Begging in late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 347 Rivers and Lakes, Chaotang

Where is Dagong Mountain? Once the northern barrier of Huizhou is broken, Shexian, Jixi, Huangshan, Xiuning, Tunxi and Wuyuan, the hometowns of Huizhou merchants, will all be under the front of the begging army, like a walnut Generally, you can pick whatever you want.

It's not just a simple home, the ancestral graves of the various families of Huizhou merchants are also in their hometowns, which cannot be moved away!

These Yangzhou salt merchants thought that Song Qingshu would play according to the rules of the game they specified, but they forgot that Song Qingshu started out as a thief. If you play with him, he will play with you.

"Mad! Mad!"

The wine glasses fell to the ground, and Bao Lu's tomato face turned into a white balloon, circling back and forth like a trapped animal in annoyance. Chopped his feet and yelled: "Mr. Wang, don't be dazed. You and Wu Yushi have an old relationship. Hurry up and write to Wu Yushi, begging the imperial court to send troops quickly to save our Huizhou!"

"There is also Mr. Wang, aren't you and Mr. Hou Xun, Shangshu of the household department, classmates? Write a letter quickly!"

"Yes, yes, everyone pays money, write letters quickly, and go home quickly!"

Not in the mood to have fun, under the inconceivable gaze of those Yangzhou skinny horses, as well as scholars and celebrities, a large group of salt merchants dispersed in an instant like a dead father at home.

…………

The salt merchants were in a hurry, and the court followed suit, and the messengers from all walks of life hurried on like dead horses. In less than nine days, the news reached the capital again, just in time for the next big court meeting.

On the Dragon Court, Emperor Chongzhen's face was so gloomy that he knocked on the table and roared angrily: "Huizhou! Chizhou! These idiots! Why didn't they lose Nanzhili to me?"

"Your Majesty, the most urgent task is to quickly send troops to suppress it! Nanzhili is an important place for taxation in our dynasty. Once there is a shock, the military pay of the five northern provinces will be cut off!"

Not only is it collecting money from Huizhou merchants, Hou Xun’s hometown is also in Huizhou, and this matter also involves the household department under his control. Years old, the handsome old guy was full of anxiety, stood out of the court, and knelt down on the ground mournfully.

Immediately afterwards, Ni Yuanlu, the governor of the left, also stood up, and the old guy, like an angry old man, knelt on the ground and pointed to the south and roared.

"Your Majesty, Ma Shiying, the governor of Lufeng, wrote a letter to ask for the beggars, but now that such a big event has happened, Ma Shiying cannot escape the responsibility! Please send Jin Yiwei to take it down immediately, and press him to the capital to question the crime!"

"Who can be the supervisor to suppress the beggars?"

Ma Shiying, Ma Shiying, can clean up at any time, the emperor is most concerned about Nanzhili, full of anxiety, Emperor Chongzhen asked hastily, but the court that had just turned to Yingtian, suddenly became silent.

A few days ago, Lu Xiangsheng, the prime minister of the five provinces, had just been transferred to be the governor of Xuanda. Now the main force of the court in the southern province is not much, and there are still more than 100 million guards, not to mention the water in it. There are many guard fields, and those guard soldiers who are not as tall as farmers have no idea.

A while ago, it was because no one had the guts to take back Anqing. Ma Shiying's plan to appease the beggar army and take Anqing back was carried out so smoothly, and now no one is willing to move.

1 minute, 2 minutes, in the silence, the emperor's cheeks had already started to tremble with anger. Seeing that the storm was about to come, Wen Tiren, a scholar of the First Assistant University, coughed lightly and stood up again.

"Your Majesty, I have something to say, I don't know if I should say it or not!"

"Say!"

Chongzhen no longer had the patience to go around in circles. Seeing this, Wen Tiren pulled out a memorial from his sleeve and offered it with both hands: "Your Majesty, after all, the begging army is under the rule of Governor Lufeng. Ma Shiying wrote a letter, why don't you listen to him?" debate?"

Since the begging army attacked Chizhou a few days ago, Emperor Chongzhen started to worry. He really forgot about Ma Shiying, and he didn't make a memorial recently. Seeing Wen Tiren take it out, Emperor Chongzhen was really curious. From Cao Huachun's hand After receiving the memorial, he opened it hastily, and immediately the emperor's voice was raised two tones.

"Really? Ma Shiying has driven the Song thief back to Anqing?"

As soon as these words came out, the entire court was in an uproar, no longer caring about court discipline, and the civil servants whispered in surprise, Hou Xun's heart skipped a beat, Huizhou was safe, but Wen Tiren made a move, which obviously made him feel Arrived uneasy.

With a smile on his face, Wen Tiren, the personable and handsome treacherous minister, said with a smile: "Your Majesty bestowed great blessings on his face, Mr. Ma knows it with emotion, moves him with reason, and prestiges him with His Majesty's virtue. I did go back when I lost my way, but I also discussed in depth with the messenger sent by Mr. Ma, is the matter in Jiangnan still unstable?"

"Oh?"

Putting down Ma Shiying's plea, the emperor raised his voice again, and soon after, Wen Tiren showed a full face of anger.

"There are more than 20 northern thieves under the Song Ministry. Song sincerely caressed them, but the imperial court could not support so many victims. Therefore, Mr. Ma and the Song thieves reclaimed land in Yinghuo Mountain and transported some mountain products to Yingtian. If there is a bumper harvest this year, Mr. Ma also plans to transfer 20 taels of silver and [-] dans of rice grains of various colors from the reclamation to supply the imperial court and serve His Majesty. Some traitors in the southern province extorted large sums of silver, but they were unable to take it out, and the soldiers were angry, so they took the risk! If this matter is not resolved! Even if this time is appeased, I am afraid there will be troubles next time!"

Emperor Chongzhen couldn't help but nodded slightly.

What he really listened to was the 20 taels of silver and 20 dans of rice. He also knew how bad these officials of the Ming Dynasty were. What is angry is that these bastards can cause trouble but can't clean their buttocks. He lowered his head slightly, and the emperor seemed to think about it.

Hou Xun became anxious, and hurriedly stood up and shouted: "Your Majesty, Wu Weiye, the censor of Jiangnan Taoist tea, is the person who supervises this matter, and the minister recommended him as..."

"The minister recommended Wang Yaozhi as the imperial censor to go to the south of the Yangtze River to thoroughly investigate the case!"

Before he could finish speaking, Li Jiantai shouted out before him.

In fact, who is right and who is wrong, and whether there is such a thing, is not important. The important thing is that this time is an opportunity for a big cleanup. The imperial envoy is a knife. Whoever holds it in his hand will chop the opponent. It is really like a mad dog, Hou Xun Waiting for many ministers from the southern faction to jump out in a hurry, recommending all kinds of people in a hurry, who knows that the Qi, Chu and Zhejiang parties who were still arguing endlessly are also in the same spirit this time, insisting that Wang Yao is competent, and the whole temple is again Once, it was like overturning the sky, the courtiers quarreled and attacked each other, and cursed into a ball.

It was another party dispute, and Emperor Chongzhen obviously showed disgust, but he was still helpless. He hesitated for a long time, and finally his eyes fell on Wen Tiren, a senior scholar standing alone in a corner among a group of ministers.

The reason why Wen Tiren is favored is because he "has no party" and is a "lonely minister"!Emperor Chongzhen felt relieved to use it. At this time, he thought of Wen Tiren again, knocked on the table violently, stopped the court, and lowered his head to ask Wen Tiren again.

"Shoufu, who do you think is suitable?"

"I believe that His Majesty already has a holy ruling in his heart, which is enough to ensure the stability of the southern province and smooth taxation, so there is no need for ministers to comment."

Wen Tiren's words are level, although he didn't say anything to anyone, but he has already pointed out the meaning of ensuring the stability of the southern province. If you want Song Qingshu's money, you have to satisfy him!

Emperor Chongzhen didn't think so much for a while, and thought for a while, and under the anxious gaze of Hou Xun and others, he still opened his mouth like a trial.

"Censor Wang Yaozhi!"

"Chen is here!"

…………

Seeing that the imperial censor who was born in the royal family of Puzhou, Shaanxi turned around and left the court immediately, those ministers really looked like they had opened a dyeing shop. In my mind, I was thinking about how to write letters to the students and old officials in Jiangnan. Finally, the matter in Jiangnan came to an end. Regardless of the victory or defeat, everyone was relieved. Didn't stop here.

Just when several old ministers were chattering about the long miscellaneous, suddenly a stupefied green censor in green official uniform suddenly stood up.

"Chen Wang Mengzhong has a book to play!"

"Xuan!"

Officials can hear about things, and even the emperor can't stop them from talking. This is the ancestral system, so there were ministers scolding the emperor in the Ming Dynasty. Waving his hand slightly, he knelt up straight, the stupefied young man was so frightening that he would not pay for his life, pointed at Hou Xun who was still in a trance and shouted loudly.

"I want to impeach the Minister of Household Affairs for covering up salt merchants and evading taxes!"

"I checked the household registrations. The Lianghuai salt industry is sold in more than ten provinces in the north and south. The household registrations under the jurisdiction of the merchants are no less than 3000 million. I checked the ancient books. In the Southern Song Dynasty, the salt tax could reach 3000 million yuan. But in my dynasty, last year was only one year One million and fifty thousand taels, and this year it is only 5 taels. I have fewer people in the court than in the Southern Song Dynasty? According to the calculation of household registration, the Ming people in several provinces only eat less than a penny of salt a year?"

"Your Majesty, the Marquis Household Department is truly despicable!"

After listening to the stunned-headed green roar, the entire court was completely silent, and even Emperor Chongzhen's expression froze there...

(End of this chapter)