eldest son of Ming dynasty

Chapter 160

Who are they?

Wang Hua asked a good question.

Mei Kejia said: "In the first year when I came to Zhejiang, I thought they were big businessmen with heads and faces, famous names and surnames. Zhongcheng might have heard of them, Fei Rongjia from Taizhou, Wei Huiqiang from Huzhou, Huang Zongliang and Song Xiaoweng from Hangzhou. .But after fighting against them, I also felt that they are all well-clothed and well-fed. Who would take their lives to fight the Prince of the East Palace? It is not at all. So I don't understand."

"Then in the second year, I was thinking, could it be the magistrates, chief envoys, and inspectors of various provinces in Zhejiang? They also have names, but it's still the same when you think about it. They will take the initiative to fight with His Highness. Is it? Nor will it."

"Then who is it? I didn't figure it out until last year or this year. The people His Highness is looking for don't have a specific name at all! If there is a name, such as Huang Zongliang from Hangzhou, who is behind everything, then the matter On the contrary, it is simple. Even if the power of this name is greater, so what? Your Highness is the Crown Prince of Ming Dynasty, with a decree, Jin Yiwei can take people away, but why did things become like this?"

"Because the difficulty of this matter is that there is no name. If there is one, then it is Zhejiang and Fujian. It is here large and small merchants, clans, and officials who rely on their money. Not only the place, but also the capital. These are these Everyone."

Within May Kejia's understanding,

This is of course difficult.

Because it is impossible to arrest everyone and kill them all at once,

"master,"

The housekeeper in the governor's yamen was brought by Wang Hua. This man has been with him for more than ten years and takes him everywhere.His shout brought the shocked Wang Hua back to his senses from wandering around.

"what happened?"

The man replied: "The governor's yamen and the inspector's yamen have come."

Mei Kejia had no expression on his face, but in fact his emotions were all in his heart: he came really urgently.

"Understood. Boss Mei, don't leave yet. I still have a lot to tell you about Zhejiang. Now, go inside and listen first. Let's see what these two can say."

Without further ado, Mei Kejia got up and saluted slightly, then walked to the back and sat down.

The chief envoy of Zhejiang Province was Li Yancai, the right chief envoy of Huguang, and the former inspector was still in charge, named Dang Shanji. Unlike Li Yancai, he was not related to anyone by marriage.

He is a typical Ming official.

Such an official thinks about himself [-]% of the time, thinks about his boss [-]% of it, and the common people don't think about it at all.

Wang Hua has just accepted the baptism of "true fighting for profit with the people", and he doesn't think that the two who came to the door now have good intentions.

"Li Yancai (Dang Shanji), who is under his post, has met Zhong Cheng."

They saluted, and generally they can sit in a mixed seat, but it seems that this time they didn't...

Wang Hua was born in the number one scholar and was an official valued by the prince. He had successively served as You Yude of Zhan Shifu and the governor of Shandong Province. He had rich experience and a strong background.

If you really want to show some momentum, you can still show it, it depends on whether you want to or not.

Now that he meets these two people, Wang Hua wants to put on airs.

So he returned to the main seat and sat, keeping a distance from them, and keeping a straight face.

Li Yancai and Dang Shanji looked at each other, they were a little confused about the new governor's temper.

The governor was a permanent official position for a while, but it was not during the Hongzhi period. It was a bit like an 'inspection team'. It was specially sent by the emperor for some purpose.

So this falls under 'upper difference'.

The magistrate must not be offended, otherwise, after he returned to Beijing, he would make a small report to the emperor, that would be the end of the story.

"Zhongcheng." Li Yancai, the chief envoy, spoke first, "I didn't want to disturb Zhongcheng's rest, and I just arrived as the chief envoy of Zhejiang a few days ago. After arriving, I heard that the current incident has reached the court The matter. The lower official thought, how to deal with this matter, after all, depends on Zhongcheng's intention."

Wang Hua replied: "Since it's an important matter, it doesn't matter whether you rest or not. Tell me."

Li Yancai winked at Dang Shanji,

So the inspector opened his mouth, "Maybe Zhongcheng has heard of it. It is the case of Eunuch Wei, the eunuch in charge of Zhejiang Province, who was greedy for ink. Eunuch Wei is greedy for money and amassing money, so much so that he took the initiative to ask for bribes. In the court, Liu Shangshu also reported to His Majesty Zou, I implore Your Majesty to recall the internal officials for the sake of the livelihood of the people of Zhejiang. As far as the officials know, Eunuch Wei will return to Beijing soon."

"That's right." Although Li Yancai came to Zhejiang for the first time, he is a civil servant after all, so he naturally doesn't have a good impression of eunuchs, so he is naturally happy. .We came here today to discuss with Zhong Cheng, what should those people do?"

Wang Hua raised his eyebrows,
For Mei Kejia, Yu Guan's thoughts are clear.

When he said that these people would come to test his attitude, he really hit the mark.

"Did Eunuch Wei be taken away? Where did you get the news? Why didn't this court hear about it?"

The governor's question made Li and Dang hold back for a while,
"Everyone in Zhejiang already knows about this."

"What's the use of everyone knowing. Did the imperial edict say so, or did the crown prince say so? Or, it was Da Sima who told you so?"

Both of them shook their heads, "No, no."

Li Yan didn't want to make the trip in vain, he frowned and thought, and thought of a way, "Zhongcheng, His Royal Highness loves the people, Wei Bin is the eunuch of the East Palace, if something like this happens, His Highness will never ignore it It's only a day or two before the imperial decree, even if there is a change, the overall situation of Wei Bin's return to Beijing will not change."

With these words, Wang Hua would not overthrow him easily, just as he wanted to know what the two of them would say next.

So he nodded, "Since that's the case, you said 'what about those people', who are those people?"

Dang Shanji was overjoyed, and immediately said: "It is the owner of Meiji, Mei Kejia. This person has sinister intentions. Since the 11th year of Hongzhi, he has been bribing Eunuch Wei, so in just a few years, Mei Kejia The profits will be trillions of dollars, and the raw silk and tea of ​​all prefectures and counties in Zhejiang are all based on the supply of Meiji!"

Although Wang Hua doesn't know Zhejiang very well,

But he also understands the Ming law.

Wei Bin is still doing well now.

The case was not tried, and Wei Bin was not tried, so why did the procurator in Zhejiang say this?Saying it this way is a bit too biased.

But he also thought of what Mei Kejia said before—please enter the urn.

In fact, he didn't understand something, and he still had to ask in a while.

And right now...

Wang Hua turned to Li Yancai, "What's the opinion of the chief envoy Yamen? Do you agree?"

"The lower officials don't have a deep understanding of this matter, so we still have to listen to Zhongcheng's wishes. However, if a businessman bribes the guarding eunuch, he must be punished according to the law."

"Arrest Mei Kejia?" Wang Hua turned to the inspector again and asked.

As a result, Dang Shanji shook his head and smiled with his hands: "The Zhongcheng is the superior, how can it be the turn of the lower officials to make decisions?"

Even if Wang Hua doesn't understand the sinister human heart, he can see that the two of them dare not make this decision.

Because although Wei Bin is gone, behind Mei Kejia is probably the East Palace.At this time, it would be best to have a stunned young man who made up his mind to deal with Mei Kejia, and he would be the one who offended the prince when the time came.

So both of them handed over the power to make decisions. This is not 'leadership prevail', it is called the integration of powers and responsibilities - the decision you make, your signature, and finally your business.

If it is really a scholar who just came out of the Hanlin Academy, he might have really eaten this 'honey'.I thought these two guys meant that they valued their boss.

But Wang Hua is also a person who has gone through the officialdom. He didn't say anything, but said: "This person, let's wait for Beijing's order to come."

Li Yancai and Dang Shanji had nothing to do. If they didn't play tricks, the road would be blocked.

"Should Mei Kejia be mentioned in the case files submitted to the imperial court?" Dang Shanji was probing again.

"How the file is written depends on how the prisoner confesses." Wang Hua narrowed his eyes, "What? Can the yamen judge the file at will?"

Dang Shanji was deflated, and hurriedly said: "Of course not. It's just..."

Having said that, he stopped by himself, because he felt that Li Yan was pulling him.Then he led him to leave.

Wang Hua didn't stop them either.

When he was outside, Dang Shanji asked Li Yancai, "Why didn't you let me tell you just now? Governor Wang's attitude towards Mei Kejia is ambiguous."

"It's the first time we met, you ask such a question? What's the rush for Mei Kejia, as long as he has evidence of taking bribes, it won't be too late to come to the governor's office. If you don't do Mei Kejia at that time, you will be using power for personal gain, as long as he puts down a word , that's fine, we can play. If you are in Mei Kejia, you still need him to speak. In this position, you can't hide from him."

When Dang Shanji heard it, it was right.

"Today, I just came here to have a face-to-face meeting and test him out. If he doesn't fall for this trick, it will be useless to chase him any further."

such,

Li Yancai and Dang Shanji left.

And Mei Kejia also came out from behind, "Zhongcheng."

Wang Hua looked at the middle-aged man, "It's a pity that you don't study and become an official."

"I also think about Zhongcheng's praise, but it's a pity that I don't have that blessing."

"I still showed a little intention to defend you, otherwise, they will be suspicious."

"Yes, Zhong Cheng should be more cautious when meeting him for the first time."

"But I don't understand one thing." Wang Hua wanted to continue the previous conversation, "You said that there is no one in Zhejiang with a name and surname who wants to fight against His Highness, but you also said that you want to invite the king into the urn. Isn't this contradictory?"

"No contradiction. No name, no surname, because everyone is pushed away by the situation. If you tell someone from the beginning that you are an enemy of the prince, then I think no one will choose that way, but step by step. Pushing on this road, there is no way. Some people even don't feel that they are against His Highness, but think that Eunuch Wei is greedy for money. And when we invite you into the urn, we invite you to lose your way. If you lose your way, you are lost. , It’s useless to cry out when you’re caught.”

"Hmm. Where were those two just now?"

"Let them come, let the merchants behind them come together, and cut off my supply. Let them collect the raw silk from Huzhou and other places this year, and we will take theirs."

These words were harsh, but Mei Kejia didn't show any expression.

Unfortunately, when Wei Bin's incident happened,
No officials in Zhejiang would dare to take action against Meiji.

"It will take time. And, do you really think they will believe it? Believe me, a person from Zhan Shifu, who does not put the prince's interests first?"

"Zhong Cheng, why not give it a try."

It's hard for Mei Kejia to say this.What does it mean to put the prince's interests first?Don't use this sentence to deceive people.

Wei Bin is still the prince's servant, does he take the prince's money?
All these officials, big and small, are thinking about whether their own pockets are bulging, so it is natural for others to think the same way.In literary terms, whoever you are is what you see.

If the interests of the emperor and prince are the priority, then in the end they are all officials of the Ming Dynasty, and there is no difference between whether they are from the Zhan Shifu or not. The world should be cleansed, but what is the reality?
Everyone is thinking about how to earn more.

Therefore, if the governor of Zhejiang wants to make some money, it is not strange to them, but a sign of "knowledge of being an official".

Makoto was sure of this.

Because the price of fighting fiercely with a Zhejiang governor far exceeds his 'assimilation'.Even if there is only a [-]% possibility, it must be given a try. What if Wang Hua is the same kind of person as them?
Of course, if it doesn't work, then think of a way.

"Then be careful these days, they all seem to have sources of news, and they already know about Wei Bin's downfall. If I don't explicitly support you..."

"For the time being, they still don't dare. Oh, that's right. There is one more thing." Mei Kejia took out an account book from his arms, "This records the money sent to Eunuch Wei from the 11th year of Hongzhi to the 17th year of Hongzhi In 80, the total amount was [-] taels of silver, but I don’t know how much he spent, nor how much other people gave. How to deal with this silver, Zhong Cheng should also fight with them. If the case is just let them handle it If so, at least half of the silver that Eunuch Wei got will disappear."

Wang Hua sighed in his heart,

The imperial court is short of silver,

Your Majesty is short of silver,

All the money has flowed to these places!
If Donggong hadn't made a bet in Zhejiang, how could the whole picture of these things be seen clearly?

And Zhejiang is like this, so what about the whole country?In the Ming Dynasty, there were two capitals and thirteen provinces. It wasn't just the officials in Zhejiang who were greedy for ink, right?
(End of this chapter)