One thousand three hundred taels of silver, perhaps, would be insignificant in the eyes of the deaf and blind old dog Qianlong, and Heshen and Zhongtang.
Compared to the figure of eight hundred million taels, even calling this more than a thousand taels of silver a drop in the ocean would be an insult to Heshen and Zhongtang.
However, this more than a thousand taels of silver was enough to send Magistrate Xu Yaozong to the execution ground.
Ke Zhiming continued to report Xu Yaozong's information: "Xu Yaozong, ancestral home in Lanling, born in the twenty-eighth year of Qianlong's reign, parents both deceased by the thirty-third year of Qianlong's reign, raised by the community since childhood."
"In the forty-eighth year of Qianlong's reign, upon hearing the Emperor's call to arms, Xu Yaozong voluntarily joined the army from Jade Emperor Mountain. He participated in the Battle of Anjiazhuang, the second encirclement and suppression of the anti-Ming forces, the Battle of Denglai, the Battle of Jinan Prefecture, and was honorably discharged due to injury after the Battle of Jiaozhi."
"According to the provisions of the 'Great Ming Law, Military Law, Discharge,' Xu Yaozong was assigned to serve in the Yongcheng County yamen after his discharge, holding the position of Commander of the Imperial Guard in Yongcheng County. He subsequently solved numerous cases and was promoted to Magistrate of Yongcheng County in the ninth year of the Sacred Emperor's reign."
"Prior to this, Xu Yaozong had no record of corruption. Upon taking office, he was upright and never accepted any banquets. The root of his change began in January of the tenth year of the Sacred Emperor's reign when he married."
"According to reports from the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Xu Yaozong's wife is the daughter of the local wealthy merchant Gao Dajin. It was only after marrying that Xu Yaozong's interactions with Gao Dajin became closer, repeatedly using his position to facilitate matters for Gao Dajin. The money he embezzled was all gifts from Gao Dajin under various pretexts after he received favors. The remaining eight hundred taels were mostly received by Xu Yaozong's wife."
"The Yongcheng Censorate and the Guide Prefecture Censorate had summoned Xu Yaozong for questioning, but Xu Yaozong adamantly asserted that the favors he provided to Gao Dajin were within the regulations of the Great Ming Law, and accepting money from Gao Dajin did not constitute corruption."
"Furthermore, Xu Yaozong's attitude in the Yongcheng Censorate and Guide Prefecture Censorate was extremely arrogant and deplorable. He claimed that he had fought alongside His Majesty against the Jurchens and was now being suspected of corruption by the Censorate, repeatedly demanding to appeal to the capital."
"It was precisely due to these concerns that the Yongcheng and Guide Prefecture Censorates held back, only requesting the Embroidered Uniform Guard stationed in Yongcheng to assist in gathering evidence of Xu Yaozong's corruption."
Zhu Jinsong grunted expressionlessly and continued to ask, "And what about Gao Dajin?"
Ke Zhiming bowed and replied, "Gao Dajin, ancestral home in Yongcheng, born in the second year of Qianlong's reign, obtained his Jinshi degree in the thirty-third year of Qianlong's reign. He has a son named Gao Xiaosong, born in the thirty-eighth year of Qianlong's reign, and a daughter, born in the fortieth year of Qianlong's reign."
"Gao Dajin's ancestors once produced Jinshi scholars, making them a family of scholars and farmers. Their family was quite well-off, and over several generations, they accumulated a considerable amount of land."
"Before His Majesty's forces entered Guide Prefecture, Gao Dajin voluntarily sold all his family's land to his tenants. For those tenants who had no surplus grain, Gao Dajin actively lent them money without interest, earning him the reputation of a benevolent benefactor. After Guide Prefecture was liberated, the Farmers' Association began to crack down on corrupt gentry, and Gao Dajin managed to evade them with the protection of his tenants."
"After marrying his daughter to Xu Yaozong, Gao Dajin established workshops. Additionally, Gao Dajin proposed to change the working hours from four shichen to five shichen, offering double wages for the extra hour."
"Following Gao Dajin's lead, all other workshops in Yongcheng began to respond. Coupled with Xu Yaozong's intention to submit a memorial requesting the implementation of this policy, there is now deep conflict between the people of Yongcheng and the guilds."
Hearing this, Zhu Jinsong's expression gradually turned grim. With a cold laugh, he said nothing further.
One had to admit that Gao Dajin's move was indeed clever.
Would the court agree to this arrangement or not?
If they agreed, it would mean the court had made a concession.
Capital was always like this; if you gave them even a small opening, they would try to blow it wide open.
Once the court made a concession and agreed to extend working hours by increasing wages, they would then find ways to occupy more rest time.
If the court made another concession, it was likely they would then try to reduce wages, find ways to turn double-paid overtime into unpaid overtime, then occupy even more of the workers' rest time, and after that, they would reach out to the court.
The problem was, if the court disagreed with Gao Dajin and Xu Yaozong's proposal, they would adopt a different demeanor – "Look, we are willing to increase wages, but the court disagrees, and the court does not allow you to earn more money. This cannot be blamed on us."
This would affect the court's image in the eyes of the people.
But from another perspective, one could understand the true nature of these capitalists.
Why use double wages to incentivize workers to increase their working hours?
Because this could save on labor costs by compressing the same amount of work onto fewer workers.
What was even more infuriating was that this seemingly fair practice was a form of chronic bloodletting for the court – originally, the same amount of work could support a hundred workers, but after the implementation of overtime, it could only support eighty workers. What would happen to the extra twenty workers?
Would capitalists care about the fate of these twenty workers?
No.
Everything was masked by the higher incomes of those eighty workers compared to before.
Those eighty workers with increased incomes would loyally support this overtime system, and perhaps mock those twenty abandoned workers, even shamelessly accusing those twenty workers of lacking ambition, of being destined to be couch potatoes forever, and of never being able to live a good life.
Of course, the existence of capital was not entirely without merit. Besides leeching, capital was somewhat useful in promoting productivity.
Zhu Jinsong had never intended to eradicate all capitalists, but those capitalists who dared to try and ride roughshod over the court had to be eradicated.
If they were not eradicated, these scoundrels would become more emboldened over time. They would reach for the last coin in the people's pockets, they would reach for the court, and they would also conveniently dump all the blame onto the court.
It was not until they had ambled all the way to Yongcheng County town that Zhu Jinsong asked, "Are preparations complete?"
Ke Zhiming cupped his hands and replied, "Your Majesty, all preparations are in place. The Embroidered Uniform Guard has already infiltrated the vicinity of the county yamen. The members of the Tiandihui are also in position near Gao Dajin's residence, and a thousand Imperial Guards have entered the city."
Zhu Jinsong grunted, then took the lead towards the county yamen. Upon arriving at the yamen gate, he picked up the drumstick and struck the drum of grievance.
Truth be told, the drum of grievance in the Great Ming Dynasty was more of a symbolic item – although the magistrate was the head of the county, he was no longer responsible for financial matters, criminal cases, corvée labor, and other miscellaneous affairs. He was more of a general administrator of the entire county's governance. As for those who wished to appeal for justice or report a crime, they would generally head directly to the Imperial Guard yamen and would not come to the county yamen to beat the drum of grievance.
Therefore, when Zhu Jinsong forcefully beat the drum of grievance, the entire Yongcheng County yamen was alerted. The yamen runners quickly came out to take their posts, and Magistrate Xu Yaozong hastily changed into his official robes, preparing to ascend the dais.
However, as soon as the gavel struck, before he could ask who was present, the renowned Magistrate Xu Yaozong of Yongcheng County scrambled down from the hall, rushed to Zhu Jinsong, and shouted, "Boss!"
This exclamation of "Boss!" reminded Zhu Jinsong of their days on Jade Emperor Mountain and Menglianggu.
Xu Yaozong before him was one of the earliest old brothers who had come to join him on Jade Emperor Mountain. Zhu Jinsong had some impression of him.
However, the more he remembered, the deeper Zhu Jinsong's anger grew.
"Good, good, good!"
Zhu Jinsong gritted his teeth and squeezed out three "goods" from his mouth, then slapped Xu Yaozong across the face, scolding, "You useless thing!"
Xu Yaozong was stunned by the blow. He covered his face, stood there blankly for a moment, then foolishly asked, "Boss, where did I go wrong? Please calm yourself and don't hurt your health."
Zhu Jinsong's anger intensified. He kicked Xu Yaozong to the ground, then proceeded to kick him repeatedly, saying, "You son of a bitch, where did you go wrong? You did nothing wrong!"
"Son of a bitch, you came to Jade Emperor Mountain claiming you wanted to fight the Jurchens with us and bring good lives to all the common people under heaven. Do you still remember that promise!"
"Damn it, I let you join the army, and you earned merits, and you were never shortchanged on rewards. When you could no longer fight, the court assigned you to a local post as commander of the Imperial Guard, and you can't say that I and the court treated you poorly, right!"
"But look at you, you son of a bitch, is this how you serve as an official? Is this what you call bringing good lives to the common people?"
Xu Yaozong curled up into a ball, shielding his head with both hands, taking the blows and crying out, "No, Boss, you can kill me, and I won't utter a word of complaint, but at least tell me why!"
Zhu Jinsong stopped, panting, and looked at Xu Yaozong, saying, "Get up!"
Xu Yaozong continued to shield his head, saying, "I won't get up! Boss, if you want to hit me, hit me properly. Don't get angry because of me. I only beg you to tell me why I'm being beaten today!"
Zhu Jinsong snorted coldly, allowing Xu Yaozong to remain on the ground, and asked exhaustedly, "I ask you, you son of a bitch, did you get married, and is your father-in-law Gao Dajin?"
Seeing that Zhu Jinsong had stopped kicking, Xu Yaozong surprisingly scrambled up from the ground, and with a fawning smile, said, "How did Boss know? Thanks to Boss's blessings, my father-in-law's family comes from a scholarly background. My wife is also beautiful and learned. If I can marry such a wife, my ancestors' graves must be emitting auspicious smoke."
With a thud, Zhu Jinsong kicked Xu Yaozong down again: "Emitting auspicious smoke? I fear your ancestors' graves are billowing with smoke! You dolt, can't you understand what's good or bad!"
After scolding him, Zhu Jinsong simply asked Ke Zhiming to bring a stool over. Sitting down, he glared at Xu Yaozong and said, "I ask you, are you planning to submit a memorial requesting that workshop owners be allowed to extend workers' working hours by increasing wages?"
Xu Yaozong replied dazedly, "Yes, Boss, how did you know? I figured that regardless of what the workshop owners think, at least the workers can earn a little more money and buy a bit more meat for their children. Isn't that good?"
"Oh, and this was my father-in-law's idea. Fortunately..."
At this point, Xu Yaozong suddenly stopped.
Zhu Jinsong let out a cold laugh, "Fortunately what? Continue speaking, I'm waiting to hear!"
Xu Yaozong thought to himself, "I may be a bit foolish, but that's only in front of Boss. I'm not an idiot."
Xu Yaozong did not continue speaking, but instead tentatively asked, "Boss, is there something wrong with this?"