Flowers on the other side [Comprehensive Red House]

Chapter 789 The Carpenter Emperor 44

Zhang Wenda came very quickly.In the past few days, he has been looking for opportunities to meet the emperor in private, not for political affairs, but for the people of Shanxi merchants.Because he is from Jingyang, Shaanxi, he has an in-law relationship with those Shanxi merchants who have been imprisoned.He knew that those Shanxi merchants should be killed, and he would never do anything to intercede for them.But he hoped extravagantly to ask the new king for extra mercy and pardon those female relatives and children.

After Zhang Wenda arrived, Wei Chao explained the matter to him for the emperor.Zhang Wenda understood the psychology of the young man, and he disliked his own voice during the voice change period and did not want to speak.After explaining Wei Chao, Zhang Wenda looked at the emperor.

"Your Majesty, the candidate for the censor must be selected from the previous military affairs, isn't it?"

Zhu Youxiao looked at Zhang Wenda and shook his head.

"That's it? You want to choose someone who is a good person?"

Zhu Youxiao nodded.He talked too much just now, and now he doesn't want to say a word.

"This person just watches, and then comes back to report?"

Zhu Youxiao shook his head again, not wanting to continue playing charades with Zhang Wenda.

"There is Neixiu, who can tell when to speak. When encountering Liu Kongzhao, the sincere uncle, Liu Yuanzhen, the doctor of the Ministry of war, and the generals on the border, who are negligent, they know when to speak and when to shut up. Neither can intensify conflicts, You can’t turn a blind eye to hidden dangers.”

Zhang Wenda began to encounter difficulties. There were more outspoken people in the censors, but few who could meet the requirements of the emperor.He suddenly thought of someone.

"Your Majesty, I recommend Wang Dewan, Wang Zichun. He is from Guang'an. He was a Jinshi in the 14th year of Wanli. At the beginning, he was changed from Shujishi to Military Division. Qian Liang was expelled from the staff because of Wei Xiandi during the Shenzong period. He was recalled during the Xiandi period and was named Taichang Shaoqing. After these years of precipitation, he returned to Beijing again and was very different from the past. The old minister tried to talk to Zhou Mingqing, intending to promote him He is the censor of Zuoqian capital."

"Jinshi in the 14th year of Wanli? It's almost [-]. It's hard to patrol the border, and you have to travel on horseback."

Zhang Wenda was embarrassed, smiled dryly, bowed and said, "Yes, your Majesty is right, he is similar to old minister Nian Geng, it's because the old minister didn't think carefully."

Zhang Wenda thought for a while and said: "Your Majesty, Tang Shiji and Tang Meicheng are the closest to your Majesty's request among the censors staying in Beijing. He was born in the fourth year of Longqing (1570), a Jinshi in the 26th year of Wanli (1598), and his native place is Zhejiang. Wu Cheng. At the beginning, he was appointed the county magistrate of Ninghua, and later Lian Zhuo was promoted to the supervisory censor. This man is intelligent, passionate about military affairs, and has experience as a county magistrate. He has no shortage of experience in food and pay."

Zhu Youxiao calculated his age, then nodded and said: "The purpose of this border patrol is to check for gaps and stop any possible smuggling of food, weapons, drugs, etc. to Jiannu. It is getting stronger and stronger, and Liaodong is becoming more and more difficult to defend. If you think he can do it, let him and Chengyibo lead the decree tomorrow, and leave Beijing the day after tomorrow."

Zhang Wenda cupped his hands, "The old minister will tell him the essentials when he returns."

Zhu Youxiao nodded, and Wei Chao saw the opportunity and immediately brought up the herbal tea prescribed by the imperial physician.Zhu Youxiao drank a few sips, coughed lightly, and saw that Zhang Wenda was hesitant to say something, so he raised his eyebrows and signaled Wei Chao to ask.

Wei Chao immediately understood the emperor's intention, stepped forward and asked: "Zhang Zongxian, is there anything else the emperor asked you?"

Zhang Wenda bowed and said: "Your Majesty, I have an unfeeling request from you, please forgive me."

"Say."

Zhu Youxiao's eyes widened, and he caught Zhang Wenda's gaze.Zhang Wenda couldn't help but shuddered and knelt down.Wei Chaodu looked at the emperor because of the pain in his knees, twitching the corner of his mouth. He thought he would get a signal from the emperor to help Zhang Wenda up, but he didn't expect that the emperor didn't give him a wink.

Seeing Zhang Wenda like this, Zhu Youxiao mentally guessed that it was for Shanxi merchants, so he immediately asked coldly with displeasure, "You don't want to talk about it?"

The young man's hoarse voice contained an undeniable sense of oppression, and he stabbed coldly at Zhang Wenda, who was already in psychological defeat.Now that the matter has come to this point, Zhang Wenda can't help but stop talking.

"Your Majesty, Shanxi merchants who violate the border ban are heinous and should be cut to death. I want to plead for the women and children who are trapped in the inner house and don't know anything about the outside world. Please give them a way to survive."

"Sure. Zhu Youxiao agreed very simply, and signaled Wei Chao with his chin to help him up.

Wei Chao hurriedly took a few steps to help Zhang Wenda up, and helped him onto the chair.

Zhang Wenda was surprised that the Son of Heaven agreed so simply, and thanked repeatedly: "The old minister thanked His Majesty on behalf of those women and children."

"Don't thank me first. I promised to give them a way to survive, but the widows of the soldiers who died in the Battle of Sarhu, Fushun, Tieling and other places were taken away by Jiannu to women and children. How did they survive? Those Shanxi merchants What kind of life will the family members, women and children live in the future."

Zhang Wenda's eyes widened in surprise, the family members of Shanxi merchants were innocent, and the people, women and children in Liaodong were even more innocent?He immediately felt that he had no face to intercede with his in-laws.

"Zhang Qing, you also know that if it wasn't for the aid from Shanxi merchants to Nu/Erhachi, how could Jiannu have enough swords and guns to attack the soldiers of Ming Dynasty! If it wasn't for the guns they provided, how could Fushun be blown down! If their wives and children can live well in the future, you and I will be ashamed of the people of Liaodong, and will have trouble sleeping and eating."

Zhang Wenda was ashamed, and said: "The old minister is confused, please forgive me."

The emperor smiled lightly, "The clan also participated in the smuggling, so we will kill them together."

Zhang Wenda didn't dare to ask how the family members of the clan would deal with him, so he hunched his shoulders and backed away slowly.

The news that Zhang Wenda's plea for Shanxi merchants was blocked, he himself did not hide anything.The few words that the emperor said were also relayed without changing a word-the colleagues who entrusted him to intercede, of course, are also relatives-in-law.Before the sun went down, the emperor's decisive answer spread throughout the six departments, and as the officials returned home, it quickly spread throughout the capital.

The attitude of the Son of Heaven has won the approval and support of most people, but it is inevitable that some people will say something innocent about their children.But immediately some people choked on the innocent people who died in Liaodong, as well as the orphans of the soldiers who died in Sarhu.

The emperor ordered the Ministry of Households to make statistics on the stolen Shanxi merchants' property and found that it exceeded ten million taels, which aroused the indignation of people from all walks of life in Ming Dynasty.At the Great Court Conference, Zhang Wenda and the cabinet ministers, who had been instructed by the emperor, proposed to use the money to open dozens of nursing homes in the capital and Liaodong to adopt the orphans of the fallen soldiers and the people who died in Liaodong, and hire the widows of the fallen soldiers to take care of them. toddler.Many court ladies and female officials in the inner court who were unwilling to return home were sent to the nursing home to teach orphans.Some older girls began to follow the adult women to learn how to be medical girls and so on.

The Ministry of War also sent some military uniforms to these nursing homes, and the nursing homes came forward to organize the widows of soldiers to work, which can be regarded as finding a long-term livelihood for these orphans and widows.

As for boys over the age of six, they are taught martial arts by disabled veterans sent by the army, and educated by scholars hired by the Ministry of Rites.

When these orphans grew up, they became indispensable members of the royal family's loyalty. Their contributions to the Ming Dynasty are all things to come.

In October, Huang Kezuan sent his opinions on the interrogation and punishment of Shanxi merchants.This is the result of the joint efforts of the Ministry of Criminal Justice, Dali Temple, and the Metropolitan Procuratorate.When Huang Kezuan delivered the verdict, he left room for showing favor to the emperor, so the verdict was considered heavy.Unexpectedly, the emperor agreed to all without changing it.

Before and after the Xiayuan Festival, nearly a hundred people were beheaded in a row by the capital, and there were not a thousand or eight hundred who were beheaded.The men who were not beheaded were all sent to the mines and other places to serve hard labor.As for the family members of Shanxi merchants, according to the judgment of the Ministry of Punishment, even the infant girl was sent to the army.Those who have relatives with Shanxi merchants and can receive dividends from Shanxi merchants every year are also deprived of their official status, and their parents, wives and children are also guilty, and they are treated in the same way as Shanxi merchants.

In the middle of this, Zhang Wenda secretly rejoiced for his wise decision at the beginning.Just because he was a censor in the Metropolitan Procuratorate, he didn't accept the dry shares from those in-laws, and of course he didn't get the so-called dividends.

Fortunately, the emperor had no intention of expanding the investigation, and did not pursue the relevant cover-up persons who knew about the smuggling but did not report it.

All the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty were frightened by the emperor's ruthlessness.No one dared to go to the emperor to intercede for his former colleagues.Because several vassal kings and princes who participated in the smuggling were also arranged to stay late with Shanxi merchants.Their children and grandchildren were not even qualified to do hard labor in the mines, and they were all strangled in front of the people in the capital.Just out of consideration for the face of the royal family, all the female relatives, old and young, were poisoned to death.

What was terrified afterwards was Cheng Ding, the imperial clan in Beijing, who was ordered to watch their cousins ​​being tortured.After the execution, the clan not only removed these people from their names, but also gave these dead people the same fate as those who were mutilated.

The clan was shocked, the capital was shocked, Nanzhili was shocked, and the whole world was shocked—the new monarch is ruthless!The ruthlessness that can be dealt with to the clan has deterred the profiteers who wanted to fill and occupy the gap left by the Shanxi merchants.

No matter how lucrative the profits from smuggling are, you have to live to avoid being found out by the court, right?No one dared to take the risk of causing trouble to the family, and the first offender and the main offender being Ling Chi.

After hearing the shocking news of Ling Chi's beheading, Nu/Erhachi finally understood why Zhangjiakou had no more urgent food to be shipped out, and why other Guanma cities were also sealed off.He sent people to the Mongolian tribes that he united with, hoping to obtain the necessary living materials, weapons, weapons, etc. from these tribes.Who knew that Mongolia was completely abandoned by Ming Dynasty—because when Nu/Erhachi attacked Fushun and Tieling, there were Mongols who asked Nu/Erhachi about Daming's military situation.When Nurhachi attacked Shenyang this year, many Mongols acted as internal support.

The weather in Liaodong is getting colder every day, as if the winter is getting colder every year.Facing the cold, Nu/Erhachi realized that if Shenyang, Fengji, and Liaoyang could not be captured as soon as possible, half of the population under his command would starve to death this winter.

Several important towns in Liaodong that Xiong Tingbi managed were besieged by 10,000+ Jianzhou Jurchens who poured out at the beginning of the twelfth lunar month.