On August 15, the full moon should be in the sky, and the osmanthus is fragrant.

After nightfall, a red full moon quietly hung at the Donghua Gate.

However, on the platform of Fengtian Temple, there is no fragrance of osmanthus flowers, but a suffocating smell.

"What does it smell like?" The unknown guest asked in a whisper.

"It's like that smell." Those who have been on the battlefield are much more familiar, it is like the smell of the dead. But those who are on this big festival are afraid to say it openly.

"Xiangye, do you see the doorway?" Wu Liang asked Li Shanchang, who was sitting on the left, in a low voice.

"What's not to see about that? It stinks and it's bitter. Li Shanchang sat upright and said softly: "And this music is not the palace music, but the northern song "Mountain Sheep". ”

"Hillside sheep?" Wu Liangmeng circle.

Although there are many famous writers in Zhonglu's "Hillside Goat", Li Shanchang knows very well that the superior must only know the song "Tong Caring for the Ancients"-

"The peaks and mountains are like gathering, the waves are like anger, and the mountains and rivers are on the surface of Tongguan Road." He hummed along to the tune:

"Looking at the western capital, hesitating. Sad, the Qin and Han dynasties, the palace and thousands of rooms have been made of soil. Xing, the people suffer; Death, the people suffer ......"

After listening to this, Wu Liang whispered with deep anxiety: "It seems unlucky to sing this in front of the newly built Fengtian Palace, right?" ”

"Who's to say it isn't?" Li Shanchang smiled indifferently.

He knew that the superior was very unhappy, so let the superior send it out happily.

When he finishes his hair and dissipates his anger, everyone will persuade him to move into this 'Ten Thousand Palaces' as soon as possible.

At this time, the palace people poured wine for the guests again, and Zhu Yuanzhang picked up the golden cup and said, "Come on, let's drink this cup first." ”

"Yes." The guests hurriedly got up with the wine cup and drank it all with the emperor on his neck.

The next moment, their faces changed drastically, and they were miserable.

"Ahem, why is this wine so bitter?" The guests covered their faces with their sleeves and muttered in a low voice:

"Even the wine is bitter, and tonight is really bitter to the end......"

"How?" Zhu Yuanzhang showed the bottom of the cup and said lightly: "This bitter gall wine is bitter, right?" ”

"Hehe, bitter ......" The courtiers laughed, and said in their hearts, wouldn't the superior pierce the snake gall and use bile to soak in the bar?

"It's bitter, but it's beneficial." Zhu Yuanzhang said with a smile: "Everyone has lived a good life for a long time, and they have forgotten what it feels like to be bitter." Let's set up this table today to remember the bitter feast, just to let everyone recall the hard days in the past. ”

Saying that, he raised a chopstick and grabbed a chopstick, and greeted: "What are you doing in a daze?" Eat vegetables, eat vegetables! ”

"Hey, Emperor Xie......" The courtiers had to reluctantly embarrass themselves, eating bitter feasts that were difficult to swallow and drinking bitter wine in the suffocating stench.

But the show hasn't started yet. Zhu Yuanzhang ate a few mouthfuls of food, and said: "Such a good banquet, how can there be no singing and dancing?" ”

Saying that, he raised a glass to those old folks who went to the capital for the New Year and said: "You sang a Fengyang flower drum to us in front of the Fengtian Hall in Nanjing for the New Year, and the flower drum words are good, let's remember the full applause, right?" ”

"It's all the emperor and the old man who are in love." The villagers also felt fear, and they wished that they had the ability of King Wu, how could they dare to sell melons to Wang Po again?

"Hey, good is good. By the way, what's the song? Zhu Yuanzhang asked with interest: "Third Brother Chen, you were the lead singer at that time, right?" Come on, sing it again. ”

"Yes, the villain will be ugly." The third brother Chen, who led the singing at that time, was the cousin of Zhu Yuanzhang's mother. Hearing this, he had no choice but to get up and clear his throat.

"Sing seriously, come, give him a flower drum and stand in the middle and sing." Zhu Yuanzhang said with a smile.

"Yes." Third Brother Chen answered, took the flower drum, walked to the carpet in front of the emperor, beat the drum and sang:

"Say Fengyang, say Fengyang, and play the flower drum with your hand. Fengyang is really a good place, the red dragon ascends to heaven and the golden phoenix soars. Count how many stars in the sky, and how many Fengyang will be.

"Say Fengyang, say Fengyang, and play the flower drum with your hand. Fengyang is really a good place, and the emperor's grace is vast all year round. If you don't accept conscription and don't pay for food, you can ...... beaming on both sides of the Huai River."

"Good!" After singing, Zhu Yuanzhang took the lead in applauding, and the courtiers also applauded.

"Sing so well, sing this beauty in our hearts, so beautiful that we are going to get drunk." Zhu Yuanzhang raised his glass and smiled: "You have to drink a glass of bitter wine to wake up." ”

The courtiers hurriedly raised their glasses to accompany them, and the palace people also brought a cup to Third Brother Chen.

After drinking this cup together, Third Brother Chen was just about to thank him for returning to the table, but Zhu Yuanzhang said lightly: "Wait." We also heard a version of "Flower Drum Words", and let people sing it. Let's compare which one is better, let's sing which one in the future. ”

The courtiers responded in harmony, and as soon as the emperor slapped his face, a woman with a small flower drum came to the stage, and after worshipping the emperor, she stood still facing everyone.

"If you don't understand the rules, how dare you put your cheeks on the emperor?" Then the old man shouted.

"It doesn't matter, that's what I'm singing to you." Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand disapprenosingly.

The woman played the flower drum and sang:

"Speaking of Fengyang, Dao Fengyang, Fengyang is a good place. Since Emperor Zhu came out, there have been nine years of famine in ten years.

Three years of drought and three years of flooding, rice is as expensive as pearls, and the family has run out of food. The founding heroes were clearly robbing, and they were busy with repairs.

"The rich sell mules and horses, and the poor sell their sons, and the ordinary people suffer.

We don't have a son to sell, and we are a cow to be a horse......"

Her voice was slightly hoarse, as if she had just been burned by fire, but it matched the sad indignation of the lyrics......

~~

After the woman finished singing, there was a dead silence in front of the Fengtian Temple.

Chen Sandi was sweating like a pulp, and the members of the Flower Drum Team who entered Beijing were also shaking.

The ministers also changed their faces, but only Li Shanchang was still there.

"Come on, let's judge, is it the flower drum in front of the Nanjing Jinluan Palace, or the section in front of the Zhongdu Jinluan Palace?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked.

......After a moment of silence, someone finally stood up boldly and said, "Superior, these two sections are completely incomparable!" The second paragraph is purely rebellious, making up nonsense, smearing the upper position and our hometown! ”

"That is, what 'Fengyang is a good place', 'Since something happened, there have been nine years of famine in ten years', we don't dare to repeat it......" Someone took the lead, and the rest of the people also echoed:

"Your Majesty, don't listen to her gossip to confuse the public, she must be a demon of the Ming Sect!"

"Kill her! Banned this flower drum lyrics......"

The gossip shouting quickly became smaller, because Zhu Yuanzhang's face was already gloomy and terrifying.

"Which of the flower drum words is true and which is false?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked faintly, and then raised his voice and said, "Han Yike, come and tell them!" ”

"Yes!" Han Yike came up from His Majesty Dan, holding a thick book in his hand.

"Your Majesty, the Emperor has been inspecting the yamen for ten days, and a total of 23,127 complaints have been received!" Han Yike raised the book in his hand with both hands and said loudly:

"Among them, 17,000 cases were filed against the nobles, local households for encroaching on people's land, forcing people into slavery, extortion, and false accusations and frame-ups!

"17,300 cases, suing Fengyang County and Fengyang Mansion for corruption and perverting the law, shielding the powerful, sentencing without trial, and disregarding human life!

"19,300 cases, suing the Ministry of Labor of the Central Metropolitan Government for forced donations and assessments, forcibly pulling people's husbands, abusing workers, and disregarding human lives......"

ps. I really didn't have the strength to write last night. I got up at half past five this morning to finish this chapter, and I haven't written it yet. I'm in a hurry.

(End of chapter)