Chongzhen Wiretapping System

Chapter 206 Rich and Poor
It turned out that the Ming Dynasty had never captured so many real Tatars.Therefore, the hatred of the people of the Ming Dynasty towards the Tatars was accumulated.

This time, King Qin's army captured so many prisoners in the Tianjin battle. Apart from being seriously injured and dying, there were less than a hundred of them who survived, and they were locked in the prison of the Ministry of Criminal Justice.

As for the prisoners in the prison of the Ministry of Punishment, some of their relatives and friends died at the hands of Jianlu, or some fields outside the city were ruined by Jianlu. It can be said that almost everyone has hatred towards Jianlu.Therefore, these guards took advantage of the convenience of their positions and began to take out their anger on the captured prisoners.

Although the court has made an explanation, these Jianlu Tartars cannot be killed.But this kind of thing is not a problem at all for the prisoner.Instead of killing them, they tortured those Jianlu Tartars without even seeing them.

After I felt better, I went home and said, what made the Jianlu tartars taste the pain today, it can be regarded as revenge for that so-and-so.

Then, you told me about this matter, and I told you about it. Within a few days, it spread.

As a result, the prisoner's neighbors and even other people came to ask the prisoner of the Ministry of Punishment to bring them in, and personally let those Jian prisoners taste the pain, which is also a different kind of revenge.

However, not everyone can enter the prison of the Ministry of Criminal Justice.Therefore, naturally, they began to stuff some money into the prison guards, and then the prison guards brought people in, and even pointed out how to make these Jianlu Tartars suffer more and torture them.

Unexpectedly, word of mouth spread this matter, and more and more people wanted to avenge it with their own hands.It made the prison of the Ministry of Criminal Justice a bit overcrowded.

Later, a prisoner had an idea and gave a rule.

All the Jianlu Tartars were tied inside the cell, and many small sandbags were placed outside the cell.If you want revenge, you can, line up, go in and throw sandbags, one penny a sandbag, throw it hard, anyway, you can't kill people, and there will be no serious injuries, but you can sit on the ground and collect money.

In this way, the prisoner only needs to watch from the sidelines, and at most pick up the sandbags to get money easily.However, it is also blamed for the high hatred value of the Jianlu Tartars, so the supply is still in short supply. In the end, the price increased, from one penny to ten penny per sandbag.In this way, there are still many people queuing up every day.Some people even hire someone to smash it when they are tired of smashing it themselves.

After hearing Cao Huachun's report, Emperor Chongzhen couldn't help asking: "Does the Secretary of the Ministry of Punishment know?"

"We all know about this." Cao Huachun quickly complained, "But it's a good thing to say, and it's for the sake of the people of Ming Dynasty. It was flooded by the people of the capital, so it was a last resort."

Speaking of this, he added with a smile: "The money was confiscated in the end, and it belongs to the Yamen of the Ministry of Punishment."

After hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen shook his head and said, "This kind of thing is still against the rules. However, the people in Liaodong Jianlu are very angry, so it's a good thing to let the people vent. So let's do it. This kind of thing is not an example."

In fact, humiliating prisoners was very common in ancient times, which is the so-called public display.However, this one goes a step further and uses money to buy the opportunity to do it yourself.

In Emperor Chongzhen's view, such things should not happen to ordinary criminals.However, there is no need to be polite to Jianlu, and it can be treated as a special case.

After Cao Huachun heard his words, he immediately received the order.But then, Emperor Chongzhen ordered him again: "The voices of the people are also to be listened to, so remove all the treasonous chief culprits from Dongchang and Jinyiwei Prison to the Prison of the Ministry of Punishment!"

After hearing this, Cao Huachun agreed, but he still looked a little hesitant, as if he wanted to say something, but he didn't dare to say it.

When Emperor Chongzhen saw it, he asked with a smile: "Why, can't bear it?"

Hearing this, Cao Huachun hurriedly said with a flattering smile: "Your Majesty is wise, the salaries of the servants and servants are not high, and now the servants strictly forbid them to take money that they should not take, so I thought... I also gave them some benefits." This opportunity can...can subsidize the family!"

He said this sentence several times before he finished it.Obviously, Emperor Chongzhen still had some scruples in his heart because of his previous methods.In other words, at least he wanted to behave like this and let the emperor know that he was still a little worried.

When Emperor Chongzhen heard this, he was a little taken aback, and immediately remembered that since the anti-corruption campaign has begun on the issue of officials' salaries, he must mention it to them.At this time, the salaries of officials at all levels set by Zhu Yuanzhang flashed through his mind.

The first-rank officials of the Ming Dynasty had a monthly salary of 87 shi, and the gross estimate was 87 taels, which is equivalent to more than 4 yuan in later generations.This money sounds like a lot, but how many servants, wives, concubines and children are there in the family of a first-rank official?In this way, it is really not much.

The monthly salary of a local magistrate, the fifth grade, is sixteen dan, which is equivalent to 8000 yuan in later generations.This salary is probably enough to live on for a family of three, and they have to live on a tight schedule.However, will the local prefect be a family of three?
Then there is the county magistrate, who is the seventh rank, and the monthly salary is seven stones and five buckets, which is equivalent to 750 yuan for later generations.Needless to say, this little money!
The master book in charge of household registration, arrests, and document handling is only nine grades, and his monthly salary is five stones and five buckets, which is equivalent to 750 yuan in later generations.With so much power in their hands, but only such a small salary, under the pressure of life, even a very few people are very clean and can farm for themselves, but for most people, the consequences can be imagined.

Therefore, it is very necessary to raise the salaries of Ming officials.At least let those honest and honest officials have no worries.As for how much, you have to discuss with the officials to set a basic standard.

In addition, the two yamen, Jinyiwei and Dongchang, are too special and have no restrictions on their power. It is easy to rely on the power in their hands to make money.Therefore, their financial sources must not take many forms.Even if it is in the form of bonuses, it is better than letting them make money like those in the prison of the Ministry of Punishments.

Thinking of this, Emperor Chongzhen shook his head and said, "No, let's hand it over to the Ministry of Punishment!"

After hearing this, Cao Huachun couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed.If this is done, his reputation in Dongchang will be even higher.

Even so, on the surface, he immediately bowed down to accept the order and said: "I'm confused, I'm going to hand over the main culprit of the rebellion."

Emperor Chongzhen saw him, but he stopped him with a slight smile and said: "However, my big companion reminded me that no matter whether it is the Dongchang fan or the Jinyiwei school lieutenant, they are my eyes and ears, so naturally I can't treat them badly. I am going to raise my salary." For a moment, in addition, at the end of each year, there will be other rewards for those who perform well in Dongchang Fan or Jinyiwei captains. These are additional and do not involve merit promotion."

"Your Majesty is merciful, and this servant will first thank His Majesty for your kindness on their behalf." When Cao Huachun heard this, he couldn't help being overjoyed, and quickly knelt down to thank him.

This time the capital confiscated a lot of mansions, plus the silver of the former nobles, there were more than 500 million taels of silver alone, and there were many other valuable real estate shops.In addition to the reward from King Qin's army, Emperor Chongzhen currently has about 400 million taels on hand, which is equivalent to more than the national treasury's annual income.In addition, it is estimated that the eight major Shanxi merchants and other second-class Shanxi merchants can copy hundreds of millions of silver, which is another large sum of money.

Emperor Chongzhen thought about the money and felt that many things could be straightened out.At least, it is no problem to increase the salary of the factory guard.There is also a simultaneous crackdown on officials in the capital and all over the country and an increase in their salaries.

Of course, the source of all this money is from one-stick transactions, and you must be able to make money by making money.Daming Royal Bank is one, but it is far from enough.Fortunately, remembering some knowledge of later generations can become a source of money in this era.

But there are too many things, and we must do it step by step.

The most important thing now is the resettlement of refugees, and the other is to strengthen the combat effectiveness of the three major battalions as soon as possible.

But if a worker wants to do his job well, he must first sharpen his tools.The reform of the craftsman system must be done first. It can be said that this is actually the foundation of the country!
Therefore, the people in the capital are waiting for the emperor's powerful force to escort the eight major Shanxi merchants back to the capital, while the Emperor Chongzhen is thinking about the innovation of the craftsman system.

At the same time, in Anping Town, Fujian Province, in the city built by Zheng Zhilong himself, a young man looked calm and walked quickly into the lobby of the backyard of the Zheng Mansion. When he saw the person sitting on the main seat, he called out. Said: "Brother, are you looking for me?"

"Fourth, come, come here, there is something I need you to do for elder brother." The man in the main seat was also in his prime, but he was clearly a shrewd person, and when he saw the person coming, he said with a little seriousness.

This person is naturally the master of the Zheng Mansion, Zheng Zhilong, the overlord of the southeastern coast of the Ming Dynasty.

And this fourth brother is Zheng Zhilong's fourth brother. His original name was Zheng Zhifeng, but he changed his name to Zheng Hongkui when he passed the martial arts examination.

At this moment, upon hearing Zheng Zhilong's words, Zheng Hongkui said hastily: "What is it, what is the elder brother's order? Could it be a merchant ship that doesn't want to pay the money?"

"No, those people have their own people to do it." Zheng Zhilong shook his head immediately after hearing this, looked at Zheng Hongkui and said, "Master Zhong Cheng sent someone to say that he has something to discuss with me..."

Hearing this, Zheng Hongkui couldn't help but said in surprise: "Brother, although our Zheng family doesn't have a good relationship with this new Mr. Zhongcheng, it shouldn't make things difficult for Big Brother, otherwise, his official position will be over!"

In Fujian, it is the Zheng family's one-acre three-point land, and anyone who dares to offend the Zheng family will not end well.

After hearing this, Zheng Zhilong shook his head and said, "An angel arrived, and then Master Zhongcheng sent someone to pass on a message. Brother guessed, someone must be quick to let the court know that we have made some money, and they have taken a fancy to our family wealth, right? It's not easy for eldest brother to refuse in person for this kind of thing, so you can go for elder brother and say that I am not at sea, what do you mean by taking a fancy to Mr. Cheng? Let's talk about it first."

His people are everywhere in Fujian, so they can naturally know the governor's situation clearly.With Zheng Zhilong's shrewdness, he guessed right away that the governor was looking for him, and nine out of ten it had something to do with the imperial decree.But in today's north, Liaodong Jianlu is raging, and the court must be short of money.Zheng Zhilong guessed such a reason.

Hearing this, Zheng Hongkui agreed, but hesitated for a while and said: "Brother, since you want money, then just give it whatever you want, we are not short of this money!"

Hearing this, Zheng Zhilong frowned, and immediately reprimanded: "How much money do we have? Don't you want to raise so many brothers? If the emperor asks, can a few dozen taels of silver be spent? Don't be verbose, go find out Say it again!"

Obviously, he didn't really want to give money.In the original history, a large part of his money was cheaper than the Qing Dynasty.After the Manchus invaded Fujian, he wanted to be a wealthy prince, so he surrendered to the Manchus despite his son Zheng Chenggong's persuasion.As a result, the Manchu Qing directly ransacked Anping Town and forced his wife, Zheng Chenggong's mother, to commit suicide.Later, even he himself was "clicked" by Man Qing.

At this moment, after Zheng Hongkui heard what Zheng Zhilong said, he could only agree and rushed to the governor's mansion in Fujian.Zheng Zhilong himself was still drinking tea and thinking about things.

The original governor of Fujian, Xiong Wencan, was the benefactor who recruited him, and the relationship between the two was very harmonious.They all went to the imperial court and wanted to promote Xiong Wencan to the official position, but Xiong Wencan also put forward the reason of "five difficulties and four musts". Anyway, he just didn't want to be promoted and just wanted to stay in Fujian.

Zheng Zhilong naturally knew the reason for this. It was not because of the deep relationship between the two, but because he, Zheng Zhilong, always gave Xiong Wencan heavy gifts during every new year and festival.Anyway, hello, hello, hello to everyone.

However, in the end, the emperor made the order, and Xiong Wencan couldn't resist the order and refused to obey, so he had to be promoted and transferred.However, Xiao Yifu, the new governor of Fujian, has a different style of work from Xiong Wencan.Especially after he took office, he became wary of Zheng Zhilong when he knew that Zheng Zhilong had a huge influence in Fujian and the sea.No gifts from Zheng Zhilong will be accepted.As a result, the relationship between the two is not harmonious.

Zheng Zhilong guessed that it was Xiao Yifu who secretly informed the emperor and revealed the situation here.Therefore, when the North happened to be short of money, they sent people to ask for money.

He was thinking about it, but he didn't know when he heard movement outside. When he heard the sound, he saw that it was Zheng Hongkui who was back.

"Brother, you guessed wrong!" Zheng Hongkui said loudly to Zheng Zhilong as soon as he entered the door: "I didn't mention our family wealth. I want to give you a promotion!"

Upon hearing this, Zheng Zhilong couldn't help but be stunned.But in his heart, he felt faintly uneasy, so he frowned and asked: "Don't be happy, just tell me the specific situation!"

When Zheng Hongkui heard this, he immediately nodded excitedly, and then told the details of how he went to see the governor instead of Zheng Zhilong.

(End of this chapter)