Daming: My boss Zhu Yuanzhang

Now that his portrait is printed on the new Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes, it is impossible for him to go on patrol incognito. In the past, he only went out incognito in a few counties under Yingtian Prefecture. He usually returned to the palace on the same day and would not leave. Beijing is too far.

After all, he is an emperor who has many things to do. If he leaves the capital and disappears for a few days, there will be chaos in the court.

But it was different to go on an official tour. When the emperor traveled, he would be accompanied by ministers. It was like a mobile court, called Xingzai. All kinds of memorials and government affairs would be sent to this mobile court for instructions from the emperor.

However, such an approach usually costs a lot of money and is no more expensive than sending out a large army to fight a battle. Therefore, this kind of thing is usually strongly opposed by the ministers. It is rare for a prodigal like Qianlong to patrol six times.

Yangzhou is only a hundred miles away from Beijing. If Zhu Yuanzhang wants to go on patrol, he doesn't need to spend a lot of time. He can get back and forth in three to five days at most, and there are many senior officials in the court watching him, so he doesn't need to worry.

After giving some instructions, Zhu Yuanzhang left the capital with some personal guards and entourage.

Zhu Biao was very envious of this, and he also wanted to go out for a tour to see the new city built by Li Wei. However, since Zhu Yuanzhang had handed over the government affairs to him, he would definitely not let him follow him.

The dragon chariot drove out of the capital and traveled along the river, escorted by the army of guards.

Although the destination was Yangzhou, Zhu Yuanzhang did not go directly by boat. It was a rare trip and he had to inspect the counties in between.

The team arrived at Shangyuan County, where the magistrate of Shangyuan County had already led people to wait by the official road.

Although Zhu Yuanzhang did not specifically order people to inform the counties along the way, they, who were officials, also had some connections in the court and got the news early.

"Yang Zheng, the magistrate of Shangyuan County, meets with His Majesty!"

Seeing Zhu Yuanzhang coming down from the dragon chariot, the magistrate of Shangyuan County quickly led everyone to pay homage.

Zhu Yuanzhang came to Yang Zheng, looked at the officials and people who came with him to meet him, and said calmly: "Get up."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

After Yang Zheng thanked him, they all stood up and bowed their heads respectfully.

"Let's go, show us Shangyuan County you govern." Zhu Yuanzhang pointed to the fields on the roadside and said.

Yang Zheng hurriedly said yes and followed half a step behind to guide him.

"The crops are growing well."

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at the rice in the field and chuckled.

"Yes, since Your Majesty came to power, the crops in this field have grown gratifyingly, with bumper harvests year after year, and the people's lives have become better and better year after year. God bless the Ming Dynasty, and God bless Your Majesty!"

Yang Zheng was flattering carefully.

Zhu Yuanzhang laughed a few times. Of course he didn't believe these nonsense, but it was normal for a minister to respect and flatter his emperor, and he would not blame him for it.

"Haha, very good, then let us see how this blessed crop field grows."

Zhu Yuanzhang laughed twice, reached out casually, grabbed a handful of rice, pulled it out with a gentle tug.

When Yang Zheng saw this operation, his heart immediately followed him! Not only did he pull out a handful of rice, but he also pulled the magistrate's heart out of his throat!

The smile on Zhu Yuanzhang's face did not diminish. He picked up the handful of rice, looked at the roots, and asked pretending to be confused:

"You said this rice has only a few roots. How did it grow such a big ear?"

"This... Weichen..." Yang Zheng was hesitating and speechless.

Zhu Yuanzhang's face suddenly darkened when he saw this, and he shouted coldly: "Speak!"

Yang Zheng was so frightened that he knelt down and said, "Weichen asked people to select these from other fields and place them here. Weichen knows his mistake, and your Majesty forgives me!"

Yang Zheng kowtowed and begged for mercy, not daring to hide anything.

Zhu Yuanzhang glanced at him coldly and said angrily: "Huh, you have quite an idea. If you don't do your job well as an official, you will only focus on these flattery things. We will give you a salary to let you do this." Of?"

"I know I'm wrong! I know I'm wrong!" Yang Zheng didn't dare to argue, he just kept begging for mercy.

"Mao Xiang, take him down for us! Investigate him carefully. If there is any violation of law, kill him immediately!" Zhu Yuanzhang said coldly.

"Yes!" Mao Xiang, who was accompanying him, immediately stepped forward to take the order and led his men to take Yang Zheng into custody.

Yang Zheng felt weak all over. Of course he knew whether he had done anything illegal. Zhu Yuanzhang's words were tantamount to directly giving him a death sentence.

"Your Majesty, please give me another chance. I will do my best and make my merits equal to my faults. Your Majesty..."

Yang Zheng repeatedly begged for mercy, but Mao Xiang didn't give him a chance and quickly took him down.

Zhu Yuanzhang threw away the rice casually and said with some disdain: "Huh, you're just a little trick, do you really think we are so easy to fool?"

He was born in a commoner family, and he knew a lot about farming. After becoming the emperor, he punished corruption many times, and he was also very clear about the tricks of these officials. It was not so easy for these people to hide from his eyes!

After killing the magistrate of Shangyuan County, Zhu Yuanzhang boarded the dragon chariot and continued his journey.

Yangzhou is in the north of the Yangtze River, and the capital is in the east of the Yangtze River. The team went to the riverside ferry, crossed the river by boat, and entered Jiangpu County.

The magistrate of Jiangpu greeted him at the ferry cautiously, and led the gentry and common people to pay homage.

Zhu Yuanzhang glanced at him indifferently and frowned when he saw his frightened look. In his opinion, this was clearly a sign of something evil in his heart.

"Why are you shaking?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked calmly.

"Ah? I... I was frightened by His Majesty's power, so I was frightened and couldn't control myself." Magistrate Jiang Qing lowered his head, and in fear, he quickly made up a reasonably good reason.

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at him with narrowed eyes for a moment, then he looked away with a slight groan and glanced at the worshipers.

A few of these people were dressed as gentry, while the others were ordinary people wearing ordinary commoners. Although they were simple, they were also clean and tidy.

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned slightly, pointed at a commoner and asked, "Are the clothes you are wearing your own?"

According to his experience, ordinary people would not dress like this. They would be living a good life if they had complete clothes. It was impossible for them to be so neat and close-fitting.

"Your Majesty, these clothes to the common people were just given to them by the magistrate."

This little commoner didn't dare to lie when the emperor asked him, so he sold Jiangpu Magistrate directly.

Jiangpu County Magistrate felt cold and hurriedly explained: "Your Majesty, I am afraid that the common people will be dirty and stain your Majesty's eyes, so I give out new clothes to the common people who see you. I have no intention of deceiving you!" "

"Asshole! The people work hard and are simple at heart. How can we be disgusted by the dirty appearance?" Zhu Yuanzhang shouted angrily.

When Jiangpu County Magistrate heard this, his face turned pale with fright, and he felt as if his head would fall to the ground the next moment.

"I know I was wrong. Your Majesty forgives me. Your Majesty, please forgive me!" The magistrate of Jiangpu kowtowed quickly and begged for mercy.

Zhu Yuanzhang snorted coldly, but he didn't do anything about it. After all, what he did was not a big mistake.

"Since the clothes have been distributed to the people, they belong to the people and cannot be claimed back. The money will be deducted from your own salary!" Zhu Yuanzhang said.

When Jiangpu County Magistrate heard these words, he felt happy and immediately thanked him: "I obey your order! Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Great, no need to lose your head.

Magistrate Jiangpu breathed a sigh of relief.

But Zhu Yuanzhang's questioning was not over yet. He then asked about the people's daily life, taxes, labor, etc.

Li Wei didn't know the tax situation of Ming Dynasty at first, so when he first heard Yang Laosan complain about excessive taxes, he didn't realize what the problem was.

But Zhu Yuanzhang knew his tax system very well. As soon as this little commoner explained the situation, he knew the problem.

The situation in Jiangpu County is similar to that in Yangzhou before. When officials allocate taxes, they will favor local powerful people. The originally light taxes will become very heavy when they fall on the common people. Although it is not impossible to survive, life is definitely not easy. .

The county magistrate of Jiangpu felt colder and colder as he listened to this common man's words.

It was only because of the rush of time that he didn't have time to prepare so much, so he just found some common people and pulled them over.

Although he also told these people not to talk nonsense, they couldn't tell what could be said and what couldn't be said. When asked by the emperor, except for not directly informing the county master about his status, they had to answer truthfully about other matters.

After listening to what the people said, Zhu Yuanzhang's mouth twitched, anger welled up, and he shouted:

"Bring him to our custody as well, and he will be executed in the future!"

The Jiangpu magistrate looked horrified and collapsed to the ground. Mao Xiang quickly led people to take him down as well.

"Everyone of them is a bastard!"

Zhu Yuanzhang was furious and cursed repeatedly. It took him a long time to calm down.

After killing two magistrates in succession, he frowned and was in a very bad mood after boarding the dragon chariot.

If the Ming Dynasty had officials like this, no matter how diligent they were, the Ming Dynasty would never be truly strong!

Jiangpu County to the east, next is Liuhe County.

The magistrate of Liuhe County came to see the driver, wearing shabby official uniforms, and brought the common people with shabby clothes and skinny bones.

Zhu Yuanzhang got off the dragon chariot, and when he saw him like this, his face suddenly became even more ugly.

"How did you end up like this?"

"Your Majesty, it is difficult for a humble minister. The tyrants in Liuhe County are powerful, but the people are lazy..."

The magistrate of Liuhe did not engage in any more fraud. He started complaining about how difficult it was to deal with the local tyrants, how difficult it was to manage the people, and how hard he worked but could do nothing.

Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly felt dizzy when he heard these complaints, and interrupted angrily: "This won't work, and that won't work either. What use do we need you for?"

The magistrate of Liuhe County was very unhappy when he heard this, and said directly: "Your Majesty, I am incompetent. I ask your Majesty to depose me and let him return to his hometown."

He really didn't want to be an official anymore. The salary was not high, he didn't dare to be greedy, and life was hard. He might as well go home and farm. At least he still had some land at home, so his life wouldn't be too bad.

Zhu Yuanzhang was even more furious when he heard this, which reminded him of a certain little bastard back then.

"You bastard! You have managed Liuhe County like this for us, and you will stop doing it if you don't want to. You still want to go back to your hometown? Do you think you are that bitch?"

Zhu Yuanzhang pointed at his nose and cursed angrily. After he finished cursing, he waved his hands vigorously and shouted:

"Come here, take him down and chop him into pieces for us!"

"Ah?" Magistrate Liuhe was dumbfounded. (End of chapter)