"Step... Trample... Step ......"

In the underground corridors, the torches provided a dim light, not enough to illuminate or blind them.

Footsteps sounded, and a military attaché, led by two military attachés, came to the end of the corridor step by step.

It was dark, but it wasn't damp, and the masonry on the floor and walls was fresh and dry.

At the end, what appeared in front of the three of them was a Confucian student in his forties who was imprisoned behind an iron bar.

He was not tortured, but now his hair was scattered and he was in a trance.

The cell he was in was no more than five feet high, no more than six feet long and six feet wide to the left and right, and the only source of light was the fist-sized vent behind him, except for the fire in the cell.

Only when the weather is clear can there be light, other times there is only the sound of the wind.

The two military attachés brought chairs, and the military attaché headed by them sat on the chair with a sneer on his face: "Xie Jin, aren't you still recruiting?" ”

Xie Jin, who was called, suddenly went crazy, he grabbed the iron fence, and under his scattered hair was a hideous face.

"Ji Gang dog thief, when I go out one day, I will definitely fight with you!"

Xie Jin was tortured a lot, with his height of five feet six inches, he couldn't stand up straight in this cell at all, and he couldn't even sleep comfortably.

The depression brought by the cell, coupled with the fact that he was constantly blowing fire torches here, made him live in a dark environment for a long time, and suddenly his spirit began to be in a trance.

Now he was very crazy, but Ji Gang had a smile on his face even more when he saw this.

"These methods were all learned by me and Xichang, and now it seems that they are really easy to use, at least much better than torture."

"I just like to see you like this, aren't you a bachelor in Lianzhong Sanyuan, why are you locked up in this dog cage like a dog?"

Ji Gang said while regretting: "It's a pity that the north is dry, otherwise it stands to reason that this kind of place should grow moss, fleas and rats." ”

"Ji Gang, your mother!"

Xie Jin frantically scolded Ji Gang, but Ji Gang enjoyed it very much: "I know, you want to scold me to vent, it's okay, you scold slowly, I won't go, the more you scold, the happier I am, hahahaha......"

Ji Gang laughed and teased Xie Jin, and Xie Jin didn't care about his Jiang Zuocai's decency, and scolded Ji Gang wildly.

The military attachés on both sides couldn't stand it, and bowed down and said, "Commander, do you want to slap your mouth?" ”

"No, how can you torture Jiang Zuocai?" Ji Gang seemed to have good intentions, but his next sentence made Xie Jin crazy.

"Find someone to plug the vent, and put out the torches these days, no one can come here without my orders."

"By the way, Jiang Zuo is also a human being, so he has to drink water and eat."

"That vent, let people pour some gruel down every day, but you can't starve my Ming Dynasty bachelor."

Ji Gang's words made the two military attaches look at each other with stunned faces.

Pouring rice porridge into the vents is more humiliating than feeding animals, because there are almost no protrusions that extend into the cells, so the rice porridge will run down the walls.

It's a bit ...... to do that.

"Ji Dog! I'll cut off your mother's head! ”

"Let's go, just do what I say."

Seeing Xie Jin fall into a rage, Ji Gang got up and left, leaving only Xie Jin, who was constantly foul-mouthed.

The torches were blown out, the passage was dark, but Xie Jin was very sober, and such an environment was undoubtedly a kind of torture for his own spirit.

"Discipline Outline !!"

He shouted hoarsely, but Ji Gang was already far away, and there was no sound in the dark environment except for his breathing.

He fell into despair, and no matter how much he could have imagined, he had been playing in the south a few months ago, and only a few months later he would become a prisoner of the ranks.

He knew what Ji Gang was, it was nothing more than asking himself to name some Jiangzuo officials.

It's a good name, but in the future, his reputation will be ruined, and his relatives will be implicated.

Thinking of this, Xie Jin fainted in anger and fell into the cell......

"How?"

Walking out of the dungeon, Ji Gang saw Chen Ying, the imperial history of the left capital who escorted Xie Jin to the north with him.

Chen Ying didn't go into the dungeon, so she could only ask Ji Gang about the situation inside.

This is the edict of Fusi in Beizhen, Beijing, and only Ji Gang can enter and leave at will.

"It's too clean, otherwise he will have to suffer a lot."

Ji Gang hadn't played enough, but Chen Ying frowned and said, "Don't go too far, it's not easy to deal with if you annoy Jiang Zuo." ”

"Not easy to deal with?" Ji Gang said disdainfully: "When Xie Jin confesses, then I will let them know what it means to be difficult to deal with." ”

Ji Gang never doubted that the emperor would give up on himself, after all, most of what he did was instructed by His Majesty, it was easy to give up on himself, but it would be difficult to cultivate another one.

Not everyone dares to risk the world's condemnation and offend the entire Jiangnan literary circle.

Ji Gang thought so, and finally took Chen Ying out of the edict prison and went to the Forbidden City to find Zhu Di.

After meeting, Zhu Di relieved a few words, and asked him to work well in Beijing and prepare all kinds of things for Jinyiwei after moving the capital.

got Zhu Di's relief, and Ji Gang became more and more distracted from the Jiangnan literary world.

Although he is in Beijing, most of his henchmen are in the south, so as long as anyone impeaches him, it will not take a few days for that person to be shaken out a lot of black material, and finally impeached and imprisoned by the imperial historians under Chen Ying.

More importantly, Ji Gang not only impeached Jiangnan officials, but even some officials of the New Deal faction, as long as they were caught by Ji Gang, they would also be impeached by him and Chen Ying.

For a while, the atmosphere of the whole temple was very wrong, and many people felt that Ji Gang had been instructed by Zhu Di to dare to take the initiative to target the New Deal.

At the same time, they all hoped that Zhu Gaoxu would stand up and rectify this trend and kill Ji Gang's momentum.

"In the past two months, 12 people have been imprisoned above the fifth grade, more than 700 people have been imprisoned at the fifth grade and below, and the number of officials who have been inspected by Beijing is no less than 5,000......"

In the Chunhe Palace, Zhu Gaoxu stood behind his desk, holding a brush in his hand, listening to Sun Cheng's report while copying the notebook.

When Sun Cheng saw Zhu Gaoxu standing, he didn't dare to sit down, and honestly reported the news he had.

Zhu Gaoxu didn't open his mouth after listening, but waited for the notebook to be written before putting down the brush, wiped his hands and said:

"Are these people problematic or framed?"

"This ......" Sun Cheng didn't expect His Royal Highness to ask like this, he hesitated before he spoke: "Some of them were framed. ”

"Since it is a false accusation, then just go through the process of the Beijing inspection and the three divisions, and there is no need to report."

Zhu Gaoxu didn't care about these officials, but after all, Sun Cheng got along with them day and night, so he couldn't help but say:

"Your Highness, but they, after all, are the backbone of the new deal, and the imperial court still needs ......"

"Sun Cheng, how many years have you been with me?"

Zhu Gaoxu interrupted Sun Cheng's words, Sun Cheng heard the words and went through them in his mind, but before he could say it, Zhu Gaoxu spoke: "You have been with me for eighteen years, from twenty-two to the current forty years old, how can you not grow at all?" ”

"Minister... Minister......"

Sun Cheng obviously didn't expect His Royal Highness to say such a thing to himself, and he didn't know how to deal with it for a while.

Indeed, Zhu Gaoxu is very polite to many old people from Bohai on weekdays, and rarely speaks seriously, but it doesn't mean that he can't say anything.

"Your Highness, Sun Cheng is just reluctant, don't ......"

After all, Sun Cheng was brought out by Yisha, so when he saw that Zhu Gaoxu was angry, he hurriedly bowed down and saluted to exonerate Sun Cheng.

Seeing this, Zhu Gaoxu was unmoved, and while wiping his hands with a towel, he walked out of the back of the table and came to Sun Cheng.

He was tall, and Sun Cheng was like a toddler in front of him.

Facing Zhu Gaoxu's downward gaze, Sun Cheng could only lower his head, like a child who made a mistake.

"How much filth is in the hands of these people, you should know better than me, don't say any high-sounding words, you dare to say that this group of people did not encroach on the acres of land and forcibly seize them?"

Zhu Gaoxu looked at Sun Cheng directly, and asked Sun Cheng with a cold face, but Sun Cheng was also hesitant and didn't know what to say.

Officialdom is a big dye vat, especially after becoming a high-ranking and powerful official, this big dye vat will only expand its scope, never shrink.

For Zhu Gaoxu, whether it is in his previous life or in this life, he knows how many temptations an official needs to face.

It can be said that as long as they open their mouths, or they don't need to speak, as long as they pay too much attention to one thing, whether it is women or money, even if they don't speak, someone will try to send these things to their bed, to the house.

Even the small staff of the Qingshui Yamen like Zhu Gaoxu in his previous life did not lack people who begged them to do things, let alone these high-powered officials.

What people want is nothing more than money, power, beauty, and the so-called ethereal sense of recognition, as well as someone to talk to.

From the pre-Qin period to the present, the human society has long developed in a variety of ways, even if the things played in later generations are just a change of name, a layer of skin, and the play is still the old way.

Looking down at Sun Cheng, Zhu Gaoxu crossed him, walked to the side, took the kettle from the eunuch on duty, and poured water for Sun Cheng's teapot with his own hands.

Seeing this, Sun Cheng hurriedly knelt down, while Zhu Gaoxu slowly said while waiting for the tea to brew:

"It's not just them, you and Fu Rang and Li Wei all have corrupt things, and I also know that some of them receive gifts in private, but I don't care about it."

"The reason why I don't care about it is because the value you have created for the Ming Dynasty is greater than the value of your corruption."

"Be obedient and do things well, then you will be fine."

"But if someone doesn't obey, then it's time to weigh it."

Zhu Gaoxu picked up the teapot that spread the tea leaves, poured the tea into the teacup, picked it up and walked to Sun Cheng, and handed it to him casually with one hand, Sun Cheng hurriedly caught it with both hands.

"You can take what I give you, and if I don't give it to you, you can't rob ......"

"Obey the decree!"

Sun Cheng took the teacup tremblingly, regardless of the hot tea, and drank it all.

Looking at his approach, Zhu Gaoxu turned around and walked back to his position with satisfaction, squinting at him:

"This group of people, if they are talented, they will stay if they can use them, and those who have no talent and no virtue will be sent away by Ji Gang's hand to make room for talented people to sit."

"I understand." Sun Cheng no longer wants to keep everyone now, he understands what Zhu Gaoxu meant, corruption is okay, but things must be done, and they must be done well.

If you are greedy for a hundred times, but you only do ninety-nine times, then damn it.

"There is no shortage of capable officials in the Ming Dynasty now, and I hope you understand this."

Sitting in the position, after Zhu Gaoxu explained this sentence to Sun Cheng, he touched his mustache:

"Okay, get up, you've worked hard for the past few years......"

Zhu Gaoxu looked sideways at Yishiha and explained: "Reward a small copper mountain in Luzon to Sun Cheng." ”

"The slave and maid received the order...... also lost his response, and Sun Cheng also hurriedly thanked him: "The minister bows and thanks to God." ”

"Continue to keep your integrity and don't be stigmatized by that group of people, this is your means of saving your life."

Zhu Gaoxu raised his chin and said the last sentence, then lowered his head to deal with the recital.

Seeing this, Yisha immediately stepped forward and motioned for Sun Cheng to retreat.

"The minister was taught to retire ......"

"Hmm" Zhu Gaoxu replied casually, and Sun Cheng followed Yishiha out of the Chunhe Hall and walked out.

On the palace road leading from the Chunhe Hall to the east gate, Yishaha did not speak to Sun Cheng until he reached the Yongdao, he stopped and said in this shady place:

"It's useless for you to be honest personally, you can only keep yourself incorruptible, and the people below are also incorruptible, which is what Your Highness wants."

"Of course......" Yishu Hattan paused and said: "People's hearts are difficult to control, each has its own desires, it is impossible to make everyone honest, and His Highness knows it." ”

"Your Highness said before that there are no of our people in this temple, and the virtuous will use them, and the virtuous will not be dethroned."

"I told you before, you were reluctant to depose them at that time, and now you have caught Ji Gang, but they can't even keep their official positions."

Yisha shook his head, obviously a little disappointed, Sun Cheng also sighed: "It's because I didn't think it through, I originally thought that His Royal Highness could handle Ji Gang at will......"

"Your Highness is possible, but it is not necessary." Yisha looked at Sun Cheng, who only knew how to govern the place, but did not know the intrigue of the temple, and couldn't help but have a headache.

"You have to know that it is impossible for a family to dominate the temple, even if His Royal Highness dislikes Jiangnan, he will not exterminate all the officials supported by Jiangnan."

"In that position, the biggest worry is not that the people below are messing up, but that no one dares to tell the truth."

"Tell me, how many officials of the New Deal faction occupy the temple at present?"

Yishaha asked Sun Cheng, but Sun Cheng said clearly: "About forty percent, so what do you mean ......"

"Of the remaining 60 percent, about 40 percent are resistant to the implementation of the new policy." Also lost Ha answered the question:

"This time Jiangnan implemented the New Deal, we had to solve them first, and then we could implement the New Deal."

"But after you get rid of them, you can't touch the positions they left behind, those positions are already occupied."

"I see." Sun Cheng is not stupid, but he is not good at intrigue.

"Tell me about it." also asked like a school exam, Sun Cheng also said:

"If the temple is monolithic and they are all officials of the New Deal faction, then even if it is true, it will be a lie."

"You're not stupid enough to die." Yisha breathed a sigh of relief, and Sun Cheng also hurriedly returned the salute.

As he returned the salute, he walked out as he spoke:

"Jiangnan has half of the world's population, and although it has moved several times, it still accounts for 40% and a half."

"Therefore, Jiangnan will inevitably get rid of the officials who stand on Jiangnan's position, the difference is that what needs to be eliminated at the moment is the group of officials who are disobedient and work against the policies of the imperial court."

"When they are gone, the ones who come up again are Jiangnan officials who have accepted the New Deal ideas and can help the court officials, but they are fighting with you for power."

Zhu Gaoxu and Yishiha said that Jiangzuo officials could not be killed, because they could not be killed in the first place.

Jiangxi's population is nearly 10 million on paper, and the actual population is even higher.

Unless there are no living people in Jiangxi, there will always be officials who stand in their hometowns, which is the imprint of the times and one of the reasons why the late Ming Dynasty formed a township party.

Even in later generations, the recommendations are mostly based on relatives, friends and fellow villagers, and a sentence of hometown can bring the two sides closer together.

This kind of imprint still exists until later generations, not to mention this era when the local complex is serious.

The promotion of the Mandarin dialect and the promotion of urbanization are actually one of the means to eliminate the local complex.

The local complex is a double-edged sword, for the country, it is very useful against foreign enemies, but once the world is peaceful, it will become an obstacle.

After getting the enlightenment of Yizha, Sun Cheng also understood everything.

Since the imperial court needs Jiangnan officials, it naturally needs new policy officials.

Jiangnan officials represent the developed areas of Jiangnan, while New Deal officials represent the poor areas of the north and southwest.

The one on the golden platform needs to hear the voice of Jiangnan, and he also needs to hear the voice of other poor areas.

That's the meaning of their existence, as for integrating a new party, it would be very unfriendly to the one above Jintai.

"Otomo, what are you talking about?"

Suddenly, a childish voice sounded, and when Yisha and Sun Cheng looked up, they saw Zhu Zhanyan with a backpack looking at them curiously.

Although the twelve-year-old Zhu Zhanyan failed to perfectly inherit Zhu Gaoxu's bravery, he was much higher than his peers in terms of size and strength.

At his age, he is five feet three inches (169cm) tall, and he definitely belongs to the existence of a standing out group in middle school.

He looks more resolute, with a broad face, thick eyebrows, a high nose and long eyes, heroic and resolute.

"Your Highness, we are discussing government affairs, is it the day of the earth?"

After all, Jiangning Middle School implements a residential school system, and only the school gate will be opened in the afternoon of Tuyao Day, allowing students to go home to rest for two days, and finally return to school before the moonlight and sun.

Gold, wood, water, fire, earth, sun and moon are seven days, that is, five days of classes and two days off, which is the same as the week system in later generations.

"Today is Tuyao Day, I will come back to rest for two days, and then I will go back to school after noon the day after tomorrow."

After Zhu Zhanyan finished speaking, he glanced at the two of them strangely: "Since there is nothing to do, then I will go to find my father, is my father in the Spring and Harmony Palace?" ”

"His Royal Highness is in the Spring and Harmony Palace." Yisha and Sun Cheng returned the salute, and when they looked up again, they saw that Zhu Zhanyan had already run away.

The two no longer discussed the previous topic, but parted after each bowed, and Yisha also returned to the Spring and Harmony Hall.

He watched Zhu Zhanyan run into the Chunhe Palace, and Zhu Gaoxu in the hall also saw Zhu Zhanyan running over.

It is now the fifth day of the third lunar month, Zhu Zhanqi's first week of middle school, and the first time he has gone home after living in school.

Zhu Gaoxu was still looking forward to his return, so he put down the pen and asked, "Have you asked your mother to say goodbye?" ”

"Not yet, my mother has time at any time, and my father can't do it on your side, so come over first."

Zhu Zhanyan said, his face was also full of smiles, which made Zhu Gaoxu a little surprised.

Because of his busy government affairs, the time he spent with any of his heirs was relatively short, except for Zhu Zhanqi, the sons were somewhat resentful, and Zhu Zhanqi was no exception.

Now that he has only been to school for a week, he actually sees that there is more admiration and some indescribable things in his eyes.

"What, look at me like that?"

Zhu Gaoxu leaned back in his chair and asked Zhu Zhanyu with great interest.

Zhu Zhanyan seemed to have waited for a long time, and when he saw him asking, he immediately got up and walked behind him, stretched out his hand to pinch his shoulder, and at the same time talked about what he saw and heard in middle school.

The middle school has a class of 25 students, and due to the large campus and the small number of students, it is very quiet.

Those noble children who can be admitted to middle school also have some brains, so naturally they will not expose Zhu Zhanyan's identity at will.

Because of this, Zhu Zhanyan can be regarded as experiencing the joy of studying in school.

"Dad, you don't know, there are everyone in our class, there are the children of those Tusi serfs in Xifan and Yunnan, the children of Bohai immigrants, and the children of military attachés such as Mongolia and Semu, everyone comes from all over the world and has different experiences."

"The students in Cochin say that there is no winter there all year round, and the sea is blue."

"Yunnan says that they have spring all year round, and the clouds are very white and big."

"The people of the West say that they have snow-capped mountains all year round, and the ...... of the Bohai Sea"

Zhu Zhanyan said with great interest a lot of what he heard from his classmates, and these things were something that the teachers in the East Palace couldn't tell him, because those teachings and practices had only been seen in books, not with his own eyes, so he couldn't tell his feelings, and it was all based on conjecture.

"Dad, my classmates admire you and grandpa very much, and say that if it weren't for you, they would ......"

Zhu Zhanyan conveyed the gratitude of his classmates at school, of course, he did not reveal his identity, but heard those words of gratitude from them as a bystander.

These words were conveyed by Zhu Zhanyu, and even Zhu Gaoxu couldn't help but be happy, because he finally felt that there were changes in the Ming Dynasty.

At the same time, he also felt his yearning for distant places and curiosity about various places from Zhu Zhanyan's mouth.

In this regard, Zhu Gaoxu naturally did not let go of this opportunity, and slowly said to Zhu Zhanyan:

"Taixue is studying the steam engine, as long as the steam engine is studied, it can be installed on a carriage in the future, laid on a track, and can travel two or three hundred miles a day."

"At that time, it will only take twenty or thirty days for you to go to the south to see the blue sea, and it will only take twenty or thirty days to go to the north to see the vast desert."

"If it can go faster, it may only take half a month, or even ten days, to get you to those places."

Zhu Gaoxu talked eloquently, and Zhu Zhanyu's eyes lit up: "I heard the steam engine from Jiaoxi, but I didn't expect it to be able to drive a car, so what does it eat and drink?" ”

In the face of Zhu Zhan's curiosity, Zhu Gaoxu also took the opportunity to explain to him trains, steamships, and many other technologies that could be realized in the future, or could be touched in Zhu's era.

Gradually, Zhu Zhanyan began to indulge in it, and Zhu Gaoxu continued to paint for him the scientific and technological cake of the Ming Dynasty in the future......

(End of chapter)