Daming: The most ruthless tyrant in history

Chapter 866 Kill! Let the blood wash away

The world is bustling with people because of profit, and the world is bustling with people because of profit. In fact, from the moment he was ordered to go south to Zhejiang, Cui Chengxiu thought that the Integrity Commission would stir up changes in the southeast.

What Cui Chengxiu didn't expect was that the Integrity Commission would stay in Zhejiang for so long. And that was exactly why, after solving the Zhejiang tax resistance case, Cui Chengxiu had no choice but to continue digging deeper.

No one knew better than Cui Chengxiu what the consequences would be if he dared to lead the people from the Integrity Bureau back to the capital without the emperor's permission.

“…This is also the reason why Japanese pirates appeared in Zhejiang.”

Under Qi Jin's gaze, Cui Chengxiu said in a low voice: "At that time, the Integrity Bureau had already obtained a lot of hard evidence against smuggling in the Yangtze River, occupation of official farmland, misappropriation of textiles, smuggling of salt and iron, and many other issues!"

"The officials of the Integrity Bureau sent to Ningbo, Wenzhou and other places focused on the occupation of government farmland and the smuggling of salt and iron, especially iron, where there were many frauds."

"Cui Lianxian means that Li Dan and Xu Suxin are involved in the smuggling of salt and iron, but the specific purpose is unclear?" Qi Jin said, suppressing his surprise.

“Maybe they weren’t the ones involved?”

Cui Chengxiu asked in return, "Think about it, Lord Pinglu. When your majesty first ascended the throne, the imperial guards cracked the Shanxi smuggling case and wiped out the treacherous villains headed by Fan Yongdou in one fell swoop!"

"Since smuggling outside the country is allowed, then smuggling at sea is not allowed?"

"There are many places along the sea in Liaodong. It doesn't seem to be difficult for someone with real power to smuggle it there without anyone noticing, right?"

Qi Jin was silent.

He was all too familiar with this sort of thing.

But this is too rampant!

"And this conclusion of the Constitution is not groundless speculation."

Cui Chengxiu continued, "According to the confessions of those treacherous officials, since the first year of the Tianqi reign, the demand for salt and iron has been greatly reduced every year, and has been replaced by grain."

"Pinglu Bo, think about it. Since this year, what has our dynasty done in Liaodong? What have the neighboring areas of Northern Zhili and Shandong done?"

Damn you! !
Qi Jin clenched his fists and a surge of anger rose in his heart.

In places that the world cannot see, there always exists a group of greedy guys. They don’t care about what will happen to the country, let alone the world. All they want is profit. As long as they can make huge profits, even if they do something that harms the Ming Dynasty, what does it matter?

"So the Anti-Corruption Commission's mass arrests in Zhejiang are actually to identify the treacherous officials hiding among them?" Qi Jin, suppressing his anger, looked at Cui Chengxiu and said.

"It can be understood this way."

Cui Chengxiu nodded and said, "The vast majority of those arrested by the Integrity Commission are guilty, but their crimes do not warrant the death penalty. They just want to take advantage of the chaos to gain benefits, and many of them are even bewitched and choose to take risks."

"But they had to die! Because they made the wrong decision at the wrong time, which led to chaos in Zhejiang, Fujian, and Jiangxi, and even affected the order in the southeast. They were arrested by the Integrity Commission, and their fate was doomed."

"On the contrary, those treacherous villains who were selected from among them can continue to live. The Commission for Integrity will follow the clues through them!!"

"how many?"

Qi Jin frowned.

At this moment, Qi Jin finally understood why the current emperor would mobilize so many people for this matter, including the army, the Integrity Bureau, the joint branch formed by the Ministry of Finance and the Military Affairs Bureau, the Western Investigation Bureau, the Mausoleum Guards... I'm afraid that from the beginning, the emperor knew that the opponent he faced was not a single individual, but someone who was hiding in a place that no one could see, enjoying the privileges granted by the Ming Dynasty, but doing dirty things to dig up the foundation of the Ming Dynasty! !

It was precisely because the situation was complex that a name was needed, and "Ping Wang" was the most appropriate. However, in the process of "Ping Wang", different things were encountered, so there would be organizations with different powers taking over. So one thing was made clear from the beginning.

When the suppression of the Japanese pirates will end is not determined by the fighting on the front line, but by whether all the problems in the rear have been properly resolved one by one.

"I can't say that."

Under Qi Jin's gaze, Cui Chengxiu shook his head and said, "I asked Ping Lu Bo to come here this time just to let you know about this matter and then support my Integrity Bureau's arrest in Zhejiang."

"Especially in Quzhou, Yanzhou and other places, we may need the assistance of the Beijing Army. From the confessions I have, I found that there is something fishy about the rebellion in Jiangxi."

"You're not trying to tell me that some of the rebellion in Jiangxi was secretly instigated?" Qi Jin looked at Cui Chengxiu in disbelief.

"It's very possible."

Cui Chengxiu frowned and said, "Once Jiangxi is in chaos, grain prices will inevitably be driven up, and grain from Huguang and other places will flow into Jiangxi."

"Yunyang, Guizhou, and Sichuan have always been short of food. Think about it, Lord Pinglu. If the chaos in Jiangxi can affect the food prices in so many places, do you think someone will choose to take the risk?"

"Deserves to be killed!!"

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Qi Jin gritted his teeth.

"And the chaos in Jiangxi is more than just this."

Cui Chengxiu continued, "Jingdezhen's porcelain is famous all over the world. Once Jiangxi is in chaos, Pinglubo will think about whether the official kilns that Your Majesty has previously specified to regularly deliver porcelain to Tianjin will be affected?"

"And the reason why those European merchants were willing to gather in Tianjin was because the Thirteen Hongs had a monopoly on the sale of porcelain, tea, silk and other goods to foreign countries, right?"

"When Pinglu Bo was in Nanjing, didn't he notice that the number of merchant ships heading north via the canal was much greater than in previous years?"

This……

Qi Jin was silent. As a military general, his mind was full of thoughts about war and organization. How could he have ever cared about these things?

This has nothing to do with him.

Just like the newly promoted nobles who could participate in the grassland trade outside the country, Qi Jin used the reward silver as a silver share, but he did not pay much attention to this matter.

Trade in the grasslands outside the pass was a key means for Zhu Youxiao to unite the newly promoted nobles. At the same time, it also solved the dilemma of being unable to pay out the treasury all at once due to the large-scale rewards and rewards with real gold and silver.

At present, the grassland trade outside the province is progressing rapidly under the auspices of the Ministry of Clan Affairs. If it can be managed well, the profits it can bring will not be inferior to those of the Thirteen Factories in Tianjin.

For Zhu Youxiao, if he wanted his ideas to be effectively implemented, he had to distribute corresponding benefits. Otherwise, if he just ordered the horse to run without feeding it grass diligently, who would be willing to rush forward?
By the same token, the Ancient Tea-Horse Road will also play an important role in the grand strategy for the southwest, but the timing is not yet ripe.

Zhu Youxiao's clear external expansion was not simply about fighting and plundering, but a combination of a whole set of strategies and policies.

"I didn't pay attention to these."

After a moment of silence, Qi Jin said coldly, "But one thing is clear. Since there are so many treacherous villains hiding here, we should cleanse them with blood!!"

(End of this chapter)