Raising chickens and pigs and digging for wild vegetables, the county magistrate's promotion wa

Chapter 994 Yang the Madman Starts Scheming Against the Duke of Yansheng's Mansion Again?

Upon hearing the word "reputation," Emperor Zhu's face darkened.

reputation?

Zhu Chongba used to have at least a decent reputation.

But now?

With a son-in-law like Yang Dianfeng and a son like Zhu Biao, what reputation does Zhu Chongba have left?

Everyone in the world knows that I had a complicated past with Miss Liu Si back then.

Everyone in the world knows that we love pearl, jade, and white jade soup.

Everyone in the world knows that Zhu Chongba stole Liu the landlord's ox, then buried the ox's head in front of the mountain and the ox's tail behind the mountain, making the Ming Dynasty full of reclining ox mountains.

Even the whole world knows that I was chased away by my girlfriend and left alone in the Qianqing Palace.

What kind of reputation do we have left?!

Emperor Zhu stared at Yang Shaofeng with an unfriendly expression, and snorted coldly, "Just tell me what you think is best. Don't worry about our reputation; we don't have one anyway."

Yang Shaofeng chuckled dryly twice.

Look at you, why are you so petty?

Although most of the stories about you were written at my behest, if it weren't for your eldest son personally handling the process, how would the "Da Ming Daily" have dared to publish your, Emperor Zhu's, gossip?

So, if you're going to blame someone, you should blame Zhu Biao for those black sesame dumplings.

Yang Shaofeng cupped his hands towards Emperor Zhu and said, "Your Majesty, my idea is that once the 'White-Haired Girl' and other good shows are ready to be performed, we should have the local officials combine this with old cases and send all the gentry of the Ming Dynasty to Liaodong."

"Even if there are one or two who are not sociable and have not committed any serious crimes, we should encourage them to go to Liaodong to reclaim wasteland."

"We can start with the matter of the Duke Yansheng."

"Not to mention that the Song Dynasty had a Duke Yansheng, the puppet Qi Dynasty had a Duke Yansheng, the Jin Dynasty had a Duke Yansheng, and the Hu Yuan Dynasty had another Duke Yansheng, which greatly violated the teachings of Confucius."

"The Duke of Yansheng's mansion has done plenty of such shady things as encroaching on farmland and setting up private courts."

"If even the Duke of Yansheng could make mistakes, then the ancestors of the local gentry and gentlemen may not be clean either."

"Encouraging them to go to Liaodong to reclaim wasteland and cultivate the land can also be considered a way to atone for their sins and reform them."

"..."

Li Shanchang and Liu Bowen unconsciously wiped the cold sweat from their foreheads.

Has the Duke Yansheng's family recently provoked Yang Dianfeng?

No.

The only grudge between Yang Dianfeng and the Duke of Yansheng's mansion was that Kong Xi, overestimating his abilities, went to Ningyang County to try to set up a platform for Zhao Liang, the magistrate of Wenshang County, to settle the matter.

As a result, Zhao Liang's matter could not be resolved, and the Duke of Yansheng's mansion also harbored resentment from Yang the Madman.

The Northern School was tricked by him into compiling the "Hongwu Great Dictionary" and the "Hongwu Zhengyun". The Southern School did not provoke him, but was also tricked into compiling the "Hongwu Great Encyclopedia".

And now, Yang Dianfeng is plotting against the Duke Yansheng's mansion?

This kind of retaliatory style is endless...

Li Shanchang subtly winked at Liu Bowen, who nodded knowingly.

Did I offend Yang the Madman to death back then?

Yes, and not only you have offended Yang the Madman, but I have offended him too.

After all, the Censorate had impeached him many times over the years for being "exquisitely particular about food" and "extravagant and unrestrained."

Although everyone knows that such impeachment is completely useless.

Moreover, Yang the Madman caused quite a bit of trouble for the Censorate.

The problem is that Kong Xida, from the lineage of the Duke of Yansheng, offended him in the first year of the Hongwu reign.

It is now the seventh year of the Hongwu reign.

Six years have passed, and he still wants to bring up old grievances.

Who knows when he might stab the Censorate in the back again?

Seeing the worried expressions on Li Shanchang and Hu Weiyong's faces, Emperor Zhu simply snorted coldly.

Li Shanchang had already mentioned the matter of Yang Bailao and Hu Shiren before.

Because Hu Weiyong owed this scoundrel tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of laborers, he fabricated a story about Hu Weiyong as Hu Shiren.

It's rare to see someone so petty.

As for the Duke Yansheng's mansion?

Emperor Zhu didn't even think about the festival in the first year of Hongwu's reign.

As the saying goes, "There are those who can talk and those who can't listen." Li Shanchang and Liu Bowen, those two fools, simply didn't understand the meaning behind that scoundrel's words.

"Not to mention that the Song Dynasty had a Duke Yansheng back then," the key point of this passage is that the Song Dynasty, the pseudo-Qi state, and the Jin Dynasty all had three Dukes Yansheng at the same time, which violated the teachings of Confucius on the debate between the Chinese and the barbarians.

The key point of this passage is that they have done a lot of dirty work, such as setting up private courts and encroaching on farmland, which violates Confucius's teachings of benevolence and love for others.

To put it bluntly, this scoundrel just doesn't like the Duke Yansheng's Mansion. He thinks the Duke Yansheng's Mansion has brought shame and disgrace to scholars. Given the slightest opportunity, he will try every means to cause trouble for the Duke Yansheng's Mansion.

Now that he has such a good reason as a "million-labor shortage", why wouldn't he take advantage of it to the fullest extent?

However, Emperor Zhu felt no burden whatsoever regarding the matter of disturbing the Duke of Yansheng's mansion.

It's just a family that has been practicing the surrender of the emperor for generations, so it's not a big deal for them to make a move.

Didn't you see that even those scholars didn't take the Duke Yansheng's mansion seriously?

And then there are those local gentry and gentry who inexplicably fell for his schemes.

Actually, it can't be said that I was targeted for no reason.

The main problem is that there's been a strange rumor circulating in the capital lately, saying that people in Jiangnan are having a hard time getting meat because pigs from Jiangnan are being transported to Ningyang County, made into canned meat, luncheon meat, cured meat, and sausages, and then sent to the Dengzhou market to sell for money.

These kinds of strange winds blow in gusts, which would annoy any normal person, let alone the extremely petty Duke of Ying.

This bastard didn't instruct the Imperial Guards to frame him, which is already considered quite lenient and generous!

Emperor Zhu first glanced at Li Shanchang and Hu Weiyong, and said, "The matter of the Duke of Yansheng's mansion, as well as that 'White-Haired Girl' and the many Hu Shirens, can be discussed later."

"At the very least, we have to wait until all those opera troupes have finished their rehearsals."

"Acting rashly now might alert the enemy, which would be counterproductive."

After a slight pause, Emperor Zhu looked at Yang Shaofeng and asked, "Is there a faster way, one that can directly bring in 100,000 laborers?"

……

Just as Emperor Zhu and Yang Shaofeng were pondering the issue of laborers, King Wang Jeon of Goryeo, Marquis Chen Li of Guide of the Ming Dynasty, and Marquis Ming Sheng of Guiyi of the Ming Dynasty had already arrived outside the capital city.

Both Chen Li and Ming Sheng, who were in the same boat, unconsciously had tears welling up in their eyes.

I used to think it was nothing, and I even felt a little annoyed when I looked at the Nanjing city wall.

But after spending these past few years in South Korea, looking at the towering Nanjing city wall now, I feel a strange sense of familiarity.

King Goryeo's eyes turned redder even faster than those of the Chen brothers, Chen Li and Ming Sheng—it hadn't been easy, he had finally arrived alive in the capital of the Ming Dynasty, and finally had the opportunity to return his two living ancestors, Chen Li and Ming Sheng, to the Ming Dynasty!