With Aobai's support, all Xiao Mazi's worries finally disappeared, so, under the direct instruction of Xiao Mazi, above the Qing Dynasty, suddenly blew a strong wind of impeachment of the Eight Banners Fushou Paste Tax Amount, the six departments and nine secretaries in the capital, the director of the Shilang, the inspector of science and technology, the official Yushi and the Hanlin supervisor, all rushed to hand over the fold, and the public impeached the local governor of Yungui for suspected fraud in the matter of ruling the tax amount of the Eight Banners Fushou Cream, damaging the public and private. Some even simply pointed the finger at the owners of Baqi Fushou paste in Yunnan, accusing them of bribing local officials by unscrupulous means, evading taxes, and evading taxes for the sake of personal gain.

The old cat is a criminal dog wearing a flail, our poor Lu Yifeng, Lu Sanhao, and Lu Fatzi, because he has the only Qujing Mansion in Yunnan that allows the people to plant Eight Banners Fushou Cream, so he has innocently become the target of impeachment this time, or the main target - the vast majority of officials, dare to directly impeach Wu Sangui for bribing the local governor for tax evasion?

Although Lu Fatzi's few and conscientious friends, such as Wang Xu and Jackie Chan and other Beijing officials, argued with reason, pointing out that the possibility of Lu Fatzi bribing Shangguan to help poor people evade taxes is almost zero, but Lu Fatzi still broke a personal precedent of his own, and was impeached for the first time by a bunch of well-fed and unscrupulous Yanguan Yushi, and for the first time in the Qing Dynasty, he was slandered and slandered by a group of people in the Qing Dynasty - Lu Fatzi can touch his conscience and swear that he was really slandered and slandered this time.

Xiao Mazi is definitely a smart pockmark, in history, before he was ready to attack Aobai, it was the slightest rumor that did not leak out, and suddenly killed Aobai by surprise, so that after he captured Aobai, many officials in Beijing could not believe their ears and suspected that they had heard the wrong news. But the army is impermanent, the water is impermanent, this time, in view of the need for Aobai's absolute support for Wu Sangui's attack, and in view of Aobai's attitude is not firm and resolute enough, Xiao Mazi naturally has to release the wind in advance, create public opinion pressure, and force Aobai to do it - aren't you old man Ao pretending to be a mite Qingzhushi for me? Now that the time has come to need you, do you still want to hide? Dream on!

As a result, under the direct instruction and secret instigation of Xiao Mazi, the impeachment of the Eight Banners Fushou Paste tax ruling is too low and the demand for re-ruling and re-taxation is naturally flying all over the sky, flying into the cabinet study like snowflakes, and flying in front of Ao Bai in hand, just like most of the civil and military officials of the Great Qing Dynasty suddenly fell into evil, they just grabbed the issue of the taxation of the Eight Banners Fushou Paste and made a big fuss, forcing Ao Bai and Xiao Mazi to re-rule the tax amount and re-impose heavy taxes.

Xiao Mazi's little trick naturally can't hide the eyes of the old fox Ao Bai, who has been through the storm for a long time, but considering that if you want to re-rule the tax amount of Eight Banners Fushou Cream, you must use the pressure of public opinion to create the name of the teacher, so Ao Bai had to pretend not to know this trick, but just picked out a lot of impeachment of Wu Sangui for allegedly bribing the local governor to evade taxes, concealed his official position and name and copied a few copies, and then sent them to Wu Sangui, Gan Wenkun, Zhu Guozhi and others through the post station, asking them to write a defense to prove their innocence. Take this opportunity to knock the mountain and lay the foundation for the next plan.

Limited by the speed of news dissemination, the turn of public opinion in the capital and the pressure exerted by Ao Bai and Xiao Mazi naturally could not be transmitted to Yunnan for a while, but Wu Yingxiong, the eldest son of Wu Sangui who was a hostage in Yanjing City, sniffed out that the situation was wrong for the first time, and hurriedly reported to Yunnan through a faster secret channel, and personally secretly came to Ao Mansion to ask for a meeting, and accused Ao Bai of treachery in person.

"Xiangye Ao, isn't it too much for you to do this?" As soon as they met, Wu Yingxiong Tie blushed and asked Aobai: "Since the secret alliance of Kangxi for eight years, our Pingxi Royal Mansion has not only never done anything sorry for you, but also knows how much help we have helped you openly and secretly, and even the plan that the emperor secretly targeted you with was finally heard about, we also provided it to you without reservation, and it can be regarded as benevolent and righteous to you." Now, is that how you repay your friends? ”

Ao Bai, who was in a loss, was silent, and only said after a while: "It has nothing to do with the prime minister, it was the civil and military officials themselves who decided to do this, although there is likely to be instruction and acquiescence from the emperor in the middle, but the prime minister can swear to the sky, and he definitely did not come forward to instruct an official to do so." ”

"Then Ao Xiangye, can't you come forward to suppress it?" Wu Yingxiong forcibly suppressed his anger and said: "As long as Xiangye, you come forward and punish a few officials who take the lead in making trouble, and the other walls and grasses dare to be so rampant?" Now Xiangye, not only did you not say a word, but also sent the section copy to Yungui, isn't it a disguised way to encourage them to do so? ”

Ao Bai was speechless again, and only after a while did he say again: "In the matter of the ruling on the tax amount of the Eight Banners Fushou Plaster, you have done it yourself, you know it in your own hearts, you are too much, and the civil and military officials are not convinced, how can the prime minister suppress their heartfelt words?" And how can they punish their faithfulness? ”

"Ao Xiang, you don't come to ......." Wu Yingxiong almost had a seizure on the spot, and after trying to suppress the anger, Wu Yingxiong sneered: "Xiangye Ao, I think you also know very well, these people accuse the Eight Banners of Fushou Paste tax ruling too low, is it really out of loyalty to the Qing Dynasty?" It seems that there are more concerts in the middle asking the court to force my father to hand over the seeds, right? There are also those imperial historians and inspectors, no matter how high the tax of the Eight Banners Fushou Paste is, they can't afford to pay a penny in their pockets, and no one secretly instigates and directs, they are full of food and support the unhappiness of our Pingxi Palace? ”

Ao Bai fell silent again, Wu Yingxiong also knew that the anger in his words was a little bigger, so he tried to suppress his anger again, and said in a low voice: "Ao Xiangye, the little nephew will not hide it from you, the permission given by the father to the little nephew is one or two eight banners of Fushou paste and one penny of silver, as long as Xiangye you settle this matter for our Pingxi Wangfu and maintain the tax amount ruled by Gan Wenkun and Zhu Guozhi, then every one or two eight banners of Fushou paste produced in Yunnan in the future, one penny of silver will be produced by Xiangye you." Xiangye, hundreds of thousands of taels of silver a year is not a small amount. ”

"Virtuous nephew, you seem to underestimate the old man, right?" Ao Bai sneered and said, "If the old man is a person who loves money excessively, he still needs to live in a small house here in Dongtangzi Hutong?" The virtuous nephew can go to the capital to have a look, and just pull out a prince Baylor, Shangshu Zhongtang, that family's house is not bigger than the old man? That family's house is not more luxurious than the old man's? ”

"Old man Ao took the wrong medicine today? Why does it seem to smell of gunpowder in the words? Wu Yingxiong asked, "Xiangye, if you are still too little, then how much do you want, just ask, the little nephew and the father are never stingy in this regard, you can discuss." ”

"The old man has already said that the old man doesn't love money." Ao Bai stood up and said coldly: "Annoying Lao Xian's nephew told Ling Zun, if you are smart, it is best to follow the imperial court to re-determine the tax amount of the Eight Banners Fushou Paste and pay the tax, otherwise, the old man, as the chief assistant of the imperial court and the important minister, will be very difficult and difficult to do." ”

"Old man Ao must have taken the wrong medicine today, for sure." Wu Yingxiong secretly came to a judgment, and after a little thought, Wu Yingxiong also stood up, slowed down and said: "The little nephew is too anxious today, and his speech is a little rude and offensive, but the little nephew still asks Xiangye more, there is no room for redemption in today's matter?" ”

Ao Bai thought about it for a moment and replied: "Yes, there are two paths you can choose, one is to reduce the army you have secretly expanded and restore the original strength of 17,000, and the other is to dismantle your four camps of Erhai, Chuxiong, Xinxing and Nule Peak under the supervision of the imperial envoys. The second way is to let go of the monopoly planting of Baqi Fushou Paste and hand over the seeds and planting technology. These two paths, no matter which one you take, can be reconsidered. ”

"You dream to go! You obviously want my father's life! Wu Yingxiong roared angrily in his heart. Furious, Wu Yingxiong couldn't help sneering and said: "Ao Xiangye is really fair and honest in doing things, when Yunnan and Guizhou were so poor that they didn't have three cents of silver, I didn't see Ao Xiangye reduce the tax of Yunnan and Guizhou by a penny, and now Yunnan's son is just a little better, and he will immediately be forced to increase grain and taxes, and even uproot them, so that Yunnan and Guizhou can go back directly to live a poor life." The little nephew only learned today that it turned out that Xiangye Ao was so kind to his allies! ”

"It doesn't matter what the virtuous nephew thinks, but the virtuous nephew is wrong, Yunnan's current words are not a little better, but almost surpassing Jiangnan." He had already made up his mind to clean up Wu Sangui's worship, and he didn't bother to talk to Wu Yingxiong, so he said directly: "The old man still has official business, so I won't leave your nephew to eat." Please come and see off the guests. ”

As soon as the words fell, two Ao Mansion guards immediately came in outside the door, gesturing together and respectfully saying to Wu Yingxiong: "Lord Shizi, please." ”

Wu Yingxiong walked out angrily, but in front of the hall door, Wu Yingxiong turned around and asked: "Xiangye Ao, if there is anything offended in our Pingxi Palace, then please make it clear that we should compensate and apologize, and we will naturally compensate and apologize." But Xiangye cut off the good relationship with our Pingxi Mansion so inexplicably, and the little nephew felt that it was really difficult to understand, and he also felt that it was too confused. ”

Ao Bai hesitated for a moment, and finally replied: "Please return to the prince of Pingxi, Ao Bai is a lonely minister, the first assistant of the court, and he must think about the Qing court in everything and everywhere." There are some things, if he doesn't go so far, Ao Bai can open one eye and close one eye, but if he goes too far, he directly threatens the Jiangshan Sheji of the Qing Dynasty, and Ao Bai can't sit idly by. When that time comes, it will be your entire Pingxi Mansion that will regret it! ”

Although Aobai's words are vague, the meaning is already very firm - if Wu Sangui does not make concessions this time, let the imperial court weaken his strength, so that he cannot threaten the ruling security of the Qing court, then Aobai will never give in, and will weaken Wu Sangui at all costs, and even eradicate the entire Pingxi Palace! After ignoring this meaning, Wu Yingxiong was surprised that he was inexplicable why Aobai was so ruthless, and he was inevitably a little frightened, so he had to bow his hand to Aobai, turn around and leave Aofu.

As soon as Wu Yingxiong left on the front foot, the chief think tank of the Ao Party, Bambulshan, tiptoed out of the back hall, frowned and said to Ao: "Enxiang, isn't it too scheming?" Listening to Wu Yingxiong's tone, it is not impossible for the Pingxi Royal Mansion to make concessions again, why bother to stimulate Wu Fan again and again, leading to unforeseen consequences? ”

"Now that the old man has made up his mind, going around with Wu Yingxiong will only waste time." Ao Bai said categorically: "Instead of this, it is better to have a showdown with Wu Sangui directly, or he will take the initiative to surrender and return to the previous situation where the two did not offend each other, or the old man will directly take action and completely eradicate him!" ”

"Enxiang, your loyalty to the Qing Dynasty is very admirable." Bamburshan said solemnly: "But the student still has to think twice, although for Enxiang, it is not difficult to gather the strength of the whole country to eradicate the Pingxi Palace, but once the Enxiang directly attacks the Pingxi Palace, and eradicates it by force, then the Jingnan Mansion and the Pingnan Mansion will inevitably have different intentions, worrying that the court will unload the mill and kill the donkey, and the birds will hide the bow, and deal with them after dealing with Wu Sangui." At that time, once the three feudatories are merged, Taiwan's Zheng Zheng will inevitably fish in troubled waters, and the world will definitely be in chaos, and the peaceful situation in the world that you have worked hard to manage over the years will also be ruined. ”

"Of course I have taken these questions into account." Ao Bai sat down and said slowly: "So these days, the old man has been allowing the emperor to create public opinion, just to make a fuss in this regard and try to eliminate future troubles." ”

"Eun Xiang means ......." Bamburshan is Aobai's confidant, and after a little calculation, his eyes immediately lit up, and he said in surprise: "Mo Fei Enxiang plans to use the Eight Banners Fushou Paste as a target to completely isolate Wu Sangui?" Then use the Eight Banners Fushou Paste as bait, and then pull the Jingnan Mansion and the Pingnan Mansion into the water, and join forces to exterminate Wu Sangui? ”

Ao Bai smiled, which was regarded as acquiescence, and said slowly: "Do you think that with such a huge profit as Eight Banners Fushou Ointment, Shang Kexi and Geng Jingzhong will not be blushing?" Don't covet it? ”

"Of course it's red-eyed, and it's salivating!" Bamburshan said in surprise: "No wonder Enxiang just proposed to ask Wu Sangui to hand over the Eight Banners Fushou Paste Seeds, it turned out that he wanted to expand this matter, so that Geng Jingzhong and Shang Kexi could see the hope of getting the Eight Banners Fushou Paste profiteering, and lure them to take the bait, so that they would be dissatisfied with Wu Sangui who refused to hand over the Eight Banners Fushou Paste Seeds, and then induce them to send troops and join hands with the imperial court to exterminate Wu Sangui!" Enxiang is so far-sighted, Xia Guan is really impressed. ”

"What foresight? I just had an idea. Ao Bai laughed at himself: "Otherwise, the old man will also have a headache while suppressing Wu Sangui, how to appease Geng Jingzhong and Shang Kexi, the two minions." ”

"Enxiang, since this is the case, then we either don't do it, or if we want to do it, we will make a bigger noise." Bamburshan suggested: "Let the emperor make a clear decree, under the pretext that the Eight Banners Fushou Paste is a gift from God to the world, and cannot be monopolized by one family, order Wu Sangui to pay a tribute of 5,000 catties of Eight Banners Fushou Paste seeds to the imperial court, and the imperial court will distribute them to the feudal kings everywhere to supervise and try the seeds!" Then enter this holy decree into the palace newspaper and send it to the world, and once Wu Sangui refuses, he will immediately become the enemy of the vassal kings in the world. ”

"It's a good idea, you can go to the palace and do it." Ao Bai was very satisfied, and immediately nodded in agreement. At the end, Ao Bai told again: "By the way, tell our emperor that Wu Sangui is a Han Chinese, and we don't have anything to worry about when he rebels, but we are worried that he will use his Han identity to play the two great rebel banners of 'anti-Qing and Mingming' and 'Xinghan and anti-Manchu', and encourage the Han people in the world to rebel and respond, and it will inevitably take more effort and hurt the innocent." ”

"Therefore, in terms of the reason for going to war, we can only make a fuss about the Eight Banners Fushou Cream, taking advantage of the world's jealousy and dissatisfaction with Wu Sangui's monopoly of the Eight Banners Fushou Cream's huge profits, and waging war against Wu Sangui under the pretext of seeking happiness for the people of the world, so as to win the support of the people of the world and weaken Wu Sangui's support force. To put it simply, it is to turn this war into a war of longevity! ”

"Xia Guan understands, please rest assured." Bamburshan agreed, and said respectfully: "Enxiang, then what do you think the tax of the Eight Banners Fushou Paste re-ruled by the imperial court should be?" ”

"One or two eight flags of longevity ointment, eight coins of tax silver." Ao Bai blurted out an answer without thinking about it.

"One or two fortune ointment, eight coins of tax silver? Isn't it too low? Bamburshan said worriedly: "Wu Sangui's one-tael-eight-banner Fushou ointment, the profit can be above two taels, and the tax silver of eight yuan will be set, will Wu Sangui just agree?" ”

"There is no way to say yes." Ao Bai sneered and said, "You forgot what you proposed? Wu Sangui handed over the seeds and let them be widely planted in the world, what else did he do to maintain the windfall profits of the Eight Banners Fushou Ointment? ”

"We only levy eight dollars of tax silver, it seems that Wu Sangui has taken advantage, we only have the moral upper hand, blocking the mouth of the world, but in fact, Wu Sangui, who understands that once the Eight Banners Fushou Paste continues to expand its support, the price will inevitably plummet! Then he will inevitably bargain with us, and we will first stabilize him temporarily, take the opportunity to send troops to prepare for war, and then refuse his bargain, provoke him to rebel, and finally strangle him to death in the territory of Yungui to avoid the expansion of the war and disaster to other provinces! ”

………………

With the strategy of Aobai's guidance, Bambulshan was worried, and when Banbulshan immediately handed over the cards into the palace, he conveyed Aobai's instructions and requirements to Xiao Mazi, and asked Xiao Mazi to comply. And although Xiao Mazi also knows very well that these strategies and instructions of Aobai are the words of Lao Cheng to seek the country, and he has carefully arranged for a rainy day, Xiao Mazi is still jealous, hateful and unconvinced, "Damn, if Lao Tzu formulates a strategy to pacify Wu Sangui's dog thief, it will definitely be better and more perfect than you Aobai Lao Thief!" ”

Fake and extremely affectionate sent away the number one lackey Bamburshan under Aobai's command, and cursed viciously in the bottom of his heart at Bamburshan's back, Xiao Mazi finally turned his gaze to a few henchmen present and asked, "What do you think of Aobai's proposal?" Is the amount of tax adjudicated also appropriate? ”

"Your Majesty, the slave feels that Ao Zhongtang is indeed a rare genius in this regard." Mingzhu said with great admiration: "Extremely thoughtful, arranged just right, acting according to this strategy, we will definitely be able to exterminate the king of Wu Sangui at the lowest cost, and minimize the loss of my Qing Dynasty." ”

"In particular, the fact that this war is designated as a war of longevity is the most wonderful." Although he hated Ao Bai in his heart, Suo Etu still echoed with admiration: "Using the Eight Banners Fushou Paste as an excuse for war can not only prevent Wu Sangui from playing the two great rebellious banners of 'Xinghan and Anti-Manchu' and 'Anti-Qing and Restoration of Ming' to deceive people's minds, but also win the support of the Han people in the world for our Qing court, and then minimize the possibility of Shang and Geng Erfan following Wu Sangui's rebellion. ”

Kong Sizhen and Xiong Cixu, who have fallen seriously out of favor recently, did not dare to speak, but they still admired Aobai's arrangement very much, and although Xiao Mazi was unwilling, he still snorted coldly: "Then do it, Xiong Cixu, you can draft a decree and let Wu Sangui pay a tribute of 5,000 catties of Eight Banners Fushou Paste Seeds." Remember, it must be written that after these seeds are tributed, I will distribute them to the Governor of the World and the Geng Shang Domain. ”

"Yes." Xiong Cixu respectfully agreed, and was about to go to the side room next to the Yangxin Palace to draw up the decree, when Xiao Mazi suddenly shouted again: "Wait, add another sentence - please play by Ao!" ”

"Yes." Xiong Cixu agreed again, and sneered in his heart: "It's still the emperor's cleverness, adding this sentence is equivalent to telling Wu Sangui that everything is the idea of Aobai, let Wu Sangui go and hate Aobai to the point of itching, and the emperor will sit next to him and watch the tiger fight." ”

In view of the fact that this is a prepared extermination war, the purpose is to strangle Wu Sangui's forces in the territory of Yungui, so naturally it is necessary to talk about the problem of attacking fortifications, and the most effective offensive weapon in this era is undoubtedly the Hongyi cannon that was all the rage in the early Qing Dynasty.

"It's a pity that Mr. Nan Huairen was unfortunately assassinated." Referring to the current progress of Hongyi cannon casting, Xiao Mazi inevitably sighed again, and said: "Otherwise, if there is Priest Nan, why is the casting of Hongyi cannon in our Qing Dynasty so slow?" There are also Western tribute cannons, which are not needed and cannot be imitated until now. ”

"Your Majesty, the sub-mother cannon that the West paid tribute to last year? Haven't been minted yet? Suo Etu asked with some surprise: "If the slave is not mistaken, the emperor once issued an edict to the governors of the provinces in the south of the Yangtze River, asking them to visit Western cannon casting craftsmen to pay tribute, that is, to imitate this kind of sub-mother cannon." ”

"I found a few, but unfortunately none of them worked, and I didn't make them for more than a year, wasting my silver in vain." Xiao Mazi snorted coldly.

"Your Majesty, it happens to be today." At this time, Xiong Cilu, who was preparing an order next to him, suddenly raised his head and said cautiously: "Weichen saw in the upper study that the Zhejiang Governor Fan Chengmo handed over the invitation to An mentioned that he found a former Ming cannon master in Qiantang, Hangzhou, surnamed Dai Mingcang, who had cast Hongyi cannons for the former Ming Dynasty, and I heard that it was quite famous, I don't know if the emperor has paid attention?" ”

"I haven't seen that excerpt yet." Xiao Mazi shook his head, and said in a deep voice: "Dai Cang? Can this barbarian artillery master make a sub-cannon that even Westerners can't make? ”

"The minion remembered." Reminded by Xiong Cixu and Xiao Mazi, Kong Sizhen suddenly remembered a major event, and hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, the slave only knows this person, when the slave's father was casting the Hongyi cannon with Sun Yuanhua in Dengzhou, this Dai Cang once participated in the casting, and I heard that he did a good job, and Sun Yuanhua praised it. Therefore, after the slave's father entered the customs from the dragon, he also searched for this person everywhere, intending to collect it for his own use, but unfortunately he couldn't find it. ”

"Really?" Xiao Mazi was overjoyed, and hurriedly ordered: "Then try to be a dead horse as a live horse doctor, Xiong Aiqing, you have another will to Fan Chengmo, and ask him to send this Dai Cang to Beijing and work in the Longtan Artillery Factory." ”

"Yes." Xiong Cilu respectfully agreed, and said: "Your Majesty, Fan Zhongcheng also mentioned in the recital that Dai Cang has a son named Dai Zi who is influenced by his father and is also very proficient in firearms, and the firecrackers and fireworks he makes are very exquisite, and he is quite famous in the Jiangnan area, do you want to bring him into Beijing?" ”

"What else do you need to say?" Xiao Mazi said viciously: "As long as I can exterminate Wu Sangui's dog thief, no matter what kind of talent, I can use it in an eclectic way, and let Dai Cang, Dai Zi and his son enter Beijing together!" ”

(To be continued)