Ming Dynasty: Domination of the World from the Imperial Examination

Chapter 101: Guo Huan, one of the four major cases in Hongwu? (Second update)

"Minister of the Ministry of Revenue?" Xia Zhibai frowned.

do not know.

He didn't know the ministers in the court.

I have no interest in understanding it.

It is not easy to be a minister in the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Yuanzhang was moody to begin with, and the older he got, the more wary he became of his ministers. During the Hongwu reign, very few ministers were able to live peacefully until Zhu Yuanzhang's death.

He also had no intention of getting involved in court struggles.

Seeing Xia Zhibai's confused face, Zheng Ao snorted coldly and cursed in his heart.

He guessed that Xia Zhibai didn't know.

Since Xia Zhibai took part in the imperial examination, he has not participated in various gatherings, nor has he served in the court. It is understandable that he does not know the court officials.

But I was still somewhat annoyed.

Zheng Ao said, "My master is a third-rank official, Guo Huan, the Right Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Revenue."

"Guo Huan?!" Xia Zhibai was startled.

Zheng Ao said in dissatisfaction: "How dare you call my master by his name?"

Zheng Ao was also completely annoyed.

Xia Zhibai didn't take it to heart.

Guo Huan?

This name sounds familiar.

If he guessed correctly, one of the four major cases in the Hongwu period must be the Guo Huan case, right?
He looked suspiciously at the arrogant and domineering butler in front of him, with a strange look on his face.

This year is the eighteenth year of Hongwu.

It was exactly the year when the Guo Huan case broke out.

It can't be such a coincidence, right?

Xia Zhibai muttered a few words in his heart.

He did not know much about the four major cases of the Hongwu period, but when he heard the man in front of him say that Guo Huan was the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, which is equivalent to the Deputy Minister of Finance in later generations, he was in a high position and had great power. In the current corrupt atmosphere among scholars, he was afraid that it would be difficult for him to be really clean.

Xia Zhibai would not simply look at the four major cases of Hongwu.

In his opinion, there is no so-called truth in the so-called four major cases, only court politics.

He didn't actually want to get involved.

I have been avoiding it intentionally.

The political struggle during the Hongwu Dynasty was too brutal. Zhu Yuanzhang basically did whatever he wanted and made things happen at a moment's notice. If one participated in it at that time, there would be basically no good outcome. He originally wanted to "store up grain" and work hard to develop production in the next few years.

At least we have to survive the Lan Yu case.

but now.
Xia Zhibai looked at Zheng Ao, then looked around, and the corners of his mouth twitched slightly.

Does this count as being involved in an unintentional slander?
Seeing that Xia Zhibai ignored him, Zheng Ao thought he was being humiliated, and said angrily, "Xia Zhibai, don't refuse my toast. I'm giving you face, but you're the top scholar of the dynasty. If I don't give you face, you're just a lowly businessman. Do you really think that you're superior to others just because you've passed the exam and become the top scholar?"

"This is in Yingtian Prefecture. If you are a dragon, you have to coil up, and if you are a tiger, you have to lie down."

"You are not responsible for disturbing my master's meditation."

Zheng Ao looked at the people who were gathering and scolded, "What are you looking at? Didn't you hear what I said?"

"You should all be more sensible from now on. Stop making so much noise here and don't make any noise in the city from now on."

The people watching around shrank their necks and quickly took a few steps back.

Minister of household affairs.

He is a minister in the court.

How dare they make a sound?

The people around were no longer surprised by Zheng Ao's behavior.

For a long time, the families and servants of these high-ranking officials in the court have been so arrogant. Previously, when Hu Weiyong's son fell off his horse, many onlookers were forcibly executed by Hu Weiyong. Li Cunyi, Lan Shi and others also allowed their families and servants to act arrogantly in the city.

The people can't afford to offend them.

Can only hide.

Xia Zhibai's eyes turned cold.

He looked at Zheng Ao and asked, "Is this the request of your Minister Guo, or did you propose it yourself?"

Zheng Ao glared at Xia Zhibai fiercely and said dissatisfiedly: "This is what I said, and it naturally represents the thoughts of my master."

"Our master is a third-rank official in the court, and is favored by His Majesty."

"I came back from the court today, and I was exhausted. I wanted to rest in the sedan chair, but I was disturbed by your noise. This is Yingtian Prefecture, not the market you used to live in. You can't bark here."

"I'm just giving you some good advice."

"Today my master is kindly reminding you that if you offend those generals, you won't even have a chance to speak."

Zheng Ao still maintained an arrogant attitude.

He has become accustomed to bullying others by taking advantage of his power in recent years.

As the steward of the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, he has the qualifications and status.

What's more, his master was once the Minister of Revenue.

He had long been accustomed to others obeying him respectfully, especially when facing people with lower official positions than Guo Huan. Zheng Ao would never restrain himself. Only by being so domineering could he let these people know that they had offended someone they could not afford to offend.

These people will know how to restrain themselves.

Troublesome people.

I have always feared power rather than virtue.

Therefore, there is no need to reason with the unruly people.

Just showing your fist is enough.

Xia Zhibai frowned. What Zheng Ao said was rough but true.

This is the state of affairs today.

Zhu Yuanzhang, who rose to power from the grassroots, attached great importance to loyalty in his early years. Therefore, the generals under his command were also very chivalrous. The scholars in the past had delegated power to the Yuan court and were local emperors. They were all so high and mighty, so how could they care about the common people?
Military officers look down on civil officials, and civil officials look down on the common people.

But Zheng Ao’s words were too harsh after all.

It's too humiliating.

Xia Zhibai said in a deep voice: "Who do you think you are? Are you qualified to point fingers here?"

"The people can say whatever they want and be happy if they want. This is the people's right. His Majesty will not stop the people from having fun. Not to mention you, even if Minister Guo came, he would not have the right to stop it, not to mention you are just a small servant."

"At least they are decent people."

"And you are just a servant."

"So what if they are merchants? So what if they are officials? As long as they do their job honestly, do not steal or rob, and make money in a proper way, even if the current emperor comes, he will not be able to find any fault with them."

"Just because they disturbed Guo Huan's rest, you want to silence the people. This Minister Guo you are talking about is too overbearing."

"You" Zheng Ao's eyes widened with anger.

Xia Zhibai didn't tolerate it at all, and sneered: "You are the one who should leave."

"You are relying on being a servant of a minister in the court to parade around and think you are superior to others. If this is what you did privately, it may be explained that Minister Guo is incompetent in disciplining his servants. If this is what Minister Guo really thinks, then it means that Minister Guo is no longer worthy of his position."

"As an important official of the court, you can be so rude."

"I have read so many sage books for nothing."

As soon as Xia Zhibai scolded, cheers rang out from all around.

"well said."

"You feel superior even though you are a servant."

"Your master is the Minister, not you. Why are you so arrogant?"

"I bother!!!"

"."

Accompanied by the strange voices coming from all around, Zheng Ao pointed at Xia Zhibai, his face had turned the color of liver. He pointed at the people around him angrily, but he couldn't find the one who said these words. He could only point at them angrily and said angrily: "Troublemakers, a bunch of troublemakers."

Zheng Ao turned around and glared at Xia Zhibai. As he left, he did not forget to say something harsh, "Xia Zhibai, you have offended our master. Your good days are over."

"You dare to humiliate me like this, let's wait and see."

Xia Zhibai shook his head.

I don’t know where Zheng Ao’s sense of superiority comes from.

He was just a servant, but he was more arrogant than the ministers.

However, after Zheng Ao's disturbance, the lively atmosphere in the court was immediately reduced a lot.

Although what I said before is very powerful, if people are really asked to continue, I am afraid that few people would dare to do so, and it is time to close the store.

Xia Zhibai bowed and said, "It's almost time. Over the past month, I thank you for your love and respect. The salt sales of Jingdu Salt Shop are amazing. I never thought I could achieve this 500,000 kilograms of salt, but with the support of you, I have already shown signs of achieving it."

"I, Xia Zhibai, always keep my word."

"The weight will be settled in public tomorrow morning."

"If the total salt sales of one prefecture and eight counties reach 500,000 catties."

"In the future, the price of salt in Kyoto Salt Shop will be 15 wen per pound."

“And the price will never increase.”

"As for why it's tomorrow morning, it's because the stores in the other eight counties have just closed. It will take some time for the other data to be sent to Yingtian Prefecture, so we will definitely gather the statistics together tomorrow morning. Although there is a little time difference, I, Xia Zhibai, guarantee with my personal character that I will never falsify data."

"Please supervise us, fellow villagers."

Xia Zhibai bowed to the people around him.

"We can trust your words."

"So much salt has been sold, how can we not trust it?"

"That's it."

"Zhuangyuanlang, is it time yet? I want to buy a few more kilograms."

"It's all the fault of that servant just now. If he hadn't disturbed us, we would have been able to sell a few hundred kilograms more in this little while. Now that a few hundred kilograms are gone, it won't be less than 500,000 kilograms, right?"

"."

There was constant whispering all around.

The reason why there were constant shouting in front.

Just because the time is almost up, many people are still raising money to buy it.

Every time someone went to buy salt, they would receive cheers from all around. Everyone was united in their efforts to reach the target of 500,000 kilograms.

However, the appearance of Zheng Ao interrupted the excitement.

This made many people feel dissatisfied.

Xia Zhibai was aware of this mentality, but one cannot go back on one's word. Since he said he would close the store on time, he would naturally be on time. Moreover, tomorrow morning would be the busiest time, and he would then let other people in the city see the strength of Kyoto Salt Industry.

Seeing that Xia Zhibai was really preparing to close the store, Fang Mo walked closer and asked anxiously, "Chief Xia, are you really closing it?"

"Now the people are in high spirits, and we can sell a lot of salt."

Xia Zhibai glanced at Fang Mo and said firmly, "Those who wanted to buy salt have already bought it. Those who want to buy it now are mostly impulsive and have some feelings. The people's money is not easy to come by. There is no need to do so much."

"If it's really a hundred pounds short, I can only say it's fate and timing."

"But I believe in the choice of the people."

"Close the shop."

Xia Zhibai gave an order.

The shop assistants around put the door panels up one by one.

Kyoto Salt Industry will be closed tomorrow.

Although the shops in Yingtian Prefecture will not sell salt tomorrow, the total sales of the prefecture and eight counties will be counted publicly, so many people are praying secretly.

I hope to reach 500,000 kilograms.

At the same time, the other eight counties also closed their shops on time, and the counting cards of each county were being sent to Yingtian Prefecture at a rapid speed.

(End of this chapter)