The western suburbs of Lin'an City, ten miles of long pavilion.

Zhang Qi, the right minister, Zhao Suiqian, the governor of the government, Wen Anguo, the three envoys of the three central courts, and Liu Xi and Li Yue, two young officials, all gathered here to see off Wen Bin, who went to Shuzhong to serve as the governor of Sichuan. His nephew Wenxin, who went to Shu with him, was also there.

"I guess this old bone is going to be thrown away in Shu." Wen Bin laughed at himself, and then said, "The court will ask you." ”

"Uncle! Don't say such unlucky things. Wen Xin, who was standing to the left of Wen Bin, persuaded.

"What did the prince say?" Liu Xi, who was standing next to Zhang Qi, hurriedly said: "You are Lao Ji Fu Fang, with thousands of miles of ambition!" ”

The others said yes when they heard it, but Li Yue, who was standing on Wen Bin's right, was silent, looking a little displeased. Zhang Qi and Liu Xi He looked down on them a little, if it weren't for them in order to snatch the position of Jianghuai Governor, would Wen Bin, who was over the age of six, need to go to Shuzhong?

"That's it!" Wen Bin arched his hand towards everyone and said: "Send you a thousand miles, there will be a farewell!" Everyone, please come back. ”

Everyone got up to leave, but Wen Bin grabbed Li Yue.

After everyone walked away, Li Yue bowed to Wen Bin and asked, "Does the prince have something to say?" ”

"Virtuous nephew! It is not an exaggeration to say that your knowledge is superior to that of the past and the present. But what the old man is worried about! Wen Bin patted the stone table lightly, stood up and continued: "Your temperament is very similar to Zong Peng back then, and what you think in your heart is simply written on your face. ”

Li Yue was stunned for a moment.

"In fact, the Emperor Taishang knew very well back then that Zong Peng had no intention of rebelling at all." Wen Bin said to Li Yue earnestly: "Everyone in the world knows that when I asked Li Linzhong why he had to put Zong Peng to death, he replied with a sentence of 'unnecessary', but I didn't know that there was a sentence behind him, 'This is also the intention!'" ’”

"Then why do you have to put General Zong to death? Isn't this self-destructing the Great Wall? Li Yue asked puzzled.

"Zong Peng's temperament is as fierce as fire, and he is jealous and hateful. The unhealthy tendencies of the imperial court are often bluntly criticized, and they offend I don't know how many civil and military generals. The most important thing is! Speaking of this, Wen Bin paused and said: "Zong Peng knew that the Emperor Taishang had no children under his knees, but he wrote to the Emperor Taishang to set up a prince as soon as possible to consolidate the country's foundation. ”

"General Mo Feizong is worried that Youguo will let Emperor Daozong act as their puppet to rule the Central Plains?"

"Indeed!" Wen Bin bowed slightly, "But this is also why the imperial court was warring and making peace with Beiyou during the Xingguo period, and it was indecisive." ”

"Oh!" Li Yue suddenly realized.

Whether it is Zong Peng's Northern Expedition to welcome back Daozong Emperor Zhu Gaohui, or Beiyou's support for Zhu Gaohui to be a puppet emperor, it will make Zhu Gaoyan, who was able to succeed to the throne because his brother was captured by Youguo, look very embarrassed.

This is the reason why Zhu Gaoyan was in a hurry to negotiate peace after Daliang moved south, and gained a slight advantage over Beiyou on the battlefield. Zong Peng shouted all day long that he wanted to go north to conquer the snow, recover the Central Plains, and welcome back Emperor Daozong. What's the difference between that and looking for death?

"The old man is over the age of six, and he is the king of the county, what more can the husband ask for?" Wen Bin sighed angrily: "The only regret in my heart is that the shame of the difficulty has not yet snowed!" ”

"Lord Wang!" Li Yue said proudly: "Jiangnan has a prosperous population and abundant products. As long as I, the monarch and minister, can work hard to recover the mountains and rivers, revenge is just around the corner. ”

"Tell the truth! The old man didn't have much confidence in recovering the Central Plains before. Wen Bin's voice suddenly rose when he said this: "It wasn't until I foolishly saw you that I felt that there was indeed hope for the success of the Northern Expedition!" ”

Li Yue said humbly: "The prince has won the award!" ”

"Don't be too humble! The old man has something to say to you before leaving. ”

"Lord Wang, please speak!"

Wen Bin sighed angrily: "It is easy for loyal martyrs to die, but it is difficult to endure humiliation. Only by leaving a useful body can we have a chance to realize our ambitions. After the old man leaves, you only need to do six words to ensure that you have no worries in the Lin'an court. ”

"Please don't hesitate to teach the prince!" Li Yue bowed.

"Do more and talk less." After Wen Bin finished speaking, he turned around and left without looking back.

"Brother Li, take care!" Wen Xin hugged his fists and saluted, and quickly chased after Wen Bin's direction.

As soon as Li Yue said goodbye to Wen Bin and Wen Xin's uncle and nephew, a little eunuch announced that Li Yue would immediately enter the palace to face the saint, Li Yue didn't know what was going on, and followed the little eunuch all the way into the palace.

Li Yue now has the big inner waist card given by Zhu Chongli, and he can enter the palace directly, and under the leadership of the little eunuch, he comes to the vertical arch hall. As soon as the little eunuch went in to report, Zhu Chongli hurriedly announced that he had entered the hall.

As soon as Li Yue bowed, Zhu Chongli asked him not to pay a big salute and sat down.

Li Yue saw that there were also eunuchs and a few palace maids and eunuchs in the palace, so he sat down calmly, and then asked, "Your Majesty, what is the matter with summoning the ministers into the palace this time?" ”

"You've really invited yourself to Lang! If I don't invite you, you won't come. Zhu Chongli smiled: "If there is nothing to do, I can't summon you to the palace?" ”

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

"You did a good job in the bank, in just one month, you first provided a loan of 200,000 yuan to the household department, and then sold a small part of the bank's shares, which not only resolved the run crisis, but also allowed the imperial court to recover two-thirds of the bank's investment. And the imperial court still has absolute control over the bank, which is really a great achievement! Zhu Chongli said happily, the eunuchs and palace maids around him all felt that Zhu Chongli had not been as happy as today since he succeeded to the throne.

"What a little credit for this little bit of credit!"

"A little credit? The income of 600,000 yuan brought to the imperial court in a month is a small credit, and it is estimated that the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty are all meritorious ministers. Zhu Chongli continued: "If you have merit, you will be rewarded!" I have already told Zhang Xiang that you will be promoted to Tobe Zuo Shilangzhong. ”

Li Yue immediately stood up from the chair, then knelt down and thanked him: "Minister Li Yue thanks Lord Longen!" Long live my emperor, long live, long live! ”

"No rudeness!"

After Li Yue got up and sat down, Zhu Chongli then asked, "What do you think of today's government affairs?" ”

"Your Majesty, our Great Liang is rich and rich, and the people are diligent, although a lot of money and food have been spent in order to defend the northern seclusion, but the treasury will not be so empty. Didn't the Holy One think something was wrong? ”

Zhu Chongli was silent for a while and said, "How can I not know about the problems of the imperial court? The organization is bloated, the people are superfluous, the army has no combat strength, and every year the food and salary of officials He Chenglu and the army alone consume most of the income of the state treasury. ”

Li Yue felt that what Zhu Chongli said was a bit evasive, but it was just a superficial phenomenon. The deep-seated problems lie in land annexation, inequality between the rich and the poor, and backward tax systems.

However, Li Yue does not want to touch on these problems for the time being, and the work of reforming internal affairs has always been unpleasant. The essence of reform is to regain a fair share of the pie, which will inevitably provoke a backlash from vested interests. And these people are either in high positions or are inextricably linked to the powerful.

These are obviously things that Li Yue can't afford now, not to mention reform, that is, once this word spreads, it is estimated that Li Yue will be sent to Hainan Island to plant bananas.

Thinking of this, Li Yue opened his mouth and said: "The current top priority of the imperial court is to manage finances and strengthen the army. Among them, financial management bears the brunt! ”

Zhu Chongli nodded frequently, Li Yue was right, if he had no money, who would give him his life as an emperor?

"With a strategy, you can accumulate a huge fortune in a short period of time." Li Yue said to Zhu Chongli, who was already shining brightly: "That is external expansion!" ”