Chapter 188 The Madness of Scholars
With the end of the Zhejiang gentry's crying in the temple, what followed was the common people's exposure and reporting of corrupt officials and gentry.

Three years of tax exemption was enough to drive the people crazy.

What's more, there are rewards: if the other party's assets are 100,000 taels of silver, you can get 100 taels of silver; if the other party's assets are 1 million taels of silver, you can get 1,000 taels of silver.

For ordinary people, even a hundred taels of silver would be enough to support a family's expenses for ten years.

To quote a sentence from Das Kapital: when profits reach 10%, they will be ready to make moves; when profits reach 50%, they will take risks; when profits reach 100%, they dare to trample on all human laws; when profits reach 300%, they dare to risk being hanged.

The people in the south of the Yangtze River were already extremely miserable and their lives were difficult.

Nowadays, as long as you provide reliable evidence, you can make huge profits without any investment and have an excellent future. Who wouldn’t want that?
For a time, many people in Huguang, Nanzhili, Zhejiang and other places exposed and reported the crimes.

Although only a small part of them were true evidence, when these gentry were arrested and imprisoned, and the whistleblowers were rewarded, it aroused the enthusiasm of countless people.

Every day they would stand outside the doors of these officials and gentry, collecting evidence of their violations of laws and regulations.

Kill these people?

This kind of thing has happened before. A wealthy man ordered his lackeys to beat someone to death, but he was soon tied up and taken away by the Jinyiwei and the Dongchang people.

Killing someone in the street is a capital crime.

There was no need to wait until autumn, the owner and the attacker were beheaded at noon the next day.

The deceased family was also compensated with 150 taels of silver.

Once this incident happened, more people became excited.

These people were worried that they could not find evidence against these people. If they could exchange their lives for a hundred taels of silver, their entire family would have food and drink for ten years.

In these troubled times, they are really willing to take risks.

You can't kill him, and you can't drive him away.

Officials and gentry from all localities also stayed in their mansions, not daring to go out.

In contrast to these officials and gentry, the Anti-Corruption Departments in various provinces became increasingly tough. With the support of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Eastern Depot, they began to check previous taxes and rectify the administration of officials.

Without the people being coerced, these officials and gentry would become paper tigers. Not to mention trying to stop the Jinyiwei and the Eastern Depot, just the people watching them from outside every day would be enough to give them a headache.

As the Independent Commission Against Corruption conducted its investigation, receipts for tax collection were sent to the homes of various gentry.

In the past, they could get away with just paying half, but now what they have before them is the share of the past ten or even dozens of years.

"Dad, what should I do? Should I hand it over or not?"

As the night wind blew, the air in Jiangnan began to cool down. But what was even colder than the autumn wind was the shining swords of the Jinyiwei and the Dongchang. An old gentleman looked at the swaying orange lights and said, "You ask me, but who can I ask?"

"Why don't we unite with those bandits and storm the Anti-Corruption Bureau to prevent them from conducting an investigation?"

The old man shook his head. "It would be great if it were as simple as you said."

“Is there any other explanation here?”

"Your Majesty has sent a large army south, with five camps and 100,000 soldiers, including a firearms camp. Can those bandits defeat them?" The old man was distressed. "The worst thing is that now the bandits are fighting one by one to distribute the land and grain equally. If we support them, aren't we digging our own graves?"

"What should we do? We can't just wait to be bullied by the ICAC, right?"

"Wait a little longer! Those officials are more anxious than us."

……

at the same time,

In the capital, what puzzled all the civil and military officials was that the emperor once again welcomed a wave of scholars to the capital.

This time the momentum was even greater than before. Not only did they agree to arrange their food and accommodation, but they also let the Jinyiwei coordinate their itinerary.

"Strive for the Ming Dynasty all your life!"

"Everything is for the long-term stability of the Ming Dynasty!"

"For His Majesty..."

"For the eternal prosperity of the Ming Dynasty!"

With the first two rounds of student training, the Jinyiwei and the Imperial College have already gained experience and it can be said that a complete closed loop has been formed.

These scholars who came from all over the country had a strong sense of anger since the day they entered the Imperial College, and were extremely dissatisfied with the administration of the Ming Dynasty.

However, the Jinyiwei and the Imperial College left them alone, and even deliberately guided them to keep these frustrated scholars angry.

This also made these scholars become more "tough", and their style was much tougher than the previous two sessions.

In addition, after the Jinyiwei and the Independent Commission Against Corruption asked them to publicly try corrupt officials several times, they became even bolder.

Several of them even caught the attention of Zhu Changgan and were summoned into the palace.

Zhu Changgan looked at the man kneeling on the ground with great interest. He was not tall, but his eyes were bright. "Mr. Wu, where are you from?"

"Your Majesty, I am from Chun'an, Zhejiang."

When Wu Yuyang met Hai Li for the first time, he was very reserved. With his fame and achievements, he should never be able to meet the emperor in his lifetime. But now he was summoned by the emperor. How could he not be excited?

"Zhejiang..." Zhu Changgan hesitated for a moment, "I want to promote you to the Zhejiang Anti-Corruption Office. What do you think?"

"Your Majesty, I am willing to do so."

Wu Yuyang came here from afar just to seek an official position, and he also understood that he could no longer be humble and bow down at this time.

"Okay, I will promote you to be the head of Zhejiang Anti-Corruption Department, and you will enjoy the treatment of the sixth rank."

"I thank you Lord for your kindness!"

He is a sixth-rank official, not a Beijing official, but he has the final say in local affairs. Moreover, he is in the Anti-Corruption Bureau, so even the prefect has to bow his head when he sees him.

"Get up. I hope that after you go back, you can contact more scholars and set up the Zhejiang Integrity Bureau in a hurry. Would you like to learn from Huguang?" Zhu Changgan handed the "Daming Times" in his hand to Wu Yuyang.

"I have high hopes for you. Just go for it. I will be your backer."

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Wu Yuyang wiped the sweat off his head and carefully took over the "Daming Times". The front page was an article titled "The Anti-Corruption Offices in various places should learn from Huguang..."

Watching Wu Yuyang slowly leave, Wang Chengen couldn't help but ask: "Your Majesty, his writing is at the bottom, and he has no family background and no power. Is it right to promote him to the Anti-Corruption Department..."

"You don't understand. Although this kind of person may not write very well, his ability to inspire people far exceeds his ability to write articles." Zhu Changgan waved his hand, "You will understand in the future."

Sometimes what is written down may not be as powerful as what is spoken out loud.

For example, in later generations, Zhu Changgan saw a glimpse of Wu Yuyang in a certain art student who failed the imperial examination, so he promoted him. Of course, this was just a casual move, and he did not expect him to play a big role.

"The Ming Dynasty has begun to develop in an interesting direction!" As Zhu Changgan imagined, the wheel of the Ming Dynasty was no longer moving in the established direction, but was turning in a different direction.

……

The situation in Huguang Province was completely different from that in Zhejiang. They learned the essence from the capital. The dozens of meters wide streets in Wuchang Prefecture were crowded with people at all times, and all kinds of noises made a commotion.

For nearly half a month, this has become a traditional event in Wuchang Prefecture.

But today is different from any other time, because these scholars actually caught a "big fish".

The Minister of War and the Right Deputy Censor-in-Chief were in charge of the military affairs of recruiting surrenders in Nanjing (Nanzhili), Jiannan, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Sichuan, and Huguang provinces.

Xiong Wencan!
The whistleblower was none other than Zhang Xianzhong's adopted son, Sun Kewang.

Xiong Wencan accepted bribes in the form of stolen money, including six pearls, jade, agate, coral... and various treasures, totaling about 400,000 taels.

Once this matter was disclosed, the scholars from Huguang blocked the headquarters. Originally, the court wanted to transfer 6,000 cavalrymen under the command of General Zuo Liangyu to him.

However, due to Zuo Liangyu's obstruction, Xiong Wencan did not get these troops in the end. The Guangdong soldiers who originally accompanied him were also sent back, so that they were directly rushed in by the scholars.

Bring Xiong Wencan to justice!
The Independent Commission Against Corruption actually found a large amount of gold, silver and other valuables in his mansion, and immediately reported the matter to the Independent Commission Against Corruption and the emperor.

Zhu Changgan knew that he was greedy and did not have much ability, but at least he had made contributions in recruiting Liu Guoneng and Zhang Xianzhong. He did not think of clearing him out immediately. He wanted to wait at least a few years so that the emperor would not be accused of killing meritorious officials.

But you should have been more restrained in your greed. The key point is that you were caught by the Independent Commission Against Corruption and those scholars, so it's your own problem.

The Anti-Corruption Bureau was a major trend and it was impossible for it to be interrupted because of him, so Zhu Changgan replied: "Deal with it according to the law."

When the Independent Commission Against Corruption received the emperor’s opinion, they immediately understood its meaning.

Xu Cifu commented: "Escort him to the capital for trial!"

It is naturally impossible for an important court official like Xiong Wencan to be tried locally.

The whole Huguang province was in an uproar over the arrest of such a big corrupt official.

They drove the horse-drawn carriage from Anqing, where Xiong Wencan's palace was located, all the way north. Along the way, people were shoulder to shoulder, and the crowds were so numerous that there was no end in sight.

The people have been oppressed by corrupt officials for too long, and they all want to see what the "big tigers" look like.

I want to throw some mud and rotten vegetable leaves with my own hands...

Many people in the crowd wanted to attack, but were blocked by the swords of the Jinyiwei.

Zhu Changgan allowed them to march, but did not allow them to resort to lynching, because he understood that nothing should be excessive. Once excessive, it would be an overreaction and would become the root cause of unrest.

But even so, this trend in Huguang quickly spread to the southern provinces.

Scholars from all over the country need points to join the Anti-Corruption Bureau, and these points are gained by investigating and prosecuting a few corrupt officials.

In order to gain points, some scholars directly drew a line between themselves and their families and reported the corruption and bribery of officials in their families, also to avoid being implicated.

For a while,
All over Huguang, there was panic and every tree and grass looked like an enemy.

In some places, such a scene even occurred.

Officials, gentry, and even their own sons didn't dare to believe it.

Sometimes when my son goes out, I follow him.

On the contrary, when the father goes out, the son follows behind.

Afraid that the other party will expose him or her.

As for taxes and silver?

Under such circumstances, how could they dare not pay taxes? If they dared to say "no", these scholars would attack the landlords and gentry without the court taking any action.

So much so that in just ten days, Huguang collected millions of taels of silver.

……

Chongzhen returned to the Qianqing Palace at night, "Wang Chengen, please go to the Kunning Palace tonight!"

In the past few days, he led his men to capture cities in Xiangyang Prefecture and De'an Prefecture, and he was very happy.

When people are happy, they feel refreshed and full of energy. Their demeanor has changed a lot from before. Their bodies are strong, their waists are no longer sore, and their legs are stronger. They unconsciously have more hope for that thing.

As soon as he stood up, Chongzhen thought of something, "Wang Chengen, tomorrow you should ask the queen to stop weaving and let them make a few sets of clothes."

"And my dragon robe, change a few times as well. After all, I am the ruler of a country."

"You can't just save money, you still have to increase income!"

"And these ox-horn lamps are all black now. It's time to replace them."

"Your Majesty, do you want to change them all?" Wang Chengen looked at Chongzhen with an expression that the sun was rising in the west.

Chongzhen had been on the throne for more than ten years, and he was suddenly so generous. No one would be able to react immediately. "Your Majesty, why don't you think about it again and make a decision tomorrow?"

Wang Chengen knelt on the ground. Now he always adhered to one thing, that is, don't let the emperor make decisions at night.

The emperor is ill at night.

"Why wait until tomorrow?" Chongzhen's face flushed, his eyes burning, "I have money, I have plenty of money!"

These days, he has accumulated more than 200,000 taels of silver. He believes that as long as he continues like this, he can accumulate more. By then, he can contribute to the Ming Dynasty whether it is suppressing bandits or fighting in Liaodong.

This feeling of being able to do something, see it, and touch it made him really greedy.

"Your Majesty, I know you are rich, but the three million taels of silver from Huguang went into the national treasury, not your private treasury."

"Huh?" Chongzhen was completely stunned when he heard the news.

"How many?"

"Your Majesty, what about the 3.2 million taels of silver from Huguang?" Wang Chengen replied respectfully, "You forgot that the officials and gentry of Huguang owed an additional 3.2 million taels of silver in taxes..."

Wang Chengen quickly told Chongzhen about the tax arrears that the province of Huguang had to pay today.

Chongzhen stood there in a daze, "Doesn't that mean..."

At the beginning of the year, in order to encircle and suppress the rebel army, Chongzhen finally accepted Yang Sichang's suggestion, which was to add an additional 2.8 million taels of silver as "suppression pay."

But although the additional levies had been imposed, the localities had not collected the money. Now, after these scholars made a fuss, the province of Huguang alone collected 3.2 million taels of silver... This made Chongzhen's old face turn purple like an eggplant.

(End of this chapter)