"Bell...... Clang...... Bell ......"

The morning bell and dusk drums and bells kept ringing in the city, and the officials of the entire capital hurried to the Forbidden City with a heavy heart.

This group of former officials and masters were in a hurry at the moment, and everyone went to the Forbidden City with a heavy heart.

Soon, all the officials entered the Donghua Gate before dawn, and at the same time, Zhu Youzhen of the East Palace was also woken up by Wang Chengen.

"Your Highness? Your Highness ......"

Outside the curtain of the bed, Wang Chengen's shadow was illuminated by the candle flame and was faintly visible.

Zhu Youzhen's eyes were hazy, and he rubbed them before getting up and asking:

"What's wrong?"

Seeing that Zhu Youzhen got up, Wang Chengen saluted through the bed curtain and said:

"Long live the word, His Royal Highness Xuan also went to the Wenhua Hall today."

"Me?!" Hearing that he was also going to the court, Zhu Youzhen sighed in his heart.

Obviously, the good emperor brother has no bottom about revising the Jingcha time, and wants someone to help him get an idea during the Chang Dynasty.

There are no ministers around the good imperial brother who can take the idea, so he can only be invited to go.

However, Zhu Youzhen also has a headache, he is only thinking about hibernation at the moment, once he participates in such a thing as Jingcha, all kinds of friends will notice that he has pulled up such a big force.

But if he doesn't help the royal brother, who will help the imperial brother?

If no one helps the emperor, then the final outcome can only be reduced to the same as in history, and the good emperor's brother can only use Wei Zhongxian to balance the parties......

Thinking of this, Zhu Youzhen could only get off the bed hard, and after walking out of the stepping bed, he raised his hands and said, "Let's change clothes." ”

Hearing this, Wang Chengen and the three palace maids next to him began to get busy, today is the Chang Dynasty, and they are not so particular, but Zhu Youzhen still changed into a crimson python robe.

Wearing a python robe, a gold and gemstone jade crown, a jade belt, and a series of cumbersome ornaments, Zhu Youzhen suddenly felt that he was six or seven pounds heavier.

After all the clothes were dressed, the maid began to wash his nails, face, and mouth.

Finally finished everything, and when he got up, he subconsciously put his hand on his belt, patted the jade belt around his waist, and couldn't help but smack:

"This thing will be taken to the next generation, and a suite in the capital will not run away."

After that, he simply ate some pastries, and after taking a sip of tribute tea, he asked someone to drive the chariot and rushed to the Wenhua Palace.

Since the Wenhua Hall is not far from the East Palace, it crossed the Golden Dragon Bridge and turned a corner, and after walking hundreds of steps, it arrived at the Wenhua Palace.

"Isn't that the Fifth Highness? How did he get here? ”

"I don't know, I think it's a long live summons."

"It seems that there is indeed a big event today......"

Seeing Zhu Youzhen appear, some non-party officials whispered, and Zhu Youzhen also got out of the car in front of the Wenhua Palace, took Wang Chengen into the Wenhua Palace, and saw Yang Lian in the dust for the first time.

"Your Highness......"

Yang Lian had already received the holy decree this morning, and he arrived at the town outside Andingmen last night, and came in a hurry as soon as he opened the door today.

Everyone was not surprised by Yang Lian's arrival, but they were just curious why Yang Lian would salute Zhu Youzhen.

In their memory, Yang Lian seems to have been angry with Zhu Youzhen everywhere when he appeared last time, but he has only been in Changping for less than a month, so he was so polite to Zhu Youzhen?

This scene successfully attracted the attention of Liu Yixiu, Fang Congzhe, Sun Ruyou, Guan Yingzhen, Gu Tianjun, Qi Shijiao and others.

Seeing this, Zhu Youzhen could only sigh in his heart, and then saluted Yang Lian back:

"Yang Du is in the middle of the matter"

"Bell!"

Suddenly, the bell rang for Honglu Temple, and he also sang in response:

"Entry ......"

As soon as the words fell, the ministers entered the shift in an orderly manner according to the official rank, and Zhu Youzhen walked directly to the side of the royal eucalyptus in front of everyone.

"Congratulations ......"

"Smack!"

Singing again, the brocade guards at the gate of the Wenhua Hall immediately whipped and exploded, and announced the beginning of the court meeting with a clean whip.

At this time, Zhu Youxiao also walked out from behind the screen of the Wenhua Palace, nodded with Zhu Youzhen, and sat on the dragon chair.

"The Ministers ......"

Honglu Siqing rang the bell and sang again, and as soon as he opened his mouth, someone immediately stepped forward and said:

"The right of the Chendu Inspectorate is the imperial history of the poetry ......"

"The Imperial History of Zhao Xingbang ......"

"The young secretary of the Taichang Temple should be shocked ......"

"Wu Liangsi in the Ministry of Ministers and Soldiers......"

"Yao Zongwen ...... in the matter of the minister's household"

"Chengyeonggi-do Imperial History Xu Zhaokui ......"

"Long live the rejection of the Divine Decree of Jingcha!

！ ”

The Wenhua Hall is not large, but it is enough to accommodate more than 100 people.

When nearly 40 of the more than 100 people stood up and sang their voices to refuse, it was a shock to everyone.

It's just that without waiting for Zhu Youxiao and the two to react, the first assistant of the cabinet stood up from Zheya and pointed to the thick music on the imperial eucalyptus and said:

"Long live, this is the posting of the relevant officials before and after the Jingcha reform decree stayed in the middle of the country, a total of eight volumes, three hundred and seventy-two posts."

"Among them, there are 210 posts that please dismiss the Jingcha restructuring post, and the remaining 162 stickers are impeachment of Liu Yixie, the second assistant of the cabinet, Yang Lian in the military department, and Zuo Guangdou ...... the imperial history of Zuo Lidu."

Fang Congzheyang reads out more than a dozen names, basically summarizes all the main officials of the Donglin Party, and finally summarizes:

"If you don't get rid of the ministers, how can you be safe in your family and country?"

Fang Congzhe's forced palace gave Zhu Youzhen a vivid moment.

That is, in the face of power, even if Zhu Youzhen helped Fang Congzhe, Fang Congzhe would not stand on his side.

However, Zhu Youzhen never counted on Fang Congzhe, what he wanted was to cut off the Donglin Party's support for moving the palace.

He needed a balance, a balance between the Donglin Party and the other parties.

It's just that he tried his best to create a balance, but it lasted less than two months before he declared a collapse, and he couldn't stop it.

Thinking of this, Zhu Youzhen looked at the good imperial brother, but saw that the good imperial brother actually took out the music on the table unhurriedly and read it one by one.

Zhu Youzhen glanced at the pile of songs, and saw that from the cover of the songs, you could see how fierce the reactions of the parties were this time.

Qi Shijiao's "The Great Chaos Will Be Shu", Xu Zhaokui's "Donglin Yuchen Shu", Wang Zhi's "Illness and Return", Yao Zongwen's "Eliminating Evil Ministers Zhao Zhangshu", Feng Sanyuan's "Exposing the Corrupt Ministers and Evil Officials", Zheng Fang's "Evil Schemes", Shi Chaofeng's "The Chaos of the Party Has Been Planned for a Long Time", ......

These open letters, like those of later generations, can range from hundreds of words to thousands of words in a post, and the content is so vicious that it makes people's scalps tingle.

It seems that in their performance, the Donglin Party and others have all become corrupt officials and corrupt officials, and they are the gods who stand in high positions and are responsible for supervising the trial.

"Sure enough, don't play with the literati......"

Looking at this pile of songs, Zhu Youzhen didn't know how to deal with this situation for a while.

To put it bluntly, in his previous life, he was a grassroots poverty alleviation level, and even the village did not succeed in getting rid of poverty, so he came to the Ming Dynasty, where would he have time to deal with this situation.

Dealing with the big soldiers of the Yanshan battalion and dealing with the Forbidden City are completely two different concepts.

Cold sweat couldn't help but break out on his forehead, but at this time, a piece of silk appeared in front of his eyes, and then he saw that it was the good royal brother with a worried expression and said:

"Why are you sweating so much? Didn't you catch a chill last night? ”

"......" For a while, not only Zhu Youzhen, but also the princes of Gon who were shouting loudly a second ago closed their mouths.

Zhu Youxiao's move seems to be concerned about Zhu Youzhen, but it is actually dragging time.

He is delaying time for the Donglin Party, and he is also delaying time for himself.

Sure enough, under such delays, Liu Yixiu, the deputy assistant of the Donglin Party cabinet, stood up and said:

"Long live, the minister thinks that the reform of the capital is due!"

"Long live, the minister seconded the proposal!"

"Hooray......

"Hooray......

Suddenly, among the 100 officials who had already stood up for more than 40 people, more than 30 people stood up again, and in the end only more than 20 officials without party affiliation remained.

Donglin Party officials agreed to the restructuring one after another, and Yang Lian still stepped forward with a wat board:

"Long live the old Emperor Taizu Gao once stipulated that Jingcha should be examined every three years, and later changed to every ten years, and during the Hongzhi period, it was stipulated that it would be held once every six years."

"The reason for this is that most of the officials in the early Hongwu court were officials left over from the previous dynasty, and these officials were corrupt and perverted the law, so they needed to be tested every three years."

"After that, Emperor Taizu Gao relied on the three-year examination of Jingcha to eliminate the corrupt officials in the world, and then changed it to a ten-year examination."

"During the Hongzhi period, Emperor Xiaozongjing thought that corrupt officials in the world had risen again, so he changed the ten-year examination to a six-year examination, which greatly stifled the breeding of corrupt officials."

"At present, the world's officials and officials are innumerable, innumerable, Huaibei, because of the insufficient storage of grain in the official warehouse, resulting in soaring grain prices, and hundreds of thousands of people starved to death!"

"Isn't it possible to revise the Jingcha Law in such a world?"

"The minister thinks that those who advocate not changing the Beijing inspection should be beheaded!"

Yang Lian is still the upright and stubborn old man, the kind who wants to die as soon as he opens his mouth, and even thought that the famine in Huaibei was caused by the lack of food in the local official warehouse.

Why is there a shortage of food in Guancang? It's very simple, because rats are rampant, so the time has come when the rectification of the government has to be restructured.

Listening to Yang Lian's words, Zhu Youzhen couldn't wait to applaud this stubborn old man, but soon Sun Ruyou stood up:

"Long live, Scholar of Chendong Pavilion, Sun Ruyou ......"

"The minister thinks that what Yang Du said in the matter is just chasing after the wind."

"Huaibei has enough official warehouses, and there are only a dozen people who starve to death after winter."

"Ridiculous!" Zuo Guangdou took a step forward and said angrily:

"Those who have passed through Huaibei have seen tens of thousands of corpses lying on both sides of the Huaibei Road, stretching for hundreds of miles, and millions of people have suffered under the great hunger, and Pizhou County has sold fifty yuan a pound of high-priced grain."

"You must know that ordinary people only save three or four taels of silver and fifty wen a pound of grain when they are one year old, how many days can the people eat?"

"That's right!" Yushi Yuan Huazhong also stood up and said:

"On August 23 of the first year of Taichang, Yang Sichang, the secretary of the department, once spoke"

"The residents of Huaibei ate all the bark of grass roots and trees, or even a few cottages, women and children, and ordered to be crushed by beans and rhombs."

"After crossing the river, the stove households are grabbing rice, and the hungry people are grabbing grain, and there are many places."

"As soon as you enter Zhenjiang, you will spend 100 yuan on rice, and gradually reach Su and Song, and it will grow to 130 or 40 and you will not be able to do it, and the merchant ships will not be able to close the rice, and the shops will strike the market, and the small people will try to get away with it."

"Even Zhenjiang and Su Song are like this, isn't this enough to show how serious the situation in Huaibei is?!"

Yuan Huazhong carried Yang Sichang out, and many Chu Party officials were in trouble in an instant.

Yang Sichang and his father Yang He are both important officials in the Chu Party, and it is impossible for them to slap Yang Sichang in the face......

If Yang Sichang is slapped in the face, then Yang Sichang's family will be implicated, and the power of the Chu Party will be reduced at that time, and Yang Sichang is the central official trained by the Chu Party for the future.

Thinking of this, Ying Zhen, the official of the Chu Party, thought about the half-percent reduction that Sun Ruyou had promised, and after weighing it, he returned to his position.

Guan Yingzhen took a step back, and after being seen by the Chu Party officials, they also took a step back.

In an instant, the nine officials took a step back, and the other parties who watched gritted their teeth, and Yao Zongwen of the Zhejiang Party was even more eager to bite Guan Ying Zhen to death.

As for Guan Yingzhen, he was not entirely because Yang Sichang took a step back, the reason why he retreated, but because he met Yang Lian when he was in front of Donghuamen.

At that time, he saw Yang Lian coming with a few people, who spoke Wu and dressed very simply, and they looked like flat-headed people.

Therefore, after thinking of those people, he instantly had a bad premonition and retreated to his position in time.

However, there are not many officials who know about this matter, so after Sun Ruyou and others heard the words of Yang Lian and others, they did not restrain themselves, but stood up and said:

"Whether there is a great hunger in Huaibei and whether the people are starving to death, send someone down to find out!"

"In the sixth year of Wanli, the households of Huai'an Mansion were 109,205, and the mouth was 906,033."

"According to this household registration, if there are people starving to death, I have nothing to say, I am willing to go to work for the people!"

Sun Ruyou let out cruel words, and even said them very absolutely, not because of hot-headedness.

On the contrary, his words were over-the-top.

He clearly understands that with the current situation, he will not be able to keep the Zhejiang party officials at all, so the best thing is to resign and return to old age after this incident has passed.

When the time comes, if anything happens to the Zhejiang Party, it will have nothing to do with him.

As for the gentry and landlords in Zhejiang, it was too late to let him reinstate his official position.

To put it bluntly, Sun Ruyou really wants to retire from this position.

Right now, when facing the methods of the two brothers, Zhu Youxiao and Zhu Youzhen, he really feels like he is on pins and needles.

However, his wish for peace is estimated to be shattered, so at this time, Yang Lian, who had been waiting for a long time, stood up and said angrily:

"Good! Since Sun Gechen said so, then I will invite the people of Huaibei to enter the Wenhua Hall and personally tell the Huaibei tragedy to the cabinet ministers! ”

“！

！ Hearing Yang Lian's words, everyone was shocked, they didn't expect Yang Lian to find the people of Huaibei in such a short period of time.

"What's going on? Didn't they say that Huai'an Mansion had been blocked......" Beads of sweat oozed from Yao Zongwen's forehead during the incident, and Fang Congzhe also sensed that Yang Lian was really not scaring people.

"Long live, the minister wants to invite Maocai Yang Lu from Wuhe Town, Pizhou County, Huai'an Prefecture to enter the palace and tell the truth about the great hunger in Huai'an!"

Yang Lian turned to Zhu Youxiao and saluted, his voice rumbling.

As for Zhu Youxiao, he didn't show his face, but just bowed his head slightly and said: "Quasi"

Seeing this, Wang An, who was serving next to him, ordered someone to go to Donghua Gate to take Yang Lu and others into the palace.

Somehow, at this moment, Zhu Youxiao, even Zhu Youzhen himself was a little afraid to face him.

However, when Zhu Youxiao reacted, and after seeing Zhu Youzhen's silent appearance, he reluctantly squeezed out a smile and said:

"I'm not angry with my brother, I'm angry with this court farce."

"That's good......" Zhu Youzhen barely squeezed out a smile, and Zhu Youxiao also smiled when he saw this, and then turned his head The moment he turned his head, his face returned to calm again.

Zhu Youzhen looked at all this, and could only sigh in his heart:

"My imperial grandfather is really good at teaching the art of the emperor."

"It's a pity that he didn't settle these things by himself, but left it to us......"

With a long sigh, Zhu Youzhen focused his attention on the Wenhua Palace.

At this moment, everyone was silent, and their minds were spinning rapidly, trying to know what to do next.

However, Zhu Youxiao didn't like it anymore, but picked up those notes on impeachment of the Donglin Party and flipped through them one by one.

It's just that this calm didn't last long before it was broken under the singing of the eunuch on duty.

"Maocai Yang Lu Yang Gongcheng of Wuhe Town, Pizhou County, Huai'an Prefecture, Nanzhili, requested to enter the palace......"

"Accurate!" Zhu Youxiao snapped and closed the music, and at this time, the officials also looked at the door of the Wenhua Palace.

I saw Yang Lu, who had changed into a silk robe, walked into the Wenhua Palace.

Taoist robe, this is a form of loose daily clothing that began to become popular in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, most scholars basically wear Taoist robes, wearing a square scarf, and Yang Lu is the same.

As a showman, although he may be regarded as a bit of fame in the local area, he seems very nervous and cramped in this Wenhua Palace, which is full of officials above the sixth grade.

Zhu Youzhen had no choice, after all, Yang Lu was brought out by his own people, so he said to him:

"Maocai Yang Gongcheng, you said that you fled from Huaibei, do you have a certificate?"

Zhu Youzhen's words actually only played a role in breaking the point, because the officials were not stupid, and when they saw Yang Lu, they knew that Yang Lu might really have fled from Huaibei.

Without him, Xiucai in the Ming Dynasty had many privileges such as exemption, and ordinary people as long as they won the show, they were exempted from indoor service and enjoyed certain free food privileges.

Ordinary Xiucai only needs these two privileges, and he can basically achieve semi-full-time.

Therefore, the image of Xiucai is mostly good.

But Yang Lu at the moment, his face is withered, his cheeks and eye sockets are sunken and black, obviously he is seriously ill and even hungry for a long time.

But such an image, if Yang Lu fled from Huaibei and was so miserable with his status as a talent, then it is difficult to imagine how desolate ordinary people are.

The hundred officials were silent, Yang Lu saw a young man sitting in the hall, and he knew that it was Banzai today, and the only brother standing was Banzai today, Zhu Youzhen, the fifth highness.

Before entering the palace, Lu Wenzhao and Shen Lian had already told him that if His Royal Highness asked him anything, he would answer honestly.

You can not believe in the civil official and Yang Lian, but you must believe in the Fifth Highness, otherwise it will be difficult for his family to survive.

Yang Lu also knew and exposed the hunger in Huaibei, he must have a tough backer, otherwise there is only one way to die.

Yang Lian is not qualified enough, and only Zhu Youzhen can keep him.

Thinking of this, Yang Lu wrote:

"Chennan Zhili Huai'an Prefecture Pizhou County Wuhe Town's Maocai Yang Gongcheng, Long Live Worship, Long Live Shengbow'an, Five Highnesses Chitose ......"

"Okay...... Zhu Youxiao said with an indifferent expression:

"Yang Lu, let's talk about it, what did you see in Huaibei, and whether Huaibei was hungry."

"Long live the return!" Yang Lu suddenly remembered his own experience at this moment.

Slaves and maidservants starved to death, as did the firstborn son and daughter-in-law.

Recalling the picture when the eldest son couldn't find food, he would rather starve himself and his daughter-in-law to death and die on the side of the road, Yang Lu's nose instantly became sour, and his eyes were red:

"Hooray! Huaibei is not only a great hunger! It's already at the point where it's easy to eat! ”

When Yang Lu spoke, all the officials, especially the officials without party affiliation, were shocked, and most of the Donglin Party was excited, and for the sake of power, only a small number of people such as Yang Lian and Zuo Guangdou were angry.

The officials of the five parties of Qichu, Zhejiang, Xuankun and Kun have looked at their noses and noses and hearts.

From one action, it is not difficult to see who is doing nothing, who is greedy for power, who is careless about people's lives, and who is for the country and the people.

Among the hundreds of officials in the huge court, only a dozen people such as Liu Yixi, Han Yi, Yang Lian, Zuo Guangdou, and Huang Zunsu can put on such angry expressions.

Are all these dozen people good officials? Not necessarily.

A dynasty cannot require all officials to be good officials, if they are all good officials, then there will be no dynasty without three hundred years of national fortune.

"Remember these expressions, the angry person is not necessarily a good official, but he must be a cadre, and the person who does nothing may be incorruptible, but it is not a good thing for the world......"

When Zhu Youzhen looked at the expressions of the hundred officials, the good imperial brother suddenly whispered, and Zhu Youzhen nodded subconsciously after hearing it.

His experience had taught him that the more capable a person is, the more powerful he is, the more powerful he is, the more people who pursue him, and the more money he receives.

Money and power are inseparable, and it's hard for most people to say no when faced with a large amount of money.

If you take bribes, the people will let you step down, and there will be one less capable official in the world, but at the same time, there will be one less corrupt official who is greedy for the people's money.

An official who no one bribes you is mostly incompetent and incompetent, and only a few people can do something.

Although the people would think that he was a clean official and supported him, no one bribed him, which only proved that he was not powerful enough and not strong enough.

If no one in the world bribes officials, it can only prove that it is not that all the officials in the world are of good character and good style, but that the people live and work in peace and contentment, can live the life they want to live, and do not need to improve their quality of life by giving gifts.

And this kind of atmosphere represents that the officials of this world and this court are doing nothing, and the people have no need to pay bribes to them.

It is impossible for officials not to be corrupt, even if the court gives them more money, they will still think that it is not enough, and they want to ask for more.

The water of the Yellow River and the Yangtze River, regardless of turbidity, is good water as long as it can nourish the people, and the only thing that needs to be rectified is turbid and cholera, clear and poisonous turbulence......