Late Ming Dynasty: Oops, I am surrounded by the Donglin Party

Jinyiwei Northern Pacification Division, Imperial Prison.

What I saw was a dark and damp corridor. There was not even a skylight, and only a ray of light came through the iron doors at both ends.

The mud on the ground had frozen into ice and was mixed with dirty straw, and the air was filled with a mixed smell of decay.

Since the new emperor ascended the throne, the power of the Jinyiwei has been gradually reduced, and even if there are cases, the Ministry of Justice is responsible for them.

Today, the imperial prison is empty and has almost become a decoration.

Until today, the Imperial Prison welcomed two distinguished guests - Duke Chengguo Zhu Chunchen and Earl Jiading Zhou Kui.

The several jailers on duty also perked up, as they had been instructed by their superiors to "treat these two distinguished prisoners well".

"Zhang Shikang, you are a thief who stole the country! When I get out, I will never forgive you!" Zhu Chunchen was still cursing at the top of his voice.

At this time, he had long lost the dignity of a duke of the current dynasty. His brocade and silk clothes had been stripped off, and the jailer only threw him a tattered prison uniform that smelled bad.

Zhu Chunchen hadn't planned to wear it, but the weather was too cold.

He huddled in a pile of straw in the corner of the cell, with his hands tucked into his sleeves, shivering with cold, as if cursing loudly could drive away the cold.

"Duke Cheng, save your energy, this bastard can't hear you.

We might as well wait here and see. In less than two hours, my son-in-law will come and release us." Zhou Kui was also hiding in the straw pile, and he seemed to have seen through the ending.

After all, he is the father-in-law of the emperor. How could the emperor really make things difficult for him over such a trivial matter as tax?

After he said that, he didn't care how dirty the straw was and pulled more straw into his arms to keep warm.

“Humph, my family should also know about this matter, and they must have gone to the palace to seek justice for me.

You levy taxes on me, do you really think I'm easy to bully?" Zhu Chunchen said bitterly.

He had already told his family that if anything happened to him, they should bring the red-lettered iron certificate bestowed by Emperor Chengzu to the palace.

His ancestor Zhu Neng made great military achievements for the Ming Dynasty, and even Emperor Chengzu showed great favor to his family.

Even if the current emperor still favors Zhang Shikang, he will never forget the kindness of Duke Chengguo's ancestors.

The commercial taxes of the Ming Dynasty were set by Emperor Taizu. Any unauthorized changes would be against the ancestral system. Zhu Chunchen certainly had reason to oppose it.

He could accept the idea of collecting taxes from the gentry. For the long-term financial planning of the court, Zhu Chunchen even planned to remain neutral or even second the proposal.

But I didn’t expect that this tax reform would even collect taxes from nobles and relatives. Then what did their ancestors get for their great contributions to the court?

Just based on this point, Zhu Chunchen would never agree.

"I think my wife will send a message soon. Your Majesty will definitely not ignore the friendship with our ancestors because of this matter.

But father-in-law, I feel that even if His Majesty lets us go, we can’t leave.” Zhu Chunchen came up with a plan.

These words made Zhou Kui's eyes light up. Zhou Kui was older than Zhu Chunchen, so he immediately understood the implication of Zhu Chunchen's words.

"You mean, should we just stay here? Our son-in-law will be more anxious than us?"

The more Zhou Kui thought about it, the more it made sense.

"Yes! Brother, you are the father-in-law of the emperor, and I am the hereditary Duke of Cheng. Now you have imprisoned us in this stinking imperial prison for such a small matter.

This is really disgraceful. It seems that we are losing face, but in fact, it is also the emperor who is losing face. "

Zhu Chunchen grinned evilly, and he felt as if all the chillness in his body had been dispelled.

"That's right! But I don't care about face. How much is face worth?

We are going to live here, and neither of us will leave. Even if the emperor asks us to leave, we won't leave!

Unless the emperor returns the silver he robbed from our family before." Zhou Kui vowed.

"That's right, Zhang Shikang actually collected nearly 20 million taels of silver from Shanxi merchants.

I think your majesty is not short of money now, those hundreds of thousands of taels of silver are our savings for most of our lives!" Zhu Chunchen sighed.

"Who says it's not true? The two silver vaults in our house are our lifeblood. We think about them every day and can't sleep every night."

"But father-in-law, those Shanxi merchants are much more powerful than us. They actually have so much silver. Although my family is considered wealthy, it is far behind those Shanxi merchants."

Zhu Chunchen said with a look of jealousy on his face.

Zhou Kui smiled silently upon hearing this, and said sarcastically:

"Those Shanxi merchants are engaged in treasonous business, who told us that we have a conscience?

Alas, good people don’t get good rewards. Look at us, we didn’t do anything wrong, but we are locked up in this dark place, all because we refuse to lose our conscience. "

Zhu Chunchen deeply agreed with Zhou Kui's words.

"What the father-in-law said makes sense. Once this matter is settled, perhaps our two families can cooperate in business.

Isn't Zhang Shikang going to punish those civil servants? No matter who wins, there will be a lot of vacancies in the capital. You and I..."

"That makes sense. Duke Cheng is indeed a smart man."

The two of them were separated by a cell, talking to each other, as if they were not serving sentences in prison but rather on vacation.

At this time, a jailer came from not far away, carrying an old wooden barrel in his hand.

"Dinner is ready, both of you," the jailer said expressionlessly.

"Okay, let's talk while we eat. The food here is free, and we can save some money." Zhou Kui said with a little anticipation.

Since Zhou Kui became the father-in-law of the emperor, he had never been to jail, no matter how serious the crime he committed. Although he knew that prison food was not tasty, he had only heard about it.

After all, Zhu Chunchen was in charge of the Governor's Office and was more familiar with prison affairs. He did not want to attack Zhou Kui, so he just kept a sullen face and said nothing.

The jailer threw in two tattered and dirty porcelain plates, then took out an iron spoon with a thick patina, and poured the food into the broken porcelain bowl through the gap in the cell.

But I saw that the rice in the spoon was black with white, and white with green. As soon as it was poured into the broken porcelain bowl, a strong smell came out.

"What the hell is this? I am the father-in-law of the emperor. How dare you mistreat me? Aren't you afraid that the emperor will exterminate your entire clan?"

Zhou Kui pinched his nose and pointed at the bowl of unknown liquid.

"This is the Imperial Prison. This is what you eat in the Imperial Prison."

……

Inside the Qianqing Palace, Emperor Chongzhen was eating lunch, and not far away a noble lady was kneeling on the ground crying.

"Your Majesty, the Champion Marquis committed a crime in the street and also captured my husband.

I have no choice but to come to the palace to ask for help from Your Majesty. My husband has always been law-abiding. How could the Marquis of Guanjun be so arrogant?

Please, Your Majesty, make the decision for me!"

As they were talking, Queen Zhou Shi Shiran also walked in from outside the hall.

……