Daming: At the start of the showdown, Lao Zhu was stunned

Chapter 1037: A Warning to Future Generations
Zhu Su did not help him, but let him half-kneel and salute him according to military etiquette, and just watched him coldly. After being in prison for only a few days, Dong Ji's face had lost the plumpness he had when they met last time. His eye sockets were sunken, his chin was covered with stubble, and his cheekbones were prominent.

"Sanbao." Zhu Su winked at Sanbao. "Read it."

"Yes, Your Highness." Sanbao nodded, took out a file from his sleeve, unfolded it and read:
"Ten red gold ingots, ten silver ingots, more than five hundred taels of raw gold sand, eight hundred and fifty taels of red gold, nine thousand four hundred taels of silver ingots, more than fifty-three thousand taels of silver, more than fifty-eight thousand taels of treasure notes, and eight thousand five hundred strings of coins..."

"One Han bronze tripod, thirteen ancient bronze tripods, thirteen jade tripods, ten Song inkstones, more than seven hundred Duan inkstones, twenty jade plates, two ancient swords, a jade horse, eight coral trees, two hundred and eighty large red rubies, forty-three large and small sapphires, a white jade Guanyin..."

"There is a mansion in the eastern suburbs of Yingtian Prefecture, with a total of 58 rooms in the main house, 38 rooms in the east house, and 33 rooms in the west house..."

As Sanbao recited, Dong Ji's face became paler and paler, because what Sanbao recited was the wealth he had accumulated over the years by colluding with Zhu Fu and others.

"Isn't it much faster to take the money than risk your life on the battlefield to exchange for rewards?" Zhu Su said slowly after Sanbao finished reading a long list of family wealth. Dong Ji was still kneeling, and the rough linen prison uniform on his body looked as if it had been washed by sweat, as if he had guessed something.

"Unfortunately, in the end, all these things were confiscated and put into the national treasury... How do you feel now, Dong Ji, that all the money was gone in one day?"

Zhu Su continued to speak leisurely, as if he was really asking Dong Ji what he thought, but Dong Ji's whole body shook, and then he began to tremble uncontrollably. He quickly knelt forward, wanting to hug Zhu Su's clothes, and shouted, "Your Highness, all the blame is on me... You can confiscate my property, but please let my wife and children go!"

"Let go of my wife and children!"

"Now you are standing here, pretending to be a good husband and a loving father to me!" Before Di Meng and others could stop Dong Ji from approaching Zhu Su, Zhu Su had already stepped forward and kicked Dong He directly on the shoulder. Dong He was caught off guard and fell backwards. He fell heavily to the ground in embarrassment, but he didn't dare to get up.

Zhu Su suddenly exploded and continued to scold: "Don't you, Dong Ji, love money? Hasn't your conscience been exchanged for gold and silver? Now you think about your wife and children?"

"When you took the money, why didn't you think that you had violated the laws of the Ming Dynasty and would implicate your entire family?"

Dong Ji was lying on the dirty ground. Upon hearing this, his eyes became dull and tears actually flowed out.

"A man who dared to charge at the Tartar cavalry on the battlefield, who would have thought that today, he would be blinded by a few ingots of gold and silver. Shame on you!" Zhu Su continued to poke Dong Ji's lungs, "The brothers at the border respect you, Dong Ji, as a man, but they are also worried that you are the only son in your family and that your Dong family will be cut off... That's why they found me and nominated you to come to the capital to serve as the military officer for peace."

"What about you? What did you do after you came to Beijing? You deceived your superiors and subordinates, and colluded with unscrupulous merchants."

"Your brothers are still guarding the border to defend their country, but you are relying on your position to make so much money... Good, good, very good!"

Zhu Su was filled with resentment, not only towards Dong Ji, but also towards Zhu Fu, Zhu Biao, and himself. Dong Ji's fall made him see a hidden danger that he had previously ignored.

He was committed to opening up trade routes for the Ming Dynasty, employing merchants to connect the north and the south, allowing merchants to make profits for the Ming Dynasty and spread its reputation, but he somewhat overlooked the greedy nature of merchants... Merchants fell into depravity too quickly.

Perhaps there are truly patriotic and law-abiding businessmen, but after showing the benefits of this world to them, I am afraid that few businessmen can resist the temptation of benefits.

And I... am indeed too dependent on merchants.

Dong Ji, a former iron-willed warrior on the battlefield, fell so quickly in the face of the temptation of gold and silver in the imperial capital of Yingtian... Can we expect those merchants who are far away from the emperor to be loyal to the Ming Dynasty?

Will they become disloyal? Will they enrich themselves? Will they use the name of the Ming Dynasty to do things that harm the Ming Dynasty, and then use their fat bodies to come back and poison the great cause of China for generations to come?

Zhu Biao was right. The South China Sea pirates were not a problem that needed to be solved urgently. But in Zhu Su's view, the South China Sea pirates, which were not a big deal, had already given him the right answer...

Dong Ji had no idea what Zhu Su was thinking. He felt Zhu Su's anger like a storm. His body, lying on the dirty ground, trembled uncontrollably, and sobs came from his face, which was covered with messy hair.

"...Shame on you!" Zhu Su snorted coldly and stopped looking at Dong Ji, who was lying on the ground like a dead dog. Regardless of whether this guy was pretending or was really scared, he had vented his anger and now felt quite refreshed.

"Tell me everything you know." Zhu Su said, motioning Sanbao to prepare to record. "Don't let your family be harmed. I will protect your family and use the money to support your son."

"The premise is that you haven't lost your last bit of conscience."

"It's up to you how you want to do it."

Although Zhu Biao did not want to be implicated, Abigail was dead, and the matter still needed to be thoroughly investigated. Dong Ji had been identified as the real murderer, and the prince was concerned that he should pay for his murder with his life. In addition, he had intended to deceive the King of Zhou, which was a crime of insubordination, which was an even greater crime.

Their homes were searched and their family members were sent to the Jiaofang Bureau. Men became slaves and women became prostitutes. There was no way to escape.

If Zhu Suruo had come forward to plead for him, at least his family could have been spared from such an inhumane situation.

Zhu Su said, "Leave this place to Sanbao." Then he left the cell without looking back. Later, Dong Ji struggled to get up after hearing Zhu Su's promise, and kowtowed to him with red eyes, but Zhu Su didn't even look at him.

Just after taking two steps out, I heard crying and noisy sounds coming from a cell at a fork in the road.

"What's going on in there?" Zhu Su asked the jailer with a frown.

But there are rules in the prison. Prisoners who make a lot of noise and cry like this will at least be whipped, and at most be sent to the torture room which is used for interrogation to enforce the rules. No one dares to shake the cell door and shout "injustice" as soon as they see someone coming, as in later TV dramas... People who make a lot of noise and cry in the prison are unlikely to appear when King Zhou of Zhou is inspecting the Ministry of Justice.

"Your Highness, a guilty prisoner was released from prison today, so he is crying. It's not because our Ministry of Justice hasn't set up good rules..." the jailer explained in a panic. Zhu Su suddenly realized. No wonder he heard more joy in the crying just now, rather than cries of despair or pain... It turned out that he was crying for joy.

Thinking of this, an idea suddenly occurred to him, and he asked, "Who is the prisoner who was acquitted?"

"Your Highness, it's a man named Zhu Junyu."

As soon as he finished speaking, he heard footsteps approaching from afar. Zhu Su looked in the direction of the sound and saw the pot-bellied Zhu Fu supporting Zhu Junyu, who had red and swollen eyes and looked as timid as a bullied daughter-in-law, walking towards here under the guidance of a minor official from the Ministry of Justice.

Seeing Zhu Su standing here with a half-smile on his face, Zhu Junyu screamed in fear and immediately hid behind Zhu Fu. Zhu Fu was also frightened and trembled all over. Then his face turned pale. After hesitating for a while, he came to Zhu Su tremblingly and bowed, saying: "I am Zhu Fu, a humble servant, meeting His Majesty the King of Zhou..."

"Mr. Zhu has all-powerful means." Zhu Su teased. "The noble young master was acquitted?"

"Yes, yes..." Zhu Fu felt a bitter taste in his mouth. How could he meet this evil star here? He still forced a flattering smile on his face: "Thanks to the great fortune of Your Highness and Your Highness the Crown Prince, the court has a clear mirror, the truth has been revealed, and my son's grievances have been vindicated..."

With Zhu Biao's approval and Fan Xianzu's manipulation, this matter was classified as a simple homicide case. The main culprit Dong Ji had been brought to justice, and Zhu Junyu would naturally be released without charge... Today happened to be the day when Zhu Fulai came to pick up his beloved son from the prison.

"Hey, I haven't given you any good fortune, so don't get involved."

"If you don't do anything wrong, you won't be afraid of ghosts knocking on your door. But if you have done something wrong, it's not that there will be retribution, it's just that the time has not come yet... What do you think?" Zhu Su said with a smile.

"Yes, yes..." Zhu Fu stretched out his hand to wipe the sweat that kept flowing down his fat face. Zhu Junyu hid behind Zhu Fu, shaking like a sieve. Suddenly, he smelled a foul smell. Zhu Su glanced down and saw a puddle of water under the pants of this Mr. Zhu.

This useless young man was not scared at all. What he heard just now actually broke his heart and made him pee in fear.

"Heh." Zhu Su laughed, walked around Zhu Fu and his son, and went straight to the dungeon gate. Di Meng looked back at Zhu Fu and his son, and asked Zhu Su: "Your Highness, it's a relief to scare them, but...will it alert the enemy?"

"After being frightened by this, they will certainly be more cautious...it will be much more difficult to find out the cause in the future."

"Brother, you are concerned about our father's health and don't want to start a war... But I think it's best to cut the Gordian knot as soon as possible." Zhu Su said. "The disease is in the skin, if we don't get rid of it immediately, do we have to wait until it penetrates into the bone marrow?"

"When Father goes to Fengyang, we will do it ourselves..." Zhu Su sneered. "Brother can't do whatever he wants, but I can."

"I will apologize to my eldest brother after the matter is settled... At worst, I can set sail and go to Fengmingzhou to be a fief in advance." Zhu Su said bluntly.

He had vaguely realized before that his power was too great. If he did something wrong once, he could just rely on his own initiative to solve the crimes of these guys, collect some charges and hand over some power. Anyway, he had long wanted to find something to tarnish his reputation.

As for Old Zhu… this cheap old father has long been a master of political tactics. As long as he uses self-pollution as an excuse, he won't be angry. But since he, the King of Zhou, has dealt with several merchants who have self-polluted without authorization, Old Zhu won't pay much attention to it.

As for how to deal with that group of pirates, and whether they will commit crimes in the future... these are external affairs. At worst, we can find a way to wipe them out. The most urgent task is to not let these blood-sucking insects of the Ming Dynasty continue to lie on the body of the Ming Dynasty and suck blood openly.

Those who dare to fall into depravity must be severely punished...otherwise, how can we serve as a warning to future generations?
After Zhu Su figured it out, he felt that the haze that had accumulated in his heart for the past few days was swept away.

……

"Dad... Dad!" Wearing wet pants, Master Zhu Junyu got on the carriage back home. Still frightened, he grabbed his father's clothes again. He cried to his father as if he was grabbing a life-saving straw: "You heard it! You just heard it!"

"Your Highness Prince Zhou... Prince Zhou Zhu Su will not let me go... He will not let us go!"

"He'll kill us sooner or later!"

Master Zhu didn't even care about the wetness between his legs.

"Waste! Shut up!" Zhu Fu scolded his son in a low voice, and then grasped his left arm tightly with his right hand to stop his body from shaking... He almost pierced his nails into the flesh, intending to calm himself down in this way.

Through the chance encounter with King Zhou just now, he has confirmed that he has been targeted by the King Zhou, and the King Zhou will never let him off.

I am afraid that the life and property I have saved with great difficulty will be thrown into the fire again in the blink of an eye!
During the days when his son was arrested, Zhu Fu's mental journey was like a roller coaster, perfectly illustrating what ups and downs are.

At first, when Zhu Fu learned that his good son was caught in the cemetery, he was actually devastated. He looked no better than his good son who had wet his pants now. He kept thinking about the same four words.

It's over!

His Royal Highness Prince Zhou was well prepared and had sent people to examine the body of the dead foreigner, so it was possible that he knew about the South China Sea pirates... His own son went to destroy the body and was caught in the act. This was simply a solid death sentence for his Zhu family.

As long as he interrogated his cowardly son a little, the King of Zhou would immediately know the whole story... Zhu Fu had zero confidence in whether his son had the backbone to keep the secret for the family.

If that rebellious son had any regard for his father, he wouldn't have dragged everyone into the water to threaten him and Dong Ji!
Zhu Fu now regrets that he did not stop in time and shoot this son of a bitch directly against the wall, thus saving his Zhu family from this inexplicable disaster.

The person who was targeting him was Prince of Zhou Zhu Su. Zhu Fu didn't even dare to send anyone to go and make inquiries... He just waited in the mansion with the mentality of certain death. Unexpectedly, one day passed, two days passed... Until the third day, he still didn't get the Jinyi Tiqi who came to raid his house like wolves and tigers, nor the imperial edict to punish him.

Instead, on the third night, a smiling official in a red robe came to his house.

(End of this chapter)