My Pen Pal Zhu Yuanzhang

Chapter 444: Don’t you know what your identity is?
"On the third day of the sixth lunar month in the eighth year of the Hongwu reign, a carpenter named Zhong from Jiangning County under the jurisdiction of Yingtian Prefecture disappeared without a trace. His family members went to the Jiangning County government office to beat drums and complain. According to the family members, Carpenter Zhong did not return home after finishing a carpentry job on the evening of May 29.

At that time, his family thought that Carpenter Zhong had gone out to drink with his friends and did not take it seriously. But after a few days, Carpenter Zhong still did not return home.

At this time, the family finally realized something was wrong, and went to ask Carpenter Zhong's friend, but the answer they got was that his friend had not seen Carpenter Zhong for many days.

After hearing the news, the family members were anxious and continued to go to the relatives' homes to ask, but the answer they got was that no one had seen Carpenter Zhong.

The then county magistrate Wang Zhaohai felt that something was fishy and worried that a murder had occurred, so he personally led the chief constable to his home to investigate.

However, after careful investigation, no clues were found. Carpenter Zhong was doing carpentry work in a shop. His shop and residence were only across the street. His family members were at home that night and did not go out.

Wang Zhaohai then ordered people to interrogate his neighbors, and people from nearby shops testified that Carpenter Zhong did not leave the shop that night.

In other words, Carpenter Zhong disappeared in the store, and Wang Zhaohai speculated that someone might have sneaked into the store and killed Carpenter Zhong, but if so, where was Carpenter Zhong's body?
After several days of searching and visiting, Wang Zhaohai did not find any clues, let alone the body of Carpenter Zhong. It seemed that Carpenter Zhong simply disappeared in the shop for no reason! "

Mao Xiang carefully reported all the clues he found in the files to Zhu Yuanzhang.

Zhu Yuanzhang was silent for a long time after hearing this. After thinking for a while, he asked Mao Xiang:
"This matter is indeed strange, but why was it discovered only now? What specific connection does it have with the Guangjiku theft case?"

“Your Majesty, this case happened before the Guangjiku theft. At the time, it was just treated as an ordinary missing person case, and the Jiangning County government did not report it. Therefore, when the Guangjiku theft occurred, no one connected the two.

However, after the investigation was restarted, I and the prefect thought that we should change our line of thought and started the investigation from the boxes used to store the treasury silver. Then we found that this carpenter Zhong was the carpenter who made the boxes that stored the treasury silver!"

As soon as Mao Xiang finished speaking, Zhu Yuanzhang was immediately nervous. Is this carpenter named Zhong the carpenter who made the silver box for the treasury?

The relationship between this missing case and the Guangjiku theft case is huge!

"Mao Xiang, according to what you said, if this carpenter Zhong is really missing, then the way he disappeared is somehow related to the disappearance of the silver ingots in the Guangji Treasury, or is the way they disappeared actually the same?"

"Your Majesty is wise!"

Mao Xiang flattered calmly, "I am stupid and did not think of this. After your Majesty's reminder, perhaps there is some connection between the disappearances of the two!"

Mao Xiang, if we really believe that you are stupid, then we will be crazy!

Although he secretly criticized it, Zhu Yuanzhang was very pleased in his heart. Apart from anything else, this Jinyiwei commander had some ability to flatter.

Mao Xiang continued, "I seized this clue and continued to investigate further, and then found another important clue. The material used by Carpenter Zhong to build the box came from Yunnan!"

"Yunnan Shenchuan Military Governor's Office?" Zhu Yuanzhang was shocked and said in disbelief!
In this case, the Guangjiku theft case can be linked to the strange anecdote recorded in the "Da Ming Zhi Shu"!

No wonder Lao Li asked us to help investigate these two matters. There must be some secret connection between the two!

"That's right, Your Majesty. It is indeed from the Shenchuan Governor's Office!" Mao Xiang did not hide anything and told everything he had investigated.

"Although Yingchuan Hou only completely recovered Yunnan last year, many things from Yunnan were shipped to Yingtianfu for sale before that, such as wood, medicinal herbs, and stone slabs. Carpenter Zhong also purchased related materials from the Yunnan horse team for furniture making."

"Has the carpenter Zhong been found now?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked another key question.

"Your Majesty, Carpenter Zhong has not been found. No one has found him alive or dead. The Magistrate of Jiangning County, Wang Zhaohai, was so obsessed with the case because it was too bizarre that he died of illness due to overwork."

As he spoke, Mao Xiang sighed, as if he felt sorry for Wang Zhaohai.

Zhu Yuanzhang also sighed when he heard this. He did not expect that such a bizarre case would force one of his county magistrate to death. He felt sorry in his heart that such a dedicated official did not have a good end. It was really a pity.

“Have their families received compensation?”

"This, I am not very clear about, but according to the imperial edict, his family should receive pensions." Mao Xiang thought for a while and said.

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and said, "If his family is still a good man, his mother will be given the title of Imperial Lady and five hundred taels of silver as a reward."

"Your Majesty is considerate of his subordinates, and the emperor's grace is great!" Mao Xiang paused and said:

"Your Majesty, I believe that in order to get to the bottom of this matter, I must go to Yunnan in person to get to the bottom of this case!"

Zhu Yuanzhang was silent for a long while, and finally said: "This matter is too bizarre. You are experienced and should be able to take on this important task. However, have you ever thought about a question?"

"Ah?" Mao Xiang was stunned. What problem had he not considered?

Seeing that the usually shrewd Mao Xiang was also stunned by his question, Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help laughing, "Don't you know who you are?"

"Ah!" Mao Xiang then reacted. As the commander of the Jinyiwei, he was in charge of all the Jinyiwei in the world. In the Ming Dynasty, the Jinyiwei was such a presence that officials would cry when they heard of it and the common people would tremble with fear when they heard of it.

Although a large part of the Jinyiwei's responsibilities now is to collect overseas intelligence and provide clues and ideas for the Ming Dynasty's overseas expansion, it still has the authority to supervise all officials.

If a commander of this high rank appeared in Yunnan without any warning, what would the officials, both big and small, in Yunnan's officialdom think? Even if he did nothing, it would probably cause a violent shock in Yunnan's officialdom, right?
He was so focused on making achievements for this extraordinary man that he hadn't considered the issue of his identity. As a result, he could only continue to send out his clever subordinates to tell the Jinyiwei who had already gone to Yunnan the new information.

What he didn't expect was that Zhu Yuanzhang said again, "But you have to go there in person. This is a matter of great importance. I will feel relieved if you go to Yunnan to take charge of the overall situation. But in order not to cause panic among the officials in Yunnan, you have to go to Fu Youde and ask him to cooperate in the investigation. I will give you a handwritten order at that time. You can take the handwritten order to Fu Youde."

"Wei Chen understands!"

Mao Xiang was delighted. His Majesty's words made it very clear. He was the person His Majesty trusted the most. He quickly replied, "Your Majesty, please rest assured. I will get to the bottom of this matter!"

(End of this chapter)