In the middle of summer in June, the city of Nanjing is like a furnace, but it is so hot that the people dare not stay in the open air, so they have to squeeze in the shade of the trees to enjoy the shade, like those teahouses and restaurants, now they are even more crowded with people, and it is a good pastime for everyone to listen to the storyteller tell the latest news in the newspaper.

Teahouses like this have spread all over the south, and many people are illiterate, so they want to know the facts, so they often draw a copper dollar through those storytellers, buy a pot of tea, and they can sit around and listen to the gentleman on the stage.

Of course, for those rich and noble people in Nanjing City, they naturally don't have to be like these rough men, huddled together, some of them wrapped a flower boat on the Qinhuai River, and some sat in a private room by the river, listening to those storytellers talking about the world, full of fun.

"Master Ning, you can count it today! A few days ago, we Qingyunlou invited an iron mouth, talking about the great politics of the imperial court, which is called a transparent, originally wanted you to come to the show, but I haven't seen you for several days! ”

Under the signboard of Qingyun Building, a Xiao Er with a towel on his shoulder was greeting a young man respectfully at this time, and the young man was wearing a cyan robe and a net scarf on his head, looking polite and polite, and he was not much interested in Xiao Er's words, but his steps were walking towards Qingyun Tower.

After the two walked into the teahouse, they saw that many people had already sat down in the teahouse, but everyone did not speak, but looked at a storyteller in the stage, and this person was talking about the major policies of the imperial court.

"Since a few days ago, the imperial court issued an order on the gradient taxation of land area, but the land price in Jiangnan and Huguang has plummeted, and some people have said that 100 acres of gold, 1000 acres of silver, and 10,000 acres of broken copper and iron!"

"Someone asked, what do you mean? The meaning is very simple, the land held by this family is less than 100 acres, and the annual tax paid is much cheaper than in the past, that is, the gold is not exchanged! But once the hundred acres are less than a thousand acres, then I'm sorry, this field tax has to be paid well, and the income is not as good as before, but if this land reaches tens of thousands of acres, it is better to break the copper and iron, and sell the excess quickly......"

Someone shouted, "Isn't the more land there is, the better?" Why are you going to sell it? ”

"Hey, more is better? Take a look, this more than 1,000 acres of land, but there is no longer a field tax, it is a serious industrial and commercial tax, no matter how rich you are, you will be dragged down by this tax in a few years! ”

When everyone was in an uproar, the young man came to a chapter under the guidance of Xiao Er

The young man smiled slightly, "What this person said is still thorough, it's just the big policy of the imperial court, Yu Xiaomin is blessed, but Yu Haoshen is a complete disaster....."

As soon as these words came out, everyone next to them looked sideways, but a short and fat businessman hugged his fists and said: "This little brother doesn't dare to say this, we should always listen to the big policies of the imperial court, at least there is a spectrum in my heart about how much tax we will collect in the future - but there are some things that should not be said, but don't say it." ”

The young man returned the salute, and then said softly: "Since the imperial court has done this, it is naturally not afraid of what people say. ”

Yes, as soon as others heard it, they immediately knew that this master was either still shallow and didn't know how to take it seriously, or he had some weight in the family, otherwise he wouldn't dare to open his mouth so indiscriminately.

It's just that at this time, the storyteller brought up another thing, he glanced around at everyone in the teahouse, but he was shocked, and said with a smile: "Ladies and gentlemen, if any of you are familiar with my iron mouth, you should understand that ordinary storytellers are all picking up bits and pieces from the newspaper and shaking them out with everyone, but our iron mouth is different, in addition to the things in the newspaper, there are also some news from their own family......."

When everyone heard this, they were a little curious, after all, for some public news, people wanted to know more about the things hidden under the water, and even the young man was a little curious at this time.

Smack-

I only heard such a sound of shocking wood, and Zhang Tiezui said proudly: "If you want to know something else, please also ask everyone who has money to hold a money field, if you don't have money, you can call me well, thank you old and young masters." ”

For everyone in the teahouse, this is a good point, and it is also reasonable to reward some copper slots, so there are really people who throw money into the disc in the middle, but most of them are some copper slots, and a few are generous and will throw copper circles into it.

Zhang Tiezui hurriedly bowed his hand to thank you, and then pretended to be mysterious: "If you want to talk about this news, I am sure that you can't find it in the newspaper, but this matter is not simple.......

Seeing that Zhang Tiezui was still talking in a circle, it made everyone a little impatient, and someone immediately shouted: "Zhang Tiezui, if you don't say it again, we will smash your stall!" ”

Zhang Tiezui had to clench his fists and say forgiveness, "Hey, let's say right away, this matter is a big and important matter, that is, the battle of our Great Chu Northern Expedition, which will start immediately!" ”

"Hey, you kid is sitting on the shabu-shabu!"

As soon as everyone heard this, they stopped doing it, and even the young people were a little annoyed, what kind of bullshit news is this!

Although the newspapers did not say anything about the Northern Expedition, who did not know that the Northern Expedition was coming? This is basically no longer the so-called news, but the old news is still more or less the same.

Seeing that everyone was about to lift his spies, the iron mouth had no choice but to say loudly: "Ladies and gentlemen, what you know is not the same thing as what we said!" Everyone knows about the Northern Expedition, but do you know what day it is? ”

Hearing this, it made everyone a little surprised, and even the young man's expression became solemn at this time, how could such a confidential matter be known by a storyteller? Could it be that he is even more powerful than the people in the Privy Council?

If this is the case, then a new purge of the court is inevitable.

Zhang Tiezui was like revealing the mystery, and said with a smile: "Originally, we didn't know much about this, but yesterday we watched the stars at night, but found that the stars had changed greatly. ”

Everyone didn't know what to say at this time, but the young man glanced deeply at Zhang Tiezui at this time, and finally left the teahouse.

.........

The young man was none other than Ning Qianqiu, who had just returned to Nanjing from Xi'an, as Ning Chu's envoy, he went to the Great Righteous Army for an envoy, the purpose was to contact the Great Righteous Army, and in the upcoming Northern Expedition, as Ning Chu's ally, to contain Nian Qianyao in the direction of Gansu.

As this envoy, Ning Qianqiu successfully completed the task, after all, as the current leader of the Great Righteous Army, Chen Daoxian, he did not inherit the title of King of Han who was the son of Laoshi, but chose to be a vassal to Ning Chu early, and then Ning Yu was named King Yong, which is considered the honeymoon period of cooperation between the two sides.

It's just that Chen Daoxian is still busy clearing the original Liu Ruhan's forces, and he doesn't have any more energy to do anything - his strength is no longer comparable to that day, so he told Ning Qianqiu euphemistically that with the current strength of the Great Righteous Army, he is afraid that he will not be able to contain Nian Qianyao in Gansu, and he also needs Ning Yu to provide some help in weapons.

In this case, Ning Qianqiu rushed back to Nanjing, in order to discuss this matter, but when Ning Qianqiu rushed back to Nanjing, it happened that Ning Yu went out to inspect the army, so he did not present it for the first time.

It's just that Ning Qianqiu just heard from Zhang Tiezui that the so-called day of the Northern Expedition suddenly chuckled in his heart, and he thought that there was a leak in the Privy Council - just thought about it and felt funny, even if there was a leak, it was impossible for such a storyteller to say it in public.

The biggest possibility is just hearsay, and then grandstanding in Qingyun Tower.

After Ning Qianqiu returned to the house, he got a message that His Majesty had returned to Beijing, and he was overjoyed at the moment, so he thought about entering the palace to face the saint, he hurriedly packed up some documents and materials to communicate with the Great Righteous Army, and went in the direction of the palace.

It's just that what Ning Qianqiu didn't expect was that when he just went out, he happened to usher in the attendants of the chamber, leading Emperor Ning Yu's dictate and rushing over, asking him to go directly to the Privy Council without having to go to the palace again.

Nanjing's Privy Council is also in the imperial city, but the scale has been expanding, and even almost catch up with the cabinet and the executive yuan, occupying more than a dozen houses, because the location is in the west of the cabinet, so it is also called the West Yuan, and the relative cabinet and the Executive Yuan are collectively called the East Yuan.

The East and West Courts go hand in hand, no one can control anyone's head, only responsible to Emperor Ning Yu, except for the financial and tax fights, there is usually no contact, and this actually makes some civil officials feel dissatisfied, because the two courts are on an equal footing, which makes the civil officials feel hurt.

I have to say that since the two Song Dynasty came, this literati is more majestic in front of the warriors, like the Ming and Qing dynasties, the general general, one of the best generals, not only has to be controlled by the governor of this kind of civil official, but even the lower Taoist platform does not dare to be disrespectful, so in the hearts of many civil ministers, they feel that this military general should be subject to their control.

However, since the establishment of Ningchu, this point has completely changed, and the emperor's attention to the army is in the eyes of everyone, not only in terms of material, but also in terms of substantive status, which is also greatly reflected, such as the Privy Council, which is independent of the cabinet, can reflect the emperor's ideas.

After arriving at the Privy Council, Ning Qianqiu saw that there were more guards at the door than usual, and many officers were holding the materials and moving in the direction of the Strategy Hall, which was the largest strategic command room in the Privy Council, which could accommodate more than 100 people at the same time, so whenever there was an important strategic meeting, it would be held in the Strategy Hall.

Ning Qianqiu couldn't help but feel a burst of nervousness, he understood that the Northern Expedition against the Qing court was about to begin.