Take control of Wei Zhongxian at the start and confiscate 100 million from him!

Chapter 33 With power, you have everything! (Bonus chapter for a thousand followers)
“Their modus operandi is like this,” Wei Zhongxian said, no longer daring to keep her in suspense, his speech noticeably quickening, “a group of… a group of officials who are currently in power or have promising futures in the court. They consider themselves to be upright and cherish their reputation, and it is inconvenient for them to personally get involved in the corrupt world.”

So, through their families, students, fellow villagers, or other more clandestine channels, they acquired vast amounts of property in Zhangjiakou, a lawless, no-man's-land. These properties appeared on the surface as shops, businesses, horse caravans, and warehouses, but in reality, they were invisible hands reaching into the national treasury and border defenses.

“Then, they recruited shrewd and capable merchants like Fan Yongdou and Wang Dengku from Shanxi, Shaanxi and other places, who had no other connections, to act as managers of these industries, that is, the owners in name only.”

"These officials came from all over the country, some from Southern Zhili, some from Zhejiang, some from Huguang, and their teachers were also different, some from the Donglin Party, some from the Qi Party, and some from the Chu Party. But they all had one thing in common: they all had businesses in Zhangjiakou. Moreover, most of them were not local officials, but... officials in the capital."

When he mentioned the words "officials in the capital," Wei Zhongxian's voice trembled with a barely perceptible hint of schadenfreude. He had spent his entire life fighting against civil officials and knew all too well their weaknesses and greed.

Zhu Youjian certainly understood the logic behind this.

No matter how much power a local official wields, he is ultimately limited by his territory. Once outside his own small area, his words carry less weight.

Officials in the capital, especially those in key departments such as the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of War, and the Censorate, could influence strategic passes thousands of miles away with a single official document, an order, or a whispered remark in the ear of a powerful figure, and could determine the promotion or disgrace of a general.

Their power is invisible and diffuse, yet it can cover the entire Ming Dynasty like air!

“It is precisely because they are the true owners of these industries,” Wei Zhongxian’s voice was like a venomous snake flicking its tongue, that they spared no effort to use all the power in their hands to open up smuggling routes for these businesses.

The border general may have received 100,000 taels of silver from Fan Yongdou, but what truly made him open the gates and let the caravans laden with ironware and grain pass through was a note from the capital—from his superior's superior, or even from a powerful figure who would determine his future chances of becoming a cabinet minister.

"A merchant can never be a leader." Wei Zhongxian uttered, each word deliberate, a profound truth about this country that he had gleaned from a lifetime of bloody ups and downs in the political arena.
"Because they don't have knives. In the Ming Dynasty, a general commanding tens of thousands of troops in the nine border regions, or a high-ranking Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, if truly driven to desperation, or simply driven by greed, could find a pretext to confiscate the property of Shanxi merchants and make a fortune in one go. Shanxi merchants had no power to resist these people who controlled the state's machinery of violence."

"Therefore, Your Majesty, the relationship between them is not a simple one of bribery and acceptance of bribes. That kind of relationship is too fragile and unreliable."

Wei Zhongxian finally raised his head slightly, and in his cloudy old eyes, a glint of insight into the darkest corners of human nature flickered.

"The relationship between them is one of... dependence."

"Dependence?" Zhu Youjian repeated the word softly, his voice low, a cold understanding flashing in his eyes.

This term is far more profound, far more blatant, and far more... despicable than his previous understanding of "collusion between officials and businessmen"!
"Yes, Your Majesty." Wei Zhongxian's voice carried a hint of disdain. "The 'tribute' from Shanxi merchants to these officials has long since gone beyond simply sending silver, antiques, and beauties."

They directly gave away a portion of the entire industry's profits, along with themselves, like servants, acting as slaves and retainers to these powerful figures.

They would kneel at the feet of those adults and say, 'My lords, everything I have belongs to you. Even my life is yours. If you were to eat me, who would manage this lucrative business for you? Who would travel beyond the Great Wall to exchange the ironware and grain that the court had banned for export for you, turning them into mountains of gold and silver?'

"So, on the surface, the leaders of these businesses are Fan Yongdou and Wang Dengku. But in reality, their biggest backing is..."

Wei Zhongxian paused again at this point.

This pause was filled with dramatic malice and suffocating anticipation. He slowly picked out a letter from the stack of oil paper packages, and presented it to the emperor as if holding a death warrant.

"...He is a graduate of the Hanlin Academy, renowned throughout the world for his poetry and prose, and has a reputation for integrity. He is regarded as an assistant by the Donglin scholars and is now the Junior Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, Feng Quan."

“Zhou Yanru is the top scholar in the imperial examination of the second year of the Tianqi reign. He is a man of great literary talent and is now serving in the cabinet. He is widely regarded by the court and the public as a potential future Grand Secretary.” Zhu Youjian’s pupils contracted sharply into dangerously small pinpoints in that instant.

Feng Quan! Zhou Yanru!

In their previous lives, one of these two men rose and fell several times during the Chongzhen reign, manipulating power and ultimately surrendering to the Qing dynasty when the country fell, thus earning a place in the "Biographies of Traitorous Officials".

One man, who served as prime minister twice, formed cliques for personal gain and was insatiably greedy. In the end, Emperor Chongzhen could no longer tolerate him and ordered him to commit suicide at home.

Zhu Youjian always thought they were politicians, powerful ministers, and ambitious schemers.

He also hated their incompetence and their selfishness.

But he never imagined that their reach would be so long and so ruthless right after he ascended the throne!

Wei Zhongxian seemed extremely satisfied with the emperor's deathly silence at this moment.

He knew that he had thrust this knife into the heart of the emperor, even at the cost of sacrificing one of his own men!
But he didn't stop.

"Of course, there are also those in the palace..." His voice became even more sinister, "...our own people... Zhang Yixian, the eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, and... Gao Qiqian of the Imperial Horse Administration..."

If the names of Feng Quan and Zhou Yanru were two red-hot branding irons, then the names of Zhang Yixian and Gao Qiqian were two ice needles, freshly dipped in deadly poison, piercing into Zhu Youjian's marrow.

Foreign officials colluding with the enemy is considered treason.

But a servant who betrays his master is the most unforgivable sin!
The Directorate of Ceremonial and the Imperial Horse Administration were his inner court, his most trusted confidants!

Gao Qiqian, the culprit who held a large army outside the Great Wall in his previous life, but repeatedly watched his allies perish, ultimately leading to the complete annihilation of the last elite troops of the Ming Dynasty in the Battle of Songjin!
It turns out that his very essence had already rotted away at that point!
He wasn't bought off later; he was a member of this traitorous gang from the very beginning!
"So, Your Majesty," Wei Zhongxian concluded, his voice filled with vengeful satisfaction, "the Shanxi merchants are not the leaders at all. They are merely tools and front men for this massive 'official-Shanxi merchant clique' to operate capital in the open. They themselves are the outermost vassals of this clique, who can be sacrificed at any time."

Of course, they would also, in turn, use money to cultivate and support some mid-to-lower-level officials in the court as their spokespeople, but the scale and level of this support were far from comparable to that of their actual masters.

At this point, Wei Zhongxian mustered all his strength and kowtowed heavily, the gold brick emitting a dull thud.

Zhu Youjian breathed a sigh of relief.
He got it.

This gang is the one who truly attaches themselves to the Ming Dynasty and sucks its marrow; a group of merchants alone could never possess such astonishing power.

Throughout history, in China, without the approval of officials and the paving of the way by those in power, capital and businessmen have never amounted to anything!
Ultimately, it all comes down to that one sentence—

With power, you have everything!
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(End of this chapter)