Father can be an enemy to the country

In the army, no matter how good you are at fighting, it will be troublesome if you are not qualified enough, and you may not be able to command others at critical moments. Therefore, it is usually the prince who serves as the commander-in-chief, in order to suppress the arrogant and powerful generals on the mountaintops.

Of course, qualifications alone are not enough, you must also be able to play. For example, although Tang He was already the Duke of the country, he completely lost the qualification to lead the army after the Mingxia Campaign in the third year of Hongwu, and could only do odd jobs in the rear.

Therefore, Fu Youde is almost Xu Da's only choice if he doesn't want to use Feng Sheng.

"When the prince was in Yunnan, he cooperated well with Duke Ying, so I would like to ask the prince to serve as the supervisor of this battle and help him control the situation." Xu Da requested.

It was said to be a request, but the words coming out of Xu Da's mouth were orders. Not because he is a general, but because he is Xu Da.

"Haha..." Zhu Zhen couldn't help but smile bitterly. It seemed that he could never return to his home. "Father-in-law has orders, and you should obey them. But your daughter wants to scold me to death."

"I'll ask for leave for you at Miaoqing." Xu Da said: "We, the princes, shoulder the important responsibilities of the country. At that time, state affairs were our top priority. As a princess, she should do the same."

"Oh." Zhu Zhen couldn't help but feel ashamed. The consciousness of this older generation is so high. Unlike myself, who spends all day thinking about leaving the family behind and returning to Yunnan.

"Then the matter is settled." Xu Da said: "Three days later, on February 2, the army will go out to fight!"

"As ordered." Zhu Zhen quickly stood up and clasped his fists. After sitting down, he said softly: "Before setting off for the expedition, there is something I am worried about."

"What's the matter?" Xu Da asked.

"It's the case of theft of military rations." Zhu Zhen said in a deep voice: "Now it has been implicated in the capital. Officials from the six provincial procuratorate are either in jail or on their way to jail. Now even the court can't get enough people. coming."

"I heard about it." Xu Da nodded and said, "The emperor was still very angry when he received the edict the day before yesterday. He said that he would investigate to the end and turn the whole country upside down."

"Good guy..." Zhu Zhen said with a bitter smile: "If we do this, my father will not stop until we kill tens of thousands of people."

"Hmm." Xu Da said with his beard, "The emperor is determined to punish corruption this time. I support it with both hands, but killing tens of thousands of people is too exaggerated, right?"

"It's not an exaggeration at all." Zhu Zhen said solemnly: "Currently, the Criminal Trial Department has verified that Guo Huan and his party have three crimes. The first is reselling more than one million shi of grain in Taiping and Zhenjiang.

"The second is to set up clever names and levy excessive amounts of money. In addition to the official taxes of the court, they also collect various kinds of money from the people, such as water money, cart money, food money, treasury money, cattail money, bamboo basket money, god and Buddha money, etc. The various expenses add up to even more than the official tax. For example, the autumn grain receivable in Zhejiang is 2.5 million dan, but they receive more than 5 million dan every year." After a pause, Zhu Zhen said:

"And the imperial court has not seen a penny from these overcharges. So this is the third charge, corruption. According to the general ledger calculated by the Interrogation Department, Guo Huan and his accomplices embezzled a total of 24 million shi of grain. "

"Is it so much?" Xu Da was really shocked, and said from ear to ear for a while: "Twenty-four million dan, the imperial court's tax for one year."

"Yes." Zhu Zhen nodded and said with a worried look on his face: "According to the confessions of Guo Huan and others, twelve provinces across the country are involved. Not only the government, but also the wealthy people who colluded with the government and bought and sold. They were all involved. In the meantime, the next step is to send personnel to various provinces to arrest people and recover the stolen goods.”

"Twenty-four million stones, how can we chase after it?" Xu Da realized the seriousness of the problem and gasped: "I am afraid that middle-class families and above will be doomed."

"Yes." Zhu Zhen said with deep understanding: "The food for the imperial court is sent by the province, the food for the province is sent by the counties, and the food for the counties is collected by the wealthy households who grow the grain. All Anyone who has handled taxes and grains will not be able to escape this disaster. They will be arrested from top to bottom. "

"Arrest them all, then who will do the work? The government cannot be paralyzed." Xu Da frowned.

"Wear shackles to work." Zhu Zhen said with a wry smile: "The prisoners in the hall will wear shackles, and the officials in the hall who are questioning the case will also be in shackles. After the case is finished, everyone will be exiled together, and maybe they can even ride in a prison car. Woolen cloth……"

Xu Da had a black line on his forehead, but he knew that with his emperor's temper, it was very possible for him to perform such an abstract operation.

"If the situation develops as the prince expected, then the Ming Dynasty will definitely be in chaos for a while. How can we fight this war?" Xu Da felt so worried that there was a big bulge on his back.

"No, a stable internal environment is the prerequisite for the Northern Expedition. If the internal environment is in chaos, what's the point of the Northern Expedition?" Zhu Zhen nodded.

"Does the prince want to suppress this case?" Xu Da asked in a deep voice.

"I have this idea." Zhu Zhen also said it.

"But they are so lawless and misbehaving, they deserve to die. How can we speak for them?" Xu Da knew that Lao Liu told him in such detail just to get him in. He couldn't do Tai Chi with his son-in-law, so he could only pick him up. of stubble.

"Yes, Guo Huan does deserve death, and his accomplices are also full of shit, but the question is, is it necessary to kill them all?" Zhu Zhen said slowly: "Will the replacement be replaced quickly? Going back to their old ways?"

"Should it be able to deter latecomers, right?" Xu Da said he was not confident at first: "At least it can deter for a few years."

"It's really hard to say. Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, corruption must be punished, and the punishment will be severe. Those who commit eighty bribes will be hanged, and serious cases will be skinned and stripped of grass! This kind of intensity is unprecedented!" Zhu Zhen pointed out: "Add more The Kongyin case in the ninth year of Hongwu's reign, the Hu Weiyong case in the thirteenth year of Hongwu's reign, and the sharp blade of the Jin Yiwei hanging above their heads at all times, aren't they enough to alert officials all over the world? "

"That's enough." Xu Da nodded and asked puzzledly: "Then why are they so unafraid of death? Isn't it more uncomfortable not to embezzle than to kill them?"

"There are many reasons for this, such as the poisonous nature of the previous dynasty, which is due to human nature. But I have always believed that we should not place our hope on people's self-consciousness. It is impossible for people to be self-conscious." Zhu Zhen said softly:

"People laugh at the stupidity of lamp moths who rush into the flames, but they don't know that they are no different from lamp moths."

"Yes." Xu Da agreed: "So the army must have strict systems to restrain soldiers, and strict military laws to punish those who dare to violate the system. Otherwise, the army will be like a bandit."

"Yes, in fact, my father governs the country by running the army. Now the law is strict enough, why are there still so many corrupt officials? I think the system designed by my father has its own problems, which is also a very important reason." Zhu Zhen said in a deep voice.