Chapter 4: Another Piece of Evidence
Zhu Shoucheng realized that the Emperor was talking about him.
His legs began to tremble involuntarily.
He had always heard that being close to the Emperor was like being close to a tiger.
But he had never experienced such a thing before.
Now, seeing the Emperor sometimes amiable and sometimes thunderously angry.
He found himself completely unable to cope.
With a thud, he knelt on the ground, trembling and said.
“Your Majesty, this commoner acknowledges his guilt and will hand over all the money to the authorities! I will never do business again!”
Empress Ma naturally understood why the Emperor was angry.
She hurriedly helped Zhu Shoucheng up and comforted him:
“At the beginning of the founding of the country, His Majesty decreed that all taxes in Fengyang County would be exempted. How dare Li Fan collect taxes from you?”
Zhu Shoucheng heaved a sigh of relief upon hearing the Empress’s explanation.
As long as he was not being blamed, it was fine!
Wiping the sweat from his forehead.
“Your Majesty exempted the land tax and corvée, but Fengyang County still has other taxes. Such as education tax, value-added tax, county construction tax, sanitation tax, river maintenance tax. And other miscellaneous taxes that I can’t name!”
Hiss!
Zhu Yuanzhang gasped when he heard Zhu Shoucheng’s words.
He had worked hard to reduce taxes for the people of Fengyang County.
But Li Fan had the nerve to invent excuses to increase the taxes for the people of Fengyang County.
Good! Good! Good!
Another crime added to his list!
Looking at Zhu Shoucheng with a sullen face, he impatiently said:
“Didn’t you question it? Why didn’t you report it to the County’s authorities?”
Zhu Shoucheng swallowed.
Thinking that these things were quite normal, weren’t they?
Why should he report to the County’s authorities?
But seeing Zhu Yuanzhang’s expression, it seemed this was not the case.
Remembering the earlier lesson, he hesitated and didn’t speak for a long time.
Zhu Yuanzhang understood what was going on from his hesitation.
He couldn’t speak because the County’s people were also involved.
No wonder Li Fan dared to be so blatant.
It turned out he had protection from above.
He initially thought the problem was only in Fengyang County.
But from Zhu Shoucheng’s behavior, it seemed the officials of Fengyang County might also be involved.
These officials were simply outrageous.
He had been so strict with corrupt officials.
Yet these people still committed crimes so brazenly.
This time he would rectify the situation.
He would catch all the corrupt officials in Fengyang County.
Seeing Zhu Yuanzhang’s iron-blue face and silence.
Zhu Shoucheng became even more terrified and didn’t dare to speak.
It seemed necessary to stay away from the Emperor this time.
He used to think about getting close to the Emperor.
Now it seemed the farther away, the better.
He sat silently aside.
For a moment, the entire carriage was eerily quiet.
Only the creaking sound of the carriage could be heard.
In half an hour, they arrived at Fengyang County.
Zhu Yuanzhang stepped down from the carriage.
He looked at the towering city walls and nodded with satisfaction.
The court had been funding the construction of Fengyang County’s walls for many years.
At least Li Fan hadn’t embezzled funds from this project.
If Li Fan had dared to cut corners on the city walls.
Zhu Yuanzhang would have had him executed immediately.
He said to Zhu Shoucheng:
“Uncle, where are you living now? Take me home for a meal!”
Zhu Shoucheng, with no choice, led the Emperor into the city.
After a few steps, he suddenly remembered something and urgently said:
“Your Majesty, I need to remind you that once inside Fengyang City, you must walk on the right side. The middle of the road is for carriages, and the sides are for pedestrians. Don’t walk incorrectly, or you’ll be fined!”
Zhu Yuanzhang frowned, puzzled, and looked at Zhu Shoucheng.
Since when did Fengyang City have such rules?
How could there be regulations on how to walk?
Did the people of Fengyang have to follow walking regulations?
The anger he had just suppressed surged back into his brain.
He lost his composure instantly.
Setting up roadblocks to collect fees could be understood as a means to repair roads.
But regulating how people walked—was that also supposed to benefit them?
Even the tyrannical Yuan Dynasty didn’t regulate walking.
Punishing people for not following the rules?
This was clearly a pretext to collect more money.
His face darkened.
Li Fan was getting increasingly outrageous.
Not only setting up roadblocks to extort money.
But also inventing excuses to impose heavy taxes.
And now even regulating how people walked.
Today, he would see how these people could be so lawless.
After speaking, he strode ahead of Zhu Shoucheng.
Walking on the left side into the city.
Zhu Shoucheng watched the Emperor in confusion.
He had explained very clearly.
Why was the Emperor still doing this?
He said to the Empress beside him:
“Your Majesty, please persuade the Emperor. Magistrate Li’s regulation to walk on the right is to facilitate everyone’s travel. So that the city can function smoothly. Why does the Emperor insist on violating it? What if he gets caught by the officials?”
Empress Ma was also helpless.
Her husband’s temper once ignited.
Not even eight horses could pull him back.
He wouldn’t stop until he hit a wall.
Who knew how this would end?
Suddenly she saw Zhu Yuanzhang having an altercation with an official.
She hurriedly stepped forward to stop them, blocking the enraged Zhu Yuanzhang and said to the official:
“Please, let’s talk this over calmly! Don’t get excited!”
An official, covering his face, pointed at Zhu Yuanzhang excitedly and said:
“Kid, you dare hit me? Today, you must be thrown in jail!”
Zhu Yuanzhang, furious, glared at the official.
A mere official dared to threaten him?
How audacious, he angrily retorted:
“I haven’t broken any laws, why are you arresting people? Is this how things are done in Fengyang?”
Zhu Shoucheng, seeing the Emperor in a quarrel with the official.
Was instantly terrified; angering the Emperor meant trouble for everyone.
He quickly took out a silver ingot and handed it to the beaten official.
“Sir, he’s my relative from the countryside and unfamiliar with Fengyang’s rules. Please be lenient!”
The official, a native of Fengyang, recognized Zhu Shoucheng.
Seeing the silver, he couldn’t say much more.
A serious incident would be troublesome.
He accepted the silver, weighed it, and nodded with satisfaction.
Slipped it into his pocket, and said to Zhu Yuanzhang:
“Today, because of Mr. Zhu, I’ll let you go. Be careful in the future!”
He then turned to Zhu Shoucheng and said:
“In the future, teach these country bumpkins the rules before letting them out. Luckily, it was me. If it were the magistrate, he’d be sent to Longzi Lake to feed the fish!”
Looking around, he shouted:
“Disperse, everyone! What are you looking at? Don’t you have work to do?”
Seeing there was no more excitement, the crowd quickly dispersed.
Empress Ma, seeing Zhu Yuanzhang still furious.
Hurriedly comforted him:
“Li Fan’s rule to walk on the right is to ensure smooth traffic flow in the city. Preventing congestion. Everyone keeps to their own paths, making the city neater, don’t you think?”
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