met free Chapter 920 Kneading
Chapter 920 Kneading
Chapter 920 Kneading
During this special period, security within the palace was also stepped up.
A round of screening was carried out in the palace, starting with the eunuchs guarding the palace gates. In the past, palace maids and eunuchs who were lazy might only be given minor punishments, but not now.
You Zhi killed several people with the emperor's approval.
After this, the atmosphere in the palace became noticeably tense and solemn.
at the same time,
The guards responsible for guarding the imperial city were uniformly rotated into the Tengxiang Four Guards. The commanders of these four guards were all of noble birth and could be said to be people specially selected by Zhu Houzhao.
There was no mention of a summer palace this year. This is the first time since the palace was built.
As for the Fengtian Hall, Qianqing Palace and the palaces in the harem where the emperor often visited, they were key areas and no outsiders were allowed to approach them at will.
In history, during the Jiajing period, a palace maid conspired to assassinate the emperor.
Although this matter was outrageous, Zhu Houzhao did not treat the palace maids and eunuchs as harshly as Jiajing, but he still took some precautions just in case.
In a word,
The emperor is now "isolated" and is concentrating on dealing with currency reform reports from various places every day.
That red pen was his "weapon", which determined the fate of too many people between the upper and lower levels.
In addition to the Jinyiwei's major operations in Yangzhou,
The eunuch Zhang Yong, who was in charge of the Imperial Stables, also led the Eastern Depot to investigate the four provinces along the southeastern coast.
Just as the emperor said, it is not difficult to investigate the use of counterfeit coins to exchange for new money in large quantities, after all, the scale is there.
In the 21st year of Zhengde, the Governor of Zhejiang had been replaced by Wang Xian, the emperor's former confidant. He was one of the earliest members of the attendant room and was in control of the purse strings of maritime trade.
After hearing the imperial edict, he gave the order and personally went out to accompany Zhang Yong, and then began to monitor the exchange activities of those wealthy merchants from northern Zhejiang.
The people were in a state of panic, and the court also began to become tense.
Zhang Cong hadn't felt this way for a long time. After passing through the palace gate, he felt that the palace was as deep as the sea.
Especially since they also knew the emperor,
This master's personality is that he can be cheerful and cheerful at ordinary times, but when he gets ruthless, no one will buy in.
But there were also many people who came to him, the Prime Minister, and cried, including important officials like the Minister of Personnel Wang Qiong.
Logically speaking, these people can be considered his right-hand men, so when they really ask for help, it is difficult for him to simply refuse.
What else to do?
"Dehua's (Wang Qiong's pen name) handling of the situation was timely, but now all correspondence is secret. We can't say that we don't understand the situation in various places, but are there really no omissions?"
Zhang Cong was still calm, because he felt that he was clean. "Sometimes the people below deceive you and deceive me. It doesn't matter if I sell my old face to beg for mercy. Even if I am scolded by the emperor, I will grit my teeth and bear it.
But if the real situation is not what we know, and the emperor kicks us back with just a few words, without a buffer, not only will we not be able to get things done, but we will also have no way to talk about it afterwards."
Including Wang Qiong, there are also some other officials here.
Now that Zhang Cong had said this, they began to feel embarrassed.
Those secrets are unknown,
The unknown is a fear.
And this also makes Zhang Cong's worries very reasonable.
It is not easy to directly blame Zhang Cong for shirking responsibility, because this is indeed a problem, and it is also for their consideration.
Of course, this is essentially still the old fox-like rhetoric of the old foxes in the officialdom.
If Wang Qiong and others took the risk to inquire about the contents of the secret report, then the final incident would have nothing to do with Zhang Cong. Although this old fox is now hinting that they should do so, what can you say without evidence?
More likely, by that time,
Not only could Wang Qiong not drag Zhang Cong into the water, he also had to stand up and take the blame, saying that Zhang Cong did not know what was going on and that he was the one who told Zhang Cong.
This is the real officialdom.
Instead of panicking and pointing fingers at Zhang Cong, we know that he has made the same mistake as us. Your Majesty, if you want to punish me, you must also punish him.
A fool like this won't survive more than three days in the officialdom.
Because if you do something like this, no one will say a word for you.
On the contrary, if you protect your "master" and let the Prime Minister remember your "sensibility", you may still have a glimmer of hope.
Even if you can't save your own life,
What will happen to your family and the hundreds of people in your clan?
That's what many people think.
Of course, it would be extremely risky to rashly inquire about the content of the secret report.
For example, Lu Zhongming, the Minister of Public Administration, didn't care about these things. He just sighed and said, "What the elder said is right. Moreover, the emperor had already warned us in advance that day, asking us to restrain our relatives and friends. But the emperor didn't know. Sometimes we said it, but those aunts and uncles didn't know the seriousness of the situation, and even did whatever they wanted without telling us. What can we do? My son is the apple of my mother's eye. Alas, it's difficult."
Wang Qiong was nervous anyway. Although the emperor hadn't gotten angry at him yet, what if the hammer fell?
He frowned and said, "Your Majesty, the reform memorial is submitted. Right now, we really don't know what your Majesty will say. In fact, your Majesty has explained the currency reform many times, and we all understand it. It's just that this time the imperial decree was sudden, and it would be better if there was some room for maneuver."
Seeing their embarrassment, Zhang Cong said, "If it is really urgent and you are so anxious, I can go and talk to you for the sake of our long-term colleagues."
Wang Qiong and others expressed their 'touching', "We all understand what the elder has in mind, but this matter... still needs to be discussed further. The palace is in a tense situation right now."
In this matter, Zhang Cong was completely slippery and non-stick, and he also had to be a good person.
If they really didn't want to take the risk, then Zhang Cong would just go to the palace and ask the emperor for help. If they failed in the end, it wasn't his fault, but because these people didn't understand the situation clearly.
How can we blame this shameless elder who went to beg for mercy?
Not only can I not blame him, on the contrary, I should be grateful to him.
This is the person who can be an official.
It’s not easy actually.
After sending away his troublesome left and right arms, Zhang Cong sighed, "Everyone seems to be smart with a lot of ideas, but when it comes to me, I don't know what to choose! Sooner or later, I will have to hand over my old bones to them!"
……
……
In the Qianqing Palace,
Zhu Houzhao also received news, not only about currency reform, but more importantly, about the movements of these people in Beijing.
After all, as for the common people, killing a few people can at least scare more than half of them. And every time a reform is obstructed, it is not because of how much power the people at the bottom have. The key is whether the bureaucratic system itself will have some kind of backlash.
That's why he paid special attention to the people in the court.
"This Wang Chaoxu is Wang Qiong's son after all, and he knows my mind very well." He was talking to You Zhi about this, telling him not to be afraid, and if he had the guts, he would reveal it, "He admitted his mistakes quickly and with a very good attitude."
Zhu Houzhao picked up the confession in his hand and put it down again, typing slowly, "You Zhi, do you have any other information about this person? What is he like in his daily life?"
You Zhi glanced at the emperor, bent his head and laughed, "Your Majesty, I dare not say anything."
"Why don't you dare to say it?"
You Zhi is not a fool. The atmosphere has been bad recently, so of course he kept his tail between his legs. "The emperor has already made up his mind, so there is no need for me to interfere. Besides, it is wrong for me to say that he is good or bad, as if I have some selfish motives, so I dare not say anything."
Zhu Houzhao sneered, "No wonder people call you 'Youtou', your greasy head is very slippery."
"Your Majesty, I dare not accept this compliment."
You Zhi was extremely careful with his words and dared not say anything wrong at this time.
Zhu Houzhao stood up, pondered for a moment, and then said, "I guess they are also anxious. Tomorrow you will issue an order. Seven days later, I will call for another grand meeting. All those above the rank of vice minister must enter the palace."
He squinted his eyes and looked at the memorial.
"I want to hear what they have done for currency exchange!"
Now he has the confidence to control these civil and military officials.
On the surface, of course, all the ministers discussed the matter together.
But in fact it has another meaning, that is, if it is done well, then the "killing the chicken to scare the monkey" can be slow, or even treated as if nothing happened. If it is not done well, there will definitely be action.
Moreover, he deliberately released it for seven days, which was an unprecedented move. Smart ministers could immediately sense the emperor's intention. The time given was to give them the opportunity to "try their best". As for false reporting, it was indeed possible.
Yes, Zhu Houzhao wanted to force them, even if they lied, they had to tell me what they did. As for being caught lying, that was another matter.
In a nutshell, currency reform is in full swing, and he cannot be the only one concerned about it; all officials in the court must get involved!
(End of this chapter)