Chapter 481
There was a huge crowd outside the pier, and even the roof was full of people. What everyone was looking at was not the warships and soldiers, but the emperor. Although they couldn't see anything, everyone still tried to look wherever the emperor might be.
A batch of new warships joined the navy, bigger and taller than the previous ones, and the flags on the ships fluttered, finally attracting the attention of onlookers.
After more than ten days of getting along and running in, the new general was recognized by the navy soldiers and commanded relatively smoothly. Although he did not show complicated tactics, he was able to show some strength.
Three high platforms were built on the shore for the emperor and officials to choose from. They could watch the naval drills from different directions. At the same time, it was also a cover, so that outsiders could not easily see the exact location of the emperor.
The drill lasted from early morning to noon, and it went very smoothly. The emperor was also very satisfied. He changed positions several times and discussed with the ministers which ship was bigger and more powerful. Some generals from the East China Sea were called to the emperor's side. Explain the equipment on the ship, the atmosphere is harmonious and warm.
After noon, the generals of the navy came to resume their orders. The emperor rewarded the entire army, gave food to the ministers, and issued a decree on the spot to exempt the East China Sea from the five-year tax. The official tolerance then guided the surrounding audience to shout long live the people, and the atmosphere was even more enthusiastic.
After all, the emperor is young and likes to be lively, and the officials are willing to cooperate. The King of the East Sea is nominally a prince here. He led the local officials to kowtow to the emperor three times in a row to thank him. But always at the right time, long live the mountains and mountains.
Han Ruzi accepted the kneeling and couldn't help thinking that the officials in charge of regulating the people would probably be very tired today.
The emperor changed the platform again, this time only a few higher-rank officials were allowed to follow, and the total number was less than thirty.
The cheers from outside could still be heard occasionally, but the emperor remained silent, with no smile on his face. .
Han Ruzi's eyes swept across the crowd, and he said, "I want to ask the ministers a question: What is the foundation of Da Chu?"
The emperor suddenly asked such a serious question, and everyone was surprised, but this question is not difficult to answer. For thousands of years, the standard answer has long been left, but the name of the dynasty has been changed.
"Master Zhang of the Ministry of War, you answer."
"Report to Your Majesty, Da Chu is people-oriented." Zhang Qing was taken aback. According to his rank, he was not the highest here. It was a bit strange that he was named the first by the emperor.
Han Ruzi snorted and said again, "Minister of the State of Donghai Yan, what do you mean?"
Yan Kang was also taken aback, stepped out of the queue, bowed and replied: "Put the people first, the minister and Zhang Shilang think the same."
"Is there another answer?" Han Ruzi's eyes swept over again, and all the ministers shook their heads.
"It seems that everyone understands the truth, but unfortunately not everyone can do it."
Zhang Qing and Yan Kang hadn't returned to the queue when they glanced at each other and hurriedly looked away.
"Prime Minister Yan, I ask you, how many slaves do you have in your family? How many tenant farmers?"
Yan Kang was stunned for a moment, not understanding why the emperor asked about this matter, and at the same time felt a little relieved, as long as it wasn't for Huang Pugong's incident, he was nothing to be afraid of, and immediately replied: "I haven't asked about family affairs for many years, and I don't know much about it. It is estimated that there are hundreds of slaves and two or three hundred tenant farmers."
This is not a big number, Han Ruzi didn't say anything, and asked again, "How many troops are stationed in the East China Sea?"
This is no longer a family matter, Yan Kang replied: "There are about 1,500 people, the captain of the East China Sea is here, and you can ask him about military affairs."
Commander Lu Dapeng stood in the army of generals, his body trembled, but the emperor did not call his name.
Han Ruzi asked Zhang Qing, "One thousand five hundred is a real number. Zhang Shilang, how many soldiers should the East China Sea state have?"
"Go back to Your Majesty, there should be three thousand."
Han Ruzi looked at the two ministers, "Half the difference, where did these soldiers go?"
The two looked at each other again, and Zhang Qing replied, "After many years of wars, the North Side, Yunmengze, and the navy have been transferred to each other, and some deaths have been added, so the difference is large, not only in the East China Sea, but also in all parts of the country. This is similar. The Ministry of War has been writing this year, urging localities to enrich their troops, and because the court needs to allocate money and grain to promote land reclamation, the conscription has been slowed down.”
This answer was impeccable. Han Ruzi had indeed seen these urging articles from the Ministry of Military Affairs, and even personally stated in the reply that the recruitment could be postponed.
At that time he didn't know there were so many doorways behind it.
"That's weird." Han Ruzi said halfway through his words, without mentioning what the "strangeness" was, he paused for a moment, and said, "Yushi Qu, tell me."
"Yes, Your Majesty." Qu Zixi ranked first in the line of civil servants, stepped forward two steps, took out a few pieces of paper from his sleeve, and said loudly, "I have a few documents here. About two years ago, the East China Sea announced that the Communist Party of 15,737 refugees were collected, of which more than 5,000 were recruited into the army, ranking among the top among the counties and counties of various countries. This is the count received by the Ministry of Household last year, and there were 9,600 returnees from the East China Sea. More than 100 people. This is the count received by the Ministry of War. The actual number of troops stationed in the East China Sea is 1,520. The total number of the two is more than 11,000. The difference between the number of refugees and the number of refugees is more than 4,500. "
These memorials were sent to different ministries, and the time difference was a few months. There was no chance for them to be put together. Unless they deliberately investigated, no one would think of the deviation.
Yankang was shocked, and he never thought that the emperor's attack had nothing to do with Huang Pugong. He didn't know how to answer, so he had to look at Zhang Qing for hints.
Zhang Qing was even more shocked, and immediately thought of Jin Chunzhong. He had already looked for him, but Jin Chunzhong was not here.
"The refugees lack food and clothing, and more likely die." Zhang Qing reluctantly replied.
"More than 4,500 people, nearly 30% of the total, did not die when they were displaced, but after being gathered by the government, they all fell ill and died?" Qu Zixi asked Zhang Qing to stop.
Zhang Qing couldn't support it alone, so he changed his words and said, "The Ministry of War only collects the counts from various places, and I really don't know the truth. It's better... it's still the Prime Minister of the State of Yan who will answer."
Yan Kang resented Zhang Qing's shirk, but he didn't dare to show it, so he could only say: "It's true that he died. There was an epidemic and two hurricanes in the East China Sea last year, and there were more pirates, so there were more deaths."
"With so many casualties, has the East Sea Kingdom ever reported it to the imperial court?" Qu Zixi asked.
"Chen, minister was confused for a while, thinking... that it was not a big deal, so... I didn't report it, and I was willing to plead guilty." Yan Kang really couldn't answer, so he had to admit his guilt first.
"Put the people first." Han Ruzi said coldly from his seat, "Yushi, I ordered you to stay in the East China Sea and find out these 4,500 people. You want to see people in life, and you want to see corpses in death. Quick investigation and quick report must not be delayed, if there is someone who violates the law, I will allow you to act cheaply, and officials below the second rank will be arrested first and then reported."
"According to the order, Your Majesty." Qu Zixi took the order.
In addition to the King of the East China Sea, the highest official and the prime minister of the East China Sea are only third-ranking officials. The emperor's decree is equivalent to handing over the whole of the East China Sea to the right inspector, Qu Zixi.
Zhang Qing threw himself down on his knees, and finally understood that the big event was revealed. The emperor's sword was not aimed at the East China Sea, but at the Ministry of War and himself.
The emperor left with a swirl of his sleeves. Except for some close officials, dozens of officials on the high platform did not dare to follow him, and they all stood there silently.
Qu Zixi was rude, and immediately announced that the Prime Minister of the State, Yankang, and the Minister of War, Zhang Qing, were detained by the Censor Station, and the rest of the officials returned to the yamen to be questioned at any time. deal with.
The emperor dispatched 100 soldiers of the Suwei to Zhi Qu Zixi, so that he could arrest people.
Apart from Yan Kang and Zhang Qing, the first person Qu Zixi caught was Lu Dapeng, the captain of the East China Sea.
Lu Dapeng was waiting to be arrested, but the charges were completely different from what he expected. Within a quarter of an hour, Lu Dapeng collapsed and explained everything. It turned out that he had also done a lot of perverted things. He once killed a handmaiden. In the hands of Yan Kang, in order to save his family, he had to agree to replace the crime of framing Huang Pugong.
But this was not the testimony Qu Zixi wanted.
As the captain of the East China Sea, Lu Dapeng has a good understanding of the situation in the army and explained everything: after the refugees joined the army, the Yan family had to leave 2,000 people and sent them to various manors to cultivate their fields, but they allocated the treasury to support them. For various reasons, these people will disappear from the household register and become private slaves that "do not exist".
These people have no choice at all. Most of the manors are remote. They have no way of knowing the various wills of the imperial court. They only know that they eat and live in the Yan family, and they owe a large amount of debt. They must stay and pay it off. He is no longer a commoner of Great Chu.
Others were asked to leave by the Ministry of War, and Lu Dapeng never asked about their whereabouts.
Lu Dapeng didn't even think it was a big sin. He had to leave dozens of soldiers himself, thinking that this was his rightful power.
In fact, the lost population was far more than 4,500 people. In order to welcome the emperor, many soldiers were called from the manor temporarily to make up the number. As soon as the emperor left, they had to go back to their respective homes to become slaves.
Qu Zixi conducted an overnight investigation and allowed some officials to commit crimes.
From the Ministry of War to the East China Sea, all efforts were made to prevent the expansion of Huang Pugong's affairs. He never expected the emperor to launch a blow from another direction. Suddenly, it didn't matter whether Huang Pugong died or lived, surrendered or fought.
Han Ruzi did not forget the general.
That night, Jin Chunzhong came to the prison, and with the order of the censor of the right patrol, entered the prison guarded by the Suwei Army and came to see Yan Kang.
Yan Kang had just been interrogated, and while he was flustered, he said a lot of things that he should not have said.
Jin Chunzhong looked at Yan Kang, with a bit of sympathy in his heart, but when he thought of what this person did, he became disgusted again, "Yan Kang, do you know the guilt?"
"I-I don't agree. Everyone does this. Why do they arrest me? Your Majesty wants to find out the truth, but I'm afraid that no one in the world can become an official."
"This matter has been handed over to the Censor Desk. I just ask you one question: Do you want to make a contribution?"
Yan Kang was taken aback, "This is... is this what Your Majesty asked you to ask?"
Jin Chunzhong did not answer.
Yan Kang thought that was the case, rushed over and said across the fence: "If you want to make a contribution, I want to make a contribution. I agree with whoever His Majesty wants me to expose. Even if it is the Minister of War, I can pull it down."
Jin Chunzhong said coldly: "You don't need to worry about the affairs of the imperial court. It is a great achievement for you to bring General Huang back alive."
Han Ruzi's "offensive" had just begun, and after setting up a cloud of suspicion, he still wanted to rescue Huang Pugong.
Tens of miles away, Luan Kai, who was detained by the pirates, was also waiting for the news. A group of pirates pretended to be fishermen and came two days ago. The letter "invited" them to come.