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Chapter 572 Eunuch Liu: Yes, it was our idea!

Even after being scolded and expelled from Shou Kang Palace by the Empress Dowager, the three princesses were still not giving up.

Unlike the noble families whose families had held high office for generations, they all married during the Hongzhi era. Moreover, princesses of the Ming Dynasty were like caged birds, and their husbands had no power whatsoever. Their meager stipends were simply not enough to support even the most basic pomp and circumstance.

The prince consort occasionally made some extra money while doing official business to supplement his family income, but he was reluctant to spend it recklessly, relying entirely on lending money in temples to earn interest.

As it turned out, their good nephew caught them all...

Even if they could swallow this insult, they couldn't bear to suffer such a huge loss!

So after leaving the palace through the Xihua Gate, the three imperial princesses went straight to the Leopard House across the street, asked a female official to hand them a plaque, and insisted on seeing the emperor.

However, the gatekeeper eunuch Li Bin had already received strict orders. During this special period, no one except members of the special task force was allowed to have an audience with the Emperor.

He had no choice but to bite the bullet and order his men to stop the emperor, claiming that the emperor was not present.

The three eldest princesses were not easily fooled; they knew the emperor was refusing to see them. The thought that they, as imperial aunts, couldn't even enter the emperor's gates, disregarded their noble status and wept bitterly at the entrance to the Leopard Chamber, crying out "Brother! Brother!" in a heart-wrenching voice.

Fortunately, the Leopard House was located in the Imperial City, where ordinary people could not enter; otherwise, there would have been a huge crowd of people coming to watch the spectacle.

Just then, Eunuch Liu emerged from the Leopard House in a palanquin...

Liu Jin was nominally acting on the emperor's orders to oversee the "Six Roots Purification" operation at the Leopard House in the morning, but in reality, he spent the entire morning playing cricket fighting with the emperor.

At this point, Zhu Houzhao no longer hid it from him and proudly announced the good news that they had seized thirty million taels of silver!
Upon hearing this terrifying number, Liu Jin was so startled that his hand trembled, and the cricket jar in his hand crashed to the ground with a 'bang'.

The golden-winged cricket, the emperor's favorite, suddenly jumped out of the jar. Liu Jin hurriedly crouched down and thrashed about, but dared not use too much force for fear of hurting the precious cricket.

He frantically chased after the crickets, his heart filled with mixed emotions. The bitterness came from the fact that after nearly a year of painstaking efforts and causing widespread resentment, he had only managed to amass a few million taels of silver.

Who would have thought that the Imperial Household Department's intervention would result in a staggering 30 million taels of silver! The difference is greater than the difference between a human and a dog!
But then Liu Gonggong thought again and couldn't help but feel secretly happy... In any case, the court's financial problems were finally solved! The border troops' provisions were secured, and the capital's various expenses were also more abundant. This year's end of the year could finally be over.

"Hey! What are you doing?!" Zhu Houzhao suddenly shouted.

Liu Jin then came to his senses and quickly looked down. He realized that in his panic, he had accidentally covered up one of the Golden-Winged General's thighs!
He quickly knelt down with a mournful face and begged for forgiveness: "This old servant is incompetent and has ruined the Emperor's Grand General."

Zhu Houzhao waved his hand dismissively, saying, "Hey, it's just a cricket! I'm rich now, I'll get ten more Great Marshals!"

These words only made Liu Jin more heartbroken. He lay on the ground, tears streaming down his face, and said, "This old servant is useless. I cannot get any money for Your Majesty. Please, Your Majesty, find someone more capable!"

"How could that be?" Zhu Houzhao blinked and said with a smile, "Isn't this all thanks to you, the commander who reorganized the monastic community?"

Then the Emperor said in a serious tone, "Eunuch Liu has displayed great power and saved me from an urgent crisis. I will certainly reward you handsomely! How about this, your father will bestow upon you a python robe and jade belt, your brother will be promoted two ranks, and your nephew will also be promoted! In addition, I will also reward you with a golden Buddha statue. How about that? Isn't that generous enough?!"

"This old servant thanks Your Majesty for your great kindness!" Liu Jin finally breathed a sigh of relief and quickly kowtowed several times until his forehead turned red.

He knew perfectly well that all the Emperor's gifts came at a price... and he had to firmly pin the blame on himself!

It makes sense. The raid on fifty-six major temples in the capital was like stirring up a hornet's nest. If anyone else were to take the blame, they wouldn't be able to handle it at all. They'd be lucky to get a few stings; they'd be drowning in a sea of ​​spittle!

Only Eunuch Liu, with his bear-like super high defense, can completely ignore any attack!
It's impossible to break through the defenses, you know?

~~
As Eunuch Liu was lost in thought, he suddenly heard the cries of several women outside the sedan chair. He frowned and asked in a deep voice:

"Who dares to make a scene within the palace walls?!"

"Godfather!" Li Bin hurriedly went to the sedan chair and whispered the story of the three eldest princesses blocking the door and demanding an audience with the emperor.

Liu Jin's face darkened, a fierce glint flashing in his triangular eyes: "Go, tell the three imperial aunts that raiding Buddhist temples is our job. If they want to seek justice, they can come to us; they must not disturb the Emperor!"

"Hey, hey..." Li Bin hurriedly ran over to the three imperial aunts to deliver a message.

Upon hearing this, the three princesses immediately stopped crying... Liu Jin's fearsome reputation was so great that he was practically an indescribable god of terror. Even as the Grand Princesses, they dared not easily provoke him.

Although Liu Jin didn't dare to provoke them, they still had husbands and children, and he wouldn't be polite to them.

Before long, Liu Jin's sedan chair came to a steady stop in front of the three imperial aunts.

The sedan chair poles lowered, and Li Bin lifted the curtain, allowing Eunuch Liu to strode out. He bowed respectfully to the three Grand Princesses, but his words were anything but polite:

"What business do the three princes have? Just have the prince consort come to the Directorate of Ceremonial to speak with me. What kind of decorum is this, crying and wailing in front of the Leopard Chamber? You may not feel ashamed, but the Emperor certainly does!"

"Your Excellency, please show mercy!" The three eldest princesses quickly curtsied, their voices carrying no anger but rather a pleading tone. There was no way around it; that's how miserable the princesses of the Ming Dynasty were—even their female attendants could manipulate them. Let alone the powerful and influential Eunuch Liu.

Of course, if their fathers and brothers were still alive, Liu Jin wouldn't dare to be so arrogant. But Liu Gonggong knew very well that the current emperor was very cold towards his relatives. Those who hadn't raised him or taken care of him were, in the emperor's eyes, just people who took advantage of the Zhu family.

Unfortunately, the three imperial aunts were also included in this group by the Emperor. So Liu Jin said without any leniency, "Your Highnesses, please go back. Once the consorts have explained the whole story to the Directorate of Ceremonial, I will naturally give you an explanation."

"We haven't figured anything out yet, so we can't just make any promises to you, can we?" He paused, then his voice turned cold.

"If we continue, it will all be just repetitive talk, and it will be meaningless."

Having said that, he turned and got into the sedan chair. Before the curtain fell, he coldly added, making a veiled insult:

"You lackeys, remember this: anyone who dares to linger at the leopard enclosure's entrance will be forcibly removed! If you can't leave, then get out of here!"

"Yes!" Li Bin and the others quickly bowed in response.

The three princesses were so frightened by these words that they turned pale and dared not say another word. They could only get into their sedan chairs in a huff and slink back to their residences.

~~
Eunuch Liu rushed back to the Directorate of Ceremonial to attend the seventh financial meeting with the Cabinet that afternoon…

At the hour of Wei (1-3 PM), the four Grand Secretaries and five Grand Eunuchs arrived, and the meeting began on time.

The scholars exchanged glances, and Li Dongyang spoke up, "So that Eunuch Liu may know, we have come up with a few more fundraising ideas..."

Before he could launch into a long speech, Liu Jin raised his hand to interrupt him: "Alright, that's enough, no need to say anything more."

"Why is it not needed?" The scholars looked at each other in bewilderment.

Then, Eunuch Liu, maintaining his composure, slowly and deliberately said, "Our family has already solved the problem ourselves!"

"Huh?!" Not only the Grand Secretary, but also the four eunuchs who were in charge of writing were startled.

Although Liu Jin's old face was tense, he felt as if he had taken a betel nut to soothe his stomach, or as if he had eaten a popsicle on a hot summer day—in short, awesome!

Li Dongyang quickly followed up, "How did you resolve this, Father-in-law?"

Liu Jin then handed a copy of the "Imperial Edict on the Rectification of the Buddhist Order" to Chief Minister Li.

Li Dongyang hurriedly took it with both hands, and saw that it listed the crimes of each temple in the name of the emperor:

First, the number of monks and nuns is out of control; there are 60,000 monks and nuns in the capital alone, far exceeding the limit by a hundred times.
Secondly, he privately established a nunnery, openly violating the ancestral rule that "only one temple should remain in a prefecture";

Thirdly, the rampant annexation left the poor with nowhere to stand, resulting in countless tragedies.
Fourthly, they accepted land donations, allowed powerful figures to attach themselves to them, and evaded national taxes on a large scale.

Fifthly, they lent money at exorbitant interest rates, exploiting the people to the bone, with interest rates as high as five percent, causing widespread public resentment…

After listing eighteen charges, an imperial edict was issued to establish a "Special Task Force for the Supervision of Buddhist Affairs," with Liu Jin as the supervisor and Zhang Yong as the deputy supervisor. The heads of the secret police and imperial guards were all included in the task force, which was responsible for investigating the property of temples inside and outside the capital, verifying the identities of monks, recovering overdue taxes, confiscating illegal gains, and other related matters.

Finally, the rectification goals were prominently listed—

All land belonging to temples exceeding the 60-mu limit set during the Jingtai era will be confiscated!
Those monks whose number exceeds the limit of 'forty in a prefecture, thirty in a state, and twenty in a county' shall all be forced to return to secular life!
All privately built temples were demolished, and their property was confiscated by the government!
Those who participate in tax evasion will have their property confiscated and will be held strictly accountable!
Those who engage in usury will have all their illegal gains confiscated!
Any monk or nun who violates the rules and regulations will have their ordination certificate revoked and be exiled to the army!

The Grand Secretaries were horrified and utterly shocked! They never imagined that the 'Buddhist storm' that began just a day earlier was actually orchestrated by Liu Jin!
Unable to contain himself, Yang Tinghe pressed on, "So, how much silver was seized in total during this search?"

Liu Jin glanced at him sideways and said in a nonchalant tone, "Anyway, it's enough for the court's expenses."

Several eunuchs secretly clicked their tongues in amazement; even Eunuch Liu was putting on an act!

The three Grand Secretaries were filled with disappointment, even despair... They held meetings time and time again to dawdle and procrastinate, just to see Liu Jin make a fool of himself.

The end of the year is fast approaching, and if we don't pay Xuanda's salaries soon, there will be big trouble!

When Liu Jin had run out of options, they took the opportunity to pressure him to return some of the cabinet's power.

Then the cabinet can resolve the financial crisis and restore its authority—perfect!

Unexpectedly, Liu Jin, while holding meetings discreetly, secretly resolved the problem single-handedly...

An arrogant and domineering Liu Jin is not scary; what is scary is that this arrogant and domineering rogue is also so resourceful, methodical, and cunning!
It just goes to show the old saying: A hooligan is not scary, but a hooligan with culture is scary!

(End of this chapter)