In the following days, Zhu Youzhen did not go to court because he was waiting for someone.

Just after the hour, Zhu Youzhen, who was concentrating on practicing calligraphy in the study of the Qianqing Palace, was interrupted.

It's finally time to come.

Today's Wei Zhongxian has recovered his former spirit after some tidying up, but his eyes are missing the spirit of a very human minister, and there is still a point that can never be recovered, he will never be able to stand up.

Looking at Wei Zhongxian, who was sitting on a chair struggling to salute him, Zhu Youzhen waved his hand generously and signaled him to excuse himself.

"Your Majesty, please talk to you in secret."

Zhu Youzhen was stunned when he heard this, but he still signaled to retreat left and right.

"Emperor, Rong Chen should stay by your side."

Wang Chengen was a little worried.

"Hahaha, he's not Chen Pingping, and even if it is, I'm not afraid."

Although he didn't understand the meaning of Zhu Youzhen's words, since the emperor had ordered, Wang Chengen still retreated obediently.

In the silent Xinuan Pavilion of the Qianqing Palace, only the breathing of the two was left at this time.

"Your Majesty, the old slave is loyal to the first emperor."

Wei Zhongxian was the first to speak, Zhu Youzhen didn't speak, and Wei Zhongxian continued to talk to himself.

"In August of the first year of Taichang, there were two emperors in the palace in a month, and the first emperor was like you at that time, and he inherited the unification at the age of sixteen."

"The first emperor is bitter, the young man lost his mother, and later lost his father, and after succeeding to the throne, his adoptive mother was moved to live in another palace, and the sixteen-year-old boy was forced to secretly shed tears by those scholars and doctors who claimed to be upright gentlemen."

"At that time, the old slave stayed by the side of the first emperor, comforted him, encouraged him, begged him to keep his light and keep his mind, and begged him to endure it."

"It was not easy for the first emperor, but the first emperor still did it, starting from the third year of the apocalypse, the first emperor who was slowly in power gradually counterattacked the Donglin Party, and gradually took back the power that the emperor should have."

"But the Donglin Party is unwilling, how can they be willing, so they attacked the old slave and convicted the old slave of twenty-four crimes, every word of the heart, the first emperor was wise, how could they not understand that this was against him."

When Wei Zhongxian said this, his eyes flashed with a slight look, as if he had returned to the war-torn era.

"Back then, the old slave asked the first emperor to punish me to thank the world, the first emperor was merciful, but he didn't allow it, and the old slave had to save his life, and then Yang Lian, Zuo Guangdou and others were imprisoned and killed, Zhao Nanxing, Ye Xianggao, and Zhang Wenda were dismissed successively, and the first emperor grasped the power that the emperor should have."

Hearing this, Zhu Youzhen couldn't listen to it anymore, although Zhu Youxiao was not as bad as the Manchu Qing Hei in later generations, but it was definitely not as virtuous as Wei Zhongxian said, but admitting that Zhu Youxiao was virtuous, the more legitimate Wei Zhongxian's eunuch party was, and he put gold on his face, which is understandable for Zhu Youzhen.

"Only Taizu and Chengzu have the power to control the universe in this dynasty, although the first emperor is wise, but the power is not monopolized, nine thousand years old and his Zhejiang Party and Qi Party have a glimpse of one or two."

In the face of Zhu Youzhen's ridicule, Wei Zhongxian did not answer positively, but talked about a royal secret.

"Your Majesty, have you heard of the fall of the first emperor in the fifth year of the Apocalypse?"

Seeing that Zhu Youzhen was interested, Wei Zhongxian paused and then said:

"The old slave remembers very clearly, it was May 18, the first emperor sacrificed Fang Zetan on the way back, went to Xiyuan, when the first emperor just rode a horse, sweating profusely, he wanted to take a boat in Xiyuan to enjoy the cool."

"At the beginning, the first emperor, Mrs. Fengsheng, the old slave, and Wang Tiqian were drinking on a large boat, and the first emperor wanted to support the boat by himself, so he became a small boat with Gao Yongshou and Liu Siyuan.

Speaking of this, Wei Zhongxian's tears fell, and it didn't seem to be fake.

"At that time, the big ship of the old slave and others was still far away, Gao Yongshou and Liu Siyuan did not know the water, the old slave was in a hurry, so he went into the water to rescue, but it was far away, fortunately the steward Tan Jing drove the boat to the gallop, which rescued the first emperor."

Zhu Youzhen took a sip of tea and said lightly: "I have known about this matter for a long time, but I am afraid that the nine thousand years old came today to talk about the adventures of the first emperor." ”

"Your Majesty, let the old minister make a mistake, you only know one thing, but you don't know the other."

Seeing that Zhu Youzhen was listening to his ears, Wei Zhongxian said again: "Afterwards, the old slave sent someone to salvage the sunken ship and found that the ship had been tampered with. ”

"Oh?"

Zhu Youzhen raised his spirits immediately, and in the historical materials of later generations, he had already seen a view that Zhu Youxiao's fall into the water was a conspiracy of the Donglin Party.

"This matter is true, the old slave asked the boatwright at the time, the bottom of the small boat is shallow and deep, suitable for rapid travel, but it is very easy to capsize, it stands to reason that Xiyuan will not pay tribute to this ship from outside the palace, and then the old slave also checked, there is only one ship of this style in the entire Xiyuan."

"And it was a critical moment for the life and death of the Donglin Party, so the old slave suspected that someone was plotting to kill the first emperor, but after investigating for half a year, he did not find any clues related to the Donglin rebels, and the eunuch of the Xiyuan Vehicle and Ship Division committed suicide on the day he learned that the first emperor's boat was overturned, and the matter was finally closed."

"Do you suspect that the Donglin Party conspired to kill the first emperor?"

Zhu Youzhen was a little surprised for a while, under the influence of various TV dramas and novels in his previous life, the Donglin Party has always been the image of Wei Guangzheng, how could it be involved in the murder of the emperor, Zhu Youzhen couldn't believe it.

"Your Majesty, the party fights for the country! The Donglin Party has brought disaster to the country and the people! In order to grasp the power of the court, they can do this kind of thing! ”

Seeing that Zhu Youzhen still didn't believe it, Wei Zhongxian shouted out excitedly for a while, which frightened Wang Chengen outside the door, and hurriedly drove all the eunuchs standing around him into the distance.

"Do you mean Yang Lian, Zuo Guangdou, Yuan Huazhong, Wei Dazhong, Zhou Chaorui, and Gu Dazhang who brought disaster to the country and the people? Nine thousand years old, you're a little shameless, aren't you? ”

When Wei Zhongxian heard this, he was panicked in his heart, and although his expression was gloomy, he still argued:

"Your Majesty, the guilty ministers are sorry for Yang Gong and Zuo Gong, and they will die to thank the world, but Yang Gong and Zuo Gong cannot represent the Donglin Party, they are also deceived by the thieves in the Donglin Party, and they are mistaken for other people's swords!"

Speaking of this, Wei Zhongxian was afraid that Zhu Youzhen still didn't understand what he meant, and he was already in tears.

"Alas---" Wei Zhongxian sighed, and then asked rhetorically, "Your Majesty, what do you think of the talents of the criminals?" ”

"Good at drilling camps, having means, ruthless, despicable and shameless, not knowing how to advance and retreat, having insatiable desires, and being so bold and arrogant that he wants to steal the country and dictate himself."

Zhu Youzhen did not skimp on all kinds of scolding words, and he defined Wei Zhongxian's character and ethics in one go.

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Wei Zhongxian knew that he would not escape death, so Zhu Youzhen's words did not make any waves.

"But it is a criminal minister who does everything to achieve his goals, and he has fallen to the point of selling his sons and daughters in the minister's hometown of Beizhili Hejian Mansion."

"Your Majesty, the minister admits that he was not a good person before entering the palace, because the good people around the minister have long been forced to death by the gentry of the government, and the minister has almost reached such a point."

"But the minister didn't accept his fate, so when the minister was twenty-three years old, the minister had no money to hire a master, so he was ruthless from the palace, and he had to give his wife and children a way to live."

Speaking of this, Wei Zhongxian seemed to remember the sad incident before, and he sobbed even more.

"Your Majesty, from the palace, if there is a way to live, which man will do the act of insulting his ancestors."

"In Beizhili, the best place in the capital, who forced the ministers to enter the palace by themselves, it is these Donglin doctors who pride themselves on being honest and fair, and the people, jinshi and even Xiucai in the hometown of the criminal ministers, which is not hundreds of acres of fields."

"If there is a talent in the village, the whole village will compete to become his tenant farmer; If there is a man in the township, the people of the whole township will compete to become the tenant farmers of his family; If there is a jinshi in the county, the people in the county will compete to become his tenant farmers. ”

Zhu Youzhen was taken aback when he heard this, because in his impression, homesteaders were forced to become tenant farmers, and he had never heard of such a rush to become tenant farmers.

"Why? There are even those who are in a hurry to give away their land to others? ”

Seeing that Zhu Youzhen really didn't understand, Wei Zhongxian's eyes dimmed a little, the new emperor is really not as good as the first emperor, no wonder as soon as the new emperor ascended the throne, the group of pickles in Donglin became active again.

"Your Majesty, surrender! In order to sympathize with the scholars, the Taizu and Chengzu of this dynasty specially gave preferential treatment to Xiucai, Juren, and Jinshi, and those who were poor could be exempted from taxes ranging from 50 mu, 200 mu, and 400 mu. ”

"That's not much, there aren't a few people in a county, and there are a few people who can provide children with education, how many poor people can be?"

Zhu Youzhen was a little puzzled, what did Taizu's good policy of preferential treatment of scholars have to do with contributions.

"At the beginning of the country, there were few scholars, and Taizu Chengzu had the talent to pass through the heavens and latitudes, and the officials and gentry did not dare to fool them, but with the chaos of the officials, these Jinshiju people gradually grasped the right to speak in the court, and Taizu's good policy of preferential treatment of scholars became a means for the gentry and bureaucrats to bring disaster to the country and the people."

Seeing that Zhu Youzhen listened carefully, Wei Zhongxian continued to elaborate.

"After the Jinshi people have the right to speak, they are exempt from more and more acres of land, although Taizu's custom is still there, but no one has complied with it, and now as long as the people are raised in the examination, all the people in the family are exempt."

When Zhu Youzhen heard this, he already understood that the small people were greedy for profit, and since the population of the acres of land and acres of the family was exempted from taxation, then he and his whole family would become tenant servants who raised people and scholars, and they would not have to pay taxes and bear the forced labor, and they might be able to live better than when they were self-cultivators.

Hey, no wonder I looked at the archives of the old Zhu family a few days ago, in the last years of Hongwu, there were more than 8 million acres of land in the country, but in the last years of Hongzhi, the number of acres in the country became more than 4 million hectares.

The fields were hidden by the gentry and bureaucracy.

And the population data is not correct, in the last years of Hongwu in the early Ming Dynasty, there were more than 60 million registered population in the country, more than 70 million in the Chenghua period, and more than 50 million in the Apocalypse year.

Naturally, the population was also hidden.

"These moths that have brought disaster to the country and the people!"

Zhu Youzhen slammed his fist on the case.