This was the first time they had come to such a magnificent palace.
Along the way, they passed by the civil and military officials and then the emperor's feet. Their legs were weak.
With a thud, he knelt down without the eunuch's reminder.
"Greetings to the emperor, long live the emperor!”
The five people shouted in trembling voices, but they did not agree.
"Get up," Zhu Yuanzhang said.
Looking at these five honest farmers, seeing that it was their first time coming to him, he did not blame them for not knowing etiquette.
After all, he was a farmer himself, and he was very tolerant of the farmers of Ming Dynasty.
After the five of them stood up, Zhu Yuanzhang asked," Just now, the Prime Minister said that the houses of the people in Fuzhou Prefecture were forced to be demolished by the local government.”
"Is this true?"
When they heard Zhu Yuanzhang ask about this, the five of them hurriedly nodded.
"Yes, yes, yes! Your Majesty, this is all true."
One of them even pulled up his sleeve, revealing his bruised arm. After so long, the bruise could still be seen.
That person was full of grievances.
"Your Majesty, this is the truth!”
"At that time, when the officials came, they forced all of us to sign the land deed. However, we were unwilling. That was the house that we had lived in for several generations. No matter what, we were unwilling to let the house be torn down!”
"In the end, when the officials saw that we dared to resist, they began to beat us up.”
"Other than me, my companions were also beaten up!”
The others nodded and showed their wounds to Zhu Yuanzhang.
All the officials present expressed their opinions on this matter.
"I didn't expect the Fuzhou government to be so arrogant and force the people! It's really a heinous crime!"
"You're right! If someone was unwilling to demolish the house, he would beat them up. Was there any justice or law?”
Some of the officials said angrily.
However, there were still some officials who had doubts in their hearts.
The nearby officials whispered among themselves.
"But don't you think this is very strange? Since the government of Fuzhou treated human lives so lightly, why did they allow them to walk out of Fuzhou so easily?”
"Aren't you afraid that they will leak this matter?”
The other officials also whispered to each other.
"Yes, if this official was that heinous Meng Yin, the thing I would definitely do is to silence all of these people so that this matter won't be exposed."”
Many ministers also felt that this was very strange.
This was because other than the bruises on their bodies, these five people had not suffered any other injuries.
Presumably, nothing bad happened on the way from Fuzhou Prefecture to the capital.
If this Meng Yin really did dirty things, how could he be soft-hearted?
Zhu Yuanzhang heard the commotion below and snorted coldly.
He naturally had his own thoughts.
If the officials below could think of this, then so could he?
However…
He still wanted to continue listening to these people.
He pretended to be angry and said angrily,"What a good Fuzhou government! How dare you bully the people like this!"
"Zhen will make the decision for you."
"Tell me what you want to sue the Fuzhou government for.”
"If the situation is true, I will definitely punish you severely.”
Zhu Yuanzhang's aura surged.
Many of the officials did not say anything else.
A smug smile appeared on Hu Weiyong's face. He knew that Zhu Yuanzhang hated corrupt officials who bullied the people the most.
For a corrupt official like Meng Yin, as long as he casually caught a little bit of dirt on him, wouldn't it be a casual matter to want to pinch him to death?
Hu Weiyong showed a satisfied expression, waiting for the five hostages he brought to give evidence.
Then…
One of the five people began to talk about what had happened.
"I want to report the people from the Fuzhou government for targeting us during the demolition activities.”
"The government said that they would give each family ten taels of silver for demolishing the house, but they only gave six taels to our family.”
Zhu Yuanzhang's expression changed slightly.
This was different from what these people had said just now.
Didn't they say that Meng Yin forced the government to demolish the buildings?
Why did it turn into a 'bad deed' of giving ten taels of silver to report to him?
At the same time.
The expressions of the officials around him began to change.
Zhu Yuanzhang said,"Continue."”
The person who cried out for injustice said," At that time, all the people in our place agreed. They gave us a lot of silver. They gave us ten taels. We only gave six taels!”
"We didn't want to ask for an explanation. In the end, the officials impatiently asked us to cooperate with the demolition. They said that most people had agreed, and it was useless for us to object.”
"Of course we're not happy. Isn't this deliberately targeting us?”
"But…"
"The other neighbors are all scrambling to get us to cooperate with the demolition. They even said that the area where the five of us live is very remote and the house we build is small. It would be good if they could give us six taels of silver!”
As that person spoke, his face was filled with sarcasm.
He snorted coldly and continued," These people are just here to watch the show. How can ten taels of silver compare to six taels of silver?"”
"We're not willing to leave!”
"The people from the government didn't show up, but those neighbors actually took their weapons and started to beat up our five families…"
At this point.
Before this person could see the expressions of all the officials around him change.
He thought that Zhu Yuanzhang did not interrupt him because he wanted to support him.
He continued to complain vividly.
"Your Majesty, look! They beat us black and blue.”
"The most despicable thing is that those people from the government didn't stop them even when they saw it!”
"Just let us be bullied like this!”
"What a bunch of dog officials!"
"Your Majesty, we've been wronged. Those people from the government are clearly colluding with the people and deliberately targeting our five families.”
At this moment.
Zhu Yuanzhang's face was as black as the bottom of a pot.
The others also understood.
This was simply a huge blunder!
In the end, what kind of corruption was this?
Many people looked at Hu Weiyong. This was the witness that the Prime Minister had brought?
What a joke today!
Zhu Yuanzhang did not speak.
He was thinking about the silver.
The most important information he had just heard was that the local residents would receive at least six taels of silver for the demolition.
There was actually so much money?
One had to know that the houses of the common people in the capital under his feet could only be worth five or six taels.
Fuzhou was such a remote place, but the price was much higher than Beijing!
In an instant.
Zhu Yuanzhang felt his heart ache again, as if the silver had fallen from his body…
He listened to the man continue to talk about the collusion between the government and the people.
Hu Weiyong couldn't stand it anymore, and his expression was extremely awkward.
He did not expect that the few people he brought would actually set him up.
Zhu Yuanzhang's expression became more and more terrifying.
"Shut up!" he quickly said.”
The five people who were scolded were shocked. The person who spoke pouted and was a little unhappy." Didn't you ask us to come to court to testify? I haven't finished yet."
If they didn't finish, would the government compensate them with a few more taels of silver?
Moreover, now that they had seen the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, perhaps after they came here to complain, they would be compensated with even more silver!
Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head.
Suddenly.
He thought of the words that Meng Yin often said.
The trouble of the unruly people is nothing!
Wasn't this right in front of him?
He actually delayed the morning court session because of a few unruly people.
Zhu Yuanzhang's face turned cold.
He questioned Hu Weiyong.
"Hu Weiyong, is this what you did?”
"Such an unruly person was actually brought into the court and caused such a ruckus. How do you think we should deal with him?”
This book is provided by FunNovel Novel Book | Fan Fiction Novel [Beautiful Free Novel Book]