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The ones kneeling at the front were naturally the few remaining members of the cabinet. After they picked it up and looked at it, they silently passed it on to the people behind them, and so on one by one.

Suddenly, someone whispered: "These bitches know how to gain fame and reputation!"

At this time, there was almost no sound around except the howling north wind and the snorting of the war horses. Therefore, although the muttering was small, many people still heard it.

What a coincidence, Hu Guang also heard it, and his previously suppressed temper suddenly burst out: "Who is it? Come out to me!"

Quiet, very quiet, no one moved!

Hu Guang's eyes were cold at first sight, and he turned to look at Gao Shiyue, his meaning was very clear.

Gao Shiyue and the others can say that they have eyes in all directions and ears in all directions, so they will naturally know who is speaking. Immediately, two chamberlains got off their horses and quickly entered the crowd of kneeling people. They dragged one person out and held him down in front of the emperor's horse.

From the memory of the original Emperor Chongzhen, Hu Guang recognized this person as Yang Wuhou Xue Lian, who was probably in his twenties, and his face was pale at this time.

"Haha, fishing for fame!" Hu Guang smiled, but there was no smile on his face. "Is your name on the roster?"

"No...no!" Xue Lian stammered as if he was about to cry.

When Hu Guang heard this, he immediately shouted sternly: "I have obtained the decree, is it just for fame and reputation? You are the only one who is upright and upright, so you don't bother to donate, right?"

"Your Majesty, have mercy on me, Your Majesty, please have mercy on me!" This man knew that he had caused a big disaster and quickly begged for mercy.

Zhou Yanru knelt in front, lowered his head, and said with disdain in his heart: "The emperor is so angry, but he has no eyesight, he is really asking for death!"

The other civil servants had almost the same idea as him. No one said anything, they just lowered their heads silently. This kind of thing, even if you think so in your heart, you can't say it in front of the emperor!

How could Hu Guang spare him at this time? He immediately issued an edict: "Take away his title and ransack his home, and the proceeds will be donated to him. In addition, he will go to Yihongyuan to serve the famous fisherman for ten years. If he doesn't work hard, he will not be able to work hard." Castrated!"

A word from the emperor can instantly cause a family to fall from the clouds to eighteen levels of hell. But Hu Guang didn't feel any guilt at all. It was a joke that a person like this could become a Marquis of the Ming Dynasty! Such a person, even prostitutes are a hundred times better than him!

He didn't know that in the original history, Xue Lian was famous for his violent nature, his tendency to whip civilians and plunder money, so he was chased and beaten to death by Li Zicheng's army. If he knew this, he would probably castrate him directly.

After dealing with Xue Lian, Hu Guang vented his anger a little, then waved his hand and said: "Let's all get back together!"

The refugees on the side of the Wucheng Soldiers and Horses Division soldiers all looked at this side curiously. Under ordinary circumstances, let alone the emperor, it would be impossible for them to see an ordinary Ming official here. Now I saw the emperor reprimanding the high-ranking officials of the Ming Dynasty for them. I couldn't help but feel a little happy, and at the same time I was secretly grateful that I had met a good emperor.

Hu Guang had no time to pay attention to the system prompts at this time. He pointed to the refugees and said to these people in a cold voice: "Please go take a look around and come back!"

With this order from him, the leaders of the cabinet headed that way. The first thing I saw was the corpses lying on the ground. There were more than a hundred people, most of them old and weak. Their frozen faces showed the desire for life.

No matter which dynasty you are in, human life must be treated seriously, at least in name. If a murder occurs, it's a big deal. Now, in front of the emperor, more than a hundred people had died of hunger and cold. This scene was very shocking.

The refugees who were still alive were dressed like beggars, and thousands of people gathered together, which was equally shocking. Senior officials from the ministry and royal family members walked among the refugees, forming a strange landscape.

After all these officials walked around and stood still in front of Hu Guang, Hu Guang said in a cold voice: "People started dying one after another a month ago, and more and more people are dying every day. If I If we hadn’t just happened to pass by, the days that followed would have been unimaginable. Or maybe so many refugees had died, and the most I could have seen in the imperial palace was an understatement in one sentence, right?"

No one spoke, no one raised their head, everyone bowed their head to be scolded.

"This is still within the capital city. What about the refugees outside? Don't tell me that this is the worst place, right?"

As Hu Guang spoke, he looked coldly at every official present, "Can you imagine how many Ming people suffered during the fall of Liaodong? In addition to military disasters, how were the victims of drought in the north and floods in the south properly accommodated? ? I am very doubtful! I have to think, are the people of our country already living in dire straits?"

Upon hearing this, all the ministers fell to their knees and responded in unison: "I am incompetent!"

Hu Guang looked at each of them, took a deep breath, tried his best to calm down, and then asked coldly: "Tell me, how to resettle these refugees? You are a senior official of the Ming Dynasty and a royal relative, why should you not be as good as Yihong?" The girls in the courtyard?"

When these people heard this, they understood that the emperor wanted them to donate money. At this time, these people lowered their heads and looked around at their colleagues, but no one answered for a while.

In the end, everyone's eyes were focused on those kneeling at the front.

Cheng Ji, a veteran cabinet minister, had no choice but to say, "I would like to donate forty taels of silver and ten shi of grain."

"I am also willing to donate thirty-nine taels of silver and ten stones of grain." Zhou Yanru, the assistant minister of the cabinet, followed behind.

The two of them spoke first, and others followed suit. It’s just that the reported numbers are all decreasing in sequence.

Hu Guang listened expressionlessly, saying nothing, and it was impossible to tell what he was thinking. After they all finished speaking, he said coldly: "Haha, are they all generous!"

No one would think that the emperor was praising them. When Cheng Jiming saw the donation list, he already expected that the amount he reported would make the emperor dissatisfied. However, he already had a countermeasure and immediately said: "Your Majesty, you must If I don’t want to, I will try my best.”

Having said this, he raised his head and continued to play as if confidently: "My official in the Ming Dynasty, the annual salary for the first-rank officials is 1044 shi, and the annual salary for the ninth-rank officials is only 60 shi. This is just on paper. The salary paid by the imperial court , all have different colors, or are converted into silk, cotton, pepper, hematoxylin, etc., but the actual value is far less than the prescribed salary."

What he means is that the salary is just a little bit. Before this was over, I heard him continue to preach: "However, the number of officials in each government office prescribed by Taizu is now far from enough to handle various miscellaneous matters. As a last resort, ministers and others have to fund and hire new employees. The ministers and others have more income and less income. There was little money left, but the amount donated was done to the best of one’s ability, and heaven and earth can learn from it!”

If it were Emperor Chongzhen who had grown up in the palace, he might have been fooled by him. After all, what he said was officially true, and it sounded very reasonable.