Chapter 92: The Earliest Scam

After handling Hao Ren's affairs, an imperial decree finally arrived from the palace.

Zhang Yunxiu gave some instructions, then followed the eunuch who had delivered the decree straight toward the Qianqing Palace.

Upon arriving outside the palace gate, the decree-delivering eunuch signaled for Zhang Yunxiu to wait while he went inside to announce him.

Before long, the decree-delivering eunuch returned, smiling as he made a gesture of invitation.

Zhang Yunxiu straightened his clothes and composed his expression before stepping into the Qianqing Palace.

Inside the palace, the Emperor was seen sitting on the dragon throne with a stern face, with Wei Qing standing to his side.

Just as Zhang Yunxiu was about to pay his respects, the Wanli Emperor suddenly smiled and shouted, "Zhang Yunxiu, I congratulate you on making a fortune."

Hm? "Making a fortune? What fortune?" Zhang Yunxiu was alarmed inside, but on the surface, he pulled a bitter face and cried, "You don't know, the journey was so bumpy that my bones were nearly rattled apart, and that was only to raise two hundred thousand taels of silver for Your Majesty."

"Don't give me that." The Wanli Emperor waved a hand, rudely interrupting, "I've already heard from others that you split the treasure into two parts; you handed one part to Wei Qing, so where did you send the rest?"

You told him? Zhang Yunxiu widened his eyes and looked at Wei Qing.

Wei Qing glared back, thinking to himself: Did I even need to say it? Do you take everyone for blind? With such a massive amount of treasure entering the capital, you didn't even try to be discreet—how could the Emperor not know?

"I don't need much more from you; since you could easily produce two hundred thousand, then allocate another one hundred thousand taels into my Inner Treasury." The Wanli Emperor glanced at Zhang Yunxiu and commanded in an unquestionable tone.

"Ah?!"

"Ah what? If you don't hand it over, that is the crime of deceiving the Emperor."

"Your Majesty, at the time you only said you wanted two hundred thousand taels, the rest..."

Zhang Yunxiu was about to explain, but the Wanli Emperor began acting like a rogue, turning his head to ask Wei Qing: "Wei Qing, did I ever say I only let Zhang Yunxiu go to sea to get two hundred thousand taels of silver?"

Wei Qing coughed twice, straightened his back, and said with a straight face: "This old servant does not remember."

At this, the Wanli Emperor became even more smug. He clapped his hands and cast a look at Zhang Yunxiu, as if to say—you claim I said it, but who can testify for you? Zhang Yunxiu gritted his teeth and finally agreed to hand over another one hundred thousand taels, tearfully earning twenty thousand taels of silver.

"Very well, you have performed a great service this time, and I will not forget your contribution." The Wanli Emperor waved his hand, stood up, and walked down from the dragon throne, asking Zhang Yunxiu with some curiosity: "Tell me, how did you earn so much silver?"

Zhang Yunxiu made up a wild story, saying only that there were mountains of gold and silver on the sea.

Although the Wanli Emperor was somewhat suspicious, seeing the money, he did not pursue how it came to be.

He pulled Zhang Yunxiu to the window; although it was autumn outside, the flowers and plants in the garden were still competing in beauty.

A gust of autumn wind blew in, carrying waves of floral fragrance.

The Wanli Emperor was suddenly in a great mood, puffed out his chest, and pointed at the landscape, saying: "Today's weather is just right; it is a wonderful day for an outing, wouldn't you say?"

Zhang Yunxiu pretended not to hear. The Wanli Emperor bit his cheek, squinted at Zhang Yunxiu, and stomped his foot: "Zhang Yunxiu, I am asking you a question, why aren't you speaking?"

"Ah?! What did Your Majesty ask?" Zhang Yunxiu said in surprise.

The Wanli Emperor was so angry his cheeks puffed out, and he repeated the matter. Only then did Zhang Yunxiu smile and say: "Your Majesty is right, this is indeed a good day for an outing."

"Then I want to go out of the palace for a stroll; go and prepare."

As expected.

Zhang Yunxiu felt a bitterness in his heart; this Emperor really treated him like a donkey to be driven.

His brain spun rapidly, preparing to find a way to refuse, when suddenly a shrill voice broke the stalemate.

"Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager says she has matters to discuss with you and asks you to go to the Cining Palace."

Upon hearing this, the Wanli Emperor's good mood vanished instantly, and his legs began to tremble.

Don't look at how he acted big in front of Zhang Yunxiu; in front of Li Taihou, he couldn't even muster the weight of four catties of bone.

"You... you come with me."

The Wanli Emperor dragged Zhang Yunxiu along. Before Zhang Yunxiu could refuse, the decree-delivering eunuch smiled and nodded, answering, "Minister Zhang is also here? Perfect, you should come along too."

Before Zhang Yunxiu could react, the two arrived before the Cining Palace.

Outside the palace, the Wanli Emperor was slightly nervous; he took two deep breaths, then glanced at Wei Qing and Zhang Yunxiu on either side, gritting his teeth: "Let's go, follow me inside."

The two nodded and walked into the main hall with their heads bowed.

As soon as they entered the hall, they smelled a scent of sandalwood; this was Li Taihou's daily required lesson.

She was a devout Buddhist; every morning, she would wash her hands, keep a plain face, and spend an hour copying the Heart Sutra.

For over ten years, she had never stopped, and all the attendants and palace maids in the palace called her a Bodhisattva reborn.

Circling around the screen wall, the group arrived at the reception hall.

They saw Li Taihou dressed in plain white robes, sitting upright at a table, with a beaded curtain in the middle blocking the others from the inside.

The three of them dared not be negligent and hurriedly paid their respects to the figure inside.

Li Taihou remained unmoved, lowering her brows to write on the paper.

Not until she finished copying the entire sheet did she look up and smile at those outside: "Emperor, you truly have a way of making money. At this rate, the Inner Treasury will soon be filled to the brim by you."

Hm?!

The Wanli Emperor slowly raised his head and glanced to the right, just in time to collide with Zhang Yunxiu's gaze.

Half an hour later. The Wanli Emperor returned to the Qianqing Palace, fuming, and said impatiently: "Ugh, Mother is really something. What is so good about those bald donkeys? It's one thing for the imperial court to support them, but now she wants me to take money to renovate temples!"

Although he was greatly dissatisfied with this, the Great Ming governed the world through filial piety, and furthermore, he had an innate sense of fear toward his mother.

Thus, he could only grit his teeth and agree, taking out thirty thousand taels to donate to the temples.

After a moment of silence, the Wanli Emperor pointed at Wei Qing and instructed: "Wei Qing, this matter will be left to you to handle."

"This servant obeys the decree." Wei Qing nodded in agreement.

He now not only had a name in the Directorate of Ceremonial but also retained his position as a manager in the Qianqing Palace.

Holding two positions at once, his status rose rapidly.

Before he had even walked out, Wei Qing remembered something else, so he tentatively asked: "Your Majesty, what about the Empress Dowager saying you should find a substitute to become a monk?"

"Enough, enough, you handle that as well."

The Wanli Emperor's face was full of impatience.

Zhang Yunxiu, standing to the side, kept a gloomy face and said nothing; the Jiajing Emperor had been fond of cultivating the Dao, so Daoist temples had flourished and Buddhism had declined.

Li Taihou was a devout believer in Buddhism; when those above have a preference, those below will surely follow suit. In just over ten years, Buddhism flourished, and countless people racked their brains to squeeze into the Buddhist fold.

Some even paid high prices to pull strings just to get into the Buddhist fold.

There was no other reason; it was simply because becoming a monk not only exempted one from taxes and corvée labor, but the monthly incense money and land offerings from the temples were enough to feed them until they were fat and sleek.

This is how temple landlords came to be.

While he was deep in thought, the Wanli Emperor suddenly noticed Zhang Yunxiu's unusual behavior and asked with great concern: "Zhang Yunxiu, is there anything else you wish to say?"

Zhang Yunxiu originally did not want to speak, but since the Emperor asked, he felt an itch in his throat if he didn't; after a moment of deliberation, he said: "Does Your Majesty know of Emperor Wu of the Southern Liang Dynasty?"

"Of course I know of him." The Wanli Emperor widened his eyes, waved his hand, and huffed, "Four hundred and eighty temples in the Southern Dynasties, how many towers are in the misty rain. Isn't that a eulogy to the emperor's achievements?"

"Does Your Majesty consider that an achievement?" Zhang Yunxiu asked in return.

"Uh—" The Wanli Emperor paused; his mother often said that Emperor Wu of Liang had achieved supreme merit, but now that he thought about it, he always felt something was strange.

Frowning and pondering for a moment, the Wanli Emperor hesitated: "Buddhism teaches people to be good; could it be that a flourishing Buddhist faith does not signify a prosperous age?"

"Your subject believes that a true prosperous age is not measured by the flourishing of Buddhism, but by the attitude toward the weak of the imperial court—that is, the common people." Zhang Yunxiu thought, then poured it all out, "They are different from what we think; they cannot see whether the world is at peace or not; they only care if the price of grain has risen today, and only care if they can afford two bolts of cloth for the New Year."

"Your Majesty, two thousand people in Great Ming flee into the Buddhist fold every year; over the long years, this has added up to one hundred thousand people."

"Do they truly believe in Buddha? They are merely thinking of having the imperial court support them. Your subject believes they should be driven back and made to engage in labor."

The words were impassioned and deafening; the Wanli Emperor was startled. He rubbed his chubby cheeks and did not immediately answer Zhang Yunxiu.

Issue an edict to oppose his mother?

He felt a shiver just thinking about it, and besides, these monks were supported by money from the national treasury, which had nothing to do with his Inner Treasury.

After weighing the pros and cons, he naturally did not want to pick at this scab.

"I have heard everything you said. You may withdraw first; wait for me to let the Grand Secretariat deliberate on it."

Listen to the tone behind the words.

Zhang Yunxiu knew that the Wanli Emperor did not want to touch the Empress Dowager, so he stopped dwelling on it.

Just a moment ago, he had been thinking: what if the Emperor had agreed? Wouldn't he have offended Li Taihou?

Fortunately, the Emperor did not agree.

Let them eat; in any case, using the money from the Great Voyages to support these animals was not something he couldn't afford, so why offend Li Taihou for the sake of these people?

After thinking this through, Zhang Yunxiu suddenly felt enlightened. He cupped his hands toward the Emperor and took his leave: "Your subject withdraws."

"Mm, you may go."

After exiting the Forbidden City, Zhang Yunxiu headed straight for the University Scholar Mansion.

As soon as he arrived at the mansion, You Qi walked up with a smile and said gleefully: "Fifth Young Master, you have finally returned. The Master has been waiting for you for a long time."

"Waiting for me?" Zhang Yunxiu asked in confusion.

"Yes, he is right inside the study. You should go quickly, lest the Master gets impatient." You Qi chuckled, his words tinged with mischief, "This is a huge piece of good news that is about to fall upon you."

"What kind of news?!"

"You will know once you go; this humble one can guarantee that it is definitely a huge piece of good news."

Zhang Yunxiu furrowed his brows and raised his voice a few degrees: "Oh, so you dare to speak in riddles with me now? You just wait; if it isn't good news, see how I deal with you."

You Qi was not afraid in the slightest, only shouting for Zhang Yunxiu to remember to host a banquet.

Seeing that he could not get anything out of You Qi, Zhang Yunxiu walked quickly toward his family's study with a heart full of trepidation.

Upon reaching the door, Zhang Yunxiu straightened his clothes and knocked lightly on the door: "Father."

"Come in."

(End of this chapter)