Two consecutive cases of house raids
This caused the atmosphere in the Imperial Court to become unusually heavy!
A feeling of impending storm shrouded everyone's hearts, so much so that the court meeting the next day became abnormally strange.
All the officials stood nervously in the throne room. Almost no one dared to look straight at Chong Zhen because his face was already ashen.
"Everyone, I have recently sent people to investigate the shipwreck case and the grain storage case, so I have gained a lot. What do you think of this?”Chong Zhen smiled coldly and looked at the officials with a playful expression.
Many of the ministers 'expressions changed, and they gritted their teeth and held on!
"Your Majesty, the northern provinces have been plagued by disasters recently. The grain production has been reduced, and there is nothing we can do about the soaring grain prices.”
"Yeah, the grain from Jiangnan is transported by water, so it's inevitable that there will be disasters. It's not surprising that the ship will sink in the wind and waves!”
"All the grain merchants are loyal to the country and have donated countless funds to our Ming Dynasty. Your Majesty, you must not believe the rumors!”
"In fact, there is no shipwreck case or grain storage case. They are all non-existent and are really not worth worrying about. Isn't the emperor afraid that the world will be angry because of this?”
"What if the history books list you as a tyrant? This is not good for Your Majesty's reputation!”
Many officials spoke up!
On one hand, he spoke up for the grain merchants, and on the other hand, he wanted to put pressure on Chongzhen.
However, Chong Zhen laughed coldly."Rumors? I'll let you see whether it's a rumor or not. Cao Huachun, tell me!”
"Yes, sir!" Cao Huachun was the first to step forward." Your Majesty, the East Chamber has been ordered to investigate the Jiangnan shipwreck case. They have made a huge breakthrough!"”
"From the main witnesses, we know that the mastermind behind all of this is the Fan family of the Jin merchant family. They bribed the entire water transport yamen and created this case!”
With that, Cao Huachun presented a large pile of evidence!
"Your Majesty, slander, this is definitely slander!”
"Merchants are the lifeblood of our Ming Dynasty, we can't let anyone frame us.”
"There must be some treacherous officials causing trouble in the dark.”
"The East Chamber has always been a dirty place. I suspect the authenticity of this eunuch's report and request the Third Division to investigate thoroughly!”
One by one, the officials stepped out to stop him. More than half of the people in the court knelt down, wanting to put pressure on Chongzhen.
Their goal was self-evident!
"Hehe, you still dare to quibble when you're about to die?”Chong Zhen sneered and continued,""Li Yuanyin, what do you think?"
"Your Majesty!" Li Yuanyin quickly said," The Brocade Guard also found a lot of evidence during the investigation of the grain storage case. There is also evidence to prove that the mastermind behind the grain storage case and shipwreck case is indeed the Eight Great Jin Merchants!"”
"When they were ordered to raid the houses, they seized 8,520,000 taels of silver from the major grain merchants in the capital. They also secretly stored 1,800,000 dans of grain in various granaries!”
"When we were ordered to raid the eight great merchants of Jin, we confiscated a total of 83,250,000 taels of silver and countless other gold, silver, and jewelry!”
"In addition, a large number of account books and secret letters were found in the secret chamber of their mansion, proving that the eight great Jin merchants had been secretly in contact with Slave Jian all year round, and many of the court officials were involved.”
"This is the name list, please read it, Your Majesty!”
Li Yuanyin's last sentence immediately angered many people until their faces turned pale!
Some of the timid ones were almost scared to death on the spot.
Chong Zhen coldly flipped through the thick list of names that Li Yuanyin had handed over, and his gaze became colder and colder.
"Alright, alright!" Chongzhen slammed the table and roared,"Is this what you call a rumor?" Now that the evidence is in front of you, do you still dare to quibble? Ah?"
"Your Majesty, please forgive me!"
A large group of officials knelt on the ground in fear.
Many people were covered in cold sweat. When they thought of Chongzhen's brutal methods, they could not help but feel a chill down their spines.
This was the rhythm of bad luck.
"Your Majesty!" Fan Jingwen was afraid that Chongzhen would kill all the officials involved in the case in a fit of anger, so he quickly stepped forward and advised,""Please calm down, Your Majesty. This case has a lot of implications. We still have to investigate it carefully!”
"Haha!"
Chong Zhen sneered again!
He naturally understood what Fan Jingwen meant.
He was trying to persuade Chongzhen not to involve too many people.
After all, most of the officials in the world were involved with the Jin merchants. If they were involved on a large scale, it would definitely cause panic among the people.
What would happen if the world was in turmoil?
This was especially true for the commanders of various regions and the generals of the Liaodong faction. If they felt that they might be implicated and secretly colluded with the bandits, what would they do?
Fan Jingwen had good intentions!
If it was the Chongzhen of the past, he would definitely have listened to good advice and suppressed this matter, pretending that it had never happened.
However, the current him was no longer the same as before. He was not afraid of chaos at all. He had guns and cannons in his hands. He could not wait for these rebellious ministers to jump out themselves!
"Investigate what? There was already conclusive evidence. What was the point of investigating?”Chong Zhen grabbed the name list and smashed it on the ground. He roared,"Cao Huachun, Li Yuanyin, arrest people according to the name list. The East Chamber and the Brocade Guard will work together to investigate this case!”
"Anyone who colludes with the enemy and betrays the country will be executed!”
"All those who accept bribes will be exiled. Those who exceed 100,000 taels will be skinned!”
"All officials and businessmen who collude with the common people will be executed immediately!”
Chongzhen's murderous order immediately shocked all the officials!
Cao Huachun and Li Yuanyin were clearly prepared. After they agreed, they immediately began to arrest people according to the name list. A large number of officials were dragged out on the spot.
"No, Your Majesty, don't! Spare me!”
"I know my mistake, I really know my mistake!”
"Your Majesty, this is the behavior of a tyrant!”
The pleas announced the start of the slaughter!
Soon, a terrifying storm of blood was set off in the capital!
A large number of officials had their houses confiscated, and tens of thousands of people were involved!
The executioners at Caishikou changed batch after batch. The executioners 'knives were all bent, and they killed a lot of people in one go.
The capital, from the cabinet to the ordinary people, were all terrified!
No one had expected Chongzhen's methods to be so brutal. The first thing he did was to confiscate and exterminate his family.
And when the grain merchants 'hoarded grain was confiscated and flowed into the market, the price of grain in the capital began to rapidly fall. The panic in the capital gradually stabilized, and the commoners began to praise it!
……
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