With a clang, a wooden bowl was thrown to the ground. The porridge in the bowl spilled out, and the wooden bowl spun on the ground. Zhu Changluo, who had thrown the bowl, stomped his feet and scolded, "Even if I am crippled, I should still be made a king or a marquis. Even if he wasn't a Marquis, the title of Duke of Peace and Happiness would do.
What do you mean by this? Giving me gruel every day has made my intestines bland. I want to eat the food made by the imperial kitchen. Do you hear me? Get your Grand Marshal here, quickly. "
Zhu Changluo's shout reverberated in Jingyang Palace. Dozens of princes, dukes, and ministers were imprisoned here. They had to take care of their daily necessities. This was the most remote palace in the Forbidden City. During the Wanli period, there was a concubine named Wang Gongfei who was given the cold shoulder by the emperor and was thrown here for ten years without being able to see her son. This place was actually the so-called Cold Palace.
Now, there were a few lines of words written on the walls of the Cold Palace. On one side, it said, "Be honest, reflect, reform, repent, and turn over a new leaf." On the other side, it said, "Hang yourself by the rope, take poison, and take care of your own life and death." With these few lines of words, it could be said that this place was a labor camp.
After Zhou Qingfeng occupied the capital, he began to transform the imperial capital. There was no need to mention cleaning and tidying up. The whole city was mobilized to establish a solid grassroots political power. First, the population was counted, and then the work arrangements for the common people, officials, and servants were made.
Those who had grievances complained, those who suffered grievances complained, and those who had enmity took revenge. The Administrative Department of the Revolutionary Army officially evolved into the State Council after separating from the public security, procuratorial, and judicial systems. The entire civil service system was extremely busy.
Fang Yizhe and the other high-ranking officials were thrown into Jingyang Palace. When they arrived, they discovered that there was already a prisoner numbered 001 in the palace, Daming, the dethroned emperor Zhu Changluo. Even if Fang Yizhe came, he could only be classified as 002. With so many people coming in, someone hanged himself that very night. The people who were in charge of this place were eunuchs from the palace. They just reported it and had the corpses transported away.
For those who don't want to die, please write a report every day. For example, Fang Yizhe was required to write down his background, his experience in politics, and his experiences in the bureaucracy. Zhu Changluo also had a similar task. In any case, he had to write it. There were even people from newspapers who came to interview and record the historical materials. All kinds of tricky questions were as many as the hairs on a cow.
That wasn't the end of it. He still had to publicize it. It would only count if no one questioned it. However, the vast majority of people could not pass the test of publicity. Many people wrote contradictory things, and some even slandered and quarreled with each other. A ball of harmony? He had already been reduced to a prisoner. That didn't exist.
At first, everyone was still writing nonsense, but most of the people who were locked up were scholars. Once they shed all pretense of cordiality, they would attack each other. All kinds of shady information emerged one after another. The Revolutionary Army had specialized personnel to screen and compile the information they confessed and then publish it to the world.
Through the articles between these officials, the common people knew why they lived so hard. Only then did they know how many dirty and dirty things the so-called 'scholars' who were usually sanctimonious had done behind the scenes. Only then did they know that the imperial court had been living beyond its means for a long time.
However, among the people locked up in the Cold Palace, '001' Zhu Changluo was a special case. Not long after he ascended the throne, all he did was drink and lust. He didn't care if others scolded him. The only thing he made a fuss about was asking for treatment, food, drink, and women. This fuss lasted for half a month. He lost some weight, but he was more energetic and energetic.
Fang Yizhe was writing the report in the room. Through the crack of the door, he could see Zhu Changluo making a fuss outside. He was too lazy to pay attention to the movements of the deposed emperor. He only held the pen with one hand and thought about what to write today.
Most of the people in the Cold Palace were very obedient because their families were still in the hands of the Revolutionary Army. For example, Fang Yizhe had a letter sent in today. The letter described the current situation of the Fang Residence.
More than a hundred people in the Fang Residence were forcibly disbanded. The servants and the like regained their freedom. All the children of the right age went to school. The adults were arranged by the Revolutionary Army to work. At present, the affairs in the city were complicated, and the demand for service personnel was great. There was definitely work to be done.
As for the property and land of the Fang Residence, they were all gone. The Revolutionary Army only gave them the most basic living expenses. The rest had to rely on their own labor to make a living. This was like a bolt from the blue for most of the young masters and ladies of the official families. Almost no one could adapt to it.
Some people hung themselves, some people returned to their hometown with their families, and some people awkwardly became obedient people. In short, this was a great wave of change that was changing everything. And the Revolutionary Army? It was making a fortune.
A large number of influential people were driven out of their houses, and these houses soon had new owners. For example, the Fang Residence had a sign hanging on it. It was transformed into the office of the Revolutionary Army's Department of Public Security.
Many of the houses of the nobles were converted into schools or hospitals because of the large area and the large number of houses. Many of the children of the officials and eunuchs were trained as teachers and medical staff because they were literate. Most of the noble people lived a life of luxury and cried for a few days. When they were hungry, they could understand how miserable it was for the poor people to have three meals, and then they became obedient.
Reading these descriptions in the letter, Fang Yizhe sighed. He had been the First Secretary of Daming for many years. He was very envious of the Revolutionary Army's pleasure in governing. In the past, no matter what he wanted to do, there were a lot of people under him. In the end, the government couldn't do anything and could only wait for death. On the contrary, the Revolutionary Army, no matter what they did was right or wrong, at least they dared to think and do.
The use of property and the transformation of personnel were very important, but these things were not so eye-catching, and the effect was not immediate. The seizure of the officials' property was the most eye-catching.
In the letter, the Revolutionary Army checked the treasury and confiscated the property of the palace, the royal family, the nobles, and the eunuchs. They also screened and investigated most of the officials, and pursued corruption of grain, real estate, and land. Just checking the property of a few eunuchs in the palace had more than a million taels of silver, and there were countless jewelry shops.
In addition, many officials and nobles were impressed by the power of the Revolutionary Army and paid the money to atone for their crimes. Some were a few hundred taels, and some were a few thousand taels. Now that half a month had passed, the newly appointed minister, Ma Keshi, was like a new official making three changes. After he cleaned up the Imperial Plantation and the eunuchs, he turned around and began to clean up the administrative system. In just three to five days, he found more than 10 million taels of silver.
According to the newspaper's estimate, the entire capital's seized amount would exceed 37 million taels of silver, and 1.5 million taels of gold. "The Middle Court 100,000 taels, the Ministry Court, the Capital Court, the Brocade Robes 750,000 taels, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Personnel 530,000 taels. Even the Hanlin Academy paid 20,000 to 30,000 taels. The subordinates and officials were looted, and the families of the nobles and nobles were not fixed. Both the people and the wealth were lost. "
The Fang Family had also been confiscated more than a hundred thousand taels of property, but when Fang Yizhe saw the description in his family's letter, he felt a kind of joy. He felt sorry for his family's ruin, but he also cursed the nobles in the capital. "You deserve it, you deserve it! When I asked for your help, all of you came and cried that you were poor, and refused to pay even if you died. Now, a ruthless character has come and robbed all of your money in one go. "
More than 30 million taels, more than 30 million taels!
Thinking of the difficulty he had in raising money as the Grand Secretary, Fang Yizhe felt unhappy. He immediately thought of what he wanted to write today. He would write about the ugly behavior of the nobles before Daming's death. He would write about the stupidity of these people who were not willing to pay even a little bit of strength in the face of the collapse of the empire. "If these people were willing to pay, I, Daming, would not have been defeated so quickly."
Once he thought about it, Fang Yizhe wrote quickly. He spent the whole morning writing a long letter, listing all the stupid things the court's civil and military officials had done to show how difficult and difficult it was for him to be the Grand Secretary. When he was about to finish, someone suddenly pushed open the door with a bang. Fang Yizhe jumped in fright. He raised his head and saw Zhu Changluo running in, his face covered in tears.
"Beloved Official Fang, please help us!" Zhu Changluo practically fell to the ground and hugged Fang Yizhe's thigh as he yelled, "We have only been on the throne for a year, and you have been the one to handle all the government affairs. If there's anything, just admit it in our place. "
Fang Yizhe was baffled. These past few days, he had avoided contact with Zhu Changluo because he didn't know how to communicate with this dethroned emperor. Calling him 'Your Majesty' was clearly inappropriate, but calling him something else seemed even more inappropriate.
"Don't cry, don't cry. What's the matter, Brother Zhu?" Fang Yizhe was already old. After thinking for a long time, he felt that calling him 'Brother Zhu' was more appropriate. But Zhu Changluo was fat, and he couldn't pull him up no matter how hard he tried.
"Those traitors said that we didn't want to tell the truth, so they just dragged us out to parade us in the streets." Zhu Changluo cried miserably, and the process of the parade was even more miserable. The people of the capital all knew that Emperor Daming lived with them, but no one had seen him. When they heard about the 'dethroned emperor parade', a sea of people rushed out, wanting to know what the old emperor looked like.
When they saw Zhu Changluo's fat and silly face, the people felt disappointed and even angry. No one expected their emperor to be this kind of person. Some people were so angry that they vented all their resentment for their miserable life on Zhu Changluo. At first, the people only cursed, but then they threw mud and stones. Some people even wanted to tear Zhu Changluo apart alive.
Zhu Changluo, who had lived in the palace for more than 30 years, was so scared that he cried and peed. When he finally returned to Jingyang Palace, the eunuch guarding him warned him that if he didn't write the materials honestly, he would be dragged out to be criticized again.
"Dear minister, save me." Zhu Changluo hugged Fang Yizhe's thigh and didn't let go. "The destruction of Emperor Daming's country is really not our fault. All the government decrees came from you, and all the scandals in the imperial court are your fault. You should take responsibility for this. "
Fang Yizhe was thin and couldn't move when he was hugged by Zhu Changluo. However, when he heard this, he was immediately infuriated and kicked the dethroned emperor away forcefully.
The Emperor Daming's court usually had one Grand Secretary and two Vice Ministers. Fang Yizhe was originally promoted as the Vice Minister, but because of Emperor Wanli's neglect, the cabinet was short of people for a long time. He was the only minister, so this time the Vice Minister became the Grand Secretary. So when Zhu Changluo said that all the government decrees came from him, he wasn't wrong.
But now that Daming was finished, the history books were bound to sum up the lessons of history. At this time, who would dare to easily bear this huge responsibility? If this person nodded his head and was written in the history books, it was bound to go down in infamy for thousands of years.
Fang Yizhe was still not satisfied after kicking Zhu Changluo away. He pointed and scolded: "You muddleheaded ruler, Emperor Wanli looked down on you and wanted to appoint Prince Fu to succeed the throne. We, the court officials, strongly supported you to ascend the throne. But as an emperor, you didn't think of reform, didn't get close to virtuous people, and instead hid in the harem, indulging in wine and women. I …, I want to write down the actions of this muddleheaded ruler, so that it will be remembered for all ages. "
Zhu Changluo blinked his eyes, as if he couldn't believe that Fang Yizhe would turn around and bite him. But when he reacted, he immediately jumped up and scolded: "You …, you treacherous official. We have treated you well, and you dare to write bad words about us? Just you wait, just you wait, we will also write down your scandals. Don't think that we don't know what you have done. "
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