The stupid son of Chongba

Chapter 97 Since the emergence of Emperor Zhu, there have been famines for nine years out of ten!
Forbidden City, Huagai Hall.

"See Your Majesty."

"See His Highness the Crown Prince."

Mao Xiang, commander of the Imperial Guard, stood at the bottom of the steps and saluted respectfully.

Although his rank has not changed, his power has increased a lot, because the prince has integrated the Imperial Guards and the Inspectors, and all of them are under his command!
In terms of size, he can be considered a general!

"Get up."

Zhu Yuanzhang raised his eyelids, smiled and said,

"Mao Xiang, I haven't seen you for a few days. You look even more majestic now!"

Mao Xiang stood up and when he heard what the emperor said, he immediately looked terrified.

"How can I be so majestic in front of Your Majesty?"

He hurriedly hunched his back and looked even more respectful.

Don’t think that His Majesty looks kind now. If I behave inappropriately, I will probably fall into the abyss!
Serving the emperor is like serving a tiger. This was not an exaggeration during the Hongwu Dynasty!

"hehe."

Zhu Yuanzhang shook his beard and said with a smile,
"When one has more power, he will naturally become more powerful. As the saying goes, a new official starts with three things to do when he takes office!"

"I hope that you can make this fire burn brighter and show us your skills! Let me be frank, we'll let you be the commander for no reason. If you don't make achievements, we'll kick you out right away!"

"Understand?"

Mao Xiang's expression became stern, and he bowed and said:
"I understand! I have indeed collected some information during my audience with you today, and I am here to report it to your majesty."

Zhu Biao sat aside, his eyebrows slightly raised.

"Oh?"

He was surprised and said,

"You just took office, and you haven't even had time to warm up to the seat yet, but you've already achieved results?"

"tell me the story."

After integrating the two groups of people, the first task he assigned to Mao Xiang was to investigate the case of Lu Zhongheng, Zhu Liangzu and Liao Yongzhong who kept private slaves and embezzled the land of the people.

This case needs to be investigated at the grassroots level. What can we find out in just a few days?

"Yes, Your Highness the Crown Prince."

Mao Xiang took a deep breath and said in a deep voice,

"Since His Royal Highness gave the order, I have been working day and night, sending several waves of people to investigate among the people. According to some rumors, the place I will focus on investigating is the place where His Majesty was born, Zhongdu Fengyang."

"Sure enough, the case has made some progress in Fengyang. I received the first-hand information from Fengyang and dared not neglect it, so I came to see Your Majesty immediately."

Zhu Yuanzhang was right, he was indeed a new official who wanted to make three moves as soon as he took over the case.
In fact, it would take at least a month to thoroughly investigate this case, but he had to report it as soon as there was any progress in the case, so that His Majesty and the Crown Prince could see his ability!
"Feng Yang?"

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned and said,
"How could there be a problem in Fengyang? How dare they do bad things in Fengyang?"

"say clearly!"

Zhu Biao's face also darkened.

Fengyang, the birthplace of the dragon, is actually the first place to make progress?

What does this mean? It means that the common people there may be the most severely oppressed!
"Your Majesty, please take a look."

Mao Xiang submitted a memorial, saying,
"Liao Yongzhong, Zhu Liangzu, and Lu Zhongheng seem to have some kind of alliance in secret."

"The people I sent to Fengyang to investigate reported that many people there lost their land and became tenants of three large landlords. The land of each of these three landlords was thousands of acres! And they never paid taxes, so the local officials could do nothing about it."

"According to our investigation, one of the landlords also seems to have the surname Lu."

Zhu Yuanzhang looked gloomy.

"A relative of Lawrence Lu?"

He looked at the information in his hand and clenched his fists slightly.

"Maybe, we are still investigating."

Mao Xiang was more serious and said in a deep voice,

"Because these three families were so powerful, the local people did not dare to report to the authorities even though they were being exploited to the extreme. There were dozens of people who dared to report to the authorities and were beaten to death! Those people were beaten to death outside the government office. Almost all the locals knew about this incident, but they kept it a secret."

"There were also those who wanted to appeal to higher authorities, but they were intercepted halfway and no news came from them. They must have been assassinated."

Click.

Zhu Yuanzhang tightly grasped the memorial, his face as gloomy as water!
The air pressure in the Huagai Hall suddenly dropped to its lowest point.

"Hide the truth from the superiors and bully the subordinates, good, good..."

Zhu Yuanzhang's teeth were grinding, and a feeling of anger and murderous intent was rising in his body!
"Mao Xiang, how did you manage to find out all this so quickly?"

Zhu Biao saw that his father looked unhappy, so he quickly asked,

“Are you sure it’s true?”

"Also, how do you think you'll make progress in Fengyang?"

Mao Xiang nodded repeatedly.

"Your Highness, I have sent the most troops to Fengyang, and the intelligence we have submitted has been verified with each other, so it should not be false."

He said solemnly,

"I have asked them to pretend to be merchants, coachmen, and doctors, and investigate among the people, especially in some farmers' taverns and prostitutes' homes. They have the most extensive information and are familiar with local affairs."

Zhu Biao was stunned.

"A whore?"

He was surprised and said,

"What is a secret prostitute? Is there a clear and dark distinction between them?"

This word was a little unfamiliar to him.

Zhu Yuanzhang, on the other hand, snorted coldly, with a look of disdain on his face, obviously knowing about this plot.

"Well, back to His Royal Highness... Many of the prostitutes that run secretly among the common people are run by ordinary families. They find a few trustworthy hooligans to keep the place in check, and they don't sell prostitutes to others. They only sell their own daughters or nieces, or buy a prostitute to serve customers."

Mao Xiang looked a little embarrassed and could only reply,
"These brothels are small and secretive. They usually like to do business with regular customers, but they also accept new customers, especially those passing by as peddlers." "After a night of fun, they can often get a lot of money. Some black shops work with brothels. If they see the money and goods brought by the merchants, they will kill them on the spot and swallow up their property..."

Zhu Biao's face turned dark.

"There are actually such activities among the people!"

He was a little annoyed and scolded,
"It's really immoral! It should be cracked down on!"

"Mao Xiang, could it be that your men also spent the night with the prostitute and had a night of pleasure?"

Mao Xiang's face changed.

"How dare I! The people under my command are strictly disciplined and would never dare to do such a thing!"

He hurriedly explained,
"I just entered the store and pretended to be nice to them. After getting the information I wanted, I left after paying for the food and drinks."

"I have to say that those people are very knowledgeable and know a lot about all sorts of things, not to mention local affairs. Whenever I ask them for information, I always get the most."

When Zhu Biao heard this, his expression eased a little.

"You better tell the truth!"

"As a member of the imperial court, I eat the emperor's food. If I use His Majesty's money to do such a thing, I will be beheaded, even if I am carrying out my mission!"

"When you go back, emphasize this issue! Make your subordinates behave themselves!"

Mao Xiang's forehead was covered with sweat and he nodded repeatedly in agreement.

Even if His Majesty doesn't say anything, the pressure from His Royal Highness the Crown Prince alone is enough for him!

"In Fengyang, the place where dragons rise, there are such dirty and obscene things."

Zhu Yuanzhang said in a low voice with a gloomy face,
"It seems that I haven't been back to my hometown for so long that I don't even know what it looks like now!"

"When we return to our hometown to worship our ancestors later, we must conduct a thorough inspection and root out the dirty things in the gutter!"

Mao Xiang lowered his head and dared not say much.

"You go on."

Old Zhu stared at Mao Xiang and spoke.

With the common people being oppressed and killed, the so-called secret brothels and black shops are nothing more than a minor disease, and we can just crack down on them when the time comes.

"Yes."

Mao Xiang finally breathed a sigh of relief and said,

"Just now, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince asked me why Fengyang was chosen as the key location for investigation."

"That's because, when I first visited, I happened to hear a folk song from Fengyang..."

Having said this, he seemed to be hesitant to speak, as if he had something in mind.

"What ballad?"

Zhu Biao asked,
"What are you hesitating about? Tell me now!"

Mao Xiang raised his head slightly and glanced at Zhu Yuanzhang cautiously.

"Your Majesty, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

"This... I dare not say it. If I do, I am afraid that Your Majesty will be furious."

Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but sneer when he heard this.

"Angry? Aren't we angry enough now?"

He whispered,

"Could it be that the people are cursing us as the emperor? I have heard some satires before, such as monks becoming emperors and beggars becoming saints, but I didn't take them seriously. They are nothing but fabrications."

"Speak now, and we will forgive you!"

Mao Xiang nodded when he heard this, raised his eyes slightly, and while paying attention to Zhu Yuanzhang's expression, he said carefully:
"The ballad goes like this..."

"Speaking of Fengyang, talking about Fengyang, Fengyang is a good place."

"Ever since Emperor Zhu came into being..."

"Uh……"

His teeth chattered a little as he spoke the last sentence, and he couldn't utter it.

"Ever since Emperor Zhu came into being, what happened next?"

"Hurry up and tell us! Don't waste time!"

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned.

It turns out that he was really the one who arranged it!

Then I'd like to hear what the common people have made up about him!
"This……"

Mao Xiang lowered his voice to the lowest level and said,
"There are nine years of famine in ten years."

Zhu Yuanzhang's ears moved slightly, he leaned forward and said unhappily:

"I didn't hear it clearly!"

"Please make your words clearer!"

Mao Xiang did not have the courage to repeat it a second time, but Zhu Biao was closer and heard it all.

"Dad, I heard it clearly."

Zhu Biao's face looked a little ugly at the moment, and he replied,
"Since Emperor Zhu came to power, there have been nine years of famine out of ten."

"It seems that the people of Fengyang are already boiling with resentment, otherwise such folk songs satirizing the emperor's disrespect would never have been spread!"

"Father, I see..."

"father……"

boom!
There was a loud noise, and Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly stood up and slapped the table!
His face flushed red, his expression was extremely ferocious, and he said angrily:

"Damn, damn thing!"

(End of this chapter)