Zhu Ming said casually: "The prince ordered us to come over and see how your arrangements are going. Do you have enough firewood and charcoal at home?"
The man quickly got up and made way for them to come in. Zhu Biao shook off the snow on his body and walked in. The inside was very shabby, with some uneven floors, several buckets full of stains, and wooden ones full of scratches.
The furniture and the entire house are basically the same color, which makes it look very depressing.
A woman hurriedly walked out, bowed and saluted, not daring to look up at all. Zhu Biao had no intention of saying anything to them, after all, he had eyes of his own.
When they arrived in the back room, there was a small squirming figure under the quilt. It must be a child at home. He was afraid of missing his head. Zhu Biao walked to the bedside and touched the quilt, confirming that it was a cotton quilt.
Then he walked to the stove and looked at the piled firewood and the charcoal carefully placed on the other side. Finally, he checked the food. Zhu Biao nodded with satisfaction. It seemed that the supplies distributed by the court in this village were pretty good.
The couple stood aside with their heads lowered and did not dare to make a sound. They did not understand why these noble people came to their home, and they were afraid that something would happen.
Seeing that Zhu Biao was still wandering around, the husband quickly motioned to his mother-in-law to boil water and make some tea for the nobles. Zhu Biao waved his hand to stop him, and then went out first.
The others also followed. When Zhu Ping left, he pulled out a few pieces of beef jerky from his horse and threw it over: "It's rare that you recognize me. Give it to your child."
Zhu Biao smiled. The second brother still had a good heart. That was good. The group of people rode on their horses and visited several more houses in the village. The general situation was the same. The immigrants were not living a good life, but their lives were
It won't be a big problem to survive this winter.
There were more than a hundred households in this village, and Zhu Biao didn't have time to look at them one by one. He randomly checked a few houses before heading to the next village. After leaving the village, he asked: "Who is in charge of this village?"
Several people behind him looked at each other in confusion, and finally Zhu Fan scratched his head and said: "Guo Chong seems to be in charge, and they should be in the three nearby villages."
Zhu Biao nodded. If the materials used by the imperial court to resettle the relocated people were more corrupt, they could make a profit by selling them to other places. Especially cotton, which was not grown much in the Ming Dynasty. The only ones that Zhu Yuanzhang ordered around Nanjing after the founding of the country were
Planted.
I walked through several villages along the way and the situation was pretty good. At least the officials were indeed not corrupt. Until I came to a rather remote village and visited two families first, the situation was normal.
But something went wrong in the third household. When Zhu Biao went in, he found that the family was covered with linen quilts stuffed with poplar catkins, and the family of four were sleeping huddled inside.
At first, he couldn't even hear a knock on the door. Zhu Biao thought the family was poisoned by charcoal, so he ordered someone to break in and wake them up. After entering the house, he found that there was no charcoal. He knew something was wrong when he saw the quilt. The family was frightened.
I was trembling, and it took me a while to explain the reason.
The village was notified that two families in the village were sharing the same quilt. Now it's just you and me day by day. This ridiculous thing happened. The first two families happened to have quilts, and they didn't dare to say anything for fear of getting into trouble.
Upper body.
Zhu Biao ordered people to go and inquire from house to house. The result was indeed like this. Zhu Biao couldn't help laughing. After careful inspection, they found that their charcoal was not enough, half less than other villages.
It stands to reason that there should be connections between the relocated people and neighboring villages, not to mention that their men all work together, so this should not happen. However, the people here are not dissatisfied, they just think they are unlucky.
.
As for officials withholding supplies distributed by the court, they are not dissatisfied. Some people feel that the court never distributed anything for winter in previous years, and now there are quilts and charcoal. How dare they cause trouble? Suffering a loss is a blessing. If the official is dissatisfied, he will
nothing left.
Zhu Biao has already sent people to arrest the official in charge here. He should be a first-class Jinshi scholar who is also a member of a noble family. He does not know why he did such a stupid thing.
Zhu Biao didn't waste too much time here. He already had a bad premonition. Sure enough, there would be problems in the villages in the future, either because of lack of food, or because there were no quilts and only cotton-padded clothes, and there was charcoal going down.
It was taken back the next day.
Now Zhu Xi, Zhu Fan, Zhu Di and others are not happy either. My mother, I and the dignified prince are here to suffer and suffer on errands, and you guys are holding us back like this?
Zhu Biao ordered the detachment, and each of the three princes led a team to check. Zhu Biao was not in a hurry. The current situation was that some people wanted to fish in troubled waters. They felt that it was snowing and winter was coming, and His Royal Highness would not leave the city easily.
The prince may go back to Beijing directly before the Chinese New Year, and will not come back until spring. As long as the people's minimum survival requirements are ensured and they don't talk nonsense, the cotton and charcoal transported to the north will be worth a lot of money.
It stands to reason that this is also the usual practice. Only 30% of the imperial supplies can actually reach the hands of the people. Now they are probably worried about Zhu Biao, for fear of causing trouble, and half of the minimum supplies have reached the hands of the people.
On the way back, Zhu Biao ordered people to summon the officials. This matter was not something that a few new scholars would dare to do. Who are they? They have no official position, no position, and even if they want to embezzle the servants, they will not agree. It must be led by powerful people in Fengyang Mansion.
of.
However, Zhu Biao really couldn't understand that for a mere amount of money from reselling cotton, grain, and charcoal, he dared to do such a thing in front of him. It was really stupid.
People say that only for 100% profit will they trample all human laws, and for 300% profit will they dare to commit any crime, and even risk hanging their heads.
This was a big profit. Although they were earning from a business without capital, the risk was too great. Zhu Biao suddenly felt that the fool who did this was probably the noble nobleman, and civil servants would never be so stupid.
After Zhu Biao returned to the city, Zhu Xi, Zhu Di and others kept sending people back to report. There were no problems in the villages and towns that Zhu Biao entered, and there were no problems in the villages and towns under the supervision of Zhu Biao's confidants. However, the more remote places, the more supplies were withheld.
The more.
There is also the most unique village, where Zhu Biao is used to house disabled children. It is the most exploited village. On the surface, it has everything, but there is very little cotton in the quilts, and the charcoal is of the lowest quality.
News of Zhu Biao's anger spread, and officials from all over Fengyang Prefecture hurried over. Zhu Fan also sent news that as soon as he entered the village, he saw a team of officers redistributing supplies, hoping to make amends before being discovered.
Those who were close to him and had a clear conscience naturally came the fastest, while the others were different. Two new scholars had even hanged themselves in the house, and the officials below were even more ugly.
There were also officials who rushed directly to the house and knelt in the snow. There was even one of them who was specially promoted by Zhu Biao. It is really incomprehensible. If you don’t have a bright and promising future, you have to focus on this petty profit in front of you. Damn it, die.
