The Regent makes me unstoppable [Transmigration Book]

After reading the ledger for two days, Shen Ying finally knew where the problem of the empty state treasury was.

He only knew at the beginning that Emperor Taizu of Daying had stipulated that the descendants of the Shen family enjoyed privileges, were not bound by ordinary laws, did not need to pay taxes, and could even collect taxes on their fiefdoms.

Not only that, Taizu also stipulated that every descendant of the royal family does not have to engage in any occupation, and all daily expenses shall be borne by the state. The higher the salary and rice, the more the royal family's population, so the burden on the imperial court to support these royal clans became heavier and heavier.

Shen Ying checked the salary and the amount of Lumi allocated by the Ministry of Households to the princes' houses in various places every year, and the figures were shocking.

Ying Taizu's way of treating his descendants generously is exactly the same as that of Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang, which led to the fact that by the end of the Ming Dynasty, the number of Zhu's descendants reached more than 100 million. Only rich families can afford to support so many Open your mouth?It is strange that the country is not destroyed!

Shen Ying didn't have any sense of family affection and belonging to the same family with these relatives of the Shen family. In his eyes, these clans were like locusts and leeches. Lying on people's necks to suck blood.

But although these people are hateful, they are the foundation of the Shen family's rule, and the rules set by the Emperor Taizu are on top of them. Even if Shen Ying is the emperor, there is nothing to do with them for the time being. Numerous examples in ancient and modern China and abroad have proved that, Noble cakes are so active, anyone who moves is their common enemy.

In Shen Ying's emperor's work schedule, in addition to the reduction of feudal vassals, there was another reform of the clan system. No matter which of these two important things should be done, they could not be done overnight, but could only be done gradually.

Fast forward to the end of the year, and this year, in addition to the "big plan" that inspects officials from prefectures, counties, and prefectures, this year also happens to be the "Jingcha" that inspects central officials once every six years.

According to the regulations of the Great Ying Dynasty, the achievements of officials from the fourth rank need to be inspected by the emperor himself. For Shen Ying, who has just grasped the power, it is a good opportunity to display his imperial power.

He can take advantage of the opportunity of this official evaluation to justifiably select some officials he is satisfied with for support, and for those officials he is not satisfied with, he can just take this opportunity to weaken and suppress them, so these days, Shen Ying is even more busy Can't be handed over.

On this day, the Minister Zuo of the Ministry of Officials entered the palace again to deliver documents for official assessment to Shen Ying. When he arrived at the gate of Yongle Palace, he heard from the eunuch who was waiting outside that the Marquis of Linyang was discussing matters with the emperor in the palace. After a while, it was passed on again, and a person stood outside holding the documents and waited for a while.

The door of the hall was not closed, only the thick curtain was drawn, so from time to time outside, one or two conversations could be faintly heard from inside.

The Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of Officials listened intently, and vaguely heard two sentences that Gu Min seemed to be suggesting to the emperor which official should be promoted and which official should be demoted, so he couldn't help being secretly surprised.

The promotion of central officials is naturally decided by the emperor, even if someone is to discuss it, it should be with the cabinet scholar or official secretary, and Gu Min, apart from the title of Marquis of Linyang, is only a third-rank Jinyiwei commander, a military officer , to be able to interfere with the transfer of central officials, which is a great disadvantage to the status of these civil officials!

Most of the civil servants were selected through the imperial examinations. Among the civil servants in the court, there were many classmates, fellow villagers, peers, family friends, etc. These relationships closely connected the literati and bureaucrats to form a civil official group.This is especially true in the three-year and six-year official performance appraisals.

If one or two bad reviews are obtained in the performance of the political performance obtained in the past few years, it is tantamount to negating all the hard work and hard work of the official in the past few years. No one would expect such a result, so there will be You protect me, I protect you, cover each other, and help each other's unspoken official rules.

Even when Du Qianren or Guo Jiuchen were in power, it was the same, but now a Gu Min who broke away from the civil official group suddenly appeared and broke their established rules. As a civil official, he would inevitably feel flustered.

Civil and military are originally opposites. Throughout the dynasties, either the civil and martial arts were emphasized, or the martial arts were valued and the military was valued. In order to protect their own interests, the literati and bureaucrats would never want to see the power of military officials over civil officials.

After Gu Min and the emperor finished talking inside, Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of Officials went in and delivered the documents calmly, and then the news of Gu Min intervening in the performance appraisal of officials spread like wildfire in the court. The memorials of Gu Min's involvement in politics were sent one by one to Shen Ying's imperial case, demanding that Gu Min be severely punished.

Shen Ying saw these memorandums of impeachment of Gu Min, and did not respond to the officials. She just recalled who came to Yongle Palace yesterday, and who was most likely to spread the conversation between Gu Min and him. The servants in the palace had been strictly trained, their mouths were tight, and it was impossible for them to be so courageous. Thinking about it this way, I naturally thought of Zuo Shilang, the Ministry of Officials.

Shen Ying immediately ordered someone to announce the Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of Officials to enter the palace, and when the Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of Officials arrived at Yongle Palace tremblingly, Shen Ying did not announce him to enter the palace, but only made him stand in the courtyard as punishment.

It's already the twelfth lunar month, the weather is extremely cold, and the north wind howls. People can't bear the cold after standing outside for a while. In less than half an hour, the left servant of the official department was so cold that his nose was red and he was shivering all over, but he didn't If he dared to complain, he could only move his body a little bit to maintain his body temperature. In addition to being cold, he also had to worry about what the emperor would do to him next. His body was cold and his heart was full of fear.

An hour later, it was snowing in the sky, and the left servant of the official department was so cold that he felt that his limbs were about to lose consciousness. It was not his own, and he was worried. Could it be that the emperor planned to freeze him to death here today, and he sighed in his heart. Knowing this, he shouldn't talk too much yesterday and tell his colleagues in the Ministry of Officials what he heard outside Yongle Palace.

But he also felt that he was not wrong. Gu Min had indeed exceeded his authority. Why should a commander of Jin Yiwei judge the officials' achievements?If the emperor punished and killed a third-rank official of the imperial court because of this incident, wouldn't he be afraid of being criticized for being cruel and tyrannical?

The Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of Officials was worried about his own life, and Gu Min entered the Yongle Palace with an umbrella at this time.

He is wearing a black and yellow unicorn suit given by the emperor, which is more majestic than the big red flying fish suit before. Yellow is a color exclusively used by the royal family. Apart from the prince and county king, there is only Gu Min, which shows how different he is in the emperor's heart.

Gu Min held an umbrella in one hand, and carried two small wine jars in the other hand. He walked very leisurely. When he walked to the left servant of the official department, he stopped, nodded and smiled at him and said hello: "Lord Liu."

Even though Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of Officials was angry with Gu Min in his heart, he didn't like to explode in front of him. He stiffly raised his almost frozen arm and bowed in return. His teeth were chattering when he spoke, "Guhou."

Gu Min glanced at the snow-covered head and body of Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of Officials, and asked, "Why is Master Liu standing outside all the time, and no one is allowed to go in and pass the news?"

The left servant of the official department thought to himself, don't you know why I am standing here?He also asked hypocritically, the cat cried and the mouse pretended to be merciful.

The left servant of the Ministry of Officials smiled stiffly and said: "Perhaps the emperor is busy with other things and has no time to summon the lower officials. It's okay, the lower officials will wait for a while."

After a while, the little eunuch who went in came out and said that the emperor let Gu Shaojun in. Gu Min nodded and said to the left servant of the official department: "Then the prince will go in first, and this umbrella will be given to Mr. Liu to protect himself from the wind." Let's snow."

Seeing the sincerity in Gu Min's eyes, Zuo Shilang of the official department didn't look like he was joking on purpose, he hesitated for a moment, but still took the umbrella, "In this case, the next official will be disrespectful, thank you Gu Hou for giving me the umbrella."

Gu Min carried two jars of wine into the hall, Shen Ying was not dealing with political affairs, but stood in front of the window of Dongnuang Pavilion with her hands behind her back to enjoy the snow scene outside, when she heard footsteps next to her, she turned her head and glanced, "Here we come, What's in your hand?"

"Green Ant's new fermented wine, small red clay stove. It's going to snow tonight, can you have a glass?" Gu Min put the two jars of wine on the table and said with a smile, "I see it's going to snow today So I bought two altars of good wine outside the palace, intending to go into the palace to have a drink with the emperor, I wonder if the emperor will appreciate it?"

"Why don't you drink the good wine?" Shen Ying smiled, and waved her hands to Shuo Yu who was next to her. Shuo Yu understood, and quickly moved a small stove to put on the table, and then helped them warm up the wine. out.

There are two charcoal basins burning in the warm pavilion, even with the windows open, it doesn't feel too cold. Gu Min walked to Shen Ying's side and looked out of the window. From this angle, he could just see the snowman standing in the courtyard. The left servant of the official department asked with a smile: "Is the emperor angry with Lord Liu?"

Shen Ying laughed, "How did you become the Commander of Jinyiwei, and you didn't even know that you were ginseng? The news is so outdated, how can I expect you to collect information for me?"

Gu Min pretended to be surprised, "The minister has been recruited? What about the minister?"

Shen Ying tapped on the window lattice with her fingers, and said leisurely: "It is said that you exceeded your authority and interfered in the evaluation of officials as a military officer. I want you to be severely punished."

Gu Min frowned, "That minister was really wronged, when did I overstep my authority and interfere in politics? Even the minister himself didn't know."

"It's not that some people just listen to the wind and the rain. I just asked you a few gossips yesterday, but today the imperial censor Ben is referring to you. Only they themselves know what they are doing this for." Ying sneered, "This year's big plans for Beijing's investigation have also made me see clearly what is the atmosphere in the officialdom today. They have formed cliques for personal gain, officials and officials protect each other, and acted like Du Qianren and Guo Jiuchen were in power now. This is a crooked trend, and I can't deal with it well. There is no cure."

Gu Min suddenly chuckled, "No wonder..."

Shen Ying glanced at him strangely, "No wonder why?"

Gu Min jokingly said: "No wonder several officials came to the minister's mansion today to give gifts. They wanted me to help them speak well in front of the emperor. I didn't know when I was so capable that I could influence the Sacred Heart?"

Shen Ying asked with great interest: "Has anyone given you a gift? Have you ever accepted that gift?"

Gu Min smiled and said: "The gift is naturally confiscated, and if you accept it, you can't accept bribes? The minister's eyelids are not so shallow. The person who gave the gift couldn't even enter the gate of the minister's mansion, so the minister sent his servants away." .”

"Why didn't you accept it?" Shen Ying patted the window sill, hating iron for being weak, and said, "You should accept their gifts, then turn over all the money to the treasury, and then tell me the name of the person who gave the bribe. Send them all to other places to serve as officials!"

Gu Min: "...Your Majesty, why do I feel that what you said sounds so black?"

Shen Ying was confident, "What's wrong with black people? How can we get rid of these old foxes who have been in the officialdom for decades?"

To be an emperor, of course, you have to be a bit darker. Can Silly Baitian be an emperor?He was played to death by the ministers below, okay!

"However, Your Majesty," Gu Min persuaded Shen Ying by supporting Shen Ying's shoulders, "It's freezing cold, let Mr. Liu go back first. Weak, don't freeze people out of illness, because a small loss makes a big difference, but it will damage the reputation of the emperor's benevolence. The wine is about to warm up, there is no need for other people to affect our interest in drinking."

Shen Ying counted the time and found that the fine was almost done. He originally wanted to punish the left servant of the Ministry of Civil Affairs with a small punishment, to knock the mountain and shake the tiger, to remind those civil servants to restrain themselves and stop making petty moves behind his back. Come in, tell Shuoyu a few words to convey to Zuo Shilang of the official department, and let Zuo Shilang of the official department go out of the palace and return to the mansion.

It was getting dark, and the snow gradually became heavier. The feather-like snow fell one after another, and soon everything in the yard was decorated with silver. The two sat down and admired the night snow, while drinking. .

"The new year is approaching, and the annual gifts prepared by the vassals from all over the country have been sent to Beijing one after another these days. I should reward them with something in return." Shen Ying sipped her wine and asked, "A few days ago How are you training those beauties you selected?"

Gu Min said: "The time is short, there is no time to train too many things, but it is not a problem for them to pass on a message."

Shen Ying nodded, with a sneer at the corner of her mouth, "King Huai, King Chu and others are good friends. It is most suitable for the perverted vassals to give them beauties. The other vassals will slowly find a way to insert them in the mansion. Eyeliner. I looked at the account books a few days ago and found that when Empress Dowager Liu was in power, King Huai, King Xin, and King Qianyong asked the court for money and food every year in various names, and Empress Dowager Liu asked them nothing. No, maybe I came to power this year, but these vassal kings calmed down a bit, and they didn’t dare to ask me for money. Over the years, they have looted more than tens of millions of taels of silver from the court. I will want this money sooner or later Let them all spit it out!"

Gu Min raised his glass and said, "I wish the emperor's wish will come true soon."

"Is it just my wish come true?" Shen Ying and Gu Min clinked glasses and said with a smile, "When the feudal clan is successfully cut down, I can reverse the case for your family, and then you can also restore your identity and recognize your ancestors. So, Comrade Xu Jingcheng, isn't this also your wish?"

Gu Min frowned in confusion, "Comrade? What do you mean?"

Shen Ying smiled and said: "You can understand it as a 'like-minded' person."

Gu Min said seriously: "That should also be called 'Zhitong'."

Shen Ying shook her hands, "Isn't it easier to say 'comrade'? I say comrades are comrades."

"Okay, Comrade Emperor," Gu Min raised his glass high, looked at Shen Ying with a smile, and said loudly, "May our wishes come true as soon as possible!"

—

It snowed heavily all night, so Gu Min naturally rested in Yongle Palace at night.

Early in the morning of the next day, just after dawn, Gu Min and Shen Ying were still asleep, when suddenly Shuo Yu knocked on the door, saying that he had something important to report to the Emperor.

Last night, both of them were drinking too much. Shen Ying was hangover and didn't get enough sleep. He couldn't wake up from the groggy mind, but there was an urgent knock on the door, so he used all his hands and feet to push Gu Min out of bed. , put the quilt on his head, and muttered: "Go, ask what's the matter, don't bother me if it's not something urgent."

Gu Min had no choice but to put on his clothes and get up to open the door. When he opened the door, he saw Shuoyu standing outside anxiously. Seeing Gu Min coming out, he shook the whisk in his hand and said, "Gu Shaojun, it's not good!"

Gu Min put on his robe, frowned and asked, "What's going on?"

Shuo Yu lowered his voice and said, "Just now, the Yulin Army came to report that the body of Mr. Liu, the left servant of the Ministry of Officials, was found in an alley in the West Market!"

Gu Minxin sank suddenly, and asked with a solemn expression: "You mean Mr. Liu, the left servant of the Ministry of Officials? When did he die? How did he die?"

Shuo Yu shook her head, "We don't know the specifics of the situation. Didn't it snow heavily last night? There was no one on the street, so it was not discovered until dawn this morning."

"Okay, the Marquis knows, so I'll go out of the palace to check what's going on." Gu Min pondered for a long time, then looked back into the inner room, and said to Shuo Yu, "The emperor is still sleeping, so don't wake him up. You can tell him about it when he wakes up."

Shuoyu nodded: "Our family understands, Gu Shaojun, please rest assured to leave the palace."

Gu Min went back and got dressed, and left the inner room lightly, until Gu Min left Yongle Palace, Shen Ying was still awake, lying unconscious on the dragon bed.

Gu Min left the palace and went straight to Beizhen Fusi to dispatch people to investigate the circumstances of the death of Zuo Shilang from the Ministry of Officials. When Jin Yiwei arrived, the scene of the murder had been controlled by the governor of the capital, and the common people were not allowed to approach.

It snowed heavily last night. By this morning, the snow on the ground was already a foot thick, covering the bloodstains and bloody smell at the crime scene. The sedan chair of the left servant of the official department stopped in the middle of the alley. The bearers who carried the sedan chair fell one after the other beside the sedan chair. Their bodies were covered with snow and had already been as frozen as a stone.

Gu Min walked to the side of the sedan chair, pulled out the embroidered spring knife from his waist, and used the blade to lift the curtain of the sedan chair, and saw the corpse of the left servant of the official department sitting inside the sedan chair. He was still wearing the official uniform he wore when he entered the palace yesterday.There were bloodstains on the front official uniform, the head was thrown back, there was blood on the neck, and there was a large area of ​​dried blood in the form of jets on one side of the car wall. It was obvious that he was assassinated on the way back from the palace. His throat was cut with a sharp weapon and he died.

Gu Min put down the car curtain, put the Xiuchun knife back into its sheath, and asked, "Who was the first to find the corpse?"

An official said: "Master Hui, he is a tofu man who gets up early and sells tofu."

Gu Min rubbed the handle of the Xiuchun Knife, thinking: "Master Liu, he hasn't returned at night, why is his family not in a hurry to find him, and the body was not found until morning?"

The officer said: "My lord, the younger one went to the Liu residence to inquire. The Liu residence sent people out to look for it last night. The reason why no one was found is because usually Master Liu would not pass this path when returning from the palace, but I don’t know what happened yesterday, but I went this way.”

Gu Min said in a deep voice: "First take the corpse to the yamen, let Wu do an autopsy, and then we will discuss this matter. Tell your lords, this Marquis will ask the emperor for an order, and this case will be handed over to Jin Yiwei for investigation."

The official said: "Little one obeys!"

The officials tidied up the scene of the crime. Gu Min walked aside and looked at the blank snow in front of him thoughtfully. The scene had been inspected and there were no traces of fighting. buried.

The assailant was Lian Jiazi, and his attack was quick and sharp. All three corpses were killed with a single knife. Those who dared to kill the court officials must not be seeking money.

But I am afraid, the murderer did not kill Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of Officials for revenge, but for other purposes, Gu Min always felt uneasy in his heart, as if he smelled a hint of conspiracy.

The autopsy results came out on the same day. Because the three corpses had been frozen in the ice and snow, it is impossible to speculate on the exact time of death, but judging from the surrounding environment, they should have died after You hour, when there were no people on the street. The time of leaving the palace coincides.

As for the fatal wounds of the three corpses, the two bearers were on the chest, and the left servant of the official department was on the neck. The wounds were all done by the same person, and the murder weapon used should be a knife with a certain curvature.

After reading Wu Zuo's autopsy report, when Gu Min saw that the murder weapon had a certain arc on it, he subconsciously looked down at the Xiuchun knife worn on his waist, and his heart skipped a beat for no reason. The formed spider web gradually became clearer.

Gu Min immediately ordered his subordinates, "Quickly order the Nanbei Zhenfu envoy to investigate the officials above Xiaoqi. Be sure to find out what everyone did last night, and report it immediately after checking!"

Gu Min had just seen the description of the murder weapon in the autopsy report, the first thing that came to mind was the Xiuchun Knife, and the Xiuchun Knife is a gift from the imperial court, not everyone in Jinyiwei can wear it, I hope, he thought too much .

But God failed, and before the results of the investigation came out, a subordinate came to report that someone had found the body of a Jinyiwei outside the city. Suicide by taking poison.

Gu Min understood everything in an instant after listening to his subordinate's report. The murderer who killed the Minister of Civil Affairs, Zuo Shilang, was just as he expected.

The murderer didn't intend to kill Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of Officials, but all of this was aimed at him.

The left servant of the official department just offended him, and died on the way back to the palace that day. The person who killed him happened to be Jin Yiwei, and he happened to commit suicide. How could he know that the murderer didn't commit suicide in fear of crime or was killed?

And who is most likely to instigate Jin Yiwei to kill, except for him, the commander of Jin Yiwei, who else?I'm afraid that most people would think that Gu Min ordered his subordinates to kill him in order to eliminate dissidents or take revenge on the Minister Zuo of the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

When Gu Min walked out of the Fusi yamen in Beizhen, snowflakes fell in the sky again. He suddenly understood that this winter's severe cold might have just begun.