Daiyu of the Red Chamber raised a cat

Zhou Hang stepped into the palace gate excitedly, but saw Li Zhao's face was angry, and after careful questioning, he found out that a magistrate named Hu Wei in Shandong had written a memorial.This memorial did not say anything important that deserved the emperor's fury. It was just that due to the severe drought last year, many people had no crops. I was almost out of food, and I had no money or food to pay the court's taxes. I asked the Holy One to show mercy and exempt the victims of these disasters from taxes.

It’s nothing wrong with this. It’s people-oriented. Naturally, the people must be put first. The first thing is to let the people survive. There’s nothing wrong with that.

Li Zhao loves the people like a son, and has always acted according to this standard. Logically, the most reasonable action for him to encounter such a thing is to immediately issue an edict to exempt those victims from taxes, and distribute money and food to these people. The people starve to death?

What's more, if the disaster victims don't provide relief, they will easily become refugees, and if there are too many refugees, there will be chaos. This is also for the stability of the court.

After dealing with the disaster victims, he will reward Hu Wei, the prefect, not to mention promotion, at least he will give him something.

However, what made him angry was that Hu Wei was too ignorant. It was obviously the first year of Zhenyuan, and the imperial court had already sent a report to various places.

Changxing is the reign title of the Supreme Emperor. What does this mean? Does it imply that his succession to the throne is not correct?

Zhou Hang unfolded the memorial and saw that it was written about the 24th year of Changxing.The mansion report was rushed to various places five hundred miles ago five months ago, and it should have been sent to remote places like Qiongzhou and other inaccessible places.In other words, it was done on purpose.It seems that this magistrate named Hu Wei either has a limited brain capacity, or is dissatisfied with the new government and new policies, or has some unruly thoughts.

No wonder the emperor's father was so angry, Zhou Hang touched his chin and thought to himself.

Zhou Hang smiled and said: "Father, you are just a magistrate. You can just find out and take care of it. You don't have to worry about it."

Li Zhao thinks about it too, he is a [-]-year-old, but he is not as clear as his son, and he got into a dead end for a while.If you are really serious with a magistrate, there are countless officials from the capital to the localities, large and small, and there are hundreds if not thousands of people who are bigger than the magistrate.However, this does not mean that he will let it go, the investigation still needs to be investigated, in case the magistrate really has the intention of rebelling, then it's okay?

This investigation really found out a lot of things.

Moreover, two people were involved, one was the chief assistant Zhang Shouzhong, and the other was the newly promoted Yue King Li Chengyu.

It turned out that Hu Wei was a distant relative of Zhang Shouzhong. How far away was it? Probably Hu Wei's aunt's uncle was Zhang Shouzhong's cousin.But because Zhang Shouzhong is a cabinet minister, and now he is the first assistant, with great power, although Hu Wei is only a magistrate, he is young. Many people at this age are still studying and taking the Jinshi exam.Hu Wei has already become the magistrate in his early thirties, which is not bad, and he has a bright future in the future.

One wants to curry favor with others, and the other wants to promote young people and pave the way for future generations.Therefore, the two families still have some contacts. Hu Wei often visits Beijing as his nephew when he goes to Beijing to report on his duties.

As for the contact with Li Chengyu, it was just for the convenience of climbing up.

A prime minister with real power, the son of an abolished prince, and a local official.

It's not a good sign for these three people to get mixed up.

Moreover, this Hu Wei was a heartless official and deceived his superiors and subordinates. Although the famine under his rule was a natural disaster, it was also suspected of a man-made disaster.Originally, when there was a severe drought, the harvest would not fail, at most it would be less than in previous years, and the people would not go hungry.The reason why many people had no harvest in the end was thanks to Hu Wei.

Hu Wei is a lustful person by nature, there are countless wives and concubines in the mansion, and many children, there are seven or eight, but they are all daughters, and there is only one son, born by his wife, who is only 15 years old.Because he is only a single child, he is spoiled. He has developed a pampered temperament since he was a child, mixed with a bunch of dudes, flying eagles and lackeys, sleeping flowers and sleeping willows at a young age.In April of last year, when the wheat and wheat blossomed, this young master Hu came here with many entourages to hunt in the countryside, destroying hundreds of acres of crops, and finally shot a hare.

Hundreds of acres of fertile land, but all the assets of dozens of middle-level peasant households, they all rely on the land to support their families, how heartbreaking it is to be destroyed rashly?Dozens of farmers discussed going to the county government early to file a complaint. The county magistrate saw that the high-ranking man was the magistrate's son, who would dare to accept it?

That's not counting. Hu Wei is stupid and not good at teaching his son. There is another thing that annoys Li Zhao even more.

In the past, in addition to the taxes stipulated by the court, local officials often collected common customs from the common people.The so-called regular money is actually the money that local officials collect from the common people under the guise of a clever name and put it into their own pockets.Although this kind of behavior will increase the burden on the people and make the people dissatisfied, it has been a long-standing habit, and it has even become a convention. If some officials are not too presumptuous, the court will generally ignore it.As a result, in order to satisfy their own desires, many officials even put the routine above the court tax, first collecting the routine to fill their own pockets, and then collecting the court tax.

But there is only so much money and food, and the people often don't have enough when they pay taxes.If it is forced to levy, it will inevitably add a greater burden to the people, and if the persecution is too severe, it will easily cause civil uprisings.

Therefore, after Li Zhao ascended the throne, he decreed that all localities were not allowed to levy routines, and those who violated them would be executed.

Li Zhao issued the imperial decree before the wheat harvest last year, that is to say, after the wheat harvest last year, the local governments can no longer use any clear-eyed collection rules.But this Hu Wei is really daring, not only collects, but also collects according to the ratio of [-] taxes.That is to say, if the output is [-] liters, it is necessary to hand in the routine of one liter.You must know that the imperial court's tax is only one thirty taxes, and Hu Wei's routine collection is twice as heavy as the imperial court's tax.

It was Hu Wei's violent expropriation that caused the people under his rule to be in dire straits, which is tolerable or unbearable!

Therefore, Hu Wei's ending is very tragic.

Beheading, family property confiscated, family members exiled, servants and women entered the government.

As for Zhang Shouzhong and Li Chengyu, although they were not moving for the time being, they both sensed the danger signal.Although Li Chengyu was a little flustered, he thought that Hu Wei had nothing wrong with him, and the emperor couldn't do anything to him.Besides, there is still the Supreme Emperor, as long as the Supreme Emperor is still alive, the emperor will not dare to do anything to him.

But Zhang Shouzhong really broke out in a cold sweat.

Look at the behavior of today's emperor since he took the throne. It can be said that he is as quiet as a virgin and as active as a rabbit.From forbearance for more than half a year last year, to the dismissal of officials and ministers in the early spring of this year, he was quick, accurate and ruthless, killed with one move, and never dragged his feet.Alas, the era of Changxing has come to an end. He is old, and it is time to be more sensible and prepare to enjoy his old age.Otherwise, the next unlucky one would be his Zhang family.

Zhang Shouzhong is more than seventy years old, and has been in the ups and downs of his career for more than 40 years. The reason why he can be an extremely human minister is because of his cautiousness.Thinking back to the time of the Supreme Emperor, although he was not more favored by the Supreme Emperor than Zhang Yifeng, he was considered an extremely human minister.When the princes were vying for favor and succession, it was not that no one had wooed him, and even His Royal Highness the Crown Prince repeatedly threw out olive branches, but he never wavered a bit, and only served the Supreme Emperor alone.When the new emperor succeeded to the throne, he was even more cautious, he would not say a word or take an extra step, lest he make a wrong step and die in the end without a place to bury him.

He knew about Hu Wei, but he only praised him from time to time when he saw that he was clever, talented, and had relatives who beat around the bush.As for the gift he sent, he accepted it when he was the Supreme Emperor, but it was because the Supreme Emperor was suspicious, and the more trustworthy the person, the easier it was to be suspicious. In order to let the Supreme Emperor dispel his doubts, he had to do this self-destructive thing.After ascending the throne today, knowing that when he was a prince, the inspectors and officials were known for their stern and selfless governance, so they never dared to accept any gifts from anyone.

Who would have thought...

His unprogressive son didn't listen to his teachings, and took money from Hu Wei in private, which caused such a disaster?

Once the emperor and the courtiers, the political struggle has always been so cruel, so for the throne, brothers will not hesitate to shed blood, and father and son will become enemies.Zhang Shouzhong thought about it, and in the eyes of the new emperor, he was probably an unsightly pawn to be taken out. At this moment, only he was more sensible, took the initiative to find an excuse to become an official, and gave up the contacts and resources accumulated over the years in his hands, or he could preserve the family. .

It's just that officials have complex connections and interests, and they also have to worry about the face of the Supreme Emperor and His Majesty the Emperor, so it's not so easy to let go.

Zhang Shouzhong tossed and turned all night, and finally came up with an idea.

The next day the emperor summoned the cabinet ministers to discuss matters. Zhang Shouzhong didn't know if he didn't stand still or what happened. When he stepped over the threshold of the palace, he bumped into Lin Ruhai and almost fell. All the court ladies and eunuchs lost face in front of them.

"Old Zhang Ge, Ruhai has offended you." After supporting Zhang Shouzhong, Lin Ruhai took a step back and cupped his hands.

Zhang Shouzhong also hurriedly cupped his hands and said: "Mr. Lin Ge is serious. It's because I have bad eyesight. I'm guilty of bumping into Mr. Lin Ge."

Once the two complimented each other again, Lin Ruhai expressed his admiration and concern. Zhang Shouzhong took advantage of the situation and said that he was getting old, his physical strength was getting weaker and weaker, and recently his vision had gone wrong. You have to work hard, it will be your young people's world in the future.

It seems to confirm the sentence that even the road is not clear. After the discussion, when he was going out, he bumped into an armchair, and he and the chair fell off his back. The eunuch and maid next to him held back his laughter lift up.

Zhang Shouzhong hurriedly knelt on the ground and kowtowed to plead guilty, saying that he was old and weak, his eyesight was bad, and he lost his manners in front of the imperial court, and he was punished by death!

Naturally, the emperor couldn't punish the chief minister of the cabinet with a death sentence because of this matter, so he had to comfort him, saying that although the chief minister was worried about state affairs, he must not ignore his own body.Zhang Shouzhong also asked to resign on the grounds of old eyesight.

Li Zhaodao: "Zhang Aiqing has worked hard and made great contributions to the court. I am reluctant to love you and become an official." He sighed, and said: "However, Aiqing is old, and I am also reluctant to love you. I have worked too hard for state affairs and hurt you. How about this, among the cabinet ministers, Lin Aiqing is the youngest and most powerful, and Aiqing can hand over some of the affairs in charge to Lin Aiqing, which can be said to kill two birds with one stone."

Zhang Shouzhong hurriedly knelt down and said, "This humble minister takes orders!"

Just as he was about to mention the matter of becoming an official again, he was interrupted by the emperor saying "If there is nothing else to report, all the lovers will step down", and he had to salute and retire with all the cabinet ministers with different faces.

-

But in Lin's residence, Daiyu was sitting in the yard cutting a branch of crabapple, Hui'er came in with two little maids holding two big boxes, and knelt down a foot away from Daiyu to salute.Since the palace sent nuns and female officials to teach etiquette, Daiyu's relationship with the maids was not as casual as before, and everything had to be done according to royal etiquette.Even the girl who has been serving her close to her since she was a child is not allowed to look up at her master without the order of her master.

Daiyu asked with a smile, "What's in your hand?"

Hui'er said: "Returning to the girl, it is the bead platform built by the girl's special agent a few days ago."