Bringing the Railway to Daming

Chapter 519 Zhu Yuanzhang's Private Visit (Part 5) [Please Subscribe]

Lu Zhi was not surprised by Liu Tong's request.

His relatives committed minor offenses, and Liu Tong would certainly not exchange them for major benefits—regarding the two matters Liu Tong mentioned, he could have easily accomplished them with a little instruction in the past, without much impact.

Of course, as long as he makes a request, it will leave a trace that cannot be investigated.

Now that someone has secretly investigated his relatives thoroughly, how could he possibly agree to Liu Tong's request?

However, if he refused too bluntly, he might anger Liu Tong, who would then make a big fuss about his relative's case. This would not only affect his career but also make it difficult to explain to his relatives.

In the blink of an eye, Lu Zhi had many thoughts going through his mind.

Seeing that he was silent for a moment, Liu Tong asked with a smile, "What's wrong? Brother Lu, you don't find these two small matters too difficult, do you?"

Lu Zhi said, “Liu Qianshi, if these two matters were handled in the past, I wouldn’t even need to invite me to dinner. I would just send someone to give me a heads-up and I would have taken care of them. But if I were to do it this way, I’m afraid I would implicate you, Liu Qianshi.”

Liu Tong's smile vanished. "Why do you say that?"

Lu Zhi: "Has Vice Commissioner Liu considered who collected these charges and testimonies? I'm afraid someone is investigating me."

"This person could be Lu's political enemy, or he could be a public enemy. In any case, how can I live in peace if I don't know who this person is?"

"Since that person handed over these charges and testimonies to Liu Qianshi, he's probably keeping an eye on things. If I were to help you again, wouldn't I be implicating you?"

Liu Tong was slightly stunned after hearing this, and then a light sweat appeared on his forehead.

He hadn't really thought of the possibility Lu Zhi mentioned—he had previously assumed that these accusations and testimonies were from some ordinary people who had been bullied by Lu Zhi's relatives.

Looking back now, it's clear that gathering so many testimonies is something no ordinary person could accomplish. Even if they were truly "ordinary citizens," they must have possessed extraordinary skills.

Most importantly, he didn't know who this person was.

Thinking of this, Liu Tong immediately glanced carefully at the open door and window (to prevent eavesdropping), then bowed to Lu Zhi and said, "Thank you very much for handling this matter, Brother Lu. Otherwise, I would have been negligent."

"Well, I'll handle these matters concerning Brother Lu's relatives impartially, is that alright?"

Lu Zhi sighed, "Let's handle this impartially—by the way, my son has been missing for almost two days. I'd appreciate it if Vice Commissioner Liu could help keep him there."

Lu Zhi's son has disappeared?

Liu Tong was stunned for a moment.

Then I thought: No wonder he was so wary. The people targeting him who dared to kidnap his son must be extraordinary.

Then he felt that the fine wine and delicacies in front of him had no taste, and he just wanted to separate from Lu Zhi as soon as possible, as if they had never met today.

So he gave a few more perfunctory words, then made an excuse that he had something to do at home and left in a hurry.

Lu Zhi left, only to be told by Jiuxi Courtyard that the banquet fee had not yet been paid, leaving him speechless. After cursing Liu Tong for being stingy, he had no choice but to pay – a banquet at Jiuxi Courtyard was extremely expensive.

The next day, Lu Tao was still nowhere to be found, but an imperial censor arrived in Chuzhou from the capital.

This made Lu Zhi feel increasingly uneasy. He even forgot about finding his son and hurriedly dealt with the censor. Although he believed he hadn't made any mistakes since arriving in Chuzhou, what if his subordinates made mistakes and implicated him? Not to mention, his relatives had already been compromised.

On the night the imperial censor arrived in Chuzhou, Lu Tao and his servants finally returned.

Upon seeing Lu Zhi and his wife, Wang, Lu Tao burst into tears.

"Father, Mother, your son almost didn't make it back! Waaah..."

Just as Wang was about to check on Lu Tao's body and comfort him, Lu Zhi scolded, "You good-for-nothing! Stop crying and tell me what happened!"

Seeing Lu Zhi's anger, Lu Tao dared not cry anymore and hurriedly recounted the people and events he had encountered in the past two days, his voice trembling.

Finally, Lu Tao, thinking himself clever, said, "Father, I've reflected on things during my two days of imprisonment. That old man is very likely a retired high-ranking official from the imperial court."

"Even a retired high-ranking official can't do this! Breaking into private residences, beating residents, and even daring to imprison officials' children—these are all serious crimes according to the laws of the Ming Dynasty!"

“Even if this man has great influence in the court, Father, as long as you solidify the evidence and impeach him, not only will you help your son get revenge, but you will also make that old man suffer.”

“That old man turned around and accused me of a bunch of crimes. The most ridiculous thing was that he said I was extremely disrespectful—that I hadn’t even mastered the Ming Dynasty law, and he was supposed to be a high-ranking official in the court. No wonder he was so energetic, yet he retired.”

As soon as Lu Tao finished speaking, Lu Zhi was startled and asked, "What did you say? Extreme disrespect?"

Lu Tao still didn't understand, nodding and saying, "Yeah, that old man actually said I was disrespectful, how ridiculous..."

"Tell me! What exactly does that old man look like?!" Lu Zhi suddenly stood up, grabbed Lu Tao's collar, and asked urgently.

Lu Tao had never seen Lu Zhi so tense and agitated, and was momentarily stunned.

"You beast! Speak up!"

Seeing her beloved son escalate from "good-for-nothing" to "beast," Wang was very unhappy and shouted, "Master, are you crazy? You've scared Tao'er!"

"Shut up!" Lu Zhi yelled at Wang Shi.

Wang was so frightened that she dared not utter a sound. Lu Tao, on the other hand, came to his senses and began to describe the "old man's" appearance in a trembling voice.

After listening to Lu Tao's explanation, an uncontrollable guess popped into Lu Zhi's mind: Could it be the Emperor?!

Although Lu Zhi had only seen Zhu Yuanzhang a few times from afar and had never seen his face clearly, he had heard others describe him. Combined with Lu Tao's experience of "imprisonment," he became increasingly convinced that the old man was Zhu Yuanzhang!

Then he connected it to the series of events that had happened in the past few days—someone had accused several of his relatives of crimes, and an imperial censor had come to Chuzhou to investigate.

There is also a less certain rumor: it is said that after the crown prince ascends the throne, Zhu Yuanzhang will move to the Fengyang Palace to retire.

Although there is a direct train from the capital to Fengyang, what if Zhu Yuanzhang gets interested and gets off the train halfway to visit Chuzhou?
Thinking of this, Lu Zhi felt like he was going to collapse. He took a few steps back and plopped down on the chair, almost slipping off.

This frightened Wang and Lu Tao.

"Sir, what's wrong? Should we call a doctor?"

Lu Tao then said, "Father, even if the one retiring is a cabinet minister or a high-ranking official, you don't need to be so alarmed, do you?"

"Grand Secretary, Minister?" Lu Zhi snapped out of his daze, then flew into a rage, stood up, grabbed Lu Tao, and started hitting him. "What do you know! You're going to get me killed this time, you know? If I don't beat you to death today, I'll be letting down the ancestors of the Lu family!"

"Dad, please stop hitting me! I don't even know what I did wrong, boohoo..."

"Master, please calm down..."

The Lu family was thrown into chaos.

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After leaving Chuzhou, Zhu Yuanzhang continued his journey north.

We continued along the cement road, using binoculars to observe the fields and outcrops.

To Zhu Yuanzhang's relief, although there were all sorts of messy and chaotic things happening in the local areas, the farming was going well—this could be seen from the growth of the crops in the fields, as well as the clothes and expressions of the farmers in the fields.

Jiangbei is also part of Zhili. Nowadays, the water conservancy facilities are quite well built, the fields do not lack water, and they are not afraid of ordinary floods. In addition, with the promotion of some farmyard manure and advanced farming techniques, the crops are naturally growing well.

Farmers no longer wear tattered clothes, or even clothes that barely cover their bodies, as they used to. Although, as Liu Kuan said, the farmers almost all wear patched old clothes, it is much better than it was a decade or so ago.

And the farmers were no longer skinny; their cheeks had filled out, and they even looked quite healthy.

Before arriving in Fengyang, Zhu Yuanzhang got off his carriage several times to randomly select farmers in the villages and pay them to eat. The meals were similar to those at Old Man Li's house. Although there were still many troubles in life, many families had built brick and tile houses and could eat meat once every ten days or half a month. Their living standards had greatly improved compared to more than ten years ago.

After Zhu Yuanzhang arrived in Fengyang and rested for a few days, the Embroidered Uniform Guard had also investigated the problems of the illegal mines and education industry in Chuzhou, and Cheng Ji reported them to Zhu Yuanzhang.

Snapped!
After reading the two memorials written by Ji, Zhu Yuanzhang slammed them on the table.

"Wu Zhong is not even a third of his father's ability in leading troops and fighting battles, but he is very good at making money for his family."

"What? Are the thousands of acres of land we bestowed upon their family back then, and all the jewels and paper money we give them every year, not enough to cover their expenses?!"

Cheng Ji lowered his head and didn't dare to reply.

Wu Zhong is the son of Wu Zhen, the Marquis of Jinghai. He inherited the title of Marquis of Jinghai more than ten years ago and currently holds the position of Deputy Commander of the Local Guard.

Wu Zhen and his elder brother Wu Liang were both early followers of Zhu Yuanzhang and were nobles from Huaixi. They both died of illness more than ten years ago. Wu Liang was posthumously granted the title of Duke of Jiang, and Wu Zhen was posthumously granted the title of Duke of Hai.

Among the Wu brothers' descendants, the one who is currently most favored is Wu Liang's eldest son, Wu Gao, who inherited the title of Marquis of Dingyuan. He serves as the commander of the Shence Guard in the imperial army and has repeatedly made military achievements.

In addition, one of Wu Liang's legitimate daughters was the wife of Prince Qi, Zhu Fu.

Although the other members of the Wu family were not particularly outstanding, they still wielded considerable influence in the military, which Cheng Ji could not challenge.

Among the illegal mines in Chuzhou uncovered by the Embroidered Uniform Guard, several were backed by the connections of Marquis Jinghai, Wu Zhong. If they were just ordinary stone mines, or even iron mines, it wouldn't be a problem.

The key point is that there is a gold mine and a copper mine among them!
The Ming Dynasty is currently cracking down on illegal mining of gold and copper. Although Wu Zhong comes from a prominent family, he will likely suffer greatly if he gets involved in this case.

However, although Zhu Yuanzhang was quite angry and berated Wu Zhong, he did not give any instructions on how to handle the matter. Instead, he said, "Send someone to send these two memorials back to the capital and hand them over to the emperor."

"Yes."

Clearly, Zhu Yuanzhang exercised great restraint, abdicating to become the Empress Dowager and unwilling to deal with these matters any longer, lest his imperial power be weakened.

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Capital.

Since taking office, Zhu Biao has been busier than ever before, and he seems to be constantly on the move.

Previously, he assisted Zhu Yuanzhang in handling state affairs. Although he handled more affairs in the later years, most of them were not difficult decisions. The truly troublesome matters that required weighing the pros and cons were handled by Zhu Yuanzhang.

Now he handles all of these matters, while Zhu Xiong Ying, being new to various national affairs, naturally starts with simple tasks.

Although Zhu Xiong Ying was also trying his best to share the burden of national affairs, Zhu Biao still felt busy.

Although only three or four months had passed since he ascended the throne, Zhu Biao already wanted to delegate more affairs to the cabinet for decision-making—decision-making is the most mentally taxing task, and if he only looked at whether the decision was appropriate, he would have a much easier time.

That day, after reading the two memorials sent by the Embroidered Uniform Guard, he said, "Xiong Ying, take a look at these two memorials."

(End of this chapter)