I'm really not the carpenter emperor

Zhu Youxiao shook his head, a little speechless: "This woman, staying in the palace will only be a disaster."

To be honest, Zhu Youxiao was a little unpredictable about Ke Baba's mind.

If Wang Tiqian and Zhu Youxiao mentioned the matter of choosing a concubine last time out of loyalty, then Ke Baba brought it up again now because he wanted to stabilize his position.

It seems that Ke Baba should have known from Wei Zhongxian's mouth that he did not agree to make her the Holy Lady last time.

Last time when Wei Zhongxian asked for instructions to make her a holy lady, Zhu Youxiao used the hunting leave as a prevarication, just to let him understand his attitude towards Kebaba.

If you want to seal it, it was closed last time.

After that, Wei Zhongxian never mentioned the matter of Feng Ke Baba Feng Sheng's wife, and it seemed that he understood what he meant, but he didn't play his due role in this matter.

Ke Baba even dared to touch her own hand. This flirtatious intention was obvious. She was unwilling to give up and wanted to take charge of the harem.

"It seems that there is no one at the helm in this harem so far, and there will always be someone coveting it." Zhu Youxiao smiled wryly, and said to the outside of Nuan Pavilion:

"Wang An drafted an order to honor Concubine Liu Zhao as a concubine, and choose a day to hold a canonization ceremony, welcome her to the Palace of Compassion, hold the seal of the Empress Dowager, and lead the harem."

A young eunuch standing outside the door hurriedly said "Zunzhi", then trotted away and disappeared.

Since Zhu Youxiao ascended the throne in this Tianqi Dynasty, there has been no queen mother, because Zhu Youxiao's biological mother, Wang Cairen, has long since passed away.

There is no queen mother, no queen selected, not even a concubine, which will cause Ke Baba and Wei Zhongxian to covet power.

Ke Baba is Zhu Youxiao's wet nurse. According to the ancestral system, she should have left the palace when she was six years old.

If this Mrs. Fengsheng had been sealed by Wei Zhongxian at that time, Ke Baba would not have to leave the palace.

Coupled with the current situation in the harem, it is easy for Kebaba to take power.

Zhu Youxiao doesn't mind Kebaba and Wei Zhongxian exchanging information, but the key is that your "exchanging information" must be useful.

Historically, the two exchanged goods, one was the admiral of Dongchang, and the other was in charge of the harem. Donglin was severely punished by Lao Wei, but the place of the imperial palace was not so safe.

What Zhu Youxiao knew was that none of his sons survived, and all of them died young. It hurts to think about it. Who can bear this kind of thing.

As we all know, the mortality rate in ancient times was high, but you can't all die so strangely, who knows if there is anything Kebaba did here?

Even if Kebaba didn't cause trouble, it also shows that this woman is not strong enough to protect the Lord. Although she has ambitions, she doesn't have the ability to completely control the inner palace.

You can't even protect the emperor's heir, what use do I need you?

Zhu Youxiao had to watch over his own children.

In a word: You can fight among the parties, and you can also blackmail me, but if anyone dares to take advantage of my sons and daughters, I will kill your nine clans!

The current Zhu Youxiao actually only needs a stable harem without too much trouble. Before choosing a queen, it is necessary to clean it up once.

Concubine Liu Zhao is the concubine of Emperor Shenzong Wanli. In the sixth year of Wanli, she entered the palace through a beauty pageant and was canonized as Concubine Zhao. She was 21 years old at the time.

Concubine Liu Zhao was pure by nature and didn't like to be troublesome. During the Wanli Dynasty, she lived peacefully and did not participate in any palace disputes.

Later, when Chongzhen ascended the throne, he respected Concubine Liu Zhao as a concubine and asked her opinion on choosing a concubine.

For the first time, concubine Liu Zhao, who was calm by nature, insisted on choosing a woman as the empress. This woman was Empress Xiaojie Zhou who later died for the Ming Dynasty.

From this point alone, Concubine Liu Zhao is not indifferent to world affairs, but she is actually unwilling to participate in disputes.

Zhu Youxiao thought that the date of concubine selection was approaching, so he decided to make an early decision on Kebaba, saying: "Call Wei Zhongxian into the palace."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Wang Tiqian agreed, turned around and backed out.

……

"Slave Wei Zhongxian, see the emperor." Wei Zhongxian did not kneel down after entering the Nuan Pavilion, but bowed slightly, standing at the door and waiting.

Zhu Youxiao threw out the title book from the Ministry of Rites, closed his eyes and yawned, and said nonchalantly, "Look."

In the past few days, Wei Zhongxian was busy with the big case he started.

Dongchang tortured them strictly and used all means to make the arrested Donglin party members bite their own people back, and then they went to the three courts for interrogation with black and white.

Of course, before the joint trial, Wei Zhongxian asked the witnesses to retract their confessions, manipulated the joint trial secretly, and gagged everyone.

With the results of the interrogation, several important officials of Donglin who occupy high positions in the imperial court can be pulled down.

The first thing Wei Zhongxian wanted to get rid of was Yang Lian's slander from Bingke.

This person's official position is not very high, but he has a special position in the Donglin Party, and a simple joint trial is enough to win him directly.

As long as Yang Lian is interrogated, no matter whether he tells or not, Wei Zhongxian can use excuses to bite and expose more Donglin party members.

Wei Zhongxian was not afraid of the situation expanding. The bigger the disturbance, the more effective the news reached Zhu Youxiao's ears.

But this time Emperor Tianqi suddenly called him into the palace, Wei Zhongxian was also a little uncertain, could it be that the emperor regretted not wanting to make a big fuss?

With such doubts, he opened the test book in his hand, read what the Ministry of Rites said, and soon relaxed.

It turned out that the emperor was going to choose a concubine. I actually forgot about such a big event!

"The Hakka family has been in the palace for 15 years." Zhu Youxiao said suddenly.

Wei Zhongxian was startled when he heard the words, he heard a little unusual feeling from Zhu Youxiao's addressing Ke Baba.

"Yes, Your Majesty, this year is No.15."

"Give her some silver taels and repatriate her." Zhu Youxiao got up and walked to the side sleeper, and looked at the Three Kingdoms again by the oil lamp.

Due to the dim light, Wei Zhongxian couldn't see Zhu Youxiao's expression at all, he could only hear the heartlessness in this sentence.

Wei Zhongxian knew that the Emperor Tianqi was very dependent on the Hakka family, to the point where he shared the same sedan chair and would not do anything unless he was by his side.

But as soon as he ascended the throne, the young emperor seemed to be a completely different person, as if he didn't know Keshi indifferently.

After several months, he never took the initiative to summon Keshi once.

From the initial refusal of canonization, to the decree of repatriation... Wei Zhongxian, who had thought it through, suddenly felt a chill down his back!

Companion to a king is like companion to a tiger. Now Zhu Youxiao, even a Dongchang factory official like Wei Zhongxian, feels afraid.

The next moment, he was in cold sweat again, and hurriedly expressed his heart: "Your servant obeys the order!"

Chapter 24 A Butt of Debt

Wei Zhongxian walked down the corridor leaving the Qianqing Palace in a daze, and just as he returned to the Supervisor of Rituals, he was suddenly hugged by a man's thigh.

"The emperor wants to deal with me, can you save me, save me?" Ke Baba begged miserably.

Wei Zhongxian kicked her away without emotion, sat on the seat in the hands of Wang Ansi, took a sip of tea, and said coldly:

"I heard that you went to Xinuan Pavilion to look for the emperor tonight?"

"I, I just went to test it out because I heard you said that the emperor would not confer title on me." Ke Baba sat on the ground in a daze, with tears on his face, he didn't know whether it was true or not.

"Who do you think the emperor is?" Wei Zhongxian threw the tea on the ground, "Is he still that 16-year-old kid?"

"He is now the emperor of the Ming Dynasty! Kebaba, you are looking for death!"

"I, I don't know that the emperor's attachment to me in the past was all pretended!" Ke Baba was trembling with fright, and shook his head stiffly: "What should we do now?"

"Hmph." Wei Zhongxian thought for a while, then sighed, "Fortunately, the emperor has left some kindness for you, instead of killing you, he expelled you from the palace."

"Otherwise, tonight is your death day!"

"Forget it, since you can't stay here, I'll send you out of the palace and send you 500 taels of silver. It's not in vain for the friendship between you and me."

"Is there really no choice? I have been in the palace for 15 years, and I am not reconciled..." Ke Baba looked at Wei Zhongxian and begged him to persuade Emperor Tianqi again.

Wei Zhongxian did not agree, but squatted down and stuffed a silver ingot into her hand.

"After you leave the palace, it doesn't matter if you run a brothel or a restaurant, and do some business, and then don't think about going back to the palace."

"In this way, we may still meet."

Ke Baba has no choice, there are two people in the world who can indulge her in fighting for power and profit, one no longer values ​​her, and the other is also a Nipusa who can't protect herself when crossing the river.

Without Emperor Tianqi's pampering, she is just an ordinary nanny.

Before sunset, Wei Zhongxian didn't even go to Dongchang. He helped Ke Baba pack up his things, and watched as several people escorted her out of Daming Gate.

In such a huge harem, no one came to see them off.

Desperate, Ke Baba followed Fanzi away from the palace like a walking corpse. On the bumpy carriage, she heard the commotion on the street and smelled the fireworks in the world again.

Ke Baba clenched the silver ingot in his hand, and suddenly felt that the city of Beijing is wonderful, and life is wonderful. Fortunately, Emperor Tianqi was not so heartless, and arranged a way out for her.

……

Early the next morning, Zhu Youxiao, who had just arrived at Xinuange, found that there was a neat memorial on the imperial case, signed by Zhao Bingzhong, Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs.

Zhu Youxiao opened it and found it very interesting.

The content of this memorial is Zhao Bingzhong's summary of the revenue and expenditure of the imperial court in the 48 years of Wanli. He found that there was a deficit of more than 140 million taels, and it is recommended to check it.

In Zhu Youxiao's view, this is Wei Zhongxian's counterattack to the recent impeachment of him by the Taoist officials.

In the case of Donglin Academy, Dongchang arrested more than [-] scholars and sent them to prison. There should not be a few of them who are still alive. The censor Feng Sanyuan is probably the worst.

With such a big case suddenly raised, the Donglin party members, besides face-to-face, naturally impeached Wei Zhongxian, and took advantage of their public opinion to promote Wei Zhongxian as an "eunuch".

Now the ruling and opposition parties are already complaining about the emergence of the eunuch party.

Old Wei's journey of taking the blame has already begun, and Zhu Youxiao doesn't want to intervene, so he has been running to Nanhaizi recently.

A look of indifference, playfulness and absurdity.

Fortunately, in the past, Emperor Chengzu built Nanhaizi to look good. Staying here can be regarded as having flowers, grass and woods, and it is more comfortable than the palace.

Zhao Bingzhong, Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, and Wei Zhongxian have long been in touch. It is hard to say that such a memorial came suddenly at this time. It is hard to say that it was not the latter's instruction.

Zhu Youxiao's actions were also very simple, he was furious, and then handed over the matter to Wei Zhongxian's Dongchang to deal with, and asked him to implicate another group of people.

As for why Wei Zhongxian should support Wei Zhongxian at this time, the reason is even simpler. If you don't give a clear signal, how dare he let go of the bitch?

Next, just stay in Nanhaizi and watch the big show.

Thanks to Wei Zhongxian's big actions in the front, Zhu Youxiao was able to quietly summon Wang Zaijin, who was appointed as the governor of Zhili a month ago, in the Nanhaizi Palace.

In the past half a month, Wang Zaijin has been making unannounced visits to various places in Zhili, and the Commander of Jin Yiwei, Liu Qiao, assisted him, making him even more handy.

After all, with the intervention of factory guards, the investigation will be smooth.

"Your Majesty, I have basically checked out the grain storages in various parts of the capital, and the stocks of silver and equipment in various ministries, all of which are attached to the list." Wang Zaijin said, and presented a detailed list, and said in his mouth:

"Your minister and Liu Qiao are patrolling around the capital, and it's not uncommon for refugees to grab food on the streets. If this is the case in Beijing, what about other places?"

"Whenever I think of it, I feel heartbroken, and hope that the emperor will implement the new policy as soon as possible."

Zhu Youxiao nodded and lowered his gaze.

According to the table, at this time, the grain storage in granaries in various places in Gyeonggi is really pitifully small.

For example, Tongzhou warehouses, which have existed for a long time, have only a few hundred shi of edible grain, and in most places, there are only a few shi to dozens of shi left.

Some places are even more terrifying. When you open the granary, you only see mice, but no grain.

As for the six treasury equipment, they were either in disrepair for a long time and could no longer be used, or they were empty. In some places, the guns in the treasury of military equipment can even be traced back to the Jiajing period.

This situation is more serious than Zhu Youxiao expected.

"What is your suggestion, tell me." Zhu Youxiao closed his watch and asked seriously.

Wang Zaijin respectfully said: "I think that the exemption of the Huaibei land for three years, which was implemented in the first court meeting of your majesty, is a good idea, but it is really difficult to implement."

Looking at Wang Zaijin's sentence after sentence, Zhu Youxiao also nodded slowly. He went down and walked around, and basically explained everything he could say when he came back.

In the central court, civil officials dominate, but in the local area, the nobles, gentry, nobles and rightists occupy absolute dominance.

They hold the country's economic artery, form chaebols and landlord groups, and cooperate with various parties in the DPRK and China for their own interests.

Political power and economic power are all in their hands.

In the Ming Dynasty, the imperial examination was very important. Xie served as a township official, the children of the Haoyou family, and some scholars from Jinshi, Juren, and Gongsheng students. Once they arrived in the local area, they immediately had the right to preferential tax exemption, and the opportunity to make friends with the powerful and abuse the village. .

If an upright local official defends the common people and attacks the rightists, he is in fact in conflict with the entire interest group, and will soon be attacked by chaotic parties in the DPRK and China.

In the end, either he will lose his official position, or he will be ruined.

As a result, the officials who really did things were constantly kicked out of the court, and the rest were officials without integrity and ability.

These people communicate with local dignitaries and political parties in the DPRK and China, and firmly hold the country's economic lifeline and local power.

The most intuitive manifestation is that well-born scholars are exempted from taxation and labor, and the gentry with rich families colluded with officials to reduce or exempt taxes, so that they invaded and occupied farmland, and most of the people became tenant farmers, suffering from oppression.

The final result is the form that Wang Zaijin obtained after his unannounced visit. The rich and powerful are getting richer, but the country is getting poorer and poorer.