Although Chongzhen became more and more impatient with the ritualized form of court meetings such as listening to the government at the imperial gate, he could only compress it to twice a month, rather than canceling it directly.

November 15 is the day when the Imperial Gate listens to the government twice a month. However, because of the winter, it has been changed to listen to the government in the Imperial Palace. But in the early hours of winter, I got up, walked through the unsheltered square, and listened to the government in the empty Imperial Palace. Although he was wrapped in a robe and sat on the throne, Chongzhen still felt a little chilly.

He couldn't help but wonder if from next month, there would be no need to hold a permanent dynasty. When he was thinking about this, after three whips, the official of Honglu Temple standing solemnly on the side began to sing in the dantian.

After hearing the singing, the two lines of civil and military officials below the Danqi heard the singing, and bowed to Chongzhen three times, and then got up and stood on both sides of the Danqi.

After the first work was completed, the official of Honglu Temple sang again: "Perform things".

According to the usual practice, at this time, each of the six parts played 3 or 5 events that had been discussed, and then the official of Honglu Temple announced the completion of the performance, and the whip was sounded to end the court meeting. Then today's Chang Dynasty is over.

The officials of the household department and the officials started very smoothly, and Zhu Youzhen was unwilling to blow the wind outside with the ministers, so he sent it away in a few words. However, the more anxious he was to disperse, the more unsatisfactory the result was.

Yuan Keli, the secretary of the Criminal Department, shouted that there was something to play, but Zhu Youzhen didn't think too much, so he motioned for him to come forward. Yuan Keli took Beban out of the court, walked to the front of the palace and said to Chongzhen: "The minister wants to impeach Xu Xianchun, the guard of Jinyi, and Yang Suoxiu, the servant of the Criminal Department, who was ordered to go to Henan to investigate the case of the rioters, but they did not do their job, but they just insisted on killing the local gentry and extorting money.

The minister also wanted to impeach Guo Zengguang, the governor of Henan, who was afraid of power, knowing what Xu Xianchun and Yang were doing, but he sat back and ignored the local people's grievances, and refused to come forward to prevent the two from relying on power in Henan to do evil.

The minister also wanted to impeach Wei Zhongxian, the eunuch guarding the imperial tomb in the central capital, and privately sent the soldiers guarding the tomb into Henan, which was simply extremely audacious..."

Yuan Keli was really angry today, after the war with the Mongols outside Datong Pass subsided, Chongzhen ordered an investigation into the popular riots in Henan, and a conclusion should be drawn as soon as possible.

He originally thought that this was a good thing, after all, Henan had been in chaos for 3 or 4 months, and even his hometown of Suizhou, Guide Prefecture, had been affected. No matter what conclusions are found, the local chaos in Henan can always be calmed down.

He would have thought that after Xu Xianchun and Yang went down, they were not for the purpose of appeasing the place, but to settle accounts with those Henan gentry after the autumn.

The clansmen and relatives and friends in his hometown quickly spread the news to the capital, hoping that he could come forward to impeach the two and prevent the two from arbitrarily framing the local investigation method.

“… The minister heard that Xu Xianchun openly intimidated local officials. In any county where there is a civil unrest, it is necessary to hand over one-tenth of the personnel of the local gentry as the culprits who colluded with Lin Dan Khan in his plot and attempted to cut off the passage of relief grain into Shaanxi in an attempt to cause civil strife in the Ming Dynasty, otherwise the local officials will be convicted of the same crime.

In addition, wherever Yang Suoxiu and Xu Xianchun went, they convened local gentry to negotiate. First, they were required to take out half of the land and rent it to the imperial court, and the rent was only 3 percent; Second, in addition to keeping the rations of their own population, each family must sell the remaining grain to the Food Bureau at a fair price.

Under the pretense of requisitioning land and grain in the name of the imperial court, in essence, it is exploiting the local area and stealing it by skill. The ministers heard that a large part of the land and grain they had forcibly requisitioned had gone into their own pockets.

In addition, for the gentry who were unwilling to accept these two conditions, they were imprisoned in the name of the troublemakers, and they also sent troops to attack them, poisoning the Henan region, which can be described as cruel..."

Headed by Yuan Keli, a cadre of officials from Henan also came out one after another, and began to complain to Chongzhen that Jin Yiwei colluded with the Criminal Department to commit crimes in Henan.

The denunciation of dozens of officials suddenly made the Imperial Palace boil over. Seeing this situation, many Donglin Party members also began to speak out in support.

Looking at the somewhat uncontrollable scene below, Zhu Youzhen also felt a little in his heart, what he instructed Yang Suoxiu and Xu Xianchun to do this time seemed to be a little more violent.

However, after carefully examining the situation of the officials below, he found that officials from Shaanxi and Shanxi did not stand up to support them. The appearance of the Donglin Party made the officials led by Huang Liji remain silent, wanting to stand on the side and wait for the changes.

The anger on the faces of the Henan officials headed by Yuan Keli let Zhu Youzhen know that today was not the time to forcibly suppress them on the grounds of the order of the court.

Now these officials who have come forward feel that they have mastered morality, and they all want to collide with them head-on to show their steadfastness.

Zhu Youzhen really didn't have any interest, and he couldn't play the game of the faint monarch and virtuous ministers with them, and he couldn't play these scholars. He unconsciously clasped his hands in front of his chest and looked down with a serious face, as if he was listening carefully to the opinions expressed by these officials, and in fact he was thinking of a way to get out.

Looking at Chongzhen, who had been silent on the throne, Yuan Keli finally frowned, and said to Chongzhen again: "Please Your Majesty recall Xu Xianchun and Yang Suoxiu, and summon a priest to inquire about their crimes, so as to give justice to the people of Henan." In addition, the minister also asked His Majesty to summon the local government to return the fields and grain that Xu Xianchun and Yang Suoxiu had extorted from the gentry in Henan. ”

Zhu Youzhen suddenly smiled and said, "Yuan Shangshu, are you pleading to me?" Or do you want to command me? ”

Although Chongzhen's tone was gentle, the impatience revealed in his words made the officials in the hall who were still discussing loudly finally quiet.

Yuan Keli said to Chongzhen without fear: "The minister's impeachment of Xu Xianchun and Yang Suoxiu is not selfish, and I hope that Your Majesty will not be deceived by villains and mess up the discipline of the imperial court." ”

Zhu Youzhen's gaze met that of Yuan Keli, who had a resolute expression, for a while, then he looked past him and looked at the rear, and finally stopped at a certain official, and he said: "Wang Shouzhi, you are the head of the household department, I see that you have just been indignant and generous, and you obviously know this matter very well.

So why don't you come forward and tell me how much grain Xu Xianchun and Yang Suoxiu forcibly requisitioned in Henan? Where did all this grain go? ”

The eyes of the officials in the hall suddenly turned to Wang Shoulu, and he was completely stunned and confused by Chongzhen's inquiry. However, he was still a little witty, and quickly replied: "The grain that was forcibly requisitioned in Henan was transported to the newly built grain reserve in Luoyang, and the specific number could not be counted for a while, but a total of 3 prefectures and 11 counties were forcibly requisitioned grain. ”

"3 prefectures and 11 counties? Then tell me, which 3 prefectures and 11 counties have those people who have been forcibly requisitioned for food? Zhu Youzhen was not angry and continued to ask.

Wang Shoulu is finally stuck, even if he can name those prefectures and counties, it is impossible to point out the names of the gentry who were forcibly requisitioned in public, otherwise he will not throw others to the cusp.

Seeing Wang Shoulu sweating profusely, Zhu Youzhen looked at the other officials below and asked casually: "There are so many people who have just impeached Xu Xianchun and Yang Suoxiu, so I think there are always people who should know, and you can also talk about it." ”

The officials who were still aggressive just now are suddenly all in a hurry, and no one is willing to report their names to Chongzhen, they are afraid that they will be settled by Chongzhen afterwards.

Yuan Keli glanced at the officials around him, he really couldn't look down on them for this kind of timidity, he sighed, turned his head and reported a few names to Chongzhen. And said without hesitation: "... The minister's family has also seen it with their own eyes in their hometown, and if His Majesty does not believe it, the minister can order them to go to Beijing and let His Majesty personally inquire about it. ”

Zhu Youzhen immediately said: "Yuan Shangshu is right, no matter what you do, you must talk about evidence. You can't always listen to the wind or the rain, and when you hear the slightest sound of the wind, you panic and wronged a good person.

Since Yuan Shangshu thinks that it is necessary for people to come up for questioning, it is of course a good thing. But in addition to asking people to come to the capital, should we also send people to the local area to investigate? Isn't Han Yiliang in Shaanxi, so he simply asked him to go to Henan to investigate this matter. Everything will be discussed after the investigation is clear, and I think today's court meeting will end here. ”

Seeing Chongzhen get up and want to leave, Yuan Keli didn't react yet, Lu Chengyuan suddenly said: "Your Majesty, even if you want to deal with the two after the investigation, then please ask Your Majesty to recall the two of them back to the capital first, now they have made Henan angry and resentful, I'm afraid that if it drags on, I'm afraid that there will be chaos in Henan..."

Zhu Youzhen suddenly stopped, stood in front of the throne and angrily interrupted Lu Chengyuan and said, "What chaos? What else can you worry about in the current chaos in Henan? You weren't worried about the local civil unrest in Henan before, and you weren't worried about the drought in Shaanxi.

Do you know that hundreds of thousands of victims have died in Shaanxi due to the drought to this day, and the governor of Yansui cried to me, saying that the abandoned corpses outside Yan'an have filled the mountain streams in the west of the city, and the people of northern Shaanxi dare not let their children leave home, for fear of being taken away and become a meal on the plate.

I am worried about the life and death of the victims in Shaanxi, and it can be said that the night is not peaceful. You are a courtesy man, you don't care about your own work, and you don't worry about the life and death of the people of Shaanxi, but you are so concerned about the few belongings of the Henan gentry, I want to ask you, whose official are you doing? ”

Zhu Youzhen's questioning was like a storm, and Lu Chengyuan was disgraced. It also made the officials who impeached Xu and Yang unable to help, and watched the emperor walk towards the apse angrily.

Even Yuan Keli, because of Lu Chengyuan's intervention, he couldn't make a sound to let the emperor stay. No matter how angry they are, compared with the problem of the victims in Shaanxi, the Henan problem is only a problem after all.