Zhu Jinsong was almost moved to tears by these fools.
I, the dignified Emperor of the Great Ming, possess the riches of the four seas and command the eight directions. How could I possibly be short of a few pounds of wheat?
Emperor Zhu glanced at the freshly plowed land and the piles of weeds at the edge of the field. He simply patted Liu Gousheng's shoulder and said with a smile, "Alright, come over here. We don't eat people."
After the young men tentatively approached Zhu Jinsong, Zhu Jinsong turned to Zhang Dequan and instructed, "Have someone find a cook nearby. I will be hosting a 'Si Ba Xi' banquet at Liu Temple today, inviting the elders and villagers of Liu Temple Village."
The 'Si Ba Xi' in Ningyang is a significant banquet. The feast begins with four dishes of appetizers, four dishes of fruit, and four dishes of dried fruits, followed by four large bowls, two main courses, and four small bowls as main dishes. Then, a mid-meal rice is served, followed by four more dishes, then another four large bowls, and finally, staple foods.
In comparison, grand banquets like the Manchu-Han Imperial Feast and the Confucius Family Banquet are more about ceremony than substance, and they are not designed to fill people up. Although the 'Si Ba Xi' also emphasizes etiquette and order, it ensures that people are truly satisfied.
Moreover, Emperor Zhu Jinsong was born and raised in Liu Temple, and he raised his banner and gathered his forces in Liu Temple Village. Hosting a 'Si Ba Xi' banquet here also carries the meaning of not forgetting one's roots.
While Zhang Dequan was arranging for someone to find a cook, Zhu Jinsong walked a few more steps into the field and pointed to a piece of freshly plowed land, asking, "Besides this plot, how are your family's other fields? Is the harvest good?"
Liu Gousheng chuckled and replied, "It's alright. Especially with corn and taro, we harvest quite a bit of grain each year. Jin... Your Majesty, you've allocated land to us and exempted us from taxes, so the remaining grain naturally increases. Plus, we can work in the workshops, and life has gotten better."
Emperor Zhu grunted and continued, "What about the western villages? I remember the western villages have many mountains and rocks, are prone to drought, and the harvest has always been poor."
Liu Gousheng said, "The land in the western villages isn't good, no matter how carefully it's tended. But the western villages have plenty of stones, and they've earned quite a bit from them over the years. My aunt's family is doing much better than mine lately."
Emperor Zhu nodded again, a smile appearing on his face, "That's good. It's good to be able to earn money."
In fact, it was quite strange. Ningyang County and Wenshang County are adjacent, but the terrain in Ningyang County is much flatter, and the grain harvest is much better, while the land in Wenshang County is not.
This situation was not unique to Ningyang County and Wenshang County; it was common throughout the Great Ming.
As the saying goes, it's not poverty that is feared, but inequality.
When everyone is poor, people can accept it, even be happy in their poverty. But if some are rich and some are poor, the situation becomes rather awkward—the rich will try to make more money, and the poor will be discontent.
This is not a good thing for any emperor or court.
Now that he heard Wenshang could earn money from stones, Zhu Jinsong naturally felt a bit happier—if Wenshang County could earn money from stones, other less prosperous counties could also find other ways.
Thinking of this, Zhu Jinsong continued to ask, "Gousheng, how many times a year does your family eat meat? What about your aunt's family in the west? And I remember your younger aunt married into the Heshan area, right? How is her family?"
Before Liu Gousheng could answer, Emperor Zhu plopped down at the edge of the field and turned his gaze to the other young men, asking, "And you all, sit down and chat. Tell us how your lives have been these past few years, and how the county officials are. Consider this an incognito visit."
As soon as the words "incognito visit" were spoken, the young men burst into laughter. Liu Gousheng, emboldened, said, "Your Majesty, your incognito visit wasn't very discreet. You were recognized as soon as you arrived at Liu Temple Village."
Zhu Jinsong smiled and pointed at Liu Gousheng, deliberately snorting, "It's a good thing you recognized me. If you didn't, then I'd have to reflect on myself. Why don't even the villagers of Liu Temple Village recognize me? Am I doing a poor job as Emperor?"
"Good! Good!" Liu Gousheng said repeatedly, "Whoever dares to say you're doing a poor job as Emperor, the elders and young men of Liu Temple Village will be the first to disagree!"
He casually pointed at some of the younger boys standing further away and continued, "These rascals might not remember, but I remember very clearly. When I was a child, I would starve to death in the middle of the night, crying and begging for something to eat, but in the end, I could only drink water to fill my stomach and still wake up hungry the next day."
"It was only after Your Majesty drove away the Jianyi and everyone was allocated land and exempted from taxes that our common people's homes had a few pounds of grain."
"Later, when the county and the Agricultural Association talked about developing small-scale industries and having us work in the workshops for wages, that's when we gradually started to eat meat."
As he spoke, Liu Gousheng suddenly wiped the corners of his eyes, "In my childhood, I looked forward to the New Year all year round, just hoping to have some fatty meat. The residual oil dregs left after rendering the fat, tsk tsk, that was truly delicious."
Hearing the words "oil dregs," Zhu Xisong's tears also welled up to the corners of his mouth.
Liu Gousheng continued, "A few years ago, I wasn't so craving meat anymore, as there are pig and chicken farms in the county, and chicken, pork, and eggs are cheap, so we can afford them. So then I started wishing for new clothes."
Zhu Jinsong smiled and nodded, asking, "And now?"
Liu Gousheng chuckled and said, "Now I still look forward to the New Year, but not for new clothes or meat. I just wish I could set off a few strings of firecrackers—I deliberately saved an extra string this year, saying it was for the children, but I actually set them all off myself. My wife still curses me for it."
Upon hearing that Liu Gousheng was cursed by his wife, Emperor Zhu immediately perked up, "Tsk tsk, you're so old yet still get cursed by your wife? Look at our Liu Temple Village. Liu Hemming, that scoundrel, is afraid of his wife. Liu Ergou is the same. Uncle Huaiwen... well, Uncle actually isn't much better than Liu Hemming."
Speaking of this, Emperor Zhu suddenly showed a hint of melancholy, "Dan'er is like this, and so is Lao San. What do you think is going on with our Liu Temple Village? Why are there so many henpecked husbands?"
The young men gathered around Emperor Zhu burst into laughter. Emperor Zhu took the opportunity to say, "What about you guys? Are you just going to let us stand here? Don't you have anything to say?"
A young man standing closer to Emperor Zhu cautiously took a bowl of tea from his pot and offered it to Emperor Zhu, "Your Majesty, this tea isn't very good."
Zhu Jinsong snorted and almost snatched the tea from the young man's hand. After testing the temperature, he gulped it down. "What good tea or bad tea? Any tea that quenches thirst is good tea! Besides, when you're working in the fields, how else do you expect to drink it? I haven't always been the Emperor, you know."
If it were a matter of playing mind games, Liu Gousheng and these young men combined wouldn't be a match for Zhu Jinsong. Although in the past few words he was talking about Liu Hemming, Liu Ergou, and Liu Huaiwen being afraid of their wives, and by mentioning "our Liu Temple Village," he subtly implied that he himself was also afraid of his wife. Now, coupled with the fact that he had also worked in the fields and drank tea from a large bowl, he had instantly bridged the natural gap between emperor and commoner.
With the gap between emperor and commoner removed, these young men naturally became more relaxed. The words they had held back in their hearts could now be spoken, and Emperor Zhu naturally heard the news he wanted to hear.
Much of this news was something the Agricultural Association and the Heavenly Earth Society could not inquire about, and even the Imperial Guards and the Eastern Depot found it difficult to uncover.
It wasn't that the Agricultural Association and the Heavenly Earth Society were not diligent, nor that the Imperial Guards and the Eastern Depot were unprofessional, but rather that when someone intentionally wished to conceal something, they could indeed keep it hidden.
For example, the black stone factory in the neighboring western village, Wenshang, or the black kilns in Cixian, or the black coal mines in Maozhuang.
These black factories, black mines, and black kilns were not large in scale and did not have much impact. Even the workers were not Daming citizens—Daming had too many infrastructure projects and required a large number of laborers, so it was normal for a few laborers to "die" occasionally.
Villages like Liu Temple Village were doing better, as it was the place of their rise. Not only was the county magistrate of Ningyang keeping a close watch, but the entire Tai'an Prefecture and even the entire Shandong Provincial Administration were vigilant. Such messy affairs naturally had no room to survive.
Places similar to Liu Temple Village included Yuhuangshan and Menglianggu.
However, beyond these places, such messy situations were numerous. Moreover, incidents like fights, thefts, and scams that Emperor Zhu had encountered at the Ningyang train station earlier were also prevalent.
Listening to the news from these young men, the emperor's murderous intent grew stronger.
These fellows, they really had a lot of nerve!
There was no need to doubt the truthfulness of what these young men were saying. If such things were common after the year 2000, would they not exist in the Ming Dynasty?
The Emperor Zhu never believed that the Ming Dynasty was a land of peace and harmony, but he never expected that after only a few years of good days, such troublesome matters would begin to emerge!
After thinking for a moment, the Emperor Zhu finally suppressed his killing intent and asked the young men again, "How is the situation regarding education in our village? Are there any children who still don't have access to education?"
Liu Gousheng shook his head and replied, "There isn't. The government provides a safety net. Even if some children lost their parents at a young age, they all enrolled in school under the arrangements of the county's Benevolent Bureau."
Perhaps sensing what Emperor Zhu wanted to hear, Liu Gousheng specifically added, "Children from the nearby villages can also attend school."
Zhu Jinsong nodded, "Let's go, everyone go back. Gather your elders at home, and then we can start the feast!"
After the young men dispersed, Zhu Jinsong, accompanied by Zhang Dequan, walked around the village.
By this time, the news that the Emperor was hosting a banquet had quickly spread throughout Liu Temple Village. The elders and young people of the entire village were gathering at the threshing ground under the direction of the Agricultural Association—other than the threshing ground, there was no other place where the entire village could gather for a meal.
However, this also meant that no one was disturbing Zhu Jinsong's leisurely stroll.
After wandering around the village for a long time, Zhu Jinsong suddenly pointed to an empty space and sighed, "This is where I lived back then. It was two rooms built with mud bricks, plus two side rooms also built with mud bricks. Now, I..."
Emperor Zhu suddenly paused.
The Forbidden City was the imperial palace, Qianqing Palace was the imperial sleeping quarters, and he... did he still have a home?
Or rather, was the emperor destined to call the four seas his home?
Smiling and shaking his head, Emperor Zhu continued, "Dequan, tell me, if someone came to your home to cause trouble, even trying to dig holes and steal money, what would you do?"
Zhang Dequan immediately bowed and replied, "Reporting to Your Majesty, this servant would apprehend them and then report to the authorities. If it were during the Great Qing dynasty, this servant might have killed them directly."
Zhu Jinsong was stunned for a moment, then pointed at Zhang Dequan and laughed, "You old fellow, have you learned from Zou Ji's advice to King Qi?"
This was also a way of interacting. For someone like Zhang Dequan, it was fine for Zhu Jinsong to call him an old fellow or a dog slave. If Emperor Zhu spoke to him politely, Zhang Dequan would actually feel awkward. Despite correcting him several times, it had no effect, so Zhu Jinsong simply gave up trying to correct him.
After thinking for a moment, Emperor Zhu said, "Alright, I'll do as you say. First, apprehend the people, then report to the authorities."
Zhang Dequan quickly praised, "Your Majesty is merciful!"
Zhu Jinsong shook his head once again and led Zhang Dequan towards the threshing ground.
...
While the Emperor was hosting the 'Si Ba Xi' banquet for the people of Liu Temple Village at the threshing ground, Li Guangsheng, the magistrate of Ningyang County, was cursing loudly in the county yamen. "Damn it all! These bastards died because of their own actions, why do they have to drag me into this?"
After a torrent of curses, Li Guangsheng turned his gaze to the commander of the Imperial Guards in Ningyang County. "Commander Zhang, I will trouble you to personally lead your men to apprehend these scoundrels. Make sure to bring them all back, and then hand them over to the Censorate for interrogation!"
Commander Zhang of the Imperial Guards first agreed, then frowned, "The petty thieves and pickpockets are easier to deal with, but those black kilns and black mines, I'm afraid it won't be that easy, right? After all, they could obtain laborers through construction sites and have been operating these black kilns and black mines privately for so many years without being discovered..."
Li Guangsheng immediately became anxious, "My dear Commander Zhang, no matter how capable they are now, they have lost their advantage! This time, it was discovered by His Majesty. You, the Imperial Guards, I, the magistrate, as well as the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Eastern Depot, will all be implicated!"
After thinking for a moment, Li Guangsheng revealed a bit more information, "This time, regardless of who is implicated or the severity of their crimes, all will be treated with strictness and severity. Those who would have originally been exiled will now lose their heads, and those who would have lost their heads might now be subjected to lingering death!"