My Portable Ming Dynasty

Chapter 193 Reusing the [Post-Factory Album]

Su Ze stopped the two and said:

"Let me guess, is the Censorate keeping an eye on the Crown Prince again, saying that his preparation of birthday gifts for the Imperial Concubine is extravagant and wasteful, and violates the rules of etiquette?"

Shen Zao and Wang Renzhong exchanged a glance and nodded, saying:

"How did you find out, Brother Zilin? This is just a matter of collusion within the Censorate; it hasn't been written up and submitted to the emperor yet."

Su Ze, rubbing his forehead, said:

"Isn't it just the same old rhetoric? Don't you have any more original charges?"

Shen Zao thought for a moment and said:
"Besides saying that the Crown Prince's gift was too expensive, there was also disrespect for the stepmother."

Su Ze looked up and could only say that these officials were too shrewd.

Zhu Yijun was the son of Consort Li, but Emperor Longqing did have an empress.

Legally speaking, Zhu Yijun's legal mother was Empress Chen, the wife of Emperor Longqing.

Under normal circumstances, Zhu Yijun, as the emperor's first son, should have been raised in the palace of his legal mother, Empress Chen.

This is similar to how in wealthy families, if the principal wife cannot bear children, the children born to concubines are given to the principal wife to raise.

However, the royal family is different from ordinary families. Emperor Longqing favored Consort Li, so he entrusted the custody of Zhu Yijun to Consort Li.

Consort Li was Xiao Pangjun's biological mother, and he was also raised by Consort Li, so naturally he was closest to Consort Li.

Disrespecting one's stepmother is a very serious crime, but this time the censor's angle was cunning and fatal.

You did not send a gift to your stepmother, Empress Chen, on her birthday, but you held a lavish celebration for your stepmother, Consort Li's, birthday. This is naturally unfilial.

To elaborate further, does this mean the emperor intends to depose Empress Chen and make Consort Li the empress?

After hearing this, Su Ze said angrily:

"Are these officials trying to sow discord within the imperial family?!"

Shen Zao and Wang Renzhong lowered their heads. They were also censors, and they didn't understand why these censors of the Censorate had nothing better to do than keep an eye on these things.

Su Ze gradually calmed down, and he asked again:
Who were the people who led the petition?

Shen Zao said:

"The one leading the group is Chen Jing, the Imperial Censor in charge of patrolling the five gates."

Imperial Censor in Charge of the Five Gates?

This is the Imperial Censor in charge of maintaining order in the capital, and he controls the patrol battalion under his command. He is a very influential figure among the Imperial Censors.

The Crown Prince is also in the capital city, so this should indeed fall within his responsibilities, right? Let's just say it does.

Why would an imperial censor impeach the crown prince?

Isn't this just making things difficult for yourself?

Although there was a saying in the Ming Dynasty that officials who dared to speak out would be punished in court, Emperor Longqing only had one son, Zhu Yijun, and it was obvious to everyone that Zhu Yijun was destined to inherit the throne.

Offend the future emperor?
Of course, offending the emperor is nothing; Su Ze also offended the emperor by submitting a memorial.

But there must be sufficient motivation to make it worthwhile, right?

Su Ze said to Shen Zao and Wang Renzhong, "Why did this Imperial Censor Chen Jing impeach the Crown Prince? What benefit does it bring him?"

"We're all on the same side," Su Ze asked bluntly.

Wang Renzhong thought for a moment and said:

"Brother Zilin, this is also a rumor circulating in the courtyard."

"Please say."

"The Imperial Censor Chen Jing is almost fifty years old, and his sons are not good enough. The police said he has close ties with merchants in the capital."

Su Ze understood immediately.

The Six Ministries and the Censorate held low-ranking but powerful positions. In the early years of the dynasty, there were examples of people who were unwilling to be promoted and chose to remain in the Censorate as censors.

These senior censors wielded immense power, even capable of interfering with the court's affairs.

Therefore, starting from the Chenghua era, it was stipulated that the upper age limit for ordinary censors was fifty years old. If they were not promoted after the age of fifty, they would be transferred out of the Censorate.

In Su Ze's view, this was a uniquely Ming Dynasty system of promotion or dismissal.

The Imperial Censors who patrolled the five gates of the capital city frequently interacted with people within the city.

Chen Jing is almost fifty years old, and there is no hope of promotion in the near future. He will soon be transferred out of the Censorate.

He associated with merchants in the city, and the fact that Crown Prince Zhu Yijun's shops were doing so well naturally aroused the envy of many merchants.

Merchants naturally wouldn't dare to confront the Crown Prince directly, so they bribed Chen Jing, which seems like a very plausible conjecture.

"This disrespect for the legal mother, was also Chen Jing's idea?"

Wang Ren nodded.

It seems that Chen Jing was undoubtedly the mastermind behind this.

Su Ze stood up and said:

"My two brothers, please return to the Censorate to gather information. I will go to the Eastern Palace now."

After saying this, Su Ze hurriedly left the newspaper office and headed towards the East Palace.
-
East Palace.

Little Fatty Jun has been a bit bored lately.

Huang Ji rarely comes to the Eastern Palace anymore, spending most of his time in the Imperial Observatory.

Of the remaining lecturers in the Eastern Palace, apart from Shen Shixing's lectures which were somewhat interesting, the rest were far more tedious than Huang Ji's.

The only good thing is that Su Ze returned to the Eastern Palace and gave a lecture a few days ago.

Another thing is that he got tired of playing management games in the capital.

After the business expanded, the increase in store revenue in the capital was just a number.

After a simple setup, the profits from the newly added sugar business have also stabilized.

The same is true for sales of honeycomb briquettes, cottonseed soap, and soy sauce; the amount of money sitting in the accounts each month is roughly the same.

Seven- or eight-year-old children are not able to concentrate on one thing for very long. The fact that Zhu Yijun could play the "Monopoly" game for so long is thanks to the fact that there is a severe lack of children's entertainment in this era.

The only thing that could still interest Zhu Yijun was the "maritime trading game" in Laizhou.

However, Laizhou was too far from the capital, which reduced the enjoyment of real-time control.

After the Hundred Plays Festival, the biggest money-making target was lost again.

Zhu Yijun got tired of it.

Zhang Hong entered the Minglun Hall of the East Palace and said to Zhu Yijun, "Hanlin Su has arrived."

"Hurry up!"

Upon hearing that Su Ze requested an audience, Zhu Yijun perked up and immediately summoned Su Ze.

Upon seeing Zhu Yijun, Su Ze bowed and opened his mouth but uttered no words.

Zhu Yijun, having also gained some insight, immediately dismissed Zhang Hongping from his side.

Inside the entire Minglun Hall, only Zhu Yijun, Su Ze, and Zhang Hong remained. Just as Zhang Hong was about to leave, Su Ze said:

"Your Highness, please have Eunuch Zhang stay and listen as well."

Zhang Hong looked at Su Ze in surprise. Civil officials have always looked down on eunuchs. Even if Su Ze is polite to the eunuchs, he is still a civil official, and Zhang Hong is still very careful about his behavior.

But Su Ze said:
"Eunuch Zhang will be entering the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs in the future, so he will have to encounter these things sooner or later."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Hong's mind went blank.

More importantly, Crown Prince Zhu Yijun did not refute Su Ze's words. Zhang Hong clearly understood Su Ze's meaning, and the Crown Prince tacitly approved of Su Ze's words.

At this moment, Zhang Hong was filled with gratitude towards Su Ze. From that moment on, Zhang Hong went from being a eunuch who served the Crown Prince to becoming the Crown Prince's trusted advisor.

Su Ze briefly recounted the news he had heard, and Zhu Yijun's face turned pale after hearing it.

Disrespecting one's stepmother is a serious offense; the Emperor and Empress will surely be furious, and might even summon him to Yikun Palace to kneel as punishment.

No, this time it's probably not as simple as being forced to kneel in Yikun Palace; it's more like being forced to kneel in the Empress's palace.

Su Ze continued:

"Your Highness, have there been any changes in the Crown Prince's properties these days?"

Zhu Yijun thought for a moment, then looked at Zhang Hong.

These days, he has entrusted the daily operations of the Eastern Palace's businesses to Zhang Hong, and Zhu Yijun only inquires about them when he needs to check the accounts.

Zhang Hong said:

"The sales of several items in the shop have stabilized. White sugar is only sold in shops in the East and West districts. Our price is lower than that of Fuqing white sugar, and the sales are quite good. However, the supply of white sugar in the capital is already insufficient, and the price of Fuqing white sugar has not changed."

Su Ze nodded slightly. It seemed that Zhang Hong was indeed the Crown Prince's confidant, and he was also meticulous, paying attention to the price of white sugar in Fuqing.

Since the price of white sugar did not fluctuate, the newly produced white sugar did not impact the sugar merchants in the capital.

The supply of Cochin sugar is still unstable, and the output of this single sugar mill is limited, not yet enough to cause changes in the sugar price in the capital.

But Su Ze knew that this change would come soon.

The emperor's brother-in-law, Li Wenquan, has already begun organizing the Penghu commercial settlement.

The supply of sugar on a large scale is terrifying.

In history, Britain transformed sugar from a luxury enjoyed only by the nobility into a common dish on the tables of ordinary people in just thirty years.

Then it took another thirty years to make sugarcane a comfort for the poorest workers in the factory during their tea breaks.

Moreover, compared to Britain searching the world for suitable colonies for sugarcane cultivation, the areas around the Ming Dynasty suitable for sugarcane cultivation were much closer.

Penghu, Luzon, Jiaozhi, and large areas of the South Asian subcontinent and Southeast Asian islands.

These are all high-quality sugar-producing areas, and it is very convenient to transport them back to the Ming Dynasty.

Su Ze brought his thoughts back, and Zhang Hong continued:
"His Highness recently bought some more rice to sell, but he lost money."

"loss?"

Zhang Hong said:

“The price of grain in the capital dropped recently, and His Highness thought it would be profitable, so he had the shops stock up on some grain. But unexpectedly, the price of grain continued to drop, and His Highness eventually cleared out the entire batch of grain and even lost some silver dollars.”

Su Ze seemed to have glimpsed some connection, but he couldn't quite grasp it. He looked at Zhang Hong and continued to ask:

"Apart from that, has the shop encountered any other problems?"

Zhang Hong nodded and said with a smile:

“These are all shops belonging to the Crown Prince’s Palace. Who would dare to act recklessly?”

Su Ze thought for a moment and said:
"Your Highness, the Censorate has not yet submitted a report; the matter has not yet reached that point."

"Let me investigate and find out who is behind this, then I'll think of a solution."

Zhu Yijun said with emotion:

"Then I'll have to trouble you, Master Su!"

Of all the lecturers in the Eastern Palace, only Su Ze and Huang Ji truly cared about him.

This is also why the two of them held a different position in the Crown Prince's heart compared to the other lecturers.

Su Ze looked at Zhu Yijun and offered a few more words of reassurance. Instead of returning to his official residence in the Eastern Palace, he went straight home.

These days, Su Ze was more casual about going to the yamen, so Zhao Lingxian didn't think much of it and simply brought him lotus seed soup to cool him down.

Su Ze sat in his study and took out the "Aftermath Picture Book".

He wrote the words "The course of events in which the Censorate impeached the Crown Prince" on his album.

Su Ze then closed the album. When he opened it again, a large group portrait scroll resembling "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" appeared before him.

First, there was an elderly official in a robe, drinking among a group of people.

The group of people were all dressed in silk, but with a piece of hemp cloth tied around their waists. This attire clearly indicated that they were merchants from the capital.

This official should be Chen Jing, the Imperial Censor in charge of patrolling the five gates. The next picture shows Chen Jing writing furiously in his study, and then going to the Censorate to summon the censors to submit their memorials.

This was something Su Ze had already foreseen; he looked at another section.

Starting from the first picture, the next scene shows the group of merchants continuing to drink after Chen Jing left.

The scene then shifts to an accounting office, where the same group of merchants are sitting at a round table. The leader of the group is a short, stout merchant with a round face, who is holding an abacus and calculating something.

Outside the window of this accounting office, one can see piles of grain sacks, indicating that this must be a grain trading company.

Su Ze then saw another scene: the merchant had just arrived in the fields outside the city, and his servants behind him were destroying crops in the rainy night with wooden sticks.
Then came the news that someone was strolling through the village market, followed by villagers fleeing towards the capital city.

The last scene is still the accounting office where the merchants just had a meeting. Everyone is holding newspaper-sized bags, and the accounting office is piled high with grain sacks.

Su Ze thought for a moment and seemed to have figured out the details of the matter.

These merchants were likely grain merchants from the capital.

The heavy rains of a few days ago caused damage near the capital, but the damage did not seem to be serious; it was the grain merchants who secretly destroyed the crops.

Then the grain merchants hired people to spread news of the disaster, so that people outside the city could enter the city to avoid the disaster.

These merchants had already stockpiled grain, waiting to use news of the famine to hoard and speculate on it.
Su Ze suddenly remembered what Luo Wanhua had said at the newspaper office earlier that day: Shuntian Prefecture had requested disaster relief, but the Ministry of Revenue believed that the disaster outside the capital was not serious and refused to open the granaries to distribute grain.

Considering the rising grain prices in the north of the city, the influx of disaster victims into the city would surely cause panic among the city's residents, and the panic buying of grain would inevitably lead to higher grain prices.

Good guy.

Su Ze gasped.

He seemed to understand the grain merchants' intentions.

It is likely that grain merchants in the capital have already formed an alliance to manipulate grain prices.

The Crown Prince was involved in the grain business a few days ago, and he should have been squeezed out by these grain merchants who lowered prices.

However, they feared that the Crown Prince would continue to be involved in grain trading. After all, they were just grain merchants, and they couldn't allow the Crown Prince to manipulate grain prices with them.

Therefore, the purpose of Censor Chen Jing's impeachment of the Crown Prince this time was to get the Emperor to reclaim the Eastern Palace's assets.

Good heavens, such a complex scheme! If it weren't for the "aftermath sketchbook," Su Ze would never have been able to understand these people's plans.

This is probably the source of these businessmen's confidence to plot against the future crown prince.

These unscrupulous merchants are evolving even faster than Su Ze imagined, using newspaper articles to manipulate grain prices.

Indeed, there are always "clever people" in every era, and newly emerging tools can also be used by enemies.

Even the Yuefu Xinbao newspaper became a tool for these people to exploit.

Su Ze stood up, remembering Luo Wanhua's instructions from earlier that day, and hurriedly walked outside.

If newspapers exaggerate the disaster situation outside the city, it will further increase the panic among the people inside the city, and food prices will rise even further.

Su Ze went to the newspaper office and stopped Luo Wanhua from publishing reports on the disaster outside the city. He then went to the Ministry of Revenue to verify the situation of the disaster outside the capital.

As expected, only a few areas in the capital region were affected by the disaster, and the number of refugees fleeing the famine was not as high as rumored. That is why the Ministry of Revenue was unwilling to distribute grain for disaster relief.

Su Ze came to the East Palace again. After seeing Zhu Yijun, he said to the chubby little Jun:
"Your Highness, I have a new game."

(End of this chapter)