Zhang Cai is indeed the person Chang Feng likes. Very efficient.
Coupled with Jin Yiwei's all-pervasive intelligence network, Zhang Cai found out the source of the Japanese goods supplied to the two uncles in just two days.
At noon that day, Chang Feng was playing chess with Fatty Xu in the room.
Fatty Xu looked sad while playing chess.
Chang Feng asked: "What's wrong with you? You're listless, as if you haven't woken up."
Fatty Xu replied: "My old man's health has been getting worse and worse in the past few years. He had diarrhea last night. I waited on him until you fell asleep."
Xu Yongning, Duke of Dingguo, was sixty-one years old and in poor health. Suffering from severe thirst syndrome, his destiny is not long.
If Xu Yongning dies, Fatty Xu will become a serious Duke of the Ming Dynasty, a top noble.
Chang Feng put down the chess piece in his hand: "If I have time these days, I will go to your house to visit the old man."
At this moment, Zhang Cai came to the two of them and bowed his hands respectfully: "I'm disturbing Mr. Chang and Mr. Xu from playing chess."
Chang Feng stared at the chessboard without raising his head: "Did you find out the result?"
Zhang Cai replied: "Master Chang, it is the Quanzhou maritime merchant Lin family who supplies the Deshengchang Trading Company."
Chang Feng raised his head and glanced at Zhang Cai: "Lin family?"
The Lin family in Quanzhou is a famous maritime merchant family.
There is a folk proverb in Fujian: "Quanzhou sea, Quanzhou sea, the Zhu family's world and the Lin family's wealth."
Because their ancestors had assisted Zheng He in his voyages to the West, the Lin family had received royal permission from the Yongle Dynasty to engage in maritime trade with Southeast Asian countries.
During the Xianzong period, Quanzhou maritime merchants were attacked, and many Quanzhou maritime merchants were either captured or killed. All the family property was confiscated.
It is said that the huge wealth confiscated was used for the military expenses of Chenghua Liting and Beibei Grassland.
The strange thing is that the Lin family is safe and sound and has not been attacked by the court.
Not only that, the imperial court's crackdown on other maritime merchants was tantamount to helping the Lin family. Let the Lin family dominate Quanzhou.
According to folklore, the Lin family's wealth is equivalent to less than half of the national treasury.
Naturally, the Lin family would never be able to amass so much wealth just by relying on the limited Southeast Asian trade permitted by the imperial court.
The unclear smuggling trade with Japanese pirates is the real source of wealth for the Lin family.
Chang Feng said: "The Lin family should have someone posted in Beijing, right? Arrest him."
Zhang Caidao: "Master Chang, I have received reliable news. Lin Sheng, the head of the Lin family, will arrive in Beijing in a few days."
Lin Sheng, only seventeen years old. Because his father died young, he became the head of the Lin family at the age of thirteen.
Businessmen from Zhejiang to Fujian would not call Lin Sheng "Boss Lin" when they saw him, but "Big Boss" to show respect.
The Lin family has a rule that every three years, the family has to go to Beijing for business. As for what to do, only God knows.
Chang Feng threw the chess piece back into the chess pot: "Okay. Let's not arrest anyone yet. Let's just wait for Lin Sheng to come to Beijing. I would like to meet this 'big boss'."
In the afternoon, Chang Feng came to the cabinet to check the room. The cabinet has just recommended that Emperor Hongzhi dismiss the chief envoy of Sichuan from his post. Chang Feng came to talk to them about the official matter of sending people to Chengdu to search their homes.
After talking about official matters, Li Dongyang said: "It's so easy for you to come to the cabinet. Let's have a cup of tea before leaving."
Chang Feng smiled and said: "Thank you Li Cifu for the tea."
Chang Feng sat drinking tea with three pavilion elders.
Xie Qian, the big liar, said: "Everyone, I just got a joke. It's really funny. I'll tell it to you."
Xie Qian loves to tell jokes. His jokes often have deep meaning. On many things, he could always clarify his position by telling jokes.
Xie Qian said with a smile: "It is said that in the winter, a minor bird was so cold and hungry on a tree branch that it fainted and fell to the ground."
"The little bird was about to freeze to death on the ground. It was too late, but it was soon. A strong cow came over."
"Don't get me wrong, the strong cow didn't trample the bird to death. Instead, it stopped on top of the bird and pooped a smelly, steaming cow dung."
"Crack, the cow dung fell on the bird without any bias."
"The strong cow finished pooping and left. The little bird was a blessing in disguise, being warmed by the hot breath of the cow dung and waking up."
"The little bird is so happy. Wow, I really don't deserve to die!"
"It jumped happily in the cow dung and chirped."
"Since ancient times, blessings and misfortunes depend on it, and misfortune lies on the blessings."
"The little bird escaped death and fluttered happily and sang. The movement attracted a weasel."
"The weasel ate it."
This is a bad joke that is not funny.
Li Dongyang asked: "Is this the end?"
Xie Qian nodded: "It's done."
Chang Feng thoughtfully said: "Mr. Xie Ge's jokes are always full of meaning. I wonder what the meaning of this joke is?"
Xie Qian laughed and said: "This joke tells us that if we are in a cesspit, it is best to shut up and don't mess around."
Shit pit?
Chang Feng raised his eyebrows lightly and thought to himself: What is Xie Qian hinting at me?
Officials in the capital always like to laugh at themselves. The officialdom of the Ming Dynasty is a big cesspit. Few people can emerge from the mud without being stained.
What Xie Qian means is to tell me, who is in the cesspool of officialdom, to shut up and stop messing around?
It's really weird, I haven't been bothered with anything recently. Could it be.
Chang Feng thought of one thing: Xie Qian's native place was Yuyao County, Shaoxing Prefecture, Zhejiang Province.
Yuyao County is close to the sea. Government affairs are under the jurisdiction of the Shaoxing Prefecture Yamen. In terms of commercial affairs, it was under the jurisdiction of Ningbo Shipping Department.
Could it be said that the Xie family was also involved in maritime trade? Is Xie Qian hinting to me not to care about maritime smuggling?
Weird. I asked Zhang Cai to investigate the source of the smuggled goods, which was a secret known to only a few people in Jinyiwei.
How did Xie Qian know? Could someone have given Xie Qian the wind?
Li Dongyang suddenly spoke: "Brother Xie's joke is more like a fable, it is really philosophical."
Liu Jian also said: "This is a joke that only smart people can understand. The people sitting in our check-in room at the moment are all smart people."
"I think everyone can understand it. Right, Chang Feng."
Chang Feng pretended to be confused: "Ah. I am a stupid person. A fool who couldn't even pass the five-subject examination."
"Xie Ge was always the top scholar in the eleventh year of Chenghua. His jokes and fables are incomprehensible to the dull."
Chang Feng has taken the Spring Examination five times in the third year of Hongzhi, the sixth year of Hongzhi, the ninth year of Hongzhi, the twelfth year of Hongzhi, and the fifteenth year of Hongzhi.
He was named Luosunshan every time.
The fourth trial three years ago was the closest he got to Bagong. It's just one place difference.
This spring, he entered Gongyuan again. Still famous. And this time, he missed "many, many laps" again.
Chang Feng thought that he was not good at learning after he failed the first few times.
After failing for the fifth time, Chang Feng began to suspect that the examiners had deliberately failed him.
Behind the examiners stood the civil service group. Since the imperial examination fraud case three years ago, Chang Feng has been on the same page as the civil service group.
If Jinyiwei's butcher has the title of Jinshi, he can be transferred to or concurrently hold an important civil official position. With Emperor Hongzhi's trust, Chang Butcher will become a serious problem for the civil servant group.
Li Dongyang and Xie Qian looked at each other and stopped talking.
Changfeng will not ask for trouble. The three pavilion elders stopped talking. He couldn't stay in the room without leaving.
Chang Feng stood up and said, "Three pavilion elders, please take your leave."
In the evening, Chang Feng returned home.
Fatty Xu followed Chang Feng to Chang Mansion to fight against the autumn wind.
Chang Ponu was practicing his arm strength with two stone skewers in the front yard.
Fatty Xu laughed at him: "My nephew, your arm strength is not good. Just these two twenty-pound stone skewers, I can lift them with two fingers."
Chang Feng scolded: "How many kilograms of fat are you wearing? How many kilograms are you wearing? You still have the nerve to tease your nephew who is not half as heavy as you."
Not long after, dinner was served in the dining room.
Lao Taishan Liu Bingyi is old and has white hair. But he is very much like Ma Wensheng, getting stronger with age and getting stronger with age.
Last summer, Chang Feng bought a maid aged twenty-eight to take care of his daily life.
Three took care of the other, but Liu Bingyi took care of the maid and put her on the bed.
Liu Bingyi, who was in his seventies, actually made the maid's belly bigger.
Chang Feng made arrangements and asked Liu Bingyi to take the maid into his house and make her his concubine.
Liu Xiaoyan saw that she was going to be a sister at the age of thirty-seven. Unfortunately, the concubine had a miscarriage when she was six months pregnant.
Otherwise, Chang Feng would have an extra brother-in-law or sister-in-law.
The family had dinner happily, talking and laughing.
Chang Feng regards Fatty Xu as his half-brother and the most trustworthy person in the world.
While chatting, he turned the topic to business: "The number one maritime businessman in the southeast, the head of the Lin family in Quanzhou is coming to Beijing. I plan to go and meet him."
Fatty Xu said: "The Lin family in Quanzhou is very famous. I have heard of it a long time ago."
Liu Bingyi frowned: "How come the Lin family in Quanzhou sounds so familiar?"
Chang Feng asked: "Old Taishan, did you have any dealings with the Lin family when you were an official?"
Liu Bingyi said: "That's not true."
After a while, Liu Bingyi patted his head and said, "I remembered it! Miao'er, go to my bedroom and bring me the list of gifts I received when I took you in last year."
Liu Bingyi's concubine is named Miao'er, and she looks like a water spirit. In the words of later generations, he was a typical thin and white boy.
Not long after, Miao'er brought the gift list.
Miao'er was pregnant before, and Chang Feng felt that he couldn't let her go. The concubinage ceremony was performed like a string renewal ceremony.
Thanks to Chang Feng's favor, many officials and dignitaries from the capital came to send congratulatory gifts, and Liu Bingyi's former disciples also came to congratulate him. There are hundreds of names on the gift list.
Liu Bingyi had a hard time looking through the gift list.
He placed the gift list in front of Chang Feng and pointed with his hand: "Look. Wang Younian, the inspector of Northern Zhili, congratulated Mr. Liu on behalf of the Lin family in Quanzhou and presented him with a South Sea coral."
Chang Feng frowned: "The Lin family has given gifts to our family?"
Chang Feng didn't know that no matter which high-ranking official in the capital was getting married or having a funeral, the Lin family could always find a relevant official to congratulate and send gifts on their behalf.
His vast network of connections in the officialdom is evident.
Fatty Xu said: "Be good. Your mouth is short when you eat others, your hands are short when you pick them up, and your legs are weak when you sleep on them."
"After the Chang family accepted the gift from the Lin family, your hands will become shorter."
Chang Feng ordered his servants: "Go find that coral. When the head of the Lin family comes to Beijing, I will return it to him in person. We have no relationship, so what gift did he give?"
Let's say that three days later, Jin Yiwei Changfeng came to check the room.
Zhang Cai reported: "Master Chang, Lin Sheng has come to Beijing. He lives in the Fujian Chamber of Commerce in the west of the city."
"The officials in the capital are going to give a businessman a wedding banquet. The wedding banquet is tonight."
Chang Feng sneered: "Oh, among scholars, farmers, and merchants, merchants are at the bottom. When Taizu founded the country, he set a rule that merchants can't even wear silk."
"A businessman comes to Beijing, and the officials of the capital are going to give him a welcome banquet. What a grand ceremony!"
"Send more eyes and ears over there. Keep an eye on him."
At this moment, a voice came from outside the duty room: "Who are you looking at?"
Then Qian Neng, the governor of the East Factory, walked in with his adopted son Qian Ning.
Chang Feng quickly raised his hand and said, "Duke."
Qian Neng sat on the chair: "Who did you say you were going to keep an eye on just now?"
Chang Feng replied: "Look at a maritime businessman who doesn't know where the world is and who is suspected of smuggling. Oh, this person's surname is Lin."
Qian Neng's expression changed: "Are you talking about Lin Sheng, the head of the Lin family in Quanzhou?"
Chang Feng nodded: "Yes. Have you ever heard of him?"
Qian Neng said: "Not only have I heard of it! Although Lin Sheng is young, he is only seventeen years old, but he is a great philanthropist."
"Last year he donated eight thousand taels of silver to Zhongguantun."
During the Hongzhi Dynasty, there were 60,000 eunuchs in the palace.
Not everyone can achieve the prominent positions of eunuch, young eunuch, and eunuch.
Most eunuchs spent their entire lives doing nothing in the palace. When he gets older, he is still a fire person and so on.
Eunuchs are servants who serve people. The palace does not support idlers. When they get older, they will leave the palace.
People who have lost their roots are not welcome in their hometown. They retired in Zhongguantun in the capital.
Zhongguantun is the nursing home for eunuchs. Of course, it later changed its name to a name familiar to the world: Zhongguancun.
Chang Feng was surprised: "Has the Lin family donated money to Zhongguantun?"
Qian Neng said: "Since the first year of Hongzhi's reign, the Lin family has donated money to Zhongguantun every now and then."
"Boss Lin is in Beijing, and there will be a reception banquet at the Fujian Chamber of Commerce tonight. I want to go to the banquet and thank him in person."
"You said you wanted to keep an eye on him? Why did he recruit you?"
Chang Feng's heart skipped a beat: Oh my god, do the Lin family have any friendship with the Governor?
Chang Feng could only deal with it: "I heard that many officials from the capital are going to the Fujian Chamber of Commerce tonight. I was afraid of trouble, so I sent someone to keep an eye on it."
Qian Neng said: "When a great benevolent man comes to Beijing and everyone goes to pick him up, what kind of trouble can happen? Don't send anyone."
"Jinyiwei kept his eyes and ears on him, and those who didn't know thought the factory guards were going to touch him."
Chang Feng held up his hands: "Yes. By the way, Governor, last year my old Taishan took a concubine, and the Lin family gave me a gift. I will go with you tonight to thank the head of the Lin family. What do you think?"
Qian Neng picked up the tea cup and took a sip of tea: "Okay. There is no harm in getting acquainted with a kind person. I will take you there."
Qian Neng is known as a "good man" and seems to have a close relationship with the Lin family.
Chang Feng guessed that in addition to donating money to Zhongguantun, the Lin family should also have a lot of filial piety on weekdays.
Qian Neng changed the subject: "By the way. If you go to the Fujian Chamber of Commerce tonight, you can meet one of my seniors."
Among the eunuchs in the palace, Xiao Jing and Qian Neng are the most senior.
Chang Feng's reaction was extremely quick, and there was probably only one person in the world who could be called an "old-timer" by Eunuch Qian.
Oh my god, has that person entered Beijing?
Chang Feng asked: "Duke, the old man you are talking about is the one who guards the tomb of Taizu in Yingtian?"
Qian Neng smiled and said: "It's him. I haven't seen him for many years. He also has a good relationship with your godfather."
Chang Feng suddenly remembered that when Chang Tian was a child, he went to Yingtian with his godfather Huaien and met that person.
That man was the legend among the eunuchs of the Ming Dynasty, the first governor of Xichang, the nemesis of the Tatars in the steppe, and the fierce general among the eunuchs - Wang Zhi.
(End of chapter)
