The heavens start with letting the bullets fly

Chapter 587 The Zhen Mansion Was Confiscated, The Cabinet Deliberated Difficultly

After settled Xue Pan, Chen Zhao returned to the backyard, Xia Ruoqing hurriedly asked someone to fetch hot water, and helped Chen Zhao take off his coat.

Chen Zhao didn't make Xia Ruoqing busy, but stroked her hand to let her sit down, and sighed, "You were wronged a while ago."

Xia Ruoqing's face turned red slightly: "The master is doing great things. He comforts the emperor's heart and caresses the people. It is inevitable that he will be attacked by the younger generation. I am trusted by the master. Although I have no regrets in death, let alone it is only a surprise. That's all."

Chen Zhao sighed slightly, and said: "I thought it would be appropriate to place you in Yangzhou, but I didn't know that this group of people is too limitless, but Ruoqing, don't worry, I'm not just agitating for those people at Xiuye ​​Bridge. Clean up, and the masters behind them will be captured and killed by me one by one."

"Is the master talking about the Zhen family in Jinling? I heard that their family was surrounded by officers and soldiers when I was on the boat."

"Hmph! I originally wanted to cut them with blunt knives. In the end, even if the family property was lost, they could still survive. Who would have thought that they would take risks in order not to owe money to the national tax. They did this stupid thing because they wanted money. Don't die."

"The Zhen family has been rich for decades, and they are the eyes and ears of the Supreme Emperor, but they are too greedy, too confused."

"Why can the Zhen family borrow money from Nanzhili's treasury and the inner treasury? It was all the grace of the Supreme Emperor back then, and it was also under the banner of increasing the wealth of the Supreme Emperor's inner treasury. Now it owes so much tax to the treasury, The money belonged to the royal treasury privately, and even more to the imperial treasury for the public. Now that the border of Dazhou is in crisis and local chaos is happening, it is time to spend money. Salt tax and land tax alone cannot make up for the fiscal deficit. These nobles still borrow money but don’t pay it back, the emperor will naturally find trouble with them, but the Zhen family is confused, not only wants to default, but also wants to kill me to vent their anger, so I can’t help it.”

"I think the Zhen family is not stupid, but too shrewd. They only know that the silver is dazzling, but they don't know that the silver will bite the hand."

Speaking of this, Chen Zhao sighed and said: "The emperor wants them to die, the court wants them to die, but they still want me to die, so I have no choice but to let them die."

Xia Ruoqing could hear something.

"The Zhen family has a big case this time, did the master decide it long ago?"

"It's not that I made a decision. In fact, I just followed the trend. There are too many wealthy families in Jiangnanxi. The battle of Xiuye ​​Bridge cannot be caused by the Zhen family, but they are the instigators! Besides, Your Majesty In the eyes of several prime ministers, ministers and ministers, the Zhen family is the most suitable. It is not a noble family and will not irritate them anymore. It does not have a deep connection with the military, generals and civil servants, but it is extremely famous in Jinling and Nanzhili. Big, and even a big family in Suzhou, a natural good material for offering sacrifices to the flag. But they offended me. But it's true, the Zhen family is used to running rampant in Nanzhili, and they have done so many unreasonable things in the past few decades , when I came to visit them, they looked down on me under the banner of being a holy lady. If they can’t catch the water bandits this time, there will always be other things to bring up."

"The Supreme Emperor doesn't care about asking?"

"The relative of the Supreme Emperor and the Zhen family is Master Zhen's grandmother. Two generations have passed, and the four generations of the Zhen family have been blessed with glory and wealth for 40 years. So far, it's almost the same. The Zhen family is just the personal Friendship has not done any great service to the court and society, and they should be satisfied if they can extend their blessings to this day. Now they have come to this end because they do not know themselves and are not satisfied."

"Obviously there is money, if you pay back the debts and tax money, even if it is only a part of it, the Supreme Emperor will be able to send a message to ask for favors, and the Holy Majesty is not easy to save face, so naturally let it go. Who knows that the Zhen family is So arrogant and relentless, what do you make the Supreme Emperor think? It’s true that other people’s family is a generation of benevolent monarchs, but the real Buddha also gets angry sometimes. The Zhen family is so ignorant, why does the Supreme Emperor care about their life and death?”

"Now the old and new accounts are being settled together, and the Zhen family will have to shed eight layers of skin even if they don't die. Today's Holy Emperor misses old friendships and remembers old grudges. Back then, the Zhen family only focused on flattering Prince Yi Zhong, Qian Sui, but they didn't give anything to Jin Shang who was still in the dormitory. Good face."

When Xia Ruoqing heard this, she couldn't help but pursed her cherry lips and asked in surprise: "There is still such an old story? Isn't the Holy One such a person?"

"Since you are the emperor, of course you will be obedient. How could you not remember the matter of seizing the heirloom before? Even the magnanimous emperor sometimes gets angry."

Xia Ruoqing couldn't help covering her mouth and smiling, and said after a while: "I heard gossip from the officials, and it feels very different from what other families talk about. For example, Jia's mansion, all the men in the family only know about having fun and fighting cockfights and lackeys. ;Women, in their spare time, they talk about their family's grievances, burning incense and worshiping Buddha, whose troupe sings well, and they are all Wen Tianwu. On the contrary, here, war and political affairs that others disdain have become gossip after dinner and tea .”

Chen Zhao chuckled: "Being powerful and wealthy is actually like sailing against the current. If you don't advance, you will retreat. Who doesn't want to be romantic? But most of the time, after ten years of hard work, we really can't compete with others who have managed it for generations."

……

Half a month later, the imperial edict arrived in Jinling.

"Fengtian Chengyun Emperor, the imperial edict said, I heard that the country's government is based on benevolence, teaching is based on loyalty and filial piety... The Zhen family of Jinling, who has a lot of kindness, does not think about repaying, corrupts the law..., and even more conceals the truth. Tax arrears...too many to list. Authors confiscated their property and used it to offset the national treasury. They must not be missed....Zhen Yingjia and other principal offenders were dismissed from their posts and exiled to Guangnan to serve as an example. 3000 taels of silver as a token of kindness."

After reading the decree, the Sheren who announced the decree said to the Governor of Liangjiang, General Jinling, and the prefect of Jinling, as well as several officials from the Yifu Yamen Xingcao, Hucao, and Supervision Department: "My lords, this is a matter for me. It's just the work of a few adults."

The governor of Liangjiang nodded and said: "Let Master Jia take charge of this matter. Criminal Cao takes prisoners, Household Cao registers property, and Supervision Office supervises."

Mr. Jia is naturally Jia Yucun, the prefect of Jinling. He hurriedly led his bureaucrats to clap their hands and said, "Follow your orders."

Discussing with his colleagues for a while, Jia Yucun walked up to Zhen Yingjia, who was ashen-faced, and said with a little regret: "Brother Zhen Nian, thunder, rain and dew are all God's grace. The generations of your family have bathed in the emperor's grace, but it is only a moment. You're down, brother Nian, please take care of your health and look forward to everything."

Zhen Yingjia forced out a smile, cupped her hands and said, "Thank you, Mr. Jia, for reminding me."

"Brother Nian, please also invite the female family members of the mansion to stay in the first courtyard temporarily, and the people below have to work." Jia Yucun said politely.

Just as they were talking, someone in charge rushed out in a hurry, knelt down on the ground, and shouted bitterly: "Master, old lady, Mrs. Fengsheng..."

"What about the old lady?" Zhen Yingjia asked hastily.

Mrs. Fengsheng is the nanny of the Supreme Emperor, and also the God of Dinghai in the Zhen family.

With this old lady around, the family will still have a bit of dignity in the imperial palace of the capital.

Emperor Xiaode is not easy to kill.

Therefore, Chen Zhao could only avenge half of his revenge.

But if this old man had an accident, the Zhen family would really be doomed.

"Mrs. Feng Sheng heard the order to confiscate the house, and she lost her anger for a while, and she couldn't be rescued. She went to heaven." The steward sighed.

Zhen Yingjia's eyes darkened.The old lady was not in good health these days. She was well for two days and sick for three days.

The family and the clan originally planned to marry Zhen Baoyu, the old lady's favorite, and they were overjoyed.It may be that Zhen Baoyu, who used to be a sweet pastry, has no one to kiss him. Those people who wanted to send their daughters here on the same day will say that they are not good enough, or that their daughters are already married.Of course, there are people in the family who are willing to marry a daughter to Zhen Baoyu, but the Zhen family doesn't like her.

As soon as it was delayed until now, I didn't want to be in such a situation.

"Old lady!" Zhen Yingjia cried and fell to the ground together with several sons, in pain.The rest of the people also cried and howled, not knowing who they were crying for.

Among them, Zhen Baoyu, who was ninety-nine similar to Jia Baoyu, was even more confused and crying. He had no idea what he should do next.
Probably because the girl at home was not with him, he was confused again.

But the officials don't care whether he is confused or not, and they don't care whether the holy lady ascends to heaven or not.

Although the raid was conducted by the Jinling Mansion's customs defense, household registration, and supervision by the Supervisory Office, the three parties worked together to strictly guard against and carefully investigate, but there seemed to be no chance of attack.

But everything is not absolute, as long as you pay careful attention, you can always get something from the Zhen family's golden mountains and silver seas, as long as a little, it is enough for the servants to eat and drink.

This is the meaning of the saying "when the Zhen family falls, the officials will be fed".

At this juncture, even if your whole family hanged themselves, you have to open the door and let the big guys raid the house to make some money.

I could hear the whole house crying, screaming, and panicking. The soldiers and government officials were running around like wolves and tigers, and the whole Zhen Mansion was in a state of panic.

The negative-pressure gentlemen are just to be watched and accepted, and they are not allowed to despise the female family members, not to hide money privately, not to damage the utensils, and the rest are out of control.

Seeing the former Zhen Mansion where Yutang Jinma and Zhumen Xiuhu used to be, wolves ran around, messy and messy.Surrounded by emerald greens and pearls, bells, drums and jade, men, women and children, under the scolding of the soldiers, their hair was disheveled and trembling, like a crowd of people inserting bids.

The Zhen Yingjia brothers, father and son, and other men were in tears. The prison officer next to him couldn't control you like this, so he just put the chains on him and detained him first.Even the internal and external stewards, the shopkeepers and accountants of the shops under Zhen's name, and other related persons were all locked up and sent to the Jinling Mansion prison first, and then tortured to recover the Zhen's money and punish them for their crimes.

All irrelevant maids and servants will be dismissed.If you have relatives or family members in the local area, please come and claim it yourself.If relatives and friends are far away, the government will write a letter to inform them.Those who do not want to go to relatives but can support themselves can make a living on their own after writing a letter of recognizance.

The family members of the whole family live temporarily in a courtyard.These people have always been pampered and pampered, and their fingers are not touched by Yang Chunshui.Sudden turmoil, I suddenly lost my mind, and there was no man at home, not even a person who made up my mind, so I wept there all day long, panicking.

Two days later, another Jinling government official came to the door and arrested the second wife of the Zhen family, the eldest daughter-in-law and the second daughter-in-law, as well as Zhen Yingjia's second concubine and third concubine.

It turned out that the first three hooked up to usury, and even killed several people.The latter two concubines are Goulian's natal family, who specialize in smuggling under the banner of the Zhen Mansion, and even sold grain, cloth and military armor to the rebels in western Zhejiang.Now they are being picked up together and will be held for questioning.

……

But not long after, a bigger news came that what happened to the Zhen family was nothing more than a big deal.

It turned out that the remnants of the Taihu water bandits, under the command of the eagle-eyed old seventh of the Twelve Links and the chief ladle of the Yangtze River water gang, Shuishang Fei, broke through the mansion of the Li family in Changzhou in one fell swoop, beheaded the Li family from top to bottom, and lost all their gold, silver and jewels. It was even more looted.

Not only did they do this, but they also arrogantly left a note.

The general idea is that the Li family lured them into chaos and became sinners of the government, so they reported their grievances directly and revenged them!

It is said that after Shui Shangfei and Eagle Eye Lao Qi finished the vote, they immediately broke into pieces and disappeared into the vast crowd.

……

After the news spread throughout Jiangnan, the whole Jiangnan was completely uproarious.

Overnight, the aristocratic clan in the south of the Yangtze River immediately became a good and law-abiding family, scrambling to pay the treasury and tax debts.

Therefore, when the spring of the fifth year of Xiaode came, the wealthy families in various places in the south of the Yangtze River handed over 300 million taels of silver owed to the treasury, and the prestige of Emperor Xiaode suddenly soared.

Emperor Xiaode had no reason to be unhappy.

The more than 1000 million taels of silver, together with the normal treasury income, is enough for him, the emperor, to have a good year.

The money can allow him to buy people's hearts, reward important officials, and ensure the smooth advancement of the battlefields in Liaodong, Tianshan, Southern Xinjiang, and southern Fujian.

Therefore, under the great joy of Long Yan, Emperor Xiaode asked all the ministers in the cabinet to give some rewards to Chen Zhao.

This move made the three elders want to scold their mothers.

It stands to reason that Chen Zhao brought tens of millions of taels of silver to the court, which can be regarded as the greatest contribution in the past few years, and it is more intuitive than the expulsion of the Eros invasion thousands of miles away.

But the ministers in the cabinet felt very troublesome.

Ge Lao Xu was originally from Hangzhou, and he was promoted to the cabinet by the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs. When the cabinet was discussing matters, he sighed: "With Chen Zhao's merits, it is not too much to be promoted to the third rank, and he should also be conferred. Only Chen Zishang is only 20 years old. In his early years, he has already graduated from the third rank, and if he is promoted to the third rank, he will be a minister of the first rank, and he must be a doctor of Shangzhu Kingdom and Yin Qing Guanglu plus a bachelor."

Dr. Shangzhuguo and Yinqing Guanglu, who are in their 20s, joined the university. This is not a meritorious reward, it is counterproductive.

It's a real disaster in the name of a retreat.

Even if the elders in the cabinet have little to do with Chen Zhao, they still have to consider the attitude of the Holy Majesty and Lin Ruhai who is about to enter Beijing.

We even have to consider the attitude of scholars all over the world.

"Well, Chen Zi is still a young talent, and the Holy One is very important. He is also a young up-and-comer, a rising star. As seniors, we should take good care of him, so as not to backfire." Chief Minister of the Cabinet, Prime Minister Tian Congdian said.

"What Tian Xiang said is a mature and prudent statement." Xu Ben nodded his head in agreement, then turned his head and said, "Brother Yuan Meng, you can also talk about it."

"Your Majesty's knighthood is inevitable."

Xu Yuanmeng, who was born in the Ministry of Officials, said calmly: "You should be rewarded for your merits."

After a pause, he added, "In the past few days, there have been a lot more memorials to impeach Chen Zishang, and the cabinet is a little overwhelmed."

Da Zhou was similar to Da Ming. The officials liked to hear about things, and crimes such as "negligence and incompetence, audacity, troubles and disturbing the people, and greed for food and salary" were all blamed on Chen Zhao's head.

Of course, the elders are used to this, after all, they also came from this step.

Xu Ben said with a smile: "Chen Zishang is a proud young man, and it is inevitable to be young and energetic, so it is possible that he does things a little recklessly and inappropriately, but it is not a big deal. So why is there such a need to impeach? Those people are just full of food. I think it’s mostly jealousy.”

Xu Ben is from Hangzhou and is a big boss in Jiangnan. If people there want to write a letter or impeach him, they will definitely not avoid Xu Ben.

Now that Mr. Xu Ge said this, it was equivalent to putting the matter aside.

Tian Congdian, Xu Yuanmeng, and several other elders looked at each other, and they all understood what the old fox was thinking.

It seems that Chen Zi is so sharp that even the dignified elders dare not make him an enemy.

While the cabinet bosses were worrying about Chen Zhao's affairs, Chen Zhao was looking dashing. He took his two concubines, Xia Ruoqing and Xiangling, and four maids, Qingwen, Zijuan, Xiuluan and Caixia, for a swim together. Xuanwu Lake.

(End of this chapter)