Immediately after the death of the master

The master told him the truth, he had already died thousands of times.

He is an idiot, but this idiot has been jumping around in front of the stage for so long that we are too lazy to talk to him.

Prime Minister Ji and his henchmen became the biggest forces in the court, faintly threatening the imperial power. Under the hint of the master, the Ninth Prince's attack on Prime Minister Ji became more and more serious.Although I usually keep quiet, the relationship between me and the Ninth Prince is not a secret among the upper echelons. I joined forces with Xu Yuque to stand firmly beside the Ninth Prince, and the three parties formed an encirclement force to encircle and suppress the old prime minister.

In the past few years, we have won and lost in the struggle between us, and each of us has lost some party members, but it is far from the level of bone-shattering. Our fierce political struggles and stubborn political opinions are all hidden in the dark. , has not yet reached the turning point of complete intensification.

The balance we have barely maintained for ten years was finally broken at the beginning of the tenth year of Longxing.

At the beginning of the tenth year of Longxing, the Hubu Shangshu, who was single-handedly supported by Prime Minister Ji, returned home and told Prime Minister Ji what he saw along the way. The old prime minister who was over [-] years old was furious. After a thorough investigation, he wrote all the circumstances into the edict and submitted it overnight. to the master.

It was this imperial edict that revealed the core of decay and decay under the prosperous age.

Serious corruption and power rent-seeking have never been unique to the last dynasty. In a dynasty with a high degree of power concentration, corruption and privileges have been hand in hand since the moment the bureaucracy progressed.Only a few years after the master came to the throne, the corruption of the Dayu Kingdom has already progressed to an extremely serious level.

Don't make more concessions than before.

Hubu Shangshu has been busy for so many years, and this year he was finally approved by the old prime minister to return home to worship his ancestors. Hubu Shangshu returned home happily, but was dumbfounded by what he saw along the way.Every time he went to a village, every time he entered a city, the people would immediately come to complain when they heard a high-ranking official. From the mouths of these people, the Minister of the Household Department learned about the astonishing degree of corruption of low-level officials.

Grass-roots officials took advantage of the general trend of reform and planted large tracts of fertile land; taking advantage of the rights delegated by their superiors, they sought rent through their rights, replaced materials for road and bridge construction, and then resold them; The grain banks in the country buy a large amount of grain and artificially raise the price of grain; the money to aid local governments will go through the hands of these officials.

Many officials are not young, their concubines have married several families, and they have a lot of children.

When the master established the dynasty, the officials who took office were not much richer than the common people. After two or three years of reform, the officials put on silk and satin one by one as if conjuring, and ate delicacies from mountains and seas. That is called a winding path leading to seclusion, carved beams and painted buildings.Some county magistrates “borrowed” the bricks and tiles used to build the main house from others, and let the farmers help him farm even the land at home, and they would not give them any compensation. Once they dared to resist, the ensuing revenge and Harsh treatment is simply not something a commoner can bear.

There are countless accusations and grievances from the people at the bottom, but the "above" simply refuses to accept them, and instead handcuffs the accusers to the court.Seeing that the local officials refused to accept the case, some villains in the countryside appealed layer by layer. Unfortunately, the officials and officials protected each other, and all efforts were in vain.

When the old prime minister first started reforming, he promised the people that as long as they wanted to, they could send the bullies who oppressed them to court at any time.The promise is still in my ears, but it is no longer credible.But in just a few years, the court has been fighting with bullies again, as if nothing has changed.

This memorial is a picture rendered by the blood and tears of thousands of poor people, and it is a portrayal of the tragic world.

When the water is clear, there are no fish. The master always thought that corruption could be kept under control. He never thought that the situation had become so serious.

In the early morning of that day, the master was furious in court and ordered the old prime minister to investigate thoroughly. What's worse, he gave the old prime minister the right to gossip.

The entire court hall was silent, and my hands and feet were cold while standing on the court hall.

If there is nothing else, we all prosecute the court, it is the most rancid abscess on this piece of rotten flesh.

Unlike the Ji family's extremely strict military rule, the Ninth Prince and I have a lot of soldiers. How many times they crawled out of the dead, they have long been used to ignoring risks.The ruthless massacre during frontier battles, and the swords aimed at their own countrymen during rebellion, they have already abandoned morality and the bottom line.

After the war was over, they were sent to other places. Relying on their past meritorious service, a large part of them became bullies and dirty officials in the mouth of Prime Minister Ji.

My compatriots and comrades who fought side by side have embarked on hopeless corruption.

Behind me is the intelligence network of Ji Qinghe and Xu Yuque. I already know what they are doing, but what can I do?

During nearly ten years of fighting against wind and rain, we have already forged a deep friendship, and I will send them to hell because of these things.

So I can only turn a blind eye, pretend to be crazy and stupid, and I can hide it for a while.

The so-called politics, in my opinion, is nothing more than positive governance, or negative governance. The existence of the privileged class and the existence of corruption are the more reactionary side, but as long as the political stability can be maintained, the voices of the bottom will be suppressed. Go on, these are not problems.

As long as the voices of the common people and opponents can be suppressed so that they do not reach the ears of the old prime minister and master, the two high-ranking figures, it will be fine.

Confused their eyes and ears with the high city walls and superficial prosperity, and presented the whitewashed memorials and reports to their eyes.Let one of them think that their reforms are perfect, and the other think that their country is making rapid progress.Even if there are occasional mistakes, it is not a big problem. After all, the disadvantages and shortcomings are "a drop in the bucket", and it is not worth a large-scale census and drastic reform.

This kind of deception is nothing but a stopgap measure, and I know that this matter will be exposed sooner or later, but I am not in a hurry, my purpose is only one word - to procrastinate.If it is delayed until the old prime minister dies of old age or the master is seriously ill, as long as it is delayed until then, even if this incident explodes, it is not a big deal

But who would have thought that at this moment, the Hubu Shangshu would reveal this matter.

Now, the master is worrying about a reason to deal with us, and the old prime minister has just freed up from drastic reforms.

The situation is critical.

After the court, I went back to the mansion and wanted to discuss the next policy with Wei Kexin, but when I returned to the mansion, I didn't see Wei Kexin, but Ji Qinghe who came to occupy my table again.

He knocked his foot on my desk, pressed my half-written official document under his foot, played with my writing brush, and said to me calmly:

"You came back late. When you went to court, Prime Minister Ji had already sent someone to remove all the official documents from the clearing house."

There are too many shady things in the official files of the Metropolitan Procuratorate. These things must be gradually fermented to have the greatest effect. Now that these terrible things are released together, God knows what will happen.

"Damn it, how did he do it?" My face was as black as a pot of iron.

Old Prime Minister Ji has great hands and eyes in the six parts, but I have never had a close relationship with them in the Metropolitan Procuratorate, so how can he directly intervene in my territory.

"You know, I was supported by him alone. Although I have been clearing his people for the past two years, I was still put together by him..."

Ji Qinghe shrugged, not seeming to care.

Only ghosts will believe his words, but now is not the time to care about it, I can already foresee what kind of bloody storm will be caused when Prime Minister Ji gets those official documents.

In order to get ahead of the old prime minister, I had no choice but to face the saint immediately.

Even knowing that the master is still angry.

The master is still handling government affairs in the imperial study, because I often come back to the palace to accompany him, the eunuch at the door has already gotten to know me well, so he let me in directly.

The weather in early spring was still a bit cold, the master was covering his stomach with Mrs. Tang in one hand, while flipping through the memorials presented by the servants with the other hand.

Sitting quietly for a long time, the master's shoulders and neck were sore, he couldn't help stretching out his hand to rub it, taking this opportunity, I leaned towards the master, the little eunuch standing next to the master wanted to speak, the master glanced at him lightly, the little eunuch He flinched and took the initiative to leave.

I gently massaged his shoulders, just like ten years ago.

Ever since my master came to the throne and I was at the head of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, I haven't served my master with my own hands for a long time. After so many years, I served him again, and my hands didn't grow.

After taking the time to massage my shoulders, I gently rubbed the master's temples to relieve his eye fatigue.

The frown gradually loosened, the master closed the memorial in his hand, closed his eyes and leaned back on the chair, finally willing to talk to me:

"Li Nianen, why have these never appeared in my case?"

"It's all trivial matters. Your Majesty has suffered so much on the battlefield. Now it's time to enjoy life in peace. There's no need to be so tired."

The master who closed his eyes and meditated opened his eyes, his neck was slightly tilted back, he raised his head, I lowered my head, and we looked at each other.

"That's right." The master's expression was dull, and his tone was extremely calm, "This body of mine really won't be tired soon."

I realized that I had said the wrong thing, and quickly knelt on the ground.

"The minister is guilty."

My head was buried deep on the ground, I couldn't see the master's actions, only the rustling sound could be heard.

After a long time, the master sighed, there was no sullenness, no cruelty, only deep exhaustion:

"Hey—you bastard, you're obviously not afraid of me at all, and you're still pretending..."

He bent down and lifted me from the