Daming: I can’t kill such a greedy prince-in-law?

Chapter 520 Who will pacify the grassland? ! (Subscribe please!)

After arranging Ji Gang to continue watching, Zhu Yuanzhang let Ji Gang leave.

"Wang Zhong."

"The minister is here."

"Do I have anything else important to do today?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked.

Wang Zhong thought for a moment, then answered, "Your Majesty, the Crown Prince can handle all government affairs. The most important tax reform is also presided over by Prince Consort Ouyang. There is nothing particularly important."

"Oh!" Zhu Yuanzhang's face lit up and he said with a smile, "It seems that I can make my own decisions for the rest of the day?"

"That's right, Your Majesty." Wang Zhong nodded, "If Your Majesty has any plans, please tell me so that I can go down and make the arrangements."

"Well, we need to make some arrangements." Zhu Yuanzhang thought for a moment and said, "Let's go to Kunning Palace. I haven't been to the girl's place for a few days. I heard that she doesn't dance square dance anymore and has changed to a new style. I have to go and see it!"

"Yes, Your Majesty, I will arrange it right away!" Wang Zhong nodded, then stepped back to prepare.

soon.

Zhu Yuanzhang came to Kunning Palace with his hands behind his back, looking leisurely.

When Zhu Yuanzhang saw Empress Ma, she was sitting with a frown on her face.

"Girl, what's wrong with you? Why are you frowning in broad daylight?"

Zhu Yuanzhang walked over and asked.

Seeing that it was Zhu Yuanzhang who came, Empress Ma took the initiative to stand up and salute Zhu Yuanzhang, "Your Majesty, I greet you!"

"Sister, we are an old married couple and don't need these etiquettes, haha!"

Although he said no, Zhu Yuanzhang still felt comfortable when he saw Empress Ma saluting to him.

After the ceremony, Empress Ma straightened her back, her face became serious, and she asked in confusion, "Chongba, why do you have time to come to me today?"

"Forehead"

Seeing Empress Ma's expression change quickly, Zhu Yuanzhang's smile froze, but he had already gotten used to this.

"I have my government affairs handled by Biao, and I am happy to have some free time, so I thought of coming to see you!"

Zhu Yuanzhang opened his mouth to explain.

"Sister, I just saw you frowning, as if you were thinking about something important. Did something happen?"

"Tell us about it, we can give you some advice!"

After hearing what Zhu Yuanzhang said, Empress Ma nodded and said, "Chongba, you came at the right time. Even if you didn't come today, I would still have something to discuss with you!"

"Oh!" Zhu Yuanzhang was a little surprised. The matter that made Empress Ma look for him must be very complicated. He asked quickly, "Sister, tell me what's the matter!"

"Zhongba, do you still remember that kid Ouyang came to me to discuss cooperation some time ago?" Queen Ma asked first.

"Of course I still remember. It was because of the conversation we had here last time that we decided to agree with Ouyang Lun's tax reform and year-end bonus. Could there be something fishy going on?" Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and asked.

"It's not about tax reform and year-end bonuses." Queen Ma shook her head and continued, "Chongba, in fact, that day in addition to tax reform and year-end bonuses, Ouyang also discussed something with me, which is about the Women and Children's Society."

"Since the establishment of the Women and Children's Society, it has developed very well. Many officials and businessmen have actively donated to the Women and Children's Society. In addition, the Women and Children's Society has also set up direct-operated stores to sell the products made by women and children, which has become an important source of funds for the Women and Children's Society."

After hearing what Empress Ma said, Zhu Yuanzhang nodded. "My dear sister, I think this is a good thing! I have heard Jinyiwei and the ministers mention the Women and Children's Club you manage many times. Women and children, especially orphans and widows, used to live a miserable life. But with the help of the Women and Children's Club, children can grow up normally, and women can get a decent job. Even if there is no man in the family, they can live normally!"

"This is all thanks to the Women and Children's Society!"

Queen Ma frowned and said, "If that's all, then of course I'm extremely happy, but..."

"But what? Is there some trick here?" Zhu Yuanzhang frowned and asked seriously.

"I didn't care about the accounts of the Women and Children's Society, but yesterday I suddenly had the urge to check how much money was in the account book of the Women and Children's Society. I was shocked to find that there was nearly 20 million taels of silver in the account book of the Women and Children's Society!"

Queen Ma exclaimed.

"Twenty million taels? That's so much?! Is this how you make money!" Zhu Yuanzhang was quite surprised, but soon smiled and said, "What's the big deal? This idea was proposed by Ouyang Lun. If it didn't make money, he definitely wouldn't have done it this way."

"Chongba, that's not the problem." Queen Ma shook her head, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "There's something wrong with the account. Although it says that the Women and Children's Society has so much money, there's not that much money in the treasury of the Women and Children's Society. At most, there's only one or two million!"

"The extra ones were all taken away by Ouyang Lun!"

"What! Ouyang Lun took away the money from the Women and Children's Society? Is there a reason?" Zhu Yuanzhang was shocked and asked hurriedly.

"I don't know about that either." Queen Ma shook her head and said worriedly, "If the censors and imperial censors in the court knew about this, they would definitely use this as an excuse to attack Ouyang!"

"Sister, do you suspect that Ouyang Lun has embezzled the money?!"

When hearing what Empress Ma said, even Zhu Yuanzhang was stunned. In his impression, Empress Ma was very protective of Ouyang Lun, and he did not expect that she would tell him about this.

When Empress Ma saw Zhu Yuanzhang's expression, she immediately understood what was going on and said, "Chongba, you are wondering why I told you this, right?"

"Yeah," Zhu Yuanzhang nodded.

"This is very simple, because I believe Ouyang Lun, he will not be greedy for the money of the Women and Children's Society, and as the queen, it is naturally inconvenient for me to investigate, so this matter has to be done by you. You need to investigate it thoroughly to clear Ouyang's name and prevent people with ulterior motives from taking advantage of the situation!"

Empress Ma said slowly. "Uh" Zhu Yuanzhang was stunned for a moment, and was a little speechless. It turned out that he was just a tool!

However, Zhu Yuanzhang also started to think seriously about it.

Ouyang Lun is now at the center of public opinion. There are countless eyes staring at him, both openly and covertly. Although he seems to be in a prosperous situation, he is actually facing many crises. If someone catches him with evidence of corruption, Ouyang Lun will definitely not be able to recover.

Zhu Yuanzhang naturally hated corruption. If he found out that Ouyang Lun was really corrupt, he would naturally not show mercy. But Zhu Yuanzhang also didn't want anything to happen to Ouyang Lun, at least not now. After all, the tax reform was still in full swing. If something happened to Ouyang Lun at this time, there was no doubt that the tax reform would be stillborn!

Perhaps it was a joke, or perhaps it was to comfort Empress Ma, Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said: "Sister, it's not the first day you have known Ouyang Lun. This guy is very smart. Even if he is really corrupt, we won't be surprised."

"But this kid doesn't like to eat alone. He really dares to take so much money. I guess he can earn more for the Women and Children's Society!"

"Or maybe he was short of money and took the money from the Women and Children's Society for emergency use. He will return it soon, so don't worry."

Hearing Zhu Yuanzhang's words, Empress Ma looked at him in surprise, "Chongba, this is unlike you! In the past, if you suspected someone of corruption, regardless of whether there was evidence or not, you would immediately send someone to arrest the person for questioning. Why are you suddenly speaking up today?"

"Ahem, how can Ouyang Lun be compared with others? Over the years, there have been at least ten reports of corruption against Ouyang Lun, if not a hundred. Which one was finally implemented? And I have never seen this guy restrain himself, let alone change."

"We think this way, isn't it also to save ourselves some trouble?"

There was a hint of roguery and frankness in Zhu Yuanzhang's words.

"Zhongba, why do I feel that you and Ouyang Lun are becoming more and more alike? You both have a lazy streak." Queen Ma asked curiously.

"Looks like that kid Ouyang Lun?" Zhu Yuanzhang sat up at once, "Sister, are you scolding me?"

"I just don't want to bother with him."

Seeing Zhu Yuanzhang hurriedly explaining, Empress Ma became more certain of her guess and comforted Zhu Yuanzhang instead, "Chongba, don't be too self-deprecating. No matter what, Ouyang Lun is still your son-in-law, and Ouyang has done a lot of things that benefited the Ming Dynasty over the years."

"It's not a loss after all."

Inferiority
Zhu Yuanzhang was stunned, but when he thought about it carefully, he realized that he was indeed powerless against Ouyang Lun. He could not change Ouyang Lun's character, and he could not do anything about Ouyang Lun. Now the Ming Dynasty could not do without Ouyang Lun.

The most important thing is that Ouyang Lun is much younger than him.

If Zhu Yuanzhang could be thirty years younger, he would definitely compete with Ouyang Lun, but in fact he was already over sixty years old, which was considered a very long life among ancient emperors. He might just kick his legs and die one day.

Zhu Yuanzhang was thinking of some words to refute Empress Ma, but after thinking about it, he shook his head and said, "Sister! We are already this old, it doesn't matter whether we have low self-esteem or not!"

"Although we don't like Ouyang Lun, that bastard, he did a great job, and he and Biao'er are working together better and better. We can rest assured handing the Ming Dynasty over to them."

"It's just that if I were younger, maybe I could accomplish more."

"Zhongba, are you still not satisfied with the current development of the Ming Dynasty?" Queen Ma asked with some confusion.

"Sister, you don't know that I once saw a map drawn by Ouyang Lun. According to Ouyang Lun, it is a world map. We are on a huge sphere, and the Ming Dynasty is just a small piece of it!" Zhu Yuanzhang said, his eyes full of yearning, "What do you think will happen if the Ming Dynasty unifies the entire sphere?"

"If we can really do this, even Qin Shi Huang wouldn't have as much achievements as us!"

"The current Ming Dynasty is big enough. You haven't even let the people of the Ming Dynasty live a prosperous life, and you still want to rule the world? Even if you are really allowed to rule, it won't last long!" Queen Ma reminded.

"You are right. If you try to eat a big fat man in one bite, you will definitely die of bloating. Let's just think about it. What if Biaoer and Ouyang Lun can achieve it?!" Zhu Yuanzhang said with a smile.

"Stop, I don't want to hear your bragging. Remember to check the accounts of the Women and Children's Society!" Empress Ma interrupted Zhu Yuanzhang.

"This is easy. We'll let Ji Gang investigate it later." Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and continued, "Sister, while the Ming Dynasty is doing well and my health is still good, should we take action in the north and completely solve the problem there?"

"Although we cannot conquer the world, I think it won't be a problem to take over the grassland."

After hearing what Zhu Yuanzhang said, Empress Ma began to think seriously.

As Zhu Yuanzhang's first wife, Empress Ma was naturally aware of Zhu Yuanzhang's regrets, such as completely wiping out the Northern Yuan Dynasty so that the Ming Dynasty would no longer face threats from the Northern Yuan Dynasty and the grasslands. Although the Ming Dynasty is now becoming more and more powerful and has built a new Great Wall, coupled with the continued trade war, the Northern Yuan Dynasty has been unable to launch an invasion of the Ming Dynasty in the past two years.

But the reality is that the remnants of the Northern Yuan Dynasty on the grasslands have never been cleared up. Maybe the Northern Yuan Dynasty will develop again and hinder the Ming Dynasty again! !

The Ming Dynasty was seized from the Yuan Dynasty, but the Yuan Dynasty's imperial lineage had not been destroyed and the imperial seal had not been taken back.

These are Zhu Yuanzhang’s regrets.

"Zhongba, if you really want to take action, I won't persuade you, but you must make sufficient preparations. If you fail this time, it will ruin the great situation of the Ming Dynasty!"

Queen Ma warned seriously.

Seeing that Empress Ma did not object, Zhu Yuanzhang was very happy and said quickly: "Sister, I know this very well. We want the prosperous Hongwu era, and we also want to destroy the north and unify the grasslands!!"

"We will definitely get it cleanly and beautifully this time!"

"Chongba, it's good that you understand." Empress Ma nodded, and then asked, "Who do you plan to use to deal with the Northern Yuan Dynasty? Don't tell me you want to lead the army in person, I won't agree to that!"

"I would like to lead the army in person!" Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head helplessly, "If I really do that, those old officials in the court will probably kneel all the way from the Taiji Hall to the city gate!"

"I am old now and cannot stand such a rush. If I really die on the way, my reputation will be gone."

"As for who to use?"

Zhu Yuanzhang thought for a moment, "Those old brothers in Huaixi are almost old. Xu Da and Tang He are the most suitable, but their health has not been good in the past two years, and we can't bear to torment them. Lan Yu is not bad, and he fought beautifully in the Liaodong battle, but this guy is very domineering, has ulterior motives, and is extremely hostile to Ouyang Lun, so there will definitely be trouble."

"And the fourth brother Di'er, he was very good at pacifying Yunnan and managing the State of Yan. Now he is studying under Ouyang Lun and has learned a lot under Xu Da. However, his prestige is not that high now. We are worried that he will not be able to suppress the Northern Expedition Army."

(End of this chapter)