Later, a major earthquake struck Luanzhou, destroying countless houses and causing cracks in the ground, with water and strange objects gushing out.

In the old shop of Leting, the ground cracked and black water gushed out, more than a foot high.

The sound of Qian'an was like a huge thunder, destroying countless city walls and houses.

The earthquake in Lulong destroyed many houses of officials and civilians.

The palaces in the capital city shook with a sound, and the water in the copper vats surged and vibrated.

Changli, Xin'an, Zhending Prefecture, Jizhou, Zunhua, Yutian, Hejian Prefecture, Baoding Prefecture, Tianjin Three Guards, as well as more than 20 counties and cities including Linyi, Deping, Haifeng, and Wuding Prefecture (now Huimin) in Shandong Province to the east were affected.

While Zhu Youxiao was busy stirring up trouble in Zhangjiakou, the imperial court was busy with disaster relief. When the disaster eased a little, the war broke out in Liaodong.

Zhu Youxiao had just returned to the capital to catch his breath when the Yellow River broke its banks again in Xuzhou.

All these things made Zhu Youxiao extremely anxious and the faces of the ministers in the court also became very ugly.

Zhu Youxiao sat on the dragon throne with an ugly expression on his face.

Zhu Youxiao's eyes slowly swept over all the ministers standing below and said, "Have you found any specific results?"

"Your Majesty, I think we should send an imperial envoy." At this moment, Xu Guangqi stepped forward and said directly, "The Yellow River burst its banks. We need to investigate whether it was a natural disaster or a man-made one. If anyone is taking advantage of this to annex land and exploit the people, the imperial envoy can intervene. Furthermore, disaster relief is prone to corruption, so it would be wise to send someone to investigate."

After hearing this, Zhu Youxiao nodded, thinking that what Xu Guangqi said made sense.

Things like the Yellow River bursting its banks don't seem like earthquakes.

You can't predict disasters like earthquakes, but you know they are natural disasters.

But things like riverbank breaches are not necessarily without problems. The imperial court allocates a sum of money every year to repair riverbanks, and unless there is a particularly severe natural disaster, they will not breach.

A riverbank breach is either a severe natural disaster or a man-made one, and such incidents are often accompanied by corruption.

There was another purpose for sending the imperial envoy, which was to investigate. After all, the imperial court needed money and food to provide disaster relief, and some local wealthy merchants and officials might collude with each other and cause trouble after the disaster.

The imperial court sent an imperial envoy to investigate whether local officials and merchants were corrupt. If so, their homes could be confiscated to provide disaster relief.

I don’t know if it’s because they’ve tasted success, but now the court and the people are very familiar with investigating corruption and confiscating property.

Zhu Youxiao's loyal ministers were especially accustomed to the benefits they reaped. People like Xu Guangqi even thought it was a good idea to search their houses when something big happened.

Take the disasters this year for example. If Zhu Youxiao hadn’t seized so much money from the confiscation of property, the imperial court would have been unable to cope.

Furthermore, since His Majesty ascended the throne, he has been ordering granaries to be built and food to be purchased in various places. This has never stopped. If not, how would the court have the funds to go to Liaodong to fight? The disaster relief alone is already too much for the court to bear.

But it’s not okay to spend it like this. Although Your Majesty got some money in Zhangjiakou this time, money is something that the more the better.

Anyway, the Yellow River has broken its banks in Xuzhou, so let's see what happens.

Looking at the ministers below who acted as if it was their right, and some of them echoed him, Zhu Youxiao looked a little bitter.

He suddenly realized one thing, that is, the ministers under him seemed to have become accustomed to his style of doing things, and they used him to connect with each other, exclude dissidents, and replace candidates.

Now these people in the North Korean party have become their confidants.

There's a saying that goes, "People with different ideals cannot work together." But in the court and in the officialdom, it's not just like that. Only those who support the emperor will be promoted.

Zhu Youxiao only promoted Xu Guangqi and others, and they quietly developed a party. Zhu Youxiao found that the opposition to his actions had become much smaller recently, which means that these people had formed a huge party.

I hadn't noticed. Was I just too slow? Or was it because they were so quiet? Or was it because they were on the same page as me?

The current situation is just like when Yan Song was in power. In the court, as long as Emperor Jiajing said something or wanted to do something, nothing would be impossible to accomplish and no one would object.

As for those who jump out, someone will take them down.

Emperor Jiajing was impeached because he went too far.

Zhu Youxiao was different. He had just won a victory in Liaodong, and he lived frugally every day. He also always sent people to brag about him as the emperor, which gave him a good reputation.

But Zhu Youxiao always felt something was strange. Why did he feel a little uncomfortable?