Tian Tong

Xiao Xiao Le (IX) Xu Yanmiao's pupils trembled.

[Why did you call me? ! ]

[I didn't do anything! I'm absolutely law-abiding! ]

[Did someone frame me? Or did I do something I don't know! ]

[You're not going to be beheaded? ! ]

Xu Yanmiao nervously simulated a small head theater, where a stickman's head had a big "Xu" written on it. He was held down by a group of people, and the little man representing the Jinyiwei read out his crimes loudly, and then, from behind his buttocks, he took out a big knife.

Then, the tomato spurted out juice!

[No! I have to save myself! ]

Xu Lang's eyes gradually became firm: [I haven't been in the officialdom for nothing these few years! ]

The old emperor blinked.

He actually wanted to ask someone to sit next to him to show his favor.

However, now...

the emperor thought maliciously: let him come and see what Xiao Bai Ze wants to do.

*

The favored minister in the eyes of the public calmly walked to the old emperor, saluted respectfully, and then said: "Your Majesty is so angry that you want me to get out..." He smiled and said: "Could it be that you read the "Chicken In and Out Book" and disliked me for eating too much chicken when I went to Fujian to provide disaster relief?" The

"Chicken In and Out Book" was originally only available in Dunhuang. It was used to record how much chicken Dunhuang consumed every year to entertain officials. Later, the old emperor expanded this thing to the whole country so that he could know how many chickens the officials who were sent to various places usually ate.

Hearing Xu Yanmiao's words, the old emperor was stunned for a moment, and asked subconsciously: "How many did you eat?"

The young man blushed: "Eleven."

"You ate eleven chickens in seven days?!" The old emperor's voice unconsciously became higher.

Xu Yanmiao tried to argue: "I'm not the only one eating."

The old emperor felt very distressed: "That's a lot! Almost two chickens a day... Even if they are specially raised for officials to eat, you can't eat so much!"

Xu Yanmiao: "The chickens in Fujian are so delicious. If the chickens are lean, the meat will be dry, and if they are fat, they will have no taste. I heard that the chickens in Wuding are fat and tasty, and they specially sent people to Wuding to learn. The chickens raised there are more delicious than those in other places."

The old emperor laughed and said bluntly: "How many places have you eaten chickens from? You are so bragging."

Xu Yanmiao said meekly and respectfully: "Your Majesty is right."

He was thinking: [Anyway, I eat more than you! I have tried the beggar chicken in Changshu, the braised chicken in Dezhou, the salt-baked chicken in Guangdong, the Dong'an chicken in Hunan, the strange-flavored chicken in Sichuan, and the fried chicken in Shandong. I have tried them all!

You have only tried beggar chicken and salt-baked chicken!

The old emperor thought angrily: So what! I don't like eating chicken!

And!

Xu Yanmiao, you are stabbing me in your heart again! If you have the guts, just say it to my face! Those who can criticize me to my face will be rewarded!

The old emperor: "Xu Yanmiao, have you ever thought about how difficult it is to fatten a chicken? The chickens you eat up in one go might have been one fat chicken that someone had raised for a long time, and was only one in ten chickens!"

Xu Yanmiao lowered his voice: "Just castrate them."

The old emperor: "What?"

Xu Yanmiao: "Castration will help them grow flesh."

The old emperor: "Can you still castrate them? Castrate roosters?"

Xu Yanmiao: "According to the miser in Fujian, both roosters and hens can be castrated, but hens require more skills. Only people in Wuding knew this skill before."

The old emperor was overjoyed: "Let them teach it to the whole country! How can the skill of making chickens grow flesh be kept secret!"

The officials in the capital took it for granted. The local officials and retired officials were all shocked, as if they saw a dolphin leaping out of the water, with sparkling water on its body, which was very eye-catching.

This... is this the treatment of a favored minister!

At such a solemn moment, when the emperor who had just killed someone directly told him to get out, he could still laugh and scold the emperor and chat happily!

The blood on the stone lion at the door has not dried yet!

Beijing officials: "..."

Actually, you, the favored ministers with big courage in your eyes, are now: [Done! I am worthy of being me, I can also appease the old emperor with this! ]

[Although it seems to be different from what I imagined? 】

【I thought that after I finished talking about the chicken, the old emperor would ask me why I thought of the chicken, and I would say that I was just a little bit confused about this matter, and then the old emperor would suspect the informer and think that I was framed, and then I would be able to escape successfully! 】The

old emperor didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "Come here!"

That's it, he hasn't been in the officialdom for nothing!

Anyway, he doesn't need to intrigue anyway, it's just right to be less cunning.

Xu Yanmiao moved closer.

The old emperor dipped his fingertips in a little tea and wrote a few words on the table. Xu Yanmiao slightly widened his eyes.

The old emperor smiled and said, "Go."

Xu Yanmiao bowed: "Yes."

After the bow, he turned around and left the house in the eyes of everyone.

This time, the hearts of officials from the capital, local officials, and retired officials all beat faster.

His Majesty said at the time that no one could leave! Even the prime minister who started all this couldn't leave the room, but Xu Yanmo could? !

This is too much of a pampering!

So jealous.

After Xu Yanmo left, the old emperor stopped smiling and looked at Diwu Ang: "Go on."

The room was quiet and silent, a completely opposite atmosphere from when Xu Yanmo was there before.

Diwu Ang took a deep breath and continued: "Your Majesty, this dynasty has only been established for 35 years. Most of the county magistrates today are those who studied eight-part essays in the previous dynasty when they were young."

"Even if they can forcibly change their writing style in order to become officials, they are already accustomed to eight-part essays and even more accustomed to the decadent atmosphere at the end of the previous dynasty."

"At that time, the boy's test could be passed easily. The rich had their rankings predetermined, and the poor memorized the Chengwen essays. They all became scholars and had a bright future."

"Now that we have arrived at the new dynasty, Your Majesty, do you think that after becoming county magistrates, they will work hard to hold the Tongsheng exam?"

"Not to mention, the number of candidates for the imperial examination was not large at the beginning of the country, and most county magistrates directly selected old officials from the original county to take the position."

Is it really that easy to change something that you have been accustomed to since childhood?

Anyway, it is not easy for examiners to be caught cheating in the Tongsheng exam, and candidates have to take interviews after handing in their papers. There is a lot of room for maneuver, so why do you have to work so hard to maintain fairness and justice?

Moreover, even if you want to try to maintain fairness and justice, but you see that other county magistrates are quickly promoted because they have many scholars and outstanding political achievements under their jurisdiction. There are several old Tongshengs under your command who have not passed the Tongsheng exam for fifty years. If others accuse you of not cultivating civil governance, can you still insist on fairness and justice?

Can you turn a blind eye to things?

Diwu Ang finished speaking and sighed, "It's really hard to maintain innocence."

Emperor Tiantong suddenly said, "Are you talking about yourself?"

Diwu Ang's face changed drastically.

The emperor looked at him coldly and changed the subject, "How many county magistrates are involved?"

After a brief silence, Diwu Ang said, "I don't know about other places, but in Henan, almost every county is like this."

*

It was the middle of the night and there were no pedestrians on the street. It was very deserted.

Xu Yanmiao walked by in a hurry and had no time to be afraid.

Not to mention that he was accompanied by the Jinyiwei.

He rode back to the capital at full speed overnight - the Jinyiwei rode fast horses, and he continued to ride in a bamboo cart. After the emperor personally gave the token to open the city gate, he directly knocked on all the princesses' houses and arrested all the princes-in-law.

Knowing that it was the emperor's order, none of the princesses resisted. The princes-in-law did not dare to say a word and got into the prison car obediently.

Afterwards, Xu Yanmiao knocked on the door of the East Palace again and issued an order to the prince in charge of supervising the country: "His Majesty said that all officials should walk to the prime minister. This includes your highness."

- There are still many officials who are not qualified to receive the invitation to the prime minister's birthday.

The prince frowned and saluted to Xu Yanmiao, who represented the old emperor: "I obey your order."

The place where the prime minister held the birthday banquet was 131 miles away from the capital. It would take at least a day and a night for all officials to walk, but no one dared to complain.

They all smelled the feeling of a storm coming.

On the other side.

I don't know how much sincerity Diwu Ang had in his words, and he advised the emperor: "Your Majesty, if all those officials are killed, there will be chaos in the world."

"It's better to be patient. After the prince ascends the throne, the whole world will have changed blood, and naturally the situation of the boy's test will be improved slowly."

The old emperor said directly: "Okay, those who want to go to the toilet can go to the toilet, and those who want to eat can eat. Wait for Xu Yanmo to come back."

He ignored Diwu

Ang. The deputy governor of the Central Army screamed, picked up the spittoon and rushed behind the screen with his butt. Then, a noise of a waterfall falling three thousand feet accompanied by a foul smell came out.

Others: "..."

How can we eat like this?

Even the old emperor was stunned for a moment, and then laughed and cursed: "Bad stuff!" You

should have told me that you had diarrhea earlier! Can he not let people go to the toilet!

At this moment, Diwu Ang found that no one cared about him, and his face had already turned red, and he couldn't say a word.

*

After a day and a night, the officials, exhausted as hell, arrived in front of the Prime Minister's Mansion.

The door had been cleaned up, and the stone lion had changed two beds. It seemed as if nothing had happened. So, the officials stepped into the Prime Minister's Mansion without any precautions.

Then, they were shocked by the knife stuck in the table and the blood in the middle of the hall.

An official stammered: "Your Majesty, what happened?!"

The old emperor: "Fa Fa Fa, there was an incident of gentry embezzling public land. I just killed one of them at the door of the Prime Minister's Mansion yesterday."

Many people's legs went weak on the spot, and they were quickly supported by the people next to them and lifted up.

- Don't lose your manners now!

A consort said: "Your Majesty summoned us..."

"Oh, someone reported you for embezzling the court's money."

The consorts and the new officials: No! Who dares to do that? !

The old emperor: "Don't worry, there is a list, I will kill according to the list."

"!!!"

No! Who can guarantee that there are no false cases on the list! ! !

When Xu Yanmiao walked in slowly from the outside, he was stunned for a moment.

[Huh? Why are you all looking at me? ! ]

[Everyone is looking at me, I thought I was looking at the savior. ]

Isn't it the savior! ! !

The new officials in Beijing were glowing with red faces and looked at Xu Yanmiao excitedly.

Xu Lang! Help!

The old emperor patted the chair beside him and said, "Xu Yanmiao, come and sit down."

Isn't that enough to pamper the minister?

Xu Yanmiao understood.

[I know, at this time, making me the most unique one is clearly to make me a pure minister, a lonely minister! It seems that the old emperor may have something to give me in the future! ]

[The speculation is reasonable! ]

The old emperor pushed the person to the seat with an expressionless face, and then stuffed a big lantern into his mouth: "Go and have fun by yourself."

Don't use your brain.

Xu Yanmiao: "Huh?"

The old emperor looked at the other ministers.

"Listen."

His tone was calm and relaxed: "I will investigate. Whether it is the princes and nobles who committed crimes or all the county magistrates in the world, I will investigate."

"I know this matter, if I give it to you, you dare not take responsibility! You are afraid of taking responsibility!"

"You are afraid that you have killed too many people, and I will push you out to appease the public anger in the future!"

Those officials did not raise their heads, and none of them said a word. I don't know if they tacitly agreed or they didn't dare to speak at this moment.

The old emperor didn't care, he continued: "It doesn't matter, I'll take care of it!"

"I'll tell you who to arrest! I'll tell you the specific methods of action! You just need to be responsible for execution! I'll take responsibility!"

His eyes were as sharp as knives.

"If anyone scolds this matter as a bloody and indifferent executioner, I'll be scolded first! If it's recorded in history books and condemned by future generations, I'll be whipped first!"

"I'm the mastermind in this matter!"

The officials of the six ministries raised their heads one by one, their eyes full of disbelief.

In this day and age, is there still a boss who takes the initiative to take responsibility? !

"Now--"

Emperor Tiantong stood up and shouted loudly: "The Supervisory Secretary of Zhejiang Province, the Supervisory Secretary of Henan Province, the Supervisory Secretary of Shandong Province, the Supervisory Secretary of Shanxi Province, the Supervisory Secretary of Shaanxi Province, the Supervisory Secretary of Huguang Province, the Supervisory Secretary of Fujian Province, the Supervisory Secretary of Jiangxi Province, the Supervisory Secretary of Guangdong Province, the Supervisory Secretary of Guangxi Province, the Supervisory Secretary of Sichuan Province, the Supervisory Secretary of Guizhou Province, and the Supervisory Secretary of Yunnan Province."

"I'm here!"

A total of 143 supervisory secretaries responded.

"You go to the prefectures and cities across the country and obtain the number of acres of public land in the local area, the number of acres of land owned by retired officials, and the population of landless and land-poor people in each county."

"Yes!" The supervisors all accepted the order.

"Jiang Weizhong, Li Xianqi, Wang Jianyu..." The old emperor then ordered: "You go to Ganzhou, investigate the food of the stationed troops, compare the official certificates with the official certificates, and find out which family is colluding with the officials!"

The Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, the Left Deputy Chief of the Ministry of Revenue and others immediately responded: "Yes!"

"All officials from the Minister of Personnel and below, from the Minister of Rites and below, check the situation of the boy's exam in previous years!"

"Yes!"

Since someone has committed a crime, then investigate!

We must investigate even if it means turning the world upside down!

Emperor Tiantong looked grim.

In the past, he started from humble beginnings, cleaned up the world, and put an end to the broken world. Now it can be done.

If killing one clan is not enough, then kill ten clans; if killing ten thousand people is too light, then kill a hundred thousand people.