Then Li Dongyang thought for a moment, and then said to the emperor: "Your Majesty, this secret investigation of the Lu family and the relevant officials of the Yan Division will inevitably use soldiers. The soldiers of the Lianghuai Salt Institute have lived in Yangzhou for many years, and it is inevitable that they will not have dealings with local salt merchants and officials, so there is the possibility of revealing the news, and after a long time, the secret investigation will become a public investigation. Therefore, Lao Chen suggested that this secret investigation should not use the soldiers of the Lianghuai Salt Academy, but use the soldiers of the guard instead. ”

Xie Qian heard Li Dongyang say this, and hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, the old minister thinks that Li Ge's method has merit, but if you switch to the guards, such a big move may also startle the snake." It is better to grant the right to patrol the salt imperial history to mobilize the soldiers of the guard at the opportunity, and still use the salt court in peacetime, and when there is a key action, a small number of soldiers can be mobilized to cooperate with the action, which is more secure. ”

When Emperor Hongzhi heard the words of the two of them, he thought to himself, if the right to transfer troops is granted, the rights of the imperial history will be greater. So, his eyes fell on Shoufu Liu Jian and asked, "What does Liu Gong think?" ”

In fact, Liu Jian thought about the same as the emperor, and he thought in his heart that although this move was safe, it was inevitable that he would fight for power for his students.

Liu Jian pondered for a moment and said to the emperor: "Your Majesty, the old minister believes that it is not necessary to grant him the right to transfer troops at the right of opportunity, but there must be some restrictions, and the number of troops transferred cannot be higher than five hundred, and this case will be withdrawn immediately after that, so it is more suitable." ”

Emperor Hongzhi nodded in agreement and said, "Let's discuss the decree according to this." ”

When the matter was agreed, Emperor Hongzhi stood up, stretched his waist for a long time, and said to the elders: "Elders, do you still have something to do?" ”

The meaning of the words is that if there is nothing else, it will be over, and I will send off the guests.

Xie Qian hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, the old minister has another twist and turn here, please ask the emperor to take a look." ”

When Emperor Hongzhi heard this, he asked, "Duke Xie, when will this be played?" ”

Xie Qian replied: "This recital is on the Supan Institute of Chaoyi Zhixian County, Shaanxi, and it is said that more than a month ago, rumors of an earthquake began to occur in Chaoyi, and it was said that there would be an earthquake in Chaoyi at the turn of the New Year. This rumor spread very quickly, and it spread to everyone in the entire court in ten days. Regardless of the city and countryside in Chaoyi County, the people are panicked, the people have no intention of producing, some large families have thought of going out to hide, and ordinary people live in open places, such as today's cold and freezing, the people dare not go back to their homes, and they dare not live in houses. The county government posted rumors many times, but with little effect, and Su Zhixian asked the court how to deal with it. ”

When Emperor Hongzhi heard this, he couldn't help but say sadly: "This year's Beijing earthquake, Nanjing earthquake, is there also an earthquake in Shaanxi?" Since I ascended the throne, there have been earthquakes almost every year, am I not good enough for the people, and not diligent enough for government affairs? ”

When all the pavilion elders heard this, they all knelt down again, and Xie Qian hurriedly comforted: "Your Majesty is the king of Yao Shun who is diligent in government and loves the people, and he is generous and peaceful to the officials, and he is concerned and sympathetic to the people. In government affairs, we have made great efforts to govern the country, diligent in governance, selected virtuous ministers, and the monarchs and ministers have been united in their hearts and minds. Life is thrifty, not indulgent, but also a rare virtuous monarch, the earthquake is a natural disaster, and His Majesty has nothing to do with it, so His Majesty does not have to blame himself. ”

Liu Jian and Li Dongyang also persuaded at the same time. It was only then that Emperor Hongzhi's mood stabilized.

After that, Emperor Hongzhi asked them, "Do you have a good plan for this matter?" ”

Everyone pondered for a while, Liu Ge Lao

began to say slowly: "In recent years, there have been frequent earthquakes across the country, and people are panicking, and such rumors have spread from time to time. But it is so serious like Chaoyi, and the people are living in a house, and they dare not return to their homes, and they dare not live in a house, but there is no extent. According to past experience, earthquakes are preceded by warnings, and there is no mention of a local anomaly in this recital, or there may be a warning from heaven, but the local people did not find out. Therefore, it is not possible to determine whether this rumor is true or not, but it cannot be ignored. Lao Chen suggested that he send Jinyi Wei to the court to check whether there was a vision from the sky, and if there was a vision, it would be better to believe that it existed, and it would be the best policy to take some precautions. ”

Li Dongyang also echoed: "The old minister seconded the proposal, Your Majesty, this is a major matter about the lives of all the people in the court, and you should send Jinyi Guards to investigate as soon as possible." ”

Xie Qian also said: "The old minister agrees with the opinions of the two elders. ”

Emperor Hongzhi nodded in agreement, and then sent the eunuch Chuan Mu Bin to meet again.

The three elders immediately took their leave.

*****

After the afternoon, when Xie Qian was on duty, he politely declined the invitation of all his colleagues to go to the restaurant to eat hot pot and hurried back to the house.

When the lady saw that the lord had returned home early today, she hurriedly ordered her subordinates to bring tea, pull out the fire in the room, and then wait for the lord to change his clothes.

After Xie Qian drank two cups of hot tea to warm up his body, he instructed his subordinates: "Go to the mansion of Zhou Fulai of the household department and ask him to come over the mansion for a while." ”

The subordinate agreed and took the order.

About half an hour later, Zhou Fulai came to Xie Qian's house and entered the room. Zhou Fulai took off his coat and paid a big salute, Zhou Fulai asked: "Teacher, call the students to come today, do you have something to order?" ”

Xie Qian smiled and said, "Wen Xi (Zhou Fulai), don't be in a hurry to say something, drink tea and water to warm up your body first." ”

Zhou Fu said: "The student is not cold, if there is anything, the teacher will tell you." ”

Xie Qian sat on the Taishi's chair and looked at the young student in front of him. I thought in my heart, it's good to be young, these days are getting colder and colder, every time he goes home, he has to drink two cups of hot tea to warm up, and he never feels cold when he is young. Zhou Fulai was one of the most satisfying of his many students, and his youngest. Zhou Fulai was twenty-one years old and became a junior sergeant, Xie Qian felt that he was too young, so he gave him a seven-year-old official rank, put him in the ministry to observe the government, four years have passed, after these four years of experience, Zhou Fulai has matured, and it is time to come out and do something. So today, Xie Qianbao promoted him to Jiangnan to serve as the salt imperial history of the two Huai patrols. Although they are all seven-level officials, their power is much greater, and their responsibilities are much greater.

Although Zhou Fulai is smart and thoughtful, he is still too young after all, and he has never been out of Beijing to serve alone, so he still has to give instructions on some things.

After watching Zhou Fulai drink tea, Xie Qian began to say: "Wen Xi, for the teacher to fight for an envoy for you in front of the emperor today, it is estimated that the appointment of the officials will come soon." I've called you here today because I have something to explain. ”

Zhou Fulai said respectfully: "Thank you for your kindness, I don't know what kind of errand the teacher has won for the students?" ”

Xie Qian replied: "Although the two Huai patrol salt imperial history, although it is only a seven-official rank, this is a very training messenger. The current Su Yushi's term of office is about to expire, you have to be prepared, it is estimated that you will not be able to celebrate the New Year in Beijing this year. ”

Zhou Fulai heard that it was the imperial history of the two Huai patrolling salt

, I thought in my heart that although this official position is not high, it has a lot of power, and it is an official position that many people are staring at. The fact that a teacher can give himself this official position proves that he has a trust in himself.

So, he hurriedly got up and saluted again: "Thank you teacher for cultivating the students!" ”

"Between you and me, there is no need to be polite." Xie Qian said: "This time, the emperor agreed to let you go to Yangzhou Salt Courtyard to take up a post, and I went with a mission. Have you ever heard about a recent case of salt smuggling by a grain ship in the Huai'an Branch of the Lianghuai Salt Division? ”

"I've heard a little about it, but I haven't learned it in detail. A few days ago, the little sister in the family wrote to mention this matter, as if this case also involved Lu Jie, a big salt merchant in Yangzhou. He had learned something about this from Zhou Fuliu's letter. But without evidence, he did not dare to speak nonsense.

"Today, the teacher will tell you the ins and outs of this matter." Xie Qian said.

Next, Xie Qian told Zhou Fulai about this matter in detail. Later, he said: "In fact, this matter is just an introduction, what the emperor really wants you to do is to secretly investigate many dirty things between the salt merchants in Yangzhou and the Lianghuai Salt Division, especially the Lu family in Yangzhou." In the past two years, the salt tax on the two Huai has become less and less, and the smuggling of salt has become more and more rampant. If it weren't for the collusion between the major merchants and the officials of the salt department, it would never have been possible for the illegal salt to flood like this. ”

"So, the main task of students going to Yangzhou Salt Institute is to check illegal salt?" Zhou Fulai asked. In the past few years in the household department, of course, he knows the current situation of the salt tax is getting less and less.

"The main thing is to investigate the smuggling of salt by major merchants, in order not to startle the snake, this time it is not a public ban with great fanfare, but to be carried out in secret. In order for you to act cheaply, and to fight for a part of the military power for you, you can mobilize the nearby guards, but not too much, otherwise it is easy to arouse the suspicion of the saints. ”

Zhou Fulai said respectfully: "Students understand. ”

Xie Qian continued: "There are two more points that you must pay attention to. First, the relationship between the two Huai Salt Divisions, salt merchants, local officials, and court officials was complicated, and there were many entanglements of interests. ”

"Second, the salt smuggling case of Yu Sheng, the magistrate of Yancheng County, eight years ago, was a major case approved by the emperor, and recently Jinyiwei investigated and found that there was another hidden secret in this case, and Yu Sheng, the magistrate of the county, may be unjustly killed. The main messenger behind it is likely to be Yue Bingqian, the same acquaintance of the Lu family and the Huai'an Branch, and you can secretly access the relevant case files of the Criminal Department at that time. ”

The emperor is determined to re-investigate the case and return more than a dozen people including Yu Zhixian to their innocence. But this case is very sensitive, and the slightest carelessness will arouse their vigilance, so you must be cautious. This case involves the face of the emperor, you must not start the investigation from this case, you only need to get their other criminal evidence, and then the criminal department will interrogate and collect evidence, you should not go too deep into this case. Do you understand the meaning of being a teacher? ”

Zhou Fulai immediately understood Xie Qian's kindness, and said gratefully: "The student understands that this is a kind of protection for the student by the teacher. ”

Then Zhou Fulai asked: "Teacher, if the officers and soldiers of the local guard station are not credible, then what?" ”

Xie Qian said slyly: "The emperor gave you the right to transfer troops cheaply, although there are checks and balances, but there is no restriction on which guard you can transfer troops from. At that time, by your holy decree, you can mobilize the officers and soldiers of the guard that you can trust. ”

Hearing this, Zhou Fulai immediately thought of the Thousand Households of Ma Qishan mentioned in his sister's letter, and saluted the teacher gratefully and said, "Thank you for your advice!" ”

(End of chapter)

The little people of the Ming Dynasty

The little people of the Ming Dynasty

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