Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 29 Cui Wensheng’s “Perfect Plan”

Snapped!
"Ah! I confess! I confess! But you ask me! What am I supposed to confess if you don't ask me questions?" In the East Factory dungeon, a man with only his trousers on was tied to a torture rack. He was whipped twice in a row, but the interrogator in front of him refused to ask any questions.

The saltwater whip was a unique interrogation method used by the Eastern Depot. No matter who was on the rack, they would be stripped naked and whipped three times with a saltwater-soaked whip before the interrogation began.

Snapped!
The strong man wielding the whip hit the victim with great force, each lash leaving the victim's skin and flesh exposed. If his superiors gave him special instructions, he could also hit the victim's skin repeatedly with such precision that after only three lashes, the victim's bones could be seen through the wound.

"Ah! Please stop hitting me! I will answer whatever you ask." The man being tortured came from the Zheng Mansion, whose property was confiscated. He was a clerk who managed the accounts for Zheng Yangxing.

The clerk's identity was not public. To outsiders, he was just an ordinary attendant. Aside from being a bit too old to be a suitable companion for the peculiar tastes of Governor Zheng, there was nothing special about him.

However, Governor Zheng's little tricks were like child's play in front of the East Factory, which had a wide range of investigative methods and rich experience in extracting confessions.

Under the leadership of Admiral Cui Wensheng, the Eastern Depot conducted a thorough search of Zheng Yangxing's residence, uncovering currency and treasures valued at over two million taels of silver. However, despite their best efforts, the officers could not find the account books documenting the source of the treasures, nor the clerk responsible for keeping them.

Xing Bing, the detective officer in charge of the investigation, was keenly aware that the two items had been hidden somehow. However, Xing Bing's authority was insufficient, so he could only state his suspicions to his superior, Zou Kaiyun, the Chief of Criminal Affairs, who was in charge of the scene, and let Zou Kaiyun make his own decision.

Zou Kaiyun's idea was simple: to implement the instructions of Admiral Cui and expand the area without limit wherever it could be expanded.

Before the confiscation of her property, Concubine Zheng had secured a "return to her native place" for her nephew, Zheng Yangxing, in exchange for leaving the Qianqing Palace and giving up her title of empress. However, this grace was limited to Zheng Yangxing and his wife and children; the rest of the Zheng family remained under investigation. Therefore, once Zheng Yangxing and his wife and children left the Zheng residence, the entire residence became a "place ripe for unlimited expansion."

So, under Zou Kaiyun's command, the Dongchang guards brutally tortured and abused the male and female servants staying at the Zheng residence, uncovering numerous clues. After piecing together these clues, Zheng Yangxing's accountant and clerk were revealed.

"What's your name?" Zou Kaiyun asked the man across the wooden threshold while sitting on a chair.

"Zheng Lian." The man answered truthfully.

Snap! Another whip.

"Answer the question comprehensively! What's your name?" Zou Kaiyun shouted and asked again.

"My original name was Guan Liu. After I entered the mansion, Lord Zheng, no! Zheng Guotai gave me the name Zheng Lian!" Zheng Lian was in so much pain that he almost fainted.

"What kind of job do you do in the Zheng Mansion?" Zou Kaiyun nodded slightly.

"Don't hit me, I'll tell you whatever you ask! When Zheng Guotai was alive, I was a rabbit husband for his entertainment, and I was also an accountant and clerk to handle the cash flow. After Zheng Guotai died, I only worked as a clerk. Zheng Yangxing looked down on me." Zheng Lian has never had anything to do with the word "integrity".

"Oh, even people in your line of work grow old and fade away?" Zou Kai snorted disdainfully. "How much silver does the Zheng family have hidden? Where are the account books now?"

"Yes!" To avoid being beaten again, Zheng Lian could only take Zou Kai's ridicule as a question. "The Zheng Mansion currently has a stash of 960,000 taels of silver and 80,000 taels of gold."

Snap! But Zheng Lian still couldn't escape. Before he could finish his words, he was whipped again. This time, he completely fainted.

"Give him some cold salt water." Zou Kaiyun had barely finished speaking when another strong man came towards Zheng Lian carrying a bucket full of salt water. He splashed it hard, and Zheng Lian was startled awake.

"Ah!" Zheng Lian howled and struggled in pain.

"It doesn't match! The Zheng family only has 720,000 taels of silver and 40,000 taels of gold in stock." Zou Kai's expression did not change.

Everyone in the East Factory shared in the profits from this confiscation of property, and as the chief judge, Zou Kaiyun could get at least 30,000 taels of silver. If what Zheng Lian said was true, then Zou Kaiyun could get even more.

"Master, please stop hitting me. Let me tell you everything one by one!" Zheng Lian begged while crying.

"Where is the rest of the stuff? I'm asking about everything."

"Zhang's house in Bingzi Hutong, Xiaoyongfang, and Li's house in Yizi Hutong, Xianyifang." Zheng Lian spilled the beans about the cunning rabbit Zheng Yangxing's whereabouts.

Zou Kai's heart was moved. He swallowed his greedy saliva. He thought: The money must be there, because when Zheng Yangxing left Beijing, he was always followed by the East Factory's guards, so he had no chance to withdraw the money. Maybe he could find a way to eat some of it himself.

Zou Kaiyun obtained the account book according to Zheng Lian's confession and handed it to Cui Wensheng. However, he still did not dare to embezzle even a tael of silver because he could not understand it and did not know how to make changes.

Zheng Lian, who was able to help him change the accounts, was taken away by Cui Wensheng, who had the same need, on the same day he handed over the account books.

Cui Wensheng not only intended to alter the account books to conceal the income, but also to use them to uncover wealthy individuals or officials connected to the Zheng family, thereby expanding the confiscation of property. He believed he could extort money from wealthy individuals to compensate for the embezzled funds from the Zheng family's confiscation.

In order to secure his position as the governor of the East Factory as soon as possible, Cui Wensheng not only condoned his subordinates' corruption, but also took money from the confiscated funds to bribe his subordinates.

Even if Zheng Lian had falsified the accounts, Cui Wensheng wouldn't dare take too much of the money directly. He had to pay back the debts owed to the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War. He knew very well that Wang An must have touched Zheng Yangxing's family assets when he was in charge of the East Factory, but he just didn't know where the money was hidden.

So he kept dragging it out and repeatedly asked the Ministry of Households and the Ministry of War to wait patiently.

In order to avoid being suddenly attacked by a madman like Yang Lian during the court meeting, he also wrote a handwritten letter to Fang Congzhe of the Zhejiang Party and Zhao Nanxing of the Donglin Party respectively, with simple but sincere words.

In the letter, he denounced Zheng Yangxing's cunning and complained about the difficulties of the house-confiscation operation, asking them to come forward to appease the Ministry of Households, the Ministry of War and the censors of various departments.

The greatest purpose of these letters is not to convince the leaders of the two factions, but to put on a vest for himself.

If a lunatic really did not attend the court according to procedure and instead jumped out to attack him, he could use this as an excuse to explain to the emperor and buy more time. In Cui Wensheng's view, his letters played the greatest role, because the memorials submitted to the emperor were just complaints, not impeachments.

Before Zou Kaiyun found Zheng Lian and the account books, Cui Wensheng couldn't sleep well. He dreamed of the emperor's cold eyes every night. It was so scary!
"Everything will be fine soon!" Cui Wensheng was immensely proud of his flawless plan. Not only had he bribed his subordinates' loyalty, he would also repay the debts owed to the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War. The wealthy families he had extorted would surely remain silent because of the leverage he held. As long as he managed the East Depot well, it would become his empire.

(End of this chapter)