Chapter 626: Princes Enfeoffed Beyond the Borders

Zhu Youxiao had pondered this policy for a very long time.

This was precisely why, for so long, Zhu Youxiao had still not touched those princes and had let them remain where they were.

Although Zhu Youxiao had dealt with the Prince of Fu and taken his money, that had only been for the money. The rest of the imperial clansmen had been left alone for exactly this reason.

Though there were many imperial clansmen now, they could not be wasted. In the future, the Great Ming would need too many places to enfeoff — whether there would even be enough of them remained an open question.

Liu Xian naturally had no idea what the Emperor was thinking, but he knew that His Majesty was likely about to launch a grand plan.

"That's settled then." Zhu Youxiao waved his hand and said, "Go each of you and carry out your tasks."

On these matters, Zhu Youxiao had nothing left to worry about.

Since he had already done the work himself, the rest could be left to his subordinates to handle. This was hardly the first time.

Over the following few days, Zhu Youxiao stayed in Tianjin, playing all the while. With no major affairs pressing, he enjoyed himself thoroughly.

Once the officials dispatched by the court arrived, Zhu Youxiao left directly.

The construction of Tianjin Zhili Prefecture would take a long time. In this regard, Zhu Youxiao could not be of much help, nor could he afford to wait here. He had to leave.

There was also the news that had come in from Xianghe.

When Zhu Youxiao had been on his way to Tianjin, he had passed through Xianghe County, where he had discovered the officials' misdeeds — the collusion between officials and merchants was extremely serious.

He had sent people back to establish an investigation team, headed by Chen Sihai, coordinating the Eastern Depot and the Embroidered Uniform Guard in a thorough investigation of the matter. And not just in Xianghe — investigations were to be carried out everywhere across the nation. This was very important to Zhu Youxiao.

This time, he was going over to take a look and see the results.

After leaving Tianjin, Zhu Youxiao and his party made their way toward Xianghe County at a very leisurely pace — one could say at the speed of sightseeing.

Zhu Youxiao was confident that Xianghe County had already been dealt with. After all, this was something he had witnessed with his own eyes and personally ordered. None of those below would dare to be negligent.

The most important thing was the other places.

This time, after Zhu Youxiao reached Xianghe, he would head south, straight toward Jiangnan.

That was the place the court truly could not control. Compared to the north, the collusion among local officials there was even more severe.

Zhu Youxiao also wanted to see what Wei Zhongxian had been doing in Jiangnan. If possible, he would go and lend him some support along the way.

On this day, Zhu Youxiao and his group finally arrived once again at Xianghe County.

After the carriages and horses entered Xianghe City, the surroundings were fairly peaceful. But compared to the last time, there seemed to be less bustle and more solemnity.

Clearly, something had happened here.

Coming to the inn by the street, Zhu Youxiao checked in there once again.

After settling in, Zhu Youxiao went down to the ground-floor lobby and casually found a place to sit.

"Let's see what's good to eat." Zhu Youxiao said with a smile, "Have them bring the menu over, let me take a look."

Hearing Zhu Youxiao's words, Wei Chao and Liu Xian, who sat beside him, exchanged a glance. The expressions on their faces were both hesitant.

Wei Chao cautiously leaned in close to Zhu Youxiao and said, "Your Highness, food from outside is ultimately unsafe. Perhaps it's better not to eat it?"

On the one hand, Wei Chao was worried that someone might attempt to assassinate His Majesty. Although their group's movements were kept secret, that secrecy was only on the surface.

If someone with ill intent had truly set their sights on them, they might have already located His Majesty's position. Under such circumstances, eating outside was very dangerous.

Moreover, even if no one intended to poison His Majesty, eating outside was still not acceptable. The food out here was simply not safe — the ingredients were problematic, and it would be all too easy for His Majesty to fall ill from eating it.

What did His Majesty eat in the palace? And what would he be eating here?

If he ate the food here, he could easily get an upset stomach — that would be disastrous. It was far too easy to get sick.

"If I don't order food, how am I supposed to chat with people?" Zhu Youxiao said with exasperation.

Although Zhu Youxiao very much wanted to try it, he still suppressed the eager urge in his heart. He knew what Wei Chao was worried about — he was worried about it himself as well.

Zhu Youxiao valued his own life greatly. He would absolutely never risk it.

Hearing these words, Wei Chao finally breathed a sigh of relief. Smiling, he hailed the waiter not far away.

When the man walked over, Wei Chao said with a smile, "Bring us your menu. Our young master would like to order."

"Right away!" The waiter agreed with a smile and promptly brought out the menu.

To the waiter, this was a major customer.

More than half the establishment had been booked out by these people — they were not to be offended in the slightest. The kitchen was already preparing dishes, and now that their young master wanted to eat, naturally he had to be well attended to.

Besides, the last time they had left, they had stayed at this very inn, and the owner had made a tidy profit. This time, there was no way they would let the opportunity slip.

The waiter's attitude was extremely warm.

Zhu Youxiao took the menu, flipped through it once, and tossed it aside.

"Nothing worth looking at. Have your kitchen make one of every signature dish and send them all up. This young master is going to have a proper feast today." Zhu Youxiao said with a smile, waving his folding fan.

"Right away!" The waiter agreed with another smile and hurried off to relay the order.

When the waiter returned, Zhu Youxiao asked slowly, "Last time this young master passed through Xianghe, the city was very lively. How has it become like this now? It's not desolate or depressed, but the atmosphere is off."

"You wouldn't know, young master," the waiter said, leaning in mysteriously, his face full of excitement as he looked at Zhu Youxiao. "In the days since you left, something huge has happened in our Xianghe."

Hearing this, Zhu Youxiao grew interested and shot Wei Chao a meaningful glance.

Wei Chao was rather resigned. He directly drew a banknote from his sleeve, placed it on the table, and pushed it toward the waiter, saying with a smile, "Take it. It's a reward from our young master. Tell our young master whatever good news you have. If you make him happy, there will be more rewards."

The waiter glanced at the banknote, and his eyes lit up instantly.

Ten taels of silver! Truly a great patron — such generosity at the very first move!

The waiter said excitedly, "Thank you for your reward!"

Zhu Youxiao snapped his folding fan shut with a swish and said, "Now can you tell me — what exactly happened in Xianghe?"

"To answer your question," the waiter said hurriedly, "some people came a few days ago. They said the officials of our Xianghe had been colluding with the local wealthy families, concealing their own farmland and refusing to carry out the court's policy of surveying land, causing the common people to be displaced. They've all been arrested."

"The local Squire Chen and Squire Wang — their households were arrested family by family. I heard from people outside that this time there will be confiscation of property and exile. It seems they're all going to be sent to Liaodong. Word is Liaodong is short on people, and all their money and land will go to the court."

"Is that so?" Zhu Youxiao asked, slightly excited. "Do you know who did this? How do they have such power?"

"You wouldn't know, would you? Word is it's a big figure from the capital." The waiter said with a pout. "Those are figures who've reached the heavens. When they came, they brought cavalry and the Embroidered Uniform Guard with them."

"It scared people half to death. When the big figure arrived in our Xianghe, he said nothing at all — just started arresting people directly. Seven or eight of our county's petty officials were taken in on the spot. I heard several of them had their legs broken. Those who gritted their teeth and refused to talk — none of them came to a good end."

"Nowadays, when people see those men, they all keep their distance." The waiter said helplessly, "But those men aren't so bad—they haven't harmed the common folk in the slightest."

"Never mind everyone else—even our own county magistrate has been arrested. There's hardly anyone left in the county office. Apart from Old Zhang at the gate and the jailers, almost everyone's gone." The waiter shook his head as he spoke, sighing with feeling. "It's really tragic."

"Do you know why, though?" Zhu Youxiao asked, his expression unchanged.

This was the crux of what Zhu Youxiao wanted to ask.

If the common folk only knew that people were being arrested but didn't know why, trouble could easily arise. If someone with ill intentions started spreading rumors, it would be a real problem.

Zhu Youxiao had always trusted Chen Sihai to handle matters, but even so, he couldn't help worrying about this aspect.

Hearing this, the waiter grew even more excited. He slapped the table and said, "Well, you might not believe it, but I actually do know."

"The court put up an official notice a few days ago, and people were sent around spreading the word that those arrested had evaded taxes and secretly harbored deserters from Liaodong."

"But I don't think that's the truth." The waiter said with a look of disbelief.

"Oh, is that so? Then what do you think the truth is?" Zhu Youxiao asked once more.

"Let me tell you—but don't go telling anyone else." The waiter looked around cautiously and said, "I heard it from someone else—there's something deeper going on here."

"Those people bought up so much land and colluded with the officials, and none of them paid taxes. You know what that is? That's stealing money!"

"Whose money did they steal? They stole from His Majesty, the current emperor. Though I suppose you can't really call it His Majesty's money, since His Majesty is so frugal—that money goes to building roads and bridges for the people and buying grain."

"This Great Ming has suffered so many disasters, and Heaven above has no eyes. With such a good emperor, why are there still so many calamities?"

Hearing this, Zhu Youxiao coughed and said, "Don't get off track—keep going."

"Eh? Oh, right, right, right!" The waiter quickly responded, "So stealing the emperor's money—how could that end well?"

"Before, there was no way to deal with them, but now His Majesty wants to crack down, so these people started making trouble. Think about it—with that much land, how much money would it bring in each year? Would those people be willing to give it up?"

"So they found ways to avoid paying, leaving all their land fallow. Once this whole storm blows over, they'll reclaim the land anew, and it'll still be theirs."

"These people have filthy hearts—utterly wicked!" Growing excited at this point, he said, "But clever as they are, the court is even cleverer. Their deeds were discovered by the court, and now they've got it coming—they've lost everything, haven't they?"

"Whole families exiled—they deserve it!"