Ming Dynasty: My Father Zhang Juzheng

Chapter 139 Greed
A batch of demolition work was completed quickly and in an orderly manner.

With the first batch of compensation in place, the first demolition of the old city was put on the agenda. After dispersing the people, the craftsmen of the Arms Bureau buried explosives in the house.

Then there were a few "bang bang bang" sounds.

Suddenly, smoke and dust rose up, and yellow earth filled the sky, which made the branches and leaves of the tall locust trees and weeping willows tremble and the birds in the forest fly away.

When the smoke and dust cleared, Zhang Yunxiu covered his mouth and nose, and walked slowly into the ruins with a group of people. He was seen walking in front, followed by a middle-aged man in a green official robe.

That was Ou Sui, the Langzhong of the Ministry of Works who was in charge of this matter.

Further back were Han San and the commander of the West City Army and a group of minor officials.

Standing on the ruins, Zhang Yunxiu looked at Ou Sui and said with a smile: "Doctor Ou, the city of Beijing is too small. The court has to allocate houses not only to officials, but also to the people. So how to build houses is very particular."

"It seems that Zhang Sicheng already had a plan?" Ou Sui smiled.

"It's not a plan, just some small suggestions." Zhang Yunxiu smiled and waved his hand, winking at Han San, who hurriedly came forward with a blueprint.

After unfolding it carefully, you can see a four or five-story earthen house with thirty windows densely distributed on it.

As they were looking down, Zhang Yunxiu smiled and said, "This land is too small. If we want to build it, we should build it higher. Originally, the land could only accommodate one family, but now we want to make it large enough for 20 families and let the people live comfortably."

"Well, this is a good idea. Ordinary people don't care about these things. All they need is a place to live and work in peace."

Ou Sui nodded and agreed.

"Also, look here." Zhang Yunxiu pointed to a map and continued to give instructions, "This is the center of the entire west city. We need to leave a large piece of land here and build a commercial street to attract businesses."

"Row."

"Okay, let's not say any more. We are laymen in building houses, and you, Doctor Ou, are the expert. Besides, we are laymen guiding the experts, and you are fully responsible for the rest. Just do it with confidence."

Zhang Yunxiu encouraged with a smile.

"I'm not an expert either, I just saw more. There's no need to praise me, Mr. Zhang." Ou Sui said modestly, nodded in agreement, and walked into the ruins with his subordinates and craftsmen to conduct surveying and investigation.

Zhang Yunxiu took the opportunity to step aside and stop disturbing them.

He could only give some general suggestions. If he was asked to build a house, he couldn't tell whether it was good or bad. So he simply stopped caring about it and let Ou Sui, the expert, do it.

As soon as I came out of the ruins and walked a few steps, I saw Wang He running towards me from afar, jumping like a tabby cat.

When the two met, Zhang Yunxiu frowned and asked, "What's wrong? You're in a hurry. Speak slowly."

"Yes, yes." After taking two deep breaths, Wang He took out two silver coins from his pocket, handed them to Zhang Yunxiu, and said, "Sir, take a look at this first."

Zhang Yunxiu took it, looked at it from left to right, and then looked at it again, but didn't find any big difference.

Confused, he looked up at Wang He and asked, "What's wrong? What's wrong with this silver dollar?"

"This piece is not made by us. It is lighter than ours because they don't have our mold, so the pattern looks more complex than ours. Some places are even connected together." Wang He nodded and pointed to a silver dollar on the left.

"You mean, someone counterfeited the court's silver coins and minted them privately?" Zhang Yunxiu was shocked.

"Eighty percent yes."

Nodding, Wang He stated this fact with difficulty.

But last evening, he came to an antique shop on Qipan Street, ready to see if he could find some bargains.

He picked and looked left and right, and finally chose a Song Dynasty blue and white porcelain. The man didn't know the value of it, so after some bargaining, he accepted it with tears in his eyes.

When the boss gave the change, he took out two silver dollars weighing one tael each.

He was an expert at counterfeiting, and he supervised the production of the silver coins, so he knew the weight of each one.

Just this moment, he became alert and ran back home with the silver dollar.

With the help of the light, the plum blossom patterns and writing on it also seem a bit strange.

broken.

He knew at that time that he had encountered counterfeiters.

In fact, he had a premonition that someone would take the risk. After all, the profit of silver dollars was far beyond the imagination of ordinary people. Even though the imperial court had repeatedly ordered that no one was allowed to mint coins privately.

However, under the temptation of huge profits, people's deepest greed has taken over their brains, making them forget about their relatives.

His first reaction was to inform Zhang Yunxiu, but then, before he even stepped out of the main room, he retracted his feet and thought to himself: If the investigation reveals that there are a lot of fake silver dollars in circulation, then won't the real silver dollars also be affected?
Besides, if the investigation leads to the discovery of some important person, wouldn't that be very troublesome?

He sat back on the stool and put the silver dollar back on the table.
He tossed and turned all night long.

After struggling for a whole night, I woke up early the next morning dragging my tired body.

He still has to report this matter to Zhang Yunxiu.

As for whether to investigate or how to investigate, that is all decided by this big shot.

When Zhang Yunxiu learned that someone had stolen the silver dollars, he was furious. Not only were the antiques forged, but other things were also forged.

Now someone actually dares to make such a thing.

Zhang Yunxiu also knew that this was an opportunity, an opportunity to kill a chicken to scare the monkeys and alert those wealthy and powerful people.

Whoever dares to stretch out his claws, he will chop them off!
Thinking of this, Zhang Yunxiu frowned, turned his head to look at Han San, and ordered in a cold voice: "I'll give you one month, take people to investigate and get to the bottom of this matter."

"Yes." Han San nodded in agreement, and then said, "However, please set a rule for me."

"What charter?"

"Where did you find out? You have to tell me clearly first, otherwise I can't do anything."

"As long as you don't find out about the emperor, you can do whatever you want with the rest. Even if you find out about me, I will take responsibility!"

Upon hearing the sound, Han San immediately led more than ten subordinates and ran away quickly.

Wang He, who had been silent for a while, suddenly interrupted and said, "Sir, in fact, the day this silver dollar came out, I knew that someone would definitely take the risk, and it was unstoppable."

"Besides, the counterfeiters are also timid. There are few silver coins with a face value of one tael of silver. Most of them are five cents and one cent of silver. In my opinion, there is no need to mobilize a large number of people for this matter."

"Do not."

Zhang Yunxiu waved his hand and interrupted him, "Think about it, our silver dollars are heavier and more beautiful. If they are mixed with these inferior goods, the people will definitely use the inferior goods and put our silver dollars away."

"If things go on like this, it will be these inferior goods that are circulating in the market."

This is how bad money drives out good money.

"My Lord, your words are so profound that I am suddenly enlightened." Wang He smiled and said with some difficulty, "But my Lord, I still have to remind you that this fake silver dollar cannot be controlled by you, not even the emperor."

"We don't care about anything else. We only know that if we catch anyone who makes counterfeit silver dollars, we will kill them without mercy."

Zhang Yunxiu stamped his feet and said angrily.

"Also, you have to hurry up and add some more things to the mold, don't let them make a new one so easily. Call all the counterfeiting brothers you know over here, and have them look for these fakes."

"Yes."

Wang He did not dare to be negligent and nodded again.

Then, Zhang Yunxiu told Wang He some more details and let him go.

Seeing that it was still early, Zhang Yunxiu glanced in the direction of the Forbidden City, his heart sank, and he turned over and stepped onto the carriage, saying, "Go to the Forbidden City."

Half an hour later.

Zhang Yunxiu met Emperor Wanli in the East Warm Pavilion, tilted his head, and reported the matter to him in detail.

"I understand." After hearing this, Emperor Wanli did not feel angry at all, but just replied indifferently.

I'm not kidding, it's not you who did this.

Zhang Yunxiu slowly raised his head and looked at Emperor Wanli sitting on the dragon throne.

(End of this chapter)