Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 518 Yan Li Case

"Your Majesty, according to the account books and oral confessions, Yan Yan and Li Mian implicated nearly a hundred officials, and embezzled more than 3 million yuan in money and food from the Weaving Bureau alone."

In the Palace of Qianqing, when Yang Shiqi returned to the palace to return to his life, Zhu Gaoxu did not show any angry expression. He just picked up the tea cup and took a sip unhurriedly.

"Since it is true, let's continue the investigation and allow you to dispatch the Jin Yiwei and Xichang power."

"I accept the decree..."

After receiving the emperor's answer, Yang Shiqi stood up and slowly exited the palace. Yi Shiha, who had returned one step ahead of Yang Shiqi, looked at his highness and said with a bad expression;
"Your Majesty, although I have dispatched Xichang warriors to Bohai to investigate Wang Hui's wife and parents-in-law, judging from this person's wealth in the capital, I'm afraid..."

Yi Shiha stopped talking, Zhu Gaoxu shook his head gently: "That's enough."

"Wang Hui is not the person I want to deal with. He is just a person who was slandered because of Yan Yan and Li Mian's self-protection."

"You ask people to publish the story of his integrity in newspapers, but let the people in prison not give him preferential treatment."

"The knife... needs to be sharpened before it can be used well."

The interest offered by the Yan family is five cents per month, which means that if you borrow one hundred cents, you will have to pay back one hundred and five cents one month later.

All these combined are worth at least two million yuan.

"I used to think that Mr. Wang was a corrupt official and caused a lot of noise in our area. Now it seems that he is helping us catch corrupt officials."

Among them, General Wang returned to the capital of Zhili in the south to seize more than 15 million yuan in wealth and clean up more than 30,000 corrupt officials. In addition, he went north to Beijing and blew himself up and sent Yan Yan and Li Mian to prison for all corruption clues. Jin Yiwei also reported the results of the three people’s house searches.

Just for the two of them, the corrupt money and food are enough to build a thousand-mile railway. This is a staggering wealth.

"Well, look at what's written above. Mr. Wang had to sell his family property to get enough money for bribes. He didn't commit corruption after being promoted, but paid off his debts bit by bit with his salary."

Thinking of this, Yishiha bowed in return and said, "I'll go take care of it now."

If we start counting from when Yan Yan was recommended as an official, he had to embezzle nearly 80,000 yuan on average every year during his twenty-six years in office to accumulate such wealth.

For a time, Wang Hui's image among the people changed from a corrupt and cruel official to an upright and upright person.

Wang Hui only has a small courtyard with three entrances and exits in Beijing and more than ten guan of surplus wealth. In his hometown of Jilin, he only has one courtyard with four entrances and seven acres of thin farmland. The total discount price is less than 200 guan.

With Wang Hui's integrity, it is not easy to kill him, but it is too easy to keep him.

"Well, just take a look. I hope that this time the imperial court has solved this group of corrupt officials and can provide us with more official positions. Otherwise, hundreds of thousands of people will compete for hundreds of vacancies every year, which will be really frustrating... …”

As a great scholar of the current imperial court and an official of the Beijing Procuratorate, he had at least tens of millions of wealth in his hands. However, the imperial court did not find out anything about him.

Zhu Gaoxu's words made Yishiha realize that his Majesty did not want to kill Wang Hui, but reorganized his position and prepared to save Wang Hui.

"You're still pretty good. I need at least 200,000 years."

Even so, their lives can only be said to be barely subsisting. If they want to climb up through their own efforts, they can only get a clerk position with a stable income of 20 yuan a year.

Many people knew that the two people were extremely wealthy from the newspaper article about the two men receiving a bribe of 900 yuan from Wang Hui. However, when the newspaper showed a rough inspection of the two people's property, they still couldn't help but take a breath of cold air.

If there is no land, the interest will always be calculated and will end when it is paid.

"Look at the two corrupt officials who were impeached by Wang Qingtian. They have more than 3 million yuan. It would take me 100,000 years to earn that much money."

The Ming Dynasty, which developed basic education through overseas gold and silver, has now accumulated a large number of "intellectuals". The number of students graduating from primary schools every year reaches more than two million, and this number is still increasing.

"If such upright officials are killed, then how can we, the common people, have a place to complain about injustice..."

While the father and son were quietly handling the memorial, the cases involving Wang Hui, Yan Yan, Li Mian and others had been published in Shanxi, Liaodong, North Zhili, South Zhili, Henan, Shandong and other places after only ten days. 's newspaper.

Although the two were officials from Bohai, after they were recommended as officials, they sold their houses and fields in Bohai. Not only did they move back to their hometown in Nanzhili, they also relied on their wealth to make a living in Nanzhili. They wantonly annexed land and monopolized the market.

The officials in the temple were dumbfounded by the result, and the government and the public were even more shocked.

They live in the city and either sell their strength or learn a trade.

Compared with Wang Hui, the images of Yan Yan and Li Mian can be said to have plummeted.

In addition, the Yan family has more than 26,000 acres of fertile farmland and 34,000 acres of mulberry fields in Chuzhou. The family has 260,000 guan in national debt, more than 18,000 guan in bank savings, and 7,660 gu in gold hoards. More than a hundred taels, and more than 524,000 taels of silver.

Since the interest rate is not high and the Yan family's money is easy to borrow, the poor people borrow money like poison to quench their thirst.

A few newspapers and a few table discussions can often last a whole day. This is the daily life of Ming people under thirty years of age.

Take Yan Yan as an example. He built a luxurious mansion covering an area of ​​hundreds of acres in his hometown of Chuzhou. The layout and value of the mansion alone reached more than 30,000 yuan.

After he left, Zhu Zhanhe, who had been silent all this time, began to hand over memorials to his father, and Zhu Gaoxu also took them and started reading them.

If the poor can't pay the debt at the end of the period, the Yan family will use the other party's land to pay off the debt.

"I have been an official for twenty-six years and embezzled two million guan, nearly 80,000 guan every year. On average, it is more than 200 guan every day. One day is worth my ten years..."

In addition to these mansions, houses, fields, and businesses, Yan Yan's family also lent money to the poor in various places in Jiangnan.

If we look at the whole Jiangnan, he has thirty-six houses and villas, fifty-four cloth shops, twenty rice shops, twelve gold, silver and treasure hairpin shops, thirteen restaurants, fifty-four dental shops, and thirty pawnshops. Nine families...

Although the land annexation in the Ming Dynasty was not serious because of Zhu Gaoxu's long-term targeting, it was unacceptable for these students who had already read the book knowledge to go back to farming after graduation.

In bustling restaurants, many men after work often come to this place and spend a few pennies to order a pot of tea and sit there all day long.

Li Mian, who was impeached and imprisoned with him, was not inferior to him in terms of corruption, with a total of more than 1.8 million yuan embezzled.

"It takes twenty years to pay back nine hundred guan, but the family property does not even have 200 guan. Such a person is not an upright official. What is an upright official?"

In terms of loan notes alone, the Yan family borrowed more than 700,000 guan from more than 20,000 wealthy farmers in Jiangnan, earning nearly 40,000 guan in monthly interest.

"Go," Zhu Gaoxu said calmly, and Yi Shiha followed the words and left the Yangxin Palace.

They all hate corrupt officials, but facts prove that corrupt officials do make money.

Under Wang Hui's revelation, it was revealed that more than 30,000 officials had embezzled more than 300 yuan on average.

Although everyone scolded him, they were extremely yearning for it.

The aftermath of the incident between Wang Hui and Yan Yan and others was not over yet. Zhang Mengcun of Jiangnan was temporarily appointed as the governor of Beijing and Chaoyang in Jiangnan, and was granted the power of Beijing to patrol Huguang, Fujian and other places.

As the case became deeper and deeper, more and more officials were implicated by Yan Yan and Li Mian, which gradually worried both Yang Shiqi and Zhang Mengcun from the south.

Zhang Mengcun couldn't help but slow down the investigation in Beijing, but Yang Shiqi had to bite the bullet and continue the investigation because of his eldest son Yang Ji.

"Crack!"

One year passed away amidst the sound of firecrackers, and the eight years of Hongxi finally became a thing of the past. However, the nine years of Hongxi that came to us did not seem warm at all.

At least from a temple perspective, the ninth year of Hongxi's reign was a bit gloomy.

"knock!"

"Long live your Majesty, long live long live..."

"Be flat!"

Thousands of Beijing officials inside and outside Fengtian Palace knelt down and kowtowed. However, when the emperor announced his death, most of the thousands of officials in Fengtian Square did not get up.

Not only in the square, but also in Fengtian Hall, nearly 60% of the officials could not afford to kneel.

They have not seen the present day for nearly four months, and what happened in these four months shocked the government and the public.

Now they are ready to express their attitude in this way, but in the face of their so-called attitude, Zhu Gaoxu, who is wearing a royal robe on the golden stage, does not care.

"If you don't want to get up, just keep kneeling until the end."

After the crowning, Zhu Gaoxu's voice came, and at that moment a fourth-rank official stood up and bowed: "I have something to report to Ji Shu, Zuo Shaoqing of Dali Temple!"

"Precisely!" A majestic voice came down from the golden platform. Hearing this, Ji Shu held the wat board and bowed:
"Your Majesty, I believe that Yan Li's case should be concluded early and should not be too involved!"

"Your Majesty, I also second the proposal——"

After Ji Shu spoke, the kneeling officials in the palace sang in agreement.

The sound echoed outside the palace, and thousands of officials braving the snow in the square also responded loudly.

Faced with this situation, Zhu Gaoxu did not panic, but said calmly: "How do you think we should deal with it?"

"Punished according to the "Da Ming Law"!" Ji Shu said this as Zuo Shaoqing of Dali Temple. Obviously, they did not want to protect Yan Yan and Li Mian.

In fact, it is not just Wang Hui, it should be said that many New Deal students who came from behind do not like guys like Yan Yan and Li Mian who relied on luck to get up and then relied on their old age.

This group of old guys have caused many obstacles for them in recent years. If they were not concerned about their efforts to promote themselves, I am afraid that many people would have fallen into trouble.

Adding insult to injury would obviously expose their hatred for Yan Yan and Li Mian, which would inevitably make people think that they did not care about the promotion and recommendation, so handling the case in accordance with the law would appear to be selfless.

While choosing to be punished according to law, Ji Shu also bowed on behalf of the ministers: "In addition, I think that Wang Hui, the great scholar of the Imperial Palace, had no choice but to bribe. Although he violated the law, his intentions were not bad. In addition, he had treated the imperial court for many years. If you have merit, please give me a lighter sentence."

Ji Shu and the others are saving Wang Hui, but this action is not because they sympathize with Wang Hui, but because they are saving Wang Hui and themselves.

Although they are capable, in the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty, it is not just their ability that makes them do well, but they have to find the right method.

They had done most of what Wang Hui had done, so if the emperor followed up on Li Mian and Yan Yan, it would not be difficult to find out the bribery behavior of this group of people in the past.

If Wang Hui can be given a lighter sentence, it will undoubtedly make most of them feel a huge stone in their hearts.

"According to the law, what is Wang Hui's crime and punishment?" Zhu Gaoxu asked. Jin Chun, the Minister of Punishment, bowed after hearing this and said: "According to the new law, bribers are ranked first in order to accept bribes. Depending on the amount, the punishment ranges from exile to removal from office."

"The amount of bribes paid by Wang Hui, should he be replaced or dismissed?" Zhu Gaoxu continued to ask, but Jin Chun hesitated: "This..."

With the help of newspapers, Wang Hui's reputation had already begun to spread during the New Year. If he were to sentence him, whether he was exiled or dismissed from his position, Jin Chun would probably be stabbed in the back, so he seemed hesitant.

"Why, can't we handle it even if the crime is so clear?"

Zhu Gaoxu questioned Jin Chun, and Jin Chun bowed after hearing this and said: "I think that although Wang Weizhong was guilty of bribery, the matter was all caused by Yan and Li. The blame cannot be placed on him, and he should be given a lighter sentence."

"Speaking of crime and punishment" Zhu Gaoxu directly questioned the result, but Jin Chun heard the words and said:

"I think it is most appropriate to resign and return home..."

After saying this, Jin Chun knew that he might be stabbed in the back by the people in his hometown.

Whether they are the gentry, rich or common people, they will stab themselves in the spine.

The former felt that he was shielding Wang Hui, while the latter felt that his punishment was too severe.

Thinking of this, Jin Chun sighed, and Zhu Gaoxu on the golden stage also nodded when he heard this:

"Wang Weizhong was deposed and all his property in the capital was confiscated. He was asked to return to his hometown. He was not allowed to leave Jilin Mansion at will without an order."

"I accept the decree..." Jin Chun sighed, but on the surface he bowed respectfully.

After the monarch and his ministers decided on Wang Hui's crime and punishment, Ji Shu continued to bow and said: "Your Majesty, the case between Li and Yan should be closed to avoid affecting the operation of the court."

"Your Majesty, Yan and Li are just the masterminds. There are still many accomplices below who have not been thoroughly investigated. The case must not be finalized!"

As soon as Ji Shu finished speaking, Yang Rong, Yang Pu and others couldn't wait to stand up.

They will not easily give up this opportunity to attack the New Deal. The longer the Yan Li case is delayed, the better it will be for them.

In less than half a month, Yang Shiqi has arrested more than 700 officials based on the account books traced in the Yan Li case.

This number may seem small, but you must know that this is only half a month, and most of these more than 700 officials are officials of the seventh rank or above.

All the officials they can involve will be dismissed from their posts or dismissed or executed. The vacant official positions of this group of officials will also be occupied by candidates recommended by Qingliu. This is an excellent opportunity to expand the scope of Qingliu's control.

The New Deal faction is so powerful that the Qing Dynasty is now unable to hold its own in the three places of Nanzhili, Jiangxi, and Zhejiang.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, they may be able to obtain many official positions in Huguang, Fujian, Guangdong and Guangxi and other places.

"Your Majesty, minister..."

"Shaoqing Ji Zuo, are you shielding the officials involved in the Yan Li case because you are one of them?"

"absurd!"

"If it is ridiculous, then he should be punished as a crime. Why should we stop the investigation?"

Without Wang Hui in the temple, no one could suppress Yang Rong and Yang Pu's verbal skills.

Ji Shu was so scolded by the two that he did not dare to answer, and the other New Deal officials also frowned.

With Yan Li being arrested and imprisoned, many of the mainstays of the New Deal faction were imprisoned for corruption and bribery. Now the New Deal faction is like a giant that has lost its head. It has power but cannot concentrate on fighting.

They can naturally target Yang Rong and Yang Pu, but the key is whether doing so will make the emperor more dissatisfied with them.

"Okay, the case will continue to be investigated and is not negotiable!"

Zhu Gaoxu interrupted everyone, and then turned his attention to Guo Zi, the Minister of Household Affairs.

"According to the old system, let the Ministry of Household Affairs take action!"

"Yes..." Guo Zi stood up. Since Zhu Di became the Supreme Empress, he no longer participated in any party disputes and concentrated on serving the new king.

Although the Yanfu faction he belongs to is weak, others will also worry about the consequences of joining the Yanfu faction, so he can be so leisurely.

"Last year, the number of households in the world was more than 19,726,000, and the population was more than 100,376,000."

"The number of acres in the world is 6,894,913 hectares, and there are 27 acres and eighty cents left."

"The imperial court's land tax, commercial tax, customs duty, and mineral tax totaled 48,326,327 and 5,300, with a deposit of 222,310. Six two five.”

"In addition, about 27.6 million yuan was obtained from the confiscation of homes."

Guo Zi reported on the overall income of the imperial court last year. It can be said that house confiscation became a major issue last year, and the Yan Li case has undoubtedly become another major case comparable to the "Guimao Case".

Not counting the golden annual income of the treasury, the amount of money and food that can be mobilized has reached about 76 million yuan.

"Last year, the imperial court's administrative expenditure was about 32 million guan, the Sixth Army Governor's Office spent more than 22 million guan on military pay and military expenses, the maintenance and expenditure on projects was about 9.6 million guan, and the national debt repayment was more than 6 million guan. ”

"After careful calculation, the imperial court had a balance of more than six million yuan last year."

"Today, there are still more than 37 million taels of gold accumulated in the national treasury and the world's Changping warehouse, and there are more than 5.2 million taels of immovable gold in the treasury."

"When there were only more than 2 million national debts outstanding, in the thirteenth year of Hong Xi's reign, the total amount, including principal and interest, was approximately 2.46 million."

After Guo Zi reported all the situation, it can be said that if it hadn't been for more than 27 million yuan obtained by confiscating the house last year, the national treasury would be empty now, rather than having a balance.

The normal finances of the Ming Dynasty were only about 51 million guan, but 220,000 taels of gold were immovable, so the actual amount that could be used was about 48 million guan.

Compared with fiscal revenue, Ming's expenditure is undoubtedly disappointing.

The expenditure of 70 million yuan can be said to be the total revenue of two and a half years when the fiscal revenue was at its highest during the Hongwu period.

Although more than 6 million yuan is for debt repayment and more than 9 million yuan is local project expenditure, no matter how much it is reduced, normal maintenance still requires at least 3 million yuan.

Among the administrative expenditures of the Ming Dynasty, the bulk was expenditures on officials, followed by education expenditures, and then military expenditures.

As for military expenditures, the reason for the sudden increase was due to preparations for the Northern Expedition and the Southwest War. Four million guan were allocated for these two battles. If rewards are included, it would be 7 million guan.

Under normal circumstances, today's military expenditure has dropped to 15 million yuan without launching a war.

But no matter how he calculated it, Daming's expenditure still remained at around 50 million yuan.

From a financial point of view, if railway construction and war can be stopped, the balance of payments can be achieved next year.

It is a pity that various types of construction cannot be stopped, because these constructions have solved the livelihoods of tens of millions of people in the north, and subsequent maintenance will also solve the livelihoods of millions of people.

The finances of the Ming Dynasty are still rising. The cake in the global market has not yet been eaten up, and the same goes for the overseas cake.

If Zhu Gaoxu remembered correctly, Europe shipped at least 4 billion taels of silver and more than 70 million taels of gold from the Americas in three hundred years. As for Japan's silver exports to the Central Plains, it was between 300 and 400 million taels.

On average over the past three hundred years, Europe received an average of more than 200,000 taels of gold and more than 13 million taels of silver from the Americas every year.

The current amount of gold and silver that Ming Dynasty obtains from the Americas is about 60% of this figure. Japan's silver exports are very stable at around two million taels, in addition to gold and copper ingots from Southeast Asia.

The inflow of gold, silver and copper ingots with an average value of nearly eight million taels every year would definitely be a financial turmoil in other countries, but for a country the size of Ming Dynasty, it is completely worth mentioning.

Last year alone, the Ming Dynasty's newborn population reached more than 3.8 million, with an average of only two newborns per child.

At the current rate of gold and silver mining, coupled with the lack of a circulation market for overseas gold, there will be no problem even if the quantity of silver and copper ingots doubles.

The real problem lay in the circulation of currency, which relied heavily on the court's construction projects.

Only through these construction projects can currency be circulated into the hands of the people and money can be put into action.

Even if the money will be gathered in the hands of less than 1% of the people through various means, Zhu Gaoxu can redistribute it by ransacking homes.

If this method is used well, the Ming Dynasty can prosper for another three hundred years.

With this in mind, Zhu Gaoxu listened carefully to the reports from the other five yamen.

Time passed little by little, and when everything was said and done, the situation of the Ming Dynasty appeared in Zhu Gaoxu's mind.

This is a huge empire with a population that accounts for two-fifths of the world, and a vassal territory that accounts for two-thirds of the world.

Ruling such an empire is a challenge for anyone.

Now that there are railways, Ming Dynasty's rule on the mainland is no longer a problem, the remaining problem is at sea.

Facing overseas territories, ships alone are absolutely not enough. They must be paired with technology that can quickly transmit messages in order to maintain the huge vassal territory.

If the vassal system collapses, it will be very difficult to rebuild it in the future.

The telegraph, a product more than four hundred years later, became something that Zhu Gaojiu thought about deeply, but Zhu Gaoxu himself was at a loss as to how to realize it.

But he knew that no matter how many years of effort and time it took, the Ming Dynasty must get it out during the rising period.

Thinking of this, his mind gradually drifted away, so he got up and walked towards the foot of the golden platform.

Upon seeing this, the minister of Honglu Temple immediately sang: "Dismiss the court!"

"Long live your Majesty, long live, long live..."

The ministers knelt down in admiration. Although this scene could satisfy most people in the world, it could not satisfy Zhu Gaoxu alone.

What he wants must be results that transcend the times, whether it is imperial examinations or territorial...

(End of this chapter)