Jinyi Town Mountains and Rivers

Chapter 100 The Furious Emperor Jiajing

The government office for disaster relief and payment was opened.At five o'clock, Hu Zongxian, the chief executive, and He Liu, the deputy chief executive, sat in the lobby.

As soon as the two buttocks sat firmly on the chair, a soldier announced: "The donator is here!"

A fat man went up to the lobby: "I pledge 200 million taels for our master!"

After speaking, more than 100 strong men carried more than 20 large wooden boxes to the lobby.

The fat man opened the big wooden boxes one by one: "These fifteen boxes are full of Zushiwen silver, a total of 60 taels. These two boxes contain 8 taels of gold and 80 taels of silver. The box is full of top-grade jade wares of various colors, 20 taels of silver. In this small wooden box, there are another 40 taels of bank notes from the Detai Bank. A total of 200 million taels, please check the master."

Hu Zongxian has been an official all his life, and he has never seen so much cash.His eyes are a little dazed.It took him a long time before he asked the fat man, "Dare to ask your master?"

The fat man replied: "Our lord said that when we donate for the country, we only want to serve the court and the emperor, and don't ask for any false name. This time, he wants to donate anonymously."

Hu Zongxian and He Liu looked at each other and smiled.

Hu Zongxian said again: "Okay, then please go back and thank your master on behalf of me and the court!"

He Liu lowered his voice and said to Hu Zongxian: "Hu Butang, what's the matter, those people choose between life and money, and they still give up money for life."

Just as the fat man left, another short man came up to the lobby.

"I pledge 200 million taels for our master!"

. . . . . . .

In just two hours, the disaster relief office received five anonymous donations.Add up to 1000 million taels.

He Liu joked with Hu Zongxian: "Hu Butang, our disaster relief office may be the shortest-lived office in the entire Ming Dynasty. It has been open for two hours, and it will be closed soon!"

Hu Zongxian said: "The donation is 1000 million taels in two hours. Oh, it's shocking enough to say it."

The two were about to go down to the lobby to arrange the transfer of the silver to the capital, but another person walked into the lobby—Hai Rui, the magistrate of Chun'an County!
Hai Rui held a cloth pouch in his hand.

"Brother Gangfeng, what are you doing here?" Hu Zongxian was the dignified governor of Zhejiang Province and a member of the second rank, but he admired Hai Rui's character, so he nicknamed him "Brother Gangfeng".

Hai Rui said: "The imperial court set up a fund-raising office in the south of the Yangtze River to raise money for the disaster victims in Shandong and Henan provinces, Qi Jiajun and Yu Jiajun's [-] sons. How can I, a county magistrate of the seventh rank, stand by and watch. This is the money I donated. "

Hai Rui presented the cloth bag to the lobby.

He Liu opened the cloth bag, only to see that it was full of bits and pieces of silver.

Hai Rui cupped his hands: "Your Excellency is laughing. The silver is my mother's income from selling the cloth weaves every month. So it is very scattered. I weighed it before I came, and it is about 50 taels."

He Liu stared at Hai Rui: Most of the officials in Jiangnan are doing their best to fill their pockets.Hai Rui, the county magistrate of seventh rank, can be so honest and self-reliant.If there were more good officials like Hu Zongxian, Hai Rui, and Zhao Zhenji, the court would not be leaking like a broken ship.

He Liu walked down the hall, and made a deep bow to Hai Rui, the Zhima official: "He Liudai imperial court, on behalf of the common people, thank Mr. Hai!"

Hai Rui had the unique aloofness of a scholar.He has never been interested in Jin Yiwei's people.He arched his hands: "It's just a matter of duty. If there is nothing else, I will go first."

Hai Rui left.Hu Zongxian held the bag of 50 taels of broken silver in his hand.Pointing to the hundreds of large wooden boxes next to him, he said to He Liu, "These 50 taels of silver are really heavier than those 1000 million taels of silver ingots and ingots!"

After six days.The capital, Yongshou Palace.

Emperor Jiajing half-lyed in the green gauze curtain, flipping through the memorial presented by the Supervisor of Rites.

When he turned to the memorial jointly signed by Hu Zongxian and He Liu, he opened his mouth in surprise.

"Lu Fang! Commander of Xuan Jin Yiwei, Lu Bing, enters the palace to discuss matters!" Emperor Jiajing commanded loudly.

After half an hour, Lu Bing entered Yongshou Palace.

Emperor Jiajing threw the memorial out of the green gauze curtain: "Lu Bing, take a look."

Lu Bing was also amazed after seeing it: "Hu Zongxian and He Liu raised a... tens of millions of taels within a day? Could it be that the person who copied the memorial made a mistake?"

Emperor Jiajing said: "A mistake? This is Hu Zongxian's handwriting, not someone else's knife! How could Hu Zongxian, who is so meticulous in his work, write the wrong amount of silver? One day! He even raised 1000 million taels of silver!"

Lu Bing kowtowed and said: "This is the merit of the emperor teaching the people with holiness! The people are all sincere and kind, and this is how they can raise so much money in one day! The disaster victims in Shandong and Henan provinces have been saved! The Qi family army , The day when the Yu family’s army will play triumphant songs is not far away! This is all due to the emperor! Shengming will never surpass the emperor! Long live the emperor, long live, long live, long live!”

Lu Bing didn't know how to explain to He Liu that such a horrific donation was raised in one day.In desperation, he could only flatter Emperor Jiajing.This trick was learned from Yan Song, the chief assistant of the cabinet.

Emperor Jiajing said two words coldly: "Fart!"

He opened the green gauze curtain and walked in front of Lu Bing: "1000 million taels, how much is this? Is this money really donated voluntarily by the merchants and people in Jiangnan? They have to rebel, and they can't afford such a large amount of silver!"

Lu Bing didn't know how to answer, he just knelt on the ground and kowtowed.

Emperor Jiajing said: "I have another memorial here. It was submitted by He Liu alone, saying that the case of private salt in the south of the Yangtze River is complicated and confusing. He is dull and clumsy and can't find out the truth. Please return to Beijing to accept punishment. Heh, with this It was sent to Beijing together with the pledge memorial! Isn’t it strange? I see, this appalling amount of money is closely related to the private salt case! He Liu is so brave that he played the trick of cloud mountain and mist cover with me!”

Lu Bing cupped his hands and said, "Report to the emperor, I think it's better to call He Liu back to the capital and ask the emperor. I think that he will not and dare not tell lies in front of the emperor."

Emperor Jiajing thought for a while, and said: "Forget it! Pass the decree and call He Liu to escort the 1000 million taels of silver boat back to Beijing!"

Lu Bing bowed his head and said, "Your Majesty is wise!"

Emperor Jiajing sighed: "Shengming? The emperor is almost being played like a monkey by his subjects!"

Lu Bingdao: "If He Liu dares to lie to the emperor about anything, I will tear him to pieces!"

Emperor Jiajing looked down at Lu Bing: "Since Xingxian Palace, you, Lu Bing, have been with me for more than 40 years, right?"

Lu Bing nodded: "I have been with the dragon for 42 years."

Emperor Jiajing said: "If someone who has been with me for more than 40 years trains a subordinate who deceives the emperor, it will be a big joke in the world."

(End of this chapter)