This method, Chongzhen Dynasty and Hongguang Dynasty have already used, there is a folk song is very suitable for "Chinese books are everywhere, all the governors walk all over the streets, the prison discipline is as many as sheep, and the staff is as cheap as a dog...... ”

Wu Zheng just didn't expect that Zhu Cihong, who prides himself on being a Ming Jun, would sell his official title so directly?

This made Wu Zheng suddenly remember that Zhu Cihong was going to form a fifteen-thousand-gun army, and he wondered why the imperial court suddenly had money, and he dared to rely on this method to make money.

This is actually drinking doves to quench your thirst.

The main reason for the demise of the Chongzhen Dynasty was that the Ming elite betrayed it, and there was no one.

This elite class is not just scholars.

It is the collusion between officials and businessmen formed by the Ming scholar and doctor class and Ming merchants.

The three major merchant forces of the Ming Dynasty, one is the merchant gang headed by the Jin merchants in the north, they are the main culprits of the demise of the Ming Dynasty, and they were named the eight masters of the imperial merchants by Huang Taijiqin by betraying the country. Chongzhen was poor and became a dog, and the hungry rebels of the farmers in the northwest rose everywhere, but they had hundreds of millions of taels of silver in their homes. It is equivalent to the financial income of the Chongzhen Dynasty for 20 years (in the last years of Chongzhen, the annual financial income was about four or five million taels, and the Chongzhen Emperor added three salaries to seven million taels to nine million taels, and the Manchu Dynasty scholars and doctors were on the bar with the emperor until the emperor was soft).

The second is the Jiangnan Merchant Gang, although they are slightly inferior to the Jin Merchants in terms of the degree of disaster, but they are also one of the main culprits of the demise of the Ming Dynasty. Because the Jiangnan merchant gang "only wants money and does not kill people", they did not betray the country, but a considerable part of them funded the rebels in various places to resist the Qing army when the Qing army went to Jiangnan. It's not that the Jiangnan Merchants are patriotic, they are not a last resort, the duel between the north and the south capital, from the beginning of the Qing army's entry, the Jiangnan Merchants Gang has fallen behind, which is also the biggest reason why the Jin Merchants crushed the Jiangnan Merchants in the early Qing Dynasty in history. With the Donglin Party as the spokesperson, the Jiangnan Merchant Gang set a precedent in Chinese history for the merchant group to control the government, reducing or even virtually fictitious commercial taxes, raising agricultural taxes in disguise, causing the treasury to be empty, and laying the root cause for the demise of the Ming Dynasty.

The third is the merchant groups along the coasts of Fujian and Guangdong, who are also businessmen and bandits, represented by Wang Zhi and Zheng Zhilong. Just like Zheng Chenggong's father Zheng Zhilong, who earned millions of taels of silver a year and raised tens of thousands of soldiers, when the Qing army went south, he surrendered to the Manchu Qing with tens of millions of silver.

The reason why Wu Zheng avoided the Jiangnan Shi clan like a plague and preferred to rebuild his power was that in the first three years, he had been disappointed in the Shi clan.

Among the Jiangnan scholars, there are few upright people like Qian Sule, Zhang Guowei, and Zhang Huangyan.

People like Chen Zilong are the majority who will do whatever it takes to achieve their goals.

For example, Qian Qianyi and Song Zhengyu are like grass on the wall, and there are many who fall with the wind.

What else can an elite like this rely on, saying that the scholar died in the Ming Dynasty, this sentence is not an exaggeration.

But now, Zhu Cihong wants to follow his father's old path again, even worse than his father, at least Emperor Chongzhen really didn't sell his official mantle so blatantly in exchange for silver, if Emperor Chongzhen really did this, at least he wouldn't die so quickly.

At this moment, Wu Zheng was going to take care of it.

Wu Zheng can't watch the Yixing Dynasty be ruined like this, at least for now, Wu Zheng is still a courtier of Yixing.

"Who are you going to replace Qian Qianyi?" Wu Zheng asked with a frown.

Wang Yi was overjoyed, their strength is indeed not enough, since Chen Zilong stepped down, they have lost all their military power, and it is really inappropriate to rely on their mouths. If Wu Zheng could help them, the situation would definitely be different.

Wang Yi immediately replied: "We have indeed discussed, and there are two candidates who can take over the post of first assistant, namely Taifu and Mr. Wozi. ”

When Wu Zheng heard this, he immediately shook his head, isn't this a joke?

"No, these two are not suitable. Taifu is the father-in-law of this father, how can the emperor be jealous of me, how can I let Taifu be the first assistant? And Chen Zilong is even more impossible, the emperor is afraid that he can't get rid of him, and he still has a belly of fire. If you really want to mention it, the emperor will never agree. ”

Wang Yi sighed lightly and said: "I have thought of these, but now that the talents of the Yixing Dynasty are withering, as the first assistant, after all, they need to consider fame and qualifications...... For a while, there was really no suitable candidate. Is there a candidate in the general's mind? ”

Wu Zheng thought about it.

Wang Yi said suddenly: "Under the command of the general, Zhang Guowei and Zhang Gong are suitable, he was the secretary of the military department when King Lu was in charge of the country, ...... was the secretary of the military department. ”

Wu Zheng categorically refused: "No, Zhang Gong is not suitable. ”

Just kidding, Zhang Guowei just jumped out of this quagmire, how could Wu Zheng be willing to let him come back?

Besides, Zhang Guowei's ability to lead troops is okay, but his ability to govern is not enough.

For a moment, the two fell silent.

Wang Yi said annoyedly: "Today's cabinet is not the cabinet formed by the general of the Qingtai Dynasty, Your Majesty has the sole power, Qian Qianyi almost acts only in His Majesty's will, and the voting rights of the five ministers of the cabinet are like a fictitious thing." General, if you continue like this, if you don't change the first assistant, I'm afraid that the matter of selling the official beard will become more and more intense, and when the time comes, the people's hearts will be scattered, and I am afraid that the ending of the Hongguang Dynasty will be repeated. ”

Wu Zheng's heart suddenly moved, he patted his thigh and said: "I think of a person, it's very suitable, he is a capable minister, he also has qualifications, and the most important thing is that his reputation is good." ”

Wang Yi was overjoyed and asked, "Dare to ask the general, who is it?" ”

"Zodiac Week."

"Huh?" Wang Yi's face changed, "Isn't Mr. Youxuan an important minister of Emperor Longwu?" ”

Wu Zheng said: "The Longwu Dynasty was destroyed by the Qing army, and Emperor Longwu was captured by Duoduo and taken to Shuntianfu, and his life and death are unknown. Huang Daozhou also had some Longwu ministers who were stranded in Ningbo because of Duoduo's attack on Shaoxing, and I rescued them from prison when I recovered Ningbo Mansion. It's just that Huang Daozhou was not lightly injured at that time, and he was imprisoned for a long time and needed to recuperate, so he left them in Ningbo Mansion. ”

Wang Yi pondered: "Mr. Youxuan is a Jishi in the year of the Apocalypse, the first assistant of the Longwu Dynasty, the secretary of the Ministry and the secretary of the military department, and the scholar of the Wuyingdian University, and his ability, qualifications, and reputation are all selected...... But can Your Majesty agree to the important ministers of the Longwu Dynasty to be the first assistant of the Yixing Dynasty? ”

Wu Zheng said: "Huang Daozhou is the Jishi of the Apocalypse Dynasty, the Hanlin of the Chongzhen Dynasty, such a qualification, Your Majesty may have no reason to refuse, right?" ”

Wang Yi shook his head and said: "The general may not know that Mr. Youxuan is the Hanlin of the Chongzhen Dynasty, but because of the repeated collisions with the first emperor, and the first emperor disliked, so he was demoted six levels twice in a row, transferred to Jiangxi according to the judge Zhaomo, and then because Jiangxi Governor Xie Xuelong recommended Huang Daozhou to the imperial court in the name of loyalty and filial piety, the first emperor was furious, and the two of them were eighty court staffs, and they were forever filled with troops in Guangxi. Later, the first emperor remembered him and wanted to summon Mr. Youxuan back to the capital, but Mr. Youxuan had no intention of assisting the first emperor anymore, and Li Thief had already captured Henan, so it was over. ”

Wu Zheng was dumbfounded when he heard it, but he didn't expect that there would be such a play.