Li Ruo Lian continued, "The Jinyiwei investigated for several years and finally found out that the goods smuggled to Liaodong mainly came from Jiangnan, and most of them came from Yuegang in Quanzhou Prefecture."
"The reason why I said that half of Jiangnan was involved in smuggling is because a complete smuggling system has been formed there."
"Some people provide information about the goods that need to be smuggled, some are responsible for supplying the goods, some rent merchant ships, and some hire assassins as crew members. There are also people who are responsible for managing the government and dealing with any naval inspections that may be encountered along the way."
"Let's put it this way. Half of the merchants in Jiangnan are more or less involved in smuggling. However, most people think that these goods are smuggled to the East, South or West. Only a very few people know that these goods are smuggled to Liaodong."
"According to estimates by the Imperial Guards, the amount of smuggling in Jiangnan is as high as tens of millions of taels each year, and the goods smuggled to Liaodong only account for less than 10% of the total smuggling amount."
"The number of people involved in the smuggling in Jiangnan, the wide range of affected people, and the huge amount of money involved are shocking!"
After Li Ruolian finished speaking, he lowered his head and waited for Chongzhen to explode.
I waited for a long time but got nothing.
He quietly raised his head and looked at Chongzhen.
Chongzhen was neither shocked nor angry.
On the contrary, he looked calm.
As if he heard nothing.
"Your Majesty..." Li Ruolian reminded in a low voice.
"I heard it," Chongzhen said calmly, "everything is as I expected."
This time it was Li Ruolian's turn to be shocked.
He widened his eyes, extremely surprised at Chongzhen's prediction.
"Go on," Chongzhen's tone remained calm.
"Yes," Li Ruo Lian swallowed his saliva, "Most of the merchants who really know where the smuggled goods are coming from Zheng Zhilong's caravan. Some merchants are Zheng Zhilong's subordinates, and some merchants are registered under Zheng Zhilong's name."
"Behind those merchants who registered under Zheng Zhilong's name were many gentry from Jiangnan. However, these merchants mainly smuggled goods to the East, South and West. They did not dare to smuggle goods to the Liaodong Jiannu like Zheng Zhilong did."
Chongzhen thought for a moment and said, "In other words, on the surface it seems that Zheng Zhilong is the only one smuggling, but in fact the whole of Jiangnan is smuggling?"
"Your Majesty, I think you can say that."
"Hahaha!" Chongzhen suddenly laughed.
Li Ruolian was startled and stood there not daring to move.
If it were someone else, Li Ruolian would definitely think that the other person was irritated.
But the person in front of him is the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty.
An existence that can make clouds and rain with a flip of the hand.
He doesn't laugh for no reason.
really.
While Li Ruolian was guessing, Chongzhen said slowly: "Don't worry about the merchants who smuggle to the East, South and West for now, and solve the problem of smuggling to Liaodong first."
"Your Majesty, please give your orders. The Royal Guards are ready."
"No," Chongzhen shook his head, "The Jinyiwei don't need to intervene in this matter."
"What does your majesty mean?"
"Let the Zheng family fight themselves."
After Li Ruolian left, Chongzhen picked up Wang Yongji's official document requesting reinforcements and wrote a line on it: The war in Liaodong is tense, and immediately ordered Zheng Chenggong, deputy commander of the Fujian Navy, to lead 8,000 troops to Dengzhou to wait for Wang Yongji, the governor of Ping Liao, to dispatch. Since the departure, all food and military supplies have been provided by the Ministry of War.
This official document was first handed over to the Imperial Household Department and then sent to the Ministry of War.
While the Ministry of War was writing back to Wang Yongji, it was also drafting an official document to transfer troops to Fujian.
......
On the ninth day of the tenth month of the twenty-fourth year of Chongzhen, the motorcade of Duke Yansheng Kong Yinzhi quietly arrived outside the city of Beijing.
Under normal circumstances, he would act superior.
There was a gong leading the way in front, and behind it were flag bearers, drummers, flute players and so on, which looked very majestic.
Not today.
News spread in the court that he was secretly communicating with the Jiannu and siding with the enemy.
And evidence was found.
Whether it is true or false, he has been caught in the whirlpool of public opinion.
The more low-key you are at this time, the better.
"Your Excellency Lord Yansheng, the capital is not far ahead." The butler came to the side of the carriage and reminded in a low voice.
"Slap yourself!" Duke Yansheng Kong Yinzhi said angrily, "I've told you so many times, call me Master when you go out. Public opinion is not favorable to us now, so try not to reveal your true identity before arriving in the capital."
Pah pah.
The butler slapped himself twice and said again: "My lord, the capital is not far ahead."
"Let's go ahead and let the convoy follow from a distance. If someone blocks us, let the people in the convoy pretend to be Duke Yansheng, and we will take the opportunity to enter the city." Kong Yinzhi ordered.
"Yes, sir!" After the butler made all the arrangements, the convoy set off again.
Duke Yansheng arrived outside Chaoyang Gate first.
He sat in the carriage and planned to blend in with the other people entering the city.
But the opposite happened.
The soldier guarding the city gate recognized him.
"Greetings to His Excellency Lord Yansheng!" A general took the lead in clasping his fists.
The soldiers under his command looked at Kong Yinzhi at the same time and saluted him.
Before Duke Yansheng could react, the people near the city gate rushed up to surround him, shouting, "Duke Yansheng has entered the capital, come and see!"
Kong Yinzhi was horrified and immediately got into the carriage, trembling.
The soldiers guarding the city gate quickly rushed up to rescue the people.
The people did not take any extreme actions, they just expressed their dissatisfaction in this way.
After his identity was revealed, Kong Yinzhi stopped pretending.
Go into the city with the convoy and head to the Yanshenggong Mansion.
Along the way, he suffered the cold stares of the people in the capital.
Especially those people who were put in jail for "spreading rumors".
Although they didn't dare to "spread rumors" again, it didn't stop them from going to the streets and glaring at Kong Yinzhi.
Talking may be against the law, but giving cold eyes will definitely not be against the law.
When the convoy arrived at the Yanshenggong Mansion, Kong Yinzhi ran into the mansion as quickly as possible and hid himself.
"Your Majesty," Li Ruo Lian came to the Palace of Heavenly Purity to report, "Duke Yansheng has come to Beijing."
"Where are the people?"
"We have entered the Yanshenggong Mansion."
Chongzhen sighed and said, "Arrange people to cause trouble, remember the names of those who died because of this, and then give their families a large sum of money in the form of unexpected wealth."
"Yes," Li Ruolian turned and left.
Under the arrangement of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, dozens of students from the Imperial College suddenly came to the gate of Duke Yansheng's Mansion.
They stood at the door and shouted in unison: "We want to see the Duke of Yansheng!"
The housekeeper came to Kong Yinzhi and asked, "Master, there are students from the Imperial College who want to see you."
"No!" Duke Yansheng refused without hesitation, "I won't see anyone before I see the emperor."
"But they said they wouldn't leave unless you came," the butler replied.
Kong Yinzhi snorted coldly: "If you don't go and report to the authorities, I don't believe that the government will not care!"
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