Ming Dynasty: Moral blackmail? I, Emperor Chongzhen, have no morals!

Before long, Li Ruolian and Liu Guoneng arrived at the Fan family mansion in the city with a large number of Imperial Guards and soldiers.

This mansion has three courtyards and dozens of servants and maids.

As soon as Li Ruolian and Liu Guoneng entered, the head of the Fan family in Beijing approached and demanded sternly, "Why are you trespassing on private property?"

Seeing this, Liu Guoneng gave a wink to the guards beside him.

The guards stepped forward and kicked Fan Jiatang to the ground, then drew a steel knife and held it to his neck.

Even with a knife to his throat, Fan's cousin was still shouting, "I want to file a complaint with the emperor!"

Without a word, the soldier turned and struck the back of Fan Jiatang's neck with the hilt of his knife, instantly knocking him unconscious.

Seeing this, the eldest son of a cousin in the courtyard grabbed a stick and shouted, "I'll fight you to the death!"

Seeing the person rushing towards him from the courtyard, Liu Guoneng raised his knife and chopped off his head. Blood gushed from his chest, staining the blue bricks red, and the stench of blood filled the air.

This action immediately frightened the servants and maids, who all huddled to one side.

"What are you trying to do!" the Fan family members stepped forward and questioned.

Upon seeing this, the soldier beside Liu Guoneng drew his steel knife, stepped forward, and stabbed the questioner in the abdomen, blood flowing down the blade.

At this moment, Li Ruolian stepped forward and opened the imperial edict: "By the mandate of Heaven, the Emperor decrees: The Fan family of Shanxi has colluded with the Qing Dynasty and betrayed the country. They are hereby promoted to the Embroidered Uniform Guard, their property confiscated, and all personnel escorted to the Northern Garrison Command!"

Immediately, everyone present cried out that they were wronged.

Shouts and cries rose and fell.

After the imperial edict was announced, a large number of Imperial Guards began entering the room to search for letters, accounts, and other written materials.

Their valuables began to accumulate in the courtyard and be registered.

Liu Guoneng's soldiers also stepped forward to bind everyone and drive them to the east wing of the mansion, waiting to be escorted to the Northern Garrison Command.

This scene began to unfold in more than a dozen locations throughout the capital.

Compared to mansions, shops are much more stable.

The shopkeeper and his clerks, seeing the Imperial Guards and soldiers rush in, simply squatted down to the side without offering any resistance...

into the night.

The raids on homes were still ongoing, and torches illuminated the streets of the capital.

In the Wuying Hall, the Embroidered Uniform Guards repeatedly reported the results of the confiscations in various places, but the amount of money had not yet been tallied.

Hong Chengchou, standing beside Zhu Jian, asked in alarm, "Your Majesty, why are the merchants' property being confiscated so suddenly?!"

"Treasonous collusion with the Qing Dynasty!"

"This..." Hong Chengchou was speechless for a moment. In this situation, there was no evidence, and it was all based on the emperor's subjective assumptions...

Seeing Hong Chengchou's uncertain expression, Prosecutor Zhu said, "Once the search is complete, the evidence will appear!"

Prosecutor Zhu was certain that it was impossible for such a sudden and large-scale raid to be without any evidence; it was just that the evidence had not yet been reported.

Just then, Liu Lin, the chief eunuch of the Eastern Depot, rushed into the Wuying Hall: "Your Majesty, under the interrogation by the Eastern Depot, Fan Liu of the Fan family and Wang Xing of the Wang family have confessed to purchasing grain near the capital and selling it to the border regions through Xuanfu!"

He took two steps forward and held up the signed and sealed testimony in front of Prosecutor Zhu with both hands.

Wang Chengen picked up the testimony and presented it to Prosecutor Zhu on his desk.

Zhu Jian glanced at the testimony, then suddenly turned and asked, "Dehua, you're from Datong, did you know that these Shanxi merchants were selling these goods to the border regions?"

Upon hearing this, Wang Dehua immediately knelt down, beads of sweat instantly forming on his back. His voice trembled as he said, "Although I am from Datong, I have not returned to Shanxi for a long time. I beg Your Majesty to investigate!"

Zhu Jian leaned back in his official chair, his fingers tapping lightly on the table, making a clicking sound.

After a moment, he said, "Get up. I knew you wouldn't know!"

"You will go with Liu Lin to the Northern Garrison Command for interrogation to verify the testimonies!"

"This servant obeys the decree!"

Wang Dehua propped himself up with his palm on the ground, slowly got up, took two steps back, and turned to walk out the door. Liu Lin, the director of the Eastern Depot, also got up and followed him.

Upon arriving outside the Wuying Hall, Wang Dehua's calves were still cramping, and he limped towards the Northern Garrison.

Liu Lin quickly stepped forward to help Wang Dehua up, saying, "We sons should have informed our godfather first! It was our fault, and we beg our godfather to punish us!"

Wang Dehua sighed: "It's not your fault. If you didn't interrogate, others would have!"

Then, changing the subject, Wang Dehua asked, "Is this matter true or false?"

Wang Dehua wasn't sure if these eunuchs from the Eastern Depot were deliberately framing him to curry favor, so he wanted to confirm.

"It's true, Godfather. Although these are being sold to Chahar beyond the Great Wall, they will probably end up in the hands of the Eastern Barbarians!" Liu Lin said softly.

"How so?"

"The Chahars have long since submitted to the Eastern Barbarians. Besides, where would they get so many people and money to consume so much food and ironware?" Liu Lin said, offering his analysis.

It's obvious to anyone with eyes to see that after Ligdan Khan's defeat and death, the Chahar tribes were scattered in all directions. The Chahar tribe that has now crossed the Great Wall from Xuanfu only has a few thousand elderly and weak people, and a mere twenty or thirty thousand cattle, sheep, and warhorses. They simply cannot consume the tens of thousands of shi of grain purchased from the vicinity of the capital…

Besides, they don't have that much money to buy it...

Upon hearing this, Wang Dehua exclaimed, "Damn it, these bastards! Give us a good beating!"

Wang Dehua was indeed furious. He had almost been implicated by these people, but hadn't gained anything from it...

"What if... what if it implicates other people?" Liu Lin, the commander of the Eastern Depot, said with a worried expression.

"Whoever is implicated, find out everything. What happens next is His Majesty's business!"

Wang Dehua wouldn't stumble over the same stone twice. He had turned a blind eye to a few cases before, but luckily the emperor gave him a chance, otherwise he would have lost his head.

Even now, when he recalls what just happened, he still feels a chill down the back of his neck.

........

The candlelight flickered inside the Wuying Hall, casting long shadows of everyone present.

Zhu Jian, holding a long pair of scissors, picked at the lamp wick: "Look at this, this is what a businessman is like!"

"Now you know why the founding emperor emphasized agriculture and suppressed commerce?"

Zhu Jian then brought out Zhu Yuanzhang's methods to increase the legitimacy of this large-scale purge and prevent local gentry from intensifying their resistance.

But having these charges is different; they brought it upon themselves, since merchants from Southern Zhili, Huguang, and other places have never sold goods to the border regions.

As for selling it to Shanxi merchants, that was a domestic matter.

Sun Chengzong pursed his lips: "The imperial court once encouraged merchants to send grain to the border troops and issued them salt permits. There's a reason for this! After all, the price outside the Great Wall is three times that of transporting it to the border towns!"

"They raided the border, and then used the looted gold and silver to buy supplies from the Ming Dynasty. What a clever scheme!"

"Effective immediately, the practice of merchants transporting grain will be completely abolished. Instead, Lu Xiang-sheng's Tianxiong Army will recruit able-bodied young refugees to transport the grain together!"

Zhu Jian made up his mind to recruit young and strong refugees to form a grain transport team. This way, he could both help the disaster victims and reduce the government's financial expenditure, killing two birds with one stone.

"Your Majesty, it is quite troublesome to centralize the sale of grain from people in various regions!" Sun Chengzong agreed with this suggestion, but collecting grain from various regions was a major problem, as merchants had grain shops in various areas, while the imperial court did not.

"It's not a big deal. This year, the silver tax has been removed and replaced with a full grain tax. We can collect it from the various prefectures!"

Sun Chengzong said with concern, "Won't this exacerbate the forced levies?"

"meeting!"

"But I have a way to handle this!" Zhu Jian said to Sun Chengzong with a smile, keeping him in suspense.

Just then, Huang Daozhou arrived at the Wuying Hall under the cover of night. Upon entering, he bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I have heard that the city is conducting large-scale searches and confiscations of the people. I wonder why?"

"Treasonous collusion with the Qing Dynasty!" Zhu Jian said, handing Huang Daozhou the testimony of Liu Lin, the director of the Eastern Depot: "The rest are still under interrogation!"

Huang Daozhou took the testimony and read it word by word by the firelight. Before he had even finished, his arms began to tremble: "Your Majesty, these people must be killed to appease public anger!"

Although Huang Daozhou was pedantic and fond of the rigid hierarchy of ruler and subject, he deeply hated those who betrayed their country and colluded with the Qing Dynasty. This is why he advocated resistance against the Qing until his death.

Zhu Jian nodded slightly: "The relatives of the offenders shall all be executed. As for the servants and maids, their indentures shall be revoked, and they shall be exiled to Songjiang to weave cloth for the imperial court!"

Nowadays, cloth is a strategic resource. Many armors are made of cloth, which can also keep out the cold and serve as military pay. Therefore, Inspector Zhu plans to establish a cloth weaving center in Songjiang.

Huang Daozhou remained silent and let out a long sigh.

"This year, the practice of paying taxes in kind has been abolished, and various regions have resumed paying taxes in kind. There will inevitably be officials making unauthorized apportionments. Are there any honest officials in Daozhou who can investigate this matter?"

Zhu Jian believed that since the Donglin Party was honest and upright and spoke out for the people, then they should fight these corrupt officials to the death.

"I recommend Liu Zongzhou as the Imperial Inspector!" Huang Daozhou said without hesitation.

After listening, Zhu Jian nodded slightly. Liu Zongzhou was an upright and honest man who had repeatedly impeached powerful eunuchs such as Wei Zhongxian and powerful ministers such as Ma Shiying. During the Southern Ming Dynasty, he went on a hunger strike and died for his country after hearing that Hangzhou had fallen. He was a Donglin Party member with integrity, much better than someone who was afraid of cold water.

"Is there any more?" Prosecutor Zhu asked.

After listening, Huang Daozhou pondered for a moment and resolutely said, "Qian Longxi and Shi Kefa have always been patriotic. I wonder if Your Majesty can employ them?"

Qian Longxi has been imprisoned because of Yuan Chonghuan's affair. Shi Kefa was convicted last year for serving as Vice Censor-in-Chief and governor of An, Lu, Chi, Tai, as well as Guangzhou, Guangshan, Gushi, and Luotian in Henan, Qizhou, Guangji, and Huangmei in Huguang, and Dehua and Hukou in Jiangxi. He was defeated by peasant armies and is still under investigation.

After a moment's thought, Zhu Jian countered, "Write letters to these people, telling them that if they are willing to return, they should come to the capital to report for duty! Specific appointments will be discussed later!"

Zhu Jian felt that these people could be used to deal with corrupt officials at the local level, as their integrity and incorruptibility were a good weapon. As for military matters, he decided against it, as they were not suitable for such tasks.

Huang Daozhou was taken aback upon hearing this. He hadn't expected that this extremely face-conscious emperor would actually overturn his decision and send Qian Longxi and Shi Kefa to kowtow and say, "Your subject Huang Daozhou, on behalf of Qian Longxi, Shi Kefa, and Liu Zongzhou, kowtows to thank Your Majesty!"

Zhu Jian waved his hand: "Go back and write a letter first. In the meantime, discuss the matter of the special imperial examination with Ni Yuanlu, and select more talented people for the country!"

"I obey your decree!"

After Huang Daozhou left, Sun Chengzong stepped forward and whispered, "Your Majesty, these people will likely cause endless arguments in court when they return!"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Jian turned to look at Sun Chengzong with a puzzled expression: "Grand Secretary Sun, you're overthinking it. Their inspection tours to local areas to crack down on corrupt officials are not about getting involved in military or political affairs!"

Zhu Jian would not allow these people to gain actual power in the court and in the military and political spheres, because they were disobedient and always tried to exemplify the incorruptible morals of the monarch and his subjects. This model was unsuitable for governing the country, nor for waging war...