My God, I am the emperor, the lord of mankind.

Chapter 59 Status Quo
Liang Chu looked at Wang Qiong in front of him and smiled bitterly.

"What Mr. Wangge said is absolutely true. But while the late emperor was still alive, he attacked the Tatars in the north, pacified the Jurchens in the east, wiped out the rebellion of the King of Ningxia in the west, conquered the King of Ning in the south, trained the Beijing army, and conquered the rebellion in Hebei and Henan... After successive campaigns, the treasury has already It is empty. Not counting the salaries of generals at all levels, the nine-border army in the north alone has more than 50 soldiers. The annual military salary is an astronomical figure. For example, the annual salary of a regular soldier is 14 taels of silver. The annual expenditure of the imperial court It would be an extra 700 million taels, not to mention that the military pay for elite soldiers such as forwards, cavalry, and formations in the camp is twice that of ordinary soldiers. The local government's arrears of military supplies, oil, and rice are far more than a year, and the cost is tens of millions of taels. , where can the imperial court raise money?”

"Liang Shoufu's statement is ridiculous!"

Hearing Liang Chu's words, Wang Qiong seemed to have been prepared for it. He stared into Liang Chu's eyes in front of him, spoke firmly, and spoke.

"If the imperial court strictly enforces laws and regulations, seizes the land and property that have been misappropriated by corrupt officials from various wealthy families since Hongwu, and investigates the labor force that the wealthy families in various places cannot trace and hide because of the yellow books! And order to trace the illegal wealthy merchants in the southeast and the military in the north The problem of smuggling and corruption in the town, the confiscation of stolen money, and the filling of the court's shortfalls. For the wealth accumulated by these moths that have eroded the Ming Dynasty for hundreds of years, a mere tens of millions of taels of silver is nothing!"

Hearing Wang Qiong's words, Liang Chu was stunned!
He looked again at Wang Qi in front of him, a veteran of three dynasties who was born in the north and had a rough personality.

He suddenly realized that Wang Qiong's purpose of coming today was not at all about the possible mutiny in Datong in the north.

Instead, he wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to challenge the group of people with the most power and wealth in the world.

What is he doing? He is here today. Who is standing behind him——

Liang Chu looked at Wang Qiong in front of him and didn't speak for a while.

His brain is running fast.

A poor scholar from the north?Military landowners in Hebei?Or maybe it is the world's tycoons who have long been dissatisfied with the southeastern landowner group's monopoly on shipping smuggling profits and monopoly on cabinet personnel.

This is a forced uterus!Not against the emperor, but against the southern family that had long held power in the Ming Dynasty.

If he gives in today, then the mutiny in Datong may really be just a lie made by Zhang Wenjin, the imperial censor who was sent to Datong to supervise the army.

If we don't give in, is there really going to be a mutiny in Datong, which is only a hundred miles away from the capital?

How to use this to draw on the anger of Datong's military and civilians to force the cabinet to make concessions?
More intelligence is needed.

Liang Chu calmed down.

"This matter is of great importance and involves too many things. Moreover, the war in the southwest is imminent. We need to report it to the emperor before making a decision!"

"Please also ask Liang Shoufu to report to the Emperor of Heaven as soon as possible - the situation in Datong is now on the verge of breaking out. If we delay for too long and cause trouble, I'm afraid it will be too late to regret it."

"Please don't worry, Mr. Wang Ge. Now I will send a letter to the Supervisor of Ceremonies to report to the Empress Dowager Ming, asking the emperor when the Qing Dynasty will end! When will he leave the customs!"

Liang Chu said, and the two of them looked at each other, both feeling a little helpless towards the young emperor who was so quick to announce his retreat.

It was the end of September in the 16th year of Zhengde, and the weather had turned cooler for many days.

Autumn tall horse fat!

The Tatars in the north were ready to attack, and the pirates in the east were intruding endlessly. In the southwest, under the operation of Wang Shouren, the Minister of War, in three months, the 20 Ming army had been completely assembled and reorganized.

Always be ready to head to the southwest mountains!Put down the southwestern natives who have been in rebellion since the founding of Hongwu!
……

On the official road leading to Beizhili.

A group of light cavalry galloped away.

"Applause!!!"

The leading young man reined in his horse and frowned as he looked at the commotion not far away.

On the official road outside Dingxin County, a large number of officers and soldiers were escorting a group of ragged refugees towards the distance.

The crowd was mostly skinny women, children and the elderly.

There were feeble cries.

"What happened ahead! Qiu Luan!"

"Chen is here!"

"Go find out the situation!"

Zhu Houcong said.

"Yes!"

Qiu Luan took the order, and after going down the mountain, he took a few Jin Yiwei who were transferred back to Beijing from the Chief Secretary of Huguang and rode on the fast horse together!Luo An did not follow Zhu Houcong back to Beijing.

Instead, he was left in Hehuguang, with the second batch of Jinyi guards who had just arrived from the capital as Zhu Houcong's eyes and ears to monitor affairs in the southwest.

After this training, Qiu Luan's character has become much calmer.

After experiencing life and death, he is no longer the 16-year-old boy who escaped from the Xianning Marquis Mansion in the past.

Not long after, Qiu Luan came back with an ugly face. He glanced at Zhu Houcong, hesitated for a moment, secretly cursed the local officials to deserve death, and replied.

"There was an epidemic in Dingxin County. The county magistrate believed the rumors that these refugees brought it in, so he ordered the officers and soldiers to drive these refugees out of the city."

"Why did the epidemic arise?"

Zhu Houcong held the reins and asked directly.

"Yes Yes……"

Qiu Luan saw Zhu Houcong's face sinking like water at this time, gritted his teeth, and looked up at the emperor's unpredictable eyes.

"Originally, the imperial court allocated funds to various places to resettle these refugees who were homeless due to the chaos in the southwest and the invasion of pirates. However, the magistrate of Dingxin County did not manage it well. As a result, the victims had no food, clothing, or shelter after entering the city. In addition, some of the victims The young and strong people were bought by large households in the county, and their ability to withstand risks was even lower. As a result, more than half of the victims were killed or injured. The corpses piled up and rotted in the city with no one to clean them up, which led to the formation of this epidemic."

"Damn it!"

Zhu Houcong knew without thinking that most of the court funds had fallen into the pockets of some individuals.

"Who is the county magistrate here!"

"It's Li Henglai, a Jinshi from the Jiaxu Division in the ninth year of Zhengde. He was transferred to Dingxin County to fill the vacancy the year before last."

"Leave a few people behind! Take him first in the name of Jin Yiwei inspection! Let the county set up porridge tents and build shelters for the victims to live in. Tell these corrupt officials! Another person will starve to death! From the county official to the subordinate staff, no one should It’s done! Throw them all into the prison of the Ministry of Punishment and judge their crimes!”

Zhu Houcong saw the victims in the distance being beaten to the ground by officials. Although he was angry, he thought that the incident in the southwest was imminent and had no time to stay here too long.

"Yes."

Qiu Luan took the order.

Zhu Houcong looked at the sallow and skinny people not far away.

He stopped Qiu Luan again.

"How far is this place from the capital?"

"It's about two hundred miles away. If we change horses at the inn on the way, we can reach it in two days!"

Qiu Luan answered cautiously.

Zhu Houcong looked at the Jin Yiwei beside him who were following him in Xiangxi and narrowly escaped death.

Sighed.

"Leave our water and food to them. We will change horses but not people along the way. I will reward you well when we get to the capital."

"On behalf of the officers and men of the Jinyi Guards, I would like to thank Your Majesty for the reward!"

Qiu Luan separated two people and went to ask the government to release food with his badge, which had just been promoted by Zhu Houcong to Jin Yiwei and command Qianshi.

Thank you on the other side.

Zhu Houcong and others left. Behind them, there were bursts of cheers from the victims shouting for the emperor's sage and weeping with joy. After hearing the news, officials who rushed over in a hurry and sweating tremblingly answered the questions of the Jin Yiwei.

After walking for another half day, there was a stream in front of us, the crowd was crowded, and the smell of meat could be heard.

But Qiu Luan and others, instead of being delighted by the sight of the people and the country being prosperous, were horrified.

He had just returned from the Hundred Ghost Cave in western Hunan, and the smell in the air was very familiar to him.

That's the smell of roasted human flesh.

Qiu Luan was furious!
How dare the evil spirit be so rampant at the feet of the Emperor!
(End of this chapter)