Emperor Chongzhen naturally didn't know all the stories that happened on the street in front of the Gongyuan, because at this time, he was receiving Lu Shanji, the minister of the salt patrol imperial Shi Qincha, who came to meet him. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

At the beginning of March, with the vigorous assistance of Luo Yangxing and others, Lu Shanji dealt with the salt affairs of the Lianghuai Salt Transport Envoy Division, then bid farewell to Yangzhou City, and under the escort of a large number of Jinyi Wei and Cao Ying sent by Yuan Keli, the governor of Caoyun, personally escorted the confiscated large sum of silver, all the way north along the canal to Beijing.

Nearly 1,000 flat-bottomed boats raised by Yuan Keli, the current governor of Caoyun, went all the way to the north, stretching for more than ten miles, like a long dragon in the canal, heading in the direction of Jingshi.

Except for Lu Shanji, Yuan Keli and Luo Yangxing, no one knows what exactly is being shipped on this large number of ships. Including the Song Yingxing brothers, who saw these boats with their own eyes on the way to Beijing, they didn't know that the boats filled with grain on the surface were actually carrying so much white silver that made people dizzy.

Lu Shanji left Yangzhou with the last batch of Cao boats, and never got off the boat except for getting off the ship outside Huai'an City and meeting with Yuan Keli, the governor of Cao Yun. He couldn't be careless, for the silver was so important. Because of this large sum of money, the finances of the Ming Dynasty in the next few years will be relatively relaxed, and the opportunity to calm Liaodong will be much greater, and the prospects of the Ming Dynasty will become brighter.

Lu Shanji, who was far away in Yangzhou, of course, also heard some of the emperor's ideas, such as never giving anything or something. This sounds good, and the gentry and people in the world are also praised, but it is very difficult to really do. And the reason why the emperor has such confidence and dares to say such things is entirely because of the batch of silver that Lu Shanji confiscated from the salt merchants in Yangzhou and Nanjing. The emperor knew this, and Lu Shanji knew this very well.

Although Lu Shanji killed chickens and took eggs, resulting in the two Huai salt industry was deeply damaged, today's Yangzhou City, there is no longer the prosperity of the past, and the market is depressed. Lu Shanji himself was criticized and accused by many ministers in the north and south of Beijing because of this. But Lu Shanji himself firmly believes that it is completely worth it for him to do so. Just as the emperor said in his secret edict to himself, the lesser of two evils and the heavier of two benefits. If the interests of a small group of people must be sacrificed for the sake of the interests of the majority, then Lu Shanji certainly knows how to choose. This is also what Emperor Chongzhen admires most about Lu Shanji.

Lu Shanji set off from Yangzhou in early March, went north by boat, more than a month later, finally arrived in Tongzhou, Sun Chengzong and others immediately reported to the emperor when they heard the news, the emperor immediately ordered Gong Yonggu, Fang Zhenghua and Wang Chengen to take over the important boats, and ordered Sun Chengzong to take Lu Shanji into Beijing to meet first.

Looking at Lu Shanji, who was dusty and slightly haggard in front of him, Emperor Chongzhen's heart was also quite moved, and when he saw him salute and sat down, he said to him: "Lu Aiqing has been gone for a few months, and he has made great contributions to the imperial court. ”

The most taboo thing for ancient officials is to be proud of their achievements, and people like Lu Shanji are of course quite vigilant, so as soon as he heard the emperor's words, he immediately bowed down and said: "What Your Majesty said, the ministers dare not be, the salt government plan is determined by Your Majesty, and the small merits made by the ministers depend on Your Majesty's strategy in Beijing, and the cabinet elders help each other, what the ministers do is really nothing, how can you be greedy for heavenly merit for yourself." ”

When Emperor Chongzhen saw him say this, he had no choice but to say: "It is rare for Aiqing to have merit without saying anything. I know what Aiqing did to clean up the salt administration, and I know it very well, and the merits of investigating and dealing with the moths of the salt transportation department in various places, and its importance to the imperial court, even if Aiqing does not say anything, I also know it. Having said this, Emperor Chongzhen looked at Sun Chengzong and nodded.

Sun Chengzong understood, took the emperor's words and said: "Your Majesty, now that the salt affairs north of the Yangtze River have been rectified, the opening of the Chinese law has been re-implemented, and salt merchants from all over the country have transported grain to the border towns in exchange for salt. Among them, Lu Shan has made great contributions. ”

After Sun Chengzong said this, Lu Shanji hurriedly said: "This is all the work of Your Majesty's planning, and your subordinates are really ashamed." ”

Emperor Chongzhen waved his hand and said, "Aiqing doesn't have to be too humble. Then he turned his head to look at Cao Huachun, who was standing on the side, and said: "Cao Huachun, inform Gong Yonggu, the commander of the Jinyi Guard, to clean up the mansion of Cui Chengxiu, the former secretary of the military department, which was raided before, and it will belong to Lu Aiqing in the future." ”

Cao Huachun just wanted to receive the decree, and Emperor Chongzhen said: "At the same time, the Jinyi Wei is passed on, and the Jin Jinyi Wei experience Si Baihu Lu Hualin is the inspector of the experience Si Qianhu. ”

Cao Huachun hurriedly said: "The old slave obeys the order. ”

Lu Shanji knew that it was not appropriate to refuse, so he also hurriedly said: "Thank you for your grace." "Of course, this is not the end of the story.

Sure enough, after the emperor pondered for a moment, he continued: "I ordered Lu Aiqing to return to Beijing, one is that the rectification of salt affairs has been effective, and the second is that the changes on the grassland outside the Saiwai have made me worried, and I am afraid that the current Jiliao Governor Wang Zisu and Liaodong Governor Bi Zisu will not be able to deal with it. ”

Speaking of this, Emperor Chongzhen looked at Sun Chengzong, saw Sun Chengzong nodded, and then continued: "The situation in the Karaqin Department, presumably Lu Aiqing already knows. Burhatu calls himself Kundulun Khan, I don't care about this, as long as he can stand on the side of the Ming Dynasty and continue to serve as the barrier between Jizhen and Xuanfu in Saibei, not to mention that he calls himself Kundulun Khan, even if he calls himself Genghis Khan, I don't intend to pursue it, not only will I not pursue it, but I am optimistic about it. ”

Emperor Chongzhen saw that a few people listened carefully, paused slightly, and continued: "It's just that Burhatu is doing this, which is likely to attract the dissatisfaction of the Eastern Mongolian tribes, plus Chen Renxi, Cao Wenzhao and others before, following the story of Ban Chao, attacked and killed Wu Keshan, the eldest son of Ao Han Taiji and Horqin Taiji, who went to Karaqin to appease him, I am afraid that Horqin and Ao Han will not give up, if the two come to attack, they are not afraid, Burhatu, Chen Renxi and others should be able to deal with it, but if Horqin and Ao Han say that they moved Jianyu to attack, I'm afraid the consequences will be unimaginable. ”

After saying this in one breath, Emperor Chongzhen took a sip of ginseng tea, and then continued: "If it is not my race, its heart will be different." I don't have complete trust in Karaqin, and I don't care if Burhatu, the Kundulun Khan, can be in power, and how long he can be in power, but the position of the Karaqin Department is very important, if it is occupied by the joint construction of the Ao Han and Horqin tribes, then Jizhen and Xuanfu will never have peace, and even the important land of the capital division will have to directly face the invasion of foreign races. This is what I do not want to see, and it will never be tolerated. You have to keep this in mind. ”