Daming Town Haiwang

Chapter 229, it's all for the dead
"However, Lao Liu's operation is considered a success. No matter what tricks these profiteers have, at least they will lose blood in this wave. A penny and a catty of grain, I feel happy when I think about it."

Thinking of Liu Jin, Zhu Houzhao couldn't help laughing, and his mood became better.

If Liu Jin hadn't sensed that something was wrong in advance and made advance arrangements, maybe this time these profiteers would have really succeeded.

Now not only has he kept his own property, but he has also dealt a heavy blow to these profiteers. Of course, the more important drama is yet to come. The investigation into the theft of official grain from the Dezhou warehouse and the Linqing warehouse has not yet been resolved.

Emperor Hongzhi was also fishing for big fish with a long line. This time the matter was obviously not aimed at the victims of the disaster, but at the two fathers and sons of Emperor Hongzhi. On the surface, he asked Xie Qian to be responsible for investigating the matter. The power of Dongxi Factory is under investigation secretly.

This is the big show, and there will really be a good show to watch at that time.

As for cracking down on these profiteers, making these profiteers lose some money is nothing at all. To these businessmen, money is nothing at all. They can recover as well.

Only by uprooting these profiteers and the forces behind them can it be said that they will be seriously injured, and even these hidden enemies will be eliminated.

So this requires a long line to catch big fish, which is why Emperor Hongzhi has been standing still.

"Let's go, go back."

Seeing that Zhu Houzhao hadn't spoken, Emperor Hongzhi seemed to be thinking about something, and he didn't rush to ask. He looked at the sky and was ready to return to the palace.

In the study of Emperor Hongzhi in the palace, only Emperor Hongzhi and Zhu Houzhao and his son were left in the whole study. Emperor Hongzhi looked at Zhu Houzhao who was still preoccupied and asked, "What do you seem to be thinking all the time?"

"Father, I have to think about what kind of medicine these profiteers sell in their gourds, but I just can't figure it out."

Zhu Houzhao expressed his doubts.

"You can't figure it out, and I can't figure it out either."

In front of Zhu Houzhao, Emperor Hongzhi didn't say "Zhen", but "I". The relationship and feelings between father and son are obviously very good.

"Father, how is the investigation of the Dezhou warehouse and Linqing warehouse going?"

Zhu Houzhao thought about it and asked, in fact, he was also very curious about where the grain in these two big granaries went.

"The water is very deep, and now I can only figure out a general idea, but I can't find out the specific behind-the-scenes."

When it comes to this matter, Emperor Hongzhi has a feeling of being deceived.

He has always believed in civil servants, in the officials under him, and in what they said to be full of justice, and he felt that the people above the court were all virtuous officials, but the results of the investigation by Xiao Jing made Emperor Hongzhi They all felt terrible, there were too many courtiers involved, if they were really determined to move on, it would definitely be comparable to the few big cases Zhu Yuanzhang did during the founding of the Ming Dynasty, where tens of thousands of people had to be killed.

But this is just a general idea, and it is very difficult to find out who is the real mastermind behind it. This made Emperor Hongzhi feel restless and at the same time feel extremely chilling.

The mastermind behind this is of great power, and must have been deeply trusted and valued by Emperor Hongzhi, and there are not many people like Chaozhong, and they can be counted on their fingers.

This is also one of the reasons why the gap between Emperor Hongzhi and his civil servants is getting wider and wider, and it is also the reason why he has now started to let Zhang Mao, a representative of military generals and nobles, enter the core decision-making circle.

"Father, maybe it's time to ask about the situation of this case."

Zhu Houzhao's small eyes kept turning around, and soon, he thought about it and suggested.

"It's time to ask, too."

After listening, Emperor Hongzhi nodded after thinking about it.

The next day, early morning.

"Start playing if there is something to do, leave the court if there is nothing to do~"

As usual, Xiao Jing's voice echoed in every corner of the Golden Luan Hall, the ministers who had something to report were ready, and the ministers who had nothing to do continued to rest in a daze.

"The minister has something to tell His Majesty~"

Soon a minister came forward.

Similar to the past, it is nothing more than a flood occurred here, where a locust plague occurred, and the Emperor Hongzhi was asked to exempt a certain area from taxes this year, or the Emperor Hongzhi was asked to allocate funds for disaster relief.

At the same time, there are also southwestern chieftains tossing from time to time. These chieftains also need to be appeased by Emperor Hongzhi.

In addition, there are memorials from local officials, impeachment of various local feudal lords, and other things such as bullying men and women, and robbing people's land, in addition to being full and having nothing to do every day.

Anyway, in the great Ming Dynasty, there were many things going on every day. These can only be regarded as trivial things. As long as it is not a large-scale famine or the Tatars and Walas going south, it can basically be said that Haiyan and Heqing, the world is peaceful.

After playing it right, more than an hour passed. Seeing that no ministers stood up again, Emperor Hongzhi looked at Xie Qian and said, "Xie Aiqing, how is the investigation of the grain theft cases in Dezhou warehouse and Linqing warehouse?" gone?"

Hearing Emperor Hongzhi's words, all the drowsy officials in the entire court shivered and cheered up.

Everyone knows that the case of Dezhou Warehouse and Linqing Warehouse is too important. I don’t know how many people have been involved in it. The famine incident this time was not that serious at all, but because of this incident, it has now become a ticking time bomb. , Once this bomb explodes, I don't know how many people will die.

Not only the civil servants cheered up, but even the generals and nobles, who always existed like air, also cheered up one after another, pricked up their ears, listened quietly, and also looked forward to the following.

Xie Qian stood up slowly when he heard Emperor Hongzhi's question.

"Qizou Your Majesty, this case involves a lot and is very difficult to investigate. At present, it is only found that there are grain merchants colluding with officials from Dezhou warehouse and Linqing warehouse to resell official grain."

Xie Qian's voice was not too loud, but it was transmitted very clearly to every corner of the Golden Luan Hall. Hearing Xie Qian's words, many people in the court secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Now it seems that Xie Qian does not intend to pursue this case further. Otherwise, with Xie Qian's ability and means, it took so long to find out only some grain merchants and managers. The officials of the two granaries.

Hongzhi frowned slightly when he heard this, he was very dissatisfied with the result, after searching for a long time, he only found out that grain merchants colluded with management to resell official grain.

Does it need to be checked?
There is no need to check at all, you can think about it with your toes.

"Is it those grain merchants?"

"And those officials?"

"Have you found out where the food in the other two warehouses is?"

However, Emperor Hongzhi was still not in a hurry, but continued to ask in depth.

Hearing what Emperor Hongzhi said, some of the ministers began to feel uneasy again. It seems that Emperor Hongzhi did not intend to close the case so easily, but now it will be difficult.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, it has been found that the grain merchants Liu Youliang, Zhao Yingyuan, Lu Yunliang and others colluded with all the officials in Dezhou Cang and Linqing Cang to resell the official grain from the two warehouses."

"As for the whereabouts of the official rations, we can no longer check."

Xie Qian still asked methodically.

"Why can't I check it out?"

Upon hearing this, Emperor Hongzhi asked in a daze.

"Because these grain merchants have all been wiped out, and there is no clue left. This is why I can only find out this step."

Xie Qian returned.

"Have been exterminated?"

Emperor Hongzhi's eyes shone with light. Of course he knew about this, and he knew it in detail, but what he showed now was very shocked and surprised.

"Yes, they were tragically killed. Thirty-six members of Liu Youliang's family were killed. The [-] members of Zhao Yingyuan's family were also killed. The [-] members of Lu Yunliang's family were also killed."

Xie Qian reported cold numbers one by one. More than a hundred people from the three grain merchants' families were killed in this way, and their families were wiped out. This is simply a horrific tragedy.

"The universe is clear, the sun and the moon are shining brightly, such a tragedy happened in my Ming Dynasty, why hasn't it been reported?"

Emperor Hongzhi stood up directly, and glanced at the officials with very stern eyes.

Following the words of Emperor Hongzhi, several officials among the group of officials knelt down one after another. These were officials in charge of related matters, among them was Bai Ang, Minister of the Ministry of Punishment.

"Qizou Your Majesty, because this case is related to the theft of official food from Dezhou Warehouse and Linqing Warehouse, I have not filed another case for investigation and reported it."

There was a slight tremor in Bai Ang's voice, this kind of big case is usually reported to the emperor immediately, which makes people thoroughly investigate, and now if he conceals it, this crime alone can make him lose his black hat.

"Okay, very good, I don't know how many things there are in Daming, and how many things have not been reported."

Emperor Hongzhi knew very well in his heart that these people were all scapegoats, and they were all scapegoats pushed by the forces behind him, but what he didn't expect was that these people were so ruthless, and they slaughtered people all over the house in order to cut off the clues.

Of course, what really angered Emperor Hongzhi was that these courtiers had never reported such a big incident to him. If he hadn't taken the initiative to ask questions today, this matter would probably have been concealed forever, and even in the end, they would not have reported it to him. Most of them just stopped coming.

Such a huge wave could be easily suppressed by these people, which made Emperor Hongzhi suddenly think how many ministers he could trust in the court?
　The deaths of several emperors in the middle and late Ming Dynasty were unknown, so it shouldn't be too much to cause a massacre, right?
　　
　
(End of this chapter)