Back to the end of Ming Dynasty to be a warlord

Chapter 342 Upside down
The matter of Yang Chao is very difficult, because Yang Chao's achievements in rescuing the prince and escorting him all the way to the south are no less than Wu Sangui's recapture of Beijing with Eight Banners soldiers.

But Yang Chao has already been conferred the title of Loyalty Bo, and it was conferred by Chongzhen himself. The late emperor's meaning is very clear. It was used to reward Yang Chao for escorting the crown prince to the south. Now the late emperor has just died, and the new emperor has just ascended the throne. Changing, even higher, made the decision of Emperor Chongzhen, and all civil and military officials felt that it was inappropriate.

But if Yang Chao is not rewarded and Wu Sangui is rewarded, it would be inappropriate.

Standing in the court hall, Yang Chao listened to a heated discussion among civil servants, and felt very funny in his heart. Wu Sangui had already defected to Manqing, but this group of people buried their heads in the sand as if they didn't know, and they were seriously discussing what to do. How to confer the title of Wu Sangui.

As for myself, I don't care too much about this kind of false name. Whether it is an earl or a prince, it is all false. The most important thing is to have strength in your hands. The reason why Yang Chao was able to get this far was that he was able to force King Fu to go to Jiangbei to meet the prince. Relying on the soldiers in hand, rather than some vain things like secret decrees.

You must know that in the original history, King Fu ascended the throne as the emperor, and the case of the prince appeared. Before the truth was identified, King Fu immediately sent someone to identify it, and publicly stated in the court, "There is a child who said that it is the former emperor's east palace. If it is true, the son of the first emperor is my son. , as a support gift, not to make you lose your home."

If it wasn't for Yang Chao's heavy troops and hundreds of thousands of people to scare Jiangnan's civil and military forces, I am afraid that King Fu would still take the throne first, and at most he would bring a son who was "good at raising" Chongzhen, and treat him as his own son.

Therefore, Yang Chao did not participate in the opinion of rewarding Wu Sangui at all, and even dismissed the banner of borrowing captives to fight against the bandits at all. It is considered a wonderful move to borrow captives to defeat the bandits.

The difference in concept made Yang Chao choose not to intervene in this dispute, but he felt that the politicians of later generations had a higher vision. Taizu was able to abandon his previous suspicions during the Japanese invasion of China and did not say anything about "using the Japanese to pacify Jiang" or Lao Jiang to come. The policy of "borrowing the sun to level the red" is indeed much stronger than the civil officials of the Ming Dynasty.

However, Yang Chao firmly opposed sending troops to the north to join the Manchu Qing, but some officials who had always despised the Manchu Qing agreed.

Then the ministers negotiated to send Wu Sangui 5 dans of grain to Tianjin by sea, and [-] taels of silver to labor, and at the same time let Wu Sangui use it to bribe the Qing Dynasty.

Yang Chao also resolutely opposed it. He said bluntly that Wu Sangui had already surrendered. They all shaved their hair and accepted the canonization of King Pingxi of the Manchu Dynasty.

This group of sours, Wu Sangui obviously doesn't like you, they really have taken refuge in the new owner, but Yang Chao can't convince them.

However, these civil servants did not object to Yang Chao's several beatings. The first was that Yang Chao was now deeply trusted by the emperor and had a good relationship with all civil and military officials. The second was that they didn't care about Yang Chao's beatings at all.

There were two topics for Yang Chao’s performance. The first was to increase training of [-] soldiers in Xinjiangkou. All officials agreed, and the emperor agreed to play. Chao Zou asked to open the sea, set up a city ship department in Susong, and collected sea tax to raise troops. After a fierce quarrel, facing the first two shortages, Yang Chao issued a military order, expressing his willingness to use sea tax to raise troops. After one hundred thousand soldiers of his own did not ask the court for a tael of military pay after opening the sea, the courtiers agreed.

It was equivalent to Yang Chao gaining the power to raise troops through sea trade.

In other words, Yang Chao gained the power to monopolize the maritime trade of the Ming Dynasty.

At the same time, a series of detailed strategies were also discussed. First, Yang Chao dispatched a wave of sailors to camp in Susong to guard against the pirates’ intrusion that the civil servants were worried about. Second, Yang Chao recommended a civil servant to the Shibo Department. Supervise and prevent all kinds of private cooperation with pirates.

After the discussion was over, Yang Chao felt physically and mentally exhausted, but he still couldn't go home after the next court. The new court was just established, and the affairs were busy, and the communication under the court was also frequent.

Yang Chao entertained Yang Wencong in Jinchai Tower.

Yang Wencong was given the title of military officer by the Ministry of Military Affairs. When Fu Wang was in charge of the country, he was promoted to the head of the Ministry of War under the recommendation of his brother-in-law Ma Shiying.This time the crown prince ascended the throne, under the sponsorship of Yang Chao, he was promoted to the left servant of the household department, and went to sit in Susong City Shipping Department.

"Congratulations, Mr. Yang!"

"It should be the old man congratulating Uncle Yang."

The two congratulated each other without mentioning it.

While drinking, we exchanged some opinions on the court.

Finally, Yang Chao got to the point: "My lord is going to Su Song to be in charge of the shipping department. May I ask if your lord can be honest?"

Yang Wencong has always been an ally of Yang Chao in the officialdom, and he doesn't want this ally to ruin his major events because of corruption.

Yang Wencong nodded: "I am not a greedy person!"

Yang Chao nodded. This person is greedy for power and not too greedy for money, but he will charge some regular money.

Yang Chao said again: "I don't know if 1 taels of silver a year is enough for my boss?"

The officials of the Ming Dynasty spent a lot of money, including the ostentation of travel and the salaries of the staff, all of which were paid for by themselves. People would think that corruption is a kind of moral corruption, and no one would accuse others of corruption except when they want to hit their opponents.

Yang Wencong thought for a while, then nodded, Ke Dao is the Qingshui Yamen, and he can't get a little money even if he is in the business, 1 taels a year is enough.

Seeing Yang Wencong nodding, Yang Chao said with certainty, "Well, I will invite the imperial court to allocate 1 taels of salary to the boss every year from the Shibo Department. The boss must not be greedy for a tael of foreign money, otherwise the official I'm going to turn my face and deny anyone!"

Seeing Yang Chao's resoluteness, Yang Wencong couldn't help asking in a low voice: "Then the routine?"

I have been an official in the south of the Yangtze River for a long time, and I know that the Shibo Department, which deals with maritime trade, must be a well-oiled yamen. It might not be comparable to the water transport yamen. I'm really sorry.

Yang Chao shook his head resolutely: "No! If the boss thinks that 1 taels is not enough, you might as well say the number. Corruption is absolutely forbidden!"

Yang Wencong understood that Yang Chao wanted to use 1 taels of silver to buy out all his income other than his salary.

After being an official for so many years, in order to climb up, I really didn't accumulate much wealth, and even paid a lot of money. It's really difficult to get this fat job, but not to make people rich.

At least 1 taels is not enough to keep him from being tempted, Yang Wencong gritted his teeth: "How about 3 taels?"

Yang Chao was very happy: "Deal!"

Then Yang Chao took out a list and handed it to Yang Wencong.

"I would like to ask you to be considerate. The Shibo Department is newly established, and the boss must employ people. These people are all available talents, and it is enough to be an official."

Yang Wencong saw the dense list and positions, from the bellman who inspected the goods to the security officer of the house, Yang Chao had prepared for him. Let him take care of things, and he will be paid 3 taels of silver every year.

Yang Wencong may not be corrupt, but as a supervisor, it is not common practice to place officials to receive some benefits, and it should not be considered corruption, but Yang Chao does not even give him this leeway. The most important thing is that this is tantamount to emptying him. Didn't he become a display in the Shibo Department?

Yang Wencong doesn't care about taking care of things, but he is afraid that if something happens, he will take the blame. Who knows if the newly established Shibo Department will cause trouble. If there are pirates, Yang Chao, who has a heavy army in his hand, will be fine. Maybe the Superintendent of the Municipal Shipbuilding Department will be pulled out and killed. If there is no one of his own inside, how can he feel at ease?

Although Yang Chao recommended him, Yang Wencong still refused to agree: "Uncle, this is not in line with the court rules."

Yang Chao said with a smile: "The Shibo Department is newly established, so there are no rules. Only Mr. Lao has worked hard. I can assure Mr. Lao that as long as Mr. Lao works hard, Mr. Bao will be promoted to another level in three years' time!"

When Yang Wencong heard this, his eyes lit up immediately. He was already a servant. If he was promoted to another level, wouldn’t it mean that he could be a minister, and it would be honorable enough to be a minister. Into the picture!
He was immediately tempted. As for what Yang Chao said about doing things with heart, what is doing things with heart? It's not easy, isn't it just doing what Yang Chao said.

Yang Wencong immediately changed his tone: "Uncle's words are reasonable, but the officials will be reluctant to do so."

The Shibo Division has arrived!

Yang Wencong was arranged to make a decoration, and then all the people who handled the affairs below were his own people. Yang Chao had the final say on the Municipal Bureau. This Municipal Bureau is not simple. As the only open Municipal Bureau, it is equivalent to the General Customs of later generations. .

The power of the General Customs for Import and Export of the size of the Ming Dynasty was unclear to the civil servants, but Yang Chao knew it very well. In later generations, the General Administration of Customs was directly under the central government, and the level of the director was equivalent to that of the minister, which was equivalent to the level of six ministers. up.

The most important thing is that this import and export involves tens of millions of gold and silver exchanges, and Yang Chao only used 3 taels to bribe Yang Wencong not to intervene, which is not a high cost.

With the Shi Ship Division, there is also a need for ships.

Now Yang Chao has more than 90 large ships in his hands, [-] of which were snatched from Liu Kongzhao, and [-] of which were built by Shi Kefa and Longjiang Shipyard. When Yang Chao went north, all of them had been built. .Yang Chao also has a hundred small boats, which were given by Du Shouchang.

A total of [-] large and small ships, Yang Chao thinks it is far from enough, to control the Yangtze River trade and at the same time guard the river defense, Yang Chao feels that [-] ships are not enough.

There is no boat, but Yang Chao has money. The last time he traded with the Zheng family, he finally got more than 200 million taels of profit, which should have been given to Emperor Chongzhen, but he had no luck. Now it is all in Yang Chao's account. Yang Chao Going to buy a boat.

While asking for purchases from ship owners who are engaged in transportation business in the market, they asked Longjiang Customs to build a batch with all their strength and asked them to use their horsepower. From today onwards, all new ships will be delivered to Yang Chao, and all of them must be larger ships. Sailboats, flat-bottomed shallow boats and the like are not.

Then I went to the Zheng family to negotiate again. Yang Chao's current status is stronger than before. The Zheng family accepted Yang Chao's rules without hesitation. In the future, the Zheng family's boats can sail to Yang Chao's Shibosi Wharf in Songjiang , are not allowed to enter the Yangtze River to do business with other people.

Until the end of June, Yang Chao was fighting for interests in the court, making deals under the court, playing all kinds of political tricks, going to court during the day, staying at the Jinchai Tower at night to meet guests, too busy to go home, and as a result, his mother was angry He sent someone to call Yang Chao, and said that he would never go home if he did not go home.

Yang Chao had no choice but to go home honestly.

Because the mother couldn't wait any longer, he wanted Yang Chao to take a concubine immediately and give birth to a grandson for him. Yang Chao's dead bodies all day long really scared the Yang family. Although they didn't want to think about it, they were really worried. If there is an accident, if there is no grandson, the Yang family will be endless.

So letting Yang Chao take a concubine and have children immediately was not only the mother's idea, but the father was even more active.

Take a concubine, who will you take?Of course it was Dong Xiaowan.

This made Yang Chao feel a little embarrassed, he really hadn't thought about how to deal with this famous prostitute who had already lived in his house.

After being reprimanded by her mother, Dong Xiaowan returned to her bedroom. Dong Xiaowan had been waiting for her for a long time.

The two stared at each other silently for a long time across the round table, Dong Xiaowan no longer dared to look at each other, and lowered her head with a blushing face.

Yang Chao couldn't help but smile wryly: "Miss Dong shouldn't be a married woman who hates marrying!"

(End of this chapter)