Sitting?

These four words made Cao Jixiang's heart skip a beat, and he recalled in his mind everything that Shi Heng, the prince of Zhongguo, had experienced, that is, in Shen Yichen's step-by-step planning, he was forced to a situation where there was no way to retreat, and finally caught turtles in an urn in the Forbidden City.

Shi Heng is a relative of the Ming Dynasty, and he has enough use value in the war, and Shen Yichen can spare his life. If he came to the same situation as Shi Heng and failed to raise troops and was arrested, would Shen Yichen choose to open the net?

Answer: Cao Jixiang knew very well in his heart that it was 100% negative.

But it really made Cao Jixiang immediately rebel as soon as he saw the slightest sign, and this determination was not so easy to make. After all, now the Ming Dynasty is not the end of the Han and Tang dynasties, the warlords in various places are paralyzed, and the emperor is paralyzed by playing a handful of power castrations, as long as the soldiers are strong and the horses are strong, the festival envoy will pinch his nose and admit it.

The entire official eunuch system of the Ming Dynasty is in a healthy state, the center of the court has absolute authority and the right to rule, Cao Jixiang not only needs to be strong and strong, but also needs to be justified, the best way is naturally to coerce the Son of Heaven to order the princes, and get the emperor's authorization to go to Shen Yichen to do it.

But the problem is that Shen Yichen is too tactful, and he can't reach that level of closeness when he waits by the emperor's side day and night. Many times, Cao Jixiang couldn't help but suspect that Emperor Mingliang's feelings for Shen Yichen had gone beyond the traditional teacher-student friendship, and was more like seeing the other party as his "father".

After all, Emperor Mingliang lost his father after he was born, and his father, Emperor Jingtai Zhu Qiyu, wanted to let his son succeed to the throne, which was more like a threat to the two brothers. It wasn't until Shen Yichen appeared that all the situation was changed, and the young son Zhu Jianqing, who had no sense of existence, ascended the throne, and then assisted Zuo as the emperor's teacher.

Emperor Ming Liang's entire childhood was spent in the company of Shen Yichen, and it was difficult not to have different emotions.

"What's the situation over there, now is the good season to send troops in a high spirit, doesn't he have a plan to make a mistake?"

There is no way to deal with Shen Yichen internally, Cao Jixiang can only pin his hopes on a strong external enemy, autumn is the traditional offensive season of the Tartars, and if he can break the city at the border pass and achieve results, then there is a reason to impeach Shen Yichen.

"No, now Jiayuguan has 50,000 soldiers and horses of the Western Expeditionary Army, the Liaodong Army and the Mo Nan Army have retreated to the city, and the nine-sided Xuanda defense line is connected, and the Tartars have no means and strength to break the city at all."

"However, it is said that they are also in contact with the Eastern Chagatai Khanate, if the two sides can reach an alliance agreement, and the Western Expeditionary Army led by Shi Heng dares to go out of the city, they will encounter an ambush on all sides, and there will be no chance to escape!"

Hamiwei is thousands of miles away from the Daming Jingshi, and it is impossible to transmit news in real time, and Cao Jixiang does not know the specific results of the negotiation first. It's just that far water can't quench the thirst of the near, even if the Eastern Chagatai Khanate is willing to cooperate, it has to be loyal to the state Gong Shi Heng to go out of Jiayuguan to continue the westward expedition, so that there is a possibility of encircling and annihilating it.

Otherwise, Jiayuguan is an invincible fortress standing in front of the nomads, and there is no possibility of taking the initiative to attack and capture at all, not to mention that now more than 50,000 Western Expeditionary troops are stationed, and it is not too much to call it the word moat.

"Father, Shen Yichen is taking advantage of the summer harvest and autumn harvest stages, and is frantically transporting grain to the Nine Border Region, it seems that the time for the Western Expeditionary Army to continue to dispatch is not far away."

Hearing the last words of the heir Cao Qin, Cao Jixiang's gloomy face eased slightly, he was not afraid that Shen Yichen would take the initiative to conquer the Tartars, but he was afraid that the other party would shrink in the territory of the Great Wall defense line and stand still, so that there would be no chance of victory.

"Okay, our family will grit their teeth and endure this time, when the Ming army is defeated, it will be the day of Shen Yichen's fall!"

After finishing speaking, Cao Jixiang still instructed Cao Qin: "Qin'er, you must win over the generals in the Beijing camp, and you must not give Shen Yichen any more opportunities, the lives of you and my father and son are on these hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses." ”

"Yes, don't worry, my father, the five military camps only know the Cao family, not the emperor!"

Cao Qin replied with confidence, and now there is a word circulating in the Jingshi, called "Caomen Four Tigers".

Cao Qin, the heir of the Cao family, was knighted as Chaopin, and his nephews Cao Xuan and Cao Duo were the governors of the five armies, and the nephew Cao Rui, who had the lowest official rank, also served as the commander of the second product.

As a eunuch, Cao Jixiang brought the family to a height that can be called a big family, and this kind of interest binding method of one person who has attained the Tao and ascended to heaven can naturally get the allegiance of the entire clan.

In addition, the generals and soldiers brought back from Mongolia were originally raised private soldiers, and they naturally had no loyalty to the Ming emperor. More than ten years of infiltration and co-optation of the five military camps has given Cao Qin absolute confidence, and if he really wants to turn his face, it is enough to fight Shen Yichen!

"Qin'er, it is in vain for your father to help you build a bridge and pave the way, you did not disappoint your father."

Cao Jixiang praised with relief, his shame of being a eunuch and his hope of posthumously sealing the emperor were all pinned on his heir Cao Qin.

Horizontally comparing the second-generation children of the official eunuchs in Jingshi, Cao Qin is definitely the best among them, which is very rare.

"The child will never live up to his father's trust!"

Cao Qin hurriedly knelt down and thanked him for his loyalty, and without a blood relationship as a bond, he didn't dare to have the slightest transgression.

The news that Tiansheng Khan also met with the alliance without sweating first, not only Cao Jixiang knew, but Shen Yichen also knew. Or maybe this is a public matter, in order to show the strength of the entire Mongolian ethnic group, even if there is no secret spy or other investigation, it will still be quickly transmitted to the Jingshi.

From the moment he learned that he had also won over the Eastern Chagatai Khanate, Shen Yichen had already found the chief officials of the Daming Money Bank, the Ministry of Households, and the Ministry of Finance, and began to prepare war materials on a large scale and issue war bonds.

Daming Qianzhuang is not a new organization born of complete emptiness in a sense, as early as when Shen Yichen smuggled overseas trade, he had frequent contacts with the major wealthy businessmen in Jiangnan through Xu Fengyuan's local power in Jiangxi.

After all, tens of millions of taels of silver flow in every year, it is impossible to achieve a prosperous commercial trade, and Shen Yichen used a certain amount of "private tickets" in order to prepare for the Northern Grain War and the Luchuan Campaign, and used a certain amount of "private tickets" in order to simplify the trouble of silver transportation.

This is why, Shen Yichen chose Xu Fengyuan to hold the position of the first "governor of the central bank" of Daming Qianzhuang. The reason is that he is a giant businessman in Jiangnan, has a good business credit, and can get the trust and support of the entire business class.

It is difficult for the paper money reform to achieve results in the private sector in a short period of time, but Daming Money has shown a mature process in the issuance and use of large-value silver bills. After all, there is a foundation of trust, coupled with the official endorsement of the Ming court, local businessmen are not afraid of defaults.

So on the basis of the silver ticket, Shen Yichen issued more advanced war coupons in order to raise funds for the Northern Expedition.

This operation has multiple advantages, one is that it can be supported by the private wealth in the Jiangnan area and reduce the financial pressure on the imperial court. Second, when the land tax was introduced, the most panicked place among the people was that the imperial court set up a project to collect war tax.

The public issuance of war coupons and the willingness of wealthy businessmen and wealthy people to buy them can dispel the fear of the people at the bottom that the war will bring harsh taxes, and maintain the stability of the people inside and outside the government and the opposition during the Northern Expedition.

At the same time, as long as the principal and interest of the securities bills can be paid on time, this wave of war coupons can be used to enhance the influence and credibility of Daming Money, and lay a solid foundation for the issuance of banknotes in the private sector in the future. Therefore, in order to ensure that the war coupons are sold out, Shen Yichen set the interest rate very high, which is quite a posture of buying a horse's bones.

The last benefit is that the fiscal revenue generated by the war coupons can better appease the traditional opposition forces in the DPRK and China. No one is pulling back, so that Shen Yichen can deal with this battle of national fortune wholeheartedly!

Of course, relying on the financial revenue of war coupons was far from enough to support the Northern Expedition. Shen Yichen's real confidence and capital lies in the land property tax after the Qing Zhang's national acres of land, so that the collection of summer grain and autumn grain can be converted into as high as 30 million taels of silver. According to this growth trend, the annual income will be counted in the customs balance, and there is a high probability that it will exceed the 50 million mark.

Compared with the annual income of more than 20 million taels in the orthodox years, the tax revenue of the entire Ming Dynasty has doubled in just ten years, and the prosperity of the country and the strength of the people are the real foundation for Shen Yichen to dare to launch the Northern Expedition!

A steady stream of grain and grass equipment poured into the northern border of the Ming Dynasty, and at the same time, the Shandong Command Department and the Fujian Command Mission Division had already received Shen Yichen's mobilization order and were ready to go north at any time.

It's not that Shen Yichen doesn't believe in the combat effectiveness of the soldiers and horses of other local guards, but in this Northern Expedition campaign, which is related to the fortunes of the country, he is unwilling to take any risks, and only by showing all his strength can he be worthy of fighting with the Mongolian Khanate, which is close to the whole body.

At the critical moment, it is still easy for your own people.

Just when Shen Yichen was silently preparing, Wang Cheng, the eunuch of the Imperial Horse Supervisor, quietly came to the Wenyuan Pavilion duty room to meet.

"Let's meet Shen Yuanfu."

After the last discussion, Wang Cheng lowered his posture in front of Shen Yichen, he had clearly realized that his fate was in the hands of the other party.

"Princess, you're welcome."

Shen Yichen stood up and bowed in return, he has been an official for more than ten years, and has been in contact with many high-level eunuchs, and he also knows very well that physical defects will bring more sensitive psychology. So even if Wang Cheng was respectful, Shen Yichen still responded politely, just to maintain a seemingly equal state.

Sure enough, Shen Yichen's style made the corners of Wang Cheng's mouth rise unconsciously, and Yuanfu really didn't have a trace of arrogance, and he looked so amiable......

"Shen Yuanfu, before our family came to Wenyuan Pavilion, the celebrant sent someone to the Imperial Horse Supervisor to deliver a batch of silver, saying that it was a salary for Tengxiang Siwei."

Hearing Wang Cheng's words, Shen Yichen immediately became interested, and asked in a mocking tone: "Cao Jixiang can still take the initiative to send silver to pay military salaries, when did he become so generous?" ”

"It's not Cao Jixiang's own money, it's the silver taels that forced the twelve eunuchs to seal the eunuchs. Now that this month's salary has been paid, if it continues to be distributed, it will temporarily calm the outbreak of contradictions. ”

"Shen Yuanfu, what should I do?"

The plan that Wang Cheng had discussed with Shen Yichen before was to take advantage of the opportunity of arrears to deliberately cause a riot of the generals, and then use the means of suppressing the chaos to understand Cao Jixiang's influence in Tengxiang Siwei.

Now that the salary is in place, then the generals in the army naturally have no motive and reason to make trouble, Wang Cheng himself did not dare to make a decision, so he could only come to Wenyuan Pavilion to ask Shen Yichen's opinion.

"When the money arrives, it will be sent."

"Send it down?"

Facing Shen Yichen's answer, Wang Cheng showed a look of surprise on his face, doesn't this mean that all his achievements have been wasted.

"Of course you have to send it down, otherwise how can you be worthy of Cao Jixiang's looting."

"Teng Xiang Siwei has tens of thousands of soldiers and horses, including the generals, every month including the generals to pay more than 100,000 taels of silver, now there is a deficit of half of the Ming treasure banknotes, and the palm prints of the twelve eunuchs are average to each person, at least more than 5,000 taels of silver have to be offered."

"Over the years, relying on internal money and other aspects of greed for ink, even if the eunuchs of the Twelve Eunuchs have some savings, they can't bear Cao Jixiang's search. On the contrary, this kind of hegemonic operation will cause the other eunuchs to have a deep grudge against Cao Jixiang, which is completely a stupid trick to catch fish. ”

"Since Cao Jixiang likes to dig his own grave, of course we have to support him to continue to distribute it."

Shen Yichen explained the reason, Cao Jixiang's behavior is a common problem that those in power will commit. After being in a high position for a long time, he often cannot restrain the expansion of power, and develops in the direction of life and death, grabbing whatever he wants.

Although Cao Jixiang was powerful, the other eunuchs of the Twelve Eunuchs had to succumb to his obscenity. However, this kind of coercion will not last long, and it will cause a great rift in the relationship between the two sides, and eventually become a lonely person.

When it was strong, none of these things mattered, but once it declined, Cao Jixiang would find himself in a situation of betrayal and separation.

Shen Yichen's biggest concern about Cao Jixiang is not how many soldiers and horses he controls and how powerful he is. In fact, if the two sides really want to start fighting, even if there are three or five Cao Jixiang, Shen Yichen has the confidence to destroy it.

He planned various strategies, and what he pursued was to take Cao Jixiang close to "no injury" with minimal impact.

Now Cao Jixiang's actions have brought the twelve eunuchs to the brink of jumping back, and Shen Yichen is too late to be happy, how can he stop it?

"Shen Yuanfu is far-sighted, but our family is stupid."

Wang Cheng wanted to understand the reason, and complimented Shen Yichen.

However, he turned to think of a hidden danger, so he asked: "Shen Yuanfu, our family heard that Cao Jixiang tried to ask for help from the Long Live Lord during this time. Now the most important autumn grain has been delivered to the Beijing division one after another, and then use the excuse of the tight front line to distribute the Daming treasure banknotes, will it cause the question of the Long Live Lord? ”

Shen Yichen can use the excuse that the war is tight for two or three months, but he can't use it all the time without a war.

In case Cao Jixiang said that the emperor would be moved, it would be impossible for Shen Yichen to disobey the holy oracle, and both sides seemed to be racing against time.

Regarding Wang Cheng's worries, a smile appeared on Shen Yichen's face and said: "Princess, the salary is in your hands, when will it be issued and when will it not be issued." Isn't it all in a thought to give more to which soldiers and to whom to give less? ”