Daming: The most ruthless tyrant in history

Chapter 712 Shock (1)

"What did you say? Linhuai Hou was arrested?!"

The study room in the inner courtyard of the Mansion of Duke Chengguo.

Zhu Chunchen looked surprised, staring at the middle-aged man in front of him and asked, "Who arrested Li Hongji out of nowhere? Was it the factory guards?"

"No."

The middle-aged man shook his head and said, "They are from the detective team."

"Detective team?"

Zhu Chunchen was stunned, frowned, and a puzzled look appeared on his face, "What is this?"

"I don't know either."

The middle-aged man said truthfully: "According to the people below, the detective team is under the jurisdiction of the Shaofu, and it is not clear what they do specifically."

Another Shaofu?

Zhu Chunchen frowned even more tightly. Ever since the emperor appointed the Shaofu to be in charge of all palace affairs, the departments under the Shaofu's jurisdiction had been specially appointed one after another.

This matter has been criticized privately by many people.

In the hearts of many people, they despise the officials of the Shaofu, saying that they are doing the work of the eunuchs in the inner court. Well, with the gradual increase in the number of officials in the Shaofu, the inner court has twelve supervisors, four departments and eight bureaus under it, and it no longer has various external powers like in the past. The twelve supervisors, four departments and eight bureaus of the inner court have gradually disappeared from the sight of the world.

In the inner court, only the East Investigation Factory, the West Investigation Factory and the Great Internal Investigation Factory are well-known. However, in the past year, although the East Investigation Factory is still there, few people have seen its people.

The main personnel of the Eastern Investigation Bureau followed Wei Zhongxian south. At present, there are many eunuchs garrisoning in various places in Dongfan, as well as factory guards, who are from the Eastern Investigation Bureau.

"Sir, the capital is extremely unusual today."

Seeing his master deep in thought, the middle-aged man hesitated for a moment and explained everything he knew one by one, "In addition to the detective team, the various districts inside and outside the capital, the Shuntian government office, and the National Taxation Bureau's tax police corps are arresting people... From what I know, many people have been arrested."

"While arresting people in various places in the capital, the people from the Capital Security Superintendent's Office imposed martial law on all the districts inside and outside the capital, including all the internal and external gates."

This is a big deal!!

When Zhu Chunchen heard this, he immediately realized something was wrong.

“Why are you arresting people?”

Zhu Chunchen grasped the key point and looked at the middle-aged man and asked.

"According to what our people have found out, it's related to counterfeit currency." The middle-aged man said uncertainly, "But there are also rumors... that it's related to tax evasion. There are all kinds of rumors all over the capital right now."

"Counterfeit money?"

Zhu Chunchen thought of something, and after replying this sentence, he hurriedly lifted his robe and stood up to walk towards a place. Seeing this, the middle-aged man lowered his head and followed Zhu Chunchen.

"You mean this?"

Zhu Chunchen found a wooden box, opened it, and took out a silver dollar. There were gold and silver dollars placed in the wooden box, and upon closer inspection, there was nothing wrong.

"fake?"

The middle-aged man took the silver dollar with both hands, pinched it with two fingers, blew on it, and then put it to his ear to listen. However, the sound he heard made his face change slightly.

"Sir, where did you get these from?"

"Li Hongji gave it to me." Zhu Chunchen frowned, and after replying to the middle-aged man, he narrowed his eyes and said, "No wonder Li Hongji told me mysteriously a few days ago that there was a business that would make a lot of money. It turned out to be privately minting counterfeit coins."

While saying these things, Zhu Chunchen was thinking much more in his mind.

When Li Hongji gave him this box of gold and silver dollars, Zhu Chunchen didn't pay much attention to it. After all, during this period of time, he was busy calculating the dividends given by the Thirteen Hongs in Tianjin.

As time went by, the Thirteen Hongs in Tianjin began to expand by relying on the monopoly of silk, tea, porcelain and other products. In particular, the Ming Dynasty intervened in Korea, from the initial aid to Korea in resisting the invaders to the subsequent suppression of rebellion. This made the size of the Thirteen Hongs in Tianjin continue to expand, and the nobles in Beijing were excited.

After all, they invested a huge amount of gold and silver in the beginning. The original intention of most nobles was to make money. They initially started maritime trade with Western merchants heading south, transporting and selling grain, cloth, cotton, oil and other commodities to Liaodong. Although they could earn a certain profit, this could not satisfy the needs of so many nobles.

So it is inevitable that there will be complaints in private.

However, starting from the second year of the Tianqi reign, all this changed because the imperial court wanted to intervene in Korea. Sending various necessities to Korea was just a small part, and high-end products such as ginseng, furs, and pearls were shipped back from Korea and then transferred to the southeastern provinces. The gold and silver earned from this was too high.

In addition to the above-mentioned trades, the real lucrative industry comes from North Korea, where a few bags of grain can be exchanged for skinny horses for training, and then sent to the southeastern provinces, or brought back to the capital. The profit earned here is not dozens or nearly a hundred times, but hundreds of times, or even higher!

After all, how much are a few bags of grain worth?

"Who else did Li Hongji go to before coming to me?" Thinking of this, Zhu Chunchen looked at the middle-aged man and asked.

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"I heard that Duke Dingguo and his men were also approached."

The middle-aged man said truthfully: "Linhuai Hou has been very high-profile and generous these days. I have also heard that Linhuai Hou seems to have made a fortune."

"Humph, you value money over life."

Zhu Chunchen snorted coldly, "When the Thirteen Hongs in Tianjin were first established, this guy was indecisive and didn't put out much silver. When the Thirteen Hongs in Tianjin started to make a lot of money, he kept complaining that he was deceived by villains. He wanted to buy more silver shares, but who would give him any?"

"If that's the case, the work of this detective team may be related to the currency system designated by His Majesty. The good days of the Li family may be coming to an end."

"The Lord's intention is that the Li family may be dismissed..."

The middle-aged man could not hide his shock, but he couldn't continue speaking halfway through his words.

“It’s not impossible.”

Zhu Chunchen smiled and said, "Didn't those people get fired back then?"

When he said this, Zhu Chunchen's expression became a little unnatural.

At that time, Jiang Bingzhong, Marquis of Dingxi, and Tang Guozuo, Marquis of Lingbi, were investigated and punished by Sun Chuanting, the then prefect of Shuntian Prefecture. They ended up being killed and stripped of their titles. All their homes were searched by the imperial guards, and their relatives and nine clans were all arrested. As for where these people went, no one knew.

This caused quite a stir among the nobles in Beijing.

The hereditary nobles could be killed at will, and that was it. This also made many of them feel fear in their hearts.

During the Tianqi Dynasty, hereditary succession was not a permanent solution, and as a result, many nobles became restrained, fearing that this disaster would befall them one day.

"Alright, this matter has nothing to do with us." Zhu Chunchen hesitated for a moment, frowned and said, "It's New Year's Day, tell the people below not to cause trouble for me."

"Here!"

The middle-aged man immediately bowed in response.

However, after saying all this, Zhu Chunchen's eyes were fixed on the wooden box. The gold and silver coins placed inside made Zhu Chunchen's expression slightly solemn. No one knew what Zhu Chunchen was thinking at this moment.

(End of this chapter)