Emperor Zhen activated the Jinyiwei intelligence agency, which had been idle for a long time, to continuously collect all kinds of information about Yu Xiang.

To his surprise, the squires of Luoyang actually jointly played a watch, praised Yu Xiang's 'great achievements', and asked for credit for him.

Chongzhen was a little confused: he got the news from Jinyiwei, this Yu Xiang half borrowed and half robbed, coerced and lured them to get away their food and money, and was actually praised by the creditor, Chongzhen was a little puzzled.

Chongzhen wanted to understand this matter, so he found Zhang Zhifa, a scholar of Shoufu University, and asked: "Yu Xiangqiang, the governor of Henan, borrowed money and grain from others, and the person who was borrowed not only did not complain, but actually praised endlessly, why is this?" ”

Zhang Zhifa said: "There is a saying among the people that it is the uncle who borrows debts, and the reason why those so-called creditors praise him is because they are worried that their debts will not be repaid. ”

"What do you mean by that?"

"What will happen if the governor of Henan falls? The debts he borrowed may go unclaimed. Of course, the creditors hope that Yu Xiang will live a long life, and the longer he stays in Henan, the better, is to sing praises to virtue, hoping to keep Yu Xiang in long live, only Yu Xiang is still in Henan, and their debts have hope, otherwise, their debts may be yellow. Yu Xiang was in Henan, blackmailed the rich households, borrowed money and grain, relieved the poor, and captured the hearts of the poor households, and his reputation in Henan was unparalleled. As long as he stomps his feet, the entire Henan realm is only afraid of trembling, he is really a rare genius in officialdom since ancient times! Zhang Zhifa said.

In fact, the hegemon was not only powerful in ancient times, but also in the later generations of the United States, issuing treasury bonds, borrowing money from other countries, and wronging the big-headed island countries is also grateful to Dade and full of praise.

After listening to this, Chongzhen seemed to be very inspired, and said: "Now that the Ningyuan front line is tight, urging the grain to fold three times a day, Wu Sangui is so anxious that he burns his eyebrows, and I am helpless, so it is better to learn the method of Henan, borrow money and grain in my name, and support the Ningyuan front, what do you think?" ”

Zhang Zhifa was shocked when he heard this, this can give him a problem, if he says no, wouldn't it be equivalent to saying that the emperor is not even as good as a courtier, and he has committed the crime of bullying the king; If you say yes, you must not offend that group of civil and military ministers, Yu Xiang ushered in a joint performance in Henan, if it is in the capital, touching their real interests, it is not as simple as a joint performance, and if the loan fails in the future, Chongzhen will not give him an instigation crime, his head is not small, and the whole family is only afraid that it will be affected.

What's more, how can it be so easy to borrow money and grain, who is willing to take money from his own pocket and spit food from his mouth, he Zhang Zhifa himself is the first to disapprove.

Zhang Zhifa was silent for a long time, pondering how to respond, and suddenly remembered Wei Tiezui, who had recently caught fire in the capital, this person was talking about Yu Xiang's commentary, and he said that he had a nose and eyes, so that no matter where he went, there was a group of people around, and many ministers invited him to tell stories. Recently, he invited Wei Tiezui to the mansion to tell stories.

Thinking of this, he thought about it and said: "I know a person from Henan, and he knows Yu Xiang very well, so it's better to let him talk about it." ”

"Oh~! Who is he and whose name is it? As soon as Chongzhen heard that it was related to Yu Xiang, he was very concerned.

Zhang Zhifa said: "He Wei, named Tiezui, is a storyteller in the rivers and lakes, from Henan, it is said that he still came to the capital with Gao Qiqian, and he specializes in books related to Yu Xiang. ”

"Storyteller?" Chongzhen's face was covered with a layer of frost, "Confused, do you want me to listen to the unreliable words of a Jianghu artist, spread it, and don't laugh off your big teeth?" ”

When Zhang Zhifa saw this situation, he kowtowed like a chicken pecking rice, and said: "Weichen just thinks that he seems to know Yu Xiang very well, and knows a lot of things, which will help the Long Live Holy Judgment, and he has no other intentions. ”

"Know Yu Xiang very well?" Chongzhen remembered that her daughter Princess Changping always wanted to hear stories about Yu Xiang recently, and invited him to coax the child, so he said: "Let this Wei Tiezui come to the palace." ”

Besides, let Zhang Zhifa decide whether to borrow food and borrow money, it is unreliable, and even Chongzhen himself is a tricky matter, how can he express his position. Chongzhen asked Zhang Zhifa to step down.

If Zhang Zhifa was granted amnesty, he only promised and bowed down.

Zhang Zhifa just came out, Li Gonggong came in with a secret letter, the previous letters, all had to be read by Li Gonggong first, and then Li Gonggong played the emperor, but this time it was different, the letter was sealed with vermilion lacquer, and the words "Long live the kiss" were written on it, so it can be seen that the content is very top secret and cannot be known to outsiders.

Emperor Chongzhen took the letter, signaled Gao Qi to retreat, and opened it by the personal eunuch himself, and after confirming that there was no danger, he handed it over to Chongzhen, and the personal eunuch bowed down and withdrew, leaving only Chongzhen alone.

Chongzhen opened the letter, and saw that it was Wang Chengen and Liu Xiangyi's joint signature, the content of the letter was absolutely true and reliable, when Chongzhen saw the content of the letter, he was so surprised that he couldn't close his mouth, and the king of a country was shocked like this, and its content was not simple.

The letter wrote: Yu Xiang through the confiscation of corrupt officials and borrowing money and grain from the king of Fu, raised 20 million taels of silver, 600,000 stone of grain, this is only part of the money and grain raised in Luoyang, Yu Xiang in the whole Henan, the borrowed money and grain is only afraid to double, Chongzhen remembered the beginning of the year to implement the "four positive, six corners and ten sides of the net" strategy, in order to raise 2.8 million taels, the east and west, the ministers of the court and the central government shouted poverty, and finally, Emperor Chongzhen paid out of his own pocket to reduce the office expenses of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, only to raise these silver, but this Yu Xiang was only a few days, It is inconceivable that so much money and grain have been raised, and there is basically no problem with Henan's drought relief materials.

The letter also mentioned that Yu Xiang was planning to set up a bank in Henan and issue Henan New Currency. Chongzhen is full of suspicions, now in troubled times, everyone only recognizes silver, and even copper coins can't be sent, can Henan new coins be sent? Currency is reputation, is Yu Xiang's reputation greater than that of a king like him?

In the end, the letter specifically mentioned Yu Xiang's "extreme desire for luxury", Yu Xiang was unusually when he invited Gao Qi to dive, spending two hundred and fifty taels of silver on a meal, and giving a bag of gold when Gao Qi dived away, which made Chongzhen very shocked, the reason why he trusted Yu Xiang so much, because he liked Yu Xiang's frugal quality, did he see Yu Xiang wrong before?

Chongzhen put down the letter, this letter almost subverted him, the message conveyed was too shocking, he picked up the sword that Yu Xiang gave him, pulled out the sword, the cold light was shining, and he chattered repeatedly: "This Yu Xiang Pingsu doesn't even bother the emperor, and he doesn't even let go of King Fu's money and food, are you still afraid that a eunuch will not succeed, but also a eunuch?" How so? Could it be that the eunuch is more powerful than the emperor and the prince? ”

When he thought of the words "eunuchs are more powerful than the emperor and the prince", Chongzhen couldn't help but be startled, could it be that Gao Qidun, who was usually as docile and humble as a dog in front of him, was the second Wei Zhongxian?

Thinking of this, Chongzhen couldn't help but feel a burst of horror, he seemed to understand the reason why Yu Xiang was so high-profile: Could it be that he was implying that there was something wrong with his eunuch? Hinting at yourself to be wary of eunuchs?

Chongzhen thought of this, he returned the sword to the sheath, and immediately recruited Zhao Jiacheng and asked him to secretly investigate Gao Qiqian.

After settling down, Chongzhen felt a sense of relief, and from Yu Xiang's series of strange actions, he seemed to have spied some things:

First of all, Wan Jin bought tea to let him know that the ministers in the capital were not as poor as they appeared, but all of them were very rich.

Now, in Henan, it is easy to collect the silver and grain of the rich country, which shows that the entire Ming Dynasty is poor for the emperor, and the ministers of those vassal kings are all rich.

At this time, Chongzhen understood the reason why Yu Xiang was so hated by the ministers and was jointly impeached. Because they were all afraid that Yu Xiang's tentacles might reach into their food bags and money bags at any time.

Chongzhen had a whim, what would happen if Yu Xiang was recruited to the capital? Don't you stop worrying about which firewood, rice, oil, and salt all day long? Thinking of this idea, Chongzhen was a little excited, but when he thought of the expressions of the ministers and scholars who had sworn to the death before, Chongzhen was discouraged, knowing that this move would not work no matter what.

Chongzhen had a lot of thoughts, caught in thinking, he was coherent before and after, and connected Yu Xiang's absurd and unreasonable practices, so he looked at it, Yu Xiang's actions seemed to be reasonable everywhere, and it really didn't work if he didn't do that, Chongzhen suddenly understood a profound book and mastered the principles in it, and now, he wanted to use these scientific principles to explain all kinds of incredible things that happened to Yu Xiang, and he decided to listen to Wei Tiezui in person and read Yu Xiang's book.

The next morning, Chongzhen sat on the main hall, looking at the civil and military ministers of the Manchu Dynasty, he had a childlike heart, and decided to try the reaction of the ministers, and said:

"Everyone, I have frequently received good news from Henan recently, the disaster has been controlled, the social order is good, many squires and wealthy families have jointly signed a letter, saying that Yu Xiang's new policy has won the hearts of the people, I am very pleased, thanks to Yang Aiqing and Xue Aiqing's recommendation!"

Yang Sichang and Xue Zunxian came out at the same time, beaming proudly, and replied in unison: "This is the duty of Weichen!" ”

Chongzhen nodded, with an approving expression, but did not let them be listed, but continued: "Yu Xiang is really a great talent, I am thinking, if I transfer him to the capital, I will do more!" ”

When the courtiers heard this, they all knelt down at once, and Yang Sichang and Xue Zunxian were no exception, and they took the lead in kneeling.

Yang Sichang seemed to be able to feel the resentful eyes of the courtiers against him, and Yang Sichang had to bite the bullet and say: "Long live Qiyu, the situation in Henan has improved, and the foolish minister thinks that it is not too late to make plans when the situation in Henan is completely stable." ”

The courtiers said together: "Long live the second thought!" ”

"Long live think twice!"

All this was expected by Chongzhen, and he deliberately asked Xue Zunxian: "Xue Aiqing, what do you mean?" ”

Xue Zunxian said: "Weichen also thinks so, and he should wait for the situation in Henan to stabilize before making plans." ”

Chongzhen seemed to be very humble to listen to the opinions of the ministers, nodded and said: "Everyone, Aiqing, Pingshen, your opinions are very good, and this matter will be stopped." ”

When the ministers got up, they all broke out in a cold sweat.

There is an impermeable wall in the world, it turns out that Yu Xiang will be Fu Wang's house, in the ministers spread evil, some even said that Fu Wang's concubines were occupied by Yu Xiang, no matter what, Fu Wang must have been copied by Yu Xiang, even Fu Wang dared to move, Yu Xiang will still put the general minister in his eyes, is that as long as everyone thinks of Yu Xiang, their hearts will be frightened.

Chongzhen looked at the ministers with frightened faces, and secretly laughed in his heart.

The eunuch on duty played: "If there is something to play, nothing to disperse!" ”

Those courtiers were eager to disperse the court quickly, and when they saw Yu Xiang's entry into Beijing, they were fooled, so as not to have many dreams at night, and those who originally had something to play would not play, and the early dynasty would disperse in a hurry!