"Minister, Jinyi Wei is the commander of Ji Gang, see His Royal Highness, His Royal Highness Chitose ......"

In the Chunhe Palace, when Ji Gang and Hu Lun were fighting, Zhu Gaoxu had already asked Guo Yan to take Zhu Zhanyan to the side hall, and he left Yi Shiha to wait for them to salute.

Looking at Ji Gang and Hu Lun who were standing, Zhu Gaoxu said directly: "I heard that the Ouning Palace's mansion is on fire? ”

"The minister is about to report this."

"The minister has already reported to His Royal Highness, but he didn't catch up with it, so he could only report to His Royal Highness the Crown Princess."

Ji Gang and Hu Lun spoke one after the other, but Zhu Gaoxu asked Ji Gang first: "You say it first, what has you found?" ”

"This arson was ignited by a candle flame, but it was not an accident, but man-made." Ji Gang explained:

"The reason why the minister told me too late was that he went to the Ouning Mansion in person."

"The minister has personally seen that the fire oil of a candle flame is not enough to ignite the palace, it should be that someone has sprinkled more fire oil in the palace."

Ji Gang reported the investigation clearly, but Zhu Gaoxu didn't answer, just looked at him directly.

In the face of this pressure, Ji Gang also continued: "The minister has already sent someone to interrogate the slaves and maids of the Ouning Palace, and at the same time arranged a new batch of slaves and maids. ”

"No need!" Hearing that Ji Gang arranged for someone to go in, Zhu Gaoxu said directly:

"From now on, the descendants of Prince Yiwen, including the Wu Shu people, the Hengshu people, and the Jianshu people, have all moved to the Ouning Palace, and the guards of the Ouning Palaces are transferred from the Great Sect, and the slaves and maids are also transferred from the East Palace."

"Yes......" Ji Gang paused for a moment, obviously not expecting Zhu Gaoxu to actually protect Zhu Yunxi and the others.

"Hu Lun, come on."

Zhu Gaoxu looked at Hu Lun, and Hu Lun said without thinking: "The minister's investigation is the same as that of the commander of the Ji Capital, but the West Factory does not have the power to interrogate people, so he has not found out any specific direction." ”

Hu Lun told the truth, and Zhu Gaoxu also looked at Ji Gang after hearing this: "Commander Jidu, this case will be handed over to you, let's investigate the case well......"

Zhu Gaoxu's words seemed to have a deep meaning, and Ji Gang pretended to be calm when he heard this: "The minister receives the decree." ”

"Step back first, Hu Lun, you stay."

"The minister retired ......"

Ji Gang withdrew from the Chunhe Palace, and Hu Lun was left behind and given a seat.

Seeing Ji Gang walking away, Hu Lun said: "Your Highness, this case is obviously ...... with Jinyi."

"Leave it to them." Zhu Gaoxu interrupted him, obviously he knew that this matter was done by Jinyiwei.

Although the people of Bohai also hoped that Zhu Biao's descendants would die, Zhu Gaoxu had already made three orders and explained to them the benefits of Zhu Biao's descendants living for him.

Zhu Gaoxu trusted Bohai's brothers, and the Ouning Palace's people except Bohai were Jinyiwei's people, so they could only be Jinyiwei's people.

"Is this matter ...... with Your Majesty?"

"Have you eaten?"

Hu Lun wanted to ask, but Zhu Gaoxu interrupted him.

Seeing this, Hu Lun also closed his mouth: "The minister has eaten." ”

"Then you go back first, leave this matter to them to investigate, as long as you need to protect the Jianshu people, Wu Shu people and Hengshu people, King Ouning is enough."

Zhu Gaoxu served tea to the guests, and Hu Lun got up to return the salute when he heard the words, and then left the Chunhe Palace.

After he left, Guo Yan in the side hall walked out with Zhu Zhanyu in his arms and came to sit down beside Zhu Gaoxu.

However, she didn't say anything, just waited for lunch to arrive, and then chatted with Zhu Gaoxu about family life.

"Yesterday, my sister-in-law came to look for me, saying that they were going to go to the domain after the Lantern Festival next year."

"Well, except for the vassal kings who are too young, the other vassal kings will be vassals."

The husband and wife chatted about the topic of the vassal king's domain, but before they could say a word, the eunuch at the palace gate made another gesture: "Your Highness, Hubu Shangshu Yuxin asks to see you." ”

"Biography!" Zhu Gaoxu replied without raising his head, and after a while, he saw Yu Xin walk in.

"The Ministry of Ministers is still the book Yu Xin, see the two highnesses ......"

Yu Xin didn't expect that he would come at the wrong time, but Zhu Gaoxu was very hearty: "Sit down and eat together, drink tea without eating, and talk while eating." ”

"Yes......" Yu Xin responded, but after he sat down, he looked at the dining table on the table.

On the dining table in the East Palace, two meat dishes, three vegetarian dishes, and one soup dish are placed.

Yisha added dishes and chopsticks to Yu Xin, but Yu Xin didn't dare to move the chopsticks, but said: "Your Highness is so simple, it is really a blessing for the people." ”

"When are you going to say that again?" Zhu Gaoxu ate deliciously, and it was a little embarrassing for Yu Xin to say this.

He wiped his mouth, and then used chopsticks to clip some meat dishes for Yu Xin: "Many kings throughout the ages have been disguised, and this kind of dietary disguise is the easiest. ”

"It's easy, but it's also easy to debunk." Yu Xin shook his head, and Zhu Gaoxu hurriedly interrupted:

"It's not that I'm simple about this diet, but I can't eat that much no matter how much I eat."

"The delicacies of the mountains and seas in this palace, I ate them all when I accompanied my grandfather in Wuying Hall in my early years."

"To tell you the truth, there is no difference between a bear's paw and a pound of hoof tendons in my place."

"Of course, I'm not simple every day, and occasionally I suddenly want to eat something, and people will get it out."

"Therefore, ah......" Zhu Gaoxu picked up the chopsticks and handed them to Yu Xin, signaling him to eat while smiling: "Don't coax me, lest I be held up and unable to move." ”

Zhu Gaoxu didn't do this kind of thing, he rebelled just to be unrestrained, and he didn't have to cower in the face of everyone.

Now that he has finally succeeded, he wants to be himself, and he doesn't want to set up any sage character.

"When His Highness said this, the minister admired it even more."

Yu Xin looked at Zhu Gaoxu, who was much older than his actual age, and couldn't help admiring: "People say hypocrites, but if hypocrites can pretend to be gentlemen for a lifetime, most people can only pretend to be a gentleman for the first half of their lives, and they will start to act recklessly in the second half of their lives." ”

"His Royal Highness never disguises himself, and he has always been considerate of his courtiers, if these are not disguises, then the ministers think that His Highness is a true gentleman."

"I'm not a gentleman, and a gentleman can't do the kind of thing that Annan did." Zhu Gaoxu chuckled lightly and mentioned his policy towards Annan, even Yu Xin didn't expect him to say this.

"If I want to be a prince and a prince, I must have a mind and be prepared."

"For me, since I have decided to sit in this position, I must put the country and the people first, personal and private affairs second, and then I will be in historical history."

"I've heard a lot of rumors recently that I'm greedy for beauty and enjoy beautiful sounds."

"I have done all these things, but I have never neglected the affairs of the country."

"I have always believed that kings are also human beings, and that courtiers should not demand kings by the standards of sages, and kings should not demand courtiers by the standards of sages."

Zhu Gaoxu said his views on the monarch and ministers, which made Yu Xin very moved: "The minister and His Royal Highness have only known each other for four years, but His Royal Highness's attitude towards the courtiers, the minister really sees and feels it. ”

"Throughout the ages, few kings have cared so much about their ministers as His Highness, and few kings have treated their ministers as friends as His Highness."

What Yu Xin said sounds exaggerated, but it is a recognized fact.

Even the Jiangnan officials, who were very disgusted with Zhu Gaoxu, had to admit that Zhu Gaochu treated them more politely.

Even if the six departments gave advice to the officials of the Metropolitan Procuratorate every day, Zhu Gaoxu didn't do anything to them, but just scolded them in the song, asking them to pay more attention to the people's livelihood and not pay attention to their own private affairs.

"As long as the counsellors speak properly, it will be a good thing for me and the world, as long as they don't always stare at my private affairs."

Zhu Gaoxu was speechless, and the officials of the Metropolitan Procuratorate often impeached him for listening to music and often stayed with concubines.

In his opinion, these things are his private affairs, as long as they do not affect the government and politics, but these guys always say that "the heavenly family has no selfish affairs", which makes Zhu Gaoxu have to spend energy every day to fight with them.

"Even so, His Highness did not rebuke them with a rod, but refuted them speechless."

Yu Xin smiled, but he admired Zhu Gaoxu's behavior of listening to his opinions.

You must know that the officials of the Metropolitan Procuratorate are not easy to get along with, and sometimes they are excessive, even people like Guo Yan, who do not interfere in court politics, will persuade Zhu Gaochu to blame one or two people to kill chickens and monkeys, but Zhu Gaochu does not care.

Scolding these people will only make them famous, but it is better to refute them to kill them.

For example, a few days ago, an official admonished the East Palace to listen to music every day, and Zhu Gaoxu immediately asked Hu Lun to check on the person after watching the song, and then said how many slaves and maids the person raised, how many handmaidens Huo Huo, and how many dancers he raised.

This series of information made the official sweat, and at the end Zhu Gaoxu said: "If you don't ask for a sage, why do you need to ask for a lonely?" ”

I have to say that this method is very effective, at least in the past few days, no official will be idle and have nothing to say that he is abandoning state affairs by listening to music.

If you want to talk about elegance, who can play this group of scholars.

"Okay, tell me why you came to me."

Zhu Gaoxu didn't want to talk about what the way to be a king, after all, in his opinion, as long as he did things well, he could avoid taxes as much as possible, help the people build bridges and pave roads, and let the people live a good life is the best answer.

"The minister came this time to discuss with His Highness about the exchange of money for officials."

Yu Xin's term of office is after the autumn tax, plus the handover work or something, it is estimated that he will have to wait until after the Lantern Festival next year before he can leave Nanjing.

Because of this, in response to the current influx of money and silver, he had already discussed with Zhu Gaoxu that the official Yulu would be split in half according to the rice money, that is, the rice and the money would be distributed in half.

In this way, the loss of rice transportation can be reduced, and officials do not have to spend time exchanging rice for money.

"This is a note written by the minister, please take a look at it......"

Yu Xin took out the note from his sleeve, and Zhu Gaoxu also took it and opened it when he saw this.

[Hongwu old system: is the first grade of the moon eighty-seven stones, from the first product to the third grade, decreasing thirteen stones to thirty-five stones, from the third grade twenty-six stones, the fourth grade twenty-four stones, from the fourth grade twenty-one stones, the fifth grade sixteen stones, from the fifth grade fourteen stones, the six grades of ten stones, from the sixth grade eight stones, the seventh grade to the ninth grade decreasing five buckets, to five stones. 】

[Yongle new system: is a product of the month of Lu rice forty stones, money twenty-four runs, from the first product ......]

After reading the content, Zhu Gaoxu changed from the nine grades from the old Hongwu system of five stones to [three stones per month, and the money is consistent].

"The price of rice varies all over the world, which place do you choose to discount the price of rice?"

After Zhu Gaoxu finished reading the inquiry, Yu Xin also replied: "The minister chose Shaanxi, and the money has always been able to buy two stone of rice, which is relatively high in the world, and the price of rice in Jiangnan is now always to buy three stones of rice." ”

"It's not good for northern officials to discount money like this." Zhu Gaoxu shook his head:

"With the same money, Jiangnan officials can buy three stone rice, Shaanxi can only buy two stone rice, and in the long run, Shaanxi officials will inevitably want to flee Shaanxi."

"In this way, you will discount the money according to the price of rice in the south of the Yangtze River, but you will set up a special fund to subsidize officials in Yunnan, Guangxi, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Liaodong, Sichuan, Daning, Bohai and other remote and border areas."

"After the subsidy, these local officials will have to pay more than the mainland officials."

Zhu Gaoxu said, Yu Xin also asked: "How much higher?" ”

"It's 20 percent higher." Zhu Gaoxu said an amount, and Yu Xin said after listening to it, he calculated it a little and said:

"If that's the case, I'm afraid that the civil and military officials of the next year will have an extra three million stones."

"Money is not saved, so do it." Zhu Gaoxu commanded, but Yu Xin said: "Such an official's salary is too high." ”

As one of the officials, Yu Xin actually said that the official salary was too high, which was unbelievable in later generations, after all, the Ming Dynasty officials were famous for their low salary.

However, now it is the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, and the officials of the Ming Dynasty can be said not to be too high.

You must know that even if it is an official from the ninth grade, the monthly salary is five stone rice, even if it is mainly based on the price of rice in the south of the Yangtze River, it is at least more than 600 wen when folded.

In comparison, the salary of an ordinary laborer in Nanjing City is only 20 wen a day, and it is only 600 wen for a month.

Lifu also had to settle his own diet, but the officials were able to eat Yamen meals, and there were some festivals every year where they could receive money, receive free coal, and so on.

All of these are counted, the monthly salary of an official from the ninth grade is at least four times that of ordinary people, and Yu Xin feels that it is not surprising that the official is high.

"Once it goes up, it's not too high."

Zhu Gaoxu and Yu Xin explained, Yu Xin understood Zhu Gaoxu's meaning, and co-authoring this increase means that there will be no more money in the Yongle period.

"In that case, the minister has no objection."

Yu Xin took over the music from Zhu Gaoxu's hand, got up and was about to go to the side hall to revise.

Seeing this, Zhu Gaoxu said: "Take the food in the bowl and eat it while you handle it, I guess you won't be able to eat it in front of my husband and wife." ”

"Minister......" Yu Xin looked ashamed, and just wanted to say something, but saw Zhu Gaoxu smiling and waving his hand, signaling him to deal with it quickly.

Seeing this, Yu Xin took his own dishes and chopsticks to the side hall of the Chunhe Palace.

After a while, the sound of an abacus beating came from the side hall.

In the middle, Zhu Gaoxu also asked Yizha to add food to Yu Xin, but Yu Xin had stayed up in the household for too many years after all, and it hurt the roots, so he couldn't eat many meals.

About a quarter of an hour passed, and as Zhu Gaoxu and his wife finished eating, Guo Yan also left the Chunhe Hall with Zhu Zhanyu in his arms, and Yu Xin finally dealt with the matter and handed the new song to Zhu Gaoxu.

[Yongle New System: Forty stones of rice in the first product of the month, sixteen pieces of money, ...... from the first product]

[From the nine pins of the month of Lu rice two stones, money consistent (remote provinces plus consistent)]

[The total age of the military officials in the world is 5,876,440 stones, and the money is 1,76,415 yuan]

After a simple change, this Yongle period of the Yu Lu table seems to be much more reasonable, and at the end Yu Xin also calculated the general Lu of civil and military officials.

"If you count the servants and soldiers, how much is that?"

Zhu Gaoxu was quite satisfied with the officials' salaries, and now he only needed to know the salaries of the soldiers and officials to know how much the expenses would be during the Yongle period.

"If all the money is discounted, it is about 27 million yuan of rice per year, and the money is about 8 million yuan."

"It's okay to say that the court really can't get the money."

Yu Xin said the general situation, and Zhu Gaoxu also nodded: "Don't worry, the time is not ripe now, I will not let the officials and soldiers break the money." ”

As he spoke, Zhu Gaoxu suddenly felt a little tired, he looked at Yu Xin, who was only fifty-eight years old, but looked similar to the seventy-year-old man in the later generations, and sighed:

"If you are ten years younger, the world will be clear......"

Zhu Gaoxu's words are a bit exaggerated, but this also expresses his reluctance to Yu Xin.

Yu Xin wanted to speak and stopped, but Zhu Gaoxu raised his hand and said: "I want you to spend your old age in peace, it's good for you to rest and rest at your age, and spend time with your family." ”

Although Zhu Gaoxu was reluctant to leave, he didn't want him to die of exhaustion in office.

Let him retire two years early, maybe he can live four or five years longer, which is the greatest grace for Yu Xin himself.

"Take Guo Zi well, I heard that he did okay, although he is not as good as you, but it is okay."

"The minister retired ......"

Seeing Zhu Gaoxu say this, Yu Xin held back his words, raised his hand and then turned around and left the Chunhe Palace.

Looking at the back of his departure, Zhu Gaoxu was full of emotion, and only felt that Yu Xin's exit was like the successive exit of the Wenchen left over from the Hongwu period.

"I hope Natsuhara Yoshi can live as long as he did in history."

Shaking his head, Zhu Gaoxu returned to the side hall to deal with the music, but he didn't have the heart to listen to the beautiful sound.

Compared with him and Yu Xin's reluctance, there was a wail in the Beizhen Fusi Prison at this moment.

"I treat you as a brother, but you are stabbing Lao Tzu in private."

In the dimly lit cell, Ji Gang took off his clothes and watched with a flat face as several brocade guards tied a man to a shelf.

"I'll say it again, tell me who told you to do it."

Ji Gang picked up a whip with fine barbs on it.

"I ...... I can't say ......"

is also a brocade guard, the man naturally knows how painful this whip is, but he doesn't dare to say who the person behind it is.

"Then don't blame me......"

"!!Uhh

Ji Gang's face was gloomy, and he didn't wait for the man to answer.

The whip is painful, but the barbs and salt water on the whip are the most painful.

After the lash, intense pain began to irritate the man's wounds.

What kind of pain was it, as if there was a flame attached to the wound, and the flame turned into countless jagged spikes with sharp edges, tearing open his skin, and the spikes were still hung with strands of flesh, and they burrowed into his body fiercely.

The skin around the wound twitched like a ripple, and the man wailed and lowered his head to examine the wound.

Through the torn and torn clothes, he saw his battered flesh twitching wildly.

The pain was so severe that he couldn't feel his muscles contracting.

It felt like a crazy parasite was wriggling in the flesh.

"Li Zhen, the head of the military department!"

With just one whip, he couldn't help but summon it, and Ji Gang looked disdainful when he heard this, and spat: "It's better to be a man." ”

"Except for him?"

Ji Gang was not satisfied, after all, it was impossible for a small head of the military department to plan this kind of thing.

"No...... No more ......"

The man seemed to be in a trance, but Ji Gang's face immediately changed when he heard that there was no.

He took a towel from the basin, soaked it, walked up to the man, kicked over the stool that bound him, and covered his mouth and nose with the water-soaked towel.

He struggled to breathe, but at the same time his trachea was prompted to cough by the acid in his stomach.

His breath was held in his trachea and esophagus, mixed with stomach acid, like a ball of angry gunpowder about to explode through his body.

After a period of struggle, his consciousness began to drift and everything became quiet......

"Looks like you only know one."

Seeing that he didn't say the names of the others, Ji Gang uncovered the towel when he was about to die, giving him a chance to breathe.

"Give him a good time, and the others will arrest him!"

Ji Gang walked out of the cell, and after a while, there was a terrible cry for mercy from the cell.

Not long after, hundreds of horsemen arrived at the mansion of Li Zhen, the head of the Ministry of War, under the leadership of Ji Gang.

With a few bangs, the door of the mansion was knocked open, and Ji Gang also led the cavalry to enter.

"Found it!"

Li Zhen seems to have known that there would be this day, so she has already dismissed the slaves and maids in the house.

When Jin Yiwei found him, he had drowned in the well in the backyard.

"Straight Lady Thief ......"

Looking at Li Zhen's pale face, Ji Gang couldn't wait to hang his body up and dismantle it.

"Find me! I don't believe he can take everything with him! ”

Ji Gang viciously ordered the cavalry, and the cavalry also acted quickly, making Li Zhen's already small mansion a mess.

However, until dusk, they could not find anything in it......

(End of chapter)