Ming Dynasty: Abandoned baby at the beginning, Zhu let me be the emperor

"Your Majesty, the Grandson of the Emperor has been so kind to me that I cannot possibly repay you."

In today's Hedong, it is not easy for women like them who are weak and cannot work to have a full meal.

If Meihua could stay with Zhu Ming, even as a maid, at least she wouldn't have to worry about food and clothing.

Zhu Ming just smiled and said nothing more.

"You mother and daughter go down first."

After Meihua had eaten and drunk her fill and the servants had cleared the dishes away, Zhu Ming spoke softly. What happened next was not something that the mother and daughter had any say in.

I have to say that Meihua and the others hadn't had a full meal for a long time. Meihua ate all the food clean, and I'm afraid she didn't even need to wash it.

After Zhao Di and Mei Hua and other irrelevant people left, Zhu Ming turned to look at Chen Ling who was waiting on the side and slowly began to ask, "Where is the magistrate?"

I have some understanding of the disaster here, and it's time to do some real work.

"Waiting outside the door."

Chen Ling responded respectfully.

Zhu Ming wanted to interrogate the local county magistrate, and the Jinyiwei he brought with him completely replaced the local county government and stood on both sides.

"Your Highness, I was unaware of this and have offended you. Please forgive me, Your Highness."

The county magistrate who was waiting outside the door was already extremely panicked when he learned that Zhu Ming had summoned him.

As soon as he saw Zhu Ming, he knelt down and begged for mercy in tears.

The other yamen runners followed the magistrate and knelt down in unison.

"I have an eighty-year-old mother and a three-year-old daughter..."

Hearing the magistrate's plea for mercy, Zhu Ming simply slammed the gavel on the table.

The crisp sound instantly spread throughout the county government office, startling the county magistrate and causing him to fall silent.

"It's my business. Even if you don't know, I don't care."

Zhu Ming looked at the magistrate calmly and was not angry about what had just happened in prison.

It’s just that I can’t forgive other things.

"I want to punish you for exploiting the people, embezzling disaster relief funds, and failing to provide disaster relief effectively."

Hedong was hit by a disaster, and the court allocated two batches of disaster relief funds, nearly 10 million taels of silver, which was enough to build another city.

The people in this county still have to live on thin porridge that is not enough to fill their stomachs.

"Your Highness, I cannot bear the consequences of these charges."

The magistrate knelt on the ground, and was terrified when he heard the charges that Zhu Ming made.

If any of these crimes is proven, the person will be sentenced to death.

"You can't afford it?"

Zhu Ming sneered. He had seen all this with his own eyes, yet he still wanted to make excuses.

"Someone is coming."

At his command, the Jinyiwei guards beside him stood up.

"Go to the porridge stall and get a bowl of porridge."

Zhu Ming finished speaking and stopped talking, waiting for the Jinyiwei to bring the porridge.

He wanted to see if the magistrate could drink the relief porridge himself.

He didn't say anything, so the magistrate could only kneel down obediently, sweating profusely in panic, and in a short while his official uniform was soaked with sweat.

Fortunately, the porridge stall was not far from the county government office. Within a stick of incense, the Jinyiwei came in holding a bowl of porridge.

"Show it to the magistrate. He is also very tired. Just think of it as a treat from my grandson."

Zhu Ming looked in the direction of the county magistrate, and the Jinyiwei handed the porridge in his hand to him.

The magistrate looked at the bowl of porridge in embarrassment. The sand and stones in it were visible to the naked eye.

"Why, can't you drink it?"

Zhu Ming asked out loud.

After hearing what he said, the magistrate had no choice but to raise his head with an embarrassed look on his face and drink the whole bowl of porridge in one gulp.

The feeling of sand and stones entering his mouth made him want to vomit several times.

"As a county magistrate, a local official, he didn't think about how to provide relief when his area was hit by a disaster."

Watching the magistrate drink the porridge, Zhu Ming slowly began to sneer.

"Instead, you are thinking about how to withhold the relief funds. Do you deserve to be dressed in court robes? Do you deserve to be worthy of the sage books you have studied for ten years? Do you deserve to be worthy of the hundreds of thousands of people under your rule?"

Zhu Ming kept asking, and every word he said was so insightful that the magistrate was speechless and could only bow his head to the ground.

"Why do you think this grandson of the emperor wears such shabby clothes? Is it for fun?"

As soon as Zhu Ming opened his mouth, the magistrate finally realized why Zhu Ming was thrown into jail while looking like a beggar.

His Royal Highness the Grandson must have also visited the porridge stall that provided disaster relief.

"This……"

He hesitated for a long time and couldn't think of any reason to refute.

In fact, what I took was only a small portion. There was not much left of the disaster relief food.

"You don't have to be dissatisfied. This grandson of the emperor is not targeting you."

Seeing that the county magistrate had nothing to say, Zhu Ming snorted again. He had indeed offended him, but not because he had imprisoned him, but because he had let the people down.

"I will not let go of anyone who has touched this disaster relief money."

Zhu Ming looked at the magistrate with righteous words, and his remarks made the Jinyiwei on both sides sincerely admire him.

As members of the Imperial Guard, they have seen many cases of embezzlement and exploitation of the common people.

People like Zhu Ming who are willing to work for the people are even more precious at this moment.

If His Royal Highness the Grandson succeeds to the throne, he will surely become a wise ruler.

"Take him away and escort him back to the capital together with my grandson."

Seeing that the magistrate had nothing to say, Zhu Ming did not waste any more words and clapped the gavel in his hand again.

Although when I came, Old Zhu gave me the power to execute first and report later.

But the magistrate is an official appointed by the imperial court after all, so in order to avoid gossip, it is better for him to do things according to the rules as much as possible.

Upon hearing Zhu Ming's verdict on him, the magistrate was completely despaired. His limbs collapsed and he could not even kneel steadily. He swayed as if he would faint at any moment.

Although Zhu Ming did not say that he would be sentenced to death, if the news of his embezzlement of disaster relief funds reached Your Majesty, even the Lord would not be able to save him.

At the thought that he might die, the magistrate felt a warmth in his legs and a liquid flowed down his legs.

"How dignified is that?"

Seeing that the magistrate was actually scared to death by him, Zhu Ming just frowned in disgust.

If I had known this, I should not have been greedy and touched the life-saving money of the people.

It's too late to be scared like this now.

"Take him away quickly."

Chen Ling reacted immediately and shouted to the Jinyiwei.

Two Jinyiwei immediately stepped forward and dragged the frightened county magistrate away, leaving a trail of water on the ground.

"Your Highness, how do we defeat these people?"

After the magistrate was taken away, the only people left in the government office were Zhu Ming and the Embroidered Uniform Guards and the kneeling yamen runners.

The big man who imprisoned Zhu Ming was also among them, not daring to look up.

"Now is the time to use people, please spare their lives first."

Zhu Ming waved his hand. He had taken down the county magistrate himself, but he still needed people to handle the affairs of the county. If he relied entirely on the Jinyiwei he brought with him, there would be a certain shortage of manpower.