The First Gongsheng of Ming Dynasty

Zhu Fu's victory on the battlefield was claimed to be a great victory, but everyone knew that his victory was more a reflection of the Ming Dynasty's advantage over the grasslands, and it was something he got for free. There was unrest among the Tatars, and some marginal tribes began to move closer to the Ming Dynasty, which gave him the opportunity.

The grassland war is still going on.

But no news came for a while, because no matter how capable the troops were, it was difficult to find the main force of the Tatars to fight on the vast grassland.

At the same time, in the capital, a conspiracy involving imperial weapons is breaking out, and the instigator is Yang Peng, who has always wanted to show off in front of the emperor. Because the case involves many important officials in the court, this case was initiated by the East Factory, which is only responsible to the emperor and will also report to Zhang Zhou. It does not involve the Ministry of Justice, the Dali Temple or the Censorate.

"Sir, this is the preliminary result. Since you started mining, from coal mines to iron mines, and then to other mineral veins, to Datong in the east, and even to Yansui, there are several mines. To the west are Xuanfu, Zhangjiakoubao, etc., and further east is Xishan, and then there are several mines in the suburbs of Beijing, and then Yongping Prefecture around Jizhou. The iron mines there..."

"Over the past two years, you have accumulated a lot of ores and mineral products for the court. The court's military equipment and supplies have been replenished, but it is also because of your efforts that some people have the opportunity to enrich themselves. Taking Li Zhang, the former commander of the East Factory, as a clue, the East Factory investigated the income from mining in various places in the past two years and found that... a large number of money, grain, and ores were embezzled, sold privately, and enriched themselves..."

"It seems that the former Minister of Revenue, Qi Zhong, is also implicated. Now there is also the Right Vice Minister of Personnel, Han Wen, and even the Duke of Chengguo's Mansion... Of course, these are all preliminary findings, and it is difficult to determine the number. The Duke of Yingguo's Mansion is also involved in the case, involving matters such as procurement for the Beijing Camp. The Duke of Yingguo's Mansion embezzled a lot of money and grain."

"If we add in the corruption of local officials, especially the prefectures and counties, as well as their backers in the court, many people from the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Works were involved in the case. There is also one person... Xiong Xiu, the right assistant minister of the Ministry of War, who is probably also... involved..."

"In addition to the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War, even people from the Imperial Academy are involved. It involves Jiao Fang, a bachelor of the Imperial Academy. In addition, he sent some people from his clans, and even his fellow villagers, to interfere in the operation of some mines in the suburbs of Beijing."

"Even in the Ministry of Justice, many people are involved in the case. We have not yet verified it, but Li Shishi, the right assistant minister of the Ministry of Justice, once instructed the locals to pay donations for him, and received more than two thousand taels of silver at one time. The specific case may require a detailed investigation..."

Yang Peng also took great pains to perform well.

Seeing Yang Peng's cautious look, Zhang Zhou couldn't help but ask, "It seems that Eunuch Yang has taken a lot of trouble to investigate this case."

"No, no." Yang Peng was naturally a little embarrassed.

As the chief eunuch of Silijian, the supervisor of the Eastern Depot, Yang Peng is now in the limelight. If it comes to the case of embezzlement in the mine, it would be unreasonable for others not to give Yang Peng a gift. In fact, Zhang Zhou, who was in charge of the mine, could not have been unaware of which people in the court had benefited from the mine.

As for his mining, he relied on the power of Jinyiwei, who would seek benefits from mining. Jinyiwei naturally had to show respect to their superiors, so they had to mention the former eunuch Li Zhang, who was the supervisor of Dongchang and is now deceased.

Yang Peng said, "In fact, when Li Rong was still in the East Factory, everything was normal with the mining. It was all because of Li Zhang's carelessness and his illegal behavior. There were several problems caused by him alone. In addition, he protected and appointed some people, so that now there is a bit of chaos in the court with the mining."

Zhang Zhou smiled and said, "You are too polite. I don't think there will be any chaos, but I am afraid that it will soon be a mess."

"Not really, not really." Yang Peng said, "With you in charge, this certainly won't happen. Also, the East Factory has done a thorough investigation, and all the people you recommended were honest and self-disciplined, and you never sought benefits from it, which... is very admirable. Originally, this was all your property, and His Majesty also made it clear that the money they got was taken from you. His Majesty said that he would investigate it strictly, and this matter... is both a state affair and a family affair. His Majesty said that he would help you find out clearly..."

Zhang Zhou said: "What do you mean by that?"

Yang Peng smiled and said, "Your Majesty said that you opened the mine and gave the majority of it to the court. The rest should be yours. This group of people took the benefits from you, which not only flouted the law, but also took away your private property. Such behavior is not only disloyal and unfilial, but also unkind and unjust. Therefore, you should be in charge of coordinating everything in this case. Of course, you can rest assured to leave the investigation to the East Factory... I can assure you that the investigation will not involve a penny. If anyone dares to break the law, they will be killed without mercy."

Zhang Zhou nodded and said, "Now that you mention it, I feel embarrassed. Your Majesty has given me trust, how can I not know what is good for me? The share that is not mine should belong to the court. I also noticed that some people were making profits from the mine, but in the end, the overall situation should be the most important. I couldn't investigate. I also reported some people before... but generally speaking... ah!"

Zhang Zhou seemed to be hesitant to speak.

Yang Peng said: "Your righteousness should be understood by anyone with a heart. Don't worry, this case will be investigated strictly. It's just that it concerns the Duke Cheng's Mansion... His Majesty wants us to go to the Duke Cheng's Mansion to say hello first."

"Have you gone? Or are you planning to go?" Zhang Zhou asked.

Yang Peng said in embarrassment: "I have been there, and I have told Madam Chengguo the truth. Originally, the Chengguo Mansion has focused on Nanjing affairs in the past few years. The mines in Nanjing, especially the salt fields, are not the responsibility of the Chengguo Mansion, but they are... stepping in. In addition to the shipbuilding in the south... the Chengguo Mansion... has also sought a lot of benefits from it."

Zhang Zhou smiled.

The Chengguo Mansion is definitely not an honest family.

Zhang Zhou had felt this when he first came to the Ming Dynasty. Which normal family would let their own children get involved in folk business and make the business so big that it monopolized a certain area?
Didn’t Zhu Feng get to know him during the course of doing business?
Using power to achieve market monopoly is only one aspect. The rest... is that the Chengguo Mansion used its power to seek personal gain from the tasks assigned by the court. For example, Zhu Fu was not deeply involved in shipbuilding and salt field operations in the south, but he still sought personal gain from them.

The emperor just couldn't bear to see it anymore, but he still thought of Zhu Feng as an obedient and sensible "child". The emperor also treated Zhu Feng as his younger brother, so he didn't pursue the crime of Chengguo Mansion.

Zhu Fu was summoned back to the capital and sent to lead troops in the northwest to give him a chance to make amends.

But now that the East Factory is taking the lead in investigating the corruption case, Zhu Fu’s misdeeds cannot be avoided.

Zhang Zhou said, "What do the people at the Chengguo Mansion say?"

"They are very terrified and say they will conduct a thorough investigation of their subordinates and hand over the guilty persons." Yang Peng said with a smile, "But Your Majesty knows the details, and you should know them too."

"Yeah." Zhang Zhou nodded.

Yang Peng said: "Earlier, His Majesty asked Duke Cheng to lead troops to the northwest. Now he wants to investigate the case in the south, which may also affect... the stability of the military morale."

Zhang Zhou shook his head and said, "You're worrying too much."

Zhang Zhou thought, how could Zhu Fu stir up trouble in the northwest? It would be good enough if he could come back alive.

"Also... there were corruption cases in the Northwest Army and corruption cases in the Governor's Office. Now they are all blamed on Marquis Anyuan. After all, he is dead, and the dead are the easiest to blame... His Majesty has issued a special decree to allow Marquis Anyuan to be convicted for the Northwest case. Even if he is dead, his family will suffer because of this."

Yang Peng then mentioned Liu Jing, who was killed by Zhang Mao along the way because he took the blame.

Zhang Zhou said, "Didn't the Empress Dowager say anything?"

After all, Liu Jing is related to Empress Dowager Zhou by marriage. Now that Liu Jing has been convicted, it is reasonable for Empress Dowager Zhou to ignore it. Yang Peng said, "Your Majesty has asked the Grand Empress Dowager for her opinion. According to what the Grand Empress Dowager said, we should investigate it as we should. After all, when Huamachi was attacked by the Tatars, a major incident occurred. If no one comes out to take the blame, it will not work. If we don't investigate Anyuan Hou, we will have to take action against the Duke of Yingguo Mansion. By then, the waves caused will be even greater, and we can only...sacrifice the car to save the king."

Zhang Zhou smiled.

When did Queen Mother Zhou become so "wise and righteous"?

But think about it, Liu Jingren is dead, in order to ensure the stability of the Ming Dynasty, it seems best not to pursue Zhang Mao's crimes for the time being.

After all, the Yingguo Duke family has been passed down and has become the foundation of the Ming Dynasty's military merits. Zhang Mao cannot touch them at will. But Liu Jing is different... Liu Jing was previously convicted because of the affairs in Guangdong and Guangxi, and in the end it was Empress Dowager Zhou who stepped in to mediate. Once it happens, there will never be a second time.

What Queen Mother Zhou wanted to protect most was naturally the interests of the two brothers of the Zhou family, Marquis Qingyun and Earl Changning.

As for Liu Jing...it's time to sacrifice. The person is dead, so what is there to be attached to?
"Sir, which part do you think we should investigate first?" Yang Peng asked. "Just investigate as you like. We'll start from wherever you are pointed out. Although some people's charges have not been proven yet, they are basically... not out of control."

Zhang Zhou said: "Can I make the decision on this matter?"

"If you don't make the decision, who will?" Yang Peng said with a smile, "Speaking of which, some people have a very good reputation in the court. They are all known as loyal and honest officials, but in the face of huge interests, they seem to be a little...profit-oriented. The mine is a hot commodity, and everyone wants to get a piece of it back."

Zhang Zhou asked, "Then according to Eunuch Yang's opinion, who should we start with?"

Yang Peng said, "Why not start with someone who is not too important, for example... the Imperial Academy? It seems that there is no connection between the two. What do you think?"

"Oh? Is it from Master Jiao?" Zhang Zhou asked with a smile.

"Yes, he is the one involved in the case in the Hanlin Academy. He holds the highest position. He is not on good terms with many people in the court, but he is very close to Li Zhang. It is not easy for an idle official like him to gain benefits. He also has a son who is a juren and often travels between the capital and Xishan... I heard that his travel expenses in the past six months alone exceeded one thousand taels of silver..."

"Oh."

Zhang Zhou thought to himself, opening a mine in the Ming Dynasty was not a good thing.

Wanli's mining was obviously beneficial to the country and the people, but a group of powerful people took all the benefits for themselves, which caused a conflict of interest with the aristocratic class. Then, a good thing that benefited the country and the people was turned into an evil act that was condemned by literati as causing chaos in the country and the people.

The most important thing for a feudal dynasty is to eliminate monopolies, otherwise everything will be in vain.

Not everyone has his broad mind, to see such a large amount of wealth without thinking about putting it into his own pocket.

……

……

After receiving instructions, Yang Peng went back to investigate the case.

Zhang Zhou knew very well that Yang Peng was eager to prove himself, and that he also wanted to be the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department. However, Zhu Youtang had told him before that Yang Peng was unreliable, petty-minded, and easily went to extremes.

Li Zhang and Yang Peng have very similar personalities.

Yang Peng himself was not a clean-cut person. When it came to corruption, he was even worse than Li Zhang. But because Yang Peng was more obsessed with power, he did not engage in corruption.

The reason why he was able to grasp the details of the mine embezzlement case so quickly was mainly because someone gave Yang Peng gifts and even acted as a go-between.

As the eunuch in charge of the Eastern Depot, he should have been the leader of this group of people. However, this leader turned against them for power and exposed all the people under him... and then the people below him were all found guilty after being investigated, right?

Perhaps Yang Peng wanted to use this case to recover the losses for the court after investigating it thoroughly, so that the emperor and Zhang Zhou would appreciate him and cultivate him to be in charge of the Imperial Household Department.

This is also related to Chen Kuan's average ability.

Everyone knows that Chen Kuan will be replaced sooner or later, and it won’t take too long.

That night, Zhang Zhou was still watching a play in the theater when someone came to report that Mrs. Cheng Guo was here to see him.

This time it was not Zhu Hu who came, but Zhu Fu and Zhu Feng's stepmother, Zhu Xu, the sister of Duke of Wei Xu Ju.

The Mansion of Duke Chengguo and the Mansion of Duke Weiguo have a deep connection. Zhu Fu's sister married Xu Chu and became the Lady of Wei. Xu Chu's sister was still young when Zhu Fu got married, so she naturally could not get married. But after Zhu Fu's original wife died, he immediately married his sister as his second wife to show the friendship between the two families.

Although Zhu Fu is now nearly fifty years old, Mrs. Chengguo is only in her thirties.

Zhang Zhou knew a lot about the Zhu family, but he knew very little about Zhu Fu's second wife. Zhu Feng had never mentioned her in front of him. After all, this stepmother was only a few years older than his brother. Besides, this Lady Chengguo did not give Zhu Fu any children. Apart from the title of being the sister of the Duke of Wei, there was really nothing else to say about her.

"I pay my respects to Duke Cai."

Zhu Xu arrived and brought generous gifts with her.

It can be considered as another time to act as a lobbyist.

This also made Zhang Zhou realize that if something happened to the Zhu family, it would definitely be the women who would take the brunt of the trouble. (End of this chapter)