Jiajing Chengming

Chapter 223 The emperor was furious and the powerful suffered!

After Zhu Houcong sighed, he asked Qin Wen: "Has the person mentioned by Lin Jun in the secret report arrived?"

Qin Wen replied: "We will probably arrive in Beijing this afternoon."

By the way, Lin Jun's secret report was not submitted directly by Lin Jun, but was submitted by Lin Jun through Wang Yangming. And out of caution, he only mentioned in the secret report that he would send someone to Beijing to explain the situation in Donglai.

Zhu Houcong handed the information about the person mentioned by Lin Jun in the secret report to the Northern Pacification Office and asked the people of the Northern Pacification Office to keep an eye on him.

Qin Wen is the governor of the East Factory and is also in charge of the Northern Pacification Office, so naturally he needs to keep a close eye on this matter.

Therefore, Zhu Houcong would ask him about this matter.

After Qin Wen answered, Zhu Houcong waved his hand and asked Qin Wen to leave.

The core purpose of Zhu Houcong's current reforms was to strengthen central power and ease class contradictions, so the means he adopted were to increase officials' salaries, step up infrastructure construction, increase the number of bureaucrats, and even build new schools and raise new armies.

But all of these ultimately point to one problem, that is, more money is spent and court expenditures further increase.

This is different from the reform model whose core purpose is to cut spending, so redundant staff and soldiers must be cut and the scale of project construction must be limited.

thus.

The issue of wealth ownership of the Donglai gold mine is very important.

If Zhu Houcong wanted to avoid increasing taxes before the explosion of productivity, and out of caution not carry out large-scale distribution reforms in the early days of his rule, in order to meet the large increase in expenditures, he had to rely on new resources mined from places like Donglai.

But he wanted to own the Donglai gold mine.

The powerful and wealthy also wanted to own the Donglai gold mine.

So, this leads to the situation we have today.

First, Lai Yuan, the imperial censor of Fujian, submitted a petition requesting the closure of the Donglai gold mine on the grounds that the Donglai gold mine had been exhausted.

Then, Zhejiang Governor Xia Yan secretly reported to the emperor that Lai Yuan's report was untrue, and that some powerful people wanted to collude with the bureaucrats to take over the Donglai gold mine.

Then, Zhang Lun, the governor of Donglai, was imprisoned.

Lai Yuan, the imperial censor of Fujian, was also imprisoned for submitting a petition requesting the closure of the Donglai gold mine.

Now, Lin Jun also brought new information about the right-wingers wanting to collude with the bureaucrats to annex the Donglai gold mine.

Zhu Houcong would naturally not let go of those powerful people who wanted to take over his gold mine!

Whether it is to serve as a warning to others, or to take the opportunity to crack down on the powerful, or to provide new reasons for strengthening supervision in the future.

He needs to pay close attention to this matter.

In the afternoon, Zhu Houcong, who had just finished the imperial lecture, met the people sent by Lin Jun to Beijing at Yuntai Gate.

In order to prevent more people outside the court from knowing too early that Lin Jun had revealed more of the true situation of the Donglai gold mine to the court and to prevent the Fujian tyrants' spies in Beijing from knowing it, Zhu Houcong decided to conduct the trial himself and let Qin Wen, the eunuch of the imperial household, take notes personally, and Lu Song, the commander of the Jinyiwei Northern Pacification Division, follow his orders.

The person Lin Jun sent to Beijing was his son Lin Da.

"I am Linda, a student of the Imperial Academy, and I wish Your Majesty well!"

When Linda saw Zhu Houcong, he bowed deeply to him with a slight tremor in his body.

"I am safe!"

Zhu Houcong replied and raised his hand to let Lin Da stand up.

Linda thanked him and stood aside rather stiffly.

Zhu Houcong looked at him and said, "Don't be nervous. Your father asked you to tell me the truth about the Donglai gold mine. What do you want to report?"

"Start your Majesty!"

"Although I am the son-in-law of the former Southern Shao Sima Chen, this matter involves loyalty to the emperor and the orders of my father, so I have no choice but to truthfully expose the crime of collusion between my father-in-law Chen and a group of Fujian local tyrants and officials from both China and abroad to embezzle the official profits of the Donglai Gold Mine and the crime of collusion with foreigners!"

"As for the student's crime of respecting his parents, I am willing to take responsibility for it."

Linda replied with a cupped hand.

After hearing this, Zhu Houcong said, "I will not pursue the matter of offending the elders. The situation also needs to be considered when relatives conceal one another. The Great Ming Law clearly states that the matter involves deceiving the emperor and colluding with foreigners, which is not included in the category of offending the elders!"

Then, Zhu Houcong asked: "You just need to truthfully report the details of how Ling Weng and a group of Fujian local tyrants colluded with Chinese and foreign bureaucrats to embezzle the official profits of the Donglai gold mine and the crime of colluding with foreigners!"

"Yes!"

"Because the officials in charge of the Donglai Gold Mine were all provided by the wealthy and powerful in Fujian, the actual gold production of the Donglai Gold Mine is more than twice the 20,000 taels reported to the court, and the brass production is more than five times the 10,000 catties reported to the court!"

Linda replied.

When Qin Wen, the eunuch from the Imperial Household Department who was standing next to Zhu Houcong, heard this, his eyes widened and his face changed drastically.

Zhu Houcong clenched his fists and asked in a deep voice, "Are you saying that most of the gold and brass mined outside have actually been divided up by them?"

"Yes!"

After Linda returned, he glanced at Emperor Zhu Houcong.

Zhu Houcong's face was grim at this time, and he asked in a deep voice: "In other words, the gold mine in Donglai actually produced 70,000 taels of gold and more than 70,000 kilograms of brass last year. They took most of it and only left a small part for me?"

Linda continued to nod in agreement.

"Then why are they still not satisfied?!"

“And swallow it all!”

"That's my mine. Not only did they only give me a small portion, but they also petitioned to stop the mine, trying to take it all. Don't they have any respect for me as the emperor?!"

Zhu Houcong asked sternly, then gritted his teeth and looked at Linda with lightning eyes.

Lin Da couldn't help but bow his head: "Your Majesty, calm down! This is because the Western Barbarians somehow found out about the Donglai gold mine, so they told the big guys who smuggled goods to them to pass on the message that they also want a share of the Donglai gold mine, and if they don't give it to them, they will plunder Fujian."

"The local tyrants were afraid that their hometowns would be slaughtered by the Western barbarians, and they were even more afraid that the government would order them to donate money to help the people fight against the barbarians, which would offend the foreigners. So they planned to give the share that was originally given to Your Majesty to the Western barbarians! They negotiated with the Western barbarians and asked the court to order the mine to be stopped, but the Western barbarians had to ensure that they would get along with them in a friendly manner."

"Shameless!"

Qin Wen couldn't help blurting out at this time, and then realized that this was in front of the emperor, so he hurriedly apologized to Zhu Houcong: "I am rude!"

At this time, Lu Song also clenched the handle of the knife in his hand, and his expression changed slightly.

Zhu Houcong sneered: "You are right, it is indeed shameless!"

"In order to spend money to ward off disaster, you don't pay yourself, but ask me to pay and sacrifice my share."

"Nothing could be more shameless than this!"

"Is it possible that they do not respect me as much as the Western Barbarians?"

Zhu Houcong stood up and walked on the gold brick with his hands behind his back. Linda lowered his head even more, not knowing when to remain silent or when to pretend to be stupid.

After all, it was his first time to report to the emperor, so he did not dare to fail to answer every question asked by the emperor. Even if the emperor asked some questions with emotion, he told the truth about his true heartache as a noble family in Fujian.

"Because they know that Your Majesty will not massacre the Min people, but the barbaric Western barbarians will!"

"In addition, if the imperial court can't get any profit from the Donglai gold mine, they will naturally be happy to see it happen. None of them will feel guilty for eating too much, they will only feel annoyed about not having enough!"

Linda replied.

Zhu Houcong smiled faintly: "You answered honestly!"

Linda was slightly stunned and wondered if he had talked too much.
then.

Zhu Houcong asked Linda again: "With an annual output of 70,000 taels of gold and more than 70,000 kilograms of brass, do you know who in China and abroad, besides your father-in-law, has embezzled this wealth?"

"Jinyiwei Commander Zhang Jie."

Qin Wen's face changed drastically on the spot.

Lu Song did the same and looked at Zhu Houcong.

"record on file!"

At this time, Zhu Houcong just gave an order calmly.

Although Zhu Houcong purged the lower-level officers in the Jinyiwei who were responsible for guarding the palace and had collusion with the outer court, he did not purge the upper-level Jinyiwei officers.

After all, the upper echelons were all old people who had made contributions to the Hongzhi and Zhengde dynasties. If Zhu Houcong wanted to deal with them, he had to have a legitimate reason, otherwise he would not be able to convince the public.

Therefore, Zhu Houcong only promoted these people in public but demoted them in secret, giving them higher official positions but not real power.

Zhang Jie was one of them. He was originally the commander of the Jinyiwei, but was promoted by Zhu Houcong to the commander-in-chief of the Jinyiwei with salary, but he did not hold a real position. The Jinyiwei who was actually in charge of the Jinyiwei affairs became the commander-in-chief of the Jinyiwei, Wang Jing.

Qin Wen picked up the pen and bowed to say yes, then wrote Zhang Jie's name on the case with a serious expression.

This was an official of the Imperial Guard who had a good relationship with his godfather Wei Bin and even with him during the Zhengde period.

But Qin Wen didn't dare to say anything now, because he believed that Lin Da would not frame a Jinyiwei commander-in-chief for no reason.

Zhu Houcong asked Linda again: "Anything else?"

"besides!"

"speak!"

Lin Da knelt down first and said, "Before I speak, please don't be angry, Your Majesty, and don't punish me. I am just telling the truth and I dare not deceive you!"

"I know, I won't punish you."

Zhu Houcong replied.

Lin Da said: "There is the current Shangshu."

Zhu Houcong nodded.

Linda added: "There is also the Grand Secretary of the current dynasty."

Snapped!
Qin Wen was so shocked that the pen in his hand fell to the ground.

Linda couldn't help but bury her head even lower.

Qin Wen looked at Zhu Houcong: "Your Majesty, how about this?"

Zhu Houcong waved his hand, not letting Qin Wen say anything more, and just looked at Lin Da with a sullen face: "Who is the Shangshu, who is the Grand Secretary!"

"The minister is Deng Zhang, the Minister of Revenue."

"Grand Secretary... Grand Secretary, Your Majesty, do I really want to say it?"

Linda asked Zhu Houcong in return.

Because he really didn't dare to reveal the identity of this person easily. His father also reminded him before he left that the emperor might not want to know who this university scholar was, so he wanted him to confirm it again and again before saying it.

Zhu Houcong was silent for a while.

The current Grand Secretaries in the court are Mao Ji, Fei Hong, and Yang Yiqing.

Although Mao Ji did not agree with him, he believed that Mao Ji did not have the courage to do so.

On the contrary, Fei Hong and Yang Yiqing are more likely.

After all, both of them had some bad rumors about them, and they were also more courageous. The former was said to be undisciplined in the village, and the latter was said to be colluding with eunuchs. But there was another saying, that is, the former did so because King Ning hated him for not helping him and ruined his reputation, and the latter did so because he wanted to get rid of Liu Jin.

In short, it depends on what angle and standpoint you look at it from.

And anyone who can get to this position cannot be an absolutely good person.

Zhu Houcong was not that naive, so he was naturally not surprised by this.

But it is also undeniable that these two people are capable ministers, and now they are also important cabinet ministers who preside over the overall affairs of the cabinet for Zhu Houcong. They are more responsible than the chief minister Mao Ji, and not as pedantic as Shi Yao.

Therefore, in Zhu Houcong's view, this might be the reason why Lin Da did not dare to say it easily.

After all, if even one of these two grand secretaries was involved in the case, it would be difficult for him as the emperor. It would be better for him not to know about it.

But Zhu Houcong thought about it and decided to find out, because he could not deceive himself no matter what and force himself to believe that the ministers he trusted were all pure little white rabbits.

Moreover, sometimes it can be easier to control them if you have some leverage over them.

to this end.

Zhu Houcong said in a deep voice: "Speak!"

"Grand Secretary Fei Hong."

"Any more?"

"Grand Tutor Yang Tinghe."

……

The details of Fei Hong and Deng Zhang’s bribery and bribery can be found in Volume 63 of “The Veritable Records of Emperor Shenzong of the Ming Dynasty”.

The original text records: In the year of Renxu, the Chancellor of the Chancellery Gui E and Zhang Cong reported to the court that the Grand Secretary Fei Hong actually accepted the tribute jade stolen by Chen Jiuchuan, and also accepted bribes from Deng Zhang and Peng Kui, and committed illegal acts in his hometown. Hong defended himself: I thought that Jiuchuan's jade had been dealt with by the imperial decree, so it can be ignored; Deng Zhang was the general manager, and he was actually recommended by the Nine Ministers, and the jade was given to him a year ago, Zhang could not have predicted that I could not take charge! Peng Kui is prudent and honest, and he can be used in his youth, but he competed with the censor for a seat in the imperial examination, which led to slander. Therefore, I and my colleagues discussed publicly and planned to keep him, not for personal reasons! The reason why Gui E and others attacked me was that there were two teaching officials in the recent selection of Shujishi, but both of them failed, and they were upset with me, so they framed me for corruption, which was too serious! E and Cong attacked me many times for personal reasons! They attacked me because I was not allowed to be a lecturer in the Imperial Lectures, they attacked me because I was not allowed to participate in the compilation of the Records of the Imperial Examinations, they attacked me because I was not allowed to be an examiner in the two capitals, and now they are attacking me again because I am not allowed to teach. How can I compete with the newcomers with my many illnesses and no talent, and stay in danger for a long time? I only regret that the Records of the Imperial Examinations have not been completed, and my intentions have not been made clear. This is why I am reluctant to leave the imperial court! E Cong also falsely accused me of my ancestors' tombs being uncovered and my cousins ​​suffering from misfortune, all of which were attributed to my improper living in the countryside! Don't you know that this is all because the rebel Hao wanted to restore the protection, angered me and discouraged my opinions, and secretly instigated the villagers to do this? Your Majesty, please be merciful and observe! The emperor said that the matters you reported have been dealt with clearly, and there is no need to argue deeply. You should go out and take up your duties to fulfill the important trust.

According to this record, Fei Hong should have admitted that he had accepted bribes, but he blamed Gui E and Zhang Cong for bringing up the old matter because he did not give them the opportunity to participate in the imperial lectures and the compilation of the Veritable Records, as well as to serve as instructors in the Imperial Academy. It can be seen that Fei Hong was indeed not so honest.

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(End of this chapter)