"Drive! Drive! ”

At almost the same time that Zhu Youzhen repelled Lin Dan Khan, Jin Guotang, who carried Nurhachi's will, rode into Shangjing on horseback, and passed it through layers and handed it over to Huang Taiji.

It's just that the content of this will made Huang Taiji a little apprehensive and hesitant.

"Brother, I only sent 3,000 people last time, and now I want to send 20,000 again."

"The last time I gave it away, many craftsmen began to steal and cheat, if I send another 20,000 ......"

In the simple palace of Shangjing, when Huang Taiji took the will, Jierharang next to him couldn't help but start to refute.

As Nurhachi's form declined, so did his authority.

Although Zilharang respected Nurhachi, he was also a little dissatisfied with the other party's decree.

"Send it"

What people didn't expect was that Huang Taiji actually approved Nurhachi's decree, which made Zilharang stunned.

"Brother, this ......" Zilharang wanted to say something, but Huang Taiji frowned and said:

"At present, it is obvious that the Ming army wants to outflank us, if they go north to invade our Dajin in a few years, it is useless for these Han people to stay."

"Pick out some craftsmen's families who have nothing to do with the Han camp and send them to Xingjing City, and prepare to gather soldiers and horses from all over the country, and I will send troops to Horqin in five days to prevent Mangui or Zhu Youzhen from sending troops to invade Horqin."

"Amin should have already led his troops to Shangjing, and I will send troops as soon as he arrives."

As he spoke, Huang Taiji looked at Jierharang with a solemn face and said:

"This time, I will take away twenty soldiers and horses of Zhengbai Banner, as well as 20,000 Mongolian cavalry, and you will take other soldiers and horses to guard Shangjing with Shangjing."

"If the Ming army in Liaodong goes north to threaten Xingjing, and Khan Ama asks you to bring troops to support, you will take the Han battalion soldiers and Meng battalion soldiers to support, leaving the white flag to guard the capital."

"Yes......" Although he was a little reluctant, Zilharang nodded and accepted.

While he nodded and admitted, Huang Taiji also looked at the door of the hall worriedly.

He was not absolutely sure about helping the Horqin tribe to break the siege, although the Ming army may have come from an expedition, but in terms of firearms and equipment, the Jin army that had been disabled was not the opponent of the Ming army.

Huang Taiji thought more than once in his mind whether the Jin army needed to abandon the vast Nurgan region and retreat towards Mobei with the current expeditionary capabilities of the Ming army.

It's just that he knows the conditions of Mobei, even if he can take craftsmen and even open iron mines in the local area, Mobei will not be able to support more than 200,000 Jurchens and the 50,000 or 60,000 craftsmen and Han family members who must be taken away.

Feeding these nearly 300,000 people with nomadism?

It's not impossible, but the premise is that Huang Taiji first kills all the Mongols in the south and north of the desert, and brings all their cattle and sheep to the north of the desert.

Or that Daikin has enough food for 300,000 people to eat for two years.

300,000 people saved two years of frugal food, but in fact, it only cost about 1.5 million stone.

Is it just that they took out the 1.5 million stones? Can't take it out......

If they can't get this food, they just have ......

"Wait!" Thinking of the problem of food, Huang Taiji suddenly remembered something, and then his eyes were cloudy for a few seconds, and then he turned his head and said to Zilharang:

"Zilharang, tell the army, assemble in three days, I will be one step ahead!"

"This ...... Commanded. Hearing that Huang Taiji had changed his plan again, although Zilharang wanted to ask what it was, his instinct made him answer the military order first.

As for Huang Taiji, he squinted his eyes after giving the order:

"Dajin has no food, but Ming Ting and Zhu Youzhen have ......"

——————

"Bang!"

"Who are you? Any idea where this is?! ”

"Nanzhen Fusi handles the case, everyone shut up for me!"

When Huang Taiji was planning, in Yangzhou City, more than 2,000 miles away from the battlefield in northern Xinjiang, a group of brocade guards dressed in cloth violently broke into luxurious mansions.

Among these mansions, the first to suffer were the eight surnames of Wang, Cheng, Jiang, Hong, Pan, Zheng, Huang and Xu, who were the largest salt merchants in Lianghuai.

There were even many people in charge of the eight surnames who were entertaining guests, and they saw the brocade guards flocking into the hall.

As the head of the eight salt merchants, Wang Sheng, the head of his family, has seen a lot of the market, and when he saw the Jinyi guards pouring in, he immediately stood up and scolded:

"Even if you want to search, there must be a reason!"

"Wang Juren said it well!"

As soon as Wang Sheng's words were finished, the voice of echo came from outside the door.

The sun shone through the courtyard, shining through the window until he came to the door and showed his face.

The person who appeared was Yang Huan of the Nanzhen Fusi, and behind him were a group of Jinyi guards of the Nanzhen Fusi.

"Receive the order of the factory public, arrest the entire Wang family, and pursue the salt tax!"

Yang Huan kept a heart and said the word "factory father", in order to let some guests in the hall spread the news.

In this way, others also know that it was Wei Zhongxian who carried out this operation, not Zhu Youzhen.

"Take it!"

Where did the people who suffered understand Yang Huan's careful thinking, and before they could think about it, the Jinyi guard behind Yang Huan took down the Wang people in the hall.

Wang Sheng still wanted to resist, but was hit in the ribs with a scabbard by a brocade guard, and he didn't come up in one breath and fainted in place.

As for the other guests, when they saw this, they wanted to support but were afraid of the prestige of Nanzhen Fusi.

"If you have nothing to do with the Wang family, please withdraw from the Wang Mansion first, and the official will also post a note."

Yang Huan glanced at the many guests, and when they heard this, they immediately got up in a hurry and trotted out of the hall in a cold sweat.

After they ran out, Yang Huan also led people out of Wang's mansion, and then ordered people to lock everyone in Wang's mansion in the backyard, and let people take away all the food in the kitchen, and finally locked all the doors and pasted a note.

Such a scene is not only happening in Wangfu, but is being staged in Yangzhou and all parts of Nanzhili.

As long as the merchants who participated in the salt transportation of the two Huai, they were all retaliated against by Jinyiwei and Dongchang.

Not only them, but even some nobles in Nanjing City have been monitored.

Such an act of covering the sky with one hand made many officials clench their fists, but they were helpless.

When the actions of these factory guards reached the capital, it was already the ninth day of the first month of March, and under Zhu Youzhen's meeting, Gu Bingqian, as an obedient representative, did not discuss these mistakes, but ordered the Metropolitan Procuratorate and the Sixth Section to investigate.

His move directly pitted the eunuch party of the six branches and the Donglin party of the Metropolitan Procuratorate.

It's just that in the face of Wei Zhongxian's incident, among the six sections, the officials of the five parties of Qichu, Zhejiang, Xuankun, and the Donglin officials of the Metropolitan Procuratorate who disguised themselves as eunuchs all had different opinions......

"Closing the house for four days, without water and food, isn't this going to starve people to death?"

"This move has made the people in the south panic, and if we continue like this, I am afraid that if we do not act, it will inevitably cause them to defect to others."

"Don't worry, Fang Shaobao has already entered Shandong, and it won't take long to return to the capital."

In the Yamen, when the voices of chattering and worrying about each other came out, a disturbing atmosphere spread in the room, and Yao Zongwen, Gu Tianjun, and Tang Binyin, who were sitting in the main seat, also looked embarrassed.

Although they took refuge in Wei Zhongxian, their main purpose was to suppress the Donglin Party.

Originally, in their opinion, Wei Zhongxian was at most chasing after the dirty silver, and the two Huai salt merchants who tried to threaten him would be done with a warning.

But he didn't want to, Wei Zhongxian directly asked Yang Huan to lock many salt merchants in the house, and let people seal the wells and move food, as if they were going to be starved to death by many salt merchants.

Such a move immediately made the salt merchants and tea merchants in Fujian and Zhejiang unable to sit still.

The salt merchants of the Ming Dynasty were different from the salt merchants and tea merchants of the Qing Dynasty, and most of the salt merchants of the Ming Dynasty were of the gentry class and had their own people in the officialdom.

As for how they raise these people, it's actually quite simple.

First of all, they have a lot of salt-making people and tenants under their banners, and these people are huge, such as more than 100,000 people under the two Huai and Eight Great Surnames.

What they have to do is very simple: when there are hundreds of thousands of people who show their prominence because of official and private education, but because of the lack of follow-up tuition fees and money and food, they will provide a free amount of money and food to these tenants and ordinary people.

Although such an investment is very large, as long as one jinshi can come out of a thousand people, then this transaction will not be a loss.

Therefore, although the two Huai salt merchants were only gentry, the people who belonged to them in the court were not a small number.

This time, Wei Zhongxian dealt with these eight surnames roughly, although the local government secretly sent food and water to the Jinyi guards without it, but it was not a way to do it in the long run.

In the end, Wei Zhongxian let go of the two Huai salt merchants, and the difficulty of implementing this method was actually very high.

At this time, Wei Zhongxian was still complacent about his power, but in fact, the ruler of the eunuch party was Cui Chengxiu.

In general, the two Huai salt merchants are not threatening Wei Zhongxian, but Cui Chengxiu.

It's just that Cui Chengxiu fooled Wei Zhongxian, causing Wei Zhongxian to think that the two Huai salt merchants were dissatisfied with him, so he killed him.

If Yao Zongwen and the others went to explain, the two Huai salt merchants were rescued, but they were going to turn against Cui Chengxiu.

At the moment, the Donglin Party is still struggling to breathe, and if they turn their faces with Cui Chengxiu, maybe they will give the Donglin Party a chance to breathe......

"It's better to press this matter first, and the officials of the states and counties can help if they can, and don't make any starvation to death."

Yao Zongwen is not smart, and his political skills are not superb.

If it weren't for Fang Congzhe, Sun Ruyou, Zhu Guozuo, and Shen Yan being taken down by Zhu Youzhen, and a bunch of senior Zhejiang Party officials being impeached and squeezed out by Donglin, he would be a No. 3 person at best.

At the moment, the situation of the five parties is very embarrassing, or they and Donglin are very embarrassed.

Most of the people who have the sense of the township party and the means have been fought down in their internal struggle, and most of the remaining people who have the means, such as Zhu Xieyuan and Yuan Keli, have no party consciousness, so it is naturally impossible to support them to take the position.

So now, Gu Bingqian's Qi Wang Party can steadily suppress them, which makes people unhappy......

Therefore, although Yao Zongwen's words are not good, they are also the only way they can take at the moment.

They were dissatisfied with Wei Zhongxian and Cui Chengxiu's approach, but they didn't dare to betray, so they could only disobey the two of them.

However, compared to their unanimity of opinion and caliber, Donglin's side was divided into two factions on this matter.

"There is nothing wrong with recovering the arrears of gold and silver and salt taxes from the two Huai salt merchants, but the means are wrong."

In the yamen of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, when Han Yi sat on the main seat and said such a sentence, some people in the hall immediately raised different opinions.

"There is no such thing as arrears of salt tax, and the salt merchants of the two Huai have paid the salt tax in full according to the salt lead, and it must be Cui Chengxiu's gelding dog who is greedy for ink from it, and now he wants to frame others."

"The salt quotations of the imperial court are all issued normally, not to mention that there has been nothing in the past few years, why did the salt tax go wrong as soon as King Qi set up two divisions?"

"I think in the final analysis, it still has to be traced back to Wei Zhongxian's eunuch."

"The eunuch is the most greedy, I think he has been greedy a lot over the years, and the arrears of gold and silver must be a good show directed and acted by him."

In the hall, more than 30 Donglin people talked to each other, obviously having different opinions about Wei Zhongxian's attack on the two Huai salt merchants.

Among them, although Zuo Guangdou has repeatedly impeached the eunuchs, he still said very soberly in the face of the actions of the two Huai salt merchants:

"Although Wei Zhongxian's character is not good, he has courtesy towards courtiers, and this time in the matter of the two Huai salt merchants, it is unlikely that he will lock everyone up and starve to death."

"I think there may have been some misunderstanding here."

"What misunderstanding can there be? After four days of hunger and water hunger, can he still not know what happened in Lianghuai for such a long time? ”

A Donglin Imperial Historian couldn't help but speak, and his opening made everyone echo it.

Obviously, in their opinion, it is not strange for a person like Wei Zhongxian who is greedy for money and cunning to do such a thing.

"This matter has nothing to do with us for the time being, instead of caring about this, it is better to care about how to curb King Qi and the eunuch party."

Yuan Huazhong couldn't help but open his mouth to stop this farce, but his words did not play a role in stopping it, and a group of Donglin civil officials were still arguing about the matter of Lianghuai.

"That's it! Let's go back to do errands first, I'll go into the palace tomorrow to ask long live this matter. ”

Han Yi looked at the people who were still arguing, and could only patiently appease them, and then let everyone go back to do things first.

Finally, after everyone retreated, he got up and prepared to return to his yamen.

As he drifts away, the protagonists of the matter are laughing.

"Factory Gong, this is the list obtained from this raid, and as for the people, they have been arranged in the place by the lower officials."

In the celebrant prison, when Cui Chengxiu took out a list and handed it over, Wei Zhongxian, who glanced at it, showed a satisfied look.

"The more than 4 million taels of silver will be put away first, and after the conviction and distribution of this group of businessmen, they will be filled into the internal treasury."

Wei Zhongxian was dealing with the notes on the table and ordered Cui Chengxiu.

Cui Chengxiu said with a flattering face: "By the way, there is also a gift list for local people to build an ancestral hall for you." ”

"Tens of thousands of people in Lianghuai rejoiced, and they wanted to build a shrine for the factory in your hometown......

Cui Chengxiu took out another list from his arms, and Wei Zhongxian forcibly glanced at it when he heard this.

Many names and silver taels made Wei Zhongxian's eyes show joy, and when he saw the total amount of more than 400,000 taels of silver at the end, he said with a kind smile:

"Okay, accept the people's thanks, it's our family's business to punish the bad businessmen, tell people in other places, don't make such a big deal in the future."

"The subordinate has an ......order," Cui Chengxiu responded with a smile, and Wei Zhongxian continued to remind:

"Don't kill those people, and then they will be convicted and sent to the old port."

"Don't worry, I have already reminded Yang Huan of this matter, and he knows what to do." Cui Chengxiu responded confidently, but he didn't know that Yang Huan didn't do what he said at all.

The two were kept in the dark, but in the matter of silver, the two picked up a bargain.

Wei Zhongxian can completely use these four million taels of silver to make up for his shortfall in internal funds over the years, and even a lot more.

Thinking of this, Wei Zhongxian also got up and said, "Let's take this thing into the palace first and tell Banzai, you go back to do errands." ”

"The lower official retires......" Seeing Wei Zhongxian speak, Cui Chengxiu also bowed and slowly retreated.

After he retired, Wei Zhongxian led people to the Qianqing Palace through the Xuanwu Gate.

It was only half an hour, when Wei Zhongxian came to the gate of the Qianqing Palace, he also deliberately sorted out his appearance, and then walked into the Qianqing Palace with a pretending to be sad with the directory.

As soon as he entered the palace, he saw Zhu Youxiao, who was handling the master of ceremonies in the Yangxin Palace.

He entered the Hall of Heart Cultivation with a sad face, and then knelt down and sang:

"Long Live the Holy Bow ......"

"Peace, get up." Zhu Youxiao responded to Wei Zhongxian while dealing with the recital, and Wei Zhongxian glanced at Wang Tiqian, who had entered the hall, when he got up.

Wang Tiqian bowed slightly, indicating that Zhu Youxiao was in a good mood and let him speak well.

Seeing this, Wei Zhongxian was also a lot more relieved, and immediately presented the list with both hands:

"Long live, this is the list of merchants who evade taxes in Lianghuai."

Wei Zhongxian didn't add oil and vinegar to say anything, but directly handed over the list.

He knows Zhu Youxiao, as long as Zhu Youxiao sees the confiscated silver and the name involved in the case, he will guess it himself, and he doesn't have to add fuel and vinegar himself.

"Huh?" Sure enough, hearing that the matter was done, Zhu Youxiao also took the list, and opened the list with a slight frown.

As soon as this list was opened, Zhu Youxiao's slightly frowning brows were soothed, and when he saw the last more than four million taels of silver and many mansions and land deeds, he rarely showed a little smile.

"Things are doing well, but there are many salt merchants in Lianghuai, just like this?"

As soon as Zhu Youxiao spoke, Wei Zhongxian hurriedly explained:

"This was confiscated by Nanzhen Fusi, there should be no problem......"

"Hmm......" Zhu Youxiao pondered for a moment, and then continued:

"What does Gu Gechen think of this group of two Huai salt merchants?"

Zhu Youxiao was a little concerned about Gu Bingqian's attitude, because Gu Bingqian's attitude basically represented the attitude of his younger brother.

This is not to say that Zhu Youxiao needs to see Zhu Youzhen's face to do things, but he is afraid of being deceived, so he wants to get some Zhu Youzhen's views on this matter from Gu Bingqian.

Regarding his inquiry, Wei Zhongxian also said honestly:

"Gu Gechen suggested that the six departments and the Metropolitan Procuratorate investigate the case together, and then hand over the arrears to the two divisions."

"Leave it to the two divisions?" Hearing this, Zhu Youxiao frowned slightly.

Although the Qi Wang Party is powerful at the moment, and the Eunuch Party is also powerful, this does not mean that the imperial power has completely mastered the household department.

Many officials under the household department are still the old team in the past, and if this money is handed over to the two divisions, then the two divisions will inevitably be handed over to the household department.

In this way, if he wants to take the silver at that time, it depends on the attitude of the two divisions?

Thinking of this, Zhu Youxiao pondered for a moment before saying:

"This matter should be handed over to the Supervision Department of Jinyiwei and the local Dali Temple to investigate."

"If there is evidence, then send them to the old port or Hetao or Hexi in accordance with the "Da Ming Law", and then confiscate the money into the inner treasury."

"Slave maid takes orders......" Wei Zhongxian waved slightly, and at the same time, he showed a smile when Zhu Youxiao couldn't see it.

He guessed correctly, the emperor was unwilling to hand over the silver to the household, and it would still be included in the treasury later.

As long as it is included in the internal account, then he can operate and smooth out his deficit over the years.

Wei Zhongxian thought so, but he quickly remembered one more thing, so he hurriedly said:

"Long live, this case of the two Huai salt merchants also involved many lords in Nanjing, you see ......"

"Lord?" Zhu Youxiao frowned slightly, then reopened the directory and glanced at the people involved again.

At this glance, he found a lot of familiar noble names.

However, now is not the time to move the lords, after all, it has only been long since they have taken away their military power and military tuntian, and if they move the lords again, it will inevitably make other nobles have a wrong conjecture that the emperor wants to clean up the lords.

Therefore, Zhu Youxiao first raised his head and asked Wei Zhongxian:

"These lords, how did Nanzhen Fusi treat them?"

"Just send someone to monitor, everything else is the same." Wei Zhongxian hurriedly responded, and Zhu Youxiao also bowed slightly when he heard this, very satisfied.

However, Wei Zhongxian kept looking at Zhu Youxiao, wanting to know how to deal with this group of lords.

However, Zhu Youxiao was also a little embarrassed about how to deal with them.

If the punishment is too light, it will inevitably make people think that he is shielding the lords, and if the punishment is too heavy, it will make the lords in the north think more.

So after thinking about it, Zhu Youxiao said:

"Let Yang Huan remind them to re-pay the salt tax and tea tax that they concealed before, and those who paid before May will not be held accountable."

"The slave and maid are ......" Wei Zhongxian responded, and Zhu Youxiao also glanced at the list in his hand, and finally said:

"Alright, you go down and do your errands."

"Yes......" Wei Zhongxian bowed one last time, and then slowly withdrew from the Heart Cultivation Palace.

At the same time as he withdrew from the Heart Cultivation Palace, Wang Tiqian, who was in charge of the hall, sent him out in the form of a send-off.

However, when he was sent out of the Qianqing Palace, Wang Tiqian looked around and said:

"It's better to talk to Gu Bingqian's little old man about this matter, don't let King Qi think that we don't agree."

"Don't worry, our family knows how to deal with ......" Wei Zhongxian showed a smile, and then said goodbye to Wang Tiqian and walked out of the Qianqing Palace Gate.

With his figure far away, soon after, Nanzhen Fusi also sent a lot of fast horses out of the city, some to the south and some to the north......

Four o'clock normal more

(End of chapter)