As the New Year is approaching, Zhang Juzheng's cabinet is unprecedentedly busy, and the current cabinet is headed by Zhang Juzheng, Zhang Siwei, Ma Ziqiang and Shen Shixing are on his team.

But in fact, as long as Zhang Juzheng's cabinet exists, there is no such thing. It can be seen from the treatment of going home for the funeral this time that state affairs cannot leave Zhang Jiangling for a moment, and even a large number of stagecoaches must be sacrificed, and it is necessary to ensure that the concert is delivered to Zhang Juzheng as soon as possible. After he returned to the court, there was naturally only one will and one voice in the cabinet.

The rules that used to run the cabinet, such as the division of votes, were abolished a few years ago. All the pieces are divided into only two categories, which need to be used to achieve the purpose and those that are not. What is handed over to the group assistant to deal with is a small daily matter, which does not require any brains or responsibilities, and can be decided at will. It is Zhang Juzheng's cabinet that is actually maintaining the operation of the country in the mode of one chief assistant with three echo worms.

Under this model, the life of the three auxiliary ministers is very easy, and only Zhang Juzheng himself is hard. Zhang Juzheng himself is not harsh on his subordinates, as long as he does not jump out to seize power, he doesn't care about other trivial matters or personal morality at all. In addition, Wanli is still young, and it is of little significance to participate in the court, the big court meeting has already become a five-day day, and in winter, it occasionally has to take leave to become a ten-day day, Ma Ziqiang and Zhang Siwei are also happy to give themselves a holiday, and they don't go to the room every day.

This snow is fatal enough for the common people, and for the rich and noble, it is a rare good scenery. Ma Ziqiang went to Zhang's mansion to drink last night, and simply stayed there when it was late. When the sky brightened, the two of them stood in the courtyard, looking at the snow scene all around, Ma Ziqiang coughed a few times, tightened the mink on his body, and saw Zhang Siwei next to him with the same expression, and said with a smile: "People say that the body of the Jiangling Xianggong literati is the body of a martial artist, and he does not wear a mink hat in the harsh winter, and it seems that Feng Pan may not be inferior to him." ”

The old man laughed. Xiangguo is the Optimus Jade Pillar of the National Dynasty, how dare the little nephew compare with it? In addition, Xiangguo has every opportunity, and the little nephew sits idle every day, and his body is similar to that of Gangneung, which is not worth boasting about. ”

Ma Ziqiang shook his head and said: "This is not right, your body is always the first important thing, if you are weak, you will be embarrassed, no matter how important the court is, it is not enough to entrust big things." Zhang Jiangling is in charge of the overall situation, and he has to drink and feast with hundreds of bureaucrats at night, and there are orchids in the inner house, even if he has great energy, he cuts down day and night, even if there are thousand-year-old trees, there are times when they break. The story of Wuxianghou must be noticed by future generations, and in comparison, it is still Feng Pan's pure heart and few desires to be the right way. However, everything is too much, and the heart is pure for too long, so that people forget that there are two of us, but it shouldn't be! ”

Zhang Siwei knew what Ma Ziqiang was referring to, "Yes, Song Guofu is such a foolish person, there are only Feng Shuanglin and Zhang Jiangling in his eyes, and he has never put us in his eyes, this time he actually dares to kill people, and his courage is too great!" ”

Ma Ziqiang snorted coldly, "Your protégé is not small, and when he delivers the letter to you, the master, most of them have already guessed the reason for this matter." The seventh brother is the youngest one in our house, he has been favored in front of the elderly since he was a child, and he has no square inch to do things, this thing is not beautiful, and he actually let a junior see the joke. But then again, Hui Shang has been too presumptuous in these years, and he has killed so many lives that he will kill them. If you don't care about discipline and discipline, and the businessmen of the world follow suit, how can there be the word king law in this world? ”

Zhang Siwei knew that Ma Ziqiang was getting higher and stronger, his energy had declined, and he was bullied by Zhang Juzheng in the cabinet, so he had already begun to retreat. Now I am not thinking about how to get an official, but how to make the family profitable. In recent years, the Hui merchants represented by Song Guofu did not give face to the Jin merchants, and attacked everywhere in Yangzhou, not only buying a large number of monopoly salt introductions, but also manipulating stove households, so that the Jin merchants had money and introduction but could not pay the entire amount of salt, relying on this means to seize the salt market.

For a Confucian merchant like Jin Shang, the family has a money bag in one hand and an official seal in the other, and only has his own share of bullying people, when did he suffer this kind of anger? I have long wanted to take revenge and give Song Guofu some color. However, Song Guofu's gold and silver offensive was too fierce, and Feng Bao worshiped Zhang Wenming, and even Wu Qinghou had a relationship, and these intertwined umbrellas made Jin merchants dare not launch at will.

This time Fan Jin was involved, but it made Ma Ziqiang and others see a point, if Fan Jin can participate in this matter, Zhang Juzheng's attitude will be more interesting. In the end, it was Gu Nian's original friendship to protect Song Guofu, or Gu Nian's son-in-law Bao Fan Jin. In the case of the former, there must be a gap between Weng and his son-in-law, and in the case of the latter, what is the position of Feng Bao and the Empress Dowager's mother's family, it is also very worrying.

The tree is a big move. In the position of the first assistant, every word and deed is related to the reactions and ideas of several aspects, Zhang Juzheng's implementation of the new law will infringe on the interests of the emperor's relatives and relatives, if the queen mother's family and the minister Feng Bao are provoked because of the salt affairs, it may be a serious blow to Zhang Juzheng's status. If the connection between him and the Empress Dowager can be destroyed, the power structure of the cabinet may also change, which is far more reliable than hoping that Zhang Juzheng will fall ill.

Zhang Siwei thought for a while, "Song Guofu has no evidence for killing people, and it doesn't make sense to say that those people were killed by him." However, the Lianghuai Salt Administration has always been an important tax source for the Ming Dynasty, and Yangzhou salt merchants are rich in the world, so they should also contribute something to the imperial court. Calculations do not require them to destroy their homes and countries, but they should always hand over the main lessons. But in the past few years, the amount of silver in the two Huai Shangjie has been decreasing year by year, which is also very undeserved. There are four salt patrols sent to the Lianghuai faction, one died in office, one was driven back, and the other two are still in prison. It was a fire pit for some, a blessed place for others. ”

Ma Ziqiang said: "Feng Pan, what do you mean?" ”

"The little nephew heard that Gonggong Feng's two Huaiyan Zheng have been sold for 30,000 taels, which is still the number in Shuanglin's hands, and I don't know how many hands have passed in the middle. This is very lacking in fat. It can be inferred from this that the lack of salt in the two Huai patrols will not be much worse. ”

"And what do you mean?"

"Thinking about marrying a lady from the prime minister's house, the expenses will not be less. Since he is my protégé, and I am an iceman in this family business, I have to think about my protégé, so as not to make him a reputation for eating soft rice. Finding him a fat shortage adjustment is also the responsibility of a teacher. ”

Ma Ziqiang knew that Zhang Siwei was actually not satisfied with his disciple, especially on the issue of marriage, Zhang Siwei was already ready to marry one of his daughters to Fan Jin to win over this talent. But he finally took refuge in Zhang Juzheng's side, and Zhang Siwei actually had quite an opinion in his heart. Now to protect Fan Jin, it may not be any good intentions.

Although he didn't have any feelings for Fan Jin, he knew that this was the courtier that the Son of Heaven loved very much, and the Wupin County Order was able to be played directly by the secret seal, and there was no second person in the country. Catching such a person, or making trouble for him, is not in line with Ma Ziqiang's obscure way, he frowned and said:

"Feng Pan, I want to make a county order in Shangyuan, you let him go to Yangzhou...... I'm afraid I won't be able to go, right? ”

"Do you remember the recital from the ministry a few days ago? In order to ensure that officials are content with their posts, all officials must have served in the local government for six years before they can be considered for promotion. This is actually to implement the examination method, a tight spell for officials, Jiangling Xianggong is very satisfied with this method, but he does not approve it, why do you think? Six years...... How many six years can a woman have in her life? If Fan Jin stays in Shangyuan for six years, I'm afraid that Miss Zhang will not agree to be the first to agree. So he will definitely not take six years to transfer, and when he enters Jingquan next year, he can leave him in Beijing, with his five-grade future to protect a Langzhong, and then send him to the salt road, it will be small to give a royal history, maybe he can also be a transport division. ”

He laughed,

"Uncle, my protégé heard that in Shangyuan, people are called white bread and blue sky, and if such a person is not put in places like Yangzhou, isn't it a loss to his name? If we don't protect it, maybe Zhang Jiangling will be surprised! He paused for a moment and said, "Uncle, Fan Jin is already very good at punching and kicking in Shangyuan." In the past, I looked at the method of Jiangling, just like the medicine of the tiger and wolf, although it was effective at that time, but the future troubles were endless. Now that Fan Jin is in the locality, it is difficult to find flaws in the new method of using the method of warmth and supplementation with the prescription of the tiger and wolf. The old man thinks about it, if Fan Jin is allowed to stay in the place for six years, and the Jiangling technique is completed, who can still move? ”

Ma Ziqiang nodded, "You also said that." However, Zhang Jiangling is a rare talent in the world, and he saw a flaw in the slightest mistake, and carefully abandoned his previous achievements, and turned against him. ”

"The little nephew will take care of it."

In the palace.

Li Cailian sat with the Empress Dowager's cousin, and Emperor Wanli frowned, looked at his aunt with a gloomy face and asked, "Aunt Huang, are those salt merchants really that wide?" ”

"Then can there be a fake? The ministers have heard a lot of stories about the wealth of salt merchants outside the palace, and there may be exaggerations in them, but most of them are true, those people are richer than princes, and they are extremely luxurious in the place, and they have gold and silver treasures at home, and they are afraid that they are not much different from those in the palace. ”

The emperor, who has been controlled by poverty since he can remember, has an inexplicable thirst for wealth, and his greed is more like a black-hearted businessman than an emperor. Regarding the murder of the salt merchant who participated in Fan Jin's chapter, he didn't take it to heart at all. In the autumn, there were more than ten times more people killed than in Yangzhou, and in his opinion, those lives were just a number, and such a small number could not attract his attention at all, and the emperor only cared about one thing: money.

remembered that in the secret seal that Fan Jin gave him, the salt merchant was rich and noble, and listened to his aunt's description, and confirmed it twice, and the salt merchant's rich and noble joke became more and more realistic.

The Queen Mother also said: "The salt merchant is naturally rich, and the mourning family knew it when they were in their mother's house, in fact, you should understand when you listen to your grandfather, they collect salt, a pound is only a few cents, and when selling salt, a pound costs dozens of cents, one in and one out, how much money is there?" Besides, who in the world can not eat salt? The entire people of the Ming Dynasty are their source of wealth, how can people not be arrogant? When the mourning family was not selected to enter the palace, your grandfather's family was very poor, and he had to eat light food for more than ten days a month. At that time, your grandfather said that if you can eat salty food every day one day, your life will not be in vain. ”

Wanli said with a smile: "Every year, my grandfather asks me for a lot of salt, and it turns out that he is afraid of eating lightly. It's okay, I went back and rewarded my grandfather with some Huaibei salt. However, these salt merchants are really hateful, they have mountains of gold and silver at home, and I dare to delay the salt tax here. I have already asked Feng Daban to find the number of the classes completed by Lianghuai every year, but I want to take a good look at how much silver they have finished each year. ”

Li Cailian said: "Your Majesty, someone has to go to the salt class." If the people sent to collect taxes are paid by the salt merchants, they will help them speak. If he takes His Majesty's money, but sells his favors, and the treasury does not harvest, the salt merchants will naturally become rich, and the imperial court will naturally not benefit. We must employ people first, and we must have a reliable person to send them down. ”

"Yes, my aunt is right. But this reliable person is not easy to find, Huang Enhou also thought it was reliable, and he was greedy for hundreds of thousands of silver! I was angry when I mentioned this, I used to think that the companions in the palace were the most worthy of being close, but Huang Enhou was also the companion of his father, but he was also greedy for a lot of silver, and a bunch of eunuchs didn't even have descendants, so what did they want so much silver! Even they can't be trusted, so who else can people trust? ”

Empress Dowager Li knew her cousin's thoughts, and she must have missed her lover, and secretly screamed in her heart, and she had to think of a way for her:

"Your Majesty, there has never been a eunuch on the salt road. If the mourning family wants to come, they still have to use civil officials. There are so many civil officials in the Manchu Dynasty, are there no courtiers you believe in? ”

"Yes, there is, but there are many things in Beijing, and they can't leave."

"Jingguan is not good...... If you haven't experienced anything, you may be deceived when you send it out. If you want to be sent to patrol the salt, you have to be resourceful, and you have to be reliable and reliable. When the time comes, let your imperial aunt also go to Yangzhou to raise a sum of money for the Huang'en Temple to rebuild the temple. With your imperial aunt being your eyes and ears, what else are you worried about? ”

Wanli nodded, agreeing with his mother's opinion, Yu thought for a while among the ministers, and suddenly said: "Fan Aiqing! The queen mother said that Fan Aiqing is the most suitable. I asked the cabinet to draw up a decree, Xuan Fan Aiqing came back, and asked him to go to Yangzhou to manage salt. ”

Empress Dowager Li said: "How can there be such a reason? He just arrived in Shangyuan and had a firm foothold, so isn't his previous efforts in sending out now? Besides, if a person has not yet been married, how can he let people work? The magistrate of the county is elected for three years, so why do you have to serve a full term. ”

Wanli said: "Queen Mother, I feel that this term is too long, and I can't wait." Simply like this, this year first send someone to Yangzhou to play the front station, wait until next year to let Fan Qing hurry up to complete the marriage, and then hurry to Yangzhou. A year earlier, it was hundreds of thousands of silver. ”

The Queen Mother's sisters took Wanli's words as a child's words, and no one took into account that the Son of Heaven's attention was now all on money. The two women laughed for a while, and then the Empress Dowager Li said: "The emperor has his own opinions, and the mourning family is very satisfied, you can talk to Master Zhang about this idea, let a few masters have an idea, and the mourning family will not care." ”

A little eunuch took a moment to rush out, and it didn't take long for the content of the conversation between the emperor's mother and son to fall into Feng Bao's ears. Feng Bao frowned, and scolded secretly in his heart: Chang woman! Our family is covering up ugly things for you, and you are ruining our family's wealth, is there any reason in the world? Find a chance to look good sooner or later!

But thinking about it, the current thing must end, and after a little pondering, Feng Bao instructed: "Tell Dashou that the price of the two Huai Salt Road will be doubled this year, and this will not be sold at this time next year, so I have to recover the capital this year." ”