When the city defense camp general saw his face clearly, he froze on the spot, his eyes so wide that his mouth opened involuntarily, looking horrified.
"General! General?" The squad leader was confused. Why was his immediate superior so strange?
He had never seen the emperor's face, otherwise he would be even more shocked than the general.
The city defense battalion general reacted and slapped him in the face, causing him to whirl around while holding his cheek.
Then he knelt down and kowtowed: "Your Majesty!"
His Majesty?
The squad leader's face changed wildly as he thought about something.
Li Renjie slapped him on the other side again and scolded: "Why don't you bow to the current emperor when you see him?"
This sentence is nothing but confirmation of Zhu Youde's identity.
The squad leader was completely stunned, his whole body was trembling, his lips were trembling and he could not speak. His knees were weak and he knelt down on the ground and kowtowed: "I pay my respects to Your Majesty! Please punish me for being blind!"
The situation passed in a blink of an eye, and the little official who was so aloof just now was kneeling on the ground, trembling all over and as humble as a dog.
Mrs. Xu and Xu Congjun's faces turned pale with fear in their eyes. They were shocked that Li Renjie was a high official of the imperial court. How could they know that Zhu Youde's identity was even more terrifying, as he was the emperor!
The two of them collapsed on the ground and forgot to salute.
Zhu Youde glanced at the general and squad leader, narrowed his eyes to suppress his anger and ignored them, turned around and walked towards Mrs. Xu.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty!" The old woman came to her senses and kowtowed vigorously.
"Please get up quickly!"
Zhu Youde helped the old lady up and signaled Xu Congjun to get back on his feet: "I feel guilty for neglecting to manage the grassroots officials and almost wronging the people and causing a big mistake. Please forgive me for this!"
As he said this, he bowed and apologized.
This left the old lady at a loss.
"I can't do it, I can't do it! Your Majesty can't do it!"
But Zhu Youde insisted on getting up only after the ceremony was completed. If subordinates do something wrong, managers should set an example and solve the problem.
People are like water.
Water can carry a boat, but it can also overturn it.
If Daliang wants to last long, he must gain the support of the people.
He didn't want to be reviled again just after he was known as a cowardly tyrant among the people. Before, he was forced to hide his strength to deal with powerful officials, but now he has to show his strength to clean up the filth.
A series of actions frightened the generals and squad leaders into thinking blankly. In their perception, His Majesty is the Ninth Five-Year Reign and should be aloof and untouchable. However, Zhu Youde's actions today refreshed their perceptions.
No monarch in history has ever been like this!
After comforting Mrs. Xu, Zhu Youde's eyes fell on the team leader.
Immediately, he felt a chill on his back, cold sweat on his forehead, and a majestic breath enveloped his heart.
"Your Majesty! I am guilty. I am guilty. Your Majesty, please convict me!"
He was extremely frightened and kept kowtowing to apologize.
This is often the case on weekdays. Although you occasionally encounter iron plates, you will not be exposed. It is not that the officials have too much power, but that the people do not dare to disobey. This also has a certain relationship with the popularity of Daliang's laws.
Facing the begging for mercy, Zhu Youde just watched quietly, with raging anger hidden in his half-lidded eyes.
"Now!"
"Are you still crazy?"
With an angry shout, the power of the dragon filled the air, and fear surged into his heart.
"No, I don't dare!"
"I'm asking you, are you still crazy now?"
The squad leader clenched his upper teeth and bit his lip until it turned purple and refused to relax. The fear deep in his heart made him almost faint.
"Wei Chen, Wei Chen doesn't dare!"
After receiving the reply, Zhu Youde suddenly opened his eyes, and a cold light burst out. He was so wild just now, but now he was kneeling on the ground and was submissive and did not dare to speak, like a dog.
There is only one layer of identity difference between before and after.
He remembered what Lu Shengzhi had said, "The same is true under the emperor's feet. What is the scene like in the remote border areas?"
The gap between rich and poor has led to polarization, and with such officials, wouldn't it mean that they are allowing conflicts to intensify?
Daliang’s internal problems have not yet been completely resolved...
In just a short moment, Zhu Youde thought a lot, and his anger was gradually extinguished by worry. The captain deserved to die, even if he was punished by Ling Chi, he would not be relieved of his hatred, but so what?
Punishing a petty official will not solve the problem.
"Leave it to Situ Mingrong, the Minister of Punishment, and handle it according to the laws of Daliang!"
"The Jin Yiwei teamed up with the Criminal Department to conduct an investigation in the capital, and any officials who colluded with Shang Jia to bully the people will be punished!"
Two sentences to conclude this matter.
Zhu Youde felt desolate in his heart, and his good mood was ruined. Before he could do it, he would definitely kill him with his own hands... Alas, Daliang's internal troubles have not been eliminated...
As for the general of the city defense camp, although he had not neglected his duty, Zhu Youde still asked him to go to the border and resume his service. The reason was simple - he encouraged Li Renjie to accept bribes.
It can be seen that this kind of thing may happen often.
Officials facilitate each other, exchange what they have, and use their authority to seek personal gain.
How sad and deplorable!
If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes today, Zhu Youde wouldn't have believed that there were officials bullying the people under the Emperor's feet.
If you think about it carefully, the reason is extremely simple - lack of regulatory system.
Neither the local nor the central government has established a supervisory agency in Daliang. Although there are censors in the court and provincial governors, their powers have changed and they have no supervisory power.
He had the idea in his mind to establish a supervisory agency.
After Situ Mingrong of the Criminal Department took away the squad leader, the city defense camp general and the wealthy businessman, Zhu Youde asked Li Renjie to block the news while he helped Mrs. Xu enter the store.
"Xu Congjun, let's start all over today."
Xu Congjun, who was still in shock, stammered: "The grassroots have trade cooperation with the wealthy businessman Lu Chu, and all the cloth and clothes produced in the shop are handed over to him for sale."
"Today I went to the mansion to deliver goods as usual. Unexpectedly, Lu Chu said that there was one missing person in the card game and asked me to add him. Thinking of maintaining a cooperative relationship, I followed him to the card game."
"It went well at first, and I won a lot of broken silver. But Lu Chu started to increase the number of blocks slowly, and the others also followed suit. I wanted to quit but was blocked by others. Lu Chu encouraged me to increase the amount of silver, and I
If he refused, someone would pull out a sword and threaten him, but I had no choice but to raise my bet..."
Zhu Youde's face changed slightly as he listened. Isn't this just a pig-killing plate? Lu Chu set up a trap for Xu Congjun...
I'm afraid the missing person is unnecessary.
"Then you lost continuously and gave back your previous wins. Lu Chu started to encourage you to pay for it out of your own pocket, losing all your banknotes little by little, and finally asked you to mortgage the store?"
Xu Congjun was stunned and nodded like a chicken pecking at rice.
How does your Majesty know all this?
Zhu Youde smiled. He didn't expect that pig killing trays existed in ancient times. The context of the matter was also clear - Lu Chu's purpose was either to defraud the Xu family of money, or to target Mrs. Xu's shop.
He deliberately set up a trap to let Xu Congjun participate in the card game, and after giving him a sweet treat, he began to kill the pig step by step.
"Besides you, is there anyone else playing cards?"
"Yes. The place Lu Chu took me to should be a fixed place for playing cards."
Zhu Youde nodded. It seemed that someone in the capital had set up a card playing place privately... He asked for some details and secretly made a note to ask Li Renjie to check later.
As for Lu Chu's purpose of setting up the bureau, he didn't understand. The cloth and clothes sold by the Xu family were all coarse cloth, and the profit was limited. The most valuable thing was this shop.
When Xu Congjun took out the note that he was forced to sign, Zhu Youde suddenly realized that Lu Chu was doing it for Mrs. Xu!