More than half a year ago, Ji Qingwen was in the Beijing Baiyun Temple Conference of hundreds of officials in the court, and coerced and lured the officials present to write a joint chapter to protect Yuan Chonghuan, which has long been well-known all over the world. Among them, Zhang Zhixiu, the son of Zhang Juzheng, who was suddenly born, is even more like a legend, which is shocking, sighing, and unbelievable.

It wasn't until today that the name of "Zhang Zhixiu" came out of Ji Qingwen's mouth, and I heard him once say such great words as "The rise and fall of the world is the responsibility of the husband", and everyone believed that there was really a person named Zhang Zhixiu in this world.

And this person is a great threat to the Donglin Party.

If nothing else, it's because of Zhang Zhixiu's old father, Zhang Juzheng, who has been dead for many years.

When Zhang Juzheng was in power, except for a few officials who did not know the current affairs, he had already unified the officialdom, and even Wang Xijue, who was regarded as a tiger by the Donglin Party, could only respectfully call Zhang Juzheng in front of him: Teacher.

Although Zhang Juzheng has been dead for a long time, his old man's energy is too great, and if someone plays the tiger skin of "Zhang Jiangling" again, he may be able to pull up a force that cannot be underestimated in the political arena.

However, this point, including Qian Qianyi, Gu Yanwu, and Huang Zongxi, the Donglin Party has not thought so deeply, and they are still amazed at this Zhang Zhixiu, who is hidden in the court.

After sighing for a while, Gu Yanwu said again: "It's easy to know what is difficult to do. Lord Ji and Mr. Zhang's insight is certainly brilliant. But how to deal with the current situation? ”

Seeing that the topic was about to be introduced, Ji Qingwen felt proud in his heart, and hurriedly spit out four words from his mouth: "Rich country and strong army." ”

"A rich country and a strong army? Rich countries? Strong soldiers? Hahahaha! Qian Qianyi suddenly laughed out loud, "What a rich country and a strong army." China's history stretches for 5,000 years, and countless talented and intelligent people are only asking for the words 'rich country and strong army'. What kind of person are you, Lord Ji, who dare to claim to be rich and strong even because of you? ”

"That's right! It's up to me! It's me! In this world, if you want to talk about a rich country and a strong army, except for me Ji Qingwen, I'm afraid there is no one else! Ji Qingwen retorted mercilessly.

Then, he introduced his measures of "enriching the country and strengthening the army" one by one.

First of all, rich countries.

During his tenure in Suzhou weaving, Ji Qingwen successively reorganized and built a series of industrial stores such as textile workshops, harbor wharves, and Ji's money villages, and the annual profits have reached the order of one million taels of silver, equivalent to one-sixth of the imperial court's annual financial revenue. It should be noted that this money is a pure benefit other than costs and expenses, and it can be spent in hand.

Among these money, Ji Qingwen has to pay nearly 500,000 taels of silver and in-kind tribute to the imperial court every year, which almost supports half of the expenditure of the Liaodong defense line. In fact, after the war in Liaodong was eroded, the Ming court filled in the northeast with as much as three or four million taels of silver every year. However, now because the old governor Sun Chengzong presided over the Liaodong defense line, so the defensive strategy is much smarter and more active than in history, Huang Taiji fell into passivity for a while, unable to launch a large-scale attack, the Ming court naturally did not need to gather a large army to resist, and the military expenditure was naturally much less, and one million taels per year could be supported.

In addition to supplying the Liaodong military, Ji Qingwen also used the money to do two major things.

The first is to build the Dianshan Port Wharf and build Dianshan Town, which is a fact that everyone knows.

The second is to let Duo Jiugong build a water conservancy project near Xi'an, Shaanxi, so that the grain output of the Xi'an generation will be as little affected by weather disasters as possible, and in the future, Ji Qingwen will send the cultivated sweet potatoes to the northwest for planting. Although this cannot fundamentally extinguish the fire of the Northwest Civil Rebellion, it can at least make the flame burn a little slower.

Most of the above words are praising himself, although Ji Qingwen said it dryly, his heart was extremely comfortable, so he continued to speak.

The second is the strong army.

This is mainly reflected in the "Ming Wu Army" recruited by Ji Qingwen in accordance with Qi Jiguang's art of war. Although the number of the Ming Wu Army is small, in the three years since its establishment, it has only expanded from the original five or six hundred people to more than two thousand today. However, the combat effectiveness of this army is extremely strong, and it has successively fought with Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong of the Northwest People's Revolution, Xu Hongru of the White Lotus Sect, and Manchurian Emperor Taiji and Dai Shan, and has always been able to overcome it, and it can be said that it is the most effective army of the Ming Dynasty.

If there was no Ming Wu Army, and the war in the northwest and northeast was not talked about, the uprising of the White Lotus Sect in Nanjing would not be so easy to pacify. And Jiangnan is empty, if there is no participation of the Ming Wu army, there is absolutely no way to quell the White Lotus Sect uprising with these guards and troops of the imperial court in Jiangnan alone.

And the White Lotus Sect Leader Xu Hongru has always had great ambitions, if he is allowed to gain a firm foothold in the rich land of Jiangnan, he will undoubtedly open up territory in Jiangnan and become the emperor. At that time, the Ming court lost the cornucopia of Jiangnan, and it was even more difficult to obtain financial revenue, and it was even more impossible to use troops in the northeast and disaster relief in the northwest.

The more Ji Qingwen spoke, the more he rose, and finally concluded: "This is all far away. Let's just say that if there is no Ji Qingwen and the Ming Wujun under me, relying on Liu Kongzhao and Han Zanzhou, they will not be Xu Hongru's opponents at all. How can you still drink and talk here and send your affection to the moon? ”

Having said that, Ji Qingwen's article was finally finished, he breathed a long sigh of relief, glanced at the Donglin Party members who boasted of being full of wealth, and then sat down, and took a sip of half-warm tea under Liu Ruye's waiting, moistening his almost dry lips.

Although his views are slightly exaggerated, they are all reasonable, well-founded, and reasonable, and most of the Donglin Party members are happy and convinced.

Only Qian Qianyi was still unconvinced, and held back for a long time before he said: "Lord Ji has made outstanding achievements and is admirable. However, the old man also has to advise the lord, no matter how much money you make and how many soldiers you raise, if you can't get the hearts of the people, isn't it still useless? ”

"People's hearts?" When Ji Qingwen heard this, he immediately put down the tea bowl and sneered at each other, "You are also worthy of talking about the people's hearts?" I'll tell you - the people's heart, you don't count! ”

Qian Qianyi's face flushed: "If the old man says it, doesn't it count, does Lord Ji say it?" Lord Ji is unpopular with the people, others don't know, don't you know it yourself, sir? Although the old man lives in a poor and remote country, he also knows that there are many ministers in the court who criticize the lord, and every month there is a recital to impeach the lord to the heavens. Do you want to talk about the people's hearts......"

Qian Qianyi smiled proudly: "If you want to talk about the people's hearts, the lord can be said to have lost the hearts of the people!" ”

"Humph! Nonsense! Ji Qingwen scolded bluntly, "This is not the people's heart, but the official heart." There are too many officials who hate me and scold me, and I don't care about them at all when they are flies and ants. These rabid dog barking days can also be regarded as popular hearts? If Mr. Qian wants to know what 'people's hearts' are, then I will teach you if I am tired. ”

Hearing this, Qian Qianyi's face couldn't help twitching - he was a famous figure in the world twenty years ago, and if others wanted to worship under his door, he had to weigh whether it was enough or not, and no one dared to teach him a word.

However, Ji Qingwen didn't have the slightest respect for the old and love for the young, and he didn't let go of this "highly respected" Donglin party leader, so he continued to say: "What is the people's heart? The first is to be safe: you can't walk or eat and be killed by a mess of people; The second is to be well-fed: you can't do things hungry. Only after these two items have been achieved can we talk about the support of the people. Otherwise, the 'people' are gone, and the 'hearts' are dead, so what is the people's heart? ”

Qian Qianyi was annoyed and ashamed: "Your words are all clichés, and they are not worth talking about by elegant people." ”

"Hahaha, noble man. What a noble man! Ji Qingwen laughed out loud, "Have you noble men ever been on a bloody battlefield?" Have you ever seen a famine that is full of hunger? In such a place, a pancake with a stomach and a mat for a corpse are worth much more than the sour and rotten articles that you have painstakingly come up with. Hum! I said it a long time ago, if it weren't for me, Ji Qingwen, to make money for the imperial court and train the army, I am afraid that you would have been dismantled by the rebellious victims a long time ago, what kind of elegance can you talk to me? What vulgarity to talk about? Tell you Qian Yushan, these things I said, you can't learn them even if you read them for a lifetime! ”

Qian Qianyi was so angry with these words that his face was crooked, and he hesitated for a long time before he squeezed out a few words from between his teeth: "You are competing with the people for profit!" ”

Ji Qingwen knew that the Donglin Party would inevitably issue an accusation of "competing with the people" to him, so he had already discussed this with Li Yang many times.

So Ji Qing's bra was successful, and he said calmly: "Mr. Yu Shan's words are wrong again. I am not 'competing with the people' for profit, but 'competing with the rich'. You also have a mouth under your nose, why don't you ask, when did I, Ji Qingwen, make the people's money? Since I came to Suzhou and Songjiang, you can ask the people in these two places how their lives are better? Or is it worse? ”

Qian Qianyi was about to speak, but was blocked by Ji Qingwen again: "If you are too lazy to ask, it will be easy to do." At today's conference, Lord Liu, the prefect of Suzhou, is also here, you can go and ask him, and you will know as soon as you ask. ”

Qian Qianyi finally caught a talk, and he couldn't speak decency: "Who doesn't know that Liu Ruozai is too fat to wear a pair of pants with you, can you believe what he says?" What's more, he has only been in Suzhou to be the prefect for a few days, how much can he know about the morale and public opinion? ”

"Hahaha!" Ji Qingwen said with a smile, "I didn't expect Mr. Qian to be so thick-skinned, and he was embarrassed to criticize others!" Then let me ask you, you have lived in Jiangnan for a long time, and you must have saved a lot of money, I don't know what you have done to promote the good and eliminate the disadvantages, and what good things have you done to help the local people? Are all the people thinking of your goodness? ”

Qian Qianyi was originally not a stingy person, but since he failed to enter the cabinet and returned to his hometown of Changshu County, Suzhou Prefecture, he was full of plans to make a comeback.

Not only that, but because the Qian family occupied a lot of land, they often quarreled with the tenants because of disputes over tenants. And the subordinates of the Qian family, relying on the power of Qian Qianyi, also do things from time to time to bully and do good things. Therefore, although Qian Qianyi is famous among Shilin, in the eyes of ordinary people, he is an unscrupulous landlord bully.

Therefore, after listening to Ji Qingwen's question, Qian Qianyi didn't even have the courage to refute, so he could only choose to bow his head and remain silent.