"The late emperor failed half way through his business venture..."
In a courtyard in Beibei Mountain, Li Tui was burying some sweet potatoes in the fire.
His father...ah, no, his father was the emperor for a day and then the country was destroyed. Now everyone is in trouble.
This prince...ah, no, it's the son who has to bake some sweet potatoes and send them in. He's afraid that his father won't have enough to eat or keep warm.
The woman next to him removed the mud from the sweet potatoes, wiped them with a rag, handed them to Li Tui, and said angrily.
"Master, don't worry about your throne. This is why the new Ming Dynasty is different from the old Ming Dynasty. Otherwise, based on what dad did, we would have been cut down and buried in the ground."
Li Tui glanced sideways at his mother-in-law and corrected him: "That's wrong. There are no such bloody executions in the Ming Dynasty now. They are all hanged on the old crooked neck tree instead!"
"Speaking of the old crooked neck tree, sir, don't we have one in our backyard? I heard that the Imperial Guards are collecting the old crooked neck tree. What if I sell the tree?
Then we take the money and our savings and buy a house in the town. If we have children, we can go to the school in the town! "
Li Tui nodded silently upon hearing this, agreeing with his mother-in-law's suggestion.
That day, Li Tui put on thick clothes, held the hot roasted sweet potatoes in his arms, and hurried to the county government office.
"Are you coming to visit your father? Come and register here.
You can't read? You tell me to write it! "
After registering, Li Tui saw Li Jin inside the iron fence of the bureau, but Li Jin was competing with a bowl of pork chop rice.
Li Tui swallowed, brought the hot roasted sweet potato to Li Jin, and said, "Dad, you eat this to warm your stomach. This rice covered with meat is too oily and hurts your stomach. It's better for me to do it." Bar!"
"Treason!"
Li Jin's beard was so angry that he glared at Li Tui.
In the end, Li Huan got his wish and got the pork chop rice. Huangfu Qing saw that the two of them were about to fight over the prison rice, so he quickly asked someone to prepare two more bowls.
After leaving the county government office, Li Tui felt relieved. He learned that the county magistrate had convicted his father of gathering a crowd to cause trouble, and he only needed to receive education in the bureau for a few days.
The new Ming Dynasty is better.
Li Tui sighed in admiration and staggered to the town.
In the town market, various trading stalls are shouting on the prescribed territory.
Li Tui was dazzled by all kinds of products, such as candied haws and roasted yams, fruits from Nanyang, and vegetables from Annam.
At this moment, he felt a little disgusted with the life in Shanwowo, and began to feel that moving to the town would bring more life.
In a corner of the market, several Jin Yiwei were arguing with the boss at a stall.
"Is this old crooked-necked tree of yours made of gold or silver? Why don't you go grab it for 10 silver coins?"
The boss was not afraid of Jin Yiwei and said plausibly: "Look at the old crooked neck tree now. You think it's expensive and I still think it's expensive.
Besides, my old crooked neck tree was passed down from our ancestors. It is still a peach tree. It can still ward off evil spirits after two hundred years. Just tell me whether you want it or not! "
Jin Yiwei looked at each other and saw that they really couldn't bargain, so he made a note in his book and said to the boss.
"Take me to your house first to have a look. If the tree isn't tall enough and the neck isn't crooked enough, we won't want it!"
"Okay, I guarantee your satisfaction!"
When the boss saw that Jin Yiwei really wanted to buy his tree, he almost jumped up with joy and enthusiastically wanted to take Jin Yiwei home.
Li Tui looked at this scene and took a deep breath.
"Hey, a broken tree is so expensive? Then my tree..."
Li Tui quickly stopped Jin Yiwei and said, "I also have a tree at home, more than 20 meters high, and the three branches are crooked. Look..."
More than 20 meters high, three branches are crooked?
When Jin Yiwei heard this, he immediately realized that this might be an ancient tree that was hundreds of years old.
Even if it was sold as a landscape tree, it would still cost twenty or thirty silver coins, which is equivalent to the wages of a family without food or water for a year.
Without saying anything, Jin Yiwei immediately took notes and took Li Tui to the boss's house first, and then to Beibei Mountain.
Jinshen Palace.
Shen Lian is reporting the investigation results in recent days to Zhu Zaiming.
"It's shocking. In just one year, these officials have corrupted the grassroots to this extent!"
Zhu Zaiming slapped his hand on the table and immediately convicted these officials.
In Jinling and its nearby towns alone, there are more than 300 officials, large and small, who have been corrupted and bribed.
This does not include the officials in the Forbidden City, because if these officials want to find out, it will not happen overnight.
It is conceivable how many local officials in the entire Ming Dynasty are currently absorbing public funds.
"Old Shen, please judge, can we start arresting people now? Start from the grassroots level."
Shen Lian compared the list with the pressure of government affairs in various counties and got an idea.
"Your Majesty, it is possible to arrest them, but after the arrests, the grassroots officials will not be replaced for a short time, and there will be no one to deal with the conflicts between neighbors during the New Year this year.
If the bureaucracy cannot fill the vacancies, thieves and thieves may become rampant again. "
"That's it..."
Zhu Zaiming groped his chin, thought for a while, and finally made up his mind.
"In this way, we will first arrest them one by one and find out from these officials which superiors are acting as protective shields.
As for what to do at the grassroots level, let each village choose two or three village secretaries and govern themselves first according to the Ming Law.
Tell them that those who have achieved good governance results will be directly appointed as official officials after the New Year.
This system will be retained in the future. The village secretary has the right to report to the province beyond his superiors, and the villagers also have the right to petition beyond the village secretary.
I don’t believe it. After this series of attacks, there are still officials who know the law and break the law! "
Zhu Zaiming said sternly that he also knew in his heart that no matter how good the system enforcers are, they are all human beings. As long as they are human beings, there will always be opportunities to use power for personal gain.
From this point of view, even if Zhu Zaiming kills every day, he will never be able to finish them all.
This is a long-term and arduous struggle, and we cannot let up for a moment.
After confirming that the arrest operation had officially begun, Zhu Zaiming discussed the purchase of the Old Waist Neck Tree with Shen Lian.
"How's it going? How many trees has Old Waist Neck Tree purchased so far?"
Shen Lian took out another notebook, opened it and read: "Your Majesty, as of 5 o'clock yesterday afternoon, Jinyiwei has purchased 167 old crooked neck trees, including 8 giant trees higher than 15 meters.
It’s just the cost…”
"Expenses? Why, you Jin Yiwei are starting to get greedy too?"
Zhu Zaiming made a joke, which made Shen Lian's face turn red.
After Jin Yiwei's self-examination, it was discovered that 6 Jin Yiwei people in Jinling had accepted bribes, which made Shen Lian angry.
According to Shen Lian, these six people were not worthy of hanging on the old crooked neck tree, so they were shipped directly to the Solomon Islands, where there was a shortage of Chinese experimental subjects to test the effects of special drugs for various viruses.
Jin Yiwei cannot deal with this kind of dark side of the empire in a big way, so he can only deal with it in private and report to Zhu Zaiming regularly.
Shen Lian scratched his head and said: "The main reason is that all the old crooked neck trees near Jinling have been bought, and the purchase price has also gone up. Those people who have trees at home want to sell them at a high price.
We Jinyiwei cannot force people to sell at low prices, so we can only accept it. "
As Shen Lian spoke, he handed the small notebook to Zhu Zaiming for inspection and said, "Besides, I think the total acquisition cost of less than 10,000 yuan is harmless and should be treated as a good year for the people."
Zhu Zaiming nodded in admiration.
"If this is the case, I support it. Money circulating in the market is money. If the court is reluctant to spend money, it will be a huge waste of resources.
However, during the acquisition process, we must also be careful not to waste too much. Some old crooked neck trees that are overpriced should be given up. "
"Yes, I understand."
Shen Lian recorded it in a small notebook and nodded silently.
