Zhang Qiu turned his head and saw a rather dignified old man.
"Who are you? How dare you say that?" he sneered.”
"We are the relatives of the current empress!”
Zhu Biao blurted out.
In this situation, if he were to say that he was the Crown Prince and his father was the Emperor…
Not only would this burly man not believe them, but he would even use this as a crime to arrest them.
However, this was human nature.
Suddenly, one day, a person ran to you and told you that he was the Crown Prince and his father was the Emperor.
No one would believe such a thing.
Now, they could only hope that the burly man could bring them to see Brother Chen. Then, the truth would be revealed.
Meanwhile, Zhu Yuanzhang's face was ashen.
Damn it!
This damned King Chen was really planning to attack him here!
He was too careless! He had been too careless!
He didn't expect that the entire Quanzhou was actually a faction of King Chen.
Not a single one of them was loyal to the country!
As for capturing Japanese pirates?
That was just an excuse for that bastard King Chen to attack him!
This kind of thing was often seen in history books, so it was not surprising.
"The relatives of Empress Ma?" Zhang Qiu's expression turned solemn.
" Yes," Zhu Biao quickly replied.
Just as Zhang Qiu was about to speak, Boss Wang walked along the wall and came to the door.
Immediately after, he tripped over a royal guard and ran out.
Zhang Qiu was quick to react. He grabbed his neck and slammed him into the ground. He then stepped on Boss Wang's body.
"Ah!" Boss Wang screamed.
"Humph! I, Old Zhang, hate it when people lie to me. Arrest all of them!"
The guards immediately swarmed forward.
...
Night fell.
Zhu Chen returned to his loyal palace.
"Your Highness, you're finally back!" Yang Shiqi breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Zhu Chen was unharmed.
"A few pirates are worth worrying about?”Zhu Chen rubbed his hands.
"I estimate that the new camp of 500 people will be ready in a dozen days. Old Yang, you can prepare the rations by then." Zhu Chen blew on the hot tea and took a sip.
"Yes, Your Highness. I wonder if Your Highness plans to…"
"I won't hide it from you, I plan to use my army against the Wei Nation. These pirates come year after year, we plan to directly eradicate them!”
Yang Shiqi paused.
Five hundred people to attack the Wei Nation?
It was a country after all!
His Highness was too confident!
"Don't worry, 500 people are enough." Seeing Yang Shiqi's expression, Zhu Chen knew that he didn't believe him.
However, Zhu Chen felt that this battalion of five hundred men was a waste.
He planned to have 500 people fight in front, and then the second line would defend the city.
However, there were still a few people under him.
Out of the four islands of the Wei Nation, only one could be taken down.
Yang Shiqi wasn't embarrassed that his thoughts had been seen through. This was his job.
"Your Highness! Your Highness! I, Old Zhang, have caught the mole!"
Zhang Qiu ran over in a hurry, his face full of excitement.
"Oh? "Well done, Old Zhang. I'll take your credit." Zhu Chen nodded.
Zhang Qiu was grinning from ear to ear.
"Haha, that's right, Your Highness. Other than this spy, I've also caught their accomplices!”
"Oh?"
If Zhu Chen remembered correctly, when he was interrogated, he only said that there was a spy and never said anything about accomplices.
"However, those two people said that they are Empress Ma's relatives. Does Your Highness want to meet them or just kill them?”
Zhang Qiu suddenly thought of the relatives of Empress Ma that the two of them had mentioned.
Although he felt that this was a lie.
However, it still depended on whether His Highness wanted to see him or not.
If he was really a relative of Empress Ma, His Highness should know him.
If it wasn't, he would just cut it down!
"A relative of Empress Ma?"
How could that be possible? Empress Ma's relatives did not have any preferential treatment in this dynasty, and they could not afford to live in Heavenly Earth.
However...
It was better to wait and see. After all, Empress Ma had treated him quite well back then. Even if it was just a name, Zhu Chen was willing to waste some time.
"Bring him over."
"Yes, Your Highness."
Not long after, the two men were brought in.
One of them was an old man with a fierce and dignified expression. Although the other's hair was loose, one could still see a refined aura.
It was Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao.
" Your Highness, it's these two people." Zhang Qiu kicked Zhu Yuanzhang's leg lightly as if he was taking credit.
Zhu Chen slowly put down his raised hand.
Old Zhang, your actions are too fast!
Zhu Yuanzhang saw Zhu Chen in the light of the fire.
uh...
She was taller, fatter, and whiter.
It seemed that he was doing well in Quanzhou.
That's right. How could he not be living well after plundering like this?
Zhu Yuanzhang coughed lightly and was about to say something.
He realized that he had been kidnapped and recalled his previous encounter.
He was instantly enraged.
"You unfilial son, are you planning to kill your father and brother?!!”Zhu Yuanzhang shouted.
Killing his father and brother?
Everyone was stunned!
The father of Prince Chen was the current Emperor Hongwu.
Could it be that the two people who were tied up were Emperor Hongwu and the Crown Prince?
Yang Shiqi glanced at Zhu Chen. He saw that Zhu Chen's face was calm, without any anger.
He knew that the old man was not lying.
At the same time, Yang Shiqi looked at Zhang Qiu sympathetically.
It's over, Old Zhang, Old Zhang.
You... You kidnapped the current emperor. You're really too brave!!!
However, Zhang Qiu was furious!
He didn't think too much about it.
It was one thing for these two people to pretend to be Empress Ma's relatives, but now they actually pretended to be His Highness 'father and brother!
He had simply eaten a bear's heart and leopard's guts!
"How dare you!"
After saying that, Zhang Qiu slapped Zhu Yuanzhang's head.
The next moment, his hand stopped in mid-air. No matter how hard he tried, he could not move at all.
"Eh, Your Highness?"
Zhu Chen was helpless.
"Clang!"
Zhu Chen pulled out the knife from Zhang Qiu's waist and looked at Zhu Yuanzhang.
With a swoosh, he slashed.
Zhu Yuanzhang's expression did not change, and the rope on his body fell.
Zhu Biao was the same.
"Brother, I've made you suffer."
Zhu Chen cupped his hands and bowed.
"I'm fine, it's just that Father…" Zhu Biao smiled bitterly.
"Humph!" Zhu Yuanzhang interrupted Zhu Biao with a cold snort.
Then, he strode into the living room and sat on the main seat.
Zhu Chen asked the guards to leave and then invited Zhu Biao in.
At this moment, Zhang Qiu was stunned.
This hometown…The old man was really His Highness 'father.
I, Old Zhang, kidnapped the Emperor and the Crown Prince?
Father, what you failed to do, your son succeeded!
But...
Old Zhang is in big trouble!
He did not know if His Highness could protect him this time.
Yang Shiqi couldn't bear to see Zhang Qiu's dejected look.
She quickly pulled Zhang Qiu in.
"Old Zhang, you have to quickly apologize later, understand?"
Zhang Qiu regained his senses and nodded repeatedly.
As soon as Yang Shiqi and his wife entered, they felt that the atmosphere was extremely strange.
Zhang Qiu remembered Yang Shiqi's instructions and was about to step forward to apologize.
"Alright, those who do not know are not guilty. I believe that His Majesty will not punish you for such a small matter, right, His Majesty?"
"Yes." Yang Shiqi and Zhang Qiu quickly retreated.
Seeing this, Zhu Yuanzhang did not say a word and took a sip of tea.
He sighed in his heart. This bastard was using words against him!
"It's true that those who don't know are not guilty. Your crimes are too numerous to record!"
Zhu Yuanzhang came up and questioned him.
"Your Majesty, what have I done?" Zhu Chen asked indifferently.”
"You've accumulated wealth without restraint, deceived the emperor, violated etiquette, privately minted coins, privately sold salt, and killed innocent people. These are enough for me to confiscate your house!”Zhu Yuanzhang stared at Zhu Chen.
Zhu Chen paused for a moment and then smiled,"You want to punish me?"
"You want to punish me? Good! Let me ask you!"
Zhu Yuanzhang stood up. Although his face was old, his body was very strong and he looked very dignified.
"When you first arrived in Quanzhou, there were still four great clans. Why is there only one left now?”
Zhu Chen looked at Zhu Yuanzhang.
"I killed him! One by one, no matter if it was an old man in his sixties, a child of two or three years old, or even a pregnant woman, they all died in my hands!”
Hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and said,""Indiscriminately killing the innocent, looks like I didn't wrongly accuse you!”
Zhu Biao was anxious!
The two of them were at loggerheads.
Chen's younger brother did not bow his head, and as an elder, the old father would not admit his mistake.
This won't do!
What if…What if Brother Chen got angry and did something he couldn't bear to say?
this
"Ahem, Brother Chen, is there a reason?”
"No." Zhu Chen calmly took a sip of tea.
Zhu Yuanzhang's expression turned even colder!
"Do you really think we can't do anything to you now?”
"Hehe, Your Majesty can return to the capital now to mobilize troops to eliminate a traitor like me. I'll give you this opportunity to see who will win in the end.!”Zhu Chen smiled.
Damn it! He came up and asked for punishment!
Do you really think I'm afraid of you?
"Bang!"
"Enough! Father, Brother Chen! If you continue to act like this, I will die in front of you right now!”
Zhu Biao was furious.
These two people are so stubborn. They really don't give me, the crown prince, face!
" Biao, you…" This was the first time Zhu Yuanzhang had seen Zhu Biao angry. He was at a loss for what to do.
Even when he was about to execute Song Lian, he had never seen him.
"Father, please listen to Brother Chen's explanation.”Zhu Biao turned around and asked.
"There's nothing to explain."
"Brother Chen!" Zhu Biao raised his voice.
"Alright, alright."
When he first entered the capital, other than Zhu Biao and Empress Ma, his identity as an illegitimate child was disliked by everyone.
There were even people who poisoned Zhu Yuanzhang in the name of cleaning up the filth.
It was Zhu Biao who called the imperial physician and cured him.
This was a life-saving grace that had to be repaid!
He had to give her face!
"When I first came to Quanzhou, the three great clans controlled Quanzhou and even the land of the Prince's mansion. They said that they were helping me look after it.
After that, I asked the waiter to invite them over to discuss with them.
However, the waiter was beaten to death. They thought Quanzhou was their Quanzhou and used the death of a servant as a warning to me.
They thought that a servant was not important. Hehe, a servant! He was my first friend in this world.
Therefore, I joined forces with the Zhang family. It was that silly Zhang Qiu who exterminated all three families."
"Waiter? The little kid who entered the palace with you back then?”Zhu Yuanzhang was stunned.
"Hehe, I didn't expect you to remember."
Zhu Biao was speechless when he heard that. It was happening again!
"Hmph, fine, then you sold salt and coined coins without permission. Are we still accusing you?”Zhu Yuanzhang's expression softened slightly as he continued to ask.
"Tsk tsk, you make it sound so easy. I just came to Quanzhou and am poor. How can I live if I don't do some business?”
"Impossible! Back then, I asked the Ministry of Revenue to allocate money for you!”
"Haha, Your Majesty, you're really…You only saw me once and then didn't care about me. When the old masters of the Ministry of Revenue saw this situation, would they still be polite to me?”Zhu Chen wanted to laugh.
Should he say it or not, he was shocked by the good tricks played by the old masters of the Ministry of Revenue.
As usual, the silver was allocated to him. In name, it belonged to him, but the real use was to go around the Ministry of Revenue.
He even claimed that the King of Chen was willing to pay taxes for the people around Quanzhou.
In this way, the old masters of the Ministry of Revenue filled in the old accounts and settled the matter of Emperor Hongwu.
Zhu Yuanzhang's face turned green and red.
"They actually did this? We won't let them off!" Zhu Yuanzhang felt cheated.
Zhu Chen wasn't interested in how Zhu Yuanzhang would deal with the lords of the Ministry of Revenue.
"And you said that I privately minted coins. I want to laugh even more.
Your Majesty, do you know that the Great Ming Treasure Notes you made are snatching meat from the commoners!”
Hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang's expression turned ugly.
Was this brat accusing him of plundering the people's wealth?
But he was the one who did this! Now, he was actually making a countercharge!
"Nonsense! The Ming Dynasty has little copper. We created the Ming Treasure Notes to make it convenient for the people and merchants!”Zhu Yuanzhang argued.
" Haha, Your Majesty, the first material of your Ming Dynasty notes is simple." Zhu Chen smiled.
"So what? Treasure notes are mass-produced and distributed throughout the world. Of course, cheap materials are used to save money!”
Zhu Yuanzhang was extremely dissatisfied.
This bastard actually started to criticize his policies.
This thing was his proudest work.
As long as the printing speed was fast, Big Ming would have endless money!
Zhu Yuanzhang glanced at Zhu Chen. It seemed that this brat didn't understand.
That was true. After all, he had never been through a legitimate transaction with the royal family since he was young. How could he understand such a profound thing?
"Haha... "No, I can't stand it anymore." Zhu Chen laughed so hard that tears almost came out of his eyes.
Good fellow!
The words of Emperor Hongwu made people laugh.
" Your Majesty, the simple materials used for the notes mean that it is also very easy to counterfeit them. The appearance of a large number of counterfeit notes will inevitably lead to a situation where bad money will drive out good money."
Zhu Yuanzhang was stunned.
Bad money driving out good money, what did this mean?
He looked at Zhu Chen, embarrassed to ask.
Fortunately, Zhu Biao could see his father's embarrassment and quickly asked,""Brother Chen, what do you mean by bad money driving out good money?”
"It's very simple. Exquisite Yiguan notes can be used to buy things. Fake notes may not be as exquisite, but they can still be used as Yiguan flowers.
Then do you think the people will use exquisite real money or crude fake money?”Zhu Chen asked.
"Impossible!"
Zhu Yuanzhang blurted out.
"How can a fake be used for real!”
"Tsk tsk, the commoners know if it's true or not? As long as it could also be spent as money, then it was real!”
"This... This was…How is this possible?"
Zhu Yuanzhang was stunned. He sat down on the chair and made a creaking sound.
" Impossible, absolutely impossible!" Zhu Yuanzhang found it hard to accept this reality.
However, he also understood what Zhu Chen said. It was very reasonable.
Did I really do something wrong?
Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but ask himself a question.
"There's more. Continue."
Zhu Chen smiled.
He was happy to see Old Zhu like this.
You asked me to say this!
Zhu Chen was afraid that he didn't say it clearly enough and Old Zhu couldn't understand.
Thus, he began to speak seriously.
"Secondly, there is no reserve for banknotes!”
"What is a reserve?" Zhu Biao was very curious.
Why did Brother Chen say all these words that he didn't understand?
"As for the reserves, it's to prevent the commoners from suddenly exchanging notes for gold and silver. The imperial court has the ability to provide the gold and silver that the commoners exchanged," Zhu Chen tried to explain in terms that they could understand.
Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes lit up.
"Humph, this reserve is useless to Big Ming, because in order to avoid this situation, we are not allowed to use treasure notes to exchange for gold and silver."
Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but smile.
Humph humph humph, this kid was wrong this time!
Zhu Yuanzhang felt proud.
Just now, he was rendered speechless by the scolding, which made him feel very aggrieved.
Now, it's my turn!
"Eh, does Your Majesty think this is a good thing?”
"How is it not a good thing? The country doesn't need to pay a single cent to have a large amount of money to use. How is it not a good thing?”Zhu Yuanzhang said firmly.
"Oh, so that's the case. No wonder then. It turns out that His Majesty did it with the intention of getting something for nothing. Then there's nothing to say."
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。