Daming: Mixed in Dangzhi County, Beiping

Li Jinglong, Xu Huizu and others suddenly fell silent.

Corruption!

This is something they have seen since childhood.

Because of corruption, from the last Emperor Taizu Gao to the current Emperor Hong Ding, how many corrupt officials have been detected and how many officials have been killed in just a few decades?
They have seen at least hundreds of cases of each of these weird things.

"Greed is human nature. All the princes in the court are familiar with the Four Books and Five Classics, and are familiar with the principles of the Spring and Autumn Period. But how many people are there who are corrupt?
Even those who read the books of sages are trying their best to be corrupt, and those generals and commanders whose families are not rich..."

Guo An did not continue speaking.

He just told these few that currently there are several big bosses in the Ming Dynasty military household, those generals and colonels are corrupt, there is no need to quibble, let alone feel embarrassed.

Civil and important officials who read the books of sages and are sensible are greedy. A group of military households who are illiterate and only know how to wield swords and guns are even more greedy.

They are all martial artists, and they are the biggest backers of those military households. Those military households are also their confidence. They are sitting together, saying this is not shabby.

"Ugh!"

Li Jinglong sighed heavily, his eyes filled with helplessness.

Don't say that those generals are greedy. If he were not the Duke of the country and there was not so much business in his house, he might not be able to help but extend his hand.

"Prince, then we will also support the construction of roads and the promotion of civil affairs!"

Xu Huizu nodded slowly and said.

On the side, Guo Ying and Geng Bingwen also nodded slightly.

Without war, generals like them would have no place to use their talents and would inevitably be ignored.

Then it's time for them to find some way out for their subordinates.

"The Road Construction and Promotion Department, although it is the yamen responsible for paving roads, can also be under the control of the Ministry of War or the Governor's Office of the Fifth Army!
You can go and discuss these matters with His Highness the Crown Prince.

His Royal Highness the Prince has a kind personality and will not let those soldiers suffer! "

"Thank you, Prince, for reminding me!"

Li Jinglong suddenly said with a happy face.

Xu Huizu, Guo Ying and others also nodded slightly.

Now, their hearts are completely settled.

Although the Prince of Shunde County came from a family of literati and gentry, he did not have the bad habits of those literati. Everything he did all the time was for the sake of their generals and soldiers.

As long as you can make some more money, even if you let the soldiers lay cement straight roads, that's not bad.

Afterwards, several people chatted with Guo An again before saying goodbye and leaving.

When we left, it was already past noon.

When Li Jinglong and Xu Huizu left, two inconspicuous people immediately ran away quickly.

"Master, Master, Cao Guogong, Wei Guogong and others have all left!"

In a luxurious and gorgeous mansion, several wealthy people were sitting.

After hearing the report from the servants, the expressions on several people's faces relaxed.

Immediately, he hurriedly ordered to the butler beside him: "Hurry and arrange for the kitchen to serve the food. I will go to visit the prince after I finish eating!"

"Yes, sir!"

"I will also prepare the gifts that the prince is carrying!"

"Yes, sir!"

The housekeeper responded and walked quickly down.

In less than a quarter of an hour, plates of exquisite dishes were served.

Simultaneously.

At the Shunde County Prince's Mansion, Guo An also began to enjoy today's meal.

As for Li Jinglong, Xu Huizu and others, after leaving the Shunde County Prince's Mansion, they went straight to the palace.

Wulou.

Zhu Di looked at Li Jinglong, Xu Huizu and others in front of him and asked quietly.

"Do you agree?"

"Your Majesty, Holy Might!"

"This matter will allow those military households to get more money. Wei Chen and others are naturally very happy!"

"But, Your Majesty, if those military households are still receiving military pay from our Ming Dynasty after entering the Road Construction and Promotion Division, then will the Road Construction and Promotion Division be under the jurisdiction of the Fifth Army Governor's Mansion?"

Zhu Di said: "Since they are still our soldiers and generals of the Ming Dynasty, they are naturally under the control of the Governor's Mansion of the Fifth Army!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Li Jinglong responded quickly.

Zhu Di asked again: "So, what questions do you have?"

Xu Huizu bowed his hands and saluted, "May I ask Your Majesty, how many soldiers will be dispatched to build the road?"

"This……"

Zhu Di couldn't help but be stunned for a moment. He really hadn't thought about this matter carefully.

However, two cement straight roads were paved for such a long distance. Last year, 30,000 young people were required to build them. This year...

"For the time being, we will dispatch 20,000 soldiers!"

"Twenty thousand?"

Li Jinglong, Xu Huizu and others were all shocked.

"Twenty thousand for now!"

Zhu Di knew what these people were worried about, but he didn't care at all.

"If there is still need in the future, we can continue to increase the number!"

"The minister obeys the order!"

Seeing Zhu Di being so determined, Li Jinglong, Xu Huizu and others did not say anything more.

They were also very satisfied with Zhu Gaochi, the crown prince of the Ming Dynasty.

Since Zhu Di, the Ming emperor, was not afraid of the prince controlling such a large army, they could not talk too much.

"May I ask, Your Highness, how much are the subsidies for these soldiers who join the road construction and promotion department?
Wei Chen and others can let the soldiers and generals know the inside story, so that they can be willing..."

Zhu Di narrowed his eyes and asked quietly: "How much do you think is appropriate?"

"Your Majesty's forgiveness!"

Li Jinglong and Xu Huizu hurriedly said with sneers on their faces, "To be honest with Your Majesty, Wei Chen and others want to get more benefits for their subordinates in such matters.

However, the person who provided the money is Your Majesty, and the ministers and others cannot open their mouths! "

"Humph!"

Zhu Di couldn't help but roll his eyes at Li Jinglong and Xu Huizu.

"Now that they have come here to ask for subsidies from the soldiers and generals who helped us, they are still so secretive and not aboveboard at all!"

"Your Majesty, please forgive me for making a fool of myself!"

The corners of Xu Huizu's mouth twitched slightly and his face turned slightly red. As the Duke of the Ming Dynasty, it was indeed a bit disrespectful to ask for those few taels of silver from His Majesty.

Li Jinglong on the side, who was very thick-skinned due to his junior status, just laughed.

Zhu Di didn't say anything more and said directly: "Ordinary soldiers are given a monthly subsidy of three taels of silver, small flags are four taels, general flags are five taels, hundreds of households and thousands of households, and so on!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

"Your Majesty, Holy Might!"

Hearing this, Li Jinglong, Xu Huizu and others suddenly looked overjoyed.

These subsidies are almost worth the salaries of those soldiers and generals!
Zhu Di added: "You also need to agree in advance that you don't have to go out to fight to build the cement straight road.

Our subsidies are large, and those soldiers who are about to join the road construction department will have to work hard to lay concrete straight roads for us. If anyone dares to cheat on the road, or commit fraud or corruption, we will definitely not do it. No mercy! "

"Yes!"

"Please rest assured, Your Majesty, Wei Chen and others will definitely explain clearly to the generals!"

"If those soldiers really appear, Wei Chen and others will definitely support Your Majesty and severely punish those bastards!"

Li Jinglong, Xu Huizu and others assured him again and again.

"Very good!" Zhu Di nodded slightly, "You can discuss the rest with the prince!"

"The minister obeys the order!"

At this moment, Li Jinglong, Xu Huizu and others were full of motivation.

After bidding farewell to Zhu Di, he quickly went to Wenyuan Pavilion.

They wanted to finalize all the 20,000 soldiers of the road construction department before some people.

Zhu Gaochi was also very happy to hear the intention of Xu Huizu, Li Jinglong and others.

He selected 20,000 Ming soldiers and generals to serve as full-time laborers in his Road Construction Division.

In his spare time, he would do all the hard work! In wartime, he could take up his sword and mount his horse to kill the enemy and defend the country!
then.

Several people began to discuss quickly.

at the same time.

At the Shunde Prince's Mansion, Guo An finished his lunch and was just about to lie down and take a nap when he saw Guo Ang walking towards him again.

I couldn't help but feel a little irritated.

"What happened again?"

Guo Ang also knew the reason for Guo An's irritability. Disturbing people's naps was a heinous crime!
But, he doesn’t want to either!

"Your Highness, there are several people from big families from the north outside the mansion asking to see you!"

"not see!"

Guo An waved his hand and refused.

Guo Ang hurriedly said again: "Your Highness, they carry the old master's token in their hands!"

"Old man?"

Guo An frowned, "Why did the old man suddenly let these gentlemen come to see me?"

"Even the villain doesn't know!"

Guo Ang slowly shook his head.

After thinking for a moment, Guo An said directly: "Let them come in!"

Guo Ang thought of something and said hurriedly: "Your Highness, those people seem to have brought a lot of gifts!"

"Gift?"

Guo An frowned again, "Let them bring them to the main hall first!"

"Yes, Your Highness!"

Guo Ang responded and walked quickly.

After a while.

Guo Ang came in with some wealthy gentry in brocade and silk clothes.

Seeing Guo An, these wealthy gentry took a few steps quickly and saluted respectfully.

"Wang Zhongkuan of the Wang family of Shanxi meets His Royal Highness the Prince of Shunde!"

"Cui Wei of the Cui family of Shandong meets His Royal Highness the Prince of Shunde!"

"The Wen family of Shandong welcomes His Royal Highness the Prince of Shunde!"

"Shanxi Li family..."

Listening to these introductions, Guo An's expression condensed slightly. They were all members of famous gentry families in Shanxi, Shandong and Henan. No wonder there were tokens of the old man.

"Everyone, please take a seat!"

Later, after a while of pleasantries, Guo An felt sleepy again and asked directly.

"Why do you guys go to such great lengths to see me and bring my father's token?"

Hearing this, Wang Zhongkuan and Cui Wei apologized with fear on their faces: "This matter is related to the fate of the villain and other families, so I have no choice but to beg Old Mrs. Guo and ask the county king to forgive me!"

"Oh?"

A trace of curiosity flashed in Guo An's eyes.

"As far as I know, you and your family are all big and dominant clans in Shanxi, Shandong, and Henan. If you unite, I am afraid that the officials of the three divisions in these provinces will give you some face..."

"His Royal Highness the County Prince is laughing!"

Wang Zhongkuan, Cui Wei and others couldn't help but smile with ridicule and a little bitterness on their faces again.

In the past, they might have thought that with the strength and foundation of these great gentry families, they could avoid looking at the officials in these provinces.

Even if those officials want to manage these areas well, they still have to look at the faces of the local gentry.

However, as Wang Zhen and other Jinyi guards led officials from the Ministry of Punishment and Dali Temple to investigate one by one from the south, and at the same time ransacked their homes and exterminated their families, even a rebellion would be suppressed in just a few days.

They were completely panicked!

If the court really wants to investigate them, no matter how famous they are or how entangled they are, there will be no way out!

"We are just some gentry, but common people of the Ming Dynasty. If we provoke some officials, with just one order, our homes will be confiscated and our clan will be exterminated!
The inheritance left by our ancestors will be completely destroyed by us! "

"Ok!"

Guo An nodded slightly. He already understood why these gentry would go to such great lengths to ask to see him, and his father would agree.

However, Guo An still smiled lightly and did not take the initiative to say it.

Seeing this, Wang Zhongkuan and Cui Wei couldn't help but look at each other, and then they quickly stood up and bowed deeply to Guo An in salute, their faces filled with sadness.

"Your Majesty, we are all from the northern gentry family. Our bones have been broken and our tendons have been broken. Please save us, Your Majesty!"

"Yes, Your Highness, in the Ming Dynasty, northern scholars like us have always been looked down upon by southern scholars. Now we finally have a chance to make a comeback. We cannot suffer too much disaster!"

"Your Highness, I am really desperate this time, so I can only be so shameless and beg Your Highness the County Prince, Your Highness..."

"Everyone, please wait!"

Guo An was confused and a little confused.

"Please all of you get up and tell us what happened? But which vassal king did you offend, or what serious crime did you commit?"

Listen to this,

Wang Zhongkuan and Cui Wei looked dark. They didn't believe it. Guo An didn't know!
However, since the begging came to their door, they didn't have any shame and spoke directly.

"Your Highness, we have not offended any vassal king, let alone committed any serious crimes..."

Guo An said directly: "In this case, there is no need to worry!"

Wang Zhongkuan said with a worried look on his face: "Your Highness, we are afraid that the commander of the Jinyi Guards, Wang Zhen, will take officials from the Ministry of Punishment and Dali Temple to the north to inspect one by one like he did last year!"

"Check it!"

Guo An looked indifferent, "Wang Zhen, the Ministry of Punishment, and Dali Temple officials supervise each other, and absolutely no one dares to do anything wrong or frame him!"

"..."

Wang Zhongkuan and Cui Wei could not help but fall silent for a while.

This Prince of Shunde County is pretending to be confused because he understands!

but……

Thinking about it, Winn on the side slapped his forehead and apologized with an embarrassed look on his face.

"Your Highness, please forgive me. We were so excited when we saw Your Highness that we actually forgot to show His Highness the gifts we brought!"

"Exactly, exactly!"

Wang Zhongkuan and Cui Wei also quickly smiled apologetically.

"No need for this!"

Guo An smiled slightly, "As you all know, I love money and delicious food.

But I am not short of money now.

As for delicious food... in the entire Ming Dynasty, no one can match me! "

Wang Zhongkuan and Cui Wei had a strange look in their eyes.

Immediately, he hurriedly said: "Your Highness, please don't rush to resign. The gifts we have brought are all Guo Taishi's books!"

...(End of chapter)