In the Huangji Hall, a memorial from the prefect of Zhangde Prefecture in Henan Province ignited the emotions of the civil officials.
Li Zhi's Huben Army transported cheap rice and noodles harvested in Liaodong to southern Beizhili and northern Henan on a large scale, which greatly alleviated the local food shortage and received a warm welcome from the local people.
It is said that Li Zhi's grain transport team was so honest that they priced the rice and noodles shipped thousands of miles away at 2, 25 yuan. This price is almost the same as the price of food before the disaster. It is conceivable that after excluding the expensive transportation costs,
In addition to the cost of guarding the Huben soldiers, Li Zhi made almost no money from selling food on a large scale.
Of course, what really annoyed the gentry in the disaster area was that Li Zhi not only did not make money himself, but also refused to let the gentry make money. Li Zhi sold grain per capita in the disaster area, and each common person could only buy thirty kilograms of rice and noodles every half month.
In order to prevent the gentry from sending servants to buy large amounts of grain, the Huben troops in some places brutally killed the servants of the gentry who repeatedly jumped in line, killing many of them. In some places, the Huben troops forced local officials to hand over their tax and service books.
, people who buy grain are registered according to the yellow book.
According to the statement of the magistrate of Zhangde Prefecture, the Huben Army was showing unscrupulous contempt for the king's law. What right did the Huben Army have to kill people in other provinces? What qualifications did the Huben Army have to seize the government's tax rolls and use them?
Finally, the magistrate of Zhangde Prefecture said that since the Huben Army escorted the grain truck to Zhangde Prefecture, everyone in Zhangde Prefecture only knew Li Zhi and did not know the imperial court, and their hearts were in doubt.
After the Minister of Civil Affairs read out this memorial, there was a sudden murmur in the court. The civil servants were all Jinshi, and they all hated Li Zhi who had equalized the land tax. At this time, I heard that Li Zhi did not ask for anything in return for the people of the disaster area.
Do good deeds and immediately think about the problem from the most despicable perspective, wondering what Li Zhi's intention is.
After a while, Gong Dingzi, the commander of the military department, stood up and said loudly: "Your Majesty, Li Zhi is deceiving the world and stealing his reputation. His heart is worthy of death!"
Hearing Gong Dingzi's words, the civil servants who were whispering stopped talking and looked at Gong Dingzi.
"Li Zhi was born as a businessman, and his pursuit of profit was engraved in his bones. This man paid attention to returns in everything and never did business without profit. When there was a drought in Shandong, Li Zhi said he wanted to provide disaster relief, so he put forward various conditions, including land tax and business
To pay taxes, to have the appointment power of the governor, and to have the title of admiral, I want to break the bones and suck out the marrow."
"Now that there is a disaster in Henan, the imperial court did not ask Li Zhi to provide relief, but he took the initiative to deliver cheap grain there. What is his motive?"
Gong Dingzi glanced at the civil servants and generals in the court, and said loudly: "This is to win people's hearts!"
"Li Zhi's plan was very good this time. He wanted to use millions of stones of grain to win over the hearts and minds of the people in Beizhili and Henan provinces."
"I heard that Li Zhi bought rice and noodles in Tianjin for one tael and eight yuan, and sold them to the disaster area for two and a half yuan, which just recovered the cost. This transaction did not cost Li Zhi a penny, but he bought rice and noodles from two provinces.
People's hearts. How will the people in the disaster area be grateful to Li Zhi when they eat Li Zhi's cheap rice noodles? Will the victims still have respect for the gentry and the court in the future when they see Li Zhi's troops bullying the gentry and intimidating the imperial officials?"
"The sinister intentions are clearly revealed!"
"If the imperial court allows Li Zhi to continue to deceive the world and steal his reputation, then everyone in the disaster-stricken area will despise the imperial laws and regulations, regard the officials and gentry as enemies, and rely on the tiger and benevolent troops. If this continues, will the common people still know about the emperor? One day, Li Zhi will ascend to the throne and shout, "North Zhili"
There may be unspeakable disasters in the two provinces of Henan and Henan."
Gong Dingzi raised his tooth plate high and said loudly: "I would like to ask the emperor to issue an edict as soon as possible to prohibit Li Zhi from transporting grain to the disaster-stricken area!"
Gong Dingzi's words were resounding, and a chorus of agreement immediately echoed in the court hall.
"I second the proposal!"
"I second the proposal!"
Emperor Zhu Youjian sat on the throne and frowned.
Zhu Youjian could not have imagined that Li Zhi's behavior of transporting grain to the disaster area would also attract negative interpretations from civil servants.
No one except Li Zhi has the ability to transport cheap grain to the disaster area. If Li Zhi is prohibited from transporting grain, will all the victims there starve to death?
Zhu Youjian was thinking about how to defeat Gong Dingzi, who was causing trouble, when he saw Zhang Guanghang standing up.
"Zhang Guanghang, the Minister of Criminal Affairs, has something to say."
"explain!"
"What Gong Dingzi said is extremely ridiculous. You must know that after the Huben army of Duke Li Zhi of Tianjin entered the disaster area at the junction of the two provinces, they not only sold cheap food, but also took the initiative to attack local thieves. As far as I know, only in Chang'an
In the De Mansion, the Huben Army killed more than 20,000 bandits. The order of Zhang De Mansion was shaken up!"
"The small Zhangde Mansion killed more than 20,000 bandits, not counting the escaped bandits! This shows how big the total number of bandits in Zhangde Mansion is! If it weren't for Duke Jin's bodhisattva-hearted and thunderous methods, I'm afraid that
The banditry in southern Zhili and northern Henan will intensify."
"If there is no one to clean up the corrupt situation, I am afraid that southern Zhili will become the second Henan. When the bandits send an old battalion to rebel in southern Zhili, the capital will be surrounded by thieves."
"I would like to ask, is it dangerous for the victims to suffer from hormones that will infect the loyal Duke of Jin, or is it dangerous for all the victims to become thieves and attack the capital?"
Zhang Guanghang had a good relationship with Li Zhi, and Li Zhi asked Li Xing to write letters to Zhang Guanghang from time to time, so Zhang Guanghang knew a lot of data that civilian officials did not disclose. He told a fact that the prefect of Zhangde Prefecture deliberately concealed. Li Zhi's Huben Army not only transported grain, but also
We also killed many local thieves.
But civil servants are not ashamed to conceal and not report. Someone immediately jumped out to attack Zhang Guanghang.
"Zhang Guanghang, how do you know such a clear number? You must have colluded with Li Zhi, who gave you this number!"
"Zhang Guanghang! How much money did Li Zhi give you?"
Zhang Guanghang was not afraid of the provocation of the civil servants at all, and glared at the civil servants who challenged him.
"Zhang Guanghang is not afraid of slanting shadows, nor is he afraid of your criticism!"
Zhu Youjian frowned when he saw that the civil servants were scolding each other as "Li thieves". Just as he was about to speak, he saw Fan Jingwen, the elder of the pavilion, cupping his hands and saying, "Fan Jingwen, the great scholar of Chendong Pavilion, has something to say."
"explain!"
"I believe that it is more dangerous for the people to express gratitude to Li Zhi than for the people to surrender to thieves."
Zhu Youjian frowned even more when he heard Fan Jingwen's words.
Gong Dingzi jumped out again and said loudly: "However, although the intruder is powerful, he can still be defeated. The power of the thief Li is overwhelming, and the court is helpless. It would rather let the trespasser gain power than let the thief Li go further!"
In Zhu Youjian's eyes, Li Zhi was a loyal minister who fought in the south and north to defend the Ming Dynasty. But in the eyes of the civil servants, Li Zhi was as much a demon as the intruders who massacred the gentry. The civil servants considered the issue in the interests of the gentry group.
I would rather let the intruder go than see Li Zhi accomplish anything.
Zhu Youjian naturally knew what the civil servants were thinking. He finally couldn't bear it anymore and shouted loudly: "You are outrageous!"
Wang Chengen looked at Zhu Youjian's face and cursed loudly at Gong Dingzi: "Gong Dingzi, who asked you to call Duke Jin as Thief Li?"
Gong Dingzi looked at Zhu Youjian's face and saw that Zhu Youjian's face was full of anger. He was stunned and cowered a little.
Things like transporting grain to the disaster area have nothing to do with the fundamental interests of the civil service group. The civil service group can at most make things difficult for Li Zhi when he is doing things, but it is impossible for the civil service group to fight for his life against the emperor who supports Li Zhi. Gong Dingzi glanced around in panic and saw
The other civil servants frowned and fell silent under Zhu Youjian's anger.
Gong Dingzi knew that he had gone too far this time alone.
Is it necessary to hit the imperial staff?
Zhu Youjian took a breath and said loudly: "Gong Ding's attack is an insult to the nobles and disrupts the moral order."
However, he was about to hit Gong Dingzi with his staff. However, before Zhu Youjian could finish his words, he saw at least a dozen Donglin generals standing up with dental cards in their hands, wanting to speak for Gong Dingzi.
Gong Ding was a low-key man, and he is now regarded as the boss of the Donglin Party. If Zhu Youjian were to use Gong Ding's imperial staff, he would probably poke a hornet's nest in the Donglin Party.
It is true that Gong Ding went deep into the country alone, but after all, he was speaking for the civil servants as a whole, and the Donglin Party would still come to his rescue.
Zhu Youjian was about to speak, but suddenly he changed again, and finally changed his words and said: "You must not let the punishment go unpunished, you will be fined half a year's salary!"
For these ** civil servants, salaries are dispensable, and a half-year salary penalty is like scratching an itch.
Seeing that the emperor's punishment was so light, the civil servants who were about to take action looked at each other for a while, then closed their mouths and stopped talking.
Gong Dingzi looked up at Zhu Youjian and returned to the train without saying a word.
Sighing, Zhu Youjian said: "The Tianjin government transports grain to the disaster-stricken areas and attacks bandits to benefit the country and the people. Don't bring up obstruction matters in the future! Those who refuse to change despite repeated admonitions will be severely punished by me!" (.)
