Chapter 149: Going with the Flow

When Chongzhen took the list reported by Liang Qi from Luo Yangxing's hands, looking at the thick stack of documents, he couldn't help feeling somewhat surprised.

He did not immediately flip through them, but spoke in a joking tone: "It seems Liang Qi's trip to Jiangnan was quite fruitful! Could it be that I've come into another fortune?"

Luo Yangxing was also beaming with joy—Liang Qi had presented him with a full five thousand taels of silver this time.

He smiled and reported: "Your Majesty, I never expected such a great haul this time! Everyone says the Lianghuai salt merchants are fabulously wealthy, and even a minor salt bureau office connected to them gave me quite a shock! If that were the Lianghuai Salt Transport Commissioner's Office itself...!"

"We must take this opportunity to bring down the Lianghuai salt works! Dispatch men immediately to Huai'an, join forces with Liang Qi, arrest Hu Tinglu and Song Sizhang, then comb through the entire Lianghuai Salt Transport Commissioner's Office! I will first let the ministers see the evidence of crimes from the Huai'an Salt Bureau—where the silver that rightfully belongs to the court has gone! If my expectations are correct, no one will openly oppose abolishing the Lianghuai Salt Transport Commissioner's Office!" Chongzhen put away his smile and said sternly.

As long as this greatest and most important salt giant of the Great Ming was abolished, the new salt could make its debut in broad daylight. Both the Ministry of Revenue and the privy purse would benefit immensely, and as long as it operated normally, there would never again be cause to worry over silver.

Luo Yangxing bowed and said: "Does Your Majesty have any other instructions? If not, I shall return at once to make arrangements!"

Chongzhen thought for a moment, then said: "Regarding the customs houses mentioned by the Grain Transport Governor, I have plans of my own. Tax revenue is a great instrument of state and must be controlled in the hands of the court. This time, settle the customs houses at Huai'an and Linqing as well. I will have someone notify the Ministry of Revenue to assign dedicated personnel to manage the customs houses, and the Embroidered Uniform Guard will establish offices at the customs houses, whose duty is to supervise the tax-collecting officials—they must not interfere with the collection itself! All officials involved in this affair are to be executed! Their families exiled to Yizhou! Furthermore, establish an Embroidered Uniform Guard chiliarchy in Yangzhou, with Liang Qi serving as Chiliarch! The personnel dispatched this time must be carefully selected, with capable hands of every kind assembled!"

The reason Chongzhen established an Embroidered Uniform Guard chiliarchy in Yangzhou was chiefly that Yangzhou bordered Nanjing to the west, Zhenjiang to the south, and was not far from Changzhou Prefecture and Suzhou Prefecture—its geographic position was quite important. In later ages, the Yangtze River Delta was the most economically prosperous region, and in the Great Ming it was likewise the most important source of the nation's tax revenue, as well as the region with the most scholars and the most active thinking.

Moreover, Yangzhou did not have as many government offices as Nanjing, with far less surveillance and interference, making operations more covert and convenient, conducive to strengthening monitoring of all aspects of the Jiangnan region and preventing certain interest groups from secretly manipulating public sentiment against the court.

Luo Yangxing bowed in acknowledgment.

Chongzhen continued: "Surveillance by the Embroidered Uniform Guard alone is not enough—the court must also send its own inspectors. I will have the Censorate dispatch dedicated personnel to inspect the customs houses and commercial tax affairs, to guard against other abuses!"

Luo Yangxing was taken aback for a moment, thinking to himself: His Majesty seems to have some distrust of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, actually wanting to send additional inspectors.

Chongzhen could tell from his expression what he was thinking, so he said gently: "Minister Luo, do not overthink this—I do not distrust you. The Embroidered Uniform Guard are my fangs and claws; for over a year they have carried out their duties without error, and I am deeply gratified! I remember the efforts of you and the Guard, and I know the Guard has always been of one heart with me! But the court has its own regulations, and everything must be carried out according to the rules!"

Luo Yangxing bowed deeply and said: "To receive Your Majesty's praise, I and the entire Guard are deeply moved! I understand Your Majesty's good intentions—Your Majesty cannot bear to see any member of the Guard violate the court's laws in the future, and so takes precautions in advance! Rest assured, Your Majesty! Though the Guard may occasionally err in minor matters, in the grand scheme there is absolutely no private interest!"

Chongzhen nodded: "It's good that you understand my intentions. Go make the arrangements quickly!"

After Luo Yangxing left, Chongzhen picked up the confiscation inventory and began to look through it.

Though he had thought the haul might be considerable, Liang Qi still gave Chongzhen a great surprise.

From Yang Rui's cellar and storehouses alone, they had seized over two hundred thousand taels of silver, over three thousand taels of gold, over a hundred antique and calligraphy pieces, and two pawnshops in the cities of Yangzhou and Huai'an. His residence in Yangzhou had cost fifty thousand taels when purchased and was now worth eighty thousand on the market; he also had one property in Huai'an worth approximately three thousand taels.

Because Huang Can had served a short term and held a deputy position, his family property fell far short of Yang Rui's—from his home they seized over fifty thousand taels of silver, one thousand taels of gold, and dozens of antique and calligraphy pieces; his household operated one rice shop in Yangzhou, his residence was worth thirty thousand taels, and his secondary residence in Huai'an was comparable in value to Yang Rui's.

What surprised Chongzhen most was a certain Clerk Chen of the Huai'an Salt Bureau—this barely-ranked ninth-grade lowest official, an unremarkable little man, whose family property actually exceeded that of a court official of the fifth grade like Yang Rui.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard seized over ten thousand taels of silver from his home, plus five shops in Yangzhou and Huai'an dealing mainly in grain, rice, cloth, silk, and medicinal herbs; his residence in Huai'an was modest in scale, but its interior was exquisitely built—a typical miniature Jiangnan garden.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard had already investigated his daily activities thoroughly, learning that he had used his authority to partner with salt merchants in smuggling private salt, selling it to Huguang, Shandong, and other regions for considerable profit.

Yet only over ten thousand taels had been found in his home—there must be another hiding place for the silver. When his wife and children were interrogated, they truly knew nothing about it, so severe torture was applied to Chen Jixing.

Just as Liang Qi had said to Chen Qiyu, under the three wooden instruments who would cling to life? Chen Jixing, a mere juren, could hardly withstand harsh torture—the Embroidered Uniform Guard only needed to use the leg-screws before Chen Jixing confessed where the silver was hidden.

The guards rushed to Chen Jixing's rice shop in Huai'an and found a cellar in the rear courtyard warehouse, from which they recovered silver and copper coins worth over three hundred thousand taels.

The other salt field superintendents of the bureau and the clerks in the office also had substantial family assets—the wealthiest over ten thousand taels, the least several thousand. In this era, when an ordinary family of five could live well on an income of several dozen taels a year,

several thousand taels was already an astronomical figure.

This time the Northern Provincial Military Commission seized gold, silver, and copper coins totaling over eight hundred thousand taels in value; numerous shops and residences were all sealed and stored, awaiting the Emperor's decree for disposition.

These were all filtered figures—the silver that Liang Qi and others had concealed also accounted for roughly one-tenth of this number.

Chongzhen was naturally well aware of such matters; he simply didn't know the exact figures.

His approach was one of forbearance—he had no intention of pursuing the matter too closely for now. When one needs men for service, one must give those doing the actual work something to look forward to; the principle that too clear water breeds no fish has never changed since antiquity.

The convicted officials' residences and antique pieces would naturally be converted to cash as quickly as possible. Yang Rui and Huang Can's houses in Yangzhou should be quite sought after—the surroundings and locations were both excellent, and several tens of thousands of taels was nothing to the deep-pocketed salt merchants.

The shops would naturally be kept for the Four Seas Trading Company, giving it a foothold in prosperous Jiangnan and benefiting its future development.

When the summoned Grand Secretaries and senior ministers finished passing around the confiscation inventory, the expressions on their faces were quite a spectacle.

Some were furious, some shocked, some indifferent, and some wore looks of guilt.

Wen Tiren was very angry. After reading the list, he felt he had lived his whole life in frustration. He had strained every effort to climb to such a high position, yet his lifetime of accumulated wealth was not even one-tenth that of a minor fifth-grade official.

No! Not even half a tenth of a barely-ranked ninth-grade official!

If this can be endured, what cannot be?!

Though as a civil official he harbored a natural hostility toward the Embroidered Uniform Guard, this time the conduct of his fellow officials truly infuriated him.

He stepped forward, cupped his hands, and said angrily: "Your Majesty, what the Embroidered Uniform Guard has uncovered is shocking! I have served as an official for decades and never imagined that a fifth-grade official could embezzle such a vast sum! Without severe punishment of these men, the court's discipline cannot be upheld! Nor should those who elevated them to their positions be spared!"

Old Wen never forgot to stir up trouble for others even now—his political enemies filled the entire court. Since these convicted officials had nothing to do with him, he might as well sweep up the people behind them too.

Wang Yingxiong also stepped forward to memorialize: "Your Majesty, the conduct of the Huai'an Salt Bureau has indeed shocked me. In my judgment, this is an isolated case—most officials remain honest and devoted to the court. I believe the court should strengthen oversight of low-ranking officials to prevent such incidents from recurring!"

He felt it was excessive to say no official was uncorrupt, but it was also normal for people to use their authority to obtain some personal benefit. This matter should stop here—the scope of the crackdown must not be expanded further, or the consequences would prove highly embarrassing for the court.

Zhang Zhifa remained silent. The deputy superintendent of the Huai'an Salt Bureau was his protégé, having obtained the post through his machinations. Wen Tiren's words just now were highly targeted, and he was both angered by Old Wen's remarks and inexplicably uneasy. If the Emperor truly followed Wen Tiren's advice and launched a thorough investigation, Huang Can's affair could easily implicate him. Moreover, he did not yet know whether Huang Can had given him up in the hands of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, which left him distracted, head bowed as he pondered how to evade responsibility in Huang Can's case.

Minister of Revenue Hou Xun stepped forward to memorialize: "May I ask Your Majesty, will the Ministry of Revenue receive a share of the confiscated property of the convicted officials? Though the Ministry has been somewhat better off this year, disaster relief and pacification across the provinces still require enormous funds in grain and silver—I am truly exhausted in mind and body! This affair touches on Lianghuai salt matters, and it may well be that the court will lose another source of revenue hereafter. Your Majesty must also think more for the court!"

Compared to the eighth year of Chongzhen, the Ministry of Revenue's circumstances had already improved greatly. Every time the Emperor confiscated officials' property, he converted it to silver and granted some to the Ministry, and many expenses that should have been borne by the court were instead covered by the privy purse, saving the Ministry considerable large expenditures. Added to the taxes paid by the disaster-free provinces of Jiangnan, the Taicang treasury still held roughly one million taels in reserve.

But no one ever thought they had too much money. Hou Xun naturally knew the Emperor had grown rich over the past two years—not just through confiscations, but also by organizing trading companies that earned enormous profits, and it seemed the Emperor's hand was behind the new salt as well. Taking the Huai'an Salt Bureau as the target this time was plainly to clear obstacles for the imperial house to amass wealth.

Having figured out the inner workings, he was determined to get some of this confiscated silver for the Ministry of Revenue. After all, from now on all the salt profits of the realm would belong to your Zhu family—surely you should let the people of the realm share in some of the benefit?

Chongzhen looked at Hou Xun's vigorous, spirited appearance—where was the slightest sign of being exhausted in mind and body?

But the man had already seen through it: this confiscation was caused by the imperial house contending with local interests, and he had also pointed out that the court would lose its salt tax revenue in the future. Not giving something would truly be indefensible.

Before Chongzhen could nod in agreement, Chief Censor Li Banghua stepped forward to memorialize: "Your Majesty, I believe one can see the whole from a single spot—if an entire Huai'an Salt Bureau could skim such vast sums, what of the Lianghuai Salt Transport Commissioner's Office? The situation speaks for itself! As head of the Censorate, I bear supervisory responsibility for official corruption! I request Your Majesty's permission for the Censorate to dispatch personnel to Yangzhou to conduct a thorough investigation of the Lianghuai Salt Commissioner's Office!"

Hou Xun shot Li Banghua an unhappy glare—he had seen the Emperor about to nod in agreement, but Li Banghua had successfully diverted the Emperor's attention.

Chongzhen indeed set aside Hou Xun's words. He nodded approvingly and said: "Minister Li's words are most fitting—I had the same thought. I have already ordered additional guards sent south to follow the trail and drag out the larger worms, so that no thief of the court's interests may escape!"