I'm really not doing business

Chapter 647: Fight the tiger and catch the ghost
The stolen money found by Chief Justice Chen Mo was not silver, but gold.

The Ming Dynasty listed price was that one tael of gold was equal to sixteen taels of silver, but there was no market for it. It was not that there was no gold, but that there was no silver. Silver had stronger liquidity, so merchant ships to Manila would not accept gold. Gold was mainly used as jewelry.

Precious metals like gold, which have poor liquidity and are difficult to cash in on a large scale, can be safely handed over to an outsider for safekeeping. The outsider simply does not have the channels to cash in such a large amount of gold.

Chen Mo was very confused. The amount of gold was a bit too huge. Was this really a number that Huang Chun, the magistrate of Shuntian Prefecture, could embezzle?

"Dig three feet deep into the ground." After Chen Mo realized the problem, he began to conduct a thorough search of the concubine's house. Chen Mo felt that there was something fishy. There must be a large number of people behind the suicidal Huang Chun.

You know, Luo Yao, the former Sichuan governor, worked very hard in Sichuan, but in the end he only got 34 silver coins, which were all confiscated by the court. What virtue and ability did Huang Chun, the magistrate of Shuntian Prefecture, have?

Soon, the imperial guards pried open the concubine's mouth. When she learned that Huang Chun was dead, she had no intention of denying it at all, because she was just a concubine and didn't know much. However, she still knew some of Huang Chun's secrets. According to the concubine's confession, Huang Chun did keep a little girl like her, but others in Tianjin also kept concubines!

Wang Qian is quite knowledgeable about concubines. He once said that if a concubine is found in a place, then that place is the gathering place of concubines. There may be ten or a hundred concubines living here, and around these concubines, a stable concubine economy is formed, in which "the luxury of one person is the livelihood of tens of millions of people."

Gold, silver, jewelry, rouge and powder, maids and servants, gossips, swindlers, human trafficking, etc., would all come over following the smell and appear in groups.

During the interrogation of the mistress, Chen Mo discovered that Wang Qian was indeed a master in the study of mistress culture in the Ming Dynasty!

Sure enough, this village with ten horizontal and ten vertical lines, which is similar to a small town, is a gathering place for concubines, with hundreds of concubines living there. Tianjin Wei is an important maritime trade center in the north of the Ming Dynasty, with convenient transportation and frequent commercial exchanges. There is also a certain degree of silver blockage in Tianjin Wei, and the alienation of silver on people is subtly affecting people's hearts.

These concubines were not only those of officials in the capital, but also those of some famous scholars, wealthy businessmen, and powerful families. These concubines played more of a social role. They were not to be exchanged or played around with, that was secondary. The main purpose was to provide a place for conspiracy and an excuse for meeting.

During the investigation, Chen Mo found that his guess was correct. The property worth 72 silver coins was not owned by Huang Chun himself, and the complexity of the matter exceeded the scope of Chen Mo's handling as the Chief Justice.

Three days later, Chen Mo returned to the capital at full speed and met with the commander Zhao Mengyou without stopping. After briefly reporting the situation, Zhao Mengyou took Chen Mo directly to Tonghe Palace. Without an "appointment", Chen Mo met the middle-aged emperor who was reviewing memorials.

"No need to be polite, just sit down." Zhu Yijun did not look up, but wrote quickly. The memorial from Guangzhou Prefecture was annotated by the emperor himself, with about a hundred words.

Chen Mo secretly glanced at the emperor and felt relieved from the bottom of his heart.

When His Majesty handled official documents, he was quite serious and earnest, giving people a very reassuring feeling. Of course, he just glanced at him secretly a few times, then sat down obediently, waiting for the emperor's questions.

"What's the specific situation?" Zhu Yijun finally finished reviewing the memorial, put down his red pen, and asked.

"Here is a name list. The 72 silver coins worth of stolen money held by Huang Chun's mistress were jointly held by them." Chen Mo handed a name list and a file to Feng Bao.

Zhu Yijun simply read the memorial, took a deep breath and said, "Huang Chun had reasons to commit suicide. Hai Rui acted too quickly, and he hadn't dealt with all the gold yet. Once investigated and the gold was seized, Huang Chun would definitely not survive the five poisons of the Northern Pacification Division. So, if I die, everyone will be safe."

"Huang Chun is unwilling to be decent, but there are many people who will help him be decent."

"Ti Shuai."

"I'm here!" Zhao Mengyou immediately stood up and said with full energy. Zhao Mengyou, who has been with Your Majesty for twelve years, already knows very clearly what Your Majesty is going to do. This will be a major case and an important case that will affect the Ming Dynasty in the next ten, twenty, or even fifty years.

"Arrest all the people on the list and put them in the Tianlao for questioning. Be careful not to let them commit suicide." Zhu Yijun made a special reminder that Huang Chun's suicide must not happen again.

Zhu Yijun drew out the second blank invitation. These were the ten chances given by Wang Chonggu to the emperor to abuse his power. Zhu Yijun used all of them in the case of Wang Chonggu's assassination.

If he dared to assassinate Wang Chonggu this time, he will dare to assassinate the emperor, the prince, and the queen next time.

Zhu Yijun wanted to catch them all in one fell swoop and punish them according to law.

"I obey your command!" Zhao Mengyou bowed his head and left. He was confident that the Northern Pacification Office was a place where one could neither live nor die. Without the permission of the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, death would be a luxury.

Zhao Mengyou left, leaving Chen Mo behind. Chen Mo was somewhat bewildered. His immediate superior just left like that, leaving him alone to face the emperor? !
"Chen Mo, I remember you. You have been the Marquis of Duntaiyuan for five years. Without you, Lin Fucheng would have died a thousand times." Zhu Yijun said with a smile, "Don't be nervous. You have ideas and methods for handling cases. You know how to relax and work hard. You have made great contributions this time. I will not push you out as a scapegoat."

The Jinyiwei of the Ming Dynasty had a very embarrassing problem, which was how to avoid becoming Ji Gang and how to become Lu Bing.

Ji Gang killed Li Jin for Emperor Chengzu Wen, and was later charged with treason.
Lu Bing saved outer court officials more than once, but he always won the trust of Emperor Jiajing.

Zhu Yijun made a direct promise that the one who arrested the man was Ti Shuai, and that it was the direct instruction of the emperor. The case was committed by the emperor himself, so if you have the courage, come and surrender!

Li Kaifang just bowed down in front of the emperor, nothing happened!

"Tell me what you think about this case." Zhu Yijun gestured to Chen Mo to briefly talk about his experience in handling the case.

"Opinion? I... do have some immature ideas." Chen Mo was not particularly nervous. His Majesty was not a cannibal. On the contrary, during the several visits he made to the emperor, His Majesty was very kind. He was not the moody figure like the King of Hell as described in folk rumors.

"The death soldier Li Sanhu, the old boss of Meishikou Xu Zhaode, the imperial censor Zhao Chengfan, and the prosecutor Huang Chun, they dared to assassinate Wang Ci Fu. In fact, they fell into a misunderstanding. They thought that as long as Wang Ci Fu died, the Ming Dynasty's official factory would belong to them. But in my opinion, the official factory group is not the official factory of Wang Ci Fu alone, but the official factory of the Ming Dynasty and your majesty." Chen Mo first talked about the motives of these people.

It was wrong from the beginning. If Wang Chonggu was really killed, it would only arouse the emperor's rage and trigger a bloody case like the four major cases to avenge Wang Ci Fu. The official factory group's laws would continue to be implemented, and the shipyards, coal bureaus, woolen mills, plantations, etc. sought by these people were all illusions.

"They actually looked down on Your Majesty." Chen Mo said with a strange look on his face: "I clearly felt this when I was handling the case."

"In the minds of these treacherous people, Your Majesty..."

Chen Mo couldn't find a suitable adjective to describe it for a moment, mainly because he couldn't lose his manners in front of the palace.

"Statues in the temple?" Zhu Yijun thought for a moment and asked.

"Yes." Chen Mo immediately bowed his head and said, this was what his majesty said, not him.

During the investigation, these treacherous rebels did not take the emperor seriously at all. They all thought that a young man in his twenties was not a concern. As long as they killed Wang Chonggu, their political enemy Zhang Juzheng would definitely conduct a comprehensive liquidation of Wang Chonggu, and they would finally get the fat meat they had been coveting for a long time.

"In the final analysis, they are just attracted by my junk. They all say they despise it, but their greedy faces expose the value of the government-owned factories." Zhu Yijun nodded. Is he going to kill Wang Chonggu? He is plotting to take over the government-owned factories where the emperor owns half of the shares!

This is like stealing Zhu Yijun's silver bag. This is intolerable!
"As for this gold, I have discovered the use of this gold. How should I put it? Your Majesty, this gold belongs to Huang Chun and other treacherous rebels, but it also does not belong to them." Chen Mo's words were confusing, and he hurriedly explained, trying to make it clear.

The role of gold was to serve as an equivalent to evade the high profits tax imposed by the imperial court.

Huang Chun embezzled 30,000 taels of silver. In order to send it to his family overseas, he had to leave the country, but he had to pay a capital gains tax of up to 50%. The most important thing was that a prosecutor could not explain clearly where so much silver came from. At this time, he needed a broker.

Huang Chun handed the silver to brokers and compradors, who then mortgaged the gold, which was not easily convertible into cash, to Huang Chun. The silver then circulated overseas to Huang Chun's family. After the transaction was completed, the brokers took the gold away.

During this process, the broker will charge a handling fee of up to 30%.

“In this way, we can avoid the inspection of the Imperial Maritime Customs. It may seem that the silver has not flowed out of the Ming Dynasty, but in fact the stolen money has. These stolen money will be turned into goods and flow out of the Ming Dynasty.” Chen Mo did not understand currency, let alone economics. He was just an official who read court bulletins and miscellaneous newspapers every day. This was just his shallow knowledge.

In Chen Mo's view, currency is goods, and the definition of silver is the hard-earned money of everyone in the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, the loss of goods is equivalent to the loss of silver.

Zhu Yijun thought for a moment, took out a piece of paper and wrote a few words, then said, "Is this what you mean?"

"Your Majesty is wise!" Chen Mo hurriedly bowed his head and said. His Majesty is such a smart man that he himself felt that what he said was confusing and it took him a long time to figure it out. His Majesty understood the function of gold in no time.

Because letters travel too slowly, these gold equivalents need to be placed in a safe place. Over time, such a stable chain of interests has been formed.

"Your Majesty, I don't think this is accidental." Chen Mo said solemnly, "Your Majesty, there may be more than one place like Daming where concubines gather."

Accidental phenomenon? Chen Mo didn't think so. He felt that since they had found one, it was basically certain that this had formed a path and existed widely.

"What you said makes sense." Zhu Yijun tapped his fingers on the table a few times and said to Zhang Hong, "Go and ask Wang Ci Fu and Wang Qian to come over."

Wang Qian was an extremely important figure in Hai Rui's fight against corruption. Wang Qian provided solid clues to help Hai Rui fight corruption more than once. Otherwise, it would have been difficult for Hai Rui, a loyal minister, to fight corruption to this extent because he did not understand corrupt officials.

Wang Chonggu arrived very quickly, but Wang Qian came a little later. As soon as Wang Qian entered the imperial study, Wang Chonggu wanted to kick Wang Qian out, because Wang Qian smelled of rouge and powder, and it seemed that he had just come out of some girl's arms.

"Greetings to Your Majesty. Long live Your Majesty." Wang Qian knew that he had lost his manners, but he really didn't have time to bathe or change clothes as the Majesty was calling him urgently.

"I am guilty." Wang Qian did not hesitate and asked for forgiveness directly. He was only a fourth-rank Censor-in-Chief, and was in charge of Yanxing Tower. His Majesty seldom summoned him, so he dared to be so bold as to go out and fool around in broad daylight.

"No need to be polite, just sit down and talk." Zhu Yijun signaled Wang Qian to skip the formalities and stop pretending to apologize.

"Your Majesty, I went to Taibai Tower for decoration work, not to fool around. As soon as I went there, the girl in the building threw herself at me. I really am... I am guilty." Wang Qian reiterated that he went to Taibai Tower in broad daylight for decoration work, but the girl threw herself at me and he couldn't stop her.

"If you don't spend money everywhere like a local rich man every day, how could those girls throw themselves at you? With a little money, you don't even know your own name. I'll cut off your financial resources for a month!" Wang Chonggu said angrily. The last time His Majesty went to Taibai Tower to watch the fun, Wang Qian spent 11,000 silver coins in front of the emperor.

Zhu Yijun watched Wang Chonggu teach his son. His son was already in his thirties and had already been shaped. It was too late to teach him now. Zhu Yijun asked Feng Bao to explain the situation in detail, and then asked solemnly: "Do you think this is an isolated phenomenon or a common phenomenon?"

"I think it should be widespread, and this business has been done very skillfully." Wang Chonggu put on reading glasses and carefully read the file before explaining his judgment.

Wang Qian said more directly: "Your Majesty, I said before that these concubines must gather together! Why?"

"Because the concubines hold so much money, they must show off, otherwise their hearts will feel like being scratched by a cat's claws, very itchy. Moreover, the concubines are emotionally unstable, just like firecrackers, which can be ignited at any time. If there is no place to complain, they may suffocate to death."

"Who do you show off to? Of course I show off to my sisters. Who do you complain to? Of course I complain to my sisters. We help each other, stick together for warmth, look for pedophiles together, and introduce them to each other."

Wang Chonggu looked at his son and said suspiciously, "Wang Qian! Are you raising a kid outside? Take him home while His Majesty is here, and don't let him mess around outside!"

"No!" Wang Qian's mouth twitched and he said, "If you don't look for it, why should I look for it!"

"Then why do you know so much?!" Wang Chonggu asked back.

"Knowing means I have one? Dad! You are the Minister of Justice, you need evidence to speak!" Wang Qian's face turned red with anger. He wanted to know for the sake of anti-corruption and state affairs! Before anyone else said anything, his father became suspicious!

"Who has the time to find a cuckold for himself? Could it be the reincarnation of a tortoise? I swear to heaven, if I find one, let the thunder from heaven strike me!"

Wang Qian once said that there is no mistress who does not cheat. Having a mistress is like finding yourself a cuckold. When these mistresses get together, apart from showing off and complaining, they introduce each other.

Zhu Yijun and Chen Mo looked at each other and were both amused but did not laugh. After all, Chen Mo had received professional training.

"Then find the place where these mistresses gather and break this line." Zhu Yijun talked about the purpose of calling Wang Chonggu and Wang Qian here. Find the mistresses, find the place where they gather, find the brokers and compradors, find the underground money houses, and send them to see Emperor Taizu Gao together with this major case!

"We obey your order." Wang Chonggu believed that this was extremely necessary, and that the Ministry of Justice and the Censorate should act together.

The reason why the money had to flow overseas was because it was not safe in the Ming Dynasty. Hai Rui and Hai Gangfeng were fighting corruption and showed no mercy.

Huang Chun died by hitting his head against a pillar in the Censorate, but his death was of no value, because the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was able to follow the clues and find out why Huang Chun committed suicide. There was a group of people behind him, and if he didn't die, no one else would be safe.

Zhu Yijun talked to Wang Chonggu and he used a blank driving license in order to handle the case more efficiently. Wang Chonggu said that it was in line with the process and there were no problems with the procedure.

Zhao Mengyou returned to the Beizhenfusi Yamen and summoned all the judicial officers and nearly two thousand imperial guards. He did not start to assign tasks until all the judicial officers and imperial guards arrived.

"This list is the one selected by His Majesty. Before sunrise tomorrow, all the people must be brought to justice, including their families! Now let's start assigning tasks!" Zhao Mengyou placed the list on the table and began to assign tasks to the ten chief judges.

"Whoever escapes from his jurisdiction is an accomplice to the crime!" Zhao Mengyou reiterated the case handling regulations. No matter who is let go, they are all equally responsible.

"Now, let's go!"

Zhao Mengyou commanded the Imperial Guards to go out, and a captain of the judicial officers rushed to the Wucheng Bingmasi to show the imperial edict. The nine gates of the capital were slowly closed amid people's curses. Then the Imperial Guards began to take over the guarding of the gates, and the captain of the judicial officers began to enter the blocks to arrest people.

Another team headed straight for the big house at the foot of Baiwang Mountain, where there were also targets to be captured.

The scope of arrests is not only for corrupt officials, but also for a group of businessmen. These businessmen are the owners of underground money houses that have been found out. They have been engaged in this kind of thing for a long time and have become accomplices of the tiger. The tiger must be beaten, and the accomplices must also be arrested.

It was destined to be an unfair night. Almost no one knew what was happening. Waves of Ti cavalry came onto the street, with neat footsteps approaching from afar and then quietly leaving. The sounds of doors being broken down came one after another, and even shouts of fighting and killing could be heard, but these noises would soon disappear into the night.

The next morning, the sun rose as usual and the gate slowly opened. Everything seemed to be no different from an ordinary morning. Even the place where the shouting and killing occurred last night was normal. Only a few unscrupulous gambling houses and shops were closed today, and the doors of several powerful and wealthy families were kept closed.

Just when everyone in the capital was guessing what had happened, notices began to be posted outside the Donghua Gate announcing why the imperial guards had arrested people yesterday. This was good news that corrupt officials and their minions had been wiped out by the wise Emperor of the Ming Dynasty. Soon the news spread like wildfire throughout the streets and alleys.

Zhu Yijun appeared in the Wenhua Hall as usual.

"Sir, I arrested 56 court officials and 124 merchants and brokers yesterday." Zhu Yijun looked at Zhang Juzheng and talked about yesterday's actions.

"Your Majesty is wise." Zhang Juzheng said indifferently: "Your Majesty, among the court officials arrested yesterday, none of them were my followers. Only seven merchants were from Chu."

"That's right, the teacher has taught me well." Zhu Yijun said with a smile on his face. Zhang Juzheng's disciples were all greedy openly and did not hide it at all, just like Zhang Juzheng.

"On the contrary, it's the Jin Party. This time, they occupy 23 seats in the court, which is almost half. Among these 124 merchants, 83 are from Shanxi." Zhang Juzheng looked at Wang Chonggu with gloating. The Jin Party was the most unlucky this time.

After this incident, the Jin Party was once again severely damaged.

"Alas, they are not motivated. I don't have any good solution. Let them be." Wang Chonggu waved his hand and said indifferently: "None of the 56 officials arrested yesterday were from government factories. That's enough."

Jin Party? I'm not familiar with them.

He, Wang Chonggu, is now the leader of the Labour Party!
No one from the Labour Party, which had not yet been fully formed, was on the list, including businessmen. The Labour Party itself was not a regional party, and no businessmen had joined the Party. The Labour Party itself advocated more goods and focused on production. As for who they were sold to and what they were used for, that was not the Labour Party's business.

"I discovered that these 56 arrested court officials have one thing in common," Zhu Yijun said with emotion, "They all cursed Wang Ci Fu."

There is no universal alliance of civil servants, and there are many factions in the court. If the civil servants could really unite completely, they could just change the dynasty.

"Ah? This..." Wang Chonggu was silent for a moment and said, "It seems that what I did has touched their lungs."

"That's true." Zhu Yijun said with approval, "The nationalization of Xizhimen Coal Market was the beginning of the whole thing. But now that the termites have been cleared, I can rest assured to go on my southern tour."

The Southern Tour has been intensively prepared for three months, with arrangements being made from inside to outside and from top to bottom.

"I have a memorial to report." Zhang Juzheng took out a memorial and reported on the preparations for the southern tour. Everything was ready. If nothing happened in the early spring of next year, they would set out in February and go to Yangzhou with fireworks in March.

Zhu Yijun read Zhang Juzheng's memorial carefully and said, "This is too much trouble."

"It's not a problem at all. Your Majesty is worth a fortune." Zhang Juzheng shook his head and said, "If time wasn't so tight, we could have made better preparations."

"There is no need to build so many temporary palaces. I don't live in temporary palaces. Saving this item can save 1.5 million silver coins." Zhu Yijun wanted to cross out one item, the cost of building a temporary palace.

"Your Majesty, this money cannot be saved. On February 20, the 18th year of the Jiajing reign, Emperor Shizong was on a southern tour. When he arrived at the Zhaozhou Palace, a fire broke out in the palace. The fire was not big and was quickly extinguished. On February 26, he stayed at the Linming Palace. At midnight, the fire broke out again. On February 28, he arrived at the Weihui Palace. At four o'clock in the morning, it was a sea of ​​fire in an instant." Zhang Juzheng said very solemnly, "This money cannot be saved."

"One million and five hundred thousand silver coins can build a 200-li highway." Zhu Yijun still felt a little distressed.

"Your Majesty, we cannot save this money. I am very confident in the palace built by Wang Ci Fu." Zhang Juzheng once again went against the emperor's will and refused to save money.

"Your Majesty, I second the motion." Wang Chonggu said very directly: "If they dare to kill me, they dare to assassinate Your Majesty. No matter what, this money must be paid."

"This imperial jade carriage costs 70,000 silver coins. I only sold a five-masted ocean-going ship for 50,000 silver coins. How could this thing cost 70,000 silver coins? Is this imperial jade carriage made of gold or silver? It's so expensive!" Zhu Yijun questioned the second item.

"It's made of gold." Zhang Juzheng said with certainty: "Wood wrapped in steel, even if it is exploded by gunpowder, at most it will explode into the sky, but it won't fall apart. The Ministry of Works has tried it."

"I used 7,000 kilograms of gunpowder from the arsenal to make this car." Wang Daokun hurriedly explained why this thing was so expensive. The cost was not just for one car, but the research and development cost.

"Do we need to build a special boat just to cross the Yangtze River?" Zhu Yijun asked dully, looking at another item on the list that cost as much as 150,000 silver coins.

Zhang Juzheng said very seriously: "This is the most important thing to prevent. We must not save money on sealing the boats. If we want to save money, then we should not go on the southern tour."

Waterproofing is better than fireproofing. The Great Fire Virtue is not afraid of fire but is afraid of water.

"We can't save on this, and we can't save on that? Which one can be saved on?" Zhu Yijun looked at the long memorial. This was not a memorial at all, it was clearly a bill. A southern tour would cost more than 300 million silver!

"Your Majesty, I have saved everything that can be saved. The rest cannot be saved. Your Majesty, what we gain from the southern tour cannot be measured in silver." Zhang Juzheng told the emperor very clearly that it was impossible to save money.

Some things are priced, and some things are priceless. The emperor's southern tour means the strengthening of the centripetal force of the Southern Court. Under the trend of opening up the sea, this trip must be made no matter what, and it is very likely to become a regular practice.

How much money should be used to measure centripetal force?

Zhu Yijun sighed, picked up the seal, stamped it, and said helplessly: "Then don't draw it, implement it in full. This may be the reason why the court is rigid."

The reason for the rigidity of the imperial court was actually very simple. There were many loopholes in the system when it was first established. In order to plug these loopholes, the system needed to be patched up, which eventually led to layers of shitty codes piling up. Every time a patch was made, the rigidity increased, which eventually led to the Ming Dynasty becoming as rigid as a rotten wood.

The Taoist priest traveled to the south for several days and was burned by fire three times. He returned empty-handed. In order to avoid such a thing from happening again, he had to make repairs and eventually the rules became very complicated.

(End of this chapter)