My Pen Pal Zhu Yuanzhang

Chapter 144 Zhu Laosi's Clever Plan

"Your Majesty, the Jiangnan nobles colluded with the Japanese pirates to invade Shaoxing Prefecture, killing our Ming people, threatening maritime trade, and obstructing the construction of the Songjiang Shipyard. In the eyes of these people, do they still have the Ming Dynasty and the law?"

Xu Da was filled with righteous indignation and said: "The arrogance of the Jiangnan nobles is no different from that of traitors. They deserve to be killed and their crimes cannot be escaped. I believe that the nobles and the Japanese pirates are birds of a feather and should be eliminated together!"

Li Wenzhong also spoke up, "I second the proposal. Jiangnan is the prosperous land of the Ming Dynasty and the granary of the world. If Jiangnan is unstable, the Ming Dynasty will be unstable. If the nobles have second thoughts, it will be a huge hidden danger to the country's government!
Therefore, I believe that there should be a major purge of the Jiangnan gentry!"

As soon as Li Wenzhong finished speaking, Li Min was stunned. Cleansing the Jiangnan gentry?

Doesn't Duke Cao know that the power of the Jiangnan gentry has long been deeply rooted and so huge that it is terrifying?

"My Lord, this is absolutely unacceptable. If we rashly attack the nobles, it will lead to a catastrophe!"

Li Min said hurriedly: "Jiangnan is the foundation of the Ming Dynasty. Most of the Ming Dynasty's grain, salt, and cotton cloth are produced in Jiangnan. Once there is a chaos, how will the people's livelihood be solved?
Moreover, five to six out of ten literati in the world come from Jiangnan, and in the court, there are countless officials who are from aristocratic families!
Your Majesty has finally gained the support of Jiangnan scholars through academic conferences and newspapers. If you rashly raise the knife to kill the gentry, I am afraid that Your Majesty will be in an unkind and unjust situation! "

Li Wenzhong was not convinced and said, "This is not okay, and that is not okay. Then what do you think we should do, Minister Li? Are we just going to leave the nobles alone? Let them do whatever they want?"

"That's not what I meant. It's just that if we want to attack the nobles, we have to think long and hard and come up with a foolproof plan."

What Li Min said was not without reason. Since ancient times, Jiangnan has controlled food and trade. Not only that, the Ming Dynasty's salt, weaving and other industries related to the people's livelihood are the most developed in Jiangnan. If Jiangnan is in chaos, the whole world will be in chaos!
After calming down, Zhu Yuanzhang also considered this, but his thinking was more profound.

Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, the relationship between him and the Jiangnan gentry has been quite delicate. Although the gentry are subservient to him, they may not be of the same mind as him, and he is also quite wary of the gentry, otherwise he would not have sent Shen Wansan to exile at the frontier.

However, sending Shen Wansan into exile was just a warning to others. In order to avoid further provoking the gentry, he also compromised and maintained a tenuous balance with them.

But now, this balance was broken by the gentry themselves, which made him see an opportunity, an opportunity to completely control Jiangnan!

However, since it concerns maritime trade, one move will affect the entire body. If Jiangnan is in chaos, the construction of a shipyard will be out of the question, so a foolproof solution must be found.

At this time, Zhu Di suddenly stood up and said, "Father, I think that if we want to take action against the Jiangnan gentry, the court actually has an important helper!"

"Old Four, do you have a solution? Tell me about it."

Zhu Yuanzhang immediately became interested, and the others also looked at Zhu Di, wanting to hear who the helper he was talking about was.

"That's the people of Shaoxing!"

"The people?" Xu Da and Li Wenzhong thought thoughtfully.

"What do you mean? Fourth brother, please tell me quickly!" Zhu Yuanzhang seemed to understand something, but he wanted to hear it from Zhu Di's mouth more.

"When the Japanese pirates raided Shaoxing Prefecture, the people suffered and were also angry. Therefore, as long as we find solid evidence of the collusion between the nobles and the Japanese pirates and put it in front of the people, I believe that the angry people will hate the nobles with gnashing teeth. In this way, the purge of the nobles will gain the support of the people!"

After thinking for a while, they all felt that Zhu Di's method was good. Li Min stroked his beard and said:

"The foundation of Jiangnan lies in the people. Water can carry a boat but can also overturn it. Once the people's approval is lost, the nobles will not be a threat. Your Highness, this method is very clever!"

"Old Four, how did you come up with this idea?" Li Wenzhong asked curiously. "When I was on the Northern Expedition a few days ago, I saw the people who were killed by the Yuan Tartars in Songting Pass and Daning. I saw in their eyes that in addition to the numbness of grief, there was actually a flame of revenge.

I still remember vividly how the people warmly supported the Northern Expedition Army after their great revenge was achieved after the Northern Expedition Army recaptured Daning.

I thought that the people of Shaoxing Prefecture were actually the same as the people of Daning. They would stand on the side of whoever helped them to avenge their grievances. "

"Old Four has finally come to his senses!" Xu Da slapped Zhu Di on the shoulder, "You are worthy of being my good son-in-law. You have a smart brain!"

Zhu Yuanzhang also looked at Zhu Di with satisfaction. He didn't expect that after the Northern Expedition, Zhu Di had gradually grown up.

With Zhu Di's suggestion, the plan in his mind became more complete.

"Li Min, listen to my order. I appoint you as the Imperial Envoy to pacify the people in Shaoxing who have been harmed by the Japanese pirates!"

"Your Majesty, I obey your order!" Li Min accepted the order respectfully.

"Xu Da, Li Wenzhong, I order you two to send out scouts at night to secretly find out where all the Japanese pirates are hiding. Do not alert them!"

"Sir, obey the order!"

"Dad, what about me?" Zhu Di was a little anxious. It was he who proposed the idea, so how could he be left behind when going to Shaoxing Prefecture?
Mao Xiang was even more anxious and said hurriedly: "Your Majesty, I am willing to go to Shaoxing with the imperial envoy to find the traitors who colluded with the Japanese pirates!"

Zhu Yuanzhang said slowly, "I have my own wonderful uses for you two!"

……

The next day, Li Min led a convoy and set off from Yingtian Prefecture in a mighty procession. Zhu Di and Mao Xiang also mixed in the team, disguised as guards.

"Li Min is in the open on the pretext of pacifying the people. Your Highness, you and I will secretly find out who is colluding with the Japanese pirates. This trip is one open and one secret. Your Majesty's plan is really a brilliant one!"

In the team, Mao Xiang whispered to Zhu Di that although his reputation as the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard was well-known in the Ming Dynasty court, and he could even stop children from crying at night among the people, but not many people had seen his true face. After disguising himself and sneaking into Shaoxing Prefecture, no one would recognize him.

Zhu Di was usually either in the palace or in the military training ground. Apart from the Northern Expedition, he had never traveled far, so not many people knew him.

"But there is one thing I must remind Your Highness. After arriving in Shaoxing Prefecture, we must change the way we address each other. I am the third child in my family. How about Your Highness calling me Liu San?"

Zhu Di nodded and said, "This trip is extremely dangerous, so it is naturally inconvenient to reveal my identity. Commander Mao is thoughtful, so call me Li Si."

"Your Highness, it is great that you can think this way. However, there is one thing I do not understand. After finding the traitor, why didn't you arrest him on the spot? Instead, why did you insist that we witness the meeting between the traitor and the pirates with our own eyes?"

Zhu Di touched the phone hidden in his arms and smiled mysteriously, "Commander Mao, don't worry. You will understand this matter when the time comes!"

Please subscribe and vote



(End of this chapter)