Hearing that the Japanese pirates were coming, Zhang Erwa hurriedly returned to the yard, grabbed old man Zhang who was still filling the water tank, and ran away.
It took a few steps to reach the door.
"We're getting married tomorrow, and you're still so frivolous. Why are you holding me back?"
Old man Zhang, who had regained his composure, waved his hand and said angrily.
"Japanese pirates, Japanese pirates are coming." Zhang Erwa said loudly.
"Japanese pirates? Hurry, your mother is still in the house, you run away first, I will call your mother."
Pushing old man Zhang away, Zhang Erwa rushed back on her own.
"You run first, I will run faster with my mother on my back."
Two or three hours later, Zhang Erwa, who was hiding in the dense forest on the mountain, saw a large plume of smoke rising in the direction of the village.
The villagers all looked in the direction of the village and couldn't help crying.
Japanese pirates sacked the village not once or twice.
The imperial guardhouse always arrived late after the Japanese pirates left.
In the past, the Japanese pirates just picked up valuable things from home and took them away. This time, they actually set fire to the fishing village.
Although it was a low mud house with a thatched roof, it was still their shelter.
Now that everything has been burned by a fire, how can everyone protect themselves from the wind and rain?
The next day.
When the villager came down from the mountain, he saw from a distance that the village was surrounded by soldiers from the imperial court.
Most of the houses in the village have been burned down.
Zhang Erwa ran to the front of his yard like a wind, unable to help but burst into anger.
In addition to the earthen walls, the roof and the tables and benches in the house were completely burned by the fire.
The water tank in the yard was also smashed and the pieces were scattered on the ground.
The meal prepared to entertain relatives was knocked to the ground indiscriminately, and there were faint traces of being trampled.
Zhang Erwa clenched her fist and hit the huge tree trunk at the door, half of which had been burned to charcoal black.
"Go back and check to see if anything valuable is missing." On the road in the village, a small flag led a few soldiers and went from house to house.
"The house has been burned down, and everything is gone. How can you say that it is valuable or not?" someone murmured in a low voice.
Xiaoqi suddenly stopped: "From now on, don't say things you shouldn't say. To be a common people, you must have common people's consciousness. Why didn't the Japanese pirates burn other places?"
Hearing the other party's scolding, the people no longer dared to speak.
Zhang Erwa understood that what Xiaoqi meant was that someone had reported the whereabouts of the Japanese pirates to the imperial guard. Setting fire to the village this time was a form of revenge by the Japanese pirates.
Seeing the charred blackness in the village and the burning smell everywhere, Zhang Erwa felt filled with shame.
If I had not provided Taizhou Wei Yuhuan with the track of the Japanese pirates that I accidentally discovered when I went fishing, I would not have been set on fire by the Japanese pirates today.
However, how would the Japanese pirates know that this information was provided by them?
Zhang Erwa was puzzled.
In the capital, in the Jinluan Hall, Ming Chengzu sat quietly on his large dragon chair, looking at the civil and military officials below with a dull expression.
"Just now, the Inspectorate and the Ministry of Punishment each told about the drought in Gongchang and the negligence of the Chief Secretary of Shaanxi Province. Ministry of Revenue, do you have anything to say about this matter?"
Ming Chengzu slowly looked at Zhao Hai, the Minister of Household Affairs.
Yesterday, Xiao Chen's words gave Ming Chengzu his opinion on the Ministry of Household Affairs, and even made him doubt the loyalty of the Minister of Household Affairs, Zhao Hai.
The Ministry of Household Affairs is the highest financial and economic organization in the Ming Dynasty. It is in charge of the world's land, taxation, household registration, military supplies, household registration, food and wages, etc. It is the first-class real power agency of the imperial court.
The Chief Secretary is the highest local agency in charge of various regions under the Ministry of Revenue.
Such an important organization actually concealed a drought and failed to report it, resulting in more than half of the victims in Gongchang Prefecture being killed or injured.
The upper beam is not straight and the lower beam is crooked.
If the Chief Secretary of Shaanxi Province dares to do this, how come the Ministry of Revenue has no responsibility at all?
The Chief Secretary of Shaanxi concealed the drought situation. Are there any Chief Secretaries across the country who are doing this?
As the Minister of Household Affairs, I have almost handed over the entire Ming Dynasty to you. Is this how you do things for me?
Zhao Hai, the Minister of Household Affairs, hurriedly walked out of the queue with his back bent.
"Your Majesty, regarding the drought in Gongchang, the Ministry of Household Affairs has not really received a report from the Chief Secretary of Shaanxi Province."
"You mean, all the responsibility lies with the Chief Secretary of Shaanxi?" Ming Chengzu's voice became obviously deeper.
Zhao Hai froze, clearly hearing the accusation in Ming Chengzu's words.
"The Ministry of Household Affairs has the responsibility." Zhao Hai said hurriedly.
"If you have any responsibilities, tell me."
"The Chief Secretary of each locality will report to the Ministry of Household Affairs every month. The Ministry of Household Affairs really has no way of knowing anything that the Chief Secretary does not report. However, the Chief Secretary can send dedicated personnel to each government office, but the Ministry of Household Affairs does not
I didn't think of this. This is the mistake of the Ministry of Revenue. I plan to learn from the mistakes of Gongchang Mansion and send two officials to the Chief Secretary of each place to station them all year round. On the one hand, they can report on local affairs in a timely manner.
The other one can supervise the local Chief Secretary."
"Well, what you mean is the subsequent remedial measures. What I'm asking is, what does the Ministry of Revenue think about the Gongchang Mansion?"
Zhao Hai was startled and didn't understand what Ming Chengzu meant.
Does the Emperor think that the Ministry of Revenue does not supervise the Chief Secretary well enough?
"Your Majesty, the Chief Secretary is a subordinate agency of the Ministry of Household Affairs. The inaction of the officials sent by the Chief Secretary to Gongchang Mansion shows that the Chief Secretary's management system for officials is not in place. I believe that only by increasing the punishment of officials can we fundamentally solve the problem.
Reduce the occurrence of such things." Zhao Hai thought for a long time before he came up with something like this.
"We can only reduce it, but we can't eliminate it?"
Zhao Hai raised his head and didn't know how to respond for a moment.
Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty turned his attention to Li An, Minister of the Ministry of Punishment, and asked: "What are the opinions of the Ministry of Punishment on the punishment of the Chief Secretary of Shaanxi?"
"Back to the Emperor. After the on-site investigation of Gongchang Mansion by the Ministry of Punishment and the Supervisory Office, it has always been believed that the chief of the Shaanxi Chief Secretary and his assistant stationed in Gongchang Mansion were in cahoots with Wang Kuan, the prefect of Gongchang.
Hiding the truth from the top to the bottom, the common people are being exploited and should be executed. The chief envoy of Shaanxi Province failed to manage properly and was demoted three levels."
Li An hurriedly walked out of the team and reported the punishment department's decision.
"If such a big thing happened, it would be enough to be demoted to three levels?" Ming Chengzu raised his eyebrows.
"This is just a preliminary decision after discussion between the Ministry of Punishment and the Inspectorate. Everything will be subject to the Emperor's decision," Li An said.
"Wang Kuan, the prefect of Gongchang, ran out of money to prepare food for the government office. This is no longer something that happened overnight. And the chief secretary, doesn't he understand this situation at all?" Ming Chengzu turned his head and looked at Zhao Hai, the minister of household affairs:
"Sir Zhao, does the Chief Secretary check the local grain reserves every year?"
"Back to the emperor, yes." Zhao Hai replied.
"Does the Shaanxi Chief Secretary verify it every year? How does it report it to the Ministry of Household Affairs?"
"This, this..." Zhao Hai couldn't answer for a moment.
Looking at Zhao Hai who was stuttering and stunned, Ming Chengzu snorted coldly and turned his attention to other officials from the Ministry of Household Affairs: "Does anyone know whether the Chief Secretary of Shaanxi Province verifies the grain reserves of Gongchang Mansion every year?
?”
"Back to the emperor, the Shaanxi Chief Secretary's report to the Ministry of Household Affairs stated that the grain reserves of each subordinate government office will be verified every year. Second, regarding the Gongchang Mansion, the Shaanxi Chief Secretary's report is: According to the regulations of the imperial court, Gongchang
The government's grain reserves are sufficient." Wu Shun, the Minister of Household Affairs, hurriedly walked out of the team.
"You mean, the Shaanxi Chief Secretary's report states that Gongchang Mansion's grain reserves are sufficient?"
"Back to the Emperor, this is what the Chief Secretary of Shaanxi Province said."
"Pa." Ming Chengzu's palm hit the table in front of him hard.
"If the storage is sufficient, then why do most of the people in Gongchang starve to death? Just for this reason, how can a three-level official demotion be enough?" Ming Chengzu looked at the officials fiercely, "Why did you hide the incident in Gongchang Mansion from me for so long?
Time? Are these officials with royal salaries willing to cover for him?"
All the officials lowered their heads, and no one dared to look Ming Chengzu in the eyes at this moment.
"A prefect should not have such great energy. It's just because he has a father who is a marquis behind him. These officials just want to please the Marquis of Dingxi."
Ming Chengzu's voice rose again.
Listening to Ming Chengzu talking about the affairs of the Chief Secretary of Shaanxi Province to Wang Kuan, and then gradually to Dingxihou, all the officials couldn't help but secretly nod their heads.
The chief envoy of Shaanxi Province may not be able to be demoted three levels in a row, and he may have to use the head on his neck to vent the anger in the emperor's heart.
