Chapter 103 The Emperor Visits Jiangning
Zhu Yuanzhang reviewed memorials, paying attention to almost every detail.

He was particularly concerned about the Ministry of Revenue's calculation of money and grain in the early spring.

But...soon, he noticed a reprimand from the Ministry of Personnel.

Deng Jian?

When Zhu Yuanzhang saw this name, he immediately took notice. He carefully put aside the red brush he had written on the letter and looked at it carefully.

Looting people's property...

The victim arrived at Yingtian Prefecture...

It was then submitted to the Dali Temple for a decision.

Zhu Yuanzhang's expression suddenly changed.

His eyes became unpredictable, and he pointed at the memorial and said, "Go, ask someone to go to the Dali Temple and send all the details of this case to the emperor. I want to review it in person."

We should not delay and head to the Dali Temple as soon as possible.

Soon, a petition and records were delivered to Zhu Yuanzhang's desk.

However... the Dali Temple obviously did not personally try Deng Jian.

Instead, they chose to record it and submit it to the Ministry of Personnel.

The Ministry of Personnel issued a reprimand, ordering Jiangning County Magistrate Deng Jian to return the stolen money and apologize.

Obviously... this is an attempt to make a big thing small, or a small thing nothing.

The amount of money involved was as much as more than nine thousand taels.

More than nine thousand taels, how many heads would that cost?

Zhu Yuanzhang became more and more frightened the more he read, but he immediately pondered: "Why was such a major corruption case not reported, but instead trivialized?"

He gave Ye Dangxian a cold look and asked, "Why didn't the Secretariat report it?"

She should have answered cautiously, "Your Majesty, I think that either the officials are protecting each other, and someone seems to want to protect Deng Jian... or there are other inside stories, and the people involved don't want to make a big deal out of it."

Zhu Yuanzhang then leaned back in his chair and began to consider the matter.

"When I was sorting the memorials, I caught a glimpse of one from the Ministry of Revenue, saying that Jiangning County refused to report its taxes and grain..."

Zhu Yuanzhang's expression became uglier and uglier: "There is something fishy here."

He thought for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, maybe... this is related to the commercial tax in Jiangning County..."

"Huh? Commercial tax, what commercial tax?" Zhu Yuanzhang looked at it in surprise.

He was also stunned for a moment, and suddenly realized that he might have said something wrong: "This servant... This servant will die."

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at him coldly: "You say."

He had no choice but to say, "There is an imperial decree from Chunhe Palace, ordering the Hundred Households of Chunhe Palace to collect commercial taxes from Jiangning County, and Jiangning County will assist. This matter... is known to many people, and it has been going on for three or four months..."

Zhu Yuanzhang looked surprised and asked, "Why don't I know?"

I should have started to panic: "I...I thought Your Majesty knew."

Zhu Yuanzhang almost jumped up and shouted, "Such a big thing, do you think I know?"

"Although this decree was issued by Chunhe Palace, it was apparently the idea of ​​His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. However, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has always been filial and always discusses everything with His Majesty. Therefore, everyone in and outside the court thought that this was His Majesty's intention. He was just afraid that the matter would become too big, so he only allowed Jiangning County to implement it on a trial basis. He was also worried that issuing the decree in the open would cause people to be uneasy, so he only allowed the Crown Prince to issue the decree... This servant... This servant... This is what I think."

Zhu Yuanzhang was stunned.

Then he slammed the table and said, "Taxes are the foundation of the country. How can we change them lightly? Throughout the dynasties, countless courts have ended up in chaos because of this. This is the foundation of the country!"

He was shaking with anger: "Can you treat the national foundation as a joke? How many things are you hiding from me? Well, now the crown prince is doing things behind my back, and there is also Deng Jian, Deng Qianqiu..."

He should also bow down first. He knew that he had spoken out of turn. Now he was in a difficult position. The prince would think that he was suing him, and the emperor would be furious again.

His face turned pale, and he kowtowed, saying, "This servant deserves death."

Zhu Yuanzhang said with a dark face: "Why didn't he discuss it with me? They are playing the world like a joke behind my back. How foolish, how foolish!"

He should have trembled and said, "Your Majesty, how about we stop it right now..."

"Stop it?" Zhu Yuanzhang was even more angry. "What you mean is, the prince issued an edict, and I turned around and issued an edict to reject the prince? Taxes are the foundation of the country, but the prince is not? The emperor's will is contrary to the prince's edict, what will the people of the world think? How can the prince's dignity be maintained? Will people still trust the prince? Those damn gossipers may spread rumors that I want to replace the prince. He is the prince, and he cannot be established without trust!"

Should also first: "..."

Zhu Yuanzhang was so angry that his liver was shaking. He cursed: "If you dare to do this today, you will dare to rebel tomorrow. What an unfilial son."

You should just keep your head down and not say anything.

Zhu Yuanzhang opened his eyes slightly and said, "This was Deng Qianqiu's idea. He mentioned it to me at the beginning. I felt that this matter was serious, so I didn't agree to it. He must have gone to instigate the prince."

Ye Dian said hurriedly: "I understand, I will order someone to go..."

"What are you going to do?" Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Yesen in surprise. Yesen: "..."

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned and said, "Go and get him? The centurion of the Chunhe Palace, I sent people to take him. How are you going to teach the world how to think about the crown prince? Besides, this Deng Qianqiu... he is still a child... at most he is just confused, how could he have any bad intentions?"

Should also first: "..."

Zhu Yuanzhang finally calmed down slowly.

He sat upright and said, "We should never rush into anything. We should not change the things that have been passed down easily. Otherwise, the officials will force the people to rebel. If the victims in the Dali Temple case were in the past, they would have raised their flags to rebel. The prince does not understand these things, and Deng Jian and his son do not understand them either?"

As he spoke, Zhu Yuanzhang sighed: "Why did I give birth to such a foolish son!"

After a pause, he suddenly felt better: "At least Deng Jian is not much better."

You should just keep kneeling there, not daring to make a sound.

Zhu Yuanzhang began to ponder. He closed his eyes and stroked the table: "The accounts of the national treasury this year are generally correct, except for Jiangning County... Jiangning County... It's time to teach the prince a lesson. Issue an order to let the prince go to Jiangning County in person tomorrow to see the foolish things he has done and teach him to reflect on himself."

Gong Jin said, "I understand. I will go and inform His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

Zhu Yuanzhang continued, "In a few days, he will come to me and apologize. I will take this as a lesson. I will let him see it with his own eyes, and he will naturally understand the seriousness of this. Alas... How pitiful are the hearts of parents in the world!"

Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head and sighed.

…………

For several days.

Zhu Yuanzhang was looking forward to something.

But no matter how long he waited, the prince still did not come to see him.

It seemed as if this person disappeared out of thin air in an instant.

Zhu Yuanzhang deliberately did not ask his attendants, just to prevent his question from informing the prince. Although the prince was reluctant, he still came obediently.

If this is the case, it would be like asking for forgiveness by pressing the prince's head.

What Zhu Yuanzhang wanted was to destroy the prince's heart and make him sincerely convinced.

But after waiting for a few days, Zhu Yuanzhang finally couldn't sit still anymore, so he summoned Wen Yuanji, the Imperial Censor of the Zhanshi Mansion, to ask, "What book has the prince been reading in the main hall these days?"

Wen Yuanji was in charge of supervising the prince's behavior, which was equivalent to the director of instruction at the main hall. He said with a bitter face, "Your Majesty, the prince has not come to the main hall for a few days, and he is nowhere to be seen at Chunhe Palace. He said he went to Jiangning County and has not returned."

Zhu Yuanzhang was shocked: "He hasn't come back yet? What happened?"

"Nothing happened, but the prince seems to be very absent-minded these days, and has no interest in studying..." Wen Yuanji said, "I heard that he has been hanging out with Deng Qianqiu these days. I also heard that... Deng Qianqiu is there, torturing merchants everywhere in the name of the prince. Now Jiangning County is in ruins, and the people are resentful."

Zhu Yuanzhang's scalp tingled when he heard this. What a guy! He asked the prince to go to Jiangning County to reflect on himself, but he was so happy that he didn't want to return to his homeland...

The prince is usually very honest, how come he has become like this in the blink of an eye?
He is the crown prince of the country and the root of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Yuanzhang angrily asked: "Why don't you catch him back?"

Wen Yuanji was startled and said subconsciously: "Your Majesty, I dare not..."

Zhu Yuanzhang angrily asked: "What use do I have for you?"

Then he stood up and said, "Let's go to Jiangning County. I must deal with them today."

Wen Yuanji was actually excited. He had long disliked Deng Jian and his son. There were many rumors outside and he heard that everyone was very dissatisfied.

Today... Deng Jian and his son are finished. Humph, can they really sit back and relax just because they seduced the prince with slander?

"I will go with you, Your Majesty. I have something else to report."

"We'll talk on the way." Zhu Yuanzhang was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan.

…………

Next to the Jiangning County Government Office is a mansion that Deng Qianqiu purchased at a huge price, but this mansion has a signboard of a hundred households.

Nowadays, many people are coming in and out of this Hundred Households Office, and there are carriages and horses like dragons.

In the residence, Zhu Biao happily picked up a pen to calculate the accounts, saying, "It's terrible, how can there be so much money? Qianqiu, you have too few people on hand, with so few people, how can you calculate all these accounts?"

"Your Highness." Sitting on a small table beside him, Deng Qianqiu also bowed his head and counted the accounts. At this time, he looked distressed: "Everything is difficult at the beginning. Isn't it that other people are worried? I have no choice but to come here by myself. Fortunately, Your Highness has come in person these two days to help me. Otherwise, I would be in trouble."

Zhu Biao smiled, lowered his head, and continued to deal with many shocking numbers. He couldn't help but smack his lips: "As an official, the first thing is to govern people, not to do everything by yourself. Come on, come on, come on, you are right, everything is difficult at the beginning. Now that we have just started, it is really difficult to have any trustworthy helpers. By the way, these 3,700 taels... should they be classified as ship tax or market tax?"

Deng Qianqiu came over to take a look and said simply, "Municipal tax!"

Zhu Biao smiled: "I didn't expect that settling accounts could be so interesting."

Deng Qianqiu glanced at Zhu Biao meaningfully: "What's interesting is not the accounts, but the money behind them! This is real money!"

Zhu Biao frowned: "No, this is Guoben!"

(End of this chapter)