My father is Chongzhen? Then I have no choice but to rebel.

Chapter 93: Evidence? You tell me about the evidence? Do you know what Jinyiwei is?

When Chongzhen saw Zhu Cilang’s raised finger, he got furious instantly!

"Unfilial son! Unfilial son! These two things together cost ten thousand taels of silver?"

"Do you know how much grain you can buy with ten thousand taels of silver?"

"How can this continue? Sooner or later, the Ming Dynasty will be destroyed by you!"

Seeing Chongzhen’s furious look, Zhu Cilang was speechless.

When did he say that these two things would cost ten thousand taels of silver?
Empress Zhou reacted quickly and comforted Chongzhen:
"Your Majesty, please don't be angry. Listen to what I have to say first. Perhaps you have misunderstood."

Misunderstand?

Chongzhen sneered:
"What's the misunderstanding here? Could it be that he wants to tell me that these two things together are only worth one tael of silver?"

Zhu Cilang interjected:

"Father, you guessed right. These two things are really only worth one or two ounces of silver!"

When Chongzhen heard this, he was completely stunned.

Even Queen Zhou was a little surprised.

Zhu Cilang continued to smile and said:
"In fact, the most expensive item is the mirror in the Queen Mother's hand, because the frame of the mirror is made of silver. If it were replaced with other materials, it would be much cheaper."

"As for the cup in Father's hand, it's actually only worth a few dozen coins."

"Also, these things were not bought. I had them made."

Chongzhen was completely defeated at this point, and even Empress Zhou was stunned.

They originally thought that these things must be extremely valuable, but they didn't expect them to be so cheap!
It’s so cheap that it’s unbelievable!

At this moment, Chongzhen suddenly reacted. He stared at Zhu Cilang and asked:
"You just said you had these things made? How much did they cost?"

When he said this, a gleam of light flashed in Chongzhen's eyes. He realized that if these things could be used to make money, it would be a huge fortune.

Although as an emperor you should not be interested in things like making money, Chongzhen was so poor that he was almost urinating blood, so how could you care so much?
Zhu Cilang did not intend to hide it and replied:

"The manufacturing cost is very low. It is made by mixing sand, lime and other things and firing them. The cost is almost nothing."

“The main cost is labor!”

When Chongzhen heard this, he was shocked to the extreme.

He never imagined that the nearly transparent glass in his hand was actually made of those inconspicuous things.

At this moment, Zhu Cilang continued:

"The reason I asked people to make these things is, frankly speaking, to make money!"

"I want to establish a Royal Chamber of Commerce in the name of the royal family, specializing in the sale of these mirrors and glass cups."

"Besides that, I've also had some other things prepared. Once these things are successful, they can also be sold."

"Besides, these things are not available in the Ming Dynasty. I'm sure we can make a lot of money."

"Of course, all the money earned will go directly into the treasury!"

When Chongzhen heard this, he felt mixed emotions.

He originally felt somewhat relieved, thinking that this unfilial son finally had some ambition.

But then he realized that even if this Royal Chamber of Commerce made money and the money went into the imperial treasury, it seemed to have nothing to do with him as the emperor.

After all, the whole world is now ruled by this rebellious son, and he is the real "emperor"!
Thinking of this, Chongzhen suddenly became less excited.

He then put down the glass in his hand and lay down on the bed, worrying about himself, which made Zhu Cilang and Queen Zhou look puzzled.

Wasn't it fine just now?
Why are you suddenly angry again?

Of course, Zhu Cilang didn’t care much. After chatting with Queen Zhou for a while, Zhu Cilang left Kunning Palace.

Before leaving, he looked up at the moon in the sky, only to see that the moon had been covered by dark clouds and the whole sky was gloomy.

What is there to say?

It's a dark and windy night, a time for murder and arson. It seems something big is going to happen tonight.
At the same time, Jiexiu, Shanxi.

Although it was past curfew, the street was still bustling with traffic and pedestrians, all of whom were wealthy people dressed in brocade and silk.

Not far away, brothels were brightly lit, and girls at the doors were constantly greeting guests.

Perhaps because the emperor is far away, or perhaps because of the political corruption in the late Ming Dynasty, Shanxi no longer pays much attention to the curfew.

The government also turns a blind eye. As long as there is no trouble, they don't bother to intervene.

In a private room of a brothel called "Zuihonglou", two people were sitting around a table, discussing something in low voices.

One of them said:
"Master Fan, how are the grain preparations for this year going? My master is pressing us hard."

The man called Mr. Fan was in his fifties or sixties and looked very wealthy.

He is the patriarch of the Fan family, one of the eight imperial merchants, and Fan Wen, the father of Fan Yongdou.

Although Fan Yongdou has always lived in Zhangjiakou, the food he needs is basically purchased from Shanxi and then transported there.

Similarly, a large part of the money he earned was transported back to his hometown.

After all, Zhangjiakou is located at the border with Mongolia, which is not very safe. It is safer to keep the silver in my hometown.

When Fan Wen heard this, he said in a somewhat unhappy tone:
"Old Chen, you have to wait a little longer. It's not that I won't try my best, but the grain you want this year is really too much, a full million dan. Where can I get so much grain?"

The old man opposite is called Chen Sheng. Although he is dressed as a Han Chinese, his real identity is a complete traitor and a Han Chinese who surrendered to the Qing army.

This time I came to help the Jiannu buy food.

Originally, this kind of thing should have been dealt with directly in Zhangjiakou, but Zhangjiakou also purchased its food from Shanxi, so he simply came directly to Shanxi.

The Jiannu were currently besieging Jinzhou, and it was unknown how long the siege would last, requiring a large amount of food as a backup. To prevent any problems, he had to ensure a large supply of food.

Hearing the other party's complaint, Mr. Chen didn't take it seriously. He just took out a silver note from his pocket and handed it over.

Fan Wen opened it calmly and then laughed, because it was a silver note worth three hundred thousand taels.

"My master said this is just a deposit!"

"Once the food arrives, the remaining money will be settled immediately."

"This isn't our first time doing business, and you should know we won't go back on our word."

Chen Sheng said.

"Of course."

When Fan Wen heard this, he smiled and agreed.

Having done business with the Jiannu for so long, he certainly knew that the Jiannu would not dare to cheat them.

After all, apart from the eight major merchants in Shanxi, no one else dared to sell food to the Jiannu.

Moreover, the price of grain they sold to the Jiannu was extremely high. One stone of grain was equivalent to four taels of silver.

One million shi is equivalent to four million taels of silver.

And they do more than just this one business, they also do businesses like tea, salt, pig iron, and intelligence.

The Fan family alone could earn three to four million silver coins from the Jiannu every year.

As for the other seven, they are pretty much the same.

In short, over the years, not only did they support the Jiannu, but the Jiannu also supported them.

Relying on the Jiannu, the eight major Shanxi merchants have become rich enough to rival a country.

As for whether doing so would bring disaster to the Ming Dynasty, they had no control over it.

After all, they are just businessmen. What does the destruction of the Ming Dynasty have to do with them?
Even if the Ming Dynasty was really destroyed, they would just replace it with a new court.

creak!

Suddenly at this moment, a soft sound was heard.

Then a waiter opened the door and walked in, carrying several plates of food and wine.

The two of them quickly shut up and stopped talking.

The waiter walked in, placed the food and drinks on the table, and said with a smile:

"Please enjoy your meal, gentlemen."

Fan Wen didn't say anything, just casually threw out a piece of silver and then spit out a word.

"roll!"

When the waiter saw the silver, his eyes lit up instantly. He quickly knelt on the ground to pick up the silver, then nodded and bowed as he retreated.

He also said:

"Thank you both for your rewards. I wish you both great fortune and prosperity."

When the two of them heard what the waiter said, they suddenly felt relieved.

But what neither of them noticed was that the moment the waiter turned around and walked out, his eyes suddenly turned cold.

Then he trotted back to the kitchen, put down the tray in his hand, and walked out through the small door of the kitchen.

Soon they came to a dark alley. There was nothing in the alley except a beggar curled up there, and no one knew whether he was dead or alive.

The waiter walked over and said:

"It's work."

When the beggar heard this, he jumped up instantly.

Respectfully:
"Greetings, Lord Centurion!"

The waiter known as the centurion said coldly:
"Go back and tell the deputy magistrate that the Fan family's specific assets have been fully investigated and we can start anytime."

When the beggar heard this, he bowed and then hurried away.

The waiter's name was Zhang Yongfa. His real identity was a captain of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, one of the Embroidered Uniform Guards that Zhu Cilang had sent from Beijing before.

There were more than 200 people like him. They arrived in Shanxi earlier than the main force. They changed horses along the way but did not change people. It took them only three days to reach the destination, a distance of more than 1,000 miles.

After arriving in Shanxi, they immediately divided into eight groups, each responsible for investigating one of the eight imperial merchants.

Zhang Yongfa is responsible for the Jiexiu Fan family!

If nothing unexpected happens, the other Jinyiwei should have almost completed their mission.

But don't get me wrong, their main purpose is not to investigate the evidence of the eight imperial merchants collaborating with the enemy and selling out their country, but to find out their property and all the shops and land under their names.

It will be convenient for the large army to come and search the house directly!
As for why they didn’t first look for evidence of the eight imperial merchants’ treason and then search their properties, it was of course because they were the Imperial Guards!

Do you know what Jinyiwei is?

Special permission from the emperor, execute first and report later!
Ask the Jinyiwei for evidence and they will give you a pile of evidence in minutes!
This is also what Zhu Cilang meant.

Zhu Cilang knew clearly that although the eight imperial merchants' hometowns were in Shanxi, their main activities were in the Zhangjiakou area.

So Zhu Cilang actually sent two groups of people to deal with the affairs of the eight imperial merchants.

One group of people went directly to Shanxi to search the houses, and another group went to Zhangjiakou, Hebei, to secretly monitor the every move of the eight imperial merchants.

After we have finished ransacking the houses in Shanxi, we will then take action in Zhangjiakou.

After all, the eight imperial merchants made money, and most of the money would be shipped directly back to their hometown in Shanxi, so it was natural to raid their hometown first!
(End of this chapter)