Zhu Yuanzhang Returns from Modern Times

Chapter 89: Close to the face and open up

Liu Xin was sweating profusely and kept looking at Li Shanchang, his eyes full of pleading and hope.

He was really stunned by the emperor's performance at this moment.

In the past, when facing the emperor, he appeared respectful on the surface, but in fact he looked down on him in his heart.

They thought that the emperor came from a beggar's family and had limited knowledge, especially when it came to finance, which was a mess.

From here, I can look down at the emperor at will.

But who would have thought that he would suddenly discover today that this emperor, whom he had always looked down upon, actually had such profound attainments in this area!

He thought that the emperor would never understand something in his life, but the emperor explained it clearly in just a few words!
In other words, the emperor's sudden attack was not a spur-of-the-moment decision, but had been planned long ago.

All of his methods, which he thought were brilliant, had already been noticed by the emperor.

In the eyes of the emperor, he was like a self-righteous clown!

When he thought about how he had done all those things under the emperor's teasing observation, like a cat playing with a mouse, and with such a superior mood, he felt so ashamed and angry that he wished he could find a hole to crawl into!
Shame!

What a shame!

I have never been so embarrassed in my life!

No wonder the dog emperor was so kind. After catching me, he didn't put me to trial, but just kept me there to drink tea.

He also said that he would give himself a chance to come to the court and defend himself properly.

It turns out that this dog emperor had already secured victory!

He was waiting for me here specifically to execute me publicly!
This dog emperor is really not a human being. I have never seen him kill people and destroy their hearts like this!

In the Huagai Hall, in addition to Liu Xin, there were also many people who quietly turned their eyes to Li Shanchang.

They were all waiting for Li Shanchang, the Duke of Korea, to come out and fight the emperor.

The emperor was obviously well prepared, and the Minister of Revenue Liu Xin was limited in his ability, and was defeated by the emperor in a few moves.

The one who could really handle the situation was Li Shanchang, the Duke of Korea.

"Sir, you are right! Most of these people knowingly commit crimes and have ulterior motives.

This behavior is truly inappropriate, and you are right to be angry, Your Majesty!"

A voice sounded, full of seriousness, speaking on the emperor's side.

It was not Li Shanchang who spoke, but Prime Minister Hu Weiyong.

“However, our Great Ming Dynasty has not yet had any laws that forbid bringing documents with blank seals to the capital to do accounting.

If there were relevant laws, given the nature of many officials in our Ming Dynasty, there would definitely be some scoundrels who would disregard the law.

But the vast majority of people will definitely abide by the law and will not do such things.

Without relevant laws, there is no way to deal with these people.

It would be better to give them a light punishment and a stern warning, a fine of copper for three months, so that they will learn their lesson.

I will immediately take action and work with the six ministries to supplement the laws on this matter and fill this loophole.

After this incident, if anyone still doesn’t learn their lesson, they will be dealt with severely according to the law.

By then, no one in the world will be able to say anything.

Those who were executed were also convinced.

Your Majesty, you cannot punish without teaching!
This is not convincing.”

After Hu Weiyong saluted Zhu Yuanzhang, he said these words with a sincere look on his face.

He had carefully prepared these words, waiting to say them today.

He knew that given the current emperor's character, it would be unlikely to use ordinary means to hold down the emperor's knife and save these people.

Because to be honest, what these people did was really unreasonable.

But it is not illegal.

The emperor often had to follow and uphold the law.

In particular, Crown Prince Zhu Biao followed and upheld the law.

When they were in Zhongdu City, Li You and others had gone so far as to make things happen that the emperor clearly couldn't suppress his murderous intent.

But once Zhu Biao opened his mouth, he was able to persuade the emperor to act according to the law and try the criminals first before executing them.

Now this matter is serious, but if you say it is not serious, it is not that serious either.

What he said at this time was actually more for Crown Prince Zhu Biao to hear.

Zhu Biao had advised the emperor on the matter of Zhongdu City, so he would certainly advise the emperor on this matter that obviously had no law to follow.

Given the emperor's fondness for the prince, he would not embarrass the prince in public.

This way, the matter is settled.

I will become the benefactor of many officials in this world!
From now on he will replace Li Shanchang.

This is also the reason why when the Minister of Revenue Liu Xin was left speechless by the emperor's words and turned to the Duke of Han Li Shanchang for help, the Prime Minister Hu Weiyong quickly jumped out to speak.

He was afraid that he would come out too late, and Li Shanchang spoke first and got the matter settled.

In this case, it would not be easy for him to take back the power of the prime minister in front of Li Shanchang by relying on this incident.

He said he was unwilling to miss such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

He also believed that his action was an unsolvable problem for Zhu Yuanzhang.

No matter how furious the emperor was, he had no way to solve the problem that the Ming Dynasty had no relevant laws.

Even if relevant laws were added on the spot at this time, it would still not work because the laws would still appear after this incident.

With these words in mind, the emperor could not impose severe punishment on these people!
Liu Xin, who was almost in despair, felt a shock all over his body when he heard Hu Weiyong's words, like a drowning man who suddenly saw a boat.

That feeling of despair was instantly replaced by endless surprises.

Hu Xiang is just great!
I can actually think of this.

He immediately knelt on the ground, kowtowed and said: "Your Majesty, I was wrong, I will never do it again.

This means that we are indeed guilty, but there is no law prohibiting the use of blank seal documents.

If there were relevant laws, even if I had a hundred courages, I would not dare to do this!"

Qian Zhong and Li Fang, the left and right assistant ministers, also knelt down hurriedly and kowtowed to admit their mistakes.

Following Hu Weiyong's words, they put all the blame on the fact that the Ming Dynasty had no relevant laws and regulations and could not do so.

It emphasizes that one cannot punish without teaching.

The eyes of many civil servants looking at Hu Weiyong changed at this moment.

Hu Weiyong is worthy of being the prime minister. He is very quick-witted and actually came up with this idea!

This is a good idea!
See what the emperor does next!
Zhu Gang and Zhu Di were called to court to see what kind of faces these officials had. The princes were now angry and anxious.

I am angry at these people for distorting right and wrong.

Prime Minister Hu Weiyong not only did not speak up for his father, but he also outmaneuvered his father by publicly confronting him and defending these corrupt officials.

I am worried about this dog thief Hu Weiyong, he is really good at making excuses and finding loopholes.

Without mentioning anything else, he just insisted that there was no relevant law in the Ming Dynasty and that one could not punish without teaching.

This is really difficult to deal with.

If I don't refute it, even if my father gets angry and deals with these insects, I won't be able to do so with confidence and will definitely give people a chance to criticize me.

Who could have imagined that something that they thought would go smoothly would turn out to be such a big accident?

Hu Weiyong felt the change in the atmosphere in the court as he spoke, and he felt secretly proud of himself.

In this matter, the biggest winner must be myself.

He counted silently in his mind, thinking that when he reached twenty at most, Crown Prince Zhu Biao would speak up to persuade the emperor.

Firstly, the prince would rather follow the law, and secondly, the current situation was obviously extremely against the rules, and he had pointed out these irregularities in front of all the civil and military officials.

This was equivalent to embarrassing the emperor in front of all the civil and military officials.

Under such circumstances, the prince, a very filial and good son, would definitely find ways to help the emperor save face.

The best way out, of course, is for the prince to persuade the emperor to drink three cups of wine as punishment and not to do it again.

The same meaning expressed by different people will naturally give people different feelings.

However, the subsequent development of events once again exceeded Hu Weiyong's expectations.

He waited until he silently counted to thirty, but there was still no movement from the prince.

This made him very confused.

There's something wrong with this!

Why would the prince react like this?!

Zhu Yuanzhang took in Hu Weiyong's expression and sneered inwardly.

You bastard, are you confused?
In my previous life, during the Empty Seal Case, I suffered from Hu Weiyong's defection. Although it did not affect the final outcome, it made me feel very uncomfortable and embarrassed for a while.

It also makes our own brand feel uncomfortable.

This time, I told Biaoer a lot of things in advance.

He Biaoer explained in detail how harmful these people's trick of using empty seals would be to the Ming Dynasty and how much money and grain they could embezzle.

Speaking of these people, what methods will they use to confuse right and wrong, reverse black and white, and say that the dead are alive.

If we talk about Prime Minister Hu Weiyong, he will defect on the spot and use the excuse that there are no laws and regulations to choke himself and try to get away with it.

He also talked about his own coping methods.

Now, everything that he had said to Biaoer in advance had come true. Watching these people's performance, Biaoer could only feel disgusted.

I just feel that as a father, I am right to kill these people.

Hu Weiyong wanted to use what he said to make Biaoer stand up and speak for them and to save face for himself as a father. How is this possible!

There was dead silence in the Huagai Hall, and many people were waiting to see how the emperor would respond.

Many people felt that Hu Weiyong’s sudden move was extremely clever and the emperor could not turn the situation around with words.

It doesn't make sense.

Xu Da, who was at the head of the military generals, was ready to take the throne and overturn the table.

He knew the character of his superiors very well. Things had come to this point. It was a fact that these people knowingly took advantage of the situation to embezzle money and bend the law for personal gain.

No matter how good they are at quibbling and turning black into white.

No matter how ingenious the solution Hu Weiyong came up with, he still clung to the fact that there was no law.

That's no use.

Given the personality of the superior, he would never let them get away with it.

Even if we give people a reason to criticize us, we will still get things done.

Take the opportunity to clean up the insects!

And he must stand firmly on the side of the superior and charge for the superior whenever necessary!
"Haha, you, Xiao Hu, are worthy of being the Prime Minister we elected. Your level is much higher than Liu Xin and the others!"

Amidst countless people's thoughts, Zhu Yuanzhang sneered. "But in my opinion, what you said is pure bullshit! You are equally despicable!"

The emperor is being unreasonable and will use his power to force others if he cannot win the argument.

This thought arises in the minds of countless people.

Hu Weiyong took off his official hat on the spot, put it aside and knelt on the ground.

“My Lord, please let me know that I am not intentionally protecting anyone, but there are really no laws to follow now, and I cannot punish without teaching.

I absolutely cannot accept such a thing.

As Prime Minister, I report to Your Majesty from above and manage all officials from below, and regulate yin and yang.

As a result, such a thing has happened now, which is the fault of my minister as the Prime Minister.

It is my fault as the Prime Minister that I failed to discover this matter in advance and formulate corresponding laws to regulate it, which resulted in the monarch having no law to rely on and gave people a reason to criticize me.

I am a vagrant who serves in a vacant position and feel ashamed of the trust placed in me by my superiors. I beg to abdicate and let the wiser step down!"

Hu Weiyong's sudden action caught many people off guard.

Many people did not expect that Hu Weiyong, who was not taken seriously by many people in the past, would be so tough at such a critical moment!
In order to prevent many innocent officials from being implicated and to save many loyal Ming Dynasty officials, he actually dared to stand up to the emperor when he was determined to kill him!
With such a tough attitude, he simply knelt down and resigned!

Good job!
What a great job!
This is a good prime minister!
It turned out that many people had misunderstood Prime Minister Hu Weiyong before this.

"Your Majesty, please act according to the law."

"Your Majesty, the law is the foundation of the nation."

"Your Majesty, if you do not act according to the law, it will surely cause unrest among the people and undermine the foundation of the country..."

As a result, many officials from the Secretariat knelt down one after another, echoing Hu Weiyong's statement and boosting his morale.

They never mentioned those people and the serious consequences they caused by using the empty seal, but only kept emphasizing that the emperor must act in accordance with the law.

Among those who knelt down to agree with Hu Weiyong, many had previously followed Li Shanchang wholeheartedly and never taken Hu Weiyong seriously.

But now, many of them have also begun to follow Hu Weiyong into battle.

Hu Weiyong felt this and was very happy. This was exactly the result he wanted to see.

Things are developing step by step as I envisioned.

After this time, Hu Weiyong will have to eat while standing. Li Shanchang, that bastard, will never let him be a dog again!
Even the emperor can no longer order himself around as he did before!

I will become the real prime minister with real power!

Many people were secretly glancing at Li Shanchang, wanting to see how Duke Han Guo would react.

It turned out that the Korean man was standing there, still maintaining the same posture as before.

Like an old monk in meditation, he did not react at all.

This made many people couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

It has to be Duke Han who can keep his composure and remain unmoved even at such a critical moment.

This is the demeanor of a prime minister!
What does it mean to be a prime minister with a broad mind? This is what it means to be a prime minister with a broad mind!
None of the military generals followed suit and knelt, but after seeing that Hu Weiyong had actually taken the lead in doing such a thing, the number of people who gloated over the misfortune and watched the fun with great interest did not decrease at all.

Things are becoming more and more interesting, it would be better if it got bigger.

The bigger the commotion, the more interesting the show becomes.

Zhu Yuanzhang sat on the dragon throne, looking at more than half of the civil servants who knelt down with Hu Weiyong. He was not panicked at all, and his eyes became increasingly cold.

Hu Weiyong is awesome!
When these people stopped talking and the Huagai Hall fell into silence again, Zhu Yuanzhang finally spoke:
"Who the hell said that there are no relevant laws in the Ming Dynasty?

Is there no way to do this according to the law?"

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at all the civil and military officials in the court and fired his weapon right in their faces.

Is the Emperor trying to make excuses?!
Hu Weiyong suddenly became excited.

He was really not afraid of the emperor's unreasonable arguments.

When it comes to talking nonsense and making specious arguments, he and these many kneeling civil servants are the real experts.

The emperor opened his mouth and wanted to debate with these people who made a living by talking. It would be strange if he could win the debate!

Not only Hu Weiyong, but many civil servants who were kneeling on the ground also realized this and became excited.

They all pricked up their ears and were ready, waiting for the emperor to start making excuses, and then they would immediately refute him, leaving the emperor speechless!

When it comes to this skill, the emperor is far behind them!

"I am stupid and can't remember any relevant laws. Your Majesty, please explain clearly."

Hu Weiyong spoke and refused to give in.

Today is the best opportunity for him to seize the authority of the prime minister. Even if he has to hold on, he cannot take a step back.

"In our Ming Dynasty laws, there are regulations on the standards for convicting people of corruption, bribery, and extortion. Is that right?
The amount of money and grain involved in these people's crimes should be enough to warrant death, right or wrong?"

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Hu Weiyong and asked.

"Sir, you are right. There are indeed relevant regulations in the Ming Dynasty law."

Hu Weiyong immediately gave his affirmation.

“However, there is no law in the Ming Dynasty law that states that using account books with blank seals is corruption and bribery.

If the higher-ups want to use this as a basis for conviction, I'm afraid it won't work!"

When Hu Weiyong heard that the emperor actually brought up the Ming Dynasty law, he immediately laughed in his heart.

He studied the Ming Dynasty laws thoroughly and memorized every one of them.

It is simply impossible for the emperor to use the Ming Dynasty laws to punish these people, especially to impose severe and strict sentences!

Let’s see how the emperor tries to argue!

"Minister Hu, you are right. There is indeed no explicit provision in the Ming Dynasty law that the use of documents with blank seals is a crime and that there are no such and such provisions.

So, you just sit here with your eyes wide open, telling lies, and nitpicking with me.

Want to confuse the public.

I just thought that as long as it is not prohibited by law, it is not illegal to do it.

But what you guys have done has already constituted established illegal and criminal facts!
The established facts are here. These people relied on empty documents to secretly divide up a large amount of money that should have been sent to Taicang.

In order to make the accounts vague and facilitate various forms of corruption, various places have started to keep two sets of accounts.

It is these people who are now coming to the Ministry of Revenue with great fanfare and holding documents with empty seals. They are colluding with the Ministry of Revenue to discuss how to fill in and make false accounts.

Used to fool the court and fool our emperor!

The other one records the actual income and expenditure of each place.

For their internal use.

The taxes collected in various places are 10%, 20%, or even 30% more than the regulations!
Where did these extra taxes go?
You guys divided them up for me!
Some of the money will be distributed to the local areas, and they will go to Beijing to file taxes every year. Then, another batch of tax grain will be brought to Beijing as a gift to you, the senior officials in the central government.

After some discussion between the two of you, you can divide all the extra money collected from the people into your own pockets!
Why did he come to Beijing with account books with blank seals and discuss filling them out with the Ministry of Revenue?

Is it because the journey is too long as you said, and it would be inconvenient to go back and modify it if something goes wrong?

You said that there would be some loss of tax grain on the road, which makes it difficult to record. Is it easier to fill it out and calculate based on the actual collection when we come here?
It is to make it convenient for you officials of the imperial court to receive tributes from the local people!
If I pay you in advance, how the hell are you going to eat it? How are you going to take it?
Damn it!

Those who came to file taxes from various places were all arrested by us all. Each of them was carrying account books with blank seals, which was solid evidence.

As a result, these sons of bitches are still here making excuses and making specious arguments!
Everyone speaks in a high-sounding manner!
Still want to say black is white!
A bunch of assholes, you really think we are fools, don’t you?!”

When Zhu Yuanzhang finished speaking, he stood up from the dragon throne, held the emperor's sword at his waist in one hand, pointed at Hu Weiyong and others with the other hand, and cursed them.

with full force.

No one in the court dared to say a word.

"Hu Weiyong, you come and tell me now, can the Ming Dynasty laws punish these people?

Is there any legal basis for this?
How about we take out the unique account book we found from the Ministry of Revenue and read it to you here in front of all the officials to see where all the money and grain went?

Would you like some of you to come and explain to us how all that wealth in your family came about?

Are they all legal?

Can you tell us everything one, two, three, four?!"

As Zhu Yuanzhang spoke, one sentence after another came out.

Hu Weiyong, who originally held the confidence of victory and felt that the emperor had fallen into the verbal trap he had set, and the more he spoke, the more mistakes he made, and that he and others would block him next, was stunned.

Convict based on established criminal facts?
Are there two accounts in the local area?
Did the Ministry of Revenue secretly share the extra tax grain transported from local areas?
This...this...where did the emperor learn this new word?
How did he figure all of this out so clearly in such a short time?
Isn't this too scary?
Especially when he heard the emperor talking about whether the Ministry of Revenue's secret account books should be made public, and asked many officials to explain the sources of their family property, Hu Weiyong was almost scared to the point of his heart stopping!

"Sir, you are right. According to the laws of the Ming Dynasty, these people can indeed be dealt with!

These local tax payers are so deceiving the imperial court that they should be dealt with severely and strictly according to the law!"

Hu Weiyong immediately expressed his stance and changed his expression in an instant.

Not to mention that dealing with those people is not in accordance with the law.

In fact, he was afraid that the emperor would really make the Ministry of Revenue's secret account books public, and he was also afraid that the emperor would ask many officials to explain the source of their family's money.

Originally, he was singing a different tune from the emperor because he wanted to protect many local officials and show favor to many officials.

Let them remember their kindness so that they can use it for their own benefit from now on.

As a result, the emperor's actions will not only fail to save these many officials, but will implicate more officials in the court.

If the emperor really did this, he would lose a lot of money!
Wouldn't he be hated by many people?
It is not impossible that some people's families would go and dig up their own ancestral graves!
The many officials who knelt on the ground with Hu Weiyong, supporting him and putting pressure on the emperor were all stunned at this moment.

Each of them was like a chicken being grabbed by the neck by a big hand, waiting to be slaughtered, unable to make any sound.

Some people knelt on the ground, their bodies shaking uncontrollably, and they hated themselves for having acted so rashly and followed Hu Weiyong.

Are you okay now?
Are you in trouble?!

Originally, when the emperor said that those local taxpayers had committed crimes and were subject to the laws of the Ming Dynasty, many people knew that the dog emperor had won again and they would definitely not be able to argue with the dog emperor this time.

But who could have thought that the Dog Emperor didn't stop there, but took out another powerful weapon!
This time, they were all terrified!

If we really continue to investigate this matter, how many people will be clean?

I really can’t help but check it out like this!

Why is this emperor so difficult to deal with?
Xu Da, who had been about to speak out to support and scold these people for their unreasonable arguments, stopped talking.

Looking at the scene in front of me, I felt that all the depression in my heart disappeared at this moment.

The words that the superior just said were really refreshing!
That's how it should be with these bastards!

The three brothers Zhu Chong, Zhu Gang and Zhu Di also felt very happy.

It really makes me angry to see these bastards who have clearly done such serious mistakes but still refuse to admit it and try to make excuses.

The second and fourth brothers couldn't help but want to beat the guy up on the spot.

Now seeing these people being transformed into this state by his father's words, he felt much more refreshed than drinking ice in the summer!

Just when countless people were in a panic, Duke Han Guoli Shanchang, who had been standing there without any reaction, took a step forward and seemed ready to speak.

Seeing this scene, many people who were in panic suddenly felt a surge of hope in their hearts.

The Korean prince will definitely bring them a big surprise!

(End of this chapter)