The second day of July in the twenty-sixth year of Chongzhen.

Xiushui County, Jiaxing Prefecture, Zhejiang Province.

The servants of the Cao mansion got up as usual, opened the door and prepared to clean the steps and the road in front of the door.

At this time, the servant found that the door was full of soldiers wearing uniforms and holding various weapons.

The Ming national flag was hoisted high, swaying left and right in the wind.

If it were an ordinary servant, he would definitely be scared to death.

But the servants in the Cao family were different. Their master, Cao Rong, was the Right Vice Minister of the Nanjing Ministry of War.

A third-rank official in the imperial court!

As the saying goes, if one person succeeds, the whole family will benefit.

Not to mention ordinary soldiers, they would not even take the local prefect seriously.

After all, the gap between the positions of the two parties is too big.

The servant did not immediately inform the situation, but stood at the door of the mansion and asked: "Who are you? What do you want to do? Do you know where this is? The residence of Cao, the right assistant minister of the Nanjing Ministry of War! If you don't leave, a letter will be sent to Nanjing and all the skins on your bodies will be peeled off!"

The flag fluttered, and a middle-aged man in a blue official uniform flashed out.

He put his hands behind his back and said with a smile: "I am the magistrate of Xiushui County. Go and inform the person in charge of the government office and tell them that I am here to handle important matters."

"Xiushui County Magistrate?" The servant snorted coldly, "Please wait a moment, my lord. I will go and report it right away."

Cao Rong himself was not at home at this time. He was handling official business in Nanjing City.

There are two people in charge of the household.

They are Cao Rong’s wife Li and housekeeper Cao Wang.

Cao Wang was the first to get the news.

While he sent someone to inform Madam Li, he came to the gate of the mansion to greet her.

Before he even reached the door, Cao Wang's voice came out: "It's the Magistrate Wang! I didn't know Magistrate Wang was coming, so I didn't go out to meet him and ask for forgiveness in person."

Magistrate Wang smiled and said, "It's okay. Is Lord Cao at home?"

The housekeeper Cao Wang replied: "Lord Cao is an official in Nanjing, serving as the Crown Prince's right-hand man, and is not at the mansion!"

When mentioning the word "Crown Prince", Cao Wang deliberately emphasized the tone.

This move is both ostentatious and threatening.

After all, the crown prince is the heir to the throne and the future emperor.

After the crown prince ascends the throne, Cao Rong will become his trusted minister.

If we offend Cao Rong now, the consequences can be imagined.

Magistrate Wang didn't take it to heart at all.

We are all in this mess, who doesn’t have a backer?

Cao Rong's backer was the crown prince, and his backer was Wang Chengen, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department.

After the Ming Emperor stopped attending court, Wang Chengen took over the affairs of state on behalf of Chongzhen.

When it comes to backing, he has never been afraid of anyone.

Magistrate Wang laughed and said, "I just said that I am here to handle official business today. Why do you always bring the issue up with the Crown Prince? What is your intention?"

Cao Wang was stunned and immediately realized the seriousness of the problem.

This was not the first time that Magistrate Wang came to Cao’s house.

Every time he came before, he not only brought gifts but also spoke politely.

Today, the gifts were replaced by soldiers, and they spoke very toughly.

Cao Wang quickly apologized: "I am too outspoken, please forgive me, sir."

"It's okay," Magistrate Wang waved his hand. "Since Lord Cao is not here, who is in charge of the mansion?"

"It's Mrs. Li."

"Mrs. Li?" Magistrate Wang glared at Cao Wang and corrected him, "According to the rules, you should call her Madam Li, right?"

Cao Wang nodded repeatedly: "Yes, yes, the magistrate is right."

In the Ming Dynasty.

The imperial court would bestow titles and gifts on the families of officials with outstanding performance.

Take the wives of officials as an example.

If the official was of the first to fifth rank, the court would grant him an imperial edict.

This is also the origin of the term "Lady of Imperial Concubine".

If the official was of the sixth to ninth rank, the court would grant him an imperial edict.

The rank of the official is determined by the rank of his wife.

Wives of different ranks have different names.

The first and second ranks are called Madam, the third rank is called Shu Ren, the fourth rank is called Gong Ren, the fifth rank is Yi Ren, the sixth rank is An Ren, and the seventh rank and below are called Ru Ren.

Those without rank are called wives.

Although Cao Rong held the third rank, his wife did not receive any title or honor from the court.

So officially she can only be called "niangzi".

Of course.

People generally do not follow this rule and call people whatever they want.

Magistrate Wang stared at the plaque of Cao's mansion for a while, and said seriously: "Since Madam Li is at home, let her come out for a while. I have important matters to deal with."

Seeing how serious County Magistrate Wang was, housekeeper Cao Wang knew he was in big trouble.

He bowed and saluted: "If you have anything to say, please come to my house and talk!"

Magistrate Wang glared and said, "Just say it here!"

"Yes, yes, I will report it right away."

Cao Wang ran away, and soon came out again behind Madam Li.

Madam Li was wearing a colorful silk dress and various gold and silver ornaments on her ears, neck and wrists.

It gives people a feeling of elegance and superiority.

The two sides first exchanged a few polite words.

Madam Li took the opportunity to invite Magistrate Wang to her house again to tell her story.

The result was also rejected.

At this time, many onlookers had gathered around.

These people include both local people and passing merchants.

Now that there were enough witnesses, Magistrate Wang began to get down to business.

He said to Madam Li, "The court has long ago announced a ban on the use of ordinary silver. From today on, we cannot use silver anymore. Do you know that?"

The compulsory promotion of the Ming Yuanbao is a national policy.

As a family member of an official, Madam Li naturally could not say she didn't know.

She could only whisper, "I know."

Magistrate Wang nodded: "Since you know, I guess the silver in your mansion must have been exchanged for Ming Yuanbao a long time ago, right?"

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