Ming Dynasty: Ask Zhu Yuanzhang to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 545 I am utterly loyal to His Majesty!
Wu Dezhang's tone shifted, and he began to complain again: "Ever since the imperial court established the Ministry of Posts and Communications and allowed the people to write letters to report officials, these troublemakers have all gone too far!"

"They threaten to write letters to complain at the drop of a hat, but we officials can't do anything about it."

He spoke of these things with a burning hatred in his eyes.

Soon, a smug look appeared on his face again: "Now, under the guise of rectifying the security situation in the disaster area, we can say who is a bandit, and they are!"

"We can kidnap and kill them immediately, cleanly and efficiently, leaving no future trouble!"

Wu Dezhang looked at Zhu Yunwen with a smug grin and let out a grating laugh: "If you think it's fun, sir, you can kill a few people for fun and experience the thrill of having the power of life and death!"

He pointed outside the tent and said, "There are so many disaster victims outside. If you don't like anyone, just have the constables arrest them, kill them as bandits, and nobody will dare to say anything, hahaha!"

Wu Dezhang laughed loudly, his laughter arrogant and grating.

While laughing, she reached out and patted Zhu Yunwen's shoulder, the gesture intimate and casual, intentionally or unintentionally closing the distance between them, her tone full of seduction and provocation: "How about it, interested in playing around?"

He narrowed his eyes, his expression utterly lewd: "This is a 'game' where the King of Hell rolls his roll, and whoever's name is called is killed!"

"This kind of 'fun' can only be enjoyed during the current disaster period. Once the disaster is over, it will be impossible to do it again!"

Wu Dezhang urged impatiently, as if he were promoting some once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: "If you want to have fun, hurry up and have fun, or you'll miss this opportunity!"

He quickly leaned closer, lowered his voice, and said in a lewd tone, "Brother, there are millions of disaster victims outside. If you take a fancy to any pretty girl, I can get her for you right away. I guarantee you'll be satisfied."

While uttering such despicable and shameless words, Wu Dezhang continued to try to get closer to Zhu Yunwen.

Not only did they get closer physically, but their address to Zhu Yunwen also changed from "Master" to "Big Brother".

This change in title is a tactic to win them over.

Within the circle of corrupt officials, there exists a type of relationship that is extremely "ironclad," as unbreakable as a fortress of bronze and iron.

That means we all did something seriously illegal and criminal together.

For example, they might embezzle together, accept bribes together, visit prostitutes together, or even plot murder and arson together.

Once you've done these things together, it's like you all know each other's "secrets," and you'll naturally become like-minded "good friends," tacitly understanding each other and colluding with one another.

Many officials in Henan's bureaucracy are well-versed in this practice and understand this set of unspoken rules implicitly.

That's why so many officials openly indulge in eating, drinking, and merrymaking together, brazenly and recklessly uttering their heinous crimes that blatantly violate the laws of the Ming Dynasty in front of everyone.

Because they were all in the same circle, they trusted each other implicitly and believed that no one would report them.

Wu Dezhang now desperately wants to bring the guards of the Tian Shu Division into his corrupt circle.

Beside her, Xu Miaojin was already furious. Her beautiful, clear eyes now seemed to have turned into black gun barrels that wanted to kill, filled with a chilling light.

If looks could kill, Wu Dezhang would probably have died more than ten thousand times over.

Zhu Yunwen remained calm, his face expressionless, and asked in a composed tone, "Brother Wu, how many people have you killed using this method? And how many innocent young girls have you toyed with?"

His tone shifted, adding a deliberate "admiration": "Brother, I have always served in front of the Emperor and dare not overstep the bounds even a step."

"Brother Wu's words have truly broadened my horizons!"

Zhu Yunwen leaned forward slightly, seemingly genuinely seeking guidance: "Brother Wu, please explain in detail so that I may broaden my horizons further."

Wu Dezhang enthusiastically pulled Zhu Yunwen to sit in the head seat.

After Zhu Yunwen sat down, he began to chat with great enthusiasm.

"These are all secrets that no one else knows, and they must not be revealed to outsiders casually."

Wu Dezhang feigned mystery, as if he were sharing some earth-shattering secret, and said, "However, elder brother, you are a noble person of the Tian Shu Division, and one of His Majesty's closest confidants. I would never dare to treat you as an outsider!"

He patted his chest and solemnly promised, "If you want to know anything, just ask. I will tell you everything I know and I will never hide anything from you!"

As Wu Dezhang spoke, he diligently picked up the wine pot, poured wine for Zhu Yunwen, and then raised his cup to toast him.

They each drank it down in one gulp.

Seeing Zhu Yunwen drinking with him, Wu Dezhang's smile widened.

Zhu Yunwen put down his wine cup and asked, "You just said that the money given to us was all paid from disaster relief funds."

"But as far as I know, the imperial court has extremely strict regulations on the use of disaster relief funds. They must be used for their designated purpose and are absolutely not allowed to be misappropriated for other purposes."

"Anyone who disobeys this order will be punished for embezzlement if they misappropriate any funds!"

"May I ask, how exactly did you manage to 'recover' the disaster relief funds?"

In his previous life, Zhu Yunwen deeply abhorred those officials who misappropriated disaster relief funds and poverty alleviation funds.

In this life, he himself is the emperor, and therefore he has enacted the strictest laws against such behavior, striving to eradicate this kind of corruption at its root.

He originally thought that strict laws should be able to largely prevent the misappropriation of special funds.

Unexpectedly, these local officials were still able to squander disaster relief funds so recklessly.

"Isn't that easy?" Wu Dezhang laughed loudly, picked up his wine cup again, and drank the wine in the cup in one gulp.

He shook his head, looking quite drunk, and began to speak: "This disaster relief fund is divided into three parts."

"The first item is the funds to plug the breached dam."

"If the Yellow River breaches its banks, then we must quickly plug the breach."

"Otherwise, the Yellow River will continue to flow out, and the disaster will not be contained."

"Therefore, blocking the dike is an urgent matter that cannot be delayed."

He changed the subject abruptly, his tone sly: "But, there's more to this than meets the eye regarding blocking the dike!"

"The flood was so big that we had to mobilize a huge amount of stones, a massive amount of sandbags, and a large amount of manpower and resources to block it."

"To be honest, we don't know exactly how much it will cost to plug it up, and the imperial court has even less of a clue!"

"So, we can only wait until the congestion is cleared before settling accounts."

Wu Dezhang took a smug sip of wine and said, "We local officials are the ones who actually handle things. So how much money was spent? Isn't it just a matter of us writing whatever amount we want to report?"

"Even if the imperial court wanted to calculate it clearly, there's simply no way to do so." "The stones and sandbags have already been used to block the Yellow River dike, and it's impossible to count them all afterward, so how can it be calculated clearly?"

Wu Dezhang laughed and said, "So, the accounts here are a mess that can never be settled. We'll just say whatever we want."

"As long as it's not too outrageous, quoting three to five times more is perfectly fine!"

"This is not just true of our Ming Dynasty; it has been true of every dynasty without exception."

"No dynasty could ever settle this score."

"When reporting expenses to the imperial court, it is a long-standing 'tradition' to overstate the amount."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yunwen fell silent.

It must be admitted that in emergency situations, such as blocking a dike, it is indeed very difficult to accurately calculate the money spent.

This gives corrupt officials a great deal of room to maneuver.

Seeing Zhu Yunwen remain silent, Wu Dezhang assumed he was still trying to understand, and then revealed the second "secret": "This second item of funds is the funds for temporary relief to disaster victims during the disaster."

He pointed at Xu Miaojin and laughed, "For example, the girl just now said that a disaster victim only spends four coins a day on food, which is completely wrong."

"In the accounts we submitted to the imperial court, the daily cost for a disaster victim was forty coins!"

"More than one million disaster victims, with daily expenses exceeding fifty million cash, which is equivalent to a full fifty thousand taels of silver!"

"Forty coins a day for a disaster victim?!" Xu Miaojin exclaimed in disbelief, her eyes filled with disbelief. "Two bowls of thin porridge, a steamed bun, and a little bit of pickled vegetables would cost more than four coins. How could it cost forty coins?"

"If each person were to spend forty coins a day, the disaster victims could eat meat every meal, and might even have some money left over!"

Wu Dezhang waved his hands repeatedly and laughed, "That's not how you calculate things!"

He quickly explained, "These disaster victims need to eat, but don't we officials need to eat and drink too?"

"And those yamen runners and soldiers who are handling the affairs, everyone needs to eat too!"

"We can't expect officials to eat the same food as the disaster victims, can we?"

"What kind of behavior is that?"

"Even the yamen runners and soldiers should be fed well, so that they will have the energy to work!"

He proudly revealed the "secret": "Use the money for our officials' meals, the expenses of the yamen runners and soldiers, and the money for the disaster victims' meals, and just average it out, and it becomes forty coins per person per day, right?"

"This is a very reasonable expense!"

Great algorithm!
Zhu Yunwen was stunned and overwhelmed with mixed feelings.

No wonder each disaster victim had to eat forty coins a day; it turns out it was due to this incredibly powerful "average calculation"!
Officials squandered tens of thousands of coins a day, while disaster victims consumed only a few coins a day. Since the number of disaster victims far exceeded that of officials, this averaged out to arrive at the absurd conclusion that each disaster victim "consumed" an average of forty coins per day.

Wu Dezhang lowered his voice and began to reveal a new "secret": "Of course, if you really wanted to eat it, you couldn't actually eat that much."

He pointed to the silver notes on the table: "Can't we just rightfully divide up the money left over from the meal?"

Wu Dezhang became more and more excited as he spoke, and his voice rose eight octaves: "Brother, just think about it, that's fifty thousand taels of silver a day!"

"Just deduct half, and that's 25,000 taels! And that's just one day's income!"

As he said this, his greasy yet satisfied smile almost spilled out.

Clearly, this huge sum of money, which he obtained so easily, made him eat very comfortably and was extremely satisfied.

Soon, Wu Dezhang continued, "If it were in the past, this second item of silver would definitely be the biggest source of profit."

He spoke with a hint of admiration for the "new era," saying, "But now, times are different!"

"His Majesty is wise and unparalleled, and has implemented new policies. Now the national treasury has so much money that it cannot possibly spend it all!"

Wu Dezhang waved his arms excitedly, spittle flying everywhere: "In this great disaster in Henan, in addition to allocating money for dike repair and disaster relief, the imperial court also allocated a huge sum of money for post-disaster reconstruction!"

"Moreover, this is the real big cut, the most lucrative part!"

His voice was full of "praise" for the emperor, but in reality he was looking for an excuse for his own greed: "His Majesty is benevolent and will build new houses for all the flood victims."

"Governments at all levels and major roads in the disaster area must be rebuilt, and the Yellow River dike must be reinforced and expanded on a large scale!"

Wu Dezhang leaned closer to Zhu Yunwen, his eyes gleaming with greed: "Brother, just think about it, how much silver will the imperial court have to allocate?"

He rubbed his hands together smugly: "Once this enormous amount of silver is allocated, it will all pass through the hands of the government offices in Henan. How could we officials not get our share?"

"Just come up with any pretext or excuse, and you can make a little money out of it, right?"

"Take road construction and dike reinforcement, for example. Even if you deduct two-thirds of the cost for these kinds of engineering projects, it's not much. It's just a normal 'routine'!"

“Even the money meant for building houses for ordinary people, we have ways to make them obediently hand over most of it to us officials as a form of tribute.”

"They should be secretly happy if they can get even a little silver!"

"Throughout history, only our dynasty has had such a wonderful thing."

"They should be grateful!"

"The lion's share should naturally go to us officials."

"We are still the ones who govern the world together with His Majesty."

Wu Dezhang was filled with emotion and praised the current "prosperous age," saying, "It is only because the imperial treasury is full that so much money can be allocated."

"In the past, although disaster relief could make a small fortune, it certainly wouldn't be worth even a tenth of what it is now!"

"It's all thanks to His Majesty's excellent governance and His Majesty's boundless blessings that we have such a good life today!"

He became more and more excited as he spoke, suddenly raising his voice as if he wanted everyone to hear his "loyalty": "His Majesty the current emperor is a great and wise ruler, unprecedented in history!"

Wu Dezhang's cheeks were flushed from the alcohol and excitement: "We officials all admire His Majesty the Emperor to the point of utter devotion and are completely convinced of his authority!"

"Our loyalty to His Majesty the Emperor is as clear as heaven and earth, as stern as the sun and moon!"

……

(End of this chapter)