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

Chapter 132: Are you worthy of betting your life with me?
Zhu Zhanjun walked into a dark room in the imperial manor.

"Your Highness."

Ergou, who was interrogating, came forward quickly.

"How's the interrogation going?"

Ergou said with a somewhat unpleasant expression: "This person is very stubborn and hasn't said a word so far."

Zhu Zhanjun walked forward and looked at the man who was beaten to a bloody mess.

This is a young man, and judging from his body shape and rough hands, he is a martial artist.

"You are from the Royal Guards, right?"

The man just raised his head, chuckled and closed his eyes.

Zhu Zhanjun nodded slightly: "Thank you."

The young man with his eyes closed was a little surprised and looked at Zhu Zhanjun in confusion.

Did he say anything just now?

Zhu Zhanjun ignored him and turned to walk out.

"Your Highness, do you know him?"

Ergou also followed out with a confused look on his face.

Zhu Zhanjun said calmly: "I have seen him. At the beginning of the year, when we went to Jinyiwei to receive the criminals and those scholars, he was standing behind Ji Gang."

Ergou was a little surprised.

He went there that day too. How did His Highness remember just one person among so many people?
Ergou had no idea that Zhu Zhanjun's physical fitness and memory had greatly improved as the space expanded.

It's almost the same as having a photographic memory.

Ji Gang is a dog that will bite. Although Zhu Zhanjun didn't talk to him much that day, their eyes met several times.

Although there were dozens of Jinyiwei personnel standing behind the other person, Zhu Zhanjun had memorized their general facial features.

When I came in and saw him for the first time, I thought he looked familiar. When I got closer and compared his memory, I confirmed his identity.

After returning to the study, Zhu Zhanjun asked Xiaohu and Ergou to guard outside the door while he entered the space alone.

"Do you suspect Ji Gang has something to do with this?"

As soon as Zhu Zhanjun entered, Lao Zhu and others who had been paying close attention to the whole process asked about their guesses.

Zhu Zhanjun nodded and then shook his head.

"Not sure, but he definitely knows. He is not in vain as the commander."

Zhang Baigui also analyzed: "Fengyang is actually just a trigger point, not specifically targeting Your Highness. Their purpose is not to let the Fengyang incident explode and cause the old man's anger, and then conduct a nationwide inspection."

"That's right." Zhu Biao agreed, "In recent years, construction has started in various places. If they dare to take action, it is impossible for them to only target Fengyang. After all, who would catch a sheep and pluck it? Even a fool can see that it has been plucked bald."

"The money they take is not that much, just a little bit from each place, and as long as there is no big problem, no one will pay attention."

"There was a flood in Fengyang. To be frank, the court has gotten used to it over the years. The Huai River has burst its banks so many times, and the court won't pay much attention to investigating it."

"Even if they are sent to investigate, they will definitely send their own people, so the court won't be able to find anything."

"Plus, my fourth brother has been supervising the ministers under Yun Wen, the construction of Beiping, and various matters related to the Yongle Encyclopedia. It is inevitable that he will neglect some of these matters."

"This way, they will feel that they have an opportunity and will always want to take a little bit without being discovered."

At this point, Zhu Biao sneered, "It's a pity that plans can't keep up with changes. They never thought that Fourth Brother would hand Fengyang over to you, and it just so happened that the flood happened at this time. All kinds of things came together at once, and you encountered it."

"A single spark can start a prairie fire. They are not doing this specifically to target you, but to put out the spark you have started, to prevent other areas from being ignited directly."

"After all, given Fourth Brother's personality, if he knew that the flooding in his hometown was partly caused by official corruption, he would definitely be furious and conduct a thorough investigation."

"If we pull out the gourd and the vine, once we thoroughly investigate, we will pull out more than just one or two."

Zhu Biao sneered: "So they used the most common means in the officialdom, killing people to silence them, cutting off arms to survive, and destroying evidence."

After listening to the analysis of several people, Zhu Zhanjun's face turned cold.

Zhang Baigui sighed: "They chose to take action at this time, and they also made full considerations."

"The entire court is now running with your majesty's northern expedition as the main focus. For your majesty's safety, the court must prioritize stability." "They see through this and are betting that you dare not stir up this matter during your majesty's northern expedition. As long as you don't stir up this matter, they will have plenty of time to smooth over everything before your majesty returns."

"Your Highness, based on my memory and years of experience as an official, I have come to a conclusion."

Zhu Zhanjun looked at him, and Zhang Baigui said slowly: "These people may not be good at being officials, but they are very good at corruption, bribery, destroying evidence, and framing others."

"If you give them enough time, they can not only destroy things that are not good for them, but also turn around and put the blame on you."

"Moreover, the trend of corruption has never changed since ancient times."

Zhang Baigui recalled: "Before we studied and passed the imperial examinations, we also dreamed of being able to make great achievements, establish our minds for the world, establish our lives for the people, and inherit the lost knowledge of the ancient sages."

"But if you really become an official in any place, without a backer or background, everyone in the government office will ask you for money. If you don't give benefits to your superiors, they will find fault with you."

"In this situation, even if you have a fortune, you can't stop the money from all sides. You can only find a way to ask the people for money."

"Once you make a move, there's no turning back. You can only go down one path."

Old Zhu, who was listening silently on the side, surprisingly did not get angry.

As an emperor, he has experienced too many things like this.

When he first became emperor, faced with these dark things, he simply wielded his sword and killed people, causing blood to flow like a river. As a result, officials had to prepare their wills before attending court.

Before he died, he understood one thing.

There are endless corrupt officials in the world. As long as the world needs officials, corruption will not disappear.

The only difference is the difference between big corruption and small corruption, and the difference between taking money and not doing the job and taking money to do the job for you.

"Little bastard, what do you think about this matter?"

After Zhu Biao and Zhang Baigui finished speaking, Old Zhu asked Zhu Zhanjun what he thought.

If Old Zhu still controls the world, he would only choose one method for this kind of thing: killing!

The killing terrified these people and brought decades of peace to the Ming Dynasty.

But things are different now.

Zhu Zhanjun had not yet come to power, let alone being the crown prince, he was not even a crown prince's grandson.

Zhu Zhanjun once again faced a choice: to pretend he saw nothing, to endure it, and to take action when he had power in the future.

Whether to fight these guys directly is up to Zhu Zhanjun to decide.

Zhu Zhanjun did not answer directly, but asked Old Zhu: "Grandpa, what were you thinking when you started to crack down on corrupt officials?"

Thinking back to the past, Lao Zhu sneered: "My family came from the bottom of society, and I took this path because I was forced to do so by the corrupt and incompetent court officials."

"When we learned that there was corruption in the court, we didn't even think twice and just sent people to kill them."

"We will not allow these damned termites to harm our Ming Dynasty for even a quarter of an hour."

Zhu Zhanjun nodded, looked at the others and said slowly: "A kind person is often bullied, and a kind horse is often ridden."

Zhu Zhanjun looked at Zhang Baigui again: "If you were them, and I chose to stand aside and watch, would you stand on my side in the future?"

Zhang Baigui didn't even think about it and just shook his head.

"We will not choose someone who almost threatened us unless there is no other choice later."

Zhu Zhanjun smiled.

"That's it. I chose to tolerate it today. Not only did it betray my identity as a Zhu family member, but it also did me no good at all. I actually have no other choice."

Looking at the people in front of him, Zhu Zhanjun said solemnly: "I want to sit in that position, not for my own selfishness, but for the people of Ming Dynasty who have suffered so much, so that they can live a better life."

"But the actions of these people have seriously threatened these things, seriously threatening the foundation of the Ming Dynasty."

"Officials protect each other, and the people have nowhere to seek redress. As the grandson of the Ming emperor, I know all this. If I choose to tolerate it, then what is the difference between me and these corrupt people?"

Zhu Zhanjun's eyes gradually turned cold: "Since they are not afraid, then why should I be afraid? Let's see who will be the loser in the end."

"If I fail, the worst that can happen is that I can go to Fengyang with my second uncle to fish and farm. If they fail, they will have to pay with the lives of their entire family. I want to see who will give up first."

(End of this chapter)