amaotonovel Chapter 691 The dog-like Yang the madman really wants both.
Chapter 691 The dog-like Yang the madman really wants both.
As Zhu Biao finished speaking, Liu Bowen seemed to see an enormous black pot flying in from the sky, wobbling but precisely landing on his head, impossible to pry off.
motherfucker.
I always said there were no good people in the Ming Dynasty court.
One case of Yang's epilepsy is already enough of a headache.
Now even His Highness the Crown Prince is following suit and becoming bad.
Of course, His Highness the Crown Prince wasn't a good person to begin with.
After all, as the old saying goes, if the upper beam is crooked, the lower beam will be crooked too. If his father is no good, how good can he be?
Liu Bowen was internally ranting and raving, and only in this way could he slightly alleviate his displeasure.
Zhu Biao glanced at Liu Bowen and Li Shanchang, whose expressions differed, smiled, and had someone bring Yang Shaofeng's letter to the two of them. He then continued, "The Duke of Han and the Earl of Chengyi should take a look first."
Li Shanchang took the letter, glanced at it, and then handed it to Liu Bowen with a smile. His gaze towards Liu Bowen was filled with a mixture of sympathy and schadenfreude.
As the saying goes, "Better to die a fellow Daoist than a poor one."
Back when Yang the Madman got married, my son Qi was his best man and took a beating for him.
With this bond between us, Yang the Madman shouldn't torment me to death.
As for Liu Bowen?
That old scoundrel, who was in charge of the Censorate, went on a rampage of impeaching Yang the Madman every month-end. Now he deserves to be retaliated against.
Liu Bowen was furious at Li Shanchang's gaze.
Liu Bowen only let out a long sigh after reading through Yang Shaofeng's letter.
Look at the idea that Yang the Madman came up with.
The officials, gentry, and merchants involved in the child and ironware cases were brought to the county government office for a public trial.
Let the officials and ordinary people who are not implicated watch, and let them stand up and expose their evil deeds.
Then, all their crimes were published in the official gazette and newspapers.
Then it was written into the local gazetteers, prefectural gazetteers, and even family genealogies of these people.
Even their crimes had to be recorded in detail on their tombstones after their deaths.
We need to find a few more opera troupes to adapt these people's crimes into plays and have them performed.
Furthermore, considering the regulation that "these people's nine generations, five degrees of mourning, and three generations of ancestors are not allowed to serve as officials"...
What does it mean to kill someone by destroying their spirit?
This is like killing someone by destroying their spirit!
Moreover, it's not just about making the people of the world despise these people; more importantly, it's about ensuring that even after they die, they are cursed by their entire families and relatives.
I am no match for Yang the Madman after all.
Liu Bowen was filled with emotion, but then he rallied his spirits, cupped his hands and bowed to Zhu Biao, saying, "Your Highness, I will organize all these things and write a memorial to present to Your Highness and the Emperor."
It's just a little bit of bad reputation.
I'll take the blame for that madman Yang!
Anyway, I still have that old scoundrel Li Shanchang to take the scolding with me.
Seeing Liu Bowen looking at him, Li Shanchang stroked his beard and smiled, then directly told Zhu Biao, "The Marquis of Chengyi wrote a memorial and the emperor used the imperial seal. I will have someone arrange for its implementation. This should frighten some of the timid ones."
Zhu Biao nodded, then picked up two more memorials and had the attending eunuchs hand them to Li Shanchang and Liu Bowen.
"The Duke of Han and the Earl of Chengyi, please take another look at these two memorials."
"One copy was sent by the prefect of Huai'an a few days ago."
"The other one was sent by my brother-in-law via express courier."
"These two memorials were delivered together."
Both Li Shanchang and Liu Bowen were somewhat bewildered.
The memorial sent by Wu Zhendong, the prefect of Huai'an, a few days ago?
The memorial sent by Yang the Madman on horseback?
It can't be that Wu Zhendong had some kind of premonition and knew that Yang Dianfeng was going to be in trouble long before Yang even went to Huai'an Prefecture, so he wrote a memorial to impeach Yang in advance.
While pondering the matter haphazardly, Li Shanchang and Liu Bowen took the memorial and began to read it.
"Your subject, Wu, the Prefect of Huai'an, respectfully reports that Huai'an Prefecture is suffering from a severe drought, and requests that taxes be waived and relief grain be allocated..."
"Your subject, Yang, the Governor of Zhili, respectfully reports that Huai'an Prefecture is facing a drought and requests the Imperial Court to allocate relief grain and supplies to artisans..."
Seeing the two almost identical memorials, Li Shanchang and Liu Bowen were even more bewildered.
In his memorial to the throne, Wu Zhendong, the prefect of Huai'an, reported that Huai'an Prefecture was suffering from a severe drought and requested the imperial court to exempt the people of Huai'an Prefecture from taxes and allocate relief grain. This was a perfectly normal procedure.
Yang the Madman did not petition for tax exemption, but he did apply for the allocation of relief grain and artisans, which was also a very normal procedure.
The difference between the two memorials lies in the fact that Wu Zhendong was methodical in his work and still hoped that the court would provide relief in the face of the drought, while he himself was working with the mindset of doing less to avoid mistakes and doing nothing to avoid making mistakes.
Yang Dianfeng's memorial was very much in line with his usual style; while requesting the court to provide relief, he also mobilized the people to fight the drought.
Both versions of the musical score are very much in line with the styles of the two artists.
So what's so interesting about this thing?
But upon further reflection, Li Shanchang's expression changed drastically.
"Is Huai'an Prefecture suffering a severe drought?"
"No, how could Huai'an Prefecture be experiencing a drought?"
"Huai'an Prefecture is located on the coast, and within the prefecture are Shuoxiang Lake, Hongze Lake, and Luoma Lake. If Huai'an Prefecture can suffer from a severe drought, what must other places be like?"
Upon hearing Li Shanchang's words, Liu Bowen, who was sitting next to Li Shanchang, also changed his expression drastically.
Damn it.
They forgot the actual situation in Huai'an Prefecture.
Zhu Biao glanced at Li Shanchang, then at Liu Bowen, and said, "In any case, the severe drought in Huai'an Prefecture is unavoidable."
"Huai'an Prefecture is suffering from a severe drought, and other places are not much better off."
"This time, it's probably not just a simple matter of allocating grain to Huai'an Prefecture."
Li Shanchang nodded slightly.
The matter is obvious.
Huai'an Prefecture itself is located on the coast and has many waterways, so it can be said to be a granary of the Ming Dynasty.
Even Huai'an Prefecture is now needing grain allocation from the imperial court due to drought, so the drought situation in other places can only be more severe.
After silently calculating for a moment, Li Shanchang's expression immediately became even more unpleasant.
"If it were only Huai'an, it would be better."
"If there are too many drought-stricken areas, I'm afraid the national treasury won't have enough grain to allocate."
"Although we don't have to worry about food in the short term because of the Dengzhou border market, in the long run, we may not be able to supply enough food to vassal states like Siam?"
Zhu Biao shook his head slightly and said, "The matter of grain is easy to solve. Just as my brother-in-law once said, if we make the people of the various vassal states suffer, we can always scrape together enough grain."
For a moment, Li Shanchang and Liu Bowen felt powerless, unsure where to even begin their吐槽 (tu cao, a Chinese internet slang term for sarcastic or critical comments).
God, make things difficult for the people of all the vassal states.
What kind of people are there in vassal states?
Aren't they all just a bunch of barbarians?
Yang, the madman, really wanted both; he wanted the grain from the vassal state, but he also wanted to maintain his image as a good person.
They have absolutely no shame!
Li Shanchang cursed the shameless imperial son-in-law in his heart, but his expression changed as he continued cursing.