Liu Zongzhou, the left attendant of the ministry, seemed to remember something funny, and said with a smile: "According to what Wang Yue said, after a year, one million taels of silver will be offered to the imperial court every year, and the emperor will pay 100,000 taels of silver. Just now, I have paid another 26 million catties of grain in taxes, and I want to donate 100,000 catties of steel. Could it be that this Wang Yue wants to use the money to buy a gold medal for his workers? ”

Hou Yi was in charge of the household department and deeply realized the difficulty of having no money, and Liu Zongzhou's whimsical statement seemed to remind him.

"That's right," he patted his thigh and said, "Your Majesty, this is not a good idea." The annual income of the household department is only 4 million taels, and Wang Yue employs more than 300,000 workers, but he can contribute 1.1 million taels of silver to the imperial court a year, not to mention that there are tens of millions of catties of grain tax to collect. What if these more than 300,000 people were given to him? ”

It is worthy of being a book of the household, and this account is clear as soon as it is calculated.

Chongzhen was angry today, he really didn't expect this, and his heart moved when he heard this. This seems to be a good deal, do you want to talk to him again? Let him recruit more people and give him more money?

Wen Tiren is good at observing words and feelings, he doesn't want Chongzhen to agree to Wang Yue's conditions, and immediately said: "No, no!" Lord Hou, the imperial court has never had such a practice! In this way, how can the court save face? Doesn't this make Wang Yue's starting point city an independent kingdom? ”

Saying that, he said to Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, why bother so much? The more the king is richer, the more he rivals the country, and now he has made such a rebellious request, and the court just exterminated him, aren't all those riches from the court? ”

Referring to the massive wealth of the starting point city, Chongzhen remembered the hundreds of millions of catties of steel in Shijingshan and the huge wealth of the starting point city reported by Jinyiwei. Yes! This excuse that Wang Yue gave to the court himself, then it is no wonder that others. If Wang Yue is taken, the economic problems of the imperial court will be solved immediately.

The second assistant Xue Guoguan was eager to peel Wang Yue's skin, cramps, and bones and ashes, and of course he agreed with Wen Tiren's proposal: "What Wen Ge Lao said is extremely true, this Wang Yue instructed the soldiers of Tiance to kill the Jinyi Guard of the Son of Heaven's army, and even arrested Fu Yifeng, the chief banner of Jinyi Wei, without authorization, and refused to let people go, which has already violated the criminal law. Now he speaks wildly, as if he were self-reliant. People like this must be severely punished by the imperial court, and must not be tolerated. Such a rulerless father and a great rebel should immediately order Jinyi Wei to arrest and bring him to justice, and then order Dali Temple, the Criminal Department, and the Military Department to hold a three-division trial to remove his official and punish him for his crime to correct people's hearts!

"Your Majesty, the minister is reconsidering!"

"The ministers also reconsider!"

As soon as Xue Guoguan's voice fell, Feng Ying and others echoed one after another.

Among the surging officials, only Yang Sichang, Chen Xinjia and others chatted and a few were silent.

In the end, Wen Tiren, who looked angry, also stepped forward and said, "Please ask the emperor to judge!" ”

Most of the officials in the hall spoke in unison, and the cabinet collectively agreed. Chongzhen finally made up his mind, no matter how much he admired Wang Yue before, this time he really committed the taboo of the superiors. If this kind of person is not punished, others will follow suit in the future, and it will not be allowed to be chaotic.

"Someone is coming, the decree will be ......"

"The emperor is slow, the minister has something to say!" At this time, Liu Zunxian, the secretary of the Ministry of Industry, stood up and stopped Chongzhen, and then asked: "Minister, may I ask the emperor, do you want to deal with Wang Yue like you?" ”

"Needless to say, naturally it will be escorted back to the capital and sent to the third division for trial!" Chongzhen said without thinking.

Liu Zunxian bowed his hand to Chongzhen and said: "So that the emperor can know that there are more than 300,000 people in the starting point city, all of whom live by working for Wang Yue, and the salary is nearly ten times that of the people in Beijing." And the soldiers of the Tiance army were recruited from these people, and their families also relied on Wang Yue to live. If the imperial court punishes Wang Yue, what should these people do if they are bewitched by people with good intentions and rebel against the imperial court? ”

Xie Sheng, a scholar of the Jianji Palace and a scholar of the Ministry of Officials, also said worriedly: "That Wang Yue's Tiance Army's combat power is extraordinary, and Jiannu is not its opponent, who can be the enemy?" If he really reverses, the land of Jingshi will inevitably erode! ”

"This," Chongzhen couldn't help but be speechless for a while after hearing this, yes, if Wang Yue didn't obey the emperor's order, it would be really fatal.

This is also the reason why Chongzhen did not decisively order Jinyiwei to arrest Wang Yue, if it was someone else, there was no need to be so troublesome. Didn't Yuan Chonghuan say kill it? However, Wang Yue's situation was different from Yuan Chonghuan's, so Chongzhen had to be cautious.

The group of people who shouted and shouted to kill just now also thought about the consequences. Wang Yue is not an ordinary official, he has an army, and this army is very perverted.

Liu Zunxian asked Luo Yangxing again: "Governor Luo, you are in charge of the Jinyi Guard, can you tell this official and your lords, such as how many troops are in the army today?" How strong is it? ”

Luo Yangxing looked at Chongzhen's face, saw him nodding, and then said to Liu Zunxian: "Emperor Qi, my lords!" According to our Jinyiwei's investigation over the past few months, the total strength of the Tiance Army is currently 10,000, all of which are equipped with spontaneous firearms, which are what they call rifles, in addition to hundreds of chariots and hundreds of artillery. There are still 20,000 regiments under the Tiance Army, and although these regiments are not equipped with rifles, they are constantly practicing from morning to night every day, and their combat strength is far superior to that of the guards in the Beijing camp. ”

The attention of the ministers present has always been on the Tiance Army, which is the army that crippled the Manchu Qing Dynasty, but they didn't expect that in addition to the Tiance Army, there are 20,000 regiments of training troops.

Wen Tiren asked in surprise: "When did Wang Yue, the thief, get 20,000 group exercises?" ”

As the first assistant of the cabinet, his attention has always been to the political disputes of the court and the thoughts of the emperor, where has he paid attention to these.

"Don't hide it from Wen Ge Lao," Luo Yangxing arched his hand to Wen Tiren and said: "Wang Yue, as the Shuntianfu soldier, has the responsibility of rectifying the counties of the Beijing Division, so since August last year, regimental training has been set up in each county of the Beijing Division, and the submissions of these regimental exercises have also been submitted to the Ministry of War for filing. ”

It was precisely because he knew Wang Yue's strength that Luo Yangxing did not dare to put his score as the governor of the city at the starting point.

He continued: "In addition, according to our Jinyiwei investigation, the workshop that Wang Yue is building in Shijingshan can be described as full of fine iron. All kinds of steel are more than 100 million catties, they are simply everywhere! If Wang Yue is willing, he can raise an army of 100,000 at any time. So... So...! ”

Everyone present was shocked, they all understood the importance of steel, and it was not a problem to raise an army with Wang Yue's financial resources at all, maybe 100,000 troops were less.

With the combat strength of the Tiance army and the regimental training distributed in various counties, as long as Wang Yue gives an order, the entire Shuntian Mansion may immediately change into the sky, and then everyone present can only sit in the city of sorrow.

After Luo Yangxing finished speaking, there was silence in the hall.