Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 548 Yelang is arrogant
"Didn't you say it was just some trouble? Why did you send people to surround Ma Lindi?!"

"You ask me, who am I going to ask!"

In the mountains and forests of the south of the Yangtze River, a small town rich in the atmosphere of a water town emerges on the mountain plains.

In the streets and alleys, it is not difficult to see scholars reading books. From children aged seven or eight to seniors in their fifties and sixties, they can be seen everywhere in the streets and alleys.

The Zheng family in Pujiang has survived through the Song, Yuan and Ming dynasties since the Jianyan period of the Southern Song Dynasty. It has been 300 years now.

Because his ancestors established a family rule that "if any descendant becomes an official and is known to be dirty, his family name will be deleted when he is alive, and his memorial tablet will not be allowed into the ancestral hall when he dies." Therefore, in the past three hundred years, the Zheng family has had hundreds of officials, but none Whenever a person is corrupt and bends the law, there is no one who is not known for his lack of diligence and integrity in government.

Because of Pujiang Zheng's righteous deeds, he was repeatedly honored by the imperial court.

In the eighteenth year of Hongwu, Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang granted it the title of the first family in the south of the Yangtze River. People also called it the Zheng family of Yimen, so it was also called "Zhengyimen".

But despite being in such a family, there are still some scumbags out there.

"Now the imperial court is going to investigate Jiangnan, and neither you nor I can escape. What's the use of talking about it now!"

In a slightly remote courtyard, two middle-aged men wearing Taoist robes were arguing, and the matter they were arguing about was the encirclement of Ma Lin by merchants and soldiers from overseas Kunlun Island.

The person quarreling was wearing a blue Taoist robe, Zheng Zisheng, a direct descendant of the Zheng family, and the other person wearing a white Taoist robe was Qian Shizhong, a descendant of the Qian family.

The reason why the two came to Pujiang to discuss matters was mainly because Zheng Zisheng was so frightened after learning about the Kunlun Island incident that he resigned and returned to his hometown to avoid disaster.

Facing Zheng Zisheng's anger, Qian Shizhong kept reminding him that he couldn't escape, but Zheng Zisheng walked back and forth across the trail:

"It was agreed at the time that we were just going to make some noise and ask the court to take action and postpone the implementation until later."

"But you are lucky enough to let more than 7,000 people besiege the officers and soldiers of the Xuanwei Division."

"Fortunately we didn't start a fight, otherwise our heads would be hanging outside the Ming Dynasty Gate in Beijing!"

Zheng Zisheng was extremely panicked, but he couldn't stop at all.

Seeing this, Qian Shi was upset and slapped the case directly: "Okay, can walking around solve the problem?"

"I have already said that the master's family did only talk about making some trouble, but I didn't expect Qian Minzhong and the others in Kunlun Continent to make the matter so big."

"Now that the master's family has found several disciples to plead guilty to His Majesty, and you have resigned from office, the main fault will definitely not be ours. What we have to do now is to run things well and not let the imperial court continue to be affected. "

"You said it so lightly!" Zheng Zisheng was so angry that he laughed back: "Your Majesty is so angry, who dares to speak?"

"Don't talk about my Zheng family, even the Duke of Liao has been investigated. What do you think we can do to persuade His Majesty?"

"You...this..." Qian Shizhong obviously didn't expect that even the powerful Liao Duke Meng Zhang would be investigated.

You must know that most of the generals in the Northeast were brought out by Meng Zhang. In addition, his eldest son also served as a consolation envoy in Beizhou.

If this situation is not handled well, it may be possible for Meng Mao to separate and become independent.

For a moment, Qian Shizhong didn't know what to say.

They obviously just wanted to make some trouble, but the group of guys from Kunlun Continent surrounded Ma Lindi.

What time did they think it was now? It had only been sixty years since the founding of the imperial court.

"Three fleets have gone to the Little Western Ocean. It is only a matter of time before you capsize. I thought you could suppress the matter. Now it seems that, let alone suppressing it, it would be better if those things were not exposed before."

Zheng Zisheng showed no mercy. Qian Shizhong's face turned ugly when he heard this. He simply rolled his sleeves and said, "If I'm gone, you won't be much better off!"

After the words fell, he walked straight out.

I thought Zheng Zisheng would keep him, but until he walked out of the yard, Zheng Zisheng didn't say a word.

His behavior did not make Qian Shizhong angry, but instead gave Qian Shizhong a cold feeling as if he had fallen into an ice cave.

There are two members of the Zheng family who are above the fourth rank. If they can't protect Zheng Zisheng, then how can they join forces with the Qian family to quell the emperor's anger.

Thinking of this, Qian Shizhong got into the carriage tremblingly, and drove back to Songjiang with a pale face.

Shortly after he left, Zheng Zisheng took the initiative to absolve himself of his crimes. Apparently, he realized that Qian only had financial resources but no power and could no longer protect himself, so he could only expose himself in exchange for a lighter sentence.

His memorial was rushed and arrived in Beijing at the end of September. At this time, Zhang Mengcun, Ji Shu and others had already led the Beijing inspection team to launch inspections in Jiangnan.

"Oh!"

"Jinyiwei is handling the case!"

The gate was broken, and the royal guards holding driving posts rushed into a mansion. Hundreds of people instantly surpassed all the servants in the courtyard and searched the backyard.

The servants in the outer courtyard were frightened. They wanted to say what their lord's status was, but they saw more than ten senior officials of fourth rank and above walking into the mansion one after another. They didn't dare to say anything for a moment.

"This mansion is so big, the price of land in Nanjing is probably no less than a thousand dollars."

"Just from the residence here, we can conclude that Shi Min was very corrupt with this money."

"Of course..."

Several senior officials from the Metropolitan Procuratorate and the Ministry of Punishment saw the Jinyiwei brutally searching the residence here without any intention of stopping them.

At this time, a sixth-grade official walked in from the gate with his head held high. He frowned slightly as he looked at the damaged gate.

"Is Tingyi coming?"

A fourth-rank official from the Censorate gestured to Yu Qian, who was approaching, but Yu Qian said:

"The case has not yet been decided. It is against the law to rush into the house."

"Haha..." After hearing this, the official who greeted him smiled. Although there was a smile on his face, his voice was cold. He was obviously very dissatisfied with Yu Qian's actions of not giving him face.

"You can't be pedantic when handling cases. I'm afraid you need to learn more from experience."

Yu Qian was educated by the top five doctors from the Ministry of Punishment, but Yu Qian frowned and said:
"Such an act is against the law. If nothing is discovered, wouldn't it bring disgrace to His Majesty's reputation and chill the hearts of his ministers?"

"From experience, does this place look like a place without corruption?"

Even though he was Yu Qian's superior, the Zuo Qiandu Yushi of the Metropolitan Procuratorate inevitably began to teach him a lesson.

When Yu Qian heard this, he said: "I don't think Qian Shimin has never been corrupt. I just think that if such behavior is not interfered with, it may damage your Majesty's reputation in the future."

"Hmph, Yu's experience is a great official power. There are so many adults of the fifth and fourth grades here who don't say there is any problem. Only Mr. Yu says there is a problem."

"I heard that Mr. Yu was born in Hangzhou. Could it be that he is also related to the Qian family?"

A fifth-rank doctor of the Ministry of Justice questioned Yu Qian, but Yu Qian was not timid, neither humble nor arrogant, and said:
"I don't have any close friends of the Qian family. I just feel that this move is inappropriate."

"After this case is concluded, I will personally inform His Majesty about the actions of the Jinyi Guards and the Military and Horse Department of the Ministry of War."

Yu Qian said this, and then stood aside to wait for the results of the search by the Jinyi Guards and the Bingma Division.

The others looked at him and sneered slightly.

Not long after, boxes of antique calligraphy and paintings, gold, silver and copper coins were found in the house.

In terms of value alone, although there are only three boxes, they are worth more than three thousand guan.

"A fifth-grade prefect, whose annual salary is less than a hundred guan, can accumulate more than 3,000 guan after serving as an official for seven years. If there is no trick in this, would Mr. Yu believe it?"

"Alas, let's not talk about it, Your Excellency. I have been in office for several years and have not been promoted. I think I just want to show off."

"I understand, let's use Bo's first name, right?"

"Keep your voice down, Mr. Yu heard it..."

Several officials mocked Yu Qian unceremoniously, but Yu Qian did not feel uncomfortable because of this. He just stepped forward to hand over the documents to the Jin Yiwei and the Bingma Division, and then read them one by one.

When several officials saw that he was not angry, they all felt bored, so they stepped forward and began to read the documents.

Yu Qian managed the administration very quickly. In a short time, he had processed the ten books in his hand, circled the names of some people related to them, and finally returned all the books to Jin Yiwei.

"If we search based on these names, I believe we can find something."

"In addition, it is better not to break in easily before there is conclusive evidence, so as not to damage the reputation of His Majesty and your commanders."

Yu Qian did not ask for euphemism because of the ridicule of several people, but still explained to the hundreds of officials of Jinyiwei.

The hundreds of officials felt uncomfortable hearing this, but due to Yu Qian's status as a sixth-rank inspector, they did not object. They just bowed and led the people away.

Before those officials could find anything, Yu Qian had already followed the Jin Yiwei team to the next place.

Looking at Yu Qian's back, a doctor from the Ministry of Justice sneered: "It's good to have outstanding abilities, but if you don't fit in with others, you won't be able to get on the stage."

"Of course..."

After a while, the courtyard gradually became quiet, but the city of Nanjing was still lively.

That night, many officials were broken into for investigation. Only the team led by Yu Qian did not break down and ransack their homes, but gained the most.

Early the next morning, as soon as Jiang Huai, who was the Minister of Household Affairs in Nanjing, arrived at the Yamen, he saw many officials from the Household Department coming to complain.

"Shang Shu, you have to make the decision for us!"

"That's right, those officials from Beijing want to investigate the case. The subordinates can understand, but they can't break in at every turn, right?"

"Sigh... That Wang Zhongfu and I just sent each other calligraphy notes during the New Year, and then the guards broke into the house late at night. The door of the house is still under repair."

"This group of people, relying on His Majesty's approval of the Beijing Procuratorate, are running rampant. If they are not impeached, they don't know how many more colleagues they will harm!"

"Shang Shu, can you tell me what to do?"

"Shang Shu..."

Looking at the people surrounding him, Jiang Huai also felt a headache.

After all, he holds the official position of Shangshu of the Ministry of Household Affairs in Nanjing, and his residence is only an ordinary small courtyard with four entrances. His salary is more than enough, so he was not disturbed last night.

But even so, the neighbors were disturbed a lot last night, and the noise prevented him from getting a good rest all night.

It is now a critical time for tax collection in the south, and most officials in Nanjing are working overtime.

It was normal for everyone to be a little emotional when the Fifth Division under Jingchao made such a fuss, and Jiang Huai could understand it, so he comforted him:
"I will communicate with the two imperial censors about this matter. You have worked hard during this period. Wen Qing would like to thank you for your understanding..."

"Don't dare..."

Seeing Jiang Huai bowing and saluting, everyone could only suppress their temper and return the salute.

After a while, everyone dispersed and started working on the work they left behind yesterday, but things did not end that simply. Before noon, a large group of Jin Yiwei and soldiers surrounded the six yamen left behind in Nanjing, and then began to interrogate the officials who were working.

The work had just begun, but was interrupted by these people. Even though Jiang Huai was so good-tempered, he did not look good on Zhang Mengcun, the censor of Zuodu who came to investigate.

"Jiang Shangshu, we are also doing things for His Majesty, please Jiang Shangshu for your understanding."

After all, Jiang Huai belonged to the prince, and he was from the southwest, with the support of Wang Xuan and others. Therefore, Zhang Mengcun personally led people to investigate the household department and rushed to appease Jiang Huai.

Jiang Huai's face was calm, but his tone was not good: "I hope Zhang Du Yushi will end the investigation soon and don't delay the affairs of the Ministry of Revenue."

"If things are delayed, then Your Majesty may not be able to see the Jiangnan tax collection and people's silk silk before the winter solstice."

"This is natural." Zhang Mengcun sat in front of Jiang Huai, smiled softly, stroked his beard and nodded.

He was supervising Jiang Huai, but his behavior was like an interrogation.

In addition, even while sitting in the study, Jiang Huai could hear the fierce interrogation of the Ministry of Household Affairs officials by the Jinyi Guards, the Military and Horse Division, and the Beijing Inspectorate officials.

Faced with this situation, he tightened his grip on the brush in his hand, and Zhang Mengcun's eyelids twitched.

Fortunately, the interrogation did not last long. Within half an hour, someone walked into the study and bowed to Zhang Mengcun: "Censor, the matter is done."

"Okay, then I won't stay and delay Jiang Shangshu's handling of the case." Zhang Mengcun stood up and bowed to Jiang Huai, but Jiang Huai didn't even bother to get up and reciprocate, and just lowered his head to deal with the booklet.

Zhang Mengcun was not angry when he saw this, he just chuckled and left the study.

Soon after he left, many officials from the Ministry of Household Affairs who were interrogated came to Jianghuai to complain, and Jianghuai could only comfort him again.

Originally, he planned to discuss this matter with Zhang Mengcun and Ji Shu, but now it seems that the other party does not take him seriously at all.

Since they are in the first year of junior high school, Jianghuai will naturally be in the fifteenth year.

Not surprisingly, JAC’s impeachment memorial was submitted to Zhu Gaoxu’s desk in early October.

"Father, this investigation of the Meng Cun and Ji Shu case is too rough. It has only been a month since the case was handled, and more than a thousand memorials have been issued to impeach them. If this continues, the local government may criticize the imperial court."

Zhu Zhanhe stood next to Zhu Gaoxu and bowed, but Zhu Gaoxu ignored it. He just took the Jianghuai memorial and read it, and then put it on the table.

"The more brutal methods we use, the more we can investigate the matter clearly before corrupt officials have time to clear up the evidence."

"You only see these two men's brutal methods, but you don't see anyone impeaching them for falsely accusing others. Instead, the evidence is conclusive in every case."

"You are the crown prince, not a minister. Don't always consider issues from the minister's side."

After Zhu Gaoxu finished speaking, the eunuch on duty at the door of the side hall bowed and said:
"Your Majesty, Wang Hui, the Minister of Hubu, and Xu Shuo, the Minister of Punishments, would like to see you."

"Xuan!"

Zhu Gaoxu nodded and spoke. Not long after, Wang Hui and Xu Shuo walked into the hall and bowed to him.

"Your Majesty, this is the correct list of corrupt officials that was read by the Ministry of Punishment after the joint trial of the five departments."

"Your Majesty, this is the money and food documents that were added to the national treasury after the Criminal Ministry case was settled."

The two of them bowed to each other one after another, and each handed the document to the eunuch on duty, who handed it to Zhu Gaoxu's desk.

Yi Shiha fell ill and was recuperating at his house, which made Zhu Gaoxu a little uncomfortable.

He picked up the two books and flipped through them. Many of the merchant gangs in them had been brought to justice.

In Kunlun Continent, they still have the strength to resist, but in Jiangnan, they are just fish to be slaughtered.

Wanting to gain more say after accumulating enough wealth was not a big problem during the Song Dynasty and the Hongwu Period, but this behavior would never be tolerated during the Hongxi Period or even in the future.

All sixteen merchant gangs were wiped out, and all the houses were surrounded and imprisoned. Even the Qian family, which had been passed down from the Five Dynasties period, was not spared.

The reason why the Yang family in Huai'an where Yang Bin is located also suffered a blow is because Zhu Gaoxu planned to take this opportunity to exile all those who opposed him in Yang Bin's family, so that Yang Bin could continue to make money for the court in Kunlun Continent and supervise at the same time. Other business gangs.

For this reason, he was not planning to expel all of the Sixteen Merchant Gang, but wanted to keep some to hide from others.

"The Sixteen Merchant Gang has nearly 60,000 people. This number is slightly too much. If there is no involvement, we should be treated leniently."

As soon as Zhu Gaoxu opened his mouth, several people in the hall were surprised.

You know, in the past, when the emperor was handling cases, he wanted to make the case bigger and implicate as many as he could.

The 60,000 people in the Sixteen Merchant Gang are just men. If you include the female dependents or the third server, it can involve at least hundreds of thousands of people.

Such a large population is enough to turn the newly recovered Mengyang, Mengken and other places directly into Han territory.

But in the face of this temptation, the emperor actually said that he would be treated leniently, which made several people wonder if the emperor was joking.

They were still doubtful, but Zhu Gaoxu picked up the memorial from the Ministry of Revenue, nodded with satisfaction after briefly reading it, and then handed the memorial to Zhu Zhanhe.

Zhu Zhanhe took the memorial and thought he was mentally prepared, but he was still surprised when he opened the memorial.

[Gold 246,000...Silver 3.86 million...Singapore dollars 6.2 million...]

In terms of gold, silver and gold coins alone, the Sixteen Merchant Gang contributed more than 12 million, and this was not the bulk.

The real bulk of the Sixteenth Merchant Gang is the patches of mulberry fields, cultivated land, as well as the backlog of goods, merchant ships...

Some of these items were confiscated and sealed, while others were held in Kunlun Continent.

According to the account books of the Sixteenth Merchant Gang, these things are worth thirty million guan, which means that the Sixteenth Merchant Gang has a wealth of nearly 40 million guan.

You must know that today's Ming Dynasty's annual fiscal revenue is only 60 million yuan.

The wealth accumulated by the ancestors of the Sixteenth Merchant Gang, coupled with the plunder of Kunlun Continent in the past twenty years, is almost as much as the fiscal revenue of the Ming Dynasty in one year.

Moreover, this is only the result of the raid on the Sixteenth Merchant Gang and some of the officials who were found. It is still unknown how many officials will be arrested in the future.

Thinking of this, Zhu Zhanhe was horrified.

"I've read the memorial. There's no problem. But is there anything else you want to start?"

Before Zhu Zhanhe came out, Zhu Gaoxu had already started asking Wang Hui and Xu Shuo.

"I have no other important matters..."

"The same is true for me."

"Then step back." Seeing that the two of them had nothing to say, Zhu Gaoxu motioned for them to exit the palace.

After watching them leave, Zhu Gaoxu looked at Zhu Zhanhe.

"Do you know why they have the confidence to threaten the imperial court?"

Zhu Gaoxu looked at Zhu Zhanhe calmly and continued: "It is a good thing to have confidence, but confidence does not mean strength."

"Perhaps if we let them continue to run Jiangnan for a few more decades, they will become a cancer that even I can't remove."

Zhu Gaoxu gave a very high evaluation, although this evaluation sounds a bit self-effacing.

From the time the decree was issued to the present, the Ming Dynasty has eliminated the lair of the Sixteenth Merchant Gang without even using the army.

Without Jiangnan, even if there are still more than 30,000 people in Kunlun Continent, they are just suffering from skin moss.

When Zheng He, Yang Zhan and others led three fleets to Kunlun Continent, the more than 30,000 people would collapse like chickens and dogs.

"With a sword, there will be no shortage of gold, silver, money and food, do you understand?"

Zhu Gaoxu educated Zhu Zhanhe, and Zhu Zhanhe only nodded belatedly until then.

He originally thought that his father would need to spend a lot of effort to deal with these business gangs that colluded with government and businessmen, but now it seems that his worries are unfounded.

His father's control over the Ming Dynasty was stronger than that of his grandfather and great-grandfather.

For my grandfather and great-grandfather, this matter would definitely not go so smoothly.

"Okay, let's continue with the administration."

Zhu Gaoxu signaled Zhu Zhanhe to take charge of the government. Although Zhu Zhanhe had already started taking action, he was still shocked in his heart.

Compared to him, everyone in the main hall of Wuying Palace, which was separated by a wall from him, thought this was very ordinary.

It might be possible for merchants to threaten the imperial court in other places, but in the Ming Dynasty and under the centralized power system of the Central Plains, such a thing would never exist.

The Sixteen Merchant Gang were just sixteen pigs held up by the emperor, but with fangs, they felt they could threaten the court.

In fact, the imperial court never regarded them as a threat. They were still fat pigs waiting to be slaughtered.

Now that the sixteen pigs have fallen, the court should support the new pigs.

Wang Hui, Xu Shuo, Lu Yu, Yang Rong and others who squinted at Wang Hui, Xu Shuo, Lu Yu, Yang Rong and others who walked out of the side hall calmed down and knew that the matter had been settled.

What they have to do now is to use the court's policies to support their own people.

Before the imperial court wields the butcher's knife, these people will give them enough capital...

"I would like to congratulate you."

Wang Hui, who was walking along the palace road and walking out of Wuying Palace, was the first to congratulate Xu Shuo. Xu Shuo glanced at him and said nothing.

"When the Burmese Xuanwei Division is rehabilitated, you and Jian Yi will be able to soar into the sky with their years of accumulation in the southwest."

Wang Hui was talking to himself, and Xu Shuo couldn't help but laugh when he heard what he said.

"Wei Zhong, all you want is for me and my husband to help you deal with them, and then you can lead the New Deal alone to accumulate political achievements."

"You have a good idea, but in my opinion, this thing is destined to fail."

Xu Shuo did not believe that Wang Hui could single-handedly reverse the economic and political situation in which the north was inferior to the south since the Southern Song Dynasty.

Faced with his old friend's words, Wang Hui did not show any emotion, and just said calmly:
"Whether it succeeds or not, you have to try it before making an evaluation."

"If things in the north don't work out, given the current situation, you should know better than me what the north will do after the politics and economy shift to the south."

Wang Hui stopped and Xu Shuo also stopped after he realized what he was doing. He turned around and looked at him, his brows gradually furrowed.

In front of him, Wang Hui said slowly:

"Don't forget, the military industry of the imperial court is all in the north..."

(End of this chapter)