Although the imperial edict to increase commercial taxes and crack down on collusion between officials and businessmen had been issued long ago, it was still not clear enough, which made Zhu Youxiao feel that something was lacking.
Now, the emperor has spoken, let's see who dares to make trouble or say anything.
Zhu Youxiao put down the newspaper with satisfaction, picked up the teacup and took a sip, then saw Wang Tigan hurried in, kneeling down to report: Wei Zhongxian, the governor of the East Factory, brought the head of the office Qian Baihua to the palace for an audience.
Old Wei hadn't been to the palace for a while, and this time he brought a clerk with him. I wonder what urgent matter it was. Zhu Youxiao put down his teacup and ordered the palace servant to summon him.
Soon, Eunuch Wei brought Qian Baihua into the hall, knelt down and kowtowed, shouting "Long live the emperor".
"Get up!" Zhu Youxiao said casually, "Wei Ban, what do you want to report to the palace suddenly?"
Wei Zhongxian hurriedly took out the question book and bowed to give it to Wang Tigan who was walking over.
After taking the question book from Wang Tigan, Zhu Youxiao flipped through it and took a look. His face became serious, and he even showed a hint of anger.
But after more than a year of training and habit, the emperor had become much calmer. He read the question book with a gloomy face, and rarely did he lose his temper.
Eunuch Wei glanced at the emperor and saw that he had put down the memorial book but was silent. He then lowered his head and bowed, waiting for the emperor's questions.
"Are you sure Wu Changchun didn't obtain any important information?" the emperor finally spoke and asked in a deep voice.
Wu Changchun was the son-in-law of the traitor Li Yongfang. He also married the daughter of Zhao Yihe, a lieutenant colonel under Li Yongfang, as his concubine.
In the 46th year of the Wanli reign, the year Li Yongfang surrendered, he was sent to Beijing to lie in wait.
In the first year of the Tianqi reign, Liaoyang fell. Wu Changchun secretly came to Juehua Island near Ningyuan and met with Li Yushan who was sent by Li Yongfang.
Li Yushan gave Wu Changchun 700 taels of silver as activity funds and conveyed Li Yongfang's instructions, asking him to pay attention to collecting intelligence in the capital.
If there was important information, it would be sent to the home of a man named Chen Yijing in Pingdu, Shandong, and then Chen Yijing would send it to the Later Jin.
After obtaining the funds and receiving the mission, Wu Changchun returned to Beijing and began to actively try to infiltrate the high-level officials of the Ming Dynasty in order to obtain important intelligence.
Important intelligence naturally prioritized military matters. Therefore, Wu Changchun set his sights on a position in the Ministry of War. He forged the military examination resume of his deceased uncle, Wu Yiyang, and began to maneuver.
Through a man named Zhou Yingyuan, Wu Changchun got to know several officials of the Ministry of War, including Ji Yingcheng. He used silver to pave the way and bribed these officials to get himself into the Ministry of War.
If the matter could be accomplished, Wu Changchun promised a reward of 1,400 taels of silver and also paid 450 taels of silver in advance for the activity expenses.
Ji Yingcheng and others took advantage of Wu Changchun and really helped him get things done. They really got Wu Changchun a garrison post in the Ministry of War and even issued the appointment documents.
But just when Wu Changchun was overjoyed, someone reported that Wu Changchun was an imposter and his martial arts qualification was fake.
In fact, this person didn't know Wu Changchun's background either. He just wanted to blackmail Wu Changchun with this matter and extort a sum of money as hush money.
Ji Yingcheng learned about the report and was afraid that he would be implicated, so he asked Wu Changchun to return the appointment document from the Ministry of War.
Wu Changchun spent all his money but didn't get the official position. He was completely unlucky.
Seven hundred taels of silver may seem like a lot, but ordinary people can't earn that much even if they work hard all their lives.
But for Wu Changchun, who rented a house in Beijing and bought a prostitute named Li Fenger...he lived a carefree life, and seven hundred taels of silver was not enough to spend!
Wu Changchun then left the capital, intending to sneak back to Liaodong to get some funds. However, after the Battle of Guangning, the Ming army implemented a strategic contraction and relocated all the Liao people, effectively cutting off the source of intelligence for the Later Jin.
When Wu Changchun arrived at Shanhaiguan, he found that it was impossible to sneak back into the territory occupied by the Later Jin Dynasty, so he had no choice but to return to Beijing again.
Life was really hard without money, so Wu Changchun sold Li Feng'er to a man named Xue Yingkui for eighty taels of silver.
Xue Yingkui then sold Li Feng'er to Hechunlou for 150 taels of silver.
When Wu Changchun was living with Li Feng'er, he got drunk and talked nonsense one time, and accidentally exposed his true identity.
But Wu Changchun obviously did not remember or had forgotten about this matter, and actually sold out Li Fenger who knew the truth, laying a fatal hidden danger for his own exposure.
Li Feng'er was entertaining guests at Hechunlou, and she didn't intend to harm Wu Changchun, and perhaps she didn't take the matter seriously. So, without paying attention, she let out Wu Changchun's story.
What is Hechunlou? It is a key place for the East Factory to collect intelligence. Not only does it have many spies, but even the nominal boss is Qian Baihua, the head of the East Factory. How could they let go of such important information?
Originally, the Pacification Division was responsible for external affairs, and the East Factory was responsible for internal affairs. This was the scope of responsibilities set by the emperor.
Therefore, the East Factory paid more attention to the collection of intelligence in the market. Brothels not only housed all kinds of people, but were also places for officials and scholars to enjoy themselves and show off. They were also the key group that the emperor wanted to monitor.
But even though he suddenly had such an important clue, Eunuch Wei was not so upright as to transfer the case to the Pacification Office to gain merit.
The East Factory sent out thugs to secretly arrest Wu Changchun and successfully obtained a confession from him. Eunuch Wei then hurriedly brought Qian Baihua, the person who directly solved the case, to claim the credit.
Hearing the emperor's question, Eunuch Wei quickly bowed and replied, "Your Majesty, rest assured. The intelligence Wu Changchun has gathered is not important and there is no chance of it being sent out. This is all thanks to your wisdom. Your plan to relocate all the Liao people to the interior of the country has worked."
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