"You mean, Wei Zhongxian also received bribes from those salt merchants?"

On the second day, when Zhu Youzhen rode slowly north, Lu Wenzhao told him about Wei Zhongxian's bribes from salt merchants.

Lu Wenzhao rode a horse to follow, and after Zhu Youzhen asked, he explained:

"It's not that he accepted bribes, those salt merchants found Keshi, and then paid 15,000 taels of pen polishing fees, and asked Hakka to write an inscription."

"After the Ke family accepted it, it took a long time to react to the salt merchant's intentions, and then asked Wang Tiqian to send a letter to Wei Zhongxian."

"What about Wei Zhongxian's performance?" Zhu Youzhen didn't care about the inquiry, while Lu Wenzhao said:

"Many salt merchants also expected that he would not help too deeply, so they only hoped that he would hand over the civil official's recitals to the front of the eucalyptus every day."

"It's nothing." Bowing his head slightly, Zhu Youzhen said again:

"If they want to make trouble, let's make trouble, now that Ye Xianggao is in the middle of the court, he will naturally balance the party struggles of various parties, including me."

"With his help, don't worry too much."

"Yes!" Lu Wenzhao bowed his head, and Zhu Youzhen said:

"Nanzhen Fusi and Beizhen Fusi, have you gotten any interesting ironclad evidence and intelligence?"

"There are a few." Lu Wenzhao said to Zhu Youzhen what he knew:

"The Duke of Wei in Nanjing and a group of nobles and nobles shielded the two Huai salt merchants to sell illicit salt, and this group of saltmen used the salt of the imperial court as a pretext to sell a large number of illicit salt."

"They spend nearly one million taels of silver every year to buy the salt of official salt, and then sell multiple of the private salt, and finally make millions of taels of profit every year, and take out some of them in the name of moistening the pen and give them to Nanjing Xungui and the salt transportation and salt department in the south."

"In addition, one more thing was found......"

Speaking of this, Lu Wenzhao took a cautious look:

"Among the nobles of the north, the Marquis of Gongshun seems to have also participated in the sale of salt and iron in the Zhangjiakou area......"

As soon as these words came out, Zhu Youzhen strangled the horse under his crotch, stopped and frowned.

The Northern Xungui ate human blood steamed buns and fornicated with the Northern Captives, Zhu Youzhen had already guessed it, and he also knew who the mastermind was.

It can even be said that this so-called mastermind also funded Houjin in disguise, so that Houjin continued to grow.

This mastermind is the Gongshun Marquis Mansion in Lu Wenzhao's mouth.

The Marquis of Gongshun was not a Han Chinese, but a naturalized Mongol Tatar.

They first came out of the Yuan Dynasty, and returned to the Ming Dynasty in the twenty-third year of Hongwu, and were arranged by Zhu Yuanzhang, the Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, to live in a convenient place for water and grass in Liangzhou.

In July of the third year of Yongle, Timur led the troops from Tatan to the Ming Dynasty, and was given the Han name Wu Yuncheng by Zhu Di, and was initially appointed as the governor of the right army.

After that, Wu Yuncheng led his subordinates to make many military exploits, and was knighted by Zhu Di as Gongshun Bo, and then Zhu Gaochi was promoted to Gongshun Houfu with this iron coupon of the Houfu.

From this point of view, this Gongshun Hou Mansion should be grateful to Daming.

But in the history of the late Ming Dynasty, although the things they did were hidden, they were still exposed after the Qing Dynasty entered the customs.

In the May section of the sixth year of the Apocalypse in the Ming Shilu, Yan Mingtai pointed out that in the smuggling activities against the Houjin, "the lord was enthusiastic", but he did not specify which lord it was.

However, among the lords, there is one person who is very suspicious, that is, Wu Weihua, the uncle of Wu Xibin, who is obedient to the Hou.

In the early Qing Dynasty, there were not many Han people who could be made marquis, and they had to be at the level of Daniel Zhang, Shi Lang, Tian Xiong, Ma Degong, Tan Yi, and Tan Hong, and in the race of marquis, Wu Weihua, a noble son of the Ming Dynasty, was actually made a marquis.

There are many sons and daughters of nobles who survived in the Ming Dynasty, but few people can restore the title, it can be seen that Wu Weihua's knighthood is obviously not to give preferential treatment to the nobles of the previous dynasty, but Wu Weihua has real merits.

Although Wu Weihua took the initiative to ask for "appeasement" of Shanxi, it can be regarded as a credit, but it is far from the level of being a marquis.

And this person is so active, and he is still very easy on the way to appease Shanxi, it is not difficult to imagine that he may have a certain amount of power in Shanxi.

This force can't be his, it's more likely to be obedient to the Hou Mansion.

Therefore, if it is said that before Lu Wenzhao speaks, for Zhu Youzhen, this is just a guess, and there is no evidence.

Then after Lu Wenzhao opened his mouth, Zhu Youzhen could be sure that the Gongshun Hou Mansion must be the main position among the people who have been involved in selling prohibited materials outside the Great Wall for a long time!

Thinking of this, Zhu Youzhen frowned, and after a few seconds, he continued:

"Let the North and South Town Fu Division continue to investigate, and in addition, it is best for the North Town Fu Division to infiltrate into the Jianyu and gain the trust of the Jianyu."

"I'm afraid it's going to be very difficult to infiltrate Jianyu." Lu Wenzhao said with a sad face:

"Although they trust the Han people very much on the surface, they are very vigilant in their hearts, and most of the Han merchants who have fornicated with the Houjin are Liao merchants who have been trading with old slaves for decades, and if they are others, they may not necessarily believe it."

"Then find an opportunity to dig out the Liao merchants and rebel!" Zhu Youzhen said, then shook the reins of the horse and continued to ride.

Lu Wenzhao didn't say anything, but followed Zhu Youzhen and continued:

"Beizhen Fusi has already explored the situation in Shanxi and the southern part of Beizhili."

"Except for the three towns in Shanxi, most of the guards in Shanxi and the south of Beizhili have long been corrupted, and there are only more than 2,000 people who can pull out."

"Therefore, judging from the original experience of layoffs, it is not difficult to dismiss them, mainly the three towns of Shanxi."

"As for the three towns in Shanxi, according to the investigation of the Fusi Division of Beizhen, they defend the Great Wall for 1,500 miles, there are thousands of stone forts, a team of soldiers and horses for each fort, and after Yang Zhaoji and others are transferred, there are seven battalions of soldiers and horses in the local area."

"In addition, the local guards and their subordinates are also about 100 to 500 people, about 6,000 people, and the total number of soldiers and horses may be about 20,000 to 30,000."

"If the three towns in Shanxi can be abolished, plus all the health centers in Shanxi, as well as the north and south health centers, it will involve 61 guards and 45 schools."

After Lu Wenzhao's words were finished, Zhu Youzhen said:

"In other words, what is involved is 386,600 military households, 19,330,000 mu of military tun land......"

"Yes." Lu Wenzhao was a little surprised, he didn't expect His Royal Highness to be so powerful.

"And count him 30,000 people, these family members and battalion soldiers can play a role in the expansion of soldiers and horses in the future, since this is the case, there is no need to recruit more soldiers." Zhu Youzhen said to Lu Wenzhao:

"Send a fast horse to inform Cheng En, and say stop recruiting troops."

"Yes!" When Lu Wenzhao heard this, he asked Yiti to ride first, and then escorted Zhu Youzhen to slowly rush to the Yanshan camp.

Just as they were on their way, the Chang Dynasty of the Wenhua Hall in the capital also began.

Accompanied by the whip of the Han general, the bronze bell of the Honglu Temple was struck, and the singing announced the beginning of the Chang Dynasty.

"If there is something to do, there is nothing to retreat."

Zhu Youxiao, who was dressed in regular clothes, sat on the main seat of the Wenhua Palace, looking at the many ministers of His Highness, and seemed to know what they would say today.

"Long live, Yang Tingyuan, the imperial history of the Imperial Court of the Imperial Palace, impeached His Royal Highness the King of Qi for selling illicit salt, disturbing the official salt, and causing the official salt to be corrupted!"

"The ministers and officials gave Yao Zongwen in the matter, impeaching His Royal Highness the King of Qi for conniving at the enclosure of soldiers and horses, and failing to distribute the full number of fields in the guard to the people!"

"Minister......

It's just that as soon as the opening scene, more than 60 ministers in the palace stood up and more than 20 of them, and they all accused the actions of the imperial horse supervisor and Zhu Youzhen, the king of Qi.

Zhu Youxiao didn't respond to this, but just said, "Is there anything else?" ”

His eyes were calm, and he didn't seem to care about such impeachment.

To put it bluntly, there are always a few people who can speak for the salt merchants in the north, and they cannot reach the energy and degree of the salt merchants of Lianghuai and Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

What's more, it has not been surprising that the clan relatives sell illicit salt since the Hongzhi period, and Zhu Youxiao doesn't think that things will make a big deal.

It's just that sometimes, Zhu Youxiao still underestimates some people......

"Chen Gao Panlong impeached the king of Qi, as a prince to support the army and respect himself, please ask the imperial court to return the 16 guards and the 12 guards to Jizhen, reset the governor of Jizhen, and guard against the northern captives outside the Guan!"

Thou shalt be thy maid too!

When Gao Panlong stood up, Qi Chu, Zhejiang, Xuankun and other five party officials came to the bottom of their hearts with the quintessence of the Ming Dynasty.

Not to mention them, along with Liu Yixian, Zhao Nanxing, Zhou Chaorui, Yuan Hua, and others who are members of the Donglin Party, they almost scolded them.

They have never seen such an "ideal" person, and they really think that two sentences of impeachment can snatch military power from the emperor? Or is it the kind of robbery method of hundreds of thousands?

"Then, according to Gao Hanlin's opinion, do I still need to hand over the three guards of the imperial city and the general of the Han Dynasty to the governor of Jizhen?"

Zhu Youxiao suppressed his anger and told the three guards of the imperial city and the general of the Han Dynasty.

The three guards of the imperial city, this is the four guards of Jinwu guarded by Zhu Youzhen, the five guards of the government army, the three guards of Yanshan, the left guard of the tiger and the left guard, and finally the three guards of the dragon and tiger, the flying bear and the Yiluan.

As for the generals of the Han Dynasty, they were the emperor's guards and court guards who participated in the training of the Wanping Battalion and the Daxing Battalion.

This military power is based on the 16th Guards and 12th Battalion, and Zhu Youzhen specially left the soldiers and horses for his imperial brother.

Therefore, in fact, there were a total of 19 guards in Shuntian and Yongping, but Zhu Youzhen only mentioned the reason why the 16 guards were never mobilized in the imperial city.

This force can only be mobilized by the emperor himself, and it is also Zhu Youzhen's soldiers and horses who have no one to defend the imperial city in order to prevent the rebellion in the capital.

Such soldiers and horses, even if Zhu Youzhen arranged and trained them single-handedly, he didn't interfere at all.

Even the military salary, food, training, these things after the soldiers and horses were trained, he did not interfere.

But this is the kind of soldiers and horses that even Zhu Youzhen is taboo about, but he was asked by Zhu Youxiao whether he wanted to hand it over to the so-called governor of Jizhen.

The emperor was angry, not surprised.

It was Gao Panlong, and after hearing this, he also said in a low voice: "The three guards of the imperial city are the barriers to defend the imperial city, and they are the private army of the Son of Heaven, how can the governor of Jiliao be mobilized?" ”

"That's according to Gao Hanlin's meaning! Aren't the 16th Guards and the 12th Guards Battalion my private army! ”

Zhu Youzhen was furious, and even got up and picked up the song and smashed it at Gao Panlong.

It's just that Gao Panlong didn't avoid it, but stepped forward and said:

"It is said that it is the private army of the Son of Heaven, but the minister heard rumors, saying that the 16th Guards of Shangzhi and the 12th Arch Guard Camp of Shangzhi only know the King of Qi but do not know the Son of Heaven, if such soldiers and horses are not recovered in time, it will be difficult to ......"

"Enough!" Zhu Youxiao clenched his fists and stopped Gao Panlong's next words.

His anger was not in fear and surprise at Gao Panlong's words, but at the words that someone wanted to drive a wedge between him and his brother, and wanted to take away the military power from him.

It's just that this person is still a powerless minister who was beaten down by himself to the Hanlin Academy to be responsible for compilation.

If it is said that discussing matters with Qi Chu, Zhe Xuankun, and Donglin Liu Yixiao and others, Zhu Youxiao still needs to give the other party some face and not let the court and the local government deviate from morality, then he will not have so much patience with Gao Panlong!

"Where is General Han?!"

Zhu Youxiao shouted, and many ministers were instantly terrified, and Gao Panlong was also stunned on the spot.

Immediately afterwards, a team of twelve people, dressed in mountain armor, walked into the hall, and the sound of the collision of the armor and stomach made everyone feel a little dry.

The Han generals entered the palace, and after several months of training, they far exceeded their previous momentum.

They stood around the long hall and turned around, making everyone almost hold their breath.

Gao Panlong was also stunned, but after being stunned, his self-righteous and high-minded temper also came up, and he suddenly said loudly:

"The king of Qi is the king of the chaos of the country, if he does not rectify it at this time, the Ming Dynasty will definitely suffer a catastrophe in the future!"

"Pull it down!" Zhu Youxiao's eyes were sharp, as if he was about to eat Gao Panlong.

The hearts of many ministers were hanging, and Liu Yixiao and others were also worried that Zhu Youxiao would make a will to kill Gao Panlong, and they were ready to dissuade them.

But unexpectedly, in the next second, Zhu Youxiao said: "Fight twenty court battles!" ”

"Obey!"

When the Han general heard this, he immediately stepped forward to set up Gao Panlong, and Gao Panlong, who was erected, was still scolding:

"Pity me for more than 200 years of the Ming Dynasty! Banzai! The ministers are loyal, you must take back the military power! Hooray......"

Gao Panlong was put out, and because of his disturbance, many ministers who were still talking about the matter of the Imperial Horse Supervisor and Zhu Youzhen also kept their mouths shut.

In the current situation, it seems that whoever speaks will suffer, it is better to wait for the emperor to dissipate his anger first, and then continue to impeach with a song.

However, Gao Panlong's words gave them a breakthrough.

Yes, the prince in charge of the military, and the young and vigorous emperor, above the history books, but as long as there are two dynasties, they will be separated from morality.

Although Zhu Youzhen, the king of Qi, had military power, once he lost the support of the emperor, he could only end up in a big marriage and a lonely old man in the domain.

Yao Zongwen was thinking in his heart, and when he was thinking about how to separate the two brothers Zhu Youxiao and Zhu Youzhen, Zhu Youxiao suddenly said:

"Scatter!"

With that, he brushed his sleeves and left, leaving behind only many of his servants with their heads bowed.

After Zhu Youxiao completely left, some officials of Qichu, Zhejiang, Xuankun and other parties looked at the officials of the Donglin faction with sneers.

Some Donglin officials who took the salt merchant's pen fee and were ready to impeach Zhu Youzhen were also helpless, and Liu Yixiao and others frowned.

Among them, Yang Lian frowned, and after the ministers dispersed, he was also ready to disperse and go to the official department to continue to work.

It's just that after walking out of the Wenhua Palace, he looked at the East Palace in the distance, and his heart was full of mixed feelings.

During this time, loose and contradictory things within the Donglin Party began to erupt, which made Liu Yixian exhausted, and also made Yang Lian, Zuo Guangdou and others very irritable.

For example, Wang Yingjiao's new tax law, Liu Yixian, Yang Lian and others supported it, but it was obstructed and opposed by most of Donglin's ministers.

They all believe that the most important thing at the moment is to reduce the land endowment first, and then collect miscellaneous items.

However, the problem is that if the land tax is reduced first, then once the miscellaneous and commercial taxes are not raised, the finances of the imperial court will be even worse, and the arrears will expand again.

However, the act of collecting the land first, and then discussing the addition of miscellaneous items, is not recognized by everyone.

Therefore, Yang Lian and the others are now in a very embarrassing situation, that is, internal opinions have never been unified.

But if you ignore the other clear opinions, their new law is probably rejected before it comes out of the cabinet.

If the law is not changed, then they will not be able to reflect their value, and the emperor will naturally not favor them.

Such a situation is already a bit dangerous, and it turned out to be Gao Panlong.

In this way, I am afraid that the weight of Donglin in the emperor's heart will continue to decrease.

"What to do......

Yang Lian asked himself, but no one could give him this answer.

The way of changing the law with Wenchen may be able to go through with the support of the emperor in the Wanli period, but at present, it is no longer possible.

Even if there is another Zhang Juzheng, it will be difficult to change the law in a short period of time in the face of the obstruction of many interest parties.

Without the support of the middle-level and the changes that the senior officials want to implement, it is the moon in the water and the flower in the mirror, which cannot be realized after all.

Yang Lian returned to the official department, dealing with the promotion documents of officials from all over the country, and at the same time, Zhu Youzhen also brought people back to the Yanshan camp.

However, as soon as he returned to the Yanshan camp, he saw a group of people dressed in tatters and blocking the gate at the south gate of the camp.

"Why don't you recruit me! I asked you yesterday, and you said that you were recruiting troops today! ”

"Didn't I tell you, you are not old enough, and besides, King Qi ordered just now not to recruit soldiers."

At the south gate of the Yanshan camp, a young man dressed in patches and holding a sheep herding pole in his hand theorized to the chief flag officer of Jin Wuwei at the door.

The chief flag officer spoke to him in a good voice, but he didn't want the young man to say:

"You first said that you would recruit people, and then you said that you would not recruit people, I walked more than 2,000 miles, why did you say that you would not recruit people now."

"Hey, you kid, why can't you make sense of it." The chief flag officer had a headache, and at this time, the soldiers also saw Lu Wenzhao and Zhu Youzhen, who came on horseback.

"Your Highness!" The chief flag officer took the soldiers at the south gate to make a move, and Zhu Youzhen said:

"What's going on?"

"Back to Your Highness, this group of people is from Shaanxi to join the army, but they are not old, so they did not succeed in joining the army, so there is a disturbance here."

The chief flag officer explained, and the group of ragged people next to him immediately knelt down as soon as they heard the word "Your Highness".

Zhu Youzhen looked at the young man who had previously theorized and said with a smile:

"You're interesting, you dare to theorize when you're not old?"

The young man lowered his head and didn't dare to be angry, and Zhu Youzhen smiled even more when he saw this: "What? Dare to debate with him, but not with me? ”

"Tell me what's your name."

"My name is Li Hongji, a native of Mizhi, Shaanxi, and others call me Huang Wazi." The young man finally spoke, but this opening made Zhu Youzhen frown.

Li Hongji, isn't this Li Zicheng's name before the uprising? And this young man is still a native of Mizhi, Shaanxi, and his nickname is Huang Wazi like Li Zicheng.

"Do you know how to use knives, guns and sticks? How old are you today? Who is in the family? ”

Zhu Youzhen stretched his brows and asked, and this Li Hongji said:

"My parents barely have two acres of land in Mizhi, my second brother is at home for a person to herd sheep, the family can't support people, I heard that I joined the army has ten acres of land, and each family member has three acres, so I brought my third brother here."

With that, he reached out and pulled a ten-year-old child next to him.

The child was a little scared and grabbed Li Hongji's hand tightly, this scene reminded Zhu Youzhen of the scene in his memory where his imperial brother grabbed his hand.

To be honest, Zhu Youzhen doesn't hate Li Zicheng.

After all, in history, as far as Li Zicheng's experience is concerned, it is completely reversed.

Lost his parents at a young age, was driven out of the temple, and then shepherded sheep to the landlord surnamed Ai in Benyi, and then his parents and two brothers died one after another, and he could only go to Yinchuan as a post man to make a living.

As a result, the errand had not been done for a few days, because Chongzhen streamlined the post station, and Li Zicheng happened to lose the official document, which led to the dismissal.

Life is already like this, but Li Zicheng doesn't blame the court, he just feels that it was his carelessness that caused him to lose his job.

I finally went home from Yinchuan, but because of the drought in Shaanxi, I couldn't harvest the grain and went into debt.

Because he couldn't repay his debts, Li Zicheng was sued by Ai Juren to the Mizhi County Ya, and the county ordered Yan Zibin to "swim in the city with weapons and put him to death".

originally thought it was a distribution, but it turned out to be a dead person, Li Zicheng's relatives and friends rescued him, and then Li Zicheng killed Ai Juren in revenge.

But the misfortune is not alone, Li Zicheng's wife Han Jin'er committed adultery with Murakami's name Gai Hu, and Li Zicheng killed his wife again.

With two lives in their bodies, the government can't ignore it, and they can't afford not to die if they eat a lawsuit, so they went to Ganzhou, Gansu Province with their nephew Li to join the army.

Life is like this, if you were someone else, you would have rebelled a long time ago, but Li Zicheng could still join the army, which already shows that he doesn't want to rebel.

As a result, Li Zicheng joined the army at that time, because the general soldier of Ganzhou was Yang Zhaoji, he could barely eat a full meal, and he knew how to use knives, guns and sticks, and was soon promoted to the general of the army by the general Wang Guo.

It's just that I didn't expect that half a year after joining the army, Huang Taiji was ordered to go south, and his own change broke out.

In order to keep Beijing, the imperial court urgently transferred the Quartet army to the capital to defend, and the Gansu border soldier Li Zicheng's unit marched to Beijing with the general kingdom.

However, at this time, the general kingdom withheld food, and the guards began to demand the issuance of silver, but the kingdom was stubborn, and finally led to the general kingdom and the local county commander being killed by mutiny.

At this time, although Li Zicheng is a person who has been coerced, he is no longer able to rebel.

Because he offended the local and border armies at the same time, there is no way for him to live in the world.

The reason why Zhu Youzhen said that he did not hate Li Zicheng was because of Li Zicheng's experience, and in terms of Li Zicheng's attitude towards Chongzhen in history.

If Chongzhen didn't hang himself, Li Zicheng wouldn't mind sealing Chongzhen as the king of Song and subduing the world in his name.

Since Li Zicheng in history doesn't mind, what does Zhu Youzhen mind now?

"Am I not confident in myself?"

Zhu Youzhen chuckled in his heart, then looked at Li Zicheng and some teenagers behind him, thinking that there may be a few people among them who have left their names in history books.

Thinking of this, Zhu Youzhen said to Lu Wenzhao:

"They were arranged to study and read in Yanshan, and then the same was true of the teenagers who fled from all over the country."

"Commanded by humility." Lu Wenzhao received the order, while Li Zicheng and others knelt on the ground and kept kowtowing:

"King Xie Qi! Thank you King Qi! ”

Yanshan Institute, they all know that it is a good place, enter there to eat, have meat to eat, and can also study, for this group of young people in northern Shaanxi facing the loess with their backs to the sky, it is definitely a general existence in the fairy world.

Zhu Youzhen looked at Li Zicheng and kowtowed, and then said to him:

"Your name doesn't sound blessed, I'll change it for you, you will be called Li Zicheng in the future, and your third brother will be called Li Zijing."

After that, Zhu Youzhen rode his horse away, leaving only a group of young people who were still kowtowing......