Ming Jiajing: Starting from Immortality

Chapter 35: Confiscate the property for tens of millions and obtain silver in brocade clothes!
The home of Luo Longwen, the Minister of Public Administration.

Ouyang Bijin, the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, went to his home.

The Jinyiwei came to the door one after another.

Arresting people, beheading people, and ransacking their homes were all done in one go.

Two of the Nine Ministers, the top officials of the Ming Dynasty, died without an heir.

Throughout the end of February.

Two hundred and thirty-six Beijing officials and more than ten thousand people were implicated, and the blue bricks of the West Market Archway were dyed red with blood.

The return of the Embroidered Uniform Guards came into the sight of officials in the two capitals and thirteen provinces. From princes and nobles to ordinary people, no one was not afraid of that kick that could break into their door.

Bloody and terrifying.

The historian said: There was one major case in Jiajing.

These days, the imperial doctors of the Imperial Medical Bureau are very busy and have to frequently go in and out of the palaces of Chinese officials in Beijing to provide medical treatment.

But all the sick civil servants had the same symptoms, that is, they were too frightened, and the root cause was watching the execution ceremony.

The scene of heads flying around and hot blood gushing out of the chest until the blood dried up and the heads and bodies fell to the ground was really hard to accept for these civil servants who could not lift or carry anything.

But since there was an imperial edict, he had to see the doctor. After the doctor saw the medicine, he fell ill again. The imperial physician's prescriptions were always the same, he just added or subtracted the medicinal ingredients according to the specific situation.

……

Ok Hee Palace.

Jinyiwei Commander-in-Chief Lu Bing came to meet the emperor.

"Your Majesty, the Imperial Guards have completed the execution of 236 officials in Beijing and the execution of their entire families, and have also completed the search of the homes of the above-mentioned officials!"

Lu Bing knelt on the ground and kowtowed.

Although he was exhausted beyond words, his high spirits still flowed from his words.

Before the raid, the Jinyiwei had estimated the wealth of those corrupt officials, but when the countless gold and silver were actually placed in front of him, Lu Bing was still shocked.

No matter how many cold numbers there are in the account books, it is difficult for people's hearts to really get warmed up.

But when one hundred thousand taels of gold and silver came into view, one felt a burning sensation all over.

From that moment on, Lu Bing gradually began to understand why corrupt officials could not control their true intentions.

From that moment on, Lu Bing couldn't sleep.

He guarded the boxes of gold, silver and other valuables and did not dare to leave for a moment, for fear that one of his subordinates might secretly hide a few gold ingots and silver bars.

On the first night of the murder, Lu Bing simply lay on a box of gold and silver, which seemed like he was using gold and silver as a bed.

Although he hadn't slept all night, Lu Bing didn't feel even the slightest bit of heat when he saw the gold and silver again.

Lu Bing sat on the gold and said to Zhu Qi, "I am no longer interested in money."

Zhu Qi is a descendant of the Jinyi family and has received the strictest training since childhood. He can remain calm even when Mount Tai collapses on his head and remain calm even when a deer appears on his left. These are the earliest and most basic skills.

But after hearing what the commander-in-chief said, he really couldn't hold it back.

The Jinyiwei cavalrymen nearby cast awe-inspiring glances at the commander-in-chief.

"Thanks for your hard work."

Zhu Houcong looked at his brother who looked listless and emaciated, and said with concern.

Lu Bing, it’s not easy.

It’s not easy to be a Jinyiwei.

"It is my duty and I dare not fail the emperor's grace!" Lu Bing said in a serious tone.

Zhu Houcong nodded and said, "Tell me, how much did you copy?"

Lu Bing took out the account book from his sleeve, presented it with both hands, and said respectfully: "Your Majesty, from the 236 criminals, a total of 800,000 taels of gold, 2.7 million taels of silver, land deeds, property deeds, treasures, antiques, calligraphy and paintings were seized, and the value was 22.3 million taels of silver. The total value is over 33 million taels of silver. This is the account book of the stolen silver, please take a look!"

Zhu Houcong took the account book which was small but heavy as a thousand pounds, and couldn't help but sigh softly.

A full treasury is indeed something to be happy about, but when you think that it is all the people's hard-earned money, you can't be happy anymore.

How much blood and sweat of the people of the Ming Dynasty was this?
Zhu Houcong returned the account book to Lu Bing and said, "The Jinyiwei will keep 10% of the silver and other items, and the rest will be handed over to the national treasury."

Lu Bing was stunned for a moment, then he was ecstatic.

One tenth of 33 million taels of silver is 3.3 million taels of silver. Since its establishment in the 15th year of Hongwu, the Jinyiwei has never fought such a lucrative war!

With these 3.3 million taels of silver, the strength of the Jinyiwei can be further improved.

However, money alone is not enough, you also need people.

Over the past hundred years, the Jinyiwei have been under the supervision of the Silijian. Almost every eunuch in charge of the Silijian has been committed to reducing the size of the Jinyiwei. To date, there are less than 10,000 Jinyiwei in Beijing.

The emperor's grace was so great that he gave the Jinyiwei the power to inspect and assess the performance of the emperor's officials, as well as the power to execute and exterminate corrupt officials along with their entire families. In fact, the Jinyiwei's manpower was already insufficient by comparison.

Lu Bing pondered the issue of recruiting new members for the Imperial Guard for a long time. Before the audience, he had a draft in mind, ready to mention it when the emperor was in a good mood.

But when the emperor learned about the huge amount of stolen silver, he looked sad instead of happy, so Lu Bing had to swallow the words that were on his lips.

God’s grace descended again.

Lu Bing was both delighted and nervous. Of all the words he could say, he could only begin with a thank you, "Thank you, Your Majesty!"

"I want to expand the scope of secret memorials so that local officials in the two capitals and thirteen provinces can submit secret memorials directly to me. This matter will be handled by the Jinyiwei."

Zhu Houcong, who had lived two lives, had long seen through Lu Bing's hesitation to speak and what he was really trying to say, which was why he rewarded the Jinyiwei with silver.

Of course, the money is not given for free, the Jinyiwei have to do work.

Present a memorial.

The normal procedure was to write a memorial, then submit it to the official in the yamen, who would then send it to the Ministry of Public Security, and finally present it to the palace.

However, there were too many links, and if any one of them went wrong, the emperor would not be able to see the memorials from his subjects.

Therefore, soon after Zhu Houcong ascended the throne, he created the "Secret Memorial", which means "granting a silver seal to allow secret memorials to be submitted."

Zhu Houcong granted some ministers the power to write memorials directly into the palace.

The first person to be awarded the silver seal was Yang Yiqing, the chief minister of the cabinet in the sixth year of Jiajing.

As time went by, the cabinet ministers and officials of the six ministries all had this power.

If Zhu Houcong had doubts about something, he could also order these people to investigate secretly.

Because of this, even if Zhu Houcong did not attend court for twenty years, he was still able to firmly control the government.

However, it is okay to rely on these ministers and senior officials who are out of touch with the world to understand the undercurrents of the court, but it is wishful thinking to want to gain a deep understanding of the sufferings of the people.

In addition, after Luo Longwen controlled the memorials, Zhu Houcong decided to expand the scope of secret memorials.

Local officials in the two capitals and thirteen provinces and counties were allowed to bypass everyone else and submit secret memorials directly to the palace.

The task of delivering these secret memorials safely into the palace was given to the Jinyiwei, and the Jinyiwei could naturally increase its manpower.

In addition to establishing a new channel for understanding the suffering of the people, it also solved the problem of recruiting more members of the Jinyiwei, killing two birds with one stone.

Perhaps because he was tired, Lu Bing did not rush to thank the emperor. Instead, he stared up at the emperor in a daze. He suddenly became dazed, as if he saw the wise and mighty figure of the emperor when he first ascended the throne.

"The minister obeys the order!"

Lu Bing left.

Lu Fang presented the newly refined elixir of Chaotian Temple's Blue Immortal, but Zhu Houcong didn't even look at it. "My grandson has been born for quite some time. It's time to go and see him. Let's go!"

(End of this chapter)