Being beaten makes people grow, the ancients were right.
After being slapped in the face twice in a row, Eunuch Qian grew up. He understood that the young magistrate Zhu Ping'an sitting opposite him was different from the local officials he had met before. His own name, his godfather's name, and even the name of the emperor could not scare him. This was a ruthless man, a ruthless man with a young and honest face. After realizing how powerful Zhu Ping'an was, Eunuch Qian became much more honest. He dared not threaten or provoke him anymore. He was like a vicious dog that had been beaten by a violent black bear. He shrank into the corner and put away his claws.
"Are you Qianxu, the buyer of this pearl contract?" Zhu Ping'an asked Eunuch Qian while holding the contract.
With his lips swollen and painful, Eunuch Qian pointed at County Magistrate Zhang, Chief Secretary Yao and others and said incoherently, "We are willing to do this, and they can all testify for me. I even paid one tael of silver."
"Hehe, we can testify. It was Old Man Liu who voluntarily sold it to Eunuch Qian." County Magistrate Zhang and others said.
"Bullshit, you damn robbers! You beat me for a long time and forced me to sell the pearls at a low price. I never agreed, and in the end you grabbed my hand and made me put my fingerprints on the contract." Upon hearing this, Old Man Liu was so angry that he trembled all over. He couldn't help but spit a mouthful of thick phlegm at Eunuch Qian and others, and said with tears in his eyes.
"Is this what you call mutual consent?!" Zhu Ping'an pointed at Old Man Liu and sneered at the excuses of Qianxu and others.
"Where are the pearls you stole?" Zhu Ping'an asked again.
Qianxu remained silent. He really cared about this pearl. This big pearl with such good quality was the best pearl he had ever gotten since leaving Beijing. Whether he could beat that bitch Xiao Liuzi and satisfy his godfather all depended on this pearl. He would not give up as long as there was a way.
Naturally, County Magistrate Zhang and others would not speak.
"Search for me!"
Zhu Ping'an glanced at Eunuch Qian and others, and directly ordered the yamen runners to search the gift items of Eunuch Qian and others.
"How dare you! We are working for His Majesty, purchasing pearls. If you dare to search our luggage, it would be disrespectful to His Majesty..." A young eunuch stepped forward bravely to stop them.
"Haha, you actually dare to use the emperor's name to cheat people. Come, slap him in the face." Zhu Ping'an sneered.
Soon the young eunuch also began to enjoy the treatment of Eunuch Qian.
The search continues.
You don’t know until you search, and once you search it, you will be shocked and unbelievable.
Eunuch Qian was simply a treasure boy, no, a treasure eunuch, he was simply a mobile treasure house. In Eunuch Qian's bag, not only were Liu Laohan's pearls found, but also 8,600 taels of silver notes, 1,580 taels of horseshoe-shaped silver ingots, 1,000 taels of official silver inscribed with the word "Taicang", about 223 taels of loose silver, two house deeds, 300 mu of land deeds, 13 rare calligraphy and paintings, three pairs of antique vases, 12 jade pendants, and a small jar of pearls.
The other eunuchs were also wealthy. From their luggage, we found 600 taels of silver notes, 123 taels of loose silver, deeds for 120 acres of land, and six jade pendants.
Seeing so many hidden treasures being seized, Zhu Ping'an looked at Eunuch Qian and others with an even more unfriendly look.
In fact, Zhu Ping'an also knew the identities of Eunuch Qian and others, and knew that what they said was true. They were responsible for purchasing pearls.
They were responsible for purchasing pearls, so the one thousand taels of Taicang official silver in their gift could be said to be public funds for purchasing pearls, and that small jar of pearls could also be said to be the pearls they purchased. As for the other silver bills, silver ingots, house deeds, land deeds, jade pendants, antiques, calligraphy and paintings, vases, etc., they were all plundered by them by abusing their power and put into their own pockets.
No wonder the History of Ming Dynasty said: "The eunuchs, both high and low, were engaged in corruption and debauchery, sucking the marrow and drinking the blood to provide tribute. Generally, less than one-tenth of the money went into the public treasury, while the world was in desolation and all the people were suffering." These eunuchs who left the palace, through various means, collected wealth, and 90% of it went into their own pockets, and less than one-tenth was deposited into the national treasury.
This bunch of parasites are killing the country!
"Old man, which of these pearls are yours?" Zhu Ping'an helped Old Man Liu up and asked him to identify them.
"This is my pearl. There is a word 'Liu' engraved on it inside the pearl box."
Old Man Liu recognized his family's heirloom pearls at a glance.
Zhu Ping'an opened the box and found that there was indeed a character "Liu" inside, confirming that it was indeed Old Man Liu's.
Zhu Pingan took out the pearl, came to Eunuch Qian, and sneered, "This pearl weighs about three qian, is round in shape, and has a delicate color. It also has a yellow halo the size of a soybean... When I lived in the Linhuai Marquis Mansion in the capital, I also saw a similar pearl. The size and color are similar to this one, but the shape is not as round as this pearl. Its market value is 1,100 taels of silver. You actually priced it at one tael?! Haha, if this is not robbery and forced buying and selling, what else can it be?!"
"He sold it to me voluntarily..." Eunuch Qian didn't dare to look Zhu Ping'an in the eye, and he was powerless to argue.
"Huh? There are documentary evidence, physical evidence, and witness testimony here, and you still dare to talk nonsense?" Zhu Ping'an curled the corner of his mouth.
A good man never suffers a loss in front of him! When Eunuch Qian saw Zhu Ping'an's unfriendly look, he immediately became timid, lowered his head and stopped quibbling.
"What's the matter with so many stolen goods?" Zhu Ping'an pointed at the valuables that had been searched out and asked Eunuch Qian.
"I went out of the capital to buy pearls, and these were given to me voluntarily by local officials along the way," replied Eunuch Qian.
"Oh, now that you've said that, your identity is undoubtedly a fake. If you were ordered to buy pearls, then after leaving the capital, you would have done your job honestly, buying pearls. How could you cheat local officials like you did, demanding silver bills, house deeds, land deeds, antiques, calligraphy and paintings, vases, jade pendants and other stolen goods, and robbing innocent people! Not only have you slandered the word "imperial messenger", you've also brought discredit to the emperor! Come, take this fake imperial messenger, this swindler, this robbing villain, and his followers away, and give them sixty lashes of the cane!"
Zhu Ping'an sneered, using his own spear to attack his shield, refutating Eunuch Qian with Eunuch Qian's words, and gave orders to the yamen runners.
Liu Dadao led several yamen runners forward and pinned Eunuch Qian to the ground. The other yamen runners pinned down the three young eunuchs and four guards who followed Eunuch Qian to the ground and lined them up in the yard.
ah?!
Sixty lashes of the cane!
Eunuch Qian turned pale with fear. He struggled to raise his head and shouted, "I was ordered to go out of the capital to buy pearls, not to cheat... Zhu Ping'an, don't push your luck. If you go too far, I, your godfather, will not forgive you..."
"We are really ordered to leave the capital to buy pearls..." the three young eunuchs also shouted.
"How dare you! When the time comes, you still dare to pretend to be the emperor's messenger! If you were the emperor's messenger, you would naturally be innocent and love the people like your own children. How could you extort money, bully people, and rob people by trickery? If you dare to pretend to be the emperor's messenger again, pretend to be the godson of Eunuch Chen, slander the emperor's reputation, and ruin the reputation of Eunuch Chen, you deserve to die! I will chop off your dog heads and give them to Eunuch Chen and the emperor!"
Zhu Ping'an shouted loudly and reprimanded with a serious face.
Oh shit!
He actually wants to kill us?!
Eunuch Qian and others were so frightened that they dared not speak any more, fearing that Zhu Ping'an would really chop off their heads.