GBP Chapter 1188 You, Emperor Zhu, still want to shirk your responsibilities? Dream on!
Chapter 1188 You, Emperor Zhu, still want to shirk your responsibilities? Dream on!
Emperor Zhu might have to think twice before deciding to ruthlessly kill ordinary people.
However, if Emperor Zhu were to ruthlessly eliminate aristocratic families, gentry, maritime merchants, and officials, his first reaction would definitely be to look for their family genealogies. Even if he couldn't find them, he would at least have to dig out their family records and take a look.
In this world, you have to be ruthless, but you also have to keep your word.
If you can exterminate nine generations of a family, don't just wipe out the whole family; if you say you'll kill the entire family, you must never let a single dog go.
"Let's have Tiande and the others arrange for someone to do it later."
"Kill those who deserve to die, and exile those who deserve to be exiled."
“A few days ago when Hu Weiyong returned to Liaodong, he said that we had killed his laborers. This time, we should make up for it.”
At this point, Emperor Zhu couldn't help but sigh, and the faces of Li Shanchang and Liu Bowen also darkened.
There's an old saying that it's hard to learn good things, but easy to learn bad things.
Hu Weiyong and Wang Guangyang are typical examples of people who have gone astray.
Hu Weiyong, that old scoundrel, used to be thinking about how to get into the Central Secretariat, but now all he can think about is how to get more laborers to Liaodong.
For the sake of laborers, this old scoundrel dares to use any tricks, from swindling and cheating to playing the victim and crying poverty.
He even dared to play the victim with Wang Guangyang, trying to borrow 100,000 young men from the Ministry of Industry!
Of course, that old scoundrel Wang Guangyang was no better.
When Hu Weiyong tried to plead his case and complain about being poor, he turned a deaf ear and ignored him completely.
However, when Yang Siyi asked him for the budget for the eighth year of Hongwu's reign, the old man kept shouting, "That old scoundrel Xue Xiang has already submitted the budget, and your Ministry of Revenue has already approved it. That 80 million strings of cash should belong to the Ministry of Industry!"
The Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Works—a difference of only one character, yet the tasks of these two government departments are vastly different, and their actual budgets differ by an unbelievable margin.
In the end, it was Yang Siyi who, after much crying and wailing, took the case to Emperor Zhu and the cabinet, and only then did Wang Guangyang reluctantly cut the budget by fifty million guan.
but!
If all he wanted was to embezzle an extra 50 million guan of the budget, then Wang Guangyang could only be described as greedy, not evil.
Wang Guangyang's badness lies in his vengeful nature—no sooner had the Ministry of Industry's budget been cut than the old scoundrel spread the news that the national treasury had gained 50 million guan, and even went to the Ministry of Railways to inform Chen Mo.
As for Chen Mo...
Emperor Zhu shook his head directly.
He came from Ningyang County, and was even transferred to the Ministry of Railways as the executive deputy county magistrate. What kind of good person could this guy be?
It was standard practice to block the gate of the national treasury every day demanding money. Even though Yang Siyi kept shouting that he would hang himself at the gate of the Prince Consort's mansion, Chen Mo still refused to let Yang Siyi go. He even openly cursed at Yang Siyi during the morning court session.
"What does your hanging yourself at the gate of the Prince Consort's residence have to do with my Ministry of Railways?"
"Besides, the Prince Consort didn't ask you, Minister Yang, for a budget. What right do you have to hang yourself at the entrance of the Prince Consort's residence?"
"If you're so capable, why don't you hang yourself at the cabinet's door?"
"If all else fails, go to the Meridian Gate."
"Of course, out of consideration for our past as colleagues, I won't be greedy. You just need to add another ten million strings of cash to the Ministry of Railways' budget!"
If this guy doesn't come to the Qianqing Palace and the Grand Secretariat to cause trouble for us, then we can say he still has some conscience!
Emperor Zhu shook his head, banishing Chen Mo's hideous face from his mind, and continued, "By the way, Old Zhu is getting married soon. After his wedding, we plan to send him to his fiefdom."
Li Shanchang was taken aback for a moment, then asked, "What does 'taking over' mean?"
Emperor Zhu sighed slightly and said, "Originally, we wanted to appoint him as the Prince of Qin."
"Later, Biao'er said he wanted to change his fiefdom, to make him the Prince of Ning in the northeast of Liaodong, to move his fiefdom to the northernmost part of Liaodong Commandery, and then let the third son go to Taining to take up his fiefdom, and let the fourth son go to Shenyang to take up his fiefdom."
"At the time, we thought that Liaodong had iron mines, coal mines, and countless timber. Such a treasure should indeed be guarded by these few people."
"But who would have thought that Biao'er would change his mind again a few days ago!"
Emperor Zhu couldn't help but rub his forehead and sighed, "He said he wouldn't let the second and third sons go to Liaodong to take up their fiefdoms."
"He plans to build another fleet, go to the land of Yin Shang that some bastard mentioned, and then send his second and third sons there to be enfeoffed."
"He also planned to send people to Europe to take up their fiefdoms."
The more Emperor Zhu talked, the more his head ached. He couldn't help but curse, "That damned thing! He has a new idea every day, and he just does whatever comes to mind. The worst part is that those few bastards are even more useless!"
"The second, third, and fourth sons are doing a little better, but that bastard fifth son came to us a couple of days ago, saying he doesn't want his fiefdom anymore, and he'd rather give up his title too."
"Damn it, is the title of Prince in our Great Ming Dynasty really so disliked?"
Li Shanchang and Liu Bowen exchanged a quick glance.
Even if you rise to power, you'll only be able to indulge in empty talk in the Qianqing Palace.
If you had said those words in Kunning Palace, you would have been in for a rough time tonight!
Li Shanchang muttered a few complaints to himself, then frowned and looked at Emperor Zhu, saying, "The matter of the Fifth Prince... is indeed not easy to handle."
Zhu Laowu was the eldest sister's biological son, not a prince born to any other concubine.
Moreover, Zhu Laowu was the head of the Medical College of Dengzhou University, the newly opened Jingcheng Hospital in the capital, and the Taiyi Hospital, which served the royal family. Many of the doctors there had studied at the Medical College.
Offending Zhu Laowu was practically the same as offending all the doctors and physicians in the capital.
Aside from his superior position and eldest sister, plus His Highness the Crown Prince and a certain unnamed consort, who would dare to easily provoke Zhu Laowu?
Li Shanchang's head throbbed with worry as he thought about it. After a long while, he said with a helpless expression, "In my opinion, this matter should be left to His Highness the Crown Prince and the Prince Consort."
Emperor Zhu was overjoyed and laughed heartily, saying, "Right? We also think we should entrust this matter to our Biao'er."
Li Shanchang was stunned for a moment again.
Since you've already thought of that, why bring it up again?
Just as Li Shanchang was pondering this, Emperor Zhu chuckled and hummed twice, saying, "Actually, this is what we're thinking—you see, the ancients said to settle down and establish a career. Our Biao'er has settled down now, so shouldn't he establish a career next?"
As Emperor Zhu finished speaking, Li Shanchang's face turned as black as the bottom of a pot.
I would like to ask, how can one beat up a superior without violating the laws of the Ming Dynasty?
Oh, so even though I'm over sixty, I want to retire and go back to my hometown, but you've rehired me to continue serving you, the Emperor Zhu.
You, Emperor Zhu, are only in your forties, not even fifty yet, not even past the age of forty. According to Yang the Madman, you are at the "right age to strive," yet you dare to think of abandoning your post and running away.
You're probably dreaming!