Chapter 380: The Prince Confiscating His Property
"Master, the Changwei Palace has spent at least 30,000 strings of cash on the purchase of food, and the convoys have been continuously delivering food outside the city."
At the Lu family, Lu Wei listened to the report, "Where are the others?"
"Duke Chengguo's family also contributed a lot of money and food, and Duke Chengguo personally led them out of the city."
"What else?" Lu Wei covered his forehead.
"Master, someone is coming from the palace."
Chen Yan came in, squatted behind him and said, "The Queen asked, the disaster is so severe, why haven't the family taken any action yet?"
Lu Wei smiled bitterly, "I just don't dare to show my face!"
"Your Majesty, where does the Lu family's wealth come from? Your Majesty has opened up his private treasury, and money and grain are being transported to various parts of the city. How long does the Lu family have to wait?"
Lu Wei stood up suddenly, "Your Majesty also took action? In this case..."
Chen Yan quietly went out and said to the people accompanying her, "No wonder the queen said that Lu Shi was not good enough to defend Chengdu."
Lu Wei has limited talent, is unable to manage the Lu family, and has a narrow vision, which makes the competitive Concubine Lu Jing quite annoyed.
The palace gates opened and large carriages drove out.
On the long street, the people gathered on both sides, watching the huge convoy driving to various places.
An old man sat outside his collapsed house, watching two soldiers carrying food bags over and tremblingly said, "Help me up."
The two grandchildren helped the old man up, and the old man asked: "Sir, this is..."
"When His Majesty heard that the capital was hit by a disaster, he opened his private warehouse." The soldier put down the grain bag, checked the population of the family, distributed the grain according to the number of people, and then went to the next place.
The old man looked in the direction of the palace and moved his lips a few times. "Da Lang, you usually say that His Majesty is stupid and the gentlemen in the court cannot apply what they have learned. But today... where are the gentlemen in the court?"
The old man looked at his eldest son, his eyes full of regret, "Your foolish Majesty sent people to deliver life-saving food, what are all the gentlemen in the court doing?"
A soldier passed by carrying a bag of rice and said, "I heard that the officials are still arguing."
"I am old now. When I was young, I envied those gentlemen. I thought that if any of my children or grandchildren could be gentlemen, I would be willing to die. But today I realized that those gentlemen!"
The old man spat on the ground and said, "You are all just pretending!"
The old man's eldest son's face flushed, "Dad, this matter needs to be discussed..."
Snapped!
The old man slapped his eldest son and said word by word: "If I hear you associating with those so-called gentlemen again, I will break your legs!"
……
Cui Yan ordered in the duty room: "Hurry up and ask the family to give some money and food, and then send it to the Ministry of Revenue. Remember, send it in a big way."
"Yes."
In Fengyuan Tower, Yang Qing covered his forehead with his hands, "I am not surprised that Jiang Qingzhi took action, but His Majesty also took action, and it was a big move."
Han Yu said, "Now people outside say that your Majesty is benevolent and the officials are numb. We can't wait any longer, we must act immediately."
“But taking action now will only help Your Majesty and the Mohist School gain more momentum…” Yang Qing narrowed his eyes, “The world will only remember the first person to take action, and the ones who come after that will just be icing on the cake.”
"But if I don't take action, will I still have a good reputation?" Han Yu said.
Chen Zhan came with an ugly look on his face, "Everywhere in the city people are shouting long live His Majesty, some people say that officials are despicable and treat the people as pigs and dogs."
Yang Qing took a deep breath and said, "We can't wait any longer. Tell those people that if we don't take action now, the Mo family's influence will be overturned."
Soon, the doors of many mansions opened, and slaves and even the owners of the houses walked out of their homes, shouting out how much money and grain their families had donated for disaster relief...
Outside the Ministry of Revenue, the convoy was so huge that it blocked the entire street.
"My family came first."
"Bullshit, my family arrived half an hour earlier. Collect my money and food first."
"..."
The officials of the Ministry of Revenue looked at this scene in amazement, and they all felt that they were really screwed.
Lan Qingtian, the Right Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, came out in a hurry and shouted, "What difference does it make who comes first? Get out of the way."
"It's a huge difference, Minister Lan." The old official accompanying him said, "Now we are ahead of one person, and we can brag about it later. One year, there was a heavy snow in the capital, and my family donated as much as anyone else, but so-and-so's family fell behind us. After this person, people will die!"
Lan Qingtian was lost in thought. At this moment, two slave families started fighting. Soon, someone shouted, "Someone's been killed."
In order to grab the position of donated money and food, people even lost their lives.
The Taoist priest said sarcastically in the palace: "I'm afraid the King of Hell doesn't know how to judge such people."
"Your Majesty." Huang Jin came.
"How is it?" asked the Taoist.
"The two princes were taken by Long Wilbur to see the disasters in various places, and they cried bitterly."
"The fireworks of the world!" Taoist sighed softly: "Not only can it soothe people's hearts, but it can also make people sad and cry. This lesson is well taught!"
"Your Majesty, the Ministry of Revenue said that there is too much money and grain and it cannot be transported to various places at once..." Yan Song hesitated to speak.
"I mobilized the Beijing Guards to provide disaster relief, and some people said that it was wrong." Emperor Jiajing said, "What did those people say now?"
Those people are now jumping up and down, saying that the Beijing guards should have been mobilized to provide disaster relief to various places long ago.
Shamelessness can also become a habit. Once it happens for the first time, there will be a second time...
"...This man served as Muramasa for six years. In the second year, he began to exploit the villagers. He colluded with local gentry, helped them annex the villagers' land, and received many benefits. In addition, his own land increased by more than 300 acres in these five years. And correspondingly..."
Xu Wei paused for a moment, looked at Muramasa who was kneeling in front of Jiang Qingzhi, and sneered: "Correspondingly, there are 15 fewer households in the village."
"Fifteen households? Where did they go?" asked Prince Yu.
King Jing said dimly, "Of course they fled." "No!" Xu Wei shook his head, "Fourteen families sold themselves to wealthy families, and one family resisted. The man had his legs broken and died soon after. His wife and children are nowhere to be found. It is said that they were taken as slaves by that wealthy family."
Prince Yu's eyes were red, and he turned back suddenly, "Uncle!"
King Jing gritted his teeth, "Damn it!"
For the first time, Jiang Qingzhi saw murderous intent in the eyes of the two princes.
This is not a bad thing!
Jiang Qingzhi asked, "What are you two going to do?"
"Copy the house!"
"Your Highness, you need to consult His Majesty on this matter!" Yang Xi reminded.
Prince Yu showed his true colors for the first time, "In troubled times, severe punishments are needed!"
"I have an idea," King Jing said, "arrest him on the pretext of stealing relief money and food, and then search and confiscate his property... His crimes must be too numerous to list, and we can nail his entire family to the ground if we find just one or two of them!"
This is an emergency measure, and the two looked at Jiang Qingzhi.
Jiang Qingzhi said: "When I was commanding an army, if I encountered such a person or such a thing, the first thing I would think of was how to use this incident to warn everyone."
"Then we should just do it!" Prince Yu glanced at his younger brother and said apologetically, "Fourth Brother's method is actually not bad."
King Jing said, "Never mind, it's just a trick after all."
"I'll give you two a hundred men. In an hour, I want to see the evidence of that family's crime." Jiang Qingzhi called Chen Ji and ordered him to lead the team.
"What if we can't find it?" asked King Jing.
"I can't find it..." Jiang Qingzhi said calmly, "Then make one for him!"
Prince Yu hesitated to speak, and Jiang Qingzhi asked, "What is great love?"
Prince Yu suddenly realized, "Yes, this guy deserves to die. If we follow the rules and let him go unpunished, it may seem fair and just, but how can we demonstrate justice?"
Am I wrong to use unjust means to achieve a just goal? Jiang Qingzhi asked himself. But he thought of the Ming Dynasty.
When the emperors followed the rules and used just means to fight their ministers, the result was always a miserable defeat.
This is an extraordinary period, Jiang Qingzhi prefers to call it the period before the chaos. If he is entangled in whether the means are just at this time, then he should go to bed as soon as possible. Maybe he can go back to that era in a dream, lie down and play with his mobile phone, play games...
The two set off.
Xu Wei said: "Prince Yu has the bearing of a king."
“But we are still young and have many shortcomings.”
"My Lord has mobilized Yebushou to protect them. But this matter... My Lord, acting outside the law, will it encourage that person in the future..."
"The actions of the emperor should not be restricted," Jiang Qingzhi said. "From the moment the rules were established, they have been falling behind and becoming inappropriate."
"What if a foolish king appears? Without rules to restrain him, what will happen to the Ming Dynasty?" Xu Wei raised the question.
"If the emperor is stupid, do you think he can turn the world upside down?" Jiang Qingzhi smiled. "The fight between Yang Tinghe and Your Majesty is ultimately a struggle for power between the emperor and his subjects. The same is true of the current fight between the emperor and his subjects."
"What if the Mohists came to power?" Xu Wei looked at Jiang Qingzhi, trying to see if he would say something against his will to show his loyalty to the emperor.
Jiang Qingzhi took out a medicinal cigarette and lit it. "If the Mohists are in power, there will be no peace between the monarch and his subjects. Power is intoxicating and can make people disregard life and death, and disregard ethics. Therefore, we need to set up a set of rules, a big framework, to separate the powers between each other. Each one does his own thing."
"What Lord Bo means is..." Xu Wei's eyes lit up, "If there is a big framework, and the king is incompetent, then the ministers can restrain him. If the ministers are incompetent, the king can restrain them..."
"Checks and balances!" Jiang Qingzhi said calmly, "This is not a rule that limits the king, but a rule that limits power."
King and power are not synonymous in many cases!
Xu Wei suddenly realized, "Has my Mohist doctrine reached this point?"
Jiang Qingzhi smiled but said nothing, thinking that I have many more such remarks in my mind. If I say them all out loud, I am afraid that many people will be confused.
……
The Xu family is a local wealthy family. They were originally from the south. Their ancestor was a ninth-rank official. They followed Emperor Chengzu and moved to Peking. After several generations, they now have many descendants and their family business is thriving.
The head of the Xu family this generation is called Xu Qing. He is over 40 years old and looks quite strong.
"After the disaster, there will inevitably be many people who are desperate, so as soon as the snow stops, we will set out to lend money everywhere. Remember to be quick, otherwise others will get there first..."
Xu Qing was discussing with his manager how to take advantage of the natural disaster to get rich when they heard a scream from outside.
"What are you waiting for?"
"Oh!"
There were screams coming from the other side of the gate, followed by the sound of rapid and dense footsteps.
Xu Qing stood up suddenly, "Who?"
The door of the study was kicked open and two young men walked in.
"Xu Qing?"
“It’s me, and you two are…” Xu Qing frowned.
"Capture him!" Prince Yu shouted.
Several soldiers rushed in and pinned Xu Qing and the manager down without saying a word.
"Who are you waiting for? My brother-in-law is an official in the court. We can talk it out. We can talk it out..." Xu Qing struggled hard.
Prince Yu walked over and picked up a booklet, looking at the number of fields and the names of the slaves...
Isn’t there evidence of guilt now?
He turned around, "I am Zhu Zaizhen!"
King Jing walked out of the study and shouted, "Search the house!"
(End of this chapter)
