Taiyuan Mansion, the political envoy of the Yamen. Pen ~ fun ~ cabinet www.biquge.info political envoy Cao Qiuxu has just received an urgent report from the Beijing Division, the emperor has just appointed a new Shanxi Coal Division, about to go to Shanxi, according to the content of the letter, Cao Qiuxu feels a lot of pressure. Chongzhen's seemingly simple reform is not shocking on the surface, but it can't hide it from Cao Qiuxu and the people behind the scenes above the court.

Giving cooperation, Cao Qiuxu's actions in the future will be very passive. But if you don't cooperate, and you will face confrontation with the imperial power, I am afraid that once things get bigger, you will soon become an outcast. This dilemma made Cao Qiuxu not take half a step out of the study from the moment he received the letter.

The sky has gradually darkened, the maid in the study, has already lit the exquisite palace lamp, the study is not very big, so under the light background, the whole study is illuminated as white as snow. Yes, Cao Qiuxu frowned, this unsolvable problem always bothered him. Over the years, Cao Qiuxu himself knows how many things he has done secretly...

Zonghu set off from Jingshi all the way, passed through Baoding, Hejian, Zhending, Shijiazhuang and finally arrived in Taiyuan. Although Zonghu came with the emperor's order, it was full of difficulties. The so-called strong dragon does not suppress the head snake, and the etiquette should first go to Taiyuan to announce the political envoy to the yamen, and meet with Cao Qiuxu, the political envoy of Shanxi.

In the early years of the Ming Dynasty, Taiyuan was designated as one of the important towns on the nine sides, and Emperor Hongwu named his third son Zhu? For the king of Jin, and ordered the governor of the city to expand Taiyuan City, Xie Cheng expanded to the east, south and north on the basis of Yuan Taiyuan City, built the city wall of 14 kilometers around, about 18 meters high, the moat outside the city is as deep as 10 meters, the four corners of the city head are built with four corner towers, eight city towers, ninety-two small buildings, and 32 enemy platforms, becoming an important military defense area.

Zonghu didn't take many people with him on this trip, only a few entourages and a personal guard, this guard was personally arranged by the emperor, but this guard had a relatively cold personality and rarely spoke along the way. However, Zong Hu is still relatively capable, and under the knock on his side, he finally figured out the identity of this guard. This guard is not simple, he is a fan of Jinyi Wei's thousand households, and letting such a thousand households be his own guards makes Zonghu feel more pressure, and he realizes how high Chongzhen's expectations are for himself.

Zonghu and his party came to the city of Taiyuan, and the tall and straight city wall opened its bloody mouth like a fierce beast, as if it wanted to devour themselves and others. Zong Hu has an inexplicable fear of the future, and he doesn't know what kind of ending he will have, let alone what variables he will encounter in the future.

The emperor's intentions are obvious, and Zong Hu has a lot to do. To thoroughly cooperate with Wei Zhongxian's layout is Zong Hu's top priority.

The Yamen of the Chengxuan Political Envoy is located on the left side of the center of Taiyuan City, close to the residence of the King of Jin. The current king of Jin is Zhu Qiugui, who has been sick in bed for a long time, and the current son of the Jin Palace, Zhu Xianxuan, is in power, and has become the de facto king of Jin. If nothing else, after Zhu Qiugui returns to heaven, Zhu Xianxuan will inherit the throne smoothly. However, Chongzhen's paper clan regulations allowed him to only inherit the throne of the county, and he was directly reduced from the original prince to the county king, which made Zhu Xianxuan very dissatisfied.

Zonghu's first stop is to declare the political envoy to the Yamen, Zonghu is very proficient in these doorways, after all, he has been an official for many years, and he directly took out one or two lines of silver, and the official did not shirk, weighed up and down a few times in his hand, and accepted it generously.

"Master Zong, wait a minute, I'll report it." After the official finished speaking, he went directly to the inner hall.

"That's a lot of work." Zong Hu smiled all over his face, and his face was sincere.

Zong Hu waited patiently at the door, and after a while, the official came back to reply, Lord Cao was invited.

Zonghu and who entered the inner hall, Taiyuan Cheng announced that the political envoy department yamen is very large, although it is an ordinary official office, but it is also quite magnificent, the pavilions and pavilions in the inner courtyard should be complete. The front hall of the yamen is the place where the office and the case are heard, and the apse is the place where the family of the political envoy lives.

In the Ming Dynasty bureaucracy, the family members of officials lived in the yamen, which was conducive to improving efficiency. But after a long time, the yamen became a private place for officials and a tool for collecting money.

Zong Hu walked through the hall, and an official came up to him. This person was dressed in the official uniform of the golden rooster and wore a black sand hat, and the person who came was Cao Qiuxu, the political envoy of Bu.

Zong Hu saw that Cao Qiuxu's face was full of smiles, as enthusiastic as a long-lost old friend. Zonghu hurriedly stepped forward and greeted him with his fists: "Xiaguan Zonghu took the liberty to come to the door, and I hope Lord Cao will forgive me." ”

Cao Qiuxu said with a smile: "Master Zong, this official has never greeted him, and he is very ashamed!" Cao Qiuxu is worthy of being a veteran of officialdom, and this passage of how much he feels very fake comes from his mouth, like a spring breeze, which makes him feel relaxed and happy.

Zong Hu is not a rookie in officialdom and will not be deceived by his appearance. If it is really like Cao Qiuxu's mouth, it will not be the official who went out to greet him, but it will be him Cao Qiuxu himself. But for all this, Zong Hu sees it very thoroughly, officialdom is like this, although he is an official personally dispatched by the emperor, and he is not under the jurisdiction of Shanxi Chengxuan Political Secretary in terms of authority, but Cao Qiuxu is in a high position and has backstage support in the court, how can he really treat himself.

Thinking of this, Zong Hu smiled indifferently and continued: "Lord Cao, it's right that the lower official should say no, Lord Cao is busy with affairs, and the lower official is so abrupt, it is really inappropriate for the lower official to think about it. ”

When Cao Qiuxu heard that Zong Hu was so sensible, he was no longer modest, and went up the pole and said: "Master Zong, we don't need to be so polite anymore, please do not have to be polite in the inner hall!" Cao Qiuxu said, waved his right hand, and took the lead towards the inner hall. Cao Qiuxu's initial impression of Zong Hu was quite good, at least this person knew how to advance and retreat, but he explained even more that Zong Hu was a smart person, and smart people were not easy to fool, not to mention, this person was an official directly arranged by Chongzhen, although Chongzhen's arrangement was a simple intervention in local affairs on the surface, but in fact, to some extent, it contained the throat of Shanxi Chengxuan's political secretary.

How important coal is, others don't know, but he, Cao Qiuxu, is like a mirror in his heart. In this Ming Dynasty, the role of coal has become more and more powerful. Heating, cooking, and iron making are all inseparable from coal, and coal is needed outside the customs.

Cao Qiuxu secretly saw unscrupulous deeds, and some of them were related to this coal. Now Chongzhen is intervening horizontally, and his purpose is clearly revealed, and he has done it relative to Shanxi.

Cao Qiuxu was chatting with Zong Hu as he walked, and the topics they talked about were not in tune, and they didn't seem to care about the purpose of Zong Hu's trip.

In fact, this is Cao Qiuxu's usual method. Whoever speaks first will most likely lose the initiative. Cao Qiuxu is now adjusting Zonghu's appetite, he has long thought very clearly about Zonghu's time on the road, he wants to play Zonghu in the palm of his hand, and finally if he can, he will draw into his own interest alliance and the like; Otherwise, this person will be completely erased, so that this unsightly person will disappear from now on, and finally lie about the illusion of an accidental death, and people will not know it, and the ghost will not know it.

Rao is Zonghu is so thoughtful, and he can't imagine that Cao Qiuxu, who is full of smiles and like fireworks in front of him, has such sinister intentions.

Soon, everyone came to the inner hall of the Yamen of the Cheng Xuan Political Division, and everyone sat down as the guest of honor.

"Come on, hurry up and serve tea!" Cao Qiuxu instructed the maid beside him.

"Yes, sir." A pretty maid, after answering, went into the inner hall.

Zong Hu got up and handed over a name post, and said with a smile: "Lord Cao, this is a little bit of a humble intention, and I hope that the Lord will accept it with a smile." ”

Cao Qiuxu gently flipped through the name card and swept the list of gifts listed on the name card one by one.

"Master Zong, you're welcome." Cao Qiuxu is very satisfied, it seems that this tiger is also interesting, not a stubborn person, and his heart is one step closer.

"Lord Cao, this is as it should be, as long as the adults like it. The humble post came by the emperor's order this time, and I hope that Lord Cao will take care of it. Zong Hu saw a subtle change in Cao Qiuxu's attitude.

"Master Zong, you don't have to worry about this, this official will take care of the officials below to cooperate, if someone deliberately makes things difficult for you, this official will not spare him first." Cao Qiuxu swore that his attitude had already changed in an instant.

All this, as Zong Hu expected, was not bad at all. Zong Hu was determined in his heart, it seemed that the information collected by Wei Zhongxian was very accurate, Cao Qiuxu was greedy for money, and if he gave him benefits, it would be much easier to act.

At this moment, Zong Hu despised this high-powered provincial envoy even more in his heart, and in Zong Hu's heart, he hated corrupt officials very much, so when Chongzhen found him and asked him to play an official on the verge of corruption at the beginning, Zong Hu's heart was very resistant. However, Chongzhen clearly understands that if it is too rigid, it is easy to break, and to deal with corrupt people, it is necessary to disintegrate them from the inside, otherwise, not only will things not be done, but the safety of life cannot be guaranteed. Therefore, Chongzhen carried out some ideological brainwashing on Zong Hu, and before Zong Hu left Jingshi, he trained him professionally, so that he could become a veritable corrupt official, so that the real corrupt officials could not see a flaw, this is Chongzhen's real purpose.

Also because of this incident, many uninformed officials, especially some relatively upright officials, submitted a lot of twists and turns to Zong Hu's matter, and unanimously demanded severe punishment. However, these twists and turns are like a stone sinking into the sea, and what makes them even more strange is that the internal inspection institute, which is now in the limelight, seems to be ignoring this.

Zong Hu admired Chongzhen's foresight more and more, and the doubts in his heart were completely dispelled in an instant. Next, Zong Hu and Cao Qiuxu discussed a lot of details, and the guests and hosts talked very happily, one deliberately wooed, and the other deliberately flattered, so they almost bowed to each other.

Compared with Zonghu's side, it is staggered and comfortable. Chongzhen's side can be said to be busy non-stop, one thing after another.

With the arrival of the end of the seventh year of the Apocalypse, the mausoleum of Ming Xizong has been built, and the grand burial ceremony has been carried out for three days, and this alone costs 20,000 taels of silver. This is still the result of Chongzhen's order to simplify the Ministry of Rites, but I don't know how much it will cost if it follows the original plan of the Ministry of Rites.

Daming's finances are close to withering, which is the embarrassment that Chongzhen has to face. Relying only on reducing expenditure can no longer solve the problem fundamentally, and the most important thing is that it is impossible to achieve much effect in a short period of time. Chongzhen must find a new source of finance as soon as possible, otherwise, once the war is together, the civil strife is chaotic, and the financial problems arise again, it will be very likely that all the previous efforts will be wasted, and the bamboo basket will be empty.

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