At this moment, Fei Ju came in and bowed and said: "Your Highness, the last general has taken over the garrison of Kaifeng Mansion, and the cronies of Yangling Marquis and Cangping Marquis have also been captured."
Zhu Biao nodded and said, "Act on your own convenience. If something goes wrong, make a decision immediately."
Fei Ju bowed to accept the order, and Zhu Biao told the people on the side, Guo Chong, Wu Bozong and others: "The official vacancy in Kaifeng Mansion is now taken over by this palace, and you can assist from the side."
Guo Chong and others immediately bowed and agreed. This was a rare opportunity to get in touch with government affairs. Zhu Biao asked for pen and ink, and wrote two reports, which were quickly sent to the capital. He asked the court to send officials to make up for the loss of Kaifeng Mansion immediately. vacancy.
Half an hour later, Zhu Ping led his people back to the government office carrying boxes of various sizes. Among them were farm land deeds, gold and silver jewelry, and a box full of letters and account books. Zhu Biao did not care about the property, but carefully checked it out. It looks like correspondence.
The more he looked at it, the more he frowned. The interest network of these people was extremely huge, ranging from the nobles in the capital to the soldiers guarding the border. The Kaifeng general judge also had some benefits, but compared with others, it was much smaller. It can be seen that They have indeed had conflicts for a long time.
Zhu Biao waved his hand to Li Jin to record the list. He had to record the names one by one. Even Li Jin was sweating. The misappropriation of the granary was by no means a problem in Kaifeng.
This basically formed a complete chain. If Zhu Biao had not drawn up the march route and the documents for allocating food and grass the day before departure, they would have blocked the hole long ago.
Zhu Xi and Zhu Di looked at each other and felt that they had offended too many people this time. The highest number on the list could only be traced to a few marquises and nobles in the capital, but it would be wrong to say that there was not a big one on them. possible.
Zhu Biao looked at a box full of account books and letters and smiled. Corrupt officials are good at this. In order to keep each other's handle, they will keep the account books and letters. Otherwise, no one can trust the other. With these, both parties can rest assured. Bold, intimate collaboration.
After all, it wouldn’t look good if everyone was killed and the net was broken. This can also be regarded as a potential deterrent, allowing the officials on the list to protect his safety, rights, etc. when necessary.
Therefore, before Zhu Xi and Zhu Di caught the big fish, the capital began to send letters pleading for mercy, because they knew that such a huge deficit could not be hidden for long.
The prefect of Kaifeng did not dare to destroy these account books and letters. Without these, who would save him? He would only be reduced to an outcast. That is why he kept saying that he had already petitioned the court to request punishment. As long as the letters were still there, even if he was temporarily demoted. , and sooner or later he will be able to make a comeback.
In the past, officials sent by the imperial court to inspect the granary would never dare to report it to the imperial court even if they found out what was going on. After all, it was unknown how many people died after the report was reported to the imperial court, so he would definitely not survive.
However, after being caught by Zhu Biao, they had no choice but to write a letter to plead for mercy. In the eyes of others, their power was extremely powerful and they were like big iron balls that could kill people, but in Zhu Biao's eyes, they were nothing but bubbles. It's just a bubble, just pop it if you want.
In the next two days, according to the list, half of the officials in Kaifeng Prefecture were arrested and put into jail. Seeing that they were almost done, Zhu Biao stopped arresting them. Most of them had been arrested, and the jails in Kaifeng Prefecture were full.
During this period, Zhu Biao also received some letters from nobles pleading for mercy. They didn't say much, but kept expressing their loyalty and expressing their willingness to go through fire and water for His Highness in the future.
Zhu Biao naturally looked down upon him. He was going through fire and water, but he didn't need to rebel. What's more, a few marquises were nothing. He was not going to be merciful in this matter, and he must eliminate all evil.
The Kaifeng magistrate shouted that he could not punish the scholar-bureaucrats, but in the end, even a set of torture instruments failed to survive. The biggest beneficiary of this profit network was also confessed. Zhu Biao originally thought it would be some big boss of the Huaixi nobility.
Unexpectedly, it was Yang Xian. It turned out that when Yang Xian was in charge of Yangzhou, in order to show his political achievements to the court, he secretly allocated tens of thousands of stones of grain from granaries around the country. At that time, Yang Xian was just a participant.
After he was transferred back to Beijing, he immediately started to rise to the top, and naturally became the leader in this matter. This is why Yang Xian was able to gather a group of people who were enough to fight against the nobles of Huaixi in such a short period of time. power.
Zhu Biao had to think about it at this time, whether to call out Yang Xian. His fate had been decided long ago. He would die sooner or later, but he had to die at the right time.
If Yang Xian is killed now, Zhu Yuanzhang's two years of training for Yang Xian will be in vain. Zhu Biao sat behind the desk, and Zhu Di stood below, waiting for his eldest brother's instructions.
Zhu Biao put down the confession of the Kaifeng magistrate and said: "Order all those with knowledge to keep silent. As for the Kaifeng magistrate, let him commit suicide out of fear of guilt."
Zhu Di was a little puzzled, but he didn't say much. He bowed and agreed and went down to make arrangements. Liu Jin brought the brazier, and Zhu Biao threw the confession in. Yang Xian's death penalty did not lack this.
He now has a more important task, which is to stimulate the nobles of Huaixi to join forces. The next day, Xu Yungong escorted more than a thousand strong mountain bandits to Kaifeng Mansion. Zhu Biao ordered these people and the officials who were arrested and imprisoned to be escorted to Kaifeng Mansion. He was escorted to Fengyang to open up wasteland.
The officials sent by the imperial court to fill the vacancy were also arriving soon. They hurriedly walked a few more sections of waterway, much faster than Zhu Biao. Zhu Ping had already set off to inspect the granary. This matter is not over yet, and there must be more and more investigations.
Zhu Biao stayed in Kaifeng Mansion for another two days to handle government affairs, and used the seized property to purchase a batch of grain. The local aristocratic families also gave His Highness a face and took out a lot of the grain stored by the family. Although there was no It was a lot more than expected, but it was enough to last for a while.
After handing over to the officials sent by the imperial court, Zhu Biao led the troops and set off. After leaving the territory of Kaifeng Prefecture, Zhu Biao turned around and took a look. The newly appointed prefect of Kaifeng just appeared in his mind. Who knows? Could this be a new hungry wolf?
The corrupt officials in the iron-clad state capital, Zhu Biao shook his head and turned around and continued on his way. This time, he did not go to villages and towns to gather women and children on a large scale. The time was too much, so he had to rush to Shanxi.
After trekking through mountains and rivers, and being delayed by rain for two or three days, we finally arrived in Shanxi. The army was stationed near Pingyang Mansion. Xu Yungong and Zhu Ping also returned to the army. Almost all the bandits along the way were wiped out, and there were only a few small ones left. Everyone hid in the mountains, and there was nothing anyone could do.
Zhu Xi and Zhu Di can't come for the time being. There are more or less problems in the granaries in various places. They are very busy now. Fortunately, Zhu Biao has set a standard for them. They will be killed if they should be killed, and those who are not killed will be sent to Fengyang. Open up wasteland and seize stolen money to purchase grain.
After the army was stationed, officials from Pingyang Prefecture came to pay homage. Zhu Biao was used to this journey, so he braced himself and prepared to send them away politely. When the prince arrived, the local officials changed their attire to pay homage to him, which was also a sign of respect.
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