"Teacher Sun" accepted the salute calmly, and when he saw that he had finished the gift, he helped Ji Qingwen up and said: "The old man has been an official for half his life, but he doesn't know how to operate, and he didn't save a tael of silver, but owed a lot of debt. You worship me as a teacher, which is designated by the emperor, and the old man does not dare to be humble, but he does not give you a meeting gift. ”

Ji Qingwen listened, rolled his eyes, and said, "It doesn't matter, I am apprenticed, naturally I want to give a gift to the teacher." How much debt does the teacher owe, to put it mildly, I will pay it off for you. ”

Emperor Chongzhen over there laughed and said, "You are a dog who has the ability to pat yourself on the back and climb along the pole." If Teacher Sun is willing to accept apprentices to pay off debts, how can it be your turn to be on you, Ji Qingwen, who doesn't learn and has no skills? The threshold of his mansion has long been stepped on! ”

"Teacher Sun" listened, arched his hand towards Chongzhen, and said with a straight face: "Ji Qingwen, since you worship me as a teacher, the old man has a few words to take care of you." The rules of the old man's door are very relaxed, and although you use any crooked ways and tricks, you must only remember: one is to have a clear conscience; the second is to live up to the emperor's grace; The third is to cherish the people - if you break these three rules, then I will expel you from the sect, and there will be no more disciples like you. This is my Sun Chengzong's rule, you know? ”

Ji Qingwen agreed repeatedly, and suddenly heard the words "Sun Chengzong", his eyes suddenly lit up, and he asked, "Are you...... Are you Sun Chengzong? ”

"Teacher Sun" stroked the thick beard on his chin and said with a smile: "What? What's so great about Sun Chengzong, and what good can I do by pretending to be him? ”

Chongzhen also smiled: "I didn't expect you, a dog, to have heard of Teacher Sun's name." Haha, how's that? I asked you to worship him as a teacher, and I didn't treat you badly, did I? ”

Of course, Ji Qingwen had heard of Sun Chengzong's name—not only in the late Ming Dynasty after the crossing, but also in later generations before the crossing—and knew that he was almost the chief architect of the strategy for resisting the Jurchens in the southward movement at the end of the Ming Dynasty, and even Yuan Chonghuan, who was arrogant and had no one in his eyes, had to respectfully shout "teacher" to him.

So Ji Qingwen hurriedly thanked him and said, "No, no." The emperor really didn't treat his ministers badly, and being able to invest in Mr. Sun's name is really a blessing that my Ji family has cultivated for several lifetimes......"

As he spoke, he thought to himself:

What was the most important thing in the Ming Dynasty?

One is silver, and the other is connections!

Silver, the Ji family is a wealthy man in Shaanxi, and some of them have silver.

connections, the eunuch party run by his father Ji Guangming was broken. But now he has taken the Donglin Party by worshipping Sun Chengzong as his teacher, no, it is the ship of the Imperial Party, which is much more effective than the eunuch party.

In this way, if you have both the two most important resources of silver and connections, and you are clear about the trend of historical development at the end of the Ming Dynasty, you can change history and prevent the demise of the Ming Dynasty; Retreat can be left and right, alone, and easily in many forces - in short, you can be a rich man in the world in this chaotic world!

Ji Qingwen had his own little abacus in his heart, but Chongzhen also had another account.

I only heard Emperor Chongzhen say: "Ji Qingwen, I sent you to be a good place to weave in Suzhou, and I didn't let you enjoy happiness, but I have another important will for you." ”

When Ji Qingwen heard this, his spirit was shocked, and he asked, "Does the emperor have any errands for me?" ”

Chongzhen replied: "You also know that now the Jurchens outside the Guanwai are making a fierce fuss, and I intend to regain the lost territory. However, the first thing needed to use soldiers is money. I originally wanted to charge a few more points of land tax, but then I thought about it and it was still inappropriate. Therefore, I asked you to be this Suzhou weaving, because I want you to go to the world of flowers in the south of the Yangtze River and pay me money to supply the war in the Northeast. ”

Speaking of this, the middle-aged man who had been silent in the Qianqing Palace finally spoke: "Your Majesty, what you said is true?" Do you really want to take silver from Jiangnan to supply Liaodong? ”

Chongzhen nodded and said, "Not bad." However, the tax burden of Zhejiang and Nanzhili provinces in the south of the Yangtze River is not light, and they can no longer add land to the top. That's the reason why I sent Ji Qingwen to weave in Suzhou - let him go and pick out the silver from those eunuchs and landlords in Suzhou, and he can't suffer the small people......"

Sun Chengzong said: "Your Majesty, it's not a minister who pours cold water. There are too many court officials from Suzhou, and the power in the DPRK and China is intertwined, so it is not easy to dig silver out of their mouths, right? ”

Chongzhen's face was a little ugly, and he said, "Of course I know the difficulties in this. If this matter is easy to do, I can send anyone at will, why bother looking for Ji Qingwen, a dog? What's more, I don't have a big opening, it is enough to send 200,000 taels of silver to the capital every year, and as for the silk, porcelain and other things woven and paid tribute in Suzhou every year, the number will be halved. Okay, right? ”

200,000 taels per year......

Ji Qingwen began to calculate: the Ji family is the number one businessman in Shaanxi, and his annual income is about twenty or thirty thousand taels of silver; Now the emperor wants to hand over 200,000 taels to the imperial court a year, which means that he has to earn ten times the amount of silver from Jiangnan every year that is the current income of the Ji family.

It's a difficult task.

However, Shaanxi is a notoriously poor place, while Jiangnan is the richest area in the world, and the level of wealth is not the same. Moreover, according to what was said in the textbooks of later generations, the so-called "capitalism" had already sprouted in Jiangnan by the end of the Ming Dynasty, and the mode of production was getting rid of the natural economy of small peasants who had barely maintained it for one or two thousand years.

If you can give full play to the ideological and conceptual advantages of the traverser and grasp the pulse of the changes of this era, you may not be able to earn the 200,000 taels of silver. Maybe you can rely on the identity of the emperor's cronies to make more money!

Thinking of this, Ji Qingwen's confidence was greatly increased, and he felt that it was not impossible to go to Suzhou.

However, Sun Chengzong didn't know Ji Qingwen's thoughts, and he was still frowning and said: "Your Majesty, the current annual income of the imperial court is only more than two million yuan and less than three million taels of silver. Half of them are from Jiangnan, and it may not be easy to raise money from there. The minister's meaning is to hand over the two differences between Suzhou Weaving and Suzhou Hushuguan to Ji Qingwen, so that it should not be difficult to pay an extra 200,000 taels of silver every year. ”

Chongzhen heard this and flatly refused: "This can't be done." The tax of Hushuguan is on par with the tax of Chongwenmen, and I want to pinch it in my hands. The two errands were handed over to Ji Qingwen, I am afraid that this dog is not capable enough, and he will take care of one or the other, but he will do bad things. ”

Ji Qingwen is a smart person, and from the back and forth conversations between Chongzhen and Sun Chengzong, he has heard that Chongzhen is hot on the outside and cold on the inside, and he is a ruthless emperor; And Sun Chengzong is cold on the outside and hot on the inside, but he is a teacher who can be relied on.

So Ji Qingwen took over the conversation and said, "Your Majesty, the minister just thought about it. It is indeed difficult to hand over 200,000 taels of silver a year, but it may not be impossible. How to raise it, the minister has no idea now, but when the time comes, in order to raise silver taels in Jiangnan, some things are not authentic and non-compliant, so please ask the emperor to bear with it at that time. ”

Chongzhen heard Ji Qingwen agree, and immediately showed a smile on his face: "That's natural, as long as you are dedicated to the country and loyal to your father, what is there that I can't tolerate?" ”

He turned his head and smiled at the middle-aged man again, and said, "How is it?" I will transfer 200,000 taels of silver from Jiangnan to you every year, 300,000 yuan from the treasury to you, and you yourself will raise 200,000 yuan outside the border. That's 700,000 taels of silver a year, isn't it enough? ”

The middle-aged man hurriedly arched his hand and said, "Enough, enough, enough." ”

When Chongzhen heard this, a smile immediately appeared on his face, and he said, "Then don't forget, you promised me to recover Liaodong in five years." I have also given you money and food for my soldiers and horses, I have also given you the banner of the king's order, and I have also given you the sword of Shang Fang, if you fail me, I will settle accounts with you when the time comes. ”

Saying that, Chongzhen thought that he had made a very clever joke, so he laughed out loud.

Ji Qingwen was taken aback when he heard this, and asked the middle-aged man, "This adult, but is Lord Yuan Chonghuan, the former Jiliao Governor?" ”

The middle-aged man replied with a calm face: "I am Yuan Chonghuan, the word 'element', a nobody who is idle at home, I don't know what advice Lord Ji has for weaving?" ”

Ji Qingwen seemed to be a little unfriendly to himself when he heard Yuan Chonghuan's words, but he didn't know where he offended him, and he didn't know where to open his mouth if he wanted to accompany him.