Inside Dongnuan Pavilion.
Chongzhen sat behind the dragon case and opened the letter box sent back by Yuan Keli.
There are three letters in the mailbox, the top is from Ma Xianglin, the bottom two are from Yuan Keli, one is about Shaanxi disaster relief matters, and the other is written with the three characters Mao Wenlong.
Chongzhen took out Ma Xianglin's letter and read it slowly.
"I pay my respects to General Ma Xianglin, the great general of the expedition, a great victory for Shaanxi!
After the minister arrived in Baishui, he mobilized 3,000 elite people from the border town to pursue the rebel troops in Huanglong Mountain and blocked all the mountain roads in Huanglong Mountain. By the time the letter was sent, more than 900 rebels had been killed and more than 300 captured;
According to the prisoners' accounts, there are currently more than 200 people left in the civil rebellion team. Most of them are rebels, deserters and thieves. They have strong combat capabilities and are familiar with the Huanglong Mountain area. However, I am confident that they will be wiped out within ten days.
In addition, I have asked people to draw portraits and information of the remaining enemies based on the prisoners' confessions, and post them all in Shaanxi.
Those who dare to hide those who rebel, confiscate their homes and exterminate their clans. Even if someone escapes by chance, I believe that only death awaits them. "
Chongzhen's hanging heart finally fell to the ground. Ma Xianglin, who was familiar with mountain warfare, commanded more than 10,000 people and had firearms. If he could no longer kill more than 200 people, then he would have to admit it.
After calming down his excitement, Chongzhen took out Yuan Keli's letter and read it.
This letter can hardly be called a letter because it is as thick as a book.
"Your Majesty, I have your respects to Yuan Keli. I have been ordered to go to Shaanxi to provide disaster relief. The people have changed. Now all work is in progress...
First, the court's disaster relief grain amount has reached 300,000 dan. It has borrowed 800,000 dan from local gentry and wealthy merchants, totaling 1.1 million dan. The number of disaster victims has increased from 600,000 to 700,000 a few days ago. Barring no accidents, it can support five There are more than a month,
At present, I have classified the disaster victims. The old, weak, sick and disabled each have a pound per day and do not participate in labor. There are 190,000 people in this category. People with normal health have a pound and a half per person per day. They are responsible for repairing lakes and pipelines. There are 51 people in this category. Ten thousand,
At present, there are 84 lakes, 338 miles of official roads, and more than 100,000 acres of wasteland have been reclaimed. All work is progressing steadily!
As for moving to Guyuan and other four places, I want to wait until after the New Year before taking action. There are three reasons.
Firstly, the spring is warm and the roads are easy to travel after the new year. Secondly, we take this opportunity to recuperate the bodies of the victims. Thirdly, the new year is coming to an end and it is difficult to leave our homeland. I would like to give the people one last thought about their hometown. Please forgive me. "
When Chongzhen saw this, his eyes were filled with relief.
Yuan Keli's ability is not just for bragging. He did a good job in disaster relief work and handled various tasks in an orderly manner.
The most important thing is that it comes with various data, such as the number of porridge sheds, the amount of food consumed every day, the size and number of lake locations, the location of official road repairs, the number of participants, etc.
Each item has detailed records and can be viewed at any time.
Through these data, Chongzhen seemed to be able to see hundreds of thousands of people working in Shaanxi.
Roads and canals connected it, reservoirs (reservoirs will be mentioned directly later, lakes always feel strange) slowly took shape, and pieces of wasteland were developed.
"It seems that it was right to let Yuan Keli go to Shaanxi. The disaster in Shaanxi can be calmed down!"
After Chongzhen muttered to himself, he continued to read the letter, but the letter behind it made all the previous relief and joy disappear.
"Your Majesty, I borrowed 800,000 shi of grain from the wealthy gentry and merchants, of which 500,000 shi were confiscated because the gentry and wealthy merchants violated Your Majesty's decree not to increase prices.
The people from Jinyiwei, Hubu and Xingbu tried to persuade them several times to no avail, so I could only deal with them according to the law. There were 121 families in total.
The grain stored in the home was confiscated and fined ten times the local price. A total of more than 6 million taels of silver were obtained, and 26 leading and key people were beheaded in public display! "
"Good kill!"
Chongzhen whispered. If he were in Shaanxi, he would probably kill all the leaders of these 121 companies.
But he could also understand Yuan Keli's thoughts. If the disaster was severe and all the houses were ransacked, the rest of the gentry would be frightened and easily antagonize the court.
"However, these are only part of them. Most of them are people from the clans of the Prince of Qin. A total of 52 families, including princes, generals of the country, and generals of the auxiliary country, participated in selling grain at high prices. It was found that the total amount of grain sold was more than 600,000 shi, of which 400,000 from the Prince of Qin's house. stone."
"In addition, Prince Yongshou of Prince Qin's Mansion raised bandits and thieves. It was found that people from the Prince's Mansion were among the people in the civil uprising team.
The purpose is to create chaos and make people panic in order to make more money. It is not yet known whether the Qin Palace is involved.
This information was obtained by General Ma Xianglin when he was encircling and suppressing the stubborn uprising. I have ordered the Jinyi Guards to verify it with all their strength. "
"In addition, the royal family of Prince Qin has a very bad reputation in the local area. They have beaten and insulted local officials, raped local women, robbed people, secretly engaged in business, etc., there are countless others. I ask your Majesty to investigate thoroughly!"
Chongzhen's face turned completely gloomy.
He knew that there was a problem in the Qin Palace, but he did not expect it to be so serious. Did he participate in the civil uprising to rebel?
The disaster was serious. As a member of the royal family, he didn't want to help the victims and win the hearts and minds of the people, but also thought about making money. This was simply a shame.
Although he doesn't know how many fields the Qin Prince's Mansion has, it has been passed down for more than two hundred years, and there should be 10,000 to 20,000 hectares. Food alone can produce one to two million dan a year. Isn't this enough?
Chongzhen stared at the map of the Ming Dynasty hanging on the wall, his eyes full of coldness.
There is a letter in his right hand behind his back. If you look closely, you can see his hand shaking slightly, which is enough to show his anger.
"My lord, please send a message to the cabinet and the six ministries to come see me!"
"In addition, inform the palace superintendent to clean the ancestral temple and prepare sacrifices!"
Wang Chengen was shocked. It was okay to pass on the Cabinet and the Six Ministries, and it was okay to go to the Imperial Ancestral Temple. But going to the Imperial Ancestral Temple at this juncture was a big problem.
The Imperial Ancestral Temple is the place where the memorial tablets of the deceased emperors of the Ming Dynasty are placed. Going to the Imperial Ancestral Temple means that the emperor has important matters to pray to his ancestors.
Two-quarters of an hour later, the chief minister of the cabinet, Sun Chengzong, the assistant minister Li Guopu, as well as Han Huang and Li Biao, who had just joined the cabinet. Except for Yuan Keli who was far away in Shaanxi, all five members of the cabinet arrived, as did the six ministries and nine ministers.
"Look at the letter Ma Xianglin and Yuan Keli sent back from Shaanxi!"
Chongzhen handed the letter to everyone with an expressionless face, and everyone gathered around and looked at it slowly.
When they first saw the civil uprising and disaster relief, everyone was full of smiles. Local stability meant the stability of the court, which they wanted to see.
But when they saw the gentry selling grain and the affairs of Prince Qin's palace, everyone's expressions immediately became serious.
They felt the seriousness of the matter.
"Liu Aiqing, what should the Qin Palace do?"
Liu Zongzhou, the Minister of Rites, immediately stood up. The imperial family of the Ming Dynasty was under the control of the Zongren Mansion, but it was only responsible for registration and registration, not the details. The Ministry of Rites was responsible for rewards, promotions and punishments.
"Your Majesty, if what Yuan Ge's old letter said is true, according to the law, the Prince of Qin's Palace should be abolished, and the Yongshou County Prince's Palace will confiscate their families and exterminate their clans. All participating clan members will be demoted to common people, their family properties will be confiscated, and the leader will be beheaded in public display."
"What do you mean?"
