People live in the Ming Dynasty, evil spirits are soaring into the sky

Chapter 131: Impeachment of Shanxi officials? Emperor Wanli: Cut them all down! Don’t let the nine clans go, their property will be confiscated
Datong Prefecture kills the tiger's mouth.

Shahukou, also known as Xikou, was built in the Ming Dynasty and was called Shenhekou in ancient times.

It is located at the junction of Shanxi and Mongolia in Youyu County, Shuozhou, Shanxi.

The mountains on both sides of Shahukou face each other, and the terrain is very steep.

It borders Tangzi Mountain to the east and Dabao Mountain to the west. The open Cangtou River Valley between the two mountains has been an important north-south passage since ancient times.

Because of its special geographical location, Shahukou is famous far and wide and has a history of more than 2,000 years.

Killing the tiger's mouth is the key point in the direct north. It strangles the three passes and controls the five plains. It has been called a dangerous point since ancient times and has always been a battleground for military strategists.

The Killing Tiger Pass is also an important tax card in history. As the only way for trade between the Central Plains, Mongolia and the Western Regions, in its heyday, tariffs were increasing day by day.

Take the west exit of the west entrance, which is the Tiger Killing Pass. It is said that there is Zhangjiakou in the east and Tiger Killing Pass in the west.

After the Ming Dynasty and Anda Khan exchanged currency, it opened up a life channel for the border people of Shanxi, Shaanxi and Hebei.

This in itself was a good strategy for the Ming Dynasty to improve relations with the nomads in the north and reduce the invasion of the northern nomads from the south into the Central Plains. However, Shanxi merchants took advantage of the situation and emerged.

They colluded with the government and generals to smuggle all kinds of materials and enriched the country.

When Cao Zhengchun came to Shanxi to suppress Shanxi merchants, one of the tips Emperor Wanli gave him was to control the tiger's mouth.

Now Cao Zhengchun has controlled the entire Datong Prefecture and killed so many merchants. In order to prevent the merchants in Taiyuan Prefecture and even Shanxi Province from fleeing to the northern grasslands, Cao Zhengchun directly asked Ma Gui to lead his five hundred elites to guard the killing tiger's mouth.

On the one hand, they are strictly investigating the fleeing businessmen, and on the other hand, they are taking the opportunity to understand the operation process of the pass.

A strict investigation of the killing of the tiger immediately made the Shanxi merchants feel a real crisis.

It doesn't matter whether the Shanxi merchants in Datong Prefecture died or not, but if they were investigated closely for a day at the Killing Tiger Gate, their losses would be huge.

This is the big thing that really touches their interests.

Officials bribed by local Shanxi merchants were about to impeach Ma Gui, and the memorial flew to the capital like snowflakes.

On the one hand, it is said that he connived at the Tatar invasion of Datong Prefecture and killed so many businessmen, causing people to panic;

On the other hand, he said that he closed the border without authorization, leaving the border residents with nowhere to make a living and almost starving to death.

Ma Gui feels miserable!

What the hell is this!
It's obviously not what I did, so I'm the one taking the blame!
This is too unfair.

God, do you have eyes? Is this what I want to do?

Isn't this an order from Governor Cao?
Isn't this the order from the capital, the emperor...is it the order given by God, your son?

This is none of my business!

……

Beijing.

The capital was not at peace during this period either.

After receiving the urgent report from Shanxi, the officials in the capital were even more anxious than the merchants in Shanxi.

Nothing else but financial resources were taken away.

Although these senior officials in the capital have high positions and powerful positions, they have no money.

The money given to them by the local government every year is not enough for them to eat and drink several times.

Therefore, they pay special attention to the smuggling dividends obtained from Shanxi businessmen and southeastern businessmen.

Now Chen Han in the southeast is causing all the gentry in the southeast to complain.

Urgent reports came in almost every day, asking them to let the emperor take Chen Han away as soon as possible. However, not only was Chen Han not taken away, but he became more and more arrogant.

Not only did the civil servants in the capital fail to kill Chen Han, but they made themselves into a mess.

The civil servants have now basically concluded that the southeast side may no longer be usable and can only give up. This bastard Chen Han is really powerful.

The only one they can rely on now is Shanxi.

But now there is a problem even in Shanxi, and they can't sit still.

It seemed like the emperor was just after their money bags.

This is not possible! The suffering of the people is a matter of the imperial court.

But if there is a problem with the money bag, it is your own problem.

So these officials began to save themselves in a tacit understanding.

They wrote one letter after another.

At first, it was just some petty officials, but later it developed to the point where almost all officials started to submit letters.

I don't know if these officials have lost their memory. It was clear that Chen Han had just dealt with a large number of officials before, but these officials still came up one after another.

Kill endlessly, behead endlessly!
It's true that the grass grows in the original plain, and the spring breeze blows.

It is estimated that only by killing all these people will the officials know what fear is.

Emperor Wanli was not in a hurry to kill all the officials who were impeached by Shangshu. He first investigated them.

Those who have a clean foundation and just petition for impeachment from the perspective of the national economy and people's livelihood do not need to be pursued.

But those whose butts are dirty and want to cause trouble are not welcome.

The newly appointed Minister of Household Affairs is originally from Puzhou, Shanxi.

After receiving the urgent report from his hometown people, he was so anxious that his mouth blistered.

His family has been in business for generations, and he was finally promoted to the position of Minister of Household Affairs.

Now I heard that such a big thing happened in my hometown. All Shanxi merchants in Datong Prefecture were wiped out. Even the tiger's mouth was guarded by Ma Gui's troops. What is this?
This is to cut off the Shanxi merchants' financial path, but also to cut off the Shanxi merchants' heads.

Shanxi merchants controlled two passes, Shahukou in the west and Zhangjiakou in the east.

This is a bottom line that must not be touched.

As a result, officials from Shanxi, as well as the Liuke Shizhong who had been bribed by them, and the censors of the Supervisory Yuan wrote letters of impeachment.

Even the Minister of Household Affairs united with several colleagues from Shanxi and came to the Imperial Garden to find Emperor Wanli who was fishing to complain.

Unlike these anxious Shanxi officials, Emperor Wanli was very leisurely.

Now that Zhang Juzheng is in the cabinet, Chen Han is suppressing the smugglers in the southeast, and Cao Zhengchun is in the northwest to suppress the Shanxi merchants in Shanxi. What else does he have to worry about?
He only needs to wait a few months for hundreds of millions of silver to be delivered to the capital.

What kind of person is the Minister of Tobe?
Jin Yiwei has checked everything about him.

He wrote to Emperor Wanli several times but ignored him, and now he actually chased him to the Imperial Garden. That means he was ignorant.

The Minister of Household Affairs knelt on the ground and said with several colleagues:

"Your Majesty, Ma Gui's unauthorized sealing of the border will inevitably lead to heavy casualties among border residents. Your Majesty is the Son of Heaven, and you must put the people first!"

Another official from Shanxi also said, "Now that Ma Gui has allowed the Tatars to invade Datong Prefecture, the people of Datong Prefecture have suffered heavy casualties. Your Majesty, please take a closer look."

Emperor Wanli sneered in his heart: How did the Tatars in Datong Mansion come from? You should know better than anyone else, aren't you the Shanxi people who deliberately colluded here from the grasslands in the north?

Now these people have killed your comrades to pieces.

What about ordinary people?
Ordinary people are now burning incense and praying to Buddha to beg them to kill merchants from Shanxi and Shanxi. How can there be losses?

These Shanxi officials kept chattering, scolding Ma Gui for his inaction, and hypocritically saying that the lives of border residents would be very difficult after the customs were closed.

In fact, it will become very difficult for them to smuggle, and they must switch.

After talking for less than half an hour, Emperor Wanli finally became impatient. He turned around and said to the Jin Yiwei standing beside him, "These five people dared to assassinate the king, which is tantamount to rebellion. They personally pulled them down and executed them."

All nine of their clans were cut down together, their family backgrounds were scrutinized, and everything was confiscated. "

The five officials were shocked and thought about it.

What he just said didn't seem to have the slightest hint of rebellion, it was just a false accusation against that Ma Gui.

They raised their heads, hesitated for a long time, and then said: "Your Majesty, I am so loyal, how can I talk about rebellion?"

Emperor Wanli nodded: "Ah, yes, yes, you are loyal. I framed you, okay?"

……

(End of this chapter)