"Wei Chen and others will review the case together with other yamen. In addition to lending, they also provide private tea!"
Zhang Yan continued, "In the 29th year of Hongwu alone, the amount of private tea sold by Sheng Hengda in the name of Zhou Fan was as high as 300,000 tons..."
He Guangyi walked in slowly amidst the sound of Zhang Ming's playing. Before he could salute, Zhu Yunxi listened to Zhang Ming's words and pointed to the empty stool next to Li Jinglong, indicating that you should stop talking and sit there.
"Actually, this matter of illegal private tea involves more than just Zhou Fan..." Zhang Yan paused and looked at Zhu Yunxi's face, "After all, Zhou Fan's fiefdom is not good at producing tea. After interrogation, some names were revealed.
.I don’t dare to specialize without the emperor’s oral instructions. I can only record detailed records and submit them to the emperor’s holy decree..."
Tea has been heavily taxed since ancient times and is one of the country's exclusive lifebloods.
At the time of Qin's Shang Yang's reform, although people died after their chariots were broken apart, the method of governing the country has been passed down to this day. That is, as long as everything that is the livelihood of the people must be controlled by the state, it must be taxed.
Everyone in the world thinks that salt and iron are huge profits, but they don’t know that tea is far more profitable than salt and iron. To put it bluntly, it is just a leaf that grows in the ground. It is not a necessity of life, but it is worth a hundred times.
What's more important is tea, which is only available in China and is unique. If the Hu people want it, they can only buy it at a high price.
According to the tea quota during the Hongwu period, a tea bag that could sell 60 kilograms of tea was priced at one thousand full copper coins. Three hundred thousand dan...the figure was shocking.
"What do you mean you don't dare to act independently without my instructions?"
Zhu Yunxi, who had been sitting expressionless, finally spoke, tapping the table with his slender fingers, "Since I asked you to investigate, I give you full authority. Since there are illegal things involving illegal people, why don't you dare to say it one by one?
You can't say a word?" As he said that, Zhu Yunxi turned to look at Zhang Yan, "Are you really worried about me? Or are you afraid in your heart, so you are using me to make excuses?"
"I don't dare!" Zhang Yan stood up hurriedly and said, "I was ordered to handle this case, so I don't dare to have any selfish motives. However, there are some things in this case that are indeed very involved. The emperor has not yet completed his succession to the throne...
..”
"I know what you are thinking!" Zhu Yunxi interrupted, "You also want stability!"
Needless to say who is involved in tea, just look at which places produced tea in the Ming Dynasty. Zhu Yunxi knew very well those places that had interactions with the vassals.
What the monarch and his ministers just said was actually a kind of balance.
Zhang Yan did not pursue the relevant personnel of the tea industry, but stopped there because he could not figure out whether the emperor wanted to get to the bottom of the investigation, or whether he wanted to stop there on the matter of King Zhou.
As an emperor, Zhu Yunxi could not pursue some matters for the time being, but he must keep them in hand.
The implication of what Zhu Yunxi said just now is that you, Zhang Meng, continue to investigate with confidence and boldness. No matter who is involved, get to the bottom of it and report it to me. Whether I handle it or not is my business. Since you have investigated it, you have to dig the ground.
Three feet.
Everyone in the hall was a smart person. Except for Bao Zhao who had only a few clues and always struggled to speak, Li Jinglong and He Guangyi remained silent.
Zhu Yunxi's eyes swept over their faces one by one.
At this time, the bastard came forward softly and said, "Long live my lord, Xia Shu, the Minister of Punishment, Xin Yande, the supervisory censor, and Yang Jing, the censor of Dali Temple, are here, waiting outside!"
"It's the right time!" Zhu Yunxi smiled and said, "Pass it!"
After waiting for a while, several high-ranking officials in charge of the criminal law of the Ming Dynasty came in one after another, saluted and kowtowed.
"Sit down and answer!" Zhu Yunxi took a sip from the tea cup, "You all know that privately I am impatient with these rules!"
"I would like to thank the Emperor for your kindness!"
The small Nuan Pavilion of Qianqing Palace suddenly seemed a little crowded.
This is the place where the emperor works and lives. Outside is the dragon throne where ministers are received, where small court meetings can be held. The Nuan Pavilion is the living room where ministers are received privately, and there is a small bedroom further inside.
I don't know if it was the high temperature in the palace or something else, but everyone's expressions looked a little unnatural.
Zhu Yunxi's eyes swept over their faces one by one.
"A few days ago, I ordered Zhang Yan to work with you to handle this case. So far, we have some clues about this case!"
"But..." Zhu Yunxi suddenly changed the topic, "You must also know that this is just the tip of the iceberg!"
As he spoke, a sneer appeared on Zhu Yunxi's face, "When the Supreme Emperor was on the throne, He Qing Hai Yan and the world were peaceful. How long have I been on the throne? There has been so much trouble. Is it because I am not virtuous enough or are these people hiding too deeply?"
Hula, all the ministers couldn't sit still and all stood up.
Zhu Yunxi's eyes swept over them one by one again, and finally landed on He Guangyi's face.
"You read the file and you know everything?"
"I saw it and knew it!" He Guangyi quickly kowtowed.
"Earlier, I thought of promoting you, the commander of the Jinyi Guards, to bring order out of chaos!" Zhu Yunxi sighed, "After all, during the time of the Supreme Emperor, you Jinyi Guards had the power to arrest, investigate and judge cases without any formalities, so that officials all over the world The color of the conversation changes!"
"I also thought about how I treated officials in the past, often torturing or being harsh, and I also thought about the state-owned and national laws to suppress evil with good. But now it seems that I was wrong! And it was not a minor mistake! And it was a big mistake!"
Hearing this, the civil servants were stunned for a moment, and then they felt a thump in their hearts.
Could it be that.....
Zhu Yunxi picked up the documents on the table and shook them in his hands, "He Guangyi, I want to kill someone!"
"Your Majesty, I'm so confused!" He Guangyi said loudly.
"Go and arrest him!" Zhu Yunxi threw the document directly into He Guangyi's arms. "Whoever is involved, whether he has an official position or not, should be put in jail. He should be sent to the prison of your Beizhen Fusi..."
As soon as these words came out, all the civil servants turned pale.
Is your Majesty going to...are you going to go on a killing spree like the Hongwu Dynasty?
"After the investigation is completed, the perpetrators will be reported to me!" Zhu Yunxi continued, "For example, those who lend money to the private sector, and those who occupy fields and sell low-quality official grain for free will be punished according to the laws of the Supreme Emperor..."
Great decree?
Among the civil servants, such as the veteran Xia Shu and others, they were almost so frightened that they could not stand still.
Among the imperial edicts regarding the treatment of human traffickers, the lightest punishment was to have their hands and feet amputated, their homes to be confiscated, and exiled. Their skin would be peeled off for cramps and lighted sky lanterns, their skins would be peeled and stuffed with grass to make human skin drums and mattresses made of human skin, and their corpses would be cut into thousands of pieces and cut into pieces with thousands of knives... ..
Thinking about it makes people shudder.
Zhang Yan's hands have begun to tremble. Just the matter of selling inferior official grain involves three prefectures and eight counties. How many lives are there?
Besides, if Jin Yiwei's subordinates had full authority to investigate and handle this matter, no other ministries would be able to get involved. Those wolf-like subordinates were afraid that the matter would not be a big deal and that the credit would not be great, so they would kill it.
At that moment, he couldn't help but say, "Your Majesty, be careful! Think twice!"
"Evil people don't think twice when they do evil, and they are not afraid of losing their heads. Why should I think twice?" Zhu Yunxi glanced at him, "Am I a clay Bodhisattva who can only watch people burn incense and make wishes?"