Daming: The most ruthless tyrant in history

Chapter 851: Peeling off the cocoon
Cui Chengxiu dispatched officials from the Integrity Commission to make large-scale arrests, which made the situation, which seemed turbulent but was actually stagnant, gradually tilt towards an unknown situation.

A steady drizzle.

The Forbidden City in Nanjing seems to be shrouded in a layer of mist.

The temporary headquarters of the Western Investigation Factory.

"Have you arranged all the staff?"

In the main hall, Fang Zhenghua looked serious and said coldly to Wang Chengen.

"Don't worry, everything has been arranged."

Wang Chengen nodded and said, "No one in this palace can get close to this place."

"Then let's get started."

Fang Zhenghua flicked his sleeves and said.

Han Zanzhou, Gao Shiming and others standing in the hall all had solemn expressions on their faces. Ever since they crossed the river and rushed to Nanjing City, countless pairs of eyes had been staring at them, both openly and covertly.

This is especially true in the Forbidden City.

This feeling makes them dare not relax for a moment!

"Mr. Fang, all the eunuchs, I will begin now."

In this situation, a man in a black cloak walked out from behind the screen. Under everyone's gaze, he took off his cloak and revealed his true face.

"The situation in the southeastern provinces is complicated right now, especially in Nanjing City. I am so cautious, please don't blame me." After taking off his cloak, Zhao Chuan clasped his fists and apologized to Fang Zhenghua and his party.

"Let's get down to business."

Fang Zhenghua said in a low voice.

Fang Zhenghua was clear about Zhao Chuan's origins. This man was the head of a secret operation sent to the southeast by Li Ruolian's Luanwei and knew many secrets.

"Right now, the Integrity Bureau led by Cui Chengxiu has launched a large-scale arrest campaign in Hangzhou Prefecture." Zhao Chuan walked to a place, pointing at the map in front of him and speaking.

"The suspects are closely related to smuggling in the Yangtze River, occupation of government farmland, misappropriation of textiles, and smuggling of salt and iron. According to the information obtained by the Luanwei, the Integrity Bureau also seems to have found clues of manipulating the Japanese riots to disturb Zhejiang, Nanzhili and other places."

"Based on the current situation, my Luanwei in the southeast predicts that Cui Chengxiu and his men are doing this to break off relations with the people hiding in the dark. Otherwise, the current situation will trap the Integrity Bureau to death!!"

Fang Zhenghua, Wang Chengen and others who had gathered around listened to Zhao Chuan's introduction and stared at the specially made map in front of them, all with solemn expressions on their faces.

Those specially made silk threads of various colors connect Nanzhili, Huguang, Jiangxi, Fujian, Zhejiang and other places. There are even a few silk threads of various colors that connect Guangdong, Guangxi and Guizhou. The places where the most silk threads are gathered are Nanzhili, Zhejiang, Fujian, Huguang and other places!
Just by seeing these, Fang Zhenghua and the others knew how complicated the situation in the southeast was.

"Even if it's to break the impasse, can't we wait a few more days?"

Han Zanzhou frowned and looked at Zhao Chuan and said, "At least we should wait for Qi Jin's army to rush from Nanzhili to Zhejiang, and then wait for his troops to go to various places in Zhejiang, and then his people from the Integrity Bureau can arrest them. Isn't this better?"

"It doesn't matter if he does this now, but I'm afraid that all the evil spirits that have connections with the treacherous people in Zhejiang will be alarmed, and everything will be in chaos."

"Eunuch Han, Cui Chengxiu has no other choice."

Zhao Chuan sighed, "The internal situation of the Integrity Bureau is already unstable. Several groups of officials sent out were killed by the so-called Japanese pirates. Let's not talk about what happened in Zhejiang and Nanzhili for now, but the Integrity Bureau was greatly shaken!" "Because of this incident, all the people sent out by the Integrity Bureau withdrew to Zhejiang. The key is that before and after this, the prices of grain, salt, oil, charcoal, cotton, cloth and other products in Zhejiang were all driven up, and the prices of tea, silk and raw silk were even higher."

"Most of the prefectures, states and counties under Zhejiang's jurisdiction have great public resentment, and there are countless people denouncing the Integrity Commission. This has ruined the good reputation that was previously accumulated through the tax resistance case."

"So, isn't the chaos in Zhejiang the result of a single force?"

Fang Zhenghua narrowed his eyes and said, "It's that many forces are exerting their power. Some of them know each other, while others don't?"

"That's a good idea, Mr. Factory!"

Zhao Chuan said, "In fact, from the very beginning, when Japanese pirates attacked the Zhejiang coast, many forces were confused. They didn't expect the Japanese pirates to attack."

“But gradually things changed.”

"The water in Zhejiang was muddy before, but at least we could see the underwater situation clearly. But now, it is completely muddy, and we have no idea what is happening under the water."

"For example, the Hangzhou Weaving Bureau under Zhejiang, led by Li Zhong, took advantage of the chaos to drive up the prices of raw silk and silk. Just based on what the Luanwei has discovered, they have gained nearly a million taels in the past few months!"

"No wonder."

Wang Chengen narrowed his eyes and said, "Since a few months ago, the price of silk and raw silk shipped to Tianjin has been so high, which has discouraged many Western merchants."

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“There is one thing that the Integrity Commission does very well.”

After hearing this, Zhao Chuan stepped forward and said, "It is divided into Yangtze River smuggling, official farmland occupation, textile misappropriation, salt and iron smuggling, etc. This allows the interest groups involved in each case to be initially distinguished."

"According to the classification of the Integrity Bureau, the Luanwei was further divided. This booklet records the various forces that were discovered. The twelve surveillance agencies, four departments and eight bureaus of the inner court in Nanjing, and the nobles are two important forces. And around them, there are many other forces extending out."

"Their situation is that you are in me, I am in you, and it is precisely because of this that the Integrity Bureau led by Cui Chengxiu encountered great resistance and constraints when conducting a detailed investigation, which in turn involved many local officials."

Fang Zhenghua frowned, took the booklet handed to him by Zhao Chuan, and under the gaze of Wang Chengen and others, he opened the booklet and started talking.

"It's just as the emperor said. There are so many signs of 'valve' in this land of the southeast. Damn these guys!"

The more Fang Zhenghua looked, the more shocked he became. Although he had expected the situation to be bad before coming to Nanjing, he had never imagined it would be so dire.

This was simply beyond his imagination.

"You all take a look."

After an unknown amount of time, Fang Zheng closed the booklet, handed it to Wang Chengen and the others, and said in a cold tone, which made Wang Chengen and the others feel nervous. The matter might be more serious than they thought.

"this!"

"hiss!"

"what!"

Not long after, some noises were heard in the hall. Although Wang Chengen and his companions had encountered many situations and challenges when they were in the capital, they could not hold back when they learned about the complicated situation in the southeast.

Seeing Wang Chengen and the others' reactions, Zhao Chuan felt very complicated. When he first discovered these things bit by bit, he was shocked. How could this Southeast be the Southeast of the Ming Dynasty? It was clearly the Southeast of some privileged groups. The key point was that the court had no idea about this before! !

(End of this chapter)