I don't know when it began, from Henan to Beijing, along the way there was a wild news of smallpox ravaging Suizhou.

But Daming Daily did not report on the incident.

Xia Yunyi, the governor of Suizhou, also did not report to the imperial court that there was a smallpox epidemic in Suizhou.

Even Zhanggui, the Marquis of Suizhou, who was ordered to inspect Suizhou, did not send a fast horse into Beijing to report the incident, but just rushed back to Beijing with a group of family members and the Xichang official school.

However, the more roads were rumored, and the "Daming Daily" controlled by Xichang did not report the incident, and the more Xia Yunyi and Zhang Gui did not know about the accident, the more satisfied a certain red-robed senior official who was staying in the capital at this time to plot the smallpox epidemic in Suizhou.

"The truth can't be suppressed!"

"This Zhang Gui and Xia Yunyi think that if they don't report this matter and don't let their "Daming Daily" publish it, they will be able to hide it from the world?"

After the red-robed man said with a sneer, he stroked his beard and said to his reliable protégé: "Paper can't contain fire after all!" ”

This protégé's name is Guang Shiheng.

Guang Shiheng is good at judging the situation, and after he became a scholar in the Inenke, he did not rashly go against Zhang Gui and others who supported the change of law like many civil officials, so he has been staying in the capital as an official very smoothly, and now he has been promoted to Shaoqing of Dali Temple.

But even if he succeeded to the Shaoqing of Dali Temple, Guang Shiheng did not raise the slightest dissatisfaction with the change on the surface, but just reported to his master and planned for him how to secretly prevent the change.

After the red-robed master said, Guang Shiheng said: "What Enfu said is that I believe that in the near future, more and more courtiers will know about this, but I am afraid that the Son of Heaven will also know." ”

It didn't take long for the apocalypse to know about the smallpox in Suizhou.

He knew about it through Liu Zongzhou, the right deputy capital imperial historian.

"The minister impeached Xia Yunyi, the governor of Suizhou, for hiding smallpox and not reporting it, and also impeached Zhang Gui, the uncle who went to Suizhou, also turned a deaf ear to this, and sat back and watched smallpox rage, and the militia died of the plague, so that I was afraid that smallpox began to appear in nearby prefectures and counties!"

"All the officials dare not report because they are afraid of the power of their relatives, and the ministers are planning for the safety of His Majesty's society and the people of the world.

Liu Zongzhou said to the apocalypse.

Tianqi was also quite surprised when he heard this, and hurriedly asked, "How did you know that smallpox was raging in the Suizhou area?" ”

Liu Zongzhou replied: "Now that the road is spreading, even the Jingshi has many people talking about it, but His Majesty lives in the palace and doesn't know about it. ”

Liu Zongzhou did not explicitly say that Tianqi loved carpentry too much, so he was not clear about the outside world, but he also had an irony when he said this.

Tianqi didn't care about Liu Zongzhou's sarcasm, he was now also starting to feel uneasy about Suizhou because of this smallpox, and he focused all his attention on it.

Not to mention that smallpox is already terrifying in this era, not to mention, Suizhou is also one of the places where he asked the Planning Department to carry out a pilot reform of the law.

Therefore, Tianqi only hurriedly ordered at this time: "Wei Zhongxian, the cabinet sent an eight-hundred-mile urgent message to ask Uncle Zhang Gui and Zhizhou Xia Yunyi about this matter, so that they can play the truth about the smallpox in Suizhou, and they must not be lazy!" In addition, let your Dongchang also check whether it is true that there is smallpox in Suizhou! ”

"Yes!"

Apocalypse then looked at the other ministers: "So, you have also heard rumors about smallpox raging in Suizhou?" ”

Yuan Keli came out of the class at this time and replied: "Back to Your Majesty, the minister has indeed heard about it. ”

"If you have heard about it, why don't you report it?!"

Apocalypse asked sternly.

At this time, Liu Zongzhou said: "Back to Your Majesty, some people don't dare, and some people naturally don't want Your Majesty to know?" ”

"What does that mean?"

Tianqi stared at Liu Zongzhou and asked.

Liu Zongzhou replied: "I don't dare to naturally because I am afraid of Uncle Guo's power and power, and I am afraid of getting into trouble. No, naturally because everyone knows that the ravages in Suizhou are undoubtedly caused by the punishment of heaven due to the pilot of the new policy in Suizhou, and those who support the reform are naturally unwilling to let the Son of Heaven admit that the new policy is not a good policy after knowing about it. ”

Sun Chengzong, a scholar, also stood up at this time and said: "Your Majesty, as Vice President Liu said, the courtiers did not dare to report this matter because they were cautious and did not dare to spoil state affairs again!" And the most important thing now is to find out the truth, that is, whether there was a large-scale smallpox outbreak in Suizhou! If not, nature is a good thing; But if there is, it may be because of the New Deal. ”

Book of Hundred Leagues

After hearing this, Tianqi nodded: "What Mr. said is pertinent, then this matter will be discussed here, and everything will be discussed when Uncle Zhang Guo, Xia Yunyi's transcript and the results of the investigation of Dongchang arrive!" ”

"Your Majesty! Xia Yunyi's recital has just arrived at the General Administration Department. ”

Huang Zunsu, the general political envoy, stood up at this time and reported a word.

The Apocalypse then commanded, "Give me his recital at once!" ”

Soon, Tianqi got Xia Yunyi's transcript.

In the transcript, Xia Yunyi truthfully explained the effect of the new policy after the pilot implementation in Suizhou, and also mentioned smallpox.

Tianqi also told the ministers who were discussing politics in the court the content of Xia Yunyi's performance: "Xia Qing said in the recital that the new policy was implemented very well, and the people returned to their hometowns to cultivate, and the phenomenon of abandonment of fields no longer exists; Even commerce and trade are more prosperous than before, and there are no homeless people in the cities of the city. He also said that after Suizhou implemented the apportionment of land into mu and the integrated payment of grain by the officials and gentry, the people's taxes were reduced a lot, and the number of people who were willing to contribute to public water conservancy also increased a lot. ”

Speaking of this, Tianqi smiled and said, "And he also mentioned smallpox, saying that he and his uncle Zhang Gui had eradicated smallpox in time, and in the end there were only sixteen infected people, and among these infected people, six of them were cured because of timely care." ”

"Impossible!"

Zhou Yingqiu, the secretary of the ministry, couldn't help shouting at this time, and then went out to play: "Your Majesty, once smallpox appears, it will be the destruction of the village and the destruction of Guo, and those who meet it will die. What Xia Zhizhou played may be a deception! ”

Seeing this, Guang Shiheng did not stand up and speak, but only secretly observed the situation.

And Liu Zongzhou also echoed at this time: "Your Majesty, the minister also thinks that Xia Zhizhou is probably concealing the report, and the purpose must be to prove that smallpox has nothing to do with the New Deal!" Obviously, this person is suspected of flattering and pandering to the powerful! ”

But in fact, everyone knows that in order to implement the new policy in Suizhou, he forced the gentry to accept the Qingzhang and pay grain, and for this reason, he did not hesitate to destroy his family and his clan on the grounds that some officials and gentry resisted the new policy, which is not ruthless! And it was precisely because of this cruel thing that he provoked the wrath of heaven and the resentment of the people, so that he was punished by heaven! ”

"Your Majesty, he Xia Yunyi bullied the monarch and deserves to be severely punished!"

After hearing this, Tianqi asked coldly: "So, Liu Aiqing also thinks that the new deal should not be implemented, and also thinks that the new deal harms the people?" ”

Liu Zongzhou replied: "Your Majesty, although the new policy is to make up for the deficiency in order to make up for the loss, but it cannot be forcibly implemented, and it disturbs the people so much that the people's resentment boils and the heavens are dissatisfied!" ”

"And Xia Zhizhou is doing just that!"

"He was forcibly implementing the new policy in Suizhou, and he was mean to the scholars; Instead, the officials and gentry knew the benefits and harms, treated them with courtesy, and explained the holy will, so that the scholars and doctors understood the imperial court, and only knew how to use the techniques of the Legalists, so that the new policy became a bad government, which led to the anger of the heavens and the resentment! ”

"Your Majesty, Xia Zhizhou did not first take advantage of the officials and gentry of Suizhou, but hoped that they would take the initiative to cooperate, and even Yuan Gong wrote a letter to his fellow villagers, hoping that they would support the change of the law, but most of the officials and gentry did not cooperate, and even secretly instigated the villagers to resist the new policy, so they had to enforce it. And Liu Vice Xian doesn't know the roots, and talking about it here will undoubtedly confuse the monarch and harm the country! ”

Chen Zizhuang couldn't stand it at this time, and came out to refute it.

Liu Zongzhou retorted: "Nonsense! Shi is the head of the four people, and he is the most loyal and patriotic, how can he not understand the national policy of the imperial court? ”

"Besides, at the beginning of people, their nature is good, as long as the court understands it with reason and moves it with emotion, people in the world will only understand the court, and are willing to dedicate themselves to the society, how can Chen Butang be sure that he Xia Zhizhou has done persuasion work for the official gentry of Suizhou, instead of deliberately saying that these official gentry do not cooperate with the act of stealing and plundering?!"

"Your Majesty! Chen believes that Xia Zhizhou does not have such selfishness! ”

Chen Zizhuang couldn't deny that "at the beginning of people, nature is good", so he had to force Xia Yunyi to vouch for him.

"Let's wait for Uncle Zhang Gui's return and the results of the investigation of the East Factory."

Apocalypse did not draw a direct conclusion, but said this.

At this time, Wei Zhongxian rushed back: "Emperor Qi, Dongchang has found the result!" ”