Jiajing Chengming

Chapter 239: Killing the Censor, interrogating the person in charge, and the terrified nobles!
Under the red sky.

Su Rongshou looked at the blood-red sword blade in front of him and trembled like a sieve.

"Wang."

"Master Su!"

Before Su Rongshou could speak, the imperial censor Yan Weiqing shouted and looked at Zhang Cong, cursing, "Traitor!"

Pfft!

Censor Yan Weiqing's throat was pierced immediately.

His mouth was half open, spitting out blood.

His eyes were hollow and his pupils were white.

Zhang Cong drew his sword again, ignoring the censor Yan who had fallen to the ground, covered his throat with his hands, twisted his body wildly, and made a creaking sound, and just pointed at Su Rongshou:
"Say!"

Bang!
Su Rongshou fainted on the ground because he saw two people being killed in succession.

Zhang Cong hurriedly asked someone to pour him a pot of icy river water.

Su Rongshou was suddenly awakened when he was poured with water.

"Spare your life!"

"Bu Tang, spare my life!"

As soon as Su Rongshou woke up, he kowtowed and begged for mercy.

He was really scared!

He thought that his people were already bad enough, but he didn't expect that Zhang Cong was even worse than them!
Zhang Cong said: "Just tell me who ordered you to burn the factory and slander me, and I can file a petition for you to ask the court for a lighter punishment!"

"It's Minister Wang's house."

Su Rongshou replied.

Zhang Cong asked again: "Is it Wang Hu, the former Right Governor of Henan who moved to Hangzhou?"

"Yes!"

Su Rongshou replied.

then.

Zhang Cong asked again: "Are there any bamboos or wood in the burned bamboo and wood warehouses?"

"no!"

“It’s all empty!”

Su Rongshou replied.

Zhang Cong then asked: "Why is the Tianzi number full again?"

"Because the ones with the highest quality must be kept as evidence that you burned a large amount of bamboo and wood, so that Your Majesty will think that the warehouses were indeed full of bamboo and wood, but they were burned by you, Mr. Zhang."

Su Rongshou replied.

Zhang Cong continued to ask: "Do you have any evidence? Otherwise, how can I believe that you are not slandering a second-rank official!"

Su Rongshou replied: "I have solid evidence!"

"What evidence?"

"Because the bamboo and wood from other factories and warehouses, in addition to being concentrated in the Tianzi warehouse to supplement the annual income, were all given to his Wang family and several other wealthy families in Hangzhou! There should be no less than twenty golden nanmu trees hidden in his Wang family's private collection!"

"Privately storing golden nanmu wood is a crime against heaven!"

"If it's true, then you have really done a great deed. Not only might you be spared death, but you might even be able to get some credit!"

Zhang Cong then instructed Li Bing, the commander of Zhejiang Province, "General Li, have your men write a confession immediately according to what he said! Then follow me to Hangzhou City to meet with Wang Fangbo!"

Li Bing nodded and said yes, looking very excited.

Because he also knew that golden nanmu was indeed a wood that was forbidden to be collected by the public. Anyone who privately collected golden nanmu was like privately collecting armor.

After all, golden nanmu is a wood used exclusively by the royal family.

Of course, although golden nanmu was exclusively used by the royal family, there were still wealthy families in the folk who pursued luxury or sought huge profits and would boldly hoard it privately. For example, the family of Li Sancai, a wealthy man in Tongzhou and an important figure of the Donglin Party in history, was revealed to have hoarded a large amount of golden nanmu.

Zhang Cong and others were well aware of how bold the common gentry and wealthy families of that era were, so they naturally had no doubts and rushed to Hangzhou City shortly afterwards.

……

……

In Hangzhou city.

West Lake.

Inside the Wang family villa, there were lanterns and decorations, and the sounds of opera singing and playing of the sheng could be heard continuously.

Saying.

After Wang Hu, the former Right Governor of Henan Province, made a fortune by participating in the collection of grain and fodder for the suppression of Liu Liu and Liu Qi in Henan, he bought land and built a new garden by the West Lake and began to lead a life of luxury and debauchery.

Basically, every month, the Wang family holds celebrations for various reasons.

Today happens to be the day when Wang Hu, who is over 60 years old, takes in another concubine.

He was tired of listening to the old troupe, so he specially spent a lot of money to invite a new famous troupe of Kunqu Opera from Suzhou. Many relatives and friends came to listen to the performance under the pretext of celebration. Wang Hu was also happy to show off his wealth. While listening to the performance, he also talked and laughed with his old friends on the top of the theater, looking at the red light in the sky like clouds, and talked about another performance they personally directed.

"Mr. Wang, the opera troupe you invited is indeed good, but I still think the opera in the Chufen Factory is more exciting!"

Wu Xun, the eunuch in charge of weaving in Hangzhou, was also a good friend of Wang Hu, so he also started talking to Wang Hu in the theater with a smile.

Wang Hu smiled and said, "When the time comes, it will be thanks to the eunuch who filed a secret report to impeach Zhang Cong! After all, the eunuch is a member of the palace, and His Majesty will be more willing to trust the eunuch."

"We have already submitted a petition, and the secret petition will surely reach Changzhou tomorrow."

Wu Xun replied.

Let’s talk.

After Zhu Houcong issued an edict to withdraw the eunuchs in charge of garrison, customs and purchasing affairs in various places, he only left the weaving eunuchs in Hangzhou and Suzhou in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas.

Wu Xun, the eunuch in charge of weaving in Hangzhou, had been in Jiangnan for too long and had long been in cahoots with the local gentry. He was more supportive of not levying more commercial taxes in terms of interests, and even hoped that Zhu Houcong would fail to accomplish anything with the help of Zhang Cong, a civil servant, so that he, the eunuchs, could suggest to the emperor to re-employ eunuchs to do work in various places.

Therefore, Wu Xun was also willing to join the Zhejiang gentry in falsely accusing Zhang Cong.

"Your Majesty is spreading the sins of the Portuguese and threatening to declare war on them. It is obvious that he is trying to seize the benefits of maritime trade in the future!"

Wang Hu also mentioned Zhu Houcong at this time.

Wu Xun nodded and said, "Precisely because of this, if the emperor knew that it was Zhang Cong who ruined his plan, then Zhang Cong would be dead for sure!"

"That's right! But even though this time he wants to use the emperor's desire to build ships to harm Zhang Cong, it's really better for His Majesty to give up building warships."

Wang Hu started talking.

Wu Xun continued to nod: "Yes! I have written a letter to the palace, asking them to find a way to speak for the Portuguese in front of the emperor!"

"Master, thank you Master Jiu for arriving!"

And this time.

Wang Hu's family came over and reported.

After hearing this, Wang Hu, Wu Xun and others became nervous and hurried down the theater to greet them.

It turned out that Mr. Xie Jiu was a relative of Xie Qian, a cabinet minister during the Hongzhi Dynasty. Now that he came to the Wang family, he was representing the Xie family to show support for the Wang family.

In Zhejiang Province, the real number one prominent family is naturally not the Wang family, but the Xie family.

After all, whether in terms of influence in the court or the scale of secret smuggling and maritime trade, the Xie family is the largest family in Zhejiang.

Although Wang Hu's family became a family of ministers because his brother was posthumously awarded the title of Minister of Rites, it was still far behind the family of Xie Qianzhi, who was a high-ranking official.

Even though Xie Jiu was just a member of the Xie family, many powerful and wealthy people had to treat him with great respect.

"Master Jiu, I wonder if the elder is doing well?"

Therefore, when Wang Hu saw Xie Jiu, he bowed and greeted Xie Qianlai.

Xie Jiu accepted Wang Hu's gift with a smile: "The elder is naturally well, thank you for your concern, Lord Wang!"

Even the weaving eunuch Wu Xun followed suit and bowed, saying, "It is a blessing for us that the Lord is well! I met the Lord when I was studying in the inner school. At that time, he was only a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy. Now, many years have passed."

Xie Jiu smiled slightly, then asked Wang Hu: "Our Second Master sent me to ask if the fire in the branch factory has started?"

"It's already burning."

"Master Jiu can go upstairs and take a look."

Wang Hu replied with a smile.

Xie Jiuze said: "I just wanted to see this scene."

Finished.

Xie Jiu went up to the theater, looked at the fire that had dimmed in the distance, and said, "Good! Zhang Fujing will definitely die!"

"Master Jiu is right. As long as Zhang Fujing dies, no one will dare to mention raising business taxes!"

Wang Hu came over with a cane and echoed the comment.

Wu Xun also said: "If I were Zhang Fujing, I might as well commit suicide to prove my innocence! This might even help the emperor clear his doubts about him!"

……

……

Let’s talk.

At this time, Zhang Cong also came to Wang's house with soldiers from the Zhejiang Command.

Wang Hu's family quickly informed Wang Hu about this.

Xie Jiu, who was also here, was shocked when he heard this: "What is he doing here? Didn't Yan Weiqing and the others scare him?"

Wu Xun also looked stunned: "Logically, he shouldn't know about us."

Wang Hu was calmer, and said with a sullen face: "Good people don't come, and those who come are not good. You will know once you meet them."

"Oh!"

Just as Wang Hu finished speaking, soldiers from the Zhejiang Military Command rushed in, scaring the Wang family women inside the curtain to scream, and many men also ran away in panic.

The leader, Li Bing, was the first to step onto the stage with a knife in hand, and looked at Wang Hu and the others, "I am following the orders of the Minister! You are not allowed to leave without permission! All of you must stay where you are and wait for orders!"

(End of this chapter)