Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 515 The Tian family is ruthless
"Everyone go away! The Soldiers and Horses Department is handling the case!"

In the cold winter, when hundreds of weavers came to deliver silk and satin, two hundred soldiers and horses forcibly separated them and directly surrounded a magnificent Yamen.

Hundreds of weavers carefully protected the silk and satin in their arms, preventing the silk and satin in their arms from getting stained by the dust on the ground even if they fell.

This scene was seen by the yamen officials, who immediately stood up and walked out of the yamen, standing on the steps of the yamen and scolded him.

"This is the Weaving Bureau, not a place for anyone to run wild!"

"Who gave you, the Soldiers and Horses Division, the right to come here and interfere with the Weaving Bureau's errands?!"

A young man stepped out and scolded him. Although he was young, he was wearing an official robe of the fifth grade.

Seeing that the people from the Bingma Division didn't stop, he immediately looked at the guards from the Weaving Bureau: "What are you looking at? Take action!"

Before he could finish his words, a voice came from a distance: "Let's see who dares to take action!"

The young official looked in the direction where the sound came from and saw a dignified man with a short beard also wearing a full-fledged official robe walking towards him.

The young official asked angrily, and Wang Hui stepped forward directly, his sharp eyes overpowering the young man's aura.

Before the young man could continue to speak, Wang Hui immediately walked up and confronted him: "I am in charge of the capital inspection, so naturally I have to inspect everything south of the Yangtze River."

With his annual salary of several dozen dollars and his background as a poor farmer for three generations, it was naturally impossible for him to accumulate so much wealth.

"You blind bitches, see for yourselves whose clothes you are wearing and whose salary you have in your pocket."

"If there is a delay in collecting silk and satin, resulting in insufficient silk and satin going to sea and insufficient trade, this crime... can you afford it?!"

The person in front of me is an official sent by the emperor...

"Yan family?" Wang Hui narrowed his eyes and showed disdain: "You are just relying on your father. Your father was just born a few years earlier than me, Wang Hui, and caught up with His Majesty when he went south."

Instead of investigating the case yourself, it is better to find someone who exposes the truth and let him investigate the case for you.

Wang Hui did not believe that Jinyiwei and Xichang would not send anyone to watch such an important place as the Weaving Bureau...

"The Weaving Bureau is in charge of more than 200,000 looms and weavers in the south of the Yangtze River. The silk, satin and white cloth produced every year are worth millions. If there are some corrupt officials, the money and food of the imperial court will be lost!"

"In this way, we will make a net profit of five hundred coins."

After serving water and drinking tea for only a few hours, someone came to play.

"It's okay for you not to repay your kindness, but you are still here saying that I eat your food and smash your family's pot!"

Unknowingly, they slowly put down the long knives in their hands, and this scene made Yan Wei beside them anxious.

Pushing Yan Wei away with force, Wang Hui directly ordered the officials who followed the Army and Horses Division:

Soldiers from the Bingma Division followed and quickly took control of the Weaving Bureau.

As soon as he opened his mouth, the guards of the Weaving Bureau immediately drew their swords and faced the hundreds of officials, blocking the door of the Weaving Bureau.

"I am the governor of Beijing. If you point a knife at me, does that mean you are going to rebel?"

"Let's go!" Wang Hui frowned coldly, snorted lightly and walked into the weaving bureau with hundreds of officials.

"Who are you?" the young man asked this middle-aged official who was also a fifth-rank official. The official bowed directly and said, neither humble nor arrogant, "Wang Hui, a great scholar in the palace and the governor of the capital."

"Why, does this temple belong to your Yan family?"

"Yes!" Hundreds of officials immediately prepared to rush into the Yamen of the Weaving Bureau, but Yan Wei shouted hoarsely: "Stop them!"

"I never said that, don't try to slander me?!" Yan Wei grabbed Wang Hui's sleeve in excitement, but Wang Hui broke away and grabbed his arm instead.

The young man felt guilty, but as he glanced at the group of weavers, he immediately threatened Wang Hui in a low voice: "Wang Weizhong, don't forget who promoted you from a small county official in Sichuan to the sixth branch. You are eating our Yan family’s food, and you want to ruin our Yan family’s business?”

"You never said it? Then what did you mean just now? Why... dare you say it but don't admit it?!"

A school secretary of the Weaving Bureau was found to have a surplus of more than 200 yuan in his family and more than 300 acres of fertile land.

"If you receive two pieces of silk and satin from the people, you can use the Weaving Bureau's cost price of 150 yuan to weave ten pieces of white cloth to offset the debt."

"You want to rebel!" Yan Wei rushed up and slapped the soldiers on the face several times, but he couldn't stop the situation at all.

Hundreds of officials did not dare to step forward, but when Wang Hui saw this, he walked up directly with the tip of the knife on his chest, frightening the soldiers to retreat.

"Who do I think I am..." Hearing this, the young man sneered, put his hands behind his back and put on an official air and said:
"Wang Weizhong, if you want to inspect the capital, then inspect the capital. But this is the Weaving Bureau, a place where silk, satin and coarse cloth are produced for the imperial court. You are not allowed to bring people here to act wild!"

"Are you saying that I embezzled the court's money and food?!"

"According to the decree, all the manufacturing bureaus in Beijing will go in and investigate the case!"

"Although the people under the rule only have to pay five cents of profit, the Weaving Bureau only accepts silk and satin for profit, not white cloth."

"Of course I can afford it!" Wang Hui saw the young official shouting at him in a loud voice, and he immediately shouted back in a loud voice.

Just by showing the account book, the school secretary explained all the details of the Weaving Bureau.

"Of the five hundred coins, 30% will be taken by the people below, 20% by me and the chief officer, and the remaining 50% will be sent to Beijing and Master Yan's house respectively."

"This..." Wang Hui's words were indeed very intimidating. They were just the guards of the Weaving Bureau, and they really did not dare to stop the Beijing inspection officials.

"I'll blame whoever embezzled!"

Of course, it would be difficult for him to investigate this group of people by himself, so he had to ask Jin Yiwei and Xichang to take action.

"Therefore, many people can only make money by weaving silk and satin, and the price of each piece of silk and satin ranges from 600 to 20 taels, and the price of white cloth is 200 taels."

Accounts were collected book by book, but Wang Hui was not in a hurry to check the books. Instead, after controlling the officials of the Weaving Bureau, he directly sent people to check the homes and residences of these officials.

"This is all I know. Please give me a way to survive..."

With a dull kowtow, this unknown school secretary of the Weaving Bureau revealed the corruption situation in the Weaving Bureau.

Wang Hui calmly drank the tea and glanced up at the man: "Two hundred thousand looms, each of which can earn five hundred coins, is only a mere one hundred thousand coins, is that all?"

Wang Hui knew very well what he wanted to do. Investigating the case was the second most important thing. The most important thing was to get enough money to make the treasury last for the past few years.

So when faced with this school secretary's words, he didn't completely believe it.

Although one hundred thousand guan is a lot, according to his words, only 50,000 guan can be sent to the capital. And there are so many officials in the capital, how much can each family share?
The affairs of the Weaving Bureau are definitely not as simple as this small case.

"The yamen will come out to buy mulberry leaves and silk, and will deliberately lower the price, and then sell it to the weavers at the market price."

"Weavers cannot buy materials secretly. If someone is exposed, their looms will be confiscated and they will be targeted."

The school secretary told him honestly, and Wang Hui smiled when he heard this: "How much can officials at all levels earn from this sum?"

"It should be...not less than 200,000." The school secretary's voice trembled slightly, obviously worried about retaliation later.

"Two hundred thousand... OK, OK..." Upon hearing this number, Wang Hui chuckled and said:
"Okay, if what you said is true, then I will give you a sum of money to take you and your family overseas to make a living."

"Thank you, minister!" After hearing Wang Hui's words, the school secretary kept kowtowing, and Wang Hui also signaled to the left and right to take him down.

As the man was taken away, an official bowed to Wang Hui and said: "Minister, after a little investigation, this is 300,000 yuan. The manufacturing bureau has been open for so many years, and the money in their hands is not only 300 yuan, but also 2 million yuan." Passed."

"I knew this was the right place." Wang Hui put the tea cup on the table, and then said to the official:

"Follow this person's instructions and investigate, and find a way to send the news to Yang Shiqi. Since Yan Wei is corrupt, Yan Yan is not much better."

"Use his hand to bring down Yan Yan and Li Mian. Among the New Deal officials, I am the one with the highest qualifications and official position!"

Wang Hui tightly grasped the armrest. Seeing this, the officials on both sides bowed and saluted, then turned around to handle the case.

Yan Wei was imprisoned by Wang Hui in the name of obstructing the capital inspection. At this moment, he was running around in the house anxiously.

He knew very well that once things broke out in the Weaving Bureau, even his father would have to be pulled down.

The Weaving Bureau has been safe in these years, mainly because every time the Beijing inspection is led by New Deal officials, since it is led by one of its own people, it will naturally not attack its own people.

But he didn't expect that a guy like Wang Hui would appear among the New Deal officials.

Now that this guy is going to attack the father and son, whether they can escape depends on the emperor's will.

Not only did he understand, but Wang Hui understood even more, so Wang Hui wanted to hand over the evidence of these guys to Yang Shiqi to handle.

If Yang Shiqi doesn't dare to deal with it, then he will try his best to bring down Yan Yan and Li Mian. Otherwise, after the Beijing Procuratorate is over this time, even if he is impeached without any evidence of crime, they will still take away his position to serve the people on various charges. .

Without his official position, who would he be able to use his talents to?

In order to make things foolproof, he must prepare enough things to let the emperor see his ability.

Because of this, he also began to urge Zhang Mengcun.

Time passed little by little, and seeing the winter solstice approaching, Yang Shiqi in the north was still motionless, and Wang Hui had no choice but to do it himself.

On the twelfth day of the twelfth lunar month, as rapid footsteps sounded in the Yamen of Yingtian Mansion, Zhang Mengcun walked into the Yamen with two officials in a dusty state.

The two officials held thick account books in their arms, at least two feet thick.

After he brought the two people to the main hall, he saw Wang Hui who was looking through other account books, and he immediately bowed and said:

"Here are the accounts of the Beijing Procuratorate in the Jiangnan area of ​​Nanzhili. Among them, the situation of corruption and bribery in the six Jiangdong prefectures is the most serious."

"How much house, land, money and food were copied?" Wang Hui's eyes were sharp. He only cared about money and food now.

"More than 700 houses and mansions, 470,000 acres of farmland, and more than 2.4 million yuan in cash."

"Sold at a discounted price according to the land and house, it can be worth at least 9 million yuan!"

Zhang Mengcun took a breath and explained, and this really made Wang Hui take a breath. He had thought that the New Deal officials in the six Jiangdong prefectures would be very wealthy, but he did not expect that they would be so wealthy.

This does not include the money and grain seized by the Weaving Bureau. If included, more than 15 million yuan was seized from just one Nanzhili.

This amount is almost equal to the imperial court's tax revenue for four months.

"All day long, I talk about serving the country and the people, but what I do is just to make a profit."

“I don’t know how much money these guys have taken from the people!”

Wang Hu turned over the book in his hand, closed his eyes excitedly and took a deep breath, and finally opened his eyes and looked at Zhang Mengcun.

"Here in Jiangnan, you start investigating the capital in Zhejiang. I will return to Beijing with these account books. I will report these things to His Majesty personally!"

"Okay!" Zhang Mengcun also knew that the more important Wang Hui was, the more he would be able to occupy a high position, so he quickly agreed.

Upon seeing this, Wang Hui immediately asked someone to pack his things and prepared to cross the river to Jiangpu and take the train north.

Worried that someone would do harm to him, Wang Hui specifically asked Hu Ji to lead the Xichang warriors to escort him north.

Originally Hu Ji was unwilling to be involved in this group of people, but when he learned about the number of homes confiscated in Nanzhili, in order to get a share of the credit, he immediately mobilized hundreds of Xichang strongmen to escort Wang back to the north.

It only takes an hour to cross the river from Nanjing to Jiangpu, and it only takes four days to take the train from Jiangpu to Beijing.

If escorts were not needed, this time could be shortened by more than half.

Because of the train, a lot of news spread very well.

Yang Shiqi, who was in Beijing, learned that Wang Hui was going north shortly after he crossed the Yangtze River. Wang Hui's involvement in the New Deal and Qingliu in the south of the Yangtze River had already caused panic.

Sitting in the main hall of the mansion, Yang Shiqi felt a little tired.

Yang Ji was imprisoned in a small courtyard near the imperial prison. Although he had no worries about food and drink, he knew that this was the emperor's reward for allowing him to be a villain.

If he didn't behave well as a villain, then Yang Ji's life would not be saved. After all, the laws he violated were enough to be beheaded.

"Brother Dongli, this king must have gotten some important news when he returned to the north. We must either be the first to take the lead, or..."

The first person on the left came up, Yang Rong opened his mouth to remind Yang Shiqi, and Yang Pu on the opposite side also nodded and said: "This king went back to Jiangnan, and the entire situation in Jiangnan was disrupted."

"Nowadays, private maritime merchants are being disturbed so much that they can no longer do business, and the people below are being disturbed and are panicking. There is no solution."

The two of them also knew about Yang Ji, but in their opinion, the emperor's use of this hand to blackmail Yang Shiqi would be beneficial to their Qingliu.

At least in the past few months, the intensity with which Yang Shiqi has attacked the New Dealers in the north can be said to be jaw-dropping.

In the past, Yang Shiqi would never take the initiative to stand up and engage in party struggle, but now for the sake of Yang Ji's life, he has undoubtedly become a sharp sword to deter the New Deal faction.

In recent years, except for the "Guimao Case" when the emperor personally dealt with the situation, no one has been able to cause much serious damage to them.

In the past few months, at least hundreds of officials, not to mention staff, have fallen at the hands of Yang Shiqi.

They hoped that Yang Shiqi would find a way to control Wang Hui, but Yang Shiqi knew that once he took action against Wang Hui, his family would really be liquidated after his death.

Therefore, in the face of the two people's inquiries, Yang Shiqi was silent and then said:

"What your Majesty wants is for the treasury to be replenished. You did not implement the salt, wine and tea policy before, so your Majesty will enable the king to come back and inspect Jiangnan."

"If Li Mian and Yan Yan hadn't foolishly wanted to dominate the family, His Majesty would not have promoted me to the capital to organize the Beijing inspection."

"In the past few months, the Beijing inspection has revealed that the amount of corruption among officials in the North is shocking. His Majesty must also feel uneasy."

"Wang Hui was the scapegoat pushed to the forefront by Li Mian and Yan Yan, and what he did in Jiangnan was nothing more than muddying the waters and drawing me into the situation."

"His trip north this time may not be aimed at us."

"Right now, I have a lot of evidence against Yan Yan and Li Mian. When the king returns to the capital, I will meet with his majesty together with him."

"If the memorial submitted by the king is not conducive to us, then I will submit these criminal evidence and take this opportunity to re-establish the new political faction."

"If the memorial submitted by the king has nothing to do with us, then we will just wait and see what tricks he wants to play."

After Yang Shiqi finished speaking, Yang Pu frowned and said, "If Yan Yan and Li Mian are overthrown, then Wang Hui will be the beneficiary."

"This man is younger than us, and he is very thoughtful and vicious. If he becomes the leader, we may not be too comfortable in the future."

"No problem..." Yang Shiqi shook his head and said: "Your Majesty is unlikely to let this family dominate. Don't forget that Xu Shuo in the palace is also from the New Deal faction, but what he does is to contain Wang Hui. This It’s enough to explain His Majesty’s thoughts.”

"What I care about right now is mainly about the future."

"The future?" Yang Rong and Yang Pu looked at each other, and Yang Shiqi nodded:
"It's time for us to send people to contact the prince. Wang Zhi, Li Shimian, and Chen Xun are good people. Although they are not young, they are still capable people."

"The prince is currently speaking softly in the temple, and these three people are enough to assist him."

"But..." Yang Rong showed worry: "Will Your Majesty agree?"

"Your Majesty will do it." Yang Shiqi said without hesitation: "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has been cooperating with His Majesty in managing government affairs in Qianqing Palace since returning from the Northern Expedition. If the Crown Prince does not perform well, there is no need for Your Majesty to let him handle government affairs for such a long time."

"We have contacted His Highness, and even if His Majesty does not support it, he will not reject it."

"Leave this matter to me. When Wang Hui arrives in Beijing and enters the palace, I will follow him and report this matter to His Majesty."

Yang Rong and Yang Pu were unable to refute Yang Shiqi's words, so they could only nod in agreement.

The three continued to discuss some details, and finally decided to wait for Wang Hui to arrive before taking action.

Not long after, Yang Rong and Yang Pu left Yang Shiqi's simple mansion, and the people who secretly investigated their departure were sent to a magnificent mansion on East Chang'an Street.

Li Mian and Yan Yan listened to the report of the people below, and their brows were furrowed until the people below finished speaking.

"Wang Weizhong is a vicious dog with a very thoughtful mind. He must have gone north this time to claim credit."

"The Weaving Bureau has been replaced from top to bottom, which delayed the construction period for more than a month. There are countless people in the DPRK and China who want to impeach him."

"If he doesn't have enough credit, going north this time is asking for death."

"The so-called credit is nothing more than what you get from ransacking your house."

Yan Yan stood up and walked back and forth, and Li Mian was also a little panicked. Their ability was not good to begin with, and they only relied on luck and some information obtained in advance from their high position to get to their current position.

Since Jin Yiwei was controlled by Liu Mian, their intelligence sources had been interrupted. When facing Wang Hui, they were inevitably a little passive.

"According to the news in the past few months, Wang Weizhong arrested more than 2,400 officials and more than 30,000 officials. Even if each of these people only embezzled 100 guan, there were still 3 million guan. huge."

"From the Weaving Bureau, you and I take a lot of the money and food they send every year. If His Majesty finds out..."

Li Mian was worried that the Weaving Bureau would be exposed, but Yan Yan pretended to be calm and said: "Don't worry, to catch a thief you have to use the dirty stuff. They say we are corrupt, but where is the money and food, can they find it?"

"If you can't find it, why do you think we are corrupt?"

Although the mansion at his feet is magnificent, Yan Yan is not worried. After all, his salary plus Wensan level means that he has nearly a thousand guan of money and food every year.

If Jinyiwei really came to investigate, he could use the excuse of spending all his annual salary on his family to avoid it.

No stolen money could be found, and even if Jin Yiwei and Xichang teamed up, there would be nothing they could do to him.

"Having said that, I still have to give instructions to the people below. I'm worried that the people below won't be able to hold on and confess us."

Li Mian said worriedly, but Yan Yan said forcefully: "A case can only be filed with all the witnesses and material evidence. Remember what I said, as long as the stolen money cannot be found, they will not be able to do anything to us."

"After this incident is over, I will definitely break the teeth of that bitch Wang Weizhong and let him know what the consequences will be if a vicious dog bites its owner!"

Yan Yan comforted Li Mian, but their every move was carried out under the supervision of Hu Lun of Xichang.

Although it was late at night, Zhu Gaoxu was still processing the memorial, and Zhu Zhanhe was always assisting in the process.

"Your Majesty, this is roughly what happened..."

Hu Lun bowed and handed over the information he had investigated, but Zhu Gaoxu remained unmoved with the memorial in his hand.

Compared with him, Zhu Zhanhe next to him was a bit poor in Qi-nurturing skills.

When he learned that just one Nanzhili in the south of the Yangtze River had discovered more than 15 million in stolen money, he was so angry that his fingers trembled and he couldn't help but look at his father: "Father, these Yan Yan and Li Mian..."

He didn't know where to start. After all, these people were old brothers who followed their father from the Bohai Sea.

It's a pity that when faced with his inquiry, Zhu Gaoxu wrote lightly: "You have to remember your identity, even in the future."

"You are the crown prince of the country first, and then you have other identities."

After the words fell, Zhu Gaoxu put down the memorial and looked at Zhu Zhanhe, his eyes calm but with a sense of oppression: "If you supervise the country in the future, and Jiang Huai and others in Longchuan land become corrupt, accept bribes, and form cliques for personal gain, what are you going to do?"

"My son..." Zhu Zhanhe took a deep breath and thought of the incorruptible Jiang Huai.

If it had been in the past, he would have seriously thought that Jianghuai would not do that.

But after more than a month of governance, his mood has completely changed.

Facing Zhu Gaoxu's inquiry, Zhu Zhanhe's eyes gradually turned cold.

"If there is someone who can replace him, and getting rid of him will not affect the government, then let him be killed!"

"Then let's do it." Zhu Gaoxu withdrew his gaze, picked up the memorial from the table and continued to review it.

When Zhu Zhanhe saw this, his expression instantly became harmonious, and his expression changed quickly, as if the person just now was not him.

(End of this chapter)