Ming Dynasty: My Father Zhang Juzheng

Chapter 164: Strike first to gain the upper hand

The drum beats past three o'clock in the morning and the night becomes cool as water.

Except for a few places in Beijing where music and dance were still going on, most other places in Beijing were silent and dark.

The bleak night wind swept through the deserted streets.

The sound of dog barking could be heard in the distance, lingering in the night sky, waking up countless people from their sweet dreams.

Suddenly, a group of strong men in brocade clothes, wearing round hats, long shirts and with long swords on their waists, walked across the long street with hurried steps.

The leader was Han San, who looked fierce and angry.

Ever since he became a thousand households, he seldom took action personally.

However, the task today was urgent, and Zhang Yunxiu had personally sent someone to come and give instructions. He did not dare to neglect it, so he immediately grabbed his tools and headed straight to the place where the task was to be done.

The footsteps of the Jinyiwei passed through the long street, and the people who had been awakened could no longer fall asleep. Watching the excitement has been a habit of the Chinese since ancient times, and now is a time of trouble.

The Prime Minister is seriously ill.

The whole capital was in a state of panic.

There are intrigues and deceptions in the imperial city, and wars and battles in the government offices. All those who can become officials in the capital have one characteristic - they like to guess what the people above them mean.

Some people who are curious about the situation are even more eager to dig holes and breed maggots. They wish they could read every report in the court hundreds of times after the Prime Minister became seriously ill.
Then he tried to figure out the meaning of each one, trying to figure out some divine intention.

Zhang Yunxiu was determined to make a show of force, so Han San took action.

The group hurriedly arrived at Yangliu Hutong on Chongwen Street. Han San stopped and waved his hand fiercely, and the troops behind him all stopped.

The place in front of him was extremely dark, so Han San ordered people to light oil lamps.

With the help of the light from the oil lamp, one could see a dirty and narrow alley with cage-like doors densely packed on both sides.

The low tiles make it impossible for any extra light to be seen from these houses.

"That room?" Han San asked.

"Go back to Qianhu, the fourth house on the left side of the street is the person you are looking for." A small flag said respectfully.

Han San didn't say anything, but walked forward quickly, and the crowd behind him rushed forward. They came to a narrow and dilapidated door. Before Han San could speak, one person came forward and knocked on the door.

"Open the door. Open the door!"

Soon a dissatisfied murmur came from inside: "Who is it?"

"I'm patrolling the streets and checking household registration."

As soon as he finished speaking, a chaotic sound was heard in the house, and then a sound of footsteps came from far away and came closer and closer.

"Branch"

The door slowly opened, and half a head popped out from inside.

"Are you Wang Dehan? The official in the Ministry of Revenue's warehouse?" Han San asked, shining the oil lamp on his face.

"It's me." Wang Dehan's eyes hurt, and he quickly covered his face and replied, "Who are you? You don't look like soldiers patrolling the streets. Why are you looking for me so late at night?"

"It's really Ambassador Wang." Han San smiled and pushed Wang Dehan inside.

"Hey, hey, hey, what do you want to do? What do you want to do?" Wang Dehan was swept inside by the crowd, exclaiming repeatedly.

Only when he arrived at the courtyard did Wang Dehan see clearly what the visitor was wearing.

Jinyiwei!
Ignoring the changing expression on Wang Dehan's face, Han San glanced around and saw that the courtyard was in ruins, with debris all over the floor, and it was dirty and messy.

He grinned and could not help but joked, "Ambassador Wang, you are an official of the imperial court after all, and you live here?" "My ninth-rank official is nothing. If you throw a brick in the capital, it will hit a group of sixth-rank officials." Wang Dehan explained with a self-deprecating look on his face, staring at Han San.

"But we heard that your ninth rank is different. You are the ambassador of the Ministry of Revenue warehouse, in charge of the tribute from all over the world entering the warehouse. It is said that you would not even exchange it for a Si Langzhong?" Han San put his hand on Wang Dehan's shoulder and looked at him with a smile.

Although this warehouse official in the Ministry of Revenue was only of the ninth rank, he held a strategic position and held great power.

The local officials of the Ming Dynasty were except those who governed a certain area.

The most important job was to pay tribute to the court with local specialties, such as the Mingqian Longjing tea from West Lake, Miyun Longcha tea from Jiangxi, ivory and agate from Dadian, Yunnan, Linglingxiang from Yongzhou, white powder from Meizhou, and realgar from Yanzhou.
These things must first be stored in the Ministry of Revenue’s warehouse.

Even though these prefects and county magistrates were powerful in their local areas, they all became cowards in the capital. If Wang Dehan was not satisfied, he would delay and not allow you to enter the warehouse.

Well, if you are disrespectful to the emperor, you will be punished.

Therefore, these local officials would give some benefits before offering tribute.

There is no way Wang Dehan would be short of benefits in this job.

As soon as Han Sanyi finished speaking, Wang Dehan on the other side pulled his neck and said stubbornly: "Our power is all granted to us by the emperor. Regardless of the size of the power, we all work for the emperor. I dare not agree with what Han Qianhu said."

"Oh, so we have wronged you?" Han San pretended to be surprised and asked back.

The troops behind him burst into laughter and looked at Wang Dehan as if he were a clown.

Wang Dehan was uncomfortable with this look. He frowned and was about to open his mouth to explain, but Han Sanmeng waved his hand and shouted, "Put the head on me. Let's make him cry when he sees the coffin!"

After a while, the group hurriedly arrived in front of a luxurious mansion.

The gate is 15 feet wide and 14 feet high. It is made of high-quality mahogany, and there is a big stone lion standing at the door.

A tall gray wall separates the inside of the courtyard from the outside, making it impossible to see the specific outline of the inside.

But judging from the layout outside the door, the inside should be quite nice.

As soon as they reached the gate of the house, Han San pulled off the hood on Wang Dehan's head, pointed at the gate and said, "Ambassador Wang, how about taking a look here? See if it looks familiar?"

Wang Dehan was dazed. He glanced in the direction of Han San's finger and his mouth twitched in fear.

But he recovered quickly and pretended to be calm, saying, "Where is this? Could it be your residence, Captain Han?"

Han San smiled without saying anything. He ordered his men to break down the door, then carried Wang Dehan inside as if he were carrying a chicken.

The group came to a warehouse and Han San kicked the door open.

He threw Wang Dehan in.

He groaned twice and hurriedly got up from the ground.

At this time, Han San walked in with an oil lamp, and the faint light filled the entire warehouse.

It can be clearly seen that boxes of metal boxes are neatly arranged in the house. Han San looked at Wang Dehan, who was already pale with fear, and smiled like a hunter looking at his prey.

He casually pushed open a metal box beside him, and it was filled with dazzling silver.

"Wang Dehan, please explain, where did all this money come from?!"

Wang Dehan's lips trembled, he was at a loss, and he kept saying in defense: "Who is this? Who put so much money in my storehouse? Someone must be framing me!"

"Now you admit that this is your house?!" Han San roared with a red face.

The light in the room was dim, and Han San's face looked particularly ferocious.

Wang Dehan covered his face with his hands and squatted on the ground crying bitterly.

(End of this chapter)