Chapter 671: Let Me See the New Tricks of These Base Confucian Scholars

Hence Hai Rui resolved the various offensives of the Southern Yamen's "base Confucian scholars" and made his stance clear in front of everyone. This time, he would not retreat a single step, and even if he died, he would finish his unfinished business. According to Chen Mo's thinking, a high-value target like Hence Hai Rui should try to avoid appearing in public as much as possible, and even reduce unnecessary meetings of all kinds, to improve safety.

Someone ran to the front of the prefectural office wanting to recognize Hence Hai Rui as their father. The guards could resolve such things, and Hence Hai Rui's deployment didn't have any part that required him to show up. But Hence Hai Rui thought about it and still appeared in front of the commoners and said these words.

Because if he didn't appear, it wouldn't be complete. It would seem like the guards used means to resolve this crisis, while Hence Hai Rui was like a cowardly villain hiding behind the guards, not daring to face these storms directly.

Hence Hai Rui had always been brave.

Hence Hai Rui returned to the Southern Yamen again to rectify the administration of the Southern Yamen. The entry point was still anti-corruption and catching greed. Some things are like this: if you don't catch them, it won't work; if you catch them, it works.

People all have their own limitations, and Hence Hai Rui is no exception. His way of handling problems is too direct. Even after twelve years of "bending to be complete," he still chooses to face it head-on.

And the limitations of the Southern Yamen's "base Confucian scholars" are also shown here. They are accustomed to a world that never changes. Facing this Great Ming that changes with each passing day, they appear at a loss. The things they do appear out of place and very stupid.

They hope the world will forever be the world they are familiar with, refusing any change, refusing to look at problems with a developmental perspective.

And the great officials of the Great Ming also have their limitations. Even someone as strong as Zhang Juzheng himself is actually very pessimistic about his new policy and the Wanli Reform. He doesn't think the Wanli Reform has any great achievements. It's like a person dancing in shackles. The heavy historical burden of the Great Ming should have made the Wanli Reform extremely difficult.

But the reality is: the seeds planted back then have already taken root and sprouted, are growing sturdily, and are blossoming and bearing fruit.

In the second year of Wanli, in order to ensure the profit of silk, the Great Ming Emperor banned the export of raw silk, the raw material for silk. The reason for the ban was even somewhat laughable: the barbarians took it to weave, but couldn't weave it well, wasting raw silk. Afterward, he began to encourage the expansion of domestic silk workshops and weaving bureaus, turning all raw silk into silk.

This was just one small matter in the Wanli Reform, but the result left Zhang Juzheng sufficiently dumbfounded.

"I must admit that I underestimated the immense power of the masses." Zhang Juzheng, the initiator and practitioner of the New Policies, criticized himself. He had been too conservative, to the point where he now resembled a member of the 'Bao Si' faction of the New Policies. This was ridiculous, but it was also the reality.

The Yangzhou Prefecture Li Zhizao is the largest weaving bureau in the entire Great Ming. Just the weavers alone number more than ten thousand. The entire weaving bureau stretches for several miles, and eighteen workshops are weaving silk and satin day and night without rest.

"On this point, I also made the mistake of empiricism." The Great Ming Emperor Zhu Yijun stood on the high tower of the Yangzhou Main Office Bell and Drum Tower, looking at the streets of Yangzhou Prefecture, and said sincerely.

The Yangzhou Main Office Bell and Drum Tower is much smaller compared to the capital, but it is enough to climb high and look far.

How disappointed the Emperor was with Xuzhou Prefecture, and how satisfied the Great Ming Emperor was with Yangzhou Prefecture. Even to see a few more glances, the Great Ming Emperor deliberately stayed for an extra day.

"In the misty third month, one goes down to Yangzhou." The Yangzhou of the third month is extremely beautiful—willow catkins like smoke, flowers like brocade, misty rain, and fragrant air.

Yangzhou has dismantled all its city walls. Even under the threat of Japanese pirates, during the Jiajing era, Yangzhou built a section of earth walls, but with the stability of the maritime borders during the Wanli era, this section of earth walls was also dismantled completely. With such transportation of roads, canals, and the Yangtze River in all directions, Yangzhou's prosperity today was forged.

In Yangzhou, every March, a "Economic and Trade Spring Outing Fair" is held at Slender West Lake. This is a convention that has existed since the two Song dynasties. It used to be a carnival for human traffickers, but now it has gradually become a department store expo—firewood, rice, oil, salt, fresh fish, melons, fruits, bamboo, wood, umbrellas, baskets, lacquerware, sugar workshops, jade, shoes, socks, etc. On the two-li-long street, there are more than three hundred types of commercial goods, dazzling to the eyes.

The thing that surprised the Emperor the most was that with the continuous rise of handicraft workshops, the business of human traffickers seemed to be getting harder and harder. The "Yangzhou Thin Horses" are quietly exiting the stage of history. Perhaps it is because the rise of handicraft workshops has replaced the ecological niche of human traffickers, or perhaps it is because Yangzhou is not prosperous enough. The world of smoke and flowers is always chasing money, and Shanghai County is becoming the new center of the world of smoke and flowers.

Perhaps it is because the common people can finally catch their breath under the Wanli Reform, and the selling of sons and daughters has become much less.

The "Yangzhou Thin Horses," this deformed economic product, is indeed dying out rapidly.

The guards sent out by the Emperor did not find any traces of human traffickers. Unlike Xuzhou Prefecture, which was full of human traffickers, Yangzhou only had some individual cases. For example, families with too many children who really couldn't afford to raise them sold their children to relatives or fellow townsmen without offspring. For such cases, the guards could only turn a blind eye.

Yangzhou Prefecture is one of the thirteen prefectures of the Southern Yamen. Due to the influence of public opinion, the Yangzhou Prefect did not dare to be overly flattering. He just cleaned up the garbage inside and outside Yangzhou, including the ditches, repainted all the memorial arches, repaved the roads, cleaned the brick seams of the prefectural office, and changed the children in the nursing home into new clothes. That was all.

It was not particularly submissive, and there was still a gap compared to the Northern Town Fudesi, which brushed the brick seams clean with a hairbrush.

"The Wanli Reform actually proved one thing: the high temple, even if it believes in 'the people as the foundation of the state,' always underestimates the impact of the combined force of the four directions on the world. It cannot fully understand that human power can definitely overcome heaven. This is the limitation of the high temple. And no matter what the stance is, when concepts are wrapped in arrogance, one is not far from making mistakes." Zhang Juzheng said very sincerely.

Zhang Juzheng is a Confucian scholar. "I examine myself three times a day." He is good at self-criticism. He is part of the high temple. He thinks the southern tour is of great significance. The significance lies in letting the great officials clearly know what the world is.

All the great officials who participated in this southern tour, including Zhang Juzheng, generally had an arrogance: that it was "I" who changed the current situation of the Great Ming, not the ten thousand people. This is a fallacy.

Only at the moment of seeing the magnificent mountains and rivers will one understand what the power of the ten thousand people is.

The canal north of Jining is an ornamental canal. There is indeed shipping, but due to freezing, flow, and other reasons, the canal north of Jining has insufficient transport capacity. But starting from Xuzhou, Zhu Yijun, Zhang Juzheng, Wang Chonggu, and others truly saw what "end-to-end, continuous, day and night without rest" grain boats were.

Zhang Juzheng saw it, so naturally, he had to change this arrogance, because arrogance leads to mistakes. Only gods and Buddhas are high above. Gods and Buddhas who have lost the offerings of the ten thousand people are worthless.

The main contradiction between the empire and the ten thousand people has not yet shifted, but new changes are quietly taking place. The Great Ming court must see these changes.

"Your Majesty, the carriage is ready." Feng Bao carefully reminded His Majesty of today's itinerary: to pay respects at the Yangzhou Loyalty and Bravery Shrine.

The reason the Great Ming Emperor wanted to stay for an extra day was, first, to linger on the beautiful scenery of Yangzhou, and second, to pay respects at the Loyalty and Bravery Shrine.

During the Jiajing era, Yangzhou had two experiences of large-scale Japanese pirate invasions. The first was in the thirty-third year of Jiajing, and the second was in the thirty-sixth year of Jiajing.

In the thirty-third year of Jiajing, on the second day of the fourth month, Japanese pirates invaded the gateway of Yangzhou, South Tongzhou.

Once South Tongzhou was captured by the Japanese pirates, the entire Yangzhou Prefecture would become precarious, just like when Cenggang in Zhejiang was occupied by Japanese pirates back then, and the entire Zhejiang was poisoned by Japanese pirates, until Qi Jiguang, Yu Dayou, and others recovered Cenggang.

The battalion commander defending South Tongzhou, Xie Mingdao, arrested the Japanese pirate collaborators in the whole city and personally climbed the wall to defend. The soldiers and commoners were of one heart, swearing to live and die with the city. But the besieging Japanese pirates were numerous. At that time, the Great Ming army rushing from Xinghua was ambushed by the Japanese pirates and completely wiped out. The hearts of the people in South Tongzhou were shaken.

On the third day of the fourth month, Yangzhou Prefecture Vice Prefect Tang Wei heard the news. As a scholar and civil official, instead of avoiding the edge of the Japanese pirates, he led the Yangzhou troops and rushed straight to South Tongzhou to rescue. He traveled day and night, and when he arrived, it was the thirteenth day of the fourth month. This day was also the day the Xinghua reinforcements were ambushed and completely wiped out.

Tang Wei couldn't get into South Tongzhou because the Japanese pirates were besieging the city. He had to lead his troops to camp outside the city. Finally, on the twenty-second day of the fourth month, Tang Wei established contact with the battalion commander Xie Daoming in the city, and then began to cooperate from inside and outside. The Japanese pirate formation was in chaos, and Tang Wei led the Yangzhou troops to enter the city.

Taking advantage of the opportunity of the Yangzhou troops entering the city, the Japanese pirates began to attack the city again. Tang Wei and Xie Daoming held the city wall for four hours, repelled the Japanese pirates, and regardless of fatigue, together with other Great Ming troops who came to rescue, drove the Japanese pirates into the sea.

In the thirty-sixth year of Jiajing, the Japanese pirates invaded north of the river again. Hu Zongxian, Shi Maohua, Tang Wei, Xie Daoming, and others successively won victories in Wantou, Yangzi Bridge, Wangjiazhuang, Huai'an Miaowan, and Geli Port, completely repelling the Japanese pirates. Since then, the Japanese pirates dared not invade Yangzhou again.

After the war, Hu Zongxian requested merits for the soldiers who fought bravely and established the Loyalty and Bravery Shrine to commemorate them. Hu Zongxian wrote the names of two hundred and thirty-six fallen soldiers on the memorial, but in the end, the imperial court only approved seventy-two.

The Great Ming Emperor's carriage arrived at the Loyalty and Bravery Shrine. What surprised Zhu Yijun was that the Loyalty and Bravery Shrine, located outside the city, was not a sparsely populated place. Zhu Yijun even saw several large houses no weaker than "Dragon and Phoenix Presenting Auspices," which were similar to the large houses on Baiwang Mountain in the capital, luxury properties that only powerful and influential families could afford!

"Why are there so many villas around this Loyalty and Bravery Shrine?" Zhu Yijun asked the accompanying Yangzhou Prefect Zhao Zhijie with some curiosity.

Zhao Zhijie said with a strange expression: "The land price around the Loyalty and Bravery Shrine is more expensive than in the city, but the more expensive it is, the more people buy it, because with the Loyalty and Bravery Shrine here, they feel at ease."

"So that's it, just to seek peace of mind." Zhu Yijun understood.

The Great Ming during the Wanli era was still relatively superstitious. The more money and power people had, the more superstitious they would be. Building next to the Loyalty and Bravery Shrine even saved the trouble of suppressing evil spirits; what could be more deterrent to evil spirits than the Loyalty and Bravery Shrine? Sleeping was also steady.

The Yangzhou Loyalty and Bravery Shrine was not built very magnificently; it was just an ordinary main room plus two side rooms, occupying about one mu of land. But looking at the slightly smooth traces of the stone bricks at the door, one knew that this place usually had very prosperous incense.

The Loyalty and Bravery Shrine was relatively quiet. Zhu Yijun took the lit incense from Feng Bao and inserted it into the incense burner.

The Loyalty and Bravery Shrine only had spirit tablets, no statues. On both sides were some murals. Some places had very bright colors, clearly specifically repaired to welcome the inspection.

Zhu Yijun's visit to the Loyalty and Bravery Shrine was a temporary idea, a temporary arrangement. After the Emperor had this idea, the guards immediately cleared the streets. Clearly, it had been repaired before. Zhao Zhijie anticipated the Emperor's itinerary and did not let His Majesty see the mottled murals.

Yangzhou Prefecture benefited greatly from the east wind of opening the sea. "Stones from other hills can polish the jade of this one." Developing fast can solve many problems. Some thorny problems that could not be handled originally would be solved in the process of development. For example, the "Yangzhou Thin Horses" was a difficult problem for successive prefects, a trend that was repeatedly banned but never stopped.

Zhao Zhijie was grateful for the Emperor's policy of opening the sea; these were all political achievements for his promotion. So he liked to guess the Emperor's intentions, and he guessed this Loyalty and Bravery Shrine very accurately.

Zhu Yijun stood in the courtyard. In the middle of the courtyard was a pavilion with a stele on it, recording the various deeds of Yangzhou's resistance against the Japanese pirates.

The Great Ming Emperor looked left and right, smiled and said: "This Hu Zongxian is not an honest person either. Look, the imperial court approved seventy-two people. This Loyalty and Bravery Shrine, the main hall indeed only has the names of seventy-two people, but these two side halls, totaling two hundred and thirty-six people, not a single one less."

"Get ten copper coins."

The imperial court approved seventy-two loyal and brave warriors to be inscribed on stone. Hu Zongxian could not violate it, but he didn't miss a single one of the people he reported. They were all worshipped and sacrificed in the Loyalty and Bravery Shrine. There was an order from above, he had to execute it, but the hearts of the people below also had to be appeased.

The reason Zhu Yijun wanted to take copper coins was because there was a stone-carved turtle in the middle of the courtyard. Throwing a coin into the turtle's mouth would bring good luck. This was just a kind of beautiful self-comfort, but the copper coins piled up in the pool proved that everyone wanted to seek a good omen.

Zhu Yijun picked up ten copper coins and began to throw them into the pool one by one. As a sharp soldier who could hit ten out of ten with a tiger-strength bow, the Great Ming Emperor opened the eyes of those accompanying him. Ten out of ten, triggering bursts of cheers and flattery.

"Sir, try it?" Zhu Yijun said with a smile.

Zhang Juzheng waved his hands repeatedly, shook his head and said: "Let Qi Shuai (General Qi) do it."

Qi Jiguang took the ten copper coins and began to throw them in. Every time he hit one, it triggered a cheer. The last copper coin drew a beautiful arc in the air and landed exactly at the edge of the turtle's mouth, spun, but didn't fall into the turtle's mouth, but landed in the pool.

"Alas, it's truly a pity, it was just a little bit off." Qi Jiguang looked quite annoyed. Nine out of ten, the last one didn't go in.

"Yes, it's a pity." Zhu Yijun didn't know what to say. Most of his martial arts were learned from Qi Jiguang. This last move of Qi Jiguang was simply intentionally not throwing it in, just missing by a little bit, making the Emperor appear omnipotent.

When it was time to cooperate with the performance, Qi Jiguang would not choose to turn a blind eye. In the Great Ming court, everyone was an actor.

Zhu Yijun stood by the pool, looked at the rows of spirit tablets in the main hall, and revealed a bright, sunny smile. The prosperous scenery of Yangzhou today was worthy of the fearless dedication of these warriors back then.

"Yangzhou is good, but now it's time to go to the Southern Yamen to stand for our Chief Censor Hai." Zhu Yijun lingered on the prosperous scenery of Yangzhou, but he really couldn't stay any longer.

Hence Hai Rui was "fighting alone" in the Southern Yamen, and the Great Ming Emperor had to rush to support him.

Of course, this was the Emperor's own view. In the eyes of the Southern Yamen scholar-officials, Hence Hai Rui was one person! Behind Hence Hai Rui were the Emperor on the southern tour, the imperial court, and the Capital Battalion guards; in the Southern Yamen, Hence Hai Rui had the naval Regional Commander and Marquis of Shouli Chen Lin, twenty thousand naval soldiers, the Duke of Wei Xu Bangrui who handed over the defense, Viceroy Li Le helping out, and Southern Yamen Embroidered Uniform Guard Commander Inspector Luo Bingliang Bingliang cooperating with the work;

By Hence Hai Rui's side, there were two plain-clothed censors, Criminal Investigation Battalion Commander Chen Mo, and four hundred guards accompanying and assisting.

This was the "fighting alone" understood by the Emperor.

The Emperor was afraid that Hence Hai Rui would be bullied, but the "base Confucian scholars" of the Southern Yamen had something to say: who exactly was bullying whom! If Hence Hai Rui had this kind of power back then, what couldn't he have done!

Zhu Yijun finally saw that expensive "sealing boat," with a construction cost as high as fifteen thousand silver, which made the Great Ming Emperor's heart ache. At the moment he saw it, Zhu Yijun called it a waste!

The sealing boat was converted from a fast sailing ship. Because it was a river boat, the bottom was relatively flat, and it was not designed as a sharp-bottomed ship for crossing the ocean. The masts were removed and replaced with a more luxurious tower-ship design. There were four floors in total, and oars were added. The power was just human power, not even a propeller, which destined this sealing boat to only travel on the river.

But inland river transport didn't need such a large ship, so this fifteen thousand silver had only one purpose, and that was for the Emperor to cross the river. Even the power was chosen to be the most reliable human power, rather than the propeller that had already been verified as successful.

What made Zhu Yijun's heart ache even more was that this ship was too luxurious. Fifteen thousand silver was mainly spent on decoration. This ship was so extravagant that as long as it appeared, everyone knew the Emperor was here.

This was the purpose of the Songjiang Prefecture shipyard building this ship: to let everyone know that His Majesty had arrived. Otherwise, wouldn't this ship have been built in vain?

On the last day of the third month, the Great Ming Emperor boarded the ship to Nanjing. The fleet reached the Qinhuai River, then to Mo Chouhu, and arrived at the temporary palace by Mo Chouhu, the Nanhu Villa.

Zhu Yijun's ship crossed the Yangtze River, and everyone knew the Great Ming Emperor had come. The sailing speed of the giant ship was not very fast. On the third day, the Great Ming Emperor's fleet arrived at the not-so-loyal Yingtian Prefecture. The whole process did not have any accidents, such as catching fire or falling into the water. The various dangers of the Daoist Master's southern tour back then did not fall on Zhu Yijun.

The Great Ming officials all saw the nonsense of Prince Lu Zhu Yijun in the Northern Yamen. Compared to letting Zhu Yijun hold power, it was better to have Zhu Yijun, an emperor who could be negotiated with, which was more reliable.

The Emperor forbade anyone from coming to the pier to welcome him, because he was actually not on the sealing boat, but on a specially reinforced horse boat. This was to prevent accidents. If someone wanted to assassinate the Emperor, they would rack their brains to break into the magnificent sealing boat, and even burn the sealing boat, but the Emperor would not have any problems.

"Extremely smooth, smoother than I expected." Zhu Yijun stepped off the horse boat and said with great emotion when his feet touched the ground.

Wang Chonggu, who was a rebel by background, didn't say a word. He actually really wanted to say: playing tricks, who can play better than you, the Great Ming Emperor!

The sealing boat couldn't be said to be solid as a rock, but it could be called unbreakable. The Great Ming Emperor actually used a construction cost of fifteen thousand silver as bait. Whoever attempted an assassination would be the fish hooked by His Majesty.

The Great Ming Emperor successfully stayed at the Nanhu Villa. He had just arrived when a small eunuch hurriedly took a blood-written letter, rushed into the main hall, knelt on the ground, held the blood-written letter in his hands, and said with a fast speed but clear articulation: "Your Majesty, the officials of the Southern Yamen have all come to the Nanhu Villa to cry for the carriage. They say Hence Hai Rui indulges treacherous commoners, exploits the gentry, seeks governance too urgently, and changes things too suddenly, and human feelings are not without a little resentment."

"The officials have written in blood to report, begging Your Majesty to consider and use it."

Zhu Yijun took the blood-written letter from Feng Bao's hands and said: "This Jiangnan is rainy and humid. The teacher is old, so you must find a sunny official residence to arrange for him. Remember, don't be near the water, and all food and drink must be careful."

"The servant obeys the decree." Feng Bao hurriedly bowed and took the order. In fact, there was no need for His Majesty to remind him; Feng Bao had already arranged everything properly. Everywhere they went, His Majesty would personally ask about Zhang Juzheng's water and food. This disciple could also be considered dedicated.

"Let me see what new tricks these 'base Confucian scholars' have played!" Zhu Yijun picked up the blood-written letter and read it for a long time. His brows furrowed deeper and deeper, and his expression became more and more solemn. He said to Zhang Hong: "Find a small eunuch and tell Hence Hai Rui: whatever he wants to do, just do it! Be bolder!"

"These 'base Confucian scholars' who are not worth pitying!"

The blood-written letter mentioned one thing: in the fourth year of Longqing, about three months after Hence Hai Rui arrived at Yingtian Prefecture, his wife and concubine died overnight. If it weren't for this blood-written letter, Zhu Yijun would not have known at all what price Hence Hai Rui had paid back then.

Hence Hai Rui had a daughter, but his legal wife had been slow to give birth to a son for Hence Hai Rui. According to the Great Ming Law, one could take a concubine if one had no son at forty. Hence Hai Rui took a concubine, and this wife and concubine died overnight, right when Hence Hai Rui was dealing with Xu Jie back then, and all the officials were submitting memorials to plead for Xu Jie.

Hence Hai Rui came again this time. But the difference this time was that in order to support Hence Hai Rui, the Emperor himself arrived.

The Great Ming Left Censor Hence Hai Rui arrived in Nanjing, clarified the criminal facts of the former Xuzhou Prefect Chen Wuyin, and then pushed forward several things with Li Le.

The first was to cut down on floating expenses, which was a comprehensive investigation of all city, road, bridge, and ditch repair expenses since the first year of Wanli. The focus was on two directions: layer-by-layer subcontracting and post-facto repairs.

Layer-by-layer subcontracting inevitably breeds corruption, and a project that cuts corners due to corruption will inevitably lead to repeated repairs, patching and making do. This is a wound that cannot heal.

These two directions can be said to hit the lifeblood of these Southern Yamen officials. The Southern Yamen has many major constructions, and these constructions have oil and water. Hence Hai Rui doesn't necessarily have to be "clear as water," but major constructions absolutely cannot have loopholes. You can take a little, it doesn't matter, but if the major construction cannot be used, you will be held accountable.

Just cutting down on floating expenses, the number of officials at all levels arrested was one hundred and forty-three, and there were thirty-one others who were on the way to being arrested or captured.

The second thing was to pursue the stolen money, and the blood-written letter was mainly about this.

Hence Hai Rui actually worked with the Tax Investigation Institute, known for its harsh officials, to pursue the stolen money. In addition to pursuing the silver obtained through corruption, all the powerful and influential families on the same line had to pay back the tax arrears. And the Southern Yamen Embroidered Uniform Guard Commander Inspector Luo Bingliang Bingliang cooperated closely with Hence Hai Rui, fiercely pursuing a wave of stolen money. In just seven days, the pursued tax arrears had exceeded 1.5 million silver, and the total scale of the pursued stolen money exceeded 3 million silver.

The third thing was to correct corrupt habits. There were clear regulations for the extravagance and waste of official offices at all levels, such as the amount of coal used in winter, travel ceremonies, water and food scale, arrears, banquets, etc., all had clear details.

For example, banquets had "eight prohibitions and twelve avoidances." The eight prohibitions were very clear: using public funds for banquets, banquets by powerful and influential families, banquets by workshop owners, banquets by interested parties, banquets for official business, private guests with public funds, wedding and funeral banquets, and chamber of commerce banquets. Different degrees of punishment were given according to the severity of the situation.

These eight prohibitions were fine. After all, Hence Hai Rui was known for his uprightness and integrity. What made the Southern Yamen scholar-officials feel the most uncomfortable were these twelve avoidances.

It seemed to only require avoidance, without hard regulations forbidding attendance, but "if the punishment is unknown, the prestige is unpredictable." The eight prohibitions clarified the punishment, while the twelve avoidances did not have more detailed punishment clauses, which led to everyone being in danger, and the only choice for everyone was not to attend banquets that could be avoided.

Preventing mistakes, leading to a dim official career, became the only choice for everyone.

"Feng Bao, go and convey my decree. If they still refuse to leave and continue to cry in front of me, let Inspector Luo Bingliang Bingliang come and arrest them into the Southern Town Fudesi prison. If there is not enough space, let the Second Grand Secretary build a 'Turtle Building' and throw them in!" Zhu Yijun wrote the imperial decree.

Feng Bao took the small eunuch and came to the gate of the Nanhu Villa. A group of people knelt in front of the gate. Feng Bao flicked his whisk and said loudly: "Officials, listen to the decree."

"The decree of the Emperor, who receives the mandate of heaven:"

"Since Left Censor Hence Hai Rui arrived in Yingtian by imperial decree, he has cut down on floating expenses, corrected old evils, rectified official administration, and corrected corrupt habits. This conforms to the heart of heaven and follows the will of the people. Compliance leads to smoothness, and non-compliance leads to rebellion. I am very comforted by his intention to serve the country and the people."

"The reason you are crying is not because of suffering, but because suffering has been added to your bodies. All kinds of suffering were what you added to the ten thousand people in the past."

"The beginning of things under heaven is very difficult, and the end is easy. Hai Gangfeng's actions are slightly too urgent in seeking governance and too sudden in changes, and human feelings are not without a little resentment. There are places that are too extreme and not close to human feelings, but his heart and actions are to painfully punish accumulated evils and be the master for the people, so he will not be removed."

"You don't need to make noise here. I have assistant ministers to assist me. Retire now. If you don't leave, don't regret it in front of the iron window!"

"Respect this."

The scholar-officials who made the blood-written letter never expected to receive such a tough response.

The Emperor not only highly affirmed Hence Hai Rui's actions but also scolded them severely and gave a stern warning: if they continued to make noise, he would let Hence Hai Rui turn over the old accounts to see if there was anything under their buttocks, and whether they were that clean!

If they weren't that clean and still refused to leave, they could only regret it in prison. ===== CHAPTER 672 =====