The Ming Dynasty started with caution

Seeing someone appear in the palace corridor, Wang Qiong stood up hurriedly, dusted himself off, and looked noble.

If it gets to His Majesty's ears, it will inevitably tarnish his reputation.

His Majesty doesn't like flattering ministers.

Wang Qiong bowed solemnly: "This matter is a major event in the court, and secondly, I have just been promoted. I hope Lord Yan can help me?"

Yan Chengjin began to calculate.

The origin of the counterfeit currency is still unclear.

He is a second-rank official, and the change offends the interests of too many officials.

What if Wang Qiong set a trap for him to get involved, it is easy to capsize in the ditch.

Maybe he won't be beheaded, but now is the critical moment to accumulate strength to enter the cabinet.

"Why did Lord Wang think of me first? This is very suspicious."

"Although there is Chang Yuanxi in the Ministry of Justice, he is not as good as you in doing things. Don't think that I don't know." Wang Qiong flattered without leaving any trace.

Before meeting His Majesty, Wang Qiong walked and smiled calmly: "My dear nephew, your father and I are both students of Master Qiu Jun. Your father should have told you, right?"

Even if he didn't tell you, I will tell you now.

Yan Chengjin suddenly wanted to send Wang Qiong to Tatar. This person is very familiar with people and is like an old friend who has been chatting for more than ten years. He is a diplomatic talent.

When they arrived at Fengtian Hall, the eunuch went in to report.

Then Yan Chengjin walked into the hall first, and Wang Qiong hurriedly tidied his clothes and followed him into the hall.

Before he spoke, Emperor Hongzhi's face was gloomy, like a typhoon was coming, "I heard that there were one million taels of counterfeit coins in the tax silver of Tianjin Wei?"

Yan Chengjin lowered his head and said nothing.

It has nothing to do with him. Privately minting copper coins is a serious crime in any dynasty. According to Ming law, the punishment is exile for a thousand miles at the least and execution of the whole clan at the worst...

Wang Qiong said in a deep voice: "Reporting to Your Majesty, it is more than one million taels. If the Hongzhi silver notes are included, there are 1.3 million taels!"

As he said, he took out the silver notes from his arms.

The Hongzhi silver notes were issued by Yan Chengjin at the request of the court, and the Metropolitan Procuratorate supervised the production at the Baoyuan Bureau.

Yan Chengjin is guilty of negligence.

Otherwise, why did he go to Yan Chengjin first?

Yan Chengjin turned his head in surprise. He actually hid this old silver coin and only said it now.

Emperor Hongzhi's face was very complicated: "Can this be forged?"

The Hongzhi silver notes used two techniques: bright and dark printing.

And multiple colors are superimposed, and the pigments are extremely difficult to mix.

Xiao Jing presented the silver notes.

Wang Qiong, like a person who had nothing to do, handed a piece to Yan Chengjin with a smile: "Lord Yan, take a look too?

I'll tell you where to look.

There is no deviation in the color and pattern, but there is one less hidden mark in the left corner."

Yan Chengjin didn't see it, but after Wang Qiong pointed it out, he found that there was indeed one missing pattern when he raised it in the air.

"Wang Qiong is an honest official, but he was able to be promoted all the way during the periods of Liu Jin, Yang Tinghe, Jiajing, etc. He is really capable." He said secretly.

The material used is mulberry paper, which is moisture-proof and has a certain degree of fire resistance.

"How did Lord Wang see it?" Yan Chengjin said.

The more familiar you are with the Hongzhi silver note, the more likely you are to forge it.

This kid actually suspected him...Wang Qiong snorted and said, "This official counts silver notes every day, and often has physical contact, how could I not know!"

Emperor Hongzhi looked a little uneasy: "Send it to the cabinet and the nine ministers, and the painting champion!"

This is a big deal!

The face value of Hongzhi silver notes is huge. In one note, there are 100 or 500 taels, which can buy a lot of commercial goods.

I wonder how many of them are circulated in the market?

If the villains use them to buy commercial goods and then sell them, they will become real coins.

A moment later, Li Dongyang and others arrived one after another.

He took the counterfeit coins from Wang Qiong and looked at them carefully. It was incredible!

Wu Wei, the top painter, was amazed and shook his head: "What a great painting skill!"

It was really painted?

Emperor Hongzhi and all the officials were secretly shocked. They didn't expect that there would be such a strange person in the market.

Yan Chengjin deeply agreed that the painter could even draw the visual effect of the third brother on paper.

Some people even drew the banknote version with their painting skills.

But the dark seal is the most difficult to draw, no wonder there is a head missing.

Chai Sheng looked at Yan Chengjin and frowned: "Master Yan, you advised and ordered people to supervise the production of Hongzhi banknotes, right?"

Yan Chengjin carefully calculated, but did not answer, fearing to give Chai Sheng a chance to continue to argue.

Chai Sheng was holding back a lot of words and was slightly annoyed: "Master Yan?"

There was silence in the hall.

Yan Chengjin seemed to be in deep thought.

Anyway, he didn't speak, and it was others who were embarrassed.

Li Dongyang's face twitched, and he said: "Let's discuss how to deal with this matter first. How many counterfeit bills have been circulated?"

"More than 300,000 taels!" Wang Qiong said.

Such a huge number!

It means that this thief expected that he would be discovered by the court and released all the counterfeit money at once.

Yan Chengjin thought to himself.

The information of the Ming Dynasty was not circulated. People all over the world knew that the Hongzhi silver bills were issued, but they didn't know what the Hongzhi silver bills looked like.

Using the information gap, you can make a lot of money.

This should have been considered when the Hongzhi silver bills were issued.

Emperor Hongzhi remained calm: "The Ministry of Revenue is in charge of overseas tax silver, and it is responsible for negligence! The Censorate is also responsible for negligence!

I will not punish you first, you should make up for your mistakes. Chang Yuanxi from the Ministry of Justice will assist the Ministry of Revenue in a thorough investigation!"

The Ministry of Works is the most familiar with silver.

The second is the Ministry of Revenue.

But the Ministry of Revenue, which collected tax silver at the border, failed to recognize counterfeit coins. They are all good-for-nothings!

"Your Majesty!"

"Your Majesty!"

Wang Qiong was grateful that His Majesty did not punish him and gave him a chance to make amends.

This pot should have been on Lord Han...

After leaving Fengtian Palace, he asked for leave from the duty room and went directly to Han's house.

When he arrived at Han's house, he walked into the bedroom without caring that Han Wen had a sore.

"How is the relationship between Lord Han and Yan Chengjin?"

Seeing Wang Qiong come to see him, Han Wen was happy in his heart. His illness had recovered for the most part and his face was good: "No relationship."

"..."Wang Qiong.

This boy is on guard against everyone. In addition to His Majesty, only His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is close to him.

"The customs duties of Tianjin Customs Bureau have been recovered.

There are more than one million taels of counterfeit currency, and I am afraid there are more. I don't know where they are flowing. We must recover them as soon as possible." Wang Qiong sighed.

Han Wen's face changed slightly, thinking back and forth: "Private casting technology appeared in Jiangnan during the Song Dynasty, and there are many people in Jiangnan with superb painting skills."

"I know this too." Wang Qiong said: "But your majesty is anxious. If it circulates for one day, it will be greatly damaged."

After the shift, he returned to Yan's house.

Yan Chengjin sat in the main hall.

Li Qing'e brought a cup of tea and massaged his shoulders.

"Husband, Qing'e has something to tell you?"

"Let's talk about it another day. I have something on my mind and I'm afraid it will ruin your mood."

"Yes."

Yan Chengjin frowned. The Chamber of Commerce has huge transactions and there are also counterfeit coins.

If the court abolishes the Hongzhi silver notes for this reason, it will be like the Ming Baochao.

Yan Chengjin asked Wang Bushui to find it and handed the copper coin to him: "Where did this copper coin come from?"

Wang Bushui looked embarrassed and said: "Master, isn't this a copper coin from Baoyuan Bureau?"

"It's a counterfeit coin."

Wang Bushui looked at it again, but couldn't see the difference, "Then can I help you check it?"

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