In the capital in June, the sun is blazing.

There was a clear hint of disgust on the faces of ordinary people, not to mention the farmers who worked in the fields in the suburbs, and even the peddlers and pawns in the city were often sweating.

In the face of this bad weather, the people at the bottom can only endure it silently, and as for the ice cubes that can be sold for hundreds of dollars for a pound of ice, they are naturally sighing.

At this time, local officials will send personnel to Beijing to give filial piety to all officials who hold real power.

"The amount of money given by hundreds of officials is not enough to support themselves, so the officials are bad."

In fact, the first half of this sentence is not rigorous, but the second half of the sentence directly refers to the current situation of Daming officialdom.

Since the current trend of Ming officialdom is the integration of government and business, many officials come from wealthy families and do not need to be greedy for ink in order to support their families.

Although the Ming Dynasty's Yulu was lower than that of the Song Dynasty, the official Yulu of the Zhengwupin was 192 stones, which was already the ration for 16 adults, not to mention various hidden benefits, such as the preferential exemption of Jinshi officials and firewood salary, silver soap, and silver.

Of course, the most important thing is the "ice example", "charcoal example" and "don't make an example" from the local government, and these incomes do not exist at all to support themselves.

It's just that "the officials are bad", but there is indeed a thing.

Taking Bing Juyin as an example, it is impossible for these silver coins to be conjured out of thin air, but the officials in the capital naturally blink and close their eyes in order to collect money.

For the sake of their own future, local officials naturally try to continue to make money in the local area, so as to pave the way for their own careers.

It is precisely in this way that some high-ranking officials who seem to be as clean as water, and the filial piety of the local officials below alone is enough for three generations of their children and grandchildren to have no worries about food and clothing.

The Xu Mansion, which is located in Yongfang, is constantly receiving ice and silver from local officials in this hot summer, constantly delivering cold air to this hot Xu Mansion.

Xu Pu, who was wearing a second-grade official uniform, returned home in a sedan chair as usual, and the housekeeper happily greeted him with an account book, which was the ice silver that recorded the recent local officials.

Xu Pu looked in a bad mood, and immediately waved his hand impatiently, preferring to be a clean official who didn't know.

"Dad, the child made an appointment with those friends to go to Hanlin Temple to read books today, so I want some entanglement!" Xu Yuanji waited at home for a long time, and even came up to please the authentic.

The housekeeper on the side saw that Xu Yuanji was reaching out to ask for money again, and found that Xu Yuanji was also born in the Xu family, and the ordinary family had already been ruined by the fourth son.

Xu Pu's brows furrowed slightly, and he immediately looked at his son and said, "Are you in trouble?" ”

"Dad, if you don't have anything, you can entangle me!" Xu Yuanji's heart immediately tightened, and he quickly shook his head and denied it.

Xu Pu had actually seen some clues, and waved his hand unhappily: "Since it's not a trouble, then don't always think about running around, and then go to the treasury to pay the silver in two days!" ”

"Dad, I've made an appointment with a friend!" Xu Yuanji looked at it and stayed for two more days, and immediately pleaded with a bitter face.

Xu Pu didn't pay attention to Xu Yuanxuan, so he went straight to the main room, but he knew that if he didn't make arrangements, he might really have to fall to Sun Shan.

"Quick, hurry up and change the old man's clothes!" The housekeeper followed Xu Pu to the back house and urged the four Hou Yahuan here.

Xu Pu has become accustomed to this kind of life of stretching out his hands and opening his mouth for food, and every day when he returns, he will change out of this set of official clothes on his body and wear a set of comfortable living clothes.

At first, he just thought it would be more comfortable to dress like this, but now he slowly understands Yang Tinghe's mood, and it is really the official uniform on his body that makes him uncomfortable.

He is obviously the most senior emperor and the leader of the clear stream, and he has a resounding reputation in the government and the opposition, so it can be said that he is the best choice to dominate the country.

It is said that he, as the emperor's mentor of the current emperor, should enter the cabinet to worship the prime minister in the new dynasty. It's just that the situation is diametrically opposite, not only has he not been able to advance an inch so far, but he has also been excluded from the inner circle of power.

Now he doesn't want to say that he will replace Wan An and Liu Ji, even if Li Yu, the secretary of the ministry, has to ride on his head, and now this set of second-grade official uniforms on his body is simply a humiliation.

The dignified first emperor fell into such treatment, and the entire Ming Dynasty was never treated.

Sometimes, he really hopes that Zhu Youji's kid will directly exempt him, cut off his thoughts of entering the cabinet to worship the prime minister in the future, and he can enjoy the life of a rich man when he returns to his hometown.

If you take another eighteen-year-old concubine, maybe you can have another big fat boy.

However, the position of the left attendant of the ministry is too tempting, and he can't make up his mind to take off this official robe, and he can't let go of this heavy power.

Xu Pu thought about resigning, but he just thought about it.

It was not easy for him to climb to this position, and he didn't want to live up to the cultivation of his mentor. Although the current situation is not good, and the current position can be said to be humiliating, he believes that the time will usher in the dawn of the willows.

The clothes were quickly changed, and the humiliating second-grade official uniform was removed and replaced with a comfortable home dress.

Xu Pu enjoys the life of returning home very much, even if he is not satisfactory in the court, but after all, he is still the high-ranking servant of the ministry, and he is also the master of this house with dozens of servants.

In this mansion, he is simply an emperor.

"Master, a letter was sent from Jiangxi just now, please take a look!" Steward Xu thought of something, and immediately took out a letter.

Letters from Jiangxi?

When Xu Pu heard that it was a letter from Jiangxi, he couldn't help but chuckle in his heart.

If there is anything worrying about recently, it is undoubtedly that the emperor did not play his cards according to common sense this time, and even pointed the finger directly at Jiangxi officialdom.

However, through the recommendation of Li Si, the secretary of the household department, the imperial court actually appointed Wang Yue as the Qincha this time.

He knew that although Wang Yue was very unsociable, and he was also contaminated with the bad temper of the border soldiers, he was a person who knew how to use tricks very well.

Now the imperial court handed over Wang Yue to Nanchang to investigate the inaction of the Jiangxi political envoy, although Jiangxi Governor Li Ang is an extremely shrewd person, but it is difficult to ensure that the Jiangxi political envoy will not show a little bit of hindrance.

Xu Pu's eyes flashed with murderous intent, but he knew that it was time to abandon the car and protect the handsome.

He decided that even if he sacrificed Xu Huai, the political envoy of Jiangxi Zuobu, he could not let the matter burn to Li Ang, the governor of Jiangxi, so he slowly opened the letter, but the next moment he was completely stunned.

At this moment, he felt as if he had been stabbed suddenly.

The next day, an explosive news suddenly came from Jiangxi, and the officialdom of the entire capital suddenly exploded.

Just when everyone was still speculating whether Wang Hua had deducted his salary, Wang Yue, who was ordered to patrol Jiangxi, found out clearly about Wang Huake's deduction of military salaries.

It is said that in just one day's work, the case was directly solved.

Qin Minyue, the political envoy of Jiangxi's right-hand cloth, Xu Huai, the political envoy of Jiangxi's left-hand cloth, Liu Jun, the commander of Jiangxi's capital secretary, and Chen Yonghao, Jiangxi's envoy to Jiangxi, testified that the initiator of the incident was none other than Jiangxi Governor Li Ang.

"Huh...... I have long said that Jiangxi officialdom is to frame Wang Hua in a group! ”

"Such a case is really appalling, and all Jiangxi officials should be killed."

"Jiangxi Governor Li Angshou dared to frame his colleagues like this, and Ling Chi should be executed!"

……

When the officials in the capital learned that the matter of deducting military salaries was actually framed by Li Ang, the governor of Jiangxi, the wind direction immediately changed 180 degrees, and they pointed the finger at Jiangxi officialdom.

"I remember who said he was going to vouch for Leon!"

"Huh...... Maybe he's the one behind it! ”

"If you want me to say, there are still people behind the governor of Jiangxi, and this case has to continue to dig deeper!"

……

As the Jiangxi incident continued to ferment, the officials in the capital did not forget what happened in the early dynasty that day, and they pointed the finger at Xu Pu, the left servant of the ministry.

It's not all about Xu Pu, but judging from the development of the whole incident, Xu Pu's suspicion is undoubtedly the biggest one, and he has enough motives to commit the crime.

Since Jiangxi Governor Li Ang is the mastermind behind the scenes, Xu Pu, who is Li Ang's backer, may not be able to escape the blame, maybe Xu Pu is the real mastermind behind the scenes.

When the imperial court learned of this situation, it immediately issued an order to escort Li Ang, the governor of Jiangxi, to Beijing for trial.

Just when everyone was speculating whether the matter was related to Xu Pu, the left servant of the Ministry of Shangshu, and whether the saint would take the opportunity to punish Xu Pu today, an unexpected thing came.

At dusk that day, Xu Pu returned home as usual, but only took the four rings away.

"The master hanged himself!"

When Steward Xu realized that something was wrong, he immediately pushed the door open, and then a wailing voice sounded.

On that beam, Xu Pu did not choose to change out of the second-grade official uniform, but chose to commit suicide by hanging the beam, choosing to end his life with dignity.

Xu Pu's career is full of legends, and at the age of 26, he was a high school scholar with a top score, and he even worshiped under the university bachelor's business.

From Hanlin to the right attendant of the Ministry of Rites, he walked for twenty-five years, but during this time, he became the prince emperor, and he has also collected many bachelors, and he has accumulated enough prestige.

If there is no accident, as long as the crown prince ascends the throne, he, the emperor who was arranged in the East Palace early, is destined to soar into the sky and become the leader of the civil official group.

It's just that there has been a deviation in history, and almost from the moment he entered the official career, he finally failed to get the desired result, but gradually distanced himself from Xinjun.

In the secret contest of local power, he was even more defeated.

In fact, Jiangxi Governor Li Ang did not carry everything alone in the end, and when Xu Huai, the political envoy of Jiangxi Zuobu, bit him, he also chose to bite Xu Pu of the current dynasty.

Once the court continues to investigate, then he, the leader of the clear stream, is probably going to be guillotined.

"Xu Pu is dead?"

"Looks like it's really about him!"

"That's good, he has saved his reputation, and His Majesty doesn't need to have a bad reputation!"

……

The news of Xu Pu's suicide soon spread, and the officials who learned the news were also embarrassed.

Who would have thought that the high-ranking official Zuo Shilang would choose this way to end himself, but the officials who know the bottom know that this is probably the last way for Xu Pu to save his face.

Regardless of the final outcome of the trial, once Jiangxi Governor Li Ang always bites Xu Pu, then the virtuous and virtuous character that Xu Pu has spent decades shaping will be completely ruined.

West Garden, Listening to the Tide Pavilion.

Zhu Youzhu has become accustomed to coming here every day, watching the buoy float down, that is, with a slight lift, a wild Qingyu was lifted up by himself, which seemed very decompressed.

It's just that I thought that Xu Pu ended it in this way, but things were not easy to handle.

"Your Majesty, this is the letter left by Xu Pu!" Qin Conggui presented a letter, looking very respectful and authentic.

Zhu Youzhu took the letter and saw the letter that Xu Pu specially left for himself, but he knew that Xu Pu not only wanted to protect his reputation, but also wanted to protect his family.

Originally, he was disdainful of such excessive demands, but soon discovered that there was a list in the letter.

The reason why Xu Pu was able to let him throw a rat bogey weapon was because Xu Pu's mastery of the place was too strong, so he chose to allow Xu Pu to stay in the position of the left attendant of the ministry.

It's just that now I see that Xu Pu has always been clear about this, and now he is handing over this list of officials in the hope that he will let him and his family go.

"Your Majesty, do you want to raid Xu Pu's house?" Qin Conggui knew that Li Ang, the governor of Jiangxi, had already testified against Xu Pu, and immediately asked seriously.

Zhu Youzhu put away the list in his hand, and said lightly: "Xu Pu has presided over two sessions of the examination, and has served as the left waiter of the Ministry of Officials for many years, there are really too many protégés and old officials, so let's stop here!" ”

Although he is a high emperor, he still has to worry about it after all.

There are only six most important yamen in the capital, and it is a very simple matter to control, but there are more than 1,300 county yamen in the world, and there are hundreds of state and government yamen.

Starting from the overall situation, it is really not appropriate to kill Xu Pu, at least it is not easy to do it now.

"Your Majesty, is this too cheap Xu Pu?" Qin Conggui had already listed Xu Pu as the number one enemy, and suddenly felt unwilling to express his position.

Zhu Youzhu naturally couldn't really have no punishment, and said lightly: "Didn't Xu Yuan harass Song Cheng's wife Yun Niang?" Yun Niang is the lady of the third grade, how can he be offended by a white body, arrest him and ask him for guilt! ”

"Your Majesty, Xu Yuanji's crimes are more than these, I'm afraid they are going to ......" Qin Conggui made a gesture to wipe his neck, looking serious.

Zhu Youzhu put aside the fishing rod again, although he did not raid the Xu family, but Xu Yuanji, a wicked young man who did a lot of evil, naturally could not let go, even if he waved his hand to let Qin Conggui leave.

"Yes!" Qin Conggui guessed Zhu Youji's attitude, and his eyes immediately flashed with a fierce color.

So far, he only hopes to become His Majesty's sharpest sword, and kill all those who dare to oppose His Majesty. As for Xu Pu, it's a pity that this old man hung up too quickly, otherwise he would have been skinned and cramped when he arrived at the East Factory.

(End of chapter)