readx; The news that Qiao Yuliang, the leader of the Luliang Merchant Gang, was suspected of smuggling grain to Mongolia, and suddenly fell ill and died, and Qiao's mansion was raided, caused a great shock in the Beijing business community. The first thing to bear the brunt of the www.biquge.info is the Luliang Merchant Gang, and the gang leader has committed the big crime of losing his head, and the merchants under them are terrified. Although the government did not take any action, many people had no intention of doing business, and some of them even closed up their things and prepared to escape from Beijing as soon as possible.

The second is the other major merchant gangs. Among the seven major merchant gangs in Beijing, the Huizhou merchant gang and the Luliang merchant gang are the strongest, while the other merchant gangs are slightly inferior. Now that the Luliang Business Gang has suddenly had an accident, there has been a vacancy in the market all of a sudden, and it stands to reason that it is a good opportunity for these companies to seize market share.

However, among these merchant gangs, there are also those who secretly smuggle grain, salt and iron. Although the number is not as large as that of the Luliang Merchant Gang, it can still be found to be a capital crime. Qiao Yuliang finished speaking, who is not afraid? As a result, these people are so busy destroying incriminating evidence that they have no time to take care of their business.

As a result, Wuzhou Trading Company took advantage of the situation and successively opened a series of industries such as silver trumpets, tea shops, and cloth shops in Beijing. In addition to not getting involved in the salt industry because there is no salt introduction, it can be said that the tentacles of Gosu Trading Company have extended to all walks of life, and the business flow has also increased significantly, entering a virtuous circle.

As for the other major business gangs, the Shaanxi business gang was originally a "spy", while the Guangdong businessmen and Fujian businessmen were eager for the emergence of new forces to muddy the market and shake the situation in which the Jin and Hui monopolized the business circles of Beijing.

It was the Hui merchants and Zhejiang merchants who were really affected. However, Xu Yousan was cunning and cunning, and always felt that the sudden collapse of the Luliang Merchant Gang seemed to have some connection with the emergence of the Wuzhou Trading Company, so he acted a lot more low-key, and he no longer dared to suppress the Wuzhou Trading Company.

While the business landscape has undergone major changes, the investigation of smuggling cases is also in full swing. However, as Zhu Youzhen expected, although through interrogation, dozens of businessmen in the Luliang Merchant Gang who were directly or indirectly involved in smuggling were arrested, but they were all small fish and shrimp. Jin Yiwei has always suspected that there are officials in Jingshi who act as the protective umbrella of the Luliang merchant gang, and even the real mastermind behind the smuggling of grain, but nothing was found during the interrogation. It seems that if there is really such a shameless official, he must have a one-line contact with Qiao Yuliang, and outsiders will not know about it at all.

Now that Qiao Yuliang is dead, his family property has also been unceremoniously confiscated, including some of his family members, housekeepers, and family members have been imprisoned, but this clue is obviously broken.

On the Xuanfu side, there is also no progress. As soon as Hao Yongzhong went to Xuanfu City, Wei Yunzhong, the governor of Xuanda, and Lu Rui, the governor of Xuanfu, learned about the smuggling case. Both of them were greatly frightened, and Shangshu asked the emperor for guilt. But both said they had no knowledge of Mr. Cheng's collusion with businessmen for smuggling. Wang Zhong, the chief soldier of Xuanfu, also said that he did not know that Zheng Mingde was secretly making trouble. As for the border troops involved in smuggling, they couldn't ask anything.

The Cabinet was equally shocked by the big case. Since Zhu Youjian ordered Jinyiwei to try the case, the ministers did not know the specific facts of the case, so they asked the emperor to transfer the case to the Criminal Department.

Zhu Youjian flatly refused, and he refused to transfer the case to the Criminal Department until he found out who the officials involved in the case were. Maybe this person is from the Criminal Department, and it is not more convenient for him to destroy the evidence of the crime by turning around!

The ministers did not insist too much on being rejected by the emperor this time, and it was not improper for this case to involve military affairs, and it was not improper for Jinyiwei, who was also a military system, to try it; Second, in addition to the three old ministers of Sun Chengzong, Wang Zaijin and Yuan Keli, there is one more supporter of the emperor in the cabinet, that is, Zhou Yanru.

Since this brother entered the cabinet, his youthful and vigorous style has not changed, but the object has changed. Whatever the emperor supports, he resolutely supports; Whatever the emperor opposed, he resolutely opposed. As long as the ministers of the Donglin Department and the emperor have different opinions, he has to quarrel with them. Moreover, he was born as a champion, with excellent eloquence, and when he debated, he quoted scriptures and classics, and his head was the way, even if he was a well-educated person like Qian Longxi and Li Biao, he was often speechless by him.

In addition to Zhou Yanru, there are 16 Zhongshu people in the cabinet. Although they do not have the right to vote, they can also express their opinions when the cabinet deliberates on the government. People like Huang Zongxi, Gu Yanwu, Wang Fuzhi and others were also staunch supporters of the emperor. Therefore, the cabinet is also quietly changing, unlike before, almost everything is done against the emperor.

Of course, in such a big case, if the cabinet does not have any suggestions at all, it will also seem that the cabinet ministers are too cowardly. After collective discussions, the ministers again petitioned the emperor to transfer the governor of Xuanda, the governor of Xuanfu, and the general army of Xuanfu to other places, and send another official to take their place.

This time, Zhu Youzhen readily agreed. On the one hand, it is to give the cabinet a face, and on the other hand, if the case involves these three top officials, their transfer will undoubtedly be conducive to the in-depth investigation of the case. Even if they have nothing to do with this case, but just looking at their performance in the battle of Dushikou, they are simply numb to the extreme, Xuanfu directly guards the Jingshi, how can they rest assured that they are handed over to this kind of wine bag and rice bag guard!

As for the replacement candidates, the cabinet submitted several lists, but Zhu Youzhen was not very satisfied. For example, the cabinet suggested that Hong Chengchou be appointed as the governor of Xuanda, although he had sufficient qualifications, Zhu Youzhen had a natural wariness of Hong Chengchou, how could he let him be stationed in the border areas.

Another example is the cabinet's suggestion to make Sun Chuanting the governor of Xuanfu. Although Sun Chuanting is a person that Zhu Youzhen trusts very much, but Shaanxi is also very important, now the thieves are entrenched in the mountains of northwest Hubei, and they may return to Shaanxi at any time, Tongguan needs to be guarded by such a reliable person as Sun Chuanting, otherwise the Guanzhong Plain and Xi'an will be in danger.

In the end, Zhu Youzhen had to reveal his favorite candidate through Chen Yuanyuan's Beijing Times. For several days in a row, the Beijing Times reported on the deeds of the two officials, which naturally attracted the attention of the courtiers.

These two people are Yuan Chonghuan and Lu Xiangsheng.

Yuan Chonghuan once served as the governor of Liaodong, and he dealt with Houjin alone, and he was certainly qualified to serve as the governor of Xuanda. Since the border army retreated to Shanhaiguan, Zhu Youzhen left Yuan Chonghuan idle for a while, asking him to reflect on the killing of Mao Wenlong, and Yuan Chonghuan was also afraid of his recklessness. Now that he is employing people, although Yuan Chonghuan's ability is limited, he has no problem with loyalty and rigor.

As for Lu Xiangsheng, Zhu Youzhen has long wanted to promote his brother-in-law. However, he is now only the prefect of the Zhengwupin Daimyo, and he is suddenly mentioned to a high position, which may cause discussion, so it is more appropriate for him to serve as the governor of Xuanfu first. Lu Xiangsheng's "Tianxiong Army" obviously belonged to the Ming army with strong combat effectiveness, and Xuanfu, such an important border town, naturally needed an army that dared to fight and could fight.

As for the vacancy of the Xuanfu General Army, Zhu Youzhen hopes that Li Dingguo can come back to fill it. In his planning, the Xuanfu General Army was not only to resist the invasion of foreign enemies, but also to counterattack Houjin's first surprise army in the near future. Looking at the generals of the Ming Army, only Li Dingguo can take on this great task!

Therefore, Zhu Youzhen couldn't help but look forward to Li Dingguo and Li Laiheng being able to pacify the southwest as soon as possible and quickly become a teacher!