Chapter 127 Out of Control
Because Prince Mu refused to cooperate, the ministers' intention to persuade the emperor naturally became a pipe dream. The cabinet was thus helpless but to submit the report of the three judicial departments on the joint investigation of the rebellious royal family members on time in early December. However, as the situation was too serious, no one dared to play fast and loose with the emperor, so the wording of this report was extremely harsh and sharp, fully demonstrating the quality of the clerks in the Ministry of Justice who were good at fabricating cases. If the verdict is really made according to the specifications in the report, then at the very least... at the very least it would be a crime of genocide.
According to the usual practice, this kind of report should be like lifting the roof before opening the window; the officials who judged the case would show their power and intimidate the royal family; the emperor would then come out to ease the atmosphere, show grace and win people's hearts, and focus on the cooperation between the good cop and the bad cop. But now... Alas, the emperor is so crazy now that the important officials in the cabinet cannot help but feel fear and terror in their hearts - you think you are being kind and offering to lift the roof in exchange for the emperor opening the window, but what if Master Feixuan goes with the flow and really lifts the roof?
Considering the emperor's current behavior, this is not impossible!
Once the official document is handed over, it is difficult to reverse it. The evidence of guilt has been established, so a bloodbath must be carried out. But the royal family members did not have the qualities of civil servants after all. They did not know that for the sake of the overall situation, they should obediently commit suicide to save each other's dignity and not cause trouble to the higher-ups. Once these descendants of the phoenix and the dragon started to make trouble in the imperial prison, they would be charged with alienating their flesh and blood and poisoning the royal family...
When they thought of this, both Lord Yan and Lord Xu felt their scalps tighten!
But they never expected that something exciting that would greatly excite the elders was still to come. On the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, the cabinet went to the Western Garden as usual to pay homage to the emperor and discuss state affairs; but unexpectedly they were stopped by Li Zaifang on the way, who said that the emperor had caught a cold yesterday and should not be bothered now, so all the cabinet ministers were asked to wait outside.
As soon as these words came out, the other people in the cabinet were fine, but the leaders, Lord Yan and Lord Xu, felt their hearts skip a beat and they almost gasped!
——Oh no, the emperor might try to pass on the blame again!
Having been with Master Feixuan for such a long time, they understood the emperor's character as well as their own underwear (well, maybe they had slightly misjudged the extent of the emperor's bloodlust), and were already very familiar with the various tricks that Old Deng used in his daily life. The two cabinet elders knew that when faced with a major decision that was difficult to make, the immortal golden bodies that Feixuan Zhenjun and Wanshou Emperor had painstakingly cultivated would just happen to get a minor illness (in professional terms, this is called "tribulation"), and they would be unconscious and inconsiderate during the illness, so it was inevitable that they would make mistakes; so of course all the faults could only be thrown to the important officials under the imperial power who had the power to interfere in the government affairs, that is, the complaining people in the current cabinet...
Don’t do that kind of thing!
It seems that others carry the burden without any effort. In the past, it was always the former Prime Minister Xia Yan, who was so righteous that he took on all the burdens in one go; this allowed the other ministers to live in peace, completely ignoring the viciousness of imperial power and not knowing how to appreciate the efforts of their predecessors. Now that he has been blamed, as a senior who is shouldering a heavy responsibility in the new term, Lord Yan feels dizzy.
"Cold?" He was so surprised that he even stuttered, "I wonder if His Majesty's body is in trouble? How could he catch a cold for no reason?"
"Nothing serious." Eunuch Li said, "I was just caught in a gust of wind during the court meeting a few days ago. I feel a little tired and feverish today. The imperial physician said that I just need to take two doses of medicine to relieve the symptoms. Your Majesty may need to sleep a little longer before reading the memorials. Please wait for a while."
These words were very convincing and did not sound fake, which made Lord Yan hesitate. He also knew about the grand court meeting a few days ago. It was because Lao Deng's authority had increased and his prestige had been issued that he suddenly felt like emulating Emperor Gaozu's good governance of getting up early and staying up late. At 1:15 am in the morning, he summoned ministers from the outer court to Chengtian Gate to observe the discipline of the court. But facts have proved that it is not advisable to try to catch fish in a tree; Emperor Gao established the capital in Nanjing, and he could just endure it after attending court at the hour of Mao; but the capital was now north of the Yellow River, and water would freeze into ice in the winter mornings, and only two or three charcoal stoves could not withstand the severe cold. True Lord Fei Xuan was even trying to act like a demon. He insisted on wearing the clothes and attire of Emperor Gao to pay homage to his ancestors. So he felt the north wind on the throne and was frozen into the gray grandson of Emperor Gao... From this point of view, it seems that it is normal to get sick due to the wind?
Lord Xu looked inside the palace gate calmly. As expected, there was a faint smell of medicine wafting from the palace servants coming in and out, and there was also misty water vapor curling up from the palace, as if some strange medicine was being steamed... From this point of view, it seemed like he was really sick and taking medicine, rather than just shirking responsibility on a whim.
After waiting for more than half an hour, Huang Shanggang led everyone into the hall; all the furnishings in the palace were removed and replaced with pine wood hot basins filled with boiling water. The hot steam hit their faces, bringing out the fresh and rich aroma of newly cut pine wood, which lingered in the air - Feixuan Zhenjun Wanshou Emperor liked the scent of pine wood the most, so every day they would chop down a pine tree, take its wood core and carefully carve it into a fresh wooden basin for hot water, which would be discarded after one use, fully reflecting the royal luxury in the details.
In this seemingly plain but actually luxurious arrangement, the simple-looking but lustful Fei Xuan Zhen Jun lay on his back in the silk and satin, his face pale and his eyes dark, and he just raised his head and stared at the dome. After the important ministers saluted and greeted him in turn, he spoke slowly, his tone still a little ethereal and hazy:
"Last night, the Jinyiwei sent back news."
Elder Yan quickly praised the emperor: "Your Majesty should be vigilant and pay attention to the emperor's health."
Zhenjun ignored him: "They were ordered to handle the major case of collusion with the Japanese and count the rebel assets. They happened to have seized several important account books in the past few days, so they submitted the report overnight."
After these words were spoken, the important officials present all looked a little embarrassed. The so-called "handling by imperial order" is also one of the unspoken rules of the imperial court. Before the court seized the rebel assets, the emperor sent his own people to take the initiative and let the Jinyiwei and the Dongchang share the benefits privately, which was a tacit understanding between the emperor and the outer court. But unspoken rules are just unspoken rules after all, and it would be embarrassing for everyone if they were made public. Now, no one knows whether the emperor is confused due to his illness or is just unscrupulous. He dares to say anything - this is just a misinterpretation of the metaphor.
But the Emperor just said:
"I have carefully looked through the entries in the account book. Do you know how much was copied?"
This sentence came out calmly, and it would be fine for others; but the two old babies, Lord Yan and Lord Xu, had something to hide, their hearts were pounding, and they didn't dare to respond for a moment. It is still Li Jurong and Li Mianhua who are honest and obedient:
"Please give me your instructions, Your Majesty."
"About six million taels in total."
...Six million taels? That’s not too much! It is not outrageous that so many items were seized from the main culprit for colluding with the Japanese. You ministers are well-informed and will not be surprised by this slightly excessive number. Elder Xu and Elder Yan felt a little relieved, almost breathing a sigh of relief—
"It's all in cash."
Oh...what?
This explanation was earth-shattering. Not only were the ministers in front dumbfounded, but even the Prince of Mu, who had been hiding in the back and acting like a good boy, looked up in astonishment, stunned and unable to believe it:
——Six million taels of silver?
Oh, don't get me wrong, the prince was not just surprised by the mere figure of six hundred taels; in fact, for someone who has been in the court for a long time, such a figure is not uncommon. Not to mention the annual income of the national treasury, even the floating assets of several officials in the cabinet would be more than six million taels if they were copied one by one; as for the tens of thousands of acres of irrigated land, hundreds of textile workshops and other real estate of Lord Xu's family, their value cannot be calculated in mere gold and silver. So, the figure of six million taels is actually not shocking; what is shocking is the “cash”.
Where did they get so much silver?
Since the Han Dynasty exhausted all the open-air gold and silver mines, the Central Plains has become an extremely silver-poor country, with silver mines being even more scarce than copper mines. The court's annual revenue was 1,700 to 1,800 taels of silver, but most of it was converted into grain, cloth, and copper coins. The actual amount of cash that could be deposited into the warehouse was only around 3 to 5 million taels, which shows how scarce resources were. Against this backdrop, it was not uncommon for corrupt officials to amass huge fortunes by acquiring cultural relics, land, and antiques. What was rare was that they were able to plunder millions of taels of silver from such meager reserves.
You know, in history, when Lord Yan fell from power and the Yan party was overthrown, according to the list of confiscated property "Tianshui Bingshanlu", there was only more than one million taels of silver in cash!
Considering the money-making methods of Lord Yan and Lord Xiao, such a weird contrast is even more incredible... Is it possible that two of the world's most shameless money-making saints could appear in the same era?
The people of Da'an can't possibly be so unlucky!
The people present were not aware of the details of the Central Plains mineral deposits, but this did not prevent them from being keenly aware of the strange and inexplicable reality behind the numbers. So all the important officials in the court held their breath and listened attentively to the emperor's explanation of the absurd facts reported by the Jinyiwei:
"...Most of the criminal's property was stored in the cellar, and there was no time to transport it away." The True Lord said indifferently: "When they opened the cellar, they found that it was full of silver - and it was not ingots of silver, but silver balls weighing thousands of pounds that were melted and cast. It was impossible to move..."
The prince of Mu State lowered his eyes and suppressed his indifferent expression:
What does “a big silver ball weighing thousands of pounds” mean? But there is nothing we can do!
The so-called "nothing to be done about it" should be an invention of the wealthy businessmen after a large amount of silver was imported into the Central Plains. Because there was too much silver and they could not use it all, they simply melted it into large silver balls and stored them. A big silver ball weighs thousands of pounds. Even if thieves open the cellar, they will not be able to steal all of it, so it is said that "there is no way to stop it." Through such primitive and reliable means, a huge amount of silver was deposited under layers of deep soil, and no one could estimate the specific scale.
Of course, this kind of groundhog-like deep hiding is precisely one of the profound manifestations of the so-called reactionary nature of the landlord class. Huge amounts of wealth are sealed tightly in the soil, with no need for investment or consumption, and are thus out of the social cycle. New technologies are emerging and crying out for food, but misers are occupying huge amounts of gold and silver and clinging to what is left, cutting off the cycle and blocking innovation until the entire civilization is dragged into a dead end... What does it mean that the landlord class is hindering the development of productivity? This is called the landlord class hindering the development of productivity. Compared to this old zombie-like character, no matter how bloody and brutal the bourgeoisie is, they are still a vibrant and advanced force - at least they will invest in technological research and development to promote social progress!
Of course, this miserly habit had many disadvantages, but it undoubtedly greatly benefited the Jinyiwei who were confiscating the property; the thieves who were "helpless" could not move the ball away, and the criminals who were eager to escape could not move it either. The huge amount of silver left behind greatly shocked the emperor's cronies who were in charge of the confiscation, and of course greatly shocked the emperor himself.
Therefore, the True Lord was silent for a moment, and then he said coldly: "Where did these imperial prisoners get so much silver?"
This question is a deliberate question, and everyone present can guess the answer. But because both sides had guesses, it was difficult to speak up. After such an awkward wait, the honest Li Jurong finally responded:
“… probably from smuggling.”
"Proceeds from smuggling." The emperor asked softly, "Is the scale of smuggling so large?"
Li Jurong: …………
...How can anyone respond to what you said?
However, after just a few questions, Master Feixuan and Emperor Wanshou finally revealed his true identity. To be honest, if the Jinyiwei had seized a bunch of antiques, treasures, and rare toys, or even just hundreds of thousands or millions of taels of silver, the emperor might have gladly accepted them; but six million taels of silver was too huge, and the huge amount of money triggered a qualitative change through quantitative change, which in turn aroused the emperor's unfathomable fear - at least six million taels of silver had quietly flowed into the country, and he didn't even know what was going on!
Making money may not be a problem, as there are actually many useless people in the capital who are never satisfied with making money, not to mention the geniuses like the Yan father and son; Feixuan Zhenjun and Guang Tongchen are actually not intolerable; but if such a huge amount of money that is rich enough to rival a country completely escapes the control of the central government, that would become a huge problem!
Land and real estate require a lot of effort to convert, and antiques and paintings can only circulate in a small circle; but gold and silver are different. They can be used anywhere and are natural currency in anyone's hands. With six million taels of silver in hand, if he really spent it regardless of the cost, it would not be difficult to support thousands of death warriors at home; by that time...
Of course Zhenjun loves money, but what he loves more is the throne. It was also because of this that he was not ecstatic after receiving the intelligence last night, but was furious and unable to control himself. Thousands of guesses lingered in his mind, and he even tossed and turned and could not fall asleep. He even caught a cold and fell ill, and had to summon the cabinet while sick.
Despite this, Zhenjun, who had not slept for most of the night, still had a clear mind. He pounded the bed with his hand and said harshly:
"——It turns out that the scale is so large, and the court is still unaware of it! The ministers of internal and external affairs are really bad at their jobs!"
Everyone bowed their heads in haste to apologize, but they all had their own doubts in their hearts. To be honest, the ministers were quite surprised that the smuggling gang could pull off such a big job in one go. But when I think about it, how could this kind of private trade flourish to this extent? This is the result of several generations of emperors neglecting coastal defense and trade, and banning it with a single imperial edict, which has led to a mess of trade from top to bottom. It's just that the truth is unpleasant, so everyone has to remain silent.
But of course the emperor would not reflect on this, so in the silence of the room, only his sarcastic whispers could be heard:
"A few smuggling officials have five or six million in cash hidden underground, yet I still have to beg for money every year to make a living! The court has become like this, and I am still in the dark! There is no one I can trust, and they are all like this..."
A group of important officials lowered their heads silently, observing their own thoughts through their noses. They were really tired of being tortured by this old man. It's not that we cannot understand the emperor's hysteria after losing a sense of security (of course, Old Deng's demand for a sense of security is too high), but this kind of festering and future trouble was ultimately condoned by Master Feixuan himself; the incident did not happen overnight, and it certainly will take more to calm down; besides, the money has been confiscated and people have been killed, the emperor is extremely dissatisfied, what can he do now? We should always be realistic!
The emperor was not omnipotent. At least he could not ask his ministers to resurrect the dead and then torture them again. So everyone waited quietly with amazing tacit understanding, waiting for the emperor to calm down after he had vented his anger - based on past experience, this was probably the only way to deal with the old giant baby; the so-called calmness in the face of danger, and respectfulness, then the emperor's anger will go away.
Unfortunately, they still underestimated Zhenjun's ability to make trouble. After Yin Cece finished speaking, the emperor coughed a few times, drank a few sips of hot water brought by his trusted eunuch, and spoke coldly:
"This silver won't just fall from the sky. I heard that only Spain in the West has a rich treasury and is qualified to afford so much silver."
Everyone: ...Ah?
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