Needless to say, Nan Zhijin was just an ordinary treacherous minister. He used his rich experience to figure out the emperor's intentions and leaked it to the ministers in advance, so that they could prepare and decide what to choose.
To put it another way, Nan Zhijin is the liaison of a group of treacherous officials. They are all maintaining a set of rules and conventions that are in conflict with the current emperor. For this reason, they inform each other and help each other.
Qu Zixi didn't want to see the latter result, because he was also a member of the court. He had ideals, but he had not had time to implement them. If the court was turned upside down today, he would never be able to get the sincere support of Baiguan in the future.
"It was Nan Zhijin who gave Yan Kang the idea, and hoped to use Wang Pingyang's affair to attract His Majesty's attention, thus hastily concluded the investigation of the East China Sea."
Han Ruzi opened his eyes slightly, and smiled instead of being angry, "This Nan Zhijin... looks very honest, but he is so courageous. I gave him a chance, but he became more aggressive. Fortunately, Lord Qu kept his eyes on him and did not let him. He succeeded."
"That's because His Majesty reminded me in advance that I was worried about Nan Zhijin, and thought more about him."
Han Ruzi nodded, "Sir Qu will enter the city with me, don't do anything, continue to collect witnesses and evidence, and make sure the case is impeccable."
"According to the order, Your Majesty." Qu Zixi couldn't help but looked up at the emperor, feeling a little strange, why was the emperor indifferent when Nan Zhijin made such an obvious act of deceiving the emperor
Han Ruzi was also looking at Qu Zixi, the two looked at each other for a moment, and Qu Zixi hurriedly lowered his head.
"The Yan family framed General Huang, did the Ministry of War know?" Han Ruzi asked.
Qu Zixi trembled in his heart and replied, "I have not found any clues so far."
Han Ruzi hummed and did not ask further.
Qu Zixi resigned, still feeling uneasy in his heart. A gentleman is open-hearted and a villain is hiding. What he has done today is by no means magnanimous, and violates the principles he has always been proud of.
In the tent, Han Ruzi said to Jin Chunzhong, "Lord Qu seems to have something to say."
"We've got clumsy eyes, I didn't see it." Although Jin Chunzhong was a close minister, he refused to follow the emperor's wishes. He kept his duty and lowered his eyes. He only looked at a small area under his feet and did not observe the emperor The look of the minister.
Han Ruzi smiled, then became serious, "There are really thousands of slaves to be sold in Hu County?"
"Wei Chen saw it with his own eyes, and even bought 100 of them from Song He, but he said he couldn't send them to the capital, so Wei Chen wanted to buy a piece of land in Donghai Kingdom, and then he sent the people, all the money From that 100,000 li, Song He's only request is for Wei Chen to say to His Majesty, 'There is nothing abnormal in Lake County'."
"Hey." Han Ruzi sneered. He sent Jin Chunzhong to Hu County to find Yang Feng's family. Unexpectedly, a big case was dug up by accident. "How many people were sold in all places?"
"Innumerable, Song He is just one of the traffickers. There are people like him everywhere. They take people from local military camps and sell them to large manors as slaves. The garrison reports casualties. In the past few years, natural disasters continued, and when the refugees were resettled, many garrisoned troops were recruited, and the number expanded, and Song He and others made a lot of money from it."
"There are so many people who have been sold, why is no one suing the government?"
"We have asked, although His Majesty's original intention is good, it often changes when he arrives at the place. Let's say recruit refugees as soldiers. Your Majesty's original intention is to give the refugees a bite to eat, and then let them return to their hometowns to settle their business, but some military camps will To deceive the refugees and tell them, Your Majesty is kind, and only allows them to eat, excluding clothing, housing, livestock, etc., all of which must be paid by the refugees themselves. If the debts accumulate to a certain level, let them sell themselves to repay the debts.”
Most of the refugees were illiterate, and they were afraid of officials and soldiers. They really thought they owed the emperor a lot of money and could only accept the arrangement of being sold.
Song He and others were more cautious and would never sell their population to the capital.
The deed of sale has a time limit, ranging from five years to twenty years. Once the sold person is used to the life of the large manor, few people are willing to leave, and they will find that the debt they owe has not decreased, but has become more and more. The more, the more inseparable from the old master.
Song He's business has been in business for many years, and there has never been a problem. It's just that there are too many in the past few years. He feels guilty, so when he heard that people with a capital accent were asking around the city, he immediately thought of his own business, so he felt guilty. Take out the usual means and pay a lot of money to buy it directly.
Han Ruzi thought for a while, "Who is Song He's backer in the court?"
"Song He often talks about the ministers in the court. It is said that one of his sisters is the concubine of Yin Cuo, the eldest son of the former prime minister, Yin Wuharm, but this person often exaggerates, and Wei Chen feels that he cannot take it seriously."
This is where Jin Chunzhong is cautious. Even to verify the human trafficking, he has to buy a batch of his own. Only with real evidence can he dare to explain everything to the emperor.
Han Ruzi nodded, "Go to the East China Sea to buy a house. Be careful, Song He is a fool, but there may be a shrewd backer behind him. If an official comes to test his words - there will definitely be - don't show your guilt."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Huang Pugong, Yan's family, Nan Zhijin, the Ministry of War, Song He... Many things rush together, Han Ruzi needs a safe solution, he is still thinking.
Jin Chunzhong did not forget his original mission, "We Chen inquired in Hu County that there was indeed a lady Yang in the county. It was said that her husband was out of town and never returned home. She is short-tempered and often fights with people—fights with men. She has a son and has read books. A year ago, Mrs. Yang and her son moved away, and they don’t know where they are. Wei Chen can continue to investigate.”
"Don't worry, this matter... I'll talk about it later." Han Ruzi understood that Yang Feng arranged for his wife to move out in advance, probably because he didn't want the emperor to find them.
Jin Chun advised to retire, and Han Ruzi sat in the tent thinking.
The easiest way to do this is to get angry and arrest people directly, which is fast and effective, and has a good reputation, but it is hard to say how long it will last. Local officials and generals always have a way to distort the emperor's will and continue to profit from it. But unlucky.
Most importantly, the court will suffer as a result.
Da Chu is like a dilapidated house with air leaks everywhere that needs to be repaired urgently. In order to prevent the house from collapsing completely, but it cannot be repaired and repaired, it is necessary to find the most important position and build a few supports first.
Han Ruzi sat alone for nearly an afternoon without seeing anyone.
The next morning, the patrolling team set off for the Donghai Guozhi, and entered the city that night.
In the next few days, the emperor's itinerary was similar to that in Yunmengze. He personally cultivated and persuaded farmers, met with the old man, summoned officials, and practiced soldiers... He was busy and nervous, and there was almost no time to rest.
Most officials were satisfied, but a few were hesitant, more uneasy than the expected torrential rain.
On the fourth day, the emperor announced that he would extend his stay in the monarchy from five days to ten days. He would go to the dock in person to watch the launch of the new ship, and formally appoint a new general of the navy.
The emperor didn't seem to want to mention Huang Pugong any more. He was the general he promoted, but he was defeated and surrendered to the enemy. It was really a shameful thing.
This time, the Ministry of War selected the generals according to normal procedures. The Ministry of War recommended three people, one is Shao Kejian, who has made military exploits in Yunmengze, the other is veteran general Di Kai who is familiar with water warfare, and the other is accompanying general Chen Xiao .
The emperor accepted all of them. At present, the size of the navy army is not large, and it will be expanded soon. All three can be generals, but he has not designated a general to lead the entire navy army.
The Huang Pugong incident just happened, it is true that the emperor is more cautious.
On the eighth day of staying in Donghai Kingdom, Qu Zixi was the first to be unable to bear it any longer, and asked to see the emperor, hoping to ask clearly.
The emperor practiced frugality on his hunting tours and was not allowed to build a new palace. The palace was located in an empty mansion in the city. This mansion originally belonged to a wealthy businessman. There is no need to compare who is better and who is worse.
In the early winter, Qu Zixi walked into the mansion, and there was no sign that many emperors lived here, but there were a few more eunuchs coming and going, and many of the furnishings showed a clear businessman's atmosphere.
Qu Zixi couldn't help but think, in any case, the emperor was not a fool after all, he wanted to do great things, but his methods were still jerky, and he failed to get the recognition and full support of the court.
Qu Zixi felt even more ashamed.
The emperor liked to meet guests in the study, and he brought all the books here. When Qu Zixi came in, the emperor was reading a book.
Han Ruzi put down the book, motioned Qu Zixi to sit down, and asked, "Does the emperor often bow his head to his ministers?"
Qu Zixi was startled and stood up.
Han Ruzi smiled and waved his hand, "Mr. Qu, don't misunderstand, I read the history books and found that there were conflicts between rulers and ministers in all dynasties, so I asked."
Qu Zixi felt a little relieved, "Why did the emperor bow his head to the minister? It should be clearly recorded in the history books that it was the minister who bowed his head in the end."
"On the surface, this is the case. For example, in this dynasty, from the very beginning of the emperor's decision to set the cauldron, he said that punishment should be lightly punished. Later emperors also said the same thing and dealt with many torturers."
"The Great Chu talks about kindness and filial piety. Compared with the previous dynasty, it has indeed reduced a lot of criminal law."
"But there is one thing that is strange, minus minus, why did the later emperor still say that the criminal law is too severe in the edict? Where is the reduction? I can't help but suspect that many of the reduced criminal laws have been restored to their original state. But there is no record." Han Ruzi clapped the book by his hand, "The emperor asked the minister to bow his head, which is recorded in the history books. The minister asked the emperor to bow his head, but outside the history books, it was silent, leaving only a little flaw."
Qu Zixi was silent.
Han Ruzi continued: "Master Qu is an official, for the country? For the people? For the king? For the family? For yourself?"
"For a righteousness."
"Okay, there is a big case right now. Master Qu will look at it with a 'righteousness' and see how to deal with it." Han Ruzi pointed to the thick stack of documents on the table.
Qu Zixi asked to see the emperor, but he didn't expect the emperor to be ready. He walked to the table in confusion, bowed first, then picked up the documents and read them one by one. The more he looked, the more shocked and angry he became.
The fact that the local military camp sold people was clearly written in it. Although there was no direct evidence, Qu Zixi did not believe it at all to say that the Ministry of War did not know about it.
"It turns out that this is the 'rule' that the imperial court wants to protect." Qu Zixi was embarrassed and angry, but he hesitated for many days about whether to protect the Ministry of War.
He finally decided to tell the whole truth.
Han Ruzi waited, he urgently needed to build a support first, and then repair the dilapidated house.