Ming Dynasty: Traveling through the harem, Zhu Yuanzhang was dumbfounded

Chapter 110 I want to be an official!

"Do you know what you have done?"

Old Zhu's eyes were sharp and his voice was cold, as if the person standing next to him was not his son, but a minister who had made a mistake.

No one spoke up for him. Even Empress Ma, who loved her son very much, just drank tea.

There was no intention of trying to persuade Lao Zhu at all.

Realizing his delicate situation, Zhu Chong knelt down without saying a word.

Zhu Xiongying saw his second uncle's unusual behavior and immediately wanted to ask.

But he was stopped by Zhu Biao.

The young boy looked up at his father with confusion on his face.

Zhu Biao shook his head to signal him not to ask more questions, and Zhu Xiongying calmed down.

"I know I have sinned deeply! After thirty days of sitting in front of the wall, thinking about my mistakes, and repenting, I now understand that I have failed my father, the emperor, and my mother.

I have no complaints about the punishment I have received these days. I do not ask for forgiveness from my father, the emperor, and the queen mother. I only hope that you can give me a chance to reform myself!"

"Rebel!"

Old Zhu's voice abruptly interrupted Zhu Chong, followed by a scolding.

"You bastard! I trusted you in the beginning, and because you were old and sensible, I made you the King of Qin!

I'll give you three guards and horses, and I won't ask you what happens in your own fiefdom.

As long as we can defend the border for Ming Dynasty, it will be fine.

But what have you done?
He collected taxes recklessly and indiscriminately, which eventually caused the people of Shaanxi to suffer. The people think that our emperor is incompetent?

You made a mistake, why should we pay for it?
Second brother, second brother, we know that the second prince has had an awkward position since ancient times, but look in the mirror! You have a pointed face and monkey cheeks, you don't look like an emperor at all!

What qualifications do you have to compete with your elder brother? "

Yang Chen: “?”

"Father!"

Zhu Biao was a little worried and wanted to remind his father not to say anything inappropriate.

But Lao Zhu was very tough this time and raised his hand to interrupt him.

"Biao'er, we know, but the mistake the second brother made this time was too serious. If we don't teach him a lesson, he won't make the same mistake again in the future. If he makes the same mistake again in the future, it won't be as simple as facing the wall and thinking about it.

We must expel his name from the ancestral temple! The name of Qin Wang Zhu Chong must not appear in the Zhu family tree!
From now on, there will be no Qin Wang for the Ming princes! "

Upon hearing this, Zhu Chong, who was already kneeling, couldn't help but tremble all over.

He suddenly looked up with tears streaming down his face.

In this feudal era, expelling a person's name from the family tree is more painful than killing him directly.

If your name is not on the family tree, it means your roots are gone.

From now on, whether alive or dead, no trace of your existence will ever be passed down to future generations.

When they die, they are just a handful of dirt, and even their corpses will be eaten by stray dogs on the roadside.

No one expected that Lao Zhu's warning to Zhu Chong this time would be so serious.

The fact that he didn't even give her a second chance was enough to show how angry he was.

"Second brother, we need you to do something in a few days. If this matter is done well.

We will consider that you have made amends and restored your status as King of Qin.

If you fail, you will spend the rest of your life under the protection of your eldest brother's East Palace."

Old Zhu changed the subject and seemed to be in a negotiating attitude.

Everyone was curious, what else could Zhu Chong, who was already a criminal, do?

Yang Chen was eating by himself, waiting for Lao Zhu to continue.

But as time passed, he found that the surroundings seemed to become very quiet.

When he looked up, he saw Lao Zhu staring at him.

At the same time, the others also looked at him.

After swallowing a mouthful of dessert, Yang Chen looked around and took a sip of tea to moisten his throat.

"No? Your Majesty, you are teaching your son a lesson, why are you looking at me? Is there gold on my face?"

Old Zhu sneered, his face full of disgust.

"Get lost! You bastard, you are always so frivolous. Even if you have gold on your face, I won't keep staring at you.

Just now I said that I would ask the second brother to do something, and that thing is that seven days later, I will summon all the officials in the capital and the surrounding areas who keep their word to come to the capital.

The news was officially announced that the vassal kings would be granted fiefdoms outside the Great Wall and fight on the battlefield for the Ming Dynasty.

At that time, you will take the lead, and the second and fourth will follow suit, and we will put on a good show together."

Hearing this, Yang Chen's eyes instantly turned into different sizes.

Pointing at himself, he said:

"Your Majesty? Did you misunderstand something? I am just a person with no status.

Even if he has an identity, it is that of Mu Ying's son-in-law. To put it nicely, he is a son-in-law of a general, to put it bluntly, he is a Phoenix man.

Moreover, my fiancée has a fierce temper. She was able to throw a long spear into the rockery. I have not yet come to your Majesty to settle the score for this.

Why am I allowed to bring up this matter in the court now?

I am not even a ninth-rank official, who would listen to me? "

Yang Chen said in disbelief. He even thought that Old Zhu must be old and confused to say such a thing.

Even Zhu Biao, who was standing by, was confused by this.

Old Zhu waved his hand and said casually:

"Of course I know what you mean, so I plan to draft a memorial tomorrow.

I will recommend you to the Censorate to serve as the Censor-in-Chief of the Capital Censorate, a seventh-rank official.

Now you have a say, right?"

Upon hearing this, everyone was surprised that a seventh-rank official position was given out so easily.

Not to mention Yang Chen, even Zhu Biao felt a little surprised.

"Father? But isn't there only one Censor in the Capital's Censorate?
Would Yang Chen’s sudden appearance easily lead to misunderstanding?

Besides, it seems that there is only one person who holds the seventh-rank official position of Censor in the entire capital of the Ming Dynasty?
He is still here, and if Yang Chen shows up rashly, it will easily cause trouble."

The Censorate was a department in the Ming Dynasty that monitored all officials, impeached officials who broke the law, participated in the trial and investigation of major cases, and made recommendations.

Their main job is to supervise all officials, so this type of officials are the most likely to be corrupt.

Old Zhu would come to investigate from time to time, and would start killing if he found any evidence.

The position of the Censor is similar to that of a bureau director.

There are many high-ranking officials above, and they all handle national affairs in their own offices in the imperial palace.

Only the Kyoto Censor is in charge of the capital, including affairs around the capital. Except for the need to report work, he basically works outside the palace.

Whether it was arranging a position for Yang Chen or asking Yang Chen to make suggestions, Zhu Biao was puzzled.

On the other hand, Lao Zhu said calmly:
"Of course we know that Nanjing City already has a Censor, but we have already ordered people to investigate this guy.

He seemed to be a loyal and good official, but in fact he was the hidden thread that implicated Hu Weiyong, Chen Ning, and Tu Jie. "

At this point in the discussion, Empress Ma also knew that the following content was not suitable for children like Zhu Xiongying and Zhu Bo to hear, so she wisely took them both away.

The rest is something for men to discuss.

Zhu Biao showed a trace of suspicion when he learned that Chen Ning, the Imperial Censor of the Metropolitan Censorate, and Tu Jie, the Minister of Justice, had fallen to work under Hu Weiyong. You know, these two were the top leaders in the Metropolitan Censorate, and there was no reason for them to get involved with Hu Weiyong.

But since my father has already said so, the truth of the matter is no longer important.

"Biao'er, besides, Yang Chen has entered the officialdom. There are some things that you can't see that he can see. I think this bastard boy should be happy to help you."

Old Zhu looked at Yang Chen, hoping that he would be more tactful.

But the result was unexpected. Yang Chen shook his head repeatedly, showing resistance in both his expression and tone.

“Your Majesty, I am not saying that this seventh-rank official position of Supervisory Censor looks really high-ranking, but I can see it too.

This thing is equivalent to a director, at most a director at the bureau level.

I don’t know about other things, but the court officialdom must be very chaotic. If I’m not careful, I’ll be sold out.

What would you let me do if something happens to me?
Besides, I just heard that this Censorate is similar to the ICAC in Hong Kong in later generations. It just makes trouble for officials and then makes some irrelevant suggestions.

In short, being an official here is a thankless job.

The money is little, the work is much, and my life is not guaranteed. What if I offend someone and they kill me secretly? "

When Old Zhu heard this, his mouth almost twitched. How could he have expected that Yang Chen knew so much?

The only thing I don’t understand is what the other party mentioned, Hong Kong and ICAC.

These are all small matters. The main trouble is that Yang Chen actually didn't listen to him, which Lao Zhu thought was simply treason!
"Asshole! What do you know? The Censor of the Metropolitan Censorate is a seventh-rank official! Seventh-rank! Do you know that?

How many scholars have spent their entire lives taking exams to finally pass the imperial examination and become a minor official, but you don't even need to take the imperial examination to become a seventh-rank official in Nanjing City!
You are still not satisfied after all this?"

Old Zhu was so angry that he almost stood up and pointed at Yang Chen's nose and cursed him.

It’s a pity that Yang Chen didn’t buy it at all and kept shaking his head to refuse.

“I never wanted to be an official, so why am I dissatisfied?

Compared to being an official and exposing myself to those cunning officials, I would rather conduct experiments in peace in my own residence.

We have to live our lives anyway, so why not choose a day that makes me feel comfortable? "

Yang Chen rolled his eyes at Lao Zhu.

He acted as if he would rather die than be an official, which instantly made Old Zhu unable to bear it anymore and stood up.

Fortunately, Zhu Biao subdued his father in time.

"Father! Father, please sit down for a moment. I will talk to him."

"Humph! This guy is just ignorant! We offered him a job with great kindness, but he refused! What kind of words is this?"

"I know that you have good intentions, but Yang Chenzhi is not interested in this. We can't force him, right?"

Upon hearing this, Lao Zhu was angry at his lack of argument and drummed his fingers on the table, refusing to express his opinion.

"Biao'er! You don't understand! The matter of the prince's title is no small matter.

If the entire court were to be discussed by you or me, or by the fourth or second elder brother alone, no minister other than you and me would speak.

It will inevitably lead to Hu Weiyong and his group taking action behind the scenes.

At that time, whether we go to conquer Japan or go north, we will encounter many interferences.

Therefore, we need someone to stand up and tell the truth. Only by laying out the truth can we let these guys know our purpose.

Things can be done smoothly.

He is the most suitable person. We gave him the official position of Supervisory Censor and allowed him to speak.

In this way, things will be easy. Once Yang Chen speaks up, Hu Weiyong and others will bear a grudge against him and will inevitably take action in private.

By then, we will have one more piece of evidence against Hu Weiyong, and the process of removing this prime minister will be much smoother!"

Zhu Yuanzhang told Yang Chen everything, and Yang Chen finally understood why this guy wanted to arrange an official position for him.

But he was arranged to be in the Censorate.

You know, since ancient times, the officials who are often bribed by corrupt officials are the officials who investigate corrupt officials.

The Censorate is the anti-corruption bureau of the Ming Dynasty. Once an internal member proposes something that is not in the interests of most officials.

What do you think will happen to these people?
It will definitely come down to courtesy before force.

Regardless of whether it is courtesy or military force, it will be left as evidence.

"I understand, Your Majesty, are you going to use me as bait? To lure them into committing a crime, right?
I'm not saying anything bad about you, Your Majesty, but this move of yours is a little too cruel. But I think it's okay!"

Yang Chen touched his chin, and his original resistance turned into acceptance. Such a reversal made Zhu Biao confused.

"Brother Yang? From what you said, you seem to think this is something that can be done?"

"Of course I can!"

Looking at everyone, Yang Chen looked indifferent and even a little happy.

“Think about it, the appointment of vassal princes means that all the princes will be far away from the court, which will definitely cause a stir in the Ming Dynasty.

This is extremely disadvantageous for these officials.

Originally, they could have taken advantage of the corruption stirred up by the prince's misbehavior in the fiefdom.

Once the muddy water is gone, they will have one less way to embezzle money.

Therefore, most officials would definitely not be willing to let the prince leave.

After all, the prince is gone, so there is no one to slander the money they embezzled, and it will also make you, the prince, target them.

You can propose to approve the external title of the vassal king, and Your Majesty must agree in the court.

Afterwards, these officials will certainly find an opportunity to bribe me, hoping that next time I can say something that will make Your Majesty retract his prejudice.

In this way, Your Majesty can obtain evidence of their bribery of me, and I can also receive the money they give me.

This is a win-win business! There is no reason for me not to do it! "

Yang Chen also expressed his own views.

Only then did Old Zhu Hongwen's frown gradually disappear.

I thought to myself, you are a smart guy.

But he soon realized something was wrong!

"You bastard! You actually want to use this official position to reap the money gained through corruption in an honest way! You are using me!"

Old Zhu already hated corruption, and now he had become a means of helping others to commit corruption. How could he not be angry?

Zhu Di and his brothers finally reacted.

After all this time, it turned out that the reason why Yang Chen allowed himself to be an official was because he could receive money from all the officials.

This time it will be hard to figure out who is at a disadvantage.

On the other hand, Yang Chen raised his hand and shook his index finger to reject what Lao Zhu said.

"No, no, no, Your Majesty is wrong. This is not called corruption. This is called using their money to do Your Majesty's business.

Your Majesty, you don’t know how hard I’ve been suffering!
When I was doing experiments outside, sometimes I didn't have time to get materials from the palace, so I could only buy them with the money you gave me.

But the money is not much to begin with, and my expenses are so high. Do you think I should earn some pocket money on my own?

Now that we have the opportunity to easily confiscate the money of those corrupt officials, you can't possibly want to snatch it from me, right?"

"Well, Father, we originally planned to give Yang Chen some money, but the issue of the treasure notes has not been resolved, so we originally planned to give him 5,000 taels of silver, but in the end we only gave him less than 2,000 taels."

Yang Chen was originally worried that Old Zhu wouldn't believe what he said, but now, even Zhu Biao has stood up.

Now, Old Zhu could only swallow his anger.

Who told him to appoint Yang Chen as the Censor without even saying anything before doing so?

(End of this chapter)