Ming: I am fake, walking on thin ice

Chapter 28 I want to emulate Emperor Taizu Gao

In the capital of the Ming Dynasty, the cold winter is gradually receding and the spring breeze is quietly arriving.

Inside and outside the palace, willow branches swayed gently, revealing their tender green. In the streets, people were wearing thinner clothes, talking and laughing, busy with spring ploughing and planting. In the market, businesses were flourishing. Children were playing in the alleys, flying kites, and laughing happily.

Zhu Qizhen went out of the palace incognito, holding a sesame cake in his hand and eating it while walking. It was really boring to stay in the palace all day, and the queen didn't come to see him recently, so he couldn't exercise.

How could a young man in his twenties hold back? But as the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, he couldn't go to a brothel, right? So what if he went? He was just a fake emperor.

After a struggle in his heart, Zhu Qizhen stood in front of Feiyan Tower. Just as he was about to step in, a man blocked his way, with a look of surprise on his face: "Your Majesty... Your Majesty, is it really you?"

"Xu Yun?" Zhu Qizhen looked embarrassed.

"Your Majesty, you can't go to such a place." Xu Yun held his forehead with his hand.

"What are you thinking about? I am... investigating the people's sentiments." Zhu Qizhen said seriously.

Xu Yun had an expression that said, "I don't believe you." Zhu Qizhen was too embarrassed to go into a brothel. If word got out that the emperor went to a brothel, the Empress Dowager would definitely make trouble.

As he walked along the street, he asked, "Xu Yun, why are you idle too? Didn't Yu Qian assign you any work? I have already told him about it."

"It's arranged, Your Majesty. I will obey you. I will change my name to Xu Youzhen now." Xu Yun bowed, "Yu Shaobao asked me to be the Censor-in-Chief to inspect the granaries in the capital. I am wearing casual clothes today to conduct a surprise inspection to see if there is anything fishy going on."

Zhu Qizhen was curious: "Granary? Isn't it under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Revenue?"

Xu Youzhen followed Zhu Qizhen half a body length behind him and said thoughtfully, "The Ming Dynasty has a set of granary storage system. The warehouses in the capital are inspected by officials from the Ministry of Revenue and the Imperial Censor, while the warehouses outside the capital are inspected by the military governors..."

After listening to Xu Youzhen's introduction, Zhu Qizhen realized how important granaries were to the Ming Dynasty.

……

If you do not take advantage of the terrain, your granaries will not be full, and your grain will be stored in an inexhaustible warehouse.

The granaries in the capital were widely distributed and large in scale. In addition to the four gate granaries in the imperial city, there were 11 granaries in total, including the Old Taicang, the New Taicang, and the Sea Transport Warehouse. In these 11 warehouses, there were 52 guard granaries.

The granary was of great significance. It provided for the officials, army and residents of the capital. When needed, the granary in the capital could quickly allocate food to various regions. Especially in the event of natural disasters or wars, the food in the granary could play an important role in relief.

"Do you suspect that there is something wrong with the officials who manage the granaries?" Zhu Qizhen asked.

"Yes!" Xu Youzhen nodded. "I recently met an old craftsman from the granary. He told me a problem, which really shocked me. So, I want to investigate."

Zhu Qizhen became interested and raised his eyebrows: "I have nothing to do, so I'll go with you."

Xu Youzhen was eager to show off in front of the emperor, so he took Zhu Qizhen to Xingping Warehouse, a medium-sized granary.

When he arrived at the gate, he was stopped by the warehouse guards. Xu Youzhen took out his token and said, "I am the new Supervisory Censor Xu Youzhen. I am here for inspection today. Open the door!"

The faces of the warehouse guards were obviously panicked, and they hurried to ask for the warehouse assistant minister, who was the person in charge of the granary. After a while, a fat man with a fat head and big ears came out, looked at the two of them with a vigilant look, and finally his eyes fell on Xu Youzhen and asked, "Master Xu? I didn't receive any notice from above."

"Notify?" Xu Youzhen said fiercely, "I am responsible for inspecting the granary. Do I need to notify you? Do you need to be prepared?"

The Minister of the Warehouse took a step back and put on a smiling face: "Master Xu, that is not what I meant. Since Master Xu wants to inspect, I will take you there."

……

After entering the granary, Zhu Qizhen looked around and secretly admired the wisdom of the ancients. The granary was built entirely with civil structures, with scientific design and exquisite structure. The roof frame adopts the "human" shaped beam design, which is cleverly combined with beams, purlins and rafters, and is made by riveting through the feet. This structure is sturdy and durable, with good ventilation and earthquake resistance, and has multiple functions such as moisture-proof, rat-proof, insect-proof, and mildew-proof.

The granary had a window on the top for easy inspection. Zhu Qizhen went up to the granary to take a look. Looking down from the window, he saw golden rice. He thought it was over, but Xu Youzhen stood in front of the granary and ordered, "Open the door!"

The warehouse assistant minister's face changed drastically: "No, Lord Xu, this granary cannot be opened casually. It needs to be kept dry and ventilated to prevent mold, insect pests and other problems."

"I order you to open it!" Xu Youzhen shouted coldly.

"Hmph, I'm sorry I can't obey your order!" The Minister of Warehouse said angrily, "You are just making a fool of yourself."

Zhu Qizhen on the side was also secretly curious. Xu Youzhen had just gone up to check and saw that the granary was full, so why did he open it again?

"You dare to disobey orders? I will report you when I get back." Xu Youzhen said coldly.

"Even if I'm reported, I won't open it!" The warehouse assistant minister looked arrogant, "It's still uncertain who will be brought down!"

Xu Youzhen sneered and turned to Zhu Qizhen and bowed, "Your Majesty, I have no choice but to ask you to come forward."

His Majesty?

The Minister of Granaries looked at Zhu Qizhen and felt numb.

These small officials in the granary had never seen the emperor, so of course they didn't know him.

"Your Majesty is here, why don't you kneel down!" Xu Youzhen shouted.

The warehouse assistant minister and the warehouse guards around him knelt down hurriedly. Zhu Qizhen glanced at him and ordered in a deep voice to the warehouse assistant minister: "Open the door for me!"

"Your Majesty... Your Majesty..." The Minister of Warehouses trembled.

Zhu Qizhen was sure that there must be something wrong in the granary, and shouted angrily: "Open it!"

The warehouse assistant was sweating profusely, and he quickly took out the key and opened the door of the granary. Zhu Qizhen strode in, looked up, and was shocked.

Because the inside of the granary was empty, where was the food?
But just now when he looked at the top, it was clearly full of food. He looked up and then realized that there were two layers. The top layer did have food, but the bottom layer was empty.

"How dare you!" he roared, "You dare to steal grain from the government warehouse? You are courting death!"

"Your Majesty, spare my life, Your Majesty!" The Minister of the Storehouse knelt down and bowed hurriedly, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, Your Majesty, spare my life."

Zhu Qizhen was furious: "Open the other warehouses, I want to check!"

Xu Youzhen hurried forward to dissuade him: "Your Majesty, some warehouses are really full of grain. If they are opened, they will really get damp. Let them report which ones are empty. I will do a random check at the end. If it is false again, the clan will be exterminated."

"I will tell you everything." The Minister of Granary hit his head and it was bleeding.

A cold light flashed in Zhu Qizhen's eyes.

A small warehouse assistant minister would definitely not dare to steal government grain. There must be someone above him.

This is an opportunity. I must learn from Emperor Taizu Gaozu, uncover a major case, and cause countless people to fall to the ground, so as to achieve my own goal.

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(End of this chapter)