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

"Issue the imperial decree: Prince Zhu Shenxuan of Jin, come to the main camp for an audience!"

Zhu Shenxuan was the thirteenth Prince of Jin, a descendant of the first Prince of Jin, Zhu Gang. Zhu Jian was a descendant of Prince of Yan, Zhu Di. According to bloodline and legal principles, the two were of the same clan, but their bloodlines were very distant, and they had long since lost their kinship ties.

Just then, He Renlong found several writing brushes somewhere, carried them into the tent, and soldiers behind him carried paper, inkstones, and other items.

Upon seeing He Renlong return, Zhu Jian pointed at the crowd kneeling below and said, "Give it to them!"

"yes!"

He Renlong distributed the pens in his hand and the papers held by the soldiers behind him to the dozens of Shanxi officials present.

After receiving their paper and pens, everyone dared not delay and immediately began writing their statements...

Zhu Jian glanced at the group of people writing furiously, then turned and asked, "Bingwen, you've been serving in Shandong for some time now. Who are some honest and upright officials you can employ?"

Zhang Bingwen pondered for a moment and said, "Deng Qian, the Shandong Provincial Councilor, is a capable official!"

Since Zhang Bingwen had only recently left Shanxi, he was unaware that Deng Qian had been transferred by Prosecutor Zhu, and he wanted to recommend Deng Qian.

Zhu Jian waved his hand: "Deng Qian is no longer in Shandong; I have transferred him to be the Governor of Zhili!"

Zhang Bingwen gave an awkward smile. He truly didn't know that Deng Qian was no longer in Shandong. After thinking for a moment, he added, "Tang Shixiong, the Salt Commissioner of Shandong; Gou Haoshan, the Prefect of Jinan; and Chen Yuyin, the Assistant Prefect of Jinan—these three are all men of strong character and devoted to the country!"

Zhu Jian pondered for a moment, then nodded slightly... These men were the ones who defended the isolated city to the death during the Battle of Jinan, fighting to the last moment. Knowing that reinforcements would not arrive and that their numbers were far outnumbered, none of them surrendered or fled; they all ultimately chose to die for their country. They could be put to good use.

"Tang Shixiong was transferred to the position of Provincial Treasurer of Shanxi, Gou Haoshan was transferred to the position of Provincial Surveillance Commissioner of Shanxi, and Chen Yuyin was transferred to the position of Prefect of Pingyang!"

Pingyang Prefecture is the second largest prefecture in Shanxi after Taiyuan Prefecture, with six counties and twelve districts. It is located south of Taiyuan Prefecture, with flat terrain and a large population. As long as Shanxi can stabilize Taiyuan Prefecture and Pingyang Prefecture, there will not be any major problems. Even if it suffers a disaster, there will be no large-scale turmoil.

"He Renlong has arranged two groups of people. One group will go to the capital and order the Military and Political Bureau to draft the imperial edict and send it here. The other group will go to Shandong to deliver the decree!" He then turned to Zhang Bingwen: "Bingwen, write another letter to the three of them! Tell them to come to Shanxi immediately!"

"As you command!"

After establishing the Military and Political Bureau, Zhu Jian replaced a large number of officials, partly for the sake of local areas and partly to tighten his grip on the power of the Military and Political Bureau and local authorities, completely removing the cabinet and the Six Ministries from the center of power.

The core of power is the use of people and having a group of people who obey you. On this point, Prosecutor Zhu understands this better than anyone else. Therefore, Prosecutor Zhu wants to adjust half of the high-ranking officials in Shanxi in a short period of time, and keep or leave vacant the remaining officials who are not problematic.

Before long, the first official's statement was written, and the soldier presented it to Prosecutor Zhu.

Zhu Jian glanced at the documents; most of them concerned accepting bribes—how much money they received and what favors they were granted. He concluded, "Your life and the lives of your entire family are spared!"

The official, deeply moved, knelt down and exclaimed, "Your Majesty, I thank you!"

Seeing this, the others also began to focus on the matter of bribery. No matter what, saving their lives was the most important thing.

In fact, Zhu Jian did not intend to execute all the officials in this group. As long as they handed over the embezzled silver, killing a few as examples and exiling the rest to Songjiang to weave cloth for labor reform was more cost-effective than killing them.

After all, all we need to do is provide them with food; we don't need to pay them wages...

After all these people finished writing, Zhu Jian roughly calculated that the total value of all the items was six or seven hundred thousand taels of silver. Wasn't that faster than collecting taxes?

A few months ago, Zhu Jian abolished the suppression tax, one of the three taxes. The national annual revenue was only a little over two million taels, and a quarter of that came from the officials under the Shanxi governor's office...

Zhu Jian handed the papers to Zhang Bingwen, the governor of Shanxi, and said, "Bingwen, take men and bring all of these to the governor's office!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!" After Zhang Bingwen left, the hundreds of thousands of officials present sighed in relief; it seemed their names had been preserved...

Zhu Jian leaned back in his official chair and glanced at the crowd: "You're all celebrating too soon. You may escape the death penalty, but you'll face severe punishment."

Upon hearing this, the room fell silent. Dejection filled everyone's faces. They all understood that they would most likely be exiled to Liaodong or the border region of Datong to build the Great Wall... Many would certainly die along the way...

Seeing the crowd's dejected expression, Zhu Jian smiled slightly and offered them a sweet treat: "You've all been quite honest, not putting up a desperate resistance. I plan to exile you to Songjiang to weave cloth!"

The crowd exclaimed in surprise, "Songjiang!"

Since ancient times, exile has always been to harsh and cold places. No one has ever been exiled to the Jiangnan region before. When this group of people heard that the emperor was going to exile them to Songjiang, they looked at each other in disbelief.

Chen Daoyuan, the Shanxi Provincial Councilor, quickly stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, I believe that weaving cloth in Songjiang is not as good as weaving cloth in Yanzhou, Shandong!"

Intrigued, Prosecutor Zhu sat up straight and leaned forward: "Tell me!"

Seeing that the emperor showed no aversion, Chen Daoyuan immediately became interested: "A few years ago, when I was the prefect of Yanzhou, I knew that Yanzhou and several surrounding prefectures produced cotton, but the scale of local weaving was too small, and it was not as luxurious as the textiles from Songjiang. Therefore, most of the cotton was sold to the Songjiang area via the Grand Canal, woven into cloth in Songjiang, and then sold to the north via the Grand Canal!"

"If Your Majesty desires cloth as military supplies, this humble subject believes it would be more convenient in Yanzhou than in Songjiang!"

After a moment's thought, Zhu Jian nodded slightly.

What Chen Daoyuan said makes some sense. If we go to Songjiang to squeeze into the market again, the cotton fields might encroach on the grain fields, which would be a losing proposition.

Moreover, weaving cloth directly in Yanzhou Prefecture, a cotton-producing area, can save some of the transportation costs.

"That's a good suggestion. After you arrive in Shandong, assist Wu Jun, the Grand Eunuch of the Imperial Horse Administration, in establishing the Yanzhou Textile Bureau to specialize in weaving cloth! If you do a good job, your punishment will be waived!"

Prosecutor Chu never intends to kill anyone. The best way to achieve his goal is without killing anyone. Therefore, regardless of whether the person is a criminal or a member of any party, Prosecutor Chu will use any means necessary to achieve his goal.

Cotton cloth is a strategic resource, serving multiple purposes: it can be used for military pay, made into armor, and kept warm. Relying solely on raiding others for supplies is not a sustainable solution. Therefore, after recovering some resources, it's necessary to establish our own economic channels. However, increasing taxes is definitely not an option, nor is commercial taxation. The south cannot be allowed to descend into chaos yet...

"Your Majesty, I, your sinful subject, kowtow and thank you!" Chen Daoyuan said, his eyes brimming with tears.

Seeing this, the others also stepped forward, saying, "This humble subject also has something to say!"

Zhu Jian waved his hand: "There's paper on the ground. Write down what you want to say. If the Yanzhou Textile Bureau increases its output with your help, or if there are other business plans to increase revenue, I can pardon you. You can decide the extent of the punishment yourself!"

"Your Majesty, this humble subject kowtows in gratitude!" the crowd chorused.

This way, they could both collect some silver and weaken the resistance from the bureaucracy, since nobody wanted to lead their entire family to ruin...