Although I didn't take the environment here seriously, it was a bit strange.
The courtyard looks very impressive from the outside.
Why can't the inside be cleaned? Isn't it a waste to make such a good yard look like a haunted house?
Although there are some doubts, as Zhu Yuanzhang is the emperor, the city is naturally deep enough.
There was no expression on his face, he just followed the people in Liu Song's house calmly and walked towards the only room in the yard that was still lit.
As for Liu Ji, he seems to have been accustomed to all this and is not moved at all.
Just respectfully, he fell half a step behind Zhu Yuanzhang and followed step by step.
When they arrived at Liu Song's house, the servants of the Liu Mansion did not directly take Zhu Yuanzhang and the others in, but first asked inside: "Master, Master Liu is here."
Liu Song's calm voice came from inside the room: "Please come in."
Lao Zhu never really liked his voice.
Because whenever you hear this voice in a court meeting, it often means trouble.
In the past, Zhu Yuanzhang could only listen honestly.
But this time...
A sneer appeared on the corner of Zhu Yuanzhang's mouth.
You, Liu Song, have only been in Yanjing for a long time, and you have already built such a big house.
Although it seems that Liu Song is not enjoying these things, but no matter what, you have always accepted this house, right?
In the past, you were always upright and proud of yourself.
Today we want to see how shameless you Liu Song is to brag in front of me.
Zhu Yuanzhang pushed the door open and Liu Ji followed him in hastily without hesitation.
Before entering the house, he also signaled to Liu Song's servants not to follow him.
After all, the two of them are now the first and second in command of Yanjing, so they naturally have many things to discuss.
This is not the first time Liu Ji has come to Liu Song's house.
The servants in the house naturally thought that they wanted to talk about something particularly important, so they naturally did not dare to stay and get in the way.
He didn't even enter the door, he just closed the door outside.
Liu Song in the room is eating.
When I heard someone coming in, I put down my dishes and was just about to say hello.
But after seeing the people coming in, his reaction was similar to Liu Ji's, and everyone was shocked.
Why does Zhu Yuanzhang appear here?
Although he didn't understand the reason, Liu Song stood up quickly after the initial shock.
After tidying up his appearance, he knelt down respectfully and said, "I have met Your Majesty. Long live the Five Emperors."
Liu Ji, who followed later, knelt beside Liu Song without saying a word, as if he wished he could be regarded as a transparent person.
Zhu Yuanzhang ignored Liu Song and slowly came to the dining table with a dark face.
When I looked down, I felt something strange.
Liu Song's dinner was completely different from Liu Ji's.
There is a table full of delicious food, with all kinds of delicacies from mountains and seas.
On Liu Song's side, there was only a plate of tofu, a bowl of egg soup, a small plate of pickles, and only rice.
If it were an ordinary family, life would actually be pretty good.
However, this was Liu Song in front of him.
Although he is not yet a high-ranking official, he is still a high-ranking official in the court.
Moreover, Zhu Yuanzhang followed Zhu Han's advice and was never merciful to corrupt officials.
But in other aspects, efforts have been made to improve their treatment.
Even with just his salary, Liu Song's food wouldn't be so shabby?
"Is it all pretending?" Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but think.
But soon, he himself overturned this idea.
Because according to Jin Yiwei's investigation, when Liu Song was in Yingtian Mansion, his daily routine was basically the same.
The most I can do is buy some meat at home during the holidays.
Moreover, if Liu Song was pretending like this in Yanjing, it might be for the sake of Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang or other civil and military officials.
But now this is Yanjing, which is thousands of miles away from Yingtian Mansion.
What's the point of pretending?
Moreover, if it is pretending, it should be because he is afraid that no one will see it.
Just put it on outside.
After returning to my own home, in this deep mansion and compound, why bother pretending to be so simple and plain?
Or...
Is this guy Liu Song a typical stingy person?
But this doesn't make sense either.
In the past, Liu Song supported many poor students.
Even now, Liu Song has actually been doing this.
His little salary, besides using it at home, is mostly used for this.
A person who is willing to give money to others cannot be associated with stinginess, right?
The more he thought about it, the more Zhu Yuanzhang's head hurt.
Lao Zhu also thinks that he is not a stupid person. If he were stupid, he would not be able to build Zhu Mingxia.
If such people are stupid, then there will be no smart people in this world.
But Lao Zhu really didn't understand Liu Song's various behaviors.
"I really didn't realize that Liu Aiqing, you are so frugal, even in your own home, you can still have cabbage and tofu so light."
Zhu Yuanzhang took the word "home" very seriously.
This is a mockery of Liu Song, who obviously embezzled a priceless mansion but pretended to be so simple when it came to food.
Lao Zhu is not very clear about the price of houses here in Yanjing, but he knows that there are so many people here, and it will definitely not be much cheaper.
With Liu Song's salary, if there were no rewards from the imperial court.
Even if he eats cabbage and tofu every day for seventy or eighty years, he still can’t afford to buy such a large mansion, right?
Liu Song didn't seem to hear the sarcasm in Zhu Yuanzhang's tone, and just said lightly: "Three meals a day are enough to satisfy your hunger. There is no big difference for me between cabbage and tofu and delicacies from the mountains and seas."
Zhu Yuanzhang laughed directly: "Okay... okay!"
"Master Liu, you are worthy of being the Wei Zheng of my Ming Dynasty and the Bao Zheng of my Ming Dynasty. We are truly lucky to have an upright minister like you."
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! In these words, the meaning of yin and yang is even stronger.
If this doesn't sound like a problem, then Liu Song's job as an official was really in vain.
But he really couldn't understand what Zhu Yuanzhang meant.
He looked at Liu Ji with some confusion.
I hope to get some tips from this colleague with whom I have become increasingly close.
It's a pity that Liu Ji is not the kind of ungrateful and sinister person who stabs people in the back.
However, now that he is in a difficult situation, he still feels that it is better to die as a fellow Taoist rather than to die as a poor Taoist.
So he lowered his head deliberately, as if he didn't notice Liu Song's questioning eyes at all.
Liu Ji didn't give any hints, and Liu Song couldn't figure out why Zhu Yuanzhang was so angry.
So I simply said honestly and according to my inner thoughts: "I am a humble minister, I am just doing my duty."
It's okay if he didn't say it. After hearing what he said, Zhu Yuanzhang was probably furious.
"Liu Song, don't think that because you have a good reputation, we won't dare to kill you. You should know better than us what the Ming Dynasty Laws say about official corruption."
"Don't you pride yourself on having a clean mind? Then tell us, what should be the sentence for a serving official who embezzled a priceless house?"
Liu Song replied without thinking: "Your Majesty, according to my Ming Law, officials who embezzle more than sixty taels of silver will be stripped of their skin and used as grass..."
Halfway through his words, Liu Song suddenly couldn't speak anymore.
Because he suddenly realized why Zhu Yuanzhang asked this.
Liu Song never understood why his Majesty the Emperor seemed to be suppressing his anger from the moment he appeared until now.
But now, let’s talk about the house issue.
Liu Song suddenly understood that all of this was because Zhu Yuanzhang saw his residence.
If the origin of this house cannot be explained clearly, Zhu Yuanzhang would definitely not mind having his whole family here.
Sixty taels is nothing, let alone his house.
Looking at the current prices in Yanjing, we don’t even need to consider the house itself, just the land below the house.
Sixty taels of silver per head was enough to behead all nine of his clans.
Zhu Yuanzhang gritted his teeth and said in a conspiratorial tone: "Liu Song, Liu Song, the reason why I asked you to come to Yanjing is to train your ability to be independent."
"Although we don't like you as a person, we know that everything you did in the past was for the people of the world and our Ming Dynasty."
"For an official like you, no matter whether we like you or not, we will give you a chance to practice and reuse you."
"But we never expected that just how long have you been away from Yanjing before your true colors are revealed?"
After understanding what Dean Zhu meant, Liu Song quickly said: "Your Majesty, you have misunderstood. In fact, there is something hidden in this. Your Majesty, please be patient and calm..."
But before Liu Song finished speaking, he was rudely interrupted by Zhu Yuanzhang.
"That's enough, I don't want to hear your excuses."
"Do you think we don't know anything? How dare you use the court's money to satisfy your own selfish desires."
"Liu Song, Liu Song, why didn't I see before that you are so constructive in this regard?"
The more Zhu Yuanzhang talked, the more angry he became. He gritted his teeth and said angrily: "You used to advise me every day to be frugal and to give the people rest and recuperation."
"Now it's your turn, why can't you be frugal?"
When he lowered his head and saw the cabbage, tofu and egg soup on the table, it was obviously a very simple meal, but Lao Zhu felt it was extremely dazzling: "You accepted such a big house without politeness, and now you pretend to be so simple, this Who are you pretending to show?"
The furious Lao Zhu looked very scary.
Even Liu Song and Liu Ji, the closest ministers around them, felt waves of panic, and they lowered their heads and did not dare to speak.
Zhu Yuanzhang scolded Liu Song and Liu Ji for almost half an hour, spraying blood on them.
Finally, Lao Zhu said he was tired, picked up the egg soup on the table and took a sip. He snorted hoarsely: "Tell me, aren't you two usually very eloquent? Why didn't you say anything today?"
Liu Song still lowered his head.
But even if he didn't see Liu Song's face, Zhu Yuanzhang still seemed to see Liu Song's true thoughts now.
I'm not convinced.
I have to say that this is the only tacit understanding between the two of them over the years.
Lao Zhu raised his eyebrows and said to himself, "You are Liu Song."
Corruption and bribery, and yet still be able to do so with confidence?
Originally, Liu Song had been serving as a monarch for so many years, but Liu Song has been doing his best in these years. Of course, the main reason is that his reputation in the court is relatively good.
Therefore, Lao Zhu considered giving Liu Song a more dignified death, and a kind one that would not implicate his family members.
The main reason is that Lao Zhu also hopes that someone like Wei Zheng or Bao Zheng will appear in his Ming Dynasty.
But this guy Liu Song didn't even know how to repent at all.
In this case, don't blame him for not being considerate of the emperor and his subjects.
"Liu Song!" Zhu Yuanzhang said coldly: "If you have anything to say, you can say it directly. If you think I was wrong, I will give you a chance to defend yourself now, so that you will not keep saying that we are cruel."
Holding the Jinyiwei in his hand, Lao Zhu certainly knows what people in the world think of him.
In fact, even ordinary people feel that Lao Zhu is a little too cruel sometimes.
As long as those officials did something wrong, Lao Zhu would never be polite.
Of course, Lao Zhu is well aware of this kind of evaluation.
However, Lao Zhu didn't care.
His idea is actually very simple. He has conquered the world and killed countless people in his life. How can he still have a good reputation?
Instead of guarding those good reputations, it is better to use thunderous methods.
Just kill those daring guys without fear.
Only then can we leave a clean Ming Dynasty to future generations.
Speaking of this matter, Lao Zhu has been a little depressed recently.
In the past, it was enough to kill the corrupt officials in the Ming Dynasty, but now as the territory of the Ming Dynasty expands day by day.
It seems that the speed of killing corrupt officials cannot keep up with the speed of Ming Dynasty's territorial expansion.
This is how to do?
My favorite son Zhu Biao, although he is still a little immature in terms of governing the country, he is growing up very quickly.
Lao Zhu is very satisfied with him in every aspect.
The only thing I don't like very much is that this guy is too soft-hearted and will kill ruthlessly without giving up.
It seems that he still has to kill everyone who deserves to be killed before he is buried.
Let's start with the two ministers in front of him, who will join him in conquering the world and whom he was originally very optimistic about.
These thoughts only passed through Zhu Yuanzhang's mind briefly.
When he came to his senses, Liu Song just said: "Your Majesty, I don't want to make any quibbles."
"This house was indeed purchased with the money belonging to our Yanjing imperial court, and it is indeed currently occupied by the ministers."
"And not only the house, but also the flint in the house, the wages of some of the servants, the carriages and horses, and the Xia Bingdong carbon, are all the responsibility of the imperial court."
The more detailed Liu Song spoke, the more angry Lao Zhu became. His fists clenched loudly: "Because the money was paid directly to you by the imperial court, it doesn't count as corruption or bribery, right?"
"As expected of someone who has an overview of Yanjing's power struggles, he has indeed made great progress in his work than before."
Unlike the frightened Liu Ji, after understanding Dean Zhu's true thoughts, Liu Song seemed very calm from beginning to end: "Your Majesty is wrong."
