Daming, originally wanted to destroy it, but the system came

Chapter 364 Colluding with pirates?

Late at night, the prefect of Taizhou, dressed in plain clothes, walked quickly on the street surrounded by several close men.

In this era, at night, people go to bed early, and it is the dead of night.

But he didn't bother to rest. Instead, he rushed to a small courtyard in the east of the city with an anxious look on his face.

The east side of Taizhou faces the sea, and sometimes you can even vaguely hear the sound of waves hitting the rock walls.

The prefect of Taizhou looked around carefully before asking someone to knock on the door.

After a while, the lights came on in the yard, the door opened, and a man's head was revealed.

"Hey, why did the prefect come to the humble residence in person today? Is there a big deal?" That man actually dared to tease the prefect?

The Taizhou magistrate didn't take it seriously and said anxiously: "Stop talking nonsense and go in and talk. Something big has happened."

"Oh?" The man quickly moved out of the way, allowing the prefect and his party to enter the courtyard.

But what these people didn't notice was that in the shadows of the street corner, there were several people wearing night clothes, who had been paying attention to their every move.

"Go and report to Mr. Li quickly."

"Here."

Some people immediately turned around and left, while a few others continued to stare at this place.

The front of the magistrate's Yamen is the lobby where the magistrate works on weekdays, and the backyard is the courtyard where the magistrate's family lives.

Because Zhu Chu was to be entertained, the surrounding yard was temporarily rented by the prefect as a residence for Zhu Chu and his party.

Since Zhu Chu planned to go to sea tomorrow to conquer the lawless pirate Chen Zuyi and his gang, except for a few guards on duty, everyone else was ready to rest early.

But just when Zhu Chu was sleeping soundly, there was a knock on the door.

"Your Highness, I have something to report," Li Gui's voice came from outside the door.

Zhu Ming slowly opened his eyes, yawned, and said, "Come in. It's just me."

Although he had done it with Xu Miaojin before to stimulate Tang Xin, it was not easy to stimulate her all the time. She was still a big girl.

I did it once to help the girl break through the realm, don’t get me wrong.

So Zhu Ming still has to sleep in a room by himself, without anyone to even warm the bed.

Li Gui opened the door and walked in.

Zhu Ming had already sat up. Although he was still very sleepy, he also knew that Li Gui could not have made a mistake. He would not dare to call him to pee in the middle of the night.

Unless he is really not afraid of death.

"What's wrong?" Zhu Zhen asked.

Li Gui came closer and explained the situation in a low voice: "Brother Jin Yiwei discovered that the Taizhou magistrate was dishonest. He secretly went out in the middle of the night and met a man in a farmyard in the east of the city."

"Oh?" Zhu Chu raised his eyebrows, immediately became energetic, and sneered: "It seems that the Taizhou prefect is hiding a big secret. Is he going to meet the pirates?"

Even Li Gui was stunned and subconsciously said: "It's impossible, right?"

Zhu Chu glanced sideways at Li Gui and said angrily: "Then you came here specifically to wake me up. Do you want me to get up and change my position to sleep again?"

Li Gui quickly knelt down to apologize.

"Come on, you're not an outsider now, I'm just kidding you," Zhu Chu stretched out his hand and stretched him out. How could he be so innocent?

"I think the person the Taizhou magistrate went to meet must be the pirate Chen Zuyi. Before, I was still wondering that this Taizhou magistrate was such a good person, and he dared to speak to those smugglers and plead for mercy. Now that I think about it, I am the fool. This old boy plans to use smugglers to cover up the fact that pirates exist, and he is afraid that I will pursue him to the end," Zhu Zhen sneered again and again.

At first, he really thought that the Taizhou prefect was interceding solely for those smugglers.

In addition, Zhu Ming had no intention of embarrassing the people. He knew that it was not easy for the people, so just smuggled.

But now I learned from the Xie brothers that pirates really do exist and are even becoming more common. This is a big hidden danger.

The prefect of Taizhou only talked about smuggling and did not mention pirates at all.

This is quite interesting.

Perhaps the prefect of Taizhou had heard about Zhu Chu's reputation and knew that Zhu Chu was very powerful, and was afraid that Zhu Chu would hear about the pirates and plan to go to sea to suppress the bandits.

What he was even more afraid of was that once he eliminated Chen Zuyi, if Zhu Chu discovered something, he would be doomed.

Regardless of smuggling, although it was a dereliction of duty, it was also for the sake of the people.

Regardless of the pirates, they are incompetent at best, but after all, there is a decree from the imperial court to ban the sea, so it doesn't hurt.

But what if the dignified prefect secretly colluded with the pirates? This is a serious crime that can punish the Nine Clans.

Even if the nine tribes are not implicated, they still have to beheaded.

"But why did he do this?" Li Gui felt puzzled. How could the dignified prefect be reduced to colluding with the island?

Zhu Zhen just looked at Li Gui and thought to himself, are you really stupid or pretending to be stupid?

"If you can't even think clearly about this, I will regret letting you become a royal guard," Zhu Zhen was so angry that he asked why? Of course it's for money.

"Do you know how profitable smuggling is? Apart from that, many people risk beheading and sell salt privately, which is enough to show how huge the benefits are."

Just selling salt is enough to make people risk losing their heads.

Today's maritime smuggling is selling for even greater profits than selling salt privately.

What was pulled out was shiploads of ordinary cargo, but what was pulled back was shiploads of silver.

Why did Zhu Chu initially plan to establish his own private caravan in Yunnan?

It's because the profits here are so huge.

In the beginning, just selling glass meant that one car of glass was exchanged for one car of silver.

"The so-called loyalty is just because the chips for betrayal are not enough. One time profit is enough to take risks, ten times profit is lawless, and one hundred times profit is enough to make people lawless and immoral."

"And including the Xie family, they are all smugglers. Their goods do not need to pay taxes. Secondly, even if they are robbed, the court will not care. Now that the sea ban is still there, it stands to reason that even a board is not allowed Those who go into the sea. That’s why they are lawless.”

"The truth is so simple. If you don't eat the meat in your mouth, it would be a waste."

Zhu Ming said, but showed a cold sneer.

Li Gui was shocked, knowing that Zhu Min was really angry and had murderous intentions.

"Go and notify Wang Fu and Xie Yu and ask them to capture the person on the spot. After all, catching thieves and grabbing stolen goods is the only thing. I am too lazy to play tricks with them. I will interrogate them tomorrow," Zhu Ming made the arrangements casually. .

Li Gui immediately took orders to make arrangements.

As for Zhu Ming, he didn't take this little thing to heart at all. He turned around and lay down and continued to meet Duke Zhou in his dream.

However, it can also be seen from here that Zhu Zhen did not withdraw all the Jinyiwei spies, but just let them continue to hide in the dark and observe some unknown places at any time.

For example, when the Taizhou magistrate secretly left the government this time, he just avoided the eyes of Zhu Zhen and the guards on the bright side, but he didn't know that he was secretly being watched by the Jin Yiwei.

In fact, these Jinyi guards were not specifically watching him, but were secretly protecting Zhu Zhen to prevent anyone from sneaking in and assassinating His Highness.

As a result, he happened to discover the strange whereabouts of the Taizhou magistrate, and then quietly followed him and discovered his secret.

When the soldiers and horses of the main camp in the city surrounded the courtyard in the east of the city, Wang Fu led Xie Yu into the courtyard and blocked the Taizhou magistrate and the man in the room.

The magistrate of Taizhou collapsed on the ground, despairing, knowing that he was finished.

The whole process was so fast that the man became suspicious: "Are you kidding me?"

He suspected it was a trap.

The prefect of Taizhou almost lost his breath and vomited blood. Can I use my wealth and life to frame you?

You just lost your head, but I want to kill the nine tribes.

Knowing the law and breaking the law will be punished with an additional penalty. As the magistrate of Taizhou, not only did he not protect the people, but he secretly colluded with the pirates to seek wealth and death.

Either one is a capital offense. So when he was interrogated by Zhu Zhen the next day, the Taizhou magistrate looked pale and did not dare to defend himself.

But he was also curious about one thing and asked: "May I ask, Your Highness, how did you guess that the guilty minister was colluding with the pirates?"

He didn't feel that he had exposed any flaws.

In fact, he does have no flaws.

Zhu Ming said: "I didn't guess. You were too anxious. When you went out at night, you were discovered by my Jin Yiwei, so you were arrested."

Only then did the Taizhou prefect understand what the problem was.

Jinyiwei is a mysterious organization that made countless people in the Ming Dynasty, especially officials, talk about it. It is said that Jinyiwei is all over the world, and there is no one who is not a Jinyiwei.

Zhu Yuanzhang relied on Jin Yiwei to easily grasp all the news in the world.

When he heard the name Jin Yiwei, the Taizhou magistrate closed his eyes.

But at this time, the man who was arrested together shouted: "I want to confess. This dog officer came to me and asked me to inform Brother Chen Zuyi, and also wanted us to get rid of a big shot. He used to inform us of the news in advance. Tell us the date of Xie's Merchant Ship's departure so that we can be unfavorable."

"You," the Taizhou magistrate widened his eyes again and stared at the man with gritted teeth. "You idiot, even if you sell me, you won't survive. It will only increase my guilt."

Damn it, this is the first time I see such a stupid teammate. Isn’t this harmful to others and not self-serving?

Zhu Ming was moved in his heart. He looked at the Taizhou magistrate and sneered: "Get rid of the big shot? Are you trying to kill someone with a borrowed knife? You want to kill me? Taizhou magistrate? You are an official in Taizhou, what? Do you want to interfere in the court affairs? thing?"

The magistrate of Taizhou raised his head, glared at Zhu Chu, and suddenly became righteous: "Since ancient times, only by establishing direct descendants can the country be stable. Now you, the King of Dian, have gone against the grain and tried to get a position that does not belong to you? Are you worthy of the world? Who doesn’t know that His Highness Zhu Yunwen, the grandson of the Emperor, is the crown prince and the new king?”

Good guy, Zhu Xi didn't expect that there was a thunder buried here.

Along the way, because Zhu Ming has been deliberately suppressing and beating the Jiangnan family, it has indeed achieved results, making many Jiangnan families dare not speak out.

The main reason is that Zhu Zhen is justified and people have produced evidence. Even if the Liu and Pang families are exterminated, there will be nothing they can do.

But the Jiangnan family didn't dare to say anything, which didn't stop some people from getting used to Zhu Chu.

That is this group of Confucian scholars.

Anyone who can become a magistrate must also be a Confucian scholar, and he is also aware of the struggle for the prince.

Coupled with the relationship of self-interest, the Taizhou magistrate actually planned to use Chen Zuyi and this group of pirates to kill people with knives, and wanted to keep Zhu Chu here forever.

Anyway, you were the one who was going to sea to suppress bandits, but you accidentally died during a firefight with pirates. Doesn’t it seem like there’s nothing wrong?

Zhu Zhen smiled instead of being angry. He did not expect that he was patrolling the world on behalf of the emperor, and before he could test the attitude of the aristocratic family, he would first arouse the dissatisfaction of the Taizhou prefect.

"You deserve it?" Zhu Zhen smiled and counterattacked in the words of a Taizhou magistrate: "You are a mere magistrate, but you dare to interfere in the prince's affairs? And you have a righteous tone. But you yourself secretly colluded with the pirates, and the world There are many shameless people, but people as shameless as you are really rare."

The old Taizhou magistrate blushed, but he did not dare to show his timidity at this time and looked at Zhu Ming with all his strength.

He knew that he could only have this one valid reason to criticize Zhu Zhen at this time, otherwise he would be dead.

"Do you think I don't dare to kill you?" Zhu Zhen could see what the Taizhou magistrate was thinking.

The magistrate of Taizhou snorted softly and said, "I heard that those who govern the world with filial piety will not harm others' relatives. Those who govern the world with benevolence will never stop people's sacrifice."

Zhu Ming understood.

The Taizhou magistrate also understood that for his crime, he would definitely not be able to escape the crime of beheading.

But what he was afraid of were the nine implicated clans, and what he was afraid of was the whole family being executed.

That's why it's said.

Zhu Zhen wanted to ask him, have you also watched the Three Kingdoms? Do you also know Chen Gong?

But he wanted to use this sentence to squeeze Zhu Chu, but Zhu Chu didn't care: "You have colluded with pirates, how many families have been destroyed? Although the people you are burning, killing and looting now are all smugglers, but many people are also risking their wealth. I even risked everything and took risks. In the end, I finally made some money, but it was robbed by you. I won't harm your relatives? But your family eats steamed buns with human blood. Is it necessary to continue your sacrifice? Isn’t it harmful to allow your family’s sinful bloodline to continue to be passed down?”

"The crime of continuous imprisonment must not be banned. Because your family and your heirs have benefited from your violations of laws and disciplines. Your family enjoys a good life and drinks hot food, but you don't know how many people have to sell their sons and daughters?"

"I can turn a blind eye to smuggling, because they only violated the law of the country, but they did not harm or harm anyone. They also make money based on their own skills, and they have to pay the principal and bear many risks. .”

"But what about you? Burning, killing, looting and killing for the sake of wealth. You talk about morality and righteousness, but your stomach is full of harmful business. You deserve to die."

After that, Zhu Zhen stopped talking nonsense and directly asked the Taizhou magistrate, the man who was captured together, and the Taizhou magistrate's close men to be dragged down and executed.

Not only that, but the whole family of the Taizhou magistrate was executed.

The people in Taizhou did not know the inside story, and many people were terrified, thinking that Zhu Chu was here to kill at will.

In order to appease the people, Zhu Zhen sat in the lobby of the government office and quickly asked the government officials to post notices.

Later, many merchants headed by the Xie family also came out to explain to the people, saying that it was the Taizhou magistrate who colluded with the pirates, which caused many people to gamble everything, but in the end they lost everything because they were hijacked by the pirates.

Suddenly the people of Taizhou were agitated. If a group of people had not been beheaded in public, they would have been executed in a hurry.

At the same time, a large amount of gold and silver was also seized from the Taizhou magistrate's home.

Xie Chun had a bitter look on his face, knowing in his heart that most of the money was stolen by pirates who hijacked his merchant ship, but after several twists and turns, it now fell into the hands of the Taizhou magistrate, and became dirty silver confiscated by the court. Naturally, it is impossible to return it to them.

However, before Xie Chun could continue to struggle, Zhu Zhen asked his brother Xie Yu to summon him to the government office lobby.

"Xie Chun," Zhu Zhen shouted Xie Chun's name.

Xie Chun quickly knelt down and said, "See Your Highness."

Zhu Ming shook his head. He was most annoyed by these troublesome things, so he didn't bother to talk nonsense. He went straight to the point and said: "Don't worry, I promised to uphold justice for you, and I will naturally not break my promise. I asked you to prepare it before. Is the ship ready?"

Nowadays, the Ming Dynasty's army does not have a naval establishment. Even if Zhu Zhen suddenly wants to go to sea, there are no available ships.

On the contrary, these people who dare to commit crimes and smuggle at sea have some ships in their hands, so they are quite capable.

Xie Chun was overjoyed. He didn't expect that Zhu Zhen was still thinking about these things about his family, so he quickly agreed: "It's ready. It's docked at the dock on the shore, and you can travel at any time."

"Very good," Zhu Ming nodded and greeted, "Wang Fu Niu Sheng."

"The humble position is here."

The two of them came in together and obeyed the order.

"I order you two to prepare the entire army immediately and be ready to go at any time," Zhu Zhen ordered.

"Here."

The two went down.

Now they jointly lead a force of 6,000 people, which is exactly 3,000 brothers each.

"Brother Wang, you are not authentic," Niu Sheng pulled Wang Fu and complained when he came out.

Wang Fu knew what Niu Sheng was complaining about.

Previously in Ningbo Prefecture, because Niu Sheng led his troops to the camp in the city, it was Wang Fu who accompanied Zhu Zhen to the island in Dinghai County, and a war broke out with the Japanese pirates.

After arriving in Taizhou, it was Niu Sheng who personally protected Zhu Chu, but what happened in the camp in the city first happened again.

He can say nothing but do nothing.

"I have to perform well this time," Niu Sheng said eagerly, ready to show off his talents.

"Brother Niu, this sea is not a grassland. I'm afraid we can't adapt. We must proceed with caution and obey His Highness's orders," Wang Fu warned from the side.

Niu Sheng thought for a moment and realized that was indeed the case.

They are all generals on land and have never fought at sea.

In fact, not only were they worried, Zhu Ming was also a little unsure at this time. It was not his first time to go to sea.

"Xie Yu, do you understand naval warfare?" Zhu Zhen asked Xie Yu. Since Xie Yu is the commander of the local guard, maybe he can use it?

"I dare not hide it from your highness. In fact, I only trained troops in the city and have never led an army to fight. So I dare not boast about Haikou. I don't understand," Xie Yu said honestly.

"Your Highness, have you forgotten us?"

Tang Xin and Xu Miaojin suddenly stood up.

Especially Tang Xin, who said with a proud look on her face: "Others don't understand, but I understand."

(End of this chapter)