Jiajing Chengming

Chapter 126: Yang Shen is severely demoted, we are not familiar with him!
Mao Cheng also felt something was wrong, so he looked at his fellow villager Zhu Xizhou and asked, "So, the imperial court sent people to Jiangnan to buy cotton cloth, and then our fellow villagers actually sold it, and they fought over it?"

Zhu Xizhou nodded.

"Grand Master, your family members are so domineering!"

Suddenly.

Mao Cheng's face turned very ugly: "I will make my family pay for it!"

Bang!
"Why bring this up now? Shouldn't we be angry at the villagers for being short-sighted?"

Gu Dingchen was so angry that he slammed the table.

Mao Cheng thought for a moment and said, "I guess the court also went to Huguang to buy grain."

"That's right!"

Wang Junmin, a Huguang official and Hanlin lecturer, heard what Mao Cheng said and walked over and said something.

Mao Cheng asked: "How do you say it?"

"According to a letter from my family, Xi Suining went to Huguang and wanted to buy 5 million shi of grain, which is 1 million shi more than the grain purchased by Huizhou merchants in the past!"

Wang Junmin replied.

Zhu Xizhou asked in a deep voice: "So, you sold Huguang?"

Wang Junmin nodded.

“How can you sell it?!”

Gu Dingchen couldn't help but asked in a harsh voice.

Wang Junmin said: "This time the court is paying for grain, not raising taxes, and the price is not low, much higher than the price you sent Hui merchants in the past, and it's five million shi. The villagers can't resist this temptation and all advocate giving out grain to show their loyalty!"

"For this reason, the grain team organized by my relatives and friends was almost attacked by bandits colluded with the wealthy families in the neighboring villages, and my son was injured as a result!"

Wang Junmin said this with a look of resentment on his face.

Everyone couldn't help but comfort Wang Junmin.

After a while.

Zhu Xizhou still couldn't help but say with great disappointment: "How can this be accomplished? They are all obsessed with small profits and forget about the greater good."

"This is not a small profit. I can only say that the current emperor is truly extremely intelligent."

Mao Cheng said this and then sighed, "This is an open conspiracy. Even if we knew about it in advance, we would have no way to deal with it."

Zhu Xizhou nodded.

And next.

When the imperial lecture began, none of the ministers mentioned the punishment of the Jinyiwei.

Zhu Houcong could also tell from their expressions that many of them were not in a good mood.

Zhu Houcong himself had something to say.

He stood up and slammed the petition submitted by the three judges after the trial of Monk Yuanyin directly on the table, with an unpleasant look on his face.

All the court officials knew why the emperor was angry, so they all knelt down.

"Your Majesty, calm down!"

Although the court officials were only being polite, Zhu Houcong still asked in a cold voice: "How can you ask me to calm down?"

"The person behind this is planning something really good. He wants to throw dirty water on my Jinyiwei and even involves the Silijian!"

"What do you think they mean by this?"

"Why don't they just say that I am rebelling against myself, that I am thinking of sending new eunuchs to guard Jiangnan, and that I am thinking of sending the Imperial Guards to plunder the people's wealth?"

Zhu Houcong pointed at Liang Chu and said, "Prince, tell me! What do they mean by this?"

Liang Chu said at this time: "Your Majesty, they don't dare to do this. It has been said since ancient times that the monarch is a lonely man and monarchs are suspicious. They probably want Your Majesty to suspect the Jinyiwei, and then let the officials from the southern aristocratic families who control food and cloth continue to challenge Your Majesty's authority, so that they can reap the benefits."

"They already dared!"

Zhu Houcong spoke in a stern tone.

"You said they didn't dare."

then.

Zhu Houcong said one more sentence and looked at Mao Cheng, Zhu Xizhou and others:
"And you, as Yuan Fu said, they wanted you to fall into a trap and do something disloyal. You actually knew it was a trap, and knew they had no evidence of the Jinyiwei stealing, but you still took the initiative to jump in, and one by one you went to the books to madly attack the Jinyiwei!"

"Let me ask you, I selected the Jinyiwei. If they are disloyal and immoral, does that mean there is something wrong with me?"

"To question the Imperial Guards is to question me, and that is to deceive God!"

"Are you all brainless, or are you deliberately trying to deceive me?"

After Zhu Houcong asked this, Mao Cheng hurriedly said:
"I dare not! I was just confused for a moment and mistakenly thought that it was the Jinyiwei who did it. And I only said in the memorial that if it was the Jinyiwei who did it, they should be severely punished. I also only said that I hope your majesty will send an imperial envoy to investigate the Jinyiwei."

"But your majesty is right. Now I understand that I almost fell into the trap of the person behind the scenes! Fortunately, your majesty is wise and saved me from being used by others."

"I dare not!"

Zhu Xizhou and others also responded.

Zhu Houcong continued: "I know what you are thinking. You just want me to forgive my ministers."

"But how can you ask me to forgive you?"

"The enemy troops are approaching, but they are forcing me to do something unjust and immoral."

"I wish I could charge them with treason and collaborating with the enemy!"

Zhu Houcong said at this time.

Zhu Xizhou kowtowed and cried, "Your Majesty, please understand. They dare not betray their country and collaborate with the enemy. They are just afraid of the invaders and have done such a foolish thing!"

"I believe you, give them another chance."

"I will just give the order to deal with them now, so that you won't have to think about this matter every day, or even be so confused that you are almost used by the rebels."

"As for your problems, I will not pursue them for now. Since you villagers are relatively cooperative, I will give you a chance to reform."

Zhu Houcong waved his hand and said, "Pass the order! All the ministers here will be exiled to Liaodong. Let them cultivate the land and guard the border for the country!"

"Since they are afraid of the invaders, let them go to the border towns to see the enemy's strength and see if they are really powerful. Even if they are afraid, they can still practice their courage. Don't abandon the people and run away when they see the invaders attacking in the future when they still have a chance to defend the area."

"Also, I heard that the eldest son of the Grand Tutor said, 'The country has nurtured scholars for 150 years, and today is the time to die for justice!'"

"Is that what happened?"

Zhu Houcong asked.

The lecturers were silent.

Zhu Houcong directly asked Mao Cheng by name: "Grand Master, is this true?"

"Your Majesty, yes."

Mao Cheng replied.

Zhu Houcong smiled and said, "What a real man! Since he wants to be a real man so much, I will punish him severely for slandering the court. However, considering that he is the son of the Grand Tutor and the Grand Tutor still needs his care, I will demote him to the position of Daxing Dianshi!"

Zhu Houcong then asked: "Masters, do you think I am fair?"

"Your Majesty is naturally fair!"

Gu Dingchen hurriedly bowed his head and replied.

"I second the proposal!"

Zhu Xizhou and others couldn't help but close their eyes, and then kowtowed in reply.

Zhu Houcong then continued: "Next, let's just talk about the burning of grain."

"deliver an imperial order!"

Zhu Houcong called out, his expression serious. "Bring that Yuanyin to the imperial prison immediately. I want to interrogate him personally!"

"Yes!"

And wait for the next day.

Zhu Houcong asked Qin Wen, "Has Yuanyin been taken to the imperial prison?"

"Your Majesty, the Cabinet has reported that the Criminal Department has rejected your imperial edict."

Qin Wen answered truthfully at this time.

"Rejected?"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

……

"Reject!"

"It must be refuted!"

"Because this is a mess!"

"The case has already involved the Imperial Household Department and the Imperial Guards. If he is imprisoned in the Imperial Prison, how can the people of the world rest assured?"

"We need to have the courage of Liu Jijian to correct the mistakes of our king and father!"

"If Your Majesty still cannot maintain integrity, then reshaping the money system is just to make money, not for the benefit of the people. How can you convince the people of the world?"

"How can people in the world be willing to hand over the grain?"

The news that Liu Zhu had rejected the imperial edict soon spread to everyone in the court.

Covey Bear was very excited that day and talked to Liu Zhu and other bureaucrats.

Liu Zhu was naturally very moved, especially when he saw that Ke Weixiong was so fearless of the imperial power and directly expressed his support for him, he couldn't help but bow to Ke Weixiong and regarded him as a close friend.

But what Liu Zhu didn't know was that the civil servants who came from the Jiangnan aristocratic families had already compromised.

Now, after being flattered by Ke Weixiong and others, he came to see the monk Fahui with a smug look on his face and said to Fahui, "The emperor wants to send Yuanyin to the imperial prison!"

Fahui turned pale after hearing this: "How can this be possible!"

“So, I have refuted it.”

Liu Zhu said with a smile.

Fahui asked, “Will this work?”

"Of course I can!"

"My reason for rejecting the case is that the Jinyiwei are already suspicious. Asking them to investigate Yuanyin is tantamount to shielding them."

"Because all the scholars and officials in the court hold this opinion, especially the Jiangnan gentry who hold the fate of the grain transport, they will definitely support me in refuting it!"

Liu Zhu replied.

Fahui was relieved and said, "That's good!"

then.

Fahui continued, "I heard that the new coins have already started to be minted, and a new craftsman system has been used, so the minting efficiency is very high?"

"Yes!"

"My friend in the Ministry of Works said that the outer city has begun construction, and the first batch of organized militiamen have begun to receive daily wages in the form of new copper coins, which have the image of Taizu on them."

Liu Zhu nodded.

Fahui sighed and said, "It has really started. It's time for them to raise the price of grain!"

Liu Zhu nodded: "We should always try as much as possible!"

Upon learning that his imperial edict was rejected by Liu Zhu, Zhu Houcong said in a deep voice: "He is using the power of rejection given to him by our ancestors to deny me!"

"Since Liu Zhu won't let me transfer that monk to the Imperial Prison, then I'll arrest him and put him in the Imperial Prison first!"

"I want to ask him first. Why does he insist that my Jinyiwei are derelict in their duty and disloyal when there is no evidence at all? He thinks that Jinyiwei are disloyal, but I think he is disloyal!"

"also!"

"Let the three judges continue to interrogate the monk, and there must not be any mistakes, otherwise I will never let him off easily!"

After Zhu Houcong said this, he asked Liang Chu: "Did you buy cotton cloth in Jiangnan? Did you buy grain in Huguang?"

"I was just about to tell Your Majesty."

"According to the latest reports from Jia Yong and Xi Shu, they have both exceeded their mission targets and will be escorted back to Beijing soon."

"In addition, according to Jia Yong and Xi Shu's report, because of this, the various clans in Jiangnan and Huguang fought each other. Some of them were originally family friends, but they became enemies. They also took the initiative to tell them about their enemies' immoral deeds. However, many of them were hearsay and there was no evidence, so it was difficult to report them to the emperor for punishment. This fulfilled the wishes of their enemies and turned the court into a tool for them to fight among themselves and annex each other."

Liang Chu replied.

Zhu Houcong said: "Although I cannot ask for your approval, they can write down what they have seen and heard in their personal notes. If I am pleased, I will reward them."

Liang Chu agreed.

then.

Zhu Houcong smiled and said, "It's good that we can buy food and cloth. This shows that the southern gentry is indeed not a monolithic group. No wonder those officials from Jiangnan were so respectful at the imperial lecture today! They must have known about this."

There is hope for a reshaping of money laws after all.

This was naturally a happy thing for Zhu Houcong.

And Liu Zhu is now very happy that he has refuted the imperial edict.

He believed that his colleagues in the court would not ignore his rejection of the imperial edict. After all, he was working for the interests of the entire scholar-official community.

He also believed that the emperor would not do anything to him at this time based on the reasons for his rejection.

But when Liu Zhu came to the Six Departments Corridor and was about to go to the Criminal Department, he saw the Jinyiwei walking towards him.

then.

Liu Zhu heard the imperial edict from Zhu Houcong to imprison him.

"Why would your majesty take me?"

"What's wrong with me blocking it?!"

Liu Zhu asked excitedly.

Asking and asking.

Liu Zhu saw Mao Cheng, Zhu Xizhou and other lecturers heading towards the Qianbu Gallery after the lecture.

Liu Zhu hurriedly shouted, "Grand Master of the Imperial Clan, Junior Master of the Imperial Clan, listen to me. Just because I rejected the seal, the Imperial Guards want to arrest me. Is this reasonable?!"

Mao Cheng quickly covered his face with his sleeves and pretended not to know him.

Zhu Xizhou also lowered his head and walked quickly.

Liu Zhu was shocked when he saw this: "Why are you all hiding from me?"

Liu Zhu even stopped Gu Dingchen and said, "Minister Gu, you and I are of the same age. Tell me, why are you avoiding me? Am I doing something wrong?"

"wrong!"

Gu Dingchen replied without hesitation.

"You don't trust the Royal Guards, but you also don't trust His Majesty?"

Gu Dingchen then asked another question, and because there were Jinyiwei here, he deliberately said:
"Also, we are just of the same age, not close friends. Don't think I am avoiding you. I just don't want to associate with a disloyal minister like you!"

"We all are!"

(End of this chapter)