When passing by the bazaar, when the people saw Tong Junde in the prisoner car, they couldn't help but point.

"Isn't this Tong Junde's dumb official? I didn't expect him to have today! ”

"The one in the back seems to be Gu Tianlin!"

"That's right, that's right, it's Gu Tianlin. Heavens, someone has finally come to clean up these two scourges. ”

Tong Junde heard everyone pointing at him, and couldn't help but be annoyed: "Shut up, you people who are diao." This official does things for you wholeheartedly, and now that this official has been wronged, you are still embarrassed to say cool things? ”

"You can pull it down, you stupid official colludes with those gentlemen on weekdays, and you have harmed us a lot. Last time, there was a girl, didn't she agree to be your eighteenth concubine, but you forced her to hang herself. ”

Tong Junde reprimanded angrily: "Okay, you Diao people, one by one, actually framed this palace like this. How much benefit have you received from others, and you have come to frame your own officials? This official is dedicated to the country and the people, what about your conscience? ”

Zhu Cihong heard Tong Junde talking nonsense with his eyes open, and his face was also full of black lines. colluded with Gu Tianlin to bully men and women, and let himself catch a ready-made, and he was embarrassed to say that he was for the country and the people, these civil officials are really ashamed to lie.

"You, a dog official, are embarrassed to say that you are for the country and the people, my family has three acres of land, and the whole family lives on those three acres of land, and you actually forced me to sell the land to the Gu family at a price of one or two silver. I'll smash you hypocrite! ”

After speaking, he picked up a stone from the ground and smashed it on Tong Junde's head.

With a "bang", Tong Junde was hit by a stone, although there was no blood, and there was a big bag on his head.

Tong Junde roared bitterly: "You Diao Min, dare to hurt the officials of the imperial court, this official has written it down, and after the official has been wronged, see how the official cleans you up." ”

This roar was a complete stab at the hornet's nest, and the crowd picked up the stones on the ground, and some vegetable vendors used vegetable leaves and eggs in bags for egg sellers, and smashed them towards Tong Junde.

Tong Junde had no choice but to hold his head with both hands to prevent it from hitting the vital point, and he was embarrassed for a while. It can be seen from this how unpopular Tong Junde is in Beijing.

Before Zhu Cihong arrived at the imperial study, he was about to go in, but Wang Chengen hurriedly stopped Zhu Cihong.

"His Royal Highness the Prince, the emperor has important matters to discuss with Shoufu and a few other adults inside, if you have nothing to do, go back."

"There is something important in the palace that needs to meet my father, and I also ask the prince to go in and report it. Of course, there is not only one person in this palace, Princess Kunxing also asked to see her father. ”

When Wang Chengen heard this, he also realized the seriousness of the matter, and hurriedly trotted in to report it.

"Your Majesty, this matter must not be done, although the confiscation of the Jin merchants has a large amount of silver, but it is not exempt from taxes. For three years, the people were accustomed to not collecting taxes, and when the time came, it would be even more difficult to collect taxes again. ”

"Yes, Your Majesty, according to the opinion of the old ministers, it is not only not advisable to reduce taxes, but also to increase taxes. Although my Ming treasury is now full, there are a lot of places to use money now, for example, some palaces in the palace are in disrepair, and a sum of money should be allocated to repair the palace and maintain the majesty of the royal family. Let's say..."

"According to what Liu Aiqing said, should I allocate 10 million taels of silver to repair all the inside and outside of the palace to maintain the majesty of the royal family."

"Your Majesty, 10 million taels is a bit much, and 8 million taels can almost be repaired."

"My people, I can't even eat enough, and I still have to build a lot of construction to repair the palace? You all have official positions, you don't have to pay taxes, and you don't have a backache when you stand and talk. In recent years, natural disasters have continued, and the people are too happy to live, and they still have to pay more taxes? At that time, the people all over the country will not be able to survive, and they will rise up one after another, and my Daming country will be destroyed in the hands of you mediocrity. ”

While Chongzhen was arguing with the officials, Wang Chengen gently pushed open the door and walked in, knelt on the ground respectfully and said softly: "Your Majesty, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and Princess Kunxing have important matters that need to be faced, Your Majesty, do you see, see or not?" ”

Gu Xiancheng is also a good person, and he knows that it is not a way to quarrel like this. The plan now is to go back to the house and gather everyone to write a letter tomorrow to ask for an increase in taxes. When the time comes, the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty will demand an increase in taxes, and even if Chongzhen wants to oppose it, he will have to weigh it.

Thinking of this, Gu Xiancheng stood up and said, "Your Majesty, it's getting late today, and I'm afraid I won't be able to discuss anything if we continue to discuss it." According to the old minister's opinion, it is more appropriate to discuss this matter tomorrow morning when the Manchu Dynasty is civil and military. ”

Chongzhen happened to be upset by these officials, so he waved his hand and motioned for everyone to retreat. Seeing this, Gu Xiancheng and the others hurriedly retreated.

"Chuan Yu'er and Hong'er come in!"

"Yes."

Zhu Cihong and Zhu Yujiao, under the leadership of Wang Chengen, walked into the imperial study, and after seeing Chongzhen, they hurriedly knelt down and saluted.

"Sons see their father, long live my emperor, long live long live!"

"Sons see their father, long live my emperor, long live long live!"

Chongzhen looked at Zhu Yujiao with a loving face, and said softly: "Get up, why did you come to find your father today?" Did your royal brother bully you? Don't be afraid, just tell your father and see how your father cleans him up. ”

After listening to this, Zhu Yujiao thought of the grievances she had just suffered, a layer of mist filled the corners of her eyes, and she said aggrievedly: "Father, it's not the imperial brother who bullied the concubine, it's someone else..."

When Chongzhen heard that the baby girl was being bullied, he stood up from the dragon chair angrily and said angrily: "Who bullied you, tell me, see how I clean him up." ”

Zhu Cihong hurriedly said: "Back to my father, today the retainers took the concubine out of the palace to play, and met Gu Tianlin, the grandson of the first assistant Gu Xiancheng, on the way, Gu Tianlin was disrespectful to the concubine, and the subordinate was just in conflict with Gu Tianlin, and then Liu Wu cleaned up Gu Tianlin and his little servants, and then the retainer took the concubine to dinner. ”

"During the meal, I happened to meet Gu Tianlin and Yin Tong Junde of the Jingshi Mansion, and the two of them were disrespectful to their concubines. These two people were embarrassed in Beijing, and they harmed the people of Beijing, Tong Junde was ordered by the imperial court and the ministers of the palace had no right to deal with it, so the ministers pressed the two over and asked their father to deal with them. ”

As soon as the words fell, before Chongzhen could speak, Gu Xiancheng broke in and cried: "Your Majesty, you have to be the master of the old minister, my Gu family has been passed down for eight generations, and now there is a grandson in the sky, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince beats people like this, if my grandson has an accident, what face will the old minister have to see the ancestors and ancestors!" ”