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After watching the execution, it was not enough. The people from the Ministry of Revenue also had to go to the Wan family to confiscate their property.

In the past, this was the most popular task for the Ministry of Revenue. Confiscating family property was the most profitable. It was common to take a few small valuables from the storehouse with you. In any case, the house was confiscated in a chaotic manner, and the accounts in the storehouse were often incomplete, so no one would check the accounts one by one.

Today's search of Wan's family showed a completely different situation.

Minister Ji stood in front of the Wan family's warehouse with a cold face, staring at the officials.

In fact, even if Minister Ji didn't pay attention, the officials of the Ministry of Revenue, who had just seen Doctor Wan being beheaded and were frightened, would not have the intention to intervene.

Wan Langzhong's family was also in a miserable state. They could not take anything with them and were taken away crying and wailing. Those who could not endure the hardship of the journey might die of illness or exhaustion along the way.

The emperor had good ears and eyes, and he stood beside Minister Ji with an open mind, waiting for Minister Ji's orders.

Minister Ji knew very well that the case of Doctor Wan was reported by Tang Youyin to the emperor... No, that's not right. Tang Sili was honest and just went to the palace to report, not sneaky at all.

From now on, Tang Youyin will stay in the Ministry of Revenue, and he will report everything he hears and sees to the emperor without reservation. This is no different from hanging a guillotine over the Ministry of Revenue.

However, Minister Ji had neither the power nor the courage to refuse.

A fourth-rank doctor was beheaded at the emperor's command. It took three days from the time the crime was committed to the time the head fell. How hard can a neck be to withstand this?

Minister Ji forced out a rather unpleasant smile: "Now that we have finished raiding the Wan family, should we go to the Zhang family next?"

This may be a bit rude to Minister Zhang, but his clan members also have the surname Zhang and live near the Zhang residence. If they raid the house with great fanfare, it will certainly alarm Minister Zhang's residence.

Tang Youyin was very respectful to Minister Ji: "The emperor has ordered that the confiscation of the family property is the sole responsibility of the Minister. I will obey you."

Minister Ji hesitated for a moment and whispered, "Should the Zhang family please give Minister Zhang a favor and raise their hands slightly when they confiscate the property?"

It was hard to tell how much of the Zhang family's property belonged to Minister Zhang. If all of it was confiscated, Minister Zhang would suffer heavy losses and lose all face.

Although the relationship between Minister Ji and Minister Zhang was ordinary, they were both ministers in the same palace, and both were important ministers of the six ministries. Minister Ji really couldn't bring himself to expose Minister Zhang's face like this.

Tang Youyin replied with a righteous look on his face: "I think it is better to deal with it impartially. Otherwise, some gossipy villains will spread rumors in private, which will really damage the reputation of Minister Zhang."

Minister Ji laughed dryly: "That makes sense."

Well, let’s deal with it impartially!
The Wan family searched for two days and found hundreds of thousands of taels of gold and silver and many rare treasures. There were not many farmlands and shops - most of them were registered in the names of Wan family members. This was also the practice of court officials. If there were too many properties under one's name, it would be unbecoming, so usually a small or large part would be registered in the names of family members.

Doctor Wan did not commit a crime that would lead to genocide, and his clan members were lucky enough to escape. However, they were all terrified by the fact that Doctor Wan was beheaded, and they dared not stay in the capital. They hurriedly sold their property privately and fled the capital, either returning to their ancestral home or hiding their identities to survive.

Logically speaking, Zhang Shangshu was a commoner and had never done any business, so he shouldn't have too much property. Unexpectedly, the amount of money seized shocked all the officials in the Ministry of Revenue.

It’s actually more than the Wan family’s assets!
The contents of the warehouse were recorded in three large volumes, and there were also more than a dozen shops and tens of thousands of acres of fertile land.

The officials of the Ministry of Revenue were also somewhat surprised, and they all murmured in private: "I really didn't realize that the Zhang family was so rich." "Well, think about it, he is the Minister of Personnel. If civil officials and military officers want to be promoted, they have to bribe the Ministry of Personnel. The Ministry of Personnel has more money than our Ministry of Revenue."

"Minister Zhang was unlucky this time and was caught by the emperor."

"Don't talk nonsense. The offender is Zhang Si, the nephew of Minister Zhang. Minister Zhang is at most a nephew who doesn't discipline his clansmen strictly. It's no big deal if the emperor scolds him a few times. The position of Minister Zhang is still secure."

"Whether you can sit still or not, I can't say for sure now..."

Ji Shangshu appeared expressionlessly, and the officials who had been muttering to themselves immediately shut up.

……

Minister Ji entered the palace to meet the emperor, holding several account books.

Jiang Shaohua flipped through the account book and it took him half an hour to finish. He raised his mouth sarcastically: "A member of the Zhang family has such a rich family property. It really opened my eyes."

"I also heard that Mrs. Zhang Shangshu fell ill these past two days. I don't know if it was due to excessive worry or excessive grief."

When Jiang Shaohua said this, he didn't mean to say it behind anyone's back.

Therefore, the news soon spread to the residence of Minister Zhang.

Zhang Shangshu looked extremely unhappy. He went to the inner courtyard without saying a word and said to his old wife who was lying on the bed, stroking her chest and crying in pain, "Don't lie there any more. If you continue to lie there like this, the Emperor will send a doctor to diagnose your pulse. Then you will be completely humiliated."

Mrs. Zhang's hair has turned a lot white these days, and her voice has become hoarse from crying: "I am really heartbroken. The gold, silver, jade and other things are fine, but those tens of thousands of acres of fertile land were bought with great difficulty. You insisted on registering them under Zhang Si's name. Now look what happened, they have all been confiscated."

Tens of thousands of acres of good farmland had a market value of 500,000 taels. The Zhang family had accumulated such large tracts of farmland for decades, and there were only two such large tracts of farmland. One was in their ancestral home, and the other was this large farm outside the capital. At that time, in order to avoid being noticed, Minister Zhang registered the farmland under the name of Zhang Si. As a result, the farmland was confiscated by the government overnight.

As a result, the Zhang family's assets suddenly decreased by one-sixth.

This was like a tear in Mrs. Zhang's heart.

Minister Zhang's face turned green with anger and he cursed: "Why are you crying? At least I am not implicated. If I were involved, I would not be able to be the Minister of Personnel, and then you would be the one crying."

The Zhang family is what it is today, all thanks to Minister Zhang. When Minister Zhang got angry, Mrs. Zhang dared not cry anymore. She wiped her tears with a handkerchief and whispered worriedly: "Master, the emperor is so cruel and powerful. What should we do in the future?"

Zhang Shangshu was in a state of annoyance, so he had no mood to talk to his wife about this. He said unhappily, "Just take care of the inner house, and don't worry about the rest."

After saying this, Minister Zhang turned away and returned to his study, where he summoned a few trusted aides to discuss matters in secret.

Mrs. Zhang beat her chest and cried loudly in her bedroom.

However, no matter how much Mrs. Zhang cried, she could not get back the property that was confiscated. (End of this chapter)