I was compiling the daily records during the Wanli reign

It was near noon inside the Wenhua Hall.

Shen Nian spent two hours explaining how the imperial court could ensure that everyone in the world had enough to eat.

He recounted the national land survey, the Single Whip Law, the Postal Service Regulations, and the Order to Open the Sea and Obtain Silver, which had already been implemented by the imperial court. He also explained why he advocated publicizing officials' private property, why he consistently advocated increasing officials' salaries while abolishing regular taxes, and how to develop commerce and industry in the future, as well as how to suppress foreign barbarians militarily.

Shen Nian explained her entire plan.

He firmly believed that only when the imperial court could ensure that everyone in the world had enough to eat and that the laws and regulations were sufficiently perfect and just could the world be at peace and the Ming Dynasty be stable. At this stage, every official must have a spirit of self-sacrifice.

Those who listened with a discerning eye gained profound insights; those who didn't simply thought Shen Nian was a know-it-all, engaging in empty talk.

Shen Nian spoke at length, primarily addressing the young Wanli Emperor.

His best hope was that the young Wanli would mature in the next three years, resonate with him, and even if he didn't become a sage ruler, he could become a benevolent one.

As usual, the young Wanli listened very attentively to Shen Nian's last lesson before leaving the capital, without any other reaction.

Secondly, Shen Nian was speaking to Shen Shixing, Wang Xijue, Yu Youding, and others.

Shen Nian hoped that they would adhere to the direction of the new policy reforms and continue to expand the achievements of the new policy reforms.

Fifteen minutes after Shen Nian began speaking, Wang Xijue's eyes reddened, and tears streamed down his face.

He stood behind Shen Shixing, occasionally lowering his head, barely managing to keep quiet.

He knew how much Shen Nian had done for the Ming Dynasty over the years, and how hard Shen Nian had worked to achieve the goal of "making sure everyone in the world has enough to eat."

Now, Shen Nian has ended up leaving the capital for Jiliao, which makes him unable to hold back his tears.

After Shen Nian finished speaking, the young Wanli Emperor bestowed a generous banquet upon him and had the other three cabinet ministers accompany him, a gesture that seemed to be a farewell.

After the banquet, Shen Nian went home.

He needed to rest for a while before preparing for his journey to Jiliao. Once he completed this difficult task, Shen Nian would have done right by the Ming Dynasty.

When Shen Nian returned home, he was overjoyed to learn that Hai Rui was willing to go to Jiliao with him.

Now, all the people Shen Nian cares about can be gathered together.

……

Shen Nian's third day of vacation.

The young Wanli Emperor, indulging in his own desires, ordered the selection of 300 virtuous women under the age of fifteen to enter the palace.

The intention behind this move was not only to select virtuous ladies, but also for the young Wanli Emperor to see who would oppose him.

As the young Wanli Emperor had predicted, no one in the court submitted a memorial stating that there was a problem with this move.

……

February 20th.

Han Ji, the chief clerk of the Ministry of Justice who was in charge of the search and seizure of Zhang Juzheng's residence in Beijing, reported that Zhang Juzheng's properties in Beijing were worth 10,600 taels of silver, in addition to four imperial plaques.

This was somewhat contrary to the expectations of the young Wanli Emperor.

However, he estimated that Zhang Juzheng's son must have already transferred his family property to Jiangling, so he ordered the Embroidered Uniform Guard to urge the progress of the investigation and confiscation.

……

March 2nd, Jingzhou Garrison, Jiangling County.

Inside a large mansion, various family properties of the Zhang family were displayed, such as silk, pearls, agate, jade belts, gold and silver jewelry, etc.

Inside the front hall sat the main person in charge of the raid on Zhang's residence.

They are: Duke Dingguo Xu Wenbi, Grand Eunuch Zhang Cheng of the Directorate of Ceremonial, Vice Minister Qiu Shun of the Ministry of Justice, Left Attendant of the Ministry of Justice Yang Tingxiang, and Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard Cao Yingkui.

At this moment, apart from the Duke of Dingguo, the other four all had gloomy faces.

Zhang Cheng looked at Duke Dingguo, Xu Wenbi, and said, "Duke, the Zhang residence cannot possibly contain only this much gold and silver. I suggest that Zhang Juzheng's five sons be severely interrogated to recover the gold and silver they have hidden or transferred!"

Before Xu Wenbi could speak, Qiu Shun, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, said, "I second that proposal!"

Xu Wenbi's eyes widened.

"No! Don't think I don't know what you're up to. Whatever you find is what you get. You can't torture us to extract a confession!"

Zhang Cheng looked helpless.

"Duke, the gold and silver we seized are far less than His Majesty expected. If we report it as such, it will be difficult to explain, and the censors may impeach us for embezzlement. It would be better to say that the Zhang family transferred assets to Zeng Shengwu and Yin Zhengmao..."

"presumptuous!"

Xu Wenbi stood up, picked up a water glass from the side, and smashed it directly in front of Zhang Cheng.

Zhang Cheng was startled and immediately stood up.

"Zhang Cheng, I'll say it again: whatever we confiscate, we confiscate! If you dare to use torture or implicate others, I will not spare you! Although I have no real power, if I go with you to argue before His Majesty, do you think His Majesty will believe you or me?"

Then, Xu Wenbi looked at the others.

"You should all do some good deeds for your children and clansmen. Perhaps in a few years, His Majesty will exonerate Grand Secretary Zhang. If you dare to torture his family, your fate will be even worse in the future!"

These words silenced Zhang Cheng and the others.

They had originally thought this was a cushy job, where they could not only receive credit but also embezzle some property. However, with Xu Wenbi now stationed in Jiangling, they dared not make a move.

"Don't be angry, Your Highness! I was just worried that the amount of gold and silver we seized was too small and that His Majesty would punish us. But with you here, His Majesty must trust us," Zhang Cheng said with a smile.

"Yes, yes, with the Duke here, we can seize whatever we find, and we can report to the court tomorrow!" Qiu Shun, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, quickly chimed in.

“That’s right!” Xu Wenbi said solemnly.

He was glad that, on Shen Nian's advice, the young Wanli Emperor had sent him to Jiangling.

Otherwise, Zhang Juzheng's family would have suffered a great punishment, and even retired officials like Yin Zhengmao and Zeng Shengwu might have had their homes confiscated.

……

March 10th, afternoon.

Inside the Wenhua Hall.

The young Wanli Emperor hummed a tune as he wrote large characters, while the eunuch on duty, Fang Ping, served him from the side.

at this time.

Zhang Jing, the Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, walked in excitedly, holding a document in his hand.

"Your Majesty, the inventory list for confiscating the Zhang residence in Jingzhou has arrived!"

The young Wanli Emperor was overjoyed and shouted, "Bring it up quickly!"

Fang Ping quickly gathered up all the writing implements, ink, paper, and inkstones from the imperial desk and placed them aside.

Emperor Wanli personally removed the seal from the document, but just as he was about to open it, he suddenly covered the document up again.

"You two, guess how much silver you'll be able to confiscate this time?"

Zhang Jing's eyes darted around, and she said, "This servant guesses at least... at least one million five hundred thousand taels!"

Fang Ping hesitated for a moment, then said, "Then this servant guesses at least 1.2 million taels!"

snort!
Emperor Wanli snorted coldly and shook his head slightly, feeling that the amounts the two had guessed were too small.

He estimated that all his assets would be worth at least two million taels of silver.

Because even a local official of the third rank, who has served for ten years, can embezzle and solicit bribes of 500,000 taels of silver.

As the Grand Secretary, Zhang Juzheng also seized the property of the Prince of Liao, and his family also relied on Zhang Juzheng to amass wealth. Two million taels of silver was not a large sum.

It should be noted that when Yan Song's home was raided, all his possessions were worth more than four million taels of silver.

Emperor Wanli felt that his guess was somewhat conservative.

He hoped that this list would bring him surprises and completely shut up the officials who wanted to plead for Zhang Juzheng.

Swish!
The young Wanli Emperor opened the document and looked at the list of items to be confiscated.

Two thousand four hundred and twenty-six taels of gold.

One hundred and seventy-seven hundred and ninety taels of silver.

Goldware weighed 3,711 taels.

Nine hundred and ninety taels of gold jewelry.

Five thousand two hundred and forty taels of silverware.

One hundred and seventeen taels of silver jewelry.

Sixteen jade belts.

One hundred and eighty-three items, including cups, plates, and chopsticks made of rhinoceros horn, tortoiseshell, agate, crystal, ivory, and amber.

More than 3,500 bolts of various colored python robes, hemp silk, gauze, and damask.

……

The total value was approximately 190,000 taels of silver.

When the young Wanli Emperor saw the final calculated amount, he was dumbfounded.

He hadn't expected the figure to be this; it was even less than the wealth he obtained from confiscating Feng Bao's property.

Nineteen thousand taels of silver.

A Grand Secretary could certainly not accumulate so much money through salary and rewards alone. However, in this officialdom where most officials do not rely on salary, even a seventh-rank Imperial Inspector has the ability to earn 50,000 taels of silver a year.

"This...this...how is this possible?" The young Wanli Emperor suddenly slumped onto the dragon throne.

He paused for a moment, then picked up the document again. When he saw the joint supplementary explanation signed by Duke Dingguo Xu Wenbi, Zhang Cheng, and others, confirming that the Zhang family only had these assets, he couldn't help but believe the figure.

Knowing what the young Wanli Emperor expected, these people would never dare to confiscate even a single tael of silver.

"Did I wrong him?" the young Wanli murmured, then quickly shook his head and said, "No, I didn't wrong him. Whether he's greedy or not, he's still greedy!"

Emperor Wanli could not possibly admit that he was wrong.

Furthermore, 190,000 taels of silver is not a small sum, which is enough to prove that Zhang Juzheng engaged in embezzlement and bribery, and was by no means an honest official.

After a brief pause, Emperor Wanli turned to Zhang Jing beside him and said, "Issue my decree: reserve an empty mansion and a hundred acres of land for the Zhang family to support the matriarch of the Zhang family. No further punishment will be imposed on the Zhang family members who have been dismissed from their posts! All confiscated property shall be brought back to the inner court."

"Yes!" Zhang Jing replied, cupping his hands in greeting.

Then, the young Wanli looked at Fang Ping.

"Make two copies of the list, one to be sent to the Cabinet and the other to Minister Shen, and tell him that this matter ends here."

"Yes!" Fang Ping replied, cupping his hands in greeting.

After thinking for a moment, the young Wanli Emperor said, "Furthermore, inform the cabinet that from this day forward, no one may submit another memorial requesting the confiscation of the Zhang residence!"

"Yes!" Zhang Jing and Fang Ping bowed simultaneously.

……

After a while.

Shen Shixing, Wang Xijue, and Yu Youding saw the list of items confiscated from Zhang's residence.

All three sighed deeply.

Zhang Juzheng was not considered an honest official, but in the current court, he could not be considered a major corrupt official.

He should not have been stripped of all his honors, nor should his home have been ransacked.

"Alas! This... isn't this a bit unfair to Grand Tutor Zhang?" Wang Xijue couldn't help but say.

Shen Shixing shook his head helplessly.

"Grand Tutor Zhang offended too many people during his lifetime! This list still proves that Grand Tutor Zhang embezzled funds. It is obviously impossible to exonerate him. However, those officials who frantically impeached Grand Tutor Zhang will certainly not dare to utter a word again. This matter has already caused a great uproar in the city, and there is no way to appeal. Let it pass, and let no one mention it again in the future!"

Yu Youding frowned slightly.

"It's not worth it to ruin a good prime minister's reputation and send a good grand secretary to Liaodong because of 190,000 taels of silver!"

"So what if it's not worth it? We can only look forward!" Shen Shixing said.

Even if Zhang Juzheng were to be exonerated, it would be by the next emperor.

The young Wanli Emperor did this to seize power and take control of the government. He would never admit to any wrongdoing, and the 190,000 taels of silver was already considered evidence, which could not whitewash Zhang Juzheng's actions.

Shen Shixing handed the list of confiscated items to a clerk beside him and said, "Make a copy and let all officials know."

Officials who had amassed over 100,000 taels of silver through their official careers would definitely feel a chill run down their spines upon seeing this list of confiscated items.

Those officials who are eager to get rich through official positions and are currently engaging in corruption and bribery will surely be frightened into stopping when they see this list of confiscated items; otherwise, their fate will be even more tragic than that of Zhang Juzheng.

……

The front hall of the Shen residence.

Upon seeing the list of items seized, Shen Nian couldn't help but burst into tears.

Unfortunately, it's all too late.

All of Zhang Juzheng's achievements were buried by this sum of over 100,000 taels of silver, and the young Wanli Emperor, in his pursuit of power, would never restore his reputation.

But Shen Nian knew that future generations would objectively evaluate Zhang Juzheng's merits and demerits.

Compared to his immense achievements, his sins are but a tiny, insignificant ripple.

“It’s all in the past! I will leave the capital on March 15th!” Shen Nian murmured.

……

As dusk approached, officials in various government offices in the capital saw the list of items to be confiscated.

Those who saw it found it unbelievable after estimating their own personal assets.

Unexpectedly, Zhang Juzheng, after serving in the cabinet for more than ten years, had only accumulated 190,000 taels of silver in assets, which included his family's savings, salary, and imperial rewards.

Based on this calculation, he did not embezzle much money.

If the imperial court had implemented Shen Nian's policy of publicly disclosing officials' private assets, Zhang Juzheng's illicit income would probably not have ranked in the top fifty among officials.

Some officials may appear unassuming, but in reality, they are extremely corrupt.

this moment.

Those officials who falsely accused Zhang Juzheng of having at least two million taels of silver suddenly became clowns.

They judged Zhang Juzheng by the same standards they used to judge Yan Song, and unexpectedly suffered a major setback.

The less gold and silver seized, the less serious Zhang Juzheng's crime would be.

After the young Wanli Emperor forbade any further mention of the confiscation of Zhang's residence, all the officials stopped bringing it up.

At this moment, many officials were very pleased with themselves.

They felt that the Zhang Juzheng case was over, and the assertive Shen Nian was about to leave the capital. Their comfortable days were about to begin, and they could finally unleash their full potential.

……

At the same time, the list of items to be seized also circulated among the public.

Some people continued to condemn Zhang Juzheng for embezzling public funds, while others felt sorry for him and thought his reputation should be restored.

Perhaps it was because the young Wanli Emperor had heard some public opinion that he immediately expelled several officials who had criticized Zhang Juzheng quite harshly from the capital.

……

March 13th, two days before Shen Nian was scheduled to leave Beijing.

This afternoon.

After discussing it, Shen Shixing, Wang Xijue, and Yu Youding arrived at the Wenhua Hall and stood before the young Wanli Emperor.

The three made two requests to the young Wanli Emperor.

Firstly, we earnestly request the court not to reduce the military expenditures in Jiliao for the next three years.

Secondly, I earnestly request that the Ministry of Revenue and the Imperial Court each allocate 250,000 taels of silver to Shen Nian for trade between Ji and Liao.

Upon hearing this, the young Wanli Emperor readily and decisively agreed to the first request, but hesitated when faced with the second request.

Shen Shixing explained: With this money, Shen Nian will be able to develop trade between Ji and Liao more easily, and since the money is used locally, it can generate more money.

After some thought, Emperor Wanli finally agreed to allocate 500,000 taels of silver to Shen Nian, with the Ministry of Revenue contributing 250,000 taels, the Ministry of Works contributing 100,000 taels, and the Imperial Court contributing 150,000 taels.

Knowing that it wouldn't be easy to get money from Xiao Wanli's pocket, Shen Shixing and the other two immediately agreed.

Shen Nian was overjoyed when he learned that the three cabinet members had applied for 500,000 taels of silver for him, as this money could help him solve many problems.

It's difficult to go from nothing to something, but it's much easier to earn one million taels of silver from five hundred thousand taels.

Meanwhile, Emperor Wanli still appointed Qi Hu, a commander of the Imperial Guard, as Shen Nian's bodyguard captain. Behind Qi Hu followed a thousand Imperial Guards selected by Emperor Wanli, whose main task was to protect Shen Nian.

In addition, at Shen Nian's request, Emperor Wanli granted Shen Nian 4,500 electric muskets.

Of these, 500 were left to Shen Nian's guard team, and of the remaining 4,000, 2,000 were given to Qi Jiguang and 2,000 to Li Chengliang.

As for bullets, each border town can manufacture them, and there are as many as needed.

……

March 15th, early morning.

Shen Nian appeared outside Andingmen.

Those who sent gifts to him included Zhang Jing, the Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, who was specially dispatched by the young Wanli Emperor; the three Grand Secretaries; Zhao Jing, the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate; and many ordinary people in the capital.

Shen Nian was deeply loved by the people and enjoyed great prestige among them.

After a while.

After exchanging pleasantries with Shen Shixing and the others, Shen Nian boarded a carriage and headed towards the northern border so that the people could disperse as soon as possible.

……

Half an hour later, Zhang Jing arrived at the Wenhua Hall to report back.

"Your Majesty, Minister Shen has already set off for Jiliao!" Zhang Jing said, cupping his hands in greeting, his eyes filled with excitement.

After Shen Nian left the capital, he felt as if a heavy weight had been lifted off his shoulders, and the young Wanli Emperor seemed to have the same feeling.

The young Wanli Emperor nodded and said, "Have you completed all the tasks I assigned?"

"It's done! I've planted a total of thirty-two informants. They will send a message to the capital every month, reporting to Minister Shen what he has done."

Little Wanli nodded with satisfaction.

Upon hearing this, Fang Ping, who was standing to the side, frowned. (End of Chapter)