My uncle's name is Zhu Di

Chapter 86
To be praised by Xia Yuanji, Xie Jin did a really good job in this matter.

In the year of catastrophe, at the juncture of tax reform, any disturbance will have serious consequences.

If news of the disappearance of the food spreads, the price of food in the capital will skyrocket in an instant... The treasure banknotes that have just stabilized may not be the same, and the collapse of the banknotes will affect the prestige of the court.

If it really goes on like this, all the efforts of the past year and the painstaking efforts of countless people will all be wiped out.

So sometimes, it's not that the courtiers are willing to cover the cover, but after it is lifted, the consequences are too disastrous, and no one can bear it.

And this kind of thing is passed down layer by layer, and the people below are the worst.

Honest officials kill people, straight ministers harm people!

Although this is a very bastard logic, there is still a little truth in it.

Once, Xie Jin and Xia Yuanji decisively allocated military rations and sent them to the disaster-stricken areas in western Zhejiang by water.Due to the involvement in military affairs, they took the official documents of the Ministry of War and passed the customs smoothly without disturbing too many people. It can be regarded as a smooth completion of the disaster relief task.

On the other side, people were sent to Jiangxi and Huguang to buy food with the money to make up for the shortfall... After some flickering, the hole was actually blocked.

Just when the two breathed a sigh of relief, Zhu Di suddenly issued an order to call the two guys to the palace.

Coincidentally, Xu Jingchang was also there, and the two of them were taken aback for a moment, then saluted Zhu Di.

"I am waiting to meet your Majesty."

Zhu Di hehe said: "Xia Shangshu, Bachelor Xie, you two are really capable. In just a few days, you have planted hundreds of thousands of shi of grain out of thin air. With you two in the future, the Ming Dynasty will no longer have to worry about it." Food, right?"

The two men were sweating coldly, and hurriedly fell to their knees, "The guilty minister dare not hide it from His Majesty, but the guilty minister was really worried about spoiling the overall situation, so he did it as a last resort. Please learn from Your Majesty."

Zhu Di glared at the two of them, "When something happened, I didn't want to tell me, but I just wanted to collude with each other, conceal the king's father, and say that you are friends with each other. It's not an exaggeration. It's no exaggeration for me to put you in prison now. Reasonable things."

The two of them trembled all over. Xia Yuanji had already been in prison once, and Xie Jin turned over with great difficulty. When they were most panicked, they leaned over to plead guilty, sweating through their clothes.

When Xu Jingchang saw this, he finally showed kindness, "Your Majesty, Qi Zou, the food in the warehouse has disappeared. I know a little about this matter, but the situation inside is complicated, so I dare not report it suddenly."

Zhu Di snorted, "Okay, you all know everything better than me, and I'm really deaf and blind, so ignorant!"

Xu Jingchang's expression was solemn, and he only said: "I checked the official documents and found that this batch of grain was transferred by the inner court and sent to Liujiagang, where it was given to the craftsmen who built the ship."

At this moment, Zhu Di was taken aback. The voyage to the Western Seas was something he had decided on, and the shipbuilding was also his request, and Zheng He was there to supervise the work.

In the entire Liujiagang, there are tens of thousands of craftsmen and peasants who eat horse chews, which is not a small sum of money.

But the question is how dare they call in disaster relief food?
Who gave them the guts?
Zhu Di was furious, but he heard Xu Jingchang say: "Your Majesty Qi Zuo, I continued to investigate and found that this batch of grain had not been sent to Liujiagang. In fact, it had been shipped to the disaster-stricken area in Zhejiang."

Zhu Di couldn't help laughing out loud when he heard this.

"Xu Jingchang, what do you mean, before I made a decree, someone took the initiative to transport food and go to the disaster relief. This is really a kind person! He is kinder than my heart! It is very good, very good!"

If it was just a mere food problem, Zhu Di could still be calm, but now he is playing tricks and treating the emperor as a three-year-old child, which is intolerable.

How can the crime of deceiving the king be forgiven!
"Tell me clearly, what is going on?"

Xu Jingchang took his time, took out a memorabilia of Xu Wenlan, the prefect of Hangzhou, and handed it to Zhu Di.

Zhu Di took a look and saw that the memorandum actually said that the disaster situation in western Zhejiang was slowing down, the local gentry and rich merchants actively donated money, the victims were well fed, the people's livelihood was stable, and they sang praises, praising our emperor for his sageness, and the imperial court did not need disaster relief.

Seeing this, Zhu Di frowned, feeling that his IQ had been challenged.

Everyone knew about the flood in western Zhejiang, and he even sent officials to investigate in detail. After getting the results, Zhu Di prepared food to help the victims.

As a result, the prefect of Hangzhou, who is directly in charge now, actually said that the disaster was not serious, and that it could be overcome with donations from local gentry.

Wouldn't the food I prepared be wasted?
And the problem is that the food has disappeared... All these things are strange everywhere, and Zhu Di only feels that his temples are buzzing and throbbing with pain.

Grandma's is so weird.

He looked around, but still focused on Xu Jingchang, "Tell me, what's going on? What do you know?"

Xu Jingchang took a deep breath, as if juggling, took out several memorials one after another, and handed them to Zhu Di.

The most important of these is the Memorial of Li Zhigang, Minister of the Ministry of Rites, but his exact official position at this time is the imperial envoy.

It turns out that after Zhu Di entered Yingtian, he dispatched civil and military officials to various places to take over the local yamen, control the nine sides, and spread rumors in all directions that the emperor has changed, so everything will continue as usual, don't panic.

Among them, Li Zhigang, the former minister of the Ministry of Rites, went to Fujian, Zhejiang and other places to announce the decree. He can probably be regarded as the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, but he does not have this title yet.

There was a flood in western Zhejiang. Li Zhigang wrote a letter suggesting that the imperial court should plant mulberry trees instead. What he meant was that silk was more profitable than grain.

Seeing this, the previous things have been put on... Xu Jingchang thought of the idea of ​​changing rice into mulberry, but his thinking was obviously different from Li Zhigang's.

He hoped that the king of Han would come forward to manage it, with merchants leading and the court supervising, and expanding the scale of the industry by the way, in preparation for a large-scale voyage to the West...

It's just that Li Zhigang thought of a similar idea, and Xu Jingchang didn't dare to underestimate this person, so he secretly sent someone to investigate.

In the end, I didn’t know if I didn’t check. After checking, I was shocked. It turns out that in the disaster-stricken area, many big families have come forward to buy common people’s land at a price of less than [-] shi per mu.

Among them, the lowest one mu is only fifteen stones.

We must know that the good land in western Zhejiang cannot be bought for fifty shi per mu in normal years. Buying a field at this time is almost like picking up money.

Moreover, when these big households get the land, they naturally want to plant mulberry trees with higher income. Only fools grow food honestly. As for the price of food, they don't care. Anyway, no one will starve to death, and the big households will not starve to death!

This kind of thing continued from the beginning of the founding of the Ming Dynasty until its demise... In the late Ming Dynasty, the Jiangnan land, which has always been known as a land of fish and rice, had to rely on Huguang and Jiangxi to transport food, otherwise it would not be able to maintain it.

And this situation is also the reason for the rapid collapse of Nanming. The Qing court and Li Dingguo competed around Huguang and other places. This is also the reason. After all, when the dynasty changes, raw silk cannot fill the stomach, but food.

"Using the flood to annex the people's fields, this is something that those black-hearted beasts can do. But how did they do something with the imperial court's disaster relief food? What's going on?"

Xu Jingchang said slowly: "I have to ask Zhejiang Shipping Department and Jiangnan Weaving Bureau."

Zhu Di was stunned for a moment. These two yamen were both from the palace, they belonged to the emperor's confidants, and they held the keys to the internal funds.

Could it be that they were also involved?

check!
Must check it out!
Zhu Di called Ji Gang directly.

The head of Jinyiwei couldn't hold back for a long time.

Jin Yiwei, do you know?
The notorious Beizhen Fusi.

Several major cases in the Hongwu Dynasty had their voices.

Jin Yiwei is to the officials of the Ming Dynasty, just like Zhang Babai is to Sun Shiwan.

It is a terrifying existence that can stop children from crying.

However, because of Xu Jingchang's existence, he really saved many people, such as Sheng Yong, Pingan and others, all alive, and Li Jinglong also turned over.

There is still a sliver of vitality in the honor of the founding of the country.

On the other side, including people like Jing Qing and Tie Xuan, Zhu Di didn't kill them, but just locked them up and asked them to do some hard work with the young men recruited by Xu Jingchang.

No killing, just delisting.

For these people, it is [-] times more uncomfortable than cutting to pieces.

Zhu Di also felt good.

Only Jin Yiwei's Ji Gang suffered internal injuries due to depression. It has been a year since His Majesty ascended the throne, and he has not had a chance to kill. He is really anxious to die.

Isn't this an insult to Jin Yiwei's profession!
It was so easy to wait and look forward to, and finally the opportunity came.

Collusion, annexation of land, misappropriation of food, ignoring national laws, being both the inner court and officials... What a shame.

The flying fish suit is hunting and flying, and the embroidered spring knife is out of its sheath.

This most powerful magic weapon in Zhu Di's hands finally delivered a fatal blow.

Li Zhigang, the former minister of the Ministry of Rites, was taken down, Xu Wenlan, the prefect of Hangzhou, was arrested, and then the Zhejiang Shipbuilding Department, the Jiangnan Weaving Bureau, and even the eunuchs of the inner court did not escape.

"It's so ruthless. Ji Gang is just a beast that eats people and doesn't spit out bones." Zhu Gaosui ran to complain to Xu Jingchang. His men were really good, and they actually investigated the interrogation scene. He came here at this time, and Xu Jingchang was vivid, describe it.

The worst among them was Xu Wenlan, the prefect of Hangzhou.

Ji Gang cast a big memory recovery technique on him.

Pull off his ten nails first, and then work on his ten toes.

He also took hot glue and applied it on his back, and then pulled it hard, a piece of skin came off, blood and blood, and the sound of screams was endless.

Within an hour, Xu Wenlan fell into a coma three times and woke up three times.

Zhu Gaosui shuddered when he mentioned it. In comparison, the fatigue tactics he and his second brother used against Uncle Seventeen were just a small scene of gentle wind and drizzle.

"Xu Wenlan confessed?"

"Recruited, do you dare not confess? According to him, it was Li Zhigang who asked him to write a letter rejecting the government's disaster relief food in order to break the thoughts of the victims. But in fact the food was sent to Liujiagang Shipyard, and then sent to the Shipbuilding Department. In the name of Zhejiang Province...Although it is still the grain, after such a hand, the common people will not be able to get free relief grain. If you want to survive, you must sell the family's fields obediently at a low price."

(End of this chapter)