Jiajing Chengming

Chapter 105 In this world, I am the only one who can call the wind and rain!
The fifth day of the twelfth month of the sixteenth year of the Zhengde reign.

The Cabinet issued an edict:
The Cabinet established the General Administration of Revenue, and reinstated former cabinet minister Fei Hong as Grand Secretary of Wenhua Palace, Junior Tutor and Grand Tutor of the Crown Prince, and Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, concurrently in charge of the General Administration of Revenue.

The Cabinet established the General Administration of National Taxation, and reinstated former cabinet minister Yang Yiqing as Grand Secretary of the Wuying Palace, Junior Tutor and Prince Taifu, and Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, concurrently in charge of the General Administration of National Taxation.

The outer court soon began to discuss the two imperial edicts.

Some say that the emperor truly trusts the cabinet and has further strengthened its functions.

Some also say that this is the cabinet's preparation for the upcoming large-scale reform.

Some even said that Yang Yiqing and Fei Hong entered the cabinet because they both made deals with the emperor or the cabinet chief Liang Chu.

therefore.

Fei Maozhong has been questioned again by Xu Chengming and others these days.

"Even if Jinyiwei's Zhang Tong cannot be fully trusted, if your uncle really returns to the cabinet, wouldn't that confirm Master Ke's suspicions?"

Xu Chengming therefore said to Fei Maozhong.

Fei Maozhong said: "I swear to God, I didn't know that my uncle would be suddenly reinstated as a cabinet minister by Your Majesty."

"That's it!"

"It's no use arguing about this now."

Xu Chengming waved his hand and continued:

"Your Majesty has set up the National Taxation Bureau and the Ministry of Revenue, just to find out through the cabinet how much tax there is in the country and how much money and grain there is in the various warehouses of the court!"

"Can you let your uncle be in charge of the finances of the whole country in the future? Can he really help Your Majesty find out how much money and grain there are in the warehouses at home and abroad?"

“I don’t think it’s easy!”

"Let's not talk about the distant past, let's just talk about what's happening in Shandong right now."

"The one who can truly control how much tax Shandong can pay is not the imperial court, but the largest household in Shandong - the Yanshenggong Mansion!"

"Your Majesty thinks you can control Shandong by threatening us Shandong gentry."

"But he doesn't know that we Shandong gentry also have to look at the face of the Duke of Yansheng Mansion!"

"Even the Prince of Lu, the Prince of De, and all the officials in Shandong have to look at his face!"

After Xu Chengming said this, he left Fei Maozhong with a sneer.

……

Forbidden City.

Royal study room.

"Send a secret decree to Councillor Cai Tianyou. I will give him the power to supervise the taxation and personnel management of all prefectures, counties and cities in Shandong. You can act first and report later. Don't worry that there will be no one to collect taxes in the future. I will send him an imperial envoy who specializes in taxation in the near future!"

"I just don't believe that without Zhang the Butcher, we will have to eat hairy pigs!"

"Send the secret decree to Deputy Envoy Shu Sheng. I will give him the power to arrest officials of all ranks at will. If anyone disobeys, I will execute him first and report to you later!"

"Tell him that although they are only deputy envoys in name, they should be aware that they are now the biggest imperial envoys in Shandong!"

"Except for my secret orders, you can ignore anyone's words and do nothing for anyone else!"

"Let them remember that the hereditary positions inherited by their fathers and brothers were won by their ancestors at the cost of their lives. Now they should also fight for their own achievements on this battlefield without the smoke of gunpowder!"

Zhu Houcong gave instructions to the Chief Minister of the Cabinet Liang Chu, while the Chief Minister of the Cabinet Liang Chu was drafting the imperial edict.

Now Zhu Houcong basically just called Liang Chu to the imperial study to give him secret instructions, which made Zhu Houcong much more efficient in issuing decrees through the cabinet.

After Zhu Houcong finished giving his instructions, he saw the eunuch Qin Wen from the Imperial Household Department coming over:

"Your Majesty, Lord Mao, Grand Marshal, and Vice-President Wang request to see you."

Zhu Houcong soon realized that these officials who suddenly wanted to see him were all civil servants from Shandong.

Zhu Houcong also guessed why these people were looking for him.

Zhu Houcong smiled and said, "Xuan! Tell them to wait for me at Xuanhua Gate!"

Zhu Houcong then looked at Liang Chu and said, "Prime Minister, come with me to meet them."

Liang Chu bowed and said, "Your Majesty, in my humble opinion, they did not directly submit their opinions to the emperor, but chose to come together to speak directly to him, and even did not go through me, the Prime Minister. I think there must be something very serious going on."

"Then from Yuan Fu's point of view, what kind of serious matter could it be?"

Zhu Houcong asked.

Liang Chu replied, "In my humble opinion, the truth about Wang Yangming's boat sinking in Shandong must have been revealed, but it involves people who cannot be dealt with, so it is not appropriate for them to be presented directly in this book and known to the world. I dare only speak directly to you in person."

"A character that cannot be disposed of."

"I think it must be the Kong family."

Zhu Houcong replied.

Liang Chu replied: "Your Majesty is wise. In my humble opinion, we should be cautious in dealing with such people. We should be patient and not be short-tempered!"

"I know."

"But you must kill when necessary, without mercy!"

Zhu Houcong replied with a smile.

Liang Chu couldn't help but be startled. He could feel the firmness and calmness in the emperor's tone.

Therefore.

Liang Chu continued, "Since Your Majesty already knows, I naturally don't need to say more. I am willing to believe that it is a blessing for all people to have a wise king like Your Majesty!"

"I know what you want to say more."

"I just want to say that the world cannot be made clear by my hard work and your virtuous and capable Prime Minister." "But I am not only the emperor, I also have wisdom that you don't know about. So I am very relieved and happy that the Prime Minister believes that I am not acting on impulse."

After Zhu Houcong said this, he looked intently at the rising sun above the Xuanzhi Gate in front of him.

at this time.

Mao Ji and others were already waiting at Xuanzhi Gate.

When Zhu Houcong appeared, they immediately greeted him with great courtesy.

then.

Mao Ji took out a letter from his sleeve and said:
"Start your Majesty!"

"The former Minister of the Imperial Secretariat, Chen Zhan, hanged himself not long ago. He left a letter before he hanged himself."

"He said in the letter that he intended to murder Wang Yangming, and chose to persuade the Yanshenggong Mansion to do it!"

"But now, he heard that Your Majesty blamed the Shandong gentry, so in order not to hinder the Shandong scholars from serving the country and honoring their ancestors, he chose to confess and attached a personal letter from Duke Yansheng, and respectfully requested Your Majesty to only blame him and not all the gentry in Shandong."

Zhu Houcong therefore asked Qin Wen to bring the letter over and let Liang Chu see whether it was written by Chen Zhan himself.

Liang Chu confirmed it and replied, "Your Majesty, it is indeed written by Chen Zhan and Duke Yansheng."

After hearing this, Zhu Houcong asked, "So, this matter is related to the Yanshenggong Mansion?"

"Your Majesty clearly shows you!"

"The truth of this matter has been revealed, but since it involves the descendants of the saint, we dare not speak of their crimes. I ask your majesty to make a judgment."

Grand Secretary Mao Ji could not help but kneel on the ground and kowtow.

Subsequently.

Mao Ji, along with Wang Xian and others, stole a glance at Zhu Houcong.

Zhu Houcong thought for a moment and said, "According to the rules, at the beginning of the next year, I will visit the Imperial College and need the descendants of the saint to accompany me. I will use this as an excuse to summon Duke Yansheng to the capital first, and then discuss this matter after he arrives in the capital!"

After Zhu Houcong said this, he asked these people to retreat.

He only allowed Liang Chu to continue back to the imperial study with him.

"listen!"

"I make the following instructions."

"Please consider the draft bill."

As soon as Zhu Houcong returned to the imperial study, he started talking to Liang Chu as soon as he sat down in front of the prime minister's desk.

Liang Chu stood up and bowed: "Your Majesty, please give your instructions!"

"First, send another secret order to Shandong Military Governor Shu Sheng and Cai Tianyou, asking Cai Tianyou to allocate money from the provincial treasury to Shu Sheng to recruit more archers and scouts, and then send secret scouts to monitor the Confucius Mansion. The money spent from the provincial treasury will be supplemented by the money brought by the tax camp in Lu."

"Second, send a secret order to Wang Yangming, asking his Wangxue disciples to escort the head of the Southern Kong family to the capital."

"Third, order Zhou Shangwen to select 300 capable officers to escort the first batch of students who have passed the tax accounting exam at Xingming Academy to Shandong to set up a tax camp, and allocate 100,000 taels of silver as funding."

After Zhu Houcong finished speaking, he said:
"Many officials from Shandong have close ties with the Kong family. I can't openly express my views in front of them, but now that there are only you and me, the emperor and the minister, I don't need to hide anything."

"Now that the evidence is solid, the Shandong Kong family must be eradicated!"

"Although the world still needs to be governed by Confucianism, Confucianism cannot do without me, not me cannot do without Confucianism!"

"So, Confucius must be respected, and the Kong family must also do it!"

"In short, the priorities must be clear. There is only one person in this world who can call the wind and rain, and that is me!"

Liang Chu was impressed by Zhu Houcong's courage and said, "Your Majesty is as powerful as the sky. No one dares to bully you, and no one can bully you!"

Let’s talk.

After receiving the secret order, Shandong Councillor Cai Tianyou, despite the severe cold weather, took his grain-supervising soldiers to inspect the various prefectures.

Cai Tianyou first came to Yanzhou Prefecture, and after seeing that all the clerks in Yanzhou Prefecture were arresting the poor scholars who came to Beijing to take the imperial examination, he immediately ordered the arrest of these clerks, and interrogated them directly in the Jining prefectural government office. After the interrogation, he said in a deep voice:
"You are not active in collecting taxes, but you are very active in arresting people. Who gave you the power?!"

Luo Zeng, the prefect of Yanzhou, said: "They all only listen to the Yanshenggong Mansion and never listen to me. Naturally, the power was given by the Yanshenggong Mansion!"

"If that's the case, it's already a rebellion, drag them all out and chop them off!"

Cai Tianyou slammed the gavel.

None of the clerks showed any fear.

A clerk named Kong Zhenhe said calmly: "Sir, don't be so arrogant. Although we are clerks, we are all members of the Yansheng clan. How can you kill us just like that?"

There are three main sources of Ming Dynasty clerks:
The first is a farmer with no family background, under 30 years old and able to write;
The second is the unworthy among the students, students of the Imperial Academy, and Jinshi;
Third, guilty officials will be punished by being sent to serve as clerks.

As a large local landlord, the Kong family had long since replaced the clerks in many prefecture, county and city governments in Shandong with their own clansmen.

Kong Zhenhe is just one of them.

Back to the topic.

Cai Tianyou had received the secret order, so he was naturally fearless:

"I really dare to kill you!"

Snapped!
"Drag them out! Chop them all up!"

Cai Tianyou slammed the gavel again.

"Yes!"

The grain inspectors under his command immediately dragged Kong Zhenhe and others out.

Kong Zhenhe and others were shocked on the spot.

(End of this chapter)