After returning to the Qianqing Palace from Wuyingdian, Zhu Youzhen was still a little uneasy about the affairs of Shaanxi, so soon after he returned to the upper study, he instructed Lu Qi to issue an order to Luo Yangxing, who was still in Datong to supervise the army, ordering him to rush to Chengcheng first to monitor the actions of the local officials and soldiers and the surrendered refugees.

Sitting at his desk and pondering for a long time, Zhu You's prosecutor raised his head again and commanded Wang Chengen on the side: "Summoning Han Yiliang for me, I want to talk to him." In addition, I will arrange for me to have a banquet in the Siyi Pavilion tonight for the officials of the Donghai Patrol Mansion in Beijing and the heads of the subordinate departments, and let the Korean envoys come out to accompany me..."

It has been more than a week since I returned to the capital from Yangzhou, and since most of the public opinion in the capital has focused on the affairs of Shaanxi, the conclusion of the Lianghuai salt case has not set off much of a storm in the capital at all. This made Han Yiliang's mood of suffering from gains and losses when he just returned to Beijing begin to slowly calm down.

If it is said that more than a year ago, he wrote to the emperor to talk about the Ming officialdom, but it was just a quick tongue, in fact, he did not think in his heart that it was up to him to change the habits of the Ming officialdom. He just pinned this hope on the emperor, and wanted the newly enthroned emperor His Majesty to change the bad habits of the Ming officialdom.

The reason why Han Yiliang thinks this way is because he feels that he does not have the ability to change reality, nor does he have the courage to fight against the huge bureaucratic system of the Ming Dynasty. But he was indignant at the dark behavior of the officialdom, so he mustered up the courage to give the emperor that letter.

In later generations, people like him will often be called angry youth. If Chongzhen had seen his recital at that time and asked him to make a plan to solve the officialdom, maybe he would have been timid and at a loss.

However, Chongzhen did not do this, but set up a yamen such as the Independent Commission Against Corruption, but let him serve as the chief official of this yamen. If Han Yiliang could only make a few dissatisfied remarks in the face of the first-class officialdom a year ago, then after he independently disposed of the Lianghuai salt case, Han Yiliang finally realized that he was no longer in a powerless situation against the ** phenomenon of officialdom.

After being summoned by the emperor, Han Yiliang, who was eager to try it with the initial taste of the success of the two Huai salt cases, couldn't wait to get a new task from the emperor to prove the value of the existence of the Independent Commission Against Corruption.

With this excitement, Han Yiliang stepped into the study room of the Qianqing Palace, and looked at the young man who was sitting behind the desk and reviewing the documents, he immediately knelt down respectfully and saluted Chongzhen.

Zhu Youzhen put down the documents in his hand, asked Han Yiliang to take a seat, and then listened to his report for a while, about the information about the case of Lianghuai Yan. After understanding the Lianghuai salt case, Zhu Youzhen suddenly asked him: "Through this case, can you learn any lessons from it?" ”

Regarding the question suddenly raised by the emperor, Han Yiliang only paused for a moment, and then replied with some trepidation: "The minister has benefited a lot from this, if it were not for His Majesty's foresight and careful arrangement, this case would not have been closed so cleanly..."

Before Han Yiliang's flattering words were finished, Zhu Youzhen had already waved his hand and interrupted him and said: "What I want to hear is not this, what I want you to know is that without the help of the organization, it is impossible to change the atmosphere of the Ming officialdom by relying on the recklessness of one person alone." What Zhang Jiangling and Hai Gangfeng failed to do, I and you can't do either.

Only by establishing an organization that specializes in dealing with the correction of officialdom, absorbing people who want to change the atmosphere of officialdom into the organization, and then using the organization as a backing, can we confront the corrupt group composed of those ** officials. I think that after you have been interrogated by the two Huaiyan cases, you should be able to understand this truth. ”

Regarding Chongzhen's words, Han Yiliang could only be speechless, but the emperor's words also woke up, and he originally had some vague feelings in this case.

Zhu Youzhen paused for a while, looked at Han Yiliang sweating profusely and remained silent, and couldn't help but smile and turned his head to Wang Chengen and ordered: "Go and get a bowl of sour plum soup for Director Han, see if the weather makes him hot." ”

Han Yiliang hurriedly got up and thanked him, and Zhu Youzhen motioned for him to sit down, and said, "I came to you today, in addition to wanting to talk to you about the two Huaiyan cases, in fact, I also want to tell you to do one thing." ”

Han Yiliang hurriedly sat up straight, looked at Chongzhen intently and said, "Please instruct Your Majesty, and the minister will definitely write it down carefully." ”

Zhu Youzhen thought for a while, and then organized the language and said: "The case of Lianghuai Yan is officially closed, and those Jiangnan gentry are now unable to turn over this case." The successful conclusion of this case has finally raised the name of the Independent Commission Against Corruption and let the world know that the Independent Commission Against Corruption is not a yamen used to decorate the façade.

However, if you want to make the corrupt officials in the world fear the Independent Commission Against Corruption, such a case alone is not enough. Therefore, I plan to hand over the second case to the Independent Commission Against Corruption, and I hope that you can handle this case as well as the two Huaiyan cases. ”

Han Yiliang owed a debt and asked, "Please also ask Your Majesty to show me." ”

Zhu Youzhen paused and said, "These days when you go back to the capital, you should also know about the rationing system that the imperial court is planning to implement. In the process of implementing the rationing system, whether it is to purchase grain and cotton from the countryside; Bills were also distributed to people in cities in northern China to sell grain, cloth, and other daily necessities at affordable prices.

The officials at the bottom of the government and the local gentry will become an unavoidable link in the implementation of the rationing process. If we only promote the implementation of rationing, but do not oversee the whole implementation process. Then the implementation of rationing will become the best tool for these petty officials and squires to exploit the small people.

At that time, it will become a situation in which the people's grievances will be attributed to the court, and the interests will be attributed to the squires and petty officials. The purpose of the imperial court to promote rationing was to ensure that the majority would benefit, rather than allowing local officials and gentry to collude to obtain new ways of exploiting the small people.

Therefore, I asked the Independent Commission Against Corruption to be prepared to supervise the implementation of the rationing system and to supervise the actions of the magistrates and gentry in it. In order to ensure the smooth implementation of the rationing system, I will give the Independent Commission Against Corruption a separate right to handle the case, and there is no need to go through the review of the Criminal Department, if there is any problem in the process of handling the case, you can report it directly to me..."

While Chongzhen and the ministers were busy dealing with the affairs of Shaanxi, Nguyen Phuc Yuan, the lord of Quang Nam, finally accepted the advice of the military advisor Tao Weici and sent his son Nguyen Phuc Lan and his advisor Ruan Youyi to Hoi An, and under the arrangement of the Ming envoys, they negotiated peace with the so-called pirates.

In order to obtain the advanced artillery of the Portuguese, Nguyen Phuc Nguyen allowed Portuguese merchants to establish a commercial port, Phet Phu Port, and after more than a decade of development, Chinese, Japanese, Europeans and Southeast Asians were attracted to Phet Phu Port to trade, making it the most important trading city in Quang Nam, Hoi An.

Hoi An City is built on the river, with the old city to the east and the new city to the west. Since the Portuguese regarded this place as their stronghold in Quang Nam, Hoi An Fortress was second only to Hue in Quang Nam and was equipped with many cannons. However, these well-developed defenses did not play much role in the pirate siege.

The Portuguese envoy from Macao brought orders from the Macao City Council, and the Japanese and Portuguese soldiers who arrived with the envoy took control of the fort facing the harbor at the first time. As a result, the port's defenses had not yet worked, and the pirates' soldiers had already landed in the port.

Hoi An City is divided into five neighborhoods, of which only two neighborhoods are inhabited by Vietnamese citizens, while the other three neighborhoods are where Europeans, Chinese and Japanese live alone. When the Portuguese merchants laid down their arms and expressed their willingness to accept the orders of the Macau City Council, the European-inhabited neighborhood announced its surrender.

The neighborhood where Chinese merchants lived was originally intended to support the two resisting Vietnamese neighborhoods, but when Ming generals in official uniforms emerged from these gangs that looked like pirates, the Chinese neighborhoods had to lay down their arms. As for the neighborhood where the Japanese lived, although they refused the pirates' appeasement and tried to continue to help the Vietnamese who resisted, after being attacked by the pirates who appropriated the city's cannons, the Japanese laid down their arms for the safety of their families.

When Nguyen Phuc Lan and Nguyen Youyi followed the Chinese envoys into Hoi An City on a sliding pole, they left and found that except for the fact that there were many fewer Vietnamese in the city, the order in the whole city was quite good, and there were still many people on the streets who were open to do business, and it didn't look like a city occupied by pirates.

Looking at the scene in Hoi An City, Ruan Youyi was even more convinced that it was not pirates who occupied Hoi An City, but the officials and soldiers of the Ming Kingdom, otherwise the merchants in the city would not be so at ease to do business.

Although Ruan Youyi agreed with the judgment of the military advisor Tao Weici, his heart was still full of dissatisfaction with Tao Weici. Under the circumstances of this unclear situation, sending him and Nguyen Phuc Lan to Hoi An for negotiations is undoubtedly risking their lives.

But at this point, he had to rack his brains to think about how to complete the task of Renguo Bus Agent and bring back the prince of the country next to him safely. To be honest, Ruan Youyi felt that this time the Ming ** team's attack on Quang Nam was completely unwarranted for him.

Because attacking Saigon was completely the proposition of Nguyen Phuc Yuan's third son, the third son was bent on overthrowing his eldest brother and ascending to the position of the prince, so he came up with a way to attack Saigon to gain military merits. And Nguyen Phuc Yuan, the Duke of Nguyen Quook, has been planning for the land of Chenla for a long time, and even did not hesitate to marry his daughter Nguyen Thi Ngoc to King Ji Zheta II of Chenla.

Just as the civil strife in Chenla was about to break out, the Chinese pirate Liu Xiang stepped in and established Saigon City in the Priango area, which had been operating in Quang Nam for a long time. This not only undermined Nguyen Phuc Nguyen's wishful thinking, but also blocked Quang Nam's plan to expand its territory to the south.

Therefore, under the strong persuasion of the third prince, the unwilling Ruan Fuyuan still took the risk of attacking Liu Xiang and captured Saigon. Nguyen Phuc Yuan originally thought that even if the Ming Kingdom was annoyed, he would at least abide by the etiquette of the Celestial Empire, and first sent an envoy to question him, and then decided whether to use troops against Quang Nam.

He can have a relationship with Ming Guo for a while, if he can get mixed up, it's best, if he can't get through, it's not too late to retreat. Even if the city of Saigon is returned, the land outside the city will be occupied. But no one expected that the Ming Kingdom, which had always regarded etiquette as bigger than the sky, would be so unsophisticated to disguise himself as a pirate to attack Guangnan.

At this moment, Nguyen Phuc Yuan and the officials of Quang Nam were dumbfounded, and the Ming officials and troops crossed the sea to attack Quang Nam, and they could also send envoys to ask the Ming Emperor for mercy. But for the Ming officials and soldiers dressed as pirates, they had nothing to do. Because they were pirates, these officers and soldiers did not speak the etiquette of the war between the two countries at all, and they could not cry to the Ming court.

A slightly knowledgeable official could see that without the help of the Portuguese at sea, Quang Nam's long coastline was a weakness full of flaws. At the moment when the Zheng clan of the Northern Dynasty was still eyeing Guangnan, the officials and troops of the Ming State made trouble for another half a year, and Guangnan was either destroyed by the Ming State or surrendered to the Northern Dynasty.

Thinking of this, Ruan Youyi's mood became heavier and heavier, this time he could only succeed in the negotiation with the pirates, not fail. The gently shaking slide rod suddenly stopped, and Ruan Youyi looked up to see that they had already arrived at the place. This is an ancestral hall built by the Chinese, and because of its size, it is now the residence and office of the pirate leaders.