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

As night fell, soldiers carrying torches patrolled the streets of Daizhou City.

Inside the prefectural government building, Zhu Jian sat in the prefect's main seat, his gaze sweeping over the kneeling people below: "Those who want to live, confess your crimes!"

After a long silence, the sixth-rank magistrate and the seventh-rank judge of the prefecture exchanged glances. Judge Xu Fuzhong took a deep breath and said, "Your Majesty, the disaster relief grain was distributed by Prefect Liao, who resold it to Li Lianqing, who then resold it to the Fan family's grain shop! Everyone in our prefecture received a share of the silver!"

"Fierce as a tiger, they raided Li Lianqing's home and imprisoned his entire family!"

As soon as Zhu Jian finished speaking, a lean old man in his fifties, dressed in faded official robes, came over and respectfully placed the treasury accounts he had sorted out in front of Zhu Jian.

"This humble official, Wang He, from the prefectural government, requests Your Majesty to examine the accounts!"

The clerks of the prefecture were ninth-rank officials who were in charge of daily affairs such as criminal justice, documents and archives, and the safekeeping of granaries. They were important officials in the prefecture government.

"How many years have you been working in the clerk's office?" Inspector Zhu asked casually.

"Your Majesty, I was a Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination) in the 41st year of the Wanli reign (1592), and have served as a clerk in Daizhou for twenty years!"

Hearing Wang He's words, Zhu Jian tapped his fingers on the table, making a clicking sound, and after a moment spoke: "From today onwards, you are the Prefect of Daizhou!"

A clerk rising from a ninth-rank official to a fourth-rank prefect—this was the fastest promotion ever seen since the founding of the Ming Dynasty. Wang He was the first person to achieve such a rapid rise...

Wang He was taken aback upon hearing this, then immediately knelt down: "This humble one dares not..."

"There's nothing to be afraid of!"

Having said that, he turned and said, "Every single gentry member in this prefecture who has any connection with Liao Changwen will have their property confiscated! They will all be executed outside the city tomorrow!"

Upon hearing this, Hong Chengchou was startled. Zhu Jian's punishment was too severe. He advised, "Your Majesty, is the punishment too harsh...?"

Zhu Jian listened expressionlessly: "These misappropriated disaster relief grains were sold to the Fan family's grain store, and in the end, the Fan family's grain store sold the grain and intelligence together to Huang Taiji. Do you think that's a heavy burden?"

"Anyone who treasons or betrays the country will be executed!"

Prosecutor Zhu intends to expand the purge of Shanxi. According to the Ba family's business network, the gentry in Shanxi are more or less connected with them. Therefore, Prosecutor Zhu plans to purge all the gentry in Shanxi. Whether it is 30,000 or 50,000, it is just a number to Prosecutor Zhu!

"Your Majesty is wise..." Seeing that Zhu Jian was determined to use severe punishment, Hong Chengchou did not offer any further advice, because these gentry were not good people, and their deaths were no big deal...

At midnight, the city of Daizhou, which was under curfew, was bustling with activity.

Soldiers broke into the homes of many gentry families, dragging many people out of their sleep...

Some tried to stop the servants from resisting, but without exception, they were all killed.

Zhu Jian, wrapped in a cotton quilt, was taking a nap with his eyes half-closed at the prefectural residence.

Meng Ruhu led his men into the room and knelt on one knee: "Your Majesty, a total of thirty-seven gentry and merchants, who were associated with Liao Changwen and the Eight Merchants, have all been apprehended!"

"The land deeds, antiques, treasures, and grain seized from the property are valued at 970,000 taels of silver!"

After hearing this, Prosecutor Zhu replied, "Understood!"

"All the land has been incorporated into the imperial estates. The land deeds have been sent to Li Banghua, who is to arrange for someone to come to Daizhou to recruit displaced people to cultivate the land! The grain has been left in the government granary, guarded by one hundred soldiers!"

"Take all the rest of the items!"

"As you command!" Meng Ruhu stood up and left.

......

The following day at noon, the city of Daizhou, which had been bustling all night, did not find peace; instead, it became even more noisy.

Today, thirty-seven gentry and merchants from yesterday's families were executed outside the city, accused of treason and collusion with the Qing Dynasty!

Many ordinary people went to the outskirts of the city to be executed...

These people, seeing the once high and mighty figures who had terrorized the village being executed en masse, clapped and cheered.

Zhu Jian stood on the city wall, his palms resting on the battlements, quietly gazing down.

At noon, when the newly appointed prefect Wang He threw down the execution warrants, more than seven hundred people were simultaneously beheaded. Blood flowed like a stream on the cracked ground...

"Let's go too, let's head to Xinzhou!"

After saying this, Zhu Jian turned and walked down the city wall...

In a two-day operation in Daizhou, they beheaded one prefect, twenty-seven local officials, and over seven hundred gentry and merchants. They also confiscated seventy thousand mu of land, thirty-four thousand shi of grain, and over five hundred thousand taels of silver...

As Zhu Jian rode his horse, looking at the accounts in his hands, he said, "The land belongs mostly to the gentry and merchants, yet the taxes are squeezed from ordinary people. How can this be reasonable?"

Hong Chengchou nodded: "Nowadays, the tax rate for people in various places is heavy, but the imperial court's tax revenue is still less than during the Hongwu and Yongle periods, and this is a big reason for that."

"The gentry do not pay taxes, yet they possess all the land in the land, while the common people pay taxes, yet they only possess three or four tenths of the land in the land!"

At this point, Hong Chengchou seemed to realize something, and looked at Zhu Jian with terror in his eyes: "Your Majesty...are you perhaps planning to execute all the gentry in Shanxi who are connected with the Eight Families?"

According to Hong Chengchou's plan, if this were to happen, at least 100,000 people would be implicated, and in that case, all the officials, gentry, and merchants in Shanxi would be wiped out...

Zhu Jian turned and glanced at Hong Chengchou, saying nothing, but a strange smile played on his lips, sending chills down Hong Chengchou's spine...

Hong Chengchou's throat bobbed, his lips parted slightly, as if he wanted to say something, but didn't know where to begin...

After a long silence, he slowly spoke: "Your Majesty, the biggest case in this dynasty, the Hu Weiyong case, involved more than 30,000 people... Now, it's going to involve more than 100,000 people... Your Majesty!"

"Even the servants and maids are spared; they are exiled to Songjiang to weave cloth. Only their relatives are executed!"

"Let me be clear, your entire family, including your eight families and nine generations of relatives, won't escape!"

Upon hearing this, Hong Chengchou's palms, gripping the reins tightly, broke out in a cold sweat. He hadn't expected the emperor, who always valued his reputation, to be so ruthless in killing... He was already showing signs of becoming a tyrant...

At this moment, Zhu Jian pointed to the barren fields beside him and said, "These lands are severely drought-stricken; the harvest has completely failed?"

Coming to his senses, Hong Chengchou looked around and nodded slightly: "These lands are uncultivable, but some fertile fields in good years can still be cultivated! However, a yield of 30% or 40% would be quite good!"

"The rest would be lucky to achieve 20% of the production..."

He then gave a bitter laugh: "If we don't farm, we'll starve to death. But if we farm, after the autumn harvest, not only will we have no food, but we'll also owe the government taxes... and we'll starve to death again..."

The Ming Dynasty already had a large population, frequent natural disasters, and heavy taxes levied by the imperial court, leaving the land so desolate that not a rooster crowed for miles around...

"The reason why the peasant army has been fighting for so many years and still can't be quelled is right here! We need to put out the fire while adding more firewood!" Zhu Jian said as he rode his horse.

........

A few days later, Zhu Jian led his army to Xinzhou. Within the city, eight businesses and a large stockpile of grain and supplies were seized. Some guards attempted to resist, but were annihilated on the spot by Zhu Jian's army.

As Zhu Jian looked at the mountains of grain, ironware, and other supplies piled up in the granary, a chill ran down his spine.

If all these supplies were to reach the Qing court, they would not only help them weather the natural disaster, but also give them the strength to launch military attacks against the Ming Dynasty...

"Chengchou, first calculate how much silver these things are worth!"

He then added with a smile, "I have already issued an edict ordering Fan Jingwen, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, to go to Taiyuan to await orders. Once he arrives, you won't need to calculate anymore..."

"Yes!" Hong Chengchou replied with a smile and cupped his hands in greeting.

Fan Jingwen was an official who made significant achievements in integrity, diligence, and military administration. He was also quite capable in handling practical government affairs (such as disaster relief, judicial matters, and defense), making him a competent and incorruptible official.

An official who strives to maintain personal independence amidst factional strife, he rejects formal party affiliation, but his political practices and moral stances largely overlap with those of the Donglin Party members...

In Zhu Jian's view, whether it was the Donglin Party or the eunuch faction, as long as they could get the job done in the present, that was enough; future problems could be dealt with later...