Emperor Zhengde

Chapter 280 is related to the Yanshenggong Mansion (6100 words long chapter)
Because the people rioted and smashed the grain shops, the grain shops that were still open in the capital were forced to close one after another.

The food shortage became more serious.

And at this time.

In a Shandong Guild Hall in the capital, a big man with a full beard walked up to an elegant scholar and said, "Sir, I'm back?"

The scholar did not even raise his head, but continued to admire the ancient ring in his hand and asked, "The Ministry of Justice released you so soon?"

"The people were petitioning outside the Ministry of Justice. The officials there couldn't stand the pressure and had to release us first," said the bearded man.

The scholar smiled faintly and continued to ask, "Are all the grain stores in the capital closed?"

"They are all closed! I estimate that the people in the city will have no food to eat in a few days!" replied the bearded man.

"Very good, Mr. Kong's plan is half successful. If you make a profit this time, it will be more than five million silver dollars. You will also benefit from it. You will never have to worry about food and clothing for the rest of your life. You continue to act like a mob outside and make a lot of noise. Our Majesty has always loved the people and will not do anything to you. The more noise you make, the more anxious His Majesty and the court will be. At that time, you will have to pay whatever price we bid!" the scholar ordered.

"As ordered!"

The bearded man thought for a moment and asked, "But, sir, do you think His Majesty would not buy with money, but directly rob, or even encourage the people to rob the grain shops?"

"If His Majesty wants to break the rules, he will destroy the foundation of the Ming Dynasty and offend all merchants in the world. It is not illegal for us to sell at a high price, and his court has no reason to forcibly take our grain. As long as Tongzhou doesn't get caught, it will be fine!"

Soon after the scholar finished speaking, another monk came in and said, "Master, the matter in Tongzhou was successful. Most of the two million shi of grain were burned by us, and the soldiers we bribed have been silenced."

"I understand. I will give your temple 100,000 silver dollars as incense money when the time comes!"

The scholar then added: "Now it depends on how Mr. Kong talks with Yuwen Zhong of the Ministry of Revenue!" Immediately, he laughed again and looked out the window at those poor people who were already weak due to hunger. He seemed as if he was admiring a masterpiece he had created.

But just as the scholar was admiring the view, the sound of horse hooves was heard. Many soldiers and officers appeared, pulling cartloads of sweet potatoes in horse-drawn carriages and setting them out directly on the square of Daming Gate. A blue-clothed official from the Ministry of Revenue was ordering people to set up a porridge stall.

After a while, the scholar saw the soldiers, under the command of the Ministry of Revenue officials, pour a bag of rice into a pot, and pour in more of something that looked like taro.

The scribe couldn't help but ask seriously, "What is that?"

"Sweet potatoes! I heard that they were brought back from outside by Marquis Jianchang. Now they are only promoted in the area around the capital, and are mostly grown in imperial farms and farmers in the suburbs of Beijing," someone replied at this time.

The scholar muttered to himself, "Sweet potato!" and became worried for a moment.

……

And this time.

Officials from the Ministry of Revenue have begun distributing sweet potato porridge to the poor in the capital. Sweet potatoes can satisfy hunger and are cheap, so it is not a problem to distribute them for several months. It is enough time for the court to allow these poor people to regain a stable life. A small amount of porridge will not make the poor too miserable and prevent them from going without even half a grain of rice.

In addition, sweet potatoes were also sold in the main gathering places of each city gate at the price of one cent per stone. Compared with the grain price which had already risen to nearly three yuan per stone, this could be said to be given away for free.

Of course, one coin and one stone was higher than the price the Ming Dynasty court paid for it from the people.

The people had no complaints because the cost of sweet potatoes was low. In some barren mountainous areas that were completely uncultivable, the cost of growing them was lower than the cost of chopping a bundle of firewood.

anyway.

Sweet potatoes were sold at the price of one penny per stone. For the common people in the capital, even the lowest class of people could buy one stone to fill their stomachs for several days.

of course.

The scholars and common people in the capital were somewhat resistant to this new grain.

Fortunately, Zhu Houzhao took the initiative to eat sweet potatoes first, and the cabinet and officials of various ministries took the lead in eating sweet potatoes, which made it easier for the people to accept sweet potatoes as a crop and they began to eat sweet potatoes one after another.

"Your Majesty has ordered that due to the loss of 2 million dan of grain transported to the capital, the price of grain in the capital has skyrocketed. Fortunately, Your Majesty has already stored 10 million dan (exaggerated for political purposes to reassure people) of sweet potatoes. The people don't have to worry about starvation. They can use sweet potatoes to survive the famine! Your Majesty has ordered the Grain Industry Bureau to transfer another 3 million dan of Champa rice to the capital, and then sell it at the price of the 12th year of Zhengde!"

The court writers in the attendant's office began to convey the latest arrangements of the court to the people at the city gates.

As a result, the people in the capital city felt at ease.

……

The scholar who was secretly colluding with Mr. Kong had a dark face and said angrily: "Ten million dan! When did the court prepare so many sweet potatoes? Can this be used to cook?"

"Yes, sir. We can endure the hunger without any problem," his men replied.

"In this case, we won't be able to sell the grain we have stored at a high price. This will mean all our efforts will be in vain!" the scholar said angrily.

"Master, why don't we burn the grain tax again?" his subordinates suggested.

"It's not that easy. Let's wait for Mr. Kong's arrangements," the scholar couldn't help but say.

……

At this time, in the imperial West Garden, where the royal family had their meals, when Zhu Houzhao came in after handling state affairs, there were already many imperial concubines sitting in the room, while the Empress Dowager Zhang was still sitting in the middle. Zhu Houzhao was still sitting above the Empress, looking at a bowl of sweet potato rice, and couldn't help but smile: "This is the first time I've eaten sweet potato rice in the Ming Dynasty. It's rare to have such a delicious meal!"

The Queen couldn't help but smile and said, "There is also this potato beef. Your Majesty, please try it. The Imperial Kitchen made it according to your instructions. It is also very delicious. In my opinion, this potato is even more delicious than the sweet potato. It can be used for cooking and other dishes. Your Majesty, why don't you let them promote potatoes first?"

"No conflict, it's the same if we plant potatoes after we harvest the sweet potatoes," Zhu Houzhao said as he tasted it first. It was definitely delicious. Only Liu Jin couldn't help but pretend to be nice, wiping away tears and saying, "I don't know which damn thief actually burned so much food, leaving the Empress Dowager, His Majesty, and the ladies and highnesses of the various palaces with only sweet potatoes and potatoes to fill their stomachs!"

Seeing this, Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but glared at Liu Jin and said, "Go stand outside and come back when you've cried enough. The royal family eats sweet potatoes first to set an example for the subjects. What do you know?"

"It's rare that Eunuch Liu is so loyal, Your Majesty, you shouldn't blame him," Queen Xia said with a smile, and then said, "After all, he followed you to Guangdong and Guangxi, and gave you two more maids, right?"

Soon after Empress Xia said this, Liu Jin, who had just left, walked in and said, "Your Majesty, Yuwen Zhong, the Minister of the Granary, wants to see you."

When Zhu Houzhao saw that it was Yuwen Zhong, he remembered that he had said before that Yuwen Zhong could come to see him directly if he had any questions about raising grain. Now that Yuwen Zhong asked to see him, he put down his chopsticks and ordered, "Let him come here and move the screen!"

after awhile.

Yuwen Zhong stood behind the screen and said, "Your Majesty, I, Yuwen Zhong, greet you!"

"It's already noon, have you had your meal?" Zhu Houzhao asked.

Yuwen Zhonglian said no.

"In that case, give him a bowl of sweet potato rice and a bowl of stewed beef with potatoes. You can try them. They taste good. They are new products from the imperial kitchen. You can't eat this dish even if you go to the best restaurant in the capital now!"

Zhu Houzhao said.

Yuwen Zhong was now worried about his own death, and had no appetite at all. He could only say, "Your Majesty, please forgive me, I really have no appetite!"

"In that case, let's get down to business. Do you have any way to raise food?" Zhu Houzhao asked.

"Your Majesty is wise. There is a merchant named Kong who has two million dan of grain, which he is planning to transport to Liaodong in exchange for salt permits. Now that he sees that the grain price in the capital is quite high, he is willing to sell it," said Yuwen Zhong.

"It's for people who know how to do business!"

After Zhu Houzhao said this with a smile, his expression turned cold, and he thought to himself: "Is the merchant surnamed Kong lucky enough to go to Liaodong to exchange for salt permits?"

Immediately.

Zhu Houzhao remained calm, uttered an "oh", and then asked, "How much does he plan to sell it for?"

"One stone is three yuan and five cents, a total of seven million silver dollars!"

Yuwen Zhong replied.

"He is really good at raising the price. This is five cents higher than the current grain price in the capital. Seven million silver dollars for two million shi of grain. Even if the treasury of the Ming Dynasty is full, it cannot withstand such consumption. You continue to negotiate with him and try to negotiate it down to about five million. I may agree!"

Zhu Houzhao ordered.

……

That night.

Zhu Houzhao called Gu Dayong from the Western Factory and ordered him, "You Western Factory should keep a close eye on Mr. Kong who is in contact with Yuwen Zhong and find out where his grain is stored. These merchants are very powerful and can actually control the grain price in the capital to three yuan per stone! If it weren't for the timely appearance of sweet potatoes, I'm afraid I would really have to spend seven million silver dollars to buy grain!"

"I obey your order!" Gu Dayong retreated.

……

And this time.

More and more sweet potatoes and potatoes were transported into the city.

More and more people are beginning to accept sweet potatoes and potatoes, which are already sweet and delicious.

"The price of sweet potatoes will be reduced to seven cents per stone, and the price of potatoes will be reduced to one cent per stone!" a shopkeeper of a government-run grain bureau shouted loudly.

then.

The people went on a buying spree, and the famine problem was solved. Even if they were tired of eating sweet potatoes and potatoes, it didn't matter. The Ministry of Revenue began to gradually mobilize some grain to the capital and sell it in batches at a reasonable price. Although the amount was small, it ensured that the people could at least taste the rice and flour.

Mr. Kong, who had already returned to the Shandong Guild Hall, could not help but frown: "We spent two million silver dollars to buy grain, plus the cost of bribes. We were going to wait until the grain price in the capital was high to sell it. Now the court has suddenly done this, and we are going to lose everything!"

"Marquis Yongchang can no longer bear the pressure, so he has reopened the grain business and lowered the price to two yuan and five cents per stone!" said the scholar who appeared before the Shandong Guild Hall.

"Forget about the Marquis of Yongchang. Let's wait and see. I don't believe that the court will not be able to eat up all the sweet potatoes! Only fools would believe that it is 10 million dan!"

Mr. Kong said with a sneer.

Ten days later.

Another batch of sweet potatoes arrived in Beijing, and the price of sweet potatoes dropped to five cents per stone. In addition, the Ministry of Revenue also transferred a batch of 200,000 stones of grain from Shanxi to Beijing, forcing grain merchants who had opened grain shops one after another to lower the price of grain to two yuan per stone.

After all, grain also has a shelf life, and the longer it is stored, the faster it depreciates.

Mr. Kong, who owned two million shi of grain, had no choice but to agree to Yuwen Zhong and prepare to sell it to the court for five million silver dollars.

But Zhu Houzhao regretted it again and said:
"Now that the price of grain has dropped to two yuan per stone, it is naturally not cost-effective to use five million silver dollars to buy two million stones. Tell him that the court will buy two million stones of grain from him at one time for three million silver dollars. Otherwise, his two million stones of grain will only be depreciated to the level of the twelfth year of Zhengde!"

Mr. Kong naturally refused. After all, he expected to make more than 5 million silver dollars by hoarding the goods. If he only sold them for 3 million silver dollars, he would not make much and it would be a waste of time.

However, ten days later, another batch of sweet potatoes and potatoes were shipped into Beijing. The price of sweet potatoes dropped to one-third of a stone, and the price of potatoes also dropped sharply.

Even the lowest-level workers could buy a stone of sweet potatoes and take them home with their day's wages.

In addition, the imperial court also recovered and transferred another batch of grain to the capital, which caused the price of grain in the capital to drop again to the level of one yuan and seven cents.

This time, Mr. Kong found Yuwen Zhong again and took the initiative to ask to sell it for three million silver dollars.

Zhu Houzhao refused because there was a bumper harvest of grain from military farms outside the Great Wall. The cabinet had already transferred 500,000 shi of grain from outside the Great Wall to Beijing, so there would be no problem holding off until the grain arrived in Beijing. He said that if Mr. Kong wanted to sell 2 million shi of grain to the court, he could only do so at the price of 2 million silver dollars.

"No! This is absolutely not possible. Two million silver dollars means we made nothing. Add the cost of bribes and we're still losing money! This, this is not possible!"

At this time, before Mr. Kong could speak, the scholar Sun who followed him rejected the court's proposal.

"Burn all the old grain we purchased! When the time comes, transport the new grain to the capital and sell it at three yuan per stone. The dignitaries in the capital can't always eat sweet potatoes and potatoes. They can afford three yuan per stone of grain," said Mr. Kong.

then.

Three days later, in a manor in Fengrun County, hundreds of thousands of old grain stones were transported out of the warehouse and piled on firewood in preparation for burning.

Seeing this, Mr. Kong's shopkeeper named Yin Mo was shocked and asked, "Mr. Kong, why are you burning all this food?"

"Not burning it will only lower food prices!" said Mr. Kong.

"Mr. Kong, this is against the will of heaven. Although these grains are old grains, it is a good deed to give them to the people," Yin Mo said.

"Manager Yin, I didn't expect you to be soft-hearted. You can't give those low-class people 500,000 dan of grain even if you burn it!"

As Mr. Kong said this, he ordered his men to light the firewood pile and start burning the bags of grain. The bags of grain flowed into the fire like a flood, and the entire flame began to be filled with the aroma of grain.

"What a sin! These wealthy families would rather burn their grain than sell it at a low price!"

The people nearby couldn't help but sigh when they saw this.

At this time, a team of Jinyiwei rushed in and chopped off the arms of the man who was about to burn the other piles of grain. A Jinyiwei named Shen Wenqi pointed his embroidered spring knife at Mr. Kong and said, "Who gave you the courage to burn so much grain!"

Mr. Kong couldn't help but be shocked. He didn't expect that the Jinyiwei would suddenly appear, and he didn't know what to say for a moment.

……

"These profiteers are really going too far! The people in the capital are short of food, and all regions have to squeeze out food to be transported to the capital. Even the food from the border towns is transported to the capital, but these profiteers would rather burn the food than sell it at a lower price! It's really despicable!"

The Prime Minister was extremely angry when he learned about this.

The second assistant Wang Qiong couldn't help but sigh.

Zhu Houzhao was relatively calm, and only asked Gu Dayong: "Have you found out who burned the grain? Also, who is behind the grain prices in the capital this time? Have you found out?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, the West Factory has only found out that the mastermind behind the price manipulation is Kong Wenyun, a descendant of the Great Sage and Master. The Marquis of Yongchang and General Zhu Jing are also involved in this case!"

"Catch him immediately. No matter who he is, if he dares to destroy the foundation of our Ming Dynasty, he will not be let off easily. This Kong Wenyun, a descendant of Confucius, is capable of doing such a shameful thing. Is he the mastermind?" Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but ask.

"Your Majesty, I'm sure Duke Yansheng doesn't know about this either. It's inevitable that there will be such unvirtuous descendants!" Seeing that the matter involved Duke Yansheng's mansion, Kang Hai was afraid that His Majesty the Emperor would use this as an opportunity to vent his anger on the descendants of the saint, so he hurried over to say a good word for Duke Yansheng.

……

Zhu Houzhao glanced at Kang Hai and knew Kang Hai's purpose. He just smiled and said, "Then Lord Yansheng Kong was also poorly educated. It is really despicable that such a profiteer like this is the descendant of a saint! Draft an edict. In order to ensure the reputation of the descendants of the most holy teacher, the descendants of Lord Yansheng are strictly prohibited from doing business. Otherwise, they will be punished for being unfilial!"

The cabinet ministers were all shocked. They never expected that the emperor would ban the Yanshenggong Mansion's right to do business. But they could not say anything because the emperor's reason was to protect the reputation of Confucius' descendants.

Minister of Justice Nie Zhen became even more anxious at this time. He could see that His Majesty was using this incident to suppress Duke Yansheng. He also knew that this showed that His Majesty was really dissatisfied with Confucianism, especially the lineage of Duke Yansheng. But now Kong Wenyun of Duke Yansheng's mansion was not up to the standard and was still thinking of hoarding goods to make a fortune. Wouldn't this give His Majesty an opportunity to strike at Duke Yansheng? Once Duke Yansheng's status was lost, it would also mean that the status of Confucianism would be even more lost. Once this matter was publicized, people would only blame Confucianism for the corruption and degeneration of Duke Yansheng's mansion.

"Go to Shandong quickly and give this to Duke Yansheng," Nie Zhen packed a bag of grain and handed it to his confidant.

at the same time.

Nie Zhen reported to Emperor Zhu Houzhao that criminal cases were under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Justice, so the suspects involved in manipulating grain prices should be transferred from the Western Factory to the Ministry of Justice for interrogation.

Zhu Houzhao could not refuse. After all, this was indeed in line with the current judicial procedures of the Ming Dynasty, and it was indeed the responsibility of the Ministry of Justice to try suspects.

However, Zhu Houzhao also understood that these civil servants must have the idea of ​​protecting Duke Yansheng, so he also suspected that Nie Zhen was legally exercising his power as the Minister of Justice to request that the Ministry of Justice be responsible for the interrogation of Kong Wenyun and others, in order to protect Kong Wenyun secretly.

……

"Gu Dayong, do you think anyone in the Ministry of Justice knows Kong Wenyun?" Zhu Houzhao suddenly asked.

"Your Majesty, according to a bearded man named Sun Tietou who used to work in the Ministry of Justice, even if Kong Wenyun asked his loyalist Sun Juren to deal with people in officialdom, I think he would not know them," Gu Dayong replied.

After hearing this, Zhu Houzhao nodded and gave some instructions to Gu Dayong. Then Liu Jin approved the request of Minister of Justice Nie Zhen to transfer the suspect to the Ministry of Justice prison.

This day.

Gu Dayong from the Western Factory personally brought a group of suspects to hand over to the Minister of Justice Nie Zhen. Nie Zhen first glanced at the prisoners behind Gu Dayong and asked, "Excuse me, sir, who is Kong Wenyun?"

"This is him!" Gu Dayong pointed at a prisoner and said.

Nie Zhen nodded and said nothing more.

……

However, a few days later, just after Zhu Houzhao had finished lunch, Nie Zhen came to the Royal West Garden to plead guilty: "I am incompetent! Your Majesty, please punish me! Last night, Kong Wenyun suddenly died!"

Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but laugh after hearing this and said, "Really, Mr. Nie? Let me ask you, are you a minister of the Ming Dynasty or a minister of the Kong family? Or are you the real mastermind? Why did you want to silence Kong Wenyun?"

"Your Majesty, why do you say that? I am a minister of the Ming Dynasty, and I would never dare to manipulate grain prices," said Nie Zhen.

Zhu Houzhao shook his head, thinking that this was annoying in an age when there were no professional judicial officials. Even the officials in charge of the judiciary were Confucian civil servants. No wonder these literati and Confucian officials could avoid the constraints of the law.

"Bring Kong Wenyun up!"

Nie Zhen was shocked when Zhu Houzhao said this. He understood everything at once and couldn't help but regret why he didn't go and ask Kong Wenyun, who was brought to his Ministry of Justice by the Western Factory, in person. Now, it seemed that he had been fooled by His Majesty.

"Your Majesty, I just feel that this matter should not involve too many people!" Nie Zhen said somewhat unconfidently.

"Come here, take off Nie Zhen's official hat and take him to the East Factory Inspectorate first! Keep Kong Wenyun in the West Factory and interrogate him strictly!"

Zhu Houzhao originally thought that Nie Zhen would be able to find out that Kong Wenyun was a fake, and then realize that he, as the emperor, was not easy to deceive. However, he did not expect that Nie Zhen still looked down on him, and he could not help but shook his head for a moment.

But Zhu Houzhao still felt a little indignant, thinking: "What benefits did the Kong family give to these civil servants? How dare a minister protect him like this! Or is there something about the Kong family that can threaten these civil servants?"

Zhu Houzhao could only bury this doubt in his heart for the time being, but no matter what, this incident made Zhu Houzhao realize that if he wanted to abandon Confucianism, he had to dethrone a family that had been highly respected since Confucianism became the orthodox school. That family was the Yanshenggong Mansion.

Now, in Zhu Houzhao's view, Kong Wenyun might be a breakthrough.

However, what Zhu Houzhao did not expect was that just when he was sure that Kong Wenyun was the culprit who burned the grain, Zhu Houzhao received a memorial from Kong Yanshenggong, which said that Kong Wenyun's father had hanged himself after hearing that his son had done such a heinous thing, and before hanging himself, he had taken the initiative to ask to remove his family from the Yanshenggong genealogy! He also took the initiative to plead guilty to himself, the emperor, and expressed his willingness to donate 300,000 grains to Beijing to save the capital!
Today I wrote nearly 20,000 words. The author went to have a rest. I am so tired. I feel that the quality of my subsequent writing has declined a bit. It turns out that I am not suitable for writing too much.

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(End of this chapter)