Chongzhen and I became partners

Chapter 359 What Should I Do?
"This matter should be set as a model, so that the vassal kings everywhere should abstain, and also all my people!"

What Emperor Chongzhen said meant that he wanted to cause trouble with great fanfare, so that everyone would know about it and take it as a warning!
Naturally, He Fengsheng and the others had no objection to this. Anyway, they were punishing King Lu and frightening other feudal lords along the way. They were happy to see it.

Just like that, after this imperial meeting, two things were announced to the world.

The first thing is related to the railway department, and the provinces will report the situation of the railways to be built and the fundraising situation, and as many railways meet the requirements for the construction of the railways, they will be built.

Generally speaking, the gentry contributed money and the court contributed to jointly build the railway.

As for the contribution of the imperial court, the railway corps reformed by the guards in various places was the main force for the construction, and the manpower was insufficient, so the local government conscripted the local people to manage the food, and the food was paid by the local gentry.Generally speaking, the railway department is in charge of railway construction, and the household department is in charge of train operation, and the profits are divided according to the predetermined ratio.

Of course, the initial railway construction must not be perfect. For example, in places with many mountains and rivers, it is difficult to build those that are easy to build on the plains.

Wait for more experience and mature technology before considering the construction of railways in complex terrain such as mountains, rivers and valleys.For this reason, part of the [-]% profit of the railway department is allocated to the follow-up technology research and development of the Academy of Sciences.

The second announced thing is the punishment for King Lu.Under the instruction of Emperor Chongzhen, this punishment was done with great fanfare, and even more people knew about it than the first thing.

The vast majority of people, not only ordinary people, but also civil servants and generals, gloat over this.

"Well, I heard that the people over there in Wei Hui set off firecrackers every single one!"

"These vassal kings really deserve to be governed. The mausoleums built are higher than the specifications of the Taizu. This is against the heavens! If you want me to say, there is no problem at all if you directly plot rebellion!"

"It's also because the emperor thinks that they are all sons and grandsons of the dragon. He didn't decide it as treason, otherwise he would be killed directly. Now at least he can save his life and go to Fengyang to retire!"

"That's right, the King Ning was executed back then! This King Lu is already considered lucky!"

"It deserves it, who made him overstep the limit! I really don't know what to think, such an obvious matter, the evidence of the crime is conclusive, and dare to overstep the limit in a grandiose way, now it's over, dumbfounded!"

"..."

While they were gloating, they didn't know that Emperor Chongzhen had been waiting there for a long time.

Hearing the news about Lu Wang from everywhere, they all affirmed the court's approach, and everyone was either gloating or filled with righteous indignation. In short, no one thought there was a problem with Lu Wang's punishment for exceeding the system.

Therefore, Emperor Chongzhen once again convened a meeting of the Wenhua Hall of the cabinet and six ministries and nine ministers, and before the event, Emperor Chongzhen also asked Wang Chengen for a face-to-face instruction.

No, as soon as the meeting was held, Emperor Chongzhen said to the officials below: "Masters, there is something important to report here in Xichang, so I called the ministers to discuss the matter!"

As soon as they heard that it was the report from Xichang, all the civil servants felt a thump in their hearts. It probably won't be a good thing!

Sure enough, after hearing the opening remarks of Emperor Chongzhen, Wang Chengen, the eunuch in charge of the chief inspector of rites and the admiral of Xichang, went out and said: "Long live, King Lu's transgression, the world said that the court's laws are just. However, slaves also accept When it came to King Lu’s statement, it was not one person who violated the system in the world. If only one person was dealt with, it would be against the justice of the court’s laws.”

"Oh?" Emperor Chongzhen didn't seem to know anything in advance. After hearing this, he was quite surprised, and immediately asked: "Who else violated the rules? I will never tolerate it!"

Hearing this, all the officials in Wenhua Palace were dumbfounded!
why?
Because at this time in the late Ming Dynasty, it was very common for rituals to collapse and music to be broken.

In fact, starting from the middle of the Ming Dynasty, with the development of the economy, those who had money in their hands began to think of ways to enjoy it, which not only led to the erosion of the social atmosphere of the Ming Dynasty, but also made them ignore the rituals stipulated by the court. Little by little, the Passover begins.

For example, the overriding of etiquette and regulation of clothing and clothing, the imperial court began to have detailed etiquette regulations on the clothing of officials and civilians, from head to toe, on the material, color, and style of clothing from the Hongwu period.

For these etiquette systems, the imperial court also recognized them in the form of law, forcing all subjects to strictly implement them: "If you violate the rules, you will have a staff of one hundred officials, and you will not be dismissed from office. Those without officials will answer fifty, and their parents will be punished. Craftsmen will not be punished." Answer fifty."

As a result, since the middle of Ming Dynasty, there have been repeated violations of the ban, and later on, it is even more that men wear silk clothes and women wear gold beads.

According to records, during the reign of Chongzhen, Wucheng County, Huzhou Prefecture, Zhejiang Province, where the commodity economy was highly developed, "the wealthy family indulged the servants, and they also followed the scarves and shoes, and the new skills were repeatedly updated", and the clothing was extremely over-the-top.

In addition, there is also the overriding of the etiquette and system of living in the house.This time, the most important thing to punish King Lu was this.

After the middle of the Ming Dynasty, when building houses, they have broken through the constraints in terms of building specifications, styles, decorations, etc., constantly impacting the class restrictions of houses.

According to historical records, in Taikang County, Henan Province, "in the Chenghua period, there were more and more tiled houses, and the custom was to respect tall buildings, and the Hongzhi period was prosperous." In the same period, the Shangqiu area also "tall buildings and flying pavilions with clouds, painted buildings and carved walls imitated Deli."

Jiangyin County, Jiangsu Province "after Chenghua, the residence of the rich".After Chenghua in Chaling Prefecture, Hunan, the houses of the rich were "compared to palaces".It can be seen from this that the trend of housing and residential overreaching began in the Chenghua period, and the development of urban and rural housing has become more and more prosperous since then.By the end of Jiajing period, the people's homes in Nanjing also had "double eaves and animal ridges like an official government office, and the gardens were pretending to be dukes".

No wonder someone sighed at that time: "Today's Chongtang is a quiet bedroom, with corridors, terraces, gardens, pavilions, pools and halls. The golden shape and the green appearance are indescribable."

Therefore, it is said that Lu Wang would exceed the limit, which is due to the background at that time, but he is of a more excessive kind.

At this time, with Wang Chengen's presentation, and expanding this overreach from King Lu's side, the senior officials of the Ming Dynasty who were present were naturally dumbfounded.

Because if you look into it seriously, basically, everyone can't escape, and there must be more or less oversteps.

However, the most important thing is that when the emperor punished King Lu for overstepping the system a few days ago, everyone happily applauded, saying that the overstepping the system deserved death, and King Lu was also ransacked and exiled to Fengyang to see the imperial mausoleum.Then other people's violations will not be punished, if there is no one, is this appropriate?

Apart from other things, clothes and so on may go down with a decree, and everyone can temporarily change back to the original clothes; but, what about construction and other violations?There is no way to change it, and you will be caught immediately!
Then the question arises, do you accept the excess that Xichang reported to the emperor?

It seems that there is no way to deny it, just like Lu Wang, it is there, everyone can see it with eyes!
If you admit it, it is confirmed that you have violated the system. According to the laws of Ming Dynasty, you will be punished.

For this punishment, if you are an official, you will be dismissed from office, and if you are not an official, the punishment will be light.

Do you recognize it?
If it is possible, of course no one wants to admit it!
So what now?This matter was brought up in the imperial premise, and King Lu was severely punished.People also said that if others don't punish him but punish him, he will not accept it!

You want to say that King Lu will not be fined, but he has already been fined, and everyone applauds, saying that the fine is good and deserves to be fined!
This is equivalent to closing the door to no punishment!

Is it possible that you have to slap yourself in the mouth, and then ask the emperor not to punish King Lu?
Even if the emperor agrees, King Lu's family wealth is sufficient for military supplies, and it is impossible to recover it if it is used for the front-line war!
So what do we do now?
In addition to dumbfounded, it seems that there is only dumbfounded!
Lifting a stone to shoot himself in the foot, while gloating about King Lu, he buried a hole for himself!
On the throne, Emperor Chongzhen was still furious, and it was obvious that there was no intention of impunity.

And this damn eunuch, the inspector of ceremonies, is playing on the barabara ground, telling the emperor the list of overruns on the capital's side.

"Long live, Xichang just searched casually, and found these for the time being." Wang Chengen seemed not to feel the crowd's fire on him behind him at all, and just played, "After the slaves go down, I will let my subordinates investigate again. Check!"

After hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen turned his head and glanced at the other courtiers in the hall, and shouted sharply: "What do you think, what should I do?"

The group of officials below couldn't help but look at each other after hearing this!

How to deal with it?Is it dealt with according to the law?This is obviously impossible!
Otherwise, there would be no officials standing in the hall, and at least half of the people in the capital would be punished.

The only thing that can be said is that there is only one reason!

Thinking about it this way, as the chief assistant of the Ming Dynasty, the No.1 civil official had no choice but to go out and play to Emperor Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, the old minister has also paid attention to this situation since the incident with King Lu. From what the old minister has seen and heard I am afraid that the matter of exceeding the system is not only played by the prince, but it can even be said to be far more than that. Not to mention other places, just in the capital, at least nine of the ten households have more or less exceeded the system. The old minister was thinking, This matter is a bit tricky, I don't know how to play it, I didn't expect the prince to say it first!"

Good guy, just put aside your responsibility first.

As soon as the other courtiers heard his words, they immediately understood the main point of his words, which is to guide the people to the law and not to blame.

So, one by one, they came out one after another to tell Emperor Chongzhen how common this violation of the system is now.

That's where the situation is, and then they stop talking.It means, Your Majesty, just watch, so many people have exceeded the limit, should we do it?
As long as it is strictly enforced according to the laws of the Ming Dynasty, it is estimated that there will be no one to enforce it.It will reproduce the situation of the Taizu, when the prisoner was in shackles to interrogate the prisoner, because there will be no innocent person!
(End of this chapter)