Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 359: Pure Minister is Impure
"My Lord, this is a long story, and this isn't the place to discuss it." Zhu Jiazhen bowed and said, "You should eat first. After you finish, I'll explain it to you in detail."

"How can I eat in peace if I have to finish eating before I can talk to you?" Zhu Chunchen curled his lips in mock dissatisfaction. "Let's talk while we eat." Zhu Chunchen turned his head, glanced at a servant, and ordered, "Send them back."

"Yes." The servant responded and ran away quickly.

The so-called "they" were actually the people who accompanied Zhu Chunchen for dinner.

Zhu Chunchen kept many concubines in his mansion who played the role of dancers and zither players, trained since childhood. Some of them were even purchased from the south. Every time he ate, a few of his concubines, either those on duty or those Zhu Chunchen had already chosen, would come over to entertain him and make his meal more enjoyable.

The way to liven things up was either playing the piano and dancing, or drinking with him. If Zhu Chunchen was in the mood, he could have sex in the daytime, even having a passionate sex right there. Zhu Jiazhen knew this, so she hurriedly interrupted Zhu Chunchen before dinner.

When Zhu Chunchen and Zhu Jiazhen arrived at the spacious dining room, the food was already served, and the concubines had already left as instructed. However, the air in the dining room still seemed to be filled with the lewd smell of rouge and powder.

"Uncle, please sit down." Zhu Chunchen sat down on the main seat and patted the empty space next to him. "Since they are gone, you should come and have dinner with me."

In the Duke of Chengguo's mansion, the only male servant who could sit at the table and eat with Zhu Chunchen was Zhu Jiazhen. But even so, Zhu Jiazhen still declined, saying, "I dare not."

"Hey, didn't you choose this time just to have dinner with me? Don't try to play tricks on me. Come and sit down." Zhu Chunchen waved to the servant who was serving the meal. The servant immediately brought warm water and a towel to Zhu Chunchen and Zhu Jiazhen to wash their hands before the meal.

"Then I'd be disrespectful to refuse." Zhu Jiazhen completed the process before sitting down.

After washing his hands, Zhu Jiazhen did not get to the point immediately. Instead, he said, "Duke, would you be so kind as to let me serve you dinner alone?"

"Is this necessary?" Zhu Chunchen's expression became more serious. He looked back at the foreman's servant, who was Zhu Jiazhen's favorite "godson" Zhu Jiaqi. Zhu Jiazhen treated Zhu Jiaqi almost as if he were his own grandson.

The servants of the Duke of Cheng's mansion can be roughly divided into three levels, and they are easily distinguished by their names. The lowest-ranking servants use their given names; those at a higher level change their given names, retaining only the last character, regardless of the length of their names. For example, Zhu Hui, whose original surname was Fan and given name was Zhihui, was only allowed to change his given name after being promoted. The highest-ranking servants, on the other hand, have the character "家" (Jia) added to their already changed names. This centuries-old rule is strictly enforced. If a servant already has the characters "朱家" (Zhu Jia) in their name when they enter the Duke's mansion, both characters must be removed. The final form of the name changes depends on the mood of the servant who hired the person.

"Things are accomplished through secrecy." Zhu Jiazhen only said four words.

"Okay, let my uncle serve you." Zhu Chunchen nodded.

"We'll take our leave." Zhu Jiaqi bowed and left with the other servants.

"Duke, please." Zhu Jiazhen poured a glass of wine for Zhu Chunchen first. "After the New Year, the twelfth child, Zhu Hui, was sent by the old man to take the Liaodong grain route."

"Yeah." Zhu Chunchen still couldn't remember the face of this "Zhu Hui".

"When he returned this morning to report, he told me that Zhang Quan, the military governor of Jin, Fu, Hai, and Gai Prefectures, would only buy the grain shipped to Liaodong at three taels and five cents per dan. Furthermore, mules and donkeys were also charged a 30% delinquency. Even after informing the government, the military governor refused to budge." Zhu Jiazhen added, "And it's not just us; the entire Hai Prefecture has seen a reduction in purchase prices."

Zhu Chunchen drank the wine. "Three taels and five cents of silver per dan, how much was it before?" Zhu Chunchen rarely asked about business matters, and when Zhu Jiazhen dictated the monthly report, he usually listened.

Zhu Jiazhen thought for a moment and said, "When the military negotiations began in the 46th year of the Wanli reign, the average price of grain was about three taels of silver per dan. At the beginning of the 47th year, it rose to three taels and five cents. Last August, it reached four taels per dan." Zhu Jiazhen poured Zhu Chunchen another glass of wine. "I heard that last September, after the first batch of one million in supplementary military pay arrived in Liaodong, the market price of grain briefly spiked to seven taels per dan. But it quickly dropped, and my family didn't catch that."

Seven taels of silver for one stone of grain is an abnormal phenomenon that transcends general economic laws, but it still has its traceable causes.

As soon as the million-dollar salary supplement arrived in Liaodong, officers at all levels immediately distributed the silver according to the plan of the General Headquarters.

At that time, the prices of grain and other commodities in Liaodong had been rising for two consecutive years. This gave the soldiers the impression that everything was becoming more expensive and silver was depreciating.

In order to preserve the value of their newly acquired military pay, the first thing the soldiers did after receiving the money was to flock to the market in groups to buy food, which resulted in a large amount of silver as hot money entering circulation.

With more silver than grain in the market, grain prices skyrocketed rapidly. Prices changed almost daily, or even half a day. In less than two weeks, grain prices had risen from four taels to five taels. The continued rise in grain prices, in turn, sparked even greater panic, making soldiers even more hesitant to hold onto their silver. Some money-hungry Liaodong merchants seized on this sentiment and hoarded grain.

By the time the governor's office realized what was happening, the average grain price in Liao had already soared to seven taels per dan. To keep prices down, the governor's office opened warehouses to sell grain at a fair price while also cracking down on merchants hoarding grain, using various tactics, including forced sales and confiscation of proceeds.

The grain merchants did not surrender immediately. After the government took action, they quickly gathered a group of people with achievements to fight against the government. At that time, Xiong Tingbi was inspecting the border defense line. He ordered his men to send the royal flag to the governor's office and set it up in the center of the courtyard as a strong support for the governor's office.

But even after seeing the royal banner, those people still refused to give up. It was not until the officials who had gathered to impeach Xiong Tingbi were stripped of their titles and sent to Liaodong as exiles that the merchants and grain owners' confidence in resisting the government was completely shattered.

As a result, the price of grain on the market began to fall slowly, gradually falling back to the equivalent of six taels, five taels, and four taels and five cents.

Zhu Jiazhen originally estimated that after the second batch of salary supplements arrived in Liaodong, local grain prices would see a similar surge. That's why he urgently arranged several caravans in the winter and spring to purchase grain in Zhili, Shandong and other places and sell it to Liaodong. However, he didn't expect that the grain price would not only not rise after the arrival of the second batch of salary supplements, but actually dropped by five cents.

Losing five cents per dan of grain is no small amount. Ever since the military campaign against Liaodong was discussed in the 46th year of the Wanli reign, grain reselling has become a crucial source of income for the Duke's Mansion. Last year alone, the Zhu family caravans brought a staggering 40,000 dan of grain to Liaodong via land. If profits were reduced by five cents per dan, that translates to a loss of 20,000 taels per year. And that's just the price of grain. Grain is the foundation of all commodities. If grain prices continue to fall, overall local prices will inevitably decline, and the Duke's Mansion's "losses" will be far greater than this.

Zhu Chunchen scooped up a small dish from the delicate porcelain plate with his chopsticks, a gesture that immediately disrupted the beautifully arranged dish. "The government is buying it at three taels and five cents of silver per dan, so why not sell it to them?" "No," Zhu Jiazhen shook his head. "Little Twelve said that the grain trade in southern Liaoning has been monopolized by the military preparation office. All private transactions, whether buying or selling, must be approved by the government before they can be listed. Those who engage in private transactions without government approval will be punished. He said someone has already been arrested and beaten with a stick for engaging in private transactions." After collecting the receipt from the bank, Zhu Jiazhen questioned Zhu Hui in detail.

"Wow. This military officer is really ruthless. Is there anyone from a noble family?" Zhu Chunchen saw that Zhu Jiazhen hadn't moved his chopsticks for a long time, so he gestured, "Uncle, you eat too."

Zhu Jiazhen picked up the silver chopsticks and avoided the untouched dishes. "Yes."

"Which one?" Zhu Chunchen asked.

"Marquis Boping. I heard that the person leading the team is the eldest grandson of the marquis, Master Conglong." Zhu Jiazhen replied.

"What's the surname of the Earl of Boping?" Zhu Chunchen blinked. He felt that he had seen this title somewhere, but he couldn't remember it for a moment.

"His surname is Guo." Zhu Jiazhen added, "The Earl of Boping is Empress Xiaoyuan's father."

"Oh, it's him." Zhu Chunchen finally remembered.

Not long ago, the emperor posthumously conferred titles on his deceased wives and concubines, and according to custom, bestowed upon Empress Guo's father, Guo Weicheng, the title of Earl. However, neither the posthumous nomination nor the subsequent conferment of titles was granted to Zhu Chunchen. He had only seen the title of "Boping Earl" in the imperial gazette.

After Zhu Jiazhen finished his meal, Zhu Chunchen continued to ask, "What happened to Bo Pingbo's grandson? Was he beaten by the government?"

Zhu Jiazhen shook his head and said, "That's not the case. The person who got beaten was not the seller, but the buyer."

After hearing Zhu Jiazhen's answer, Zhu Chunchen's little interest in this matter immediately disappeared.

Although they were all hereditary nobles, there were still differences in status between them. Someone like Zhu Chunchen was a descendant of meritorious officials, while someone like Guo Weicheng, whose father's status was due to his daughter, was a royal relative.

When the emperor was still alive, the influence of the royal family depended only on the favor of the concubines and the children born to them. Now Guo has passed away, and the daughter Zhu Huijuan she gave birth to the emperor died even earlier.

Therefore, in Zhu Chunchen's opinion, unless the Guo family imitated the story of Ehuang and Nvying and sent another daughter to the palace and won the emperor's favor, the Boping Earl branch would not have much influence on the emperor.

If Guo Weicheng's grandson had been beaten by the government, he might have been able to make a case for it, accusing the local officials of being arrogant and domineering, mistreating the imperial family, and disrespecting the emperor. But since the one being beaten wasn't from the Guo family, this matter wasn't even worthy of being used as leverage.

Zhu Chunchen then asked, "Why not sell it somewhere else instead of in Liaonan?"

Zhu Jiazhen replied, "It should be possible. But Haizhou is the place with the highest net profit. There is no shortage of food in Liaoxi to the south, but if we go further north, not only will we have to worry about food for the people and horses, but we won't be able to go there even if we send escorts. We will have to organize our own escorts."

"Tsk!" Zhu Chunchen frowned. "Who is this Zhang Quan? Has your uncle checked?"

"I only scratched the surface." Zhu Jiazhen put down his chopsticks and fished out a piece of paper from his bosom. It contained a brief record of Zhang Quan's personal information. "Zhang Quan was a Jinshi (Jinshi) from the Jiachen year. He served as a prosecutor in Baoding Prefecture. In the 40th year of the Wanli reign, he was selected as an imperial censor and served as an inspector in Shaanxi and Jiangxi. In the 46th year of the Wanli reign, after Yang Yigui was impeached by Qi Shijiao, he took the initiative to request a transfer to Liaodong. However, his request was rejected, and the Liaodong Inspectorate was never appointed. Last year, there were calls among the civil servants to transfer Zhang Quan to Liaodong, but the emperor acted arbitrarily and ultimately appointed Yang Lian. Consequently, Zhang Quan was recommended to fill the vacant post of Jin Fu Haigai, the military commander."

"Who recommended him?" Zhu Chunchen kept using his chopsticks while asking the question.

"It was Zhang Wenda, the Left Censor-in-Chief, and Sun Chengzong, who had recently been appointed Governor of Tianjin, who jointly recommended him." Zhu Jiazhen didn't just do a superficial search; he even sent an official servant to the Ministry of Internal Affairs to retrieve the preserved memorial recommending Zhang Quan. For officials, this was public information; anyone in official uniform could openly access it.

"Are these three people familiar with each other?" Zhu Chunchen frowned even more tightly.

"I don't know if they're familiar, but..." At this point, Zhu Chunchen's questioning left Zhu Jiazhen with no choice but to guess. "There's definitely a connection. Zhang Quan and Sun Chengzong were in the same department, and Sun Chengzong was from Baoding. As for why Zhang Wenda also signed the name, it might be related to Zhang Quan's visit to Shaanxi, and Zhang Wenda is from Shaanxi after all."

"With these two people protecting him, it's really hard to touch him." Zhu Chunchen couldn't possibly go down and argue with the civil officials for money, or simply submit a petition to the emperor to dismiss a civil servant. This was just looking for death.

The Duke of Chengguo's mansion had always maintained close ties with officials who were known for their influence, offering them bribes to impeach others or protect them. However, the two individuals who recommended Zhang Quan were so influential that the censors might not dare accept the offer. Zhu Chunchen paused, pondering the matter. Short of resorting to direct action, he saw no other way to remove Zhang Quan from his position. Assassinating a civil servant in such a crucial position would likely draw the attention of the Imperial Household Department's guards.

"Forget it." Zhu Chunchen stopped thinking: "Let's not talk about it anymore. Let's eat first."

"Duke." Zhu Jiazhen put away the paper and said softly, "I have something to report to you about Zhang Quan."

"What?" Zhu Chunchen's face flashed with anticipation. "Did Uncle find any evidence against that military governor?"

"No." Zhu Jiazhen's face was solemn. "The boy who went to the Ministry of Internal Affairs to check the records also found that Zhang Quan had recently submitted a memorial."

(End of this chapter)