Ouchi is not a place for idle talk, the two talked for a while and then separated, Yang Bo returned to the ministry, and Gao Gong went to the Qianqing Palace.

After the ceremony, "I waited at the gate of the palace for a long time before Feng Bao came in and passed him in."

Feng Bao greeted him in a low voice, Gao Gong's face was very bad, and he didn't look at him at all. Because Gao Gong had already guessed that the emperor was prostituting himself during the day...... Although he has been on the throne for less than half a year, the name of Emperor Longqing's lust has been well known to the government and the public, and it is said that he has to be fortunate with several different beauties every day, from morning to night, and he can't do without the beauty nest of warm nephrite for a moment. As a result, he was nicknamed the hard-working "little bee" in the harem, which has become a well-known joke in officialdom.

After hearing that the emperor was called "Little Bee", Gao Gongbei, who was the emperor's master, felt that his face was dull, and he was even more worried about the emperor's dragon body, so after seeing Emperor Longqing, who was thin and tired of bags under his eyes due to excessive indulgence, he couldn't help but kneel down and admonish: "Your Majesty, the lord of the people lives in a forbidden place, and he is fortunate to watch all over the place, or drink vocal music with swallows, or ride and shoot with games." If it is close, it will damage the spirit, and the cause of disease will be born. For a long time, it will hinder political affairs, and the cause of danger and chaos will arise. Compared with the words of the people, it is said that His Majesty's Yan idle actions are not suitable for those who are not forgiving and secret. There will be no such thing as stealing the sage", but the courtiers did not dare to say anything. Fu Wang's subduing the emperor, reducing lust, everything is forbidden.

It means that the emperor, you stay in the palace all day long, and if you don't see any good people, you will hang out with a group of eunuchs all day long, and these people will be evil all day long, and guide you to do some ridiculous things all day long, so that your vitality will soon be damaged, and diseases will be born from this. After a long time, it will also make the minister contemptuous, make the villain covetous, and cause the country to be in turmoil. Now there is a rumor that some of the emperor's behaviors in the harem are not something that should be done during the mourning, of course, I think this must be a rumor, but as a courtier, I dare not tell the emperor not to say a word. Please take care of your body in the future, give your little brother some rest time, and don't do those dirty things that damage Dulwich.

Although Gao Gong said it euphemistically, "But the emperor was not so much that he couldn't understand, and said apologetically: "Let you worry about it all the time, this is nothing, I have been ...... with a pure heart and few desires recently" said and subconsciously scratched the back of his head, who knew that as soon as his arm was raised, a silk book flew out of his wide sleeve and fell to the ground.

&nbā eyes, not good to see close, but to see far can be very clear, only to see a colorful **** picture painted on it, a man and a woman are entangled in an unsightly posture, and there is a mark on the side: "old tree rooting" can not see that the emperor is still full of research spirit......,...

Long Qing's face flushed, and he quickly bent down to pick it up, thinking that Gao Gong couldn't see clearly, and said, "It's just a picture album." ”

Gao Gong could only bow his head and pretend not to see it.

Longqing asked the old man to help Gao Ge up, and said: "What is the matter with the master coming over"? ”

"Oh......" Gao Gong remembered what he was here for, and took out the submission of the Song Dynasty of the Ministry of Officials and said: "Here is the preliminary result of Jingcha, please ask the emperor to take a look." ”

"There is a master in state affairs, and I am very relieved." Long Qing didn't answer: "You can do it if you think it's okay." ”

"Courtiers should all be judged when they go and stay." Gao Gong shook his head and said, "The old minister can't trespass." Seeing that the emperor was like this, he hoped from the bottom of his heart that Longqing could cheer up, and for this reason, even the original intention of "the Holy Son of Heaven to rule by hanging the arch can be violated."

"That'...... Let's leave it here for now. Long Qing reluctantly accepted it, took Gao Gong's hand and said: "After the New Year, we haven't sat down seriously, it's easy to be empty today, let's talk." ”

Gao arched his hand back without a trace, and said in a low voice: "The minister is also very concerned about the emperor, the first year in the palace, the emperor is still used to it." ”

"There's nothing unaccustomed" Long Qing said with a smile: "Ordinary ...... said, "I feel like the New Year every day, how can I still feel the taste of this year?" After a pause, he said: "I heard people say" You always close the door and spend the whole Spring Festival outside? ”

"It's not a free ride" Gao Gong saw that the emperor took the initiative to lead the conversation, so he was obliged to say: "The minister is to understand the people's sufferings on behalf of the emperor." ”

"Oh?" Long Qing said curiously: "What kind of suffering do you always know?" ”

"The people are so miserable!" Gao Gong sighed: "It's too bitter......"

"At the feet of the Son of Heaven, the people of the capital of goodness ......" Longqing frowned and said, "Will it be so bitter?" ”

"Alas, speaking of the people of the capital, under the roots of the imperial city, although there are things about the glory of the holy grace, it is more of an unspeakable suffering." Although Gao Gong knew that his words offended people, it was incumbent on him to ask for his life for the people, so he did not hesitate to report the situation he had investigated these days to the emperor and said: "The suffering of the people is harmed by the third, which is called "tax", "shop", and "field." Tax on walking bridges. Originally, there was only commercial tax in my capital, and there was no tax on roads and bridges, but since Zhengde, the central officials went out to collect taxes from all over the country, and for a time they set up clever names and forcibly seized them, so that the people were miserable and complained. However, in the later period of Jiajing, because the first emperor cultivated Xuan, Huā was overwhelmed, so he acquiesced to the Zhongguan to collect taxes in Zhuozhou, Daxing, Wanping, Tongzhou, Huairou, Miyun and other places in Beijing. So the palace tax envoy everywhere with ruffians and hooligans as minions, water and land travel dozens of miles, that is, tree flag to build a factory, Shuntianfu twenty-four counties, is already full of tax stars, dense as fish scales, from Miyun to the capital, but only a hundred miles, you have to go through five or six tax card stations to the capital, but one or two miles "also have to collect two taxes!" The fierce ** gun snatching! ”

"How much do you have to charge every year for goose plucking in so many places?" Long Qing frowned and said, he has always adhered to the purpose of not doing anything, but also not adding chaos to the country, and now when he heard that the people in the palace were collecting taxes outside under his own banner, his heart suddenly felt bad.

"The tax fee for each car is five cents, and the burden tax is three cents, and the bearer is two cents, and the loser is one cent, and even those who pass by bare hands are not exempt. The people said that each tax customs can get more than 10,000 taels of silver a day, no less than 3,400 taels of silver a year, and there are more than 200 water cards in 24 counties, and the people should be recorded 6,700,000 taels of silver a year. In addition, the taxes of the nine gates are all controlled by the central officials, which is another two or three hundred thousand taels of silver. This not only encroaches on the interests of the people, but also deprives the taxes of the country............ Not a cent of this money will go to the treasury! ”

"Last year's income in the palace was only 800,000 taels...... "Long Qing frowned and said: "The tax alone, I'm sorry for the account." ”

"This is just a tax on licensed goods, not to mention the tax on buying and selling-" After a careful investigation in the first month, Gao Gong already knew a lot about the bad behavior of eunuchs who interfered with people's livelihood: "fine rice, salt, chickens and porpoises" are coarse, charcoal, vegetables and fruits, etc., one buy and sell, nothing is not taxed, everywhere is not taxed, no one is not taxed! The tax envoy regarded the merchant as a coward, and he was robbed wantonly, and he did not have all his goods, and he was also searched...... and he was also searched." Within a hundred miles, there are three officials in the jurisdiction; When a product comes, the tax is counted! One of his truckloads was not worth more than twenty taels in total, and half of the silver had been used to collect taxes in several places along the way. When the ship was sold in the capital, another tax collector came to collect taxes, and "he had no money to pay" was so angry that he moved the goods ashore and burned them clean. Through this incident, it is not difficult for the emperor to deduce how cumbersome and heavy the current commercial taxes are, and the degree of harm to the merchants, has reached! ”

Long Qing's face was very ugly when he heard this, and he said hatefully: "It's so rampant, why hasn't anyone told me all this time!" ”

"I haven't been so powerful before, it's only been half a year," ...... Gao Gong told Long Qing very vaguely, "If you Lao Tzu is here", how dare the eunuchs be so presumptuous? Doesn't it look like you're a little bee to bully?

"Although the harm of tax abuse is heavy, it is second to the harm of the imperial store." Gao Gong stabbed the hornet's nest today anyway, so he simply shook it all out at once, and said: "The imperial store and the tax card are actually often one, and there are lieutenants who use the banner of the palace to build houses around the Huangzhuang or on the traffic arteries, build bridges, and build bridges in the name of the imperial store...... Like the merchant Fang Cai Weichen said, because he didn't believe in this evil, he was finally forced to burn all the goods. In order to save the capital and make small profits, most people can only resell the goods they have worked hard to produce and traffick to the emperor at a low price, and watch them earn their own benefits. ”

"But after the eunuchs took the goods, they did not sell them in the imperial shop, but transferred them to private shops." Gao Gong continued to break the news. Shop "private store? "Longqing knows about the imperial store, but he really doesn't understand the private store.

In addition to controlling the imperial store, the Zhongguan also set up private stores inside and outside the capital, covering all the goods in the world, so that the merchants and the people had no profit. Recently, even if the scoundrels' children occupy the Guanxiang, ferry, bridge, water glass and open shops, sell money from them, smoke firewood and grass, and extort money for ferries, tooth protection, water conservancy, etc., this kind of competition for profit with the people is tantamount to robbery, which makes people complain and boil the sky, if they are not rectified, the withering of all industries in the capital will be in the eyes! Gao Gong said bitterly: "If it is not rectified, today's capital" is the whole country of tomorrow, and when the people are not happy, the country will not be a country, it is by no means alarmist! ”

In fact, he also wanted to say, "Tian, this is the most fatal thing, the good land in the suburbs of the capital has been occupied by Gong Shi and the princes and nobles, and the land annexation is serious, and it has reached the point of affecting the safety of the country, but he knows that it is not manageable, if the blow is too big, the backlash will be unbearable." So he decided to target only the eunuchs, and the rest would be talked about later.

These alone have already made Emperor Longqing angry, no matter how dull he is, he can also know that the eunuchs are using their own names to loot the people's fat and ointment outside, not to mention ruining the reputation of the royal family, and only caring about making a fortune for themselves, regardless of whether the emperor is poor!

When I thought of those eunuchs, who were talking all day long about the emptiness of the palace and the uselessness of the palace, they tried to let themselves and allow them to stretch their black hands to more places.

Long Qing felt a burst of disgust in his heart, the anger on his face became thicker and thicker, and his breath became thicker, and finally gritted his teeth and said, "It seems that I usually treat them too thickly!" Not only did he not want to repay the favor, but he bullied my people under the banner of me! "Maybe it was because he felt that it was not easy for the people around him to follow him back then, as soon as Longqing ascended to the pole, he rewarded the eunuchs, not only all of them mentioned the key points of the inner court, but also added rewards indiscriminately, and gave python clothes and jade belts casually, and his nephews and nephews also added the rank of commander of the brocade guard. Although they were all honorary titles, they undoubtedly fueled the arrogance of the eunuchs and made them more and more lawless.

"The sin of ingratitude and deception" deserves a thousand cuts! "The high arch added fuel to the fire.

"So what should I do?" Longqing studied the "Imperial Maiden's Heart Sutra" all day long, but he was confused about how to make a fool of him.

"Here are the customs offices, the location of the imperial store, and the list of shopkeepers." Gao Gong presented a booklet and said murderously: "As long as you arrest people according to the order, you can catch them all!" In such a short period of time, there must be a master behind this long list.

"So what are you waiting for!" Long Qing was finally excited, and patted the case; "Let's get someone!"

"Dare to ask the emperor, who is the main one? Where are the soldiers? Grasp the whole or focus on the point? Gao Gong asked calmly: "Which yamen will be detained after being arrested?" ”

"This ...... The master will look at it. Long Qing said hatefully: "Give me a hard lesson for them!" ”

"Please give the emperor's order." Gao Gong said in a deep voice, but he was a little helpless in his heart, how could he be an emperor like this, and he was confused about how to exercise power?

"Oh, go and make a decision!" Long Qing instructed Feng Baodao, who was standing on the side.

"Yes." Feng Bao bowed backwards and walked out of the Xinuan Pavilion, and as soon as he went out, he withdrew his legs and ran.

Two large braziers of white cloud copper reflect the magnificent celebrant room warm and red.

At this moment, the four eunuchs who were bullish in the past were all full of oil and sweat, and they were all turning around like ants on the hot pot with their faces full of oil. Only Ma Quan, the eunuch with palm prints, still sat there with his eyes closed, as if all this had nothing to do with him.

Only then did Feng Bao send someone over to spread the word, saying that Gao Gong had sued them for their troubles, and had deceived them to break the law outside, cheat for personal gain, and fish and flesh the people.

Don't look at the four of them usually show off their might, in fact, they are all paper tigers who have nothing to do, and the grass in the temple was panicked at that time, just muttering "what to do, what to do" but I don't know what to do.

Suddenly, the thick curtain set off a gust of wind, and Feng Bao gasped and broke in.

No one blamed him for being rude, and the four Bingbi surrounded him and asked urgently, "What's wrong?" ”

"The emperor gave Gao Gong a holy decree, so that he could arrest people......,..." Feng Bao gasped and said.

"Ah........." Teng Xiang and Meng Chong said with blank faces: "It's over, it's over, it's over......"

"It can't be done like that!" Feng Bao screamed and calmed the others: "Before Bai Aya dies, there is still a chance!" ”

"What do you say?" The crowd was like grasping at a life-saving straw.

"How do I know!" Feng Bao snorted and said, "You are guarding the golden mountain and asking for food!" As he spoke, he pushed aside everyone and walked in front of Ma Quan, and as soon as he lifted his placket, he knelt on the ground and kowtowed: "In the past, the sons were ignorant, and they will never dare to do it in the future." As he spoke, he kowtowed to the ground.

Ma Quan's eyes opened a slit, but he ignored him.

Teng Xiang also understood, yes, at this time, only by relying on the wisdom of the old-timers can he save himself. Hurry over, kneeling on the left and right of Ma Quan, the five eunuchs kowtow together, begging the ancestor to rescue.

Only then did Ma Quan feel that the evil qi in his chest had decreased slightly...... In the past six months, although he has sat in the seat of the eunuch of the palm print, those eunuchs of Yudi have not bought his account at all, and they have united to want to blow him away.

Ma Quan really regretted that "I didn't go to Nanjing with Huang Jin, and I said that I just didn't understand, once the son of heaven and a courtier, and even more so the minister, now it is Emperor Longqing who sits on the country, and he is the old man of the previous dynasty, what else is there to fight for."

Looking at the arrogance and ignorance of this noble one, the shrewdness is far inferior to that of the Jiajing Dynasty's celebrant supervisors, but his greed is far better than that of the previous dynasty. If this continues, something will definitely happen, Ma Quan is already thinking about returning to his hometown. It's just that I didn't expect that before I had time to say goodbye, the matter came out first.

It's just that although he feels relieved of his hatred, he still has to mention these people, after all, whether he can enjoy his old age in peace in the second half of his life has a lot to do with these people.

Thinking of this, he snorted and said, "I told you a long time ago that you should stop in moderation." But you think you are the old people of the hidden mansion, flying everywhere and domineering, you dare to bite anything, and you are ugly to death. has ruined the reputation, otherwise how could he provoke the living Hades of Gao Gong? ”

"We know it's wrong, but we've done it, and it's too late to say anything else." Teng Xiang said with a sad face: You always said that we still have to be saved, right? "Yes, are we still saved?" There was a wail.

"Panic what!" Ma Quan snorted and calmed a few people: "At the time of the first emperor, the celebrant went through so many ups and downs, and he came over safely, and this time will not be an exception!" ”

Only then did the eunuchs quiet down and listen to the ancestor talk about the foundation of the eunuch's life: "Do you know why you suffered this fate? ”

"We're unscrupulous......" "We don't take the officials too seriously...... "A few big blocks replied.

"None of them are right." Ma Quan said lightly: "Actually, there is only one reason, you have forgotten your roots." ”

"Forget your roots?" The eunuchs' eyes widened.

"Yes, forget your roots." Ma Quan said with an old-fashioned lesson: "Don't look at us all majestic, like big people." In fact, it's all dogs, and the emperor wants us to be powerful. If the emperor doesn't want us to be powerful, "We're all bullshit in the blink of an eye...... We rootless wasters, everything is on the emperor, the emperor is our capital, we are slaves, we have to always and everywhere take the emperor to heart! ”