First Minister of Ming Dynasty

The guard agreed and went as ordered.

Zhang Ximeng followed Zhu Yuanzhang and went straight to the county government office.

The county magistrate of Dingyuan is called Wang Kai, and he is considered to be Lao Zhu's fellow townsman. He followed Lao Zhu when he left Haozhou, and was later placed as the county magistrate in Dingyuan. It has been two or three years now.

Zhu Yuanzhang still took good care of the people in his hometown, and even planned to transfer Wang Kai to Yingtian as the magistrate of Yingtian.

But at this moment, such a thing came out.

When Lao Zhu and Zhang Ximeng entered the county government office, Wang Kai hurried over to salute.

"Humble post pays respects to the superior!"

Zhu Yuanzhang just glanced at him, turned his head aside, and said coldly, "Mr. Zhang, you can ask him!"

Zhang Ximeng nodded, and said to Wang Kai, "Do you know that Hu Sanshe sells alcohol?"

Wang Kai was taken aback, how did the superior know about this?However, his psychological quality was strong, and after hesitating, he immediately made up his mind. Although Zhu Yuanzhang forbade the sale of alcoholic beverages, it seemed that this was not a heinous crime, so he admitted: "The lowly job, the lowly job knows!"

"Since you know it, why don't you care?"

"This...don't dare to control it!"

"Why don't you dare to take care of it?"

"Because of his father, his father is Hu Dahai!"

Zhang Ximeng chuckled, "So what about Hu Dahai? There are ten or twenty generals in the army like him. Is it possible to let them corrupt the law?"

Wang Kai was silent for a while, then peeked at Zhu Yuanzhang, and found that old Zhu was still sullen and silent, he suddenly turned his head, shook off Zhang Ximeng, and kowtowed hard at Zhu Yuanzhang, his head beating loudly!

"Superior, Hu Dahai is not an ordinary general. He is attacking Shaoxing. It is a matter of war. If the morale of the army is shaken and it leads to a disastrous defeat, there will be no redemption for the lowly position! , It’s a big deal! The superiors, the humble officials, boldly suggest that no matter what Hu Sanshe did, we should wait for his father to return to his teacher from Shaoxing before we can deal with it. The big things are the most important!”'

Wang Kai burst into tears and punched the ground with his head, continuing to express his heart.

"Superior, I am a magistrate thanks to the grace of the superior, and the humble is a dog of the superior, I must take care of the family for the superior!"

"You fart!"

Zhu Yuanzhang was furious, "The overall situation? What is the overall situation? Our decree is the overall situation! Food is the overall situation! No one is allowed to use grain to make wine, this is the overall situation!"

Old Zhu leaned over, stared at Wang Kai, and said with a sneer, "Listen to us! Let Hu Dahai rebel! Our decree is no joke!"

One word out of the mouth, the sky will be struck by lightning!

Wang Kai was so frightened that his face turned pale and he almost collapsed.

He couldn't believe his ears, how could this be?

Just because of something like drinks, forcing a general to rebel?

Which is more important?

Zhang Ximeng's mouth turned up, and he slightly extended his thumb. Such a powerful Zhu Yuanzhang actually said that he would rather Hu Dahai rebel than let the law become a trifling matter.

This is the real ruthless man!

Liu Futong still dared to say that he was the same hero as Lao Zhu, but in comparison, Liu Futong was too far behind, even using the method of poisoning, it was really useless.

In any effective team, the rules far outweigh the individuals.

Zhu Yuanzhang was able to risk a general's rebellion and resolutely deal with his subordinates who broke the rules.What is maintained is the rules of the Zhu family army, which is the combat effectiveness of the team.

But in the last days of Ming Dynasty, it is not surprising that a second-rank civil servant hacked to death a first-rank general without immediate punishment. .

Lao Zhu's attitude greatly exceeded Wang Kai's expectations. He was dumbfounded and didn't know how to answer. He was so dumbfounded that he knelt on the ground and trembled.

At this time, Zhang Ximeng secretly probed, for Lao Zhu's attitude, he naturally cast all his arms, that's right, laws and regulations must come first.

But there is another layer in it, which Lao Zhu ignored.

Zhang Ximeng said in a low voice: "My lord, what we drank in the restaurant wasn't just Hu Sanshe's wine? It seems that Wang Zhixian's subordinates are not alone in selling bootleg alcohol. We need to find out how much they are involved in!"

Zhang Ximeng laughed and said, "Isn't the father of those people also called Hu Dahai?"

Just now Wang Kai almost passed out, but after hearing Zhang Ximeng's words, he was scared to death...

Chapter 2 Ten Good Kills

"Mr. Wang, how much can you sell for a jar of ten catties of fine wine in Bozhou?" Zhang Ximeng asked Wang Guangyang casually.

Wang Guangyang said: "It's not cheap. In fact, Liu Futong's side also prohibits alcohol, but it's a pity that there are not many people listening to it. A jar of ten catties of wine, better ones, may cost five taels of silver!"

Zhang Xi nodded, and asked again: "Then, how much wine can be produced for one stone of grain?"

Wang Guangyang took a deep breath, he really hadn't calculated this, "There are always dozens of catties."

"That stone grain, how much is it on our side?"

Wang Guangyang took a deep breath and his face changed.

According to the standards of later generations, one hundred catties of grain can be used to brew thirty to fifty catties of 55% liquor... The current technology is no better than that of later generations, and the yield rate of alcohol will be reduced, but don't forget, the alcohol content of the current wine is also very low Outrageous, I am afraid it can be more than [-] degrees, it is considered fine wine.

Anyway, no matter how you speculate, one stone of grain, 120 catties, will yield [-] catties of wine, or a discount, [-] catties, which is quite scary.

Because on Zhu Yuanzhang's side, one stone of grain is only worth two guanbao banknotes, and one liang of silver can be exchanged for two guanwubao banknotes... After the calculation, even a fool knows it. On Zhu Jiajun's side, they make food and wine, and get Bozhou to sell, at least five times the profit to start.

And there is another key point here, the grain for wine making cannot be calculated at the market price, and the actual profit may be more than ten times.

After deducting all expenses, there are several times the net profit in the middle.

At this point, it's not just as simple as making people crazy.

Wang Guangyang, as the only major civil servant who followed Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhang Ximeng, was naturally responsible for the investigation of this case. When he faced the terrifying profit, he was also frightened and thirsty.

Subconsciously grabbed the teacup and took a sip.

"Zhang Xiang, if this is wine, if you drink it in one gulp, it will cost you almost silver, right?"

Zhang Ximeng nodded slightly. The reason why he found it difficult to ban alcohol was because he expected the huge profits, but he didn't expect that the profits would be so big!

"A Hu Sanshe, how much can he eat? The owner of that restaurant didn't take him seriously, and he was thinking about flattering Xu Da, Tang He... They already knew that such a big piece of fat must be eaten. Pull more people off, so that you can make money safely, or the master's knife will fall on his head!" Zhang Ximeng said, and suddenly glanced at Wang Guangyang, "Mr. Wang, you won't be involved too ?”

Wang Guangyang was so frightened that he waved his hands quickly, "Zhang Xiang, I, I don't dare! Besides, this, this thing happened in Dingyuan, I, I joined the superior after I crossed the river, I am not familiar with these people... ..."

"shut up!"

Zhang Ximeng shouted decisively: "Mr. Wang, what time is this? What are you talking about Huaixi people, people crossing the river...you touch your head, are you still there?"

In a word, Wang Guangyang's heart is chilled.

He really felt scared and uneasy.

Zhang Ximeng didn't scare him.

Prohibition of alcohol involves too many interests, and everyone wants to take a bite.The big guy's eyeballs are red for what he can eat and what he can't eat.

If you can't enforce the law impartially when handling a case, instead you make some identity distinction. You are an old man in Huaixi, and I am a person after crossing the river. endless.

Even if he escaped the turmoil this time, sooner or later he would be unable to bear it.

At that time, it is not impossible to lose his old life, or even wipe out his family!

"Mr. Wang, you are so much older than me. You already have a wife and children. I don't need to say anything about some things... If I have to say it, I just think it's hard to be an honest official, but it's easy to be an honest official! Put your heart on it That's right, the lord can see it, and we big guys can also see it. After all, there are so many pairs of eyes up and down, as long as you do it, you will inevitably be discovered!"

Wang Guangyang pondered for a while, and immediately nodded vigorously, deeply convinced.

He wiped the cold sweat from his palms, bowed and said to Zhang Ximeng, "Master Zhang, I have been a Jinshi in the Yuan court, and I know exactly how the officialdom of the Yuan court is. The upper class is extravagant and the lower class is greedy, colluding with each other, and comparing friends to traitors." , There is absolutely no way for a good minister or a virtuous minister to survive... Now that the superiors are talented, and the Prime Minister is impartial in enforcing the law, you are a perfect match, and those of us who work below can feel at ease."

What Lao Wang said was actually quite interesting. He was an official in the Yuan court, and it was not clear that he had various corrupt practices.The Great Yuan Dynasty was rotten, and no one could do anything about it.

Now under the leadership of Lao Zhu, everyone knows Zhu Yuanzhang's hard work, but this is not the scariest thing.

Because Zhu Yuanzhang can only kill, Zhang Ximeng can kill!

Only when they work together can the people below be subdued.

Take the current case as an example, if Zhang Ximeng hadn't been involved, Lao Zhu would have said at most that he would rather let Hu Dahai rebel than corrupt the law.

Then he killed Hu Sanshe, took his head, and warned his subordinates.

That's basically it.

Although the deterrent effect is quite terrifying, after all, it still hasn't touched the real big fish behind. If the case is not investigated clearly, there is no way to give an explanation to the world, and there will be endless troubles in the future.

In the original history, Zhu Yuanzhang spent his life in constant killing, and he couldn't figure out why these corrupt officials went on and on, not afraid of death at all...Since you don't even care about your life, are we still afraid of killing people? ?

bring it on!bring it on!

Kill a head to roll, kill a blood to flow into a river!

For Lao Zhu, it seems that there is only so much he can do.

But with Zhang Ximeng's involvement, the situation is quite different.

The first is Wang Guangyang. He checked all the granaries in Dingyuan and personally checked the number.And Zhang Ximeng also went to investigate the military settlements.

The reason is simple, no matter how much wine is made, food is indispensable.

On the civil side, due to the equal distribution of land, the common people can make their own decisions. It has only been a few years of good life. The big guys must be desperately saving food, so apart from paying the land tax, there are definitely not many that can be sold on the market.

Therefore, in addition to the local warehouses, there is food in the army.

This is also starting from the source.

After Zhang Ximeng's preliminary investigation, the food shortage in the military village was about [-] shi. That kid Hu Sanshe was honest, and according to his confession, he got [-] shi!

Finally, the big head was matched, and the rest can be regarded as daily wear and tear, or some smaller mice.

But I turned my attention to the warehouse in Dingyuan County. After some inspection, there was a gap of 12 shi!

It must be known that Dingyuan has two taxes in summer and autumn a year, and the total is only 18 shi!

In addition, they can also pay food and be exempted from military service. If all of them are counted, Dingyuan can have 20 shi tax and food a year, which is not bad.

Snapped!

Lao Zhu hammered the table so hard that the teapot trembled wildly.

"Okay! In a large grain-producing county, half a year's harvest has just disappeared! This is not a Shuoshu, but a bunch of gluttons!" Lao Zhu was furious.

"Besides Hu Sanshe, how many other people are involved in the matter of bootlegging?"

Zhang Ximeng said: "According to the current thorough investigation, first of all, it is the officials in charge of the treasury, and there are also a few wealthy households in Dingyuan. Then there are two commercial firms in Chuzhou... Wang Kai, the county magistrate, also participated. In his home, 300 taels of red gold were found!"

"Kill! Kill! Take off the skin of this beast!"

Zhu Yuanzhang was so angry that Wang Kai was appointed county magistrate because he was a fellow villager and had followed him for a long time.

300 taels of gold is enough to peel off ten layers of your skin!

"My lord, do you think we should go to Dingyuan for the canonical punishment, or go back to Jinling, and then make a fuss about it?"

Old Zhu was slightly taken aback, "Mr. Zhang wants us to go back to Jinling?"

Zhang Ximeng grinned, "My lord, this case is quite involved, give me some more time to investigate clearly, and deal with it after my lord returns to Jinling?"

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned. He wished he could kill people immediately, but since it was such a big case, it would be easier for them to kill them directly.

"We should go back to Jinling and tell everyone to deal with these beasts in an upright manner!"

Zhang Ximeng smiled helplessly. Obviously, Zhu Yuanzhang didn't understand what he meant. Is there any need to be so anxious about this case?Really don't need to think about it?

Lao Zhu thought for a while, and understood Zhang Ximeng's meaning. He suddenly smiled, "Bring a pen and paper here."

Zhang Ximeng handed the pen and paper to Lao Zhu, Zhu Yuanzhang thought for a while, and wrote a letter to Hu Dahai with the pen.

"Your son stole [-] shi of grain and brewed wine privately, which violated our military order. We thought that military law was more important than human feelings, so we wanted to kill your son... Some people said that you would rebel, but we didn't believe it...you You can't bear to let the people of Hezhou be ruined by Sun Deya, so you come to join us. We believe that you understand the general situation and take into account the overall situation. But Hu Sanshe is your own son after all, so you can decide for yourself what to do!"

After Zhu Yuanzhang finished writing, he smiled at Zhang Ximeng, "Mr. Annoyance, send someone to Hu Dahai immediately. Be sure to let Hu Dahai know before the trial of this case! After all, he is his son, we can't pretend to be a father .”

Zhang Ximeng naturally knew what Lao Zhu was thinking, but wasn't it a bit too much to do this?

"My lord, there is really no need to take it easy, or to be lenient?"

"No!" Zhu Yuanzhang said firmly: "Sir, we know what you are thinking. It is a decree to kill Hu Sanshe, and to send a letter to Hu Dahai is because of the fact that he has made so many contributions... We did this. , with a clear conscience, Hu Dahai can do things honestly, so we will continue to use him sincerely. If he hates us, don’t be soft, and we have a clear conscience, and the rest is up to Hu Dahai.”

Zhang Ximeng held the letter, thought over and over again, and nodded, this is Zhu Yuanzhang!

"My lord, Xu Da is on the southern expedition. If something like this happens, he should be informed."

Zhu Yuanzhang took a deep breath, and finally nodded heavily, "Then let the sir write a letter for us."

Zhang Ximeng agreed, and just like that, the two letters were quickly sent across the Yangtze River to Hu Dahai and Xu Da respectively.

Hu Dahai opened the letter, read it for a quarter of an hour, his expression changed again and again, and finally he just gritted his teeth and said: "Good kill! A rebellious son has the right way to kill!"