prosperous age

“I have served the country with utmost care, yet I have failed to be honest and dedicated to public service. I have committed a crime, and I hereby order the confiscation of my property, the stripping of all my titles and honors, the revocation of the official positions of the Zhang family members, and their demotion to commoners.”

In the Forbidden City, the capital of the Ming Dynasty, in the Grand Secretariat, Wei Guangde was on duty.

The Wanli Emperor's reply was taken directly back to the Directorate of Ceremonial by Zhang Hong for use.

After that, naturally, someone was arranged to deliver it directly here.

Zhang Hong did not come in person because he felt that the approval of this memorial was a bit excessive.

Zhang Hong, like all the officials in the imperial court, was fully aware of the wealth accumulated by the Zhang family and knew how it came about.

However, these words cannot be spoken in front of the emperor.

After Wei Guangde quietly read out Emperor Wanli's comments, he could only remain silent.

After the eunuch left, Wei Guangde opened his mouth as if to call Lu Bu in.

However, in the end, he didn't say anything.

He roughly guessed what the Wanli Emperor was thinking.

Just two days prior, after the memorial had reached the Qianqing Palace, Liu Ruoyu had secretly sent him a message.

Liu Ruoyu knew the opinions of the officials on this matter, which could be seen from the cabinet's draft proposal.

Since no Liao Prince's property was found in the Zhang family's residence, the impeachment was baseless, and the Zhang family was not punished.

This was to exonerate Zhang Juzheng. Even though many people in the court were hostile to Zhang Juzheng, they would still tacitly agree to maintain a united front when it came to the unspoken rules of officialdom.

That is, if there is no evidence, the case should be closed.

Otherwise, in the future, no matter who it is, as long as their family background is investigated, they will all be convicted in the same way.

At that time, the memorial was kept in the palace, and Wei Guangde felt that Emperor Wanli would consider the matter carefully, or even call them in to discuss it.

Only then will it be approved in red.

In this way, several days passed.

This also means that even if the memorial is returned after it has been kept in the capital, it will still take quite a while.

It can take anywhere from half a month to more than a month.

It wasn't that the efficiency was low, but rather that the emperor had to weigh the pros and cons.

However, now that Emperor Wanli's imperial edict has directly convicted Zhang Juzheng, it has become very difficult for Wei Guangde to do anything more.

Disobeying the imperial decree?

The assets seized from the Zhang residence are indeed difficult to explain.

If such news were to spread, it would certainly be big news after defying the imperial decree, and it would inevitably become widely circulated among the people of the capital.

And he will be criticized by the public as a result.

Regardless of his motives, people generally say that he and Zhang Juzheng were protecting each other, and that he was shielding the other.

Ordinary people don't know the intricacies of officialdom; they only see the surface.

In this way, the reputation of officials is actually more affected.

In later generations, many announcements, though seemingly illogical, often concealed unknown inside stories.

Fortunately, the people today are not very intelligent and have limited access to information.

Although it will become a hot topic in the capital in a short time.

But once they leave the capital, no trouble can be stirred up.

"At least the Zhang family members have saved their lives and won't be exiled."

Wei Guangde finally muttered a couple of words, clearly giving up on protecting the Zhang family.

Wei Guangde originally intended to summon Lu Bu and other cabinet ministers to discuss the matter before entering the palace.

However, in a short period of time, he combined the information sent by Liu Ruoyu with the information he had received to guess the Wanli Emperor's plans.

He simply thought that the emperor was confiscating the assets of "corrupt officials" because the imperial treasury was depleted due to the emperor's investment in the Daming Money Shop.

Little did they know, Emperor Wanli actually had even deeper thoughts.

They even set their sights on the shares of those chambers of commerce.

After a moment of silence, Wei Guangde finally drafted an imperial edict.

This time, however, Wei Guangde did not send it directly to the Directorate of Ceremonial, but instead summoned Lu Bu.

"Take this imperial decree and this memorial to Grand Secretary Shen's office."

Wei Guangde gave the instructions.

The news should be made known to Shen Shixing.

Let him take a look and see if there are any oversights.

"Yes, sir."

Lu Bu stepped forward, picked up the memorial and the draft imperial edict from the desk, and without daring to look at them, sent them directly to Shen Shixing.

After watching Lu Bu's figure disappear through the door of the duty room, Wei Guangde picked up the other memorials and casually flipped through them.

However, he was not at peace and had no intention of continuing to handle government affairs.

Even the notes from outside, proposing that the Ming Dynasty Bank was accepting investment, showed no interest whatsoever.

Finally, Shen Shixing did not appear here.

Clearly, he shared the same attitude as Wei Guangde.

They didn't want the Zhang family's affairs to continue festering in Beijing.

A swift and decisive approach might be the best way to resolve this matter.

Even if Zhang Juzheng was found guilty of corruption, he was only fined and his property was confiscated, without harming other members of Zhang's family.

Of course, it's not that his family wasn't affected at all.

Zhang Jingxiu and others were stripped of their official positions by the Wanli Emperor and demoted to commoners.

As a result, two topics of conversation emerged simultaneously in the teahouses and taverns of the capital that day.

One question is: how much capital did the Daming Money Shop raise in just one day?
Two million taels, or three million taels of silver?

Another one, of course, is the Zhang Juzheng corruption case.

Although Zhang Juzheng served as an official for thirty years, and only a few hundred thousand taels of silver were confiscated from his residence, those who call him a major corrupt official are somewhat lacking in conviction.

But since it was the emperor who made the decision, the court also recognized this crime.

Inevitably, the case of Yan Song, the chief minister during the Jiajing reign, was also brought up and discussed together with the major case of Zhang Juzheng.

"Yan Song served as an official for decades, wielding immense power in the court and beyond. In the end, his home was searched and millions of taels of silver were confiscated."

Comparing the two, Zhang Juzheng seems to be a relatively honest official.

"What kind of honest official are you? An honest official can accumulate hundreds of thousands of taels of silver in thirty years. Can you do that?"

Clearly, because of the court's assessment, the people largely believed that Zhang Juzheng was a corrupt official who deceived the world and stole fame.

As for why he embezzled less money than Yan Song, it's actually quite easy to understand.

When Yan Song was in power, who dared to oppose him?
Yan Song's wealth was mainly accumulated by Yan Shifan, a minor Grand Secretary.

As for Zhang Juzheng, he was probably missing such a white glove.

A person of his status would naturally not personally accept bribes, so his wealth was far less than that of the Yan family.

This is the opinion of the people in the capital. They even despise Zhang Juzheng for no reason, because their methods are not as good as those of Grand Secretary Yan.

No one discusses Zhang Juzheng's contributions to the Ming Dynasty; all they see is his inability to collect money.

Therefore, many people believe that Zhang Juzheng's abilities may not have been as good as Yan Song's.

In ancient times, the ability to accumulate wealth and the ability to serve as an official were often considered equivalent.

The stronger one's abilities, the more abundant one's family wealth will be.

Take the current prime minister, for example; he must be very capable.

The Wei family's wealth was undoubtedly unparalleled in the capital. Wei Guangde, upon hearing Zhang Ji's report in his study, was also somewhat astonished.

He never expected that his governing ability would be recognized by the people of the capital simply because he was rich and knew how to make money.

Why would they think that?

Wei Guangde was very puzzled and stared at Zhang Ji, asking a question.

He even suspected that these words were deliberately spread and manipulated by him.

“Sir, the things you did for the people in the capital were witnessed by their own eyes.”

It's only natural to think of the master this way.

Zhang Ji smiled obsequiously.

Seeing that Wei Guangde still looked suspicious, Zhang Ji hurriedly explained, "Master, do you remember what the city was like when we first arrived in the capital?"

Seeing Wei Guangde's thoughtful expression, Zhang Ji pressed on, saying, "The capital back then was naturally worlds apart from the capital now."

The common people have all seen it; the streets and ditches of the capital were all managed by the Shuntian Prefecture under the supervision of the lord.

When out-of-towners come to Beijing, they are first struck by the cleanliness of the streets. Everyone exclaims, "The atmosphere is truly different under the emperor's nose!"

Wei Guangde nodded slightly upon hearing Zhang Ji's words.

Compared to the old Beijing, which was now a mess of excrement and urine, the city of Beijing today is completely transformed.

In fact, such a city is unique in the whole world.

When he first met Matteo Ricci, he was also impressed by the grandeur of the Ming Dynasty capital.

They say that even the city of the Popes doesn't have a scene like the capital.

In fact, through the mission to Europe, Wei Guangde also learned about European cities at that time.

Those so-called famous cities, like the capital city he had visited earlier, had dirty streets and sewage flowing everywhere, making them completely unsuitable for large populations to live in.

It's no wonder that Europe has experienced multiple plagues, resulting in a large number of deaths.

Fortunately, in the Ming Dynasty, traditional Chinese medicine was passed down through generations. Although there were also diseases such as plagues, unlike Europeans who were helpless in the face of disease and could only rely on "theology" for treatment.

From the perspective of later generations, it seems not much different from witchcraft.

Moreover, with the recent two imperial examinations, this trend has spread to various parts of the Ming Dynasty.

Now, under the guidance of the Ministry of Works and Shuntian Prefecture, the provincial capitals have begun to emulate the governance model of the capital, widening and leveling streets, dredging ditches, collecting taxes from shops along the streets, and employing impoverished people to work in the city's garrisons.

The results were quite effective.

Thinking of this, a smile appeared on Wei Guangde's face.

After all, these are his own achievements, which the people can see. It is true that he governed well.

Seeing the smile on Wei Guangde's face, Zhang Ji continued, "Furthermore, every winter, the lord would send out the Shuntian Prefecture's constables to gather up the widows and orphans, and the government would send people to settle them down, providing them with food and warmth. The people were all deeply impressed by the lord's benevolence and kindness."

Zhang Ji recounted some of the beneficial things Wei Guangde had done for the people, and Wei Guangde himself felt somewhat embarrassed.

However, feelings of smugness inevitably arise.

Yes, the changes I have brought to the Ming Dynasty are significant.

"Alright, alright, stop talking. It's all my duty, there's no need to keep bringing it up, especially since we're all family."

Let others say what they want; we can't control what they say.

But family members are absolutely not allowed to talk about this outside.

Wei Guangde waved his hand and said.

Zhang Ji was shrewd, or rather, he had gained experience over the years and could naturally see his master's smugness.

Perhaps, when future generations discuss the famous ministers of the Ming Dynasty, he will have a place among them.

The master forbade him to remain silent; that was the restraint of an official.

It seems we'll have to spread this far and wide, making sure everyone in the Ming Dynasty knows.

"Speaking of which, what were Zhang Jiangling's new policies back then?"

Halfway through his sentence, Wei Guangde suddenly fell silent.

He suddenly realized that even if he and Zhang Juzheng completed the Wanli New Deal reforms together, it would be best not to reveal the inside story.

Especially at that time, when the gentry still harbored some resentment towards Zhang Juzheng's actions.

It might be better to bring this up again after I've passed away, when the gentry have evolved from the landlord class to the bourgeoisie.

At least, there will be far fewer people who are hostile to us.

So he decisively waved his hand and said, "You may leave. Have someone keep an eye on the political climate in the capital."

They like to compare the Zhang family and the Yan family; let them say what they want.

As for the matter of the money shop, I instructed my subordinates not to spread it beyond the palace.

"Yes, sir, I understand."

Zhang Ji nodded hurriedly, then took his leave and left the study.

In one day, officials and nobles in the capital subscribed to shares worth four million taels of silver. Adding the shares they and the emperor had subscribed to beforehand, the total amount exceeded eight million taels of silver.

Furthermore, there were shares reserved for chambers of commerce, officials from other regions, and nobles. Wei Guangde believed that raising 20 million taels of silver for the first phase of the Ming Dynasty Bank's share offering should not be a problem.

With 20 million taels of silver in equity, although it wouldn't completely monopolize the lending business in the Ming Dynasty, its influence would be sufficient to affect market interest rates.

Having achieved his goal, Wei Guangde shook his head slightly as he looked at the piece of paper beside him.

That was a message someone had passed on through a servant of the Wei family today; naturally, they still wanted to borrow money from the Wei family.

As for the purpose of borrowing money, Wei Guangde could naturally guess.

They definitely want to borrow money from him and then invest in Daming Money Shop.

Although borrowing money from him would incur a monthly interest rate of 3%, and even the most optimistic profit-sharing from a money exchange would never reach that figure, these people still chose to borrow money.

Undoubtedly, through the incident involving the Ming Dynasty Money Shop, they had already foreseen that the era of usury in the Ming Dynasty might be coming to an end.

Future lending rates will definitely decrease.

If someone else were running the money exchange, the interest rate should be increasing so that they could make more money.

But with Wei Guangde, the interest rate could only be lowered, down to three percent per month.

This is also why many merchants in the Ming Dynasty wholeheartedly supported Wei Guangde.

This is for the benefit of businesspeople.

After all, these businessmen are still working hard and haven't made enough money yet, planning to go home and live a life of luxury.

Once they've made enough money, they'll stop doing business and go home to buy houses and land. They'll also bring back their previous lending businesses and lend money to ordinary people to make more money.

As Wei Guangde sat in his study, secretly pleased with himself, there was a knock at the door.

"Who is it? Come in."

Wei Guangde said casually.

The door opened, and came in—it was Madam Xu Jianglan's maid.

The maidservant came in and gave him a deep bow before saying, "Master, Madam said that there will be a court assembly tomorrow, and you will have to get up early. It would be best if you rested earlier."

"Okay, I understand. Tell someone to prepare hot water. I'll go wash up in a bit."

Wei Guangde nodded, remembering that the palace examination was tomorrow, and he had to go to the palace early in the morning.

Most of the morning court sessions have been cancelled, but the morning court sessions held on the first and fifteenth of each month are still held.

It's only twice a month, which is acceptable to everyone.

However, every year during the imperial examinations, the palace examination would still be held, and officials would have to go to the foot of the imperial city early in the morning to wait and enter the palace with the newly appointed tribute students to pay homage to the emperor.

At this stage of the imperial examination, one is about to achieve great success, and even the emperor cannot be absent, let alone the chief minister.

After the maid left, Wei Guangde looked at the paper in front of him again before approaching the candle and lighting it directly with the candle flame.

The Wei family will completely sever ties with the lending business from now on, and naturally, they will no longer grant these loan requests. (End of Chapter)