Chapter 337: Mr. Beishan
Even so, Wang Daochun remained a hidden danger. Therefore, Senator LĂĽ had another mission: to eliminate all individuals who might be detrimental to Sun Yuanhua and the Northern Expeditionary Detachment.
In a fierce urban defense battle, it was quite normal for high-ranking officials on the front lines to be killed in action. In the defense of Laizhou, Xu Congzhi was killed by cannon fire. Among the several special reconnaissance team members in the Laizhou detachment, there were snipers with this secret mission, ready to carry out necessary “targeted eliminations” as the situation required.
The red fragments of firecrackers were scattered all over the ground, and after being trodden by people and horses, they quickly became part of the black mud on the street. Although the past few years had not been good, with natural disasters, military rebellions, banditry, and the Eastern Barbarians’ invasion… bad news came from all directions. After all, it was still the New Year, and Beijing was the capital, so the market was still very lively. These days were the Lantern Festival, and the streets were crowded with people, and the scene was bustling with ladies like clouds. It was just that the beggars and refugees all over the ground painted a gloomy color on this scene of the Lantern Festival.
Leng Ningyun was sitting in a sedan chair, returning to the shop outside Qianmen. These days, he had been busy visiting guests, both business partners and for his mission—his financial expansion plan had been temporarily halted.
It was no longer very difficult to ensure that Sun Yuanhua would not die—Sun Yuanhua had escaped in time and had cleared his name of suspicion of colluding with the rebels. But in the current situation, it was still quite difficult to save his official position.
After Sun Yuanhua became the governor of Deng-Lai, according to the custom of the late Ming officialdom, whenever an official reached a certain level or became a high-ranking official in a region, his official reputation would decline sharply. From the various supervising secretaries, censors, to other various “pure stream” officials, there would be a constant stream of impeachment memorials to expose this person as a heinous villain. Any small matter would be infinitely magnified to the extreme. Freedom of speech had reached an unprecedented height. From the cabinet grand secretaries to the high-ranking officials sent out, not a single one was not scolded bloody by the censors. In the Chongzhen reign, there were fifty-one grand secretaries. Although he himself had various shortcomings in his personality, the constant noise from the outside world did indeed seriously affect his judgment.
To maintain an unshakable opinion of someone amidst a noisy chorus of scolding, perhaps only Yang Sichang could do it. Hong Chengchou could also be considered one, but his hasty dispatch of troops to aid Jinzhou in the end, it could not be said that it was not partly due to fear of the “public opinion” of the pure stream officials at court and in the country influencing the emperor.
In the end, it could be said that in the Chongzhen reign, almost all the ministers who were slightly capable and dared to take on responsibilities were destroyed in this strange atmosphere of “freedom of speech.”
When Leng Ningyun was being trained at the “farm,” he was repeatedly emphasized to pay attention to the “public opinion” of the censors—it could not only sway the emperor’s judgment, but also create a powerful atmosphere of partisan struggle in the court, making those with different opinions dare not speak out.
The most terrifying thing was that this public opinion was often “morally correct” and occupied the high ground of public opinion, making it difficult for even the emperor to refute. The public opinion of the pure stream, to a certain extent, even controlled the court, leading to the final tragedy of the Ming Dynasty.
In the end, the Chongzhen Emperor would rather sit and wait for death in Beijing than move the capital to Nanjing—he didn’t even dare to secretly send the crown prince away, losing the last chance of a backup. It had to be said that this was caused by the morally correct public opinion of the pure stream.
“They open their mouths to speak for the country and the people, with an air of righteousness, but in fact, they are full of debauchery!” Leng Ningyun, who knew the subsequent historical trend, knew that many of the civil officials of the late Ming Dynasty, who were so morally correct on the surface, did not have a good end. Many of them even became “three-surnamed slaves.” Looking at their current faces, he felt that they were extremely unbearable.
Leng Ningyun had just visited an important person—this person’s status was not high, and could even be called very low: a domestic slave. But in the capital, he was a famous figure. Many officials in the court had to address him as “Mr. Beishan” when they saw him.
But this domestic slave was no ordinary person. Even Eunuch Yang, whom Leng Ningyun had always thought was very powerful, was very polite to him, and even the etiquette was excessive.
This person was the domestic slave of the current director of the Directorate of Ceremonial, Zhang Yixian.
Since the fourth year of Chongzhen, the practice of sending eunuchs to supervise the army, which had been abolished, was restored, and the power of the eunuchs in the palace began to rise again. And Zhang Yixian, who was in charge of the Directorate of Ceremonial, was currently the most popular. Because he was proficient in calculation and had economic talent, the emperor ordered him to audit the accounts of the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Works, and even specially set up an official office for him, the “Household and Works General Administration.” Its authority was like that of a governor of an external official. People in the capital said that this was just like Tu Wenfu when the “Nine Thousand Years” was in power. For this reason, a great debate had been aroused in the court since the end of last year. In particular, the officials of the original Ministry of Revenue and Ministry of Works were ashamed to be subordinates of a eunuch, so they all submitted memorials to argue that this matter was not feasible.
However, Leng Ningyun knew that the civil officials could not change the emperor’s wishes on this matter, so he did not hesitate to accept Wu Kaidi’s suggestion to go through Eunuch Yang to get to Zhang Yixian.
Zhang Yixian was a favorite in the palace, and now he was also the general administrator of the household and works. Not only was his position high, but his affairs were also very busy. Not to mention a merchant like Leng Ningyun, even a powerful eunuch like Eunuch Yang, who was on the periphery of the core power of the court, could not easily see him.
Fortunately, power was meant to be used for rent-seeking, and this has been the case since ancient times. Since he himself had no time or energy, there was naturally a group of trusted aides to handle these matters. “Mr. Beishan” was the domestic slave under Zhang Yixian who specialized in handling such matters.
Leng Ningyun had not considered directly approaching Xu Guangqi, Zhou Yanru, and others, but his identity was rather awkward. Besides, among the cabinet ministers, Zhou Yanru and Xu Guangqi were both strong supporters of Sun Yuanhua. Xu Guangqi’s son and Sun Yuanhua’s children were married, and Zhou Yanru had personally supported Sun Yuanhua to become governor and had received a large amount of sable fur and gold pearls from Sun Yuanhua. Sun Yuanhua himself had long sent people to their places to find ways. He didn’t need to spend too much effort. It was better to secretly help him.
In contrast, it was much more convenient for him to go through the eunuchs. After Eunuch Yang heard his request, although he showed a surprised expression, he did not refuse. After seeing the precious gifts presented, he pondered for a moment and then sent a young eunuch to take him to see young Eunuch Yang.
Young Eunuch Yang then took him to the residence of this “Mr. Beishan.” The scale of this Mr. Beishan’s residence was quite impressive—it was no less than Eunuch Yang’s residence. The gatehouse was full of various people waiting for an audience, including many officials. Leng Ningyun sat on a cold bench for almost an hour before he was received. Judging from the envious eyes of the others, it was definitely thanks to the two Eunuch Yangs that he could see him in an hour.
Leng Ningyun continued his main work in Beijing: kowtowing and giving money. After presenting a batch of rare “Australian treasures,” “Mr. Beishan” listened to his request and then politely served tea and saw him off.
Although he had seen the person and spent the money, Leng Ningyun had no idea whether it would have any effect. Although the “Australian treasures” presented were not rare in Lingao, in the Ming Dynasty, these treasures were worth almost three thousand taels of silver. This was a huge sum of money in the Ming Dynasty! When Zhou Yanru was reinstated and re-entered the cabinet, his lobbying expenses at court were only ten thousand taels of silver.
Using “treasures” worth three thousand taels of silver to help Sun Yuanhua keep his official hat was no small investment. If it failed, although he was acting on orders, he would still leave an impression of “ineffectiveness.”
“What do you think of this matter?” Although Leng Ningyun wanted to reduce his dependence on Wu Kaidi, he still couldn’t help but ask him, who was standing in the sedan chair serving him.
Wu Kaidi was silent for a moment and said, “It’s about fifty-fifty.”
“So low?” Leng Ningyun had always felt that things that were not eighty percent certain were basically impossible.
“Sir, you want to protect Sun Huodong,” Wu Kaidi said in a low voice. “It’s not enough to just rely on one Eunuch Zhang. You also need to make connections in the court.”
“I know that. I’m asking if Eunuch Zhang will help with this.”
“Don’t worry, sir. Since Mr. Beishan has accepted your post and the gift list, it means that Eunuch Zhang has no taboos about this matter—otherwise, I’m afraid you wouldn’t even be able to see Mr. Beishan.”
“So, Eunuch Zhang has agreed?”
“Whether he agrees or not, he still has to see the situation in the next step,” Wu Kaidi said in a low voice.
This was still not set in stone, Leng Ningyun thought. But he also knew that this was as far as he could go with Zhang Yixian. The next step was to find other ways.
Leng Ningyun’s sedan chair returned to the Delong Bank Beijing branch outside Qianmen. This was originally a pawnshop. After being converted into a bank, it basically maintained its original layout. It was just that the screen wall with the large character “Pawn” in front of the door had been removed, and a large gold-lettered plaque with “Delong Bank” was hung on the main door. Below were three bays, with only the central bay as the main entrance. Inside, one could see the stone counter and iron railings. If one got closer, one could hear the faint sound of abacuses and conversations. A glass skylight was installed on the roof, so the entire bank was brightly lit, but there were railings everywhere, including the ceiling, which was made of iron railings. The security work was very well done.
Seven or eight clerks were busy behind the counter. This was the retail department of the Delong Beijing branch. The business at the retail department was very simple: deposits and withdrawals, inter-branch remittances, and small loans. The business volume was not large, but the profit was relatively stable, enough to cover all the expenses of the bank. Next to the retail counter was a small courtyard dedicated to receiving wealthier and more important customers.
Leng Ningyun usually went to the retail department first when he came back from outside to see if there were any problems. But he was not in the mood for it today. He ordered the sedan chair bearers to carry the sedan chair directly through the side door next to the bank’s main entrance until they reached the moon gate of the inner residence. He and his trusted aides immediately entered the inner study courtyard, which was dedicated to handling confidential matters.