Sigh, if I had known I would travel through time, I should have studied history and taken the civil service exams back then.
However, Zhu Ci had not expected that such simple anti-corruption efforts would yield such effective results.
It could be said that it was a case of planting willow seeds by chance and having them grow into a lush grove.
Seeing his black piece land, Zhu Ci lowered his head and stared for a long time, beginning to struggle with where to place his next move.
Zhu Ci sat opposite him and said gloatingly, "Make your move. No matter how you place your pieces, you won't be able to block mine."
Zhu Ci said stubbornly, "I don't believe it."
He placed a piece, Zhu Ci immediately placed a piece on the other side, saying, "Look, five in a row. I told you that you couldn't block me!"
Zhu Ci frowned. "This way of playing.. doesn't seem that simple either."
It's simpler than Go, mainly because it has fewer rules.
Zhu Ci was clearly very happy about winning the game, but this joy faded slightly when he looked up and saw Fu, Zhu Yujian, Chen Zilong walking this way.
Sigh, he had played Gomoku with many people, no one could beat him, yet he somehow lost more than he won against Fu.
At first, he was winning every round, he even said generously to Fu, "Don't let me win; play however you want."
As soon as these words were spoken, oh boy, losing five rounds in a row left even Zhu Ci stunned.
However, he was never the type to lose his temper over winning or losing; he was just a bit unwilling to accept it.
One could only say that there was a reason Fu could grow his business to such an extent.
Even so, Zhu Ci reduced the number of times he played chess with Fu.
No matter how easygoing one is, losing all the time is still unbearable.
Does he not care about his reputation?
Fortunately, these three people hadn't come over to play chess with him, but to report on their periodic achievements.
He added by the way, "Your Majesty, some scattered uprisings have appeared in certain places recently.."
Fu spoke in a very gentle voice, having already prepared himself to soothe the Little Emperor.
Zhu Ci toyed with a black piece in his hand and asked, "Who is leading the uprising? Why are they uprising? How many people are following them?"
He looked very calm, whereas Zhu Ci, sitting to the side, had a very unpleasant expression on his face.
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Author's Note: Zhu Ci: I'll bet a dried small fish that this is absolutely not a peasant uprising. A kitty is lying on a mountain of dried small fish, munching. jpg
Next update at 12:00 PM~
Chapter 176
Zhu Ci had a complete psychological shadow when it came to the words "uprising."
After all, the beginning of the collapse of the Great Ming was the constant occurrence of uprisings, which eventually gave rise to the forces of Chuangwang Li Zicheng that would destroy the Great Ming.
To him, the fact that another rebellion had broken out in the Great Ming was nothing less than a recurring nightmare.
Fu Ku breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that he was not angry.
As the New Year approaches, things only become more chaotic. People are constantly offending the Little Emperor, such anger is detrimental to one's health; he does not want Zhu Ci to remain in a state of constant fury.
But unfortunately, these important matters could not be reported.
Fu said, "There aren't many people, most are around one or two hundred. Those who respond are also mostly organized by village; once they leave, not many people respond."
Taking villages as units.. nowadays, aside from those who have fled here to settle together, most villages consist of people sharing the same surname. The villagers are basically all related; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say they are all part of one large clan.
The so-called village-based structure was more like a clan-based one.
Zhu Ci didn't even need to guess to know that these families were certainly powerful clans in the local area.
"Have people been sent to suppress the rebellion?" Zhu Ci asked in a very casual tone.
Fu paused and said, "The situation in the Ministry of War is somewhat complicated; Your Majesty will also need to issue an edict."
The situation in the Ministry of War is complicated.. In other words, there should be quite a few people involved in the embezzlement case.
It was not unexpected, actually.
After all, with the great army fighting in external campaigns, money and provisions were being sent to the front lines incessantly, like flowing water, they would inevitably pass through the Ministry of War.
Although Zhu Ci had previously wanted to make military power independent, he did not intend to do it all at once, preferring to take things more gradually and steadily.
Consequently, he did not touch the officials of the Ministry of War; it was only natural for these people to reach out their hands.
Zhu Ci thought for a moment and said, "Let Jiang Quan take one thousand Jinyi Guards."
Your Majesty, you must not. The safety of the Imperial City depends on the Jinyi Guard; they cannot be easily reassigned.
Having lost a game of Gomoku, Zhu Ci could not help but offer a word of advice.
Zhu Ci said with a smile, "Rest assured, Prince of Ning, it is only a thousand men; they won't shake the foundations of the Jinyi Guard. Besides, a blade must be sharpened frequently to stay sharp, the Jinyi Guard has grown through many battles. Being cooped up in a cage isn't a good thing for them; it is just right that they get to see some blood."
Since the Emperor had said so, the others naturally could not say anything more.
The most important matters had been concluded, what remained was for Zhu Yujian and Chen Zilong to report on the periodic results.
Zhu Ci was multitasking, playing chess while listening to Zhu Yujian's report.
Fu stood to the side watching the chessboard, feeling inexplicably annoyed with the Prince of Ning.
Well, perhaps it wasn't for no reason.
It was most likely because in the past, he had always sat opposite the Little Emperor, but now he could only be a bystander.
Zhu Ci felt a sudden chill run through his body and looked around with some confusion.
The doors and windows were all closed and tightly sealed, the floor heating was so warm that even Zhu Yujian, who was reporting the situation, had beads of sweat on his forehead.
Why would he feel cold?
Zhu Ci was oblivious, but he was actually quite satisfied in his heart as he listened to Zhu Yujian's report.
Although there were corrupt officials, the large amount had angered him, aside from the Ministry of Works, none of the Six Ministries or Nine Ministers were implicated.
Being not implicated means that even their families were not involved in any wrongdoing.
I suppose these people are well aware of the situation, or perhaps it is simply that their conduct is somewhat more decent.
However, to be honest, none of the officials in charge of various departments came from particularly poor families; perhaps this is one of the reasons.
Zhu Ci nodded upon hearing this. "Very well, proceed as planned."
Your Majesty, since the onset of winter, there have been continuous snowstorms, now it has been snowing for ten days straight.. Rumors are already spreading outside.. Should they be dealt with?
Zhu Yujian struggled for a long time before finally asking the question.
As soon as he spoke, he received a piercing gaze from the Grand Secretary.
Zhu Yujian immediately began to reflect on whether he had said something wrong, but.. this matter was neither too large nor too small, the Emperor still needed to know about it.
After all, people had already begun to take advantage of the situation to fan the flames, claiming that the Emperor's tyranny had provoked the displeasure of Heaven, that these were omens sent to warn him.
After hearing this reasoning, Zhu Ci could not help but let out a sneer.
How long has this Little Ice Age been going on? If we're calling this a celestial anomaly now, does that mean all those years of snow before were just normal?
However, this much snow did indeed make Zhu Ci a bit worried; droughts in the summer and blizzards in the winter made life a little too difficult to endure.
Seeing that Zhu Ci was not taking it seriously, Zhu Yujian spoke earnestly, "Your Majesty, water can carry a boat, but it can also overturn it. The people's hearts are currently in turmoil; we cannot afford to be careless."
Ordinary people lack the ability to distinguish right from wrong and easily follow the crowd. If too many people start talking, they might be swayed by those rebel armies, by then, it will be too late to deal with it.
Zhu Ci said casually, "It seems the law is still missing a clause against spreading rumors."
However, the criteria for judgment in later generations was having over five hundred reposts; how should it be judged now?
Zhu Yujian..
I didn't mean that!
Standing to the side, Zhu Ci could no longer bear to watch and said, "Your Majesty, if it truly cannot be done.. then let us perform the sacrifices to Heaven."
Zhu Ci was stunned: "Huh?"
So you've been telling me all this just to talk about metaphysics?
He looked out the window. At this moment, the snow was not particularly heavy; the so-called ten days of heavy snow was actually an exaggeration, though it had indeed been ten consecutive days without a single clear day.
He turned his head, glanced over, said, "It matters not whether we perform the Heaven-Worshiping Ceremony or not. But have you all considered what you will do if the weather does not clear even after the ceremony?"
Rest assured, Your Majesty," Fu said. "The sacrificial text has already been written. If it still doesn't clear up after the sacrifice, then it is because the rebels intend to bring ruin to the people, thus the heavens are showing a warning.
Zhu Ci??
So you all were already prepared? Then why did you insist on performing a sacrifice to heaven? Can't we just use that reasoning now?
Zhu Ci gave Fu a suspicious glance, thought for a moment, said, "Fine then."
Huh? That easy?
Zhu Yujian and Chen Zilong exchanged a glance; they had both originally prepared for the possibility that the Emperor would disagree, had planned ways to persuade him.
Who in the entire court of civil and military officials did not know that the Emperor cared nothing for the ethereal tales of immortals and gods?
This kind of personality has both pros and cons. The advantage, of course, is that they don't have to worry about another Shizong appearing, but the disadvantage is that it takes an enormous amount of effort to get the Emperor to engage in anything mystical.
In fact, it wasn't exactly metaphysics; after all, they had already coordinated with the Imperial Observatory. All the Emperor had to do was agree to perform the sacrifices to Heaven.
Zhu Ci was truly at a loss for words after finding out. You could say these people didn't believe in gods or Buddhas, yet they insisted he perform the sacrifices to Heaven; but if you said they did believe in gods or Buddhas, they were faking it.
Fine, since everything is ready, he would just go through the motions.
Consider it a way to stabilize the people's hearts; after all, social unrest is certainly not a good thing.
“The eulogy? Who wrote it? Let me see it.”
Since he had decided to go, Zhu Ci prepared to read the sacrificial text carefully to avoid being tricked; what if he were presented with something like an Edict of Self-Reproach?
A sacrificial text is not only burned for the heavens, but is also read aloud in public.
Fu reached into his sleeve, pulled out a piece of paper, said, "I have already written it; I ask Your Majesty to take a look."