On the eighteenth day of the first lunar month of the fifth year of Daye, Yang Guang left for Beijing.
From leaving Beijing to returning to Beijing, it took almost a year. Yang Guang took 500,000 people to almost half of the north. There is really no emperor in history who likes to visit as much as he does, but it has to be said that the emperor's visit to visit is a matter of course. A good thing, but Yang Guang's patrol is not a good thing.
The original intention of the inspection should be to inspect local government affairs and civil affairs in order to inspect and rectify, but Yang Guang's inspection was just for eating, drinking and having fun, which consumed local finances.
He ignored the original meaning of "Xun" and enhanced the color of "Xun".
Before leaving, Dugu Feng'er recommended a person to Pei Shuying, Zheng Anrao. She hoped that Pei Shuying could protect him in the capital in the future.
Although Zheng Anrao has a good background, and the background is not small, after all, he cannot be compared with Yang Ming.
Dugu Feng'er would not leave on her own, and although Dugu Zuan wanted to send someone to kidnap her back to the capital, he still didn't do it in the end.
Yang Jian was also taken away, and he knew in his heart that he would not be able to return to Luoyang until Hebei's accounts were settled.
Half a million people passed through Tongguan and returned to the capital for Daxing.
Originally, everyone thought that given the emperor's energy, a court meeting would be held the day after returning to Beijing. In fact, this was not the case. Yang Guang excused himself from being tired from the journey and stayed away from court for three days without even summoning any officials.
But everyone knew in their hearts that the storm was coming in three days.
Today, the Prince of Qin's Mansion is full of elders, including more than twenty people of third rank or above.
Everyone has nothing to avoid now, because they all know in their hearts whether Yang Ming can be the prince or not, it will only be a matter of these few days.
Yang Yinjiang, who became the concubine again, also appeared in the meeting. She originally did not plan to participate in the discussion, but Yang Ming wanted her to come.
Because of the presence of Yang Yinjiang, the Hongnong Yang family has taken reassurance and has a backbone, and will work even harder in the decisive battle.
Therefore, Pei Shuying is also there, because the family behind her is also very tough.
In the center of the hall, there is a pile of files, memorials and personal letters, all of which are Yang Xian's numerous crimes.
Yang Ming did not directly introduce the topic at the beginning, but asked everyone to take a look at the dossier letters.
"Those memorials among them were copied from Menxia Province. The original memorials are still in the palace. I think your majesty will see them in the next few days," Yang Ming said, "Everyone should also take a look and talk about yours." idea."
The pile of letters brought to Su Wei were all from the Cui family in Qinghe. Su Wei read them carefully and remained silent.
He could guess that the Cui family of Qinghe was now on Yang Ming's side. The contents of these letters were more scolding than the last. After all, the old Cui family was really hurt this time.
People often say that the most fearful thing in life is losing both people and money. This is the situation of the Cui family right now. Most of their money has been robbed and taken away, and they have also lost a lot of people because of the local rebellion.
There were even branch members of the family who were directly killed by the refugees and cut off their incest.
But Su Wei also knew in his heart that these letters were mostly exaggerated, and the losses of the Cui family in Qinghe were definitely not as serious as they said.
If it was really that serious, the rebels would not be named Gao, but Cui.
As for the Cui family's huge reaction this time, they probably chose to take sides and completely bet on Yang Ming.
Time passed little by little, and someone in the hall started to cry.
Among them, the one with the highest official position is the new internal historian Lu Chu. He is from Hebei, and the contents of these files and letters all record the tragic events that happened in Hebei last year.
Don't think that people are really sad. Most of the officials who can reach the fifth rank or above are already cold-blooded animals. The death of a son is not necessarily very sad, let alone the death of someone from his hometown.
Those who truly serve the country and the people at heart include Gao Xi and Niu Hong, and the others are all terrible.
When people cry, they are just pretending. It means that I am a soft-hearted, affectionate person who cares about the elders in my hometown.
The people sitting here today are all ruthless people, and no one would believe him.
But Lu Chu still said: "The crime is extremely heinous, the crime is extremely heinous..."
As for who he was scolding, he himself did not dare to say it. If he was scolding Yan Pi, with his current level, he could definitely name him.
Yan Bi is sitting down there right now. How can you scold him?
At this time, Yang Ming suddenly thought of an idiom: too many words to write.
This idiom has not been invented yet because the originator is Li Mi.
The original words are: If you exhaust all the bamboos in the Southern Mountains, you will not be able to end the crimes of writing; if you fight the waves of the East China Sea, it will be difficult to end the evil. This sentence is aimed at Comrade Yang Guang.
Today's discussion was too crowded and complicated, so the real bosses would not reveal their true inner thoughts. Instead, they would discuss the matter and make some baseless complaints about the file in front of them.
Gao Xi sat on the left side and looked at Yan Bi with a frown, saying in a deep voice:
"I'm afraid you won't be able to get away with it this time. You are the canal supervisor. Hebei has become like this. Yan Gong can prepare for his funeral."
He was deliberately intimidating the other party, because Gao Xi knew that Yan Bi must be afraid of death and unwilling to take the blame, otherwise he would not have gone to Zhuojun early. If Yan Bi wanted to get rid of the relationship, there was only one way, and that was to get rid of everything The blame was all placed on Yang Jian.
Gao Xi wanted to force him to go down this road. If you don't sue Yang Jian, you will die. If you do, you will have a chance of survival. Make your own choice.
Yan Bi had already made his choice. He took the initiative to come to Prince Qin's Mansion this time to seek protection.
He has suffered a big loss once in his life, and he will definitely not be able to withstand it again.
As early as the Emperor Kaihuang's reign, Yan Bi served as Yang Yong's crown prince Zongwei. Later, when Yang Yong was deposed, he was implicated, received a hundred canes, and was assigned as a slave to Yang Su along with his wife.
Yang Su is really awesome. He did not treat Yan Bi harshly. Instead, he always spoke for him. So two years later, Yan Bi was transferred from a slave to a commoner. After Yang Guang succeeded to the throne, he was recommended by Yang Su to the Ministry of Industry. , can be regarded as surviving this disaster.
In front of so many people, Yan Pi would definitely not express his position, but just said:
"It's hard for me to absolve myself of the blame, it's hard to absolve myself of the blame..."
Pei Ju guessed what kind of medicine was sold in Gao Xi Gourd, and said directly:
"It is only a preliminary estimate that the death toll in Hebei has reached 600,000. Let alone a third-level official of Yan Gong, even a first-level official cannot withstand this crime."
Yan Bi broke into a cold sweat, did you two do it on purpose? Do you think I'm not brave enough?
"It's hard to take the blame... It's hard to take the blame..." He still said this.
This is a smart person. I admit my sin, but don’t expect me to bear it alone.
At this time, there was a "pop" sound, and Niu Hong slapped the file in his hand on the table in front of him. His old face was red, and he looked like he was holding back his anger, but he didn't say anything.
When he reaches his position as an official, he really cannot say anything randomly and must consider every word.
Niu Hong was really going crazy. The construction of the North-South Canal was originally a project that was reluctantly launched in Hebei, Henan, Shanxi, and Shandong before it could recover. The situation at that time had already been decided. The project could only be done slowly to minimize losses. , if Yang Zhen had not intervened in the project, so many people would not have died like now, and it would have also led to rebellions in several counties.
"If Hebei is not appeased, the population may plummet, which will be detrimental to the country and unsettling to the people," Niu Hong sighed.
Yang Yinjiang said: "As for the matter of pacifying Hebei, the King of Qin has already written a memorial, asking your majesty to exempt slaves from servitude and grant land in Yizhou, Jingzhou, Southwest and other places. Once the taxes on the acres of land are collected, all of them will be replenished in Hebei." , the goods transported up through the canal from the south of the Yangtze River are also given priority to be sold to Hebei. Now is an emergency, and we must take extraordinary measures. We can only make everyone suffer and calm down Hebei first."
This policy is completely aimed at aristocratic families. Smart people have long seen that the emperor is using a drag-and-drop trick. He says it is two years, but two years later it will still be two years.
According to the emperor's large-scale construction projects, I am afraid that this policy will not change for the rest of the day, and it will naturally become a permanent policy in the long run.
The families of these people in the hall have basically adopted this policy, because most of them are northerners.
As the saying goes, we are not worried about scarcity but inequality. We have been exempted from it, and other places should indeed be exempted from it.
So Niu Hong agreed: "The King of Qin's good strategy seems to be the only one at the moment. If Shu and Jingzhou alone support Hebei with all their strength, Hebei will be able to recover in less than three years."
"It is difficult to quench the thirst of the near by water from afar," Pei Ju said with a frown: "This policy sounds absolutely feasible, but in fact it is difficult. Whether the excess taxes collected from Shu and Jingzhou can really be used in Hebei is not yet known. The Ministry of Civil Affairs Half of the annual expenditures are different from the budget at the beginning of the year. How to use the money collected and where to use it? It depends on the current situation, not what we take for granted."
"Isn't it enough to just use the money exclusively?" Niu Hong frowned.
It works in theory, but it doesn't work in practice. Pei Ju couldn't explain it clearly. The emperor is about to tour the west and plans to build Chi Road. Do you think the money collected can really be used in Hebei?
Pei Ju could only say: "It is best to discuss a policy that can really benefit Hebei. For example, the princess just said that goods from Jiangnan can be supplied to Hebei first. We can add another one to this, allowing Hebei to pay on credit."
Niu Hong said in a daze: "This is a temporary solution but not the root cause. The imperial court still owes Hebei a debt. Now you are asking others to pay the debt? I'm afraid it doesn't make sense, right?"
"To correct Mr. Niu, it is the King of Qi who owes the debt, not the court. The court did not borrow grain from Hebei," Pei Ju said with a smile.
That's so cruel, what do you want to do? Niu Hong understood instantly, do you want to blame Hebei for this?
What did Yang Xian use to pay off the debt? Don’t we have to rely on the treasury? Niu Hong was extremely angry, and veins popped out on his forehead.
At this time, Yang Ming finally spoke:
"This policy is not very appropriate and needs to be discussed. Hebei still has to pay back the money. As for how to appease Hebei, everyone will think about it in private. We will discuss it carefully when the court meeting is held."
When Yang Ming made such a statement, Niu Hong breathed a sigh of relief:
"It is unrealistic to exempt Hebei from taxes, but now that two canals are opening one after another, maybe we can let Hebei really reap the benefits of this river."
Yang Ming nodded in agreement: "Yes, focusing on water transportation and supplementing it with policies is the key to appeasing Hebei."
