What does this mean? It means that there are indeed many illegal activities in the various military garrisons. Although the military preparedness of the Ming Dynasty shows no signs of decline, these bad signs have already emerged. As a result, some soldiers in various regions are also engaging in corruption and illegal activities, and the national law and military discipline are clearly unable to better restrain them.

The civil officials didn't take such things seriously, or rather, they were already used to it.

Let alone now, even when Emperor Hongwu was conquering the country, he constantly emphasized military discipline and other issues. However, even then, there were still occasional instances where some arrogant and unruly soldiers under his command completely disregarded the law.

Especially at the beginning of the founding of the country, a large number of military merits became arrogant, extravagant, corrupt and lawless after Feng Hou was appointed general.

In these peaceful times, such things shouldn't seem strange at all.

It wasn't just these military generals; many civil officials were the same. Once they held power, they wanted to gain even greater benefits. The emperors of the Ming Dynasty never dared to slacken in their efforts to rectify official corruption, yet even so, many still chose to take the risk.

This is probably a case of "people die for wealth, birds die for food," so there's nothing strange about it.

Seeing that the emperor seemed very unhappy, everyone simply assumed it was because of the corruption and abuse of power. They were even used to such things, since every year a large number of officials were punished by the court for similar offenses, so there was nothing to be surprised about.

What these people didn't know was that the emperor's anger was not just that simple. Zhu Yunying was already dissatisfied with the rising signs of corruption in the Ming Dynasty's officialdom. In addition, there were now some cases of smuggling involving military officers, local officials, and border generals. No wonder he couldn't be happy!

It seems that a comprehensive overhaul of these matters is needed. If we don't act decisively and make an example of someone to deter others, these issues may escalate and cause greater harm.

This matter cannot be delayed any longer. The military officials may need Xu Hui to come back and offend people, but the civil officials cannot be allowed to be so carefree. Zhu Yunying is not afraid of offending people, and he has no shortage of such loyal ministers who are willing to offend others.

The rectification of official corruption is of utmost urgency. Perhaps we should find a suitable pretext now to give some people a good warning.

This matter must be handled well, but Zhu Yunying does not intend to discuss it in court for the time being. He prefers to have a brief discussion with some people, or rather, to convey some imperial decrees.

It was clear that the emperor was unhappy, but Feng Cheng didn't think there was anything wrong with what he had done.

He was indeed going out to claim credit for his mission and to do what the emperor had entrusted to him. However, he was also well aware that he was a Duke of the Ming Dynasty and a son-in-law of the emperor, so he naturally had to shoulder more responsibility.

Whether he offends someone or not is irrelevant; given his status, he has no need to care about such things. So what if he offends some people? Even if he offends some top military officials, it doesn't matter, as long as he remains loyal to the emperor. This is the stance that a military official and relative of the emperor should have.

However, Feng Cheng did not forget his most important task: he could not let down the good intentions of certain people. These intentions were not only for his own sake, but also for the sake of his descendants, and even for the sake of his late father's reputation.

"Your Majesty, I was ordered to inspect Fujian and Guangdong during this inspection tour, and I happened to discover that vegetable oil was introduced from Southeast Asia."

Many civil and military officials found it strange, but over the years they had gotten used to some things.

For example, what was once considered a barbaric land actually has some good things. For instance, the Southeast Asia, which was usually looked down upon, actually has a lot of gems and gold. Moreover, the grain production there is very high, and many crops can be harvested three times a year, which is something that was almost unimaginable in the Ming Dynasty.

It's important to know that the Ming Dynasty consistently made efforts to import grain from Southeast Asia. Besides sea routes, land routes were also crucial. Much of the grain from Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan, and Guizhou was imported from Southeast Asia.

But now, when it comes to vegetable oil, it doesn't seem to matter much anymore.

For the civil and military officials, there was certainly no shortage of cooking oil. Perhaps some officials were aware that many common people lacked cooking oil. However, such matters were not worth discussing in the imperial court. After all, it seemed that the court had no solution to these issues, such as grain and oil shortages, unless it encouraged the people to grow more rapeseed oil.

However, this is not a fundamental solution. Even with land, people still need to grow grain, which is essential for survival. Rapeseed oil and similar products are considered dispensable.

Or perhaps people had a little more money in their pockets and would occasionally buy a small amount of oil, which was considered a small treat for them.

Zhu Yunying wasn't surprised at all by the seemingly indifferent attitude of the officials. Even Feng Cheng didn't find it strange; in fact, he initially thought the matter didn't seem to have much merit.

It's just rapeseed oil. What didn't the vast and resource-rich Ming Dynasty have?

At this point, Feng Cheng continued, "Your Majesty, many people from the Southeast Asian region have a habit of consuming this oil. This oil grows on trees, and I have learned that it is produced through a pressing process, making it almost indistinguishable from rapeseed oil."

The officials listened, but suddenly felt that something was amiss; indeed, something was wrong.

In most people's minds, cooking oil refers to things like rapeseed oil, peanut oil, or sesame oil—these are the ones that are edible. There's also tung oil, but while it's fine for making paper umbrellas or for dousing the enemy during city defense, it's definitely not for eating!

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