Cheng Guoxiang glanced at Jiang Fengyuan with disdain as an idiot and said, "Lord Jiang, don't worry about the affairs of the household, you better go back to your Ministry of Rites and do your business." ”

"You are presumptuous......" Jiang Fengyuan was ignored by Cheng Guoxiang, and he was still so disdainful in front of the holy driver and the cabinet ministers, if he didn't react, I am afraid he would not have the face to participate in such a meeting in the future.

Jiang Fengyuan immediately jumped up and scolded in a trembling voice: "Cheng Guoxiang...... You...... You are bold! ”

After speaking, Jiang Fengyuan immediately knelt down towards Zhu Youzhen and cried: "Your Majesty...... Your Majesty, Cheng Guoxiang not only bullied the monarch, but also dared to insult his colleagues in the DPRK and China, the emperor wants to be the master of the old ministers! ”

Jiang Fengyuan made such a fuss, Chongzhen couldn't help but be angry and funny, this Jiang Fengyuan, like Cheng Guoxiang, was also the secretary of the Ministry of Rites who only started last year, and he was not only pedantic but also liked to be calculating, in Chongzhen's opinion, Jiang Fengyuan was just a rotten Confucian who was stupid in reading, but what the Ministry of Rites needed was such a person, so Chongzhen turned a blind eye to him on weekdays, but he didn't expect that today he would actually do it with Cheng Guoxiang, and he also gave the other party such a big hat of bullying.

Looking at Jiang Fengyuan, who was kneeling on the ground and crying, Chongzhen glanced at Yang Sichang helplessly, the meaning was very clear, you are the squad leader of these people, you can do it yourself.

Yang Sichang is also tired in his heart, let's discuss big things here, you are a secretary of the Ministry of Rites to watch the excitement honestly, but you have to jump out and make a fuss, are you looking for the rhythm of death?

"Ahem......" Yang Sichang, who was helpless, had no choice but to cough dryly, and said to Jiang Fengyuan: "Lord Jiang, don't talk about this matter anymore, the emperor and the official have their own proportions." ”

It is said that the squad leader has said so on behalf of the boss, Jiang Fengyuan, you should accept it when you hit soy sauce, but this new official who has been in office for less than a year has quit, and if he comes to the next generation, I am afraid that he will belong to the kind of person who "I love my teacher, and I love the truth more". Not only did he not restrain himself, but he stiffened his neck and said, "Elder Yang Ge, what you said is wrong. The one million taels of silver handed over by the Marquis of Zhongyong this time were all replaced by silver dollars, and the court had not yet investigated him for the crime of minting coins without permission, but each piece of silver weighed only eight coins and eight cents. It can be said that the more this kind of silver dollar is minted in Shanxi, the greater the profit, and the Zhongyong Marquis uses this move to accumulate a lot of wealth, so the imperial court doesn't just ask about it? ”

Jiang Fengyuan's words can be described as righteous words, and if people who don't know the truth come to listen to them, they will definitely be in awe. But these words felt so greasy in the ears of Chongzhen and the ministers around him.

And Yang Sichang is really annoyed, this Jiang Fengyuan is too ignorant of lifting, Lao Tzu is the first assistant of the current dynasty. Giving you the order of the boss to go down the stairs is enough to give you face, why do you still want to do it?

Thinking of this, his face immediately sank, and he said coldly: "Lord Jiang, you just said that Marquis Zhongyong used this kind of silver dollar to make a lot of money, and Lord Cheng was bullying the king, is that true?" ”

"Exactly!" Jiang Fengyuan looked like he had broken the sand pot and asked to the end, and shouted angrily: "We are deeply favored by the emperor. It was the time to repay Jun's kindness, but Lord Cheng, as the head of the household, put this kind of insufficient silver dollar into the treasury, which was really a dereliction of duty, and the lower officials wanted to impeach him for dereliction of duty! ”

Jiang Fengyuan is in love with Cheng Guoxiang today. A posture of chasing and fighting.

"Stupid!"

Yang Sichang couldn't hold back any longer, pointed at Jiang Fengyuan's nose and scolded: "Jiang Shangshu, this official respects you as a veteran of the two dynasties to give you face, but you are too ignorant." The officer asked you. This silver dollar has now been popularized in Shanxi and Jiangnan, and even in the capital there are people who use it, and it has always been a silver dollar as a tael of silver. Could it be that all the merchants and people in the world are blind, don't they know that these silver dollars are not enough to weigh them, and they need you to remind Your Majesty! ”

"Huh...... Oh, yes. Jiang Fengyuan also woke up at this time, this is very reasonable, this kind of silver dollar has been issued for more than two years, and it is impossible for the people and merchants outside not to know that it is not enough to scale, but why is no one saying bad things about it but it is becoming more and more circulating?

Jiang Fengyuan's puzzled eyes swept around the bodies of the people around him, only to find that the people around him were looking at him with mocking eyes, and he realized that he seemed to have made a stinky move. The person who can be the secretary of the Ministry of Rites is naturally not a stupid person, Jiang Fengyuan is naturally no exception, just now he was just blinded by a moment of selfishness, and he didn't think too much about the urgency before he fired the map cannon, and now when he heard Yang Sichang say this, he immediately felt that something was wrong.

Sure enough, Yang Sichang continued: "The reason why this kind of silver dollar can be so popular in the Jiangnan area of Shanxi is not without reason. ”

"Well, Yang Aiqing is not wrong about this!" The first to speak was Chongzhen, he looked at the silver dollar in his hand and nodded affirmatively, it is not uncommon to have such exquisite coins in the palace, but they have always been carefully made by skilled craftsmen, and then used by the royal family to give them to the courtiers and harem concubines below. And it is certain that this kind of thing is not only time-consuming but also consumes a lot of manpower and material resources, don't look at this silver dollar is less than one or two, but Chongzhen can be sure that the cost of making this silver coin is definitely beyond the value it represents.

Yang Sichang glared at Jiang Fengyuan again and said, "Lord Cheng Shang is the head of the household, how much do you think this silver dollar is worth?" ”

Cheng Guoxiang hurriedly said: "Looking back at Lord Fu's words, Xia Guan has inquired carefully, this kind of silver dollar is full of color and easy to use because of its excellent production, so everyone likes to use it, and at present, the people in Jiangnan even regard it as one or two coins of silver." ”

"Do you hear that, Lord Jiang?" Yang Sichang glared at Jiang Fengyuan fiercely, "Now you still want to impeach Cheng Shangshu for bullying the monarch and collecting money from the loyal and brave marquis?" ”

"But there are always coins minted by the Marquis of Loyalty, right? Shouldn't the court condemn him? Jiang Fengyuan lost too completely this time, but now he is unwilling to retreat like this, so he did not forget to bite Yueyang's private coins when he was defeated.

"Shut up!" This time it was Chongzhen's turn to be annoyed, Jiang Fengyuan's ability to become the secretary of the ministry was not recommended by anyone, but because his qualifications were too old, and although Emperor Chongzhen trusted Yang Sichang very much, he didn't want the entire court to become someone's hall, and it was necessary to properly support some people who didn't deal with Yang Sichang.

It's just that judging from today's situation, it is no wonder that Jiang Fengyuan has mixed with the emperors of the two dynasties, and it is not for nothing that he got mixed into the position of the secretary of the ministry. This product is so eyeless, it's just a pot that can't be opened.

"Jiang Aiqing, I am asking how to deal with this million taels of silver to pay taxes today, not for you to impeach the Marquis of Zhongyong, since you want to impeach the Marquis of Zhongyong, then please go back and write a good book and come back, now you will give it to me immediately!" Chongzhen couldn't hold back anymore and immediately caught up with people.

"Your Majesty!" Jiang Fengyuan couldn't believe his ears, and looked at Chongzhen in disbelief, the emperor of the dynasty actually let him out, how hated he was to be driven away on the spot.

"Didn't you hear me? Get out now! "Chongzhen is not a good-natured lord. His eyes widened and he pointed forward.

Jiang Fengyuan looked at Chongzhen in despair, and then at these colleagues next to him, but no one came out to speak for him, and he realized that he had offended everyone around him just now, otherwise he wouldn't even have someone to intercede for him.

In the end, Jiang Fengyuan still staggered out. A courtier was kicked out on the spot when discussing with the monarch, which is very rare in the history of the Ming Dynasty, although Zhu Youzhen is suspicious and violent, but he has never done such an unreasonable thing. did this today, and did it so thoroughly, which is enough to prove that Zhu Youzhen's patience has been exhausted by this Jiang Fengyuan. What is amazing is that Zhu Youzhen's unrefined behavior has been supported by everyone present. It can be seen how hated Jiang Fengyuan's actions just now were.

After driving Jiang Fengyuan away, Chongzhen rubbed his temples with his hands, trying to calm himself down. After a long time, he said to Cheng Guoxiang: "Cheng Aiqing, I have this million silver dollars and a million quintals of grain. Can it meet the needs of Hong Chengchou, Lu Xiangsheng and Sun Chuanting to suppress bandits and horses? ”

Cheng Guoxiang silently calculated in his heart before replying: "Back to the emperor, with this million taels of silver, it is enough to suppress the bandit army for half a year, but yesterday Liaodong sent someone to send an official document saying that the Tartars are ready to move at the border pass. Let the household department send the arrears of Liao to Liaodong to calm the army's heart. The minister was worried that if all the silver was sent to the two lakes, Liaodong might be unstable. ”

After Cheng Guoxiang's words were finished, there was silence in the study.

"Bang ......"

Chongzhen, whose face was pale, slapped his right hand on the dragon case and made a loud noise: "Ridiculous...... Do they really think I'm a fool? Jiannu has just been annihilated by Yueyang tens of thousands of people, and the puppet emperor Taiji has just died, how dare they violate my border at this time, and still treat me as a three-year-old child! ”

The faces of the dozen or so ministers before the dragon case were not very good, Shanxi had just escorted the silver dollars and grain into Beijing, and the granary was not yet hot, so they immediately rushed to shout that the border was unstable and urgently needed food, didn't this make it clear that they wanted to fight this silver and grain?

Xie Sheng, the secretary of the ministry, also stood up and said angrily: "Your Majesty, after the Tartars were severely injured by the Marquis of Zhongyong, it is no longer enough to be troubled in the short term, and Liaodong's move is clearly to see that the court has some silver and wants to loot it." Now the imperial court doesn't know how many places are in urgent need of silver, how can they all be sent to Liaodong, the old minister thinks that this move is absolutely impossible! ”

"The minister seconded the proposal!"

"We're seconded!"

Many ministers in the study stood up to express their attitudes, and in the end, only a few ministers did not speak, but others also knew that they were waiting for Yang Sichang, the first assistant of the cabinet, to make a statement.

Yang Sichang looked around, slowly stood up and said to Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that with the death of the thief chief Emperor Taiji, the Tartar will no longer be able to threaten our dynasty for a while. After all, there are priorities, and the most important thing at present is how to urge Hong Chengchou, Lu Xiangsheng and Sun Chuanting to surround and annihilate the thieves, otherwise if the thieves are allowed to continue to plague the hinterland of my Ming Dynasty, then my Ming Dynasty will never have peace! ”

"Hmm...... Lord Yang has a point! ”

"It really should be!"

The ministers in the imperial study expressed their agreement with Yang Sichang's opinion.

The history of this time and space has become somewhat unrecognizable because of Yue Yang's arrival, the originally famous Concubine Hai Lanzhu became Yue Yang's daughter-in-law, and Huang Taiji, who was supposed to die six years later, also burped in advance, and those Manchu iron horsemen who were originally unable to plunder the Central Plains were beaten all over the field because of Yue Yang's appearance.

In this way, the bad external environment of Daming has become relaxed, but the internal problem of rogue has become increasingly serious. Just last month, Zhang Xianzhong led hundreds of thieves to suddenly rush into Sichuan, making the originally calm country of abundance into a miasma, Sichuan governor Liu Huaide hurriedly mobilized men and horses to resist desperately, but the Ming army, which had been peaceful for a long time, was unable to resist the wolf-like rogues. In the end, Sun Chuanting led the army to follow Zhang Xianzhong into Sichuan, and at this moment the two sides were fighting in the area of Long'an Mansion. And Li Zicheng led his men and horses to retreat to Shaanxi, and at present, Hong Chengchou is chasing his ass, while Lu Xiangsheng is leading his Tianxiong army to encircle and suppress Luo Rucai in Hubei, Henan and other places.

But now the problem is that after the first battle of Macheng, the rogues who suffered a big loss have also learned to behave, and they clearly know that with their current strength, it will not work to play a big battle with the officers and soldiers, so they can only let the officers and soldiers surround them and gather and annihilate them, so the rogues play a game of hide and seek, and they drill ravines and woods. Or they were shooting in the east and shooting in the west, which brought great difficulties to the encirclement and suppression work of the Ming army.

The biggest difference between the rogue and the officers and soldiers is that the rogue can go wherever he goes, and he can rob all the way, but the officers and soldiers can't do this, at least the officers and soldiers can't do it on the surface, otherwise the imperial history and the government in various places can drown you with the twists and turns, and it is because these days the excerpts of the emergency allocation of food and salary at the request of Hongchenghou, Lu Xiangsheng and Sun Chuanting and others also flew to the capital like snowflakes, so that Chongzhen has not been able to sleep peacefully for several days.

The evil consequences of Chongzhen's order to forcibly transfer Lu Xiangsheng to Shanxi last time have already appeared, and Lu Xiangsheng was urgently transferred to Shanxi. The guide was trapped around Macheng and escaped, and finally wandered around to the point where it evolved into today's disaster.

However, in Zhu Youzhen's opinion, this was not his fault, although there was also a trace of chagrin in his heart, but it was quickly filtered out by him. After all, he is the Son of Heaven, how could the Son of Heaven make a mistake.

After discussing with the ministers for a long time, Chongzhen finally made a charter, transferring 500,000 taels of silver and 400,000 quintals of grain sent from Shanxi to Sichuan, Shaanxi, Hubei and other places to suppress bandits. Another 300,000 taels of silver and 300,000 quintals of grain were allocated to Liaodong, and the rest was used for emergency purposes. In the eyes of Chongzhen and these ministers, such an arrangement is sound. It was also reasonable, but I didn't expect it to go wrong in the end.

As the old saying goes, you don't suffer from poverty, but from inequality. Less than half a day after the end of the court meeting, the results of the court meeting had already spread throughout the capital, and soon a knight rode a fast horse and galloped away in the northeast direction......

On September 23, the tenth year of Chongzhen, in the council hall of the Zuodu Governor's Mansion in Jinzhou, Liaodong, dozens of military generals were sitting neatly on both sides of the chamber, and in the center of the chamber sat a middle-aged general with a dignified face. This middle-aged general is about forty years old, with a long beard, and a pair of eyes are very majestic when looking at people, this person is the ancestor of the Ming Liaodong Left Governor, and at the bottom of his left sat the new Shanhaiguan General Wu Sangui and his subordinate Liaodong generals.

I saw Zu Dashou's eyes blazing and he looked around at everyone and said in a deep voice: "Everyone, there is news from the capital, the imperial court has made a decision, the taxes paid to the imperial court in Shanxi are only allocated to us 300,000 taels of silver and 300,000 quintals of grain, and most of the remaining imperial court will be allocated to those bandit officers and soldiers in the pass, what do you say?" ”

"What...... How can it be done, the imperial court has already owed us three months' salary, and now it only allocates so much to us, how is this enough! ”

"No, absolutely not, why only allocated us 300,000 taels, but those straw bales in the customs took the lion's head, why!"

As soon as Zu Dashou's words fell, the people below immediately started to discuss, and all the generals said anything, and it became a mess for a while.

Zu Dashou observed the generals for a while, and then turned his gaze to Wu Sangui, and saw that the famous general of Liaodong did not show a look of surprise, but drank tea by himself.

Zu Dashou couldn't help but ask in his heart: "Uncle, what do you think of this matter?" ”

This year's Wu Sangui is already twenty-five years old, and he also has a short beard that is not very thick under his chin, he stood up and arched his hand towards Zu Dashou and said loudly: "Uncle, it is inevitable that the imperial court will make this decision, and Sangui has long expected this to happen." ”

"Oh...... Let's talk about it! Zu Dashou asked quietly.

Wu Sangui smiled lightly: "First of all, a few months ago, the Great Khan Emperor Taiji of the Tartars fell seriously ill during his expedition against the Chahar tribe, and then died on the way back. In this battle, the Qing army suffered heavy losses, according to reliable sources, the Qing army lost at least 70,000 or 80,000 men and horses in this battle, although most of them were Mongols, but it was still a very severe blow to the sparsely populated Qing army, which is not only seen by us, but also by the ministers of the court. ”

Speaking of which, not only Zu Dashou, but also the generals on the side nodded in agreement.

Wu Sangui continued: "The Tartars have suffered such heavy losses, and they naturally have no time to invade our borders for a while, so the role of my Liaodong Army is naturally not so important, which is why the imperial court dares to only give us so little silver." (To be continued......)