Zhang Ximeng was in Yangzhou, and Zhu Yuanzhang asked him to clean up the mess, but since Zhang Ximeng recommended Wang Guangyang, he has done nothing.
I just occasionally take time to wander around the streets of Yangzhou.
Zhang Ximeng also visited Guazhou Ferry, shopping malls, taverns and tea stalls. When he came back from shopping for a long time, he would usually write down a detailed list of the prices of the goods in his mind, and then arrange for people to do so.
, sent to Yingtian.
From beginning to end, this is what Zhang Ximeng did.
Then there were a bunch of price lists in front of Zhu Yuanzhang, one day after another... At first glance, nothing could be found, but after more than ten days in a row, an obvious curve can be seen.
This is especially true for table salt.
Yangzhou City was the first place to sell salt based on Changpingcang, and it was also the first to stop it.
Subsequently, the new salt law was implemented and prices were reduced one after another in various places. Yangzhou was indifferent, and even had the intention of rising against the market... Until Zhu Yuanzhang issued an order to arrest people and confiscated the transfer envoys of the two Huaidu capitals, and there was movement in Yangzhou.
The price of salt did not fall, but rose upwards, reaching a sky-high price of seventy cents per catty, almost doubling.
Subsequently, more than a dozen salt merchants were arrested and escorted directly to Yingtian.
Along with the salt merchants who were arrested, there were also Yangzhou officials, a total of more than 20 people, who were also escorted to Yingtian.
Yangzhou City was silent now.
It turns out that there is really a force that can attack the stubborn salt merchant group. Everyone is waiting to see.
Later, the salt was sent to Yangzhou, and several officials from Changpingcang were responsible for selling the salt.
Like Yingtian, it is seven cents.
The people of Yangzhou who were looking forward to it came to line up one after another. They gathered their friends, the old and the young, and rushed to Changpingcang.
When leaving with the salt on their backs, many people had red eyes.
The woman even burst into tears.
It turns out it’s not a dream, it’s really cheap!
The people were overjoyed, as if they were celebrating the New Year.
Zhang Ximeng observed silently, and he quickly determined that when the price of salt came down, all the resentment among the people disappeared.
Instead, they were all praised. They felt that the emperor was decisive and the corrupt officials were shameless. They colluded with merchants and worked together to make the price of salt so expensive!
Knocking on the bones and sucking out the marrow is a loss of conscience.
Now it's up to Your Majesty to decide how to deal with them. Each one of them should be cut to pieces by a thousand swords.
Seeing this, Zhang Ximeng also breathed a sigh of relief.
Zhu Yuanzhang in history was much more ruthless than he is now, and he almost never stopped going through rounds of prison.
But the problem is that no matter how drastic Zhu Yuanzhang was, the people's livelihood in the Hongwu Dynasty was restored and the people's lives were getting better and better. The population grew, the number of households increased, the warehouses accumulated mountains of food and cloth, and the country entered a prosperous age...
On the one hand is the benevolent Holy Lord, on the other hand is the cruel and ruthless killing machine^
Who is the real Zhu Yuanzhang?
Actually it's both.
The difference is just from which angle you look at it!
If you stand in the perspective of the ministers who were in prison, Zhu Yuanzhang made it difficult for his official life, he is simply abominable and a complete tyrant. But if you stand in the perspective of the common people who bought cheap salt, he is simply a holy king and wise master.
Incredibly kind.
For Lao Zhu, as long as he limited the killings to officials and those around them, without having any impact on ordinary people, it would not shake the foundation of the Ming Dynasty.
Zhang Ximeng saw everything and breathed a sigh of relief.
In fact, he is not very worried about Lao Zhu in this matter, he can do it perfectly.
But there is one thing that Zhu Yuanzhang cannot do, and that is to use new power to fill the officialdom and make up for the vacancies left.
Zhang Ximeng has been preparing for this matter for ten years.
At that time, Zhu Yuanzhang had just crossed the river and occupied Yingtian. He had already begun to obtain scholars through the imperial examination. Later, he successively established schools, opened business courses, and recruited various talents.
But there is a problem, that is, for a long time, except for a very small number of students who passed the imperial examination, 95% were working below, and most of them were scribes. They were busy every day and had trivial work.
Although the salary can support a family, it is definitely not good.
Not to mention the joy of being a disciple of the emperor and the carp leaping over the dragon's gate.
Zhang Ximeng also behaved very aloof and indifferent, he didn't even bother to ask about his disciples.
For almost ten years, this group of people was allowed to hone their skills, accumulate experience, smoothen the edges... until today, they finally had the opportunity to enter the officialdom in a large scale and became the backbone of the imperial court.
Zhang Ximeng does not want them to understand his painstaking efforts, regard him as a teacher, obey orders, form an unparalleled force, cover the sky and the sun, and respond to a hundred responses... On the contrary, Zhang Ximeng hopes that these people can forget him.
In other words, I don’t think I gave them everything.
In other words, they relied on their own hard work and accumulated enough experience, and finally waited for the opportunity to show off their talents... All of this was achieved through their own efforts and has nothing to do with anyone else.
To a certain extent, they are right to think so.
Zhang Ximeng, who holds great power, did not promote them early and did not give them many opportunities to let them rise to the top and make rapid progress.
Now it's just the right time, the old and the new, it's that simple.
What Zhang Ximeng wants is not to obey orders and have disciples and disciples all over the world. What does it feel like to be an enhanced version of Li Shanchang?
What he wants is a group of relatively professional civil servants who can abide by national laws, act according to the rules, are not easily bribed, do not participate in party struggles, and just fulfill their mission.
This is something Zhu Yuanzhang could not do no matter what.
It is a coincidence that there is such a lucky man in Yangzhou.
Seven years ago, he took part in the imperial examination and after passing the examination, he just became a clerk in the county. He was an official in name, but he did not have a formal application from the Ministry of Revenue.
The family is thinking about becoming prosperous and changing their family background.
The result is no different from before.
For seven whole years, he could hardly lift his head.
He just works in the county government and is an honest tool.
And just a few days ago, suddenly an official document came from the Ministry of Personnel, transferring him to the Ministry of Household Affairs as the head of the Jiangxi Cleaning Department.
After an order came down, he suddenly rose to the top.
This chief executive is two levels higher than the county magistrate, and in terms of actual power, he is comparable to that of a prefect.
After several years of hard work, I finally made it to today.
Come on!
A big banquet is held at home to entertain guests and neighbors.
Because it is a flowing water mat, even people passing by can feel happy.
Zhang Ximeng was coming from the alley and was also pulled to the table and had two drinks.
Judging from the fact that this family was busy making arrangements and couldn't help but feel happy, they were very sure that it was because of their good luck and hard work that they finally sat on the bench and waited for the opportunity.
As for the people above, who promoted them, who cultivated them?
What doesn't exist is the result of their efforts.
Zhang Ximeng just wants to say, well done!
That's it.
Although despite this, the officials can't help but huddle together and give and receive privately... But there is no doubt that it will be a lot better than before.
After all, it all depends on my own efforts, so why should I put my wealth and life on others?
It is not impossible for me to corrupt the national laws for you, but you must pay more!
And even if we add money, we may not be honest and obedient.
All in all, a group of people called professional civil servants began to enter the court and replace the original officials.
The transition from old to new in the Ming Dynasty has already begun.
Zhang Ximeng did not go to Yingtian, but chose to stay in Yangzhou and observe everything silently. He was in a good mood.
Things went smoother than he imagined. The drastic changes in the political situation did not affect the people much. Apart from giving the people more to talk about, there was nothing more.
Finally, the overall situation is stable and we can enter the happy stage.
Thousands of important criminals are in prison.
There are also over 10,000 accomplices imprisoned everywhere.
Dealing with them would be a huge project.
Moreover, these crouching dragons and phoenixes are greedy in all kinds of ways. They have done almost everything except the cover of a Ming Dynasty criminal system. Moreover, there are many people who have broken through the scope of criminal system and forced the court to amend the law in order to keep up with them.
The progress of the crime, filling in the gaps belongs to is.
The first is Fan Guang, the capital transporter who loves jade. He spent more than three years accumulating jade treasures that put Queen Ma to shame. It would be an insult to the royal majesty if he was not given some color to see.
Yao Guangxiao handed over the body and ordered him to be cut into pieces with a thousand swords and executed at Lingchi. Li Shanchang thought it was too much, so he might as well cut him in half. After all, it was easier.
In the end, Zhu Yuanzhang did not agree. He just asked people to prepare wooden shackles, and then hung more than 200 kilograms of jade under the wooden shackles.
Originally, the wooden shackles weighed dozens of kilograms, which was quite terrifying. Adding more than two hundred kilograms of jade, this thing was simply deadly.
I have to say that Zhu Yuanzhang was really imaginative in dealing with corrupt officials.
There is no other way, so I become a monk, wandering and begging. I spend many sleepless nights, enduring the cramps and pain in my abdomen, thinking about how to manipulate them so that I can feel better.
Now that the opportunity has come, I would be sorry to God if I don't be ruthless.
The heavy wooden shackles were placed on both shoulders. Within a quarter of an hour, Fan Guang could no longer bear the pressure.
They had been hung in a wooden cage beforehand, and their hands were tied to the frame so that they could not move. Then they were put on heavy wooden shackles and weighed two hundred kilograms of jade.
All the weight is added to the shoulders.
Click!
There was a crisp cracking sound, and the collarbone was crushed.
Fan Guang screamed pitifully, but soon he couldn't scream anymore.
The shackles continued to press down, and the broken bones were inserted into the lungs. Blood flowed out from his mouth and nose, which was extremely miserable. He was like a chicken caught by the throat, gradually losing oxygen, his face was livid from holding back, and he lost his life.
The struggle before his death caused his hands tied to the rack to be dislocated, his skin torn, blood gushing out, and his bones exposed.
This greedy man who allowed Lao Zhu to break his guard was crushed to death by the jade he had obtained from his greed.
This is not the end yet, Lao Zhu has decreed to peel off their skins, fill them with these jade stones, and display them separately!
Others are peeling last grass, but he is peeling jade.
The treatment is really different!
Almost instantly, it became a hot headline in the newspaper!
The people rushed to tell each other and were very happy.
And this is just the beginning.
All transportation envoys were beheaded, twelve of the thirteen judges were executed, and more than fifty clerks below were beheaded. These people were only two Zhejiang salt transportation envoys... In the newspapers, every day
There is a warning to tell everyone where His Majesty has killed again!