Han Shizu

Chapter 1969 The Dengwen Drum Is Ringing Again
It was early in the morning, and the morning mist had not yet dissipated. In front of the palace, a thin figure walked from the long street and entered the guards' field of vision. When they got closer, they found that it was a young man.

Wearing a light blue robe, almost faded, with no crown on top, and only a simple bamboo stick in his hair, his face is haggard, his eyes are deep and determined, and the whites of his eyes are bloodshot.

This is obviously not a normal person, the guards of the city noticed, and immediately one of them wanted to ask questions, but was stopped by the captain.

"This person has a strange face, I'm afraid he is not a good man!" said the soldier.

Hearing this, the captain just tilted his chin forward and said, "Let's see!"

The garrison squad in the imperial city, even an ordinary guard, has a background, whether it is to shelter the noble children or military school students who have entered the job, or the elite soldiers selected from the front-line army.

Being able to become the captain of the imperial city's defense naturally cannot be an ordinary person. He was born in the Qian family in Hangzhou. In terms of seniority, he is still the grandson of Qian Chu.

Although he stopped his subordinates, his eyes were fixed on the young man, his eyes were very alert, and he was ready to rush up and take it down at any time.

From a distance of several feet, one could feel the staring eyes of the group of guards, but the young man didn't seem to notice it, and just walked with heavy steps, step by step, towards the Dengwen Pavilion under the imperial city.

Watching his movements, the guards couldn't help but be amazed, and there was a little curiosity and exploration in their staring eyes.The soldier who spoke just now couldn't help but turned sideways, and said in a low voice: "Captain, how long has it been since no one beat the Dengwen drum?"

"No matter how long it takes, stay vigilant, watch people, and wait for the palace to summon you at any time?" Captain Qian showed deep thought, and his tone was very calm.

"Yes!" The soldier agreed, rolled his eyes, and couldn't help sighing: "It would be great if I could see it and send it to the palace. It's been a long time since I was transferred to the capital, and I haven't seen what the drooping arch palace looks like before. If so If I can see Tianyan with my own eyes, I will have no regrets in this life..."

"You boy!" Hearing what he said, Captain Qian immediately scolded with a smile: "Why do you have so many thoughts? In broad daylight, are you talking like a dream here?"

As he said that, his expression became solemn, and he taught him a lesson: "Cheer up your spirits, stand up to your post, and dare to be negligent and slack, I will send you to the Military Justice Department first!"

Seeing that the captain had become serious, the guard didn't dare to be frivolous anymore, and hurriedly begged for mercy: "The captain is merciful, the subordinate just shut up!"

Although the words of the guards are exaggerated, they also reflect some realities.Within the imperial city, rules and regulations are strict, and each battalion under the Great Internal Army has a fixed patrol area, which is strictly regulated, and unless the post is transferred, there must be no missteps.

The location of the imperial city gate is critical, but it is on the outskirts, and the officers, soldiers and guards under it, even if they are transferred, can only be on the outskirts of the imperial city, as for the palace city, it is almost a forbidden area.

For grassroots guards, not to mention seeing the beauty of the sky, even looking at it from a distance is an extravagant hope.This guard, from Qingzhou, is also the son of a county magistrate. He has served in Beijing for three years, and at most he has seen Luanjia, and he is also heavily guarded.
Even the guards of the Forbidden Army guarding the imperial city and guarding the emperor were like this, not to mention the ordinary people. It can only be said that Emperor Liu has gradually lived the image that his courtiers imagined and revered.

Following that young man, he picked up the wooden hammer and struck it on the cowhide drum without any hesitation. The sound of "dong dong" was enough to deafen the deaf. It went north to the imperial city, south to the neighborhood, and spread towards the surroundings.
In the palace, Emperor Liu is eating breakfast. The dishes are very simple, one cake, one porridge, and one dish. Except for the ingredients and top-notch cooking, it is not even as rich as the morning food for the common people in Beijing. After all, for most ordinary people, In other words, there are still two meals a day, and the old emperor just wants to maintain his health, and now he doesn't even dare to drink soup with a little oily water.

When the sound of Dengwen's drum came, the old emperor was visibly stunned for a moment. He stuffed the roll of cake in his hand into his mouth, chewed and swallowed it, and then thought about it.

Taking the silk handkerchief and wiping his mouth, Emperor Liu asked Yan Tuo with a little emotion in his tone, "How long has it been since the Dengwen Drum was played?"

Yan Tuo was also a little surprised, but his face was calm, and he replied calmly: "I can't remember the exact time, I just remember that the last time was in Tokyo, and it was because of a farming incident. The cattle theft..."

From the development and changes of the Dengwen drum system in the Kaibao Dynasty, we can also see the changes in Emperor Liu's governance and politics. Generally speaking, he cannot escape a "slack" evaluation.

The Dengwen Drum System, which used to be the way for Emperor Liu to face the common people and listen to his feelings, is now useless in name only after 28 years of Kaibao.This is by no means a problem with the system itself, it is only the old emperor who has the problem.

Just like what Yan Tuo said, the last time the drum was heard and Emperor Liu personally received it was several years ago. At that time, the empress talisman was still there, and Emperor Liu was not yet disheartened or suspicious. Now such a heart disease.

That time, it was because a farmer in the outskirts of Kaifeng lost his cattle and went directly to beat the Dengwen drum.As a result, Emperor Liu still met him personally, but when he learned the specific situation, how ugly that old face was, how ugly it was, and in the end he just handed it over to Kaifeng Mansion for disposal.

After that, Emperor Liu broke out completely. In fact, in the past ten years or so, he was already tired of some "trivial" things that knocked on the drum. On the political side, he just gritted his teeth and held on.

And if you really want to understand people's sentiments through Dengwen drum, judging from the results of many years of practice, the effect is not significant.So, taking advantage of the "lost cow case", Emperor Liu issued an edict and made a patch, ordering that non-human life and major special cases should not be reported to the public.

This is almost aimed at ordinary people. Being an official has a sense of propriety. Emperor Liu thought so.However, the follow-up development of the "lost cow case" almost subverted Emperor Liu's perception of the "Dengwen Drum System".

After Wu Desi's investigation, the old farmer who appealed was instigated by someone behind the scenes, and the mastermind behind the scenes was not a big person, but a censor of the Inspectorate, and there was no conspiracy.

Its purpose is even more absurd. The second person thinks that the emperor should listen more to the corrections and advice of the censors, and he is very contemptuous of the system of boarding and hearing. He ordered the old farmer to appeal, just to see what Emperor Liu would do. How to deal with it also made Emperor Liu realize what a ridiculous and inefficient decision to let go of public opinion.How can the Son of Heaven communicate directly with fools and lowly people?
When such a report was submitted to the court, one can imagine how the old emperor's mentality exploded.In the end, the old farmer thought he was vulgar and deceitful, so he was given a little punishment and let him go after twenty lashes.

That censor's end was miserable. They were all executed for "the crime of deceiving the emperor", and added the crime of "unpredictable intentions". His family was also implicated, his family property was lost, and he was sent to Anxi.
However, these are difficult to really vent the anger and hostility in Emperor Liu's chest. He thought of it a lot, and remembered the most sensational "imperial examination fraud case" back then. After all, there was the shadow of King Liu Xu behind it.

Emperor Liu even couldn't help wondering whether there was another story behind every time Dengwen's drum sounded and Xiaomin appealed the case itself, whether there was someone behind it, whether it was different people with different purposes in the past so many years. "Play" with him, the emperor.
After all, ordinary people are basically unwilling to deal with the government. If they go to the palace to beat the drums, they may not even find their way.Those who can beat the Dengwen drum must be people with certain knowledge and background.However, in the past, there were quite a few ordinary people who directly reported to Emperor Liu.

The "lost cow case" had a great impact on Emperor Liu, to the point that he lost interest in the Dengwen Drum System. No surprise.

But now, after many years, the Dengwen Drum sounded again. While in a trance, Emperor Liu couldn't help but wonder what the reason was. It shouldn't be like throwing a chicken or killing a dog.
Immediately ordered Yan Tuo to go and bring the visitor into the palace in person!

(End of this chapter)