The Dumb Prince of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 88 It turns out Old Zhu was playing such a grand game.

Qianqing Palace.

When Li Jinglong entered, he almost thought he had entered the wrong door.

The ground looked like it had been robbed, with broken porcelain pieces scattered everywhere, along with official documents and tea leaves.

Several eunuchs were trembling as they picked up the broken pieces from the ground, while Wang Jinghong, accompanied by two palace maids, squatted beside the imperial desk, wiping it inch by inch with a rag.

Zhu Yuanzhang stood with his hands behind his back by the window.

Li Jinglong was all too familiar with that back view; the emperor was on the verge of exploding with rage.

His father, Li Wenzhong, once taught him that there are three kinds of anger: when His Majesty is cursing, that's the first kind, not scary; when he's hitting, that's the second kind, a bit scary; and when he's neither cursing nor hitting, but just standing there without moving, that's the third kind, you should run away as fast as you can.

Now we have the third option.

"Your Majesty, the Qianqing Palace has been robbed. I shall take my leave."

"Stop right there! You're trying to run away without even saying what you wanted to say?"

Li Jinglong had no choice but to return, walk to the imperial desk, and bow, saying, "I encountered Zhang Liangbi on the street today. I have already told Mao Xiang, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, about the details, and he will keep an eye on Zhang Liangbi."

"You really ran into Zhang Liangbi?" Zhu Yuanzhang turned around. "Tell me about it in detail."

There's no escaping it now.

Li Jinglong could only briefly and quickly recount what happened at the teahouse.

"He's doing business? And even in the capital?" Zhu Yuanzhang scoffed. "What a convenient excuse for being far from the emperor. Sure enough, local officials all deceive their superiors. Business permits, travel permits, checkpoint inspections—in Zhang Liangbi's eyes, they're just a few pieces of waste paper."

Li Jinglong blinked: "What happened?"

"Take a look," Zhu Yuanzhang said, throwing a memorial into his arms. "How audacious they are."

Li Jinglong picked up the memorial and quickly scanned it.

Yi Ziren and Zhang Yanxiang, the prefect and assistant prefect of Huzhou Prefecture, colluded with powerful and cunning individuals to falsify disaster reports.

To falsely report unaffected fields as disaster-stricken in order to fraudulently obtain relief resources;

To conceal the fact that farmland was actually affected by the disaster as unaffected, thus preventing disaster victims from receiving relief.

Reporting more as less, or less as more: exaggerating or concealing the extent of disasters and colluding with powerful figures to embezzle relief funds.

"This kind of thing should be severely punished," he said cautiously after reading it.

Zhu Yuanzhang's face was cold: "Severe punishment is not enough. In the Ming Dynasty, do the local officials and powerful families listen to us or to us? Do our decrees still hold any weight outside of Yingtian Prefecture?"

"Your Majesty, this is too profound for me to understand," Li Jinglong said honestly.

Zhu Yuanzhang was silent for a moment before speaking: "We raised an army and fought the Yuan army for many years. We won every battle, but what happened after we conquered the territory? You think the most difficult to deal with were the Yuan army? The most difficult to deal with were those sitting on the ground."

"We've occupied Haozhou, and Haozhou has powerful clans. We've occupied Yingtian, and Yingtian has powerful clans. We've occupied the entire Jiangnan region, and Jiangnan is full of powerful clans. They won't fight you openly, but they have a thousand and one ways to prevent your government orders from leaving the government offices."

"When our officials arrive at the county, there are large clans, clan leaders, and clan rules. When the county magistrate wants to collect taxes, the clan leader says, 'This land doesn't belong to my family; it's the clan's public land, and it's not the government's place to collect it.' When the county magistrate wants to adjudicate a case, the clan leader says, 'This is a matter for our clan; we'll decide it ourselves in the ancestral hall.'"

"When county officials need to get things done, what do they do? They have to consult with local strongmen. If the strongmen agree, the matter goes through. If they disagree, the matter falls through. Over time, county officials and local strongmen become one family. County officials do things for the strongmen, and strongmen give money to county officials. They join forces to deceive their superiors and subordinates, turning our country into their own impregnable country."

"The powerful families in the county have officials in the prefecture. The powerful families in the prefecture have officials in the province. The powerful families in the province have officials in the capital. You think you're fighting against a local tyrant? You're fighting against a huge net. This net stretches from the capital to the province, from the province to the prefecture, from the prefecture to the county, and from the county to the village, densely packed, with roots and joints connected."

"What do we hate most? We hate them bullying honest people."

"They find all sorts of ways to seize the people's land. When the people have no land, they have to rent land from the powerful and wealthy to cultivate. Taxes and corvée labor are all borne by the people. Hmph, I've been calculating this all my life, and I know it perfectly well."

Li Jinglong's back was already covered in cold sweat.

Because he sensed a murderous aura.

"Jiujiang, do you think we should kill more people?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked in a deep voice.

"How would I know?" Li Jinglong shook his head repeatedly.

He probably knew that Zhu Yuanzhang was playing a huge game.

Zhu Yuanzhang didn't simply want to kill a few officials; he wanted to completely eliminate the intricate network of local power structures that had formed since the end of the Yuan Dynasty.

"Your Majesty, I am only responsible for investigating the Darughachi of the Cavalry Commandery," he emphasized.

His unspoken message was clear: Your Majesty, please don't give me any more work; I can't handle it.

"There's probably more to this than meets the eye," Zhu Yuanzhang said sharply.

Li Jinglong was taken aback: "The Darughachi is a Yuan dynasty official, how could he be involved with local officials and powerful clans?"

"Do you know who the head manager Zhang Liangbi mentioned is?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked.

Li Jinglong shook his head: "I don't know. Your Majesty, do you know?"

"We don't know either," Zhu Yuanzhang said.

Li Jinglong blinked.

I don't believe you for a second. You old geezer, you have the Embroidered Uniform Guard in your hands, how could you not know?

"Is the head manager colluding with the scouts?" he asked.

Zhu Yuanzhang shrugged: "You'll need to investigate all of these things."

"Your Majesty, how can I investigate this alone?" Li Jinglong began to analyze. "Who is the head steward? I don't know. What is the relationship between the head steward and Zhang Liangbi? I don't know. Is the head steward colluding with the scouts? I don't know. Who is the Darughachi? I still don't know. Your Majesty, do you know how many people you need to investigate these matters? Let the Embroidered Uniform Guard investigate."

"The Embroidered Uniform Guards are investigating them, you investigate yours," Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand.

Li Jinglong shut up.

Old Zhu must have his own overall plan; I am just a part of his game.

"Can I communicate with the Embroidered Uniform Guard?" he asked.

Zhu Yuanzhang readily agreed, "Of course. If you need help, just go to Mao Xiang."

Li Jinglong nodded: "I don't think Zhang Liangbi is a Darughachi. I've already sent Mao Xiang to keep an eye on him."

77

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and said, "It doesn't seem like it to us."

"Your Majesty, do you know more?" Li Jinglong asked with a suspicious look.

Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand: "You little rascal, you've come here to try and trick us into telling you what you know? We've told you everything we know."

Really?I do not believe!

Li Jinglong thought to himself, but said aloud, "Your subject takes his leave."

"Stop! We're not finished yet." Zhu Yuanzhang glared. "You still need to build that estate. We've already allocated five thousand taels to you."

Li Jinglong raised his eyes: "Your Majesty, may I retreat?"

He was annoyed, knowing that there's no such thing as a free lunch.