Chapter 86 Big Households Changing Rice to Mulberry
Chapter 86: Big households convert rice into mulberry
To be praised by Xia Yuanji, Xie Jin did a really good job in this matter.
In a year of great disaster and at the critical moment of tax reform, any slight disturbance will have serious consequences.
If word spreads about the missing food, the price of food in the capital will skyrocket in an instant... What will happen to the newly stabilized treasure banknotes may not happen. The collapse of the banknotes will also affect the court's reputation.
If this continues, the efforts of the past year and the hard work of countless people will all be in vain.
So sometimes, it is really not the courtiers who are willing to cover the lid, but when it is lifted, the consequences will be too disastrous and no one can afford it.
And this kind of thing is passed down from level to level, and it is the people below who suffer the most.
Honest officials kill people, honest ministers harm the people!
Although this is a very bastard logic, it still makes a little bit of sense.
Xie Jin and Xia Yuanji once decisively allocated military rations and sent them to the disaster-stricken area in western Zhejiang by waterway. Since they were involved in military affairs, they took the official documents from the Ministry of War and passed the customs smoothly without disturbing too many people. They successfully completed the disaster relief mission.
On the other side, people were sent to Jiangxi and Huguang with money to purchase grain to make up for the shortfall... After a lot of maneuvering, the hole was actually blocked.
First, pull out his ten nails, and then start with his ten toes.
Zhu Di exclaimed: "Xia Shangshu, Xie Xueshi, you two are really talented. In just a few days, you have grown hundreds of thousands of stones of grain out of thin air. With you two here in the future, the Ming Dynasty will never have to worry about it again."
Food is there, right?”
Grandma's, it's really weird.
Seeing this, the previous things came to mind... Xu Jingchang came up with the idea of changing rice into mulberry, but his idea was obviously different from Li Zhigang.
He hoped that the King of Han would take charge of the operation, with businessmen as the leader and the court supervising, and at the same time expand the scale of the industry and prepare for a large-scale expedition to the West...
Zhu Di took it over and took a look. The memorial actually said that the disaster in western Zhejiang had been alleviated. The local wealthy gentry and wealthy businessmen enthusiastically donated donations. The victims were well fed and the people's livelihood was stable. They sang with full bellies and praised our emperor's sage. The court no longer needed disaster relief.
"Taking advantage of floods to annex people's fields is what those evil-minded beasts can do. But how can they do anything about the food provided by the court for disaster relief? What's going on?"
How can we forgive the sin of deceiving the emperor!
"Please tell me clearly, what is going on?"
Zhu Di snorted, "Okay, you all have great hands and eyes, and you know everything better than me. I am really deaf, blind, and ignorant!"
Just when the two of them breathed a sigh of relief, Zhu Di suddenly issued an order and called these two guys to the palace.
Xu Jingchang calmly took out a memorial from Xu Wenlan, the prefect of Hangzhou, and handed it to Zhu Di.
Xu Jingchang took a deep breath, and as if by magic, he took out several memorials one after another and handed them to Zhu Di.
Xu Jingchang looked solemn and only said: "I checked the official documents and found that this batch of grain was transferred by the inner court and sent to Liujiagang to the shipbuilding craftsmen."
Li Zhigang, the former Minister of Rites, was captured, and Xu Wenlan, the prefect of Hangzhou, was arrested. Later, the Zhejiang Shipping Department, the Jiangnan Weaving Bureau, and even the eunuchs of the inner court did not escape.
Everyone knew about the floods in western Zhejiang, and he even sent officials to investigate in detail. After getting the results, Zhu Di prepared food to help the victims.
The most important among them is the memorial written by Li Zhigang, the Minister of Rites, but his official position at this time was that of Imperial Envoy.
Zhu Di glared at the two people, "When something happened, instead of telling me, I just thought of colluding with each other to hide the king's father. It's not an exaggeration to say that you are friends and are traitors. I will throw you into the imperial prison now. That's right.
It’s a reasonable thing.”
Zhu Di was stunned at this moment. The voyage to the Western Sea was his decision, and the shipbuilding was also his request. Zheng He was supervising the work there.
The flying fish suit is flying when hunting, and the blade of the embroidered spring knife is unsheathed.
However, as soon as Li Zhigang came up with a similar idea, Xu Jingchang did not dare to underestimate this person, so he secretly sent someone to investigate.
The royal guards were to the officials of the Ming Dynasty, just like Zhang Babai was to Sun Shiwan.
Among them, Li Zhigang, the former Minister of Rites, went to Fujian and Zhejiang to announce the decree. He can probably be regarded as the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, but he does not have this title at the moment.
On the other side, including people like Jing Qing and Tie Xuan, Zhu Di did not kill them. He just imprisoned them and asked them to do hard work together with the young men recruited by Xu Jingchang.
He also took hot glue and applied it on his back, then pulled it hard, and a strip of skin came off, with bloody flesh and blood, and the sound of screams could not be heard.
This kind of thing continued from the beginning of the Ming Dynasty until its demise... By the late Ming Dynasty, the land south of the Yangtze River, which had always been known as a land of plenty, had to rely on Huguang and Jiangxi to transport food, otherwise it would not be able to sustain itself.
Ji Gang used a great memory recovery technique on him.
When floods occurred in western Zhejiang, Li Zhigang wrote a letter, suggesting that the court plant mulberry trees instead. He meant that silk was more profitable than food, and the people could save more and hide wealth among the people, so that they would not be afraid of floods and droughts.
Isn’t this an insult to Jin Yiwei’s profession?
After waiting and hoping for so long, the opportunity finally came.
"Xu Jingchang, what do you mean? Before I even issued an order, someone took the initiative to transport food and go to provide disaster relief. This is really a kind person! He is kinder than me! It's really good, very good!"
In the entire Liujiagang, there are tens of thousands of craftsmen and civilians, and it is really not a small sum for them to eat horses.
Several major cases in the Hongwu Dynasty had their voices.
If it was just a matter of food, Zhu Di could still be calm, but now he is resorting to tricks and treating the emperor as a three-year-old child. This is intolerable.
It turns out that after Zhu Di entered Yingtian, he sent important civil and military ministers to various places to take over the local yamen, control the nine sides, and preach to all directions. The emperor has changed, so everything remains as usual. Don't panic.
He looked around and still focused on Xu Jingchang, "Tell me, what is going on? What do you know?"
As a result, we would not know until we checked, but we were shocked to find out that many large households in the disaster-stricken areas had come forward to purchase land from ordinary people at a price of less than 20 dan per acre.
Zhu Di frowned when he saw this, as if his IQ had been challenged.
When Zhu Di heard this, he couldn't help laughing.
"I will pay my respects to Your Majesty."
It is a terrifying existence that can stop children from crying.
check!
We must get to the bottom of it!
Zhu Di called Ji Gang directly.
And when these big households get the land, they will naturally plant mulberry trees with higher incomes. Only fools will grow grain honestly. As for the price of grain, they don't care. Anyway, no one will starve to death, and the big households will not starve to death!
Could it be that they were also involved?
Collusion between top and bottom, annexing land, misappropriating food, treating national laws as nothing, being both the inner court and officials... What a courageous thing.
But the question is how dare they call for disaster relief food?
Who gave them the courage?
Zhu Di was furious, but he heard Xu Jingchang say: "Your Majesty, I continued to investigate and found that this batch of grain was not sent to Liujiagang. In fact, it had been shipped to the disaster area in Zhejiang."
Cold sweat dripped from the two men, and they knelt down in a hurry, "The guilty minister did not dare to hide it from Your Majesty, but the guilty minister was really worried about ruining the overall situation, so he had no choice but to do it. Please tell your Majesty clearly."
When Xu Jingchang saw this, he finally felt kindhearted and said, "Your Majesty, the grain stored in the warehouse has disappeared. I have some knowledge of this matter, but the situation inside is complicated and I dare not report it suddenly."
For these people, it is ten thousand times more uncomfortable than being cut into pieces by a thousand cuts.
It just so happened that Xu Jingchang was also there. The two of them were stunned for a moment, and then saluted Zhu Di.
This situation was also the reason for the rapid collapse of Nanming. The Qing court and Li Dingguo fought over Huguang and other places for the same reason. After all, when the time came to change dynasties, raw silk could not fill their stomachs, but food could.
"It's so cruel. Ji Gang is just a beast that eats people without spitting out their bones." Zhu Gaosui came to complain to Xu Jingchang. The people he had were really good. They actually investigated the interrogation scene. He came over at this time and chatted with Xu Jingchang lively.
Describe it.
Xu Jingchang said slowly: "We have to ask Zhejiang Shipping Department and Jiangnan Weaving Bureau."
There is still a trace of vitality left in the founding of the country.
The two of them were trembling all over. Xia Yuanji had already been in jail once, and Xie Jin had a hard time getting over. When they were most frightened, they leaned down to apologize, sweating through their clothes.
Among them, the most miserable person was Xu Wenlan, the prefect of Hangzhou.
Then wouldn’t the food I prepared be in vain?
And the problem is that all the food has disappeared... Everything is so weird, Zhu Di only feels his temples buzzing and throbbing in pain.
You must know that good land in western Zhejiang cannot be purchased for fifty stones per acre in ordinary years. Buying land at this time is almost like picking up money.
The lowest one has only fifteen stones per acre.
This, the most powerful magic weapon in Zhu Di's hand, finally delivered a fatal blow.
Only Ji Gang of the Jin Yiwei was depressed and suffered internal injuries. It has been one year since His Majesty took the throne and he has not had the chance to go on a killing spree. He is really anxious to death.
The leader of the Jinyiwei could no longer hold himself back any longer.
Zhu Di was stunned for a while. These two yamen were both from the palace. They belonged to the emperor's confidants and held the key to the internal funds.
Jin Yiwei, do you know?
The infamous Beizhen Fusi.
Zhu Di also thought it was good.
However, because of Xu Jingchang's existence, he actually saved many people, such as Sheng Yong, Ping An and others, all of them were alive, and Li Jinglong also turned around.
Not killing people, just getting rid of them.
As a result, the Hangzhou prefect who is now directly responsible actually said that the disaster was not serious and could be overcome with donations from local gentry.
Within an hour, Xu Wenlan fell into coma three times and woke up three times.
Zhu Gaosui shuddered when he mentioned it. In comparison, the fatigue tactics he and his second brother used against Uncle Seventeen were just a small scene of gentle breeze and drizzle.
"Xu Wenlan confessed?"
"You have been recruited, do you dare not to confess? According to what he said, it was Li Zhigang who asked him to submit a letter and refuse the imperial court's relief food in order to cut off the thoughts of the victims. But in fact, the food was sent to Liujiagang Shipyard, and then shipped to the Shipping Department
We borrowed it from Zhejiang in the name of... Although we still have these grains, after such a deal, the people will not be able to get free disaster relief grains. If we want to survive, we must sell our fields at home at a low price."
