Chapter 092: Colleagues
The Chinese New Year is approaching, it is the twenty-sixth day of the twelfth lunar month, and the update will be postponed. Tomorrow’s update will be the fourth day of the first lunar month, so I ask all book friends to bear with me and understand, and I wish you all a happy New Year in advance, all the best, and all your wishes come true. Uh huh huh
As soon as Chen Cao sent away the empty-eyed Liao Kaiwen, Zhao Xin came to report to the capital commander Huang Chongtao for an audience. Of course, it wasn't until more than an hour later that Huang Chongtao went out. Like Liao Kaiwen, his eyes were distracted and he was top-heavy...
Chen Cao was very happy and looked at Zhao Xin who was returning from seeing off the guests: "This time I want to see how rich the officials and rich people in Zhejiang are. Zhao Xin, please estimate that if you hunt rabbits in the grass, you will not be hurt. How much money can we get by bringing in the Hangzhou trading company under Zhang Wo's name?"
"My subordinates think that it must be ten million taels of silver anyway." Zhao Xin said carefully.
Chen Cao shook his head: "You underestimate the rich people in Zhejiang too much. This time, at least this number..." Chen Cao gestured with a slap.
"Fifty million?" Zhao Xin's eyes widened: "Uncle, can't you?"
"Hehe..." Chen Cao smiled proudly: "It will only be more, not less, maybe more than this number."
"Uncle, cutting off someone's money is like killing one's parents. If you do this, the backlash will be huge." Xin Zhao said worriedly.
Chen Cao stood up: "When a person is about to die, he will leave anything behind in order to survive. He will never covet temporary gains. In the eyes of a businessman, as long as a person lives, money can be earned back sooner or later. This is The reason why Shen Wansan donated all his family property back then and divided part of the family to go to Yunnan in order to survive."
"Will Liu Weisi fight to the death?" Xin Zhao frowned.
"Tsk...I don't know either," Chen Cao shook his head.
"Uncle..." As he was speaking, a school captain hurriedly ran to the lobby: "News came from the governor's office that the chief envoy Liu Weisi hanged himself."
"What?" Zhao Xin grabbed the captain's collar: "Is the information accurate?"
"It's absolutely true, Governor Zhang Yangming has gone to the Chief Envoy's Yamen." The captain nodded.
"Uncle..." Zhao Xin looked at Chen Cao anxiously.
Chen Cao had a smile on his lips, and then burst into laughter: "Xin Zhao, Liu Weisi committed suicide out of fear of crime, let's send it this time..."
"Everyone is dead, and there is no proof of death. How can we publish it?" Xin Zhao frowned.
Chen Cao tidied up his clothes and said seriously: "Suicide out of fear of crime will make it impossible for the whole family to escape. Everyone else involved is as scared as a bird. I have to bring an accountant to help me calculate Liu Weisi's property. Come on, let's go to cloth Zhengshi Yamen."
...
When Chen Cao led his people to the Governor's Yamen, he ordered the Jin Yiwei to surround Liu Weisi's mansion by the West Lake. The main reason for this double-minded approach was that he was worried that the Governor's Yamen would seize the bulk of it first.
"Uncle Dingwu..."
"I met Uncle Dingwu..."
Chen Cao walked into the lobby of the Chief Envoy Si Yamen. Liu Weisi's body had just been placed in a side room. Zhang Yangming was sitting at the front seat with a pale face. Seeing Chen Cao come in, he stood up and gave up his seat to Chen Cao.
"My lords, thank you for your hard work." Chen Cao raised his hands and said, "Liu Weisi committed suicide out of fear of crime, obviously to protect you and the people behind him. How do you think we should deal with this civil unrest in Zhejiang?"
Zhang Yangming was sitting next to Chen Cao. When he saw this, he said: "The people here are all the main officials of the Third Division. I have something to say."
Chen Cao turned around and said, "Master Zhang, please speak freely."
"Uncle Dingwu, accept everything as soon as it's good. Zhejiang is a tax-heavy area for the imperial court. We must not allow any more chaos..."
Chen Cao nodded, with a somewhat fake look of certainty: "Master Zhang is right, but before settling the funeral affairs, I have to present the evidence of Liu Weisi's crimes." Although everyone who came to see him alone before Knowing the criminal evidence in Chen Cao's hands, it was still necessary to put it on the bright side: "Liu Weisi was corrupt and perverted the law, instigating his men to harm Hangzhou and causing civil unrest in Hangzhou. The evidence is conclusive that he killed the Jin Yiwei and should be regarded as a rebellion." The crime will be punished, but..."
Chen Cao smiled evilly and stared at the crowd: "He is a second-rank official, a high-ranking official in the province, and he must keep his face. I am an imperial envoy with orders to supervise the affairs of Zhejiang. No matter what, I must leave a good impression on the people of Zhejiang." My impression is that since the other person is dead, the matter of gathering a crowd to rebel can be avoided. Jin Yiwei’s compensation is a must, his family’s exile is in accordance with the law, the female family members serve as the priests, the confiscation of the house is handled by me, and the rest..."
Liao Kaiwen handed over his hand: "Uncle Dingwu, none of the officials here dare to hide anything. Why don't we tell the truth and maybe discuss it?"
"Discuss?" Chen Cao frowned: "Okay, I can discuss it with you, but you have to tell me what you discussed with Zhang Wenda, the then Minister of Civil Affairs, after the Japanese rebellion in Zhejiang ended..."
...
The whole meeting lasted all day, and it was not until the next day that Liu Weisi was hastily buried. Chen Cao left the Chief Envoy Si Yamen very satisfied. He got the biggest pot of gold in this trip to Zhejiang.
"Uncle, just from Liu Weisi's home, 4.3 million taels of silver, 200,000 taels of gold, and all kinds of precious calligraphy and painting antique bracelets were taken together. If converted, there would be 7 million taels of silver. about."
"Only seven million?" Chen Cao frowned: "How long has Liu Weisi been the chief envoy?"
Xin Zhao thought for a while: "Almost twelve years. But I only served in Zhejiang for five years."
"Zhao Xin, sooner or later our Ming Dynasty will perish at the hands of these so-called 'Qingliu'," Chen Cao sighed, then grabbed a gold ingot: "There are only a few corrupt officials in the past who are not scholars, but those who are scholars are Corrupt officials have appeared one after another in every dynasty, and there are more and more of them every dynasty. You tell me, is there a problem with education or with people's hearts?"
Zhao Xin really couldn't answer such a profound knowledge: "Uncle, my subordinates are not very talented and have little knowledge..."
"In my opinion, the problem is with the eight-part essay. There is absolutely no problem for these people to engage in education. If a large number of people engage in education, they can teach a few 'Literary Saints of the Ming Dynasty', but let them govern the country. , to be honest, it’s just him who is a joke.”
"Uncle, aren't you the 'Great Ming Literary Sage'?" Zhao Xin thought of Chen Cao's reputation.
Chen Cao shook his head: "It just happened to me. Didn't you realize that although the article was published, it actually went against the wishes of these people? Are they suppressing it?"
"Uncle, are you going to go and ransack the house?" Zhao Xin asked.
"There's no rush to confiscate the house. What about the others? Have the other officials sent them one after another?" Chen Cao sat down and looked through the account books.
"A total of 3 million taels were paid by the inspector general, and Liao Kaiwen alone gave 4 million. In order to keep their official positions, Huang Chongtao, the commander of Dusi, and others, the entire Dusi Yamen raised 10 million taels. I heard that both of them commanded Qian. The thing is that all the family property was sold; there are not many innocent officials left in the Chief Envoy Si Yamen, so they collected more than two million taels." Zhao Xin said and handed another account book to Chen Cao.
"In other words, the three yamen combined will have..."
While Chen Cao was still calculating, Zhao Xin blurted out: "Twenty-six million taels or so."
"Only 26 million?" Chen Cao frowned: "Didn't the major merchants turn it over?"
"I believe they have already notified me. What I want is cash. It will probably take them some time to get everything together when they get back," Zhao Xin said.
"Hangzhou Commercial Bank must not exist. No matter what Zhang Woxu does, as long as we capture him, hey, money can help us get rid of all problems." Chen Cao smiled evilly: "Zhao Xin, find Liu Youwei, and also, get Liu Youwei Call all the people involved in Wei Si's politics, let's give them a sentence, and then get some evidence that Hangzhou merchants provided funds to the mob, and then..."
Xin Zhao had a bad smile on his face: "My uncle is smart, I will do it now."
...
As the chief envoy, Liu Weisi's residence was on the edge of the West Lake. It was extremely spacious, which confirmed Zhejiang's important position in the taxation of the Ming Dynasty. Emperors of all dynasties did not have the rule of enfeoffing princes in Zhejiang, so that all the wealth in Zhejiang was concentrated in local officials. and in the hands of businessmen.
The Liu family is now bustling with people. The outside is full of Jin Yiwei, and those inside who are responsible for the search are Chen Cao's personal servants. No one in the rich family raises chickens, otherwise it would be an exaggeration to say that chickens would fly like dogs.
Chen Cao stood in front of the screen wall, amusing himself leisurely. There were a lot of people kneeling in front of him. If you look at it carefully, there were more than a hundred people.
"Uncle," Zhao Xin walked to Chen Cao: "There are one hundred and twenty-one members of the Liu family. Except for the eldest son Liu Chang, who is an official in Huguang, the rest are all here."
"Send an order to transfer Liu Chang to the post of magistrate of Changhua County, Qiongzhou Prefecture. Considering his status as a bureaucrat, he will not be exiled." Chen Cao said coldly.
"Yes, I will make arrangements now."
"The rest," Chen Cao looked around at Liu Weisi's family: "The chief envoy Liu Weisi encouraged the people of Hangzhou, bribed and directed the gangsters Qingpi gang and untouchables to kill the Jin Yiwei, seriously injuring more than ten people, and then framed the imperial envoy , and also encouraged untouchables and students who did not know the truth to smash up the city of Hangzhou and cause chaos in Hangzhou. This crime was extremely heinous and tantamount to rebellion. According to law, the three tribes should be punished;
God has the virtue of good life, and the imperial court, in consideration of Liu Weisi's many years as an official, reduced the punishment. Although the man was dead, he should be exempted from the punishment of beheading, and exempted from the crime of killing three tribes. Instead, the whole family of men was exiled to Qiongzhou Island, and the women's family members were exiled to Qiongzhou Island. He was taken into the Jiaofang Department as a slave. "
As soon as he finished speaking, he began to cry, and the voice gradually became louder. Chen Cao couldn't listen to this, so he walked out of the Liu Mansion. Following Zhao Xin, he came closer to Chen Cao: "Uncle, there are many beautiful people in the Liu family. Female relatives.”
"It makes sense," Chen Cao nodded: "Find an excuse or steal the dragon and turn it into a phoenix, keep all the beautiful ones, slaves don't want them, just wives and daughters, after this is done... um..."
Xin Zhao had a bad smile on his face: "I'll save it... I'll save it..."
"Uncle, Mr. Huang and Mr. Xia are back." A school captain came to report.
With a smile on his face, Chen Cao looked at Huang Chunyao who was approaching: "Mr. Huang, your plan... is good..."
Huang Chunyao didn't feel that his strategy was too excessive at all. Instead, he looked proud: "None of these officials are good people. They line their own pockets, give and receive privately, and stay in their posts. Instead, they are harming the people."
"Well, I like people like you," Chen Cao stared at Xia Yunyi: "Mr. Xia, have you gained anything from your trip to Taizhou?"
Xia Yunyi handed over to Chen Cao: "The students contacted me in the same year, and they all agreed to the student's request and became officials to work for my uncle. Now they are packing their things and coming from all over the country."
"Okay," Chen Cao patted Xia Yunyi's shoulder: "Is there anything else?"
Xia Yunyi thought for a moment: "The student has another student of the same year named Qu Shichen. Ding You is currently at home. The student wrote to him a few days ago, but he has not yet received a reply."
Qu Shiqi?
The name was familiar, but he couldn't remember it. Chen Cao shook his head: "Whatever, you contact me first and use as many as you have, but you have to remember, I don't need those big talkers, I want to use Huang Chunyao and you The kind of person who can 'get things done'."
"Students remember..."
