roccoschili Chapter 48 Enemies Everywhere
Chapter 48 Enemies Everywhere
Overnight, rumors spread throughout the capital that the Jin Yun ship was earning 100,000 taels of silver a month!
Soon, Zhang Kun's newly moved-in house was besieged by all sorts of shady characters.
Some are more polite, simply offering goods on credit, selling goods, or wanting to partner in a business:
"Commander Zhang, my family would like to borrow a batch of dried mushrooms. Rest assured, we will repay the principal and interest within three months!"
"Oh dear, if my family hadn't been experiencing cash flow problems, you wouldn't have had this opportunity!"
"My family has the backing of a Grand Master of Ceremonies, don't you trust him? Three thousand taels is your 30% stake, what a great deal!"
Some people are uncouth; they borrow money directly, and their faces clearly say "I won't pay it back."
"Hey, you're just a lowly deputy commander. My great commander is doing you a favor by asking you to borrow money!"
"You earn so much money, you wouldn't be short of borrowing a little from my family, would you? You don't want to..."
Upon learning of the rumors, Zhang Kun immediately took Ning Xuan'er, Sun Shuyun, the maid, and the servants with him.
They were sent to Zhangjiawan in Tongzhou overnight and hid with Madam Cheng.
After enduring a few days in his new residence, he took Sun Jing and hid in the river work camp in Nanxiawa, closing the door to visitors.
They didn't care about "not separating public and private interests" and moved all the Limin ships to the camp.
Even the manager of Liminhao and the master craftsman's family were brought to stay temporarily at the camp.
As for Jin Yunhao, they posted notices directly at the main store and all branches, announcing that they had moved to Zhangjiawan in Tongzhou.
Seeing that the "private route" was blocked, all sorts of shady characters tore off their masks and began to exert pressure through the "official route".
The first to jump out was the Ministry of Revenue, which had a feud with Zhang Kun over the Chongwenmen Xuanke Division.
The Ministry of Revenue, testing the waters, sent a document to Shuntian Prefecture and Wanping and Daxing Counties, dispatching officials from the Ministry of Revenue and the prefecture and counties to conduct on-site audits!
Like farmers, urban residents also had many taxes and duties.
First, there was the unique house number tax in the capital, which was levied monthly based on the "bay" or the facade of a house.
The capital city had a total of 205,446 houses and storefronts, after deducting the preferential treatment given to officials and gentry.
The 127,215 houses subject to taxation will each bear an annual tax of 37813 taels of silver.
In total, each household was responsible for an average of 0.297 taels of silver, equivalent to the tax burden of 4.6 mu of medium-sized land!
Secondly, there was the "Puhangyin" levy, which mainly targeted handicrafts, commerce, and service industries.
Before the 45th year of the Jiajing reign, shops in the capital were required to undertake procurement tasks for various government departments without receiving payment.
Starting in the 45th year of the Jiajing reign, the tax was changed to silver, and shops were divided into nine classes for taxation.
The amount decreased from 0.9 taels per household at the top level to 0.1 taels per household at the bottom level, totaling 10641.31 taels per year.
There were also all sorts of miscellaneous taxes and fees... all added together, it actually came to more than three thousand taels!
The Jin Yun has only been open for a little over a month!?
Fortunately, Zhang Kun had previously helped Emperor Wanli remove the Chongwenmen Xuanke Division from the Ministry of Revenue; otherwise, his situation would have been even more difficult.
The tax paid by the Chongwenmen Xuanke Division is the real money, and it can also prevent Jin Yunhao's raw materials for danbagu from entering the city!
After the Ministry of Revenue tested the waters, the next force to appear was none other than the Embroidered Uniform Guard, which belonged to Zhang Kun!
Although the street-side houses have Xu Bengao to back them up, the neighboring Xisi houses don't care about the street-side houses at all.
The Western Office was responsible for the security of the capital and managed the Five City Garrison Commands, wielding far greater power than the Street Office.
Moreover, Li Ruzhen, the supervisor of the Western Office, was the third son of Li Chengliang, the Earl of Ningyuan, and was highly trusted by the emperor.
He served in the Embroidered Uniform Guard for over forty years and was highly experienced.
Fortunately, Li Ruzhen didn't put too much pressure on Xu Bengao.
This means having officials from the South City Military Command come to your door demanding various fees:
For example, the lighting fee must be paid monthly; otherwise, if your Jin Yun ship catches fire, no one will come to its rescue.
As for whether a fire will break out, hahaha...
All in all, it amounted to over a thousand taels!
The Imperial Guards seized the lead, and the dukes, marquises, and earls of the Ministry of War and the Beijing Garrison were not to be outdone, and they all rushed forward.
For example, they used the patrol battalion sent by the Beijing Garrison to the city to make various demands on the Jin Yun ship.
For example, didn't you say that tampoo is a medicinal herb? The military desperately needs such a good medicine, so we should purchase it in large quantities!
As for the purchase price and funds, this is an opportunity for you to share the burden of the country!
If I promote you from deputy commander to commander, your monthly salary will increase by several coins. What do you think?
The most important was the Ministry of Industry.
Logically speaking, the Ministry of Works had no reason to interfere with the Jin Yun.
However, the Ministry of Works actually posed the greatest threat to Zhang Kun because it controlled Zhang Kun's Achilles' heel: the River Works Battalion!
If Zhang Kun hadn't tightly controlled the river engineering battalion, he, as a deputy commander, would have been devoured alive by all sorts of monsters and demons long ago!
Sure enough, the Ministry of Works sent officials to investigate the river works camp's accounts and the actual progress of the projects.
They even threatened Zhang Kun, saying they would stop the river work camp from working and withhold its pay!
The Censorate and the Six Ministries, which are usually the most active in causing trouble, were certainly not idle either.
The censors have already begun submitting memorials outlining the dangers of tampons, so what's the point of banning smoking!
This is not the most outrageous thing; the most outrageous thing is the Court of Imperial Sacrifices.
They actually used the fact that "smoke rises to the sky" when tampas grass is burned as a reason.
They believe that tampa grass conforms to the ancient ritual of "burning firewood and raising smoke" to worship heaven, and propose that tampa grass be listed as a sacrificial item and controlled by the Court of Imperial Sacrifices!
Absolutely!
Those corrupt officials, you son of a bitch! Your Majesty, you were right! You should not fill vacancies and should fire all these corrupt officials!
Zhang Kun's current situation can be described as being surrounded by villains and having enemies everywhere he looks!
Fortunately, Miyazato, the strongest among them, is currently maintaining restraint.
Because Zhang Kun had already submitted the plan to take over the Jin Yun ship to the palace through his eunuch godfather.
Now, Zhang Kun has exhausted all his efforts.
We must hold firm and wait for good news from our eunuch godfather.
......
British Duchy.
The Chengguo Duke's Mansion and the Yingguo Duke's Mansion, which originated from the Jingnan Campaign, were originally among the top noble families in the Ming Dynasty.
After that, who was number one and who was number two each had their own merits in different periods.
Perhaps because Zhang Fu's achievements overshadowed the emperor's and he opposed abandoning Annam, the British government began to be marginalized from the Xuande era onwards.
It wasn't until the Tumu Crisis during the Zhengtong era that Duke Zhu Yong of Cheng took on the responsibility for the defeat in place of Emperor Zhengtong.
For a long time afterward, he was not allowed to inherit the title and was even kicked to Nanjing.
Zhang Fu's son, Zhang Yi, participated in the coup d'état, which led to the complete revival of the Duke of Ying's mansion.
Furthermore, the marriage of Zhang Fu's daughter to Zhu Yong, the Earl of Funing, who was promoted to Duke of Baoguo during the Chenghua era, further strengthened their alliance.
It wasn't until the Jiajing Emperor ascended the throne that he began to heavily rely on Xu Guangzuo, the Duke of Dingguo, who succeeded Xu Da, and Zhu Xizhong, the Duke of Chengguo.
Zhu Xizhong's younger brother, Zhu Xixiao, commanded the Embroidered Uniform Guard for fourteen years, second only to Wang Zhizhen and Lu Bing.
Today, the British Duke's mansion has once again been marginalized, and is even less prosperous than some marquis's mansions.
This is why Li Cheng, a man who had been convicted of a crime, was treated as an honored guest by the Duke of Ying's mansion.
He was personally received by Zhang Zhiyuan, son of Duke Zhang Weixian of England, and they drank and chatted happily.
Li Cheng had no connections among the civil officials, and he couldn't very well bypass his eunuch godfather and seek cooperation with other eunuchs.
Thinking that he was the supervisor of the Imperial Horse Administration and the commander of the Four Guards, he could be considered a half-military officer.
In addition, he had drunk with Zhang Zhiyuan a few times before, so he took the initiative to come to his door.
They discussed how to "help" the sixty-sixth brother, who was in crisis, and give Zhang Kun a way out.