Jiajing Chengming

Chapter 165 Nanzhi is scared! Jiajing uses Qingtian to take revenge!

"what!"

Hu Zan fell to the ground on the spot and screamed.

"how dare you?"

He couldn't help but ask.

"Why would you use such a person?"

then.

Hu Zan asked Zhu Xizhou again in great pain.

Zhu Xizhou held his forehead and said, "He is not under my control!"

Hu Zan's eyes suddenly widened.

Bang!
then.

Hu Zan was also executed.

All the officials present were suddenly shocked.

"Nie Xian, who assists the Nanjing Metropolitan Procuratorate!"

Zhu Xizhou suddenly shouted.

Nie Xian, the Nanjing Censor-in-Chief who had risen with Zhu Xizhou, immediately knelt down and said in a trembling voice:

"The subordinate is here!"

"Stand up first!"

Zhu Xizhou said.

"Yes!"

Nie Xian stood up with trembling legs and gritted his teeth.

"You take charge of Caojiang for the time being, and go arrest Fang Gao and the others!"

Zhu Xizhou completed a formal letter and gave it to him.

According to Ming system.

All the official troops who control the river are supervised by the Deputy Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, or a member of the Assistant Censor-in-Chief, who are ordered to inspect the river route from Jiujiang to Zhenjiang, Susong, etc., and the military guards along the river are all responsible for the prevention of thieves and thefts.

Zhu Xizhou was the Right Censor-in-Chief and Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, and could directly appoint the new Caojiang Censor-in-Chief.

of course.

A royal decree procedure will need to be completed afterwards.

Nie Xian hurriedly raised his trembling hands and said yes, then walked out with Zhu Xizhou's official letter.

He didn't dare to do what Hu Zan did, refusing to carry out the order and threatening to quit.

As the saying goes...

Being lenient is a mistake, and being strict is also a mistake.

Before Zhou Shangwen used the three-barreled gun to enforce discipline, Hu Zan, who was under the command of Zhu Xizhou, was too disrespectful.

But after Zhou Shangwen used the three-barreled gun to tidy up the situation, Nie Xian, who was temporarily serving as the Jiangdu Censor, was too afraid of his superiors and actually knelt down first. Now when he came to arrest Fang Gao and other new candidates, he was also very rude.

After the navy officers and soldiers stopped the ship that Fang Gao and other new candidates were on, Fang Gao was questioning how these officers and soldiers could take them away without permission, when Nie Xian came over and kicked Fang Gao to the deck:

"It is not too much to kill him for making irresponsible comments on national policy and slandering the ministers!"

Pan Hongye and others were shocked to see this.

Fang Gao himself covered his stomach, crying in pain, and his eyes were full of anger.

As the son of a prominent official, he had never suffered such injustice or been treated so roughly.

You know, in the past, even high-ranking officials like the Shangshu and the Shilang were usually gentle and kind to him.

Nie Xian had Fang Gao, Pan Hongye and others put on heavy shackles and handcuffed them.

When they arrived at Zhu Xizhou's Censorate and listened to what Zhu Xizhou said, Fang Gao and other new candidates realized that they had been stripped of their honors and would be interrogated and questioned.

Fang Gao and other new scholars were devastated to learn that they had been stripped of their titles.

After all, it is not easy to pass the imperial examination.

But Fang Gao and other new scholars were born into aristocratic families after all, and they had seen many scenes. Their fear of officials was no less than that of ordinary people or even ordinary scholars.

Therefore, Fang Gao asked loudly at this time: "Why did the governor want to strip us of our honors? We were just making a public statement."

Zhu Xizhou laughed, stood up, put his hands behind his back, looked at these new candidates and said:
"You also call that a public memorial?"

"The opening chapter directly frames the cabinet ministers of the time as traitors, and directly slanders the second-placed scholars who responded to the call to go north to the Practical School as being lucky villains."

"Let's discuss politics!"

"Why do you want to defame someone's innocence for no reason?"

Zhu Xizhou immediately scolded him harshly.

Saying.

Since ancient times, people have inevitably made accusations when criticizing others.

Even Sima Qian listed Wei Qing and Huo Qubing in the "Biographies of Favorites" when he wrote "Records of the Grand Historian".

In later generations, teachers often expressed dissatisfaction with the way many people liked to accuse others when criticizing them.

But it is indeed unavoidable.

in history.

Even a so-called upright cabinet minister like Grand Secretary Shi Yan clearly stated in his memorials that Zhang Cong and Gui E were mean, slanderous and treacherous villains.

These new imperial examination candidates were no exception.

They instinctively felt that the officials who were reformed were treacherous ministers who misled the emperor and disrupted the government, and that those who wanted to take shortcuts and become second-placed scholars were also lucky villains!

It is equivalent to the fact that the aristocratic families will also think that the people from poor families who want to cross the class barrier in one generation are overambitious and opportunistic, while the aristocratic families will instinctively feel that they have accumulated knowledge for several generations, so why should you be able to achieve such accumulation in just one generation?

There is nothing wrong with this idea for them.

but……

For the country and the people of poor families, this cannot be a reason for you to deliberately monopolize information resources, cheat by using connections, or even over-exploit people to the point of enslaving them like cattle and horses in an attempt to legalize this. Nor is it a reason to reject the court's reforms to ease conflicts and enhance national strength.

and so……

Fang Gao and other new candidates did not expect that this would be a reason for Zhu Xizhou to punish them. They even thought that Zhu Xizhou was deliberately taking revenge on them in order to please the powerful.

So, Fang Gao stretched his neck and replied with a red face: "We did not slander anyone's innocence, this is the fact!"

"That's right. Those scholars who made the second list were not good at studying and did not have good aptitude. They should have continued to study hard and wait for the next autumn examination in three years. How could they fall into the trap of the treacherous ministers? They wanted to take shortcuts and not wait for the next autumn examination because of their favor. It can be seen that their character is not right and they are suspected of trying to get promoted by luck. If such a person is not a villain, then who is a villain!"

Pan Hongye also said indignantly.

Zhu Xizhou was too lazy to say more. He knew that these new candidates, after they had passed the imperial examination, did not want to let others easily obtain the title of juren, and considered it a betrayal of the rules.

After all, he was originally a beneficiary of such rules and a conservative who supported that the rules could not be changed.

If he had not followed Gu Dingchen and others and violated the rules for personal gain, and if he had not been afraid of death and further chose to compromise and betray, he would not have become the pioneer of reform today.

thus.

Zhu Xizhou continued to argue with these new candidates on this matter, and only asked: "Except for Nanjing Hanlin Dean Zhou Song, have you been instructed by others? Which bureaucrats and scholars have you come into contact with during this period?"

Zhu Xizhou was actually not very interested in dealing with these new scholars.

He knew that young people were inevitably hot-tempered and naive, especially the young elites who benefited from the rules. They would naturally become radicals who defended the old system and would instinctively feel that upholding the old system was upholding justice.

Therefore, Zhu Xizhou was too lazy to waste time arguing with these new scholars about the right and wrong of this matter.

"no!"

Fang Gao responded first.

Zhu Xizhou said: "If you tell the truth, this court can restore your reputation on the grounds that you were misled and have come to your senses."

"some!"

After hearing what Zhu Xizhou said, Pan Hongye quickly spoke.

Fang Gao looked at Pan Hongye in astonishment.

Zhu Xizhou asked: "Who are they?"

"Yang Dan, the Right Censor of the Nanjing Metropolitan Procuratorate."

"Wang Wei, the Right Vice Minister of the Nanjing Ministry of Rites."

"Xiao Xian, the chief academician of the Imperial College in Nanjing."

……

After hearing this, Zhu Xizhou hurriedly ordered Xu Shen, who had passed the exam and was hired as a clerk in the Governor-General's Office, "Record it!"

Xu Shen said yes.

And here.

Fang Gao became very anxious when he saw this, and looked at Pan Hongye: "How could you betray an upright official in the court!"

Pan Hongye lowered his head.

After receiving these lists, Zhu Xizhou immediately wrote a memorial of impeachment, intending to impeach these officials to prevent them from affecting his implementation of the court's reform policies in the future.

Let’s talk.

Many officials in Nanjing had already known that Yingcheng Bosun Yue was beaten to death by Zhou Shangwen.

"The court is serious about this!"

Liang Yongfu, the Marquis of Baoding, who was the co-garrison commander of Nanjing, was at the Yingcheng Earl's Mansion. Looking at Sun Yue's coffin, he couldn't help but say something.

The Nanjing Minister of War Qiao Yuze, who came with him, also saw this scene and said to Nanjing Right Censor Yang Dan: "Yang Xindu really chose a good emperor. He deceived us all!"

"We still have to submit a petition! Zhou Shangwen must be dismissed, Zhu Xizhou must also be dismissed, and the most important ones are Wang Shouren, Zhang Fujing and others!"

Yang Dan said.

Liao Tang, the eunuch who came with him from Nanjing, just sneered and said, "What's the use of this? You'd better wait patiently for the land survey!"

Zhu Houcong had indeed begun preparations for the land survey.

Although he had recently received many memorials from ministers and scholars saying that he was too dependent on favors and should not arbitrarily change the method of selecting scholars.

But Zhu Houcong refused to listen.

He only asked the cabinet to issue an imperial edict, asking Guo Xun, Marquis of Wuding, to be the commander of the land clearing and to lead the two troops of the Weiwuying Huben Guard and the Jinwu Guard to the south. He also arranged the first batch of trainees into the Huben Guard and the Jinwu Guard to serve as land clearing envoys, responsible for the specific calculation and registration work of land clearing.

Governor-General Zhu Xizhou was also ordered to assist in the policy of clearing the fields.

As for where to start clearing the fields, Zhu Houcong issued an edict saying:
"Start clearing the fields in the area where the tax and labor service records are lost! If the tax and labor service records are still there, you don't have to clear the fields first!"

Zhu Houcong made such arrangements naturally in retaliation against the local clerks and wealthy families who burned down the warehouses and destroyed the tax and labor records.

However, after Zhu Houcong issued this decree, clerks and wealthy families in many places in the southeast could not help but begin to regret their decision, secretly sighing that they should not have destroyed the tax and labor service register earlier.

Those local clerks and wealthy families who did not do so naturally felt lucky.

As Yingtian Prefecture was the first region where the tax and labor service books were lost, it was naturally the first place to be surveyed.

When Guo Xun led a large land-clearing team to Yingtian by boat and met with a group of noble officials from Nanjing, he immediately began the land-clearing work.

However, the noble bureaucrats and wealthy families in Nanjing were extremely reluctant to clear the land.

However, Xu Shen and other scholars from poor families and common people were very interested in clearing the fields.

Because they have long suffered from uneven taxation.

However, after all, Guo Xun was also a nobleman, and Zhu Xizhou was also from a high-ranking bureaucrat and landlord family.

Therefore, even though Xu Shen had already entered the government and became a clerk, he was still somewhat worried that the land clearing issue would be a big deal but little action. At this time, Huang Cong, a classmate who had been admitted to the Governor's Office with him, said:

"Isn't this just a story?"

Huang Cong said, "Let's wait and see. Anyway, the people from our Governor's Office will collect taxes at that time. As long as the land is cleared seriously, the main targets of our tax arrears will be the wealthy and powerful families."

Xu Shen nodded.

When the land clearing started, because the first area to be cleared was the hidden land of Xiangcheng Earl Li Quanli's family, Li Quanli had to come to Guo Xun and say, "Old Guo! Give them some face and ask them not to clear this area! I will reward them handsomely!"

"I can't give it to you!"

"Everyone in the world is watching."

"Also, Lao Li, you should stop thinking too much about yourself. Sometimes you should think about the imperial court. If the imperial court doesn't clearly measure the land, how can it collect taxes to maintain the country's fortune in the future?"

"If the Ming Dynasty is destroyed in the future because of improper taxation, what good will it do you and me?"

"We should care more about the country than those scholars and officials, and we should not be more greedy and selfish than them."

Guo Xun smiled and persuaded Li Quanli, the Earl of Xiangcheng, to come, and then asked the people from the Weiwu Camp to continue surveying the fields.

(End of this chapter)