This letter from a reader has stabbed a hornet's nest, and a large number of letters from readers have come to the newspaper office through the post station. Most of these letters expressed sympathy for the miserable lives of the tenants, but most were opposed to the call for the imperial court to establish a law full of tenants.

These people believe that since the Qin Dynasty, it has never been a county under imperial power in history. In the countryside, village autonomy has always been maintained, with landlords and yeoman farmers paying taxes, and poor hired peasants paying only rent. This has been the case for thousands of years, so why would it be tempted to let the imperial court replace the negotiation between tenants and landlords?

There are also some letters that believe that the pace of reform of the imperial court is too big, which will cause turmoil in the world, and I hope that the adults and gentlemen in the court can read more history books, take history as a mirror, and know the rise and fall.

These letters made Wang Chengen very annoyed, and these words were openly and secretly satirizing the emperor, but there was no way to sin people because of their words. He carefully reported the reader's reaction to the emperor.

Zhu Youxiao said with a smile: "I can figure it out, most of the people who can read the newspaper are landlords, of course they don't want the court to intervene in the tenants, and it is difficult to give up good money, this is human nature, but I must carry this thing forward." ”

In the next issue of the newspaper, a sternly worded article appeared, in the name of the cabinet, pointing out that the rent reduction was imperative and that the imperial court must be involved, and finally ended with a sentence from "Lü's Spring and Autumn Period": "The world changes with time, and it is appropriate to change the law." ”

More letters poured into the newspaper office, and the little eunuch who specialized in reading letters in the newspaper office was very busy. This time, all the letters were anonymous, and everyone agreed that it was ungraceful for the imperial court to interfere in the matter of tenants in the villages. Some even believe that this is a bad omen, a sign that the world will be in turmoil.

After listening to Wang Chengen's report, Zhu Youxiao couldn't help laughing: "I don't believe in any omen, I see where the chaos can go." ”

Wei Zhongxian also laughed and said: "If it is peaceful today, Jiannu will be destroyed soon, and the people will have surplus food, how can it be chaotic." ”

Suddenly, the palace shook with a sound, and the water in the copper tank used to extinguish the fire shook, Wei Zhongxian pounced, held the emperor in his hands, and ran out of the hall, Wang Chengen shouted: "All go out, the earth dragon has turned over." ”

Zhu Youxiao has practiced kung fu for so long, after all, he is not as good as Wei Zhongxian, and when he reacted, Wei Zhongxian had already taken him to an open place outside the hall. After putting the emperor down, Wei Zhongxian said: "Wang Chengen, you go to the prince's place to have a look, and you have to be careful with Fang Zhenghua." ”

Wang Chengen obeyed the order and left, and Zhu Youxiao said: "You also go to Kunning Palace to protect the queen and the prince." ”

Wei Zhongxian shook his head and said, "With Fangzhenghua, the queen and the crown prince will definitely be safe and sound." Among the internal officials, Fang Zhenghua is the first in martial arts, higher than his senior brother Cao Huachun. All I need to do is protect the Holy Place. ”

Zhu Youxiao said: "The two concubines should send someone to take a look." There are also Concubine Kang, Concubine Duan, etc., all of which must be carefully protected. ”

On February 30, the fourth year of the Apocalypse, shortly after Zhu Youxiao forcefully demanded that the imperial court intervene in the rent rate between landlords and tenants, there was a great earthquake in Beijing. It's not that people's hearts are shaken, it's that there really is a big earthquake.

Jizhou, Yongping, Shanhaiguan and other places have been repeatedly shaken, and the earthquake has damaged the city and the house. As a result, the Luanzhou earthquake caused countless bad houses, and the ground cracked and gushed with foreign bodies. Leting old shop village, the ground cracks and gushes black water, more than a foot high. The sound of relocation was like a huge thunder, and countless houses were destroyed in the city walls. Lu Long shook down many official and civilian houses.

Zhu Youxiao ordered all the disaster-stricken areas to open warehouses and release grain, and urgently dispatched officials to the disaster-stricken areas to supervise the disaster relief, and also sent Jinyiwei to various places, and immediately arrested and sent the corrupt officials to the capital.

But this earthquake made many people think that it was precisely because the emperor was not virtuous and forced to meddle in the matter of rent rates, which caused the wrath of heaven to warn. When Dongchang Fanzi reported the discussion of the people in the capital, Zhu Youxiao was silent.

At the court meeting, a group of officials headed by Wang Qia said that the emperor wanted to reduce the rent, which caused dissatisfaction from the heavens, and demanded that the emperor issue an edict against himself, and stated in the newspaper that they would no longer interfere in the matter of tenant rent.

Wang Qia They are people in the imperial history or the six branches, that is, commonly known as counselors, and they say this, so that Fang Congzhe and others cannot defend the emperor. Otherwise, their spearhead will turn to Fang Congzhe and join him as "a gentleman".

Zhu Youxiao ignored them, but he didn't reprimand them. Seeing this posture, some officials also slowly joined Wang Qia's ranks. Huang Kezhang once scolded them once, but he was quickly scolded by the ministers and embarrassed.

Zhu Youxiao convened a meeting between the cabinet and the six ministries in Yuntai to discuss this matter, and Zhu Youxiao said in annoyance: "Heaven and man sense this matter, can it be said that it is fake?" ”

Fang Congzhe shook his head again and again and said, "Your Majesty, this kind of thing can't be said nonsense, the induction of heaven and man must be true." ”

Ye Xianggao said: "Your Majesty, the induction of heaven and man is the cornerstone of Dong Zhongshu's doctrine, he believes that the king is the king, which is the will of heaven; The king is the king, and he should imitate the way of heaven. To this end, he put forward a series of propositions such as the induction of heaven and man, the divine right of kings, the exclusive respect for Confucianism, the three outlines and five constants, and the yang and the yin and the inferior. If the induction of heaven and man is denied, then the divine right of the monarch will not be tenable. ”

Xu Guangqi knew that his student was sometimes terrifyingly smart, but there were some things he still didn't understand. So he said: "What Master Ye said is very true, the induction of heaven and man is the foundation of imperial power, and Your Majesty must not destroy the foundation." ”

Zhu Youxiao said: "Then what to do now, this earthquake is actually just the movement of the earth's crust, and it has nothing to do with the warning from heaven at all." If I don't deny the induction of heaven and man, then do I really want to make an edict against myself? ”

Ye Xianggao said: "It's not okay to make an edict against yourself. The rent reduction was originally for the sake of the common people in the world and for the sake of the Ming Dynasty. If you make an edict, it means that it is wrong, and it must not be done in any way. ”

Fang Congzhe said: "For today's plan, it is to be top." Disaster relief is disaster relief, but if we don't discuss this kind of thing, I don't think they will directly ask His Majesty to make an edict in the court. ”

Zhu Youxiao asked, "Can't you think of a better way?" ”

Xu Guangqi said: "The last time this soldier just said something that may not be a warning from heaven, he was scolded by them, we obviously can't open our mouths, it is better to start from other aspects and let others say." ”

Zhu Youxiao said: "You can't say it, who said it can work?" ”

Xu Guangqi and Fang Congzhe both looked at Ye Xianggao, and Ye Xianggao said with some embarrassment: "Liu Zongzhou, the head of the Ministry of Rites, is a close friend of Gao Panlong, and is regarded as a Donglin person by the people of the time. However, he is an upright person, has always opposed party fighting, and hopes that the court will turn the party into a party and return to peace, and there is no need to divide the evil and the good with the door. This person has great influence on Wang Qia and others, but the minister is worried that this person is not easy to convince. ”

Zhu Youxiao smiled: "Couldn't Ye Lao convince him?" ”