The clouds are shrouded, and the dull and hot weather makes it difficult to sleep.
Concubine Ning held a cattail leaf fan and gently fanned Zhu Yunwen, saying softly: "I am fanning, husband, please rest."
Zhu Yunwen misses the palace a little. At least the palace will not be so hot. There are some cooling measures. If it is not possible, he can get some ice cubes to cool down. But this is Suzhou and no one can bring him big ice cubes.
Summer in the south of the Yangtze River is sultry, especially when it rains heavily. It seems as if the air has been burned by fire. No matter how you fan yourself, you always feel a stream of hot air blowing on your face.
Zhu Yunwen couldn't sleep, so he took the cattail leaf fan from Concubine Ning, blew it to Concubine Ning, and said, "It won't hurt if I'm a little warmer. You are weak. You passed the exam last year, so you can't suffer again this year."
Concubine Ning's mouth moved slightly and her face turned a little red.
During that time, Zhu Yunwen personally scraped himself, and he was emotionally involved, instead of a simple clinging to imperial power and a cold attachment.
Zhu Yunwen's thoughtfulness and care, as well as his behavior that was not overpowering others, made Concubine Ning feel warm. After the frost that had been left out had melted away, the red lotus of love bloomed.
Zhu Yunwen pushed Concubine Ning to lie down, then fanned the wind and said, "We need to stay in Suzhou for a few days. When the matter is investigated clearly, we will go straight to Hangzhou. By then, I am afraid that the lotus flowers in the West Lake will have withered."
Concubine Ning smiled and said: "Without the lotus and osmanthus, West Lake will never disappoint my husband."
Zhu Yunwen turned his head and looked out the window. A flash of lightning flashed in the dark night, and then rolling thunder came. Concubine Ning nervously grabbed Zhu Yunwen's arm and whispered: "I, I'm afraid of thunder."
Looking at the daughter-like Concubine Ning, Zhu Yunwen couldn't help but feel a little thirsty and leaned over.
There was thunder and lightning and heavy rain.
It was an unquiet night, and countless people could not sleep under the power of God.
The next day.
Sun Dong had visited several times, and Cong Pei'er also stood outside the door and lingered for a long time. Zhu Yunwen and Concubine Ning did not come out. Seeing that the sun had risen to three o'clock, there was no movement in the room.
Cong Pei'er looked at Zhu Yunwen who opened the door and complained: "What time did you get up at this time? How can you manage the country well if you are so lazy? Then, the Chaos you want is already cold, so just make do with it."
Zhu Yunwen looked at Cong Pei'er depressedly, are you worrying too much? Neither my mother nor my wife said this about herself...
But after taking a look at the sun, Zhu Yunwen knew the reason.
You can't blame yourself for this. If you do, blame Concubine Ning. Who makes her afraid of lightning and thunder? Come on...
"Sir, Zheng Zhi sent a confidential report."
Sun Dong said, took out a document from his arms and handed it to Zhu Yunwen.
Zhu Yunwen didn't look at it after taking it, but asked: "Is Xue Xia okay?"
"Xue Tongzhi was not tortured, nor was he in chains. He was just imprisoned in the innermost dungeon."
Sun Dong replied.
Zhu Yunwen nodded and said, "Let someone wait outside the government office. If nothing else happens, he should be back. Let Zheng Zhi investigate who is Hu Xin and formulate a document and send it over."
After Sun Dong agreed, he went to make arrangements.
The maid prepared hot water. After Zhu Yunwen and Concubine Ning took a bath, it was already noon. Zhu Yunwen picked up the information sent by Zheng Zhi and unfolded it. He couldn't help but feel a little angry.
Zheng Zhi took away a prisoner named Zhou Deng from the prison of the Suzhou magistrate's office. According to Zhou Deng, Yushi Wang Kang did not die in an accident caused by the collapse of his old house, but died in the dungeon. It was Hu Xin who ordered the prison boss to smash Wang Kang to death! The reason is that when the supervisory censor Wang Kang investigated the Suzhou government's account books, he discovered that Hu Xin had done a lot of tricks. One-fifth of the grain that should be paid to the court every year went into Hu Xin's hands and was cashed out through Hu's Grain Store. , and then took these silver coins to form alliances with party and government officials and asked them to serve.
Taking someone's money and working for them is an "equal value" transaction.
Hu Xin was very successful. Although Yao Shan governed Suzhou effectively, Hu Xin, who was hiding in an inconspicuous position, took advantage of the new business strategy to turn the original secret deal into the open, and no longer directly gave people gifts. Instead of using money to avoid being exposed, Hu's Grain Store went to other stores to purchase goods and used "purchases" to lure people into the trap.
For example, a distant relative of a prefecture official opened a ceramics shop, and the worst ceramics cost a few cents. Hu's Liangxingfei said that the ceramics were treasures and bought them for dozens or hundreds of taels.
The obscure transaction seemed flawless and seamless, but Hu Xin forgot that although there were no traces of the goose crossing, there were always footprints or handprints on the person's passing. It is easy to falsify the ledger in one place, but it is easy to falsify it everywhere. That would be too difficult.
Censor Wang Kang had a paranoid character, so he directly checked the account books of all counties in Suzhou Prefecture, and then brought them back to the prefect's Yamen for verification, and the truth came out.
It's just that Wang Kang underestimated Hu Xin's means and energy. The day he found out the truth was also the day his life ended.
Hu Xin initially did not want to kill Wang Kang, but locked him in a dungeon, hoping to make him recognize the situation and cooperate with him. However, this man not only refused to cooperate, but also cursed and vowed to report Hu Xin to the court.
When the matter reached this point, it was naturally impossible for Hu Xin to keep him, so there were things like Wang Kang's death and the forgery of the scene.
Zhou Deng only knew this because Wang Kang anticipated the outcome and revealed some things to Zhou Deng, hoping that he would tell the truth when officials were sent to investigate after his death.
After Zhu Yunwen read the document, his face was very gloomy. He wanted to arrest Hu Xin and behead him immediately. However, Zhou Deng's testimony alone was not enough to convict Hu Xin. There must be real evidence, that is, finding the account books of Hu Xin's corruption. .
"not good!"
Zhu Yunwen stood up quickly and shouted to Cong Pei'er: "Tell Sun Dong immediately and order Zheng Zhi to search the government's account books..."
A burst of chaotic sounds came into the yard, and Sun Dong hurried over and said: "Master, things have changed. There is a fire in the government office."
Zhu Yunwen clenched his fists and shouted: "Let Zheng Zhi find the account books!"
An accidental fire was impossible. It was broad daylight, and it rained so heavily last night. The house was damp and it would be difficult to burn it, unless someone deliberately lit it!
It seems that the news that Zhou Deng was taken away by the Security Bureau still made Hu Xin wary and destroyed the evidence first.
Concubine Ning looked at the uneasy Zhu Yunwen and calmed him down with just one sentence: "There is not only one account book, so what if it is burned..."
Zhu Yunwen looked at Concubine Ning and smiled.
That's right, there is not only one account book, there is another one in the Yellow Book Library in Houhu. As long as he takes it out for comparison, Hu Xin can't explain it clearly even if he has ten mouths.
This is to bully local officials who do not have permission to enter Huangceku. After all, it is an important place for the imperial court. Now it has become the Second Artillery Bureau and Huangceku. If you want to enter, you do not have permission from the Ministry of Revenue, or the emperor's permission, and there is no dedicated With the pass waist card, even if Yao Shan went to the capital in person, he would not be able to enter.
But Huang Ceku is in the capital, and this is Suzhou. It will always take some time to get the account books, which is too troublesome.
Zhu Yunwen was no longer in a hurry and had lunch peacefully. After the heat had subsided a little, he took Concubine Ning and others out of the backyard of the hospital and continued to investigate the people's sentiments in Suzhou.
No matter how corrupt Hu Xin is, the overall prosperity of Suzhou is not false. Whether it is a new business policy or a whipping law, it has been well implemented here. It is said that the people are safe in their land and businesses are safe in their industries. Not an exaggeration.
Zhu Yunwen walked out of Suzhou City and talked, felt and thought with farmers, craftsmen, businessmen, students, old women and old people.
It is undeniable that peace has created the current prosperity.
If the country fights every day and resorts to militarism, the people will not be able to live in peace and stability.
After decades of war, the previous two generations left Zhu Yunwen a stable and stable empire. The decline in people's livelihood has become a thing of the past, and this land is beginning to glow with vitality again.
The hard-working and kind-hearted Chinese people are struggling hard like this.
But what surprised Zhu Yunwen was that their efforts were not to make the empire stronger and better, but to survive, just to survive, nothing more.
Bring an old farmer over and ask him if he is willing to fight and die for the Ming Dynasty, and he will spit on you.
Find two craftsmen and ask them if they are willing to help the empire for free, and they will bring out their hammers.
Find five businessmen and ask them if they are willing to donate money to the sergeants to equip them with more muskets and magical cannons. They will take out an abacus to calculate an account, and then spend a few pennies to send the beggars away.
The people of this era do not have so much patriotism or lofty beliefs. They only have a simple understanding:
We are the people of Ming Dynasty.
Then, it was gone...
Those who should farm continue to farm, those who should dig stones continue to climb mountains, and those who should sell cloth continue to shout.
There is no sense of national honor, nor is patriotism.
Is it really the economic base that determines the superstructure?
In an era when it’s hard to get enough to eat, isn’t it a bit out of line to instill patriotism, national unity, and national honor into them?
However, wasn’t that great organization, that organization that produced so many great people, born in a time of great darkness and when people didn’t even have enough to eat?
Didn’t the red gene that was instilled in several generations also come from an era of material poverty?
The color of the blood flowing in a person's body is not determined by what he eats, but by his breathing.
As long as you can breathe, you can change.
Zhu Yunwen thought of the Five Husties' rebellion in China, the Mongolian and Yuan invasions, including the later entry of the Qing Dynasty. The Central Plains civilization, which clearly had an extremely dominant population, was slaughtered, trampled on, and enslaved in the end!
In the final analysis, isn't it because tens of thousands of people under the Central Plains civilization do not have a clear patriotic spirit?
Those who can awaken, those who can be patriotic, those who can explode, and those who can be bloody are all dead!
What's left is a group of simple people just trying to survive.
This is sad.
Zhu Yunwen was a little worried. Although the dispute over the textbooks in the imperial court came to an end, and the two sides compromised and solved the problem through joint signatures, the ideological and political textbooks were only targeted at students, not countless common people!
If we want the empire to truly have a future, if we want everyone to unite into one force, if we want 60 million people to stand under the banner of the sun and moon of the Ming Dynasty, and always remember that the Ming Dynasty is their country, then patriotic education must be carried out!
Use patriotism to stamp everything they have with the Ming Dynasty!
ps:
I worked overtime too late today, and I really don’t have time for the second update. In addition, I owe you two chapters from last month, so I will make up for it later.
Please also understand that Jingxue also hopes to write full-time and update more every day. Everyone will enjoy reading it and I will feel comfortable writing. It's just that we still need to work now. In the adult world, sometimes we can't help ourselves...
Thank you to every reader and friend. Your support and companionship are the engine that drives Jingxue to full-time writing. Haha, thank you for having you.
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