Chapter 39 How can the emperor admit that he was wrong?
hum! Zhu Yuanzhang's head was blown again.
In the tenth year of Hongwu, there was a famine in Huguang and Shaanxi. In the eleventh year of Hongwu, there was a great famine in Jinan, Dongchang, and Laizhou. The grass was full of bark and there was no food left. He remembered these clearly.
Famine is a threshold that all dynasties and dynasties cannot escape.
It is also one of the most troublesome political issues for monarchs in the past dynasties.
Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, there have been famines in places almost every year. At that time, the court will begin to deal with the disaster, and each time it takes a lot of manpower and material resources to deal with it.
However, Zhu Yuanzhang had a feeling that after ten years of Hongwu, the disaster was handled much better than in the past, and the court spent less money. At first, Zhu Yuanzhang was secretly proud, thinking that this was because he had managed the country well, and the Ming Dynasty was gradually becoming stronger. Disasters come easily.
But from what Mao Youfu said, perhaps the extra grain in Kaiping County is probably the reason why it is easier to deal with the disaster. Even though the grain in Kaiping County is sold at normal grain prices, these grains are placed in the disaster area!
Zhu Yuanzhang remembered clearly that during the famine in Huguang and Shaanxi in the tenth year of Hongwu, some profiteers took the opportunity to hoard and raise the price of food. Originally, one tael of silver could buy two stones of rice, but in the disaster area, it took 20 taels of silver to buy two stones of rice. It has increased ten times, and some places are even more serious.
Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly remembered that when the famine in Huguang and Shaanxi was at its worst, it seemed that some affordable rice actually appeared on the market, plus the court's disaster relief rice, which brought down the high food prices. After that, he freed up his hands and killed A large group of corrupt officials and profiteers managed to completely suppress the situation.
At that time, Zhu Yuanzhang also asked people to investigate the source of this affordable rice. However, there were no Jinyiwei at that time, and the famine situation was chaotic. After a period of time, the investigation came to nothing.
Just then.
A guard came in to report, "Report! Urgent report from Suzhou!"
"Read it!" Zhu Yuanzhang said in a deep voice.
"Today, in Suzhou and other places where famine occurred, cheap food appeared on the market, and the famine disaster has been alleviated. Preliminary statistics indicate that the cheap food this time amounts to one million dan! Officials such as the Suzhou Prefecture and the Yangzhou Prefecture jointly announced the memorial." The guard said hurriedly.
"Have you found out which trading firm did it this time?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked in a deep voice.
"It seems to be a caravan named 'Zhonghua Grain Industry'. The people in the entire caravan are extremely low-key. This time, several magistrates discovered it only after careful attention. Several magistrates agreed to wait until the disaster is over and jointly submit a letter. Please give this 'China Grain Industry' caravan a reward!"
The guard replied.
Huo! !
Hearing the guard's words, Fengtian Palace went into a panic!
Everything Mao Youfu said was actually true.
"Report!!"
Another guard rushed into Fengtian Hall.
"What's wrong?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked in a deep voice.
"The report came from Peiping. Tens of thousands of people gathered in Kaiping County. They wrote a letter to the people and walked to the capital to intercede for their county magistrate Ouyang Lun, prefect Mao Youfu, and political envoy Guo Zi. They sang loudly along the way. 'They are all good officials, please don't kill them.' No officials along the way dare to stop them, so please make your decision!"
The guard hurriedly reported.
Zhu Yuanzhang was also completely confused.
This is a complete reversal. Before, he said that he would not kill officials such as Ouyang Lun and Mao Youfu, and the people of the world were dissatisfied. Now the people are indeed dissatisfied, but they are dissatisfied and he killed Ouyang Lun and Mao Youfu.
At this moment, all the officials in the Fengtian Palace were also quite surprised. This was the first time they encountered such a situation. They never expected that everyone had been captured in the capital, and they were probably going to be beheaded tomorrow. However, things turned out to be very different from what they had originally expected.
Tu Jie, Chen Ning and other officials who had previously criticized Mao Youfu for demanding severe punishment are now lowering their heads.
Prime Minister Hu Weiyong was also embarrassed, but he was the Prime Minister of the Ming Dynasty, the leader of hundreds of officials. Others could lower their heads, but he could not, so he raised his head in embarrassment to maintain the dignity of the Prime Minister.
Zhu Yuanzhang slowly returned to the dragon throne, taking in everything in front of him, and brainstorming had already started in his mind.
I quickly went through the 'Kaiping Grain Case' from front to back, and finally concluded that the main reason for the mistake was inertial thinking and being blinded by , Zhu Yuanzhang and Jin Yiwei would not make such a low-level mistake, but 200 million shi of grain appeared and disappeared out of thin air. This has never happened in the past, and Jin Yiwei has never been able to find where the 200 million shi of grain went. To avoid The nights were long and there were many dreams, so everyone involved was arrested.
All the emperor and Jin Yiwei needed to do to arrest people was to have this idea. As for the evidence, they could easily confirm it.
Well, I did arrest the wrong person this time!
But what if you make a mistake?How could the emperor admit that he was wrong?
At this point, Zhu Yuanzhang did not feel any pressure in his heart.
Soon, he thought of a way.
"Ha ha!"
Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly laughed loudly.
"Quickly, remove the shackles of Guo Aiqing and Mao Aiqing!"
"To tell you the truth, I have known this for a long time. I just wanted to put on a show for you!"
After saying that, Zhu Yuanzhang said with a gloomy face: "In this court, some people look like loyal ministers, but they are actually traitors, and some people look like corrupt officials, but they are actually good officials!"
"Guo Aiqing and Mao Aiqing are good examples. When you knew that 200 million shi of grain disappeared, you all thought it was because they were greedy. In fact, they just wanted to increase the income of the people in Kaiping County and let the people who were short of food in the Ming Dynasty have food to eat! "
"How many of you can do it?"
"So, the people involved in the 'Kaiping Liang Case' are not only not guilty, but also have merit!"
"Cheng Tujie, the censor, and Chen Ning, the censor doctor, were the censors. They listened to one side and almost harmed Zhongliang. They were demoted one level and fined half a year's salary!"
Tu Jie and Chen Ning came out to express their gratitude with mournful faces.
"Prime Minister Hu Weiyong, as the head of hundreds of officials, has neglected his duties and failed to set an example. He will be fined three months' salary!"
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
Hu Weiyong could only accept the punishment by pinching his nose.
"Guo Zi, the right-hand governor of Peiping, and Mao Youfu, the prefect of Yong'an, passed my test. They are indeed upright officials serving the country and the people, and are not guilty!"
"You two set off immediately and persuade tens of thousands of people in Kaiping County to go back. Give me a message. I will not let a corrupt official go, and I will never kill an honest official! Please don't worry, people!"
"Thank you Your Majesty!"
After escaping death, Guo Zi and Mao Youfu seemed to be human beings again, and they were filled with gratitude to Zhu Yuanzhang.
"Your Majesty Shengming!"
All civil and military officials also shouted.
"Haha! I am the emperor, so naturally I am a saint!"
"If you have nothing else to do, just retreat from the court!" Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand.
The officials slowly retreated.
It wasn't until all the officials were gone that Zhu Biao came to the side and said, "Father, since Guo Zi and Mao Youfu have been let go, then my fourth brother-in-law Ouyang Lun."
(End of this chapter)