The Ming Dynasty: The most ruthless imperial grandson, Old Zhu begged me not to kill him.

Chapter 329 Winning Over the People
"This matter might have been deliberately fabricated by those hypocritical Ming people; it might not actually be as miraculous as they claim!"

The chieftains nodded in agreement; such a possibility did exist.

The leader snorted coldly.

"It's better to believe it exists than not to believe it doesn't. If such a thing really exists, it wouldn't be a good thing for us, so we need to prepare in advance!"

At this moment, a chieftain with a lewd face said with a smile.

"Actually, there's nothing wrong with it. After all, our place is different from other places!"

"Those peasants obey orders from above completely. If we want them dead, it's just a matter of saying a word!"

"So we don't need to worry about these things at all!"

"Moreover, the sudden appearance of the Ming Dynasty's crown prince in the southwest presents an opportunity for us to extort money from them!"

"If he's willing to offer us some benefits, we'll let him go; otherwise, don't blame us for being impolite!"

The chieftains' eyes lit up when they heard this; it was good news. They could use this opportunity to demand something from the Ming Dynasty. Otherwise, if they caused any trouble and injured the Crown Prince, things would get ugly. They believed that Marquis Mu Ying of Xiping would make the right decision. The leader sighed, his eyes filled with worry.

He didn't think Zhu Xiong Ying's achievements were undeserved. If Zhu Xiong Ying were really that simple, how could the tribes on the northern grasslands have been wiped out so easily? And how could Goryeo and Japan, which were always known as countries that could not be conquered, have been so easily eliminated?

"The sudden appearance of the Crown Prince Zhu Xiong Ying on our territory is definitely not a good thing. I think everyone should be more cautious!"

"If anything goes wrong, we'll be in big trouble!"

Several chieftains nodded in agreement, but in reality, none of them took what this person said seriously.

I still do my own thing.

Sure enough, the next day, a number of letters appeared on Zhu Xiong Ying's desk. They were mostly from local chieftains who first complained about their poverty and how many problems their tribes had, and then hoped that Zhu Xiong Ying could give them some assistance. When Xi Ping Hou Mu Ying and others saw these letters, they immediately started cursing.

"Those greedy fellows, no matter how much you give them, it won't do them any good!"

"The common people receive nothing at all; giving them anything would be meaningless!"

"What the Ming Dynasty wants to do most is not to win over these chieftains, but to win over the hearts of the people. Obviously, simply supporting these chieftains will not be of any use."

Zhu Xiong Ying nodded.

"Of course I know that, but the power of these chieftains has long been deeply entrenched!"

"It's not really useful for us to do it; it mainly depends on what the local people think."

Are there any notorious chieftains around here? Let's make an example of one!

"As for the rewards these chieftains will give, tell them that every tribe will receive all kinds of gold, silver, treasures, and grain!" When Zhu Xiong Ying's message came, these chieftains were extremely happy. Sure enough, their plan had worked. No matter how capable Zhu Xiong Ying was, he wouldn't dare to oppose so many people. They demanded in the name of the people, and these guys didn't dare to refuse.

While they were celebrating, several tribal chiefs, whose exploitation of the local people was so severe, were reported to Zhu Xiong Ying by some of the people who could no longer tolerate it.

Zhu Xiong Ying quickly led his troops to wipe out the man.

When everyone learned of this result, they were all shocked. Had Zhu Xiong Ying gone mad? How dare he go and mess with the chieftain's tribe?

Subsequently, Zhu Xiong Ying distributed all the grain and land to the people of these tribes. Everyone received many benefits, including farmland and an abundance of food. This made the people of other tribes very envious when they heard about it, and soon large carts came to their tribes one after another.

These were all gifts from the Ming Dynasty, and these people were extremely excited.

At this moment, the Ming official opened the first cart. Everyone gasped when they saw it, because the cart was full of grain. There was so much grain that they couldn't possibly eat it all. The Ming official said to the chieftains.

"This is the grain given to you by His Highness the Crown Prince of the Great Ming Dynasty!"

"Although our Great Ming Dynasty provides you with this much grain every year, this time it is an extra amount and is not included in the calculation!"

"However, the Ming Dynasty has already allocated you more than enough grain. Why are there still so many people in your tribe who have no surplus grain at home?"

The crowd of people looked extremely grim upon hearing this.

They knew very well who had the meager amount of grain that reached them each year.

The chieftain was extremely embarrassed upon hearing this. He immediately took the grain into his own hands and promised the people that he would give them more grain this year. Only then did the people breathe a sigh of relief and happily return to their homes.

Not long after the Ming officials left, the man went to check on his gold, silver, and grain. However, when he saw them, he was shocked because there was hardly anything there; most of the items were just stones and dirt. Thinking of this, he was filled with rage.

"How dare these people from the Ming Dynasty treat them like this!"

After deciding on this place, he gathered all the people together and brought out cartloads of stones and sand.

"Gentlemen, the Ming Dynasty's grain is basically all made up of this mud and sand. They are deliberately trying to cheat us and make us starve to death!"

"Don't believe what the Ming Dynasty says. Since they won't let us live, let's not let them benefit either!"

"Let's go up the mountain and confront them directly. I refuse to believe they can fight against us!"

Hearing this, the people frowned, their eyes filled with suspicion. The things from the Ming Dynasty were clearly grain; they had seen that cartload of grain with their own eyes. How could it have suddenly turned into stones? At this moment, everyone looked at the chieftains with suspicion. It was highly likely that these chieftains had greedily replaced the grain with sand and deliberately cheated them.

The chieftain's face darkened when he saw that these people actually doubted him.

(End of this chapter)