Di Ming

Chapter 90 Emerald Night

"How dare you!" Zheng Yuankui roared. "I am a hereditary commander of a thousand households, an official appointed by the imperial court! Who dares to arrest me!"

"No! You're not soldiers from the East City Military Command! Which battalion are you from...?"

However, the fierce and powerful naval soldiers swarmed forward and easily subdued him.

Zheng Yuankui was said to be a military officer of the thousand-household level, but he had been doing business for many years and was addicted to wine and women. Where was the martial prowess that a garrison officer should have?
"Listen up!" the officer shouted. "It's Lord Hai from the Censorate who wants to interrogate you! Whether you're innocent or not, public opinion will judge! Lord Hai would never wrong an innocent person!"

"This is the decree of the Duke of Hai! Look carefully!"

Upon hearing the words "Hai Gong" and seeing the inspector's seal on the official document, Zheng Yuankui's legs went weak.

Hai Rui!

He actually fell into Hai Rui's hands!
That was a ruthless person who dared to scold even the Jiajing Emperor and offend even Zhang Juzheng.

It’s over.

At this moment, recalling what he had done, Zheng Yuankui almost fainted. Suddenly, his crotch became wet, and he actually peed his pants on the spot.

Does it still matter whether or not there was collusion with Japanese pirates?

If Hai Rui were to take things seriously, and the contents of his secret chamber were discovered, even if he was accused of colluding with the Japanese, it would be enough to cost him his head!
"Useless!" The soldiers couldn't help but feel contempt when they saw their once arrogant commander now behaving like this.

Many of the Zheng family's servants, concubines, and male prostitutes felt immense pleasure upon seeing their usually fierce master in this state.

But a small number of people felt as if the sky had fallen.

"Master!" A disheveled woman rushed out, sobbing and wailing, it was hard to tell if she was really crying or just pretending. "My God!"

She is Zheng Yuankui's legal wife, and seems genuinely anxious.
"Godfather! Godfather!" The two handsome young men cried out in their newly changed, hoarse voices, their faces streaked with tears.

"Arrest us too! We want to die in our godfather's place!"

"Hahaha!" The commander was amused and said to the soldiers, "Look! Look! Men are still the most righteous, even if it means being a rabbit!"

A large group of Zheng family henchmen, all desperados raised by Zheng Yuankui, were armed and ready to seize Zheng Yuankui.

They were usually Zheng Yuankui's private soldiers, who were fed silver, beautiful women, fine wine and fat sheep, and numbered as many as seventy or eighty.

"Lord Hai has ordered that anyone who resists with weapons be killed without exception!" The captain shouted, drawing his sword. "You dare to defy the Censorate's decree? Are you trying to rebel?!"

Upon hearing the words "Lord Hai," "Censorate," and "rebellion," all the private soldiers stopped in their tracks and hesitated to move forward.

Seeing that their master had been captured, what could they do even if they dared to rebel?
Suddenly, a richly dressed young man who looked remarkably like Zheng Yuankui shouted in a stern voice:
"What rebellion! These are thieves impersonating government soldiers! They're here to rob us! What have you been doing to me, you dogs! Attack! Kill the thieves!"

This person is Zheng Boshan, the eldest son of Zheng Yuankui.

Another young man, also drunk, brandished a steel knife, shouting, "Who dares touch my father! You bandits! Impersonating government officials to rob us!"

"Kill them! You bunch of dog slaves! Are you all dead?! Attack!"

(The term "servant" was quite common in the Ming Dynasty; see books such as "Mou Mou Mei" for reference.)
This person is Zheng Zhongliang, the second son of Zheng Yuankui.

The two brothers were usually their father's right-hand men, and they had ruined countless innocent women. In recent years, they had grown tired of women and, following their father's example, began to prey on young boys.

They are even worse than their fathers.

The private soldiers looked at each other in bewilderment. Were they really going to kill government troops and rebel?

Young Master, Second Young Master, we really dare not.

We did indeed eat and drink well at the Zheng family's house, and we did obediently follow their orders, doing a lot of dirty work.

These are all as it should be.

But you're asking us to confront Hai Rui head-on; we really don't have the guts.

Zheng Yuankui was so angry that he trembled all over.

He wasn't angry at the private soldiers for being afraid; he was angry at his own son for being such a scoundrel!
I'm in the hands of the government troops, and you still order your own soldiers to attack? Are you thinking that if I die, you can inherit the family business?

The captain wasn't in a hurry. He coldly glanced at the group of Zheng family private soldiers and said, "Are you going to make a move or not? If you don't put down your weapons, I will kill you on sight for resisting with weapons."

A hundred or so armored soldiers, armed with weapons, surrounded them.

There were also twenty musketeers and more than twenty archers standing behind, ready to fire.

The clanging sounds rang out continuously, and the Zheng family's private soldiers had no choice but to reluctantly throw down their weapons, ignoring the murderous glares of the Zheng father and son, and give up their resistance.

They are usually bad, but not stupid.

"Kneel down obediently!" With a wave of his hand, the soldiers rushed forward and used ropes they had prepared to tie up the private soldiers.

Zheng Boshan and his brothers, including Zheng Boliang, were also captured.

Then, under the pretext of searching for Japanese pirates, the captain searched the Zheng family's inner courtyard.

The soldiers worked together, digging three feet into the ground, and soon discovered a large secret room in the garden.

Inside the secret room were rows of brand-new muskets, barrels of gunpowder, and pieces of brand-new armor!
It could probably equip two thousand people!
They were all sealed with wax paper, and there was no sign of use.

The imperial court strictly prohibits the private possession of firearms and armor!

Especially the armor!
"How audacious, how audacious..." The group was sent to search the Zheng family, knowing that there must be something wrong with the Zheng family, but they did not expect the Zheng family to be so bold.

Although Zheng Yuankui was a hereditary commander of a thousand households, everyone knew that he was not a real military officer, but a wealthy merchant from Huizhou.

But this person actually hid so much armor and firearms in this secret room!
But even the battalion commander himself didn't believe that Zheng Yuankui wanted to rebel.

He carefully picked up a musket and, upon examining the handle, indeed discovered an inscription: "Nanjing Armory Bureau..."

This is a newly manufactured gun by the Nanjing Ordnance Bureau!

Moreover, its superior manufacturing quality and exquisite materials far surpassed those of the muskets used by the navy.

Everyone immediately understood that Zheng Yuankui did not intend to rebel, but rather colluded with the head eunuch of the Armory Bureau to resell imperial weapons!

What's infuriating is that these resold weapons are actually better than what the soldiers use!

Both the armor and the muskets are clearly made with high-quality materials and craftsmanship!

With so much weaponry, worth at least 200,000 taels of silver, who is he going to sell it to?
Zheng Yuankui may not actually rebel, but his act of selling so many weapons for money will be considered treason regardless of who the buyer is!
"Sir!" a sergeant reported, "There are many stones in the corner, green ones, I don't know what they are."

"Hmm?" The captain walked over and saw that the corner was piled with green stones, which looked quite nice.

"What kind of stone is this?" Captain Liu picked up a piece. "It's a vibrant green, I've never seen anything like it before. It's not jade, and it's not agate. Could this whole pile be scraps from the construction of the secret chamber?"

Liu, the officer in charge, didn't recognize the stone; he just thought it was pretty.

Just then, another soldier suddenly said:

"Sir, a boy and a girl want to come in for a look. They have a deputy to Lord Hai, and they said they were worried and came on the orders of the Grand Magistrate."

"Oh?" The captain was taken aback. "They have ace tags? Then let them in. They're just kids."

Soon, two beautifully made-up children, along with a girl carrying a sword, entered the secret room.

It was Zhu Yin, Ning Caiwei, and Ding Hongying.

Zhu Yin had only intended to watch the spectacle. But Ning Caiwei encouraged him to come in and see if he could steal anything.

"Master Liu!" Zhu Yin, a young man, clasped his hands and said in a childish voice with a slight lisp, "I am here on the orders of Lord Hai to come and take a look. Master, please don't mind us, we are just here to watch the fun."

Just tonight, he lost another baby tooth. Since the new tooth hasn't grown in, he's starting to slur his speech.

Liu, the battalion commander, was very suspicious, but when he saw Hai Rui's ivory tag, it didn't seem like it was fake.

These two children are very good-looking, like the golden boy and jade girl in New Year paintings, very lovable.

But when he saw Ning Caiwei's feet, Liu, the battalion commander, secretly shook his head.

What a pity. Such a beautiful girl, yet she didn't bind her feet.

Her parents are so foolish; they've ruined their child.
Commander Liu dared not treat Zhu Yin like a child just because he was young, and said with a smile:
"Young master, you've come at the right time. Look at all these things. Zheng Yuankui is too audacious."

Zhu Yin's face lit up with delight when he saw the musket armor.

He knew Zheng Yuankui must have a criminal record, either from shady business dealings or a past scandal. In short, he was most likely guilty.

But he never expected that Zheng Yuankui would dare to resell military equipment!

Zhu Yin glanced at the soldiers' muskets, then at the brand-new ones, and feigned anger, saying:

"General Liu, why are the muskets of our soldiers not as good as these? The workmanship is so different. Aren't your firearms made by the Ordnance Bureau?"

The military equipment manufacturing departments of the Ming Dynasty consisted of the Bureau of Armory and the Bureau of Military Equipment.

The Bureau of Armory produced more than the Bureau of Ordnance.

"They're all from the Ordnance Bureau!" Officer Liu said irritably. "Those spineless bastards actually sold the best muskets privately!"

"We're risking our lives for the imperial court, and we're using junk that explodes at the drop of a hat! So many brothers have died or been injured because of exploding firearms! Damn it!"

"So the fine firearms made by skilled craftsmen with fine iron were actually stolen and sold!"

Nobody's stupid. How could such a huge arms trafficking case not be related to the eunuch in charge of the Armory?
At least one of the eunuchs in charge of the Bureau of Armory and the eunuch in charge of weapons was in cahoots with Zheng Yuankui.

Moreover, this batch of military equipment may not be the first to be resold.

The soldiers were furious, and Zhu Yin and Ning Caiwei were speechless.

The design of firearms in the Ming Dynasty was not backward, but their quality was notoriously poor.

It's not that the manufacturing technology is bad.

Rather, it was corruption that led to shoddy workmanship, with most of the military funds intended for manufacturing firearms being embezzled.

Corrupt officials, treacherous merchants, and national traitors were all rolling in money. However, most of the Ming army's firearms were defective and unreliable.

Not only firearms, but also the gunpowder in the gunpowder factory was mostly defective. Many good gunpowders were sold to merchants to make fireworks.

They were even sold to pirates or smuggled out of the country.

"They deserve to die. Lord Hai will punish them severely!" Zhu Yin said. "Please follow Lord Hai and wipe out these scoundrels in one fell swoop!" "Huh?" Ning Caiwei's eyes lit up when she saw the beautiful green stone in the corner.

Jadeite! Top-grade glass-type jadeite!

Moreover, so many of them are made from the finest materials, a rare sight in later generations.

"This is all money!" Ning Caiwei's eyes gleamed as she saw such a large pile of top-quality jadeite.

However, although jadeite existed in the Ming Dynasty, it was not yet popular. Only the imperial palace and some high-ranking noble families possessed jadeite ornaments.

Most people haven't seen jadeite before, so it's not very popular.

Because Hetian jade is so rare, jade artifacts are very expensive. Ordinary people can hardly afford jade artifacts.

Zhu Yin also saw that these beautiful stones were actually Burmese jadeite.

But his little face became even more gloomy.

He wasn't thinking about money, but rather... Myanmar!
These jadeite pieces must have been brought back from Myanmar by Zheng Yuankui.

What does this mean? It means he's colluding with the Burmese!

Today, Myanmar and the Ming Dynasty are enemies and are still at war.

The largest and most devastating war during the Wanli reign was not the Imjin War, but the Ming-Burmese War!

However, it was deliberately downplayed in later generations, and its fame has faded.

Because this war was lost too humiliatingly and the impact was too terrible.

The Ming-Burmese War was initiated by the newly established Toungoo Dynasty of Burma, which launched an offensive against the Ming Dynasty.

The war has lasted for ten years and will continue.

As a result, the Ming Dynasty completely lost the Three Xuan, Six Wei, Eight Passes and Nine Gorges. Greater Yunnan became Lesser Yunnan, and Lesser Burma became Greater Burma.

China has lost its strategic foothold in the Indian Ocean.

During the Ming-Burmese War, many unscrupulous merchants, officials, and border generals colluded with the Toungoo Dynasty to resell goods and weapons.

Warfare is all about money, supplies, and resources. The reason Burma was able to fight the Ming Dynasty for so many years was due to the support of Portugal and unscrupulous merchants.

Burmese soldiers perpetrated the massacre in Daming Street, slaughtering tens of thousands of Ming people. Their bodies blocked the Waddy River, staining the river red with blood.

Burmese troops repeatedly penetrated into Yunnan, burning, killing, and looting. Historical records state: "White bones and blue phosphorescence, people still gnash their teeth at the sight; Yunnan has been devastated ever since."

Even in the bustling city of Dali, "no village was left behind, and people migrated without dying."

Zhu Yin never imagined that Zheng Yuankui was one of the unscrupulous businessmen who colluded with Myanmar!
There were also eunuchs in the Bureau of Armory who, for the sake of money, stole and sold military weapons to enemy countries that were attacking the Ming Dynasty. They deserved to die!
Zhu Yin suddenly felt a deep sense of powerlessness.

Late Ming politics was utterly corrupt under the incompetence of this group of emperors and ministers.

Traitors colluded with Japanese pirates, foreign powers, Burma, bandits, Mongolians, and the Jin dynasty…

It seems there's nothing they wouldn't do for money.

He was really very sick.

“Master Liu, let’s seal this place off for now and wait for Lord Hai to come and inspect it with his men,” Ning Caiwei suddenly said. “These stones are not of much use; they may be used to build the floor of the secret chamber to prevent the firearms from getting damp.”

"I think we should move all the stones out and throw them in the backyard. The space that will be made up will be used by the soldiers to sleep on the ground and keep watch tonight."

"I'll go buy some bedding later so the soldiers can sleep on the floor here. They'll have to endure the hardship for the night."

Mr. Liu nodded, offering no objection. The young lady was indeed thoughtful and considerate.

This place definitely needs to be closely guarded; someone must be there for it at all times, even at night.

It has to be done under the watchful eyes of a group of people.

However, the secret room was quite crowded, and the weapons were almost piled up. If the goal was to arrange for a group of soldiers to sleep on the floor, moving the pile of stones would be the best solution.

"Twenty men!" Master Liu ordered. "Move this pile of scraps out. Leave three squads here to sleep on the floor and keep watch tonight!"

Soon, twenty soldiers began moving stones.

Ning Caiwei immediately followed the soldiers carrying the stones out. She led the way out of the secret chamber, looking around, and pointed to the garden near the outer wall, saying:

"Brothers, just throw them there!"

These soldiers were all roughnecks and didn't think about whether listening to her was right or wrong, but she was sent by Hai Gong, so listening to her seemed to be the right thing to do.
So the soldiers simply threw the stones here.

It took twenty people three trips to move all the scraps from the construction of the secret chamber.

A corner of the secret room was finally empty.

"I'll go find you bedding and pillows!" Ning Caiwei said with a sweet smile, and quickly led Ding Hongying to find bedding and pillows for the soldiers who were sleeping on the floor.

The soldiers were all a little moved.

This little girl is really nice.

Despite her noble status and flower-like appearance, she was so polite to these soldiers who were not well-regarded.

Soon, a pile of bedding was found, all of which belonged to the Zheng family.

They were all made of the finest brocade, yet they were laid directly on the ground.

Ning Caiwei personally made up the blankets for everyone, her forehead beaded with sweat from the effort.

Liu, the battalion commander, was deeply moved and said, "Young lady, you've worked so hard. We don't deserve such praise."

Ning Caiwei smiled and said, "The soldiers brave wind and rain, and usually work the hardest. What is a little tiredness like this for a woman like me?"

Upon hearing this, all the soldiers felt a warmth in their hearts, and even Ning Caiwei's large feet no longer seemed so offensive.

Zhu Yin looked at Ning Caiwei, who seemed quite serious, and couldn't help but feel a little bewildered.

To be honest, he had no intention of taking any of the jadeite.

He was thinking about important military and national affairs, his mind filled with how to win the Ming-Burmese War, punish the traitors, and revitalize the Ming Dynasty.

By the time he finished thinking about these important matters, his child bride had already taken the pile of jade away.

You're really something, always thinking about money.

Ning Caiwei, however, was different.

She was unaware of the Ming-Burmese War.

Have not heard.

As for how to win this battle and preserve large swathes of territory, that was of course out of the question.

All she could think about was how to get her hands on this pile of jade that no one recognized.

Next, the three squads of soldiers kept watch in the secret room, while everyone else left.

They planned to take the Zheng family father and son, along with their private soldiers, away.

At the same time, someone was sent to notify Hai Rui.

Zhu Yin accompanied Liu, the battalion commander, to the front hall where the Zheng family members were being held. Seeing Zheng Yuankui bound up, he couldn't help but smile.

At this moment, Zheng Yuankui looked miserable and was trembling all over. He had lost all of the prestige he had shown before.

"Oh, isn't this Commander Zheng?" Zhu Yin looked down at Commander Zheng on the ground. "Master Zheng is a prominent merchant from Huizhou. What's going on here?"

Zheng Yuankui blinked, looking at the incredibly handsome boy in front of him, feeling that he looked very familiar.

Suddenly, he remembered.

Seven days ago!
In that bathtub!
They even sent people to follow him, but when they learned that he had a connection with Magistrate Zhuang, they didn't take any action.

Otherwise, there are already so many child prostitutes that you've crippled or even killed, so what's one more?

“It’s you…” Zheng Yuankui said weakly.

What he didn't know was that he ended up in this predicament because he had offended and killed this seemingly harmless child.

It was this child who wanted to die!
Unfortunately, he didn't know.

Zhu Yin, too lazy to even glance at Zheng Yuankui again, said to Liu, the battalion commander:
"Brother Liu, I think we can send all the suspects to the Censorate prison."

The Censorate Prison was an affiliated prison of the Censorate, and it generally only imprisoned officials of the imperial court.

Only by imprisoning Zheng and his son, along with their henchmen, in the Censorate could they be brought under Hai Rui's control.

Then, more than 100 soldiers escorted more than 80 people to the Censorate overnight.

The rest of the family members and servants were all sealed off in a courtyard, awaiting a message.

As soon as Commander Liu left, Ning Caiwei immediately instructed Ding Hongying and Lancha to drive the carriage into the garden and move the stones together.

They even hired a horse-drawn carriage on the street.

By the time the two carriages were fully loaded and driven away, it was already past midnight.

Just an hour after the carriage left, at the crack of dawn, Hai Rui led a large group of soldiers to the Zheng family's secret chamber.

Meanwhile, Zhu Yin and Ning Caiwei had already checked into an inn with two carriages.

The two of them were sleeping soundly!

Ning Caiwei, in particular, was filled with wonderful dreams.

Emerald Night.

P.S.: I have a persistent low-grade fever, and I don't know why. I've already made a doctor's appointment. That's all I can update for today. Now I can only rely on the monthly ticket ranking. Thank you, goodnight.

(End of this chapter)