The Dumb Prince of the Ming Dynasty

Li Jinglong had no choice but to cup his hands in a gesture of respect: "Your Majesty, I can investigate. But there's one thing we need to agree on first: if I happen to uncover a major case, I won't be involved in the trial."

"You're overthinking it. Do you even know how to judge a case?" Zhu Yuanzhang said with a look of disdain.

Li Jinglong: "..."

He secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

The presiding judge in Guo Huan's case was later killed by Zhu Yuanzhang on some pretext.

In short, almost everyone involved in this case met a bad end.

"Then I have a few small requests," Li Jinglong said, looking up.

Zhu Yuanzhang glanced at him and said, "Speak."

"If I want to infiltrate their circle, I can't always wear a stern, incorruptible face, can I? Who would believe me?" Li Jinglong spread his hands. "Therefore, during the investigation, I inevitably have to deal with them a bit. For example, drinking with them, or cuddling with girls. Your Majesty can't punish me for that, can you?"

Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand dismissively: "No way!"

"What if they give me money? It's a bribe. If I don't accept it, they'll definitely become suspicious. I'll have to accept it, right?" Li Jinglong blinked.

"Take it and hand it over to the imperial court," Zhu Yuanzhang said.

Li Jinglong rolled his eyes and then tentatively asked, "Your Majesty, in order to curry favor with them, I inevitably have to say some things that are not pleasant to hear. For example, criticizing the court and Your Majesty. In order to gain their trust, Your Majesty will not blame me, will you?"

"No," Zhu Yuanzhang raised his eyes. "But I'd like to hear how you usually scold me?"

The dog emperor indiscriminately slaughtered innocent people.

He's a piece of trash, incapable of distinguishing right from wrong, and unattractive in appearance.

Let's rise up! It's time for a change of dynasty.

Li Jinglong inwardly cursed, but aloud said, "I usually criticize Your Majesty for being a pervert, stubborn, and twisted..."

"Stop!" Zhu Yuanzhang squinted at him. "Isn't this a bit driven by personal grudges?"

Li Jinglong shook his head vigorously: "No, no, Your Majesty, I am utterly loyal to you, as Heaven and Earth can attest."

Zhu Yuanzhang snorted: "Alright, if you want to gain their trust and act expediently, we'll grant your request."

Li Jinglong bowed: "Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Why did he give Zhu Yuanzhang all these instructions beforehand?

He was afraid of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. He had been associating with those corrupt officials, drinking and carousing, taking bribes and spouting nonsense. Any one of those things alone was enough to get him into serious trouble.

If the Embroidered Uniform Guards exaggerated the story and reported it to their superiors, and Zhu Yuanzhang misunderstood, how many heads would he have to lose?

Reporting in advance, engaging in corruption under orders, is both reasonable and legal.

"Get out of here." Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand. "You've wasted another half an hour of my time. I'll have to review the memorials tonight."

"Your subject takes his leave." Li Jinglong withdrew.

After he left, Zhu Biao came out from the back hall.

"Did you hear that?" Zhu Yuanzhang said irritably. "That kid is very shrewd. He made a bunch of demands before even asking us to do a few things."

Zhu Biao walked to the table with a smile: "Father, he's perfect for this job. Known as the number one playboy in the capital, he can sit on a pleasure boat, embracing a girl and drinking wine. After three cups, he'll start cursing the court and His Majesty. How could those people not believe him?"

Zhu Yuanzhang shrugged: "That's why we chose him."

Zhu Biao nodded with a smile.

Zhu Yuanzhang rubbed his face and asked, "You went to check the national treasury, right? How was it?"

"Father, I went to see for myself. I checked the figures on the books and the grain and silver stored in the treasury one by one." Zhu Biao's expression was solemn. "The national treasury is empty. Last month, the Ministry of Revenue barely managed to scrape together enough officials' salaries by robbing Peter to pay Paul. As for the Northern Expedition, it certainly cannot be sustained. Let alone a large-scale Northern Expedition, even transporting enough provisions for 20,000 troops to Liaodong would be a struggle."

Zhu Yuanzhang remained silent for a long while before saying in a deep voice, "Nahachu in Liaodong and the remnants of the Northern Yuan must be dealt with. If we don't subdue them, the northern border of the Ming Dynasty will never be peaceful. We don't want to leave our children and grandchildren a country that is leaky on all sides."

"We're short of money, Father." Zhu Biao said with a wry smile.

Zhu Yuanzhang looked out of the hall:

"Where is the money? Those powerful landlords and wealthy merchants in Jiangnan, do they lack money? No, they don't. Go to Suzhou, Songjiang, and Hangzhou and take a look. Their granaries are almost overflowing. But what about the common people? After a year of farming, after paying rent, there's not even enough left to mix with bran and vegetables."

Zhu Biao remained silent.

He had seen what the situation was like in Jiangnan. On one hand, there was the stench of meat and wine in the mansions of the rich, and on the other hand, there were the bones of the starving dead on the roads.

"We can't trust those local officials." Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes were icy. "Those clerks who have been there since the Yuan Dynasty, now they've changed into Ming Dynasty official robes, but their minds are still the same as the Yuan Dynasty's. They're colluding with those local powerful landlords. Collecting grain? Collecting taxes? In the end, they're the ones collecting from the common people, but they're the ones enriching themselves."

Zhu Biao nodded: "Father is right. The local powerful families own vast tracts of land, yet they try every means to conceal their acreage and pay less tax. Local officials turn a blind eye, accepting bribes to cover for them. In the end, the court can't collect grain, and the people are completely exploited."

"We know these people all too well." Zhu Yuanzhang sneered. "When I was a kid, I herded cattle for landlords. My parents rented land from others their whole lives, and in the end, they didn't even have a place to be buried. Those powerful landlords were like that; when they colluded with local officials, they could devour an entire county's people until there wasn't a bone left."

"But the Ming Dynasty cannot be hollowed out by them like this."

Zhu Biao frowned deeply.

To conquer the north, we need money and provisions; these are in the hands of powerful families in the south, but these families and local officials are in cahoots.

A single hair can affect the whole body.

He had a vague feeling that his father was playing a very big game.

……

On the imperial road, Li Jinglong encountered Mao Xiang, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

"Commander, what a coincidence! I was just looking for you." His eyes lit up.

Mao Xiang's eyes narrowed warily: "Young Duke, do you need something from me?"

"You know that painted boat on the Qinhuai River, right?" Li Jinglong leaned closer. "Tell me everything you know."

Mao Xiang shook his head: "Then I'll just wait to be beheaded."

Li Jinglong sighed, "Couldn't I have revealed even a little bit?"

"No," Mao Xiang said, "unless His Majesty issues an order."

Li Jinglong rolled his eyes.

Mao Xiang, do you know how many years you have left to live? Once you finish dealing with Li Shanchang's case, your time will be up.

You know too much, does His Majesty really trust you to live?

"Alright, alright, then I won't ask about the pleasure boat. I just want to ask one thing: does the Duke of Cao's mansion have any of your people?" he asked.

Mao Xiang looked speechless: "Young Duke, you think too highly of the Embroidered Uniform Guard."

"Isn't that right?" Li Jinglong blinked.

Mao Xiang shook his head and said helplessly, "The ministers in the court all oppose His Majesty's use of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and the impeachment memorials are piling up. His Majesty himself is also wary; we really are not that powerful."

Li Jinglong was skeptical: "But I've heard that you all know what the ministers talked about with their wives at night."

"You believe that?" Mao Xiang said irritably.

Li Jinglong waved his hand: "Oh, fine, if you don't want to tell me, then don't believe me."

Mao Xiang bowed and left.