Guangzong Yaoming

Chapter 138: The big case is solved and the big net is closed

"… Take the Tongzhou wharf for example. Marquis Taining bares his arms. His muscles are as strong as iron and his flesh is as bulging as a dragon. He carries five bags of grain in one go!"

"Alas!"

Wei Yunzhong and Cheng Qinan sat in the teahouse, cracking melon seeds and listening to storytelling.

After these famous storytellers from the capital entered the palace to tell stories for the retired emperor to relieve his boredom, the content of their storytelling was no longer limited to vernacular stories.

Because I heard that the emperor loves to hear interesting stories about the court and the country.

If the Supreme Emperor likes to hear it, why wouldn't the people of the capital like to hear it?
Therefore, the recent turmoil in grain prices witnessed by the people of the capital has also become an interesting story, even though the storytellers only talk about how the Yongwei Battalion, in accordance with the emperor's orders, protected the capital's grain, ensuring that grain only entered but did not leave and was transported in a timely manner.

Who would have thought that the first thing the Yongwei Battalion did when it officially appeared would be this?

"Isn't this appointment too slow?" Wei Yunzhong frowned, "If I don't get the appointment soon, I'll have to take leave and go back to Shangdang to get married."

Cheng Qinan joked, "Brother Dingyuan, why don't you accept the Wang family's marriage proposal and start a family in the capital?"

Wei Yunzhong sighed, "Who made me famous at a young age? I already have a marriage contract. Now that I am in Lianjie High School, do I really like men who are superior and dislike women who are inferior?"

"I envy Brother Yu Shi. You were newlyweds when you were waiting for your job. You don't have the leisure time like you and I to listen to storytelling?" Wei Yunzhong shook his head and then asked, "Don't you visit more people?"

Cheng Qinan hesitated for a moment, then said, "Since Commander Wang has said so that day, you and I will just wait for the appointment. This is an unusual situation. After all, there are many vacancies in various provinces, and the Ministry of Personnel will no longer hold appointments, so it will take some time."

The important officials in the court knew what the emperor was waiting for.

The list of names discussed by the Ministry of Personnel had actually been presented to the emperor in the form of a memorial, but it is still kept there.

That was naturally because they were still waiting for the case of the Japanese pirates robbing grain in Jiangnan.

The emperor has used this method to deal with the dispute over grain prices in the capital, forcing some people to give in and quit the game of artificially driving up grain prices in the capital this year, but some people are still holding on.

But this incident is nothing more than a chain reaction caused by the events during the transportation of grain this year to the capital, and the root cause is still in Jiangnan.

On the afternoon of the seventh day of May, three cabinet ministers and nine officials were suddenly summoned to the Yangxin Palace.

The weather was getting hotter and Zhu Changluo was wearing a thin shirt.

When everyone arrived in the hall and sat down, they saw the coldness in the emperor's eyes.

"read."

Tian Yi nodded upon hearing this and opened a report.

"I, Luo Sigong, the Northern Pacification Envoy of the Jinyiwei, urgently reported that the caravan of the Jiangyou salt merchant Cheng was captured in Junzhou, Xiangyang Prefecture, Huguang. The caravan carried more than 6,000 kilograms of smuggled salt, including salt permits, and more than 12,000 stones of new and old grain. After interrogation, they all confessed that on the night of February 16, the rebels pretended to be Japanese pirates, robbed and destroyed the grain, killed the transport soldiers in the Changzhou Canal of the Jiangnan Grand Canal, and then transferred the grain to the merchant ships, burned the Japanese ships and the grain ships, and went up the Yangtze River, buying up new grain along the way..."

Xiao Daheng couldn't help but look at the emperor.

It has been nearly four months since February, and the emperor is truly very patient.

They sent people to the south openly and secretly, and finally found the clues of the Jiangnan incident. This time they can start a big case based on it. With the solid evidence in hand, they can selectively take action against Jiangnan and intimidate the rest.

After Tian Yi finished reading, Zhu Changluo asked Chen Qi first: "Have the transport troops that transport grain from the five prefectures of Suzhou, Songjiang, Changzhou, Jiaxing and Huzhou arrived in Tongzhou?"

"Your Majesty, this should be the last batch of grain ships to cross the Huai River. It should arrive in Tongzhou at the end of May."

Nowadays, all the grain is transported over long distances. Every grain transported by the grain transporting army must be transported to Tongzhou and handed over to the various warehouses for receipt.

Zhu Changluo nodded and said, "When they arrive, we will find out which people have survived the robbery and jumped into the river that night, and send them back to Nanjing to identify the rebels."

Then he looked at the three cabinet ministers and said, "Robbery and destruction of grain, killing transport soldiers, these are unforgivable crimes. What do you think should be done in this case?"

"…The matter involves the navy, military patrol, transport troops, salt tax, Nanjing Ministry of Revenue, Jiangxi Provincial Administration, Changzhou Prefecture, etc. I think it is appropriate for Your Majesty to appoint important officials from the three judicial departments to go south to investigate and deal with the case."

Shen Yikuan was the first to stand up, and when he saw him say that, Xiao Daheng immediately stood up and said, "I am willing to personally go and try this case! Your Majesty, the land tax in Jiangnan is still heavy! I will go to Jiangnan, try this case, and then I will ask to stay in Nanjing to avoid unrest in Jiangnan."

Others couldn't help but look at Xiao Daheng.

Going to Nanjing will offend a lot of people.

The extent to which this case is tried is extremely critical.

Now that Mr. Xiao mentioned the land tax in the south of the Yangtze River, does he want to investigate all the way to Nanjing Minister of Revenue Zhang Yi and take the position of Nanjing Minister of Revenue?

Compared with the Beijing Minister of Justice who was under the emperor's nose, the Nanjing Minister of Revenue was of course more important. "The Grand Secretary of Justice is going there in person?" Zhu Changluo looked at Shen Shixing and Wang Xijue, "Shen Ge Lao, Wang Ge Lao, what do you think?"

Something happened in Jiangnan!
Everyone knew that the emperor had waited for so long, so there was no need for the report from the Jinyiwei to be false.

According to the previous report, the Jinyiwei and the Baigan soldiers were already stationed west of Zhenjiang River.

The new Northern Pacification Commissioner tracked down the pirates all the way from Nanjing to Junzhou in the northwestern part of Huguang before he caught the one who committed the major grain robbery case?

Shen Shixing and Wang Xijue just bowed and said, "The Grand Secretary of Justice has been in charge of criminal justice for many years, and his prestige is enough to conquer Jiangnan."

Then Shen Shixing hesitated and said, "It's just that the Grand Secretary of Justice is appointed as the imperial envoy... Your Majesty, I wonder if Jiangnan will be too worried and frightened and delay the work of the government."

"Don't worry, sir." Xiao Daheng said, "I will go in person, so that the case can be concluded quickly. Since such a daring lunatic has appeared in Jiangnan, it is inevitable to worry and fear. Only when the case is concluded quickly can people's hearts be at peace."

Zhu Changluo nodded: "The Grand Secretary's words make sense. But he will stay in Nanjing..."

He did not try to hide it, frowning and asking, "Does the Grand Secretary think that the Nanjing Ministry of Revenue cannot escape blame?"

"Many prefecture and county grain chiefs in Jiangnan bully others, and grain officials are lazy. The transport troops can only go to private warehouses to collect and redeem. This is the truth reported by the Nanjing Ministry of Revenue. Now that the big traitors dare to smuggle salt, it must be a fact that the salt law is corrupt. The Nanjing Ministry of Revenue, which is in charge of salt permits, naturally cannot escape the blame. The previous report is inevitably suspected of shirking responsibility."

Xiao Daheng looked at Shen and Wang, and bowed to Zhu Changluo: "The land tax collection and transportation are not effective, and the Nanjing Ministry of Revenue has to investigate. Now the additional gold and silver are also arranged by the Nanjing Ministry of Revenue. No matter what, I should inquire about the affairs of the Nanjing Ministry of Revenue, at least until the new grain collection in Jiangnan this summer and autumn is not a problem."

Zhu Changluo looked at Cheng Jing and said, "In that case, Cheng Jing, you will follow the Grand Secretary of Justice to the south and temporarily serve as the eunuch guarding Nanjing! You can send the officers and soldiers of the Yongwei Camp, the Yangtze River Navy, and the Nanjing Guards as soon as possible to deploy them upon the emperor's order."

"This slave accepts the order!"

Zhu Changluo took out another account book and asked Tian Yi to show it to all the ministers, including Xiao Daheng who was about to go south.

"The Beijing Army has been reckless in its layoffs. I have to discipline the military officials of the Beijing Army, especially the meritorious officials. The Changming Company is actually to let them join forces to share my worries and make some money. Since the beginning of this year, I have purchased grain on the Caohe River, and after more than two months of competition among the grain merchants in the capital, I have this account in my hands."

Looking at the ministers with complicated expressions, Zhu Changluo shook his head: "The Nanjing Ministry of Revenue said that the Caohe River can only transport 4 million dan of grain a year. How much grain and other goods are actually transported every year? Just the new grain that went north with the Cao boats exceeded 1 million dan this time, not to mention the other cloth, porcelain, paper, new tea, etc.!"

"Grand Heavenly Official, Grand Minister of Agriculture, Grand Marshal, Grand Censor." After calling out to four people, Zhu Changluo spoke earnestly, "There are seven major checkpoints on the north and south of the Caohe River, and the Caohe Army has more than 100,000 soldiers. What is the obstacle that the Caohe River can only transport 4 million shi of grain and collect only a little customs silver every year?"

"…We are ashamed."

The account book had now been passed to Shen Shixing. Looking at the amount of smuggled goods on the grain ships estimated by Changming Grain Store based on the statistics of its own grain purchase sources, he could only stare at the emperor in amazement once again.

This is just a few months of the canal's capacity being occupied by the canal ships, and it is only an estimate...

But the way the emperor got these "evidences" for estimation was to pay hundreds of thousands of taels of silver first.

Naturally, the meritorious officials would not be willing to suffer losses, so... who would make up for the huge amount of silver lost by Changming Grain Store?
With the support of the officials and gentry, the grain merchants wanted to take advantage of the situation to raise the grain prices in the capital, but it was the nobles who were willing to make a loss and sell the grain at a fair price...

"So much new grain has poured into Beijing, right under the emperor's feet, and yet there are still unscrupulous merchants who dare to claim there is a shortage of grain, close their shops and drive up grain prices!"

The emperor's voice gradually became angry: "How dare you spread rumors that there are many floods in Jiangnan this year, and I'm afraid the harvest will be poor!"

"They dared to pretend to be Japanese pirates and robbed the grain. After that, they changed their appearance and easily carried private salt and grain all the way west. Now it is the flood season. Who knows if there will not be people in the south of the Yangtze River who are so bold as to destroy the dikes and flood the fields, cause disasters and poor harvests, and beg for mercy and exemption?"

"Immediately issue an order! Tell the governor of Yingtian to pay attention. If there are any dike breaches this year, they must be thoroughly investigated!"

"Decree! Order the Jinyiwei and Yongwei Battalion to seal off the grain and rice shops that are still closed. I want to see if they really have no new grain to sell!"

"Decree! The grain transport has been basically completed. The Governor of the Grain Transport Li Sancai and the Commander-in-Chief of the Grain Transport, Wang Chengxun, the Earl of Xinjian, are ordered to come to the capital to see the emperor! I want to ask them how much dirt is still hidden in this canal!"

The emperor could make these decisions as soon as the Japanese pirates' grain robbery case was uncovered, or as soon as news of frequent floods in the south of the Yangtze River reached Beijing.

On the eve of the decision on the replacement of local officials and the conferment of office on new scholars, there was finally new movement in the capital.

Wang Zhizhen personally led his men to the Jiangyou Cheng family's wholesale and retail store in the capital. When he arrived at the door, he cut the rope with the sold-out sign with a knife.

"Seal the courtyard, break the door, and search!"

This happens in many places.

The Yongwei Battalion, who were guarding the nine gates outside the capital and registering the destination of grain entering the city, finally behaved in a way that matched their appearance and temperament.

At that moment, countless courtyards in the capital city accurately welcomed the Jinyiwei or the emperor's personal soldiers.

(End of this chapter)