On April 18, the second year of Guangde, the work of clearing the parents-in-law in Taicang Prefecture was completed.
After two and a half months, Zhang Yunxiu, Kang Guangxu and others discovered a total of more than 835,200 acres of hidden fields in Taicang, Suzhou and surrounding counties, and recovered more than 1,787,000 taels of arrears in land taxes. , to recover 2,386,000 taels of commercial tax arrears.
Including the cloth, silk, grain and antiques obtained from the confiscation of houses, this time in more than a dozen southeastern states, the total income was four million taels of silver, equivalent to one-fifth of the annual income of the treasury of the former Ming Dynasty.
This does not include the vast wealth that Wang Heng held hostage.
National finance and taxation rely on Southeast China.
It's true.
On April 21, the Suzhou-Hangzhou Economic Strategy Memorial, together with dozens of large boxes, were sent to the Forbidden City in Nanjing on twenty large carriages.
When Liu Zhaosun, who was reviewing the memorial, heard about this, he laughed from ear to ear.
"What a great treasure for the people. I would like to thank the emperors of the previous Ming Dynasty for leaving so much money and land to Da Qi."
Dongfang Zhu took eight young eunuchs and moved the big wooden box into the Wenhua Hall.
The general manager moved for half an hour and was so tired that he lay on the ground gasping for air.
The Supreme Emperor asked with concern: "Is the move finished?"
Dongfang Zhu stood up quickly: "Back, back to Your Majesty, there are still dozens of boxes."
"Keep moving."
After all the boxes were moved in, Liu Zhaosun crushed a copper lock and opened the box.
Good guy, a box full of ancient books.
He picked out one and glanced at it.
""The Purpose of Taiyi Jinhua", written by Lu Dongbin."
Twenty boxes of Taoist classics, from the Western Jin Dynasty to the early Ming Dynasty, many of which are unique copies handed down.
The contents of the books are also diverse, including those on health preservation, those on male and female cultivation, and those on refining elixirs and medicines.
There is also a book that teaches Taoist priests step by step how to gather a crowd to rebel...
Liu Zhaosun chuckled.
Seeing the great joy of Emperor Longyan, the father-in-law said quickly:
"Your Majesty, these are all the proceeds from a house raid in Taicang. Kang Guangxu worked hard to pack them up and delivered them to Your Majesty overnight."
The Supreme Emperor put down Lu Dongbin's health tips, clasped his hands and laughed:
"Okay, okay, I like this kid Guangxu, who has the same virtues as his father. Keep Lu Dongbin's book, as well as the Shuangxiu Pu and Tuan secret books, and give the rest to Xie Yang. The Chamber of Commerce took out the money, sold it, and turned it over to the national treasury!”
~~~~
The Supreme Emperor held the Yellow Book of Suzhou Prefecture and Taicang Prefecture fields copied by Zhang Yunxiu himself, his fingers trembled and he shed tears of excitement.
He looked up at Dongfang Zhu and said somewhat incoherently:
"I knew that Southeast Asia has been prosperous since ancient times, but I didn't expect to be so rich... No, you just stole so much of my money!"
Father Dongfang looked at the mountains of yellow account books and said happily:
"Your Majesty, plus the military fields and Zhuang fields of the former Ming Dynasty, I'm afraid there are millions of acres, enough to recruit tens of thousands more troops..."
The Emperor nodded excitedly.
The same is the field. The fields in Suzhou, Hangzhou and Taicang are basically mature fields, and their value is naturally incomparable to those in the Central Plains, Liaodong, Shaanxi and other places.
Xie Yang once said that one acre of middle-level farmland in Suzhou can produce as much as two acres of farmland in Shaanxi in one year.
Suzhou and Hangzhou are well versed in the world, and this is not nonsense.
"Okay, it's right to clear my father-in-law. One Suzhou plus one in Taicang can pay for so much money and land. If all the south is cleared, I will become a rich man. Hahaha!"
Liu Zhaosun laughed three times and ordered Zhang Dong to be called.
Zhang Mazi had just returned from Taicang and was still resting in the Yamen.
Zhang Dong saw the Supreme Emperor and was about to salute when he was pulled up.
"Kang Jianjun's son gave me many treasures, but I'm not interested. What I want now is... Zhang Dong, where are Wang Heng's skillful hands that conquer the world?"
Zhang Dong's bright eyes suddenly dimmed.
"What happened?"
Zhang Mazi fell to his knees with a plop and grabbed the ground with his head:
"Your Majesty, let him escape, Your Majesty, forgive me!"
Liu Zhaosun helped Zhang Dong up and asked him to speak clearly first.
Zhang Dong said angrily: "That guy Wang Heng had already prepared. Before the Eighth Corps set off from Nanjing, he packed up his family property and put it in Songjiang Mansion in advance. The day before I and General Zhao entered Taicang, that guy didn't know Where did I get the news and ran away overnight, leaving only an empty house?"
Zhang Dong suddenly glanced at Liu Zhaosun secretly and said uneasily:
"This bitch not only took away millions of taels of silver and dozens of cars of antiques, but also conspired to assassinate Zhang Jinglue. The most hateful thing is that before leaving, he burned down the tea gardens, orchards, and even the shops in the city."
"Oh? The fish will die and the net will break, the cauldron will sink the boat. You are courageous. I like it."
The Supreme Emperor smiled and said: "The cunning rabbit has three burrows. This bastard runs very fast. So where is he hiding now?"
Zhang Dong looked slightly embarrassed: "I went to Songjiang Mansion and found out that this guy had already fled to Japan. He set off more than ten days ago. He should be in Kyushu by now."
"Japanese country? Kyushu?"
Liu Zhaosun remained silent.
Zhang Dong stood nearby. Seeing that the Supreme Emperor was silent, he did not dare to say a word.
"If I remember correctly,"
The Supreme Emperor took out a palm-sized book from under the imperial desk and opened it. It was filled with names of people, some of which were circled in red with a red pen.
"Zheng Sen was defeated in Liaonan last year and fled to the Japanese country. Zuo Liangyu escaped from the Yangtze River estuary and went to the Japanese country. My mortal enemy Song Yingsheng seems to have defected to the Tokugawa Kamesun. Now, there is another Wang Heng."
After Liu Zhaosun finished speaking, he wrote the word "Wang Heng" one stroke at a time in the notebook.
"In order to deal with me, Tokugawa Iemitsu dares to accept any goods. From now on, don't call him Shogun. It would be better to change his name to Scavenger General."
The Emperor laughed.
Zhang Mazi couldn't laugh.
This book in the hands of the Supreme Emperor is the legendary Book of Life and Death.
No matter who it is, as long as they get into this book, they will soon die.
Zhang Mazi didn't sympathize with Zheng Sen and others, he was just worried that the Supreme Emperor would send the coir raincoat guards to Japan to carry out an assassination mission.
If that were the case, the Capricorn Guards would suffer heavy casualties.
Yuan Chonghuan and Zhao led them to Jiuzhou. In less than two years, only two thousand of the seven or eight thousand people came back...
It’s scary to think about.
Unexpectedly, the Supreme Emperor did not mention the assassination, but asked a question that Zhang Dong was confused about.
"Zhang Dong, did you know that this prince also has a sister who cultivates immortality?"
Zhang Dong groaned. Fortunately, he had done his homework in advance and would not panic.
"Your Majesty, Wang Heng did have three sisters. The eldest sister and the second sister were married during the Wanli period. They are now over fifty years old. The youngest sister who cultivated immortality was named Wang Gui. She also died in the eighth year of Wanli..."
"It's not that he died," the Supreme Emperor corrected him, "that he ascended and became an immortal, do you understand?"
Zhang Dong nodded repeatedly.
Wang Xijue and his wife have one son and three daughters. The eldest daughter and the second daughter were both married to Zhou Bingzhong, a student of Zhongshushe, and Wu Jiazheng, a student of Taipei University.
The youngest daughter's name is Wang Gui (also known as Taozhen).
"I heard from Master Zhang about this girl. Wang Gui was born in the thirty-eighth year of Jiajing. She was thin and had scabies at birth. Her whole body was yellow, she cried day and night, and she had three wet nurses.
The Wang family thought they could not support her and treated her with extreme indifference. Wang Gui was tired of the world and became obsessed with Taoism since childhood.
Zhang Dong understood what the Emperor meant by mentioning this woman.
According to Zhang Dong's knowledge - almost everyone in the Ming Dynasty knew this - in the eighth year of Wanli, Wang Taozhen (Yun Yangzi) was enthroned in Taicang Zhitang and ascended to heaven in the presence of hundreds of thousands of people.
As for the reason why Yunyangzi was enthroned, later generations had different opinions. Some said it was Wang Gui's voluntary act, while others said it was the political conspiracy of her father Wang Xijue (in order to accumulate fame and return to the court)...
"It is destined by God."
The wind blew through the hall, and the Supreme Emperor's Taoist robes vibrated in the wind, with a fairy-like air.
"I swore to kill the evil dragon in the East China Sea, but Yunyangzi's younger brother Wang Heng went to Japan instead, and I am destined to meet Yunyangzi. Isn't this fate?"
"Your Majesty, that woman has been dead for more than fifty years..."
Zhang Dong was confused and didn't know what the Supreme Emperor was talking about.
"Godly friend!"
"When you return to Taicang this time, remember to bring some sacrifices to pay homage to her grave and express your feelings. I asked Academician Qian to write an imperial edict. You can burn the imperial edict to Wang Taozhen so that she knows my difficulties and why I want to do this. Treat the Taicang Wang family like this, let Yunyangzi help me ascend as soon as possible..."
It’s still an unreasonable request to both want and want.
Zhang Dong understood that this was the Emperor's trick to win people's hearts.
As far as he knows, there are hundreds of thousands of believers in Yunyangzi (Wang Taozhen) in the Taicang and Suzhou areas alone. A simple memorial service can win people's hearts. Such a deal is certainly a good deal.
"I know."
After Zhang Mazi left, Liu Zhaosun stared at the southeast and murmured:
"I want to control the southeast. We must pay close attention to the affairs of ghosts and gods."
