Ming Dynasty: Ask Zhu Yuanzhang to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 542 The Officials' Meals, Zhu Yunwen's Wrath!
"Stop talking, or someone will hear you and report you to the authorities, and they'll arrest and kill you too," another commoner immediately advised, his voice filled with barely concealed fear.

Upon hearing this, the man indeed dared not utter another word, and the surroundings instantly returned to a deathly silence.

On the execution ground, the executioner was removing the wooden plaque stuck in the back of a "prisoner," and then swung his gleaming cleaver to carry out the death sentence.

"Brother Tong, this...we have to take care of this!"

Xu Miaojin was already extremely anxious. She tightly gripped Zhu Yunwen's sleeve, her voice filled with anxiety and pleading: "We can't just stand by and watch these people be beheaded and die unjustly in front of us, can we?"

Zhu Yunwen nodded slightly.

He was originally reluctant to reveal his identity easily, but that also depended on the specific circumstances.

He can't just turn a blind eye and ignore the tragedy as the other party indiscriminately kills innocent people in front of him.

Having received Zhu Yunwen's permission, Xu Miaojin immediately stepped out from the crowd and shouted loudly, "Wait!"

This clear and authoritative shout resounded throughout the surrounding area.

Instantly, everyone in the room turned their attention to him.

The executioner's raised blade suddenly stopped, then slowly lowered.

He looked at Xu Miaojin with some doubt, then turned his questioning gaze to the official overseeing the execution.

The executioner's face was grim as he looked up at Xu Miaojin. Seeing her filthy clothes and the appearance of a disaster victim, he was instantly enraged and shouted, "Where did this troublemaker come from, daring to disrupt the execution ground?"

He immediately ordered the soldiers beside him, his tone chilling: "Men, seize her immediately!"

Xu Miaojin was not afraid at all and said loudly, "My lord, don't you want to hear my explanation and the reasons why I want to stop and kill him?"

The official snorted coldly and said contemptuously, "Why should I listen to the nonsense of an unknown commoner like you?"

"You dare to disrupt the execution ground, which is a blatant violation of the laws of the Ming Dynasty!"

A ruthless glint flashed in his eyes: "In this critical time of flood relief, we will kill any ignorant and reckless people like you without exception, without any leniency!"

After saying this, the official turned and roared at the hesitant soldiers, "What are you all standing there for?! Seize her immediately and execute her along with these heinous criminals!"

Upon receiving the order, the soldiers surged forward like a tidal wave.

Zhu Yunwen was also greatly surprised. He never expected that the officials in Henan would be so domineering and arrogant, daring to kill people without asking any questions.

This is utterly lawless and audacious to the extreme!
Without further hesitation, he stepped forward and quickly walked to Xu Miaojin's side.

Immediately, he took out a Jinyiwei (Imperial Guard) token, waved it quickly in front of the soldiers rushing towards him, and said, "Do you see what this is? Get back now!"

To be honest, Xu Miaojin didn't actually have any identification documents on her.

The young girl was so focused on saving people that she didn't even consider the details involved.

Just as the officers and soldiers were about to rush forward and arrest the man, they suddenly saw the conspicuous Embroidered Uniform Guard token in Zhu Yunwen's hand and were immediately terrified!

The young officer in the lead was so frightened he nearly jumped out of his skin, stammering in panic, "The...the Embroidered Uniform Guard?!"

The entire audience erupted in uproar; all the noise was instantly replaced by immense shock.

Every citizen of the Ming Dynasty, whether an official or an ordinary person, had heard of the formidable reputation of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.
Those were the emperor's personal guards!
Legend has it that no matter how high or powerful an official was, when they saw the Embroidered Uniform Guard, they would tremble with fear, like a mouse before a cat.

Of course, this is probably just a rumor passed down among ordinary people.

After all, once they leave Nanjing, most people only know the name of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and have never seen them in person.

At this moment, the guards behind Zhu Yunwen quickly stepped forward and protected Zhu Yunwen and Xu Miaojin closely.

The official in charge of the execution dared not remain seated any longer and hurriedly ran downstairs.

Upon getting closer, he took a closer look at the token in Zhu Yunwen's hand and was so frightened that he almost lost his mind.

"So you are officials from the Embroidered Uniform Guard! I am Zhao Yan, the Prefect of the Henan Provincial Surveillance Commission. Greetings, esteemed officials of the Embroidered Uniform Guard!"

As he spoke, he bowed deeply to show his utmost respect.

Zhao Yan was naturally aware of the Emperor's arrival in Henan during his northern tour.

As the emperor's personal guards, the Embroidered Uniform Guards would certainly have many people accompanying and protecting him.

It was not surprising to Zhao Yan that the emperor had sent them here to inspect the disaster situation; it was entirely reasonable.

Therefore, although Zhao Yan was so frightened that his heart was pounding, he did not find anything strange about the matter.

As one of the three major departments of the Ming Dynasty, the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner had many subordinate officials of varying ranks.

Such as deputy envoys and assistant envoys, and further down the hierarchy were magistrates in charge of criminal matters, and prison officials in charge of prisoners.

Although the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner's Office was an important provincial-level government office, according to the official system of the Ming Dynasty, the magistrate of the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner's Office was only an eighth-rank official, which was not considered a high rank.

After all, there are quite a few magistrates in the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner's Office.

Zhu Yunwen originally thought that if this official dared to kill ordinary people so easily, even if he was not the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner himself, he must at least be a fourth-rank deputy commissioner, or at the very least a fifth-rank assistant commissioner.

To everyone's surprise, he was just a minor eighth-rank official.

Zhu Yunwen coldly said, "Well, a mere prefect, a lowly eighth-rank official, yet he has such great official power! Daring to indiscriminately kill innocent people, he is truly audacious!"

Upon hearing Zhu Yunwen's words, Zhao Yan's expression suddenly changed, and his previous respect turned into a hint of panic.

He hurriedly bowed and waved his hands repeatedly, saying, "Your Excellency has misunderstood! This humble official has absolutely no intention of killing innocent people indiscriminately."

"But right now is a critical moment for disaster relief in Henan. Millions of refugees are scattered all over the country, and the emperor himself is inspecting Henan. At this time, there must be no chaos in the disaster area!"

Sweat beaded on his forehead as he continued to explain, "In order to deter those with ulterior motives who intend to take advantage of the situation to cause trouble, the government had no choice but to resort to this drastic measure: using severe punishments to quell the chaos and maintain local order."

"This gentleman just now stepped forward abruptly, and his identity was unknown. I thought he was a troublemaker, which led to the misunderstanding. I hope you will not take offense!"

As Zhao Yan spoke, he kept bowing and smiling obsequiously, adopting an extremely humble posture.

He smiled broadly and said, "Sir, please come inside and rest for a while. I will explain everything to you in detail."

Zhu Yunwen ignored his invitation, pointed to the "criminal" kneeling on the ground, and said, "The court has clear regulations that anyone who shouts out their grievances at the execution ground must have their execution suspended immediately and the court reopened for trial."

"But you've gagged all these 'prisoners,' preventing them from speaking at all. How can they then protest their innocence?"

"Isn't this a blatant violation of the imperial laws and regulations?!"

Zhao Yan's face stiffened for a moment, then he forced a smile and said, "My lord, you are unaware of this. These people are unruly peasants who took advantage of the disaster to cause trouble. They are unforgivable villains." "If we don't shut their mouths and let them spout nonsense on the execution ground, wouldn't that be misleading the people and confusing public opinion?"

"Given the current disaster, we must take some extraordinary measures. I hope that the magistrates of the Embroidered Uniform Guard can understand my predicament."

He bowed respectfully once again, trying to lead Zhu Yunwen into the tent: "My lords, there are too many people and too many eyes here, it is really not the place to talk."

"Please come inside with me so I can explain the details."

Zhu Yunwen gave him a deep look, then turned his gaze to the group of tents not far away.

A row of more than a dozen tents were set up along this stretch, each with a plaque from a different government office hanging in front of it.

But the main tent was undoubtedly the largest, and it had many plaques hanging in front of it.

That place must have been where many government offices worked together.

Zhu Yunwen asked, "Is your Provincial Surveillance Commission only staffed by a lowly clerk like yourself?"

Zhao Yan immediately bowed and clasped his hands, his face full of fawning smiles: "Reporting to Your Excellency, the Deputy Commissioner of the Provincial Surveillance Commission is inside the tent."

"Should I go and inform the Vice Envoy to come out and greet you personally?"

He was eager to report to his superiors, seemingly trying to use this opportunity to cover something up.

"No need!" Zhu Yunwen waved his hand.

The commotion outside was so great, yet none of the officials inside the tent came out to investigate, which piqued his curiosity.

What exactly are these officials busy with inside?

Zhu Yunwen lifted his leg and walked straight towards the main tent.

Zhao Yan immediately became anxious and rushed forward, intending to go in and report the news.

Zhu Yunwen gave a wink to the guards beside him, who immediately understood and stepped forward to stop Zhao Yan.

Zhao Yan shouted loudly, "My lord, I'm going..."

"Shut up!" Before he could finish speaking, Zhu Yuntang coldly interrupted him.

A guard stepped forward and covered his mouth with his hand, silencing him completely.

Zhu Yunwen quickened his pace, taking three steps at a time, and soon arrived in front of the main tent.

Fearing that the emperor might be in any danger, the guards quickly took the lead, lifting the heavy front curtain of the tent and rushing inside.

Zhu Yunwen then saw the entire scene inside the tent.

Inside the tent, three carved octagonal tables were arranged in a row.

The table was laden with all sorts of delicacies, their aromas irresistible.

Around each table were seven or eight officials of various kinds, dressed in official robes.

At this very moment, they are clinking glasses and exchanging toasts, enjoying fine wine and delicacies while chatting and laughing, having a wonderful time!

Upon seeing Zhu Yunwen and his guards suddenly burst in, one of the officials jumped to his feet in a panic and demanded sharply, "Who are you?! Who are you to dare trespass here?!"

Relying on his official authority, he became arrogant and domineering: "Do you know that this is an important place where the Henan Provincial Administration Commission and the Provincial Surveillance Commission jointly operate?"

"You have trespassed here without permission, which is tantamount to openly storming the government office. According to the laws of the Ming Dynasty, you should be charged with treason!"

"Why aren't you getting out of here right now?"

He had probably drunk a few ounces of alcohol and was now quite tipsy, clearly still a bit confused about the situation.

The other officials were much more clear-headed than him.

Their eyes held a hint of wariness, knowing that these people who dared to barge in uninvited must be of extraordinary status.

At this moment, all the officials stood up, but remained frozen in place like wooden chickens, staring blankly at the intruders, not daring to make any rash moves.

"Behind the red gates, meat and wine go to waste, while on the road, frozen corpses lie!" Zhu Yunwen walked to a table laden with dishes and glanced at the abundant food on it.

Then, he picked up the wine pot on the table, poured himself a glass of wine as if no one else was there, picked up the glass, and gently sniffed the rich aroma of the wine. His tone was slightly sarcastic: "This is 'Jinling Brew' produced by Jinling Winery. It is made by using scientific methods and combining ancient brewing secrets."

He gently swirled the wine in his glass and continued, "This wine is extremely expensive on the market; a single jar can cost tens of taels of silver."

"Moreover, due to the extremely limited supply, they are often available but not in demand, and usually require an additional price of over a hundred taels of silver to purchase."

Zhu Yunwen's gaze grew increasingly mocking: "You gentlemen are truly wealthy!"

"A mere jar of wine costs over a hundred taels of silver, not to mention this table full of delicacies and rare treats..."

Zhu Yuntong clicked his tongue in admiration, but his voice carried an indescribable coldness: "Outside, our disaster victims can only drink two bowls of thin porridge and eat one white flour bun a day."

He began to do the math: "At two coins for a steamed bun and one coin for a bowl of porridge, a disaster victim's daily relief fund is only four coins!"

Zhu Yunwen suddenly raised his voice, his tone filled with barely suppressed anger: "And these three tables of food and wine probably cost over a thousand taels of silver, which is a million coins!"

His cold gaze swept over the twenty-odd officials making merry in the tent, his voice as icy as ice: "Very well, on average, each of you spends forty thousand coins on a single meal, enough to feed ten thousand disaster victims for a day!"

"You are truly good officials of our Great Ming Dynasty!"

Zhu Yunwen was genuinely furious at this moment.

In his previous life, he occasionally learned from news reports that some corrupt officials could spend tens or even hundreds of thousands of yuan on a single meal, while ordinary people only spent a dozen to several dozen yuan a day on food.

He calculated that the cost of one corrupt official's meal was equivalent to the food expenses of tens of thousands of ordinary people, which he found unbelievable.

Today, however, he witnessed firsthand such outrageous extravagance.

What's more, this happened during a critical period of disaster relief.

This fueled Zhu Yunwen's anger, which was about to erupt.

"You...you...who exactly are you?" another official asked, both nervous and angry.

His voice trembled slightly due to the effects of alcohol and extreme shock.

……

(End of this chapter)