In the three halls of the Guogong Mansion, Li Zhi looked at the eunuch who announced the decree and frowned silently. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

Li Laosi walked up and stuffed fifty taels of silver into the eunuch. The eunuch knew that his decree was not a good thing, and he thought that he would not get the money. Stuffing the silver into his sleeve, he hurriedly handed over the holy decree to Li Laosi, made a gesture at Li Zhi, and left happily.

Li Xing, who was standing on the side, saw that the eunuch had walked away, stood up and scolded: "The Son of Heaven is also tired and greedy, we rely on our own soldiers and horses to rob North Korea, how can he intervene." Have the ability to let the new army in the capital go to North Korea to rob? ”

Zhong Feng said with a smile: "It is estimated that the Son of Heaven wants to expand the new army, but he can't raise food. Nowadays, the scholars in the south do not listen to the Son of Heaven, and there are more and more tax arrears. The thieves in Henan and Huguang were prosperous again, and the finances of the Son of Heaven became more and more tight. ”

Zhong Feng said suddenly: "Is the Son of Heaven now only in charge of the affairs of Beizhili and Shanxi?" ”

After thinking about it, Zhong Feng asked himself again and said, "Is it that Guanbei Zhili and Shanxi still have to discuss with the Donglin Party?" ”

Li Xing said: "No matter how difficult the Son of Heaven is, he can't make money from us. We have no silver, and we have never pondered the silver of the Son of Heaven. Tianjin and Shandong should hand over the silver to the Tai warehouse every year, and the silver that should be transferred to other guard military towns, we have a lot of silver in one tael. There is no more loyal minister like Big Brother. ”

Zheng Kaicheng groaned and said: "The Son of Heaven did not explicitly ask for money, and the Son of Heaven only hinted in the holy decree that we should hand over some. After a pause, Zheng Kaicheng said again: "But speaking of which, North Korea is the legal vassal of the Ming Dynasty. If the Son of Heaven does not authorize us, we are illegally crusading. ”

Zhong Feng smiled: "What can the son of heaven do?" Can he lead his 80,000 new army to Tianjin? ”

Zheng Kaicheng said: "That's not it, it's just that it's always inappropriate to give authority when the time comes." Now that we are enemies of the gentry of the world, it is time to need allies to fight together. ”

Hearing Zheng Kaicheng's words, everyone was silent for a while. Now Li Zhi wants to unite the commoners of the world and the merchants who are responsible for fighting against the gentry and officials and businessmen who suck the blood of the Ming Dynasty. Whether it is for illiterate commoners or for honest businessmen, the emperor is the sustenance and spiritual support in their hearts, which is of extraordinary significance.

Li Zhi's generals all understood that until Li Zhi's prestige reached a certain level, Li Zhi was not ready to leave the Son of Heaven and go it alone.

Li Laosi, who was sitting on the chair, suddenly said: "Then give one million taels of silver to the Son of Heaven, if we have more, we will lose the significance of the Northern Expedition to Korea." ”

When everyone heard Li Laosi's words, they looked at each other for a while, but no one spoke.

Zheng Kaicheng said: "We have 14 million, and 1 million taels will be given to the Son of Heaven, isn't it a bit disrespectful." ”

Zheng Kaicheng's words caused the other generals to burst into laughter, as if they had heard a funny joke.

I don't know which one said: "Zheng Kaicheng, sell your family's newly built mansion and donate it to the Son of Heaven." ”

Li Zhi also smiled and said, "The Son of Heaven wants to train the new army, and he is very short of money, so he said that he would give one million taels to the Son of Heaven." ”

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Wang Chengen looked at Li Zhi's recital and pouted.

"Holy Lord, Li Zhi is very disrespectful. He said that if he could get fifteen million from this expedition to Korea, he would give one million to the emperor's inner treasury. A million, not even a fraction of it. ”

Wang Chengen said: "This Li Zhi killed Jin merchants in Shanxi and gentry in Jiangnan, and made a lot of money. So far, only five million taels have been handed over to the emperor. If this continues, Li Zhi is getting richer and richer, but the emperor is getting poorer and poorer, which is to form a situation where the inside is light and the outside is heavy. ”

Wang Dehua, the eunuch of Dongchang's palm print, looked at Zhu Youzhen's face and said, "Emperor, according to reliable sources, Li Zhi copied 30 million taels in Shanxi and more than 13 million in Jiangnan. In these two places, he made more than 43 million. After cutting and handing over to the emperor, he still has 38 million taels, which can be described as a huge amount of money. ”

"It is said that the silver of the Guogong Mansion in Tianjin has been piled up, and the silver has been placed in the granary of Fanjiazhuang."

The summer light rain kept dripping, and Zhu Youzhen walked to the window and looked at the wet Forbidden City, and shook his head.

"Jinguo's ability to collect money is really powerful."

"Every time I make a move, I hold up the name of righteousness, kill the crumbs cleanly, and don't leave anyone a handle."

"It's a pity that Li Zhi has only one. If I have a few more Li Zhi in the Ming Dynasty and check and balance each other, why do I still need to worry about the country and society every day? ”

Hearing the praise of the Son of Heaven, Wang Chengen and Wang Dehua glanced at each other, a little disappreciative.

Wang Chengen took a step forward and said, "Emperor, this time we can't let Li Zhi prevaricate easily. If Yi Zhi does not hand over more than 5 million taels, we will openly protect the vassal state of Korea and declare Li Zhi's crusade against Korea illegal. ”

Wang Dehua also seemed to be angry with Li Zhi's instigation, and was very dissatisfied with Li Zhi's insistence, he said to Zhu Youzhen: "Shengshang, Fanjiazhuang can't penetrate into our East Factory, but we have a lot of fine work in Tianjin and Shandong's prefectures and counties. As long as we spread the news that the Holy Lord did not agree to the crusade against Korea, Ri Sik's disobedience to the holy decree and the robbery of the vassal states will be known to his subjects. Li Zhi's righteous image of all these years will collapse overnight. ”

Wang Chengen's eyes rolled, clapped his hands and said, "This is wonderful!" Wonderful! ”

Zhu Youzhen looked back at his two henchmen and eunuchs, and frowned.

"Nonsense! Are you trying to make me and the Duke of Tsu hostile? ”

When Wang Chengen and Wang Dehua heard Zhu Youzhen's words, their smiles froze in fright. The two of them knelt on the ground, kowtowed and said, "The slave doesn't dare!" ”

Zhu Youzhen shouted: "The Duke of Jin Guogong has been loyal to the southern and northern wars over the years, and he can be said to be the mainstay of my Ming Dynasty. Although he controlled Tianjin and Shandong, he never owed the grain and wages that should be handed over. If I listen to your calculating words, it will make the Duke of Jin full of dissatisfaction with me, and the society will be in danger. ”

"Now that the thieves occupy Henan, and the thieves are entrenched in Huguang, it is the time to employ people. I now understand that if I continue to follow the public opinion of the Donglin Party, I will only force the good people into thieves and force the world into chaos. Li Zhi is a little instigated, and he can't contradict him because of this. ”

Wang Dehua was about to speak, but was preempted by Wang Chengen. Wang Chengen kowtowed on the ground and said, "Emperor Shengming! Slaves and maids are short-sighted, and they deserve death! ”

Zhu Youzhen looked at the two young eunuchs and did not speak.

Flicked his sleeves and sat on the throne, Zhu Youzhen looked at Li Zhi's piece again, and said slowly: "One million taels is not a small number, it is enough to arm 10,000 new troops and support 10,000 people for a year's salary." ”

"Li Zhi used a private army to crusade against North Korea, and the imperial court did not need to contribute a little force."

"Spread my will, and give the righteous name of the crusade against Korea to the Duke of Jinguo. Joseon had surrendered to the country for treason, and a fine of 15 million taels of silver should be imposed. This matter is the sole responsibility of Li Zhi, the general of Zhengbei. If the Joseon Dynasty cannot wake up and pay the money, I will grant the general of the expedition to the north, Li Zhi, the right to dispatch troops to act cheaply. ”