"I'll leave this matter at that." Zhou Yanru stroked his beard and said, "During this time, I have less contact with those eunuchs and gentry. ”

Wu Changshi nodded a little sluggishly and said, "It seems that this method is not easy to use, so it is better to avoid the limelight for the time being." ”

Zhou Yanru was noncommittal, he seemed calm on the surface, but in fact, he was afraid to death in his heart. He really didn't expect that the emperor was so strong, he didn't let him say anything, and just chopped it over with a knife.

Since he wants to be so ruthless, it also confirms the emperor's dissatisfaction with the eunuchs and gentry, and it is certain that he will do it, it is only a matter of time.

The supreme imperial power, coupled with the control of the army, and the emperor is not afraid of stigma, in this case, who can resist it?

Zhou Yanru picked up the teacup and drank a sip of water, stabilized his mind before he spoke: "I must be very careful when I act in the future, and I must not leave a handle." The imperial court may be waiting to be punished! ”

Wu Changshi nodded vigorously and said, "I understand that this will alienate those eunuchs and gentry who have bad deeds, so as not to implicate themselves." ”

Zhou Yanru sighed helplessly, and said quietly: "The east is rampant, the southwest is not appeased, long live I am afraid that I will also be forced by money." For those who are rich and unkind, if they are hit, they can't blame others. ”

Wu Changshi pondered carefully and found that Zhou Yanru's tone had changed. Just now, he scolded the faint king, how can he be considerate now, but he scolds the rich and unkind eunuch gentry?

The situation is stronger than the people!

Wu Changshi agreed, and also made a judgment in his heart: Zhou Yanru was afraid, he was really afraid.

and those eunuch gentry who participated in this matter, it is estimated that they were also cut by the emperor's fierce knife, and they were stupid.

…………………

Bidding for entrustment, flamboyant behavior, concealing money and food, being good at holding public opinions, and taking over lawsuits were the basic social images of Jiangnan scholars and students in the late Ming Dynasty.

The gentry even formed associations to form gangs, interfere in administration, and control the villages; embezzle the property of the small people, enslave the villagers, and run rampant; Accepting the sacrifice, slavery became the norm......

The great Confucian Gu Yanwu once concluded: "Today, those who go in and out of the public gate to bother the government of the government are also students; Those who rely on the situation to arbitrarily judge the township, the students are also; and Xu history as a fate, there are even people who are self-made Xu history, and they are also students; As soon as the government brushes its will, it will rise up and coax, and the students will also; control the affairs of the government, and those who are in the city with them are also members. ”

Regarding the bad habits and bad deeds of the students, Gu Yanwu even compared the students, the township officials and the officials, to the three kinds of people who are "sick people in the world".

At the same time, Gu Yanwu also advocated: "Abolish the world's members and the government's government, abolish the world's members and the people's difficulties, abolish the world's members and eliminate the habits of the door, and abolish the world's members and use the world's materials." ”

Although Gu Yanwu is still only an eight or nine-year-old child, and he does not have such a profound insight, but the evil of the gentry is already accumulating, how can Zhu Youxiao not know?

It is precisely because of this that Li Qiyuan, the secretary of the household department, wrote the "Reform of the System of Checking and Checking the Taxes of Prison Officials, and Cutting the System of Cutting Reform and Labor Crowns" and began to implement it.

This is the first step in rectifying the student population and eliminating bad habits. Although it touched the students, in Zhu Youxiao's opinion, it was not even an appetizer.

Of course, Zhu Youxiao is not too anxious, and this year is over for the time being. He wants to focus on military affairs, and he will beat Jiannu to cry again in winter.

But the temporary suspension does not mean that he will continue to leave it alone, Zhu Youxiao must be prepared and take the crackdown on the student gentry as a long-term job.

Now, Wang Guozhong, the acting superintendent of the East Factory, is standing solemnly in the imperial study, listening to the young emperor teaching in person.

Because the palace uses a large number of silk fabrics every year, so in the Ming and Qing dynasties, the imperial court set up three major weaving bureaus in Jiangnan, where the silk weaving industry is the most developed, namely: Jiangning Weaving, Suzhou Weaving and Hangzhou Weaving.

Among them, Jiangning weaving is the most famous in history, which is of course a matter of the Qing Dynasty. But in the Ming Dynasty, the three major weaving bureaus still only had a relatively single business.

"Wang Ban took over the three major weaving bureaus, not to supervise the silk and satin clothes used by the palace and court officials, but to continue the responsibilities of the current East Factory and be my eyes and ears in Jiangnan."

Zhu Youxiao said slowly: "The virtuous and foolish officials in Jiangnan, the illegal and criminal activities of the gentry and students, as well as the local rainwater harvest, the people's epidemics, etc., I don't think it's trivial and trivial, I want to know." ”

Wang Guozhong understood that he had done a good job in charge of the East Factory during this time, and the emperor recognized it, so he would let himself go to take charge of himself.

"Don't worry, the emperor can save the slaves." Wang Guozhong bowed and replied.

Zhu Youxiao stretched out his finger and shook it gently, and said, "No, you don't understand it too well. I will tell you today that many students and gentry in Jiangnan know Shangjue but do not know Shangde Shangya, and they are moths of the country......"

"The gentry are tyrannical and domineering, and those who harm one side should be swept away; Those who evade taxes, take money and grain from wealthy households, and conceal the money and grain that should be paid should be severely punished; Those who are lawless, restrain the government, and arrogant should be expelled from their homes and confiscated ......"

Sweeping, punishing severely, expelling and copying the family, faintly said from the mouth of the young emperor, Wang Guozhong remembered it with his heart, but he didn't feel how harsh.

These are all dealt with according to the law, and the emperor did not come to a "crime that he wants to add".

In other words, the emperor did not want to use shady means to carry out large-scale purges, but handled it openly and in accordance with the law.

"Only secretly detect and investigate, and grasp the evidence of the crime." Zhu Youxiao emphasized: "First hand it over to the local government, and they will deal with it." ”

As he spoke, the corners of Zhu Youxiao's mouth curled slightly, revealing a few sneers. In this way, it is just right to see which magistrates have the ability to dare to take responsibility, and which ones have been corrupted by the squires and have no name.

Overturning a boatload of people with a pole, Zhu Youxiao will not be like this.

There are unbearable people in all lives, and there are also loyal ministers and capable officials like Shen Tingyang, who first deal with them with the law, but they are not in a hurry to use unbright means.

"If the king has something difficult to decide, he can play it first." Zhu Youxiao finally explained: "Also, Nanjing Jingying is being reorganized and rebuilt, and if there is a civil uprising, you can go to discuss with Lu Jiude to deal with it in an emergency." ”

Wang Guozhong knelt down and kowtowed, "Slaves obey the order." This is going to be a good messenger and live up to the emperor's grace. ”

Zhu Youxiao nodded and said in a harmonious voice: "I believe in Wang Ban's ability, and I will definitely be able to share my worries." Well, you can step back and get ready. ”

Wang Guozhi retreated, and Zhu Youxiao narrowed his eyes slightly.

During this period of investigation, Wang Guozhong was still able to satisfy him. is not only to be his eyes and ears, but also to attack the squires in Jiangnan, but also because Uncle Wei is coming back soon.

Thinking of the silver that Lao Wei brought back, Zhu Youxiao couldn't help grinning.

The Imperial Bank, the reserves are finally about the same, and we can speed up the pace of preparation, and strive to open next year to make money.

Zhu Youxiao was happy for a while, and then remembered that Xiong Tingbi wanted to continue to buy war horses and equipment to form a cavalry.

It's not enough to spend slowly, and the young emperor smiled bitterly again.

Under Li Qiyuan's efforts to promote the good and eliminate the disadvantages, although the finances have improved, we can only rely on internal funds to support such a large amount of expenditure.

Fortunately, Jingshi has Taifu Temple, Xingtaifu Temple and Yuanma Temple, and has raised a lot of horses, which can be directly transferred over. In addition, it is possible to buy war horses from the Mongolian tribes through the border market.

But cavalry is easy to build, but it is painful to maintain and provide. Weapons and equipment, people eat horses and chew, and one cavalry is equivalent to five or six infantry.

Counting with his fingers, including the 3,000 cavalry that had already been stationed in the Jinzhou area, Zhu Youxiao felt that he could only spend another 3,000 cavalry on Xiong Tingbi this year.

And this is still an underequipped cavalry, anyway, it's just training now, and it can't be pulled out to fight Jiannu, and it's too late to make up for it slowly in the future.

It's just that the Dongjiang Army also needs to have a cavalry, Mao Wenlong has already asked for it, and Mr. Yuan has agreed.

Zhu Youxiao stroked his forehead and thought for a while, gritted his teeth, and pulled out two thousand war horses for Dongjiang Town. This year's gold and silver are all made into it, which should be enough.

If it weren't for the fact that he made some money by selling mirrors, and if it weren't for the inheritance left by Grandpa Wanli, the royal family wouldn't have been able to pass the New Year's Pass!

Thinking of making money, Zhu Youxiao felt that it was almost enough to dry the Dutch and the British these days.

Mutual market trade, yes, but according to the rules of the Ming Dynasty; It is also possible to set up a shop and warehouse at a treaty port, and pay rent. But if you want to garrison troops, there are no doors!

It's easy to talk about and discuss, I can bear with it first. Wait until the Ming Navy becomes strong and beat you all back to your hometown.

………………… Divider.....................

The opening of new shipping routes strengthened Europe's ties and trade with other regions of the world, and the variety of commodities circulating in the European market greatly increased, including silk, textiles, spices, cotton, and tea from Asia, gold, silver, tobacco, and fur from the Americas, and gold and ivory from Africa.

At the beginning of the seventeenth century, fourteen companies were established in the Netherlands, focusing on the East India trade.

In order to avoid excessive commercial competition, the fourteen companies merged into a single joint company, the Dutch East India Company.

The Dutch East India Company was authorized by the National Assembly of the Netherlands to have a monopoly on trade from the Cape of Good Hope in the east to the Strait of Magellan at the southern tip of South America in the west.

At that time, the East India Company was not a purely private enterprise or joint-stock company, but mixed with funds invested by imperial relatives and local officials, which was the so-called crony capitalism.

In the thirty-second year of Wanli, Wei Malang of the Dutch East India Company led three huge ships to occupy Penghu Island when the Ming army changed its defense. In the name of mutual markets, they attempted to occupy the Penghu Islands forever.

Shen Yourong, who was the capital secretary at the time, after strict deployment, regardless of his own safety, galloped to the Dutch ship in a single boat, pointed out Chen's interests, solemnly told him, and forced Wei Malang to retreat.

In the 34th year of Wanli, the fleet of the United Dutch East India Company defeated the combined fleet of Spain and Portugal in the Strait of Malacca, and mastered all the sea supremacy in the Far East except for the waters of the Middle Sea.

In the 47th year of Wanli, the headquarters of the United Dutch East India Company was moved to Batavia (present-day Jakarta). Within a few years, the Netherlands established a series of colonial strongholds and established an eastern colonial empire.