Huangming

Chapter 65 The Art of Amassing Wealth, Loyalty Beyond Words
"Wang Tiqian".

The emperor's deep gaze turned to Wang Tiqian, who was standing to the side.

"The servant is here."

Wang Tiqian did not envy Wei Zhongxian's rise to power.

Like cooking oil over a raging fire, temporary success or failure doesn't mean much.

Only those who can stand firm amidst the waves truly demonstrate their ability.

No matter who is in power, as long as they are loyal to His Majesty, no one can bring them down.

"I hereby issue this edict to all my ministers: I am neither Jie nor Zhou, nor are you like Bi Gan? The act of kneeling before the palace gate at Zuoshun Gate must be completely halted by tomorrow morning. If you remain obstinate, the law will not forgive you. Thunder and rain are all acts of divine grace; the loyal and the wicked will be judged by public opinion. Do not say you were not warned!"

His patience has its limits.

You ministers, your righteous path has failed, and your schemes have also failed. You should bow your heads when necessary.

If he still refuses to admit defeat, then his father, as the ruler, has no intention of indulging his naughty child.

When it's time to strike hard, you must strike hard!

"I obey your orders!"

After Wang Tiqian left, Zhu Youxiao looked at Wei Zhongxian and asked, "The appearance of a traitor in the Northern Garrison shows that there are definitely those with ulterior motives within the Embroidered Uniform Guard. I don't care what methods you use to prevent this from happening again, but if such problems occur again, I will hold you accountable!"

The emperor's tone was icy cold. Wei Zhongxian swallowed hard, his heart heavy.

He nodded and said, "This servant will definitely reorganize the Embroidered Uniform Guard and turn them into the most loyal and sharpest claws in His Majesty's hands."

Zhu Youxiao was very satisfied with Wei Zhongxian's attitude.

As a leader, all he needs to do is recognize talent and assign tasks; he doesn't need to personally concern himself with trivial matters or think about solutions.

If a subordinate cannot solve a problem, replace them; if a subordinate messes up, hold them accountable and replace them.

The emperor's team cannot tolerate incompetent individuals.

"Has the matter of the confiscation of property and embezzlement a few days ago been thoroughly investigated?" Zhu Youxiao asked meaningfully.

Wei Zhongxian certainly understood the emperor's meaning.

He took out a small booklet from his inner pocket, held it above his head with both hands, and said, "This contains the silver embezzled by those audacious and reckless people, as well as the tributes offered by merchants to atone for their sins. Please read it, Your Majesty."

After receiving the booklet, Wei Chao presented it to the emperor.

Now Taicang is empty, and he, the emperor, is a penniless emperor.

Upon seeing the money, Zhu Youxiao acted even faster.

Zhu Youxiao opened the booklet, flipped to the last page, and his eyes lit up.

"One and a half million taels?"

Upon hearing this, Wei Chao's pupils contracted.

This Wei dog is actually so good at accumulating wealth?
Wei Zhongxian then stepped forward and said, as if seeking credit, "Your Majesty, 300,000 taels of that money was concealed by those blind parasites. It mainly consisted of calligraphy, paintings, and antiques, each worth a thousand gold pieces. As for the other 1.2 million taels, they were tributes sent voluntarily by merchants from Shanxi, Anhui, Fujian, and Shandong in order to survive."

In this era, collusion between officials and businessmen has become the norm.

This confiscation of property and conviction has uncovered a whole host of other businessmen.

It's difficult to deal with the upright officials, so it's even harder to deal with you, the lowest of the low, who are scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants.
These people were naturally exploited by Wei Zhongxian.

Zhu Youxiao was naturally very clear about these matters.

Although those officials were corrupt and accepted bribes, the total amount obtained from confiscating their property should not have been 600,000 taels.
It's estimated that a significant portion of this money came from the Imperial Guards.

The purpose was to curry favor with the emperor and win his favor.

And the merchants' money was probably not acquired voluntarily, but rather under duress.

but.
As long as he doesn't cause trouble or disrupt the overall situation, Zhu Youxiao won't pursue the matter.

One of the reasons he heavily relied on Wei Zhongxian was, in fact, to amass wealth.

He didn't want to become like Emperor Chongzhen.

In the seventeenth year of the Chongzhen Emperor's reign, in order to deal with the approaching army of Li Zicheng, the emperor ordered his relatives, officials, and military officers to donate funds.

Despite the stipulation that "30,000 taels of silver is the best," only 200,000 taels of silver were ultimately raised, far from enough to alleviate the military pay crisis. His foolish son, Zhu Youjian, had utterly disgraced the Ming emperor.

Are those people poor?
Do not!
They are all bloated and fat, spending money like water every day, but they do not care about the country.

For over two hundred years, the Ming Dynasty nurtured scholars, only to end up with a group of parasites who disregarded the country and were selfish and self-serving. These civil officials didn't care who their masters were, because no matter how dynasties changed, they could always remain high in the imperial court.

Therefore, they have nothing to fear because they rely on them.

After Li Zicheng captured Beijing, he plundered more than 70 million taels of silver from them. Compared with this, the 200,000 taels raised by Chongzhen was simply a joke.

It's a pity he was the helmsman of the Ming Dynasty, otherwise he would have really wanted to give his group of nobles and corrupt officials a good beating.

In this way, will Liaodong still lack funds?

Will there still be no disaster relief funds?
However, these people were in cahoots with him, and as the emperor, he could not possibly betray his own class.

He certainly didn't want to be choked by a palace maid while sleeping peacefully in the Qianqing Palace.

of course.

It still needs to be addressed.

It's certainly impossible to deal with them all at once, but it's possible to deal with them in batches and promote new talents to replace them.

Pigs must be slaughtered one by one, and money must be collected slowly.

As long as your wrist is good, every day can be like Chinese New Year.

However, these things require careful consideration.

"Wei Zhongxian, I did not misjudge you."

Upon receiving the emperor's praise, Wei Zhongxian's smile stretched so wide it almost reached his ears.

"Serving the Emperor is a blessing I have accumulated over many lifetimes."

After flattering him, he continued, "The reason I didn't report the embezzlement directly is that I didn't want the money to go to the national treasury. Those officials might embezzle it in some way, but once it reaches the imperial treasury, it's up to Your Majesty to decide."

As he spoke, Wei Zhongxian wiped away his tears, looking heartbroken.

He prostrated himself and wept, saying, “Everyone says that the Emperor of the Great Ming Dynasty lives in the magnificent palaces of the Forbidden City, enjoying the service of his concubines. But Your Majesty, look at the Qianqing Palace where you live—the main hall was burned down and has not been repaired since; the caisson ceiling is covered with ash three inches thick; the beams and pillars are rotten as if they have been eaten by insects; and the cracks in the gold bricks are so large that ants can crawl in. A few days ago, a sudden rainstorm caused the eaves of the sleeping quarters to leak like a waterfall. Is this a place where a human being can live?”

"Today, we received a donation of 1.2 million taels of gold from merchants. I request that they send another 1 million taels after the New Year. At that time, the Ministry of Works can select 1,000 pieces of nanmu wood and transport them from the Shu Road. When spring arrives next year, the nine-layered palace will surely be as if newly built, with its carved eaves and embroidered gates shining like the sun!"

No wonder Wei Zhongxian was able to be highly valued by Emperor Tianqi in history.

They really know how to consider the leader's needs.

If this isn't a loyal minister, then who is?

Wei Zhongxian was truly loyal beyond measure!

Zhu Youxiao smiled and said, "The country is in trouble, why build such grand palaces? It doesn't matter if I suffer a little, but if the border troops suffer, they will mutini; if the people suffer, they will cause trouble. I appreciate your good intentions, and I hope you will do your job well and do more for the country."

Zhu Youxiao remarked, seemingly unintentionally, "If I had a million or even millions of taels of silver, I wouldn't have to worry about the Liaodong military expenses."

Upon seeing this, Wei Zhongxian and Wei Chao both knelt down.

"This servant is unable to share Your Majesty's burdens; I deserve to die ten thousand times over."

"How can I, a servant, live with the face to suffer such injustice as Your Majesty?"

Zhu Youxiao waved his hand and said, "Get up. I look to you all and hope you will share my burdens."

The implication is that making money is acceptable, and he will reward you handsomely if you do so.

But it caused trouble.
When it's time to shift the blame, he will.

After all, I only wear eight sets of clothes throughout the four seasons, changing between dry and wet clothes, which is very frugal!
On the other side, outside Zuoshun Gate, Han Kuang and others were still kneeling and remonstrating.

However, at this moment they were no longer calm, like ants on a hot pan.

There was no news whatsoever about the imperial prison.

Are Zhou Chaorui and the others dead or not?

Sun Chengzong went in and never came out.

What methods did His Majesty use?
Many people are starting to panic!
(End of this chapter)