Collecting Taxes as a Corrupt Official During the Hongwu Reign, Taxed up to 2050

Chapter 13: Liu Bowen’s Crisis

Empress Ma saw that the Emperor did not immediately send troops to arrest Li Fan, and knew that His Majesty was genuinely angry.

She had followed him for many years and understood his character very well.

Outsiders thought the Emperor was a fiery person, impulsive and acting on a whim.

Actually, these people were greatly mistaken.

Zhu Yuanzhang was truly a person with a steady mind, acting only after careful planning!

If it weren’t for this steady personality, he wouldn’t have emerged from the ranks of the Red Turban Army, nor would he have been chosen by his adoptive father to lead the Red Turban Army.

Previously, when the Emperor was angry and ordered Li Fan’s arrest, it seemed like he was preparing to punish Li Fan, but in her view, it was just a lot of noise with little impact, lacking any real deterrent.

Especially since the Jinyiwei were sent to arrest Li Fan, it was essentially just a superficial measure.

But this time, the imperial tombs were involved, and the Emperor in front of her was truly furious.

However, he did not send Mao Xiang to arrest Li Fan, indicating that the Emperor was genuinely disappointed in Li Fan.

Auctioning off the imperial tombs had touched the Emperor’s most sensitive spot.

If Li Fan couldn’t give a reasonable explanation this time, the Emperor definitely wouldn’t let him go.

She couldn’t help but blame Li Fan in her heart.

Why couldn’t he just be a good county magistrate?

Why did he have to do so many insane things, repeatedly challenging the Emperor’s limits?

Sighing, she silently followed Zhu Yuanzhang towards the imperial tombs.

Zhu Yuanzhang, sitting in the carriage, looked at Zhu Shoucheng lying limp on the floor, and directly asked:

“Tell us what exactly happened.”

Zhu Shoucheng felt he might not survive, having made so much money, but it was all going to be for others.

Now he could only hope that the Emperor would only punish him, and not implicate his family.

He now just wanted to cooperate with the Emperor, enduring the pain, struggling to get up from the ground, and tremblingly said:

“The county magistrate said the feng shui of the imperial tombs was bad and would cause problems, so it needed to be changed! He built a circle of cemeteries around the imperial tombs, selling them to those in need. Anyone who needed it could buy a plot and be buried there after death!”

Ha!

Zhu Yuanzhang would never believe what Li Fan said.

Claiming bad feng shui was definitely an excuse to sell the imperial tombs, that’s why he said such things.

The location of the imperial tombs was personally chosen by Liu Bowen, how could it be bad?

Li Fan was certainly lying, but once the seed of doubt is planted, one’s mood deteriorates.

Old Zhu originally trusted Liu Bowen greatly, since Liu Bowen had contributed to the founding of the entire Ming dynasty.

After the dynasty was established, this man traveled far and wide tirelessly inspecting the entire Ming territory, opening roads through mountains, building bridges over water, constructing reservoirs, and digging canals, severing any inappropriate dragon veins, constantly weakening other dragon veins to consolidate the fortune of the Zhu Ming dynasty.