Chapter 6: The Harem Shall Not Interfere in Politics
The imperial city of Fengyang is located in the north of the city.
At that time, to establish the capital in Fengyang, a moat two zhang wide was specially dug by diverting the waters of the Huai River.
Zhu Yuanzhang put his heart and soul into this imperial city, saving every year and asking the court to allocate funds for its construction.
It was thought that no matter how corrupt Li Fan was, he would not dare to tamper with the construction of the imperial city, and that within three years, a palace would be built.
It didn’t need to be magnificent, just built.
Today, he realized it was all wishful thinking, like flowers in a mirror or the moon in water!
Not only did Li Fan fail to construct the imperial city, but he also planned to transform Jiangnan gardens here, and the most infuriating part was that he intended to sell them to merchants.
This was simply outrageous! Ridiculous to the extreme!
These merchants deserve to die.
How dare they buy lands in the imperial city?
Each one is utterly mad.
If these merchants are not dealt with, in a few years, they will be shitting on our heads.
It seems the entire Fengyang city needs a thorough rectification.
If this trend of merchant corruption continues, the entire Ming dynasty might be overrun by merchants.
At that time, would the country still be our Ming dynasty?
With a livid face, he said to Mao Xiang:
“Order Lan Yu to lead five thousand elite soldiers to Fengyang to quell the rebels. I want to see whose Ming dynasty this really is!”
When the emperor is angered, corpses float for miles.
This time, Zhu Yuanzhang was truly furious.
Previously, setting up roadblocks to collect money and inventing names for taxes were minor disturbances.
Although excessive, they were still beneficial to the country and the people.
As long as Li Fan wasn’t embezzling, he could be slightly punished and the situation could be rectified.
But auctioning off the imperial city this time was outrageous, crossing his bottom line.
Especially those merchants who dared to covet the imperial city; it was pure fantasy.
He intended to kill all merchants who showed interest in buying the imperial city.
Empress Ma, seeing that the emperor was ready to send troops to suppress the matter, was quite worried.
After all, such things needed thorough investigation; what if innocent people were wronged?
She hurriedly advised:
“Chongba, calm down. If Li Fan dared to sell the imperial city, there must be a reason!”
Heh!
Zhu Yuanzhang sneered.
Reason? What reason could there be?
No matter the reason, it was his imperial city.
Although Fengyang was not the capital, it was still a secondary capital, and its imperial city was his palace.
What is this now?
These merchants, the lowest of society, brazenly entering the imperial city, intending to buy and live there, was a blatant slap in the face, a humiliation.
This couldn’t just be described as outrageous; it was practically rebellion!
I must kill these people; otherwise, the hatred in my heart cannot be resolved.
Now Empress Ma is even trying to stop me.
With a gloomy face, he looked at Empress Ma and said directly:
“The harem shall not interfere in politics! I have already decided on this matter. Do not bring it up again. Mao Xiang, send someone to arrest Li Fan immediately and interrogate him under severe torture!”
Empress Ma was stunned upon hearing the words “the harem shall not interfere in politics.”
It seems the emperor is truly angry this time.
Even in the past, when faced with the most difficult political issues, the emperor would consult her opinion.
There was no mention of the harem not interfering in politics then.
Now, regarding Li Fan, such a heartless statement was made.
It shows that imperial power is extremely important to the emperor, to the extent that even the empress cannot touch it.
She realized she must be cautious in the future.
She then stood still and said no more.
Zhu Yuanzhang regretted his words immediately after saying them.
Seeing the empress’s expression, his heart was filled with mixed emotions.
Perhaps Li Fan’s actions were too infuriating, causing him to lose his temper and say such hurtful words.
But now was not the time to apologize.
He would apologize to the empress after this matter was resolved.
At this moment, Zhu Shoucheng was trembling with fear.
It appeared the emperor was serious and intended to deploy the army.
Those soldiers were not reasonable people.
If he got involved with them, he would be skinned alive if not killed.
It was better to confess to the emperor sooner rather than later.
If he didn’t confess and was found out, he couldn’t imagine the consequences.
Trembling, he took out an invitation from his pocket and respectfully handed it to Zhu Yuanzhang.
He said reverently:
“Your Majesty, this is the invitation I received. Please take a look!”
Zhu Yuanzhang took the invitation with a livid face, ready to deal with Zhu Shoucheng.
Earlier, when questioned, he pretended to be ignorant.
Now, seeing that troops were about to be sent, he revealed everything.
Why didn’t he do this earlier?
Carefully examining the invitation, he rubbed his eyes, finding the contents unbelievable.
He handed it directly to Empress Ma.
“Honey, help me look at the contents!”
Empress Ma snorted coldly and said discontentedly:
“Your Majesty, the harem shall not interfere in politics!”
Zhu Yuanzhang felt a bit of a toothache.
His earlier words were indeed harsh.
He coughed lightly to cover his embarrassment.
“Honey, I was wrong earlier. I apologize. Please look at the contents. I feel like my eyes are blurry!”
Empress Ma gave him a sideways glance, opened the invitation, and read its contents.
Suddenly, her eyes widened in disbelief, and she said to Zhu Shoucheng:
“A courtyard starting at one hundred thousand taels? Such an expensive price, who would buy it?”
Zhu Shoucheng’s brain was no longer functioning.
The emperor’s earlier rage had scared him witless.
Without thinking, he replied:
“Currently, Fengyang has most of the merchants in the Ming dynasty. There are plenty of wealthy people here. A hundred thousand taels is nothing to them. If nothing goes wrong, the second courtyard of the imperial city should fetch a sky-high price of five hundred thousand taels!”
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