Zhu Yuanzhang's roar spread far away from the upper study, making the guards at the door tremble with fear.
Seeing that Zhu Yuanzhang was angry, Zhu Biao hurriedly stepped forward to persuade him:
"Father, please don't worry. Li Jin has done a great job by rescuing so many victims."
"Besides, Li Jin shouldn't be such a person. How could he give these things to others?"
Zhu Yuanzhang's anger was still lingering. He stared at Mao Xiang with round eyes and said:
"Tell us, did Li Jin really cook bran and grass into porridge and feed it to the victims?"
Mao Xiang did not dare to hide anything and directly told Zhu Yuanzhang everything he saw at the emergency station.
He even told what the yamen servant said about the beast.
After Zhu Yuanzhang finished speaking, he became furious and cursed:
"Corrupt officials are all dog officials."
"These people worked hard to embezzle our relief funds, leaving some bran and fodder for our people to eat."
"Okay! These officials treat the people as beasts, so we will turn these officials into beasts."
"Someone is coming!!"
Seeing that Zhu Yuanzhang was about to lose his temper, Mao Xiang quickly recounted the image of the officials he had seen in Yiwu.
Zhu Yuanzhang was a little dumbfounded when he heard that all the officials in Yiwu took the initiative to take the lead in the work.
He, who was still angrily scolding the dog officials just now, didn't know how to describe this group of Yiwu officials at this time.
Zhu Biao also added:
"Father, there may be another hidden reason behind this matter. It's better to have someone investigate it before making a decision."
Zhu Yuanzhang rubbed his brows, and then asked Mao Xiang to step aside temporarily.
Even if he really wanted to send someone there again, he couldn't say it in front of Mao Xiang, otherwise it would be a distrust of Mao Xiang.
Thinking of Li Jin's various behaviors in Yiwu, Zhu Yuanzhang thought for a moment and said solemnly:
“We want to go to Yiwu and see it in person!”
Zhu Biao was shocked when he heard this and said:
"Father, you absolutely must not do this!"
"Last time I went to Wei Mansion for a private visit, all the officials complained."
"If my father goes to Yiwu again now, I'm afraid all the officials will come forward to remonstrate."
"These civil servants like Zhezi for nothing, so don't pay attention to him."
Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand and said it didn't matter, civil servants were all virtuous.
"If we don't go to Yiwu County in person and see the people in Yiwu County, we will really feel uneasy."
Zhu Biao saw that Zhu Yuanzhang had made up his mind, and he must not be able to persuade him anymore, so he said:
"If my father wants to go, he must take his son with him. I also want to know how the so-called work-for-relief work is done?"
Zhu Yuanzhang laughed and said:
"I see you also want to go out and get some fresh air!"
Zhu Biao touched the back of his head and smiled sheepishly.
....
It is difficult for others to dissuade Zhu Yuanzhang from his decision.
This time Zhu Yuanzhang traveled in a simple carriage. In addition to Zhu Biao, he also brought Mao Xiang and several Jin Yiwei.
Yingtian Mansion is very close to Yiwu. Within two days, Zhu Yuanzhang's carriage arrived in Yiwu.
As soon as I entered Yiwu, I saw groups of people, led by officials, working hard on the roadside.
"Dad, look. As Master Mao said, these Yiwu officials really set an example and take the lead in their work."
When Zhu Biao saw this scene, he pointed at the officials and said to Zhu Yuanzhang.
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded, but his face remained expressionless.
These are the duties of officials, so there is no need to make a fuss.
In Zhu Yuanzhang's perception, Ming officials had to be like this. This was just a basic operation, just passing the passing mark, and there was nothing worthy of praise.
Now he wants to know even more what these people are eating? Is it the same as what officials eat?
"Mao Xiang, take us to see the so-called emergency aid station."
After hearing Zhu Yuanzhang's words, Mao Xiang drove the carriage, changed its direction, and headed straight for the city.
When Zhu Yuanzhang arrived at the rescue site, he found that there was a long queue of people at the site.
Each of these people looked hungry, with unkempt hair and ragged clothes, as if they had been hungry for a long time.
Seeing so many people lining up to eat here, Zhu Yuanzhang immediately stepped forward to see if it was really what Mao Xiang said.
Zhu Yuanzhang walked very quickly and soon arrived in front of the iron pot.
When Zhu Yuanzhang saw what was cooking in the iron pot clearly, Zhu Yuanzhang felt a rush of hot blood rushing to his forehead.
The things cooked there are, as Mao Xiang said, bran and grass.
But I don’t know if it was the conscientiousness of the yamen servant who discovered that even if it was bran, what was being cooked in the pot was so thick that even when I put my chopsticks in, it didn’t fall over.
Even so, Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes were about to burst.
These pieces of shit are actually being fed to our people. We are going to cut them down.
"Bullshit, you give these things to the people to eat, why don't you eat them yourself?"
"We're going to arrest you and behead them all."
Zhu Yuanzhang's roar immediately attracted everyone's attention.
The Yamen servant who was roared by Zhu Yuanzhang seemed to be stared at by a tiger at this moment, with his hair standing on end, hesitating and speechless.
Fortunately, there was more than one official on duty today, and they rushed forward immediately.
After seeing that Zhu Yuanzhang and others were very impressive and even more luxurious in their clothes, they did not dare to make any mistakes and explained aloud:
"We are just government servants and we are just following orders. Why does this noble man need to embarrass us?"
"If we are injured, today's soup kitchen may be delayed."
"It doesn't matter that we are thick-skinned and thick-skinned, we are just suffering for these people."
Yamen servants talk nonsense when they see people, and they talk nonsense when they see ghosts. They are all old fools in the officialdom.
When meeting people like Zhu Yuanzhang, he didn't dare to be presumptuous at all, but he behaved very humblely, which made Zhu Yuanzhang angry but unable to express it.
At this time, the victim next to him who was about to receive porridge boldly said to Zhu Yuanzhang:
"Master, please stop arresting them, okay?"
"We came from the north. Our house is gone, the land is flooded, and we have been hungry for three days."
"It's not easy to find a place that can provide disaster relief, but you have to say that these things can't be eaten."
"Can we not know whether these things are edible?"
"My wife, children and mother would have starved to death yesterday if we didn't have this."
"Now they are still waiting for me to bring things back to them. I beg you, don't kill our only hope again."
When Zhu Yuanzhang saw what this man said was so desolate, he felt extremely painful in his heart.
The people of Ming Dynasty are so simple and honest, they are willing to accept even bran and fodder.
But these are all the fault of these corrupt officials. What we let them feed the people is rice, not these.
"Did you know that the emperor asked them to give relief to rice flour, not this kind of bran?"
"Bran is for animals, not for humans."
There was no change in the expression on the man's face, not even indignation, and he replied:
"I know, not just me, we all know."
"The county magistrate has told us a long time ago that if you want a better life, you must rely on yourself."
"If we weren't still very weak now, we would have worked hard to eat rice and wheat cakes."
"Master, please, stop making trouble."
“If this place closes, I don’t know how many people will starve to death!”
With that said, the five-foot-tall man knelt down towards Zhu Yuanzhang and others.
The people queuing up behind them to receive porridge also knelt down and shouted:
"Please!"
