"Yes." Lao Zhu nodded clearly, then looked at Tang Duo and said, "Let him stop what he is doing and come back first."
Now everything has been cleaned up almost everywhere, a lot of land and property have been recovered, and the national treasury and our own internal funds are sufficient.
Whether it is building warships or charity homes, there is plenty of money.
Lao Zhu felt that it was time to stop temporarily.
When Gu Chen saw Wu Yong again, it was the day he went to court for the first time after returning from western Zhejiang. Everyone seemed to see a dead person when they saw him.
The people he killed this time and the houses he confiscated had some connections with many ministers.
So what greeted Wu Yong was the looks of resentment and disgust from his colleagues.
He seemed to have anticipated his own outcome. His face was expressionless, but his back was straight, obviously trying to hold on.
Yu Min tugged on the leader's sleeve and whispered: "I heard, my official, that the Wu family has prepared the coffin and the ancestral cemetery has been taken care of."
Gu Chen glanced at Yu Min and signaled him not to talk too much. How uncomfortable would it be to be heard?
"Master Gu."
When Wu Yong saw Gu Chen, he actually greeted him with a smile.
"Master Wu."
Gu Chen responded politely and didn't say much, but behind him, Yu Min, who had just been promoted to the censor of Qiandu, said to Wu Yong with some distress.
"Wu Shilang, tell me why you are doing this. You know it is a thankless task."
Your Majesty wants to deal with those landlords and squires. You can just pretend you don't understand and don't take care of the matter. What can the Emperor do to you?
The Ministry of Punishment is not like the Yushitai, which has the emperor's promise never to kill the Yusheng.
There is no promise, and the emperor uses you as a scapegoat, so there is no need for an excuse.
Wu Yong has become accustomed to hearing sarcastic remarks recently. It is rare to meet a man who understands him and is as iron-blooded as a man, and he can't help but blush.
"If you want me to die, I have to die. I just have no regrets in this life."
He also slowly figured out that the emperor had no intention of letting him live in the first place.
In this case, it is better to do things beautifully and find a way out for the family and children.
Otherwise, if the matter is not handled well and the emperor is offended, even if he is lucky enough to escape now, he still doesn't know what will happen in the future.
In the morning, the young trolls from the Metropolitan Procuratorate naturally started to troll Wu Yong, but those who knew the truth didn't even speak.
Lao Zhu did not decide at that time how to deal with Wu Yong.
After the morning court, Wu Yong was called away alone by Lao Zhu.
When Zhu Biao saw Gu Chen's eyes blank, he invited Gu Chen to sit in the East Palace.
"Your Highness, Wu Yong, must you die?"
Gu Chen still wanted to fight for others. Everyone worked for Lao Zhu's family. The more scapegoats died, the more dangerous he would be.
"Guang Xi, there is nothing we can do about it!" Zhu Biao looked far away and said in a melancholy tone: "It is not easy to govern a country, and it is even more difficult to govern a country where etiquette and music are broken."
"In troubled times, heavy codes are used, and there will naturally be many wronged souls who died under heavy codes. Wherever there are wronged souls, justice is needed to redress injustices."
"Wu Yong created an injustice, so my father must redress the injustice and tell everyone that he will no longer pursue Guo Huan's case so that everyone can live in peace of mind."
"Only when the hearts of the people in the world are at peace, can the country be stable. Wu Yong had great righteousness in his heart when he gave up his family for everyone."
The world is a chess game, the ministers are the chess pieces, and the father and son are the chess players.
Which move the chess will take and which piece needs to be given up are all determined.
The landowners in the Jiangnan area are powerful enough to control the government and to seize the wealth of ordinary people. This makes my father very worried.
A righteous one?
Gu Chen felt a little uncomfortable. It was easy to say that your old Zhu family gave up other people's small families. Why don't you, old Zhu family, give up your own small family?
Seeing his injustice, Zhu Biao took a deep breath and asked warmly.
"Guang Xi, do you know why there is the Guo Huan case?"
"My father hates corrupt officials the most. Why did he give Guo Huan the opportunity to serve in the Ministry of Household Affairs and then give him a high official position? Isn't this like letting a mouse visit the granary?"
Even if Gu Chen didn't know everything, he probably had a rough guess.
The Hu Weiyong case was caused by Lao Zhu's desire to depose the prime minister.
The Guo Huan case was because Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to clean up the landlords.
Wu Yong is just a scapegoat.
Zhu Biao put down the tea cup in his hand and looked at the map of the Ming Dynasty on the wall.
"In the first year of Wu Dynasty, General Xu Da was ordered to inspect the people's fields in Songjiang and conquer Zhuanzong City. Qian Hegao, a wealthy citizen, refused to obey the order and incited the people to rebel."
"Although it didn't work out, we can still see the attitude of the wealthy gentry in Jiangnan towards my Zhu family."
Gu Chen nodded. The wealthy gentry in Jiangnan were divided into three categories. The first category was headed by Liu Bowen and others, who supported and approved of Zhu Yuanzhang's regime.
The second category is those who hold a distant and neutral attitude towards the old Zhu family, like the famous Shanyin scholars Yang Weizhen, Huang Yan and other literati.
The third category is those who are hostile to the old Zhu family. These are mainly the old and young people of the Yuan Dynasty and supporters of Zhang Shicheng and Fang Guozhen.
In short, the various attitudes of the landowners in Jiangnan towards Lao Zhu's family caused the instability of the Ming Dynasty's rule in Jiangnan.
Zhu Biao continued: "In the third year of Hongwu's reign, Suzhou's autumn grain deficit amounted to more than 358,000 shi. Cao Ding, a landlord in Dantu County, and his family used the method of "using ripe food to create wasteland" and evaded the imperial tax for four hectares and seventy thousand kilo. Thirteen acres.”
"Since the Southern Song Dynasty, fish scale albums have actually become popular in Jiangnan. Unfortunately, after the war at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, most of the fish scale albums in Jiangnan were lost."
"So in the first year of Hongwu, my father sent Zhou Zhu and other 164 people to branch out in western Zhejiang to verify the acres of land and draw a fish scale atlas."
"However, they met with stubborn resistance from the Jiangnan landowners, and they shamelessly asked my father repeatedly to reduce their taxes."
"To this day, it has been eighteen years since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, but the fish scale atlas has not yet been completed."
The hands in Zhu Biao's sleeves were tightly clenched into fists, suppressing his emotions.
"Do you know why they are so hostile to me, Daming?"
"Because in the Yuan Dynasty, they could be greedy, oppress the people, hide their population and land, and evade taxes with confidence."
"But in our Ming Dynasty, the court did not allow them to take bribes and bend the law, oppress the people, hide their people and land, or evade taxes."
"So they were unhappy, so they wanted to fight against the imperial court."
"Forcing the imperial court to surrender, and letting the imperial court become accustomed to their arrogance just like Qian Yuan."
During the Yuan Dynasty, the tax revenue in the Jiangnan area was seven times less than it is today.
Thinking about it carefully, they really should hate Ming Dynasty.
Depriving someone of their money is like killing your parents. How can you not hate them?
But if you indulge them, they will be happy, but the people will be miserable.
"Guang Xi, Wu Yong is different from you." Zhu Biao turned around and looked at Gu Chen seriously: "His death in this matter is the greatest contribution he can make to the court."
"You are different. You are a talented person. Living is better for the court. Don't get into trouble, and don't be afraid of our father and son."
"Don't even think that your lips are dead and your teeth are cold, and things hurt others. You and Wu Yong are not the same kind of people."
It was obviously a scorching July day, but Gu Chen was wearing three layers of clothes.
But he felt a little cold for no reason. It turns out that whether a person can live depends on his value?
yes!
When can we not find a scapegoat like Wu Yong?
Biao'er is right, Lao Zhu can't be blamed for this. If he were Lao Zhu, he might have done something even more ruthless than Lao Zhu.
The location is different, the thoughts are different.
The blame lies with Qian Yuan's inability to govern the country, and the blame on the landlords who dared to fight with Lao Zhu, but dragged Wu Yong to hell.
