prosperous age

Empress Dowager Li rebuked the emperor on stage and also spoke of the care Feng Bao had given her over the years.

In short, the emperor was too cruel to Feng Bao.

“You resent Feng Bao for filing a complaint, but it was your mother who made him do it. He was just following my imperial decree.”

If you think Feng Bao shouldn't have done that, then you should talk to Mother about it, instead of making things difficult for Feng Bao.

Empress Dowager Li was still speaking from above, while Emperor Wanli knelt below, head bowed, and remained silent.

Who says an emperor can't kneel? Even after he became emperor, he was still beaten and scolded in the harem and dared not act recklessly.

Finally, when Emperor Wanli felt his legs were numb from kneeling, Empress Dowager Li finally finished speaking.

A palace maid brought her tea to soothe her throat. Taking advantage of this moment, Emperor Wanli looked up at Empress Dowager Li and said, word by word, "Mother, was it Feng Bao who did what my elder sister, Princess Yongning, did?"

"Ok?"

Empress Dowager Li had just put down her tea when she heard this and was taken aback.

After all, she was his own daughter, so it was impossible for Empress Dowager Li not to be angry about this.

However, in her view, Feng Bao was still useful at this time and could help the emperor keep an eye on the court, so she suppressed her dissatisfaction and continued to employ Feng Bao.

Ultimately, he felt guilty towards his daughter Yongning for this, but she still made the same choice.

Now that the Wanli Emperor had asked her about it to her face, one can imagine how unpleasant her expression must have been.

She didn't speak, because she didn't know what to say.

Upon seeing this, Emperor Wanli realized that his mother also harbored resentment, but he did not know why.

However, now that Feng Bao has been taken down, it is impossible to give up halfway.

Emperor Wanli immediately continued, “Mother, my punishment of Feng Bao is not for what you previously said, but because Feng Bao has been abusing his power and acting lawlessly outside the country for many years, seizing and plundering, and damaging the reputation of our royal family.”

Today, I sent the Imperial Guards to search the Feng residence, and they found gold and silver worth a million taels in his storeroom, as well as countless other valuable paintings, calligraphy and paintings, and rare antiques.

Your Majesty, tell me, how many evil deeds has this scoundrel Feng Bao committed to amass such wealth?

That's a million taels of silver, not even counting goods, land, and real estate.

Emperor Wanli revealed the figures Liu Ruoyu had reported to Empress Dowager Li, which startled her.

"Your Majesty, does Feng Bao really have that many things in his residence?"

Empress Dowager Li asked in disbelief, her voice trembling slightly.

Don't think that just because the royal family is rich, they can treat money like it's nothing.

During the Longqing reign, the Longqing Emperor wanted the Ministry of Revenue to allocate 100,000 taels of silver to purchase jewelry for his harem, but he struggled to get the funds and was frequently rejected by the cabinet.

During the Wanli reign, Zhang Juzheng treated the imperial harem with great respect.

Each time the Ministry of Revenue needs to allocate silver, if it's 300,000 taels, at least 200,000 taels can be allocated to alleviate the palace's financial difficulties.

This is one of the reasons why Empress Dowager Li trusted Zhang Juzheng.

With enough money, even the royal family could be made to do the millstone work.

Of course, these expenses are actually dispensable to ordinary people.

However, royalty are not ordinary people; their clothing and jewelry are important for maintaining appearances.

Even if it's optional, it can only be there, not gone.

Therefore, what the previous dynasty thought should not be given, the harem did not think so, but felt should be given, and must be given.

When Empress Dowager Li suddenly heard that Feng Bao's mansion actually contained a million taels of silver, how could she not be shocked?

"This should include the money Yongning received for selling herself into servitude."

The Wanli Emperor suddenly stood up and said angrily.

In that instant, Empress Dowager Li seemed to lose all her strength and collapsed. Fortunately, she was supported by the back of a chair, which prevented her from falling completely.

This sudden turn of events greatly frightened the palace maids serving the Empress Dowager, who rushed forward to support her.

"Mother, Mother, what's wrong?"

Emperor Wanli stepped forward and knelt before Empress Dowager Li, asking her with concern.

Although Empress Dowager Li was strict with him, she was still his biological mother.

Seeing his mother's current state, Emperor Wanli was also distressed.

"Nothing, nothing."

Empress Dowager Li has recovered somewhat, but she is completely drained of energy.

Leaning back in her chair, Empress Dowager Li spoke again, "Are you serious?"

Feng Bao was fairly loyal to her, so when he cried to her about being deceived, she believed him.

Today, the emperor told her that Feng Bao had sold her daughter, which was a huge blow to her.

"There is absolutely no mistake about this matter. I will have the Embroidered Uniform Guard investigate it thoroughly. All the lackeys involved should die."

The Wanli Emperor immediately and decisively spoke.

Killing a few eunuchs is no big deal; Emperor Wanli certainly had that kind of courage.

"Investigate, let someone investigate."

Furthermore, were the gold and silver in Feng Bao's residence ever deposited into the imperial treasury?

Having managed state affairs for many years, Empress Dowager Li naturally discerned some of the intricacies involved.

Money is the most important resource for governing a country.

Only with money can one protect the land and its people.

Without money, natural disasters or foreign invasions will cause chaos and the world will descend into turmoil.

"I've already sent Chen Ju and Zhang Jing to search the premises. We should have news soon."

Emperor Wanli immediately spoke.

He had thought of this long ago, so naturally he had to say it to show that he was an adult and capable of making decisions.

From now on, I don't need Mother's guidance on this kind of thing anymore.

In reality, because Empress Dowager Li cared too much for him, Emperor Wanli often felt only sternness and not affection, which made him very impatient.

However, due to the constraints of etiquette, he dared not reveal it.

Meanwhile, carriages of all sizes from the palace, carrying boxes of gold and silver, had already arrived at the palace gate.

All the boxes were sealed, and Liu Ruoyu rode ahead on horseback.

The palace guards were supposed to inspect these boxes, opening and searching them one by one to prevent them from containing anything of ill repute.

However, Liu Ruoyu had a gold token given to him by the emperor, and as soon as he showed it, the palace guards automatically stepped back.

How could these imperial guards not know whose boxes they were searching? Many of them were still members of the Embroidered Uniform Guard system.

Thus, the carriage carrying dozens of large boxes entered the Forbidden City without any hindrance and headed straight for the Qianqing Palace.

He had no idea that the emperor was already in the Cining Palace, so his first priority was to rush to the emperor to claim credit and reward.

The commotion was quite significant, and naturally, it quickly spread throughout the palace.

Everyone knows that these boxes were brought out from Eunuch Feng's house. So many boxes must have contained a lot of treasure.

The news naturally reached Cining Palace. Empress Dowager Chen had just arrived at the palace gate when she heard that Empress Dowager Li had summoned the emperor and that Feng Bao was being held captive in the Imperial Horse Stable. That's why she came to check on things.

She knew that Empress Dowager Li's use of Feng Bao to monitor the previous dynasty was a matter of national security, so she accepted it.

However, it would not be worth it if punishing a servant caused Empress Dowager Li and the emperor to become estranged.

So she came. Along with her came the news she'd heard on the way: Liu Ruoyu was bringing many large trunks into the palace.

"Someone, have Liu Ruoyu bring the box here first."

After entering, Empress Dowager Chen first showed concern for Empress Dowager Li, who seemed somewhat listless, and then inquired about the situation. Knowing that Empress Dowager Li seemed to have given up on Feng Bao, she relayed the message that had been circulating in the palace.

Upon hearing that the silver had been brought back, Emperor Wanli immediately issued an edict.

He knew that the scales had only temporarily tipped in his favor with the Empress Dowager, and he still needed to offer her leverage, showing her the wealth that Feng Bao had amassed over the years by using the royal family's influence.

Empress Dowager Li, after all, came from a humble background and was very sensitive to money.

With a million taels of silver placed in front of her, Feng Bao's crime of abusing his power under the guise of the royal family was confirmed.

Liu Ruoyu and his men had just arrived at the gate of Qianqing Palace when they asked someone to inform the emperor that he was not there. So they told everyone to wait. Then a eunuch ran over from the east to deliver the emperor's edict, ordering the boxes to be taken to Cining Palace.

Liu Ruoyu dared not delay and immediately ordered a carriage to be driven over.

Before long, the small front courtyard of Cining Palace was filled with boxes.

At this moment, the emperor followed Empress Dowager Chen and Empress Dowager Li out, and they were speechless as they looked at the boxes filling the courtyard.

"Open."

Finally, Emperor Wanli came to his senses and spoke to Liu Ruoyu, who was reporting the decree in front of him.

Just now, Liu Ruoyu reported the amount of gold and silver in these boxes, which is not just a little over a million taels of silver.

Now, it's time for a spot check.

Although he wouldn't do it himself, he would still ask to open the box so he could see it and let his mother see how good her trusted minister was at accumulating wealth.

The lids of the boxes were opened, revealing glittering gold and silver inside.

Most of them were minted into coins, but only four boxes contained exquisitely crafted gold ingots.

Emperor Wanli was thrilled to see so much silver. He couldn't help but step forward, grab a gold ingot, weigh it in his hand, and examine it.

The lids of dozens of boxes have been opened, and it has been confirmed that they were all filled with gold and silver. Feng Bao's crimes of embezzlement, bribery, and extortion have been completely confirmed.

Emperor Wanli then threw the gold ingot in his hand back into the box and returned to the Empress Dowager's side.

"Your Majesty, you decide. From now on, I will no longer concern myself with these matters."

Feng Bao's affair this time was a big blow to Empress Dowager Li, mainly because she felt betrayed.

Unexpectedly, Feng Bao, who was always respectful and never disobeyed him, had actually amassed such a large fortune outside.

To be honest, they could tolerate two or three hundred thousand taels of silver, but a million taels was intolerable.

"Take it away and put it in the warehouse."

Emperor Wanli waved to Liu Ruoyu and then accompanied the two empress dowagers back into the hall.

In truth, Empress Dowager Li was heartbroken at this moment. The thought that her daughter's life's happiness had been ruined in these boxes was too painful for her to bear.

The palace was taking stock of the spoils and storing them away, which was unknown to the outside world. However, Wei Guangde also received a simple list from the Embroidered Uniform Guard, which was a list of the confiscated property.

"One million two hundred thousand? Haha, isn't this just doing someone else's work for free?"

Wei Guangde chuckled and shook his head. Feng Bao's ability to plunder wealth was truly astonishing.

It can only be said that a eunuch is still a eunuch after all; it's unclear how he would hide such a large sum of money once he got his hands on it.

Wei Guangde couldn't help but think of Heshen, the man from later generations who was said to be incredibly wealthy, with his home confiscated and containing assets worth hundreds of millions of taels of silver.

At that time, the annual income of the Qing Dynasty was only 80 million taels of silver, while Heshen's family wealth was equivalent to more than 800 million taels of silver, which was more than the total tax revenue of the court over ten years.

However, the amount of money confiscated from Heshen's house at that time was only tens of millions of taels, reportedly including several million taels of silver and tens of thousands of taels of gold.

Of course, there are countless jewelry and jade artifacts, and it takes an experienced person to appraise them.

Even Emperor Jiaqing, who searched high and low, never imagined that Prince Gong's Mansion, formerly Heshen's residence, would contain hidden gaps in the walls and secret passages.

It is said that the gold and silver, worth tens of millions of taels, were only discovered during the renovation of Prince Gong's Mansion in the new century.

One of the secret rooms is said to be filled with gold ingots weighing fifty catties each, so much so that no one could steal them.

It's fucking heavy.

This is also a good way to prevent theft.

In ancient times, wealthy people would melt down silver and pour it directly into their cellars, where the molten silver would melt into one piece.

Even if the bandits and robbers wanted to move it, they couldn't; they could only take it down bit by bit.

With Heshen falling from grace, it was well-deserved that Emperor Jiaqing was fed.

Heshen's family only had tens of millions of taels of silver. Where were the other assets worth hundreds of millions of taels?
Naturally, there were countless field deeds, land deeds, house deeds, and shops in various places.

Wei Guangde built a pawnshop in each of the four cardinal directions of the capital, which was actually an imitation of Heshen.

However, Heshen went even further. It is said that the confiscated property from Heshen's four pawnshops amounted to as much as 60 million taels of silver.

This is just one of the well-known pawnshops; of course, there are many other lesser-known or nominally affiliated pawnshops and trading companies as well.

Wei Guangde's pawnshop had a total value of just over two million taels of silver.

It must be said that during the Qing Dynasty, China's GDP far exceeded that of the Ming Dynasty at its peak.

After all, in terms of population alone, it was only 100 million, while the Qing Dynasty had 400 million, four times as many.

"Lord Liu said that he has already ordered people to put away those account books, and for those that cannot be taken away, he has arranged for someone to make another copy."

Zhang Ji whispered in Wei Guangde's ear.

"Yes, go and check on things more often these next few days. Look into everything that involves the manor and Feng Bao."

Aside from visits during holidays, don't leave any other records, especially those from Myanmar—not a single word is allowed.

When Wei Guangde returned, the first thing he did was to assign this task to Zhang Ji.

He and Feng Bao didn't correspond much, so there's no need to worry about that.

Even if Feng Bao still kept the notes Wei Guangde gave him, most of them were rejections of his requests.

If the emperor saw it, he would be praised for being "upright".

The problem is that the profits from jewelry and jade that Feng Bao has been sharing with Myanmar over the past few years are a bit difficult to handle, and Wei Guangde is worried that he might be dragged into it as well.

Therefore, sending Zhang Ji was to handle these initial and final issues.

Anything mixed in with the ledgers had to be copied and bound again.

These days, account books are all punched and strung together, so if you remove some pages and copy them to make a replacement, it's usually undetectable.

It's not just him who's making moves; others want to do the same, but they just can't find the right connections.

Wei Guangde had been paying attention to the Embroidered Uniform Guard since the Jiajing era, which is why he was able to deal with the Feng residence so smoothly at this time.

"Go down, I need some peace and quiet."

After making the arrangements, Wei Guangde called Zhang Ji out, and then he leaned back in his chair to think.

He never intended to actually kill Feng Bao; he wanted to protect him.

The reason remains the same: they are all from Yu-Chi's family. If we don't step forward to protect him now, what will others think?

Of course, sparing him doesn't mean he escapes all punishment; sending him to Nanjing to guard the imperial tombs is actually the best outcome for him.

Historically, Feng Bao was punished by being sent to Nanjing, not to guard the imperial tombs, but to do hard labor, and eventually died on the royal construction site.

Even if Wei Guangde disapproved of it, he couldn't let him suffer.

A reputation for being sentimental can attract many people. (End of Chapter)