Chapter 219: Accomplices, You Must Atone for Your Crimes Through Meritorious Service!

The four great Shanxi-Shaanxi salt merchants of Yangzhou have been thrown into the "death cell"! It doesn't mean they'll certainly die, but the sign hanging at the cell door reads "Death Cell," which scares people half to death!

Beneath the four great Shanxi-Shaanxi salt merchants there is still a crowd of major accomplices, every one of them with something to say, so now they have been escorted once more before Zhu Cilang to hear what the Crown Prince has to say.

"All of you are managers, bookkeepers, and shop stewards under the four Shanxi-Shaanxi salt merchants. Anyone who could rise to such a position must have real ability! In every one of the three hundred and sixty trades, each produces its own top scholar! In the merchant trade, you are the jinshi, you are the top scholars! In employing men, We do not rely solely on the scholar-official class; so long as one benefits the state, one may be employed. The Grand Duke said: the great farmer, the great artisan, and the great merchant are called the Three Treasures. Though you have committed crimes, you are still treasures, and so We shall give you a chance to atone for your crimes through meritorious service! Do you want to atone for your crimes through meritorious service?"

"Yes, we want to atone for our crimes through meritorious service."

"We are willing to serve His Highness the Crown Prince!"

"We beg the Crown Prince to give us a chance to atone for our crimes through meritorious service."

To atone for crimes through meritorious service — who among those with crimes, and rather serious ones at that, would not be willing to redeem themselves through merit?

Zhu Cilang, smiling, surveyed these treasures, and finally let his gaze settle on Yun Shangqian, the one who had been the first to step forward earlier.

This was a merchant of about thirty, with an honest-looking face; one truly could not tell he was a crooked merchant.

"Yun San!" Zhu Cilang looked at Yun Shangqian. "Speak. How do you intend to redeem yourself?"

Yun Shangqian had long since thought this question over, and answered at once: "Reporting to the Crown Prince, this commoner is the bookkeeper of the Qiao family salt business. How much ready cash the Qiao family has, how much money is placed outside, how much land, how many shops — this commoner knows it all perfectly clearly! This commoner can help the Crown Prince confiscate the Qiao family's property!"

"Oh, is that so?" Zhu Cilang smiled. "About how much would there be?"

"Ready silver amounts to one million one hundred eighty thousand taels, and gold to seventy thousand taels. There are three garden estates: one in Yangzhou, one in Huai'an, and one in Zhenjiang. There are one hundred eight shops, all in the great cities of the southeast. The farmland is more complicated; apart from the farmland in the old home in Shanxi, the rest is all in the Southern Metropolitan Region, totaling more than two hundred ten thousand mu, though most of it is registered under the name of the Duke of Wei's household. In addition there is a great deal of high-interest lending placed outside, no less than two million taels..."

"There really is quite a lot of money!" Zhu Cilang nodded with a smile, then looked at the other accomplices present. "And you? Do you have accounts to report?"

"Yes, yes, yes."

"We have some too..."

Zhu Cilang nodded. "Don't report them aloud; We cannot remember them all. Write them all down. Write them out in detail!"

In fact, Zhu Cilang did not intend to confiscate the four salt merchants' households. Confiscation was a troublesome business, and it could very easily disrupt normal economic activity. Salt merchants were merchants, after all, and their operations inevitably involved debts and obligations — receivables, payables, lending, deposit-taking, and perhaps even draft-transfer business. If these tangled accounts were not sorted out, then as soon as the four salt merchants were seized, would not a great heap of small firms connected to them collapse as well?

His idea was to reach a "plea agreement" with the four salt merchants, letting them hand over a portion of their property themselves in exchange for exemption from punishment.

But he needed to have a figure in mind — how much to fine them. The best would be to fine them until they had just one breath left, enough to keep going, and then take them for his own use, sending them to undermine Li Zicheng and the Qing — they had connections in the north, and could sell Huai salt there to seize the business of the Chi salt and Changlu salt.

Of course, the Huai-Yang salt merchants could not be allowed to continue as before; they no longer had the strength for it. Zhu Cilang leaving them one breath did not mean letting them maintain their present scale.

A drastic reduction in scale and layoffs were necessary, and the men they laid off were exactly the ones Zhu Cilang would employ. Huang Jiang and Su Sheng, the two imperial merchants, would certainly have to expand, and the Grand Marshal's Office and the Ministry of Revenue also needed men to manage accounts.

If possible, Zhu Cilang also intended to foster a new imperial merchant from among these men.

Yangzhou, Tianning Temple, the place where the Ming Emperor had halted his progress.

After the traveling court moved from Shandong to the prosperous and wealthy city of Yangzhou, the Chongzhen Emperor began to grow "diligent in governance," frequently attending the noon court, seated high upon the imperial throne, watching how his son issued orders.

This was because after Zhu Cilang had broken down the passive resistance of the auxiliary-capital officials headed by Shi Kefa, his power had grown ever more secure, and so he often invited the Chongzhen Emperor to attend the noon court, in order to display his filial piety.

The so-called noon court was a substitute for the morning court. Zhu Cilang liked to sleep in and could not rise early in the morning, so he changed the morning session to a noon court. It was held between the hour of Si and the hour of Wu. Twice a month the grand court began exactly at the start of the hour of Si and ended at the fourth quarter of the hour of Wu. On all other days it was the ordinary court, generally beginning exactly at the hour of Wu and ending at the latest at the eighth quarter of the hour of Wu — a full two hours in all.

Very few officials attended the ordinary court: the Grand Secretaries, the Ministers, the Vice Ministers, the Chief Censor, the guard commanders of the Grand Marshal's Office, the great eunuchs of the Directorate of Ceremonial and the Directorate of the Imperial Horses, and the Supervisor of the Household of the Heir Apparent. All officials, inner and outer, who attended the noon court were granted seats, and after the noon court ended, Zhu Cilang would keep everyone to share a meal.

Moreover, whether at the grand court or the ordinary court, Zhu Cilang never shouted or berated anyone in anger; he always wore a smiling expression and spoke in a gentle tone, giving one the feeling of a spring breeze.

And he would not inflict court flogging on court officials, still less would he haul ministers off to the Embroidered Uniform Guard's Imperial Prison — the Embroidered Uniform Guard no longer had the authority to discipline court officials!

In short, under Zhu Cilang's leadership, this court simply did not seem like a Ming court; it rather resembled a Song court.

Yet the officials serving in the traveling court all knew one fact: this "smiling Crown Prince" was in truth a ruthless man who had imprisoned his father, driven out his brothers, and killed his teacher — a "sacred-minded autocrat" of a Crown Prince overseeing the army!

And the reason Zhu Cilang could rule as an autocrat, apart from his being somewhat ferocious and his skill at putting on mystical airs to make people believe he was the reincarnation of the Great Ancestor, the High Emperor, was that he was especially good at employing men.

He did not use upright gentlemen; he used only servile underlings and petty men.

The three men of relatively strong backbone originally in the Grand Secretariat — Fang Gongyue, Qiu Yu, and Fan Jingwen — had already stepped down as Grand Secretaries. All had departed in glory; all were great loyalists and meritorious officials!

Among them, Fang Gongyue was appointed Governor of Susong, with the additional title of Junior Preceptor of the Heir Apparent (because of the Censorate reform, governors no longer received censor titles, but instead received the Three Solitary titles), and was enfeoffed as Earl of Kenan Gucheng.

Qiu Yu was appointed Governor of Zhenjiang, with the additional title of Junior Mentor of the Heir Apparent, and enfeoffed as Earl of Kenan Yicheng.

Fan Jingwen was appointed Governor of Zhejiang, with the additional title of Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent, and enfeoffed as Earl of Kenan Wuqiao.

Wei Zaode, whose backbone was very soft and who was skilled at trimming his sails to the wind, remained as Chief Grand Secretary, continuing to serve as Grand Secretary of the Hall of Central Extremity and concurrently Minister of Personnel, with the additional title of Junior Preceptor of the Heir Apparent, and enfeoffed as Earl of Kenan Tongzhou.

Hou Xun, whose edges had been worn smooth by prison, was promoted to Grand Secretary of the Hall of Established Extremity and concurrently Minister of Revenue and Lecturer to the Eastern Palace, with the additional title of Junior Mentor of the Heir Apparent, becoming the Second Grand Secretary of the traveling court.

Qian Qianyi, the "water's too cold" man, because of his merit in betraying Shi Kefa, now became Grand Secretary of the Hall of Literary Splendor and concurrently Minister of Rites and Lecturer to the Eastern Palace, with the additional title of Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent. He was not only a Grand Secretary and Minister, but also Zhu Cilang's teacher.

Zhu Cilang's teacher Chen Rui now also entered the Grand Secretariat, serving as Grand Secretary of the Hall of Martial Valor and concurrently Minister of War and Lecturer to the Eastern Palace, with the additional title of Junior Preceptor of the Heir Apparent, and enfeoffed as Earl of Kenan Yixing.

Zhu Cilang's other teacher Lin Zengzhi likewise joined the Grand Secretariat, serving as Grand Secretary of the Pavilion of Literary Profundity and concurrently Minister of Works and Lecturer to the Eastern Palace, with the additional title of Junior Mentor of the Heir Apparent, and enfeoffed as Earl of Kenan Rui'an.

The former Governor of Shuntian, Song Quan, was appointed Minister of Justice and enfeoffed as Earl of Kenan Yucheng, while the post of Grand Secretary of the Eastern Pavilion was temporarily left vacant. In addition, another lecturer who had followed Zhu Cilang south, Li Shichun, was appointed Supervisor of the Household of the Heir Apparent and concurrently Chancellor of the Hanlin Academy and Lecturer to the Eastern Palace, and enfeoffed as Earl of Kenan Meizhou.

Now all five Grand Secretaries were relatively weak and relatively obedient civil officials. Even Hou Xun and Qian Qianyi, those two Donglin bigwigs, were the soft-boned ones within the Donglin Faction; in their youth they may have had some ambition, but by now it had long since been worn away by the frustrations of official life.

In addition, the Censorate was reorganized. Li Banghua, who had fled with Zhu Cilang, was appointed Governor of Jiangxi, with the additional title of Junior Preceptor of the Heir Apparent, and enfeoffed as Earl of Kenan Jishui.

Replacing him was the sickly Feng Yuanyang, while the post of Right Chief Censor was temporarily left vacant.

Of course, the four governors newly appointed by Zhu Cilang had not yet taken up their posts. Susong, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, and Fujian were not places that could be taken just by saying so.

But these four governors could no longer attend court sessions either. So now the upper ranks of the traveling court were almost entirely officials who would not, or could not, oppose Zhu Cilang. Therefore Zhu Cilang could carry out his policies with great ease!

Even if those policies would greatly shrink many men's purses.

(End of Chapter)