Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 217 Wei Zhongxian's New Job

Wang An said this because the Western Depot's accounts, big or small, were all controlled by the Audit Bureau. The Western Depot's headquarters accounts were managed by the Internal Audit Department, while accounts sent to the Western Depot by other internal government offices were reviewed by the External Audit Department. Regardless of whether the accounts were internal or external, unless the emperor came in person, any account books could not be taken out of the Western Depot without the seal of the Director. Director Mi Mengshang had just finished dinner with the emperor.

"Where is Cui Wensheng's account book?" Wang An asked.

"It's on my son's desk." Cao Huachun returned to his desk and picked up the account book Cui Wensheng had presented. He glanced at his godfather, and seeing he had no intention of looking through it himself, he opened it to the last page and read, "There's a slight discrepancy between the figures Chen Feng and Liang Yong gave and the figures Supervisor Cui has actually copied down. This doesn't include jewelry, antiques, paintings and calligraphy by famous people, land deeds and real estate, horses, spices, male and female slaves, and other items that can't be liquidated at the moment. It's calculated solely on gold and silver."

"Currently, the silver seized from Chen Feng is 349,752 taels, and the cash is 1,611 taels. The silver seized from Liang Yong is 612,043 taels, and the cash is 3,043 taels. The total silver is 961,795 taels, and the cash is 4,654 taels."

Wang An was not at all surprised by this total. He was very skeptical of the vague terms such as "one in ten or two in ten" and "eight or nine in ten" mentioned in Zhao Zhigao's memorial. In comparison, he preferred to use the estimate in Huang Kezan's memorial, 250,000 to 78,000. In this case, the collection ratio of the eunuchs in charge of the mining taxes was slightly more than 10% collection and 3% payment. The two servants, Chen Feng and Liang Yong, contributed a total of more than 390,000 taels of silver, a number of treasures, and zero cash to the imperial treasury while in charge of the mining taxes. It was more reasonable that these two servants could copy these figures after more than ten years after they were summoned by the late emperor and returned to the capital.

"Let me see it." Wang An stretched out his index finger and hooked it. Cao Huachun immediately turned the account book to the page with the detailed account and handed it over.

Wang An carefully read through the pages and discovered that most of the hidden locations described were outside the Beijing city walls, in nameless places. The descriptions usually referred to a residence or temple a certain distance in a certain direction, with references to surrounding buildings, unusual rocks, and trees. Unlike the Zheng Yangxing case, which described a specific residence on a certain street in a certain neighborhood, the descriptions were often based on a specific address.

"According to Supervisor Cui, the two men's main hiding places are within the capital. They also have a small amount of property and former lackeys scattered across their former posts," Cao Huachun continued. "Regarding their property, Supervisor Cui has already sent people to confiscate it. As for whether to arrest those lackeys, Supervisor Cui would like to hear the opinion of the Imperial Household Department first."

"Any other arrests will require a separate request. I'll speak to His Majesty tomorrow." Wang An closed the account book and handed it back to Cao Huachun. Then he asked, "Have the surveillance records from the Imperial Guard been submitted?"

"Surveillance records? Wait a minute, godfather." Cao Huachun was a little surprised. After the Donglin Party incident was resolved, Wang An hadn't personally inquired about the Jinyiwei's surveillance records for a long time.

"Come here. Go and get the surveillance records of the Jinyiwei over the past few days." Cao Huachun called.

Wang An tapped the table and said, "That's enough for today."

"Yes." Cao Huachun greeted a few more times.

Not long after, an eunuch in charge of the court documents brought over a thin booklet. "Grandmaster, young master, please."

"Just read it directly." Wang An leaned back lazily in his chair and said, "Let's see where Elder Liu went today."

"Yes." The eunuch opened the book.

The books recording surveillance records were custom-made and distributed by the Jingchang (Jingchang) under the Silijian (Silijian) Each day, a copy, called a "diary," was used. Three copies were made: one copy remained with the Jinyiwei (Jielisi) for records, one copy was sent to the Western Depot, and one copy was handed over to the Silijian (Silijian) Each month, these three offices would create a special book, called a "monthly diary," for a specific official. When creating the monthly diary, the three offices would destroy all diaries from that month. When an official left office or died, the three offices would record their life and destroy any unnecessary records to reduce storage pressure on the bookkeeping warehouse.

The diary's structure is to record civil affairs first, followed by military affairs, and high-ranking events first, followed by low-ranking events. Additionally, several pages are dedicated to recording the whereabouts of individuals under special surveillance. These individuals were designated by the emperor or the eunuchs in charge of the Imperial Household Department, or individuals or departments that the Jinyiwei felt warranted to record. These could also simply be unusual occurrences.

The Cabinet was the highest-priority civil service office, so the eunuch in charge of official documents quickly found the relevant record. He read: "A record of Liu Yirong, Minister of Rites and Grand Secretary of the Eastern Pavilion. At 6:15 AM, he left home for the residence of Grand Secretary Han Yu. At 1:15 PM, he and Han Yu went to the residence of Sun Ruyou, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Revenue in Nanjing. At 2:15 PM, he left Sun's residence and returned home. That's all."

The emperor did not order a "reign of terror" of strict inspections and investigations. Therefore, the Jinyiwei did not bribe or intimidate officials to gain access to their homes. Therefore, they do not know what Liu Yirong and Han Yu did or said when they went to Sun Ruyou's place.

"Sun Ruyou," Wang An beckoned, and the eunuch handed the book to him. Wang An was the most educated of his generation, capable of reading ten lines at a glance, so he quickly flipped through the entire book. "Okay, that's all for you. Put it back." Instead of handing the book back, Wang An tossed it directly onto the desk.

"Yes." The eunuch picked up the book from the table and put it back to its original place.

"What happened to Lord Liu?" Cao Huachun asked at this time.

"Nothing serious." Wang An shook his head and said, "I ran into him this morning when I went to Zhang's house. His Majesty mentioned it casually, but I can't just ignore it. If His Majesty thinks of it again and suddenly asks about it, I have to say something."

Wang An chuckled inexplicably. He thought of the surveillance footage of Zhang's residence he had just seen.

Currently, those who have been clearly marked as targets of special surveillance include various important figures in the Jesuit Order in Beijing, five maritime merchant representatives, and Zhang Shirui.

The Imperial Guards responsible for monitoring the Zhang residence reported that at 2:15 this morning, an unknown man entered the residence and remained there for nearly an hour. He also delivered a packaged gift to the Zhang residence. After his departure, the sedan chair carrying the man entered the Imperial City through Dong'an Gate. The Jinyi Guards who recorded the incident suspected a connection between the Zhang residence and a palace eunuch and requested the assistance of the Western Depot in the investigation. Furthermore, shortly after the man's departure, the Zhang residence sent for a female doctor. The identity of the doctor remains unknown.

"Send someone to call Wei Zhongxian, he has something to do." Wang An ordered.

------

Half an hour later, Wei Zhongxian followed the instructions and trotted to the quiet room in the back hall of the Imperial Household Department. The sun was still out and the sky was still bright, but the candlesticks in the quiet room were already lit with new candles.

"Your servant pays homage to the ancestor." Wei Zhongxian's attitude was still as respectful as ever.

"Stand up and sit down to talk." Wang An tapped the table lightly with his knuckles.

"Yes." Wei Zhongxian stood up. Cao Huachun, who was standing beside Wang An, immediately saluted Wei Zhongxian and said, "Greetings to the ancestor Wei."

"You're too polite, Admiral Cao." Wei Zhongxian replied.

The titles within the Imperial Household Department are very particular. Unless one has an absolute advantage in rank, it is absolutely not acceptable to not address or call someone by their name, no matter what the occasion. As the most favored and powerful eunuch in the Imperial Household Department, Wang An is a well-deserved ancestor. In the internal official system, he is only equal to Han Benyong, the new eunuch in charge of the Imperial Horse Department. Except for Han Benyong, everyone has to call him ancestor, and usually without his surname. Only his godsons have the privilege of calling him "godfather".
However, when meeting the two Weis and one Cui, the three great eunuchs who held the imperial pen, Wang An's adopted sons still had to follow the rules and, like other ordinary eunuchs, address them by their surname or rank, and call them "ancestors." Of course, when referring to them to others rather than to their faces, they could also address them by their surname and title. For example, Cui Wensheng was referred to as Cui the Factory Supervisor, Cui the Pen, or the Second Ancestor.

After the proper greetings, Wang An said to Wei Zhongxian, "I called you here to ask you to do something." "It's the ancestor's order. I will do it with all my heart," Wei Zhongxian replied respectfully.

Wang An's face was as sullen as water, showing no emotion. "Sending someone to Nanjing is Zhang Xianyong's responsibility."

"Zhang Xianyong's matter." Wei Zhongxian was startled, and immediately became alert. He asked eagerly: "Should we arrest him and bring him to Beijing for trial, or investigate him here?"

"Neither." Wang An shook his head slightly and said, "Let him go."

"Release him!" Wei Zhongxian was confused at first, then thought of the surveillance report sent by the Jinyiwei. He was naturally suspicious, and this was no exception. But he only asked, "Grandmaster, please allow me to ask one more question. Does the Lord know about this?"

At this moment, Wang An's face finally showed a subtle expression. "Of course, this is what our Lord has instructed us to do."

"I am sorry for being rude." Wei Zhongxian immediately suppressed the gleam in his pupils and interpreted the four words "lower brows and pleasing to the eye" to the fullest.

"It's a good thing to ask this question. At least it will help you remember it." Although Wang An's eyes were still indifferent, there was at least some warmth in his tone.

"I will remember the teachings of my master, Your Majesty." Wei Zhongxian climbed up the pole.

Wang An got to the point and said, "The court will soon issue an imperial edict officially conferring upon Zhang Xianyong the title of Grand True Man of the Zhengyi Successor Sect, placing him in charge of all Taoist affairs. The title itself is unimportant; the Ministry of Rites will draft it."

Zhang Guoxiang, the Grand Master of the Zhengyi Sect, died in the 39th year of the Wanli reign. That same year, Zhang Xianyong inherited the sect and became the de facto 51st generation Celestial Master. However, for various reasons, he was never officially canonized by the imperial court.

"The imperial edict will order Zhang Xianyong to rush to Beijing at the same time as he is conferred the title. At that time, the Western Factory surrounding the Tianfei Palace will be withdrawn. Cough." Wang An coughed lightly, then drank a sip of warm water to moisten his dry throat.

Wei Zhongxian nodded thoughtfully and asked, "Deal with him on the way?"

Wei Zhongxian was a man of quick wits, and he had already figured out the general situation without much thought. If it were simply to confer the title on Zhang Xianyong and summon him to the capital, there would be no need for Wei Zhongxian to come to the quiet room to discuss the matter. He could simply have the eunuchs pass a note to the Western Depot. Wang An could even avoid inquiring. Once the imperial edict reached Nanjing, the Western Depot surrounding the Tianfei Palace would withdraw on their own. Such secrecy was clearly a sign of a shady plot.

"Yes." Wang An nodded, his voice dampened by warm water as he uttered the dry, cold, and bloody words. "Zhang Xianyong cannot reach Beijing. He must die on the way."

"I understand." Wei Zhongxian guessed based on the intelligence he had that the emperor wanted to burn the card of Zhang Xianyong to appease the Nanjing officials headed by the eunuch Lu Xian'an who was in charge of Nanjing and Xu Hongji, the Duke of Wei.

"Does Zhang Yingjing want to stay?" Wei Zhongxian asked.

"No, no, no. You don't understand." Wang An shook his head repeatedly and said, "I'm not asking you to kill Zhang Xianyong. Don't do it, West Factory."

"That's..." Wei Zhongxian paused, then suddenly realized. "Oh! I understand."

"Heh." Wang An snorted coldly, then continued, "I don't care whether you know this or not. Anyway, I'm going to make it clear to you. Don't do anything on your own about this matter."

"Yes." Wei Zhongxian replied.

"The person who killed Zhang Xianyong could only have come from Nanjing. And no matter what method you use, you must completely disclaim responsibility." To emphasize, Wang An added, "After Zhang Xianyong dies, the court will posthumously honor him."

"Kill with a borrowed knife?" Although it was a question, Wei Zhongxian nodded.

"Yes, that's it." Wang An instructed: "Do it beautifully."

"Where is Zhang Yingjing? Should he stay or not?" Wei Zhongxian repeated the previous question.

"What do you think?" Wang An asked back.

"I think he can stay," Wei Zhongxian replied.

"Reason." Wang An simply spit out two words.

"First, he's young and relatively new, making him easy to control. Second, we can leave one person alive to protest his innocence." Wei Zhongxian dropped the pretense and said directly, "That way, we can legitimately arrest and deal with the person who killed Zhang Xianyong."

"That's quite thoughtful. It's better for Zhang Yingjing to be alive. After Zhang Xianyong's death, we can escort Zhang Yingjing to Beijing in the name of the Factory Guard." Wang An hesitated for a moment and said again, "No, it's better for Zhang Yingjing not to come to Beijing. Send him directly back to Longhu Mountain and ask for a token of justice and a letter from him to plead his innocence."

"As you command." Wei Zhongxian accepted the order and then asked tentatively, "I recently received a surveillance video from the Embroidered Uniform Guard, which mentioned the incident at the Zhang Mansion. I wonder if the old ancestor has reviewed it?"

Wang An was silent for a moment, then said, "No need to look. I accompanied His Majesty to the Zhang Mansion."

"The Emperor has visited the Zhang residence." Wei Zhongxian's mind raced.

Before he could come up with an answer, Wang An directly solved the mystery: "So, you must complete your task beautifully. Leave no trace. Do you understand?"

(End of this chapter)