Zhao Youcai originally thought of going to Youshu in a few days, so as to find out why he was ordered to enter the palace. But as soon as You Shu walked on his front foot, he fainted on his back foot, and when he opened his eyes again, he found himself lying on a road with no end in sight, full of thorns and flowers on both sides, surrounded by a bustling and rushing crowd.
He tried to stand up, only to find that he was wearing heavy torture equipment around his neck and limbs, and could only kick as hard as a dying animal.
Someone noticed his abnormality and whispered, "Yo, what did this man do in his life? He was still wearing shackles and shackles when he came to Huangquan Road. How can he get to the gate of hell?"
"If you can't get there, you will die on the road." Someone next to him replied.
Huangquan Road, Ghost Gate? Only then did Zhao Youcai realize that he was actually dead and went to the underworld, and he couldn't help but get anxious. He struggled in vain twice, trying to attract the attention of passersby, but everyone was in a hurry to reincarnate, and no one was willing to lend a hand.
Even if a person dies, the soul can still feel the pain, otherwise the tortures of the eighteen layers of hell would be meaningless. Zhao Youcai groaned in pain after being kicked in the stomach. A few ghosts sent a vicious ghost passing by, and they couldn't help being shocked when they saw him, "What crime did this person commit? How can he wear the soul lock of King Yama?"
"What is Soul Lock?" Li Gui, who was also wearing a torture device, asked curiously.
"The soul lock will gain a pound a day. If there is no key to open it, even if it becomes a dead soul, it will still be crushed to death." The ghost explained.
If you die, you have to suffer, which Zhao Youcai never imagined. He asked with all his strength, "Ghosts also die?"
The ghosts laughed for a while, and said contemptuously, "Ghosts will naturally die. If the ghosts die, they will go to the Prison of Ruin. The eighteen layers of hell are scary, but they are nothing compared to the Prison of Ruin. There, there are karmic fires and blood pools everywhere, but there is no talk of reincarnation, let alone escape. With your appearance, you can't even reach the gate of hell, waiting for the devil in the prison to collect you. Well, let's go first."
The ghosts gradually dispersed, and they could hear their schadenfreude laughter from far away. Zhao Youcai, who thought that he would be liberated by death, finally realized that death was the real beginning. If there is no way to remove the soul lock, he will suffer in pain for eternity.
No, I'm going back to find Zhao Youshu. I can't die, I can't become a huckleberry! Zhao Youcai didn't know where the strength came from, one stood up, his head was dazzled, his eyes flashed with gold stars, and somehow he returned to the Yangshi, and found himself still lying on the smelly mat, surrounded by his parents and a group of servants. , cried very miserably.
"Go find Zhao Youshu, hurry up!" After walking through the gate of hell, he finally figured it out and felt that his life was more valuable. Furthermore, if there is no family property and there is still an official position, if you search for the officials who report on their jobs, they will earn the money back in three or five years. At that time, he will have a way to deal with Zhao Youshu.
"Son, aren't you dead?" The second master and the second wife were horrified, and the servants fled in all directions, shouting to deceive the corpse.
"I went to the gate of hell and came back again. Do you know what we're wearing around our necks? This is the soul lock of King Yama, and it can't be taken off even if he dies, but he still gains a pound every day to keep you alive. Crushed to death. Ghosts die as humiliation, eternal life and eternal suffering, and there is no chance of reincarnation! Father, mother, except for this thing, we can't even die!" His face was pale, shaking like chaff.
It is strange that his son is dead and alive, not to mention that he said these words for no reason. The second master and the second wife, who had long been frightened by King Yama, hugged and cried. Zhao Youcai was too lazy to comfort them, and ordered the housekeeper to take all his property and go to Zhao Youshu's house. He thought he would be rejected again, but unexpectedly, after only half an hour, a rickety old man came to lead the way.
Zhao Youcai was lying on the soft chair and was carried in by four servants. As soon as he crossed the threshold, he was suddenly shaken and almost fell. The shackles on his body are only aimed at the soul, and they are intangible to others, without weight. In addition, he has repeatedly lost weight and his body is as light as flakes. This kind of accident should not have happened.
He couldn't hold back his anger, and scolded, "I can't even lift a person, what's the use of you? What are you doing on weekdays, eating shit?"
The housekeeper also staggered a bit, and managed to stabilize his body. Then he whispered, "No, young master, look at the old man in front of him, he has no heels or shadows, he is floating!"
Zhao Youcai took a closer look and almost lost his mind. He saw the old man walking slowly all the way. The second half of his shoes were empty, and he was dragged directly to the ground. Under the light of the lantern, everyone had an elongated shadow, except for what was behind him. can't see.
This is clearly, this is clearly a ghost! Zhao Youcai finally remembered that this was the well-known haunted house in Dayong Kingdom, and so far seventeen or eight residents have died. Zhao Youshu is really evil! Not only did King Yama personally help him avenge his grievances, but there were also ghosts serving him as servants. Where did he come from
Zhao Youcai was already arrogant and sullen, but this time he became more and more sullen. He closed the heavy blanket on his body and did not dare to speak. And the servant who was carrying him also had weak legs and feet, and the two were fighting, wishing they could just throw away the owner and run away. After finally walking to the main courtyard and seeing the brightly lit front hall, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, feeling a sense of the rest of their lives.
"Master is inside, you can go in by yourself." The old man shook the lantern in his hand and slowly floated away.
The housekeeper of Zhao's house nodded and bowed to send the other party away, while silently reciting "Amitabha Buddha" in his heart. When the group entered the front hall, they saw You Shu sitting on the head, holding a translucent glass jar to play with. It was filled with beetles of various colors and looked very scary. Several maids came and went for tea, and a few servants placed tables and chairs, their heels did not touch the ground, and there was no oblique shadow accompanying them.
Ghost, the whole house is full of ghosts! The second room of the Zhao family, together with the servants they brought, is now in a state of fear, almost collapsed. Only the housekeeper still kept a bit of clarity, and after carefully looking at the young master's legs and figure, he let out a sigh of relief. But soon, his heart hangs high again. A big living person lives in a house full of ghosts, but is still unscathed and relaxed, doesn't it mean that the other party is more terrifying than ghosts? It seems that there is really no room for manoeuvre in the matter of family property.
This was not only thought of by the housekeeper, but also by Zhao Youcai and his parents. They gave up the struggle, took out the house deed and land deed directly, explained each one clearly, and said that they would move out of the old house as soon as possible.
"Look, nephew, we have also paid back the property, are you writing us a reconciliation letter?" The second master looked anxious.
"The reconciliation letter can be written for you, but it must be exchanged with a confession letter. Give a detailed account of how you occupied the property and persecuted 'Zhao Youshu'. If there are any inaccuracies, you should take these things back. Right. You have also seen it, I am living well now, it really doesn't matter if I have these properties." You Shu waved her hand lightly.
He is now the one who has found his master. If he wants to be promoted all the time, he needs to pay special attention to his reputation. If they wrote a reconciliation letter, but the second-family family bites back, saying that they murdered their relatives and plundered their family's wealth, wouldn't they be wronged? Having a confession can save you a lot of worries. Besides, the death of "Zhao Youshu" was done by himself, and it has nothing to do with the second room.
Hearing the last sentence, Zhao Youcai, who was already showing anger, collapsed instantly like a deflated ball. It's true that there is Shu's concerns. He is indeed going to report to the clan elders after the incident, and then take back the family property, which will also destroy Youshu's reputation and career. However, once a confession was written, all his calculations would come to nothing.
After gritting his teeth and thinking for a moment, he nodded and said, "Bring a pen, ink, paper and inkstone, and I will write."
As soon as Shu slightly raised her hand, a maid fluttered in, arranging the four treasures of the study one by one. Zhao Youcai wrote a confession and handed it over to Youshu for inspection. After Youshu read it, based on the memory of "Zhao Youshu", he asked him to modify two slightly ambiguous places, and he was satisfied until the evil shape of the second room was completely exposed, so the three people pressed their fingerprints and picked three more. Servants are witnesses.
Everything was done properly, he took the property and keys, and ordered his ancestors to see off the guests, but he didn't move back the next day, but bought the haunted house with money and continued to live there. There is no other, just because it is clean enough.
After the second room and the family got the reconciliation letter, they immediately burned it. Without the danger of their lives, their temperament has also come up, and they are ready to rely on it. Unexpectedly, Shu has sent dozens of ghosts to collect the house. The house is windy, and the screams are really scary.
The wicked have their own evil spirits, and they couldn't, so they had to pack up immediately and move out in despair. The second wife hid a lot of banknotes on her body. As soon as she walked out of the gate of Zhao's house, the front of her clothes was inexplicably pulled open and her belt fell off. She stood almost naked on the street and was watched by people. She was so embarrassed that she wished she could find a seam to get in. Fortunately, the maid responded quickly and found a cloak from the package to put on her, which eased the predicament.
The second master and Zhao Youcai were so shameless that they pulled the second wife into the carriage and ran away, not realizing that the banknotes they stole had already fallen to the ground, and swayed back to Zhao's house with the gloomy wind. Dropped into the money box. Pedestrians came and went on the road, shoulder to shoulder, but no one noticed this strange scene.
The second-bedroom family found a vacant mansion somewhere and planned to rent it temporarily, but found that the banknotes were gone, and the only remaining property was two copper coins and a few boxes of clothes, which were the same as when they came to Zhao's mansion. When the landlord saw that they could not get the money for a long time, he immediately drove the people away. Unable to do so, the three had to sell two maids and collect enough money to live in the inn.
"Nothing, without the money, I still have an official position, and I can earn seventy-eight thousand taels in less than a year. At that time, we will buy another house, which is bigger and more magnificent than Zhao's house." Zhao Youcai vowed to be authentic.
However, he soon realized that he had no room to turn around in his life, and the culprit was still Shu. He actually sued Mr. Liu, and ordered the emperor to thoroughly investigate the purchase and sale of officials in the Ministry of Personnel, but all those who obtained official positions through buying and selling were called to the Ministry of Punishment for investigation. The new emperor did not dismiss everyone, but asked them to conduct assessments separately, all of which were related to their positions. Those who pass the assessment can go back to work after writing a review letter, and those who fail the assessment will be dismissed immediately for investigation.
The original intention of the new emperor not to be executed is good, but how can people who donate and buy official positions have that ability? Most of them are from wealthy backgrounds, and after they get errands, they hire assistants and subordinates to help them, and they just earn back the money they bought from the officials. What's more, when it comes to handing in the papers, he can't even write his name, making a big joke.
By the end of the investigation, eighty-nine out of ten were dismissed, and Zhao Youcai was naturally among them. Not only that, the new emperor also announced that starting from next year, officials of all ministries will have to conduct regular assessments. The content is not the Four Books and Five Classics, but government affairs. . Anyone who fails to pass the exam will be demoted immediately, and those who fail three times will be immediately dismissed.
If it wasn't for the recent generations of students who have been studying Bagushu for many years, and suddenly changing the exam questions was unfair to them, the new emperor planned to execute it immediately.
The officials of the Dayong Kingdom only go up, how can they go down, and they are in danger of being dismissed every year. How can everyone bear this? Soon some courtiers united to protest, all of which were dismissed by the new emperor. In anger, they handed a fake note. Instead of going on duty, they wanted to see how the emperor himself managed the country.
The new emperor immediately issued an imperial decree, ordering the subordinate officials to take over government affairs. In a department, it is these subordinate officials who are really proficient in business. The so-called "move your mouth above, break your legs when you run below" is exactly that. The subordinate officials are low-ranking members, and there is a law saying: subordinate officials are not allowed to participate in the imperial examinations, and they are not allowed to hold office, but their positions can be hereditary. This is equivalent to cutting off their promotion path, which makes many capable people feel resentful.
But now it's alright. The emperor vigorously rectified the management of officials and also improved the status of the subordinate officials. If they came out on top in the assessment, they could even get rid of their low status and go into official careers. How could they not be rejoicing? Naturally, when it comes to doing things, it will be even harder. When the officials who were eating dry rice were shocked to realize that something was wrong, they hurriedly sold their fakes and went back to work, only to find that their rights had already been overridden and had become a complete display. They were so remorseful that they secretly hired a husband to teach them about government affairs, lest they be replaced by the next year's assessment.
The new emperor's thunderous tactics not only did not cause turmoil in the court, but instead caused the six departments to turn around quickly. Almost all government affairs could be properly resolved within the same day, and only those with great responsibilities would be reported to the Golden Palace. Using his spear to attack the other's shield, the new emperor skillfully used the relationship between officials and subordinates to compete for power and profit, so that both of them were used by him, and they were used more and more smoothly and efficiently.
Youshu has always known that the chaos in the Dayong Kingdom can't help the master. After the rectification of the official department, the next person he wants to use is probably the household department. Increase. Just as he was looking forward to it, the order came down. He entered the Ministry of Punishment and became a court official in the capital.
Although it was a little unsatisfactory, the wish to stay in the capital was finally realized. You Shu put on a new official robe and hurried to the Ministry of Justice to report. When it was, Ou Tai had already entered the palace with several officials, and happened to pass him by.
It was only after a little inquiries that the emperor found out that the emperor was going to rectify the household department, and he wanted to recruit a few people from the rites, officials, workers, soldiers, and punishment departments to set up an inspection department to investigate the shortage of the national treasury and recover the owed money. Those people are the competent officials who were picked by Ou Tai.
Because the previous emperor always liked to intercept the treasury silver for himself to squander, the officials below followed suit, borrowing arbitrarily from the Ministry of Household, and never returning it. There are even more officials guarding the silver treasury who guard their own robbery and enrich their personal pockets, so that the good-looking Dayong Kingdom was cut into an empty shell. Last time, if the new emperor hadn't opened his own private treasury for disaster relief, more people would have died in vain, and this great river and mountain might not have been preserved.
The Ministry of Household has changed from the emperor's money basket to a money leaker. If we don't rectify it, how can we improve people's livelihood, raise soldiers, and build the capital? The economy, like the administration of officials, is the foundation of the country and should not be neglected. This time, the emperor's determination to rectify the household department was very firm, even if several old officials protested against the pillars in the Golden Palace, it was only a sneer from him. According to his words: the death of a few people can be exchanged for a full treasury and a strong national strength, why not do it? Anyone who wants to die can hit it, he has prepared a coffin, and everyone in the hall can take a bite, and no one is missing.
The new emperor is so tough, and he occupies the country's law, the officials seem to have no other choice but to compromise. But how can the silver taels owed be repaid? The new nobles of the imperial court have been in office for a short period of time, and they owe little, but it is nothing. After years of accumulation, those aristocratic giants owe the household millions of taels. Once they are taken out, they will be hurt, and even if their family is destroyed, they will naturally resist to the end. And these people hold most of the power, and they can be said to be intertwined and flourishing. If the ground is broken on their heads, the emperor has nothing to be afraid of, but the people who work under them will suffer.
There is no doubt that this is a hard job. Even the most motivated subordinates of the Ministry of Punishment have the intention to retire, but Ou Tai still captured the strong man and forced him into the palace.
"Master Zhao came a step late, and I didn't have such a mess. It's really good luck." A colleague sighed sincerely. The rest of the people nodded in agreement.
Youshu had an expression like being struck by lightning, and asked again and again, "You mean, the emperor himself set up and directs the chasing department, and he is on errands in the palace?"
If you enter the Anchor Division, wouldn't you be able to see the master every day? Thinking of this, You Shu slammed her chest and stomped her feet, feeling remorse, thinking that she should never be greedy, and bought a freshly made Roujiamo on the way, so that it was delayed for half an hour. If you are one step ahead, you can catch up with this beautiful journey!
He said eagerly, "If I want to go too, what should I do?"
The colleagues looked at him with strange eyes. Once accepted this errand, it is equivalent to offending nine out of ten dignitaries in the capital. Those people with hands and eyes can do anything in order to stop the investigation. Framing and framing is trivial, and even worse, it will lead to assassination. Those officials who were invited to go to the palace might as well be mourning their concubine.
Sure enough, he is a short-sighted person, do you think that if you cater to the emperor, you will be able to make a fortune? It doesn't matter if your neck is hard enough. Everyone was quite disdainful, but out of the mentality of getting into trouble, they all came up with ideas for him, "If you go after him now, maybe you can catch up with Mr. Ou's frame. If you don't catch up, you can tell the guards that you are here, and they will take care of themselves. I'll pass it on for you."
In the Qianqing Palace, several ministers and senior officials each led four capable officials to come to see him.
Emperor Xuanguang put down his memorial and looked up. He first looked at Outai, but did not find Shu's figure, his eyes dimmed slightly, and then he looked around. What he needs are officials with outstanding ability, fear of power, and courage to act, but these people obviously do not meet the requirements. They were sweating coldly, panicking, or looking frightened, which showed that they were not willing to take on this errand.
However, Emperor Xuanguang could also understand their feelings. It can be said that a thorough investigation of the Ministry of Households is a big challenge in the world, and it will be against the pressure of the entire court. He can put life and death aside because he knows that in this world, no one can kill himself, but how can others have the confidence to do so? After all, still afraid of things, after all, still afraid of death.
Emperor Xuanguang put down his memorial and sighed. The ministers bowed their heads in unison, not daring to make a sound. It is conceivable that in the near future, there will be another bloody storm in the capital, and it would be best not to be involved.
At this moment, a guard hurried in and whispered in Emperor Xuanguang's ear.
"What did you say?" He raised his voice, slightly surprised.
The guard said it again, and at the end quietly waited for the emperor's order.
Emperor Xuanguang first shook his head in disbelief, and then tapped the imperial case with his fingers again, as if he was in deep thought. His dark and unpredictable eyes became brighter and hotter. With Shu's brilliant brain, how could he not see the danger in it? However, he ran over to ask for his life. It can be seen that what he said before to pursue himself was not a joke.
There is no doubt that he stepped into this dragon pool and tiger's lair for himself, and he put his life and death aside for his own sake. This little bastard really gave up his mind, and he was very careful! Emperor Xuanguang secretly slandered Shu, but there was a deep joy in his eyes.
He ordered the guards to bring people in, and finally looked at Ou Tai, "You have a foolish and daring man who came to the palace to ask for orders. Can you guess who it is?"
Otai thought for a moment, then hesitantly said, "Could it be Zhao Youshu, Zhao Langzhong?" Looking at Dayong, the person who is least afraid of death is probably this master. Who made him have King Yama as his backing
Emperor Xuanguang nodded and sighed, "Exactly! If my Dayong officials are like Zhao Langzhong who care about the country and the people, and do their best, why worry about the prosperity of the country and the prosperity of the world?"
Someone took the initiative to come to die, and the ministers had no reason to welcome them, and they all agreed. While speaking, You Shu was about to enter the main hall, first looking at the master eagerly, and then half-kneeling to salute, thinking: No matter what this time I have to take the errand, it is better to get the moon near the water tower.