Jian Huaizhen looked at those people, some of them looked very young and clear-eyed, while some of them looked a little older, and there were drooping children, all of them looked like outsiders, and they all spoke with foreign accents.

Jian Huaizhen couldn't help but feel a little strange, so she took out dozens of taels of silver and handed them to those people.

Then he squatted down and asked the people, "I think you are all from other places, why did you suddenly appear in this capital begging?" But where did natural and man-made disasters occur? ”

Jian Huaizhen thought about it, and had never heard of a magistrate in any place reporting that there was a natural or man-made disaster, so she felt very strange.

One of them, an older man, said, "You don't know, it's not that there is a natural disaster, but it is really a man-made disaster, and the harsh government is fiercer than the tiger, and we have encountered harsh government and heavy taxes, so we have no way to flee here." ”

Jian Huaizhen couldn't help but feel very strange, she opened her mouth and asked: "If Qingping is today, the emperor has been reducing taxes all along, why are there still places with harsh taxes and miscellaneous taxes?" ”

The man didn't look like an ordinary person in Jian Huaizhen's dress and demeanor, but he looked around, still shook his head, and said, "This lady, I think you also look like a person from a big family, and there are some things I don't want to tell you." It's just that if I say it, I will definitely invite death, so please go back, madam. ”

Jian Huaizhen said very firmly: "You don't have to be afraid, no one dares to deal with you, what happened, even if you tell me clearly, I will definitely help you make the decision." ”

The man shook his head and said, "It's not that I don't want to tell you, it's just that this lady looks like a person from a big family, but you must not be able to help us, and only when you can see the emperor can you help us in this matter." ”

Jian Huaizhen was slightly stunned, and said for a long time: "Okay." In that case, then I will take you to see the emperor. ”

"What, you said you took us to see the emperor?" The old man was slightly stunned, and his body trembled.

Jian Huaizhen said firmly: "Yes, I really want to take you to see the emperor." Rise up and go with me into the palace. ”

The old man was shocked, not knowing whether Jian Huaizhen was telling the truth or a lie.

He couldn't help but ask Jian Huaizhen, "May I ask who Madame is?" Why is it so easy to meet the emperor? It's not that I suspect Madame, it's just that it's too bizarre. ”

Jian Huaizhen smiled slightly and said, "I am the eldest princess of Huaizhen. ”

When the old man heard this, his face immediately turned pale with fright.

After a while, it turned rosy.

He was surprised and delighted, and hurriedly kowtowed to Jian Huaizhen and said, "Are you really the eldest princess of the Ming Dynasty?" Is it really the eldest princess? ”

Jian Huaizhen smiled, and then took out his seal to show the old man.

After the old man saw it, he shouted loudly: "Since you are really the eldest princess, then I have nothing to dare to say." The eldest princess, you must be the master for us. ”

The people who followed him also shouted to Jian Huaizhen together: "The eldest princess, you must be the master for us." ”

Jian Huaizhen looked at it and saw that they were too ostentatious here, so he said to them: "Okay, you follow me first, let's go to the teahouse in front and talk slowly." ”

So, Jian Huaizhen led them to the teahouse in front.

Let the shopkeeper open a private room, and then introduce them into the room.

She asked the old man and said, "Uncle, what happened?" You said that you have a lot of taxes and miscellaneous taxes that have led you to this point, just tell me about it. ”

When the old man heard Jian Huaizhen say this, he immediately threw himself on the ground and knelt down for Jian Huaizhen, and said, "The eldest princess, I have thought about this matter, even if I see the emperor, the emperor may not be able to solve it." If she sees the eldest princess today, the eldest princess will definitely be able to help her husband. ”

Jian Huaizhen was still confused, but she didn't interrupt the old man, she still listened to him.

The old man then opened his mouth and said: "Actually, this matter also complains about the emperor, now it is clear that the world is singing and dancing and peaceful, I don't know why the emperor still wants to increase our harsh taxes and let us pay heavy taxes, we really can't stand the harsh taxes and miscellaneous taxes, so we fled everywhere." Our village used to be very wealthy, but just about two months ago, the imperial court suddenly issued a holy decree that we should pay a large amount of taxes and miscellaneous taxes. Originally, it was good to pay only one load of grain, but now every household has to increase it to ten loads. As a result, our annual harvest is not enough to pay taxes. If we didn't pay our taxes, we would be beaten by the court and put in prison, so that the people of the village would live in misery. Later, we couldn't stand it anymore, so we fled one after another, but the world was so big that there was no place for us, we wanted to enter the capital to see the emperor, and the emperor reasoned with the theory, so we went all the way into the capital. I didn't expect to meet the eldest princess by coincidence today, and ask the eldest princess to make decisions for us! The eldest princess Chitose Chitose Chitose. ”

The old man shouted loudly, and Jian Huaizhen, who was shouting, felt a pain in his heart.

Because Jian Huaizhen is a compassionate person, she never thought that in today's prosperous situation, there are still some places where there are harsh taxes to pay.

And as far as she knew, the emperor had never issued a holy decree to let somewhere to increase taxes.

So she frowned slightly and said, "Uncle, are you mistaken?" According to the palace, I remember that the emperor has never issued any holy decree to pay harsh taxes and miscellaneous taxes somewhere. ”

The old man knelt on the ground and couldn't get up, and said with tears in his eyes: "The eldest princess, how could my old man remember wrongly." If we are mistaken, how could we have come into exile in this capital? If you don't believe it, princess, even if you send someone to investigate, I will live in a village in Wushan County, Henan Province. Now every household in Wushan County has to endure harsh taxes and miscellaneous taxes, although the eldest princess can send someone to investigate. ”

When Jian Huaizhen heard him say this, he felt a little strange for a while.

She thought to herself: "Could it be that the emperor actually levied exorbitant taxes in private without telling anyone?" ”

When she thought of this, she felt a little undecided.

But the way she looked at the old man's speech didn't look like a fake.

She asked the old man, "Is it true that your taxes have increased tenfold now?" ”

"Yes." The old man said repeatedly: "In the past, we could earn about three to five quintals of grain every year, as long as we took out one load to pay taxes, and the remaining few loads of grain could be used for the family to live happily." Now the imperial court has increased the tax tenfold, and we have to pay not only ten loads of grain, but also all kinds of silver taels. Some of these silver taels are poll taxes, and some are other taxes, in short, the entire Wushan County is now miserable. We now have a tax on eating, a tax on sleeping, and a tax on everything, and we can't live at all. If the eldest princess doesn't believe it, she can send someone to Wushan County to investigate. And as far as my husband knows, not only Wushan County, but also I have relatives in Zhoushan County, Hebei, and the same situation has occurred in Zhoushan County. ”

After Jian Huaizhen heard him say this, he couldn't help but be slightly stunned.

She heard that since her husband said this, it shouldn't be fake, but who can persuade the emperor to impose heavy taxes on them.

Because no matter how many wrong things Zhu Jianshen has done, he is always good to the people of the world, which is very different from his style.

So Jian Huaizhen thought about it and decided to go back to the palace first to explain it to the emperor.

She said to the old man, "Old man, you and your group will live in the inn in front of you first, don't go anywhere, you will take the hundred taels of silver first." If anything, you can take this token to the palace and find the palace, and the palace will definitely come out for you. ”

After saying that, she took off a token from her body and handed it to the old man.

The old man and his more than a dozen family members and villagers hurriedly knelt down and thanked Jian Huaizhen.

Jian Huaizhen shook his head and said, "No need. ”

With that, she turned away.

When Jian Huaizhen heard about this, he was simply angry and shocked.

She didn't expect that such a thing would happen when it was peaceful today.

When she returned to the palace, she went straight to the Qianqing Palace, and at this moment, Zhu Jianshen was not in the Qianqing Palace.

Jian Huaizhen saw that Zhu Jianshen was not in the Qianqing Palace, she was a little angry at that time, so she asked Gu Lengyi.

She said, "Where did the emperor go?" ”

Na Gu said coldly: "Emperor Qi, the eldest princess, the emperor is now going to Xia Guiren." ”

Jian Huaizhen couldn't help frowning and said, "When did the emperor become so addicted to women?" ”

Despite that, she didn't lose her temper.

So, he went straight to Xia Guiren.

Xia Guiren does not have his own palace now, so he lives in the side hall of Jingren Palace.

Jian Huaizhen walked into Jingren Palace, and when the people in the palace saw the eldest princess coming, they hurriedly said to Jian Huaizhen: "Eldest princess, please wait a moment, we will go to tell the emperor that the eldest princess is here." ”

Jian Huaizhen shook his head and said, "No need, the palace itself will go to see the emperor." ”

Those palace people didn't dare to do anything when they saw Jian Huaizhen being angry, so they had to let Jian Huaizhen in.

After Jian Huaizhen walked in, what she saw made her very angry.

Because she found that Zhu Jianshen was fighting for the thrush at this moment, she couldn't help but be very angry, so she said to Zhu Jianshen: "Your Majesty, what kind of situation is it at this moment, you still have the heart to give the thrush to the concubine here?" ”

Zhu Jianshen didn't expect Jian Huaizhen to suddenly break in, he was slightly stunned, and the eyebrow pencil in his hand fell to the ground.

He was also a little angry when he saw Jian Huaizhen angrily entering this Jingren Palace, but he respected Jian Huaizhen as an elder, so he held back the anger in his heart, and asked Jian Huaizhen: "Eldest Princess, what happened to make you so angry?" ”

Jian Huaizhen said coldly: "You know what happened. ”

Zhu Jianshen didn't expect Jian Huaizhen to scold him for a while as soon as he came up, so he was a little indignant in his heart, and said, "Imperial Princess, I think you still have to make things clear." I really don't know what's going on. ”

Jian Huaizhen said, "Okay." Since you have asked this palace to explain things clearly with you, this palace will make things clear with you. This palace is here to ask you, why do you privately impose harsh taxes in many places? ”

"What, exorbitant taxes?"

"Yes." Jian Huaizhen said firmly: "Instead of levying harsh taxes and miscellaneous taxes, we will have to increase taxes tenfold compared with before. Now the troublesome people are fleeing in all directions, and according to the people who have fled here, they now have a tax on eating and sleeping on their sleep, and they simply live with the tax every day, and they really can't live anymore, so they fled to this capital. If it weren't for the fact that this palace accidentally ran into them today, he wouldn't have known that this kind of thing had happened? ”

"What?" Zhu Jianshen was suddenly shocked, and he wanted Jian Huaizhen to ask, "Eldest Princess, is what you said true?" I didn't order a heavy tax at any point, but where are the people you spoke of now? ”

Jian Huaizhen told him what inn he had placed those people in.

After Zhu Jianshen listened, he said, "Okay, we'll go back to the Qianqing Palace right now." The eldest princess, please send someone to bring them into the palace quickly, I want to ask about this matter, and I want to find out when I am collecting harsh taxes and miscellaneous taxes. ”

Jian Huaizhen didn't look like she was being a fake when she saw Zhu Jianshen talking, and she really couldn't remember when Zhu Jianshen ordered the collection of exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes, so she felt that this matter might be a misunderstanding.

So she said to Zhu Jianshen: "Okay." If the palace blames the emperor, the palace must admit its mistake to the emperor. ”

Zhu Jianshen stepped forward to take Jian Huaizhen's hand and said, "You don't need to say that, princess, I am your junior, and sometimes you educate me for my good." It's just that I haven't done it before, so I can't admit it anyway. ”

So, the two of them came to the Qianqing Palace together.

After coming to the Qianqing Palace, Jian Huaizhen immediately sent someone to bring back the old man and his party who lived in the inn.

But when the people sent out to fetch people came back, they told Jian Huaizhen and the emperor: "There is no such group of people living in that inn. ”

Jian Huaizhen couldn't help but be shocked, and Zhu Jianshen also felt incredible.

He thinks that Jian Huaizhen is not a person who does nothing, and must have really encountered these things, which is why he became so angry.

But why did those people disappear without a trace in the blink of an eye? Did someone deliberately set up a conspiracy, or did those people have already met with an accident?

Jian Huaizhen and Zhu Jianshen looked at each other.

Jian Huaizhen said to Zhu Jianshen after a while: "Your Majesty, the palace doesn't know what to say now. This matter obviously didn't leak out, why did they suddenly disappear? Could it be that someone wants to work against them? ”

Zhu Jianshen shook his head and said to Jian Huaizhen, "I don't know what's going on. But if you want to find out about this matter, it's not difficult. Didn't the eldest princess say that these people were from Wushan County? Well, then I will immediately send someone to Wushan to investigate, hoping to find out the truth of this matter. ”

Jian Huaizhen nodded and said, "Your Majesty, this is a very good practice. It's just that who is the emperor going to send to investigate? This matter must be investigated by someone who can be trusted. ”

Zhu Jian thought deeply for a long time, he shook his head and said, "I don't know who to send to investigate, and I don't know who else I can trust in this court." ”

Jian Huaizhen smiled and said, "Since that's the case, let's send Li Xian." This Li Xian has always been leakless in his work, and I believe that he will definitely be able to help the emperor. ”

Zhu Jianshen shook his head helplessly, and said, "I'm afraid the eldest princess still doesn't know, now Li Xian has a serious illness and is now bedridden." It was impossible to send Li Xian at this moment. ”

When Jian Huaizhen heard him say this, he couldn't help but let out an "ah" and asked, "What did you say?" Your Majesty, you said that Li Xian had a serious illness? ”

"Yes." Zhu Jianshen said helplessly.

Jian Huaizhen suddenly heard the news that Li Xian was sick, which made her feel very surprised. Because in her mind, Li Xian is an iron-clad man, no matter what kind of difficulties she encounters, what kind of bloody wind and rain she encounters, she can support it.

She still remembered that he dealt with the traitors of the court alone, and the scenes at that time were vivid, which made her remember it vividly, but why did all of a sudden, Li Xian, the pillar of the country, fall when the country needed him the most?

Jian Huaizhen couldn't help but feel a little gloomy for a while, Zhu Jianshen saw that Jian Huaizhen was very sad, so he persuaded her: "The eldest princess, don't think too much, people's birth, old age, sickness and death are very common things, if the emperor is mainly sad because of this matter, it can only hurt his own body." ”

Jian Huaizhen listened to Zhu Jianshen comforting her, so she nodded and said: "Your Majesty, what you said is not unreasonable, but when I think of this matter, I still feel very uncomfortable in my heart. ”

Zhu Jianshen heard Jian Huaizhen say this, and hurriedly agreed: "The eldest princess, I also greet Li Xian on my behalf." ”

Jian Huaizhen hurriedly nodded and said, "This palace knows." ”

So Jian Huaizhen went out of Wan'an Palace to visit Li Xian, she didn't expect that Li Xian would suddenly get sick, and it was a serious illness and he was bedridden. After Jian Huaizhen walked to Li Xian's mansion, Li Xian's mansion was very poor, which made Jian Huaizhen sigh. She didn't expect that Li Xian was now in the governor's position, but the place where he lived was still so simple.

After Jian Huaizhen walked in, those people had never known her, and suddenly saw an elderly woman walking in, the woman looked graceful and luxurious, not like an ordinary person, so they came up and asked, "I don't know who Madame wants to find?" ”

Jian Huaizhen nodded and said, "I'm here to visit Master Li Xian. ”

The man hurriedly asked, "I don't know if you are—madam?"

Jian Huaizhen smiled slightly and said, "I am a friend of Li Xian, you said that Li Xian's old friend came to visit him, and he will definitely let me in." ”

The man turned around and left, and reported to Li Xian. Not long after, the man ran back again, his face was full of surprise, and he looked at Jian Huaizhen for a long time before saying, "Eldest Princess, please come in." ”

Jian Huaizhen smiled slightly, and followed the person in, who never thought that Jian Huaizhen, as the eldest princess of the Ming Dynasty, came to visit Li Xian, and she was so plain and simple, she couldn't tell that she was the eldest princess.

After Jian Huaizhen walked in, she saw Li Xian lying on the bed, her face was sallow, and she looked like she was really sick, she couldn't help but sigh in her heart, and turned to Li Xian and said, "Li Qingjia, you have really worked hard. ”

Li Xian looked at Jian Huaizhen and shook his head, his eyes were full of struggle, and he said to Jian Huaizhen for a long time: "The emperor is not good, the minister is not good, the minister did not have a good life to assist the emperor, but he was sick at this time." ”

Jian Huaizhen shook his head and said with a smile: "Don't say that, what you have to do now is to have a good life and recuperate, and this palace also heard the emperor mention that you are sick now, so I came to visit you, this palace knows that you care about the country and the country." But no matter what, your body is the most important thing, and only after you protect your body can you contribute to the country and the society. ”

Li Xian nodded, he and Jian Huaizhen have been friends for a long time, and the two of them used to fight side by side together, so he remembered what Jian Huaizhen said, and for the two people who can understand each other, there are some things that are all in plain sight.