In front of an ordinary courtyard on East Chang'an Street, Xie Qian got out of the carriage, took the memorial impeachment of the Zhang brothers, and returned to the main hall all the way, feeling full of worries.

"It's really a wave that has not yet subsided and has risen again." Xie Qian was very worried.

With his professional qualities, he should have submitted the memorials to the Lijian Commissioner, but because he was entrusted by Empress Dowager Zhang to protect the Zhang brothers in a comprehensive manner, he could not handle them impartially.

Xie Qian kept expelling himself: "No matter how you say that they are also royal relatives, the Empress Dowager and Your Majesty will not punish you. If this matter continues to ferment, the only one who is unlucky will be the one who is reporting. I do this to avoid the situation from deteriorating and protect these reporting people!"

Xie Qian was anxious and didn't know what to do, but suddenly the doorman came to report that it was Hong Zhong, the left censor of the Censorate, and He Jian, the Minister of Personnel, came to visit together.

Xie Qian was a little worried: "These two people came to do evil for their relatives. If things were allowed to develop, the government and the country would not be at peace! No, no, we must suppress the matter!"

Xie Qian came out to welcome Hong Zhong and He Jian into the door.

After entering the main hall, He Jian explained his purpose before he sat down: "...Yu Qiao, you should have heard that the Censorate and dozens of officials from the Kedao jointly participated in the report of the Hou of Shouning and the Hou of Jianchang, who acted without restraint and treated the king's laws as if nothing had happened. Especially the Hou of Jianchang, who raped and plundered all evilly, aroused public anger. Some even said that the two brothers were the culprits of the bandit case in the capital at the beginning of His Majesty's ascension to the throne, and asked the court to investigate thoroughly... The memorial should have reached you, right?"

Xie Qian looked bad: "Since he said he was submitting a memorial, then he should wait for the sages of His Majesty. What are you doing here? Besides, you have to deal with the two uncles, and you must follow His Majesty's permission. Do you think that under the current circumstances, His Majesty will come forward to take care of this matter? Or do you want me to be favored and take action first and then report?"

He Jian glanced at Hong Zhong, and Hong Zhong turned his head away, obviously not wanting to reason with Xie Qian.

Before Xie Qian agreed to the eunuch party, he almost included Hong Zhong in the list. Xie Qian's charge for Hong Zhong was "Ruo Jin to attack the censor", which means to whip the censor according to Liu Jin's instructions. At that time, Hong Zhong was the left censor. Xie Qian's judgment made some sense, but he offended Hong Zhong miserably.

He Jian sighed: "Yu Qiao doesn't have to be aggressive. I'm just talking about the matter. The government and the country are circulating. Not only did the Marquis of Jianchang force the robbery of the people in broad daylight, but he also openly imprisoned the woman's husband and family, and used military law to impose a serious crime on Tongfan and beheaded on a date. It was simply a waste of human life... The prince violated the law and committed the same crime as the common people. The Ming Dynasty established the world with the law. Could it be that Yu Qiao had the heart to see that the people suffered unjust injustice?"

"I am the first minister, and I have a lot of things to do every day. How can I just make trivial matters annoying!"

Xie Qian's tone was cold, as if he didn't care at all about what He Jian said.

He Jian said helplessly: "Yu Qiao, I'm here to discuss with you. How do you submit memorial to Your Majesty? Why... Alas! Do you have to remain indifferent when you hear someone committing evil?"

Xie Qian's face was dark: "It is no longer an ordinary court affairs involving the royal relatives. Now we are hard to even face the saint, so why not give me a memorial? Without His Majesty's imperial criticism, the Three Offices' Offices will have no way to interfere... Besides, the brothers of the foreign relatives, Zhang, are in charge of soldiers, and every move may affect the stability of the capital, and affect the whole body with one move... Unless you can get your Majesty's permission, everything is empty talk..."

He Jian asked tentatively: "What Yu Qiao means, do we need to find a way to meet the saint?"

"What kind of face is? Let it go."

Xie Qian waved his hand, his tone full of impatientness.

Hong Zhong was dissatisfied with Xie Qian. Seeing that the prime minister who always talked about fairness and justice had completely different attitudes towards his relatives and Shen Xi, he was extremely harsh to Chen Xi and let his relatives go on his own. He immediately sarcasticly said: "Is Mr. Xie going to let him go and not investigate if he is guilty and let the evil people do evil? It is really contrary to Confucian etiquette education!"

Xie Qian's face was pitch black, but he didn't say much, and shook his hands and said, "Send out the guests!"

...

...

At this time, Chen Xi also learned that someone in the court impeached Zhang's relatives, and he did not find it very strange.

"...When Liu Jin abused power, foreign relatives occupied people's land around the capital by compromising with the eunuch party in exchange for convenience. Sometimes they bullied good things, but because of Liu Jin's tyranny, all officials in the court ignored this. After the eunuch party was destroyed, foreign relatives became more and more unscrupulous, causing public grievances. Now the righteous people in the court have submitted memorials to impeach foreign relatives. The adults can take advantage of the situation and bring down such evil spirits to face the front..."

Yunliu was heartbroken by the rampant foreign relatives. She had previously reported to Chen Xi about the bad deeds of the Zhang brothers. Unfortunately, Chen Xi was clear-headed and knew that as long as the Queen Mother Zhang was alive for one day, the Zhang brothers would not collapse. Even if they had to be punished due to the surging public opinion, they would just stop.

Now the foreign relatives are inciting public outrage, which has caused criticism from thousands of people. The government and the country are full of criticism. Yun Liu's idea is that Chen Xi takes decisive action and completely bring down the power of the foreign relatives.

The Zhang brothers relied on their strong backstage and kept singing opposites to the Ministry of War. If they could move this blocking stone, it would be a great benefit for Chen Xi to command and dispatch troops to the grassland in the future.

At this time, Chenxi was in a courtyard west of the city. The yard was surrounded by pine, cypress and spruce. In this winter, green could be seen everywhere, which was very rare.

Chen Xi came here to hide from the tranquility and do some private affairs at the same time.

Chen Xi poured tea for himself, with a leisurely expression: "Everyone knows that foreign relatives have committed crimes, but no yamen in the court dares to take care of them. Although it sounds absurd and unruly, it is reasonable. If you commit a crime and no one comes forward to stop or punish them, no one will resist the idea of ​​continuing to commit crimes!"

Yun Liu frowned: "Is the court helpless?"

Chen Xi shook his head and smiled bitterly: "At least not for the time being, Empress Dowager Zhang cannot kill his brothers to calm the public's anger, and even deprive him of his official position is not realistic. His Majesty needs people who can trust to control the troops in the capital... Besides, the emperor now ignores the affairs of the court."

Yun Liubei bit her lower lip tightly and said angrily: "No matter what, you can't let the relatives continue to do evil."

"Now we have to see how the old ministers in the court who were sluggish to me were dealt with."

Chen Xi said with great interest, "It's different now than before. The case was suppressed and there was no large-scale outbreak. Even if someone in the court knew about it, he could only turn a blind eye. But now everyone knows it. The people in the capital complained, and it would be not that easy for the court to suppress it."

Yunliu asked tentatively: "If the people continue to spread, I wonder if it will be helpful for handling the case?"

Chen Xi frowned: "The court itself is full of holes, and the news among the people is very low. If it is accompanied by all kinds of evil deeds of relatives and brothers... tsk... the scandal does not need to be expanded. The Ming Dynasty will start a war on the grassland next year. If the people are disloyal to the court, a little spark will trigger a prairie fire. Let's give up for the time being!"

"Yes, sir!"

Although Yun Liu responded, his eyes were rolling around when he lowered his head, and obviously he had other ideas in his mind.

Chen Xi waved his hand and said, "Go and see if Fatty Zhou is here. I told him what he did a few days ago. It's almost time to complete. Time is very tight. If he can't do it, I have to consider changing people..."

Yun Liu received the order and retreated, and soon he brought Fatty Zhou to Shen Xi.

Fatty Zhou knelt down in a hurry when he saw Chen Xi, just like last time.

After kowtowing three times, Fatty Zhou said respectfully: "Sir, my dear prepared a gift for you, please accept it with a smile."

As he said that, Fatty Zhou handed the gift list to Yun Liu standing beside him.

Yunliu took it and presented it to Chen Xi.

Chen Xi glanced at the side and saw that it was a "deserving gift" of 2,000 taels of silver. For a merchant, giving out 2,000 taels of silver at one time was considered a rare big deal. After all, in the early Ming Dynasty, when silver did not flow in America, the silver was very valuable.

Chen Xi smiled and said, "The Zhou family made extraordinary efforts. If the money was sent to the local government, it would be able to do a lot of things."

Fatty Zhou quickly said, "My lord is laughing. The villain has only earned this family business thanks to the blessing of his elders. How dare he fail to work hard? The villain can follow the adults, which is the greatest blessing in his life. In addition to this little gift, the villain also prepares a special gift for the adults... Hehe, please accept it with a smile."

"What is that?" Chen Xi asked curiously.

Fatty Zhou said: "It's a woman. The villain had thought of giving beauty to adults before, but it was too early for adults to win the top scorer at that time. Now... it's time to have a beautiful woman to accompany you..."

When Chen Xi first met Fatty Zhou, he was only thirteen years old. It was not reliable to send a woman to a young man who was still young, which made Fatty Zhou unable to give gifts.

But the situation is different now. Chen Xi is a little born in an annual life. Even if he is not considered to be powerful, he can still be called a high-ranking minister. Moreover, he is in his prime and has a strong life. He is just right to give him wine, sex, and wealth.

Chen Xi smiled and said, "It seems that the Zhou family wants to make me fall into a gentle place, linger, and be happy to leave."

"Sir, I'm laughing, no one dares!" Fatty Zhou said with a smile.

Chen Xi judged from Fatty Zhou's expression that the other party should have handled the matter almost completely, and gave gifts with more confidence. He felt that he could get valued and leaned against a big tree to enjoy the cool air.

Chen Xidao: "How did you do what I asked you to do?"

Fatty Zhou took out a booklet from his arms and said, "The adult asked the villain to come forward and sort out the merchant's demands. The villain came to visit one by one, carefully record and organize it into terms, and submit it to the adult. If the adult feels dissatisfied with it after reading it, just follow it. These businessmen just want to get higher profits. Sometimes they don't understand the rules when speaking and doing things. I hope the adults don't blame them."

"Since I ask them to make it clear, the person who speaks is innocent... Don't worry, I will listen carefully to my opinions and satisfy their demands as much as possible." Chen Xidao.

Yun Liu took the file, spread it out and put it on the desk in front of Chen Xi. Chen Xi browsed it carefully. There were a lot of things recorded on it. The ways of obtaining benefits from different local chambers of commerce were different, and the goods and operating methods of operation were also very different, so the demands were naturally very different.

However, there is a common point in the requests of all these people, which is that they hope that the court can relax restrictions on commodity trade and allow them to make more money in people's livelihood transactions.

In addition, the most concerned businessmen are tax issues. Many of the harsh and miscellaneous taxes are not collected by the court, but are mostly distributed by local governments, or gentry set up checkpoints to collect them, which is no different from robbers blocking the road.

Chen Xidao: "If you do well, you will not waste your official trust."

"Mr. Xie praised him for his good work for his adults. He will definitely devote himself to his whole life until his death." Fatty Zhou patted his chest and expressed his opinion.

Chen Xi nodded again, closed the file, and said, "I am going to meet these merchants. It is probably before the end of the year to discuss and implement the merchants' demands. This matter will be conveyed by you... As for whom you meet and whom you don't see, I have my own arrangements. You must not make any suggestions. Just help me convey my intentions."

“Yes, yes!”

Fatty Zhou felt that Chen Xi was still wary of him, but for him, being able to get Chen Xi's protection was a great gift, and he did not dare to ask Chen Xi to be so kind to him.

Chen Xidao: "If there is nothing to do, you can go back. Oh, by the way, bring your gift back. I don't care much about Aduo... I rarely have time to lack money at hand."

Fatty Zhou praised: "Adult is a business genius. When he was young, he helped manage the Tingzhou Chamber of Commerce, which made a local merchant organization almost make business in various provinces in the south of the Yangtze River. Who in the world can be more powerful than adults? Adults must have been rich enough to rival the country. This gift of villain does seem a bit shabby... The villain can take back the money, but that woman, I hope you can accept it..."

Chen Xi frowned: "What, what is the secret behind this woman?"

Fatty Zhou smiled bitterly and said, "It's a bit ashamed. When the villain was in a downturn, he went around the nine sides to do something low and high, so he recognized a general in Ningxia Town... He said that he was a soldier. Because King Anhua was guilty of rebellion and was demoted to the people, he had to come to the capital. He hoped to find a chance to restore his post... The villain was very familiar with him, and he wanted to give his sister to the adults as a concubine through me..."

When Chen Xi heard this, he felt familiar, but it was not something he experienced in reality, but that this story was very similar to something that happened in history.

"Who is that person?" Chen Xi asked.

"My surname was Ma. He was a worker in Ningxia Town, but now he is a grass-roots person and is in the capital... I won't mention the reputation of a slut!" Fatty Zhou said with a bitter face.

When Chen Xi heard that his surname was Ma, he smiled and asked, "But his name is Ma Ang?"

"Your Madam actually knows it? You sir... It's true that the villain dares not hide it. He is indeed called Ma Ang, not a big man. He just received some favor from him at the beginning, and later he often had contacts in business. Then... he agreed to help, I hope you can forgive me." Fatty Zhou quickly saluted.

Chen Xi nodded. He knew that Fatty Zhou had been moved to Liaodong for hard labor. He had originally wanted to die in a foreign land. Who knew that Fatty Zhou was good at ease and actually found a way to start a business between the nine sides, and finally he could escape danger and return to the capital. Chen Xi thought that someone should have helped him, and this Ma Ang was one of them.

In history, Ma Ang has a certain reputation and can be regarded as a slander of Zhu Houzhao and his previous slander.

Because Chen Xi worked in the northwest several times in the middle and late Hongzhi period to the early Zhengde period, which led to changes in history. At this time, Ma Ang failed to curry favor with Jiang Bin, so he had no chance of promotion.

Chen Xi had met Jiang Bin before. Jiang Bin is now a guerrilla general in Xuanfu and has not curled up with Qian Ning...

Thinking of this, Chen Xi felt a little tired: "I didn't expect that those people in history who had not yet had the chance to show their faces actually met me in circles. It was a coincidence! Is there any will in some things that are in the dark?"

Chen Xi could not explain many things. Those things he tried hard to intervene in the end were all back to the original track of history, such as Liu Jin's abuse of power, and Zhu Houzhao, who he once thought he had saved, was still addicted to Yili and unstoppable, which made him feel powerless.

Now that Ma Ang suddenly gave his sister to him, Chen Xi was a little confused and at a loss.

Chen Xi thought to himself: "In history, Ma Ang gave his concubine and sister to Zhu Houzhao. His sister was still pregnant at that time. According to time, it was about 11 or 2 years later. I don't know how old his sister is now? However, according to Zhu Houzhao's preference for mature women, his sister should be twenty-five and sixteen at that time, and now his sister should be between fourteen and five and seventeen and eighteen years old."

After Fatty Zhou finished talking about Ma Ang's incident, he felt a little frightened and lowered his head to wait for Chen Xi to express his opinion.

Seeing that Chen Xi was not talking for a long time, he asked tentatively: "Sir, should this woman stay or not?"
Chapter completed!