Author: Potato Sweet Potato Pie

The sky above the Forbidden City was filled with stars, the palace of Qianqing was brightly lit, and the reports of the factory guard's investigation were placed on Emperor Hongzhi's imperial case one after another. He held the lamp in his hand and carefully turned over each one. Watch.

These reports were extremely detailed, thoroughly checking the movements and personal connections of the leader, Zhou Licheng, over the past few months.

[On the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth lunar month in the fifteenth year of Hongzhi, Zhou Licheng returned to his home in Changping County from the Imperial College. Except for visiting relatives at home during the New Year, he did not interact with others. 】

[On the sixteenth day of the first lunar month in the sixteenth year of Hongzhi, Zhou Licheng returned to the Imperial College at home. Until the tenth day of April in the sixteenth year of Hongzhi, his behavior was normal. Except for teaching doctors at the Imperial College, he had no contact with other officials in the court. ]

[On April 11, the 16th year of Hongzhi, Zhou Licheng bought a copy of the People's Newspaper from Suiya tea shop near the Imperial College. Later, he and other scholars in the tea house criticized the state affairs and cursed that this move was against the laws of the ancestors. Near noon, he went straight back Imperial College, he did not go anywhere else. From then on, until April 26, the 16th year of Hongzhi, he did not go anywhere else except to drink tea in a tea shop.】

[On April 27, the 16th year of Hongzhi, Zhou Licheng bought another copy of the People's Daily. After reading it, he and the scholars present became very angry, and then proposed to invite your majesty to see it, and everyone responded. 】

Emperor Hongzhi raised his head as if he was thinking about something. After thinking for a moment, he lowered his head and looked down again.

[Zhou Licheng had few friends in the Imperial Academy and always walked alone. When the humble people asked him why, it was because he was aloof and arrogant, and was disliked by others. 】

[Zhou Licheng's father was a scholar. He took the exam for scholar status in the 17th year of Chenghua. After that, he failed the provincial examination many times. Zhou Licheng's supervision was very strict and he often beat and scolded him. His mother was the daughter of a farmer from a neighboring village, and there were no children in the family. No official background.]

After reading this report in detail, Emperor Hongzhi stood there holding a lamp in his hand and said nothing.

The balance in his heart had begun to tilt towards the end that this matter was just an accident.

Perhaps this matter was not instigated by anyone, but was just a matter of a scholar who had ruined his mind by studying, regardless of the consequences, without making any predictions, and when his mind was hot, he came to ask your Majesty to see him and did the thing of forcing the palace.

No, even in their minds, this is not called forcing the palace, but admonishing for the country, which is the so-called loyalty to the emperor and the country.

At least, the leader, Zhou Licheng, didn't look like someone was instructing him.

The sound of a copper kettle dripping could be heard from the main hall, and the windows were already a little brighter.

"Your Majesty, it's almost midnight, will today's court meeting continue as usual?"

Xiao Jing's voice came from outside.

"As usual. You go and ask to see how those loyal ministers are doing in the trial. If they haven't been tried yet, tell them to stop the trial and come to court."

Emperor Hongzhi's eyes wanted to sparkle, but after not sleeping all night, their eyes were no longer bright.

"Let Xia Yuan come to court and get things done. We will make a decision today."

"yes."

The flute responded with a sound, and the sound of footsteps gradually faded away.

At the right time, the Jingyang Bell rang as usual, and all civil and military officials walked through the Meridian Gate and walked along the Jinshui Bridge on the side to the Fengtian Gate.

After struggling all night, Liu Jian's eyes were already a little dark. Li Dongyang, Xie Qian, and even the officials from the Six Ministries and Jiuqing, as well as the censor officials from the Duchayuan and Dali Temple, were walking behind.

Everyone's eyes were green. At this time, many people held confessions and accusations in their hands. They looked at Emperor Hongzhi sitting under the eaves of the Fengtian Portico. They held their hands in their hands and kowtowed, shouting "Long Live the Mountain".

After long live, he did not stand up, and all the civil and military officials knelt on the ground.

Emperor Hongzhi looked at the memorials they held in their hands and asked, "What are they holding in their hands?"

Liu Jian kowtowed and said, "Reporting to Your Majesty, what I have in my hands are the confessions from the interrogation."

"What did you find out this night?"

"."

Hearing this, Liu Jian and others couldn't keep silent. They interrogated all night, interrogated dozens of people, and executed dozens of people. The screams and wails from the prison of the Ministry of Punishment resounded throughout the night.

But every scholar's speech was uninstructed and purely spontaneous. Many of them cried bitterly, with tears and snot in their noses and asked them what these officials wanted to hear. All they had to say was who they wanted to be behind the scenes.

The mastermind himself said who was the mastermind behind the scenes.

At this point in the trial of the case, from any angle, it seems that there is no mastermind behind the scenes.

But now no one dares to draw this conclusion. It has only been one night, and it is impossible to reply to His Majesty's decree with this kind of rhetoric. This is one, and the other is that there are still about two hundred people behind who have not been interrogated, and have not been interrogated to the end.

No one dares to draw this conclusion.

What should I do if, during the interrogation, someone suddenly says that there is someone behind the scenes?

Even if all the scholars are interrogated, the matter will not end. We still have to find out who is close to them and which official is suspected of having secretly communicated with them and planned this matter.

If the case goes to the end and it is found that no one is instigating it, but His Majesty refuses to believe it, he may even find a scapegoat when necessary.

"The interrogation has not been completed yet, and there are still many scholars and scholars waiting to be interrogated. These are the confessions of some people who have been interrogated and confessed. According to them, there is no one behind the scenes, and they just acted spontaneously."

Zhu Youtang did not answer, but just winked at Xiao Jing, indicating that he should collect all these confessions.

Xiao Jing walked down the steps, collected the confessions from Liu Jian and others one by one, walked back to Emperor Hongzhi, and stood there holding the pile of confessions.

Zhu Youtang reached out and picked up a few books, flipped through a few at random, then threw them on the imperial desk in front of him and said, "Let's all get back together."

The ministers then slowly stood up from the ground, while Xiao Jing continued to shout: "Today's court meeting, the emperor Ruo said: Sir, do you have this memorial?"

None of the ministers said anything. In their view, today's court meeting was just to ask about the interrogation. The remaining reason was that Emperor Hongzhi had never been to court before and did not want to rush to court.

So at this moment, there was this court meeting, which was just a formality.

At this moment, Xia Yuan stood up and said, "Your Majesty, I have this memorial."

Among so many people, he was probably the most energetic. He had a full night's sleep last night.

"Do you have anything to report?"

"Your Majesty, what I want to say is about tax law."

Hearing this, the ministers present suddenly looked over, and their eyes were focused on them. Xia Yuan suddenly didn't hear it, and just said: "Your Majesty, since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, our tax revenue has been low every year, and we have been unable to make ends meet every year.

The state treasury gets almost nothing, but the people under its rule are all impoverished. What’s the reason?”

"I think the reason lies in the tax law and the national conditions of the Ming Dynasty. The income of the people of the world cannot be kept in the hands of the common people, and the state treasury cannot be collected for the use of the court, but it is only fat.

Kill some of the people in between!"

At this point, Xia Yuan deliberately paused and looked around. All the officials he saw turned their heads or looked away, as if he was looking at them like this, and these were the people he was talking about.

Xia Yuan looked back and continued: "I don't know who these people are, and I don't want to tell them. There is only one thing I want to say, which is to reform the tax law."

"Your Majesty, I advise you to re-measure the world's acres of land, implement the method of dividing land into acres, and cancel the head tax. Taxes will no longer be levied based on the number of people in the family, but will only be levied based on the number of acres."
Chapter completed!