Nanyang Storm 1864

Chapter 31: The Crime of Corrupting the Nation's Foundation
After receiving the order, the staff advisor Dong Huanzhang went to the backyard to check the treasure.

Countless precious jades sparkled brightly, piled up like a small mountain, which dazzled Dong Huanzhang's eyes, but he could not estimate their value.

no way

He could only arrange for his trusted confidants to sort these treasures into categories, putting the gold, pearls and jade whose value could be calculated aside, and the treasures and calligraphy and paintings whose value could not be determined into another pile.

In order to avoid leaks, Dong Huanzhang invited several senior managers of jewelry stores to appraise the precious curios and paintings separately, and then combined the figures together.

After a few days of hard work, we finally came up with the final figures.

The treasure trove of these Taiping remnants is worth nearly 70 taels of silver, which is not much different. It is simply an astonishing fortune.

When this report was sent to Zheng Guohui, he was so happy that he couldn't stop smiling. He immediately decided to bring the treasures back with him when he returned home to visit his relatives.

He wanted to exchange gold and silver into pounds so that he could trade with foreigners in the future.

Those precious calligraphy and paintings cannot be lost in one's hands and can only be collected. They are historical heritage.

There are happy things and sad things these days.

Zheng Guohui arranged for Dong Huanzhang to jointly organize the Jinling Military Academy and the Tzu Chi Association. The Jinling Military Academy was named after the great enemy Fuzhu Hong'a, and soon the first training class was organized.

All the students in the first training class were officers from the Dubiao Battalion. According to Zheng Guohui's requirements, all of them, whether they were captains, captains, external commissioners, or team leaders, had to be trained in rotation, and no one could be left out.

The Tzu Chi Association was registered under the name of an unrelated person and had two main functions: one was to provide porridge and charity during famine, and the other was to shelter orphaned and homeless children and run Tzu Chi schools to conceal their activities.

These matters were carried out smoothly, and Zheng Guohui also began to prepare for returning home to visit his relatives, but he received a letter from the Provincial Administration Commissioner's Office for investigation, which directly pointed out the "smuggling of salt" case.

If he hadn't said it, Zheng Guohui would have almost forgotten about it.

When he saw the document from the Provincial Administration Commissioner for Review, Zheng Guohui sneered, and anger grew in his heart.

You are really crazy to want to use the Provincial Administration Commissioner's Office to put pressure on me.

This is the disadvantage of the Third Master Zheng Yufang's lack of experience in handling affairs;
He only knew that the Provincial Governor was the chief executive of a province, but he was not clear about the secrets between him and the military, nor was he clear about the grudges between the two sides?
If you use your strength in the wrong direction, how can you get any good results?
The Governor Elong and Zheng Guohui had basically revealed their true colors, but they did not publicize it widely so that everyone knew about it.

It is impossible for the two to communicate privately and reach a tacit understanding.

The "smuggling salt" incident was successfully resolved, and everyone was happy in the end, because the two people did not have such a deep friendship.

If Elong wants to intervene, he can only do so impartially.

Therefore, he sent out inspection documents through the branch governors under the provincial government (who were mainly responsible for conveying and urging the provincial government's official business to various prefectures and autonomous prefectures), so that the supervisory camp had to cooperate with the inspection.

This is an open procedure and is recorded in the court.

If you make any mistake, you will be caught by the provincial government.

Qiyun Tower

This is a brothel by the Qinhuai River. After the recovery of Jinling City, the first place to be restored was the misty place by the Qinhuai River.

Brothels were reopened one after another, attracting countless talented men and wealthy businessmen, and soon became abnormally prosperous.

A frequent visitor among them is Lord Fuzhu Hong'a, who is now rich, has free time and loves to play.

He now sleeps in a brothel, staying in one brothel after another, and has not been back to the Jiangnan Governor's Office for more than half a month.

"Sir, I think this is directed at you. We are all officials of the imperial court. Can't we discuss matters in private? Why do you have to make it known to everyone? What's your intention?"

Zheng Guohui's tone was full of provocation and his expression was indignant.

He sat opposite Bok Joo Hong Ah. The table between them was filled with delicacies. The room was filled with the strong scent of pink cosmetics, but there was no woman.

This kind of private conversation should not be known to more people.

Lord Fuzhu Hong'a has gained a lot of weight compared to six months ago, and there are some blue circles under his eyes, which is a sign of excessive indulgence.

After all, he was in his early forties, his body already hollowed out by alcohol and sex. This nightly revelry was like a knife scraping his bones, ruthlessly destroying his health foundation. But who told Master Fuzhu Hong'a to like this kind of life?
There are some things that cannot be advised.

For example, if a dog wants to eat shit, and you try to stop it, the dog may think you are trying to steal the shit from it, and may even bite you back. So why bother?

After listening to Zheng Guohui's instigation, Bok Joo Hong Ah's fat face flushed abnormally, and she angrily slammed the table and cursed;
"This rotten-hearted Elong can't bear to see me live a good life, and he deliberately wants to harm me.

Bah, don’t think I don’t know how much benefit those salt merchants gave him?
It must be at least tens of thousands of taels of silver, otherwise, how dare Elong, this rotten coward from a slave family, stand up for once?
If I don't show my power, do you really think I'm a kitten or a puppy? "

"Sir, I'll arrest Zheng Yufang. Under the guise of Sanmu, I don't believe he's a tough guy. As long as the bribery is proven, Elong will be impeached. He'll have a lot to worry about."

"Don't worry, a mere matter of tens of thousands of taels of silver may not be enough to impeach the high-ranking officials of the provincial governor." Fuzhu Hong'a was worthy of being a descendant of the royal family. He was naturally very sensitive to the affairs of the court and knew the intricacies and importance of them.

In this regard, Zheng Guohui lacks a lot.

Bok Joo Hong Ah picked up the wine glass in front of him and drank it all. Zheng Guohui quickly picked up the wine pot and filled another glass for the adult.

I asked casually, "What should I do then?"

"Tell me, can the smuggling of salt be confirmed?" Fuzhu Hong'a did not answer, but asked a question in return.

Zheng Guohui nodded without hesitation and lowered his voice, "The salt permit is for 15,000 dan, and the stock in the warehouse is already 20,000 dan. The excess is naturally smuggled salt."

"It's not enough. We need to store another 5,000 stones in the warehouse. Even if the sales of illegal salt are a little less, grandpa will take action this time to bring down that evil bastard Elong, so as to relieve the hatred in his heart." Fuzhu Hong'a said with a drunken mouth.

Zheng Guohui understood and replied, "Okay, I'll order it done right away and have it done before I return home from visiting my parents."

"Then let's put this off for now. I'll send a letter to the capital first. Once everything is ready, we'll work with the court officials to investigate, giving that scoundrel Elong no chance to bite back. Then, we'll charge him with "corruption, bribery, conspiracy to smuggle salt, and erosion of the national foundation." Let's see if he lives or dies."

Damn it, you are still so cruel!

"Corroding the foundation of the country" is a serious crime, almost equivalent to the serious crime of "treason". Once it is verified, the court will be shocked. The person will be taken to Wushikou and executed by slow slicing, and the whole family will be in trouble.

If a provincial official secretly colluded with salt merchants and sought to make huge profits from smuggling salt, it would be a heinous crime.

The salt tax in Jianghuai accounted for a quarter of the court's fiscal expenditure. It was the real financial and tax center. A special office was set up for the Lianghuai Salt Transport Commissioner. It is not inappropriate to say that it was "eroding the national foundation."

Especially at this time, the imperial court had failed in two foreign wars and had to pay huge war reparations to foreigners.

Now the Ministry of Revenue is "eating the food of the next year in the current year", and even the customs revenue has been pledged to the foreigners from England. There are huge holes everywhere in the financial expenditure.

The Empress Dowager didn't even have the money to build a garden, which shows how cramped she was.

If the two Empress Dowagers knew about this, they would be furious. A mere Elong would not be able to withstand the storm of thunder, and it would be extremely difficult for him to survive.

"Okay, I'll do as you say, sir." Zheng Guohui agreed happily.

Anyone who dares to touch his illegal salt business will be Zheng Guohui's mortal enemy and will be destroyed as soon as possible.

With the precedent of Elong as an example, whoever takes over as the Jiangnan Provincial Administration will have to think carefully.

It must be one of the two: to enjoy the profits from the private salt business in peace, or to fight to the death.

among these people
Zheng Guohui was one, Fuzhu Hong'a was one, Fuzhu Shoushan was one, Jinling prefect Cao Yucheng was one, and more than a dozen prefecture and county officials, one after another, embezzled the profits from the court's salt tax, and no one had any psychological burden.

think about it

When the foreigners attacked the capital a few years ago, the common people carried loads and ladders to help fight. This shows how unpopular the imperial court is now.

Anyone who doesn't take the opportunity to grab something is a fool, even the Manchu royal family thinks so.

When the day comes when the building is about to collapse, it doesn’t matter who comes to rule the world.

As long as you have money in your hands, you can still eat delicious food and drink spicy drinks and live a rich life like a superior person.

Taking your destiny into your own hands is the wisest choice.

(End of this chapter)