The First Gongsheng of Ming Dynasty

"Sir, you are really capable. Once you take action, Mr. Jiao will obey you obediently."

After stuffing Jiao Huangzhong back into the cell, Yang Peng said to Zhang Zhou with a respectful look on his face.

Zhang Zhou said calmly, "I didn't do anything. He probably saw me coming forward and knew that this matter would not end easily. If he still wants to save his life, he can only confess what he knows. But it seems that it is still a long way from your goal of linking all the criminals together, Eunuch Yang."

"It doesn't matter."

Yang Peng smiled and said, "The people he gave out are pretty much the same. There is his confession as evidence, and he also explained something to the court officials. That is, his father's side..."

Zhang Zhou said: "Based on what he confessed, it seems that Master Jiao was not deeply involved in the case."

Yang Peng showed a fierce look on his face and said, "Can you trust the words of such a person?"

"It doesn't matter whether you believe it or not." Zhang Zhou said, "Master Jiao is an old official after all, and he has a certain prestige in the Hanlin Academy. Since the connection was done by his son, let's deal with his son first. This can be regarded as a reward for Jiao Huangzhong's meritorious service after his crime."

"You...don't want to touch that Scholar Jiao?" Yang Peng was very surprised.

The emperor asked you to handle this case, not only to recover the silver and eliminate the corrupt officials, but also to eliminate some dissidents and let people know that there will be no good consequences if they offend you.

As a result, you showed mercy to the first person you came up to?
This is not a good thing.

Anyone who works for you will feel like there is a thorn in their heart, like me.

Zhang Zhou said: "Even though Jiao Xueshi is an old official, he has done things improperly and indulged his juniors in wrongdoings. He should be impeached and he does not need to stay in the Hanlin Academy any longer."

"You are right." Yang Peng said, "Mr. Jiao seems kind, but he is actually very cunning. It is said that he is very picky about scholars from the south. He even said a lot of bad things about you behind your back, and even said that he would not associate with you. We cannot keep him in the court."

Zhang Zhou smiled and said, "This matter should be reported by Eunuch Yang."

Yang Peng smiled and said, "Of course. The next step is to bring back the people Jiao Huangzhong confessed to and have them tried again to make sure the case is settled. What do you think..."

Zhang Zhou said: "If there are still people who cannot be interrogated, I can come over and ask. But I will try my best not to get involved in this case. The specific implementation is up to you, Eunuch Yang."

"Okay, I'll do my best." Yang Peng was naturally happy.

There is a lot of money behind interrogating the criminals. Of course, he is not doing it for money, but to let people know that he is not easy to mess with.

Yang Peng was a powerful figure in the court after all, but the position of the eunuch commander of the Eastern Depot had always had a low profile during the Hongzhi period, and he also wanted to show off a little.

In this way, when people in the court see him, they will all feel insecure. It will naturally be easier for him to help the emperor in the future, and he will be more appreciated by the emperor.

As for following in Li Zhang's footsteps, he was not worried.

Because in this case, he was just an executor, unlike Li Zhang who took the initiative everywhere. More importantly, Li Zhang did not reach a completely united front with Zhang Zhou.

But he is different.

……

……

Just two days later, Jiao Fang resigned and was approved.

At the same time, many people in the court were arrested, but they were all below the level of vice minister. The bigwigs in the court have not been brought to justice yet, but many people still feel the crisis.

The point is that many people in the court don’t know the connections behind it, or even why the case started, and they don’t know what exactly happened.

After all, this time the emperor asked the East Factory to conduct a secret investigation in order to recover the silver and ore that had been embezzled. Most people did not participate in it, and they had no idea how much profit was hidden behind it.

cabinet.

After going to the Hanlin Academy to see Jiao Fang off, Li Dongyang hurried back to the duty room to find Liu Jian.

Because he went to give Jiao Fang a leave of absence, but actually he went to get information. He also wanted to know what happened... The most amazing thing about this matter is that after Jiao Fang resigned, even the cabinet didn't know what was going on.

"Jiao Mengyang didn't say too much in detail, just a general statement. But he seemed to be satisfied that he could get away with it after committing a crime. He didn't answer any more specific questions. It is said that the whole family will leave the capital and return home tomorrow morning."

The news Li Dongyang brought back was also very general.

Liu Jian frowned and asked, "Did Zhang Bingkuan extend his hand to the Hanlin Academy?"

Li Dongyang also said with doubt: "It's strange. If he wants to build up power in the Hanlin Academy or suppress dissidents, it seems that he shouldn't start with Jiao Mengyang. Is this person... really that important?"

Obviously, even Liu Jian and Li Dongyang did not consider Jiao Fang as "one of their own".

Jiao Fang had a bad reputation in the Hanlin Academy. Although everyone could remain friendly on the surface, in private, Liu Jian never regarded Jiao Fang as a trustworthy confidant, because this person's shortcomings were very obvious.

Even the kind that is annoying.

In their opinion, such a person should quickly defect to Zhang Zhou's camp, but who knew that Zhang Zhou would start his attack on the Hanlin Academy and the first person he struck was Jiao Fang.

Li Dongyang said: "We still need to continue to investigate, but there is no news. What we know now is that the East Factory is doing something. Several people have not come to the government office in the past two days. It is very likely that they have been arrested by the East Factory."

"Who are they?" Liu Jian asked.

"It's hard to say." Li Dongyang said, "Among the six ministries, the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Works have the most, with three or four people each, but they are also said to be sick. There is no news from the Ministry of Justice. I asked the people in the Censorate before, but because the Censorate is a little reserved now, they will not reveal too much information."

This means that Wang Qiong is now the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, in charge of all major and minor affairs of the Censorate, and is no longer controlled by the traditional civil service faction.

Obviously, the matter may have nothing to do with the Censorate, but Li Dongyang felt that the people in the Censorate were intentionally concealing the matter under the instructions of Wang Qiong.

Liu Jian said, "This fire first spread to the Hanlin Academy. It is indeed puzzling. Logically, no matter what happens in the court, the Hanlin Academy should be the last to be involved. There may still be something that has not been discovered. Binzhi, if it doesn't work, you can go out with Wang Jizhi to ask. His channels may be wider than yours. If something happens in the court, it is not too much for us to ask for a general idea. I believe he will not refuse."

The implication is that we should make peace with Wang Ao first.

Let Wang Ao help you investigate. Wang Ao has connections with Zhang Zhou's faction. Let him ask through this relationship, and perhaps you can get the news faster.

……

...Si Li Jian, duty room.

Wei Bin arrived at the duty room early in the morning, but did not see Chen Kuan. He was extremely anxious and quickly asked someone to invite Chen Kuan over.

When Chen Kuan arrived at the Imperial Household Department, it was almost noon, but Chen Kuan still seemed to have not realized that anything happening in the court might have anything to do with him.

"Eunuch Chen, I haven't seen Yang Peng these two days." Wei Bin hurried over and helped Chen Kuan take over some documents in his hands.

Chen Kuan asked, "Do you have something to do with him?"

Wei Bin said helplessly: "Some people in the capital were captured by the East Factory. Many of them were secretly presented to us as tributes. They were considered...disciples. Now they have been captured by the East Factory. I wanted to ask Yang Peng for clarification, but I couldn't find him. This matter is very strange."

"Oh?"

Chen Kuan frowned.

Normally, the Silijian would receive some tributes from outside, but the person who reached out to take the money could not be the eunuch who held the seal of the Silijian.

Because Wei Bin had extensive connections outside the palace, it was always Wei Bin who came forward to handle the affairs. Originally, these were some bad habits in the officialdom. Some people sent gifts to the Silijian through intermediaries. In order not only to win over the two internal ministers, but also to make the Silijian "show mercy" when approving the documents.

Of course, there are many interests involved, such as relying on the Imperial Household Department for support.

Wei Bin said: "The people who were arrested had connections with the people in the imperial farm before, and some even directly managed the imperial farm. Some were not in the court at all, so even the ministers in the court did not know about it. There were also people from the Imperial Household Department, and even... Oh! It's hard to explain."

Chen Kuan frowned and said, "You mean, the people who were arrested this time are all our own people?"

"A lot of them." Wei Bin looked embarrassed.

Because matters such as mining taxes all involved the emperor's personal purse, and the people who managed the purse were the eunuchs. Even though the Silijian had no direct jurisdiction over these people, they were still the superiors of this group of people.

It was natural for them to give gifts to the Imperial Household Department, especially during festivals and other celebrations.

Now that this group of people have been arrested, Wei Bin feels that the East Factory is now taking action against its own people.

Chen Kuan said: "I haven't seen Yang Peng in the past few days, but he has been to the Palace of Heavenly Purity. If His Majesty assigns him to handle a case, and the case is related to us, do you think he will... hide from us first?"

"Then...what should we do?" Wei Bin was a little nervous.

Outside, they are ministers with great power and are important figures who can influence the government.

But within the royal system, they are just a group of lackeys who do their jobs. Now another lackey is targeting them, and he may be receiving orders from the emperor, which is to make Wei Bin feel that a disaster is imminent.

Chen Kuan said: "Don't panic, are you involved in many corruption and abuse of power?"

"No, I just accept some gifts from time to time, not only from here, but also from you...even Yang Peng himself." Wei Bin smiled bitterly.

Chen Kuan frowned and said, "If that's the case, then this matter is most likely related to Duke Cai, or perhaps to border affairs. Border affairs have been in chaos in the past two years, and the cost of manufacturing firearms is so high. It's not surprising that His Majesty wants to find some deficits and impose some punishments. You calm down first, and we will investigate this matter."

"I still have to rely on you, Eunuch Chen." Wei Bin looked at Chen Kuan with gratitude.

Chen Kuan sighed, "Alas! What a pity! Our family is limited in ability. If it were Eunuch Dai or Eunuch Xiao, this wouldn't have happened. The difficulty is that neither you nor I have the qualifications to confront Duke Cai head-on. Even Yang Peng is increasingly looking down on us!"

……

……

The capital is the official residence of Chengguo.

Zhu Hu called her grandson Zhu Lin to her side and, with a serious look on her face, asked him about the matter of breaking off ties with some ministers in the court.

As the eldest son of the Zhu family and the prince of Duke Chengguo, Zhu Lin has a very low presence in the family because he has no son. The most important thing in his life now is to quickly take a concubine and give birth to a son. Even if there are any major events in the family, he does not need to get involved.

If his old father and younger brother had not gone to the frontier to fight this time, he might still be at home watching over the three-acre land in the backyard.

"Grandma, don't worry too much. This matter happened in Nanjing and has little to do with the capital." Zhu Lin's character is to just go with the flow and he will never take things seriously.

Zhu Hu cursed, "Asshole, you mean to say that the Nanjing incident was all caused by your father, and if there is an investigation, it should be your father, and it has nothing to do with you, right?"

Zhu Lin rolled his eyes, probably meaning, whatever you say is what it is.

Zhu Hu said, "Your father is also ignorant of the situation. The Chengguo Mansion has been declining for many years. If it weren't for Zhijie being appreciated by His Majesty and Duke Cai, perhaps the Weiguo Mansion would have been superior to us. Your father committed crimes in Nanjing, and even His Majesty couldn't stand it, so he summoned him back and exposed the case when he was on the expedition. It's obvious that he wanted to prove the truth."

"Grandma, do you mean that His Majesty is still plotting against our family?" Zhu Lin asked.

"This is the emperor's trick. Don't you even understand this?" Zhu Hu was speechless about her grandson. She said angrily, "What happened to those people who were very close to your father in Beijing before? Have you said hello to them?"

"Oh, a few have already gone in." Zhu Lin said, "I went to look for them, but I couldn't find them, so I couldn't greet them."

Zhu Hu's eyes widened and she asked, "What you mean is that after that group of people go in, they might expose your father?"

Zhu Lin said, "I heard that everyone in the Governor's Office is greedy. They all say that the Hongzhi era was a clean and honest administration. But doesn't everyone know that Your Majesty always turns a blind eye to such things? I don't think my father did anything wrong in this matter. He just followed the crowd."

Zhu Hu scolded: "You are blind."

Zhu Lin continued, "This group of people went in and implicated father. Did they just give some gifts? Or did father...abuse his power for personal gain? Father is in Nanjing. If he is asked to seek personal gain, I don't know where he will get it from. Even His Majesty doesn't care much about it, and even sent someone to come and give a heads-up in advance. Why should we be so anxious?"

"You!" Zhu Hu almost wanted to curse.

Zhu Lin said, "Grandmother, you may not know that everyone in the court is trying to find out what happened. Scholar Jiao suddenly retired and returned home. As far as we know, he was involved in the mining business in the north, but he has never had any contact with our family."

"That's right. He is just a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy. He would never take a Duke's Mansion like ours seriously." Zhu Hu said coldly.

"Isn't that what it is?"

Zhu Lin continued, "If we talk about the most corrupt official in the capital, it must not be our family, but the Duke of Yingguo's mansion. You see that the Duke of Yingguo is still alive and kicking, so you know that the matter will not be too serious. Grandmother, don't worry about it. If the sky falls, let the Duke of Yingguo take care of it. If that doesn't work, then go and ask the Duke of Cai to help you out of kindness and save our family's future?" (End of this chapter)