(Thanks to the book friend "PurdueAGECON" for two commuter passes!) ）

Emperor Zhu Hongsan sat on the dragon chair, looked at the ministers who had quieted down below, and said sadly: "I came from a humble background, and I can't say that I can't eat, but I also know the suffering of the people, so I have been trying to reduce the burden of the people since I became emperor in Guangzhou. In the second year of Shenwu, the capital was restored, and the taxes collected by the second mansion of Susong for more than 200 years were reduced, but what about you? What do you all do? Are you worthy of me? ”

Zhu Hongsan is talking about the high taxes levied on Suzhou, Songjiang, Changzhou, Jiaxing, and Huzhou since Zhu Yuanzhang. At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, in addition to the great warlord Chen Youliang who was entrenched in Huguang, there was also a great warlord Zhang Shicheng named after Zhu Yuanzhang in Songjiang and northern Zhejiang.

Zhang Shicheng was a big salt merchant at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, taking advantage of the situation that the late Yuan Dynasty was divided and no one cared about Songjiang Mansion and northern Zhejiang, he raised troops to occupy the richest area in China. And Zhang Shicheng was much stronger than Zhu Yuanzhang, who only had the consciousness of small peasants, and Zhang Shicheng was extremely good to the gentry under the occupation, so these gentry also contributed a lot to resist Zhu Yuanzhang.

However, Zhang Shicheng is still no match for the ruthless Zhu Yuanzhang, after Zhang Shicheng's defeat, the cautious Zhu Yuanzhang began to persecute the two mansions of Su Song, and the five mansions of Su, Song, Chang, Jia and Hu in the Ming generation paid the heaviest taxes, once accounting for one-third of the taxes in the world.

After the Manchu occupation of Nanzhili, the governor of the six provinces, Hong Chengchou, was well aware of the disadvantages of the Ming Dynasty's tax collection, so he reduced the tax collection in Susong to a normal level, which is one of the main reasons why the resistance of northern Zhejiang and Songjiang to the Manchu Qing was not as fierce as that of eastern Zhejiang.

After Zhu Hongsan occupied Nanjing, he did not restore the taxes of the two places to the level of the former Ming Dynasty, which is not because Zhu Hongsan is kind, but Zhu Hongsan does not want to lose the hearts of the people in these two places, and one of the main reasons is that most of Zhu Hongsan's current income comes from commerce and foreign trade, and he really doesn't see the Tian Fu of more than one million a year in these two places.

The ministers from these two places in the court were also very ashamed to hear the emperor say this, they used to know that Xu Bengao was doing things behind his back, in order to fight against the Huguang faction in the court, Xu Bengao did what they acquiesced to, but it was not their intention to welcome King Gui.

The old Qian Qianyi stood up and said: "Your Majesty, the ministers know Your Majesty's benevolence and righteousness, but Xu Bengao is definitely a false accusation when they welcome King Gui!" Your Majesty, please take a look! ”

Tang Yuanji said at this time: "Your Majesty, here is a letter written by Xu Bengao to Zhang Tongchang, a scholar of Hanlin who was Gui Rebellion at that time, please watch it!" ”

As soon as Qian Qianyi heard that there were all the letters, his face turned pale, he knew that the emperor was ruthless, if Xu Bengao really had evidence in the hands of the emperor, then the Xu family would be unlucky.

Zhu Hongsan didn't read Tang Yuanji's letter at all, he had already decided to kill the landlords who opposed him, and the evidence was not too important.

Zhu Hongsan said: "Come on, pass the message!" Jin Yiwei commanded Qian Lide, you personally supervised Xu Bengao's rebellion! "When the officials of the Donglin Party heard it, they were all concerned, can this matter fall into the hands of Jinyiwei? You must know that there is Qian Lide in the impeachment of the Huguang faction just now, and now let him interrogate this case, won't this guy take the opportunity to retaliate?

Zhu Hongsan looked at Ma Jiyuan, sighed and said, "Big brother, you are involved in a major case of rebellion, so let's step down as the first assistant first!" ”

When Ma Jiyuan heard that the emperor was going to clean up Xu Bengao just now, he knew that he was done today, and now when he heard the emperor say this, he had to stand up and take off his official hat and follow Jinyiwei out of the main hall.

Tong Yangjia was overjoyed when he saw Ma Jiyuan's bad luck, but he was alone in the court, and all his cronies were taken to the place by the emperor, so Tong Yangjia had no choice but to give Zhang Jiayu a look, meaning that he should stand up and promote himself as the first assistant.

How do you know that Zhang Jiayu is not stupid, the benefits you give to Tong Yangjia are not enough to recommend you to be the first assistant, so Zhang Jiayu also pretended to be deaf and dumb, as if he didn't see it.

Qian Qianyi saw the fierce struggle in the court, and he had already come up with the idea of quitting, he stood up and said: "Your Majesty, the old minister is seventy years old this year, and he really has no energy to serve His Majesty, please allow the old minister to resign and return to his hometown!" ”

Zhu Hongsan looked at Qian Qianyi, this old guy has not seen him for three years, he is getting older and older, he was fighting so hard in the court just now, this old guy actually fell asleep, it's okay! Let him go home!

"Since Mr. Qian has this intention, I agree, you can retire according to the position of a first-class master!" The elder of the pavilion is from the first product, and the emperor gave Qian Qianyi a position of Taishi, which is good.

Qian Qianyi let out a sigh of relief, and finally left this mud pit, Qian Qianyi stood up and gave a deep salute, and then took off his official hat and walked out of the hall.

Qian Qianyi's resignation is of course due to old age and decay, but the most important reason is that the old Qian is slippery, he sees that the emperor is no longer satisfied with the Donglin Party, and now he is just taking into account that the Northern Expedition is not easy to do, and it is estimated that he will kill the Donglin Party in a few years, so he should retire as soon as possible, so as not to harm the pond fish when the time comes.

There are a total of seven people in the cabinet, and now there are three less, Ma Jiyuan was dismissed, Qian Qianyi retired, Zhu Dadian retired last year, and now only Tong Yangjia, Fu Wenlong, Jiang Yueguang, and Wang Yunchang are left in the cabinet.

Zhu Hongsan looked at the remaining four people, belonging to different factions, needless to say, Tong Yangjia and Ma Mingyuan are mortal enemies, Fu Wenlong is Ma Jiyuan's in-laws, Jiang Yueguang is the Donglin Party, and Wang Yunchang is Ma Mingyuan's person, but Ma Mingyuan's coming to power cannot let his family dominate.

Zhu Hongsan thought for a while and said: "Pass the decree and reinstate Ma Mingyuan as the prime minister!" Feng Ziyong, the governor of Liangguang, Li Zhi, the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, and Yu Yinggui, the governor of Liangjiang, entered the cabinet! ”

As soon as Zhu Hongsan's holy decree came out, Zhang Jiayu and Tong Yangjia were overjoyed, Feng Ziyong had the closest relationship with the Guangdong faction, and Li Zhi was from Guangdong, but he didn't expect two people from the Guangdong faction to enter the cabinet this time. Tong Yangjia was also very happy in his heart, Yu Yinggui was not a Donglin party, nor was he a Huguang faction, but he had a good relationship with Tong Yangjia when he was the governor of Huguang and the governor of Liangjiang, and he could be regarded as half of his own people, and now that he has entered the cabinet, he is finally no longer alone.

The Guangdong faction, which was initially ousted from the cabinet, came back again, and the Donglin Party, which originally occupied two seats in the cabinet, now has only Jiang Yueguang left, and although Ma Jiyuan has been demoted, his in-law Fu Wenlong still remains in the cabinet. Although Wang Yunchang is now Ma Mingyuan's person, Wang Yunchang is Feng Ruoshu's student, and it is difficult to guarantee that he will not take refuge in Feng for his own use, so this time, the newly appointed Ma Mingyuan has become a complete loner in the cabinet.

However, the greatest benefit of this arrangement was the emperor Zhu Hongsan himself, which not only appeased the Guangdong faction, but also dealt a blow to the Donglin Party, and at the same time his own basic Panhu Guang faction power has been greatly improved, Ma Mingyuan, Tong Yangjia, Fu Wenlong, Feng Ziyong, Wang Yunchang Although they have different thoughts, they are all Huguang factions, and they still spare no effort in supporting Zhu Hongsan.

The emperor's decree was issued, and naturally a little eunuch went to Ma Mingyuan's mansion in the city to upload the decree, so that the new chief assistant could go to the court to participate in political affairs.

Ma Mingyuan has been waiting at home for a long time, and according to his arrangement, he will definitely succeed today, so Ma Mingyuan has already prepared his official uniform and is waiting for the holy decree.

Ma Mingyuan's son Ma Shaojun was also very excited, although Ma Mingyuan was demoted, although he did not suffer any losses, but Ma Shaojun has no status in the Beijing Shi Xuan circle, everyone is a second-class and third-grade master, and you are a cloth cloth. So today, Ma Shaojun uncharacteristically did not go out to mess around, but waited at the gate for the eunuch to come.

Ma Shaojun waited until noon to see a group of brocade-clothed guards surrounded by a red-clothed eunuch appear at the entrance of Mafu Street. Ma Shaojun was overjoyed and shouted, "Dad! Father! Here it comes! Here it comes! ”

Ma Mingyuan, who was sitting in the hall, was also very excited, and finally waited for it and got up again!

But Ma Mingyuan had no expression on his face, and scolded: "Rebel, what are you panicking about? Who's coming? ”

"Daddy! The lieutenant who delivered the decree is here! It's already at the corner of the street! ”

"Well, let the butler prepare the incense case!"

The incense case has already been prepared, and after the housekeeper Ma Fu received the news, the four doors were opened, and all the people in the Ma Mansion knelt at the door to greet the angel!

Ma Mingyuan is the only one who has a reputation in the Ma Mansion, only he stood at the door wearing a cloth robe, and said: "Grass people Ma Mingyuan, welcome the angel!" ”

The little eunuch smiled and said, "Congratulations to Shoufu!" ”

After the little eunuch finished speaking, he opened the bright yellow holy decree and read: "Fengtian carrier, the emperor said!" Ma Mingyuan reinstated the Prime Minister of the Cabinet, added the title of Taishi, was a product, and was named the Marquis! ”

Ma Mingyuan was also overjoyed after listening to the holy decree, he was only a first-class cabinet premier before, and now he is a marquis, you must know that in Zhu Hongsan's system, in addition to the dead Feng Ruoshu, Ma Mingyuan is also the first civil minister to be crowned a marquis, which is an immortal glory.

After reading it, the little eunuch handed over the holy decree to Ma Mingyuan: "Lord Shoufu, please follow our family into the palace!" The emperor is waiting! ”

Ma Mingyuan suppressed his excitement, took the holy decree and said, "Please wait a moment, the minister will go and change his clothes!" ”

In fact, Ma Mingyuan had already prepared the costume, and returned to the study to change into a red four-clawed python robe, which was the color of the prince's clothes, and only Shoufu could wear it in the Manchu Dynasty. Ma Mingyuan put on his official uniform and looked at himself in the mirror, he was really emotional. I was dismissed from office three years ago, and I thought I was looking down on it at the time, but I didn't think that when I saw this official uniform today, I found that I still couldn't give up my rights.

Ma Mingyuan's eight concubines were also full of joy, and the step-room Cui Niang smiled: "The master is still majestic in official uniforms!" Several other concubines said the same.

Ma Mingyuan is 1.8 meters tall, has a slender body, and is forty-eight years old this year, it is a man's golden age, wearing the python robe given by the emperor, standing in front of his wife and concubine, he is naturally majestic, so those women are not sycophants.

"Okay, madam, you make arrangements, it is estimated that there will be officials who will come to congratulate you in a while, you let the housekeeper block the car, and return the gifts you take! Your Majesty estimates that you will give a banquet, and the old man will not come back for dinner tonight! ”

When Ma Mingyuan passed by Huguang, he felt that it was better to keep a low profile, after all, he was too popular before.