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

Chapter 16: Dancing on Graves, Let’s Get Wild

Zhang Zongbao saw the person led in by the servant, and was instantly stunned, trembling all over!

It would be a lie to say he wasn’t afraid, even his own master would be scared to death when meeting the emperor, let alone a small fry like him.

If the emperor even hinted at wanting to kill him, his master would immediately kill him, and then respectfully send his corpse to the palace, without any hesitation.

He struggled to stand up, trembling, and prepared to bow.

Zhu Yuanzhang saw Zhang Zongbao’s trembling state, and knew that he had recognized his identity.

To prevent his identity from being exposed, he hurriedly said:

“I am a merchant from Jinling, here to inquire about some matters!”

When Zhang Zongbao heard this, although he didn’t understand why the emperor would do this, since the other party said so, it must be because he didn’t want his identity exposed.

He must cooperate fully.

Even if he didn’t reveal the emperor’s identity, the respect he should have must still be shown.

He quickly stood up and bowed:

“I didn’t know Master Zhu was visiting, please forgive my lack of manners!”

Zhu Yuanzhang said to the servant:

“You go out first, I’ll have a good chat with Master Zhang. If it goes well, maybe I’ll buy a few more things!”

The servant had never seen Zhang Zongbao so cautious before, he used to be indifferent to everyone, even those high officials and nobles.

After all, he was Master Zhang from Longhu Mountain, his status was evident, naturally, he wouldn’t care about those random people.

But today, what happened?

He seemed to have changed completely, being so enthusiastic to a merchant.

Following the proper conduct of a servant, knowing what should be known, not asking about what shouldn’t be known, he quickly bowed and said:

“I shall take my leave. If you need anything, please call for me!”

Then he bowed and left.

Zhang Zongbao saw the servant leave, quickly straightened his clothes, and formally bowed:

“Your servant greets Your Majesty!”

Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand, indicating he didn’t need to be so formal, and directly asked:

“Is there a problem with the feng shui of the imperial tomb?”

Zhang Zongbao didn’t expect the emperor to be so direct.

Whether there is a problem with feng shui mainly depends on personal interpretation, everyone’s understanding is different.

Now, the entire Ming dynasty centers around Liu Bowen, everything follows him, whatever he says is seen as correct by the emperor and the people.

The status of Longhu Mountain has dropped repeatedly, they don’t even have basic speaking rights anymore.

Previously, for large ceremonies or major activities, the court would always invite Longhu Mountain, and disciples from Longhu Mountain would be stationed at the Imperial Astronomical Bureau year-round.

But since Liu Bowen’s rise to fame, Longhu Mountain hasn’t been invited by the court for many years.

So, when Li Fan approached his master, without a word, the master fully supported Li Fan.

A thousand-mile dyke can be destroyed by an ant’s nest.

If the feng shui of the imperial tomb truly has issues, it means Liu Bowen’s prestige will suffer.

At that time, with increased publicity from Longhu Mountain, it would certainly be possible to thoroughly suppress Liu Bowen, reviving Longhu Mountain.

Now, hearing the emperor inquire about the tomb, naturally, he tried every means to make His Majesty believe, feigning a bit of difficulty, he said:

“Your Majesty, regarding the imperial tomb, I should have informed you earlier, but for so many years, my master has not received your decree, not daring to enter the capital privately, so it was delayed. But now my master can’t wait any longer, fearing that if we delay further, there will be problems, so he ordered me to handle it!”

Hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang’s heart sank, initially thinking all of this was fabricated by Li Fan, but now it seemed to be true, even people from Longhu Mountain came to verify it.

Yet he still harbored some doubts about this matter, especially concerning the imperial tomb, which was fundamental to the nation.

Back then, Liu Bowen personally chose the site, he trusted him so much, how could there be problems?

For a moment, he didn’t know what to say.

Seeing the emperor in a daze, Zhang Zongbao knew that mere words wouldn’t convince His Majesty, real, credible evidence was needed, so he said:

“Your Majesty, please follow me to the sand table, I will explain the issues to you!”

Zhu Yuanzhang, utterly bewildered, followed Zhang Zongbao to the outer hall, where Zhang Zongbao picked up a pointer and began explaining:

“This place was personally selected by Liu Bowen as the dragon’s lair, all of China’s dragon veins originate from Kunlun Mountain, and split into five in Anhui, one of which is Fengyang. However, this dragon vein is an earth dragon, a plains dragon that requires a vast amount of resources and popularity to form a strong dragon vein!”

Zhu Yuanzhang actually knew some of this, when deciding the capital, he initially planned to choose Fengyang, Liu Bowen had told him that although Fengyang was a dragon’s eye, it would take a tremendous amount of manpower and resources to build it up.

At that time, the newly established Ming dynasty didn’t have enough resources, so they settled for Nanjing instead.

Now, Zhang Zongbao bringing this up again made him worry, he hurriedly asked:

“Was the imperial tomb chosen incorrectly?”

Seeing the emperor getting anxious, Zhang Zongbao felt relieved, as long as he was anxious, he could follow his own rhythm.

He coughed lightly and said:

“Since it has already been chosen, there is no possibility of changing it, we can only alter the feng shui here, transforming decay into magic!”

Zhu Yuanzhang understood that ancestral graves couldn’t be moved arbitrarily, now hearing that Zhang Zongbao had a way to change things, he quickly asked:

“What exactly can be done?”

Suppressing his excitement, Zhang Zongbao, knowing Liu Bowen had been trusted by the emperor, had dominated the Ming court for so many years, finally saw his chance to shine.

Calmly, he said:

“Since the earth dragon requires resources and popularity to grow, we must provide it with popularity. If only the imperial tomb is here, it will only be visited during seasonal festivals, how can there be popularity? So, Lord Li has planned twenty thousand graves around the imperial tomb, to make the entire graveyard lively!”