect does not listen to what Weichen said, and insists on buying good seeds from Sichuan and Shu, which is not only a lot of money, but also extremely risky, and Wechen must not let the prefect do anything wrong." ”

Wu Shilin's face changed when he heard this, and he said: "How can this official do nonsense? You read the book to death yourself, and you still have to drag this official to join you? How is the harvest of Sichuan Shu good seeds in Henan, you will know if you buy it, but you don't even let this official try it, you are so stubborn and pedantic, I really don't know how you got your fame in the first place!"

Wang Lin said angrily: "Isn't it costly to try to grow rice and wheat? The imperial court has just extricated itself from the predicament of last year's catastrophe and the uprising of the displaced people, and there are too many places where money is needed. Your Excellency Wu has been lenient by the imperial court for reducing the taxes paid by the Shenzhou Mansion this year, how can you be embarrassed to stretch out your hand to the imperial court to ask for money inch by inch? The development of agriculture and mulberry is supposed to be prudent, especially at this time, but your lord insists on going your own way, and the army is taking dangerous moves, what is this not nonsense?"

Not to be outdone, Wu Shizhen said: "I'm afraid that it's not my officers and soldiers who are taking dangerous moves, but you are too cautious? It is not false that agricultural affairs are mainly stable, but it does not mean that they are immutable and resting on their laurels. If everyone were like you, I wouldn't have to grow stronger. ”

Wang Lin said: "Even if you want to change, you shouldn't pick this kind of time, the Ming Dynasty was smooth in the past, and when all industries were prosperous, why didn't you see the adults take action, but at this juncture there will be an incident? ”

Wu Shizhen sneered: "Whether the official can tell the situation clearly or not, it is a fact that you have repeatedly spoken out of disrespect. You just said that everything went smoothly in the Ming Dynasty before, and all industries were prosperous, but now it has suffered many disasters, and you can't even afford to toss the improvement of seeds, are you accusing the Holy God of not being able to govern the country today?"

Wang Lin was stunned: "This ...... You and I will talk about things, Lord Wu must not use strong words and spew people with blood!"

Wu Shizhen looked cold and wanted to argue again, but Zhu Shiyang was already impatient to listen, frowned, and went straight between the two and entered the mansion. Wu Shizhen and Wang Zhen were stunned for a moment, only to know that they had lost their official bodies in front of the emperor, and hurriedly closed their mouths.

Zhu Shiji followed behind Zhu Shiyang and laughed softly: "This class of magistrates and the imperial history have always been at odds with each other, and the courtiers have seen a lot of them in the local area for a long time, but I have never seen such a dare to pinch in front of the imperial brother." ”

Zhu Shiyang didn't seem to be surprised, but he sneered with his conceited hands: "It's right for them to pinch it, if they don't pinch it, I should really worry." The imperial court set up an official system in this way, so that they want to contain each other, only if they are uncomfortable, I can be comfortable, if they are all comfortable, how can I have a moment of peace?"

Zhu Shiji and Lu Wenyuan glanced at each other behind him, and while smiling bitterly, they couldn't help but feel a little relieved by the emperor's increasing wisdom.

The group inspected the prefect's yamen and went to settle down in the prefect's mansion Wu Shizhen's house. Xu is holy car came suddenly, Wu Shizhen didn't have time to prepare, and the furnishings in the house were not very luxurious, but they were in line with his prefect's identity. Zhu Shiyang looked around and was quite satisfied, so he rested with peace of mind. 166 Reading Network