Brother Zhu Youxiao

Chapter 287
"Drive! Drive!"

At almost the same time when Zhu Youjian repelled Lin Danhan, Jin Guotang, who carried Nurhachi's will, rode into Shangjing City on horseback, and handed it over to Huang Taiji after passing through layers.

It's just that the content of this decree made Huang Taiji feel a little worried and hesitant.

"Brother, I only sent [-] people last time, and now I have to send another [-]."

"The last time I sent someone away, many craftsmen have started to steal and play tricks. If I send another [-]..."

In the simple palace in the upper capital, when Huang Taiji took the will, Jierhalang next to him was the first to refute.

As Nurhachi's state declined, his authority also continued to decline.

Although Jierhalang respected Nurhachi, he was also somewhat dissatisfied with the other party's decree.

"Send it"

What people didn't expect was that Huang Taiji actually approved Nurhachi's decree, which made Jierhalang look astonished.

"Brother, this..." Jierhalang wanted to say something, but Huang Taiji frowned and said:

"It's obvious that the Ming army is going to encircle us. If they go north to attack Dajin in a few years, it will be useless to keep these Han people."

"Choose out some family members of craftsmen who have nothing to do with the Han camp and send them to Xingjing City. In addition, I am going to gather soldiers from all over the country. I will send troops to Horqin five days later, in case Man Gui or Zhu Youjian send troops to invade Horqin."

"Amin should have led his troops to Shangjing, and I will send troops as soon as he arrives."

As he spoke, Huang Taiji looked at Jierhalang solemnly and said:
"This time, I will take away [-] Niulu soldiers from Zhengbai Banner, and [-] Mongolian cavalry. You will take other soldiers and horses to defend Shangjing in Shangjing."

"If the Ming army in Liaodong goes north and threatens Xingjing, Khan Ama asks you to lead troops to support, and you will bring Han soldiers and Mongolian soldiers to support, and leave a white flag to guard the capital."

"Yes..." Although Jierhalang was a little reluctant, he still nodded in recognition.

While he nodded in recognition, Huang Taiji also looked worriedly at the entrance of the hall.

He was not absolutely sure about helping the Horqin tribe to break out of the siege. Although the Ming army might have come on an expedition, the disabled Jin army was no match for the Ming army in terms of firearms or equipment.

Huang Taiji thought about it more than once, with the current expeditionary capabilities of the Ming army, whether the Jin army needs to abandon the vast Nuergan area and retreat towards Mobei.

However, he knows the conditions of Mobei. Even if he can take the craftsmen there, or even develop iron mines in the local area, it is impossible for Mobei to support more than [-] Jurchens and the [-] to [-] craftsmen and Han who must be taken away. Camp family.

Use nomads to feed these nearly [-] people?
It's not impossible, but the premise is that Huang Taiji first killed all the Mongols in Monan and Mobei, and brought all their cattle and sheep to Mobei.

In other words, Daikin has enough food for [-] people for two years.

[-] people lived frugally for two years of food, but in fact they only needed about [-] million shi.

Is it just the one and a half million stones that they can take out?can't get it out...

If they can't get this food, they can only...

"Wait!" Thinking of the issue of food, Huang Taiji suddenly remembered something, and then his eyes were cloudy for a few seconds, then he turned his head and said to Jierhalang:

"Jierhalang, tell the troops to gather in three days, and I want to be one step ahead!"

"This...takes orders." Hearing that Huang Taiji had changed his plan again, Ji Erhalang wanted to ask what it was, but his instinct made him respond to the military order first.

As for Huang Taiji, he narrowed his eyes after giving the order:
"Da Jin has no food, but Ming Ting and Zhu Youjian have..."

------

"Oh!"

"Who are you guys! Do you know where this place is?!"

"Nanzhen Fusi handles the case, everyone shut up!"

While Huang Taiji was planning, a group of guards dressed in civilian clothes violently broke into luxurious mansions in Yangzhou City, more than [-] miles away from the battlefield in northern Xinjiang.

Among these mansions, the eight surnames Wang, Cheng, Jiang, Hong, Pan, Zheng, Huang, and Xu who were the largest salt merchants in Lianghuai were the first to suffer.

The person in charge of the eight surnames even had many people waiting for the guests, and saw Jin Yiwei swarming into the hall.

As the head of the eight surnamed salt merchants, Wang Sheng, the owner of the Wang family, has seen a lot of markets. When he saw Jin Yiwei rushing in, he immediately stood up and scolded:

"Even if you want to search, you have to have a reason!"

"Wang Juren said it well!"

Just as Wang Sheng finished speaking, voices of agreement came from outside the door.

The sun shone in the courtyard, and according to the figure, it revealed its shadow through the window, until he came to the door and revealed his face.

The person who appeared was none other than Yang Huan from Nanzhen Fusi, and behind him were a group of Jin Yiwei from Nanzhen Fusi.

"According to the order of the factory owner, arrest the entire Wang family and pursue the salt tax!"

Yang Huan kept an eye out and said the word "manufacturer", in order to let some guests in the hall spread the news.

In this way, other people would know that it was Wei Zhongxian who carried out this operation, not Zhu Youjian.

"Take it!"

How could the suffering people understand Yang Huan's careful thinking? Before they could think about it, the Jin Yiwei behind Yang Huan took down the Wang family members in the hall.

Wang Sheng still wanted to resist, but was hit in the ribs by a Jin Yiwei with a scabbard, he couldn't get up, and fainted on the spot.

As for the other guests who saw this, they wanted to help but were afraid of Nanzhen Fusi's prestige.

"If you have nothing to do with the Wang family, please withdraw from the Wang mansion first, and I will post a note."

Yang Huan glanced at the many guests, and when they heard the words, they immediately got up in a hurry, and ran out of the hall in cold sweat.

After they ran out, Yang Huan also led people out of the Wang Mansion, and then ordered everyone in the Wang Mansion to be locked in the backyard, and ordered to take away all the food in the kitchen, and finally locked all the doors and posted note.

Such a scene not only happened in Wang Mansion, but also in Yangzhou and Nanzhili.

As long as the merchants who participated in the Lianghuai salt transportation, they all suffered revenge from Jinyiwei and Dongchang.

Not only them, but even some nobles in Nanjing City have been monitored.

Such an act of covering the sky with one hand made many officials clenched their fists, but they were helpless.

When the deeds of these factory guards spread to the capital, it was already the ninth day of March. With Zhu Youjian's understanding, Gu Bingqian, as an obedient representative, did not discuss these memorials, but ordered the Metropolitan Procuratorate and Section Six went to investigate.

This move of his directly brought the Eunuch Party of the Sixth Division and the Donglin Party of the Metropolitan Procuratorate into a confrontation.

It's just that in the face of Wei Zhongxian's incident, officials from the five parties of Qi, Chu, Zhejiang, Xuankun and the Donglin officials of the Metropolitan Procuratorate who pretended to be eunuchs among the six departments have different opinions...

"The house is closed for four days and there is no food or water. Isn't this going to starve people to death?"

"This action has made people in the south panic. If this continues, I'm afraid that if we don't do anything, it will inevitably lead them to vote for others."

"Don't worry, Fang Shaobao has already entered Shandong, and he will return to the capital in a short time."

Inside the official office, when the voices of chattering and worrying about each other came out, an uneasy atmosphere spread in the room, and Yao Zongwen, Gu Tianjun, and Tang Binyin, who were sitting in the main seat, also showed embarrassment.

Although they took refuge in Wei Zhongxian, their main purpose was to suppress the Donglin Party.

Originally, in their view, Wei Zhongxian was chasing dirty silver at most, warning the Lianghuai salt merchants who tried to threaten him, and it was over.

Unexpectedly, Wei Zhongxian directly asked Yang Huan to lock many salt merchants in the house, and ordered people to close the wells and remove food, as if he was about to be starved to death by many salt merchants.

Such a move immediately made the salt merchants and tea merchants in Fujian and Zhejiang areas unable to sit still.

The salt merchants in the Ming Dynasty were different from the salt merchants and tea merchants in the Qing Dynasty. Most of the salt merchants in the Ming Dynasty were gentry class, and they also had their own people in the officialdom.

As for how they train these people, it is actually very simple.

First of all, they have many salt-making commoners and tenants under their banner. The number of these people is huge.

What they have to do is very simple. When some of the tens of thousands of people show up because of Shangguan School and private school, but cannot continue to go to school due to insufficient follow-up tuition and money and food, they will provide a free money and food to these tenants and common people.

Although this kind of investment is huge, as long as there is only one Jinshi out of a thousand people, then the deal will not be a loss.

Therefore, although the Lianghuai salt merchants were only gentry, there were not a small number of people who belonged to them in the court.

This time Wei Zhongxian dealt with the eight surnames roughly. Although the local government secretly sent food and water without telling Jin Yiwei, it was not a solution in the long run.

The final solution is to let Wei Zhongxian let go of the Lianghuai salt merchants, but the difficulty of implementing this method is actually very high.

At this moment, Wei Zhongxian is still complacent about his power, but in fact, Cui Chengxiu is in charge of the eunuch party.

Generally speaking, the Lianghuai salt merchants were not threatening Wei Zhongxian, but Cui Chengxiu.

It's just that Cui Chengxiu fooled Wei Zhongxian, causing Wei Zhongxian to think that the Lianghuai salt merchants were dissatisfied with him, so he killed him.

If Yao Zongwen and the others went to explain, then the Lianghuai salt merchants were rescued, but they were about to turn against Cui Chengxiu.

Right now, the Donglin Party is still lingering, if they turn against Cui Chengxiu, maybe it will give the Donglin Party a chance to breathe...

"This matter should be suppressed first. Officials from all states and counties should help if they can, and don't cause any starvation."

Yao Zongwen is not considered smart, and his political skills are not considered superb.

If it weren't for Fang Congzhe, Sun Ruyou, Zhu Guozuo, and Shen Yu being taken down by Zhu Youjian, and a bunch of high-ranking Zhejiang Party officials were pushed away by Donglin's impeachment, he would be number three at best.

The current situation of the five parties is very embarrassing, or they and Donglin are very embarrassing.

People with township consciousness and means were all defeated in their internal struggles. Among the remaining people with means, such as Zhu Xieyuan and Yuan Keli, most of them did not have party consciousness, so naturally it was impossible to support them to rise to power.

So now, Gu Bingqian's King Qi Party can firmly overwhelm them, making people uncomfortable...

Therefore, although Yao Zongwen's words are not pleasant, they are the only way they can go now.

They were dissatisfied with Wei Zhongxian and Cui Chengxiu's actions, but they did not dare to rebel, so they could only obey their orders.

However, compared to their unity of opinion and caliber, Donglin was divided into two factions on this matter.

"There is nothing wrong with pursuing the payment of the Jinhua silver and salt tax owed by the Lianghuai salt merchants, but the method is wrong."

In the yamen of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, when Han Yu sat in the main seat and said such a sentence, people in the hall immediately put forward different opinions.

"There is no such thing as salt tax arrears at all. The salt merchants in Huaihe River and Huaihe River have paid the salt tax in full according to the salt price. It must be Cui Chengxiu who is greedy for ink and is now thinking of planting others."

"The court's salt quotations are issued normally, not to mention that there has been nothing in the past few years. Why did the king of Qi set up two divisions, and the salt tax went wrong?"

"I think the bottom line must be traced back to the eunuch Wei Zhongxian."

"The eunuch is the most greedy. I think he has been greedy a lot in the past few years in charge of the internal money. The arrears of gold flowers and silver must be a good show he directed and acted on his own."

In the meeting hall, more than [-] Donglin people talked with each other, obviously they had different opinions on Wei Zhongxian's attack on Lianghuai salt merchants.

Among them, although Zuo Guangdou impeached the eunuch party many times, when faced with the actions of Lianghuai salt merchants, he still said soberly:
"Although Wei Zhongxian's character is not good, he treats courtiers with courtesy. It is unlikely that he will lock up and starve to death for the Lianghuai salt merchant this time."

"I think there may be some misunderstanding."

"Can there be any misunderstanding? He has been on a hunger strike for four days. How could he not know what happened in Lianghuai for such a long time?"

A Donglin censor couldn't help but speak, and his words made everyone agree.

Obviously, in their view, it is not surprising that a greedy and cunning person like Wei Zhongxian would do such a thing.

"This matter has nothing to do with us for the time being. Instead of caring about this, we should care about how to contain King Qi and the eunuchs."

Yuan Huazhong couldn't help but open his mouth to stop the farce, but his words didn't have the effect of stopping it. A group of Donglin civil officials were still arguing about the Lianghuai issue.

"Okay! Let's go back to work first, I will go to the palace tomorrow to ask Long Live about this matter."

Han Yu looked at the people who were still arguing, so he could only comfort them patiently, and then let them go back to work first.

After finally waiting for the crowd to retreat, he got up and prepared to return to his yamen.

When he was drifting away, the protagonists of the incident were laughing hard.

"Master, this is the list obtained from the ransacking of the house. As for the people, they have been properly arranged by the officials."

When Cui Chengxiu took out a list and handed it over in the Rites Supervisor, Wei Zhongxian glanced at it and showed a satisfied expression.

"The more than four million taels of silver will be put away first, and will be added to the internal funds after the convicts and distribution of these merchants."

While dealing with the memorials on the table, Wei Zhongxian gave orders to Cui Chengxiu.

Cui Chengxiu flattered and said: "By the way, the factory owner, here is a gift list for the local people to build a shrine for you."

"The removal of evil merchants in Lianghuai made tens of thousands of people in Lianghuai rejoice. They want to build a ancestral hall for you in your hometown..."

Cui Chengxiu took out another directory from his bosom, and Wei Zhongxian took a look at it with restraint.

The many lists and the amount of silver taels made Wei Zhongxian's eyes beam with joy. When he saw the final total amount of more than [-] taels of silver, he smiled kindly and said:

"Okay, let's accept the thank you from the people. It's our family's job to punish evil businessmen. Tell people in other places not to make such a big fuss in the future."

"The next official takes orders..." Cui Chengxiu responded with a smile, and Wei Zhongxian continued to remind:

"Don't kill those people. They will be convicted later and sent to the Old Port."

"Don't worry, the factory owner. I have already reminded Yang Huan about this matter. He knows what to do." Cui Chengxiu responded confidently, but she didn't know that Yang Huan didn't do what he said at all.

The two were kept in the dark, but in terms of money, the two took advantage of it.

Wei Zhongxian could use the four million taels to make up for the shortfall in his internal funds over the years, or even a lot more.

Thinking of this, Wei Zhongxian also got up and said: "Our family will bring this thing into the palace first and tell Long Live, you can go back and do business."

"I will leave..." Seeing Wei Zhongxian speak, Cui Chengxiu also bowed and then slowly retreated.

After he withdrew, Wei Zhongxian led people through the Xuanwu Gate to Qianqing Palace.

In just half an hour, when Wei Zhongxian came to the gate of the Qianqing Palace, he even tidied up his appearance, and then walked into the Qianqing Palace pretending to be sad with the directory.

As soon as he entered the palace, he saw Zhu Youxiao who was handling the memorial sent by the Supervisor of Ceremonies in the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

He entered the Hall of Mental Cultivation with a sad face, then knelt down and sang:

"Long live Saint Gongan..."

"Zhen'an, get up." Zhu Youxiao responded to Wei Zhongxian while processing the memorial, and Wei Zhongxian glanced at Wang Tiqian who entered the hall when he got up.

Wang Tiqian nodded slightly, indicating that Zhu Youxiao was in a good mood, allowing him to talk about it.

Seeing this, Wei Zhongxian was relieved a lot, and immediately presented the list with both hands and said:
"Long live, this is the list of merchants in Lianghuai who evaded taxes."

Wei Zhongxian didn't add any details, but directly handed over the list.

He knew Zhu Youxiao well, as long as Zhu Youxiao saw the confiscated money and the names involved in the case, he would make his own guesses without embellishing them.

"Huh?" Sure enough, when he heard that the matter was done, Zhu Youxiao also took over the list, frowning slightly and opened the list.

As soon as the directory was opened, Zhu Youxiao's slightly frowning brows eased, and when he saw the last four million taels of silver and many mansions and land deeds, he rarely showed a little smile.

"It's a good job, but the many salt merchants in Lianghuai, do they only have such family property?"

As soon as Zhu Youxiao spoke, Wei Zhongxian quickly explained:

"This was confiscated by Nanzhen Fusi, there should be no problem..."

"Hmm..." Zhu Youxiao pondered for a moment, then continued:

"What does Gu Gechen think about this group of Lianghuai salt merchants?"

Zhu Youxiao was a little concerned about Gu Bingqian's attitude, because Gu Bingqian's attitude basically represented the attitude of his younger brother.

This is not to say that Zhu Youxiao needs to act according to Zhu Youjian's face, but that he is afraid of being deceived, so he wants to get some of Zhu Youjian's views on this matter from Gu Bingqian.

Regarding his inquiry, Wei Zhongxian also said honestly:

"Gu Gechen suggested that the Sixth Division and the Metropolitan Procuratorate investigate the case together, and then hand over the arrears to the two divisions."

"Give it to the two divisions?" Hearing this, Zhu Youxiao frowned slightly.

Although the King Qi Party is now powerful, and the Eunuch Party is also powerful, this does not mean that the imperial power has completely controlled the Ministry of Households.

Many officials under the household department are still the old team. If the money is handed over to the two departments, then the two departments will inevitably be handed over to the household department.

In this way, if he wants to withdraw money at that time, it will depend on the attitude of the two divisions?

Thinking of this, Zhu Youxiao pondered for a moment before saying:

"Let's leave this matter to the Supervision Department of Jinyiwei and the local Dali Temple to investigate."

"If there is evidence, then send them to Jiugang, Hetao, or Hexi according to the "Law of the Ming Dynasty", and then search their homes and put the silver into internal funds."

"The maidservant takes orders..." Wei Zhongxian bowed slightly, and at the same time showed a smile when Zhu Youxiao couldn't see him.

He guessed right, the emperor was unwilling to hand over the silver to the household department, and it still had to be included in the internal treasury later.

As long as it is included in the internal funds, then he can operate and smooth out his deficits over the years.

Wei Zhongxian thought so, but he quickly remembered something, so he said quickly:
"Long live, this case of Lianghuai salt merchants also involves many honorable ministers in Nanjing, look..."

"Xunchen?" Zhu Youxiao frowned slightly, then reopened the directory, and glanced at the people involved in the case again.

After looking at it, he discovered many familiar honorable names.

However, right now is not the time to mobilize the honorable ministers. After all, they have only taken away their military power and the army has garrisoned their fields for a short time. If you mobilize the honorable officials again, it will inevitably make other honorable officials have a wrong guess that the emperor wants to deal with the honorable ministers.

Therefore, Zhu Youxiao first raised his head and asked Wei Zhongxian:

"How did Nanzhen Fusi treat these honorable ministers?"

"Just send people to monitor, everything else remains the same." Wei Zhongxian responded quickly, and Zhu Youxiao nodded slightly when he heard the words, very satisfied.

On the contrary, Wei Zhongxian kept looking at Zhu Youxiao, wanting to know how to deal with this group of honorable officials.

However, Zhu Youxiao was also a little embarrassed about how to deal with them.

If the punishment is too light, it will inevitably make people feel that he is protecting the ministers. If the punishment is too heavy, it will make the ministers in the north think more.

So after thinking about it, Zhu Youxiao said:
"Let Yang Huan remind them to repay the previously concealed salt tax and tea tax, and those who paid before May will not be held accountable."

"The maidservant leads the decree..." Wei Zhongxian bowed in response, and Zhu Youxiao also glanced at the list in his hand, and finally said:
"Okay, you go down and do your business."

"Yes..." Wei Zhongxian finally bowed to salute, and then slowly exited the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

At the same time that he was leaving the Hall of Mental Cultivation, Wang Tiqian, who was in charge of attending the hall, sent him out as a guest.

However, when sending out the Qianqing Palace, Wang Tiqian looked around and said:

"It's best to talk to that little old man Gu Bingqian about this matter, so that King Qi doesn't think we disagree."

"Don't worry, our family knows how to deal with it..." Wei Zhongxian showed a smile, then bid farewell to Wang Tiqian and walked out from the gate of Qianqing Palace.

Following his figure away, Nanzhen Fusi also sent many fast horses out of the city shortly thereafter, some heading south, some heading north...

　Normal change at four o'clock
　　
　
(End of this chapter)