My eunuch godfather

Chapter 79 Meeting of Departments and Councils

The main hall of the Secretariat in the early Hongwu period is now the meeting hall of the six ministries and the Censorate in Nanjing.

Huang Kezuan, the Minister of War in Nanjing, sat at the head of the table and addressed the officials attending the meeting:

"What do you all think Xu Bengao is trying to do with this case?"

Zhou Jiamo, the Minister of Revenue in Nanjing, who was seated in the second seat, snorted coldly and replied:

"Most likely, this is used to exert pressure and try to quell the troubles in Tambako."

Anyone who dares to cause trouble will be implicated in the case and branded as a traitor!

The price of tambak has fallen to one or two ounces, and thousands of people have lost money by participating in this speculative frenzy.

Those who bought the goods in stock were fortunate, but some people bought "invoices" which didn't actually correspond to any actual goods.

As mentioned before, there are approximately one million catties of fresh bamboo shoots on the market in Southern Zhili and Zhejiang during this season.

As prices continued to rise, approximately 500,000 jin (250 tons) were transported from Guangdong, Fujian, and other places, bringing the total to 1.5 million jin (750 tons).

After monopolizing the purchases, Nanjing Jinyun and other major salt merchants now have 600,000 jin (300 tons) in their hands.

The major raw rice merchants in Southern Zhili and Zhejiang now have about 600,000 jin (300 tons) of raw rice in their hands.

These are the holdings of large investors, retail investors, and the amount of raw rice still circulating in the market, totaling only about 30 jin.

Therefore, some people who held physical goods started to have crooked ideas, imitating Nanjing Jinyun's sale of stocks and selling so-called warrants.

Fortunately, the Nanjing Jinyun stock sold very well, which had a strong impact on the price of Danbagu in a short period of time.

These orders only sold tens of thousands of kilograms in total, so the harm was limited.

In short, the two to three hundred thousand danbagu (a type of slang term for tantamount to slang) stuck in the hands of retail investors is a big problem and can already be considered a crisis.

In retrospect, if Zhang Kun hadn't acted swiftly and decisively, turning the disturbance at Shuixi Gate into a rebellion and sending cavalry to suppress it, it would have been a great loss.

Nowadays, there are probably at least a hundred people besieging the newly opened flagship store of Nanjing Jinyunhao every day, demanding an explanation from Xu Bengao.

"How can we appease them? Do we have to come up with hundreds of thousands of taels of silver and buy up all the dried mushrooms on the market?"

Yingtian Governor Wang Yinglin shook his head and looked at Wei Yifeng, Minister of Justice in Nanjing, beside him. "Brother Borui, what do you think?"

Wei Yifeng, the Minister of Justice in Nanjing, was generally ranked the lowest in the capital, even lower than the Vice Minister of War or the Vice Minister of Revenue in Nanjing.

Essentially, it was just the Provincial Surveillance Commission of Southern Zhili, but it was in conflict with the Nanjing Metropolitan Censorate, which held the powers of Circuit Intendant, Education Commissioner, and Military Affairs.

But Wei Yifeng had helped famine victims in Shandong, killed Tartars in Shaanxi, and suppressed cults in Southern Zhili.

When he served as the governor of Xunyang in Huguang, he encountered a popular uprising involving tens of thousands of people. He went alone to pacify the uprising and successfully quelled it.

Both the capital and the southern capital regarded Wei Yifeng as the most suitable candidate for Minister of War in Nanjing after Huang Kezuan.

"Let's talk first and see what their demands are."

Wei Yifeng looked at Huang Kezuan, who was sitting at the head of the table, and volunteered, "Brother Shaofu, may I go and meet him?"

"What's the big deal? A mere patron of the Imperial Guard, an adopted son of a eunuch—what's there to talk to them about?"

Zhou Jiamo frowned and looked at Shen Yingwen, the Minister of Personnel in Nanjing, "Mr. Lei, what do you think?"

The Nanjing Ministry of Personnel was ranked after the Nanjing Ministry of War and Ministry of Revenue.

However, this year marks the annual Beijing inspection, and to some extent, Shen Yingwen's actual ranking has returned to first place.

Shen Yingwen waved his hand at Zhou Jiamo, "Mingqing, you are the Grand Minister of Works, it's better if you make the decision."

Seeing the other party's stance, Zhou Jiamo then looked at Ding Bin, the Minister of Works in Nanjing, and asked, "Brother Liyuan?"

"I think we should get the case back first..."

Luo Chaoguo, the acting Censor-in-Chief, sat at the back, observing coldly:

Huang Kezuan, Wei Yifeng, and Wang Yinglin were all Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations) in the eighth year of the Wanli reign. The three of them were in the same faction and supported the negotiations.

Zhou Jiamo and Ding Bin were both Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations) in the fifth year of the Longqing reign. Although they were more senior, they were overshadowed by Huang Kezuan.

They were on the other side, opposing negotiations and thinking of first taking back the power to handle cases from the Nanjing Imperial Guards.

Shen Yingwen was a Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination) in the second year of the Longqing reign. He was the most senior and generally remained neutral, but was relatively biased towards Zhou Jiamo.

As for Luo Chaoguo himself?

He was a Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination) in the eleventh year of the Wanli reign, the least experienced, and had not yet lost the title of "acting official".

Just as the two sides were arguing and trying to get Luo Chaoguo to make a statement on the matter.

Someone ran to the door of the council chamber to request an audience.

"...What brings you, Mao Guojin, the Assistant Minister of Works?"

Huang Kezuan was taken aback. What was this idle person doing here all of a sudden?

"Reporting to the Grand Marshal, Mao Zaoling said it is related to the Nanjing Jinyun ship."

Mao Guojin walked into the council hall with a restless mind and saw Luo Chaoguo, who was also a Jinshi in the eleventh year of Wanli, nodding and smiling at him.

He became much calmer and said respectfully, "Gentlemen, someone from the Jin Yun Company in Nanjing has asked me to deliver a message..."

Zhang Kun proactively proposed a comprehensive solution to the Danbagu crisis to the officials and gentry remaining in the capital:

First, Nanjing Jinyun will restart the "equity-for-equity" program, issuing 10 new shares to acquire Tambaku shares held by retail investors.

Secondly, Nanjing Jinyunhao will use cash to distribute a spring dividend of one qian (approximately 3.3 grams) per share to stabilize the stock price.

Third, Nanjing Jinyunhao will hold a "Texas Conference" to negotiate with major Texas merchants and exchange shares.

The people in the hall looked at each other in bewilderment. Finally, Huang Kezuan made the decision and instructed Wei Yifeng:

"Berri, go to the Imperial Guard in Nanjing and discuss the Ministry of Justice's assistance in handling the Shuixi Gate case!"

......

The Zhenfu Division Prison of the Nanjing Imperial Guard.

Wei Yifeng followed Zhang Kun into the Jiazi prison where the prisoners of Shuiximen were held. She was surprised to see that the cell was clean and odorless.

Seeing that the prisoner was neatly dressed and had no signs of torture, but was listless, they were even more surprised.

"Zhu Ruiru".

Zhang Kun walked to cell number one in cell A, and Zhu Ruirou inside immediately stood up and said, "Here."

"Come closer, and the Grand Minister of Justice will ask you questions."

"Yes."

Wei Yifeng peered through the iron bars of the prison cell and carefully examined the Qi Zong leader in front of her, who was responsible for twenty-seven deaths.

It was neither unruly nor servile, nor even docile.

Like a lifeless puppet, a walking corpse, with empty, lifeless eyes.

Asking questions was pointless. Wei Yifeng waved her hand at Zhu Ruirou, turned to Zhang Kun, and asked:

"Didn't Commander Zhang say that he had caught another suspect?"

"Go back and sit down."

Zhang Kun first gave instructions to Zhu Ruirou, and then respectfully addressed Wei Yifeng:

"Yes, Zhou Zhong, the battalion commander under the Grand Commander, has already led his troops to capture the suspect Chen Ding in Wujin County, Changzhou."

After Chen Ding was captured, Zhu Ruiyu, Hu Wu and other rebels led a group of thieves in an attempt to abduct him, but they were all killed.

Chen Ding is currently being escorted to Nanjing, but this traitor was seriously wounded in the battle and is unconscious; he may not survive the interrogation.

Chen Ding and Zhu Ruiyu, these two in-laws, are truly extraordinary. They actually traveled to Changzhou overnight, intending to start a rebellion in Chen Ding's hometown.

They ran right into Zhou Zhong, who was rushing to Changzhou overnight, and even tried to hijack the prison van, but Zhou Zhong caught them all in one fell swoop.

Wei Yifeng raised an eyebrow and tentatively asked Zhang Kun:

"If this thief dies of illness on the road and escapes punishment in the full court, then he's really getting off easy."

"The Grand Minister of Justice is right,"

Zhang Kun respectfully said to Wei Yifeng, "Moreover, this scoundrel likes to make baseless accusations; he is truly hateful!"

Whether Chen Ding will reach Nanjing alive depends on whether you follow the right path!