Hongwu Daming: Why hasn't my son rebelled?

Chapter 65
This Dingyuan County is less than three hundred miles away from Deyingtian Mansion, and it is only two days' journey by horse-drawn carriage. Because it is very close to Defengyang, Dingyuan County, which was originally poor and backward, is now bustling area.

Zhu Yuanzhang is determined to vigorously develop the economy around Fengyang. It is not a joke that [-] wealthy households moved here.

It's just that when Zhu Qi was sitting in the carriage and opened the curtain, he could see the newly renovated spacious official road, but there were not many people coming and going, and it was rare to see people dressed as merchants bringing goods into the city.

Although the Ming Dynasty had a household registration system and tied the people to the local state capital, don’t think that the people would never go out. There are also fairs and temple fairs that are quite lively. Dingyuan County is a city next to Fengyang. County towns naturally have a large population, and with a prosperous economy and a market, it is easy to gather merchants.

Zhu Qi can only think that the new year is coming soon, and the businessmen are also celebrating the new year.

Besides Zhu Qi, there was another Xu Miaoyun in the carriage, but now Xu Miaoyun was dressed as a servant girl, and she also called herself a servant girl.

After all, it may not matter to the bold Xu Miaoyun to let others know that she came to go out with her fiancé before she was married, but Zhu Qi still has to be careful not to be hung up and beaten by Zhu Yuanzhang.

Xu Miaoyun leaned against the window, staring straight at the city gate in the distance. Gao Jin rode over, she put down the curtain and sat down, and heard Gao Jin say loudly outside the carriage:
"My lord, Dingyuan County is ahead, shall we go to the post office or the hotel?"

The B&B that Gao Jin mentioned is naturally not Zhu Qi’s special hotel in the world, but a private private hotel and wine shop.

In the Ming Dynasty, it was divided into public posthouses, also known as post stations, and private homestays, both of which are places where you can eat and stay.

Don't think that post stations look like dilapidated ones in movies. In fact, post stations in various places have dedicated teams for management, and the requirements for facilities and grades are very high.

I thought that the post station was mainly used to receive officials and servants, and ordinary people could not enter it. Both the service level and the decoration facilities were much better than ordinary homestays.

Specifically, the station can be regarded as a chain hotel with a minimum three-star level or above.

"Let's stay in a B&B."

Zhu Qi replied.

Gao Jin responded, and quickly led the team into the city.

On the surface, Zhu Qi's trip seemed to be to visit a well-known craftsman, but it was actually to investigate the evidence of corruption against Zhu Huan, the magistrate of Dingyuan County.

Speaking of this kind of investigation of corruption, this is the first time Zhu Qi has done it. The time he dealt with Pingyanghou before, he ran into Pingyanghou's rampage in the village, and then made a small plan to let the common people bravely and enthusiastically expose it. There are witnesses and evidence.

But that's because Pingyanghou was imprisoned by himself when he came up, and he asked a large group of people to entrust him and raise public opinion, so that the people of Fengyang had the courage to report.

There must be no way to use it this time to investigate Zhu Huan. I can't go up and arrest him, right?These days there is no Jin Yiwei, even if he is a prince and prince, he does not have the right to directly arrest the court officials, not to mention that Zhu Huan is still his distant cousin and his elder.

Because of emotion and reason, you can't take people directly, so take a step back and say, what if Zhu Huan was wronged by Zheng Shiyuan?Although Zhu Qi felt that according to Zheng Shiyuan's evaluation in history, most of Zheng Shiyuan's reports were true.

If you want to investigate the evidence, the easiest way is naturally to ask the opinions of the common people in the streets and alleys.

Zhu Qi brought Xu Miaoyun and others into the city, and quickly asked for a best restaurant called Tongfu Inn.

However, there is no shopkeeper Tong who still has charm in this inn, and there is no quick-witted and pale-skinned waiter, but the business is still very good. It is during the slack season, and people in the inn come to eat and drink, but there are fewer rooms for accommodation. To Zhu Qi's surprise, he wanted to book ten guest rooms, but there were none, only eight, and in the entire restaurant, there were only eight.

The shopkeeper is a fat man in his 50s and [-]s. He looks just like Maitreya Buddha. According to him, he usually eats and drinks a lot, and there are few people who stay there. All the spare rooms are converted into private rooms for eating After using it, there are only eight guest rooms.

Zhu Qi felt strange. It stands to reason that Dingyuan County is not small, and merchants who come and go need accommodation. This Tongfu Inn is still the best in Dingyuan County. Why only eight rooms are available?
It's just that he just asked, but the shopkeeper just waved his hands and didn't say much.

Seeing that he couldn't get anything out of the question, in addition to paying the normal accommodation and food expenses, Zhu Qi also lost an extra ten taels of silver as a tip, and then continued to ask:
"I heard that the magistrate of Dingyuan County is a relative of the emperor?"

Zhu Qi inadvertently asked, but the shopkeeper suddenly frowned, and hurriedly returned the ten taels of silver respectfully, saying:

"I don't know much about this. I only do small business, and I don't deal with officials. I don't know who the county magistrate is. If you come to inquire about these, go to another house to inquire."

After the shopkeeper finished speaking, he didn't care what Zhu Qi wanted to say, he called the waiter next to him to take Zhu Qi and the others upstairs to stay.

Zhu Qi watched the shopkeeper leave quickly and went to the back hall, thoughtful in his heart, while Xu Miaoyun beside him frowned and said:

"My lord, this Tongfu Inn is the best inn in Dingyuan County. Judging from this, it must have paid a lot of business taxes. How could it be possible not to know who the magistrate is? It seems that there is something wrong with the magistrate of Dingyuan County. ah."

Zhu Qi nodded, and naturally understood this truth. If Dingyuan County Magistrate is still working as usual, even if the common people don't speak well of him, they won't dare to mention him. There is only one possibility, that is, Dingyuan County Magistrate Zhu Huan, Because of this, I dare not mention the names that have already been feared in the township.

Zhu Qi led a group of people to wait in the room, and then asked Gao Jin and others to go out to inquire about the news.

Gao Jin and the others were very fast, and returned within less than half an hour after going out, but the news they brought back made Zhu Qi's heart sink uncontrollably.

That is... no news!
Gao Jin led the guards to ask around. Some people waved their hands and refused to speak when they heard that it was the magistrate of the hall. Unfamiliar faces, not even responding to words.

Even when they gave money to the people, those people took the money, and when they heard that they were asking the county magistrate, they immediately ran away with the money!
Seeing the attitudes of the people, Zhu Qi became even more convinced that this Dingyuan County is clearly the second place in Fengyang!
But the common people were afraid and unwilling to cooperate. It was difficult to find witnesses, let alone physical evidence.

Xu Miaoyun at the side had a plan, and said to Zhu Qi:

"My lord, since the common people don't want to talk about it, let's take the initiative to attack. There are very few foreign merchants in Dingyuan County. There must be a reason. Why don't we become foreign merchants and go around the county? The servant feels that there is something to be gained."

Zhu Qi was taken aback, then clapped his hands, this is a good idea!

Then he looked at Gao Jin, who was tall and burly, and asked:
"Can you sell cooking cakes?"

"what?"

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(Ask for a recommended ticket and a monthly ticket!)
(End of this chapter)