Chapter 566 Let’s Try Something New
Ren Boan said nothing.

Su Feng was still excited and said, “I didn’t expect you to get ‘Biographies of Officials’ and ‘A Brief History of Thousands of Families’. Do you know what these are?”

“know.”

“You’re still so calm knowing this?”

“I know, this thing is very useful to Su Dushi and the Jinyiwei, but it is useless to me, so there is nothing to be surprised about.”

“Do you really know or are you just pretending to know? Are you pretending to know this? Tell me, what are the stories of Hundred Officials and Thousands of Families?”

Ren Boan sighed softly: “Shao Jian’s family has been clerks for generations, and many of his relatives are also clerks, all over the southeast. He knows the countless secrets of the Nanzhili officialdom, from the six ministries in Nanjing to the six offices in the county government, and the aristocratic families.

Later, he changed his job to interviewing people, and made a living by collecting and organizing these secrets. In the end, he compiled them into two books, “Bai Guan Xing Shu” and “Qian Jia Shi Lue”.

The Records of Officials’ Actions records the illegal activities of hundreds of officials in the officialdom of Nanzhili and Zhejiang. They include corruption, abuse of power for personal gain, dereliction of duty, bribery, etc.
The time, place, people and events are all recorded clearly.

After the Southern Zhili was divided into Yingtianfu, Jiangsu and Anhui, these officials either moved to other places or stayed in one of the two provinces. No matter where they went, the records in the Records of Officials could have ruined their future.

Ren Boan glanced at Su Feng, and seeing that he didn’t interrupt, he continued.

“The Records of Thousands of Families” records the dirty and illegal activities of thousands of wealthy and powerful families in the southeast, including obscene incest, greed, bullying men and women, and buying fame. The time, place, people and reasons are recorded clearly.

If this falls into the hands of the imperial court or Hai Qingtian, thousands of Southeast families will be uprooted.”

Su Feng clapped his hands and praised: “Ren Boan, you are really a talented person!”

Ren Boan said calmly, “You are too kind, Su. It’s just that “Annals of Officials” and “A Brief History of Thousands of Families” are too private. Even if the bad deeds recorded are true, it is difficult to bring them to the table and display them openly.”

Su Feng nodded and said, “That’s right. The officials were criticized and attacked by the East Factory’s guards when they spied on the officials’ words and deeds, which was intolerable. Now Shao Jian, a commoner, is recording these things, which will definitely cause a big storm.

Those officials and noble families would certainly refuse to admit it and insist that it was a false accusation fabricated by the unruly people.

But what you said just now is right. “Bi Guan Xing Bi” and “Qian Jia Shi Lue” are still of great benefit to our Jinyiwei. For us, they are clues, clues to follow.

The officials and gentry in the southeast always like to stick together. They are classmates, students from the same school, subjects, year-mates, fellow townsmen, and relatives in law, forming a dense web where a single move can affect the entire body.

Success is due to the Internet, and failure is also due to the Internet.

With the Records of Officials and the Chronicles of Thousands of Families, we in the Imperial Guards can investigate one family and then raid ten other families.”

Ren Boan’s face changed.

“The imperial court is going to build a large prison in the southeast?”

Su Feng, who had been so naive just now, suddenly turned cold. The sinister look in his eyes pierced Ren Boan’s heart like a sharp blade, making his whole body tense up and white sweat broke out on his back.

Wrong thing to say!

The sinister look in Su Feng’s eyes disappeared immediately, returning to his innocent expression.

“Mr. Ren, we have no control over whether a big prison is established or not. We can only abide by our duties and help the court to investigate those officials and gentry who have committed crimes and violated laws and discipline, and give justice to the people of the world.

dont you agree? “

Can I say no?

Ren Boan quickly apologized and said, yes, yes, yes.

Su Feng added: “Your nephew-in-law is so lucky that he has caught the eye of Lord Hai and has been accepted as his disciple. Lord Hai has a very high standard, and everyone in the country knows it.

He has been in office for decades, and has only a handful of disciples, but all of them are outstanding. Your nephew’s son-in-law is a disciple of Mr. Hai, which is a blessing accumulated over several lifetimes. It is really enviable.

In a couple of days, Brother Huangfu will follow Lord Hai to Yangzhou. Please take some time to go meet him.”

“Thank you, Su.”

“No need to thank me.” Su Feng thought about it and asked, “I just want to ask. How did you get these two booklets from Shao Jian?
You should know that we, the Jinyiwei, racked our brains for these two booklets.”

Ren Boan replied hesitantly: “Su Dushi, I know Shao Jian has these two booklets because I accidentally learned a big secret of his.

This time I also tried to follow this secret and found it unexpectedly. It can be said to be God’s will. “

“God’s will? Well, it doesn’t matter if you don’t want to tell me. Everyone has secrets. As long as it doesn’t delay the work, it’s fine. Old Ren, go meet your nephew’s husband as soon as possible.”

“Thank you, Su Du. I’ll take my leave now.”

Looking at Ren Boan’s back, Su Feng couldn’t help but mutter again, “What a talent.”

Su Feng picked up the “Biography of Officials” and “A Brief History of Thousands of Families”, read a few pages, and could not help cursing: “These officials, these damn famous scholars, they look like dogs, but they are all the same.

Someone comes. “

He called his confidants and asked them to copy two copies each of “Biographies of Officials” and “Brief Accounts of Thousands of Families”.

Then he picked up the pen and wrote a coded report.

In his report, Su Feng detailed the recent situation and the causes and consequences of obtaining “Biographies of Officials” and “Brief Accounts of Thousands of Families”, and praised Ren Boan with many words.

With so many eyes in the Jinyiwei, Ren Boan’s matter must have been reported through other channels.

If you conceal the truth and don’t report it, you will suffer the consequences.

Don’t forget that my nephew’s son-in-law has become a disciple of Mr. Hai and will definitely have a bright future.

Even if he wanted to take away Ren Boan’s credit, he couldn’t hide it, so it’s better to be generous.

Anyway, whoever gets the “Biographies of Officials” and “A Record of Thousands of Families” will be credited with a great achievement.

After writing the secret report, Su Feng called his confidant and told him earnestly: “Take four or three careful and reliable people, take this report and the original copies of the two booklets, and rush to the capital day and night to hand them over directly to the Jinyiwei Confidential Bureau.

Even if you lose your life on the road, you must not lose the reports and booklets, let alone show them to others.

Remember? “

“I’ll remember that.”

In the duty room of Nanhua Gate in Xiyuan, Beijing, Shen Jialiang and Zhou Muxian were restless.

They wore bullfighting suits and black hats, and sat on their seats carefully, looking left and right, and occasionally stretching the corners of their clothes, fearing that the clothes bestowed by the emperor would be wrinkled. When the Ming Federation of Industry and Commerce was established, Zhu Yijun not only wrote an inscription in person, but also granted official uniforms.

The chairman and vice chairman were both given bullfighting uniforms, and the directors were all given unicorn uniforms.

Although the four types of clothing, namely, the dragon robe, the flying fish robe, the bullfighting robe, and the unicorn robe, had been excessively granted since the Hongzhi reign, after Zhu Yijun ascended the throne, he issued a brief order to the cabinet and the Ministry of Rites to severely crack down on the wearing of clothing that exceeded the regulations.

Zhu Yijun recognized all the robes bestowed by the emperor on the ancestral temples and the divine temples. You could wear them however you wanted after they were registered and verified by the Ministry of Rites.

But if you still think as before that the law does not punish everyone and everyone breaks the rules and passes the law off, that won’t work.

Anyone caught will be severely punished.

Officials who violate the regulations by wearing clothes that exceed their official rank will be demoted one rank the first time they are caught, demoted two ranks the second time, and directly dismissed for the third time, and will never be employed again.

If you are not an official, but your direct relatives, such as your father, brothers, children or grandchildren, are officials, you may be considered to be violating the rules by relying on the power of your relatives.

If caught for the first time, the person will be imprisoned for one year, fined 100 silver dollars, and his immediate family members who are officials will be given a warning.

If caught a second time, the official would be sentenced to three years in prison, fined one thousand silver dollars, and his immediate family members would be demoted one level in rank.

When he was caught for the third time, he was exiled to the frontier, his property was confiscated, and his immediate family members were demoted three levels in rank.

If you feel that you have plenty of youth and money in your pocket, you can wander around wearing outdated clothes.

If you are not an official, and have no immediate relatives who are officials, then you are really the kind of person who is overwhelmed by vanity. You will be punished according to the second category.

There was a lot of discussion about this in the government and the country.

However, the Cabinet and the Censorate all agreed with Zhu Yijun’s words, saying that this was an opportunity and a means to change the country’s lax discipline and idleness.

However, while Zhu Yijun strictly enforced the official uniform laws, he also relaxed many regulations.

For example, merchants were not allowed to wear silk and satin, and students were required to wear the same clothes and hats as ordinary people.
Zhu Yijun simply drew a bottom line: royal colors such as ochre yellow and apricot yellow could not be used, no one could wear clothes similar to the emperor’s ceremonial, court, daily, and banquet clothes, and common people could not wear clothes similar to the ceremonial, court, official, and daily clothes of the royal family, nobles, civil and military officials.
You can’t even play the edge ball.

You cannot wear official uniforms of higher ranks. You must wear official uniforms that match your official rank.

More importantly, you cannot impersonate others to wear official uniforms or bestowed clothes. In other words, you cannot wear official uniforms without being an official, or wear bestowed clothes without being granted a gift. This is a serious crime and will be severely punished.

Sedan chairs were strictly restricted and inefficient. People were encouraged to ride in horse-drawn carriages.
The residential building standards have also been adjusted, relaxing many restrictions. Except for the height limit, there are no restrictions on the size and width of the building.

However, building a house must be reported to the local government.
The Ming Dynasty still needs the most basic dignity and hierarchy.

Rousseau could not shout that all men are born equal in Europe, nor could he say so in the Ming Dynasty.

If you dare to shout nonsense, you will immediately taste the iron fist of the Ming Dynasty.

Apart from those bottom lines, Zhu Yijun gradually relaxed many restrictions in the ancestral system on the food, accommodation and transportation of officials, common people, soldiers and civilians.

There is no point in having so many restrictions on daily life.

Now that the Ming Dynasty is developing industry and commerce and reviving the economy, the people have money now, and we must encourage them to spend generously, and spend all the money they earn. We can no longer hide silver and copper coins in the cellar as we did in the past.

How to stimulate consumption when there are so many restrictions in daily life?

The restrictions have been lifted, but everyone knows that the emperor will be stricter about bestowing clothing.

In the future, this kind of clothing, which is a gift of imperial grace and symbolizes glory, will become rare and precious.

Since the emperor ascended the throne, he has been very cautious in bestowing clothes. Only four ministers were given the dragon robe, and the flying fish, fighting bull and qilin robes were only given to those who had made great contributions.

Under such circumstances, bestowing robes on the chairman, vice chairman and directors of the Ming Federation of Industry and Commerce seemed earth-shattering.

Even the person involved himself didn’t dare to believe it.

Now that they are wearing the bestowed robes, they can only sigh and say that the emperor is really daring, and then feel very happy.

Shen Jialiang, Zhou Muxian and others knew that this might be a major turning point, and the status of merchants in the Ming Dynasty would undergo earth-shaking changes.

Yang Jinshui and Song Yingqing walked in together, followed by a eunuch.

“Come, everyone, come and meet the eunuch Chen, the chief eunuch of the Imperial Household Department.”

Shen Jialiang, Zhou Muxian and the others jumped up and quickly stood up, bowing and saying, “I am the humble servant, I greet Eunuch Chen.”

Everyone was talking at once, but no one called themselves common people.

Now that we are all wearing the robes bestowed by the Qilin, who still calls us common people? We can now be ranked among the common people and gentry of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Yijun now divided the most important writing room of the Imperial Household Department into the Left and Right Writing Rooms and the Proofreading Room.

The Left Bunkofang connected to the Cabinet, the Right Bunkofang connected to the military government, and the School Bunkofang was directly part of the Secretariat of the Advisory Bureau.

Chen Ju was in charge of the Left Writing Room as the eunuch in charge of writing, Li Chun was in charge of the Right Writing Room as the eunuch in charge of writing, and Qi Yan was in charge of the Proofreading Room as the eunuch in charge of writing.

When Eunuch Feng returns from Chengde, he will find that he only has the empty title of eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department, and the real power has been divided among them.

Chen Ju politely bowed and said, “Everyone, we are here to welcome you at the order of the Emperor. Please come in!”

“You are so polite, Eunuch Chen. Please come in, Eunuch Chen!” Song Yingqing spoke politely as the representative of everyone.

Chen Ju led the way in front. Song Yingqing and Yang Jinshui struggled for a while, and Song Yingqing was pushed to the second place by Yang Jinshui, lagging behind by half a body.

Song Yingqing is not only the chairman of the Federation of Industry and Commerce, but also the father of Concubine Song. Yang Jinshui knows the importance of this matter.

Next came the five vice-chairmen including Shen Jialiang and Zhou Muxian, and then the twenty-one directors, who were naturally arranged in order of seniority and age.

Everyone came to the Ziguang Pavilion, where Zhu Yijun, Hu Zongxian and three others were waiting for them in the hall.

“Your Highness, I pay you respect!”

After the ceremony, Zhu Yijun politely asked Song Yingqing, Shen Jialiang, Zhou Muxian and others to sit down in turn, with Hu Zongxian and four others sitting on his left and right.

Zhu Yijun asked in a amiable manner about the situation of the Federation of Industry and Commerce, and about the industrial and commercial development in Luanzhou, Taiyuan and Shanghai, and also gave some words of encouragement.

Half an hour later, when the normal reception process was about to end, Zhu Yijun said, “My dear lords, I will try something new with you next.”

Song Yingqing, Shen Jialiang, Zhou Muxian and others looked at each other in bewilderment. What was this new?
Food?
(End of this chapter)