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Chapter 516: Making meritorious deeds
"...Hong'er, Hong'er...Chen Zhangyin, I don't know where my son has offended His Majesty. Shen is willing to take his head to take the punishment for him!" After hearing Shen Taihong's name, Shen Yiguan, who was as steady as an old dog, finally Unable to bear it anymore, he grabbed the ground with his head and begged.

He is not afraid of death, and even feels that he should have died long ago. Living at such an old age and doing nothing all day long is pure suffering. But he didn't want Shen Taihong to suffer any harm. He even coaxed and deceived his son not to take the scientific examination, which was actually to ensure his safety.

It is true that Shen Taihong is very knowledgeable, but when he comes to the court, he is really not enough. The hostile parties have nothing to do with him, so they will definitely try to find a way on him. Hiding in Waishang Baosi can avoid a lot of risks.

"Do you really know nothing about Shen Taihong's conspiracy with the Tu family?"

Seeing the big boss who once dominated the court, kneeling on the ground in tears, with a few sparse strands of white hair scattered and swaying in the wind, Chen Ju couldn't help but feel sad.

He and Shen Guanyin are of the same age, have worked together in the same dynasty, and have no personal grudges, so they shouldn't be hard on each other. But no matter how intolerable you are, you still have to do what the emperor told you, otherwise it will be others' turn to look at you and sigh.

"The Tu family... My son has been fond of poetry since he was a child. He has been friends with Tu Long, the doctor of the Ministry of Rites of the Wanli Dynasty, and has been friends with his son Tu Benjun since he was a child. We have been in constant contact with each other since he was a child. The Tu family has thousands of acres of mulberry gardens outside the city, and there are countless silkworm farmers. However, the raw silk obtained was not sold to the manufacturing bureau. Instead, it was shipped to the sea and smuggled to the East, making twice as much profit.

But Shen can swear to God that the Shen family has always passed down the family through farming and education, and no one from top to bottom has ever been involved in this matter, and my son is not familiar with businessmen. If you don't believe Chen Zhangyin, you can go to the city to ask anyone at will. If Shen is even half-truthful, your house will be confiscated and your family will be destroyed! "

As the saying goes, listen to the words and listen to the gong. Shen Guanyi still did not lose his basic skills even in a state of extreme emotional instability. He immediately heard the mysterious voice from Chen Ju's words. The emperor did not seem to fully grasp the evidence of Shen Taihong's crime, but only had doubts.

What are you waiting for? Just defend yourself quickly, even if you don't hesitate to betray the butcher's secret of smuggling raw silk to Japan. In fact, this is not a secret. There are not many civil and military officials in the entire dynasty who don't know about it.

I dare not say all, but more than 90% of the large households in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, especially those engaged in the weaving industry, have engaged in this kind of business. The price sold to the manufacturing bureau is not as good as one-fifth of the price sold to Japan. With such a huge profit to be made, who can resist touching it?

"Is it just raw silk?" Chen Ju was not satisfied with Shen Yiguan's explanation, so he asked again, hoping that the other party would take the initiative to confess, and that he would not have wasted his hard work for several days.

"...As far as Shen knows, the Tu family has always been mainly engaged in raw silk... Anyway, since we talk about the Tu family selling private goods, we have to mention the other three. Jingchuan Yang family, Chahu Zhang family, Yuehu Lu family The four families of the Jianqiao Tu family and the Jianqiao Tu family are related to each other by marriage and have been friends for generations. They are the leading private traders in Ningbo.

Many of his family members settled in Japanese ports, equipped with dozens of large ships, and trafficked everything produced in the Ming Dynasty. Although the Shen family lives in the same city as him and has frequent contacts with him on weekdays, he has never been involved in this matter. I hope Chen Zhangyin will find out! "

Seeing Chen Ju's disbelief, Shen Guanyi remained silent. From the moment he saw the great eunuch, he kept thinking about countermeasures in his mind, and most of the emotions he showed were just fake. Show weakness deliberately so that you can understand the other person's depth and then find a way to deal with it.

But the more he tried, the colder his heart became. Based on his understanding of Emperor Jingyang, he would not have rashly sent Chen Ju to meet him alone if he was not completely sure. In other words, if I don't give you some useful information today, I may be in trouble for myself and my son.

If it was just him who was in trouble, he would definitely not betray his fellow villagers. Even if he beheaded his family and ransacked his family, he would still have to bite the bullet, otherwise the Shen family would not be able to survive in Ningbo. It's useless to have the emperor protecting her, and the emperor will definitely not go to war over a useless Shen family. But the trouble is that the emperor seized his fate as soon as he came up, his only son! At this time, I can't think so much anymore. If even Shen Taihong is involved, even if he doesn't recruit a word, what if he can save his fellow Ningbo people? The Shen family is gone, does their life and death still matter?

"Well, everything produced in the Ming Dynasty was trafficked. Does that include artillery?"

Chen Ju only knew that something big was going to happen in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces after receiving a secret message from the emperor. He quickly took a navy transport boat down the river and left the Yangtze River Estuary and crossed Hangzhou Bay from Dinghai into the Yongjiang River to Shen Mansion.

The secret letter clearly stated that a group of Shanxi businessmen secretly purchased dozens of artillery pieces through Thirty-Six Banks in Guangzhou, and then shipped them to Nagasaki, Japan through Ningbo businessmen. Smuggling goods prohibited by the imperial court to the sea was already a capital offense, and firecrackers and artillery were important weapons of the imperial court, adding to the crime.

But this was not the end. In the end, the artillery was not taken away by the local daimyo or the Japanese shogunate. Instead, it was loaded onto a ship again, went to sea at night, crossed the Tsushima Strait, bypassed most of North Korea, and finally docked at Tieshan Port in North Korea.

It is still unclear whether the artillery was bought by the Koreans or sold to the Jurchens through the Koreans. But one thing is already clear. This group of Shanxi businessmen and Ningbo businessmen have committed a serious crime, and their two legs, along with countless legs of the whole family, have basically entered the gate of hell.

If things stop here, it will be very simple to handle. Whether it is to let the Nanjing Jinyi Guards or the Imperial Army guarding the imperial tombs take action, or to send the navy south, when they arrive in Ningbo, it is just a matter of ransacking the houses and taking people one by one according to the list.

But the emperor made a more complex and thorough request in the secret letter. He did not arrest the criminals or send troops. Instead, he secretly went to Ningbo to interview Shen Guanyi, and tried his best to persuade him to become his eyes and ears and bring this gang together. Find out the details of the collusion between Ningbo businessmen and Shanxi businessmen to smuggle artillery.

Chen Ju can guess what the emperor wants to do, so he can catch them all in one fell swoop to avoid future troubles. If someone is arrested now, it is very likely that the enemy will be alerted. Neither the Imperial Army in Nanjing nor the navy in Tianjin Guard are very familiar with the local situation in Ningbo, and they cannot even find the specific person, so they must rely on the assistance of the local government.

As long as you communicate with the local officials, the news will definitely be leaked, and then it is unknown whether the person can be arrested and whether the person arrested is alive. The emperor obviously didn't intend to catch a bunch of corpses and ignorant trash, so he made this arrangement.

As for whether the method of using Shen Taihong to force Shen Guanyin will work, Chen Ju can answer responsibly, it is very possible! At the same time, I have to curse with contempt deep in my heart, it is so wicked.

This emperor is becoming less and less like the dull and honest prince he once was. Even though he still has a silly smile on his face, what is hidden behind the smile is all insidious, vicious and shameless. In order to achieve the goal, he almost resorted to all kinds of tricks, and all kinds of dirty tricks emerged in an endless stream, gradually getting further and further away from the standards of kings in the books of sages.

However, when he learned that merchants from Shanxi and Ningbo were secretly selling artillery to the enemy, his contempt and disgust for the emperor were overshadowed by his extreme disappointment in the officials. Even evil people need to be punished by evil people. Faced with such a group of people who eat inside and outside, they have turned over the books of sages and sages, and it seems that they can't find an effective way to check and balance.

(End of this chapter)