The most reckless man in the Ming Dynasty.

Chapter 174: Confiscating the house! The gentry are the biggest cancer of the dynasty!

Tang Haozheng and Qian Zhenggui are discussing the details of banknotes.

Tang Mu and Zuo Yidao came hand in hand, both of them with dripping blood on their bodies.

"Master Hou, it's done!"

"Everyone from the top to the bottom of the Inspection Department, including the Black Tiger Gang, who committed the crime was beheaded in public!"

"On the other hand, the lower-level members of the Black Tiger Gang are all ignorant trackers and boatmen, so they did not take action against them because of their humble position. They were let go after some questioning."

Zuo Yidao explained in a deep voice.

The main body of the Cao Gang is originally these trackers and boatmen. They gather together in order to keep warm and survive in this difficult world.

It's just that they were exploited by Song Chou, the inspector of the Inspection Department, and gradually evolved from a group that signed up for warmth to the underworld, and became a tool for the common people to plunder the people's wealth.

Tang Hao had no objection to Zuo Yidao's approach.

It's really touching that you value trust so much...

"Don't worry, Mr. Hou, Yi Dao understands."

"You have been working hard for more than two years, and you are more corrupt than anyone else in Zhizhou. For a small amount of money, you are indeed "incorruptible"!"

Hearing the words of Marquis Zhongshan, Wang Jacky and Qian Zhenggui were shocked and immediately bowed to accept the order.

"A Linqing prefect and an inspection department inspected, and the stolen money they found was more than the bank's income in a year. They are really good at it!"

If the number of people is small, the banknote checkpoint will not be able to operate normally at all, and these are just civil servants responsible for taxation.

Hearing this, Zuo Yidao's heart moved and he nodded immediately.

This Linqing is indeed the first bank in the world, a place where merchants and fleets gather. If it develops well, it may become a commercial city of the Ming Dynasty in the future.

Immediately, Zuo Yida went out and called a burly man in, with a ferocious scar on his face.

He looked at Tang Hao with a confused face. If everyone is on their own, why are you raiding my house?
Tang Hao coughed twice and explained: "It's just a cover-up. Now is not the time for you to be exposed, otherwise you will not be able to hide it from those people's eyes. Do you understand?"

"Leave 30,000 taels as the starting capital for the restructuring of the banknote. Leave it to Zhenggui to take control of yourself. Specifically, you will recruit a number of technical personnel, maintain the Linqing river, pay everyone's wages on time, maintain the normal operation of the banknote, etc. Wait, after all, there will definitely be a lot of troubles in the early stages of Chaoguan's restructuring, you can handle it yourself!"

"This is Qian Zhenggui, the censor of Linqing Chaoguan. From now on, you will be colleagues with him. You can discuss what to do next. There is only one request. Guard Linqing Chaoguan and don't let all my hard work go to waste. , otherwise I will not show mercy!"

Qian Zhenggui's face turned green and white for a while, as if he didn't want to fight Tang Hao.

This number is indeed astonishing.

If you rob someone else's house and then rub salt into their wounds, are you still a human being?

As soon as these words came out, both Tang Mu and Zuo Yidao could hardly hold back their laughter.

King Jackal, hundreds of royal guards!

"I plan to leave five hundred soldiers at Linqing Chaoguan to be responsible for tax verification. On the surface, I will use the identity of the Linqing Inspection Department. The leading general will leave one hundred households of Jin Yiwei."

Tang Hao's face turned cold and he said: "I remember, Linqing Chaoguan's annual commercial tax revenue is only 120,000 taels, right?"

But from another perspective, Linqing is indeed a place where interests converge.

In addition to civil servants, plus anti-smuggling and defense soldiers, Tang Hao estimated that five hundred elite soldiers would be left behind. This was to prevent any powerful and powerful forces from bullying others from forcing their way through. In this way, even if the minimum salary was paid According to the standard, each person has a monthly salary, and he has to spend at least more than 500 yuan in costs every month.

After all, there is not much silver in the Ming Dynasty, and the purchasing power is still amazing. It was not until the Longqing Switch that a large amount of silver flowed into China. Now the domestic silver is mainly mined by the imperial court and tribute trade conducted by foreign vassal countries. .

Seeing his majestic appearance without anger, Tang Hao was quite satisfied.

This is also the real reason why those gentry were so crazy when they heard that the Japanese country actually had an Iwami silver mine with hundreds of millions of silver.

Everyone doesn’t like free money!

This is thirty thousand taels of silver!
The Marquis didn't even bat an eyelid and handed it over to him directly.

Tang Hao then looked at Zuo Yida again.

There was nothing they could do. They indeed only took out less than 10,000 taels of stolen money from Qian Zhenggui's house. Both of them felt a little puzzled. It was not normal!

The Imperial Guards are the emperor's own soldiers, and His Majesty the Emperor is their master. This has never changed.

"One hundred and thirty thousand taels, what a big deal!"

Qian Zhenggui was excited when he suddenly heard this and was speechless.

When Qian Zhenggui heard this, his face turned red with excitement.

"Wang Jackal, since you are one of the 100 members of Jinyiwei, you should know what to do in the future. This Marquis of Linqing Chaoguan will be left to you. Don't let me down, don't let His Majesty down!"

"The humble king jackal of a hundred households of royal guards has met the Marquis!"

First of all, there must be at least a hundred people in charge of tax collection. After all, Linqing is the intersection of the north and south of the Grand Canal. There are no less than a hundred large and small ships passing Linqing from south to north every day. In the autumn, when the grain passes through, every day The number that passed is countless.

Then Tang Mu also reported: "Master Hou, Malun and all the corrupt officials have been cleaned out. A total of 130,000 taels of silver were seized from their homes, including Song Chou, and Chao Guan." Censor Qian Zhenggui..."

"Don't engage in corruption, be careful about peeling off the skin and making the grass grow stronger."

Establishing a standard tariff is not an easy task.

Yes, if Bai is moved, he shouldn't think about it so much.

Now, it was Qian Zhenggui's turn to be dumbfounded.

This does not include the basic costs of maintaining the tax customs and repairing canals and rivers. Taking all of these into account, at least two to three thousand taels of silver must be spent every month to ensure the normal operation of the Linqing banknote customs.

"Okay, let's end this matter here. The remaining one hundred thousand taels will be sent back to Beijing to give His Majesty a little surprise!"

When Tang Mu and Zuo Yidao heard this, they burst out laughing.

The Tianjin Guard and the Linqing, after they dealt with those corrupt officials, they naturally did not forget to ransack their homes. It really adds up to a lot of money!
Returning to Linqing Pier again, Tang Hao boarded the official ship with his little girl in his arms and continued to the next stop.

"Master Hou, can you trust this Qian Zhenggui?"

Tang Mu said thoughtfully: "According to Jinyiwei's investigation, Qian Zhenggui is a mediocre person with no political achievements, and his life resume is nothing dazzling. Why does the Marquis let him continue to be the censor of Chaoguan?" Over there at the Procuratorate..."

"Don't worry, Zhang Fuhua will agree."

Tang Hao looked deeply and explained calmly.

"Qian Zhenggui is very smart and a man who barely has a conscience."

"The reason why he has no outstanding political achievements is not because he is incompetent, but because he has no one to support him and has no power to support him!"

"What political achievements do you think Liu Daxia has achieved in his life? Although he impeached some corrupt officials and proposed to eliminate some bad policies, he was able to rise to the top and become a minister. Is this the so-called political achievements?"

Upon hearing this, both Tang Mu and Zuo Yidao fell silent.

"The reason why Liu Daxia was able to rise to prominence, to be a highly respected minister, and to have a good reputation as one of the "Three Gentlemen of Hongzhi" was not because he had any outstanding political achievements, nor was it because he really made any outstanding contributions to the Ming Dynasty and the people. But he, Liu Daxia, was lucky enough to be favored by the great scholar Yang Pu, and gained Yang Pu's political influence! "

"His name was given by Yang Pu, and his wife is also a daughter of the Yang Pu clan. As long as he honestly completes the imperial examination and his performance in the imperial examination is not too bad, he can rise to the top and enter the imperial court. Don’t worry, someone has already arranged all this for him, but it’s just a formality.”

Tang Hao sneered: "So, an official's ability actually has little to do with his resume."

"The world is full of unfairness, and the officialdom of the court is even more so. Liu Daxia has been arranged all the paths since he was a child. From an early age, his future power and position are destined to be the pinnacle of power that ordinary officials cannot reach in their lifetime. Where can he reason? Going?"

After all, it is the gentry and gentry that control the political situation in the court.

They passed the imperial examinations and continuously supplied fresh blood to the court, supporting them to become the spokespersons of the noble families in the court, so as to ensure their own interests. Liu Daxia is a typical representative of them, and people like Liu Daxia, and others very many.

Tang Mu touched his chin and thought: "Master Hou, is it possible to abolish the imperial examination system?"

As soon as these words came out, even Tang Hao was a little surprised.

"No, your thoughts are very dangerous!"

"Don't talk about abolishing the imperial examination system. If you dare to reform the imperial examination system, all the scholars in the world will immediately jump out and call you a traitor and a traitor, forcing the court to cut you into pieces. Do you want to give it a try?"

"Don't forget, the gentry and country squires have the right to speak locally, and the gentry in the court have the right to speak in the court. If they want to ruin the innocence of others, they only need to use their mouths, and the common people in the world will not know you or Tang Mu. , Three people have heard it too much, they will also believe these rumors! "

"There is a saying that goes well, those who have gained the right will have more help and those who have lost the right will have less help. When the time comes, you, Tang Mu, will be the number one traitor in the world. You will be the traitor and traitor that everyone can kill, and you will be the one that the common people are eager to kill. You are a traitor to the country, who do you think can save you in the end?”

hiss……

When he thought of such a terrible scene, Tang Mu suddenly took a breath.

If it really came to this point, he might as well just kill himself, so as not to implicate his family.

"Ahem, I'm just joking, joking..."

Tang Mu said with a smile, his face full of lingering fear.

Tang Hao smiled meaningfully: "But your idea is very good. Maybe when we are strong enough, we can't try it!" Tang Mu: "!!!"

Zuo Yidao: "!!!"

Brother, are you serious? !

After a long silence, Yumu pretended to be relaxed and changed the subject.

"Master Marquis, where should we go next?"

"Shandong prepares Japanese troops, kills people, and suppresses Japanese troops!"

Three days later.

The little emperor watched with joy as cartloads of money were delivered into the small treasury.

"How much? What's the specific number?"

The little emperor asked impatiently.

Zhang Yong gave the specific number with a smile.

"Your Majesty, that's a total of three hundred and thirty thousand taels of silver!"

Hiss...three hundred thousand taels!
Zhu Houzhao's eyes suddenly lit up.

It's so pitiful that when he, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, asked the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Cabinet for 12,000 taels of salt, they wouldn't give him any of these shitty things. Now, the savage went out for a tour and got him 330,000 taels. !
The little emperor was so excited that his face turned red and his body trembled.

This is the first time that his internal treasury has been so rich!

The 330,000 taels of silver were divided into two parts. One part was the stolen money obtained by the corrupt officials in Linqing who ransacked their homes. There was only 100,000 taels of silver, and the remaining 230,000 taels came from elders like Zong Yue. Every one of the corrupt officials in Lu Yun Division had their homes confiscated.

Zong Yue alone copied a huge sum of 150,000 taels, which was simply richer than the little emperor like him!

Therefore, corrupt officials are really hateful and deserve to be cut to pieces!
This is really the imperial court’s money, but it’s all my money!

The little emperor was reading the report happily when a little eunuch came in again.

"Your Majesty, Lord Yuanfu wants to see you!"

Hearing this, Zhu Houzhao was stunned, then thought of something, and immediately refused to meet.

"If you don't see me, just say that I am unwell and need to recuperate!"

"Your Majesty, Master Yuanfu said that we must meet today!"

Meet me, meet your uncle!
I had just hugged the money, and Liu Jian, the chief minister of the cabinet, ran over. Any fool could see what he had planned!
Zhu Houzhao looked at Chen Kuan with an aggrieved face and said sadly: "Da Ju, can we not give it to you?"

"Your Majesty, I'm afraid not." Chen Kuan couldn't help but laugh.

"The stolen money obtained from the investigation of corrupt officials was originally the people's wealth and wealth stolen by corrupt officials, or the national interests embezzled. Therefore, in the past, the court's disposal was to either return it to the local people or put it into the national treasury. Of course, the latter is the majority..."

"What a waste of the treasury!" the little emperor said anxiously, "Then the money that was thrown around has returned to the hands of these corrupt officials?"

"This money is the military expenses that the savage earned from being infamous. Why should I keep it for him to train troops? It's not like you don't know over at Dongguanting Camp that the military expenses for a day are hundreds or even thousands of taels of silver. I don't want to keep it for training troops." What are you doing for these corrupt officials?”

"Your Majesty!" Chen Kuan said in a deep voice, "You still have to give it, otherwise these civil servants and gentry will accuse your Majesty of competing for profits with the people, which will ruin your reputation!"

"But how to give it and how much to give, it all depends on the emperor's thoughts!"

After hearing this, Zhu Houzhao calmed down.

Yes, those who seized these corrupt officials were all Jin Yiwei's own people, which means that Liu Jian actually didn't know how much stolen money was seized this time!
"Ahem, summon Yuanfu to see you!"

Soon Liu Jian walked in expressionlessly. After saluting, he just sat down and asked for money directly.

"Your Majesty, the treasury is empty, please show mercy!"

"This year, the south of the Yangtze River suffered from floods. In addition, it is a land of heavy taxes and heavy taxes, so the people are complaining. Based on the consideration of His Majesty's reputation, appropriate reductions and exemptions should be made..."

"Moreover, there is another drought in Shandong. Disaster relief is like putting out fires. The court also has to allocate money and food to help the victims..."

"In addition, the imperial court has restored the old system of paying grain to the government. However, because this policy has just been announced, no merchants have come to respond to the bid. This means that the military expenses of the nine sides still need to be borne by the imperial court..."

Well, the meaning behind the words is the same. Your Majesty, please give me the money!
The little emperor shook his head like a rattle and spoke two words concisely.

"No money!"

Liu Jian was stunned when he heard this, you are a bit shameless!

So cartloads of money are sent into the small treasury. Do you think we are blind?

"Your Majesty, people's livelihood is the most important thing!"

"Yuan Fu shouldn't say this to me, he should say it to those corrupt officials!"

Zhu Houzhao sneered and said: "50% of the salt profit has been obtained by these corrupt officials. They have taken it for so many years. It is strange that the national treasury is not empty!"

"If you want to follow my wishes, you should abolish the Transportation Department and let the Beijing army station directly to take charge of the salt farm work, so as to prevent these corrupt officials from embezzling national interests..."

"Your Majesty!" Liu Jian's face darkened, "Your Majesty also knows in his heart that this is impossible, and the entire court will not agree to it!"

"I am the Emperor of Ming Dynasty, do I need their consent?"

When Zhu Houzhao heard this, he immediately became angry and looked at Liu Jian coldly.

"Yuan Fu knows better than anyone how this money came from!"

"The Marquis of Zhongshan has earned so much infamy, and this money will only be used to train the new army. No one can try to take advantage of it!"

Liu Jian was startled when he heard this, and finally chose to remain silent.

Zhu Houzhao felt uncomfortable when he saw this, but his attitude was still very tough.

"Without the new army as a deterrent, any bullshit New Deal is just a joke!"

"Yuan Fu, Ming Dynasty is already rotten. If we don't think of ways to change it, we won't be able to hold on for long!"

Speaking of which, the young emperor took out a secret report from the Jin Yiwei, which was written by Zuo Yidao himself, about the heart-wrenching remarks made by Tang Hao, the Marquis of Zhongshan, towards the gentry.

At first, when Liu Jian looked at the front, his expression was still under control, but when he looked at the back, his face gradually turned pale, and his whole body even trembled with fear.

"Your Majesty, this...this..."

"Yuansuke, this is the truth!"

Zhu Houzhao looked very lonely. When he saw the secret report, he was so angry that he couldn't eat all day long.

Although the savage's remarks are a bit too alarmist, if you think about it carefully, you can gradually figure out some flavor.

"Why did the Ming Dynasty keep the army and the people poor?"

"Because the fields are all in the hands of the gentry and the gentry, and they are all in the hands of the dignitaries!"

"Even if ordinary people farm the land honestly and conscientiously all their lives, they will not become rich. They are just producing food for the gentry and dignitaries!"

"I, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, am indeed not the master of the Ming Dynasty. The gentry and the gentry are!"

As soon as these words came out, Liu Jian was so shocked that his scalp went numb, and he hurriedly stood up and knelt on the ground.

Chen Kuan, Zhang Yong and other chamberlains all knelt down in unison, not even daring to express their anger.

Seeing this, the little emperor sighed and stepped forward to help Liu Jian up with his own hands.

"Yuanfu, I know that you have been trying your best to maintain the overall situation of the government."

"But doing so would be harmful rather than helpful to the Ming Dynasty. The Hongzhi Dynasty is the best example!"

"The king is sage and the ministers are virtuous, the oceans and rivers are clear, and the Huanghuang sect is living in peace and prosperity, but is this really the case?"

"The army and the people are impoverished, the people are destitute and their wealth is exhausted, they have no food to eat, the people are in dire straits, the number of refugees increases sharply, people gather to cause chaos, and they rise up..."

"Then, then, with a bang, the Ming Dynasty... collapsed!"

"Hu Yuan, isn't this how you died?"

Liu Jian was stunned and opened his mouth to say something, but in the end nothing came out.

He bowed and left in a daze, staggering out of the Qianqing Palace, his back looking very lonely and desolate.

Looking at the scorching sun, Liu Jian's eyes overflowed with tears.

It turns out that gentry like myself are the biggest cancer in the dynasty!

(End of this chapter)