My Pen Pal Zhu Yuanzhang

Chapter 147 Something is fishy
Early the next morning, Zheng Zefu, the prefect of Shaoxing Prefecture, brought a group of officials to the mansion to pay their respects to Li Min.

Li Min was the imperial envoy and pacification envoy appointed by His Majesty himself, and was also the Minister of Works. His rank was several levels higher than that of the prefect. It was official custom for Zheng Zefu to come and pay his respects.

Although he didn't know who else in Shaoxing Prefecture could be trusted, Li Min still had to continue to feign flattery with this group of people to create opportunities for Zhu Di and Mao Xiang.

However, among the people Zheng Zefu brought, there were several followers carrying exquisite wooden boxes, and I had no idea what Zheng Zefu was up to.

After entering the mansion, Zheng Zefu strode towards Li Min with a smile on his face, "Lord Li, you had a good rest last night. If you neglected us, it would be our fault!"

"Lord Zheng is thoughtful. This mansion is decorated gorgeously and exquisitely, and is no worse than the mansion in Yingtian Prefecture that receives foreign envoys. I am very satisfied and am reluctant to leave!"

Li Min had been in official circles for many years, so he could speak these polite words fluently. His speech was also interesting, causing everyone present to laugh.

"As long as you are satisfied, that's good!"

Zheng Zefu turned around and said to his followers behind him: "Come on, bring the things up!"

Several followers obeyed the order and carried three exquisite large wooden boxes to Li Min.

Li Min pretended to be surprised and asked, "Hey, Lord Zheng, what do you mean?"

Zheng Zefu stroked his beard and smiled, "Lord Li, you have come all the way here, and it must be hard work. This is just a little local specialty of Shaoxing. I hope Lord Li will not despise it!"

Has the gift arrived?
Although Li Min still had a smile on his face, he was thinking in his heart. Although His Majesty strictly prohibited corruption and bribery, it was not uncommon for subordinates to give gifts to their superiors in the Ming Dynasty officialdom.

Moreover, as he was an imperial envoy, it was normal for Zheng Zefu to give gifts. But what was abnormal was that he gave gifts so openly in broad daylight. I wonder what his plan was!
With this in mind, I can only continue acting with him.

When I opened one of the boxes, I saw that it was full of golden ingots!
He opened another box, revealing all kinds of precious silks and satins.

When I opened the last box, it was filled with all kinds of antiques, including calligraphy and paintings, jade and other precious objects. I think they must be worth a lot!
Wow, everyone says that Jiangnan is rich, but I didn’t expect it to be this rich. Zheng Zefu is really generous!
Li Min cursed inwardly, thinking back to when the shipyard was being built to build the steamship, the court really had no money, and it was the Minister of Revenue Yang Siyi who helped him scrape together the money, and the emperor also tried every possible way before he finally succeeded in building the steamship.

Not only that, he was impeached by officials from the Jiangnan faction, and the industrialization process of the Ming Dynasty was almost aborted in the cradle.

Unexpectedly, a mere prefect of Shaoxing Prefecture could take out so much gold as a gift to his superiors. Wouldn't Li Min be furious?

But we have to continue to work on the surface.

Zhu Di, who was standing by, saw all this. Although his face was expressionless, he was burning with anger in his heart!

Your Majesty is extremely disgusted with corruption and bribery, but he never expected that the prefect of Shaoxing would bribe on such a large scale. He really deserves to be killed!

He looked at Mao Xiang next to him again, but he had a calm expression on his face, as if he was used to it. It seemed that this was not a rare phenomenon in the officialdom.

It seems that I am still too young and I need to learn to be more shrewd like Mao Xiang.

Li Min showed a greedy look in his eyes, but he said righteously:

"Sir, what do you mean by this? I have always been honest. You are insulting my innocence. This is absolutely unacceptable!" Zheng Zefu looked at Li Min and laughed, "Sir, don't blame yourself. The people of Shaoxing are grateful when they hear that you have come to comfort them. These are just some gifts from the people. Please accept them and don't let them down!"

Although Zheng Zefu spoke casually, Li Min heard something unusual in his words. Zheng Zefu was just a fifth-rank prefect, how could he say such disrespectful words as "chilling the hearts of the people" in front of the imperial envoy?
Is there a deeper meaning behind this?

A smile immediately appeared on his face. "Lord Zheng is right. This is a specialty of Shaoxing Prefecture. Since it is the gift of the people, if I refuse it, I will be sorry to the people. So I will be disrespectful to refuse it!"

After saying this, the two of them burst into laughter, and the officials behind Zheng Zefu also laughed along. Only the co-governor Sun Ying had a cold look in his eyes, which was then immediately followed by a smile.

After ordering his men to take the three boxes into the mansion, Zheng Zefu said, "I wonder what arrangements you will make next, so we can accompany you."

Li Min said: "Your Majesty is sympathetic to the people and cares about the common people. I am following your Majesty's order to comfort the local people. Next, I will go and see the people."

"Your Majesty is kindhearted, and we will naturally remember it in our hearts. At this moment, let us accompany you. Sir, shall we set off now?"

"Wait a minute, Lord Zheng. I was very sad to hear yesterday that an official from our Ministry of Works was killed by Japanese pirates. I also want to send someone to his home to express condolences to his family and widow." Li Min said calmly.

"Your Excellency is compassionate and sympathetic to your subordinates. You are truly a role model for our generation. However, I have already arranged for their families. Please rest assured, Your Excellency!"

"That's good, that's good. I trust you, Lord Zheng, to do the job!"

As Li Min spoke, her heart skipped a beat. Could it be that all the family members had been silenced?
Although Zheng Zefu said that he had settled the family, Li Min was visiting in the name of the Ministry of Works and had to send some compensation, so it was difficult to stop him.

After a round of greetings, Li Min went out with a group of officials from Shaoxing, and Zhu Di and Mao Xiang also went out soon after.

After walking around for a long time and seeing that no one was following him, Zhu Di said to Mao Xiang, "Liu San, what is the plot behind Zheng Zefu's bribery in front of everyone?"

"Gifts given in the officialdom are mostly valuable calligraphy and paintings, not silver and money. Even if they are caught by the Jinyiwei, it is less serious than accepting silver and money. Zheng Zefu's move is probably not simple!"

Mao Xiang thought for a moment and said, "He probably wants to drag Minister Li into this. If he accepts his bribe in public, he will be silenced. But don't worry, Li Si Ni. If Lord Li accepts the bribe in public, it will naturally make the officials of Shaoxing Prefecture relax their vigilance."

"Then Zheng Zefu must be hiding something!"

"It's very possible. What worries me even more is that he said he has already settled the family members of the deceased. I'm afraid that the family members have been threatened by him!"

"It's very likely!" Zhu Di nodded. "This way, we can be more certain of the suspicion of Prefect Zheng!"

"Li Si, I didn't expect you to learn so quickly!"

Mao Xiang joked, "That's right, so the family members must go and investigate!"

There were five officials at the Shaoxing Prefecture liaison point. Two of them visited four families. The family members were in the process of preparing for a funeral and were all very sad. They did not notice anything unusual.

However, when they arrived at the fifth house, they found that there was no white cloth hanging on the lintel of this house, and there was no funeral being held.

Zhu Di and Mao Xiang looked at each other in confusion. Was there something fishy going on?
(End of this chapter)