After Hai Rui handed over the dossier, a few more days passed, and after traveling around the clock, the former Jin Yiwei sent it to the capital.
Forbidden City, Hall of Nourishing Heart.
Jiajing put on his robe under the clothes of a personal eunuch, and then Lu Fang walked in with silent steps.
"Lu Fang, come and see for me whether this robe fits me?"
Jiajing saw Lu Fang coming in and asked.
"It fits, it fits, everything your Majesty wears will fit you."
Lu Fang heard what Jiajing said and complimented him.
"Okay, how did you go about the things I asked you to do before?"
After Jiajing finished speaking, he sat directly on the dragon chair. He covered the carved dragon heads on both sides of the dragon chair with his hands and rubbed them carefully. An indescribable majesty emanated from Jiajing's body.
Seeing the emperor mention this matter, Lu Fang immediately knelt on the ground and said respectfully: "Your Majesty, before this, I got the news and the Jin Yiwei sent to Zhejiang have investigated the matter to the bottom of it!"
"Counting the days, today should be here soon."
After Lu Fang finished speaking, he added another sentence.
"Well, you did a good job on this matter! I would like to see if the tax reductions and exemptions provided by the court to the people over the years have been implemented?"
Jiajing glanced at Lu Fang and said calmly.
Sensing Jiajing's gaze, Lu Fang's whole body trembled slightly. For some reason, His Majesty's power became more and more powerful!
Sometimes just a look can scare people away from thinking anything.
"Come, Lu Fang, play chess with me and wait for the news!"
Jiajing looked away from Lu Fang and ordered.
"Slave, obey!"
When she noticed that the emperor's eyes were moving away from her, Lu Fang felt a lot more relaxed.
After Jiajing's instructions, the eunuch on the side had already laid out the chessboard.
"Lu Fang, come on, sit down."
Jiajing pointed to the position opposite him and said.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Lu Fang didn't refuse and sat down opposite Jiajing.
"By the way, nothing happened in the capital recently, right?"
After Jiajing finished speaking, he heard a 'click' sound and dropped the black chess piece in his hand onto the chessboard.
"Your Majesty, the officials in the capital are very tight-knit these days! I don't know if they were frightened by the raid on Dongchang's house last time."
Seeing Jiajing's question, Lu Fang put the white chess piece in her hand into the chessboard and answered slowly.
"Hmph, there is no time for peace among these officials! If we don't keep an eye on them, wouldn't they be in trouble?"
After Jiajing heard Lu Fang's answer, he chuckled and dropped the black chess piece in his hand into the chessboard.
The two sides kept going back and forth like this for dozens of rounds before the guard's announcement came from outside the palace.
"Your Majesty, we have arrived."
After hearing the guard's report, Jiajing lost interest in playing chess. He threw the black chess piece in his hand into the chess basket and said slowly.
"Okay, let's go down here for now!"
"As you command, Your Majesty."
After a while, the former imperial guard entered the Yangxin Palace under the leadership of a eunuch who specialized in royal etiquette.
As soon as he entered the Yangxin Hall, he suddenly knelt down on the ground and said respectfully, as taught by the eunuch in charge of royal etiquette.
"I am here to see Your Majesty, long live my emperor!"
"Well, get up."
Jiajing glanced at the visitor and said softly.
"Your Majesty, here is the file recording the details!"
The person who came here said, took the file out of his arms, and then raised it high above his head.
Jiajing glanced at Lu Fang beside him, and the latter immediately understood, stepped forward quickly, took the file from his hand, and handed it to Jiajing.
"Well, since the things have been delivered, you can go down and rest."
"As you command, Your Majesty!"
As soon as Jiajing finished speaking, a young eunuch came forward and took him down to rest.
Afterwards, Jiajing also opened the file in his hand and began to browse the contents carefully.
Inside the file was the content that Gao Hanwen had compiled previously. The more Jiajing turned down the page, the more he frowned. When Jiajing turned to the last page, he could no longer restrain his inner anger and suddenly turned the page. The file fell onto the desk and he yelled angrily.
"These insects, how dare they deceive me like this? The policy of tax reduction and exemption for the people that the imperial court has always promulgated has never been implemented!"
"And these insects still collect taxes according to the original amount! And all the extra money goes into their own pockets!"
"My money!!!"
Seeing that the emperor was angry, Lu Fang immediately knelt on the ground, walking on thin ice, and comforted him: "I beg your majesty to calm down and don't get angry because of this matter."
"Lu Fang, go and call Zhao Zhenji right away!"
"Yes, slave, I obey!"
After receiving Jiajing's order, Lu Fang quickly left and went to the Inspectorate.
…
In the Inspectorate, Zhao Zhenji, the supervisory censor, was processing the documents of the day. Unexpectedly, he suddenly heard a report from his subordinates, saying that Eunuch Lu, the Superintendent of Ceremonies, was visiting!
As sharp as Zhao Zhenji, he quickly noticed something was wrong and couldn't help but secretly wonder in his heart: "Isn't something serious happened?"
With such doubts in mind, Zhao Zhenji quickly led the officials from the Inspectorate to greet Lu Fang.
After Zhao Zhenji saw Lu Fang's figure, he quickly said respectfully.
"I've met Eunuch Lu!"
Unexpectedly, Lu Fang had no intention of greeting him, but said directly: "Master Zhao, your Majesty has something to do with you, so come with us!"
"Please wait a moment, Eunuch Lu. The incident happened suddenly. After the official has handed over all the remaining matters, I will go with my father-in-law to meet His Majesty!"
"No need, Mr. Zhao, let's wait until we come back."
Lu Fang glanced at Zhao Zhenji coldly and did not agree to his request.
When Zhao Zhenji heard Lu Fang's words, he was temporarily relieved.
Zhao Zhenji captured two pieces of information from Lu Fang's words. First, His Majesty was not here for him, and he could still return to serve in the Inspectorate! Secondly, because His Majesty is so anxious, something big must have happened!
"What happened to make His Majesty so anxious?"
Zhao Zhenji's thoughts were racing, and then he followed Lu Fang's steps step by step.
…
"Your Majesty, Master Zhao is here!"
After Lu Fang brought Zhao Zhenji to Yangxin Hall, she stood beside Jiajing.
"Yes, I understand."
Jiajing nodded to Lu Fang and said softly.
"Weak minister, I bow to your Majesty, long live my emperor!"
Zhao Zhenji knelt on the ground and said respectfully to Jiajing.
"Well, get up, come and give Mr. Zhao a seat!"
Jiajing turned his gaze to Zhao Zhenji and said slowly.
"It's over, something big must have happened! Your Majesty usually doesn't give people seats!"
With such a mood, Zhao Zhenji sat on the seat moved for him by the eunuch beside him.
"Your Majesty, may I ask if you have asked Wei Chen to come here? Do you have anything to tell Wei Chen?"
Zhao Zhenji could no longer suppress his curiosity and asked Jiajing.
"Well, I asked you to come here. There is indeed something very important that I want you to do!"
"Lu Fang, show him the things."
Jiajing glanced at Zhao Zhenji and said to Lu Fang who was standing aside.
"Slave, I obey."
Lu Fang responded and then handed the file on the desk to Zhao Zhenji.
Zhao Zhenji looked at the file in his hand, but did not dare to open it, and turned to ask.
"Your Majesty, this...is this?"
"Zhao Zhenji, why do you have so many problems? If I let you see it, you should take a good look at it."
Jiajing glanced at Zhao Zhenji, his face full of displeasure.
"As...as you command, Your Majesty!"
Seeing that the emperor was already a little unhappy, Zhao Zhenji did not dare to ask any more questions, and then opened the file and began to browse the contents.
The contents of the file were beyond Zhao Zhenji's expectations, and were countless times worse than the worst-case scenario he had expected before arriving!
The content in the file shows that the policy of tax reduction and exemption for the people promulgated by the imperial court in recent years has never been actually implemented, and local officials still collect the original taxes.
"How did your Majesty know this?"
This is what Zhao Zhenji is thinking at this moment.
(End of chapter)
