But no matter what the situation was, his position did not allow him to make mistakes. If he lost the upper hand in the political situation, the price Zhu Biao had to pay would be much lighter.
Otherwise, this matter can be easily resolved privately. Neither his people nor the people of the second and third sons dare to directly disobey the prince's will. But now they are being stood up and have to come and ask for help. His father took action.
By giving him a pleasant surprise, Zhu Biao thought that because Shang Honghai still had some merits and hard work in the past, he did not pursue his family's minor crimes, otherwise he would have to be exiled and sentenced to death at the very least.
As for whether Shang Honghai's confidants had betrayed him, Zhu Biao didn't need to worry about it. The newly appointed commander, Tongzhi Gaoqiang, would handle it on his own. There were three things a new official should do when he took office. To establish his prestige, the best choice was to be the confidants of his predecessor.
…
In the morning of the next day, the emperor summoned the king of Jin and King Chu in front of the civil and military officials of the dynasty and severely reprimanded them. After thirty years of salary and salary, he ordered them to walk to the Fengyang Imperial Mausoleum to plead guilty, and they were not allowed to return to the capital without an edict.
King He of Yiwei Zheng under the command of the King of Jin hoarded grain and bought land at a low price, forcing good people to become slaves and sentenced the whole family to death. King Dian of Chu relied on Zhang A to bully the people and sentenced the entire clan to be exiled to Guizhou. The deputy Yiwei of King Wu enriched his master and was sentenced to beheading. The entire family was exiled to Liaodong. .
Zhang Wei, the commander of the Army and Horse Department in the capital, used his power for personal gain and accepted bribes from merchants. He was sentenced to confiscate all his family members and imprisoned Liaodong. Cao Wan, the deputy commander of the capital camp, colluded with merchants...
In the main hall, there was only the voice of the Minister of Punishment, who kept announcing his decree. From time to time, civil servants and officials were dragged out, sentenced to lighter punishments such as being exiled with sticks, and more severe punishments, including being beheaded.
But unlike the past few days, when the ministers quoted scriptures to plead for mercy, no one dared to stand up and plead for mercy this time. They just watched numbly as the colleagues around them who had promised to help each other were dragged out.
The Holy Emperor was so cruel that he did not even let go of the two biological sons of King Jin and King Chu. He did not leave any face at all. Even the prince's confidants ransacked their homes and were exiled without hesitation.
In the silence and depression, Hu Weiyong finally chose to stand up. He still said what he said a few days ago, but it still gave everyone a little room to breathe.
At the emperor's slight nod, Shangshu of the Ministry of Justice, who had been sweating while reading, stopped and closed the decree with slightly trembling hands. No one except him knew how many people were behind him.
To govern troubled times, heavy codes are used, and the same is true for opening a great dynasty.
If something is wrong at the beginning, it will always be wrong later on. No matter how high the price is paid, the economy is destined to collapse from the beginning.
Allowing civil servants and military officials to intervene may be good in the short term, and the economy will take off, but that is false prosperity. The wealth is concentrated in the hands of officials and businessmen, but they are the class that least wants to think about how to develop. When they get rich, they will only focus on annexing the land and forcing good people into slavery.
Zhu Biao personally promoted the prosperity of business, but he never wanted businessmen to reach out to the political arena. Civil servants and military officials were used to looking down on businessmen, thinking that they were just dispensable lackeys, but they did not know that businessmen had money and wealth. It is very easy for the Queen to turn her back on the guests.
Even if you are a noble person, you cannot hold power from generation to generation. Without power, you have to rely on others for money. What will be the end? They will be eaten away step by step. In the end, the government and businessmen will be integrated through in-laws and other methods.
…
After Zhu Biao withdrew from the court, he listened to Liu Jin's report and then went to the palace gate. Zhang Yu'er, dressed in Jingchai cloth skirt, was kneeling in front of Zuoshun gate to greet him.
Zhu Biao stopped and sighed and asked Liu Jin to help her up. Then Yu'er said: "This slave does not come to see His Highness to beg for mercy. She just comes to see you and say goodbye because she thinks it will be difficult to see each other in the future."
"That unsatisfactory person is greedy for even a small profit and will implicate his wife and children." Zhu Biao's face was very ugly: "You go first and make peace with him after some time. I will find you a satisfactory one." A happy husband."
Yu'er kowtowed to him solemnly: "Marry a chicken, follow a chicken, marry a dog, follow a dog. I'm not afraid to go to Liaodong. I'm just unworthy of your kindness to His Highness. I just hope you won't be sad and troublesome for this."
Yu'er wiped away her tears and stood up, forcing a smile: "I'm going to leave now. I don't have the face to see the empress at this time. Please tell me that I will be fine, so don't worry, the empress."
Zhu Biao had a lot to say, but in the end
Still not saying a word, he could only watch the figure gradually go away. Upon seeing this, Liu Jin stepped forward and whispered: "I will arrange for someone to take care of me now."
"Yes." Zhu Biao turned around and headed towards Kunning Palace. Compared with here, the problems there were more difficult.
At this time, outside the Kunning Palace, Wu King Zhu Ju was still kneeling on the ground with a confused look on his face, while many concubines were also kneeling inside the palace, but they did not dare to make any noise and only sobbed softly from time to time.
Empress Ma also earnestly begged for mercy: "Let the second and third children rest for a few days and then talk about it. How about walking on the ground right after the punishment? Besides, it is still so far from Beijing to Fengyang. What if the root of the disease falls and hurts the legs and feet?" .”
The concubine headed below also hurriedly begged for mercy: "Your Majesty, have mercy, that is your own flesh and blood."
Another one also followed: King Jin and King Chu are so noble, how can they be related to any merchants? The people below must be using the name of the prince to show off, hoping that the Holy Spirit will find out everything. "
Zhu Yuanzhang snorted coldly: "It would be fine if the two of them were as ignorant as Lao Wu, but they did not accept the tens of thousands of taels of filial piety from below."
"Your Majesty is wise!" Queen Mother Wu responded quickly: "His Royal Highness King Wu has been well-behaved and sensible since he was a child. He knows his son better than his father. As you know, the slaves below have ulterior motives and secretly monopolize medicinal materials based on His Highness's reputation."
These words naturally caused the other two to look at each other angrily, but at this time of year, they couldn't care less about protecting their own cubs.
"My sister is really good at evading important matters. Isn't it your biological brother and uncle of His Highness King Wu who is making money in the name of His Highness King Wu? But I don't know how to deal with it according to the law?"
"you…"
At this time, Zhu Biao arrived at a side hall next to Kunning Palace and happened to bump into the imperial physician who came out. After waiting for him to salute, he asked: "Is the injury serious? Can you walk?"
The imperial doctor whispered: "It's not serious, but it must be unbearable pain when walking."
Zhu Biao knew what he was doing, so he asked the imperial doctor to go down and prepare the ointment, and then carried him inside. He only heard the deliberate screams of pain from his two younger brothers in the inner bedroom and the eager inquiries from the eunuchs serving them.
Liu Jin entered first and called out all the slaves serving inside. When Zhu Biao entered, the screams of the third child were even more miserable, but the second child stopped making any sound.
"Brother, you are here. My brother is going to die unjustly. I am busy working in the Ministry of Works every day. The Zuixian Tower has always been run by the people below. Who knows that he is so smart that he doesn't let others sell wine? Yes, it really wasn’t my order.”
Zuixian Tower was one of the royal wineries built by the Ministry of Industry a few years ago. Because of Zhu's contribution to disaster relief last time, Lao Zhu specially rewarded it to his son. It has a high foundation and double eaves, and a spacious building, which is very luxurious.
Zhu Biao ignored the rest, because he knew what the third child said was half-truth and half-false. He walked to the side of the second child and slapped Zhu Xiang hard on the buttocks that had just been tortured with the cane. It was gone at the touch, but the sound was very loud. Crisp and pleasant.
"Ah ah ah ah ah ah ah!"
Zhu Xi took a breath of cold air and quickly covered his mouth with his hands, saying nothing more about the injustice. As for Jin Wang Zhu Xi, he clutched the sheets tightly with both hands and kept twisting like a fish out of water. The pain in my body was relieved, and the corners of my eyes were about to burst open.
"The third child said he was unjust, what about you?"
Zhu Xi burst into tears. This pain was more than ten times worse than the previous torture. The pain was so sharp that it even felt like his butt was extremely hot.
Undoubtedly, if someone else were looking at him at this moment, His Highness Prince Jin would definitely scold his mother and draw a knife, but when facing his eldest brother, no matter how powerful he is when he is not seen, when he is really facing his eldest brother, he really doesn't dare to do anything and just wants to leave. Far away.
Seeing that he still didn't speak, Zhu Biao raised his hand high again with no expression on his face. Zhu Yanyi's heroic face instantly distorted, and he hurriedly said: "Me too, I was wronged."
But unfortunately it was of no use, the slap still fell firmly. Zhu Ping screamed and subconsciously turned around, but how could his buttocks, which had just been tortured with the cane, touch the bed, and bounced back instantly, screaming The sound became more and more shrill. "
……………
