The Ming Dynasty: The most ruthless imperial grandson, Old Zhu begged me not to kill him.

Chapter 119 Fengyang in distress, Old Zhu in a rage
Zhu Yuanzhang thought back to the Yuan Dynasty, when his family was starving to death. If they had even a bite to eat, he would never have rebelled.

They thought that by driving out the Tartars and restoring peace to the world, the people could live a good life.

I didn't expect it to still be like this.

Zhu Yuanzhang was extremely angry.

"What about the local officials?"

"The imperial court supports them so they can stand up for you. What are these people good for?"

The old man's eyes were devoid of any life. Seeing Zhu Yuanzhang's angry expression, he sighed and let out a mocking laugh.

"Brother, I'm afraid you don't have a very clear understanding of the situation in Fengyang Prefecture!"

“There are indeed local officials in Fengyang Prefecture, but this is, after all, the place where Emperor Zhu rose to power. Countless powerful and influential people in our entire Ming Dynasty came from this place!”

"Now that these guys have made it big, they don't care about these poor folks anymore. Instead, they're thinking of seizing all the folks' land. The local officials have many connections with these people, so naturally they don't dare to do anything to them!"

"We commoners have always had lowly lives, how can we possibly stand up to those high-ranking officials? We can only be slaughtered at their mercy!"

Zhu Yuanzhang's face was extremely ugly, and he turned his gaze to the Crown Prince Zhu Biao beside him.

"Biao'er, send this old man back to Fengyang Prefecture immediately. Do these guys think they've gone too far? We want to see just how bold the people of Fengyang Prefecture really are!"

Zhu Yuanzhang asked many passersby, and the result was the same.

Many people were allocated land when the country was first established, but within just a few years, their land had been seized under various pretexts.

This infuriated Zhu Yuanzhang, but the key point was that almost all of these people who harmed the people were his old brothers.

Zhu Yuanzhang stared blankly at Zhu Biao beside him.

"Biao'er, did we do something wrong? We thought our old brothers had fought alongside us for so long, it's time for them to enjoy their retirement!"

"So the salaries we set for those officials weren't particularly high, but I haven't treated these old brothers unfairly at all. Why do they still treat the people of the world this way?"

Crown Prince Zhu Biao lowered his head and remained silent for a while; he didn't know how to talk about this matter.

After all, they are all my uncles and aunts, so I can't say anything bad about them, can I? "In this newly established world, it's inevitable that some people will have other thoughts, but please rest assured, Father, that they are only a minority. Perhaps most people are not like that!"

Zhu Yuanzhang sneered, dismissing Crown Prince Zhu Biao's words with disdain. He knew perfectly well that Crown Prince Zhu Biao was only saying those words to comfort him.

But as the Hongwu Emperor, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, how could he not be aware of these things? Even his hometown of Fengyang Prefecture was in this state, so what about other places? "Since these people dare to bully our people, then kill them! Kill all these corrupt officials! I refuse to believe that our butcher's knife is not sharp enough!"

"I refuse to believe that killing them will scare these guys away and they'll still dare to act like this!"

Upon hearing this, Crown Prince Zhu Biao's expression changed drastically. "Water that is too clear has no fish, and a person who is too discerning has no followers. Not all corrupt officials should be killed. Such punishment is far too severe."

Which official in the country can truly be honest and incorruptible? Moreover, killing this group of officials would surely cause a great shock to the court.

By then, it would be a losing proposition.

"Father, please reconsider!"

"While some of these people certainly deserve to die, others are different. Although they have made some mistakes, these mistakes are not too serious and only require slight punishment!"

Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head. "Biao'er, those corrupt officials only care about their own interests and never care about the lives of the people. No matter how many or how few, they are all bullying the people of my Great Ming!"

"If this door is opened, it will cause a huge reaction. If others follow suit, what will become of the people of my Daming?"

"Although Yang Xian deceived us so badly that we wish we could skin him alive, we still strongly approve of his method of peeling the skin off the daylily!"

"If these corrupt officials didn't do this, how would the people of my Great Ming Dynasty be any different from those of the Yuan Dynasty!"

Crown Prince Zhu Biao sighed. His father hated corrupt officials the most, and even he couldn't say anything about it.

However, suppressing it too much is ultimately not a good approach.

Thinking of this, he took a deep breath.

"Father, many of these nobles from Huaixi are your old brothers."

If we handle this directly, it would seem like we've crossed the river and then burned the bridge; how about we leave this matter to a hero?

"I believe Father has witnessed Xiong Ying's abilities during this time. I entrust this matter to Xiong Ying, and I am confident that he can handle it well. This is also a good opportunity to test Xiong Ying!"

Crown Prince Zhu Biao thought to himself, "Now I can only use my own son as a shield."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but reflect on how his grandson's actions and temperament truly matched his own.

He has accomplished quite a lot during this period, so this is a good opportunity to see how he handles this matter.

If Xiong Ying handles things well, then with three generations of his family still alive, the Ming Dynasty will have no worries.

"Alright, I'll give you this one chance. Let's see how Xiong Ying handles it. If you handle it well, we'll reward you handsomely!"

"If Xiong Ying doesn't handle this well, we'll beat you up too, your father!"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Biao nodded hastily, thinking to himself.

Xiong Ying, you must make your father proud, or I'll beat you in the same way your grandfather beat you until your bottom is bruised and bleeding.

Zhu Xiong Ying, far away in Yingtian, sneezed several times, wondering who was thinking of him. Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao arrived at Fengyang Prefecture, which was extremely desolate, completely different from what Li Shanchang had reported.

As the two were inquiring about various matters, a group of people suddenly surrounded them with sticks.

"Who are you? And why are you in Fengyang Prefecture?"

Seeing that the situation was not good, Mao Xiang, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, led a group of Embroidered Uniform Guards to surround the area.

The leader was extremely surprised by this situation. It seemed that the two people in front of him were no ordinary people, otherwise why would they have so many guards?

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at the man in front of him with an unfriendly expression.

"My son and I are just merchants passing through. Why are you surrounding us?"

The man breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this. As long as they weren't high-ranking officials or nobles from Yingtian Prefecture, they didn't take anyone else seriously.

(End of this chapter)