jdhmnovel Chapter 307 Old Zhu doesn't have that rule!
Chapter 307 Old Zhu doesn't have that rule!
As soon as he left Penglai County, Yang Shaofeng was already hoping that Emperor Zhu would start a massacre and turn Xu Zheng and Qu Mingjie, those officials, into scarecrows as soon as possible.
It was because officials like Xu Zheng and Qu Mingjie were incompetent that Yang Shaofeng felt a sense of temporal disorientation, as if he had traveled back to the first year of the Hongwu reign, when he visited the villages outside Penglai City.
Houses built of mud bricks, thatched roofs, fences made of thorns serving as courtyard walls, and bumpy dirt roads—what kind of pastoral scenery is this? What kind of peaceful atmosphere is this?
There were no chickens or dogs at all!
All that could be seen were emaciated, ragged people busy harvesting wheat in the fields!
The tools that the people used to harvest wheat made Yang Shaofeng feel extremely sad.
In the past, Ningyang County at least managed to ensure that every household had a sickle, but now only a few able-bodied men among these people have sickles; the rest can only use thin stone slabs to harvest wheat!
As for the older folks and the younger children, they either helped the laborers harvesting wheat by bundling it up, or they carried the bundled wheat from the field to the edge of the field.
Some elderly people who couldn't carry the wheat simply used winnowing baskets or bamboo baskets to pick up the fallen wheat ears and grains from the ground.
Looking at the numb expressions on the faces of these people, their eyes filled with no hope and even despair, Yang Shaofeng really wanted to grab Xu Zheng and Qu Mingjie and ask them how cruel they were to oppress the people like this.
If possible, Yang Shaofeng would prefer some kind of deity to create a "kill me?" platform for Lao Zhu, so he could place orders for him and give him a bad review if he was even slightly slow.
After a long silence, Yang Shaofeng turned to Xu Jingyu, the magistrate of Penglai County, and two students transferred from Ningyang County who were beside him, and said, "After the wheat harvest is finished, first distribute land to the people, fifteen mu per person."
Xu Jingyu felt that he must have committed too many sins in his past life, otherwise he would not have become a county magistrate under Yang Dianfeng in this life.
Distribute land to the people?
Yes, you, Prefect Yang, can just open your mouth and divide it up, but can't you at least assign me a few yamen runners?
Or is it that you, Prefect Yang, intend for me and those two scholars from Ningyang County to preside over the land distribution?
Just as Xu Jingyu was inwardly complaining, Yang Shaofeng continued, "Also, inform the people of the news that those exorbitant taxes and levies have been abolished, and the news that Xu Zheng and Qu Mingjie have been arrested and beheaded in the capital."
Xu Jingyu was startled and looked at Yang Shaofeng, advising, "Your Excellency, it's fine to tell the people the news of the abolition of exorbitant taxes, but shouldn't you refrain from mentioning the news that Xu Zheng, Qu Mingjie, and other corrupt officials have been arrested and beheaded?"
Yang Shaofeng turned his head and glanced at Xu Jingyu, then chuckled and said, "Why don't you speak? They don't treat the common people like human beings. Do you think I should give them any face and forbid the people from knowing that they have been beheaded?"
Xu Jingyu stammered, "This...this..."
Yang Shaofeng snorted coldly and said, "There's nothing to it, and you don't need to talk to me about the dignity of the court. It's these scoundrels who have ruined the dignity of the court."
After saying this, Yang Shaofeng led Xu Jingyu and the two students onward, and only returned to the Penglai County Government Office after passing through four or five villages.
The problems facing Yang Shaofeng are now quite obvious.
From the perspective of people's livelihood, because of the harm caused by those bastards Xu Zheng and Qu Mingjie, the people of Dengzhou lack farming tools, oxen, and seeds. Dengzhou's geographical advantages have not been brought into play, which is equivalent to having gold but having to beg for a living.
From a political perspective, it was also because of bastards like Xu Zheng and Qu Mingjie that the people of Dengzhou had almost zero trust in the government. It would take a long time to rebuild the people's trust in the government and the imperial court.
From a cultural and ecological perspective... there's really nothing interesting to see from these two angles. After all, if you can't even get enough to eat, what's the point of talking about culture and ecology?
After sighing to himself, Yang Shaofeng simply went back to his room and began writing a memorial to Emperor Zhu.
"Prefect Yang of Dengzhou respectfully reports that the people of Dengzhou lack farming tools, seeds, and oxen... We await Your Majesty's decree and respectfully submit this report."
"Prefect Yang of Dengzhou respectfully requests the exemption of taxes... We await Your Majesty's decree and will submit our report accordingly."
Write these two letters first: one to ask the people for farm tools, seeds, and oxen, and the last to ask Dengzhou to exempt them from taxes for another three years, so that the people of Dengzhou can catch their breath.
As for why only two letters were written instead of more... such behavior of seeking benefits is ultimately exploiting others. You can't just fleece Lao Deng like Ge You. Sustainable, exploitative approaches are the right way to achieve long-term development.
……
While Yang Shaofeng was plotting how to fleece Lao Deng in Dengzhou Prefecture, Lao Deng was making red marks with a vermilion brush in the Qianqing Palace.
The so-called "red checkmark in vermilion ink" means that the Ministry of Justice would report the list of death row inmates to the Emperor Zhu, and the Emperor Zhu would then use vermilion ink to check the list to indicate his approval.
Normally, the process of marking red lines with vermilion ink is a very careful one. Usually, the local prefectural government would report to the Ministry of Justice, which would then review the report and the Court of Judicial Review would conduct a final review before the emperor would mark the lines with vermilion ink.
When the emperor marked the crimes with his vermilion brush, he would usually select a few less serious offenses to pardon. For example, slow slicing would be changed to beheading, beheading to hanging, hanging to exile, and exile to imprisonment. Even slow slicing, beheading, and hanging would be carried out in the autumn, in order to show the emperor's benevolence.
But things changed when it came to Emperor Zhu.
Kindness?
We are lenient with them, so why aren't they lenient with the common people?
And they still call it execution after the autumn harvest?
Old Zhu doesn't follow that rule!
How much grain would it take to raise these bastards until autumn?
Kill them all while they're at it!
Liu Bowen was so pleased with Emperor Zhu's decision that he wanted to clap his hands in approval.
Yes, hurry up and kill them all! Kill those idiots in eastern Zhejiang too! Killing them is not enough to appease public anger!
However, as the emperor was marking the red lines with his vermilion brush, he was also muttering and cursing to express his dissatisfaction.
"It's a wonder that this bastard dared to write that!"
“Exiled to Dengzhou, exiled to Dengzhou, exiled to Dengzhou.”
"All the relatives of these officials were exiled to Dengzhou. Just how much do they like road construction?"
"Damn it, I'm not only sending all the relatives of these officials to Dengzhou, but I'll also send all the relatives of those gentry there, so you can have your fill of suffering!"
Li Shanchang and Liu Bowen sat in chairs, both looking like they were cultivating immortality, seemingly oblivious to the Emperor Zhu's rant.
After all the names on the list were checked off, Emperor Zhu breathed a sigh of relief and then said to Li Shanchang, "Brother Shanchang, we plan to send the students of the Imperial Academy to the execution ground as well."
Li Shanchang was immediately terrified.
WTF?
The Imperial Academy has only a handful of students, and you want to send them to the execution ground?
Foolish king!
tyrant!