Chapter 69 Zhu Yuanzhang's Edict
Chapter 69 Zhu Yuanzhang's Edict

Although Ye Xuan was surprised about Fatty Huang's matter, he didn't care much about it. He just chatted with him casually for a few minutes and then seemed to be losing interest.

Although Wang Feihu originally wanted to gossip, Ye Xuan was not in the mood so he had to leave dejectedly.

Not long after Wang Feihu left, Ye Xuan drank a few sips of tea and was about to take a nap, but the door was pushed open again.

Ye Xuan thought it was Wang Feihu and the others, so he said casually: "It's nothing serious, you can handle it yourself, I need to recuperate."

However, after the words fell, there was no response. Only a familiar voice laughed and said, "You are blatantly lazy in broad daylight. Ye Xuan, do you know your crime?"

Upon hearing this, Ye Xuan immediately stood up from the armchair, looked at the visitor and smiled awkwardly, "Commander Mao, how come you have time to come to my place?"

Mao Xiang laughed and said jokingly, "If I hadn't come, I don't know how long you would have been lazy!"

Faced with Mao Xiang's teasing, Ye Xuan slowly relaxed.

In the past, Ye Xuan had heard that Mao Xiang was a strict person, and what he hated most was his subordinates neglecting their duties and being lazy.

I once heard that a captain was caught by Mao Xiang for doing private business outside his duty. He was beaten with eighty boards in public in front of the Jinyiwei of the Zhenfu Division as a warning to others. From then on, no one in the Jinyiwei dared to slack off while on duty.

Originally, Ye Xuan thought that Mao Xiang had caught him being lazy on the spot, and if he wasn't even beaten with a stick, he would at least be scolded.

Unexpectedly, the rumors turned out to be unreliable. The commander is obviously very friendly.

Ye Xuan chuckled and asked Mao Xiang to sit down.

As soon as Mao Xiang sat down, he took out a memorial and a piece of brocade from his arms, looked at Ye Xuan meaningfully and said, "Ye Xuan, I want to congratulate you on your bright future. If you get promoted in the future, please remember me!"

Ye Xuan was confused by these words, and he cupped his hands and said, "What are you talking about, sir? I don't have the idea of ​​getting promoted. As long as I can be a centurion under your command, I will be satisfied."

Ye Xuan's words could be said to be sincere and heartfelt, but Mao Xiang took these words as some kind of statement from Ye Xuan. He immediately stroked his beard with satisfaction, and looked at Ye Xuan with even more appreciation.

"You have such a temperament at such a young age. No wonder His Majesty thinks so highly of you."

Ye Xuan's heart skipped a beat when he heard this. Could it be that this Old Zhu was causing trouble for the post office?
Could it be that he saw through my lie about getting married and having children, and this time he must promote me to the rank of captain?

But before Ye Xuan could think further, Mao Xiang placed the memorial and brocade in front of Ye Xuan and said, "Look, the emperor's handwritten order designates you to do this job."

After saying that, he looked at Ye Xuan with emotion.

Ye Xuan felt relieved when he heard that. It turned out that he was just assigned an assignment. As long as he didn't insist on getting promoted, then everything would be fine.

After reading the memorial and the imperial edict respectively, Ye Xuan finally understood what was going on.

It turned out that someone from the Censorate had reported to the emperor that there was a folk rumor that officials from various places often gathered on a flower boat on the Qinhuai River to have fun.

When Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, he was furious!
Just imagine, during the Ming Dynasty, especially during the Hongwu period, the low salaries of officials were obvious to all.

Even a first-rank official in the imperial court only had a monthly salary of about 87 dan, and after deducting 40% of the salary as a discount, the total income was only about 40 taels of silver per month.

But this is the income of a first-rank official. How many first-rank officials are there in the entire Ming Dynasty?

Even the six ministers were only of the second rank.

However, the large flower boats on the Qinhuai River were veritable dens of money. Even if one just sat there and did nothing, the total amount of tea fees and rewards would be at least thirty or fifty taels! However, according to the memorials of the Supervisory Censors, these officials were spending money like water every night, so where did they get their money?

Zhu Yuanzhang concluded without any hesitation that these officials were spending the people's money.

Therefore, he issued an order to the Jinyiwei, appointing Chu Yao to secretly investigate whether the matter was true. If it was true, who were these officials so that the Jinyiwei could investigate corruption according to the list.

This was not a difficult task. All he had to do was to find a way to get on board, see where those people were having fun, and then report the list. However, Ye Xuan did look embarrassed.

It’s simple, I just have no money in my pocket!

Even when he went to Miaoyin Pavilion every day, it was because Nianwei covered all his expenses.

But rowing a boat costs dozens or even hundreds of taels of silver, and where would Ye Xuan get the money from if he is not greedy?

As if seeing Ye Xuan's difficulty, Mao Xiang smiled and said, "All expenses for this mission will be paid by the government. Just do your job well."

Ye Xuan's brows relaxed immediately after hearing this, and he smiled and said, "Since it is your majesty's order, I will naturally do my best!"

In fact, it goes without saying that the Jinyiwei has its own public funds for handling cases, but there are strict standards for each case, and there is not a penny more.

However, this was a case personally assigned by Zhu Yuanzhang, and secondly, Mao Xiang wanted to make friends with Ye Xuan, so he did not give any specific funding standards for this case.

Just think of it as letting Ye Xuan travel at public expense. Ye Xuan naturally knew the whole story and was forced to accept Mao Xiang's favor.

Of course, Ye Xuan is not a person who does not know the importance of things. If he spends as much as he wants without Mao Xiang setting any standards, it will only make people look down on him and give him something to criticize.

Before leaving, Ye Xuan sent Mao Xiang to the door. Mao Xiang patted Ye Xuan on the shoulder and said meaningfully, "Do a good job. I have been with the emperor for so many years, and I have never seen His Majesty think so highly of that young man!"

Ye Xuan smiled awkwardly and could only say a few humble words.

After seeing Mao Xiang off, Ye Xuan immediately called Wang Feihu and Song Zhenshan.

The two men saw Mao Xiang coming out of Ye Xuan's room and knew that he was probably assigned some important task.

So as soon as they entered the door, the two asked, "Sir, what is the errand this time?"

Ye Xuan did not keep anyone in suspense and explained the case simply and clearly.

Wang Feihu was a bachelor. When he heard that he could go rowing at public expense, he was eager to set off. However, Song Zhenshan on the side had a serious look on his face.

Seeing this, Ye Xuan asked, "Zhenshan, what do you think?"

Ye Xuan originally just asked casually, but he didn't expect Song Zhenshan to tell him a big news.

Song Zhenshan said solemnly, "I have heard about that flower boat a long time ago. I heard that there are not only officials on board, but also merchants from all over the country."

Ye Xuan was moved when he heard this, and asked, "Oh, officials of the Ming Dynasty value their status the most, so how could they play with a group of merchants?"

Song Zhenshan shook his head and said, "I don't know about that, and..."

(End of this chapter)