Ming Jiajing: Starting from Immortality

Chapter 159: Destroy Hui merchants and one hundred thousand new officials!
"What does Yuanfu mean?"

"Catch all the Huizhou merchants in one fell swoop!"

Zhang Juzheng tapped his fingers on the documents and said in a cold tone: "The court officials who have received help from Huizhou merchants are also among the fish to be caught!"

Gao Gong, Li Chunfang and Chen Yiqin took a deep breath.

This is to make Hu Zongxian's family a tainted witness like Wang Chonggu's family so as to avoid punishment.

Of course, even if Zhang Juzheng did not say it explicitly, Hu Zongxian understood that in addition to the roster of merchants from the Huizhou merchants and the roster of officials funded by the Huizhou merchants, the family would also have to hand over all the stolen money previously obtained from the Huizhou merchants.

Such a solution is undoubtedly a good one, and Hu Zongxian is very grateful to Zhang Juzheng. However, there are also some problems. First of all, Hu Zongxian is not like Wang Chonggu, who has the final say in the family. On the contrary, Hu Zongxian and his family are not in harmony because of the Huizhou merchants.

The financier of the Huizhou merchant gang was the uncle who accused Hu Zongxian of being unfilial. On what grounds did he ask his uncle for two lists of names and persuade the family to hand over the stolen money?

"Ruzhen, don't worry about the stolen money for now. Don't alert the enemy."

Zhang Juzheng smiled and said, "The key is the two rosters. I guess that after you became Marquis of Jinghai and a cabinet elder, your family sent you a letter asking you to take over the family burden and sit on the position of head of the family, right?"

In the society of the Ming Dynasty.

A person's status is often determined by external things.

Official position and money.

The simplest example is that if a farmer's children can earn money, not only outsiders but even their parents will subtly change their attitude towards their children.

On the contrary, if children cannot earn money, sometimes even their parents look down on them.

A family like the Hu family became different because of Hu Zongxian. Even if the members of the Hu family did not agree, they subconsciously knew that the rise of the Hu family was inseparable from Hu Zongxian.

As for Hu Zongxian's uncle, although he was stupid and foolish, he was also a bit self-righteous. Perhaps Uncle Hu himself didn't even know that the reason he became the head of the Hu family was simply because Hu Zongxian's parents had passed away, and he became the head of the family as Hu Zongxian's closest blood relative.

Uncle Hu may not understand, but the Hu family is so big, with hundreds of people, including more than ten elders. Some of them are so old that even a pubescent eyebrow is hollow. Don't they understand the reason for the family's rise?

In the eyes of the elders of the Hu family, Uncle Hu's status as the head of the family was just a temporary position for Hu Zongxian.

As long as Hu Zongxian is willing to take over the position of the head of the family, even if Uncle Hu is unwilling to give up the throne, the elders of the Hu family will make Uncle Hu confused.

In the entire cabinet, except for the Second Prime Minister Gao Gong, whose family was in Xinzheng, located in the north of the country, the other four were from the south and were very familiar with clans.

Hu Zongxian said awkwardly, "Yes, before I went to Beijing, the elders of the clan sent me several messages, asking me to return to the clan on my way to Beijing. Although they didn't say it explicitly, they wanted me to take over the position of the head of the clan."

"Then send a message back and say that you are willing to become the head of the family, but you are busy with state affairs and cannot leave the capital for the time being. The ceremony for becoming the head of the family will be postponed, but the details of the family property should be sent to the capital first." Zhang Juzheng emphasized the word "family property".

After becoming the financier of the Huizhou merchants, the Hu family no longer had any family property. There were hundreds of people in the family who did nothing every day. They just waited for money from the Huizhou merchants when they opened their eyes.

The details of the Hu family's property are completely details of the Huizhou business group.

Hu Zongxian is willing to take over the position of head of the Hu family.

This is not only what the Hu family elders want to see, but also what the Huizhou merchants want to see.

The Huizhou merchants had been operating in the imperial court for 200 years, and even the three dukes and nine ministers had funded them. However, the cabinet was the only place where the Huizhou merchants could not infiltrate. This was the power center of the two capitals and 13 provinces of the Ming Dynasty. The entry and dismissal of each cabinet elder was carefully considered by the previous emperors and the current emperor, and the merchants would never be allowed to get their hands on it.

Moreover, with the short-sightedness of businessmen, once the sponsored students enter the officialdom and become local officials, they will recover their previous investment.

To put it bluntly, the officials who have Hui merchants standing behind them will definitely not be honest and upright in their official careers. There are imperial inspections every year, and the officials in the Ministry of Rites are ranked below the cabinet ministers. It is impossible for those corrupt officials to make huge money and rise to prominence at the same time.

It is not easy to be a cabinet minister or a chief or deputy chief official of the six ministries. I don't know how many people are eyeing these dozen or so positions in the world. No matter how many there are, there are no more than twenty positions.

If there is any problem with your resume, you will not be able to reach a high position, and even if you can, it will be a dead end.

Therefore, although Huizhou merchants had great influence in the imperial court, with their tentacles reaching across the two capitals and thirteen provinces, they were powerless against the cabinet, which held the highest power, and the six ministries, which held some of the highest power.

The Huizhou merchants were in desperate need of a "gang leader" to unite the officials they sponsored into a group so that they could steal the country's resources.

Hu Zongxian, who was born in Huizhou Prefecture but remained untainted by the mud, is believed to be the dream man of the Huizhou merchants.

This explains why the brothers Hu Guiqi and Hu Songqi were able to collect two to three million taels of silver in donations from Huizhou merchants under the name of their father.

The Hu family was thinking of Hu Zongxian becoming the head of the family.

The Huizhou merchants were thinking of Hu Zongxian becoming the "gang leader".

Hu Zongxian only needed to express his meaning a little bit, and the two black carps belonging to the Hu family and the Huizhou merchants would be caught effortlessly.

The fish is eating the bait, but it doesn't know that the person holding the rod wants to eat the fish.

This plan.

Everyone in the cabinet thought it was a good idea. The only problem was that using relatives to achieve one's goals would hurt Hu Zongxian's family affection and reputation.

"Yeah." Hu Zongxian didn't think too long and agreed to Yuanfu's plan.

Over the years, his relatives have been blinded by the real money of the Huizhou merchants. There is no trace of family affection in the letters they exchange with each other, only interests.

As Yan Song's most proud disciple, his reputation was completely lost decades ago.

His current reputation is nothing more than the great scholar's debate after the successful suppression of Japanese pirates and pacification of the sea.

What is lost will come back eventually.

"Once we get the two lists of Huizhou merchants and officials, we will submit a petition to His Majesty, asking the Imperial Guards to arrest the people and confiscate their property."

Zhang Juzheng was not prepared to let the cabinet and the court intervene in the destruction of the Huizhou merchants. He looked at Gao Gong and said, "Sir Su, select the existing Jinshi, Juren, and Xiucai in the Ming Dynasty and select 100,000 scholars who can serve as officials.

At the same time, I will submit a memorial to Your Majesty, stating that in the next spring examination, regardless of whether the candidates are successful or not, they will all be selected in Beijing, and after being examined by the Ministry of Personnel, the Censorate, the Imperial Guard, and the Eastern Depot, they will take up their posts in the two capitals and thirteen provinces!"

Gao Gong, Hu Zongxian, Li Chunfang and Chen Yiqin were all shocked by Zhang Juzheng's "fantasy".

Think about them back then, and then look at how the scholars can become officials when they come to the capital. It's really frustrating to compare yourself to others. It's better to be born lucky than to be born well!

(End of this chapter)