Ming Dynasty: I, Yan Maoqing, am truly radiating auspicious energy!

Chapter 246 He took far too much of my money this time! [Requesting monthly votes]

During Huang Jin's reading of the memorial to the throne.

"Humph!"

Zhu Houcong chuckled again, thinking of how happy he had just been.

He described the current situation as "truly a perfect storm of favorable timing, with the vibrant vitality and flourishing of all things still vivid in our minds," making it arguably the best situation since his ascension to the throne.

Xia Yan of the Cabinet, Wang Tingxiang of the Censorate, and Zhang Zuo of the Directorate of Ceremonial...

These people don't know what happened; they all seem like completely different people now.

She was willing to take the blame for him and actively investigated and rectified officialdom, which made half of the court seem much clearer. This made it quite convenient for him to pretend to be sick in the West Garden.

Because he didn't know what had happened to these people, he could only temporarily attribute it to "favorable timing."

As the saying goes, "Man proposes, God disposes."

What does this mean?
This means that the Mandate of Heaven is with me now, and I am destined to become an emperor who will be the greatest emperor in history.

The setbacks of the previous twenty years were nothing more than "when Heaven is about to place a great responsibility on a person, it will first test his mind, strain his muscles and bones, starve his body, leave him destitute, and thwart his actions, so as to strengthen his resolve and increase his abilities."
Now that I have finally made it through, the bitterness has turned into sweetness, and I can't stop now!
"What are your orders, Your Majesty?"

Upon hearing Zhu Houcong's laughter, Huang Jin thought something was wrong and quickly stopped reciting and bowed to listen to the imperial decree.

Zhu Houcong finally came to his senses and, instead of instructing Huang Jin to continue reciting, asked with a smile:

"By the way, after Yan Maoqing went to Datong, Gao Jie stayed in Taiyuan to investigate the collusion between officials, powerful figures, and merchants with the White Lotus Sect. Has there been any result yet?"

"Your Majesty, among the memorials sent in today, there happens to be one from Gao Jie."

Upon hearing this, Huang Jin quickly retrieved Gao Jie's memorial from the neatly categorized list of memorials and presented it to him with both hands.
"Please take a look, Your Majesty."

"You should read it."

Zhu Houcong leaned back, assuming a comfortable position.

With the matter in Taiyuan having progressed to that point, Gao Jie's memorial could only be good news. Since it was good news, it would be more joyful to share it with Huang Jin.

"Yes."

Huang Jin immediately cleared his throat and began to read the memorial aloud, word by word:

[By imperial decree, your humble servant Gao Jie has fortunately fulfilled your mission...]

[...The investigation has uncovered irrefutable evidence of officials, powerful figures, and merchants' collusion with the White Lotus sect, their corruption, abuse of power, aid to the enemy, and treason. There is no room for denial...]

[...To prevent convicted officials from concealing their assets and to avoid the hassle of confiscating their property later, I have already inventoried their assets, totaling over 30,000 taels of gold, over 4.6 million taels of silver, and over 62,000 hectares of farmland. Their residences and gardens are listed separately and presented to Your Majesty...]

"Wait a minute."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Houcong straightened up again and looked at Huang Jin with a puzzled expression.

"Why is Kao Chieh so proactive? Even though the investigation and conviction are still underway, he has already begun clearing out the assets of these criminals, preparing for the confiscation of their property later?"

"..."

Huang Jin also found it strange.

Previously, when the Three Departments and the Embroidered Uniform Guard investigated cases, they were not so proactive. Usually, they would first convict the person and then send people to clear out the property when the sentence was handed down and the property was confiscated.

Kao Chieh's approach to handling cases is, if not unique, certainly one of a kind.

"It was Yan Maoqing! This must have been Yan Maoqing's idea!"

Zhu Houcong reacted quickly, immediately realizing the problem, and the smile on his face vanished completely.
"I shouldn't have agreed to take a sliver of the spoils from this smoking thing. That bastard is definitely trying to take my money without a second thought, which is why I specifically instructed Gao Jie to do so!"

"More than 30,000 taels of gold and more than 4.6 million taels of silver. Even if we only get a fraction of the profits, not counting the farmland, mansions and gardens."

"That bastard also got over 400,000 taels of silver and over 3,000 taels of gold!"

"No, absolutely not! This is all my money! He's taken way too much this time!"

"..."

Huang Jin still didn't dare to respond, and bowed even lower.

As the saying goes, "a ruler's word is law," and the emperor had already personally agreed to Yan Maoqing's promise of a 90% share of the profits.

Judging from the Emperor's current demeanor, he clearly intends to renege on the debt given the staggering amount...

"Huang Jin, immediately draft a secret edict and send it to Taiyuan, ordering Gao Jie not to mention the relevant accounts to anyone, especially not to tell Yan Maoqing..."

Zhu Houcong's face was ashen, his mind racing.

"If I remember correctly, Gao Jie should be Gao Gong's elder brother. I hereby order him not to mention the relevant details to Gao Gong, to prevent Gao Gong from communicating privately with Yan Maoqing!"

"This servant obeys the decree..."

Huang Jin bowed and agreed, but still kindly offered a reminder.
"However, Your Majesty, given Yan Maoqing's style of doing things, since he instructed Gao Jie to do things this way, he probably already had some preparations. Your Majesty is only now issuing an edict to Gao Jie, which is probably already a step too late."

"So what? As long as I don't acknowledge this debt, can he just rob me outright?"

Zhu Houcong's eyes widened, and he blurted out, "..."

Huang Jin quickly shut up.

Zhu Houcong then fell silent.

This is just Taiyuan; there's also Datong...

Only now did Zhu Houcong belatedly realize why Yan Maoqing, after leaving the capital, did not go directly to Datong to handle affairs, but instead went all the way to Taiyuan.

So this is what they were waiting for me!

If I hadn't issued a stern decree in time, ordering him to go to Datong immediately...

Could he be planning to lead his army to tour the entire Shanxi province, investigating county by county, and finally present me with an astronomical sum, then rub his hands together and eagerly await my share of the profits?
That insatiable bastard!

Those who embezzle funds do so through collusion and secretive dealings. They not only manage to do so without anyone noticing, but they also strive to avoid my notice.

This bastard looks down on those small sums of money, and is always eyeing my money, blatantly snatching it from my mouth!
I really don't know what kind of audacity this bastard has!
However, if Yan Maoqing didn't have the guts, it seems these big rats wouldn't have been caught, and I wouldn't have seen this money...

With these thoughts in mind, Zhu Houcong gradually calmed down and pondered for a moment before saying:

“What you say makes some sense. It’s better not to issue this secret edict, lest Yan Maoqing think I’m petty.”

He used to tolerate his "cooks" taking advantage of others, and he could turn a blind eye to the corruption and illegal activities of Guo Xun, Zhu Xizhong, and other dukes, and even protect them when they got into trouble.

They have long accepted the power rule that "even if he is the emperor, he must use interests to motivate his subjects."

In comparison, Yan Maoqing's behavior made him very unhappy.

But upon closer reflection, he was far superior to those court officials who deceived and misled their superiors.

At least he was honest about his greed, and it was for the benefit of the country and its people. He actually got the money and did the job, instead of ruining the country for his own selfish gain...

"How about this."

After much deliberation, Zhu Houcong finally made another decision.
"Let's send another imperial edict to Yan Maoqing, ordering him to make a detour to Pingyang Prefecture (the Yuncheng area) after he has finished dealing with the Datong matter, and to investigate Pingyang Prefecture as well."

"This servant obeys the decree..."

Huang Jin was shocked. The Emperor had changed his mind and was determined to cooperate with Yan Maoqing for mutual benefit and make an even bigger fortune.

After all, Pingyang Prefecture is home to the largest salt lake in the north, and the profits there are an unimaginable astronomical figure. If Yan Maoqing can handle things as well as he did in Taiyuan Prefecture, his gains will be extremely substantial.

Of course, precisely because the interests of Pingyang Prefecture were so great, it was naturally more difficult to deal with them.

Although the Censorate had already dispatched an imperial inspector, and it was one of those upright and unyielding troublemakers from the court.

But such a troublemaker ultimately lacks Yan Maoqing's abilities; otherwise, he wouldn't have been used or suppressed, making it difficult for him to exert his talents. Therefore, he might not have succeeded, and might even have been manipulated because of his straightforwardness.

It's uncertain whether they'll be able to recover even a tenth of the money from Pingyang Prefecture and hand it over to the Emperor.

It would be better to give that one-tenth to Yan Maoqing and let him retrieve nine-tenths for the Emperor; that would undoubtedly be a win-win situation.

Simultaneously.

Huang Jin also suspected that the Emperor might have his eye on the salt industry again.
He had heard from the Emperor a few years ago that the first major failure of the Ming Dynasty's border defenses was due to the corruption and abolition of the "Salt Market Regulation," which was closely related to the salt industry.

The "open market" system, which was supposed to guide salt merchants to transport and store grain for border garrisons, was exploited by court officials and powerful figures who used salt permits to line their own pockets. As a result, the supply of grain and provisions to the border garrisons became unsustainable, making it difficult for the soldiers to even survive. Consequently, the number of people leaving the garrisons and deserting became increasingly serious.

……

Fengzhou Beach, Wangting.

"Khan, tomorrow marks the three-day deadline warned in the message arrow. If the Ming Dynasty does not collect our coal by then, what will the Khan do?"

A chieftain of a large tribe stood up, looked directly into Anda's eyes, and asked loudly in a booming voice.

"Yes, Khan, we have already paid a heavy price for mining coal, but the Ming Dynasty is still delaying in collecting our coal. Could it be that they are playing us for fools?"

"Your Majesty, winter has arrived! Our people are all waiting to sell the coal and exchange it for grain and cloth to get through the winter!"

"If the coal trade doesn't resume soon, I'm afraid I won't be able to control my people!"

"If the Ming Dynasty keeps making excuses and if the Khan doesn't keep his word and show them what's what, they might think we're weak and easily bullied, and the coal trade will be even more difficult to develop!"

"Khan, we must first seize some grain and slaves. With grain and slaves in hand, our people will be less anxious about getting through the winter..."

"..."

The other leaders also stood up. The Tatar language made them all loud, and their voices sounded like they were arguing.

"Alright! Since that's the case, everyone go back and gather your men tonight, and prepare early tomorrow morning..."

Anda looked around at the group of leaders, a fierce determination flashing in his eyes, and was about to give an order.

But then a shout came from outside:
"Report! Your Majesty, a scout reports that a convoy of hundreds of carriages, filled with Ming soldiers, has appeared on the road thirty miles away and is heading straight for the royal court!"

(End of this chapter)