Daming Jingshi, Forbidden City.

Qianqing Palace.

After more than 20 days, the funeral of the Emperor of the Apocalypse has been completely over, the coffin has been placed in the imperial mausoleum for burial, and the Qianqing Palace is also known as the primary place for the emperor to receive ministers.

Wang Chengen, the new governor of Dongchang, knelt on the gold bricks of the palace, and his heart was still in a state of excitement.

Wang Chengen, who was originally guarding the imperial mausoleum in Fengyang Mansion in the central capital, thought at first that he had heard it wrong after seeing the people from Jingshi.

After all, he is a middle-level eunuch, although he is the godson of the former great eunuch Wang An, but in front of Wei Zhongxian, Liu Chao, Xu Yingyuan and others, he still belongs to the younger generation.

Now that Wei Zhongxian has fallen, Wang Chengen never imagined that he would be able to gain the trust and grace of the new emperor and become the eunuch of Dongchang, the commander of the government and the opposition.

"Wang Chengen, flat body."

A loud voice came, and Wang Chengen immediately replied loudly.

"Slave and maid, long live Lord Longen!"

Zhu Youzhen looked at Wang Chengen in front of him and kept nodding.

Looking at the entire Ming Dynasty, in addition to the queen and others, the eunuch in front of him is the most trustworthy.

In the previous life, Chongzhen's crotch-pulling wrist treatment could make Wang Chengen follow him to death, which shows that Wang Chengen is trustworthy.

"Wang Chengen, do you know what I asked you to be the eunuch of the Admiral Dongchang for?" Zhu Youzhen asked.

Wang Chengen's mind turned, and he hurriedly replied tentatively: "Long live the Lord Qiyu, the slave maid has been in charge of some affairs in Dongchang with Wang An before, and I think it is the Long Live Lord who thinks that the slave and maid can distinguish between loyalty and treachery, and can share the worries of the Long Live Lord." ”

This is ambiguous.

Zhu Youzhen couldn't help but laugh dumbly, it seems that no matter how loyal Wang Chengen is, he is also a person with eight faces.

"Discerning loyalty and treachery?"

Since becoming the emperor for a period of time, Zhu Youzhen has heard this word dozens of times.

For this statement, Zhu Youzhen even has some deep hatred.

"I'll ask you, who is loyal and who is traitor?" Zhu Youzhen asked.

Wang Chengen hurriedly replied: "Long live the lord, those who are loyal to the king and love the people are loyal, and those who are corrupt and pervert the law are traitors!" ”

Zhu Youzhen smiled coldly, waved his hand and said, "Things in the world, how can they be so simple, you are still too young." ”

When Wang Chengen heard this, he couldn't help but secretly look at the emperor who was high above him.

Emperor Daming, who is only seventeen years old this year, actually said that he was too young, which is really a little weird, and he is also very kind.

"The slave is stupid, please let the Lord calm his anger." Wang Chengen hurriedly said.

Zhu Youzhen didn't care, and ordered someone to bring a small stool and reward Wang Chengen to sit down, and then slowly continued: "Wang Ban, let me tell you the truth, I asked you to supervise Dongchang, not for any reason to distinguish between loyalty and treachery, the current situation of our Ming Dynasty is bad in this matter!" ”

"These civil and military officials are thinking of ways to distinguish between loyalty and traitor every day, and none of them do practical things, just thinking about buttoning their political opponents!"

"After you take charge of Dongchang, I will give you two important tasks, one is to continue to maintain the secret agent and reconnaissance officers, and the second is to form a team of elite soldiers to go to the south and southeast of the Yangtze River and the southeast to visit those merchants, especially the salt merchants and maritime merchants, and find out the trade routes of their goods in and out, and who is behind them!"

Zhu Youzhen's words surprised Wang Chengen.

Since the establishment of the East Factory, one has been used to supervise the Jinyi guards and officials, and almost never has done anything to supervise the merchants.

"Slaves and maids obey the holy decree of the Lord of Long Live!" Although Wang Chengen didn't understand, he happily agreed.

"I asked you to find out the way of the merchants in the southeast as soon as possible, because I want to set up a new tax collection yamen to collect commercial taxes!"

Zhu Youzhen said without concealment.

"Huh? Long live the Lord, do you want to reopen the tax superintendent? Wang Chengen felt a little nervous in his heart.

Many of the ills of the Ming Dynasty actually fell at the beginning of the founding of the country.

It's just that with the passage of time, these originally inconspicuous minor problems have become major diseases that endanger the survival of the dynasty one by one.

Emphasis is placed on agricultural taxes and commercial taxes are neglected.

It is a big pit dug by Zhu Yuanzhang, the Taizu of the Ming Dynasty.

Of course, the social environment in the early Ming Dynasty could only pay more attention to agriculture, after all, there was no food enough, where did the business come from.

The subsequent speed of development of the Ming Dynasty soon turned the neglect of commercial tax in the early Ming Dynasty into a drawback.

A large number of Jiangnan gentry destroyed farmland and converted it into economic farmland, or went directly to industry and commerce.

In this way, the proportion of social wealth is concentrated towards industry and commerce.

However, the financial resources of the Ming Dynasty were still staring at the poor and poor peasants.

In the end, the tax hikes again and again made all the farmers in the north rebel.

And the gentry and big businessmen in the south of the Yangtze River, in the face of repeated tax increases, all used various means to fight back.

Even, even the eunuch appointed by the emperor himself as a tax collector was rushed into the palace by a group of Jiangnan 'righteous people' and beat him to death.

The famous tombstone of five people in history is a record of the Donglin Party's resistance to taxes.

The rich people in the south of the Yangtze River refuse to pay taxes, even if they force the northern peasants to rebel, they don't care, anyway, there is the Yangtze River in the way.

In the end, Houjin entered the customs and picked up a big bargain, and the rich people in Jiangnan had the experience of regretting it too late.

"That's right, I'm just asking you to reopen the tax superintendent!" Zhu Youzhen said.

"Long live Lord, I'm afraid this matter is a little difficult, those Diao people in Jiangnan, even the Wanli Emperor had no way to take them back then, slaves and maids can only learn this, if they go to Jiangnan to collect taxes, even if they are in the name of the East Factory, I am afraid they will be beaten to death! The slave and the dog's life is not tight, but they are afraid that they will delay the big event of the Long Live Lord. Wang Chengen said sincerely.

Zhu Youzhen also knew that he was not shirking, but that what he said was irrefutable facts.

"Now and Wanli years, but it is no longer the same, the situation was not as critical as it is now, and it is just a temptation to levy taxes, and now the Ming Dynasty is in crisis, the imperial court has no money, but it is not good, the taxes in Jiangnan, especially the collection of industrial and commercial taxes, that is, the sooner the better, I let you supervise the East Factory, but it is not for the sake of good looks, who dares to resist taxes, then kill!" Zhu Youzhen said coldly.

The wealth of Huaidong and Jiangnan, even if an ordinary tax rate is levied, is enough to make the Daming Dui soldiers and equipment exhausted.

This is related to Zhu Youzhen's net worth and life, so naturally he will no longer procrastinate like Emperor Wanli.

"Long live the lord, the big businessmen in the south of the Yangtze River, but they all have the background of imperial court officials, which family does not have a child or relative of the two ranks, slaves and maids, I am afraid that they will not look at it." Wang Chengen said embarrassedly.

Zhu Youzhen disagreed, "Didn't I say it, those who dare to resist taxes will be killed in one word!" ”

"The heads of those who killed them are rolling, and I don't believe that there are still people who want money and don't want to die!"

"I give you 500 elite soldiers, whoever dares to resist will be a rebellion!"