Zhong Jinwei was stunned when he heard this. Is Zhou Yanru's urgent report true? In this case, those people from the Nanjing Branch of the Royal Bank of Ming Dynasty really had their heads caught in the door. They actually thought that nothing would happen if they behaved so recklessly. Or were they themselves?
Don’t want to live anymore?
Wen Tiren had different ideas from Zhong Jinwei. After all, he had a much better grasp of Emperor Chongzhen than Zhong Jinwei. If Dongchang's urgent report was the same as Zhou Yanru's, it would be impossible to repeat what he said was a bold and unreasonable act.
Sure enough, after Emperor Chongzhen read the last part of the Dongchang Urgent Report, he motioned to Wang Chengen to forward the Dongchang Urgent Report to Zhong Jinwei and Wen Tiren, and shouted angrily: "Zhou Yanru has disappointed me so much. How could he alone?"
Mr. Ge can cover the sky in Jiangnan with one hand!"
When Wen Tiren heard this, he felt happy. The emperor ignored the etiquette and called Zhou Yanru by his name, which showed that he was very angry. It seems that Zhou Yanru must have made false statements in his previous emergency report and committed the crime of deceiving the emperor. Otherwise,
It is impossible for the emperor to say that he can cover the sky with one hand.
Thinking of this, he felt relieved. It was obvious that there could be no trouble with the Ming Royal Bank's achievements.
However, Wen Tiren still pretended to be very concerned and said: "Your Majesty, isn't the truth about the Nanjing Civil War what Yu Sheng said?"
Emperor Chongzhen turned livid with anger and said in a loud voice: "He confuses right and wrong and acts arbitrarily. I will never forgive him lightly!"
At this point, he saw that Wen Tiren still had a puzzled expression, so he explained: "The descriptions in his urgent report and Dongchang's urgent report are completely different. This is caused by someone instigating rumors and causing trouble. I must punish him severely."
At this time, Zhong Jinwei had already read the emergency report, handed the information in his hand to Wen Tiren, and then said to Emperor Chongzhen with some doubts: "Your Majesty, don't there also be six departments in Nanjing, as well as Yingtian Mansion? How come they don't care about anything?
Are those people making trouble?"
"Humph, I see that it is Zhou Yanru who, as the elder of the cabinet, suppresses the local officials." Emperor Chongzhen was not an idiot. After comparing the two sides of the urgent report, he had an idea.
This is because the officials in Nanjing are basically idle posts, used for pension purposes, and have no real power. Zhou Yanru is an assistant minister in the cabinet of the capital and has real power. If there is a dispute, Zhou Yanru must be respected.
Wen Tiren had already read Dongchang's emergency report and understood the whole thing in his mind.
It turned out that when the Nanjing Branch of the Royal Bank of Ming Dynasty was established and ordered banks in Nanjing to hand over reserves and prepare to verify the accounts of each bank, something suddenly happened.
First, many big-character posters appeared in the streets and alleys, saying how people in the Nanjing Branch had done evil things. Then some members gathered together to criticize their evil deeds and spread false statements.
Finally, under the leadership of many students, they led the bank's employees, family members and ordinary people who did not know the truth. Tens of thousands of people went to the Nanjing branch to cause trouble. They even burned down the Nanjing branch and beat to death two employees who had no time to escape.
.
Originally, officials in Nanjing were discussing setting up a bank similar to the People's Bank of China, but they heard the news of the uprising.
They are no strangers to incidents where members of the army take the lead in making trouble, because it is not uncommon in the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty, especially in the Jiangnan region. However, the scale was not so large and serious in the past.
Except for the time when Emperor Wanli sent mining envoys to mine and collect taxes, there was a riot. Because what Emperor Wanli did at that time touched the interests of everyone, not only the workers, but also local officials were opposed to it, so there was a riot at that time.
The people even killed the mining envoy and his men, and burned the governor's office, but nothing happened.
This time, the Nanjing Branch of the Royal Bank of Ming Dynasty only affected the bank, and officials could also benefit from it, so local officials did not object.
They originally wanted to send troops to disperse the civil uprising when it first broke out, but they were suppressed by Zhou Yanru, who said that it was not good to do so. Killing soldiers and entrapping Confucianism is not something we Confucian disciples can do.
The local government ignored it, and the scholars became more violent, eventually reaching such a large scale and causing serious consequences. Of course, the Nanjing Branch of the Royal Bank was responsible for these serious consequences.
After reading the emergency report, Wen Tiren felt a little hesitant. This matter was really difficult to handle.
Because there was a precedent, the mine incident that year was a hundred times more violent than this, larger in scale, and involved many places. The final result was that Emperor Wanli gained notoriety, the mine was taken back, and the people who caused the trouble were just symbolic
Kill a few to end.
Everyone in the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty came from Shengyuan. If you first propose to deal with Shengyuan, you will be criticized by others.
Wen Tiren couldn't help but fell silent when he thought of this.
However, there were also people in the official circles of the Ming Dynasty who were not from Shengyuan. There was one in the Wenhua Hall at this time. He reported to Emperor Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, this matter must be severely punished. How can there be such a lawless person? If so,
Who will serve the imperial court in the future? In the future, when those students are unhappy, they will rise up and cause trouble. Will there be any law for the king? Where is the justice for the two people they beat to death?"
Emperor Chongzhen nodded when he heard this. He was young and energetic, and he thought like Zhong Jinwei. He would not easily bypass those who dared to openly oppose the imperial court.
Now that he saw that Zhong Jinwei also supported him, he agreed: "Master Zhong is right. If a prince breaks the law, he will be guilty of the same crime as the common people, let alone a mere scholar."
Having said this, he turned to Wen Tiren and ordered: "Qing Wen, this matter must be dealt with strictly. The cabinet has drafted an order to bring Zhou Yanru to Beijing for questioning. Local officials in Nanjing who have failed in their duties will be dismissed from their posts on the spot, and there are also divisions to arrest the troublemaking scholars."
Zhong Jinwei nodded upon hearing this. These measures were taken in accordance with the law and were considered fair.
Unexpectedly, Wen Tiren hesitated for a while, but then advised: "Your Majesty, you must be cautious about this matter. The Nanjing Civil War involved many members, as well as local officials, and even an assistant minister of the current cabinet. At present, there are only
Two urgent reports, the truth of the matter remains to be found out."
Wen Tiren is an old man, and he cannot be wrong.
After all, this matter involves a wide range of things. It is unjustifiable to deny the emergency report of the cabinet minister based on a brief report from Dongchang that describes the incident. At least there must be evidence. Otherwise, it will be forcibly passed by the cabinet.
Emperor Chongzhen's will was very likely to be rejected by those in the matter.
Wang Chengen was a little angry when he heard this, but he did not say anything. Civil servants and factory guards did not deal with it for a day or two. Moreover, this emergency report was indeed as the chief minister said, except for a large letter that was peeled off the street.
There was no other evidence, just a description of what happened.
Emperor Chongzhen calmed down after hearing Wen Tiren's words.
He believed the contents of the urgent report from Dongchang, but the officials in the capital did not necessarily believe it. If he punished the cabinet ministers, Nanjing officials and scholars based on the empty words of Dongchang, he would probably encounter great resistance.
Zhong Jinwei also frowned. They were all in the capital, and they only listened to people talking outside. It was indeed not easy to get the truth.
He thought for a moment, and when he was about to give Emperor Chongzhen an idea, another voice came from outside the palace: "There is an urgent delivery from Nanjing 800 miles away from Dongchang!"