Follow Zhu Yuanzhang to conquer the country

Chapter 72 The profiteer admits defeat and begs Zhang Cheng for a way to survive (please order first)
  "Mr. Zhang, please forgive me!"

"We only know him, Ren Qiande, and have no personal relationship with him, let alone the things he has done!"

Li Menggeng knelt down decisively at this time, looked at the ground, and replied tremblingly.

Guo Jingxiang also softened his knees and knelt in front of Zhang Cheng, echoing: "Yes! We also just realized that he had done such a despicable thing. He actually wanted to bribe officials and generals, collude with Yuan Ting, murder Mr. Zhang, and harm me. Rebels cannot achieve great things!"

"Fortunately, the superior was wise and General Miao was not a shady person, so his treacherous plan did not succeed."

"Although we know him, we really don't know that he has done these things. If we knew, how could we associate with him?"

Zhang Cheng sneered: "Really?"

"Mr. Zhang, please believe us!"

"We can only be at odds with someone as cruel and ruthless as him!"

Li Menggeng continued in a trembling voice.

Zhang Cheng nodded: "I believe you for now."

talking.

Zhang Cheng asked Li Mengeng and Guo Jingxiang: "What is your attitude towards government-run commercial banks?"

"Absolutely support it!"

Li Mengeng replied without hesitation.

Then, Li Menggeng said with a flattering smile: "This is a wise move to prevent profiteers from disrupting the morale of our army!"

Guo Jingxiang also followed up and said: "Yes, in today's troubled times, people are struggling to make a living. Those who can do business are not good people. At this time, if we do not use government-run commercial banks to curb their desires, we will only lose more than we gain."

"You understand quite well."

Zhang Cheng replied.

"Mr. Zhang won't win the award."

Li Menggeng and Guo Jingxiang answered in unison.

And Li Menggeng even went on to say: "The subordinates not only support the establishment of government-run trading firms, but also support the clearing of land to increase tax sources and relieve people's poverty!"

"I am also willing to share my property to help the rebels to stabilize the people and raise their troops, to show that I sincerely support the rebels and are sincerely willing to give up all my family property for the people of the world!"

In order to survive, Guo Jingxiang gritted his teeth and expressed his willingness to divide the land to prove his loyalty.

Li Menggeng glanced at Guo Jingxiang in surprise, and then gritted his teeth and said: "My subordinates are also willing to share their own fields to help the rebels achieve their great cause as soon as possible!"

Zhang Cheng was delighted after hearing this: "Really?"

Li Shanchang and Feng Guoyong were all dumbfounded.

"How dare you lie in front of Mr. Zhang and all his colleagues."

Li Mengeng and Guo Jingxiang replied at the same time.

Zhang Cheng then helped the two of them up: "Very good!"

"You guys can use your own land for the great cause of the rebel army. Naturally, I am willing to believe you."

"Originally, I didn't want to clear the land immediately and just check the taxes first! But now, since you two are so enthusiastic, I decided to start a trial of clearing the land and dividing the land from your and the prisoner's homes, and only check the taxes in other places first!"

Zhang Cheng said and looked at Li Shanchang again: "Shanchang."

Li Shanchang raised his hands and said, "Please give me your instructions, Mr. Zhang."

"You will also be responsible for dividing the land among your father-in-law. The two of them will assist you."

"In addition, the Zhizhou Yamen has recently recruited a group of rafters who are good at accounting. It is up to you to choose and arrange their talents, whether they will go to tax inspections or to clean up the abbot."

Zhang Cheng ordered with a smile.

Li Shanchang raised his hand and said yes.

Li Menggeng and Guo Jingxiang breathed a sigh of relief here.

The only evidence that Zhang Cheng can obtain now is that Ren Qiande secretly communicated with Yuan Ting and that some profiteers hired local gangsters to cause trouble. However, there is no evidence that Ren Qiande directly participated in speculating on grain prices and planned a riot to kill Zhang Cheng. Naturally, there is no evidence that Li Menggeng and Guo Jingxiang participated in speculating on grain prices or planning a civil commotion to take Zhang Cheng's life.

Because officials like Ren Qiande have always been very cautious and would not leave any documents or other evidence of crime unless it was absolutely necessary. The same goes for Zhu Yuanzhang. Although he knew every move of Ren Qiande, Li Menggeng, Guo Jingxiang, etc. through informants bribed by the school, they basically only had human witnesses and no physical evidence.

Therefore, if we really want to pay attention to the presence of witnesses and material evidence and execute these people with canonical punishment, we really can't deal with them.

However, because Ren Qiande had private messages and physical evidence of secretly communicating with Yuan Ting and wooing officials such as Miao Daheng, the evidence was considered conclusive and he could be sentenced to death.

Since Li Menggeng and Guo Jingxiang did not directly participate in colluding with Yuan Ting, they were able to leave themselves clean.

of course.

If we don't pay attention to the canonical punishment, Zhang Cheng and Zhu Yuanzhang can also directly implicate these two people.

After all, the knife is in their hands, and they can break the rules and only ask others to abide by them.

Historically, Zhu Yuanzhang did this after he became emperor. Because he held a sword, he not only required others to abide by the rules, but he also dared to break the rules he set.

But now, it is not the historical Zhu Yuanzhang. After he became the emperor, the world was not yet settled, and all the heroes were still there. Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang could not act as he pleased.

Zhang Cheng naturally had no need to act casually and ruin his credibility at this time.

Therefore, Zhang Cheng had no intention of persuading Zhu Yuanzhang to implicate these people at all costs.

and.

After Zhang Cheng learned that there were profiteers who were secretly instructed by Ren Qiande, Li Menggeng, Guo Jingxiang and other Chuzhou officials to drive down grain prices and even initiate a civil uprising in an attempt to kill him, he deliberately tried to intimidate him by arresting a few profiteers with solid evidence. They agreed to cooperate with Qingzhang.

That is to say, Zhang Cheng can tell these Chuzhou officials and gentry that if they do not support Qingzhang, then he will use the confessions made by profiteers about their secret evil deeds to implicate them.

Now, Li Menggeng and Guo Jingxiang have taken the initiative to express their support for Qingzhang, which can be regarded as achieving Zhang Cheng's goal.

What Zhang Cheng didn't expect was that because they were too afraid of being implicated, the two men were not only willing to clear their own land, but were also willing to divide it.

This was an unexpected surprise for Zhang Cheng.

Next.

Li Shanchang took Li Menggeng and Guo Jingxiang, as well as the accounting talents hired by Yiqian and some of the descendants of Li Shanchang's family, to start their work of clearing the father's son and inspecting the taxes.

Feng Guoyong, on the other hand, led a group of people and his own children to continue to raid the homes of Ren Qiande and some profiteers, and also took charge of criminal and public security matters.

For the profiteers who did not have any evidence obtained by the Ministry of Public Security or were not directly involved in hiring people to cause trouble, they could only admit defeat after the trouble failed.

When the wealthy businessman Cheng Renmo was discussing countermeasures with several business friends afterwards, he said with a depressed face: "Admit defeat! The re-elected Duke was beheaded, and so many colleagues were also beheaded on the spot. It can be seen that General Zhu and that Mr. Zhang is not that simple!"

"If you lose food, you lose money. Just think of it as a good deed."

Cheng Renmo said something else, and then rubbed his face without tears.

"Yes!"

"That's fine. Since they dare to kill officials like Mr. Ren, it shows that they are not afraid of any powerful people, but only uphold the rules."

"This is actually a good thing for ordinary merchants like us. Those who are good at doing business are not afraid of losing money, but are afraid of inconsistent laws and untrustworthy officials."

"If it weren't for Yue Changfu, these wealthy businessmen who were slaves of the Ren family and other officials and gentry families, to continue speculating on grain secretly, forcing us to follow suit and sell the grain out, we would have listened to the advice of the Zhizhou Yamen and stopped! "

"How could it have reached this point today?"

"It's not like we sold too much grain at a loss and then had the bold idea of ​​wanting Mr. Zhang's life."

Businessman Zhai Guangsen also echoed.

Cheng Renmo nodded: "We are businessmen, we are just seeking profits, not people's lives! If it weren't for the officials and gentry above who insisted on fighting with the government with knives, how would we dare to put our necks under the government's knife? But just In the end, most of my businessmen’s heads were chopped off.”

"So what should we do now?"

At this time, another businessman Xu Guangcai asked.

Cheng Renmo said: "Go and see Mr. Zhou Muzhang and ask him to tell us the rules of the trade, such as how much business tax to pay, whether iron materials, gunpowder, and grain, which are easily linked to enemy capital, can be bought and sold, and how? ! We have to make him understand that we ordinary merchants just want to make money, not to fight against them, and we are even willing to pay taxes to them for the sake of smooth business channels."

"Makes sense!"

"We can no longer be used by those officials and gentry. We don't care whether the people in Chuzhou City are from the imperial court or the rebel army. We only seek wealth, not power!"

(End of this chapter)