After all, it was a step too late.
Several hundred meters away, Lan Yu and others watched helplessly as Song Zhong entered directly under the escort of the palace guards.
He knew that letting the palace guards escort him in would definitely be a big deal.
"Brother, what should we do now."
Cao Zhen asked breathlessly.
Hearing this, Lan Yu began to think about it in her heart.
What he can be sure of is that if the palace guards are dispatched to avoid the time for reporting, the case will definitely be serious.
The key is now, what is the situation of this case.
Thinking of this, Lan Yu said bluntly: "Let's go to Jinyiwei Prison."
As soon as these words came out, everyone immediately understood and quickly turned around and left.
Soon, the group arrived at the prison.
In fact, according to the rules, Duke Liang is not qualified to come to Jinyiwei.
However, Zhu Ying recently issued an order to let the Jinyiwei and the Public Security Department, including the Military and Horse Department, jointly handle matters.
So Lan Yu had an excuse.
Here at Jinyiwei, no one dared to stop Song Zhong in his absence.
In the imperial prison, under Lan Yu's pressure, the guards of Jinyiwei did not dare to hide anything, so they had no choice but to tell what happened when Song Zhong was interrogating Cao Zixing.
Cao Zixing was interrogated again.
"The guilty minister Cao Zixing pays homage to Duke Liang."
Cao Zixing, covered in blood, bowed.
"Tell me, what you told Song Zhong just now, repeat it to me again."
Lan Yu didn't have a nice tone, she just ordered directly.
When Cao Zixing heard this, he saluted and stood there as if he hadn't heard.
Civil servants and military generals were natural enemies, so Cao Zixing didn't bother to tell the story again. Besides, his own affairs were not a good thing.
Lan Yu frowned.
boom! !
Next to him, Cao Zhen didn't hesitate as he kicked Cao Zixing hard in the chest.
The huge force penetrated directly through Cao Zixing's body and hit the wall of the prison.
Large mouthfuls of blood kept coming out of Cao Zixing's mouth. Several hours of whipping made Cao Zixing feel pain, but Cao Zhen's kick almost killed half of his life.
"You dare to pretend in front of us, I think you don't want to live anymore." Cao Zhen scolded.
Cao Zixing wanted to get up, but he had no strength, so he just lay on the ground, his mouth full of blood and blood, and said with a smile: "After entering this prison, I have no intention of getting out alive."
Cao Zhen sneered when he heard this: "You are dead, but if you offend our brothers, do you think your tribe has a chance to survive?"
"When a certain letter reaches Shanxi Wei, I will slaughter your entire clan!"
"I want to see if you can still laugh."
Cao Zixing almost choked to death on a mouthful of blood, and his originally pretended noble expression turned into a tearless expression.
What the hell, why are they coming one after another, and their clans are being wiped out at every turn, can't they be given some way to survive?
He didn't dare to bet, but at the same time he believed that the guy in front of him could definitely do this.
The military generals and nobles of Huaixi are well-known in the Ming Dynasty. Even His Majesty knows that they are thorns. They have done many things such as slaughtering cities and exterminating clans.
If you really want to compare, he is much more ruthless than Jin Yiwei.
Cao Zixing also knew that he had hit the south wall, so he could only explain the matter again.
"Bah, you coward!"
Before giving the explanation, Cao Zhen even cursed. He really didn't think this guy had any backbone.
After the explanation, everyone's expressions changed, including Lan Yu's.
"This kid, no wonder he ran so fast. Such credit was actually taken away from him."
As Cao Zhen spoke, he looked at Cao Zixing fiercely. Cao Zixing was so frightened that he huddled in the corner, burying his head and not daring to move.
He was not afraid of being beaten to death, but he was afraid of offending people like Cao Zhen. If he died, his son would be buried with him.
It took a lot of effort to see a glimmer of hope. If it was destroyed at this time, I would not be able to rest in peace even if I fell to Jiuquan.
Naturally, the list of comrades was also given honestly.
"Brother, how about we go one step ahead and arrest all these people." Cao Zhen suggested.
Lan Yu frowned and said, "No, it's a foregone conclusion. We brothers don't lack these credits, but it's just to get in the eyes of the great grandson. If we offend His Highness the great grandson by snatching the credits, then it will be more than the gain is worth the loss."
People like Lan Yu no longer care much about merit.
What you want can be taken directly on the battlefield. The key now is to gain Taisun's trust.
"Brother, what should we say now?" Cao Zhen asked again.
Lan Yu looked at Cao Zixing and said: "Now that we know these conspiracies, things will be much easier to handle. Let's do our job well and continue to arrest the Shanxi merchant gang. Kill those who deserve to be killed and interrogate those who deserve to be interrogated."
Now Lan Yu actually wants nothing more than to make enough contributions to his grandson and gain full trust.
Only by going through life and death for the great grandson can he stabilize his power in the future.
Now that the Japanese were defeated, the Liao were suppressed, and the rebels were rehabilitated, the situation was turbulent in many places. These generals could be considered useful again.
In Lan Yu's heart, he was more afraid of his grandson than His Majesty.
On His Majesty's side, I have been working with him for decades, and he has made a lot of hard work.
But as for Taisun, he had learned the lesson, and he had fallen into the trap without even realizing it.
After a set of tricks, killing without blood, all of his military power was inexplicably taken away, including the power of his brothers, which was also greatly weakened.
Moreover, everyone in the army sang praises, but no one had the temper to show off.
With this method, you don't realize it when you are in the middle of the game. When you think about it later, your back will be wet.
After Lan Yu and others left, everyone in Jinyiwei breathed a sigh of relief.
The current Jin Yiwei is not as strong as before.
If it were before, let alone the Duke of Liang, even the vassal king would not dare to break in privately.
However, with Taisun currently in office, the situation is a bit unclear. No one knows which yamen His Highness Taisun will fall in love with.
The reason why Jin Yiwei is so strong is not all because of His Majesty's trust.
....
In the palace, Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Ying were discussing arrangements after the Spring Festival.
"The Di newspaper you mentioned is not impossible, but we think it has little effect. However, the method of using copper characters is indeed quite good."
After Zhu Yuanzhang listened to Da Sun's thoughts, he spoke.
Just now, Zhu Ying revealed to the old man that he wanted to start a private newspaper, which was equivalent to a semi-official newspaper.
In addition to some information that can be disclosed in the court, other information, such as introductions to local customs and customs, as well as some new and interesting things, can be published on.
Naturally, there will be personnel to strictly control the details above.
Among them, in order to better print Di Bao, or expand the sales of Di Bao, Zhu Ying proposed to reform the movable type printing technology.
Since Cai Lun of the Han Dynasty improved the production of paper, writing materials have become lighter and more economical than the oracle bones, bamboo slips, gold, stone, and silk used in the past. However, copying books is still very labor-intensive and far from meeting the needs of society.
By the Xiping period at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the methods of copying and rubbing stone tablets appeared.
The clay movable type invented by Bi Sheng during the Qingli period of the Northern Song Dynasty marked the birth of movable type printing.
Wang Zhen of the Yuan Dynasty successfully created wooden movable type and invented wheel typesetting.
Now it was Zhu Ying who proposed copper movable type, which could be used more durable and conveniently.
At present, most of the movable types that are popular in the Ming Dynasty are wooden movable types. The only disadvantage is that they are often soaked in ink. Ordinary wood is easily corroded and damaged and needs to be replaced frequently.
Useful wood is too expensive.
If it is made of copper, it is much better in terms of durability.
Zhu Ying frowned when he heard that the old man was not very interested in Di Bao.
In fact, as far as the current market is concerned, the role of Dibao is indeed not that big.
One is that those who are literate are only a minority after all, and the audience is too limited. 80% to 90% of people in the Ming Dynasty are almost illiterate. Even though Zhu Yuanzhang has launched compulsory education, there are very few people who can actually read.
Eating is a problem, who cares about reading and literacy? Just live first.
Coupled with the invasion of Mongolian culture, the destruction of most aristocratic families, the Han culture will form a fault. In the north, even those who understand Mongolian are not much different from those who understand Chinese.
Another reason is that it is better to defend the people's mouth than to defend the river.
Zhu Yuanzhang is no exception.
Control over public opinion is very strict. Although there is no literary prison, there are many people who have been convicted for their words.
At least in the Hu Weiyong case, most of them were convicted for their speeches. This is also the main crime when Jin Yiwei usually arrests civil servants.
Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang had little interest in vigorously developing Dibao.
Fortunately, it was the eldest grandson who came to raise the issue, so Zhu Yuanzhang did not raise any clear objection.
"Grandpa, in fact, the biggest advantage of Di Bao is that it controls public opinion. With official endorsement, most people will definitely choose to believe the contents of private Di Bao."
"It is a great weapon for propaganda in the court and for controlling people's hearts."
"Although not many people are literate now, Sun'er plans to set up a large school and at the same time arrange some people to narrate the contents of Di Bao full-time, like storytelling."
"Since ancient times, people have been afraid of military service, which often requires forced conscription. But we can completely promote the glory of the military in the newspaper, such as some heroic figures who are loyal to the emperor and serve the country, and promote them."
"Under this situation, recruiting soldiers is naturally much easier than before. Moreover, once soldiers join the army, it is easier to cultivate faith and loyalty."
"The only major national events that the common people can know about can only be obtained from Di Bao, which will naturally be more deeply rooted in people's hearts."
In Zhu Ying's mind, this newspaper's control of public opinion is definitely a very good thing.
As far as the current situation is concerned, Di Bao is naturally the only government-run newspaper, and then it is printed in large quantities and quickly spread all over the country at a low price.
In the past, why there was talk about imperial power not going to the countryside? It was because the people were illiterate and could not understand the court's announcements. In addition, generally speaking, they rarely left their own land.
This also led to them believing whatever the squires and landlords said.
Di Bao is different. First of all, it must be full of positive energy, mainly promoting loyalty to the emperor and patriotism, and completely inspiring the concept that everyone is responsible for the rise and fall of the world.
In addition, creating a heroic character includes sacrificing oneself to serve the country, blocking the knife for a brother, going to the grassland alone, and killing enemies thousands of miles away.
These little stories continue to appear, and over time, they have a great impact on shaping people's hearts.
Don't underestimate these heroic characters. From the perspective of a superior, the influence of these heroic characters on the common people, especially young adults, is very huge.
Those who have a lot of energy, want to fight for a future, and have ideas.
Joining the army and becoming a hero of the Ming Dynasty is the best choice.
Zhu Yuanzhang didn't pay much attention at first, but as he listened, he became more serious.
As the saying goes, times make heroes, the collapse of the Meng Yuan Dynasty is inseparable from their cruelty to the Han people and their constant suppression of anger.
Zhu Yuanzhang once called on the people of the world to follow him in the name of reopening the Sun and Moon Empire.
From Da Sun, he saw a different perspective, which was to use Di Bao as a guide to control the world's public opinion on a large scale, or in other words: people's hearts.
Zhu Yuanzhang naturally understood the principle that people can carry a boat or overturn it.
That is why he set Confucianism as the mainstream and vigorously promoted the idea of loyalty to the emperor and patriotism.
A unified country is very important not only in terms of formal systems, but also in terms of ideology.
At present, many of the Four Books and Five Classics of the Ming Dynasty and Confucianism were personally revised by Zhu Yuanzhang. For example, the saying that the people are the most precious and the king is the least important has long been removed.
When the content of the imperial examination is strictly limited, studying and taking the imperial examination means taking the initiative to cater to the ideological unity. If you don't cater to it, you will just be a servant for the rest of your life.
In contrast, all official and private schools only teach the "Four Books and Five Classics" of Confucianism.
This is the effect brought by eight-part essay recruiting.
Zhu Ying's alternative path to the imperial examination did not, in principle, shake the stereotyped approach to recruiting scholars.
Because what Zhu Ying gave was mainly to officials, life and skills.
The salary is generous, but there is no power at all. To truly become an official, you still have to learn the current orthodox Confucianism.
And Zhu Yuanzhang realized that the low-priced newspaper proposed by the Great Sun was to control the thoughts of the entire Ming people from a more in-depth perspective.
Not only for scholars, but also for ordinary people, it can have a great impact.
The key to this is the selling price.
The price of the residence newspaper that Dasun had just proposed was only three cents per piece.
At this price, even the long-term and short-term workers of the landlord's family, and even the tenant farmers, can afford it.
If you think about it carefully, these newspapers, as books, may even bring the possibility of literacy to more people.
At present, if the Ming Dynasty wants to be literate, it is inevitable to purchase books, but the price of a book is often very expensive.
Even the most enlightening books are calculated in dollars.
This makes it even more difficult for people who want to be literate, because they have a low chance of even seeing the words.
Once the Di newspaper came out, this concept changed.
First of all, the content in Di Bao will undoubtedly be deepened and influenced by the people in the process of learning.
There is a saying in later generations. When a sentence is mentioned every day, it will be engraved in the mind.
These common people who are literate because of studying in Dibao will become very strong in their loyalty to the entire Ming Dynasty.
And when recruiting more talents in the future, it will be easier and faster to train them.
"It must be done, and it cannot be done in a small way. It must be done in a big way. Let's see, regulations must be formed for the Di Bao. No one is allowed to hinder the spread of the Di Bao. To make this Di Bao, even if it is on the border, All the people can get it."
Zhu Yuanzhang figured it out. After thinking clearly, he said loudly.
Some of these things, if you think about it, are completely consolidating the entire Ming Dynasty, and are more important than the imperial examination.
This also means that it is very likely that when the Ming Dynasty is in trouble, it will raise its arms and call out, and all directions will respond.
Such public support can be of great use.
"Grandson, why do you have so many melons in your head? Throughout the ages, talented and intelligent people are like crucian carp crossing the river. The vastness is vast, but no one has ever proposed to truly control the people's hearts, but to guard against them."
"When I arrived at Dasun's place, they all played tricks like this."
Zhu Yuanzhang praised it.
Di Bao has been around for a long time, and was quite popular during the Song Dynasty, but no one has ever mentioned using Di Bao to influence people's hearts.
This kind of thinking angle is truly novel.
Zhuying smiled.
This is the difference in perspective. In later generations, due to the advancement of the times and the opening of people's wisdom, publicity was attached great importance to.
The Ming Dynasty was no different. The Song Dynasty was weak, its policies were ineffective, and the people at the bottom were like cattle and sheep, miserable, and even if it had an impact, it was of little use.
Even the emperor's decree made it difficult to get out of Bianjing.
And although there was movable type printing at that time, it was not taken seriously. Even the Di newspaper of the Ming Dynasty was not printed, but mainly hand-copied.
This resulted in price differences, which could only become popular among gentry officials and wealthy families.
And Meng Yuan, not to mention.
When entering the Central Plains, the main method is to suppress them by force. What do the people think? Do any of the Mongolian nobles care?
If you don't obey, you will be whipped.
A slave can still have his own thoughts, which is disrespectful to his master.
Until the Ming Dynasty, when grain production was high and the national treasury was full, there was the establishment of compulsory education under Zhu Yuanzhang, and now there is the emergence of Zhu Ying School.
Coupled with the maturity of movable type printing technology, the prosperity of the paper industry, and low paper prices.
Finally, with the prosperity of the Ming Dynasty, a large number of storytellers emerged as a profession, which helped strengthen propaganda.
A series of conditions must be met to achieve this.
It would have been difficult to achieve in any previous dynasty.
What Zhu Ying did was just make the right arrangements at the right time.
"Grandpa, the majesty of the Ming Dynasty lies in a strong army. Di Bao is only an auxiliary. It is said that a weak country has no diplomacy. If we want the Ming Dynasty to prosper and rule for a long time, from my grandson's point of view, it still needs to be protected by force."
"So the mainstream content in the Di newspaper should be thought by Sun Er to promote soldiers and convey the concept of protecting the family and the country."
Zhu Ying took advantage of the situation and said.
Zhu Ying has always been opposed to suppressing warriors.
Naturally speaking from the source, Zhu Yuanzhang's suppression of military men did not refer to the general military, but to the honor and military power of the military generals of the Ming Dynasty.
What Zhu Ying wants to do is to create a truly strong army of the Ming Dynasty, a strong army with its own ideas.
They always take it as their duty to protect the safety of the Ming Dynasty. Even their generals will be tied up by their subordinates if they want to lead the rebellion.
The military academy established by Zhu Ying is to train a large number of middle-level officers to support the skeleton of Ming soldiers and weaken the influence of the commander-in-chief.
So far, the effect is still very good.
Not to mention the local area, at least around the capital, the soldiers who left the Xuanjia Guard continued to enter various guard posts and encroached on the military power of the veteran generals in the past.
Their entry was like a nail being buried deeply.
If the commander of the guard station has any evil intentions, it will be difficult to achieve them.
“Protect your home and defend your country, what a great defender of your home and country!!!”
Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes lit up and he praised loudly.
In today's Ming Dynasty, or in the past, there is no such word as "defending one's family and defending one's country".
Zhu Ying was also stunned when she heard the old man's praise.
This idiom was almost universally known in later generations, but it didn’t exist in the Ming Dynasty?
This is Zhu Ying's lack of knowledge and skills. The idiom of "defending one's family and defending one's country" comes from Bing Xin, a famous poet of later generations, rather than existing in ancient times.
Just when Zhu Ying took this opportunity to have a good chat with the old man about strengthening the army, increasing military pay, and improving the military security system.
The eunuch outside the gate came to report: "Your Majesty, Song Zhong, the envoy of the Jinyi Guard Town, has something urgent to see you."
Zhu Yuanzhang was a little unhappy.
In the coldest month of winter, the grandfather and grandson are chatting lively here, and it is still a major event related to the future of the Ming Dynasty.
If there is nothing important, Song Zhong's impression will be greatly reduced.
"Let him in."
"According to the order."
Song Zhong came in and saw that His Majesty and His Highness Taisun were there. He felt happy and saluted, "I pay my respects to Your Majesty, Your Highness Taisun."
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and said calmly: "Get up and talk. There is something important this time."
Song Zhong quickly said seriously: "Reporting to your majesty, I ordered to arrest the Shanxi household registration. Cao Zixing, a doctor in the household department, went to the imperial prison for interrogation and found that the Shanxi merchants were guilty of treason."
After briefly describing it, Song Zhong hurriedly submitted the dossier.
Liu He stepped forward to take the file and handed it to His Majesty for inspection.
Zhu Yuanzhang was already a little unhappy, but when he saw the details in the dossier, he immediately exploded.
"Rebellion! Rebellion! This is to steal the foundation of our Ming Dynasty and destroy the Ming Dynasty."
"The inside is connected to foreign tribes, and the capital is hidden inside. What a big situation. These Shanxi merchants should kill all the nine tribes one by one!!!"
Zhu Yuanzhang did not expect that the rumor case would actually involve a huge conspiracy.
The layout of the Shanxi merchants was too far-reaching. It deviated from the capital and made it difficult for the imperial power to reach them. They also sold large quantities of ironware to the grasslands.
What's more, almost all officials in Shanxi were bribed to thoroughly investigate corruption cases. It rarely happened in Shanxi, and Zhu Yuanzhang thought it was good and politically clean.
Now it seems that there is a nest of snakes and rats, and even the capital has plans.
In an instant, Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly felt that this method was somewhat familiar. Thinking about it carefully, it seemed to be similar to Da Sun's method of arranging Goryeo.
In just a moment, Zhu Yuanzhang's anger dissipated, and the evil spirit overflowed from his half-closed eyes.
Anger is of no use when encountering major events. In fact, most of the time, Zhu Yuanzhang's anger was for others to see.
As the founding emperor, Zhu Yuanzhang has long had a habit of handling everything calmly.
After thinking deeply, Zhu Yuanzhang began to feel cold.
If it is allowed to develop for a long time, the Ming Dynasty in the future may very well be destroyed because of these Shanxi merchants.
This speculation is based on some of Da Sun's previous methods.
In fact, this is indeed the case.
At the end of the Ming Dynasty, these Shanxi merchants controlled power and annexed the military salaries of the Nine Borders, especially in Shanxi.
The rise of the Manchu Qing Dynasty was precisely due to the large number of transactions with Shanxi merchants.
The greatest advantage of the Central Plains dynasty over foreign nations was its military leadership.
The Shanxi merchants sold armaments on a large scale, which greatly increased the Manchu Qing's fighting power. Coupled with the disasters that plagued the Ming Dynasty at that time, it became the straw that broke the camel's back.
It is said that Li Zicheng's peasant uprising brought down the Ming Dynasty, but in fact, the Manchu Qing Dynasty involved many troops in the Ming Dynasty.
The nine-border town houses the most capable soldiers of the Ming Dynasty.
If it is true that only Li Zicheng rebels, it is difficult to say.
After Zhu Yuanzhang figured it out, he did not immediately express his position. Instead, he waved his hand and asked Song Zhong to leave.
His Majesty's reaction was beyond Song Zhong's expectation, but as he often dealt with His Majesty, he understood that this incident would probably cause huge waves.
"Dasun, let's take a look too."
Zhu Yuanzhang handed the file to Zhu Ying and said.
Zhu Ying took the file and started browsing it.
Good guy.
Zhu Ying knew that Shanxi merchants had some transactions with grassland tribes, but he didn't expect that this was only the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, and it was already so exaggerated.
After all, many merchants on the frontiers, including Beiping and the Western Regions, are involved in smuggling transactions.
Huge profits make many people willing to take risks, so we can only strengthen restraint. It is difficult to eliminate it.
I just didn't expect that these Shanxi merchants had been planning their business since the early Ming Dynasty.
It's normal to have people in the capital, but with so many people, it's not normal.
The list attached to the file included more than three hundred people involved!
There may not seem to be many, and their grades are not too high, but all of these people are important members of the imperial court, scattered among the six departments, especially some seemingly inconspicuous officials.
No wonder that in the past three hundred years of the Ming Dynasty, Shanxi merchants have been secretly accumulating wealth without being noticed.
Until the strength is enough, it has the power to overwhelm the country.
This relationship is full of stars, and Cao Zixing is the only one who leaked the list. There must be others hidden.
"This Shanxi is no different from a rebellion, and it is more insidious than an open rebellion. How many officials have gone to Shanxi, I'm afraid not all of them have been cannibalized."
"It seems that this place in Shanxi needs to be cleaned properly to remove all the dirt."
Zhu Yuanzhang's tone was very calm, and there was no hint of emotion or anger.
If Empress Ma is still here, or if Prince Zhu Biao is still here, you can hear this voice and understand that this is a manifestation of Zhu Yuanzhang's extreme anger.
The beginnings of the three major cases in the past were all like this.
Although Zhu Ying had never seen it before, the feeling was very strong.
After thinking for a while, he said: "Grandpa, it seems that the first thing in the spring is to rehabilitate the army, and by the way, Shanxi will be completely cleaned up."
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded.
...
In the past two days, no edicts seemed to have been issued, but during the morning court, many officials found that there were suddenly many vacancies around them.
In Fengtian Hall, there were approximately five hundred civil and military officials.
In just one day, hundreds of civil servants were arrested.
The ministers naturally knew about such an obvious thing, but no one dared to ask what the situation was.
Everything in the court hall was normal, but it was a little empty among the officials behind.
In the capital city, compared with the court, it is a situation that is changing.
The civil servants captured by Jinyiwei were okay and had little impact on the common people.
But Lan Yu followed the lead and first arrested members of the Shanxi Merchant Gang, and then under interrogation, all those involved were arrested and brought to justice.
The cells in the Department of Public Security and the Department of Soldiers and Horses have long been full, and even the dungeons can no longer hold them.
All the people arrested now are sent to the military camps.
At the same time as the arrests were made, a large amount of goods and money were also recovered as dirt.
"Brother, this is... too much."
Looking at the money collected in front of him, Cao Zhen swallowed and said with difficulty.
()
1 second to remember Aishang:.
