Chang Yanen, the commander of the Yangzhou Guards, has been living like a year these past few days. He is frightened all day long and cannot sleep well at night. He is afraid that when he wakes up, the Jinyi Guards have already come to his door...
Speaking of Chang Yanen's background, it is no less important than that of Xu Yongji who has run away. He is a descendant of Chang Yuchun, a hero who founded the Ming Dynasty. He was granted the title of Duke of E during his lifetime and was granted the title of King of Kaiping after his death. The ancestor of his family, Chang Sheng, who was granted the title of Duke of Kaiguo, was killed on the wrong team during the Jingnan Campaign (it is also said to be involved in the Lan Yu case), and the family was once in trouble. However, during the Hongzhi period, his sins were pardoned and he was appointed as the hereditary Nanjing Jinyi Guard Commander. It was passed down to a higher level during the Jiajing period. Because he was a descendant of Chang Yuchun, he was granted the title of Marquis of Huaiyuan and was hereditary. After that, three generations successively led the Nanjing Military Mansion, and the family's power also expanded.
And Yangzhou Wei was the focus of Huaiyuan Hou Chang's family's business - because the Chang family's wealth had been interrupted for several years, they lost the opportunity to buy a large amount of property in Yingtian Mansion. We can only settle for the next best thing and regard Yangzhou Wei as the focus of our business. If the bastard son in the family doesn't have much opportunity, he should try his best to arrange it in Yangzhou Wei. By the end of the Ming Dynasty, a large Chang family settlement had been formed in Jiangdu County under Yangzhou Prefecture, named Changjiabang.
When Wuchang fell in the 16th year of Chongzhen's reign, Chang Yanling once reported to Chongzhen that he hoped to go to Changjiabang, Jiangdu, to recruit thousands of troops, and then go west to Jiujiang to assist in the defense. However, before setting off, Zuo Liangyu recaptured Wuchang, and later encountered Shi Kefa going north to King Qin, so his trip to Jiujiang was delayed.
But it can be seen how powerful the Chang family is in Yangzhou Guard!
Therefore, if the Yangzhou Guard's commander caused trouble, it should be a good thing for Chang Yanen, who is also a colleague. Xu Yongji stepped off the stage, and he should be the next one to come on stage.
But something went wrong this time. The Ming Dynasty gave birth to a prince who was probably the reincarnation of Emperor Taizu Gao. He also protected the emperor, led the court, and led an actual army of tens of thousands to Yangzhou!
Not long after arriving in Yangzhou, he suddenly made a move to arrest Yangzhou Guard Commander Xu Yongji. Although he was not caught, Xu Yongji's home was ransacked and he was charged with the terrible charge of treason! Later, they also used physical evidence such as account books and letters copied from the Xu family and the confessions of the Xu family's housekeepers, accounting clerks and others to arrest four Shanxi salt managers in Yangzhou!
These four old Xiyan bosses are as close as the Wei Chang family in Yangzhou!
Moreover, the Wei Guofu family and the Huaiyuan Hou family are still related by marriage... Huaiyuan Hou Chang Yanling's wife is the young lady of the Wei Guofu family. But here in Yangzhou, the common people's branches of the two families also intermarry with each other. It has long been known that you have me and I have you.
If the Wei Guofu family rebels, can the Huaiyuan Hou family escape?
Therefore, Chang Yanen no longer dared to live in Yangzhou City after Xu Yongji and his son fled, but moved to Changjiabang outside Jiangdu City to avoid the limelight.
But Jiangdu doesn’t seem to be that far from Yangzhou City...
The frightening days only lasted a few days. On July 13th, early in the morning, the chief steward of the Chang Mansion came to report the bad news to the groggy Chang Yanen.
"Master, something bad has happened... someone is coming from Yangzhou City!"
"What? Come on, are you the Jin Yiwei?" Chang Datongzhi looked majestic and looked like a hero, but when he heard that someone was coming from Yangzhou City, he collapsed on the chair, his whole body became weak, and he couldn't escape. .
"It's not Jin Yiwei." The butler shook his head.
"Dongchang Fanzi..." Chang Datongzhi's voice trembled. Dongchang was more cruel than Jin Yiwei!
"No," the steward said, "it's a British gentleman who's here."
"Who?" Chang Yanen was stunned and looked at the housekeeper.
"British Duke."
Chang Yanen suddenly came to life and glared at the housekeeper: "Hey! You are an old man too, can't you speak clearly at once? You scared me to death!"
His butler shook his head: "That's not right. The British Duke brought a large group of soldiers and horses, and it looked like he was here to capture someone..."
"Don't be afraid," Chang Yanen waved his hand, "As long as it's not a factory guard or a law enforcement officer, what will happen? What's more, the person coming is a British company, and he's one of our own!"
Although the resentment between the Jingnan heroes and Jianwen's old ministers has long been resolved, the northern and southern groups of nobles each have their own territories and make money. Although there is no conflict between the two groups, there is not much conflict between them. With the rise of civil servants in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the two groups of nobles had to "protect each other", so their relationship became even closer.
Since it was one of his own who came, Chang Yanen did not hide or run away. He quickly asked people to prepare a banquet and gifts, and then went out to welcome him personally... As soon as he walked out of the gate, he let a group of vicious-looking police inspectors from the academy. The captain was tied up.
"Mr. British, what are you doing? What are you going to do?" Chang Yanen was confused, "What on earth did your official commit?"
British Duke Zhang Shize had a dark face and snorted coldly: "Chang Yanen, you are a corrupt official!"
"What?" Chang Yanen was stunned when he heard the accusation, "Master, what did you say?"
"You are a corrupt official!" Zhang Shize said with a serious face, "I have found out that 50,000 acres of the 130,000 acres of land owned by Yangzhou Weijiangdu, as well as the 35,000 acres of official land owned by Yangzhou Prefecture, are all It was usurped by your family. In addition, your family also occupied tens of thousands of acres of Yangzhou Prefecture’s hidden farmland, participated in the illegal sale of salt, accepted bribes from Yangzhou salt merchants, and protected them in selling illegal salt... Chang Yanen, my Lord Do you admit all the sins mentioned?"
"These...can these be considered sins?" Chang Yanen almost made Zhang Shize, who was serious about catching corrupt officials, angry. It would have been a huge sin to leave this matter aside during the Hongwu period! But during the Chongzhen period, what else was it? There are three hundred and dozens of guards in the world like this! Otherwise, how could the Tatars be so arrogant? Can the bandits be so powerful?
"How come it's not a sin?" Zhang Shize raised his hand with a straight face and pointed at Chang Yanen, who looked dissatisfied. "Your family's sin is huge! How many years have those fields been occupied by your family? Is it 100 years? Your family has sheltered Isn’t it just one generation or two to smuggle salt and accept bribes from Yangzhou salt merchants? Your Huaiyuan Hou Chang family has been greedy for generations! What a heinous crime it is!"
"Hey, why did you bring your ancestors along with you? Okay, okay, my family is a corrupt official, and your British family is clean?" Chang Yanen was not willing to buy it, and immediately retorted, "The bit of land my family has occupied, what we received That bribe is nothing compared to your British government! Why don't you show your virtue by peeing in the urine... If you check me now, someone will check you later!"
"Hahaha......"
Someone laughed, not Zhang Shize alone, but the dozen or so hungry wolf-like censors from the right class who followed him.
"You, what are you laughing at?"
Zhang Shize shook his head, "How come you, Chang Tongzhi, are so confused? We are different from you. Although we are also corrupt officials for generations, we are not afraid of investigation!"
"Why?" Chang Yanen still didn't understand.
Zhang Shize laughed and said, "Because we have almost gone bankrupt. Even if we still have some extravagant wealth left, compared with the previous times in Beijing, we are still 80% or 90% gone... What else are we checking?"
"This, this, this..."
Now Chang Yanen finally had a feeling of impending disaster. It turns out that the era of "honor and mutual respect" has passed!
This group of nobles and hereditary military attachés who fled from the north with the prince all lost 80% to 90% of their belongings, and some even went bankrupt. They are no longer the same breed as the nobles in the south... They have been upgraded from fat pigs to be slaughtered to butchers who kill pigs.
Seeing that Chang Yanen was speechless, Zhang Shize smiled and said, "Let me tell you clearly, the fifteen right-level supervisory censors brought by my lord are all disgraced Beijing nobles and hereditary military attaches... .... The prince has made a rule. We can use 10% of the recovered dirty silver and confiscated property as a reward! So don’t have any illusions. Just tell us how much you have. In fact, even if Even if you don’t explain, we can find out. None of us know exactly what your family’s methods of corruption and bribery are."
