Faced with Zhu Yuanzhang's doubts, Zhu Yunwen calmly began to explain:

"When I came out to take a look at my palace, I happened to see officials from the Ministry of Revenue and supervisors whipping the elderly, children, and the sick and disabled who were working. I was so angry that I ordered my men to beat them."

Only after the beating did I learn that these supervisors and Zhang, the steward in charge of the construction of the Prince's Mansion, were also in a helpless situation.

The Ministry of Revenue only gave them a small amount of money to complete the task, which forced them to cut corners, exploit the workers, and cause them to die from overwork.

This was a conspiracy from the start. I couldn't stand it, so I told Manager Zhang directly that he should use the money from the user department to renovate the old mansion, and that it didn't need to be rebuilt to its original scale.

The aim was to make things less difficult for the lower-level officials. They could do as much as they were paid for.

Even so, before this, eight people had died from oppression. Those eight people died before I discovered what was happening, and after I discovered it, the problem obviously disappeared…”

After Zhu Yuncong finished speaking, Zhang, the steward, also knelt down and recounted the whole story.

After listening to this, Zhu Yuanzhang sighed and said to Zhu Yunwen:

"Yunwen, I'm sorry to have wronged you in this matter. I never expected that those scoundrels in the Ministry of Revenue would dare to have such crooked thoughts."

Zhu Yunwen smiled and said, "It's alright, it's just a pity about the eight people who have already died. I hope that Your Majesty will seek justice for them."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and said, "Of course!"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Mian, who was kneeling on the ground, quickly begged for mercy, saying:

"Your Majesty, please forgive this sinful subject. I will never dare to do it again. I was just confused for a moment."

Zhu Yuanzhang was clearly very angry. However, at this moment, several civil officials, such as Qi Tai, the Minister of War, and Huang Zicheng, the Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, actually spoke up to beg for mercy from the Minister of Revenue.

Seeing this, Zhu Yuanzhang was furious, but Zhu Yunwen sneered and said:

"Gentlemen, have you forgotten what happened in the imperial court just now? I asked you all what kind of crime this oppression of workers that led to the deaths of eight people should be punished for?"

Back then, everyone was talking about it so enthusiastically, fearing the punishment wouldn't be lenient. Why is it that now that the matter concerns Minister Zhao Mian of the Ministry of Revenue, everyone is pleading for his leniency?

Zhu Yunwen's words were a direct slap in the face to some civil officials. At this moment, everyone remembered that Zhu Yunwen had not only not admitted his guilt in court, but had also deliberately made everyone exaggerate the severity of the crime.

At the time, everyone thought that Zhu Yunwen had lost his mind and had pinned such a big crime on himself, but they never expected that the crime would be shifted to the Minister of Revenue.

The Minister of Revenue collapsed to the ground, filled with regret. He had been so eager to bring up the charge when it was first brought up.

He strongly believed that this crime warranted death by caning, but he never expected that he would end up bearing the blame himself.

Zhu Yuanzhang, too lazy to waste words, said directly with a stern face:

"As I said before, this kind of crime warrants death by beating, so it cannot be taken lightly. Guards, have Zhao Mian, the Minister of Revenue, beaten to death on the spot. Also, strip him of all his official titles and confiscate his property."

The Minister of Revenue was so frightened that he fainted, but he still couldn't escape being dragged aside and beaten to death with sticks.

This scene terrified many officials.

Especially those civil officials, such as Huang Zicheng, the Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, and Qi Tai, the Minister of War.

These two guys had been the most aggressive in their taunts towards Zhu Yunwen before, and they were especially afraid that Zhu Yunwen would cause them trouble at this time.

However, that's obviously not the case. Zhu Yunwen only wanted to kill with one blow. Qi Tai and Huang Zicheng were only involved in this matter, and they didn't even know the truth.

Even if they were to be affected, it wouldn't cause them much harm.

However, Zhu Yunwen clearly had no intention of letting Zhu Yunwen off the hook, and said:

"Second Brother, you are unaware of the facts, yet you joined forces with the Minister of Revenue to confront me in court. Don't you want to give me an explanation now?"

Upon hearing Zhu Yunwen's words, Zhu Yuanzhang finally remembered that there was still a hateful Zhu Yunwen.

He immediately glared at him fiercely, which terrified Zhu Yunwen.

Zhu Yunwen was in a panic. He hadn't expected that the plan he and the Minister of Revenue had devised for so long, which they thought was foolproof, had already been broken by Zhu Yunwen.

Today, I have made him so embarrassed.

He swallowed hard before speaking:

"Yunhu, your second brother misunderstood you. I was just angry because I knew eight people had died, so..."

Zhu Yunwen, however, was not buying it and snorted coldly, saying:

"Is it because eight people died that you were so angry that you publicly attacked me? Then I want to ask you, when the truth came out and all eight deaths were due to the Minister of Revenue, why didn't you criticize the Minister of Revenue? Why were you silent then?"

Zhu Yunwen panicked and didn't know how to defend himself.

The other civil and military officials also remained silent. Anyone who spoke up for Zhu Yunwen at this time would be insane.

Zhu Yuanzhang had completely lost patience with Zhu Yunwen, and said indifferently:

"Don't think this matter has nothing to do with you. We're not stupid. You haven't attended court for so long, and the first time you do, you target Yunhuo. You're really a good second brother."

Zhu Yunwen quickly knelt on the ground.

He never imagined that this time, his plan would backfire so badly.

Originally, he wanted to suppress Zhu Yunwen and then regain Zhu Yuanzhang's attention by showing concern for the lives of ordinary people.

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