Ming: I am fake, walking on thin ice

Chapter 102 The Queen Mother has a very detailed plan!

Prince Zhou's Mansion.

When Zhu Qizhen came back, he saw Yang Guifang and Zhang Lun walking back and forth anxiously in the yard. Seeing Zhu Qizhen coming back, they all breathed a sigh of relief. Yang Guifang stepped forward and said with a slightly complaining tone: "Your Majesty, you can't act alone. It's too dangerous."

"Let's talk business." Zhu Qizhen looked grim.

He told Yang Guifang and Zhang Lun about his visit to Liujia Village today. Yang Guifang and Zhang Lun were shocked. It turned out that the officials of Kaifeng Prefecture deceived their superiors and subordinates and only did superficial work.

"There are even more daring things." Yang Guifang frowned. "The Jinyiwei found out that three months ago, Huichang Marquis Sun Jizhong instructed Kaifeng prefect Chen Shou to re-plan Kaifeng's tax declaration for this year. To put it bluntly, they wanted to secretly embezzle tax revenue from the national treasury and local finances, and work together to set up a hidden small inner treasury. Fortunately, Huichang Marquis Sun Jizhong was arrested."

Zhang Lun was horrified. "What? They...are too bold, aren't they? Little inner treasury? What does Sun Jizhong want to do? Is he so short of money? He prefers money to his life?"

Zhu Qizhen's expression changed slightly.

He had a guess in his mind that Sun Jizhong was making money not for himself but for the Queen Mother, who needed a huge sum of money to redeem her son.

The Queen Mother has a very deep plan, but I don’t know how far it has progressed. After Marquis Huichang, will there be anyone to take over?

"This time when I return to the capital, I will put Sun Jizhong in prison again." He said coldly, "I will personally try him."

"Your Majesty, what about the Kaifeng incident?" Yang Guifang pondered for a moment and said, "Ding Xiu and the Jinyiwei should soon find out their crimes. How should we deal with it? I estimate that most of the officials, from top to bottom, are involved. If this is dealt with, the entire Henan officialdom will be in turmoil."

Zhu Qizhen's eyes were like knives, and he snorted, "If we don't kill a bunch of people, how can we appease the public anger?"

……

Kaifeng Prefecture, back hall.

Prefect Chen Shou and co-prefect Zhao Jing were drinking tea, both looking gloomy. Chen Shou frowned, "You must be careful during this period. I am always a little uneasy."

Zhao Jing nodded and frowned: "Then what King Qing told us to do...can't we stop?"

Chen Shou shook his head: "Of course not. It is a great thing for us that Prince Qing takes over the Small Inner Treasury. Haha, we are doing things covertly, so I'm sure His Majesty won't be able to find out anything."

"The Queen Mother really trusts Prince Qing." Zhao Jing looked very puzzled, "But Your Majesty is the Queen Mother's biological son."

Chen Shou's eyes were filled with sarcasm: "Do they still have so-called family affection in the royal family? There are records in history books of fathers and sons, mothers and sons killing each other. Aren't there enough cases?"

"That's right." Zhao Jing smiled, "For the supreme power, everything can be abandoned."

Chen Shou's mouth curled up into a smug smile: "They fight above, and we follow them to make some money below. King Qing has great ambitions, and the small inner treasury is not only in our Kaifeng."

"It seems that Your Majesty is really a lonely man." Zhao Jing chuckled.

"Although Your Majesty is in charge of the government, he is still sidelined." Chen Shou snorted, "Who made him ascend the throne at the age of nine? The Queen Mother has controlled the government for more than ten years. Not long after he ascended the throne, he caused the defeat at Tumu Fort, and the Queen Mother continued to rule the country from behind the curtain. How long has Your Majesty been in charge? I doubt that his imperial edicts can leave the Wenhua Palace."

The two looked at each other and laughed.

……

Liujiacun.

Zhu Qizhen brought Yang Guifang and Zhang Lun here again. This time they brought money to help the villagers rebuild their homes. Liu An took the three of them to take a walk outside the village.

"It was here that the dam broke, and the flood submerged our village." Liu An pointed to a part of the Yellow River embankment.

Now that the flood has receded, the breach has only been hastily blocked. Zhu Qizhen asked in confusion: "How many years has it been since this riverbank was repaired?"

"Seven or eight years." Liu An said.

Zhu Qizhen's eyes flashed coldly: "I remember that the court allocates funds to the River Department every year for the repair and reinforcement of the river bank."

Yang Guifang nodded and said, "I checked before I left Beijing. More funds were allocated to Henan because it is the Yellow River flood area. Humph, it is likely that those corrupt officials have embezzled the funds again."

Zhu Qizhen stood on the river bank, looking at the Yellow River in the distance, and said coldly: "As the old saying goes, 'When a saint appears, the Yellow River becomes clear'. This Yellow River cannot become clear, but it can be dyed red."

Yang Guifang and Zhang Lun, who were not far from him, suddenly felt a chill.

Liu An was so frightened that he almost fell to his knees. Zhu Qizhen noticed him and smiled: "Old Liu, I'm helping you, so you should treat me to a meal, right?"

"Okay." Liu An was delighted. "Please come to my house, Your Majesty. My old lady has good cooking skills."

Zhang Lun rolled his eyes and said, "Old Liu, you are so brave. You are the only commoner in the world who invites the emperor to dinner."

Zhu Qizhen glanced at him, stepped forward, patted Old Liu on the shoulder and said, "Come on, let's try your old woman's cooking."

Although Liu An was uneasy, he really wanted to invite the emperor to dinner. He was grateful to the emperor from the bottom of his heart, but he didn't know how to thank him. The only thing he could show off was his wife's cooking skills. After a while, they arrived at Liu An's house, which was actually a small wooden courtyard, and one side was washed away by the flood. However, the courtyard was clean and tidy.

When Liu An's wife heard that the emperor was coming, she knelt on the ground and kowtowed. Zhu Qizhen smiled and raised his hand: "No need to be polite, I am here to eat for free today, you are the host."

"Why don't you go quickly?" Liu An helped his wife up.

His wife was a typical country woman, timid and did not dare to speak. After bowing, she went to the kitchen to busy herself.

……

In less than an hour, the delicious meal was served.

Zhu Qizhen picked up the chopsticks and picked up a piece of bacon. After chewing a few bites, he praised: "It's really delicious. It's much better than the one in the imperial kitchen."

Yang Guifang and Zhang Lun thought at first that His Majesty was exaggerating, but after they had a few bites, they all praised him. Liu An was not exaggerating, his wife's cooking skills were indeed good.

"Your Majesty, this is the wine I brewed myself." Liu An said happily, "And these are simple meals, please don't despise them. Hehe, being able to treat Your Majesty to a meal will give me enough to brag about for the rest of my life."

As he spoke, he poured wine for the three of them.

Zhu Qizhen did not act like an emperor here, and Liu An gradually became less nervous. After a few drinks, Zhu Qizhen began to ask about the past situation in the village. He certainly did not come here simply to eat for free.

"Before, my family had a few mu of thin land. Each mu of land could produce 2.5 dan of rice in a good year, but less than 2 dan in a bad year. The rice produced was less than 300 kilograms per person in the family. After threshing, each person had less than 250 kilograms of rice." Liu An said with a red face, "On a daily basis, each person had less than 7 taels of rice, which was enough for the elderly and children, but not enough for the able-bodied men. Fortunately, we had a mountain and water, so we could grow some tea, mulberry and hemp, produce some tung oil and lacquer, and catch some fish and shrimp in the river. We could sell them to pay taxes, and if there was any surplus, we would exchange it for some oil, salt and coarse grains to make ends meet."

Yang Guifang sighed softly, "The people's livelihood is already miserable. What happened next? Why did you go to the palace to be a servant?"

Liu An looked miserable, with tears of resentment in his eyes. He took a sip of wine and said:
"One year there was a flood and we ran out of food. The local gentry and the government teamed up and bought our land at a low price. After that, we could only rent the land and became tenants."

"If we pay 50% rent, each person will only get 150 kilograms of rice per year. After threshing, each person will only get 350 kilograms of rice per day. That's not enough. I can only work as a servant in a wealthy family and let my sons farm the land."

Zhu Qizhen threw the wine glass violently and said in a deep voice: "Old Liu, I promise you that I will definitely help you take back the land."

……

After returning to the Zhou Palace, Zhu Qizhen immediately summoned Liu Dingzhi. He appointed Liu Dingzhi as the governor of Henan, which frightened Liu Dingzhi and he bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I am afraid that I cannot bear such a heavy responsibility."

The governor of a province was a high-ranking official. Many people passed the imperial examinations and entered the imperial court, but they could not achieve this even if they worked hard all their lives. But Liu Dingzhi was just a scholar who went to Beijing to file a complaint two months ago.

"Dingzhi, I believe in you." Zhu Qizhen said seriously, "You come from the lower class and know the sufferings of the people. When I return to Beijing this time, I will implement the new policy, and then I will pilot it in Henan. You have to help me carry it."

Liu Dingzhi saw the emperor's determination, and he bowed deeply: "I obey your order."

Zhu Qizhen raised his hand, turned to Yang Guifang and said, "Talk to Dingzhi about that little inner treasury. I'm going to see King Zhou. The funeral is over, right?"

"As you wish." Yang Guifang nodded.

Zhu Qizhen waved his hand, left the backyard, and came to the front hall of the Zhou Palace. When the new Zhou Prince Zhu Zihou saw him coming in, he hurried forward to pay his respects: "Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you."

"Get up." Zhu Qizhen raised his hand and sat down directly on the main seat.

Zhu Zihou stood up and stood aside respectfully. Zhu Qizhen first asked about the funeral, and then changed the subject: "I will start to vigorously rectify the land annexation in Henan. You are the King of Zhou, please set a good example and return some of the land to the people."

"Ah?" King Zhou was shocked. "But... we have never occupied the people's land."

Zhu Qizhen's face suddenly turned cold: "Don't think I don't know what happened to those low-priced purchases? The Zhou Palace occupied almost three floors of land in Kaifeng, and the court also gave you some fishing taxes."

Zhu Zihou gritted his teeth secretly. He didn't expect that the emperor would come to force Zhou Wangfu so soon. His father had just been buried.

Your Majesty, don't you care about family affection at all?
"I obey your order." He could only accept it.

"Very good. I will give the Zhu family some warning in advance." Zhu Qizhen stood up. "For those corrupt officials and tyrants who oppress the people, I have no choice but to kill them."

He strode away. Zhu Zihou looked at his back and remembered his father's instructions before his death: "Your Majesty, like Taizu, must not resist him."

As soon as Zhu Qizhen returned to the backyard, a guard came forward to report: "Your Majesty, Henan Governor Zhang Ding wants to see you."

"He finally came to Kaifeng." Zhu Qizhen snorted, "Ask him in."

After a while, Zhang Ding strode in, walked up to Zhu Qizhen and knelt down, saying, "Your Majesty, I am Zhang Ding.

Zhu Qizhen's eyes fell on him and he said coldly, "You came just in time. I want you to kill a few people."

(End of this chapter)