The Revolt of the Three Feudatories: All-in at the start in Beijing

Chapter 142 Ouyang Jing: Your Majesty, I'm making money

Hearing the teasing tone in Liu Mu's words, Ouyang Jing recovered from his daze, but said in a low voice:

"Your Majesty, the entire Fan family has moved to the inner city and purchased the largest three-courtyard house there. My visit to Zhuangyuanlou for tea is a pre-arranged agreement with Commander Pan Feng!"

"This Scholar's Pavilion will not accept my money!"

Uh... Is this another attempt to rip off big spenders?

However, this kind of joint action by the Ministry of Justice to kill wealthy households is not a new thing in all dynasties. Not to mention Emperor Wu of Han and Zhu Yuanzhang, there was also the most severe father of the capitalist Roosevelt, who really made a big show of killing.

Just like Mei Changsu in Nirvana in Fire, who had so much money and was known as the "Kirin Talent," if this were in the Han Dynasty, Liu Mu would be the first to take advantage of him completely.

All great empires, from beginning to end, revolve around one thing: whether the court has enough money and whether the emperor is powerful enough, also depends on the ability to make money.

Moreover, they can't be blamed for this; they were forced into it by Liu Mu. The palace needed repairs, the expansion of academies across the country needed money, and even the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Rites needed to spend money.

The main reason why the imperial court was short of money was that the entire Han Dynasty had already adjusted its tax system, restoring it to the standard of the mid-Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, where a farmer paid about five cents of silver per year.

With such low taxes, as long as people own their own land, their lives will soon improve.

The previous periods, from the Shunzhi to the Kangxi reigns, were truly ruthless. The tax rate was the same as that of the late Ming Dynasty, a full three qian of silver per year. People were also forbidden from moving around, so it was a problem for the people to even survive.

However, the Fan family of Shanxi has indeed reached the point of discarding them after they have served their purpose, since keeping them around would only result in losses and no benefits.

However, the Fan family had helped him a lot, so he shouldn't be so ruthless. With that thought, Liu Mu waved his hand.

"The Fan family has already fallen into the trap, but after all, they have rendered meritorious service to our Han Dynasty, so let's not exterminate them!"

After a moment of silence, Liu Mu spoke again:

"How about this? After they hand over their ill-gotten gains, we'll send the entire Fan family, including the collateral branches, to Bhutan. The climate there is warm, so the Fan family can flourish and prosper there!"

Hearing Liu Mu's words, Ouyang Jing almost vomited. Now that they haven't taken over Sichuan and Yunnan, they have to go through the Tibetan Plateau to get to Bhutan. It's as if they hate that the Fan family didn't die quickly or thoroughly enough.

However, "better to die than to die," Ouyang Jing didn't care about that, and simply took out a piece of intelligence from his pocket.

"Fan Xian, the eldest son of the Fan family patriarch, was in His Majesty's private room earlier; he's a complete wastrel!"

"Back in the Ministry of Works, this son, using his father's name, contracted to clean up the silt in the Wuding River. Three months have passed, and he's been indulging in a life of luxury, but the Wuding River project hasn't even started. Looks like he's already spent all his money!"

"As soon as the construction deadline is tomorrow, Commander Pan Feng will lead his men to make the arrest, and the Ministry of Justice will cooperate!"

Upon hearing this, Liu Mu stopped asking questions and continued drinking hot tea and eating fried peanuts.

The emperor's reputation can be bad, but it can't be too bad, otherwise it will cause social unrest. So he won't get involved in such matters, and the ministers will also operate from behind the scenes and won't take the initiative to step forward.

Otherwise, the emperor needs someone to take the blame.

Are you suggesting that a high-ranking official should carry this burden?

After eating and drinking his fill, Liu Mu left Zhuangyuanlou, having spent a full ten taels of silver, which was considered extremely extravagant.

……

The next morning, Pan Feng, dressed in a mink coat and wearing a red-tasseled helmet, led two hundred heavily armed Imperial City Guard soldiers to surround the Fan residence, which had only been occupied for two months.

The old man guarding the gate, seeing so many soldiers arrive, tried to ring the alarm bell, but Pan Feng chopped off his hand with a single stroke.

"After entering the mansion, no one is allowed to touch anything or any of the female members of the household. All the male members must gather in the main courtyard."

After giving the order, Pan Feng sat down on the bench at the gate. He crossed his legs, looking quite relaxed.

There are now more than three thousand wealthy households in this inner city. Because the emperor relocated their assets, the amount has been increased to five thousand taels, but this level still makes them extremely wealthy.

These people, once they moved to the capital, would be arrested by the Imperial City Guard if they committed any wrongdoing. The Ministry of Justice would then swiftly convict them, and their entire families would be exiled to frontier garrisons.

In this way, Pan Feng has already dealt with more than 300 companies.

How can one become proficient?

However, these people could not do anything except behave themselves, because the garrisons in the north had already taken root and sprouted, and the people's hearts were with the Han!

In less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, all seventy-odd direct descendants of the Fan family were arrested and brought to the compound. Fan Sanbo, the head of the Fan family, was even dragged out of his bedroom by soldiers of the Imperial City Guard while he was still asleep.

Seeing his family being treated like prisoners, Fan Sanbo still couldn't accept it, so he looked at Pan Feng, the leader.

"My lord, why is this happening? Why is this happening?!"

"My Fan family was sent to the capital by imperial decree to receive our titles!"

Pan Feng shook his head upon hearing this. "The six ministers plus the new Ministry of Education are all targeting your Fan family. Even if you are His Majesty's father-in-law, you'll still have to suffer a lot."

Thinking of this, Pan Feng took out the Ministry of Justice's approval document.

"Fan Xian of the Fan family, under the pretext of dredging the Wuding River, obtained three thousand taels of silver from the Ministry of Works. According to the laws of this dynasty, all such funds must be confiscated and he will be handed over to the Ministry of Justice for prosecution!"

Upon hearing this, Fan Sanbo suddenly looked to the side at Fan Xian, who was disheveled and covered in rouge marks.

"You unfilial son, two hundred taels of silver a month isn't enough for your expenses? Where do you think you are?"

Spoiled Fan Xian didn't care when he heard this.

"It's definitely not enough. It's only three thousand taels. Does the Fan family lack such a small amount of money? You can make up the difference for them later!"

Although Fan Sanbo was trembling with anger upon hearing this, he looked at Fan Li beside him, hoping that his resourceful sixth brother could come up with some ideas.

However, Fan Li saw through the truth and his face turned ashen. He simply glanced at Fan Sanbo indifferently.

"Brother, over a hundred households have been raided in the past two months. Can't you see that my Fan family has also been targeted by those with ulterior motives? This time, we're probably doomed!"

"I only beg Your Majesty to grant my Fan family a chance to survive!"

Upon hearing this, Fan Sanbo was immediately thrown into a state of panic and lost all interest in educating his son. Judging from the families he knew, there was a high chance that he would be exiled to Jilin this time.

Seeing the Fan family members suddenly become dejected, Pan Feng knew they had figured things out, so she waved her hand.

"Take them all!"

……

At noon, Liu Mu came to the Hall of Mental Cultivation from the inner palace. Instead of immediately reviewing the memorials, he wielded an eighty-pound Guan Dao (a type of halberd). He believed that good health and longevity were the ultimate secrets of being an emperor.

After swinging his arms more than thirty times, Liu Mu, shirtless, sat down on a stone stool and looked at the kneeling scholar. A palace maid immediately stepped forward to wipe his sweat.

Ouyang Jing carried a large pile of things into the courtyard, humming a little tune as he walked, clearly in a very good mood.

"Your Majesty, great joy! Great joy!"