Ten days later, Chongzhen sat in a carriage that was closely guarded by his entourage and arrived in Mengjin, Henan, on the outskirts of Luoyang.

Here, Mei Zhihuan, the former governor of Gansu who was promoted to governor of Henan by him earlier, was already waiting at the local post station.

The promotion of Mei Zhihuan is also the practice of Chongzhen's thinking that it is better to make merit.

Moreover, Mei Zhihuan's own ability is much stronger than Geng Ruqi, and when he served in the local government before, he was also a person who was not afraid of the powerful.

At the time, people said, "Although Shihao looks sideways, he can't help but be convinced." ”

"Your Majesty!" Mei Zhihuan saluted Chongzhen.

"Let's change the sedan chair next!"

Chongzhen hesitated.

In Cheng Zhu's theory, sitting in a sedan chair is to treat people as livestock, so it is advocated to take a carriage.

At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, it was not allowed to sit in a sedan chair, but later because the sedan chair was much more comfortable than the carriage, almost everyone broke the ban, and only the adults above the third grade could sit in the sedan chair.

In comparison, sitting in a sedan chair is really a bit eye-catching.

"Forget it, you can go in a carriage with me. I happen to have some arrangements and I'll ask you again. ”

Mei Zhihuan was flattered, but was still dragged into the carriage by Chongzhen.

"How about it, I came to Henan from Gansu, and I still got used to it, right?"

Mei Zhihuan nodded and said, "Zhongzhou has been a rich land since ancient times, and the ministers have been deeply favored by the emperor, and they are really ashamed to be promoted instead of being convicted." ”

He also said, "Gansu's rebellion is actually caused by the unpaid salaries of the border army. If only the household could spare the money..."

Chongzhen interrupted, "I already know about the border army, so for now, I should focus on the affairs of Henan first." ”

He looked out of the curtain, "A land of abundance? Put it in front of the court, it does. ”

"But this dynasty has made a total of seven vassal kings here. King Kaifeng Zhou, King Nanyang Tang, King Fu of Luoyang, King Zhao of Zhangde, King Zheng of Huaiqing, King Chong of Runing, King Wei Huilu, there are only eight prefectures in Zhongzhou, and these rice worms occupy seven. ”

Mei Zhihuan didn't dare to squeak when he saw Chongzhen say this.

Chongzhen said again, "It's okay to bear the responsibilities of seven vassal kings, hundreds of county kings and countless clan descendants, after all, it is the system left by the great grandfather." ”

"But Emperor Shenzong is good, to his own brother King Lu, obviously not in Henan, he insisted on using the land of the people of Henan to scrape together 40,000 hectares of land for him."

"My uncles, the fiefdoms of King Honglu, all of them, had to give 20,000 hectares each."

"Half of Zhongzhou land is in the vassal king, and all the children of the fields are in the office, and they are tired of losing the rice, and the feudal lords are still not enough to provide billions. In such a situation, once we encounter natural and man-made disasters, what can I do to help the people of Henan? ”

"In other words, the biggest natural and man-made disaster in Zhongzhou is these uncles and uncles of mine."

Mei Zhihuan took a deep breath and said suddenly, "Your Majesty is wise and martial, and you will solve this upside down for the people of Zhongzhou." Why do you regret this? ”

"I am willing to cut the domain for Your Majesty, and smear your liver and brain!"

After speaking, he was about to kneel, but was pulled by Chongzhen.

"Wait, who told you that I want to cut the domain?"

"I just want to invite King Fu, a good uncle, to go to the capital to worship my ancestors with me."

Mei Zhihuan was shocked and said, "Then Your Majesty's arrangement with the rest of the feudal domains in Zhongzhou?" ”

Chongzhen said, "Those naturally remain the same, after all, these vassal kings in Zhongzhou raise slaves, which is one of the troubles." I have seen them in a private interview, and I am bound to eradicate them all. ”

Mei Zhihuan came to his senses a little, "Therefore, the ministers only need to punish the minions that the vassal kings use to fish and meat in the country, and there is no need to confront the kings head-on." ”

Chongzhen smiled and said, "Mei Zhihuan, no wonder I have been feeling that you are trembling and restless since I saw you just now. ”

"Do you think I want you to do Chao Cuo, Qi Tai, and Huang Zicheng, involve the emperor's family affairs, and kill yourself?"

Mei Zhihuan's face turned red, obviously he did think so before.

Chongzhen said solemnly, "I am not as stunned as Emperor Jianwen, even if I really want to cut the domain, I will not be honest, let alone let my subordinates die." ”

"You only need to fulfill the duties of the governor of Henan, and those with the surname of the country have their own I will take care of them."

Chongzhen's words obviously gave Mei Zhihuan a lot of encouragement, and his speech became more natural.

Just as the two were talking and laughing, suddenly the carriage slowly stopped.

"What's going on?" Mei Zhihuan was furious.

Although Chongzhen's trip is a private visit to Weifu, Mei Zhihuan has already arranged for Zhongzhou to open the way in front of him, so as not to accidentally collide with the holy car.

Unexpectedly, the worst feared thing happened. After all, the things and pomp in the palace, even the villagers can see that the identity and status of the people sitting inside must be extraordinary.

A brocade guard dressed in civilian clothes reported outside the carriage, "Geng Ye, a villager from a village, saw that you were accompanied by a large number of people, thinking that he had met a big official, saying that there was some grievance. Hundreds of people in Ulala simply blocked the road. ”

Mei Zhihuan was just about to go out, but was pulled by Chongzhen.

"You are a magistrate, and if they see you here, won't they alarm the big fish? Let's let me see a thing or two. ”

Mei Zhihuan said in fear, "Father, this was originally the duty of the ministers, how dare you work as a holy driver?" Besides, most of the small people in the countryside are illiterate, and if they collide, the ministers will die and cannot be redeemed. ”

Chongzhen sneered, "What kind of monarch would not even dare to see his own people? Sit down and wait for me to come back. ”

Although Mei Zhihuan could ride a horse and shoot arrows, where did he dare to really pull with his father, and he was pushed back twice.

Chongzhen held his belt and came to these villagers under the cover of the disguised brocade guards.

"I am Geng Ruqi, the governor of Lianghuai, and I am close friends with Master Mei, the governor of Henan. Tell me the truth about your grievances. ”

A leading old man stepped forward and kowtowed twice, "Lord Qingtian, we are originally villagers born and raised in Mengjin, and we have been farmers for generations. ”

"After the prince of Luoyang became a vassal domain, our fields were divided from official fields to feudal fields."

"Originally, the old men said that after the field was divided, the tax would remain the same, but five cents of silver per mu of land would be handed over to the palace every year."

"Who knew that after the delineation, the official will no longer come, and the old Zhao Tou, the housekeeper of the palace, will be replaced to undertake the service, and the silver will be charged to us every year for each mu of land, which will be doubled."

Chongzhen raised his eyebrows and said, "This must be that old Zhao's head is full of private pockets, why don't you go to report to the official?" ”

The old man's face fell, "Master, what are you talking about?" That prince is the heart of the original emperor's grandfather, and the official is too late to stammer, how can anyone dare to care about him? ”

"Originally, we could bear it. But in the past few years, the contractor has become Zhao Si, the son of Lao Zhao Tou, who receives two cents of silver per mu of land. ”

Chongzhen frowned, "This Zhao Si is also too deceitful. ”

The old man said, "Who said it wasn't, it's just a brute!" What's even worse is that the official officials came before Zhao Si this year, and they collected a penny of silver, saying that His Majesty was chasing the tax arrears of the provinces, and we Zhongzhou owed more than 100,000 taels of silver, and we had to spread it to everyone. ”

Chongzhen's old face turned red, this tax collection was still done by him to Bi Ziyan.

The old man didn't notice it, and said, "That's it." But after the government finished collecting it, Zhao Si came again, and he still had to collect two cents of silver. Let's not do it, and when we got into a fight with him, didn't we originally say five cents of silver? He shoved me to the ground and scolded, 'Give me two cents of silver for selling your sons and daughters, or you will report to the authorities!' ’”

Chongzhen was silent, and then asked, "Then what did your parents say?"

The old man cried, "We can't even go out of the township, and as soon as someone wanted to go to Luoyang, they were sent back with a broken leg from the king's dog." If we hadn't bumped into you, we would have had to flee to the mountains. ”

Chongzhen picked up the old man and said, "It's your blessing to bump into my Master Geng." ”

"I'm going to tell Master Mei and ask him to break the legs of those dogs!"