Ming Dynasty: He was ordered to give lectures in prison, but Lao Zhu eavesdropped and made people nu

Chapter 713 Hongwu's Famine Relief
In early summer in Nanjing, the air was already somewhat sweltering. Inside the Fengtian Hall, Zhu Yuanzhang sat upright on his dragon throne, his fingers lightly tapping the armrest. His gaze swept over the civil and military officials in the hall, finally settling on the thick stack of memorials on his desk—all reports concerning the abandoned land in the Jinan region.

"Your Majesty, in the three prefectures and sixteen counties of Jinan, nearly half of the fields are uncultivated. If this is not resolved soon, it may lead to a great disaster during the autumn harvest!" Minister of Revenue Yang Jing held his official tablet, fine beads of sweat appearing on his forehead.

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned. Since receiving the first report three months ago, he had issued seven imperial edicts in succession, allocating funds and grain, reducing taxes, and even relocating people, yet large swathes of land south of the Yangtze River remained barren. This was certainly not a good omen at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty.

"Minister Liu, what do you think?" Zhu Yuanzhang turned his gaze to Liu Bowen, who was standing at the head of the civil officials.

Liu Bowen stroked his long beard and pondered, "I believe the situation in Jinan is strange. In ordinary times, famine relief from the court should alleviate the situation. But now, all measures have proven ineffective, and I'm afraid..." He paused, "...I'm afraid Your Majesty's personal presence is necessary to uncover the truth."

A chorus of agreement immediately filled the hall. Zhu Yuanzhang nodded slightly; this was exactly what he had in mind. As an emperor who had risen from the bottom, he knew all too well that many issues could not be understood without being present at the scene.

"Very well! Issue my decree: three days from now."

"Your Majesty, wait!"

A clear voice suddenly interrupted him. The entire court was shocked; who dared to be so bold? Zhu Yuanzhang looked up and saw the Imperial Preceptor Lin Che slowly walking out from the ranks of civil officials, his plain white Taoist robe standing out conspicuously against the crimson and purple official robes.

"What insightful opinion does Grand Preceptor Lin have?" Zhu Yuanzhang suppressed his displeasure. Although this young Grand Preceptor often uttered surprising words, he was indeed exceptional.

Lin Che bowed respectfully, then straightened up, his eyes flashing with a sharp light: "I believe that Your Majesty's personal journey to Jinnan will not only fail to solve the problem, but will also waste resources and manpower, ultimately achieving nothing."

These words caused an uproar in the hall. Liu Bowen frowned deeply, and Yang Jing exclaimed in alarm, "Grand Preceptor, you are mistaken! Only His Majesty's personal presence can deter the local authorities and ascertain the truth!"

Zhu Yuanzhang raised his hand to stop the ministers' discussion, and stared at Lin Che, saying, "What makes the Grand Preceptor say such a thing?"

Lin Che remained calm and took out a scroll of bamboo slips from his sleeve: "Because for the past three months, all the measures the imperial court has taken towards Jinnan have been based on the wrong approach."

"What?!" Zhu Yuanzhang stood up abruptly, the teacups on the dragon table clattering loudly. He had been worrying day and night about the matter of Jinan, summoning his senior officials to discuss it no less than ten times, and now it had all been rejected?
The atmosphere in the hall suddenly became tense. Mao Qi, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, already had his hand on his sword hilt, awaiting the emperor's command. Liu Bowen quickly tried to smooth things over: "Grand Preceptor, please be careful! His Majesty is racking his brains over the matter of Jinan."

Lin Che, however, seemed not to hear, and unfolded the bamboo scroll: "Your Majesty, I request that you first read this investigation report. This is the result of my disciples' secret investigations in ten counties south of Tianjin."

Suppressing his anger, Zhu Yuanzhang gestured for the eunuch to present the bamboo slips. As he unfolded them, his expression gradually changed. The slips were densely filled with records of the actual situation in various regions: government ledgers listed relief grains as having been distributed, but the people had never seen them; nominally relocated farmers did not actually exist; and some so-called "abandoned" land had actually been cultivated all along, only reported falsely by local officials.
"How...how is this possible?" Zhu Yuanzhang's hands trembled slightly. He looked up at Lin Che, his eyes filled with shock and disbelief: "How can the Imperial Advisor prove these are true?"

Lin Che took out a small cloth bag from his robes, which contained several handfuls of soil of different colors: "These are soil samples brought back by my disciple from various parts of Jinan. Please compare them with the Jinan soil records archived by the Ministry of Revenue."

Zhu Yuanzhang immediately ordered someone to retrieve the Ministry of Revenue's records. Upon comparison, several discrepancies were indeed found. The most obvious discrepancy was with Qingyang County, where the records stated that the soil was "infertile and mostly sandy and gravelly," while the soil sample brought back by Lin Che was fertile black soil.

A deathly silence fell over the hall. Zhu Yuanzhang felt a wave of dizziness and steadied himself by leaning on the dragon throne. He recalled the corrupt officials he had encountered during his wanderings, and the vow he made when establishing the Ming Dynasty to eradicate these parasites. Now, only a few years after the founding of the dynasty, how could corruption have become so severe? "Your Majesty," Lin Che's voice pulled him back to reality, "the desolation of the land south of the Yangtze is merely a symptom; the root cause lies in the corruption of officials. If we don't rectify the officials, no matter how much money and grain are invested, it will only enrich the pockets of those parasites."

Liu Bowen had also finished reading the bamboo slips, his expression grave: "The Grand Preceptor is absolutely right. But His Majesty's personal presence is precisely the right time to thoroughly investigate this matter."

“No,” Lin Che shook his head, “If His Majesty goes there with great fanfare, local officials will surely put on a show to cover it up. What His Majesty will see then will only be a carefully crafted illusion.”

Zhu Yuanzhang fell into deep thought. He recalled his inspection tour of the Jianghuai region last year, where every prefecture and county along the way was decorated with lanterns and colorful streamers, and the people were dressed in fine clothes. At the time, he thought it was due to effective governance, but now he realized that it was probably something that had been prepared all along.

"Then, according to the Imperial Advisor, what should be done?" Zhu Yuanzhang's tone had softened considerably.

Lin Che's eyes gleamed: "I have three strategies. First, dispatch secret envoys to conduct covert investigations and gather evidence; second, reform the performance evaluation system for officials, making actual achievements in serving the people the primary criterion; third," he paused, "...re-measure the entire country's land, create a fish-scale map, and eliminate false reporting and concealment."

"Re-measuring the land?" Yang Jing exclaimed. "That's a massive undertaking!"

"Precisely because of its vastness, we need to begin as soon as possible," Lin Che said firmly. "Land is the foundation of a nation. How can we govern it if we don't even know how much land we have?"

Zhu Yuanzhang paced back and forth in the hall, his boots clattering heavily on the golden bricks. The ministers held their breath, knowing that the emperor was making a crucial decision.

Finally, Zhu Yuanzhang stopped. "What the Grand Preceptor said, I have considered carefully, and it certainly makes sense." He turned to Liu Bowen, "My dear Liu, what do you think?"

Liu Bowen gave Lin Che a deep look, then cupped his hands and said, "Of the three strategies proposed by the Grand Preceptor, this old minister believes they are feasible. Especially the matter of surveying the land; although time-consuming and laborious, it is the foundation for long-term stability."

"Very well!" Zhu Yuanzhang slammed his hand on the imperial desk. "We shall proceed according to the Grand Preceptor's plan. However..." A sharp glint flashed in his eyes, "Regarding the secret envoy, I will personally select the candidate."

Lin Che smiled: "Your Majesty is wise."

After the court session, Zhu Yuanzhang kept Lin Che alone in the rear pavilion of Fengtian Hall to discuss matters. The setting sun cast dappled shadows on the ground through the carved window lattices.

"The Imperial Advisor made me quite embarrassed in court today," Zhu Yuanzhang said half-jokingly, as he personally poured Lin Che a cup of tea.

Lin Che accepted the teacup and said frankly, "If I have offended you in any way, please forgive me, Your Majesty. However, the matter of Jinan concerns the very foundation of the nation, and I have no choice but to speak frankly."

Zhu Yuanzhang sighed, "I not only don't blame you, but I thank you. If it weren't for the Imperial Advisor's guidance, I would have been almost blinded by those corrupt officials." He frowned, "But I don't understand. The Ming Dynasty has only been established for a short time, and I punish corruption extremely severely. Why are there still people who dare to be so audacious?"

(End of this chapter)