Although Wang Chang is a rough man, he is not stupid at all.
What the other party did was extremely treasonous, yet he could still sit there so confidently. Even the sergeant from the inspection department did not panic at all when he came, but instead enjoyed the flogging with great interest.
Wang Chang wouldn't believe such a person if he didn't have the slightest bit of support and identity.
Wan Wei and Cai Fu immediately shouted when they saw the inspection department Wang Chang and his people coming. Wan Wei even shouted: "Inspector Wang, arrest them and beat them to death!"
Wang Chang rolled his eyes at Wan Wei and ordered the sergeant to stay where he was without even taking out his sword. He walked straight towards Zhu Yunzhen, stopped five steps away, and saluted solemnly: "Your Majesty, Wang Chang, is inspecting the Dingxi Salt Field Inspection Department."
Zhu Yunwen raised his brows slightly. The person in front of him was quite intelligent.
The simple word "Chen" showed that he knew Zhu Yunwen's identity, but did not point out Zhu Yunwen's identity.
Yang Shiqi and Xia Yuanji were also a little surprised. They didn't expect there to be such smart people in this small salt field, so they couldn't help but look at each other and smile.
Zhu Yunwen pointed at Wan Wei and Cai Fu and said softly: "These two people have made mistakes. I want to punish them. Is it appropriate for you to stand here and remain motionless?"
Wang Chang had good personal relationships with Wan Wei and Cai Fu on weekdays, but personal relationships were not as important as heads. He quickly said: "The Inspection Department is responsible for interrogating Yanyin's decree. It is the duty to investigate smuggling and investigate and deal with entrapment. Salt Department, salt field related Personnel has nothing to do with the Inspection Department.”
Zhu Yunwen sneered and looked at the sergeant not far away. He had nothing to do with bringing everyone here. Who would believe this...
"I'm going to the salt field. You can follow me. As for the others, just stay outside."
Zhu Yunwen stood up.
Wang Chang breathed a sigh of relief.
Tian Laosi and Cuicui were a little dumbfounded at this time, not knowing the identities of these people. The ambassadors of the Salt Class Department were flogged and obeyed when inspections came. This was something that was unthinkable in the past.
"Take me to see where you live."
Zhu Yunwen said to Tian Laosi.
Tian Laosi quickly agreed and took Zhu Yunwen and others into the salt field.
The air is filled with the smell of sea breeze, salty.
There are many facilities in the salt field, such as stoves, walls, warehouses, pools, waterwheels, weirs and dams, etc. Along the way, Zhu Yunwen saw many kitchen households, like Tian Laosi, all of whom were unkempt, barefoot and thin. Even women and children were busy, and no one took a break.
Seeing such a scene, Zhu Yunwen couldn't help but feel a little depressed. He turned to Tian Laosi and asked: "Is it really so hard to be a kitchen household?"
Tian Laosi wanted to cry, gritted his teeth and said, "Have you heard of "Salt Ding's Lament"?"
Zhu Yunwen shook his head, while Xia Yuanji and Yang Shiqi both expressed ignorance.
Tian Laosi looked sad and began to sing:
Decoction in salt is bitter, decoction in salt is bitter, and the wind and haze near the sea are always followed by rain.
The grass in the vast red brine has dried up, and there is no firewood at the bottom of the stove to accumulate brine. Unable to make a living without borrowing money, five or ten villages fled.
The salt in the sun is bitter, the salt in the sun is bitter, the water rises and the tide turns over the beach and disappears.
The snowflakes are scattered but not beads, and the surface of the pond is half covered with soil. When businessmen knock on the door with ultimatums, what's the point of making up for the private losses and public losses?
The children sobbed without cooking at night, and the old women were haggard and dressed in blue clothes.
Floods and droughts have harmed agriculture, rural areas, and farmers since ancient times. Who would have thought that Yanding was the same as Chu...
Zhu Yunwen listened to this bloody song of accusation, and his heart became even more solemn. The world has never paid attention to the kitchen households, nor to the salt makers! Even though Zhu Yunwen had been on the throne for four years and had eaten a lot of salt, he never thought about what kind of people made this salt and what their living conditions were like!
"My Iceberg Beauty Wife"
Look now, listen now, this is not the beautiful paradise you imagined. Just dig a hole and wait for the sun to harvest salt. These salt cubes are bitter, extremely bitter!
"The children are whimpering and not cooking at night, and the old women are haggard and dressed in blue clothes. Floods and droughts have hurt farmers in ancient times, but who would have thought that salt and young people suffer the same pain!"
Judging from Cuicui and other kitchen households, their children are all malnourished. Even some women are wearing tattered clothes, and the men are even half-naked!
After being in power for several years, I talked about caring about and caring for the people every day, but my eyes were all on the farmers and farmers, not the kitchen households! It was as if this group of people had never appeared in history. The imperial court received countless memorials every year, and there were so many trivial matters, but none of them mentioned Zato Yanding!
They hold the salt that the people of the Ming Dynasty need, but they don't even have enough to eat, and they can't even wear clothes. Even the stove is so low and pitiful that if you don't bend down to get in, you will hit your head!
Who would have thought that this would happen?
Zhu Yunwen's face was ashen.
After Tian Laosi finished singing, he said: "Salt is bitter, salt is bitter, boiling in waves all day long. Before the sun rises, all the family members of the kitchen households need to get up and go to the pavilion to carry ashes and dry them. , or scraping mud, or collecting sea water, from dawn to noon, there is no time to eat two mouthfuls of rice, you need to collect ashes and sweep salt. If you encounter brine, you also need to pick up ashes and brine. Women and children have to water Pour sea water, help stir the salt ash, and also need people to go to Caodang tidal flat to collect grass and get fuel.”
"We have been busy until dusk and sunset, and we need to cook. The whole family needs to use an iron pan to boil to get salt. This requires controlling the heat and taking time. After getting enough salt for the day, it is already midnight. Every day is full of hands and feet. It’s so confusing to use them together... It’s okay to be tired and miserable when working, but look at these kitchen houses, not to mention they are low, some of them are just behind the embankment of the Haihe River, and they have built a straw shed at will.”
"It's true that this kind of straw hut can protect you from the wind and rain, but in the summer, your skin is on fire, and in winter the cold wind is biting, making it miserable. There is also food. We are kitchen households, and there is a salt farm nearby. There is no food at all in the crop fields, so we can only eat wild vegetables every day. Summer is okay, but in winter without wild vegetables, how can we survive!"
Xia Yuanji interjected: "Don't the salt farms distribute food?"
Tian Laosi walked to a house and directly took out half a bag of rice, opened it and showed it to Zhu Yunwen and others: "Well, this half bag is a month's ration for a family of five, and it's fucking mixed with sand! If it weren't for this nearby Next to the river, I can occasionally catch two fish, but everyone will starve to death!"
Zhu Yunwen reached out and grabbed a handful of rice. There were very few rice grains in it, as well as rice bran and sand. He couldn't help but ask: "This half bag weighs thirty kilograms, right? How much is left after removing the sand and rice bran?"
Tian Laosi did not answer Zhu Yunwen, but shouted to the busy man beside him: "Lao Jiu, how much pure rice does your family have this month?"
After hearing this, the man cursed and shouted: "Seven and a half pounds, you are so evil."
Zhu Yunwen's chest rose and fell a little!
For a group of kitchen households who work hard and work hard until midnight, a family of five in a month can't even get eight kilograms of rice? If it were him, he would have rebelled instead of running away. This is not treating people as human beings at all!
Even if there is fishing and hunting, wild vegetables, and other things to supplement the food, nothing can replace the staple food. Besides, other things are not enough, and they are all digested after working.
Tian Laosi pulled Cuicui and said bitterly: "It's tiring work, hard work, not enough to eat, not enough clothes to wear, it's like this year after year! If you can't complete the prescribed salt by the time, you will be beaten, That’s it, people died in the tide disaster, and there was no compensation at all. We don’t want to die here.”
"Wait, tide disaster? What tide disaster?"
Zhu Yunwen asked puzzledly.
Tian Laosi looked sad and said with some pain: "The salt fields in the Huaihe River are close to the sea, and the sea water is introduced into the salt fields from the mouth of the river. Once the sea water flows back and the tide in turn floods the salt fields, the kitchen households behind the river embankments will be drowned. ! In the twenty-seventh year of Hongwu, more than 400 people died. In the thirty-first year, more than 300 people died. In the first year of Jianwen, more than 600 people died. In the third year of Jianwen, more than 100 people died..."
"so much?"
Zhu Yunwen couldn’t believe it!
When people died in the Hongwu year, people also died. At that time, Zhu Yunwen had not yet taken charge of the government, so I don't know if this was a reasonable thing. But more than 600 people died in the first year of Jianwen, and more than 100 people died in the third year. Of these 700 to 800 people died, I didn't hear a single news!
Zhu Yunwen looked at Xia Yuanji and Yang Shiqi. Yang Shiqi was very innocent. He was in charge of the Imperial College. After eating and being too busy, he would not ask about the salt administration. Xia Yuanji also lowered his head. He was in charge of the Ministry of Household Affairs. Accounts, no matter what happens in the salt farm.
To settle accounts, one should approach the Lianghuai Capital Transport Salt Envoy, specifically, the Capital Transport Envoy Ding Chuchen, but this person has already been beheaded in Yangzhou...
Zhu Yunwen was so angry that he was emotionally deaf and didn't hear anything!
Seeing that Zhu Yunwen was about to run away, Yang Shiqi quickly said: "It's not too late to make amends."
Zhu Yunwen got angry: "They are not sheep, and this is not a sheepfold! Go and call all the officials from the Lianghuai Salt Transport Department to come here. No matter how big or small, call them all!"
Tang Buping quickly agreed, turned around and left.
Inspector Wang Chang who was following him almost knelt down. This matter seemed a bit big. I heard that Ding Chuchen had been killed, and he was not going to let the others go. The emperor was so angry that he laid his body down for miles...
Zhu Yunwen looked at Wang Chang coldly: "Why didn't anyone report the incident about Haichao? Is it the intention of the Salt Division, or is it the intention of the Lianghuai Transfer Salt Division? Who covered up the news?!"
Wang Chang couldn't bear it anymore, knelt down and begged for mercy: "I don't know."
Zhu Yunwen looked around. So many people were naked and had no guarantee of life, but they protected the Ming Dynasty and the foundation of the national destiny!
Ming Dynasty owes them so much!
"Is this the case for every salt farm household?"
Zhu Yunwen said painfully.
Wang Chang nodded: "Absolutely."
Zhu Yunwen walked to a high slope, glanced at the setting sun, and said: "Let everyone stop, there will be no fried salt tonight."
Wang Chang hesitated for a moment and said to Tian Laosi: "What are you still doing? Let everyone come over. Don't light a fire to fry the salt tonight, everyone comes here!"
Tian Laosi was uneasy and said: "It can't be done, the salt is fried at night. If the salt is not fried at night, this month's quota will definitely not be completed, and everyone will eat the whip..."
Zhu Yunwen looked at Xia Yuanji. Xia Yuanji understood. He took a step forward and said sternly: "Tell everyone, Emperor Jianwen of the Ming Dynasty came to the Dingxi Salt Field in person. He will not fry salt tonight. If you have any suffering or grievance, come here to tell us!"
