Guangzong Yaoming

Chapter 152 Japanese Ship Enters Mochou Lake
The imperial envoy arrived in Nanjing.

Not surprisingly, Geng Dingli was brought back in a prison van.

I don’t know if he had never suffered this kind of torture before or if he was tortured yesterday. In any case, his head was drooping on the prison van, he was unconscious, and I didn’t know whether he was alive or dead.

After seeing this scene outside the city, the officials in Nanjing focused their attention on Xiao Daheng's face: Is this the end?

"Geng Dingli has confessed that the Shang Cheng family in Leping was actually instructed by Geng Dingli. The navy officers and soldiers failed to do their duty because Geng Dingli took advantage of the fact that the navy had no commander and assigned them to patrol the river, thus avoiding the fake Japanese pirates."

Xiao Daheng looked at the faces of Zhang Yi, Ye Xianggao, Hao Jie, Zhao Canlu and others one by one.

"Don't be alarmed. The Japanese ship entered the canal because it did not enter the Yangtze River from the sea. It is still related to the navy. The reason is known to Counselor Hao at the meeting of the Garrison Office."

After saying that, he took Geng Dingli to the Ministry of Justice.

When he mentioned the garrison meeting, everyone couldn't help but look at Hao Jie.

"Counselor Hao," Cheng Jing said at this time, "Let's move to the garrison hall."

Hao Jie's heart sank, but he didn't show it on his face.

Was it Geng Dingli first and then him?

But before coming to Nanjing, Cheng Jing was in charge of the Imperial Stables and the commander of the Four Guards.

The Yongwei Camp and the Baigan Zuoye Camp, which are now camped between Zhenjiang and Nanjing, are temporarily under his command.

Today, all the officers of the Northern Pacification Division and Qin Liangyu, the commander of the Yongwei Camp, also came with his brother Qin Banghan and a hundred men.

The Inner Garrison Hall was located in the southwest corner of the Nanjing Imperial City. The five ministries and five government offices of Nanjing were all in the south of the imperial city. The three judicial offices of Nanjing were all on the shore of Houhu Lake on the northwest side of Zhongshan Mountain.

We entered the outer city from Yaofang Gate and temporarily went the same way.

"…It's related to the navy. Could it be that the navy officers and soldiers are accomplices of the evil?" Zhang Yi said as he was walking behind.

"The Garrison Hall meeting..." Ye Xianggao looked to the south. "After Eunuch Cheng arrived in Liudu, Duke Wei was ordered to offer sacrifices to Xiaoling Mausoleum, and Earl Pingyi also left the camp to patrol the river. Could it be that the Garrison Hall meeting was missing two people?"

He and Zhang Yi looked at each other, and then looked away.

If Geng Dingli alone is not enough, adding the Nanjing Minister of War should be enough, right?
The Nanjing Ministry of Revenue was the head of the six ministries in terms of actual interests, while the Nanjing Ministry of War was the head of the six ministries in terms of system.

After all, the highest power center in Nanjing is the Garrison Hall Meeting, and among the six ministries, only the Minister of War has the Minister of Mechanical Affairs.

In name, the Nanjing Military Department was responsible for the defense of the entire Jiangnan area around Nanjing, and had jurisdiction over more than 200,000 local garrison troops. It was also responsible for the horse administration, ship administration, and post stations in Jiangnan.

But this is only in name only. In reality, these military powers are jointly held by everyone in the garrison hall, headed by the garrison eunuch.

The Yangtze River Navy is an independent organization, and its jurisdiction lies only with the Garrison Office. As for the Navy, the garrison eunuch, the Nanjing garrison commander-in-chief, and the co-garrison have all been replaced, except for Hao Jie.

Everyone agreed that Hao Jie was likely to be in danger.

On a daily basis, the eunuchs guarding Nanjing seemed to be only managing the imperial city that still remained in Nanjing, but in fact they held two extremely important powers: military power and financial power.

Military power was realized through the Nanjing Garrison Office, which was responsible for watching over Nanjing on behalf of the emperor.

The financial power is in charge of all the tributes and purchases in the entire Jiangnan region except for gold and silver.

In addition, the imperial city of Nanjing still had a complete system of eunuchs. Although the number of people was small, they had all the necessary facilities for the twenty-four yamen.

Because he represents the emperor, if there is anyone in Jiangnan who really looks most like a local emperor, it is actually the garrison eunuch.

After entering Nanjing City from Taiping Gate, everyone went in from Bei'an Gate of the Imperial City, and then went their separate ways from Bei'anmen Inner Street to Xuanwu Gate outside the Forbidden City in Nanjing.

Cheng Jing, Luo Sigong, Qin Liangyu, the commander of the Yongwei Camp, and Hao Jie went west together, bypassed Houzaimen West Street and then turned south to the Nanjing Garrison.

The officials in Nanjing turned south from Houzaimen East Street, exited the Dong'anmen of the Imperial City, and then followed East Huangchenggen South Street to the Nanjing civil officials' offices south of East Chang'an Street.

After leaving Dong'an Gate, they saw Duke Wei who had just returned from Chaoyang Gate.

"Duke Wei." Ye Xianggao asked in surprise, "Has the sacrifice at Xiaoling Mausoleum been completed?"

"I dare not neglect the imperial edict." Xu Hongji greeted them, "The Ministry of Rites' priest is also here. The inner garrison sent someone over, so I didn't delay any longer. My lords, I still have to hurry to the garrison. I apologize."

After saying this, he hurried south.

Everyone looked at his back and felt their tacit understanding.

"Sacrifice cannot be neglected. Is it really a ritual?" Ye Xianggao asked the only remaining doctor in Nanjing's Ministry of Rites.

"...Duke Wei has made careful preparations." He simply answered briefly.

"It seems that Pingyi Bo happened to be patrolling outside the city of Nanjing." Ye Xianggao glanced at Zhang Yi with a meaningful tone.

"Let's go back to the yamen first."

Zhang Yi was worried.

Now it seemed as if his fate was controlled by someone else. Geng Dingli's unconscious appearance was really unsettling. Of course, he couldn't be dead, but he was obviously worried that Geng Dingli would yell something in public, so he used some means, right?

So what did Geng Dingli say?
Xiao Daheng told them not to panic, but they could only panic but could not really do anything.

Rebellion? Escape?
Jiangnan certainly had other means of passive resistance afterwards, but after the imperial envoy arrived, it was difficult for these important officials in Jiangnan to immediately stir up trouble and force the court to give in.

If the imperial court does not give in, won't they be jumping into the trap?
On the shore of the Back Lake in the Outer City, the heads of the three judicial departments of Nanjing had finished reading the files, and all of them looked pale.

"This imperial envoy has already roughly understood the case, and now it is up to the three of you to make amends." Xiao Daheng looked at them leisurely, "The Japanese pirates' grain robbery case is the surface, and the Jiangnan tax resistance case is the inside. The overdue land tax is not the land tax that should be paid? You know the importance of this."

"… Your Excellency, the Imperial Envoy." Zhao Canlu was terrified. "The three judicial officials in Nanjing had no choice but to impeach the Jinyiwei for privately detaining criminals."

"Fighting with the eunuchs and the factory guards, this imperial envoy understands it, and so does Your Majesty." Xiao Daheng waved his hand, "Of course, I don't blame you. But if we only ask about the Japanese pirates' grain robbery case, wouldn't it be because of the appearance that we lose the heart? Three of you, other major cases in Jiangnan should naturally be tried by the three judicial officials in Nanjing. Do you understand?"

"understand!"

Regardless, the three of them breathed a sigh of relief.

Since they were all talking about making amends for their mistakes, naturally the three of them would be fine.

But if the Jiangnan tax resistance case is the real issue, then the Ministry of Revenue...

Zhao Canlu quickly added: "Your Excellency, I'm afraid that the Yingtian Prefecture Government, Nanjing's Shangzhi Guard, and Nanjing Wucheng Bingmasi will also need to..."

"You are right to remind me, but the garrison has its own arrangements." Now Xiao Daheng just looked at the three of them and asked with a smile, "Why did the people in Jiangnan rise up to resist taxes because there was no tax exemption? What do you know?"

"This……"

Do they also need to give some testimony first?
At the Nanjing Garrison, Cheng Jing was much more straightforward.

"Although you cannot mobilize troops, you can still inquire about the selection of military officers and the salary and food rosters of the various guards in Jiangnan." Cheng Jing looked at Hao Jie, "Earlier, the Grand Secretary of Justice summoned the officials of the six ministries in Nanjing and the local civil and military officials. Of course, their statements were flawless, but they were different from what Niu Futai found out from the various prefectures."

"What does Eunuch Cheng mean?" Hao Jie became more alert.

"I'll give you a chance." Cheng Jing stared at him. "Who told you that there were bandits in Taihu Lake and asked you to inform Zhenjiang Guard, Suzhou Guard, and Xuanzhou Guard to guard the area carefully? You don't have to panic! This is just a routine matter, so you can't be blamed. I just want to know, did an official document reach your Ministry of War, or did someone just say that?"

Looking at Cheng Jing's burning eyes, Hao Jie looked at Duke Wei and Ping Yi Bo, and then at Luo Sigong and Qin Liangyu who were standing behind Cheng Jing.

But even if these three guards turned their attention to the direction of Taihu Lake, what did it have to do with the Yangtze River Navy that Xiao Daheng mentioned?
Beads of sweat broke out on his forehead.

"It seems that there is no official document. After all, the various prefectures have not reported any Taihu bandits." Cheng Jing said coldly, "Then Hao Jie, when you heard that it was the Japanese pirates who robbed the grain, weren't you afraid?"

"...I...your servant..." Hao Jie spoke incoherently, finally realizing that there was no hope.

"The Nanjing Military Department is in charge of the Ship Administration. According to your military department's account books, the Japanese ships captured by the navy in the past have long been rotten. The number of newly built warships and nine ships under repair does not match the number of Pingyi Bo's inventory. Geng Dingli has confessed everything. Now I just want to ask you, do you know that there are still Japanese ships in good condition, and there are Japanese ships that Geng Dingli gave to the Cheng family for repair, and he took them as new warships and asked for the money from the Ship Administration?"

"I... really don't know..."

In any case, it is much better to fail to notice.

"Okay! If you don't know about this, then why didn't you give the contract to Longjiang Shipyard to build the new ship?"

"Eunuch Cheng, all this money was only given to the navy. As for the Imperial Household...it was previously managed by Geng Dingli and the Earl of Xiangcheng."

Cheng Jing sneered and asked, "You didn't check, didn't test, didn't ask? Let me ask you, do you know why you didn't let Longjiang Shipyard do the work?"

"...Eunuch Cheng, of course it should be given to Longjiang Shipyard. But Longjiang Shipyard has to build both canal boats and naval vessels... In fact, many of them have been delegated. These are the responsibilities of various departments, and I can't control them alone."

"That is to say, the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Works in Nanjing are also to blame." Cheng Jing waved his hand, "We will not investigate the case. We were ordered to guard Nanjing, and the Grand Secretary led the three judicial officials in Beijing to investigate the case in the south. Geng Dingli has confessed everything. Hao Jie, where are you going?"

"I...your servant..." Hao Jie was no fool, he knelt down and kowtowed repeatedly, "Your servant just coveted some silver, please forgive me, Your Majesty, I dare not be disloyal no matter what! I was really harmed by Geng Dingli, I really didn't know that the navy still kept those Japanese ships to cheat silver. It was Zhang Yi who said there were Taihu Lake bandits, he said that the arrears have not been forgiven, this year's summer and autumn grains cannot be lost..."

Cheng Jing achieved his goal and snorted coldly: "Luo Zhenfu, send him to the Grand Secretary of Justice."

Although he was nominally the head of the Six Ministries of Nanjing, he was actually just a marginal player in the distribution of interests.

But he happened to be able to influence the military power in Jiangnan, and could also be used to make the court fear the collusion between the Jiangnan guards.

Now Hao Jie understood that the emperor arranged such a large-scale march to the south in order to sort out the military and financial power.

So can he still escape this disaster?

At this time, Zhang Yi was also paying attention to the movements at the garrison.

However, the garrison was located within the imperial city, and the Nanjing Ministry of Revenue was outside Chengtian Gate south of the imperial city.

He didn't know that Hao Jie had been stripped of his official hat and robe by the Northern Pacification Office and was being taken to Xuanwu Gate, but someone rushed to the Ministry of Revenue in Nanjing with a look of shock on his face.

"Grand Minister of Agriculture...outside Qingliang Gate...Japanese ship...Japanese ship sailed into Mochou Lake..."

"what?!"

(End of this chapter)