Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 307 Want to imitate Wu Zong Xi Zong's old affairs
Wang Chengen was quite surprised. He did not expect that Emperor Chongzhen Zhu Youjian would agree to the recommendation of Fan Jingwen, the chief assistant of the cabinet, even though he had notified Li Tianjing of his special status.

After waiting for the court discussion to end, Zhu Youjian asked Wang Chengen directly: "Are you surprised, surprised why I so readily agreed to let Li Tianjing be the prefect of Songjiang?"

"Going back to the emperor, the servants are really puzzled." Wang Chengen is a courtier, and he is regarded as Zhu Youjian's domestic slave, so he naturally calls himself a servant.

Zhu Youjian smiled lightly: "This Li Tianjing thinks that he has reached an agreement with the rich and powerful family of Songjiang Prefecture, and then he can become the prefect of Songjiang Prefecture smoothly by following Fan Ge's footsteps. , you Dongchang people will follow Li Tianjing closely and let Ma Jixiang take charge of this matter. Remember that Li Tianjing has been in contact with someone in Songjiang Mansion. When the time comes, the people from Dongchang will directly pretend to be pirates and send these people who came into contact with Li Tianjing Get rid of all the big households! There is not enough manpower, so I will take my handbook and transfer to the Yan Yingyuan Department of the Guards stationed in Shanghai County!"

Wang Chengen couldn't help asking: "Your Majesty, don't you want to investigate?"

"The snakes have come out of their holes. Why bother to investigate? Since they dare to deter me with assassination, I can also do assassination to deter them. If you don't follow the rules, then everyone should not follow the rules! But Li Tianjing doesn't have to get rid of him, let him continue to be Go!"

……

At this time, Shi Kefa came over: "Your Majesty, in the case of official affairs, Zhang Zhengchen impeached Fan Jingwen, the chief assistant of the cabinet, who is old and incompetent, and thinks that your Majesty, you should not protect Fan Ge too much just because he is an old minister!"

After Shi Kefa finished speaking, he looked at Zhu Youjian. Since Chongzhen’s 18th commercial tax collection, there have been speech officials impeaching the cabinet chief assistant Fan Jingwen almost every month, because Fan Jingwen was the initiator and leader of the commercial tax collection. As the emperor, Zhu Youjian would support Fan Jingwen and demote the officials who impeached Fan Jingwen to serve as local officials in remote areas.

But now that Zhang Zhengchen did this again, Zhu Youjian did not get angry, but said to Shi Kefa: "Let's keep it in China and not publish it, and show it to me in a month, and I will personally give instructions!"

Shi Kefa nodded, he seemed to realize that Chongzhen Zhu Youjian's attitude towards Fan Jingwen had changed.

Zhu Youjian was indeed a little disappointed with Fan Jingwen. From the previous taxation incident to the recommendation of Li Tianjing this time, Zhu Youjian had to admit that although Fan Jingwen was an official in his entourage and had little disagreement with his political views, Fan Jingwen was obviously lacking in intelligence. Lacks the acumen of a statesman.

……

Li Tianjing boarded the boat to Songjiang Mansion. He is proficient in western learning and knows the abundance of profits that overseas trade can bring. The key is that His Majesty has already made a decree that the household department officials will be elected from the prefects of Songjiang Prefecture.

Not long after taking office as the magistrate of Songjiang Prefecture, Li Tianjing came to the North Wharf of Lannidu, and met Xu Erlu, Lu Renchang, Pan Yunlong, Jiang Hai and other officials from both sides of the Huangpu River.

"Congratulations to Li Tongzheng for being promoted to the government office!"

Lu Renchang first bowed his hands to Li Tianjing, and the rest of the town officials followed suit.

"Where, where, if it weren't for your great help, I would not have this opportunity. Here, I should thank you all. Please rest assured, since Li is serving as the mansion, I should give you a favor." It's fair, but please contact the officials in the capital and the official to quote the text, after all, many of them are shops in Huangzhuang."

Li Tianjing said with a smile.

But at this time, Pan Yunlong slapped the table angrily: "Now your majesty is just as violent as Emperor Shenzong in those days. Needless to say, he collected business taxes, but now he even wants to take away the fields of us officials and gentry! This is even more important. If we don't want us to live, it's a shame that my grandfather has worked hard for his Daming country!"

"Brother Pan said carefully, the people in Dongchang are now listening carefully;
Whether it is the recovery of shops and land this time, or the policy of banning commercial tax increases in the future, it needs to be considered in the long run;
Your Majesty's reputation is now at the peak of the sky, and there are hundreds of thousands of elite teachers under his command. How dare I have the slightest objection. Now that the store and land are being taken back, we can only make a fuss about Wu Jiayin. Excessive enforcement of the law has occupied a lot of people's fields, and then the officials are used as Austrian aid, so His Majesty can't help but not agree to Li Futai's suggestion;
After all, His Majesty wants to ease the relationship with us officials and gentry, otherwise, why would Ruan Dayue be reprimanded by His Majesty for paying all the officials and gentry together? This shows that His Majesty is also afraid of us. "

When Xu Erlu said this, Jiang Hai took up the words: "It's okay to be jealous, but we gentry are so easy to provoke. Last time, Zhu Youjian took the rightful place in the business tax. No one dared to say anything, but he We can only collect taxes in the area of ​​Yingtian Mansion, if anyone in Songjiang Mansion or even other places in the world can easily evade taxes, what can he do to us?"

"Everyone, just listen to what Li said. In the 17 years since Chongzhen, the Ming Dynasty was almost destroyed by Li Zicheng and even Jiannu. If His Majesty hadn't organized military training after moving south and kept half of the rivers and mountains in the south of the Yangtze River, you and I would not be safe and sound now. Criticizing current affairs here, your majesty is wrong in every possible way, but in the end he is the king of you and me, and collecting commercial taxes is also a helpless move. Otherwise, how to raise soldiers, it is difficult to continue to increase agricultural taxes, so the world will still collapse It is precisely because of this that the officials of the Jiangxi, Jiangxi and Zhejiang parties support His Majesty in raising business taxes. Now even if we want to make a fuss about taking back the land and shops from Wu Jiayin, we can only take back the shops that are not Huangzhuang, and we can't offend Your Majesty. Commercial taxes must continue to be paid, and it is not impossible for a policy to abolish commercial taxes, we can wait until the crown prince ascends the throne to discuss."

Li Tianjing smiled and said a few words.

"What Li Futai said is very true. Everything should be done slowly. Today, His Majesty relies on officials from the Zhejiang Party, the Jiangxi Party, and the northern nationality to preside over the new government. However, in this world, we still have the most officials in Southern Zhili. After the crown prince ascends the throne , I don’t worry that the power of the government will return to the hands of our Nanzhili officials, but now that the crown prince will really abandon the New Deal after he ascends the throne?”

As Xu Erlu spoke, he asked Li Tianjing a question.

"Xiaguan once served as a lecturer in the East Palace of His Highness the Prince, specializing in mathematics. The Prince has a gentle personality, obedient and disciplined, respects teachers, benevolence and filial piety, Mr. Pan's brother Pan Hanlin is also the Prince's teacher, and the Prince listens to your brother's words. I am also deeply worried about His Majesty's pro-business policy."

When Li Tianjing said this, Pan Yunlong hurriedly came out with a smile to prove it.

At this time, Lu Renchang came out and suggested in a low voice: "Why don't we follow the old example of Wu Zong and Xi Zong and let the prince ascend the throne earlier?"

"Although this move is dangerous, there are quite a few gentry who hate His Majesty's collection of business taxes. There are probably no dead men, but this matter has to be discussed in the long run. The most important thing right now is the fields and shops of Songjiang Mansion."

As Xu Erlu spoke, he bowed to Li Tianjing.

(End of this chapter)