Yongle Emperor's grandson: Zhu Yuanzhang with cheats, Zhu Di went crazy

Chapter 131: Murder and Silencing, Greedy Madness

"Get rich, get rich."

Not long after returning to the East Palace and lying down, Zhu Zhanjun entered the space and summoned Xia Yuanji and Zhang Baigui.

The first thing Xia Yuanji did when he came in was to grin and keep muttering "I'm rich".

Zhu Zhanjun directly poured cold water on him and said, "Think about the Northern Expedition, think about Jiaozhi, think about the construction of the Forbidden City, think about dredging the Grand Canal, I heard that the Qiang people are going to be conquered, and think about Zheng He who will be back in the next two years."

Xia Yuanji, who had originally had a happy expression on his face, immediately fell in expression.

"Your Highness, can't you please make me happy for a moment?"

Zhu Zhanjun rolled his eyes at him and turned to look at Zhang Baigui who was talking to Zhu Biao next to him.

"Let Shen Nian interrogate Zhang An again. This guy is not honest. Xu Jingchang said that he did not take the money for repairing the dam."

In order to ensure the safety of the witness, Zhu Zhanjun did not bring Zhang An back, so in order to interrogate him again, he needed Zhang Baigui to send someone.

Zhang Baigui frowned and nodded, "I'll ask him to interrogate him strictly when I get back."

"Also, their land deeds have been handed over. I got them from my father. You can take back the land according to the list. As for those people who sold their bodies, ask them if they are willing to become military households."

After explaining several things in succession, Zhu Zhanjun asked, "How is the reclamation going?"

"With the oxen and farm tools we provided, and the lure of work points and various rewards, half of the land has been reclaimed and planted, and it is expected to be completed by the end of the month."

"According to the requirements, 2/3 of the land is planted with wheat, and the rest of the land is being cultivated. When the weather gets warmer and there is enough rain, we will start planting sweet potatoes."

"That's great." Old Zhu, who was listening on the side, smiled.

According to the plan he knew, Fengyang would definitely have a bumper harvest by the time of autumn harvest this year, unless there was a natural disaster.

Zhu Zhanjun nodded and looked at Xia Yuanji: "How did you discuss the arrangements with Xu Jingchang and the others?"

After being poured with a few basins of cold water by Zhu Zhanjun, Xia Yuanji, who had recovered from his excitement, said: "Your Highness the Crown Prince means that if it is passed on now, it will only affect the morale of the army. He plans to suppress this matter temporarily and discuss it after Your Majesty returns from the northern expedition."

"Where is the army now? Has it come into contact with the Tatars?"

Xia Yuanji shook his head: "The snow in the north has not melted yet, and the army has just set out. According to the forecast of the Ministry of War, it will take at least until mid-March or April before we come into contact with the enemy."

"If the battle goes well, it will be over in July-August."

Zhu Zhanjun twitched the corner of his mouth.

It is only mid-February now, and the old man will not be back until July or August. According to my father, Xu Jingchang and the others will have to be imprisoned for at least another five months.

But after just a moment, Zhu Zhanjun no longer cared.

It would be better to lock them up for a few months to curb their arrogance and avoid any trouble in the future.

After simply adjusting the next plan, Zhu Zhanjun ended this simple meeting.

"Your Highness, something happened. Zhang An is dead."

It was just dawn and Zhu Zhanjun was still asleep when Zhang Baigui's voice rang out again.

Zhu Zhanjun instantly appeared in the space, frowning and asking Zhang Baigui: "Who did it?"

Zhang Baigui frowned and replied, "I don't know. Last night I sent someone to tell Shen Lian to re-interrogate Zhang An and ask him about the corruption in the river bank."

"But the people I sent out to notify them didn't come back for a long time. I thought they were waiting there. So I didn't think much about it and rested."

"I just got up to go to work and ran into Shen Lian who got up early to practice martial arts. I asked him about the results of the interrogation."

"But he told me in confusion that he had not received any news of the interrogation yesterday."

"I felt something was wrong at the time, so the two of us rushed to the prison immediately. When we arrived, Zhang An was already dead. According to the coroner's examination, the time of death should be before I sent someone to notify Shen Lian yesterday." "The person I sent also died, and the body reeked of alcohol. The coroner found that he died of drunkenness."

"That is to say, when we were about to re-interrogate him, they had already taken action."

Zhu Zhanjun frowned, sensing something was wrong.

He just learned from Xu Jingchang last night that Zhang An might be making false accusations, so he asked Shen Lian to re-interrogate Zhang An.

Even if someone in the capital knew the news, it would not be possible for it to spread so quickly.

"What do you think?"

Zhu Zhanjun asked Zhang Baigui what he thought.

"Zhang An is definitely not the only person involved in the corruption at the dike. Other government offices responsible for supervision and dispatching personnel must have been involved."

"Xu Jingchang and other nobles all know that Your Highness has evidence of their crimes, and the others who intervened will naturally know about it as well."

"According to my guess, they want to see if Xu Jingchang and others can deal with His Highness. If they can, they won't have to take action."

"But what Xu Jingchang and his men did this morning completely disrupted their plans."

"So in order to prevent any accidents, they decided to kill Zhang An, who might know about the incident, and kill him directly."

"Although there is a certain distance between Jinling and Fengyang, if we send a pigeon in the morning and deliver it quickly in stages, we can reach Fengyang before dark."

"There was still half a night between dusk and Zhang An's death. They had plenty of time to act."

"Your Highness, wait a moment. Someone is calling me outside."

Just after analyzing the situation, Zhang Baigui said something and disappeared into space. A moment later he came in with a grim expression.

"Shen Lian just came to report that several officials they supervised have died. They were all hanged in the lobby of the government office, and they all left behind a letter written in blood."

Zhu Zhanjun looked at him, his heart inexplicably sinking, and he had a bad premonition.

Zhang Baigui said with a gloomy face: "They wrote in blood that you violated the ancestral system and took back the land of the military households and unified them. The whole Fengyang has become a country within a country."

"But Fengyang has been sealed off by you. They cannot report the news to the court. They can only use their death as a warning to the world."

After briefly explaining the situation, Zhang Baigui said in a deep voice: "This is just the one that happened nearby. I don't know how many more people are far away. If this matter gets to the court, it may be bad for Your Highness."

"Hehehe..."

After listening to the report, Zhu Zhanjun was not angry as expected, but laughed instead.

"No need to say if. They won't know what they did. I'm afraid they are already preparing a memorial to impeach me."

Zhang Baigui nodded silently.

He had already thought of this kind of thing, and even remembered having experienced it before.

In the court, if you want to cover up one thing, then you will expose another bigger thing.

The corruption case will definitely arouse public anger, and Zhu Zhanjun may have evidence of his crimes in his hands, so they need to put Zhu Zhanjun's advantages at a disadvantage.

The method was to arouse the anger of all officials and make Zhu Zhanjun deeply involved in other things and unable to take care of the corruption in the dam.

"Your Highness."

A shout was heard outside, and Zhu Zhanjun opened his eyes. The little girl Qiu Xue said nervously beside the bed: "Yesterday someone tried to set fire around your house in Huangzhuang, but was caught by Brother Ergou and the others."

Zhu Zhanjun's face instantly turned cold. In order to cover up their crimes, these people had become so bold and presumptuous.

(End of this chapter)