Huang Jin and Chen Hong looked at Xu Jie, who was crying, and couldn't help but look at each other, and the two of them felt deeply ashamed.

Jiajing's stubborn temperament is true, but he is not a hard-hearted person, looking at Xu Jie's age and still crying like this, he sighed lightly and said: "Xu Aiqing, tell me everything!" ”

Obviously, the tears that are about to become a lake on the ground have proved that there is something hidden in this matter.

Xu Jie wiped away his tears, but pleaded again: "Although the minister has grievances, I still ask the emperor to follow the minister's request, so that this time the matter will pass in a mess!" ”

"I told you to speak!" Jiajing has never been a fool, and immediately ordered in a deep voice.

Huang Jin and Chen Hong are both understanding people, and they have already guessed the emperor's temperament clearly, Xu Jie's obviously wants to capture the past, but he doesn't know which one he wants to sing.

Xu Jie sighed lightly, as if forced by the current situation, and then said seriously: "Your Majesty, do you still remember the floods in Hangzhou, Songjiang and other seven prefectures last year!" ”

"This is a catastrophe, how can I forget!" Jiajing didn't know why Xu Jie asked this, but he still said lightly.

The catastrophe here greatly reduced the autumn grain in the southeast, and the imperial court even reduced the taxes of the seven prefectures, which caused a lot of "loss" in last year's fiscal revenue. If it weren't for the rich harvest of Yan Zheng and Guangdong City, the imperial court at the end of last year would have been even worse.

Xu Jie raised his head and looked at Jiajing seriously, and continued seriously: "Last year, there was a flood in Qifu, which caused the people in the southeast to suffer greatly. According to statistics, there are more than 10 embankments destroyed in the southeast, and 10 of them have not been overhauled for five years, including the Baihe Embankment on the Huangpu River! ”

Hey?

Huang Jin and Chen Hong faintly caught something important, and looked at Xu Jie in surprise, and at the same time remembered that this was indeed the truth.

"Xu Aiqing, ten places have not been overhauled for five years, do you mean that these more than ten embankment failures are in the imperial court?" Jiajing is an extremely smart person, even if he understands the true meaning of Xu Jie's words, he asks questions.

Xu Jie immediately knelt on the ground, and said in a loyal tone: "Don't dare!" Last year, there were already rumors in Songjiang Prefecture and other places, saying that the embankment burst was due to the failure of the imperial court to repair it, but at that time, the imperial court vigorously provided disaster relief, and the people were also eager to rebuild their homes, so this statement did not become a climate. It's just that the minister is worried that the imperial court's verification of the case of destroying the embankment and flooding the fields will be spread again by people with good intentions, which will cause the southeast to fall into turmoil again. ”

At this point, the image of a loyal minister came into being.

The reason why Xu Jie's resignation was exchanged for the court's peace of mind was not for personal gain, nor was it to shield his son, but because he didn't want the court to lift the lid again, so that the people of the southeast would put the responsibility for the embankment collapse on the court and Emperor Jiajing.

Of course, Xu Jie's remarks are wonderful, but it mainly depends on how Jiajing judges.

If he thinks that Xu Jie's is quibbling, then all Xu Jie's efforts are in vain; If he agrees with Xu Jie's statement, he really has to consider whether to lift the lid.

In terms of things, the root cause of this embankment collapse is really in the imperial court.

When the Ming Dynasty's finances were declining, in addition to the southeast anti-Japanese burning money, there were all kinds of Taoist construction, as well as the sky-high purchase of ambergris and other things, in addition to Jiajing's ambition to build the outer city of Beijing.

It's just that where does the money come from, when the financial revenue of the imperial court has not increased significantly, it can naturally only make a fuss about some expenditures.

Water conservancy projects have always been hard for the present and beneficial for a hundred years, but the Jiajing Dynasty, which was in a hurry to cultivate, was destined to be short-sighted. The imperial court was naturally able to get by in order to save money, and many squires were not keen on building embankments, and some conscientious river officials were usually overlooked.

It is precisely because of this that the annual investment in the river embankment project can be said to be reduced again and again. Coupled with the widespread phenomenon of greedy ink, the little money squeezed out by the imperial court for repairing the embankment gave those corrupt officials a lot of money.

If we say who is the culprit behind the "destruction of embankments" in more than ten places in the southeast, it still has to point to the current imperial court, and finally to Emperor Jiajing, who is obsessed with monasticism.

"There were such rumors last year, why don't I know?" Jiajing was slightly confused.

Xu Jie didn't speak, but Huang Jin on the side said: "The slave remembers that there is indeed this matter, and the prefect of Songjiang Zang Jifang reported it at that time, but he didn't make an incident, so the master probably forgot!" ”

Chen Hong glanced at Huang Jin, and then at Xu Jie, but chose to keep silent.

Jiajing glanced at Xu Jie deeply, and asked in a soothing tone: "Xu Aiqing, Xu Kun really didn't instruct your houseslave He Jiu to flood the embankment and flood the fields?" ”

"Your Majesty, He Jiu is not my house slave, all of this is He Jiu's words!" Xu Jie began to defend himself at this time, and said reasonably: "The incident happened suddenly, and the minister can't ask Xu Kun who is still at home now!" It's just that the minister has asked him to read the book of sages since he was a child, and the minister believes that Xu Kun will definitely not be able to do such a thing that loses his conscience, and the land of the Seven Mansions has destroyed more than ten embankments, and the minister is more inclined to burst the embankment, which is definitely not a man-made disaster! ”

Chen Hong secretly gave Xu Jie a thumbs up, and found that this low-key little old man was far more powerful than he imagined, and he was able to hold back until now before he released his big move. not only cleared his own innocence, but also made the Yan Party bear the charge of planting dirt and framing him.

Jiajing stood up from the futon, but came to the steps silently, as if he was weighing something.

"The Chen family is willing to bear the infamy, and I only hope that the Holy Lord will stop investigating the White Crane Causeway, so as to prevent it from being used by someone with a heart!" Xu Jie said loudly with a loyal look.

Jiajing looked at Xu Jie condescendingly and asked, "Are you really willing to do this?" ”

This is undoubtedly a solution. For the sake of seeing Xu Jie's resignation, he, the emperor, will no longer pursue the case of Xu Jie's son Xu Kun destroying the embankment and flooding the fields, and the Yan Party will naturally not hold on to this matter anymore.

It's just that all the consequences have to be borne by the Xu family, and the people only think that the Xu family has done the thing of destroying the embankment and flooding the fields, which will make the Xu family infamous.

"Thunder, rain and dew are all produced by you. As long as the people of the Ming Dynasty do not enter the turmoil, the monarch's father will not be blamed by traitors, and the minister's family is willing to bear this infamy! Xu Jie replied resolutely.

Huang Jin and Chen Song watched Xu Jie's behavior, if they didn't know that the most important courtier in the Jiajing Dynasty was the word loyalty, they would have thought that Xu Jie was really the biggest loyal minister of the Ming Dynasty.

"Xu Aiqing, you go down first, and let me think about this matter again!" Jiajing did not make a statement lightly, but said lightly.

"Retire!"

Xu Jie gave an honest salute, and then got up and left the Wanshou Palace.

What the emperor will do next, and whether he will really sacrifice him, he can't guess. Now that things have come to this point, he has been essentially gambling.

He gambled that the emperor would make him dare not let Dong Wei go to Songjiang to investigate the destruction of the embankment and flood the fields, and he did not want the people of the southeast to accuse the imperial court of inaction on the embankment, and he did not want to bear the responsibility of more than ten embankment failures.