Chapter 65 Out of the Palace (Ask for a Monthly Pass Collection)

After Zhu Youzhen finished handling military affairs, he returned to the imperial study to deal with the excerpts.

It was all sorted out by Wang Chengen, and Zhu Youzhen picked up another pile, and frowned when he looked at it.

This is a joint letter from the Metropolitan Procuratorate, requesting the addition of cabinet assistants, and there are several in a row. The Cabinet's vote is intended to be 'approved'.

Zhu Youzhen weighed the fold, thinking thoughtfully. It's not a way to drag it out like this, but if the selected ones are disobedient, it will only add to the trouble.

He was thinking about the candidate in his heart, and suddenly turned his head to look at Wang Chengen and said, "Wen Changqing, are you still serving as a waiter in the Ministry of Rites?"

Wang Chengen thought about it and turned around and said, "Yes, it's still in the Ministry of Rites." ”

Zhu Youzhen nodded, thinking of Wen Changqing!

Wen Changqing is Wen Tiren (1573-1638), called Yuanqiao, a native of Nanxunjili Village, Wucheng (now Huzhou), Zhejiang.

Minister at the end of the Ming Dynasty, the first assistant of the imperial court during the Chongzhen period.

In the twenty-sixth year of Wen Tiren Wanli (1598), he was reappointed as a Shujishi, awarded the editor, and was appointed as a waiter in the Ministry of Rites.

In the early years of Chongzhen, he was promoted to Shangshu and assisted in the affairs of the Zhan Mansion. In the third year of Chongzhen (1630), he was a scholar of the Ministry of Rites and a scholar of Dongge University, and entered the cabinet as an auxiliary minister.

After entering the cabinet, he forced Zhou Yanru to retire and became the first assistant.

In the tenth year of Chongzhen (1637), his resignation was approved, and he died of illness at home the following year.

It's just that at present, this person's qualifications are still too shallow, and those who can enter the cabinet now are all members of the Donglin Party or whose position is biased towards the Donglin Party.

After watching it for a while, Zhu Youzhen was annoyed for a while, got up and said, "Return the excerpt to the cabinet and enter the cabinet for pre-government affairs." ”

Wang Chengen looked stunned and said, "Your Majesty, this is, do you want to let them enter the cabinet?"

The cabinet ministers are all bachelors of the four halls and two pavilions, and the end of the East Pavilion often starts from this.

Wen Tiren's qualifications are not enough, Zhu Youzhen waved his hand and said, "First confer the book of the Ministry of Rites, participate in political affairs, and do not enter the cabinet." ”

Wang Chengen understood a little, agreed, and turned around to deliver the message.

Zhu Youjian stood there silently and pondered, now there is Huang Liji in the cabinet, and there are two people from Zongdao.

If the cabinet adds Sun Chengzong, Cui Chengxiu, Zhou Yingqiu and Qian Qianyi of the Donglin Party, it should be enough, and the next step is to make up for the missing Shangshu Shilang of the six ministries.

Zhu Youzhen asked Cui Chengxiu and Zhou Yingqiu to enter the cabinet just to let them make knives and raise the commercial taxes in the capital!

Zhu Youzhen stood in the imperial study, inexplicably intuition was bored, walked outside the door, looked at the huge palace, glanced at Yuan Chonghuan, who was standing in the wind not far away, quite handsome and dashing, his heart suddenly felt a lot better, and said with a smile, "Let's go, go out for a walk." ”

Yuan Chonghuan suddenly knelt down on one knee and said, "Obey." ”

Zhu Youzhen looked at Yuan Chonghuan who turned around, he was like a mechanical, meticulous person.

When he left the palace this time, Zhu Youzhen did not take Cao Huachun with him, but only took Yuan Chonghuan and a few plainclothes guards and quietly left the palace.

Fireworks go down to Yangzhou in March, and in the capital in April, although there is still some cold, there is also a warm current.

Zhu Youzhen walked slowly on the streets of the capital with his hands behind his back, and smiled with Yuan Chonghuan, who was half a step slower on his side, "Yuan Chonghuan, what is interesting in the capital, do you know?"

Yuan Chonghuan has not been in the capital for a long time, and he is not familiar with the capital, so he thought about it and said, "The minister doesn't know. ”

Zhu Youzhen laughed and said, "Let's go, find a place to listen to the play." ”

Yuan Chonghuan had no objection, and was just about to keep up with the fierce turn, not far behind them, several people hurriedly turned around and hid in the crowd.

Yuan Chonghuan turned his head and sank slightly, then quietly continued to follow Zhu Youzhen.

Soon, the two came to a theater, and Zhu Youzhen looked at the standing sign next to the door, which read 'Mulan' in italics.

Zhu Youzhen raised his eyebrows, and with curiosity, he walked in with his hands behind his back.

Seeing that Zhu Youzhen was dressed luxuriously and had a good bearing, especially the 'subordinates' who followed him were also quite extraordinary, he hurriedly greeted warmly, "This son, please inside, today is the first time that Xiao Hongyuan, a famous actor in Jiangnan, has come to the stage in the capital, and you are here." ”

"Oh, okay, find me a good spot. ”

Zhu Youzhen was overjoyed, although he didn't know this person at all, he was still happy to throw a spirit stone.

Ran Tang took the spirit stone, and suddenly became more and more overjoyed: "Okay, son, please, I'll find you a good place to watch the show." ”

Zhu Youzhen was led to the second floor by the running hall, which is indeed a good location, which happens to be in the middle of the platform.

Zhu Youzhen sat down, picked up the melons and fruits on the plate, and then looked up at Yuan Chonghuan who was standing beside him and said, "Come, sit." ”

Yuan Chonghuan bowed slightly, but did not move.

Zhu Youzhen shook his head and said, "You, you are not more enlightened than Wang Chengen." ”

Yuan Chonghuan didn't speak, looked around vigilantly, saw a few familiar figures, and made a gesture. The guards behind him left silently.

Zhu Youzhen looked at the platform, there was no one above, but the spectators below were bustling, and it didn't take long for the seats to be full, talking and laughing loudly.

Zhu Youzhen listened to it and vaguely heard the word spring tea. Chewing nuts in his mouth and listening carefully.

A group of people on the left were led by the runner and walked straight to the table on Zhu Youzhen's right.

Yuan Chonghuan glanced up and down, made a gesture with his right hand, and the two of them quietly walked between the two tables, separating the group of people.

There were three people in total, all of them in brocade costumes, and they looked very noble, and each of them had a faint smile on their faces, and they strode over.

"Shopkeeper Li, you have thousands of acres of tea fields and several tea mountains, and you are going to make a lot of money this year!"

"No, no, it's still the shopkeeper of Fan Da on the right side of the mountain, I heard that he has 3,000 acres of tea fields in Sichuan alone, not to mention several mountains in the south of the Yangtze River......"

"I'm really greedy, I can't do it, you all have to earn, I lost a lot this year, more than a million spirit stones were thrown into the water!"

The three of them sat down with a smile, and the shopkeeper Li was a middle-aged man, he looked at the stage and said, "Qingyunlou's board duck, carp, Jiang Yunyao's daughter red ......"

"Yo, shopkeeper Li, today is generous, just these few things will cost more than a dozen spirit stones......"

Shopkeeper Li waved his hand and smiled quite reservedly.

The three are Li Zhengyun, Yang Yongzheng, and Qian Zhongyong, all of whom are wealthy businessmen in Jiangnan.

Yang Yongzheng started with a cloth village, after silk, porcelain, private salt, tea, etc., all to make money are involved, and now he is the richest man in Suzhou, and his family has a close relationship with the weaving house.

Li Zhengyun is a native of Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Hangzhou, and Zhou, Cao Yun started, and now his main business is tea, which is not the first in Daming, but there are only a handful, and his ancestors are Zhejiang according to the inspection envoy.

Qian Zhongyong is doing rice grain, in recent years, the south grain to the north, sold at a high price, really a lot of money, his ancestors and Gu Xiancheng have an old relationship, in order to connect the former Caoyun Governor Li Sancai, took advantage of Caoyun, is also a person with a net worth of millions.

The business of the three of them is intertwined with each other, helping each other, and they have long been 'best friends'.

Yang Yongzheng looked at Li Zhengyun's generosity, glanced at the two of them, shook his head and sighed, "I can't compare to Brother Li, the demon army is coming to the city, destroying half of my goods, and half of my net worth has been lost." ”

Li Zhengyun looked at Yang Yongzheng, shook his head and smiled, "Brother Yang, don't fool us, we know your net worth, how can you shake your foundation with only a million spirit stones?"

Qian Zhongyong looked at the two of them and said bitterly, "You two have a lot of wealth, and you come to Lingshi in many places, but my brother and I are miserable, and the Caoyun Yamen is useless."

Most of the previous business could not be done, in just a few months, I lost hundreds of thousands of spirit stones, dozens of boats parked at the dock and couldn't get out, and I don't know when I will be able to do business again......"

Li Zhengyun's Cao Yun business had long since stopped, his expression was stunned, and he asked tentatively, "I heard that the boat is the eldest son of Li Sancai of the Donglin Party?"

Yang Yongzheng's face changed slightly, and he hurriedly lowered his voice and said, "Brother Li is cautious."

Qian Zhongyong glanced at Zhu Youzhen, who was not far away and had been looking at the stage, and sneered: "It's okay, it's just a gentleman, let's talk about ours." ”

Qian Zhongyong's voice was not loud or small, and Zhu Youzhen and Yuan Chonghuan beside him heard it clearly.

Yuan Chonghuan's expression was cold and he was about to move forward, Zhu Youzhen looked at the stage and waved his hand unchanged.

Yuan Chonghuan looked at a few people coldly, and a guard not far from him came over and whispered in his ear: "Dudu, it's from Dongchang." ”

Yuan Chonghuan nodded, the emperor left the palace, Wang Chengen knew that it was normal to send someone to protect him.

Qian Zhongyong's voice fell, Li Zhengyun glanced at Zhu Youzhen, and saw that he stared at the stage without reacting, so he leaned in slightly and said in a low voice: "I heard that this eldest prince Li is amazing, and it is said that half of Caoyun's ship is in his hands." ”

Yang Yongzheng's eyes wandered around the two of them, the anxiety in his eyes slowly faded, and the whole person seemed very calm.

Li Zhengyun and Qian Zhongyong glanced at each other, and Li Hanyi looked at Yang Yongzheng and said, "Brother Yang, I heard that you have some personal relations with the shopkeeper Fan of Shanxi?"

Yang Yongzheng saw through the intentions of the two, took a sip of tea slowly, and said, "Yes, the last time the shopkeeper Fan came to Beijing, he discussed the matter of salt introduction with me. ”

Qian Zhongyong continued, "I heard that this Fan Da shopkeeper has a lot of friendship with Li Dagongzi, and several of Li Dagongzi's chambers of commerce, private salt, and Cao Yun have given him a lot of benefits, Brother Yang, can you introduce us to one or two?"

Yang Yongzheng's expression remained unchanged, but he smiled bitterly in his heart. If he really had a lot of friendship with Fan Yongdou, how could he nest in the capital for a few months to dredge up the relationship?

However, the two people in front of him have been of great help to his business, and he groaned and said, "According to the following news, the shopkeeper Fan is estimated to come to the capital soon, and I can try it out when the time comes." ”

"Okay!" Li Zhengyun was overjoyed and said: "If we can join forces with Fan Da Shopkeeper, we will have the final say on this year's tea price!"

The imperial court collects no more than 70,000 spirit stones a year in tea tax, as long as I join forces with Fan Da's shopkeeper, I can earn an extra 3 million spirit stones!

Zhu Youzhen looked at the babbling on the stage, but his mind was not on it, listening to the discussion of the three people, his brows wrinkled unconsciously.

He didn't pay attention to the tea tax, but he didn't expect that there would be so many profits!

And it is said that the salt tax is more profitable!