prosperous age

Having Zhang Ji clean up the servants in the mansion was a way for Wei Guangde to prepare for the future.

After all, Zhang Ji couldn't do everything in the manor himself; he delegated many tasks to his subordinates.

If someone among them had ulterior motives and deliberately concealed them, he might not even know.

Checking it out always puts people at ease.

Little did Wei Guangde know that his subordinates were quite disciplined, perhaps because he valued them, and no trouble was caused.

However, unable to find any fault, Zhang Jing changed his strategy. Instead of using the Imperial Guard's specialty of fabricating charges and making things up, he took a different approach and planned to use the huge annual interest payments from the Wei family to provoke the emperor.

The invisible blade is the most deadly.

Meanwhile, outside Jingzhou City, in the imperial envoy's headquarters, the Zhang family's wealth had been inventoried for several days, and compared with the account books brought by Chen Ju. Although it was not yet fully completed, they had a general idea of ​​what was going on.

At this moment, Hai Rui sat in the center, with Chen Ju on his left and the Censor of the Censorate on his right. Standing below were officials who had accompanied him from the capital to supervise him, as well as people from the Huguang Provincial Administration Commission and the Provincial Surveillance Commission.

At this time, Hai Rui gathered everyone together to discuss their ideas and see if they had any insights or opinions that could guide their future work.

"Eunuch Chen, have any of the Liao Prince's property been found among the items that have been checked?"

Hai Rui spoke directly to Chen Ju.

This verification process was overseen by Chen Ju, with internal staff and accompanying officials providing oversight; it should not be falsified.

Upon hearing this, Chen Ju shook his head and said, "The items in the Zhang family's collection that have been inventoried so far do not bear any marks of the Liao Prince's Mansion, nor are they recorded in the old records of the Liao Prince's Mansion."

Generally speaking, the valuables made by each household would be marked with a seal.

Not only members of the imperial family and officials, but also ordinary gentry and landlords would leave marks on their products.

Generally speaking, if no Liao Prince's seal is found on the valuables, then the possibility of them coming from the Liao Prince's residence can be basically ruled out.

Although some marks can be erased, others are not so easy to remove.

Moreover, these marks are often hidden, commonly known as secret marks, and are not so easy to find.

People who are not familiar with the situation may not even know how to interpret it.

However, these were not difficult problems for the people Chen Ju brought.

The palace's secret codes and those of the imperial family shared similar practices, and both were archived.

If you compare them one by one, even if there are traces of erasure, they will still be noticeable.

But when Chen Ju asked the people he brought with him, they all said they hadn't found anything suspicious.

At least, none of the items they examined that were most likely from the Liao Prince's residence contained any secret marks from the Liao Prince's residence, nor were there any signs of erasure.

These items, naturally made of extremely rare materials or with exquisite craftsmanship, were the first to be identified and verified.

"Did you find anything during the search of the Zhang family's lands and residences?"

Hai Rui looked at the people from the Censorate on the other side and asked.

"Upon verification according to the ledgers, it was found that none of the farmland belonged to the Liao Prince's Palace."

The Zhang family owned two shops in the city, which were originally properties of the Liao Prince's Mansion. However, since they did not have the regulations for a prince's mansion, they were left to be sold by the local authorities.

We found old government records and verified that it was the item the Zhang family had won in the bidding.

There were more than ten shops in the city for sale, and the Zhang family bought these two.

The censor and the officials from the Provincial Surveillance Commission exchanged a glance before he spoke.

"So, the origins of these shops are clear, and there's no question of misappropriation?"

Hai Rui asked.

"That's true."

The censor immediately spoke.

Although they found something wrong when they went through the old files, namely the prices.

The Zhang family bought those two shops at a much lower price compared to other shops for sale.

However, they consulted with the old government officials and merchants who participated in the auction back then, and they learned that when the auction was held, the Zhang family made an offer right away.

Think about it, what kind of family was the Zhang family back then?
The cabinet ministers are from top-tier families in the local area; who would dare to compete with them?

Therefore, as long as the Zhang family made an offer, no one would compete with them.

The final transaction price was naturally very cheap.

The Zhang family wasn't greedy at the time; they only bought those two shops and didn't sell any of the others.

Of course, those two shops are definitely in the best locations among these dozen or so shops.

There's no issue of fairness here, but at least there's no foul play involved.

The crowd was intimidated by the Zhang family and dared not bid against them, which did not mean that there was anything wrong with the Zhang family.

Therefore, after the censors, the provincial judges, and the provincial administration officials gathered to discuss the matter, they concluded that there was no problem with the bidding process.

You should know that if this is considered embezzlement, then all the business transactions of officials and gentry families in various places can be considered embezzlement.

Although the Ming Dynasty's officialdom was protective of its own, it still had to deal with a few corrupt officials every year, otherwise the Censorate and the Ministry of Personnel would lose face.

If the Ministry of Personnel were to say that there were not a single corrupt official, they would be too embarrassed to tell the emperor.

Therefore, these unfortunate individuals who were singled out as examples naturally had their family property confiscated as well.

Gold and silver were fine; they were directly taken into the inner court. However, land and houses were sold to the outside world and belonged to the imperial court.

Part of the revenue went into the local government treasury, and part had to be handed over to the Ministry of Revenue.

"So, it seems that the impeachment was largely a false accusation."

Hai Rui began to speak.

"It can't be said that it was all false accusation. At least we saw so much gold and silver at the Zhang family's residence. This is not something that the Zhang family could accumulate with their salaries over the years."

At this moment, an official below suddenly spoke up.

"That's right. The Zhang family's gold and silver alone are worth 200,000 taels. As for other valuables, although we didn't find any other items that require special attention, it's impossible for a first-rank official to accumulate so much with his salary."

Soon, others echoed this sentiment.

Chen Ju remained calm and didn't say anything, only glancing at the few people who echoed him.

This is a matter concerning the civil service, and has nothing to do with the eunuchs.

In reality, the eunuchs in the inner court were actually hoping that their own people would bring down Zhang Juzheng, so they could watch the spectacle unfold.

As for the one most deeply involved with Zhang Juzheng, it was none other than Feng Bao.

But Feng Bao had already fallen from power and gone to Nanjing to guard the imperial tombs, so it naturally had no impact on them.

"We should still investigate. Although the local authorities sent troops to seal off the Zhang residence a long time ago, the Zhang family may still have hidden money in other people's homes."

Just as Hai Rui was pondering what to do, someone below suggested a new possibility.

Upon hearing this, Hai Rui's expression changed slightly.

The purpose of this imperial decree was merely to inspect whether the Zhang family had secretly hoarded any property belonging to the Prince of Liao. However, the current trend has shifted to investigating whether Zhang Juzheng was honest and upright.

The Zhang family's wealth is not so easy to investigate.

Having lived in the capital, Hai Rui was naturally aware of the unrecorded gray income such as ice and charcoal tributes. Moreover, Zhang Juzheng had been in charge of the central government for many years, and various provinces had sent him a lot of such tributes.

Originally, they shouldn't have interfered in this kind of matter.

But now someone is actually bringing this up; I don't know if it's genuine ignorance or ulterior motives.

Like Chen Ju, Hai Rui only glanced at those people and memorized their names.

Having said that, he naturally couldn't directly reject their opinions.

After thinking for a moment, Hai Rui finally spoke, saying, "What you all say makes sense. Tomorrow I will summon the eldest son of the Zhang family for questioning."

Clearly, those people achieved their goal: since the Zhang family didn't profit from the Liaowangfu case, they would investigate other matters concerning the Zhang family.

Hai Rui also wanted to see what Zhang Jingxiu's answer would be.

After all, Zhang Juzheng had served in the imperial court for many years. If the Zhang family were truly corrupt, then they would naturally be dealt with. But if it was merely a matter of officials exchanging favors and offering gifts in private, in accordance with unspoken rules, Hai Rui would not expose it.

When he was young and impetuous, Hai Rui never actually had the idea of ​​making an enemy of the entire civil service group or uncovering those unspoken rules.

When you get older, you're even less likely to do that.

The imperial court wants stability, not to stir up huge waves and break the established rules.

The gathering ended in an atmosphere where everyone had their own agenda.

Hai Rui sat there, watching everyone leave, without saying a word.

He had actually guessed it when he received the imperial decree; it was probably something that some people in the capital had done.

Generally speaking, officials do not actively seek out so-called corruption clues. Officials who are investigated and punished are usually imprisoned because they have offended someone.

Judging from today's situation, it is clear that someone is targeting the Zhang family and intends to fabricate charges against them.

Hai Rui's attitude towards Zhang Juzheng was actually quite complex.

On the one hand, he acknowledged Zhang Juzheng's ability to govern the country.

The land survey, tax clarification, and implementation of the "Single Whip Law" presided over by Zhang Juzheng were beneficial to the people.

Although he has also received reports of local authorities being too extreme, resulting in deviations from the new law during its implementation.

But overall, this is a minority.

In fact, the claim that Zhang Juzheng caused the destruction of "countless" families and deaths is completely unfounded.

Even if the new law isn't implemented, most of these families would still do the same thing.

However, when Zhang Juzheng implemented the performance evaluation system, local officials did indeed take some extreme actions in order to achieve their political goals.

But is the performance evaluation system wrong?

Hai Rui did not think so. He had long been aware of the overstaffing among officials and had come up with many solutions and submitted memorials to the emperor.

However, in reality, even if the court implemented his suggestions, it seemed that they were not as effective as Zhang Juzheng's assessment and evaluation system.

The performance evaluation system is definitely more beneficial than harmful to the country.

The Zhang family's current predicament is mostly related to his new law, and some officials are simply taking the opportunity to retaliate.

Whether or not to protect the Zhang family has never been Hai Rui's consideration; he only investigates the situation and reports the facts.

Ultimately, whether or not he was found guilty rested entirely on the Wanli Emperor's decision.

After returning to his own courtyard, Chen Ju had similar thoughts to Hai Rui.

Clearly, some of these people are from that side, and they deliberately brought it up today.

But it's better to bring it up sooner rather than later; we'll have to face it eventually anyway.

As for whether or not to send a message to the capital, Chen Ju thought about it and shook his head.

He would inform Wei Guangde of the results beforehand, so that Wei could be prepared, when the discussion and memorial were about to be submitted.

In any case, the connection between Zhang Juzheng and Wei Guangde was not deep.

To be honest, Zhang Juzheng's letters have all been intercepted by the inner court, but it's not time to review them yet.

Everything depends on what that person in the palace thinks.

If a thorough investigation is to be conducted and charges determined, all of these letters must be reviewed and recorded to identify the so-called "Zhang faction."

Did Wei Guangde have any correspondence with Zhang Juzheng? If he had something to discuss, he would have met with him directly. Why would he have left any letters?

At worst, it'll just be a note from the cabinet, and that note might not even be given to him directly.

Chen Ju had already reviewed the Zhang family's catalog, especially their correspondence.

Zeng Shengwu corresponded frequently with Zhang Juzheng in his early years, and even exchanged several letters with Lao Kan.

Although I don't know the details, I imagine it's mostly related to politics, and it shouldn't involve currying favor.

Otherwise, they would have already asked someone to pull strings and contact them.

The next morning, as Hai Rui had said the day before, he sent someone to summon Zhang Jingxiu to the imperial envoy's headquarters.

"Manager Zhang, please have a seat."

In the main hall, Hai Rui waved for Zhang Jingxiu to sit to one side, and a servant brought in tea and placed it to the side.

"The reason I summoned you here is to find out the source of the gold, silver and valuables acquired in the Zhang residence."

Some have suggested that the wealth in the Zhang family mansion could not have been accumulated through the Grand Secretary's salary alone.

Hai Rui's routine inquiry was naturally very direct.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Jingxiu's expression only became slightly unnatural for a moment.

In fact, the brothers had already sorted out the accounts, and it really was all the gifts their father had received during holidays and festivals.

Although I received a lot of gifts, it's because so many people are eager to send them to my home, trying to curry favor with my family.

However, the money in the Zhang family mansion was not all of it.

After all, in the following years, the Zhang family also followed Wei Guangde's example and invested in several chambers of commerce, especially the maritime trade chamber of commerce, acquiring shares in several of them.

This is something I learned from Wei Guangde.

This might be a case of not putting all your eggs in one basket, investing in several chambers of commerce to diversify risk.

After all, maritime trade is very risky; if you're unlucky, you can lose everything.

While he could keep the external accounts a secret, Zhang Jingxiu had no choice but to tell Hai Rui the truth about the family's finances.

Although it seemed somewhat unbelievable, when Zhang Jingxiu counted on his fingers, he realized that the two capitals and thirteen provinces would send ice and charcoal tributes every year.

Zhang Juzheng's students also sent gifts to his home during festivals.

The Zhang family's return gift was not so generous, but after all that, they managed to save over ten thousand taels of silver a year, which seemed reasonable.

Yes, that's way too much.

It should be noted that this is only the surplus; the Zhang family has spent quite a bit of this money in the capital.

Afterwards, Hai Rui sent someone to invite Chen Ju over, and had Zhang Jingxiu explain the situation again.

Chen Ju guessed that the Zhang family would say the same thing. Although the amount was indeed a bit large, it might not be a bad thing if they could smooth things over like this.

He realized that Hai Rui didn't seem to intend to use this opportunity to bring down the Zhang family.

Even though Zhang Juzheng had treated Hai Rui unfairly during his time,

However, Hai Rui still adhered to his principles when handling cases.

These past few days, Hai Rui has been repeatedly reviewing the account books that the Zhang family confiscated, comparing the timing of every single transaction.

The money coming in mostly comes before the New Year and holidays, ranging from one hundred to five hundred taels as gifts.

As for the dozens of boxes of valuables, according to the Zhang family, they were also gifts.

Actually, there were more than that; some gifts were picked out and given away as return gifts.

"Manager Zhang, you should write a statement yourself first, and then sign and affix your fingerprint to it."

After thinking for a moment, Chen Ju said to Zhang Jingxiu.

"We should have someone continue to investigate."

Although that's how the records are kept, let's check if it's really true.

There should be a list of gifts collected in the Zhang residence; otherwise, how could they reconcile the accounts in the storeroom?

Chen Ju spoke up.

In fact, each family will make a list of gifts received from others to make it easier to reciprocate.

Such lists, which are records of social interactions, would not be considered evidence of bribery in the Ming Dynasty.

Of course, gift lists exceeding the normal amount will definitely require separate investigation. (End of Chapter)