Zhu Yijun raised his hand and twirled his right eyebrow, and said with a faint smile: "The wealthy gentleman threatened me, and now you, Zhu Shensong, are also threatening me. Am I that easy to be threatened?"
"Your Majesty, I am just stating the facts and considering your Majesty's country and country."
Zhu Shensong replied.
Zhu Yijun smiled coldly, ignored Zhu Shensong, and turned to ask King Zhou:
"You said that there are still princes like them in the clan today who don't regard the lower-level clan as human beings. Is it because the imperial court was too lenient towards these powerful clan clan members in the past?"
King Zhou stood up and replied: "Your Majesty is wise, the strong vassal does not care about the friendship of clan, all because the law is not strict with them, and they are so arrogant."
"Then drag Zhu Shensong down and chop him!"
"He colluded with the barbarians and slaughtered the clan, which can be regarded as traitor to the barbarians. Then he will be executed in Lingchi like other soldiers and civilians! To warn the feudal kings in the world!"
Zhu Yijun said and looked at Zhu Zaisi: "Zhu Zaisi."
"I'm here!"
Zhu Zaixi replied.
"You personally imprison him, and after the execution is over, take his head to visit all the vassals in the world. Let the princes of each vassal know about it, and let them see the consequences of colluding with foreign barbarians and killing their own clan!"
"The imperial court can no longer condone them. It has already tolerated them to the point where they don't even regard their own clan members as human beings!"
"If this continues, how can we expect them to treat the soldiers and civilians as human beings?"
"In the future, I'm afraid they will be so selfish that when the country needs them to donate food and money to save the country, they will not be willing to contribute, but would rather hope that the enemy will treat them mercifully!"
"So, you don't ask for mercy! If the people of the world support them, they will have to set an example for the people of the world."
After Zhu Yijun said it, Zhu Zaisi raised his hand and said yes.
After Zhu Shensong heard that Zhu Yijun was going to chop him, he was in a state of confusion on the spot, and his mouth was wide open and could not be closed for a long time.
This was a result he really didn't expect.
"Zhu Yijun!"
Zhu Shensong didn't come back to his senses until he was dragged down by Jin Yiwei, and then he called Zhu Yijun's name directly and said:
"Aren't you afraid that you will really force the vassal kings to rebel against you and make the same mistakes as Jianwen did if you act with such impulsiveness?!"
"What qualifications do you have to teach me how to do things?"
"You are so smart! Does a person who has grown up in Ningxia City his whole life know that there is a heaven outside the world?"
Zhu Yijun asked, then waved his hand: "Pull it down!"
As a result, Zhu Shensong was dragged out.
Zhu Zaixun followed him out, and on the same day, people tied Zhu Shensong to the execution rack, and surgeons were transferred from the army to execute him.
When Zhu Shensong saw the surgeon in the pro-military guard walking toward him with a knife in his hand, his whole body suddenly shook like chaff, and he couldn't help but ask Zhu Zaishi, who was in prison:
"Why did he dare to harm the clan like this?!"
"Because you dare."
Zhu Zaixi replied.
"But he is the emperor. We can not abide by the rules. That is because he can issue a decree to forgive us; but he must abide by the rules, otherwise the emperor may not be him. Doesn't he understand?!"
Zhu Shensong asked.
Zhu Zaipei sneered and said: "Your Majesty is right, you are really a frog in the well. After listening to a few words of scholars, I feel that I can teach your Majesty how to do things. What kind of holy master is your Majesty to do stupid things like you?"
"You must know that there are people in the world who want your majesty to abide by the rules, and there are also people who want you to abide by the rules. It is not that your majesty can do whatever you want your majesty to do. You should think carefully about what I say after you go under the Nine Springs."
After Zhu Zaixi said this, he said: "Execution!"
"ah!"
Zhu Shenshuang immediately burst into tears and howled. Only then did he realize how painful the clan members he had killed would have been when they were killed by captors.
After Zhu Shensong was executed, Zhu Zaixin took his head and began to patrol all the vassals in the world.
The first place Zhu Zaixi went to was the Tang Palace in Nanyang.
After Tang Wang Zhu Shuoji learned from Henan Governor Zhong Huamin that Zhu Zaixi came to see him on an edict, he did not dare to neglect and hurriedly left the palace to greet him: "I wonder what the clan's edict is to convey?"
"I have been ordered to deliver the head of the deposed Zhu Shensong to each vassal, and to inspect the living conditions of each vassal's clan. Please cooperate with me."
Zhu Zaixi, who served as the right clan member of the clan mansion, smiled and answered after King Tang asked.
After hearing this, King Tang immediately turned pale with fright, and then asked:
"So, Zhu Shensong has been beheaded?"
"Not only was he beheaded, he was also executed by Ling Chi."
Zhu Zaisi replied.
The king of Tang Dynasty was even more frightened for a moment, and then he knelt down in panic: "I would like to ask you to tell your majesty that Tang Fan would never dare to do such disobedient and unethical things as Zhu Shensong."
"Your Majesty sent me here. Apart from this, the main reason is to see if you have harmed the clan of this vassal."
Zhu Zaixi continued at this time.
The king of Tang hurriedly replied: "I will never dare to harm the clan of this vassal. Please investigate carefully. This vassal has never had short-haired clan members, and has never restricted them from leaving the city. I dare not let them know about the imperial court." New Deal.”
"Your Highness, get up first."
Zhu Zaixi helped King Tang up first, and then said: "I will check carefully, but now please ask King Tang to open the middle gate first and summon all the clans of your vassal to receive the order."
The king of Tang raised his hand and said yes.
Next, the king of Tang accepted the order and saw Zhu Shensong's head with his clan members.
For King Tang, who had never seen anything bloody, this was a big shock. He almost fainted on the spot.
Therefore, after Zhu Zaixi inspected the Tang vassal and left, the Tang king took the initiative to allocate part of the income from the land and shop industries as public property of the vassal state, and used it to help the lower-level clans who had encountered major changes in the vassal to tide over the difficulties and provide student aid. , it can be regarded as taking the initiative to do limited public welfare affairs, and began to be more benevolent to the lower-level clans, in order to prevent the lower-level clans from complaining to the court after encountering changes and failing to provide relief, and then the court would be beheaded or even kill them. Will cut himself.
at the same time.
The King of Tang also hurriedly sent people to inform other vassal kings of the situation immediately, telling them to be careful and not to end their lives because they did not take the lower-level clans seriously or the people seriously.
As Zhu Zaixi began to inspect various vassals, and the Tang king and others took the initiative to inform them of the situation, many vassal kings had to be more restrained and had no intention of raising troops to appease the emperor.
Because to be honest, without the support of high-ranking officials with actual military power, such as the local governor and the commander-in-chief, it would be difficult for them to successfully raise an army.
After all, today's vassal kings have already lost their three guards. Even if they want to rebel, they can easily be quickly suppressed by the governor.
But now the governors and bureaucrats in various places do not dare to indulge the vassal king too much because Zhu Zaixi is inspecting the vassals. What's more, many bureaucrats have also learned about the remonstrances of the pro-military guards in Huazhou through their own internal channels among the officials and gentry. It is already clear that it is no longer as simple as the emperor's desire to implement new rituals and new policies, but that many middle- and lower-level pro-military guard officers' schools and the Xinwuxun Group represented by Qi Jiguang, Liu Wei, etc., as well as Wang Xijue, Shen Shixing, etc. On behalf of the industrial and commercial gentry, they are actively doing this, even if the emperor is not willing. Even if these governors have such thoughts, they will never dare to do anything wrong again.
therefore.
The situation in various parts of the world is becoming more peaceful and peaceful for the people at a speed that is really visible to the naked eye.
This is especially obvious in the Xi'an area where Zhu Yijun is currently located.
As soon as the city of Xi'an was recovered, Shen Yi was directly promoted to the prefect of Xi'an by Zhu Yijun, and deputy envoy Tian Le was appointed governor of Shaanxi. The people of the entire Xi'an Prefecture began to have their overpaid Ding Yin returned, and paid employment was restarted. The mode hires people to repair city walls and assist the army in suppressing rebellions.
In addition, many poor clans also received relief and reissued their salaries, so the commodity economy gradually became active again.
Many officials, gentry, and right-wing officials have also begun to use people's power honestly through employment. They no longer dare to collude with the government and let the people provide free labor for themselves in the form of corvee service.
"Have the wages been set?"
On this day, Bian Xian, a wealthy gentleman from Lantian, asked his son Bian Jun about recruiting common people to pay for the labor in his family's wine shop.
Bian Jun replied: "It's settled. According to your instructions, the wages are not the lowest wages in Lantian County."
"That's good. Even if the government finds out, we won't be able to say that we are enslaving the people."
Bian Xian nodded.
Bian Jun asked: "Father, my son is thinking, if these people are really used to the world without corvee and need to be paid for work, will it be difficult to restore the old system in the future?"
"You are right. Otherwise, why would many officials and gentry be reluctant to follow the imperial edict and still let the common people serve?"
"Are you really reluctant to part with that little money?"
"I'm just worried that they will get used to the days of being free of corvee, become too lazy, value profit over righteousness, and forget about respect for the humble, which will lead to an increase in lazy and unruly people. Even if we want to restore the old system in the future, it will be very difficult!"
Bian Xian sighed as he spoke: "The current Holy Emperor is really too kind and lenient to the people!"
After hearing this, Bian Jun also said with a sad look on his face: "What a shame, now this is not the intention of His Majesty alone, but the intention of those arrogant and powerful generals. If we even force His Majesty to depose those new party ministers, the arrogant and brave generals will not do it." The general dares to force your majesty to use those new party ministers. In today's domain, I don't know whose family rules the world!"
"Of course it is His Majesty's world!"
"When there are checks and balances between civil and military forces, it seems that anyone can resist, but in the end it is His Majesty who has the final say. In fact, no one can resist. This is different from how only civil servants can resist after Tumu Fortress. "
After Bian Xian said this, he sighed: "It would be great if there was another big defeat like Tumu Fortress."
…
"In order to prevent me from encountering Tumu Fort during my own expedition, Duke Ji has the full authority to decide on matters of command. Neither I nor my cabinet ministers are allowed to interfere. I give Qing Shang Fang a sword. Anyone who dares to interfere can be killed first! "
"I am only inspecting the border towns now and asking about the situation of the border troops."
"So, it will be up to Fuyuan Tian Le, the commander-in-chief Chen Wenliang, and the Jin Yiwei Zhang Jingxiu to accompany him. Luo Wanhua, the official secretary, and Liang Menglong, the deputy privy envoy, will stay to cooperate with Duke Ji."
After Zhu Yijun saw that the impoverished clan received relief and the people began to be returned to Dingyin, and even Dang Xin, the former governor of Shaanxi, was ordered to confiscate his home to make up for the shortfall due to solid evidence, he arranged the next matters for Qi Jiguang and others, and then took Zhang Jingxiu, Tian Le, Chen Wenliang and others only patrolled the border affairs along the border wall of Shaanxi Town.
The last emperor of the Ming Dynasty who inspected border affairs was Zhengde.
Zhengde often visited the nine borders of the north, and sometimes even paid private visits incognito.
Therefore, in history, the loyalty of the Ming Dynasty border troops to him, the Zhengde Emperor, has increased a lot, so that he was able to easily dispatch the border troops from various towns to come for reinforcements during the Yingzhou War, and the border troops from each town also performed well. combat effectiveness.
The reason behind this is that Zhengde, through the northern border patrol, forced many officials in the border towns to actively improve the treatment of the nine-border border troops in order to prevent the emperor from seeing that the border preparations were too bad.
As recorded in "Records of the Ming Dynasty", Meng Chun, the governor of the Xuanfu of the Zhengde Dynasty, believed that the price of food in Jiubian was different from that in the mainland. The frontier soldiers only had to pay seven coins to buy food every month, which was not enough to eat, so he took the initiative to suggest that the price be increased to eight coins. The money was finally granted by Zhengde.
Zhu Yijun also has this intention when patrolling the border now.
He needed to know the true situation of the border army, and he also needed to let the border army know that he, the emperor, cared about them. In this way, even if the border army was dissatisfied, it would not be easy for the border army to be provoked to directly betray the court by a few uncooperative border ministers.
"How many people are there in the family?"
Next, Zhu Yijun really just went from house to house to check on the situation of every frontier military household, especially those in the middle and lower classes, and took the initiative to ask about their living conditions and family situations.
On this day, Zhu Yijun was sitting on the kang in the home of a border army sentry officer named Wu Xu from Ganzhou Station in Shaanxi Town, and asked about Wu Xu's family situation.
Wu Xu was flattered and replied: "Your Majesty, there are six people in my family."
"It can be considered a prosperous population."
Zhu Yijun nodded, said something, and then asked: "Is the salary paid enough to buy food for the family?"
Wu Xu replied: "It's enough, and there will still be some savings."
"In recent years, a large amount of overseas grain has been transported back to China by the imperial government-run grain bank, which has caused the price of grain in border towns to drop a lot. In addition, wages have been rising, so as long as sufficient wages are paid, the soldiers in the official schools below will have enough to eat and even more. It’s okay to have some spare money so that the family can save some money to deal with emergencies.”
Tian Le smiled and started talking from the side.
After hearing this, Zhu Yijun said: "So, if you don't have enough pay, you will still be hungry."
Tian Le calmed down after hearing this: "Your Majesty said that."
"Dong Chaoying and others launched the rebellion because Dang Xin withheld military pay. How many people in the entire Shaanxi town owe military pay?"
Zhu Yijun asked as he spoke.
Tian Le replied: "According to my later calculations, in addition to Governor Biaoying being seriously owed pay, there is also Zheng Qiying. Needless to say Governor Biaoying, Dang Xin's arrears of military pay can be easily suppressed, while Zheng Qiying's guerrillas Because Quan Dingyue was his brother-in-law and an old soldier, he was often paid by his short-haired soldiers, so that his brother-in-law could be suppressed by him. Now Quan Dingyue has committed suicide out of fear of crime, and the remaining soldiers of Zheng Qiying have not yet been paid. , I have ordered that the confiscated silver money left by Dang Xin in Xi'an be transferred to Zheng Qiying to make up for the unpaid wages."
After hearing this, Zhu Yijun said: "When the time comes, I will also go to Zheng Qi camp and pay them personally."
"yes!"
Three days later, when a group of soldiers from the Zheng Banner Camp were digging Guanyin soil and cutting tree bark on the hillside in small groups, they saw a yellow umbrella cover and a large bamboo stick emerging from the foot of the mountain, so they all stopped. He made a move in his hand and looked over.
(End of chapter)
