The murderous aura in the universe is heavy, the sun is light, the wind is cold, the snow is dark.

…

The patrol team left Daxing County early in the morning and embarked on the official road to Wanping.

Wanping is only seventy miles away from Daxing, and can be reached in less than half a day.

For this short journey, in the past, the emperor would have rode ahead to appreciate the scenery along the way, but today, the emperor was hiding in the carriage and sleeping soundly.

From time to time, officials would cast their eyes on the emperor's carriage and discuss it secretly.

For example, He Luowen, the left minister of the Ministry of Rites, who followed behind, and Chen Jingbang, the right minister of the Ministry of War, assisted in the military affairs of the Beijing camp.

The two people led the horses behind them and walked. The two horses behind them were rubbing their necks side by side. The two people leading the horses went hand in hand and whispered to each other.

"Your Majesty left his hands to Wei Yunzhen during the day, but I don't know why he suddenly changed his mind in the middle of the night." He Luowen tried to lower his voice as much as possible.

He Luowen is from Henan and speaks with a slight accent.

Chen Jingbang withdrew his gaze from the emperor and replied casually: "I'm so angry. Isn't this kind of thing just full of stamina and the more I think about it, the more angry I become? Not to mention young people like your majesty. I was also the same after closing my eyes last night.

His mind is full of ferocious and cannibalistic faces."

The two of them are in the same department, both studied in the Hanlin Academy, and were elected as lecturers in the East Palace together. Now they are advancing at the same time in terms of promotion, so their relationship is not bad.

He Luowen clicked his tongue: "I am angry but I am angry, but in my opinion, it was probably the Otsuka Prime Minister who instigated His Majesty."

"Yesterday evening, I heard that Otsuka Prime Minister sent a message to the county government, asking Wei Yunzhen to investigate and deal with it strictly, and not to tolerate it."

Xu Guo was the minister of the Ministry of Punishment, and he was forcibly taken by the emperor to try the case, which is the meaning of the question.

But Wang Xijue was in charge of the Ministry of Personnel. If he hadn't joined forces himself, how could he have followed the emperor to the county government to do whatever he wanted?

Thinking of this, He Luowen glanced at Wang Xijue, who was talking to the Minister of Household Affairs.

Chen Jingbang stroked his beard with a comfortable expression: "If you ask me, Wang Xijue did a good job of inciting him. Killing a group of people in this way was a bit of a shock, and maybe he could also persuade some of the newcomers to rein in their horses."

"Killing lives to protect lives, Wang Xijue's daughter ascended to heaven, and now he has also cultivated merits, and is full of immortals and Buddhas."

The first half of the sentence is serious and the second half is joking.

He Luowen shook his head and laughed. Wang Xijue would definitely not like to hear this. He didn't know whether his daughter would become an immortal or not.

He squeezed towards Chen Jingbang and said helplessly: "We can look away, but uncle Da Zong can't. He kept chattering all the way."

Last night, the emperor secretly went to the county government office to "bring justice" to the nobles, ministers, monks, and even Mr. Zhang and Mr. Li who were just recorded by Wei Yunzhen.

This was so inconsistent with etiquette that Wang Zongyi, the Minister of Rites, was very angry.

If it weren't for the fact that he still had to work for the imperial court, he would have returned home a few years ago.

Chen Jingbang chuckled: "Uncle Zong is probably very angry right now."

"When Your Majesty returned last night, he was blocked by the great uncle and remonstrated with him in a very rude tone."

"Seeing that the situation was not going well, Mr. Xu ran away in despair, but Wang Shangshu refused to let anyone take advantage of him. He insisted on stepping forward to defend His Majesty, and he was red-faced with the eldest uncle."

Even with Wang Xijue's appearance, I don't know how he got involved with Shen Shixing.

He Luowen shook his head when he heard this. After all, Wang Zongyi was his immediate superior in the Ministry of Rites, so he still had to protect him: "No wonder Uncle Zong held on to him. After all, His Majesty's move was somewhat frivolous."

"I heard that Your Majesty was almost hit by a bald donkey last night."

To say that the emperor was frivolous was not just because he abandoned his ministers and attacked the county government at night.

More often than not, the emperor went to vent his anger, and his habit of reasoning relapsed, and he had to confess his sins to the bald people in person, and how it was not a pity for them to die.

Everyone knows they are about to die, why do you still care about these and other things?

It was easy to spit on the emperor, but at that time there was a warrior monk with great strength who broke free from the restraints of the Yamen servants and rushed against the holy chariot.

Although Wang Xijue kicked him to death on the spot, a moment of confusion was definitely unavoidable, and the emperor was probably frightened.

Fortunately, the emperor was not a sick man, and he was not like some emperors who were "too frightened and could not afford to fall ill".

How could he not be criticized by the courtiers for being so frivolous?

When Chen Jingbang heard this, he couldn't help but feel speechless: "There is no way, His Majesty lives in the Ninth Heaven, and rarely deals with these monks who have no weaknesses. I don't know what it means to fight back before death."

"Look at those masters from the Wang family and the Li family, why don't they just kill them just by provoking their necks?"

Even if the eunuch has to marry the right person and adopt a son, the Buddha with six pure roots does not have these messy weaknesses.

Even if his life is about to be lost, he can do whatever he wants to make his heart feel comfortable.

There are also people like Shi Guangzu, who has only Huairoubo, who has a family and a family, who can still shout long live the moment he is dying, even if he receives a hundred-twelve-fold cane on the spot.

At this time, He Luowen suddenly sighed.

He sighed for no reason: "That being said... but His Majesty would only kill someone in front of his face, so what about outside Shuntian Mansion?"

Chen Jingbang's expression changed.

He looked around for a moment and asked hesitantly: "Qi Tu is saying..."

He Luowen met Chen Jingbang's gaze with a sad look on his face: "There is a power of heaven shrouding the capital, and if you dare to resist, you have to wait until the ax comes upon you before you are willing to wake up. What about outside the capital? What about other people?

many?"

"The high-ranking officials, the clans from all over the country, the powerful right-wingers, the nobles who bought real estate, the government and businessmen who colluded. These characters that local states and counties cannot afford to offend are densely packed in the two capitals and thirteen provinces."

"Sima Zhi wrote to me two months ago, asking me if I could protect him if he offended Shen Li. I was not even sure."

"In such a difficult situation, the time limit for clearing out the land and households is only three years. Is it...?"

"Some are too eager for quick success."

…

"Eager for quick success? Mr. Fan is worrying too much."

Although Wang Xijue had not slept all night, he still seemed very energetic, and his voice was as loud as a bell without concealing it.

He explained to Fan Yingqi: "Setting up fields and clearing households is not something that comes out of thin air. Since the ninth year of Jiajing, Gui E, Guo Huahong, Tang Long, and Jian Xiao successively proposed to settle fields, and all the local officials with knowledge have never done so.

Stop knowing and doing this."

"In the tenth year of Jiajing's reign, Zou Shouyi spent three years cultivating his fields in Anfu, Jiangxi."

"In the twelfth year of Jiajing's reign, An Rushan spent two years and eight months in Yuzhou, Henan, to clear out his fields and households."

"In the fifteenth year of Jiajing's reign, Wang Yi spent three years and four months equalizing grain in his fields in Suzhou, South Zhili."

"In the 18th year, Ouyang Duo spent two years in Yingtian Mansion to conduct an inventory of hidden acres."

"In the twenty-sixth year of Jiajing reign, the magistrate of Haiyan County, Jiaxing Prefecture, spent less than three years in farming."

"In the first year of Longqing, Xu Tian, ​​the magistrate of Haining County in Hangzhou Prefecture, was in September of the first year of his reign."

"These officials who are willing to do so and take the initiative to do so have never done so for more than four years!"

Wang Xijue looked at Fan Yingqi and said seriously: "There are some things where the wider the time, the better. The mess should be cut quickly so that capable officials can be distinguished from lazy officials."

"As for the prefectures and counties that cannot be completed in three years, they will have other plans in the future."

"It has been a long-lasting undertaking for a hundred years, and it is fitting that while His Majesty is still on the throne, the task should be carried out in one fell swoop!"

This last sentence was left to Wang Xijue by Zhang Juzheng when he left Beijing.

The latter presented it to the right minister of the Ministry of Revenue in front of him today - for such a century-old undertaking, the emperor should take advantage of the emperor's reign to get things done as soon as possible and solve all the problems in one fell swoop.

Hearing this, Fan Yingqi was silent for a long time, and finally replied: "Otsuka Zai's good words, I have learned a lesson."

There was a seven-year age difference between the two, and Fan Yingqi was the elder, so Wang Xijue called him his father-in-law.

Since the former was slightly inferior to the official rank, the latter was called Otsuka Zai.

Wang Xijue said inadvertently: "If we talk about great men, how many of us in this world can compare with those of us who are surrounded by crape myrtle?"

"As long as we don't join forces and make it difficult for His Majesty, there will be ten times and a hundred times more Huairou Bo. As long as we and the enemy are clear, there is nothing to fear."

Although Fan Yingqi was the top scholar, his abilities were mediocre.

In the Zhejiang Provincial Examination, my essay was rated as inferior, so I had no choice but to take the imperial examination and immigrate to Shuntian Prefecture. Even so, I still paid the "school selection fee", which was a donation, and entered the Imperial College.

In the 193rd year of the examination, he was selected as the number one scholar because he favored Emperor Sejong during the palace examination.

This kind of resume is not very popular in official circles. As soon as he graduated from the Hanlin Academy, he was pushed to Nanjing to retire.

If not for too many positions being vacated this time, it would not have been his turn to be the Minister of Household Affairs.

Therefore, out of his distrust of Fan Yingqi's ability, Wang Xijue tactfully reminded him that it is okay to have average talents, but he must take care of himself and his family affairs to avoid exposing any flaws - in world affairs, you are not afraid of being clear about the enemy and us, but you are afraid that you will be caught.

There is me.

Fan Yingqi was about to speak.

Two ministers walked up to Fan Yingqi and said, "Shilang Fan, Your Majesty has summoned you."

When Fan Yingqi heard this, he subconsciously looked towards the emperor's car and saw a monk in front of him being led to the front of the emperor's car.

He immediately realized that this was the end of the emperor's hand after he vented his anger last night.

Fan Yingqi had some guesses in his mind, and after giving Wang Xijue a clasped fist and a salute, he rode towards the emperor's car.
To be continued...