Ming Dynasty: Tanks blocked the door and you said to me, "Long live Ming Dynasty"

"Your Majesty, long live Your Majesty!"

Looking at the Dai Prince and his wife kneeling there, Zhu Youxiao was too lazy to even say the word "excuse me".

Pointing to the two chairs opposite him, he said, "Uncle Wang, Princess Wang, come and eat with me."

The King of Dai smiled awkwardly and said, "There is a severe drought in Shanxi and Shaanxi. I really don't have any food to serve at home. I can only make these in a hurry. Please forgive me, Your Majesty."

Chapter 339 The Frightened Liu Yue

Is this fat guy trying to build a good reputation for himself?

Zhu Youxiao sneered in his heart, but still waved his hand pretending to be indifferent and said with a smile.

"Uncle Wang is suffering the same as the people. What crime has he committed?"

"It's better to eat something light. I just happen to be very irritable these past two days. I want to eat something light to calm down."

As he said that, he picked up a piece of tofu mixed with green onions and put it into his mouth.

The tofu was very old and even a bit choking when I put it in my mouth.

There is very little water in the scallion slices, and it feels like chewing grass leaves. Apart from the pungent smell, there is no other taste.

After just one bite, Zhu Youxiao completely lost interest in this dinner.

It’s not that he wasn’t hungry, but he felt disgusted by King Dai’s pretentious behavior!

He had previously thought of leaving King Dai a way out, but now it seems that there is no need for that at all!

"Okay, I'm full, uncle and princess, please leave."

Hearing this cold tone, King Dai's body froze there, and the chopsticks he had just raised also stopped in mid-air.

The next moment he quickly stood up and knelt down.

"Your Majesty, please forgive me. I deserve to die for entertaining Your Majesty with such a simple meal!"

"Your Majesty, wait a moment. I will send someone to borrow some wine and food from the rich families in the city."

"No need, I still have to work out a disaster relief plan, I don't have an appetite for dinner!"

As Zhu Youxiao spoke, he stood up and walked towards the map hanging on the wall without saying another word.

The King of Dai showed a bitter smile on his face, bowed again, and left Chengyun Palace with the Princess.

But when the couple returned to Changchun Palace, they soon became a different person.

Princess Dai looked at the King of Dai with some concern: "Your Majesty, will this displease His Majesty?"

The King of Dai waved his hand nonchalantly: "So what if I upset him?"

"Since you can't get used to eating simple meals, then leave Datong right away!"

"Could it be possible that he could punish me for this?"

..........

The conversation between the couple did not reach Zhu Youxiao's ears, and Zhu Youxiao was not interested in knowing it.

Because Sun Kangwang came back shortly after King Dai left, and brought back a thick booklet!

This booklet contains all the information about the Dai Wang Mansion that he and his people had found out.

The first one alone made Zhu Youxiao's eyes turn stern.

The Dai Wang Palace owns 50,000 hectares of land, spread all over Shanxi!

Fifty thousand hectares!

This is not the hectare of later generations!

In later times, one hectare was 15 mu, but now one hectare is 100 mu!

In other words, the arable land in Dai Wangfu has reached five million acres!

Zhu Youxiao asked coldly: "Where did this news come from? Is it reliable?"

"Your Majesty, this is absolutely reliable. This information was obtained through torture from Princess Dai's brother!"

"That boy is addicted to gambling. After I found out, I took people to catch him from the gambling house."

"And the Taiyuan Jinyiwei also confirmed this news."

After Sun Kangwang finished speaking, he walked out of the hall and brought back a man.

"Your Majesty, this is Li Wen, a captain of the Taiyuan Jinyiwei."

The man he called Li Wen knelt there respectfully and kowtowed three times.

"I, Li Wen, kowtow to Your Majesty. Long live Your Majesty!"

Zhu Youxiao glanced at him and pointed at the booklet.

"Stand up and speak. Is what's written here true?"

Li Wen nodded repeatedly: "Your Majesty, it is absolutely true!"

Zhu Youxiao gritted his teeth in hatred.

Because he thought of another problem.

Shanxi is mountainous and has very little arable land, but there is more than one King of Dai in Shanxi!

If he remembered correctly, there was also a Prince of Jin in Taiyuan and a Prince of Shen in Luzhou.

There are three kings at the same time. If they are all so greedy, how can the people survive?

In a normal year, one hectare of land can support five families.

Fifty thousand hectares of land means 250,000 households. Even if we only count four people in a family, it would be one million people!

And this is just a field owned by King Dai!

Before he knew it, Zhu Youxiao's body began to tremble slightly.

The other data in the booklet has become irrelevant at this time!

The Ming Dynasty had two capitals, thirteen provinces, and twenty-seven princes!

Adding them all together, even if we estimate the minimum, there must be at least 500,000 hectares of farmland, right?

These fields can feed at least 10 million people!

However, not only do these princes not pay taxes, they also take away huge amounts of resources from the imperial court every year!

The prince's annual salary included 50,000 dan of rice, 25,000 strings of paper money, 40 pieces of brocade, 300 pieces of linen silk, 100 pieces of gauze and 100 pieces of satin, 500 pieces of silk, 1,000 pieces of winter and summer cloth, 2,000 taels of cotton, 2,000 yin of salt, 1,000 kilograms of tea, and a monthly allowance of fodder for 50 horses.

These things alone would cost around 150,000 taels of silver!

In the seventh year of the Tianqi reign, the annual income of the Ming Dynasty was only more than 7 million taels of silver.

These twenty-seven princes alone will take away four million taels!

This is just a vassal king...

Below the prince, there are also the prince of the county and the generals guarding the country!

Thinking of this, he took a deep look at Wei Zhongxian beside him.

If he hadn't shouldered all the infamy and collected money and grain from the people to send to the nine borders, the Ming Dynasty would have collapsed long ago, right?

Therefore, the Wei Zhongxian in front of us can be regarded as a powerful eunuch at most.

If we insist on labeling him as a treacherous villain, it would be unfair.

After thinking it over again and again, Zhu Youxiao said to the two of them, "You guys step aside for now and let Liu Yue come over."

"Yes!"

The two of them bowed and left together.

Not long after, Liu Yue came to Chengyun Palace alone.

Seeing that there was only Zhu Youxiao in the empty hall, the girl's face suddenly turned red to her ears.

"See Your Majesty!"

"Come here, come closer."

Zhu Youxiao waved to her.

Hearing this, Liu Yue's heart started beating wildly and she lowered her head and stood beside the table.

But Zhu Youxiao was not satisfied and said, "Come closer."

Liu Yue:.........

Although she had been with Zhu Youxiao for a long time, she could only play the role of a palace maid at most, and usually she focused on her job as a doctor.

In other words, I haven't been favored yet.

If they were the only man and woman in this empty hall, they would inevitably think too much.

When she came and stood aside as Zhu Youxiao requested, she saw Zhu Youxiao lowering his voice and whispering in her ear.

"I want this........."

"Can you?"

Liu Yue was horrified when she heard this: "Your Majesty, this is not possible, absolutely not possible!"

"How dare this servant do such a thing!"

"If the Majesty knew about this, she would definitely skin me alive!"

Zhu Youxiao glared at him and said, "This is an imperial decree! How dare you disobey it?"

Liu Yue's face had turned extremely pale, and she took a few steps back uncontrollably.

"Your Majesty, this, this, I really don't dare..."

Zhu Youxiao reached out and grabbed her arm, and said seriously.

"Just do it if I tell you to. Why are you afraid of that?"

Chapter 340 Jinyiwei solves the case (rd update)

During the long night, no one knew what happened in Chengyun Hall.

All we know is that a quarter of an hour after Liu Yue was called in, she ran out in a panic.

Then, holding the token given by Zhu Youxiao, he took away four Jinyiwei from Sun Kangwang.

It was not until the next morning that Liu Yue returned to the palace.

However, the four Jinyiwei who went out with her disappeared.

In the morning, King Dai once again ordered people to deliver food.

There is only one basin!

If there wasn't a piece of sheep bone in the basin without even a trace of meat on it, and the occasional drop of oil, it would be hard to believe that this was the mutton soup that King Dai was talking about!

Zhu Youxiao once again called the Prince of Dai and his wife to have dinner with him.

He only ate one bite of the four dishes yesterday.

But today, he drank a whole bowl of mutton soup.

Standing up and listening to the sound of water in his stomach, Zhu Youxiao didn't care and kept praising the chef of Dai Wangfu.

“This soup is really delicious!”

"The chef in the palace is extraordinary. He can make such a delicious soup with just a piece of bone. This is enough to show his extraordinary attainments in cooking!"

The King of Dai pretended to be embarrassed and wiped the sweat from his forehead: "Your Majesty, thank you for your praise."

"It's really a bad year. If it was a good year, why would I serve such shabby food to Your Majesty?"

Zhu Youxiao waved his hand nonchalantly, but then changed the subject.

"Uncle Wang, I heard that the rebel Li Zicheng caused quite a stir in Shanxi a few days ago. I wonder if Datong has been affected?"

The King of Dai shook his head and pointed to the north, saying, "Your Majesty, you are worrying too much. The so-called Qin army is nothing but some refugees and bandits."