The Ming Dynasty started with caution

Yan Chengjin came to the side and secretly helped Gu Dayong plan his future life. It seems that no one has gone to Australia yet.

"Your Highness, I will ask you a riddle."

When Zhu Houzhao heard the riddle, he became excited: "This palace is very smart, and ordinary riddles can't stump me."

"This riddle, I guarantee that Your Highness can't guess it."

Zhu Houzhao stared: "You say!"

"This thing is very strange. There is a nest in its belly, and mice can be raised in the nest. There are two feet under its body. It takes five steps at a time and is as fast as a rabbit in the grass."

It's not that I look down on you. Even if I tell you the answer, you don't know what it is.

"Give Your Highness a quarter of an hour."

After a while, Zhu Houzhao scratched his ears and cheeks and said anxiously: "Old Gao, wait a little longer, I'm about to guess it, wait a little longer."

"It's a kangaroo." Yan Chengjin didn't care about him and revealed the answer directly.

Zhu Houzhao was dumbfounded. He had seen countless rare treasures and was quite knowledgeable about tigers and leopards, but he had never heard of kangaroos.

"What is a kangaroo?"

Yan Chengjin said calmly: "I also heard from the French that this animal runs faster than Red Hare. It is not very far to the south of the Wo Island. The most important thing is that this animal only eats grass and does not spend money. Your Highness can ask Gu Dayong to catch one."

Zhu Houzhao's eyes lit up. Eating grass is good. Outside the capital, there is grass everywhere. You don't have to spend money and eat it as you like.

I was worried that I had no fun recently, and I nodded like a chicken pecking at rice.

May I ask what your future career plan is?

Yan Chengjin thought that Gu Dayong would definitely not be able to answer such a profound question, so he helped him plan it.

In fact, sometimes, life does not need to be planned by yourself.

Suddenly, Zhu Houzhao showed some amusement and touched Yan Chengjin's arm: "Old Gao, I heard that you also impeached Master Ma."

"Why did your highness say this?"

"Look behind you."

Ma Wensheng stood behind him suddenly, especially his withered old face, grinning, half yellow teeth, as ferocious as a ghost.

Yan Chengjin was almost scared to travel back in time.

Zhu Houzhao smiled and looked like he was watching the fun, wishing that Ma Wensheng would beat up Old Gao, the arrogant guy.

He would help Old Gao when he was still alive.

In that case, Old Gao would definitely be grateful for his life-saving grace and then serve him like a cow and a horse.

Ma Wensheng reached out and held Yan Chengjin's hand affectionately, patting it again and again, and was extremely kind: "I will never forget the kindness of impeachment by my nephew."

Zhu Houzhao was so shocked that his jaw dropped, and Yan Chengjin didn't react.

What stimulated him? Brain disease?

Ma Wensheng sighed a few times: "My son killed the tax collector who exploited the people, and he has done a good deed."

Killing someone, and still doing a good deed?

Yan Chengjin and Zhu Houzhao looked strange.

However, Yan Chengjin understood when he heard the words "exploiting the people" and "tax collector".

In the eunuch industry of the Ming Dynasty, in addition to the Silijian, there are three positions with low employment rate but high income, namely, the eunuch guarding, the eunuch purchasing, and the tax collector.

The business tax in the Ming Dynasty was 1/30, which was extremely lenient to merchants.

But it could not collect any silver. After ten years, the mining tax collected was only about 100,000 taels of silver.

In total, there were only more than 10,000 taels of silver a year, which was used to pay for the palace expenses and the salaries of ministers, leaving almost nothing.

Later, the collection of mining taxes became verbal and almost no longer collected.

But the tax collectors, in the name of the court's tax collection, arbitrarily set the tax amount, and even made up some taxes out of thin air.

Some places did not raise silkworms at all, but they still had to pay silk taxes. In fact, the court did not issue an order to collect these taxes.

The local officials colluded with the tax collectors, and the channels for speech were blocked. The people had no way to complain and no hope. They either rebelled or fled.

Jiang Zong relied on his position as a tax collector and embezzled money. Fortunately, he touched the reverse scale of Emperor Hongzhi. His death was in vain.

Ma Jie stepped on dog shit.

Emperor Hongzhi wanted to punish him, but he was also lenient.

However, Yan Chengjin really didn't know that Ma Jie beat a tax collector to death.

"I just saw that he did a good thing, so I reported it to your majesty."

Zhu Houzhao was stunned.

Lao Gao was really bad. He clearly reported others and said that he did a good thing. Zhu Houzhao felt that he had learned something again...

Ma Wensheng felt a little embarrassed, and his gloomy face dripped with water. Is it a good thing to beat someone to death? It was the tax collector who was partial to his own interests who was beaten to death. Don't talk nonsense.

"Your Majesty has issued an order to thoroughly investigate this matter. If you are credited with merit, I will report it to Your Majesty and credit you with it."

"Then I'll trouble you, sir."

After Ma Wensheng left, Zhu Houzhao came up and said, "Old Gao, killing someone can be a merit?"

"Your Highness, how about...trying on Gu Dayong?" Yan Chengjin blinked.

Gu Dayong was frightened and looked miserable: "I have not offended Lord Yan..."

Why did the eunuchs who accompanied the prince disappear frequently? Who was the murderer?

Gu Dayong was puzzled. Fortunately, he came here today and found out what was going on. It seems that he was "arranged" by someone.

Yan Chengjin shook his head. If you are not my enemy, you don't have to disappear. No, as long as your name is Gu Dayong, you still have to disappear.

Zhu Houzhao said, "Forget it, Gu Banban is still useful."

Gu Dayong breathed a sigh of relief, and Zhu Houzhao smiled again: "Gu Banban, pack your luggage, Lao Gao, what is that place called?"

Yan Chengjin thought about it carefully. Australia had not been discovered by the Ming Dynasty, and there was no name for it. Anyway, it was none of his business to blame the French.

"According to the French, it seems to be called... Australia?"

"That's Australia!" Zhu Houzhao danced with joy: "Go and find a mount for me. I want to keep it in the East Palace. It's called a... kangaroo!"

Gu Dayong couldn't hold on and fainted.

"Lao Gao, what should we do? He seems to be scared to death?"

"In my opinion, Gu Banban is pretending."

After being carried back to the East Palace, Zhu Houzhao immediately ordered people to wake Gu Dayong up. When Gu Dayong woke up, the carriages and horses were ready, so they had to set off immediately.

Zhu Houzhao was very interested in being able to gain merit by beating someone to death. There was such a good thing in the world. As soon as Gu Dayong left the palace, he ordered people to call all the tax collectors in the capital.

In the Fengtian Palace,

Emperor Hongzhi ordered the factory guards to thoroughly investigate Jiang Zong's mansion to see what bad things he had done in the capital over the years, how much silver he had embezzled, and how many people were involved.

Just as he was worrying, a young eunuch rushed into the palace in a panic, almost crying: "Your Majesty, the Crown Prince has arrested two tax collectors in Datong and said he would kill them to make merit."

Emperor Hongzhi was dumbfounded.

It took him a long time to react.

For a moment, he even doubted whether he was the biological father of the Crown Prince. I am gentle, respectful, wise and virtuous, how could I give birth to such a son.

"What caused it?"

"I don't know."

Xiao Jing frowned. Why didn't Gu Dayong report such a big thing in advance?

Your Majesty grew up around eunuchs and palace maids, and was very kind to the close ministers around him. The Crown Prince might make Your Majesty angry.

Sure enough, Emperor Hongzhi left the memorial and went to the East Palace in anger.