Chapter 66 Convicted

Huang Shan, this old fox, was very cautious. Liu Yanzi searched his house thoroughly but could not find any clues.

In the end, she could only hide in the concubine's room and wait to see if he hid the thing on his body.

After knocking him unconscious, Liu Yanzi searched his body and found two letters in his arms.

After using the fire stick to read the words clearly, Liu Yanzi curled the corners of her mouth and kicked the letter into her sleeve.

I reached out and patted Huangshan's face. This old guy is really brave. This time we are going to have a good show~

The letter was sent back to the palace. After reading it, Song Yuzhu became furious and immediately ordered people to capture Huang Shan.

When the officers and soldiers rushed into Huang's house, Huang Shan had just woken up. He touched his aching neck and didn't know what had happened.

Seeing the noise and bright lights outside, he opened the door and was stunned by the scene in front of him. All his family members were detained. Several soldiers rushed over and took him down.

"You, what are you doing? I am the Minister of War!" The soldier ignored him, put shackles on him without saying anything, and pushed them towards the imperial prison.

Lin Guangyuan had just packed up and was about to turn off the lights and go to bed, but the door of his mansion was smashed open just as he lay down.

A large group of soldiers rushed in, dragged him off the bed, and threw him into prison without even having time to put on clothes.

The remaining remnants were all captured at lightning speed, leaving no one alive.

The next morning, the ministers found that many officials were missing from the court. They were talking to each other, wondering what had happened last night.

Song Yuzhu walked quickly to the main hall, looked at the ministers coldly and said, "Are you curious about where these people went?"

Seeing that the emperor looked unhappy today, the officials lowered their heads and stopped talking. They were very nervous and didn't know who had offended the emperor.

"Someone, bring Huang Shan, Lin Guangyuan, Wei Yu and others up to me!"

Soon, seven or eight officials, who had taken off their court robes and were in dishevel, were pushed into the hall in shackles.

The other officials were even more confused when they saw this. These people were officials in the same court yesterday, how could they become prisoners overnight? What serious crime had they committed to make the emperor so angry?

Several criminals were lying on the ground trembling. They had been water tortured in the imperial prison last night. They had said everything they should and shouldn't have said. Now even the Buddha in the West could not save them.

"I pity you for your hard work in studying, so I've retained you to continue to work in the court after I ascend the throne. But how have you repaid me?"

"You colluded with the remnants of the previous dynasty, plotted a rebellion, and embezzled the money for road construction to give to Yang Yuanhao? Should I praise you for your loyalty or your audacity?"

Huang Shan closed his eyes, his face ashen. He thought he had done it perfectly, but he didn't expect to be discovered so quickly.

Lin Guangyuan, who was standing beside him, clenched his fists and burst into tears, regretting his actions. He was really bewitched and believed his lies! What's wrong with Ansheng being a fourth-rank official? Now he was sure that he would not survive, and he only hoped that the emperor would forgive his family.

The one who was wrongly accused was Wei Yu, who had done nothing but had a meal with Lin Guangyuan, and ended up getting dragged into the water. But it was also true that he was shielding the rebels, so he was also imprisoned.

Song Yuzhu said: "Since you are willing to serve the former dynasty, I will allow you to follow Emperor Shengwen."

"Your Majesty, have mercy!"

"Your Majesty, please spare our lives!" Several people wailed and begged for mercy.

"I have reflected on this and realized that I was too kind to you before, which is why you are betraying me."

"I don't want to kill people, but that doesn't mean I won't kill people, and it doesn't mean I can't do without you!"

Song Yuzhu pointed at the civil and military officials in the court and said, "I want to develop the economy, but you are making excuses and saying that the rapid development of commerce will affect agriculture."

"I want to develop scientific inventions, and you have sent me memorials to persuade me to focus on the court and not to waste my time on trivial things."

"Now that I have ordered the construction of a road, you have simply withheld the money and forced the people to risk their lives to repair it. If you were really capable, why didn't you help Emperor Wen revive the dynasty?"

The ministers were so frightened that they fell to their knees on the ground. Only then did they understand what had happened and knew that the emperor was really angry this time.

"I still say the same thing. If you want to do it, do it well. If you don't want to do it, pack up and get out of here! Don't use your seniority as a senior official to contradict me!"

"I dare not..." All the officials were silent.

This country was conquered by him and Zhao Xiao, not by these old ministers! He is not only killing the chicken to scare the monkey, if the monkey is disobedient, he will kill it too!

Seeing that everyone was frightened, Xu Bing knew that the emperor's purpose of intimidation had been achieved, so he promptly advised: "Your Majesty, please calm down. I am willing to serve Daqi with all my heart."

Others also hurriedly said: "I am willing to work for Da Qi!" If you don't show your loyalty at this time, you will be fired and have no place to cry!

Song Yuzhu ordered the beheading of Huang Shan and his clansmen, a total of more than 317 people, and executed them in public.

The accomplice Lin Guangyuan was beheaded, and his family members were exiled thousands of miles away, never allowed to return to Beijing; the remaining people were stripped of their official positions, tattooed with words on their names and exiled to Lingnan, never to be employed again.

As the Minister of Revenue, Liu Lin was fined half a year's salary for not governing his subordinates strictly.

Liu Lin was so frightened that he kowtowed to express his gratitude. He never expected that Lin Guangyuan, who seemed to be kind to others, would do such a bold thing.

The hidden silver was found in the Huang family's villa. Hundreds of boxes of silver were all handed over and distributed to various places for road construction.

This incident frightened the old ministers so much that several elderly ministers took sick leave and returned home.

Song Yuzhu didn't stay either, and cleared out a space for the newcomer.

He knew clearly that these old ministers could be useful for a while but not for a lifetime. If he wanted to carry out reforms, he had to recruit young and thoughtful talents.

And Yang Yuanhao of Shuzhou and Yang Yuanji of Yunnan could not stay either.

Raising a tiger will only bring harm to you. If this continues, who knows how much trouble will arise.

At the end of October, Zhao Xiao came back and volunteered to lead his troops to Shuzhou to wipe out the remnants of the Sheng Dynasty.

*

In the bedroom, Song Yuzhu was helping Zhao Xiao pack his things for the expedition.

The mansion given to Zhao Xiao has been under repair, and it has not been completed for more than three months. This guy stays in the palace all day long, and his clothes are left here.

"How was the trip to Luzhou? Has the money been delivered?"

"I got it. I'll keep an eye on the prefect and distribute it to every county."

"That's good." Song Yuzhu's map also resumed its function, and the public opinion showed that it was only 66%. It seemed that the long-cherished wish of bringing the whole nation together would still be a long way to go.

Zhao Xiao said: "According to the rules you set before, the people will work for five days and rest for one day, receive a daily subsidy of 20 coins, and must have rice, flour and vegetables for two meals."

When this regulation was announced, the people working on the road were shocked and no one believed it was true.

After two days of practice, I found that it was much easier this time. I only had to work for four hours a day before I could rest.

The free meals were much better than before. Not only were there white flour buns, but there was even minced meat! You know, ordinary people only eat meat a few times a year.

After everyone had a full meal, they naturally worked harder. Originally, they could only repair a dozen meters a day, but now they can repair at least twenty meters a day.

After working for five days, the yamen runners actually gave each of them a hundred coins and sent them back to rest.

Everyone then realized that what the government said was true. They could make money by performing labor service. They had caught up with all the good things in the world!

Twenty cents a day is not a small amount of money. Common people have no other livelihood except farming. This money saved by the end of the year is enough to buy half a pig.

Households with teenage children would come over to help build the road when they had nothing to do. For a while, road building became a popular job.

Zhao Xiao said: "I saw the newly built cement road. The road surface is as smooth and solid as a large stone slab. When it is completed in the future, carriages will definitely be able to travel very fast on it!"

Song Yuzhu smiled and said, "Of course I'll tell you."

In fact, cement roads have been almost banned in later generations, because cement has poor ductility, heavy trucks will crush the road surface, and it is very difficult to maintain.

However, in this dynasty, horse-drawn carriages could only carry a few hundred or a thousand kilograms of loads, so it was not affected at all.

It is not possible to refine oil now. If there is a chance in the future, paving the roads with asphalt will be more durable.

Song Yuzhu told Zhao Xiao what had happened in the court in recent days, and that Huang Shan had been executed for colluding with Yang Yuanhao.

"Shuzhou has extended its hands so far. We originally planned to clean them up after the New Year, but we didn't expect them to be unable to wait."

Zhao Xiao picked up the newly made breastplate and gestured to his chest: "Since they are not obedient, beat them until they obey."

"Shuzhou has a complex terrain. I don't have a map of the march there. I must be careful when I go there this time!"

Zhao Xiao helped him take off his hair crown and stroked his hair. "Don't worry. We have come through such difficult times before. Now we have a strong army and horses. Why should we be afraid of them?"

It was getting late, so they turned off the lights, undressed and went to bed.

*

The weather in Shangjing was getting colder day by day, and on the second day of the winter month, the first snow arrived as expected.

During the morning court session, a fire dragon was lit in the hall, but the temperature was still not high. Many officials put hot water bottles in their sleeves for fear of catching cold.

Xu Bing came from the south, and this was the first time he had experienced such a cold winter.

When I got off the sedan chair, I was almost blown over by the cold northwest wind.

Zhang Qikai hurriedly followed behind him: "Prime Minister Xu."

"Hiss, Master Zhang, please go in first. I'm almost freezing to death!"

"Hey." The two of them walked in together and saw that many people had already come into the hall. Everyone was stamping their feet and muttering why it was so cold this year!

Song Yuzhu came over wrapped in a thick cloak. This winter is indeed colder than last year!

It's only the beginning of winter and the temperature has already dropped to minus 17 or 18 degrees Celsius. During the coldest days of winter, it is estimated to drop to minus 30 degrees Celsius.

"Long live the emperor..."

"My dear ministers, please stand up." The ground was cold and the body could not bear kneeling for too long.

"The weather is bad today. If you have something to say, please report it. If not, please leave the court."

Xu Bing reported the military situation first. Zhao Xiao led the army to Jingzhou. The road was smooth and nothing major happened.

The newly appointed Minister of War, An Changrui, reported the news of the road construction to Song Yuzhu in detail.

"Luzhou has built nearly 70 miles of roads, Dongzhou has built 85 miles, and Zhongzhou has built 120 miles..."

Song Yuzhu said: "Let's stop the road construction for a while. The weather is cold and the cement will freeze easily. Let the people continue the construction tomorrow when it's warmer in the spring."

"As you wish."

Liu Lin cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, there may be a cold disaster in the north this winter. Should the Ministry of Revenue prepare disaster relief supplies in advance?"

Song Yuzhu sniffed and said, "Yes, and by the way, send someone to Xuzhou to transfer 300,000 stones of coal." The coal was dug by refugees and had been stored in Xuzhou for emergency use.

Next spring, Song Yuzhu will mark out the mineral veins across the country and prepare supplies for mining in advance.

After dealing with the memorial, Song Yuzhu quickly let everyone leave the court and went to the back hall to drink a bowl of hot soup.

Xu Bing walked out and saw Zhang Qikai still waiting for him, so he quickly quickened his pace.

"Master Zhang, do you need me for something?"

Mr. Zhang covered his ears and said, "Let's go to the teahouse to talk. It's too cold today."

The two of them took a sedan chair to a teahouse near the imperial city and found a private room to sit in.

Zhang Qi began to warm his hands with hot tea: "I heard that Prime Minister Xu has not yet married. I wonder if you are willing to find a matchmaker for you."

Xu Bing's face flushed, and he stammered, "Matchmaker?"

(End of this chapter)