"If he is for the sake of public interest, even if there is a mountain of swords and a sea of fire in front of him, he will not be able to stop him from going up to me. If he is out of the same party and fights against differences, then today's things can be a warning for future generations. Zhu Youzhen said without hesitation.

This made Huang Liji, who was a little depressed after listening to Ni Yuanlu's words, suddenly feel better. Wang Chengen, who was standing beside the emperor, saw that the hall was temporarily quiet, and it seemed that everyone had not thought about how to intercede for Shu Rong and the others, so he hurriedly ordered the eunuch on duty on the side to say a few words.

The eunuch quickly walked out of the hall and summoned several brocade guards on duty outside the hall.

Under the urging of these brocade guards, Shu Rong and the others walked towards the outside of the hall slowly, expecting someone to come forward to rescue them. However, their expectations were shattered, and since they themselves wanted to pretend to be upright men who impeached the ministers, it was not good to show their cowardice in public at this time.

Although Han Yi was a native of Shanxi, he did not speak out to relieve these officials, and also stopped several close protégés from attacking the unified grain purchase policy formulated by the cabinet.

He once served as the first assistant to the cabinet, and he knew very well that the unified grain procurement policy formulated by the cabinet was completely a helpless move.

As a native of Shanxi, of course, he knew that those merchants regarded them as treasures of fortune, and the first one was hoarding.

If the cabinet does not introduce this mandatory policy, most of the disaster relief funds allocated by the imperial court will become profits in the pockets of merchants, and very little food can go to the mouths of the victims.

His hometown of Puzhou, Shanxi Province, is separated from Shaanxi by only one Yellow River, and if the hungry people in Shaanxi really rise up to make trouble, his hometown will obviously be the first few areas to be affected. If you lose a year's income from the fields, you can exchange it for the peace of Shaanxi, and Han Yi naturally thinks that it is worth it.

What's more, unlike Henan, Shanxi has a huge Tongpu railway to be built in addition to a policy of compulsory grain purchases. As the official gentry of Puzhou, his losses in the fields could be recovered from the construction of the railway, so he did not support the approach of Shu Rong and others.

However, when Shu Rong and the others were escorted out of the hall, several Donglin party members and protégés turned their eyes to him, expecting him to come out and say a few words, he also had to take a small step forward, ready to say a few words to Chongzhen, so that the emperor could step down and make an appearance in front of the party members by the way.

However, before he could speak, Qian Qianyi, who wanted to gain Chongzhen's favor, couldn't wait to say: "Although Your Majesty's accusations against them are a bit harsh, your love for the people can be described as fist-fighting.

The minister read from the newspaper that in order to help the victims, His Majesty even reduced one meal a day, abstained from meat, and saved his own food expenses to donate to the disaster area.

Your Majesty can suffer so much, Shu Rong, as a courtier, can endure hardship for a few days, so what's not to do? The minister is willing to follow His Majesty, before the disaster in Shaanxi subsides, one meal a day, not close to meat, and donate 1,000 taels of silver to the disaster area in Shaanxi. ”

As soon as Qian Qianyi's head opened, he immediately tilted the topic of the meeting to other places, and some officials, either voluntarily or forced, expressed to Chongzhen that they wanted to go on a diet and donate money to the disaster area. This made the officials who wanted to speak for Shu Rong and the others have to keep their mouths shut, so as not to become troublesome characters who are entangled in the eyes of the emperor.

After listening to what the ministers said, Zhu Youzhen's face became a little softer, and he said with a slight smile: "Your family is different from me, you have to deal with a lot of state affairs every day, if you don't have enough to eat, how can you do things?"

Mr. Qian's sincerity, I have already understood, I should skip one meal this day. As for donating silver taels to the disaster area, my Ming Dynasty's salary is not high, and if the donated silver taels are set too high, I can't bear it.

For me, as long as you can complete your work correctly on time, you have done the greatest help to the people of Daming, and you don't have to show your love for the people in the amount of donations.

Today, the officials in this hall are all above the five grades, so I will set a rule for donating money. There is no need to donate below five products, and more than five products are voluntary, from five products to one product, and the donation amount is capped at 20 taels to 100 taels. ”

The officials, who originally heard that Qian Qianyi had donated 1,000 taels with one mouth, became a little worried, but finally breathed a sigh of relief after listening to Chongzhen's words.

Qian Qianyi himself is a local tyrant in the south of the Yangtze River, and 1,000 taels is nothing to him, but for most of the officials here, this is already a considerable amount, after all, not every official here is in the rich yamen.

Under Chongzhen's appearance, Huang Liji, who has been attacked by these officials in the past few days, finally stabilized his precarious position as the first assistant.

Although Shu Rong and the others were sent to Xishan by Chongzhen, in Huang Liji's opinion, a group of southern officials who have been waving their flags and shouting for them these days are also disgusting.

While everyone was complimenting Emperor Shengming, Huang Liji suddenly opened his mouth and said to Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, now there are continuous disasters and famines in the sea, and there are Xiyu Dongyi who are constantly harassing my Ming Dynasty. Although it depends on His Majesty's benevolence, he is willing to reduce food and clothing in order to feed the hungry people in the world.

However, the old minister heard that the folk customs in the southeast are still extremely extravagant, and the scholars do not intend to study the scriptures of the saints, but are famous for their prostitution.

Taste the so-called southeast celebrities, gather in Tiger Hill, with one person and two prostitutes, two good wines, a sheep, and a number of fruits, gather nearly 1,000 people to attend the meeting, and feast all day long. In just one day, it has already cost tens of thousands of dollars.

Such scholars cannot share worries for the monarch at the top, and cannot pity the people at the bottom, and when the country is in difficulty, they still enjoy the preferential treatment of the imperial court, and they are blindly merry and happy. The minister really doesn't know, such a person with no virtue and no deeds, even if he becomes an official, how can he govern for His Majesty's people? ”

Huang Liji's evaluation of Jiangnan scholars immediately aroused the refutation and defense of Qian Qianyi and other Jiangnan officials. Even Shi Fenglai and Zhang Ruitu, who had always supported him, were silent, because both of them were also southerners.

Officials from Hebei, Shandong, and Shaanxi worked together to stand on Huang Liji's side this time, but compared with the large number of officials from Jiangnan, their voices still seemed to be weaker.

After Zhu Youzhen signaled Wang Chengen to calm everyone down, he asked Huang Liji: "Then according to Mr. Huang's meaning, how should the imperial court reverse the extravagant atmosphere of the Jiangnan scholars?" ”

Huang Liji didn't care at all, and Qian Qianyi and the others, who were staring at him, said confidently: "The old minister thinks that the inspector should be sent to visit several provinces in the south of the Yangtze River, and if he finds a scholar who is mixed with the Qinglou, he should be dismissed immediately.

We should rectify the atmosphere of government education in various localities, eliminate those who are confused, and reward scholars who are outstanding in learning and who can study in peace and happiness. The provincial scholars and the county teachers should also conduct evaluations and rebuke the incompetent and incompetent.

In addition, it is necessary to strictly abide by the various etiquette systems established by Emperor Taizu, prohibit the four people from mixing up the norms of dressing, and severely punish merchants who exceed their own status and wear silk and other precious clothes without authorization..."

Most officials disagree with Huang Liji's idea of reviving the simple life of Taizu's ritual system. After all, at this time, it is completely impossible to let the people of Jiangnan live according to the living customs of the founding era.

Because the people of Jiangnan have become accustomed to this kind of peaceful life of comfort and wealth, and if they want to use severe punishment and harsh laws to govern them, I am afraid that the world will soon become chaotic.

As the land of wealth of the Ming Dynasty, coupled with the control of Cao Yun, the officials in Jiangnan did not think that the emperor could really listen to Huang Liji's proposition and make some things happen in Jiangnan.

After listening to Huang Liji's proposition, Chongzhen hesitated for a long time before he said hesitantly: "Mr. Huang's reason is still correct, in this difficult time in this country, everyone must work together to get through the difficulties together."

If the people in the northwest can't even eat, and the powerful families in the south of the Yangtze River are still drunk and dreaming all day long, even if I can't sit idly by.

Don't forget, when the world appears: there are frozen bones on the stinky road of Zhumen's wine and meat, and when the heavenly street is full of public bones, the day is coming. ”

Chongzhen's admonition suddenly quieted down the officials who were about to move and wanted to refute Shoufu. The peasant rebellion in the late Tang Dynasty was not a change of dynasty.

The change of dynasty is just a change of person on the emperor's throne, and as long as these officials know the current affairs, they can still serve Zhu Peizi.

But if you are a bandit like Huang Chao, not to mention your official position, whether you can keep your family is a problem.

After Zhu Youzhen gave a stern warning, his tone softened again, "But after all, this time is different from the past, at the beginning of the country, there was a shortage of materials, as long as the people can be fed and there are some regulations on clothing, the people will not be very opposed."

But now, the Jiangnan region has been peaceful for a long time, and the people are also accustomed to the comfortable life they are living now, and suddenly let them live a life of rules and regulations, and there is a lot of resentment.

I thought that I wanted the people to quit extravagance and return to a simple life. On the one hand, we must guide public opinion, criticize extravagant and corrupt living habits, and establish a healthy life concept that advocates frugality;

On the other hand, the necessary policy instruments are also needed, but not too hard-line and one-size-fits-all. For example, the cabinet can impose heavy taxes on luxury items that have little impact on the lives of ordinary people, and use economic means to force these powerful families to restrain their behavior.

Of course, Mr. Huang's idea of eliminating the mediocre and incompetent scholars and scholars is still supported, and a scholar who is addicted to the Qinglou can't see any help to the Ming Dynasty except for the bad atmosphere of officialdom. ”

When the emperor and Shoufu stood together, the other officials in the palace suddenly lost the idea of arguing with Huang Liji about the morale of Bai Jiangnan.