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Thinking of this, Sun Chengzong walked back and told what he heard. Of course, he didn't express his thoughts, he just stated what he heard.

The people in this cabinet are the best among civil servants. How could they not know the things that Sun Chengzong could think of!

No, after hearing this, Wen Tiren, the chief minister of the cabinet, slapped his forehead and said as if he suddenly realized: "Ah, there is another unregistered person in my house. I was so busy that I forgot! Fortunately, Zhisheng reminded me, otherwise I would have been reported later. , this cabinet has no shame!"

He was of a clear mind and knew that the emperor said that to the people in the palace in the imperial garden, so he was not giving them face as officials of the foreign court. As the chief minister of the cabinet, he naturally climbed along the pole. It’s just a family giving birth to a child, so what’s the big deal! Besides, so what if you register, you are still not a member of your own household!

When other ministers heard what he said, they didn't know what he was thinking. For these high-ranking civil servants, they all have similar ideas. They all smiled and said they were busy, just like the first assistant, delaying the matter.

Listening to his colleagues expressing their opinions, Wen Tiren suddenly said: "I have thought about this matter for a moment. Since the cabinet may have forgotten about the hidden house due to busyness, I believe this is also possible in other yamen! In this case, Why not, in the name of the cabinet, remind other yamen not to delay registration because they are busy. What do you think?"

When Sun Chengzong heard this, he couldn't help but secretly thought: "The first assistant is worthy of being the first assistant. He immediately thought of remedial measures. It's no wonder that the grace of the saint has not diminished!"

Regarding the registration of hidden households, the emperor obviously knew that there were hidden households in various prefectures, and there were many of them. But the emperor wanted all these hidden households to be registered, but he didn't want to be a bad person. Therefore, the villain in the palace was Wang Chengen, the admiral of Dongchang. Outside the palace, it is up to the cabinet to be the villain.

What are ministers used for? Just for taking the blame!

Although you take the blame, you can win the Sacred Heart. With the emperor standing behind you, there will be no problem in your future. Even if there are temporary setbacks, as long as the emperor remembers, there will be no problem in the end.

The chief minister's proposal, and the fact that hiding a house was originally illegal, these cabinet ministers all knew what was more important, so they all agreed without any resistance. Of course, if anyone resisted, they absolutely believed that the news would reach the emperor's ears immediately, which they did not want.

Just like that, the capital soon became a sensation.

"Hey, have you heard that Eunuch Cao, the eunuch in charge of the ceremonial department, personally took the children of his family to register?"

"What? Have you even registered the birth of Eunuch Cao's family?"

"Yes, I saw it too. It was very lively at that time. A group of people were watching. What did I think was going on? When I went over to see it, tsk tsk, not only Eunuch Cao, but also Eunuch Gao, the eunuch of the Royal Horse Supervisor, was also there. They were all from the palace. A big shot!"

"Haha, this is good, this is fair! I've been watching some dramas these days! I wonder what other families will do?"

"..."

The news spread quickly, and some people in the mansions of wealthy families began to get upset.

"Sir, I've gone to inquire. The big shots in the palace have indeed sent their families to have their children registered!"

"What on earth are they going to do? Are they obsessed with lard? Are they crazy to want to take credit?"

"Master, then shall we..."

"No matter what, there is no precedent for this before!"

"..."

There are many words like this. Of course, some wealthy families smell something and are a little hesitant and a little uneasy. However, most wealthy families are still watching the trend.

Soon, on the second day after the big shots in the palace took action, there was a new trend, which was spread among the idle people who had already been paying attention.

"Did you see that the housekeeper in the Chief Minister's Mansion personally took a hermitage to register and paid the money? He said he was too busy and delayed the registration."

"It's not just the chief minister's house. I saw several ministers' stewards taking the children of the house to register."

"..."

The big bosses in the cabinet are not like the eunuchs in the palace who have no bottom line. They will go into battle in person to show off. They all send housekeepers and the like to register the children.

But even so, with them setting an example, and the cabinet clearly sending reminders to all government offices, it became lively. People from various prefectures in the capital sent Yinhu to register one after another, and brought a large group of idlers to watch the excitement and spread the news.

As a result, those wealthy families can no longer sit still.

"Master, it's absolutely true. Every government has sent their children to be registered."

"Sir, I heard that if you don't register, you will be reported to someone after the deadline, and you will be in hiding, you will be punished with the same crime, and you will be sent to a cold place!"

"Sir, I heard rumors outside that the court has issued a notice. If a hidden house in the mansion is found to have expired and failed to register, those with official positions will be guilty of knowing the law and breaking the law, and the crime will be increased!"

"..."

Most wealthy families saw that the wind was blowing in the wrong direction and did not dare to commit crimes. They had no choice but to secretly scold the cabinet for their incompetence and register truthfully. They dare to scold the cabinet, but they dare not scold the instigator Wang Chengen. The reason is because Wang Chengen is the admiral of the East Factory. Who knows if they scold the factory, the boss will know!

Of course, some people are unwilling to do so. These people are mainly those with titles, especially those who have existed since the founding of the country. They have the most hidden households in their house. If they hadn't gone to Liaodong to gain credit and were killed by the Jianbu, there would be even more hidden households.

They were a little unwilling, because after registration, according to the Ming Dynasty law, each government has a certain number of people exempt from tax and service. If it exceeds, they will have to pay taxes, which is equivalent to an additional expense. Therefore, someone secretly went to Jiading Bo Zhou Kui, and wanted to encourage the queen's biological father and the prince's grandfather to hide in hiding and not register.

However, Emperor Chongzhen had long been concerned about his unreliable father-in-law, and asked Queen Zhou to remind his father not to do stupid things!

Zhou Kui had already seen Emperor Chongzhen's methods at the beginning of his third year in Chongzhen. In addition, in the past few years, Emperor Chongzhen's prestige has increased day by day. He was not the emperor who could be fooled in history. Empress Zhou also had many warnings. Therefore, this time, he reprimanded the visitor righteously. , and asked his son to take the hidden house in the mansion to register in person.

In this way, at least under the emperor's feet, no one dares to hide in hiding. Because there is no way to hide this kind of thing, if the factory guard checks back, the secret will be revealed.

Then, what happened in the capital was spread through the chat group, and it immediately spread throughout the entire Ming Dynasty. This makes wealthy families all over the country, while cursing their mothers, have to register their families to give birth to children and so on.

Of course, there are also some people who go against the trend and commit crimes, thinking that it doesn't matter if they are not in the capital.

Therefore, on the day after the deadline for the registration of a hidden household, the minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs of Yingtian Prefecture was reported to have concealed the birth of a child and refused to register.

Originally, the Minister of Civil Affairs wanted to use being too busy as an excuse, but in the end, not the household registration office nor the local army, but the factory guards came to arrest him. The speed was so fast, as if he had already been waiting there, waiting for the time to catch him.

As a court official, if he knew the law and broke the law, he would be punished with an additional penalty. The whole government was sent to Tianshan without anyone staying overnight.

This incident shocked the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty, so much so that many officials or nobles reported themselves. In the end, the emperor was merciful and let things go by the wayside.

After such an episode, the result of registering a hidden household once again exceeded Emperor Chongzhen's expectations. Originally, he thought that the Ming Dynasty had 150 million people and that would be enough. Who knows, although the results have not come out in the end, according to the latest estimates, the population of Ming Dynasty is about 200 million.

Emperor Chongzhen was very happy to get such a memorial. Nowadays, the territory of Ming Dynasty is too wide and it needs a large population. And the more people are registered, the more tax revenue will be generated. The saying that there is strength in numbers is not just a slogan in ancient times.

At the same time, two ships appeared on the sea of ​​Edo, Japan, and were slowly approaching the port.

On the prow of one of the ships, several people stood looking toward the shore. One of them looked melancholy and murmured to himself: "I don't know how the war is going. I hope the general has suppressed those rebellions!"

Hearing his words, the people next to him naturally understood what he was thinking, and quickly comforted him: "Don't worry, sir, the general is wise and mighty. He must have suppressed those barbarians!"

"Yes, there are only so many of them, they will definitely not be able to defeat our general!"

"..."

Listening to the consolation of his subordinates, the leader remained silent and his expression did not change. It was obvious that his view should be a bit pessimistic. But he did not deny it, and seemed to hope that the real situation would be what his subordinates said.

After a while, as they got closer and closer to Edo, they saw two warships coming up to them. They were still attacking from the left and right. As they got closer, they saw the warships standing ready.

Seeing this, someone on the bow of the ship waved and shouted: "We are our own people. We are the envoys sent by the General to the Ming Dynasty. Now that we are back, Master Meichuan Shangyi is on the ship!"

After hearing this, the Japanese in the two warships that came over all showed happy expressions. Soon, someone on a ship was heard shouting to this side: "It's great that you are back. I wonder when the Heavenly Kingdom will send troops to wipe out those captives?"

Hearing this, the silent Umekawa Shangyi felt his heart sink. Obviously, since the Ming Dynasty is still looking forward to sending troops, it means that the situation has not improved.

But... But my mission was a complete mess!

His men probably understood it, but they were unwilling to accept it, so they shouted again and asked: "How is the war situation now?"

At this time, the ships of both sides were getting closer and closer, and it was no longer necessary to speak so hard. Someone on the warship loudly replied: "The situation is very bad. Jianlu and those rebels want to capture Iwami Silver Mountain. The general sent Heavy troops have passed, and the two sides are in a stalemate!"

Hearing this, Meichuan Shangyi felt slightly relieved. So, the situation has not deteriorated much? But even so, the general must be hoping that the Ming Dynasty can send troops to attack Jianlu and those rebels at this time, right?

Unexpectedly, just as he was thinking of this, the people on the other side of the warship continued: "The General sent troops to attack the rear of Jianlu, killing many rebels, and even invaded Kyushu Island. Now almost all the rebels on Kyushu Island have been killed. But there are still several cities that have not been captured, and those rebels are still resisting."

When Meichuan Shangyi heard this, he breathed a sigh of relief again. This is good news, and he is worthy of being a general.

What he didn't know was that the people on these warships only knew limited information.

On Kyushu Island, at the beginning, the situation was indeed what they said. After the Tokugawa shogunate's army attacked, they could not resist because they did not have the main force of rebels, but the Catholic troops, who were actually just farmers. Many were killed by the Tokugawa shogunate's army. Anyway, Kyushu Island was littered with corpses, and only a few cities could not be defeated.

But after the stalemate lasted for a long time, the Tokugawa Shogunate's army was unable to supply food and materials. Originally, they planned to succumb to the enemy. Anyway, it was a territory controlled by rebels. Killing them all, burning them all, and robbing them all were their favorite things to do. However, Kyushu Island was not rich to begin with, and the continuous wars had long exhausted supplies. When the Japanese invaders attacked Honshu Island, they took away all the supplies they could. Even if the Tokugawa shogunate's army repeated its policy, they could not collect much food. They relied entirely on supplies from Honshu, and it was no longer possible to continue. .

The people on the warship continued to talk about the news they knew: "Those rebels are very cruel. They also sent troops to go around the back of our army, like demons, burning, killing and looting everywhere. The situation is very bad. General My Lord has been saying that you come back and put down the rebellion as soon as possible!"

Upon hearing this, Meichuan Shangyi, who had been slightly relieved just now, suddenly felt his heart die. Because he knew that the real situation was definitely worse than this statement. In other words, if it weren't for the fact that it couldn't be concealed, the news wouldn't have come out at all.

Thinking about it, I heard that when the Jianlu rebels rose up in Liaodong, they were very good at burning, killing and looting. Now that they are doing this here in Honshu, it is estimated that many people have died at their hands. The general is definitely hoping that he can persuade the Ming Dynasty to quickly send troops to suppress these rebellions.

But……

Meichuan Shangyi remembered what happened in the Jinluan Palace of the Ming Dynasty. His face turned gray and without saying a word, he turned around and slowly got off the bow of the ship and walked towards the cabin.

His men looked at him and understood that he could not bring good news and must be in a bad mood. No one dared to disturb him. They can imagine how the general will get angry when he learns about the situation in Ming Dynasty!

The warship and the envoy's ship passed each other, and they could all see the people on the warship celebrating. Obviously, they all thought that this trip to the Ming Dynasty would bring them good news! The General probably thinks so too!

Master Meichuan Shangyi, what should you do?

Thank you for the 5,000 reward for the little daughter-in-law, thank you for why Pang Pang exists, and thank you for the tender reward! There are things going on on Friday night and all day on Sunday, so Saturday is even better.