Chapter 1536

Imperial Prison.

It was still just as damp, foul, and stinking; there were still just as many people wailing and crying out their grievances; and there were still just as many people lying there with vacant eyes, like corpses.

Hu Zongxian was the only one sitting upright.

He sat on the stone bed, posture imposing, using the light filtering in from a small window exposed above ground to read a copy of the Doctrine of the Mean.

Of course, the main reason he could be like this was that he had not been tortured, and his body had not suffered the slightest harm. It had not yet reached the point of needing to speak of willpower or spirit.

"Minister, you are in high spirits. Now that you've entered the Imperial Prison, you are still at leisure to read the books of sages?"

Putting down the book, Hu Zongxian looked at Wang Yan, who was smiling and cupping his hands outside the cell, and also stood up to pay his respects.

He took a few steps forward and said, "It is precisely because of this that I must read the books of sages. If not, I would have nothing else to do. It was Qi Dazhu who sent me the books; he told me quite a lot about you."

"Dazhuang is a thoughtful man. How does the Minister view him?"

"Having fallen to this state, how could I still dare to accept the title of Minister." Hu Zongxian shook his head and sighed, "I cannot judge what you have done, nor should it be for me to judge. Whether a matter is ultimately good or bad has three causes: how the Emperor views it, how the powerful view it, and how the common people view it."

"You sent the Emperor several million taels of silver, and the whole world knows it; how could the Emperor not be satisfied? You also came up with the cleaning fee, hiring the widowed and orphaned to sweep the streets and alleys, clearing out the local ruffians within the city, eliminating hooligans, and expanding shelters, so that there is not a single beggar left wandering the streets of Daxing. You also hired commoners to work, without forced labor and without collecting labor taxes; how could the common people not be satisfied with you?"

"It is already not easy to take two out of the three; how could there be so much perfection? It is just that you have offended the powerful and wealthy families; I fear your situation is not good. You can dodge assassination, but you cannot escape being squeezed out."

Wang Yan laughed, "I am not afraid of being squeezed out. Even if they didn't squeeze me out, I wouldn't tolerate them. I don't want anything else, as long as I can scrape silver from them, that's enough. Minister, of these three reasons you mentioned, how many apply to you?"

"None of them are satisfied!"

Hu Zongxian shook his head, unable to hold back a long sigh, "I fear I won't get through this time."

"Right now, it's that old thing Xu Jie who wants you dead, not the Emperor. The Emperor is the most nostalgic; even that old dog Yan Song has gone home to enjoy his retirement. When the time comes for an audience to state your case, just speak well to the Emperor about the past. The Emperor is kind-hearted, and he will protect you. Later, just distribute your family wealth and honestly teach books, and this life will be saved."

"How could it be that easy? I escaped this time, but it will be hard to escape the next..."

Hu Zongxian was silent for a moment, "I'm not afraid of you laughing at me, but I don't want to die just like this. Taking the imperial examinations and becoming an official was to fulfill my lofty aspirations. Although the Emperor, the powerful, and the common people are all dissatisfied with me, I fought the Japanese pirates for six years, captured Wang Zhi, killed Xu Hai, and pacified the pirate menace; I can at least be considered to have made some small contributions to the state."

"Not wanting to die is human nature, but if the Minister wants to hold power, that I fear is difficult." Wang Yan said, "Unless you wait until Yan Song dies and Xu Jie steps down, otherwise it's impossible."

"I understand. I have only just passed fifty. Having taken the medicine you prescribed for me and practiced the health-preserving techniques you taught, I can still afford to wait."

As Hu Zongxian spoke of being able to wait, his eyes were fixed tightly on Wang Yan.

Wang Yan said, "The Minister's character..."

"I embezzled military pay..." Hu Zongxian instead exposed his own shortcomings, not refuting the reasons for his impeachment at all, and he could not refute them, because he really did embezzle...

Wang Yan waved his hand, "Previously, I collected fire hazard fines, cleaning fees, and penalty interest, totaling over five million taels. I sent two million taels to the Emperor. At that time, right in front of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, specifically Zhu Qi who escorted you to the capital, I took one hundred thousand taels."

"Being an official, many things are beyond one's control. You have to take care of things from top to bottom, and sometimes you are forced to take it. If you don't take it, everyone else wants to, so how can you stand your ground? The Emperor can also understand the difficulties of those working below. Don't go too far, it's all a small matter."

"Besides the one hundred thousand taels of silver, I also spend public funds on food and drink in the yamen now. I eat several meals a day, and every meal must have wine and meat. The mansion I live in was confiscated, and the staff in the mansion are yamen runners and helpers who all come to my house to serve."

Hu Zongxian nodded, "When the time comes in the future, considering that you and I have some friendship, just mention the name Hu Zongxian."

This cannot be said to be Hu Zongxian being desperate and throwing himself at any doctor, but rather that Wang Yan is indeed very sturdy in the current imperial court. Being able to raise money for the Emperor, being able to let the common people earn money, and also giving a sum of silver to the central government represented by the Cabinet, and governing the locality in a way that truly brings prosperity—this is the reason Wang Yan can stand his ground.

Of course, this premise is that Wang Yan can deal with the various plots against him.

But in reality, not all the powerful want to kill Wang Yan, otherwise if they were truly that united, there wouldn't be all these various matters between them and Wang Yan now. They would have long since taken turns sitting in the Forbidden City.

As long as Wang Yan can keep living, his position cannot be low, and others cannot stop him from rising.

The logic is very simple: he can scrape silver for the Emperor, and he can also serve as a blade for the Emperor, extending the Emperor's power. It seems that like the emperors Wang Yan has experienced in the past, they are all proficient in this move of "releasing Wang Yan."

Right now, Hu Zongxian is at a dead end, speaking of friendship with this old acquaintance and old friend who once stood on the same side regarding the matter of converting rice fields to mulberry, hoping that there really will be a day when he can be pulled up.

This is a very important point; even if Wang Yan mentions him once in front of the Emperor in the future, it will be a considerable boost.

It's like the mourning leave system: if a relative dies and you go home to observe mourning for three years, who knows who you are after three years? And how to be reinstated? Doesn't it still require having someone in the court?

Hu Zongxian observed mourning for his parents for five years; without Yan Song's help, where would his position have come from? And where would his later career as Minister of War and Viceroy of Zhejiang and Zhili, leading the anti-pirate efforts, have come from?

This mourning leave is simply a major bug in the ancient officialdom; Zhang Juzheng broke this bug and directly seized the emotion...

Wang Yan smiled and nodded, "The Minister has outstanding ability and truly works for the cause. Now that you have encountered this disaster, it is truly not the Minister's fault. Although Wang Yan is doing this to scrape silver, I still want our Great Ming to be more prosperous and strong. Only if Great Ming is good can I be good, and can I scrape more silver. If I am still alive in the future and have not lost the Emperor's favor, I will definitely help the Minister be reinstated."

"If you can say this, then you won't die, and even less will you lose the Emperor's favor." Hu Zongxian waved his hand, "The Imperial Prison is not a good place. You being able to bear the risk to come and see me is already doing your utmost. Go."

"Minister, take care." Wang Yan cupped his hands and then turned and left...

Now that Hu Zongxian has fallen, although he is at leisure reading books in this Imperial Prison, he no longer has the imposing aura he had back in Zhejiang. He looks very stable, but in reality, I fear his brain is about to explode from running, just thinking about how to escape this time.

In the final analysis, it still depends on Jiajing's attitude...

"Have you been to see Hu Zongxian?"

West Garden, construction site, Jiajing stood with his hands behind his back, watching the busy commoners and craftsmen before him, very satisfied.

"Replying to Your Majesty, I have seen him." Wang Yan said, "I advised him to speak to Your Majesty about the past. Your Majesty is nostalgic; you didn't even kill that old dog Yan Song, so you certainly wouldn't want to kill Minister Hu. Once Yan Song dies and Xu Jie leaves the position of Senior Grand Secretary, Hu Zongxian will be able to be reinstated. He has only just passed fifty; waiting ten or eight years is no big deal."

"Hu Zongxian said that if there is such an opportunity in the future, let me speak his name to Your Majesty..."

Wang Yan said whatever there was to say, recounting the conversation between him and Hu Zongxian exactly as it was.

"What do you think of Hu Zongxian?"

"Minister Hu has merit; after all, he pacified the pirate menace, caused our Great Ming to suffer less loss, and allowed the common people of the southeast to live in peace, no longer having to worry about being killed or robbed at any time."

"But on the other hand, I have also heard rumors of the memorials impeaching Minister Hu: embezzling military pay, recklessly collecting taxes, extravagance, and lechery—all these things, every single one is a major crime."

Hu Zongxian being impeached is not wronged at all; he himself is indeed not up to standard.

Jiajing glanced at Wang Yan, "You've said everything. Then tell me, how should Hu Zongxian be dealt with?"

"How would I dare..."

"I command you to speak!"

"Yes, Your Majesty." Wang Yan cupped his hands and responded, "I believe that the matter of Hu Zongxian lies in whether Xu Jie and the others are truly willing to give him a way out. Otherwise, even if Your Majesty is nostalgic this time and spares Hu Zongxian's life, the next time Hu Zongxian will inevitably be accused of some crime worthy of beheading."

Jiajing did not speak this time; he of course saw it clearly—it was Xu Jie who wanted to kill Hu Zongxian.

"Do you want to protect Hu Zongxian?"

"How could I possibly protect him, Your Majesty..."

Wang Yan said very aggrievedly, "It's just that Minister Hu has great merit to the country. To kill him just after he pacified the pirate menace—how would others view it? And what about generals like Qi Jiguang? How would they view it? That old thing Xu Jie does not act properly. If we really want to talk about embezzlement, who hasn't embezzled? I even took one hundred thousand taels of silver to raise pigs, chickens, ducks, and geese waiting to eat meat."

"Your Majesty, I believe we can transfer Hai Rui to serve in Songjiang Prefecture. Once Hai Rui takes office, it won't take three months before he can definitely pull out a pile of rotten things from Xu Jie's family; any one of them would be enough to get him killed."

Jiajing was between laughter and tears, "You beat Xu Jie's son until his face was bruised and swollen, and just as Xu Jie became Senior Grand Secretary, you started causing trouble for him. He hasn't dealt with you yet, and you're already applying eye drops to him?"

"It's a matter of time, Your Majesty. That old thing Xu Jie is too sinister. He doesn't retaliate against me because Your Majesty still uses me, otherwise I would have died eight hundred times already. This time, clearing fields and checking households in Daxing, we checked right up to Grand Secretary Xu's head—tens of thousands of acres of land, thousands of people. How many acres of his land are tax-exempt?"

"Enough."

Jiajing waved his hand impatiently; he didn't know these things, but he could imagine them.

"Didn't you also check Daoist temples and Buddhist temples? They were all given by me; are you going to check me too?"

"Oh, Your Majesty, this Great Ming empire is all yours; isn't this scolding me? I just can't stand these rebellious officials and thieves who use Your Majesty's banner to do dirty and illegal things, ruining Your Majesty's reputation below and making the common people misunderstand Your Majesty."

"It's just like last year when converting rice fields to mulberry, Yan Shifan, Zheng Bichang, He Maocai, and that whole pile of people below—I wish I could have had them all sliced to death. Unworthy of being officials, don't you think so, Eunuch Lü?"

Hearing that he was mentioned, Lü Fang, who had been serving quietly on the side, took up the conversation, "Master, Magistrate Wang is thinking of you at every moment. He really does hate Yan Song and Yan Shifan to the extreme; even now he still can't forget them."

"He's thinking about the silver in Yan Song's house." Jiajing smiled.

"There is no wisdom greater than Your Majesty's. Yan Song served as Senior Grand Secretary for twenty years; his family wealth is at least ten million taels of silver. The annual tax revenue of our Great Ming, converted into silver, is only that much. If we take Yan Song, the country's days will be much easier, and Your Majesty's Forbidden City can also be properly renovated."

"Enough, stop thinking about Yan Song. I let him go home to retire, so he will retire until he's old. He did embezzle some silver, but he also had merit."

"Then I'll write him a letter later and ask him to take out three million taels of silver."

Jiajing squinted at him, and Eunuch Lü said, "Magistrate Wang, just let Yan Song off the hook, don't keep staring at him. He worked for twenty years, accompanying Your Majesty through thick and thin; it's not that easy."

"Then let's compromise and have him take out 1.5 million taels of silver. When I entered the palace, I saw the palace gates were old; they really need to be renovated. Your Majesty, it's really not that I'm chasing Yan Song and won't let go, it's that he took too much. Is that what he should have taken?"

"Enough." Jiajing waved his hand, "After all, it can be considered twenty years of harmonious monarch-subject relations; let's have a good beginning and a good end. Tell me about your clearing fields and checking households."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Wang Yan responded, recounting the matter of clearing fields and checking households from beginning to end, as well as some of his thoughts. Most importantly, it was the actual data from this clearing of fields and checking of households, and comparing it with the data recorded in previous years, thereby letting Jiajing understand the severity of the problem.

"Your Majesty, the Ministry of Revenue statistics for the 40th year of Jiajing stated that Daxing had 360,000 people. My clearing this time, counting all tenant farmers and servants, has 520,000 people. 160,000 people—each counting for poll tax, miscellaneous taxes, land tax, labor service converted to silver, etc. —if we count two qian of silver, that is 32,000 taels a year. Over the past hundred years, the population has decreased year by year; how much benefit have the people from top to bottom actually scraped from this?"

"..."

Jiajing is not stupid; he knew these things long ago, he just didn't know such detailed data. Now hearing Wang Yan personally speak a pile of data... he had no special expression.

"Sima Qian said, 'The world is bustling, all for profit; the world is jostling, all for profit.' Concealing land and households is to have greater profit. Otherwise, how would the common people offer or falsely register? And how would those powerful and wealthy families you speak of want to help hide them? And why would scholars study for fame and think of becoming officials?"

"Our Great Ming is going downhill; I, the Cabinet, and the hundred officials are nothing but paper-pasters, stitching and mending..."

"Your Majesty is stitching and mending, but I see others are tearing holes. They are all full of benevolence and morality, for the country and the people, but the things they do in private are all for their own families and descendants. No one thinks that only if our Great Ming is strong can they earn more; they all just want to dig at Great Ming's foundation to live their own rich lives."

Jiajing, who is extravagant and can spend over a million taels of silver every year, let out a long breath; he also had a belly full of bitter tears—someone understands my hardship...

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