Ming Dynasty: Domination of the World from the Imperial Examination

Chapter 237 Zhu Yuanzhang’s fear and uneasiness!
Tang He smiled bitterly.

He could actually see Zhu Yuanzhang's struggle.

It seemed that Zhu Yuanzhang himself was not very willing to make these changes, but it seemed that something else had happened, forcing Zhu Yuanzhang to do so. He slowly raised the wine bowl, dodging his eyes left and right, and said hesitantly: "With Your Majesty here, there will be no deviation."

"But I really don't understand."

"Why has Your Majesty changed so much?"

"And if this happens, Xia Zhibai will have to face all the civil and military officials alone. The civil officials are fine, even if they just like to spit some spit, it won't hurt anyone. But if the military officials hear the news, they will be filled with righteous indignation and may dare to kill him in public. With Xia Zhibai's physique, how can he hold on?"

Hear the words.

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned.

He had heard the same thing before.

But the last time someone said this was Zhu Biao.

Zhu Yuanzhang waved his sleeves, sat upright on the chair, and asked coldly: "Can't hold on?"

"Haha, you underestimate Xia Zhibai."

"In the whole world, not only we underestimated Xia Zhibai, but also these scholars, Tang and you are no exception. Do you really think that Xia Zhibai disappeared for more than a year just to run a salt market in the north?"

Zhu Yuanzhang sneered, his eyes full of disdain.

Tang He was stunned.

He was surprised and asked, "Even if he has other actions in the north, what can he do? How can he cause such a big change in the world's politics?"

"Even if, as Your Majesty said, he has already made an iron horse that can travel a thousand miles a day, and has the potential to make a musket that can shoot dozens of meters, can these things really be made overnight, and can they be accepted by the world so quickly?"

"You can't be so impatient anyway, right?"

Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head.

His wrinkled cheeks slightly raised, giving people a strong sense of oppression and rebelliousness. Zhu Yuanzhang said indifferently: "If you still think so, you are really wrong."

"We have been keeping an eye on Xia Zhibai for more than a year."

"But you know what."

"I can't see through him any more."

"He has been back to Yingtian Prefecture for just over a month, and within a few days of his return, our stupid old fifth brother sent all the 100 or so craftsmen we sent back to Yingtian Prefecture. However, these people did not return to us, but fell directly into Xia Zhibai's hands."

"In addition to this idiot, there are also the second, third, and fourth brothers who have also sent craftsmen over."

"These bastards are still hiding things from us. They actually believe that there are suddenly one or two hundred more people in our Yingtian Prefecture and that we, the emperor, know nothing about it." As he spoke, Zhu Yuanzhang was a little angry and laughed.

He put his hands on his hips, his face both amused and angry.

Tang He smiled bitterly. He had not expected this to happen. He could not help but laugh or cry.

immediately.

I also realized that something was wrong.

The King of Qin, the King of Zhou and others all have bad tempers.

Especially the King of Qin, who asked so many vassal kings to send their people to Yingtian Prefecture and hide it from His Majesty. This is really extraordinary. The fact that the vassal kings can join forces to do this shows that Xia Zhibai must have secretly persuaded these vassal kings.

Otherwise it would never have come to this.

Zhu Yuanzhang sneered and said sarcastically: "Now you know how worried you are."

"Will Xia Zhibai be afraid?"

"He can even convince our stupid son, who sometimes we can't convince, so are you worried that he can't win over those brainless generals?"

“But we don’t really care about that.”

"We just have a vague feeling."

"What happened in the south recently may have something to do with him."

Hear the words.

Tang He looked shocked.

He stood up suddenly, his eyes full of disbelief, and said in a serious tone: "Your Majesty, why do you say that? If I remember correctly, Xia Zhibai is from the north and has never been to the south before. Even if he has great magical powers, it is impossible for him to instigate this incident in the south from hundreds or thousands of miles away, right?"

Tang He was really shocked by Zhu Yuanzhang's words.

But deep down, he still thought that Zhu Yuanzhang was a little too suspicious.

How could a northerner who had never been to the South cause chaos throughout the South?

Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand.

Let Tang He sit down first.

He sighed and said in a cold voice: "I also hope that I am just overthinking it, but the more I think about it recently, the more I feel that it has something to do with Xia Zhibai. This steam engine was invented by Xia Zhibai, and he was the first to start the 'Salt Administration'. All of this was invented by him."

"You tell us."

"He really doesn't know the importance of those drawings?"

Tang He's eyes flashed, and he was also somewhat persuaded, and slowly sat down. He looked at Zhu Yuanzhang and asked tentatively: "Could this be an accident? After all, steam engines have never appeared in the world before, and Xia Zhibai is young and does not have much experience in handling things. He was careless and did not keep the steam engine drawings properly, which led to the current situation."

"Do you believe it?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked back.

Tang He was silent for a moment.

Does he believe it?
Do not believe.

Because the two or three months of the Jingdu Salt Shop were so impressive, who in the whole Yingtian Prefecture didn't know about it? And at that time, Xia Zhibai also sent out some steam engine drawings, but they were not the final ones. Since he had done such a thing, he would naturally know the importance of the final drawings in his hands.

Not to mention that you should carry it with you, at least you should put it in an important place where it can't be easily taken away by others.

What's more, Xia Zhibai had mentioned earlier that improvements had been made to the steam engine drawings.

How can one not become suspicious with all these things happening?

But Xia Zhibai had never been to the south, and he didn't have much friendship with officials and scholars in the south. It was impossible that Xia Zhibai was the cause of the incident. But as Zhu Yuanzhang said, what if?
Zhu Yuanzhang said coldly: "I know it's unlikely, but I'm a little shaken."

"He has done so many things right under our noses. Who can guarantee that he hasn't done more things in places we can't see? We are just inviting him into the trap this time. Doesn't Xia Zhibai want us to change the salt policy?"

"Let's just do what he wants!"

"We must not only mobilize the salt administration, but also mobilize the military."

"We want to force him to the point where everyone in the court is an enemy. Since we can't keep an eye on him alone, we will let all the civil and military officials in the court keep an eye on him."

"I don't believe that no one can see what he did in private. Sometimes I am not as smart as these scholars, but the civil officials under me are all cunning. They forced Xia Zhibai to be on the opposite side of others. Whether he had any selfish motives at that time, and what he was secretly planning, these officials will tell us one by one!"

Zhu Yuanzhang also became ruthless.

He already felt that Xia Zhibai was in danger of losing control.

However, Xia Zhibai was a cunning person who was hard to see through. Sometimes he needed to use Xia Zhibai's hand to give the southern forces a good blow. Therefore, instead of being so hesitant and hesitant, it would be better to let go and bring Xia Zhibai out in the open to let him face the supervision of all the ministers in the court.

Want to hide in the dark?
How could he allow Xia Zhibai to hide?
Tang He nodded.

He cupped his hands and said, "Everything is at your command, Your Majesty."

Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand and said, "I asked you to come here for another reason. If the court finally decides to change the salt policy, I hope you can go to the south for me. I don't have many people I can trust around me now, so I trust you."

"We want you to keep a close eye on Xia Zhibai."

"Let's see if he has anything to do with what happened in the South this time?!"

"besides."

"We'll allow you to do what's best for you."

"I will bring 5,000 soldiers with you. The princes in the south will obey your orders. If the south dares to cause trouble again, you can kill first and report later. This time, don't be afraid that killing too many people in the south will cause unrest in the world. We are going to lead troops into the south!"

"We just want to let these landlords in the south see it."

"Whose world is this?"

"I took a step back before because I didn't want to pay too much attention to it. I thought that peace brings wealth, but if they dare to push their noses and try to threaten us again, I will let those bloody heads tell them that I, Zhu Yuanzhang, will never show mercy."

Zhu Yuanzhang spoke murderously.

There was a fierce murderous intent in his brows and words.

This time.

He wants to establish his authority by using the South.

Tang He's mind was focused, and he quickly said, "I obey your order."

Zhu Yuanzhang laughed, and the murderous intent on his face instantly disappeared, as if nothing had happened. He smiled and said, "Come and have a drink. You don't really have much to do on this trip to the south. We will let Xia Zhibai do most of it. Just keep an eye on it."

"Xia Zhibai only respects us, not fears us."

"But some of his practices and ideas are indeed very novel and useful to our Ming Dynasty. It's just that he has a bad temper, which I can never stand. Sometimes I even want to slap him twice, otherwise I can't get rid of the anger I have caused him."

Tang He nodded seriously.

He could see that Zhu Yuanzhang was very wary of Xia Zhibai.

This kind of situation rarely appeared on Zhu Yuanzhang's face. It only appeared on Zhu Yuanzhang's face when the situation was unclear in the decisive battle with Chen Youliang. "

"Now Xia Zhibai has no large army, no high official position, and no cliques in the court, but he still makes Zhu Yuanzhang feel like he is facing a great enemy. He even forces Zhu Yuanzhang to investigate Xia Zhibai privately under the pretext of 'changing the salt policy'. This kind of fear and uneasiness is the first time he has seen in Zhu Yuanzhang.

This also shows how extraordinary Xia Zhibai is.

He did not say any more on the matter.

Since Zhu Yuanzhang had made up his mind, as a subject, he only needed to do his duty and there was no need to dig into the matter. He stood up, poured a glass for Zhu Yuanzhang and filled his own glass, and then the two continued to drink.

Zhu Yuanzhang expressed his frustrations and felt much more relaxed.

After the two of them had eaten and drunk their fill, an eunuch carefully brought a letter to them. Zhu Yuanzhang took it and read it carefully. After reading it, he sneered, "Tang He, look at what I said. Xia Zhibai is very thoughtful."

"Let's ask him to give us an answer. Can he convince the generals in the army to give up the Northern Expedition in the past two years?"

"He replied directly that he was willing to try!"

"Then let's give it a try!"

(End of this chapter)