Chapter 44: All officials are worse than a seven-year-old child
For the first time, Zhu Yuanzhang asked the imperial chef to add some meat dishes in the evening, and then while eating, he asked several princes about their experiences on the road.
Zhu Biao talked about what happened in Dingyuan, repeated the words of the county magistrate, frowned and said, "We need to think of a good way to allocate disaster relief food."
Zhu Biao has deliberately concealed many cruel details. For example, the hungry people robbed Zhu Bai just to eat him.
In fact, Lao Zhu has seen and even experienced things more cruel than this.
Therefore, Zhu Biao could understand the horror and danger at that time without even having to say it.
Although he was angry that those people even wanted to eat his son, Zhu Yuanzhang had no intention of holding the victims responsible.
After all, he has been afraid of hunger since he was a child, and he hates hearing people go hungry.
I also understand that at that time, any use of benevolence and righteousness to restrain people will be nonsense.
Zhu Yuanzhang also nodded: "Well, this matter really needs to be resolved quickly. I will ask the officials in court tomorrow if they have any good suggestions."
Zhu Bai was extremely honest today, sitting still with his head propped up.
Lao Zhu noticed in the afternoon that Zhu Bai was a little bit sleepy. Seeing that he didn't say a word, he became even more worried.
"Old Twelve." He called out.
Zhu Bai made no sound.
Zhu Chun and Zhu Tan next to him didn't dare to say anything.
Zhu Yuanzhang became anxious, stood up and walked over to check.
When I looked closer, I discovered that Zhu Bai was sleeping with his head propped up and the little monkey in his arms, with a piece of meat in his mouth.
"You stinky boy, I'm talking to you and you actually fell asleep." Zhu Yuanzhang was so angry that he raised his hand to wake him up. After thinking about it, he put his hand down again.
Zhu Biao said: "The twelve disciples are small, so riding horses is really hard."
"Yes." Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and waved to the eunuchs beside him, "Send King Xiang back to his palace to sleep."
Two eunuchs came up, carried Zhu Bai on their backs, and were about to leave.
Zhu Bai suddenly moved and asked in a daze: "Huh? Have you finished eating? Father, I'm not asleep. You can continue."
Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't laugh or cry: "I'm so sleepy, go back to sleep, what else are you talking about?"
Zhu Bai felt water dripping on his face at night and wondered: "Is it still leaking in this palace?"
When I opened my eyes, I saw that it was Concubine Hu Shun.
Concubine Hu Shun's eyes were swollen from crying.
Zhu Bai sighed: "Don't listen to what they say is scary, it's actually nothing. I'm fine."
Concubine Hu Shun held him in her arms and said with choked sobs: "Your Highness, stop scaring me so much. If you make a mistake, I won't want to live anymore."
Alas, even though there is no one else here, she still calls herself "Concubine".
This palace is really unfriendly to women.
The corners of Zhu Bai's eyes were sore and he shouted: "Mom, don't worry, I'll be fine."
Concubine Hu Shun stiffened, hugged him tightly, and whispered: "Hey, be good. Just forget it and don't call him again. The Queen doesn't like it."
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In the morning, there were dark clouds and a strong north wind, making it extremely cold.
Lao Zhu asked the civil and military officials in the court if they had any good strategies to solve the problem of the failure of disaster relief food to arrive in time.
No one from the civil and military officials said anything.
The usually noisy main hall was now so quiet that you could hear your own breathing.
The wind outside stopped and it started to snow.
Zhu Yuanzhang was very angry, pointed outside and said: "It's snowing. The people will suffer even more. I don't know how many people will freeze to death and starve to death. You people eat the food grown by the people and wear the cloth weaved by the people, but you don't
A little way to save people from fire and water."
Ru Taisu timidly said: "The government treasury has been running, but the grain harvest situation varies from place to place. It is somewhat difficult to mobilize it nationwide..."
To put it bluntly, why should the grain produced in Huguang be given to Henan? If Huguang is hit by a disaster next year, Henan will definitely give grain to Huguang?
Parents and officials naturally think first of the people under their jurisdiction.
If he said this bluntly, Zhu Yuanzhang might kill a few state officials to urge him, but it would actually have no effect.
Moreover, even if there was a way, it would not be easy to say it directly in court.
Otherwise, if Lao Zhu does not adopt it, he may offend other officials.
Zhu Yuanzhang pursed his lips and thought for a while before saying: "Within three days, all officials above the fifth rank must propose three methods each for converting taxes in kind into money and allocating disaster relief grains. Those who exceed the deadline will be demoted one level; those who fail to pay will be treated as resistance.
If you don't obey the order, take off your official uniform and go home to farm."
All the officials looked at each other.
So serious? It seems that Lao Zhu is really driven to panic.
Zhu Yuanzhang walked away with a puff of his sleeves.
I was already in a bad mood. When I entered the inner palace and saw Zhu Chun and Zhu Tan standing on the roadside wiping tears, I wanted to curse even more.
Zhu Yuanzhang frowned and asked, "Why are you two crying so early in the morning?"
Zhu Chun and Zhu Tan lowered their heads, not daring to cry or speak.
Queen Ma passed by and rushed over, hugged Zhu Chun in her arms, and asked, "What's wrong?"
Zhu Tan then said in a whimpering voice, "The twelfth brother defrauded my son and the eleventh brother of all their pocket money this month."
The muscles on Zhu Yuanzhang's face twitched.
Yesterday I saw Zhu Bai looking like an eggplant beaten by frost, and I felt a little sorry for him, so I granted him permission not to go to the morning court today.
As a result, Zhu Bai started causing trouble early this morning. If he had known earlier, he might as well have been made to stand in court...
Lao Zhu took a deep breath and said: "You two are one and a half years older than him anyway, how could you be deceived by him?!"
Zhu Chun sobbed and said: "He gave us a fortune telling that we would be defrauded of our money today, and asked us to deposit our monthly money with him. He said that we would get half a year's profit after one year, and one year's profit after two years."
.The longer you save, the higher the interest will be.”
Zhu Tan twitched and said, "We felt that he had always calculated accurately, so we gave it to him. But just now the second brother said that we were deceived by the twelfth brother, so we wanted to get the money back. The twelfth brother said that we had saved
Regularly, if I take it back now, it’s not cost-effective and I won’t give it back.”
Zhu Chun cried loudly: "I can't beat you, I can't catch you. My one tael of silver..."
Zhu Tan also cried loudly: "He also lied to the thirteenth and fourteenth brothers. He also said that if there is no money to return to us in the future, he will do another fortune telling for us, or use other things to compensate. That's it.
Each of us was given a small ledger."
Queen Ma took the book and looked at it. It said "Xiangwang Bank" on the cover.
On the first page of the book, it says depositor: so-and-so.
Then there were many horizontal lines drawn below. On the first horizontal line, from left to right, it was written crookedly: "Deposit 2 taels of silver on a certain day of a certain month of a certain year, and the annual interest will be..."
The palace guests wanted to laugh but were afraid that the two children would be sad, so they could only cover their mouths and stop talking.
"Don't cry, you two. I will take you to find him. I want to ask him what he wants to do." Zhu Yuanzhang was angry and funny. He patiently comforted his two sons and then turned to ask Erhu, "Where is that bastard?"
where?"
Erhu said: "The King of Xiang seems to be in the imperial study."
The corner of Zhu Yuanzhang's mouth twitched: "It seems that he is waiting for me to go back and wants to deceive me too..."
