The most reckless man in the Ming Dynasty

Who can answer His Majesty the Emperor?

Of course it is Yang Yiqing, Minister of the Ministry of War!

He can only say this.

Fortunately, after yesterday's reminder, Yang Yiqing had an in-depth understanding of the current Ming Dynasty's Ma Zheng. To sum it up, there is only one word - rotten!

And it's still rotten to the core, so rotten that people can't bear to look at it.

If it were Xu Jin, he would not say this, but would choose to remain silent.

If it were Liu Daxia, he would not even come forward and directly push the matter to Taipusi Qing.

However, Yang Yiqing was Yang Yiqing. He dared to say this, and he also dared to tell the real reason for Ma Zheng's corruption.

"Then there are officials from Taipu Temple and its affiliated institutions who are responsible for branding and inspecting these horses. Obviously, the imperial decree gives them considerable discretion. "Tithes for raising horses are paid for the horses. "The fee is always ten taels." If raising a horse itself requires ten taels of silver, then the bribe paid to officials in order to let the horses pass the inspection will cost at least ninety taels. In other words, the burden on horse owners is equivalent to that of Emperor Taizu Gao. Exactly ten times the period!”

Upon hearing this, Wu Tinghuan immediately collapsed on the ground.

Can His Majesty be compared with the late Emperor?

No matter what the temper of the late emperor, even if you call him a "monomaniac thief", as long as someone mediates it, you may not be punished, but you will win a reputation as "outspoken and dare to remonstrate"!

"It's really good!"

Aren't all the scholar-bureaucrats of the Ming Dynasty so brave?

"All the officials of Taipu Temple, including the officials at the Shepherd Ranch!"

"Not to mention that some powerful people took this opportunity to engage in corruption and bribery. For example, according to the regulations of the early Ming Dynasty, any horse owner who raised horses for the government would be exempted from half or all taxes and allocated to corresponding pastures. But later, It has become a piece of paper. Nowadays, horse farmers are left with only obligations but no rights. There is no tax exemption and no grazing land for raising horses. What else can horse farmers do except flee? "

"The Ming Dynasty's Ma Zheng was mainly concentrated in the northwest frontier and other places, and in the northwest border, there were many large pastures owned by the Zong family vassals. As a result, the royal ranch and the Ma Zheng pasture were bordered and intertwined. Many vassals, The powerful and powerful used their privileges to appropriate the pasture and take it for themselves.”

"The Metropolitan Procuratorate immediately dispatched censors to the pastoral supervisors in the northwest to investigate the case of pasture encroachment. No matter which vassal king they are, no matter who the powerful people are, they will either return the pastures obediently, or I will chop off their heads. !”

"The Emperor Taizu Gao of our dynasty established the law of raising horses, and ordered the people to raise horses together, and stipulated the number and yield of horses. However, when raising horses among the people, they need to ensure that the horses are strong and healthy, and they must also ensure that they have completed one year of service to the country. Yiju’s mission is to be exempted from hard labor by doing these two things, otherwise the people will have to face compensation!”

"After what happened today, Da Sima's reputation for being upright will be spread throughout the world, so there is no need to thank me!"

"Since His Majesty is determined to clarify Ma Zheng's affairs, what is there that I dare not say?"

He never thought that today's morning meeting was supposed to be about discussing North Korea, but the fire suddenly burned Ma Zheng and Taipusi, catching everyone off guard!

Don't talk about destroying evidence now. Once the activities they have done are found out, I don't know how many gentry and gentry in the world will suffer because of it!

"His Majesty!"

Yang Tinghe walked to Yang Yiqing and couldn't help but remind him in a low voice: "Da Sima, if you act like this, I'm afraid you will attract too much criticism!"

Therefore, this collective collapse of Taipusi Huan officials was actually a bloody feast for the censors of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, enough for them to make a lot of money from it reasonably and legally.

Yang Yiqing sighed secretly when he heard this, and then said sternly: "Nothing in the affairs of the state is greater than the army, and nothing in military affairs is greater than the horse!"

Following His Majesty the Emperor's order, two Forbidden Army soldiers walked in immediately, and then without any explanation, they took off Wu Tinghuan's official hat, stripped off his official uniform, and then forcibly dragged him to the entrance of the main hall, where there was a brief silence. In the middle, one could only hear Wu Tinghuan's panicked begging for mercy, but it was of no use.

Hearing him calling for help, Zhu Houzhao snorted and waved his hand, indicating that the person should be taken away for interrogation.

"funny!"

This matter has become a big deal. Not to mention that the foreign minister Cheng Xiyan is still present. Just because Wu Tinghuan, this damn idiot, said these two words, no matter how generous and merciful His Majesty the Emperor is, he will definitely bring this matter to light. Get to the bottom of it.

"Secondly, the form of horse herding and raising by the people is unsustainable, causing the country to fall into a crisis in horse administration."

Damn it?

When he finished saying this, the whole hall was silent.

"good!"

Wu Tinghuan suddenly trembled, and then scolded him harshly.

"So, the rise and fall of the horse administration of the country was mainly due to the decline caused by the invasion and annexation of horse farms by feudal kings and powerful men. Even the pastures were gone. How could they still raise war horses?"

It's okay now, His Majesty is completely angry, let's all wait to die together!

Tang Hao was also a little confused at this moment, and then he knelt on the ground.

"Come here, escort this evil thief out, and stick his stick at the door!"

"Spare your life, Your Majesty!"

"Well, I am going to thank you. I will go back and make your unsightly manuscripts public, so that you, the Marquis of Zhongshan, can experience this!" Yang Yiqing sneered, with a happy smile on his face.

Zhu Houzhao shouted sharply: "I have always heard that you are upright and dare to speak out. What's wrong? Don't you dare to speak out now?"

This means that every time you, Yang Yiqing, mention something, His Majesty the Emperor will have to investigate it thoroughly. God knows how many officials and gentry will be implicated!

"Yang Yiqing!"

It's the same reason as the corruption of the salt administration. Too many forces have gained profits from it, such as the royal princes and powerful nobles that Yang Yiqing just mentioned. Those royal princes are easy to understand, they are nothing more than the princes of the Ming Dynasty, but what about the powerful nobles behind them?

"A bunch of unscrupulous dogs, encroaching on national interests and harming the people, Jinyiwei sent the Tiqi to cooperate with the Censorate to take action, and must get the ranch back to me, did you hear it clearly?"

"You just said one thing, there are two and three!"

"What's more terrible is that all the horses raised by horse breeders and the foals born, as well as the horses temporarily entrusted to the court for foster care, once they die, the horse breeders must unconditionally compensate. Horses are so expensive that even if these horse breeders sell their children, they can't afford this huge amount of money. Under such harsh conditions, who among the people is willing to raise horses for the court? In some places, this has even become a means for officials and yamen runners to harm others!"

Severe punishment!

"Why did the Grand Marshal say this?"

"It's not that we don't want to report it, but that the horse policy is corrupt..."

"I've finished speaking, please make a decision, Your Majesty!"

Xie Qian, Yang Tinghe, Wang Ao, Han Wen and other civil officials changed their faces, and cold sweat broke out on their foreheads.

Wu Tinghuan was born in a family of officials in Yanzhou Prefecture, Shandong Province. His career was smooth and he rose to the top. His life of luxury and affluence over the years made him a little fat as expected, and he had never been subjected to such humiliating punishment.

"This is the book of sages you have read all your life, this is the important official in the court who has been entrusted with important tasks by the imperial court. Have you read so much as a dog's stomach?"

Your Majesty asked you to speak, so you just speak?

Can't you see the current situation?

"As the Marquis of Zhongshan said, all officials of the Imperial Household Department and the corresponding officials of the Ministry of War are suspended for investigation, and the Ministry of Personnel is preparing a list of replacements!"

Hearing this, Yang Tinghe immediately smiled bitterly and shook his head.

As expected, Zhu Houzhao was almost mad!

Next, the Censorate and the Ministry of Personnel will be the two busiest institutions.

Ti Shuai Mou Bin and Zhang Fuhua nodded quickly.

"Very good!"

Facing the Emperor's harsh scolding, the ministers did not dare to have any opinions, but scolded Wu Tinghuan in their hearts!

"A corrupt official who accepted bribes actually cursed me as a tyrant and a traitor in public in this hall!"

There must be thousands of officials in the entire Imperial Household Department, from the Imperial Household Department Minister to the ranch clerks. Apart from those clerks, the Ministry of Personnel will also have to select hundreds of officials to fill these gaps in one go, not to mention those officials who may be implicated in the case and imprisoned, and there may even be thousands of them!

Because the emperor left, Wang Ao, the left assistant minister of the Ministry of Personnel, and Zhang Fuhua, the chief censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, left in a hurry. They will enter a long and busy time.

Then, the next moment, a shrill scream sounded.

"Where is the Metropolitan Procuratorate?"

"The horse-raising policy formulated by Emperor Taizu Gao was originally a good thing to strengthen the country and enrich the people, but it caused the people to be trapped in horse-raising. Some people even fed and owed horses passively, and were eventually forced to flee, which further put the horse policy of the country in a crisis quagmire."

As soon as the voice fell, Yang Yiqing touched the ground with his forehead and said no more.

"Zhongshan Hou, you are such a despicable and shameless thief!"

"How funny!"

This time, Tang Hao was really panicked.

"Your Majesty, spare my life!"

But what about the current emperor?

He is young and full of vigor, and ambitious!

He is betting that this young emperor Zhengde dare not go against the gentry of the world!

After all, during the Hongzhi period, such abscesses were not unheard of. When Emperor Hongzhi first learned about it, he was also furious. He immediately sent the censor to investigate, but the truth he found out in the end made him afraid to act rashly, and finally let it go!

This is the case with horse politics and salt politics!

So Wu Tinghuan wanted to take a gamble. He believed that the civil officials and gentry had controlled the government for so many years, and Emperor Zhu Houzhao would not dare to do anything to him!

However, when he said this, all the civil and military officials in the court knelt down on the ground in unison.

Zhang Fuhua, the chief censor, trembled and immediately stepped out to listen to the order.

Zhang Yong went to make arrangements immediately. He also saw that today, His Majesty the Emperor was going to raise the butcher knife against the civil officials and gentry again!

In just a short while, Wu Tinghuan's buttocks were hit by a few more boards, and it was already bloody and bloody.

"Are you doing this to be a dictator?"

Since you want to clean up the horse politics, you must not be soft-handed, otherwise it will be a big thunder and little rain, and local officials will only be more perfunctory when they see it. What's the point of doing all this now?

"Come on, drag this beast away and put him in prison!"

What a damn idiot!

However, he said everything he should say, and he also said what he shouldn't say.

A dictator!

There is also a "traitor to the people" to go with "dictator"!

It specifically refers to those cruel and unjust rulers who are abandoned by their relatives and friends!

This is probably the first time that Zhu Houzhao has been pointed at and scolded in public as a tyrant and a traitor to the people since he ascended the throne for so long!

"The Metropolitan Procuratorate immediately dispatched to find out all these corrupt officials for me. No matter who is involved, no matter what powerful people are standing behind them, those above the fifth rank will be detained and returned to Beijing, and those below the fifth rank will be sent to local jails. All the officials who committed the crime will be sentenced to life. No pardon, severe punishment!”

Tang Hao pretended to be confused and scratched his head.

But for the officials, this incident was simply a disaster.

So, no matter what, it seems that the civil servants and gentry can't really do anything against this man!

Yang Yiqing walked away with his head held high, ignoring those malicious glances.

"check!"

All the officials in the hall were so frightened that their faces turned pale, and they did not even dare to express their anger.

One has to be busy hunting down these corrupt officials, but this is a great good thing for them, because the Metropolitan Procuratorate has its own anti-corruption system. As long as a corrupt official with solid evidence of crime is uncovered, they can Get a bonus.

Yang Yiqing didn't care about this at all. He walked and sat upright, and everything he did was for the sake of having a clear conscience.

Wu Tinghuan, the minister of Taipu Temple, suddenly turned pale as paper and fell to his knees with a "pop" sound.

"First, the Zong clan kings and powerful men annexed and annexed horse ranches, which directly undermined the country's horse administration."

As soon as these words came out, the whole court was in an uproar!

"I would really like to hear whether I am the only one who is a traitor to the people, or are you, the gentry, corrupt and perverting the law?"

In an instant, Yang Yiqing felt extremely stressed!

Now...can I still say it?

If you say it, wouldn't it be... a revelation?

Han Wen, Yang Tinghe and others gave Yang Yiqing crazy winks and advised him not to speak again.

There is no way, Wu Tinghuan, this damn idiot, is simply looking for death!

After all, His Majesty the Emperor would not be so angry if it was just because of Ma Zheng. However, because of this damned Wu Tinghuan, I don’t know how many officials will be implicated!

Tang Hao: "???"

Tang Hao was always watching with cold eyes. This great drama started by him ended with the downfall of all Taipu Temple officials.

But Yang Yiqing, who spoke uprightly today, received a lot of unkind looks.

At this time, no one dared to question it.

"After investigation, from the fourth year of Hongzhi to the thirteenth year of Hongzhi, in just nine years, more than 2,500 hectares of horse pastures in Shaanxi were occupied by feudal kings and dignitaries; in the sixteenth year of Hongzhi, the number of pastures in Shaanxi was There are only more than 60,000 hectares left.”

Why don't you just crash to death?

And this Yang Yiqing!

He is also a complete lunatic!

Who did you learn it from?

Relatives of the emperor, generals and nobles, civil servants and gentry, local gentry...which one is rare?

Only he, Yang Yiqing, dared to directly open this abscess!

However, just returning the pasture would be too cheap for them.

"It doesn't matter!" Yang Yiqing sneered: "I didn't want to be the Minister of the Ministry of War from the beginning. If they are really capable, they can drive me out of the court and go to the border to be a governor again. I would like to thank them! "

He finally understood that this person was indeed like the stone in the pit as rumored - smelly and hard!

After what happened today, Yang Yiqing behaved too radically, and those civil servants and gentry would definitely not be able to sit still. Next, they tried every means to exclude Yang Yiqing from the court, but they didn't care at all about the position of the Minister of War. On the contrary, it further complied with his wishes.

Tang Hao came directly out of the queue and played loudly: "Your Majesty, in the 16th year of Chenghua, Emperor Chenghua implemented a series of policies to strengthen the supervision of horse management, such as severely punishing derelict officials, personally inspecting by Ministry of War officers, and The Pusi officials will review the horses, etc., and they will not accept any horses that are not subject to the seal of the Taipu Si Cheng and other officials. They will be guilty of garrisoning with shackles like cheaters. When the price of the horses is reduced, the Ministry of War officials will come to see them in person and still hand them over. Count the remaining ones to hear it!”

Zhu Houzhao didn't understand what Tang Hao meant.

There will be no pardon for life!

And a comprehensive inventory is required!

When Zhu Houzhao heard this, he suddenly laughed inexplicably.

Which emperor can tolerate being called a tyrant in public?

"Yang Aiqing, keep talking!"

You fucking pointed your nose at someone and called them a tyrant. How stupid do you have to be to do such a thing!

Originally, His Majesty the Emperor might have good intentions and spare your life, but as soon as you curse these two words, the meaning will be completely different!

The more Yang Yiqing talked, the more excited he became, until his whole face turned red!

"The official ranch was occupied by the feudal lords and dignitaries, causing the horse administration to be blocked, while private horse breeding was increasingly corrupted due to official corruption and bribery, and even became a major tyranny of the country that harmed the people. Under these two conditions, the country Is there any reason why Ma Zheng is not bad?”

Taipusi Qing, ranked third in rank, is the highest leading organization in charge of the world's horse affairs, and ranks among the Xiaojiuqing in the court.

Because, don't forget, there is a foreign minister kneeling here!

The Ming Dynasty's political corruption was corrupt. Did the ministers know about this?

They are not blind or deaf, how come they don’t know?

But I know I know it, but I can't say it out loud, let alone prick the abscess directly!

"You'd better tell everything you know, otherwise I will kill you with a rod today!"

"Your Majesty is clear!"

He stared at Wu Tinghuan with blood-red eyes, but suddenly laughed.

"There are three reasons why Ma Zheng is corrupt!"

The price for Yang Yiqing's outspokenness was to arouse His Majesty the Emperor's wrath!

"However, to this day, there has been such serious encroachment on various pastures, but the Taipus Temple has never mentioned it. There are even a lot of Taipus Temple officials colluding with each other to resell horses and pasture, and accept bribes. Therefore, I hope you will Please imprison all officials of Taipu Temple, including the corresponding officials of the Ministry of War, and torture them severely. The innocent ones will be promoted and the guilty ones will be beheaded in public, so that we can serve as a warning to others!"

"Da Sima, give me some face!"

After just three steps down, flowers blossomed under Wu Tinghuan's buttocks. He cried out and confessed, and never dared to question the majesty of the Emperor again.

But when he passed by Tang Hao, he cursed loudly and clearly.

This time, everyone saw the resolute attitude of His Majesty the Emperor!

"As a result, some households have abandoned agriculture in order to raise horses, and there is even an outrageous phenomenon of "having a horse at home, feeding it day and night, until it is tied up, and is not allowed to run around for food and clothing", thus going bankrupt, similar to the situation of going bankrupt because of horse raising. It is extremely common nowadays, and this has led to the “harm of raising horses” among the people! ”

"Dog thief!"

"..."