Chapter 246 Your Majesty, Stop It!

The Wucheng Bingma Si, namely the Wucheng Bingma Command Headquarters of the Central, Eastern, Western, Southern and Northern Cities, was a government office responsible for patrolling the capital's capital to arrest thieves, dredge the streets and drains, manage prisoners, and ban fires.

Since Yue Lingshan came from the eastern suburbs, Hua An planned to look directly for the commander of the East City Army.

But just as he finished talking to the soldiers of the Military Affairs Department, a big man walked out quickly and said with a smile: "So it's Lord Ou's manager. Let me take care of this matter!"

"May I ask who you are?" Hua An asked with a smile.

"I used to be the inspector of Tianjin, and now I am the deputy commander of the East City Army." The man said carelessly, "I have met Lord Ou once before! The steward can ask when he returns, does Lord Ou still remember Zhang Decheng from Tianjin?"

"It turns out it's Deputy Envoy Zhang in person." When Hua An heard that the other party was an old acquaintance of his master, he bowed and told the story again.

After hearing this, Zhang Decheng immediately called for his forty men and divided them into twenty groups to search the eastern suburbs.

With the help of the military department, finding people was indeed much faster.

In less than an hour, the soldiers brought back Liang Fa and his two companions who were wandering in the eastern suburbs.

Liang Fa is the third disciple of Huashan Sect. Firstly, he does not have the talent of the eldest brother, secondly, he is not as capable as the second brother, and thirdly, he is not as likable as the sixth brother. The only quality he has is his steadiness.

As a result, Liang Fa, who was the most steady, lost his master's beloved little sister. He didn't even dare to think that if his master knew about this, he would probably come directly from Yingtian Prefecture to kill him and grind him to ashes!
He and his two fellow apprentices almost searched the eastern suburbs, but could not find any trace of his little apprentice sister.

Just when he was about to despair, people from the Military Affairs Department came to him, which gave Liang Fa, who wanted to commit suicide, hope to live again.

So when Liang Fa first met Hua An, he couldn't wait to ask, "Excuse me, sir, is my junior sister in the Ou Mansion?"

"Young Master Liang, don't worry. Miss Yue arrived at the Ou Mansion about two hours ago." Hua An looked at Liang Fa, whose lips were a little cracked, and comforted him.

"That's good, that's good." Liang Fa breathed a sigh of relief, then sat down on the chair, picked up the tea bowl next to him, and poured the tea into his mouth without caring whose it belonged to.

Hua An thanked Zhang Decheng again, and then took Liang Fa and the other two back to Nanxunfang.

Since Ou Zanghua had dinner with Tang Bao today and drank a few extra glasses of wine, he went to bed early.

When Liang Fa and the other two arrived, Liu Qing was still taking care of Ou Zanghua.

When she came out of the room, Yue Lingshan came over and asked with concern: "Junior Sister Qingqing, is Senior Brother Ou okay?"

"It's okay, I just drank a few more glasses and didn't want to use my internal energy to force the alcohol out, saying that this would help me fall asleep faster." Liu Qing shook her head, her pretty face slightly red.

Her husband is already a third-rank official, but he can still be childish sometimes.

After hearing this, Yue Lingshan felt a little relieved. Then she sighed and said with some regret: "It was my fault for being too careless and causing trouble for Senior Brother Ou and Junior Sister Qingqing."

"how could be!"

Liu Qing held Yue Lingshan's hand and walked out, saying, "This is Senior Sister Yue's first time in the capital. After she got separated from Senior Brother Liang and the others, it's understandable that she got lost. After all, the capital is so big. Every time I go out, I have to bring a group of maids and servants with me because the capital is so big and I'm afraid I'll go in the wrong direction."

Yue Lingshan felt better after hearing Liu Qing's comfort.

Yue Lingshan followed Liu Qing to Lingsong's courtyard. Before entering, she heard the sound of a man reading from inside: "If a sage is not born, how can the unicorn and dragon be auspicious? If the phoenix tree is not tall, how can the phoenix stop? I heard that in ancient times, there were gentlemen who acted and hid according to the time, and advanced and retreated to seek their own interests."

"This is." Yue Lingshan listened to the child's recitation and looked at Liu Qing in surprise.

"My husband is worried that Lingsong has nothing to do, so he teaches him to read." Liu Qing said, and took Yue Lingshan into the yard.

Lingsong was seen standing in front of the window, reciting and writing something, while Yihe was supervising him behind him.

Noticing someone coming in, Yihe looked up and saw that it was Liu Qing and Yue Lingshan. She stood up and walked out, clasping her hands together and said, "Amitabha, greetings to Junior Sister Liu and Junior Sister Yue. I have finally waited for the disciples of Huashan Sect to arrive."

Yue Lingshan bowed in return with some embarrassment and said, "Thank you, Senior Sister Yihe, for helping to take care of Lingsong during this period of time."

Yihe smiled and said gently, "Lingsong is a very well behaved child. I want to take him to Hengshan Mountain after he stays here for a long time. By the way, how is Master Ning doing these days?"

"My mother is under the care of Master Dingyi, and has safely given birth to my younger brother." Yue Lingshan immediately told Yihe about the situation in Yingtian Prefecture. She felt relieved when she heard that her master was living well in Yingtian Prefecture.

Yihe looked at Lingsong and continued, "The seven strange internal forces in Lingsong's body were successfully drawn to his dantian by Senior Brother Ou, but Senior Brother Ou and I didn't teach him how to use them. Internal force cultivation is the foundation of all sects, so this matter still needs to be taught by people from your Huashan Sect." At this time, Lingsong came out with a paper full of words, handed it to Liu Qing respectfully, and said, "Senior Sister Liu, this is today's homework."

Then he looked at Yue Lingshan and shouted happily: "Little Senior Sister, Lingsong misses you so much!"

"We miss you too, so we came specially to see you!" Yue Lingshan said this with a lack of confidence. Fortunately, Lingsong was very happy now and did not notice anything unusual about the little senior sister.

The younger women from the Five Mountains and Three Sects chatted more and more excitedly in this small courtyard. Liu Qing simply asked Li Shuyan to arrange tea and cakes, and everyone ate and talked. Lingsong could have listened at the side, but for some reason, he was taken away by Qu Feiyan and brought to the courtyard where Feng Buping and the others were, to listen to Teacher Feng's teachings.

Therefore, Liu Qing, who had planned to pick up the Hengshan sword technique early on, slept in again the next day. Ou Zanghua had already reported for duty at the Ministry of Rites, and then was called to the Qianqing Palace by Emperor Zhengde.

Not long after he arrived, Yang Tinghe and Fei Hong came hand in hand.

After a round of greetings, Yang Tinghe took out a memorial and said seriously, "Your Majesty, the rebellion of Liu Liu and Liu Qi has been quelled, but the damage they caused to the four provinces of Hebei, Shandong, Henan, and Hubei cannot be erased."

"I propose that all counties and cities affected by war be exempted from tax for one year. Farmers who are struggling to make a living due to the war are allowed to borrow grain from government warehouses. And they do not need to pay interest when they repay the loan next year. This move is aimed at alleviating the people's hardship and helping their livelihood, and reflects the court's benevolent government and love for the people."

After hearing this, Emperor Zhengde thought this was a good suggestion, so he looked at Ou Zanghua and asked, "Well, what do you think, Mr. Ou?"

Ou Zanghua was speechless. You asked me what to do. It’s such a good policy, just agree to it.

Seeing Yang Tinghe also looking over, Ou Zanghua had no choice but to say, "Lord Yang's proposal is mature and prudent, and I fully agree with it."

Emperor Zhengde nodded and then asked, "But have you ever thought about what to do if the cruel officials below take advantage of this opportunity to extort money from the people?"

Ou Zanghua's eyes narrowed, but he didn't expect that Emperor Zhengde would actually think of this. And from another perspective, it also proved that Zhengde no longer trusted lower-level officials.

Yang Tinghe had obviously thought of this problem, and he said, "To prevent local officials from extorting farmers in the name of "loans", the first thing is to strictly supervise. Secondly, all matters of borrowing and loan repayment must be reported to the Ministry of Revenue for review, and must be based on the "voucher" verified by the Ministry of Revenue. Those without "vouchers" are not allowed to borrow or repay loans without authorization. This is to protect the rights and interests of farmers and ensure fair transactions, and must be strictly followed."

After hearing this, Emperor Zhengde's eyes lit up, and he looked at Fei Hong and asked, "Fei Qing, what do you think?"

Fei Hong bowed and said, "Your Majesty, the Ministry of Revenue will fully cooperate."

"it is good!"

Emperor Zhengde smiled with relief. Since all departments had things to do, no one would bother him!

Ou Zanghua suggested: "Your Majesty, you can order the imperial censors of Hebei, Shandong, Henan, and Hubei provinces to go on a tour. Anyone who dares to embarrass the people in this matter will be severely punished."

"Very good!"

Emperor Zhengde was overjoyed after hearing this. It turned out that Ou Qing really understood him!

He immediately said: "How can the censors of Hebei, Shandong, Henan and Hubei be enough? Send out the censors of Huguang, Jiangxi, Guangdong and Shaanxi. Anyone who makes trouble for the people will be exiled for 800 miles with his entire family!"

Ou Zanghua was stunned. He even began to wonder what was the original intention of his proposal?

Why does it feel like something has changed when it comes to Emperor Zhengde?

As soon as the two cabinet ministers Yang Tinghe and Fei Hong heard it, they knew what Emperor Zhengde was planning. These censors in the capital wrote four memorials every day: one scolded the civil officials for occupying their positions and doing nothing, one scolded the military heroes for being rotten wood and withered stumps, one scolded the emperor for not making progress, and the last one pleaded for the people.

Although they didn't like the censors very much, without these trolls around, Emperor Zhengde would have become a wild horse that had run away from his reins.

However, before they could refuse, Emperor Zhengde said cheerfully: "My dear ministers, shouldn't the censors help the emperor and speak for the people? Now is the time for them to display their talents. You two can't refuse!"

Yang Tinghe and Fei Hong looked at each other. How could they not understand in their hearts that Emperor Zhengde was determined to release two-thirds of the censors to investigate the supervision, and the reasons were so convincing that it was difficult for them to refuse.

"Oh, right," Emperor Zhengde thought for a moment and said, "In order to prevent the censors from being tempted and colluding with corrupt officials, I have to set a trap for them too. Let the Jinyiwei follow them and be responsible for supervising the work of the censors!"

"If there are any inspectors who are complicit in this corruption, not only will they be demoted to commoners, but their entire clans will also be exiled 900 miles away!"

"In order to prevent the Jinyiwei from colluding with the others, the Dongchang was sent to supervise the work of the Jinyiwei."

Ou Zanghua, Yang Tinghe and Fei Hong were all shocked at the same time, "Your Majesty, please stop!"

(End of this chapter)