I'm really not doing business

Chapter 589 Nothing else, just enough money

There was really no need for Wang Qian to take the money from his subordinates, because he was making money now. Just a ticket for the Suiyuan Chidao had increased Wang Qian's assets several times. Now Young Master Wang was making more money than Old Wang, so there was no need to do so for a few thousand taels of silver.

Zhu Yijun's meaning was very clear. Even if he really took the money, he would not allow Li Ducai to enter the capital alive. However, the emperor's favor with Wang Qian and Wang Chonggu would disappear. He might even find a reason to force Wang Chonggu and his son to retire at an appropriate time. Wang Chonggu was under the fire of the censors every day, so it would be easy for him to find a reason.

If Wang Chonggu and Wang Qian really took it, Li Ducai was not allowed to enter Beijing for the sake of the stability of the court. The reason why they were asked to leave afterwards was because they should not have taken the money. Zhu Yijun gave them so much money because he did not want them to ask for bribes from those below. It was money that they should not have taken.

The court officials were all very clear about what Zhu Yijun did. He would not do it again and again. Zhu Yijun had given Li Ducai two chances. One was to directly prevent him from entering Beijing, and the other was to remind Wang Chonggu that his family might also make the same mistake.

As soon as Li Ducai arrived in Beijing, he had to go through the court. Going through the court means being weighed. Some things, once put on the scale, cannot be contained.

But Wang Chonggu made a promise in front of the emperor that he could weigh himself and open his stomach to let the emperor see how many bowls of noodles he had eaten.

Li Ducai arrived in the capital smoothly on the seventh day of the first lunar month in the twelfth year of Wanli. Li Yougong had already prepared to do the dirty work, which was why Ling Yunyi was a little dissatisfied. Once a senior official of the court was involved, he would die inexplicably during the process of entering the capital and would not be able to be executed according to the law. This was too easy for Li Ducai.

But when Li Ducai came to Beijing, Ling Yunyi's last bit of dissatisfaction disappeared, and he became even more satisfied, because no matter what the results of the investigation were, Li Ducai would be sent to the Jiekuyuan!
The Jiekuyuan is the hell king's palace on earth, and the Ming emperor is a living hell king.

The Benevolent Emperor is His Majesty, and the Living King of Hell is also His Majesty. This is very contradictory. The Benevolent Emperor refers to the people of the Ming Dynasty, and the Living King of Hell refers to the lawless criminals. This is very reasonable.

Li Ducai entered the capital smoothly, and all the eyes in the capital were focused on Li Ducai. This was in public and under the watchful eyes of everyone.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, Wang Qian has pulled two silver carriages to the outside of Guangning Gate, waiting for Li Ducai at the city gate. The city has already been surrounded in three layers!" A eunuch hurriedly ran in and told Your Majesty that there was something exciting to watch!

"Quick, go to Guangning Gate and tell us what's going on in detail!" When Zhu Yijun heard that there was something exciting to watch, he finished reviewing the memorials in his hand and prepared to go directly to watch the fun and inquire about the details.

Wang Qian was not happy with Li Ducai's flattery, and he had been having a very unhappy life these days, so he pulled two silver carts and prepared a total of 34,000 taels of silver to attack Li Ducai. It would be fine if he just flattered Wang Qian, but who else could he look down on? Just a hundred or so taels of silver, and he wanted Wang Qian to be his protective umbrella?
Didn't these bugs covet 34,000 taels? Just throw out so much silver and let Li Ducai take a good look!

"Wang Qian's behavior seems stupid, after all, such a large amount of silver was just thrown away. But in fact, he has thought it over carefully. This is to move the tree to establish trust. Such a ridiculous behavior will let everyone in the world know that their Wang family is not short of money, so people should stop accusing their Wang family of this little silver." Zhu Yijun carefully analyzed Wang Qian's motives on the way to Guangning Gate.

A playboy? Zhu Yijun didn't think so. After all, Wang Qian was able to pass the imperial examination and was very smart.

"Your Majesty, is it possible that Young Master Wang is just venting his anger? He didn't think that much at all?" Feng Bao said tentatively: "From what I have seen of Wang Qian's usual behavior, he didn't think that much at all. He just couldn't hold back his anger, so he did this."

Feng Bao believed that Wang Qian would never think about moving trees to establish trust or anything like that. He just went there to vent his anger. As the second richest man in the capital, he was humiliated like this. Wang Qian was not one of the low-key sons of Zhang Juzheng's family, and he was not the kind of person who was shrewd and scheming.

"You're right, he probably didn't think that much..." Zhu Yijun thought about it and felt that he was probably overthinking it. Wang Qian might not have thought about the impact at all. This behavior was just to vent his anger.

When Zhu Yijun arrived at Guangning Gate, he saw that it was packed with people. He couldn't even squeeze in to watch the fun. However, Zhao Mengyou, who was in charge of clearing the street, had already reserved the highest seat in a nearby restaurant for His Majesty and even set up a telescope.

"Have you paid?" Zhu Yijun went up to the top floor and asked Zhao Mengyou whether he had paid.

"The property of the imperial farm." Feng Bao said hurriedly, "The restaurants and inns in front of the main gates of the capital are all the property of the inner office."

"That's great." Zhu Yijun nodded with satisfaction, sat down by the window and looked at the street.

Regarding the Ming Emperor's love of watching the fun, Zhang Juzheng believed that the Ti cavalry's clearing the streets, occupying the roads, and taking up seats were not acts of disturbing the public. His Majesty only had this hobby, and not allowing His Majesty to watch the fun would be too harsh. Zhang Juzheng's only requirement was to protect the emperor's safety.

Wang Qian brought seven minions with him, all of whom were servants of the Wang family. In addition to these minions, there were also the playboys in the capital, the sons of high officials, the descendants of military merits, and the children of wealthy families in Xitu City. They were all Wang Qian's friends and frequent visitors to Taibai Tower.

Wang Qian stood in front of the Guangning Gate, and his minions carried the silver boxes down from the cart one by one.

"He really just wanted to vent his anger." Zhu Yijun saw this scene and said to Feng Bao, "I think too much."

Wang Qian's behavior was not for the purpose of moving a tree to establish credibility or to prevent people from blaming their family. He simply wanted to use money to smear people and for the sake of face. This can be seen from those friends who Wang Qian usually doesn't like.

When Li Yougong rode a tall horse and pulled the prison cart out of Guangning Gate, he felt a little dizzy when he saw the scene in front of him. He was pulling the criminal into Beijing, but what was Wang Qian going to do? It would be more appropriate to do it on the road. Why did he set up this dragon gate formation in front of Guangning Gate?
"Wang Qian! You are so brave! Get out of the way!" Li Yougong put his hand on the hilt of the knife and said sternly, "How dare you stop the emperor's envoy? Does your father know?"

Li Yougong thought that Wang Qian was here to block the door and prevent Li Ducai from entering the capital. Li Yougong's first consideration was to complete the imperial mission.

"Li Dayong, I am not trying to stop the imperial envoy. Since this thief Li Ducai said he knew me, I will confront him face to face. I want to see how he bribed me with the hundred taels of silver!" Wang Qian took a step forward, his face flushed, and shouted loudly.

Li Yougong was stunned for a moment, then he understood Wang Qian's intention and felt a little embarrassed.

Zhu Yijun heard Wang Qian's roar from a distance. The resentment that rose to the sky was so strong. It could be said that he was incompetent and was so powerful only because he relied on his family and his father for food. But you couldn't say that he was poor, as he could make a lot of money on his own.

Zhu Yijun asked a eunuch to tell Li Yougong what was going on.

Li Yougong then realized that His Majesty had also come to watch the fun, so he immediately dismounted and whispered to the eunuch twice before clearing his throat and saying, "Since Mr. Wang wants to prove his innocence, please do as you please. But first of all, I want him alive and I want him to be sent to the Northern Pacification Office for trial."

"Okay!" Wang Qian shouted, "Li Ducai! Who is Li Ducai? Get out here!"

There were more than a dozen prison vans in total, all of which contained criminals involved in the "Wang Ci Fu bribery" case. Wang Qian didn't know Li Ducai at all, so he could only shout that.

A prison van was pulled up, and Wang Qian called a group of playboys to come forward. One of his lackeys took two steps forward, grabbed Li Ducai by the collar and pulled him to the edge of the van, with his face almost embedded in the pillar of the van.

"Open your dog eyes and take a good look. Among these young masters here, which one is the prince?" the minion asked with a grin.

There was a lot of excitement to see at Guangning Gate, with three layers of people inside and outside. The young men in front of the prison van were all dressed in the same way, wearing silk and satin, green and purple, and holding a mahogany folding fan in their hands, looking very showy. Every one of them was either rich or noble.

Li Ducai carefully distinguished for a long time and finally became sure that he had been fooled, because the Wang Qian he knew was not among them.

"I don't know." Li Ducai said dejectedly. In fact, when Ling Yunyi said that he couldn't see Wang Qian even with money, he already knew that he was probably cheated.

Wang Qian took three steps forward, pointed at himself and said, "I am Wang Qian. If you become a ghost and want to take revenge on me, recognize my face and don't go to the wrong door."

"Open!"

Wang Qian waved his hand and several of his minions opened the silver boxes. Inside were rows of imperial silver coins wrapped in red silk. These were not silver taels, but imperial silver coins had stronger liquidity than silver, which meant they were more valuable. Dozens of silver boxes were opened, and the white silver coins sparkled in the sun.

"Wow!" Zhu Yijun's eyes left the telescope, pointed down and said, "Young Master Wang is very generous!"

Thirty-four thousand silver coins, a total of 2125 kilograms of silver, were placed in front of everyone.

"You said I had a concubine named Zhao, and my wife almost scratched me to death when she came home that day!" Wang Qian grabbed a handful of silver coins and threw them out!

"You said that I had correspondence with you and that I asked you for 140 taels of silver on the pretext of celebrating the New Year! You made me a laughing stock!" Wang Qian grabbed another handful of silver coins and threw them out, shouting angrily as he threw them.

Wang Qian was laughed at. People all have their own circles. When people in Wang Qian's circle used this as a topic of conversation, Wang Qian himself was laughed at. It would have been fine if he had just been asked by his uncles, aunts, and other elders and friends, but Zhang Juzheng's eldest son, Zhang Siwen, a doctor of the Five Classics, inadvertently asked about this matter during a New Year's greeting.

Wang Qian wished he could crawl into a crack in the ground!

In fact, Wang Qian envied the friendship between Jiao Hong and Zhang Siwen. They had fought over the project, but they were still good friends. Exploring the boundaries of human cognition is a very romantic thing. Wang Qian also studied mathematics, but ultimately could not go to the Institute of Gewu.

Zhang Siwen's question completely broke down Wang Qian's defenses.

"I asked you to speak, I asked you to slander me! Do you know how I have been living these past few days? Do you know! Didn't you covet 34,000 silver coins? I will give it all to you today!"

"Smash it for me!"

Wang Qian waved his hand, and his minions and cronies took out silver from the silver box and threw it at Li Ducai. The scene immediately became lively.

Silver coins worth one or two taels could not kill a person, but there were too many of them. Thirty-four thousand silver coins drowned Li Ducai. He could not die, but it was painful.

"Your Majesty, we have received news that Wang Ci Fu is riding in a horse-drawn carriage and is returning to Beijing quickly from the Xishan Coal Bureau!" A eunuch hurried upstairs and told His Majesty the new situation.

"Ah? Wang Ci Fu also knows about it? Okay, okay, I'll investigate further and report back, hahaha!" Zhu Yijun said happily. After the New Year, all his resentment was gone when he went to work. In this lively New Year's day, there was also the drama of Wang Chonggu teaching his son, which Zhu Yijun had never expected.

Soon, Wang Chonggu's carriage appeared outside Guangning Gate. Before the 34,000 silver coins were completely smashed, Wang Chonggu jumped off the carriage.

"Rebellious son, what are you doing?" Wang Chonggu said angrily, "Are you crazy?"

"Dad, he humiliated me!" Wang Qian did not run away this time. He stood there stubbornly, pointing at Li Ducai and said very aggrievedly.

Wang Chonggu looked at the silver coins scattered all over the floor, sighed and said, "Forget it, just smash it."

Wang Qian was indeed very aggrieved these days. Wang Chonggu only had this one son, and Wang Qian's current state had a lot to do with Wang Chonggu's pampering and indulgence. Wang Chonggu was a shrewd old fox, and he immediately saw behind his son's absurd behavior, but he was able to draw a line, and in the future, there was no need to bite their family for such a small amount of money.

Their family is really rich, so it’s not worth it.

"The old fox is still more shrewd!" Zhu Yijun felt a little bit sorry that he didn't see the scene where Wang Chonggu taught his son with the seven-star ring-handled sword. Wang Chonggu thought more than Wang Qian. The original intention of this indulgence was to prove his innocence. Nothing else, just not short of money.

Soon, Shuntian Prefecture Chancellor Wang Xiyuan brought yamen runners to the scene to maintain order and separate the crowd.

Wang Qian spent money lavishly, scattering silver all over the floor, which had to be cleaned up by the yamen runners of Shuntian Prefecture.

"Count it as one for every one present, let's divide it equally." Wang Chonggu waved his hand, kicked Wang Qian, pushed Wang Qian onto the carriage, and left with his men.

Wang Xiyuan looked at the mess on the ground, sighed, and asked the yamen runners to separate the people. There were more than a thousand people at the scene. Wang Xiyuan distributed the silver coins according to the number of people. The scene was a mess.

"Forget it, I won't go to get it." When Zhu Yijun left, he said to Feng Bao, "Li Yougong is here, he also wants a copy."

If Wang Chonggu had not said to divide it equally, the 34,000 taels would have all gone to Li Yougong. But Wang Chonggu said to divide it equally, so they had to divide it equally. Zhu Yijun was watching from a distance and naturally could not take it, but Li Yougong could take it.

"I obey your order." Feng Bao said with a smile.

The case was taken over by the Beizhenfusi Yamen. After learning about the situation, the Beizhenfusi Yamen began investigating on the second day of the Lunar New Year. After careful investigation, they arrested a total of three Wang Qians and four Wang Chongyis, all of whom were brokers who had been swindling people everywhere in the name of Wang Chonggu's family.

At this point, the matter has become very clear. Li Ducai offered the bribe but did not deliver it to Wang Qian.

Li Ducai was sent to the dissection hospital. The dissection hospital was not as scary as outsiders thought. It was always kept clean and not all experiments required consumables. There were many mice and monkeys in the dissection hospital. Many times, they would complete experiments on animals before conducting experiments on humans.

Specimens are extremely precious consumables. Living specimens are more valuable to the dismemberment hospital, and the dismemberment hospital will use them as sparingly as possible. Of course, for those who are locked up in the dismemberment hospital, it would be better to be killed with a knife, because in the dismemberment hospital, you never know when death will come, and the time waiting to die is the most difficult. Suicide is not allowed because if you commit suicide, you will be made into a specimen.

Zhu Yijun sent a special letter to Henan to tell Ling Yunyi that Li Ducai had been sent to the Liaison Office.

The case in which Ling Yunyi killed 238 people in Henan, which shocked the Ming Dynasty, has come to an end, while another major case is in full swing, the Jiangnan Mill case involving seventeen prominent families.

Luo Bingliang, the commander of the Southern Court, is in charge of this case and has already begun raiding the homes of seventeen prominent families.

During the investigation, Luo Bingliang discovered something very scary. For these seventeen prominent families, their main crime might not be raising the grain prices, which should be put aside, but their main crime was collusion with the Japanese pirates.

When Luo Bingliang was confiscating the properties of these prominent families, he discovered that all the silver was Japanese silver, which aroused Luo Bingliang's suspicion.

Among the methods used by the Imperial Guards to investigate cases, there was a method that specifically investigated the silver routes. The case was investigated by judging the flow and origins of silver. Luo Bingliang was an expert in this area. With several thousand judges, Luo Bingliang began to pursue this direction relentlessly and finally found the irrefutable evidence of their collusion with the Japanese.

"Did you foresee that the Imperial Guards would find out about their collaboration with the Japanese?" Zhu Yijun looked at Luo Bingliang's report, then at Zhang Juzheng who was drinking tea in the imperial study, and asked in confusion.

As soon as the Mill Case came out, Zhang Juzheng advocated killing. Wang Chonggu and others also had the same opinion, which was to kill.

"It will definitely be found out, Your Majesty. The Japanese invasion in the southeast back then was extremely complicated." Zhang Juzheng nodded. He had advocated killing and confiscating property from the beginning because he knew that the investigation would definitely lead to the investigation of the case. There had been so many cases in Jiangnan, and they would all eventually lead to the investigation of the case involving the Japanese invasion.

"So, banning the sea is like breaking a hand." Zhang Juzheng reiterated his support for opening the sea. There are too many things he wants to do, and it is impossible for him to accomplish them alone. Your Majesty has been working hard to open the sea since the beginning, starting with sweet potatoes. The Ming Dynasty has benefited a lot from this process.

He was only the Prime Minister. Even if he had been regent, he was still the Prime Minister, not the emperor. In the end, His Majesty himself will be responsible for the direction in which the Ming Dynasty is heading and the history of the Ming Dynasty.

All honor, disgrace, rise and fall are concentrated on Your Majesty. When people talk about it in the future, it is also the decision and influence of Emperor Wanli. This is inevitable due to the highly centralized imperial power in the Ming Dynasty. The greater the power, the greater the responsibility.

"The Seventeen Articles signed by the Ming Dynasty and Japan have begun to be implemented." Zhang Juzheng came to Tonghe Palace not to talk about the Jiangnan Mill Case. Since the Jiangnan Mill Case was brought to the emperor's attention, the local struggle was basically over. In fact, it was mainly to let the emperor be the judge.

This case was reported to the Ministry of Revenue.

What Zhang Juzheng wanted to talk about was the "Treaty for the Suppression of Piracy", commonly known as the Seventeen Articles. These seventeen articles, with all their numerous aspects, required the Ming Dynasty to urge the Azuchi Shogunate to implement them.

"Now it seems that Oda Nobunaga really has no choice. On the one hand, the Mori family and the Japanese daimyo are pressing him step by step, and on the other hand, the traitors are coveting his life. He can only rely on the Ming Dynasty, because the Ming Dynasty is the Celestial Empire and has a very good reputation." Zhang Juzheng said with a little annoyance: "It seems that when Oda entered the Ming Dynasty, we asked for a low price."

"Oda Nobunaga was clearly aware that the Ming Dynasty's Nagasaki Xingdusi stationed in Sakai Castle would not protect him, so he organized a personal guard of his own, which was composed entirely of Ming Dynasty fugitives and Korean Hwarang."

Zhang Juzheng talked about the situation in Japan.

The Ming Dynasty provided nominal protection at the Nagasaki Gyotosu in Osaka Bay, but would not put it into action. It all depended on Oda Nobunaga himself. Oda Nobunaga had completely lost trust in the Japanese, so he had to resort to external forces. In name, he borrowed the name of the Ming Dynasty and achieved the transformation from the people of the world to the Azuchi shogunate. In reality, Oda Nobunaga's personal guards were protected by Ming Dynasty and Korean fugitives.

"This group of desperate criminals from Ming Dynasty and Korea, totaling 3,000 people, taught the Mori family a severe lesson when they were first formed. These 3,000 people launched a surprise attack on Honganji Temple, killed all the monks and soldiers of Honganji Temple, and then left." Zhang Juzheng talked about the specific role of this surprise force.

These guards are not only responsible for protection, but also for fighting.

Zhu Yijun opened the geomancy map and read the newspaper. This surprise attack had more symbolic significance than practical significance, because there was no way to occupy the place for a long time, so they could only kill people to vent their anger and burn down the Honganji Temple with fire. Honganji Temple is not the Honnoji Temple. Honganji Temple is located in Ishiyama, Settsu Province, which is the head temple of the Ikko sect. Honyama means base camp.

The Ikko sect is more of a Warring States daimyo than a Buddhist temple. They had a long history of feud with Oda Nobunaga. It was the Ikko sect, which claimed to be the Buddhist kingdom on earth, that characterized Oda Nobunaga as the Great Demon King of Owari.

Now Oda Nobunaga has completely destroyed it and slapped Mori Terumoto hard in the face.

"That is to say, although the Ming Dynasty did not take any actual action, Oda Nobunaga still used the influence of the Seventeen Articles to do a lot of things and got rid of the current predicament. Internally, he does not have to worry too much about his safety. Externally, he has regained a city and entered a confrontation situation." Zhu Yijun said solemnly as he looked at the Japanese geomancy map.

"This Oda Nobunaga is quite a character, and quite powerful."

In this period of great turmoil, when people were suspicious, Oda Nobunaga used his surrender to the Ming Dynasty as the basic cohesion, achieved a great victory and stabilized the situation.

"No, now is the most dangerous time for Oda Nobunaga." Zhang Juzheng shook his head and said, "Your Majesty, the contradiction theory talks about the intensification of contradictions. Oda Nobunaga seems to have escaped the crisis, but in fact, now is the precursor of the intensification of contradictions to the point of war. This is the last dark moment before dawn."

"Internally, those retainers that Oda Nobunaga trusted very much before have now been excluded from the center of power. Externally, Mori Terumoto must be dissatisfied with such a big slap in the face, and he will definitely contact Oda Nobunaga's retainers."

"The most dangerous moment has arrived. There will definitely be an extremely fierce conflict in the near future. The conflict of life and death will intensify. It will be difficult for him to escape this time."

"Oh? Why do you think Oda Nobunaga can't escape this time?" Zhu Yijun asked curiously.

"Your Majesty, it is difficult to guard against thieves within the family no matter how hard you try to guard against them day and night. The essence of it is that it is not a problem if the thought arises, but a problem if you are slow to realize it. Oda Nobunaga realized that there was a thief within the family only after the death of his third son, but it was already too late." After Zhang Juzheng finished speaking, he glanced to the side. Zhu Yijun followed his gaze and saw a person standing where his gaze reached, Feng Bao.

Feng Bao's defense was broken immediately! Just talk about the matter, why use him as an example! His eyes widened, hesitating to speak, and finally said nothing.

In the case of Wang Jinglong's assassination, Feng Bao was severely punished. The fact that he allowed Wang Jinglong to run to the Qianqing Palace was Feng Bao's dereliction of duty. Feng Bao was really a little arrogant at the time. He even because of Empress Dowager Li's trust, he talked nonsense, magnified Empress Dowager Li's anxiety, and spread rumors. He was a traitor in the family.

Zhang Juzheng said to the emperor that there is no need to be afraid of thoughts like traitors within the family. People have many thoughts, and it is normal to be tempted by them. But the thing is to be afraid of realizing it too late. That is when it is really too late. If you realize it too late, these traitors within the family are common and not isolated cases.

Feng Bao almost kowtowed to death in the Qianqing Palace. This great lesson has made Feng Bao walk on a steady path now.

"Is Oda Nobunaga definitely dead?" Zhu Yijun asked tentatively.

Zhang Juzheng nodded and said, "That's what I think."

Zhu Yijun nodded and said, "Sir, how about we make a bet? I bet that Oda Nobunaga will die."

"I'm betting... No, Your Majesty, I said Oda Nobunaga would die, and Your Majesty took it. Am I betting that he would survive?" Zhang Juzheng was stunned before he could finish his sentence. This emperor's bet took away the way for others and left himself with no way to go?

"Haha." Zhu Yijun shook his head and said, "Just kidding, sir, what do you think the Ming Dynasty should do?"

"You don't have to do anything." Zhang Juzheng said confidently: "No matter who is in charge in Japan, they must accept these 17 articles. If they don't accept them, we will beat them until they accept them."

"What you said makes sense, sir. You are so powerful!" Zhu Yijun finally understood that the Ming Dynasty really did not need to do anything.

In fact, Oda Nobunaga was also prepared. After sending his most sorry sister to the Ming Dynasty, he was ready to give it a try.

"We must also learn lessons from Japan. At any time, we must try our best to avoid gambling on the fate of the country, because nine out of ten people lose, and one of them jumps into the river. If you gamble on the fate of the country, you will definitely lose, just like the gamblers in the gambling house. In the end, gamblers will lose everything." When Zhang Juzheng talked about Japan, he was naturally talking about the situation and the lessons.

When betting on the fate of a country, it’s okay to lose once or twice, as you will learn a lesson from the loss. But if you win, you will just keep increasing the bet and end up losing everything.

(End of this chapter)