And this is the first step that Zhu Changwu gave Zhang Ao the idea to take.

Early the next morning, outside the original Ge Lao Mansion and Chen Yan's mansion, a group of businessmen gathered, and the traffic was busy, so it was not lively.

For businessmen whose status has never been high, not to mention whether they can auction off what they want this time, it is just a matter of pride to be able to come to the old mansion for a trip.

After all, before them, it was difficult for them to enter the old mansion even if they were rich. This place is not allowed to enter without status, but now, many businessmen with a little bit of family assets can enter the view, and in the main courtyard here, there can still be their places to sit, which is a long-faced thing.

The sky is beautiful, the wind and the sun are beautiful. At about eight o'clock in the morning, Zhang Ao, who was dressed in a second-grade official uniform, came to the Chen Mansion under the protection of the blood sky, and as soon as he arrived at the door, he was greeted by a lower official.

"How? How many people came? As he walked, Zhang Ao asked the household official in charge of the reception.

"If you go back to Lord Shangshu, there are a lot of people coming this time, basically all the businessmen we invited yesterday are here. It's just that none of the powerful ministers have yet appeared. The official who greeted him said cautiously. The person in front of him is Lord Shangshu, he is just an official, not even an official, and he has absolutely no chance to contact a Shangshu in normal times.

This is also because the household department is really unavailable, so he has the opportunity to show his face in front of Zhang Ao.

Hearing that the merchants were coming, but those ministers and magnates did not appear, Zhang Ao smiled and said, "It's okay, I didn't expect them to come this time." ”

Zhang Ao, as a person trusted by Zhu Changwu, has received news that Emperor Chongzhen is preparing to reopen the court meeting.

These ministers of the Jingshi had heard the bell of Jingyang Bell before and had not entered the palace. This time, Chongzhen recruited them back regardless of his previous suspicions, just to give these people a chance to mend their ways.

At this critical time, these ministers must of course be cautious in doing things, and there are some occasions when they can not participate. are all preparing to return to the court.

Regarding this matter, Zhang Ao also asked Zhu Changwu last night, to the effect that these courtiers can't worry about the monarch at a critical time, even if so, why give them a chance to make a comeback?

Zhu Changwu's answer to this is that Chongzhen's court cannot be the only one in his family, and the imperial power pays attention to balance and mutual restraint.

Besides, Chongzhen can't stay in the palace every day without doing things, and the system of the imperial court will have to be restored sooner or later. A country cannot have only military generals and no civil servants, which Zhu Changwu also knows very well, so he has no objection to Chongzhen's move.

This is also the result of Zhu Changwu's self-confidence.

What kind of balance is not in his eyes at all, those Wenchen Chongzhen are willing to use it, and he will not object. But if these courtiers do something to their own heads, then I'm sorry, he doesn't care what the other party's identity is, he will kill him if he doesn't like it.

Childe looked indifferent, and Zhang Ao was even less worried, this is to lean against the big tree to enjoy the shade.

"The auction is ready, so let's go." Zhang Ao was very happy to learn that many merchants had come, so he strode into the house and went straight to the auction.

......

Shanhaiguan.

Wu Sangui, who was dressed in general armor, looked at the handwritten letter written by his father to him, and his expression was a little uncertain.

Strategist Fang Guangchen got the news and hurried over, "General, but what happened?" ”

"Let's take a look." Wu Sangui didn't say much, but handed over the letter in his hand.

After scanning the ten lines at a glance, and then looking at them carefully, Fang Guangchen raised his head, "General, who is this Zhu Changwu, have you heard of it before?" ”

"Never." Wu Sangui shook his head.

"In this way, he should be a rising star, but he didn't expect it to be so powerful, just with a new army of 50,000 can defeat the thieves who have more than ten times the number of troops than them, this person is a good means." Fang Guangchen said with great emotion.

"This method alone is nothing, like Lu Xiangsheng and Cao Bianjiao and others have beaten Li Thief who was defeated and fled, but pay attention to what is written in the letter of his father, he actually killed more than 60 courtiers in a row, and also raided their homes, but he himself is no different, which is what makes people feel frightened."

Wu Sangui opened his mouth. To say that he is worthy of being a person who can be crowned king in the late Ming Dynasty and early Qing Dynasty, the viciousness of his vision is indeed very accessible.

Fang Guangchen naturally saw this, and sighed in agreement at the moment, "Yes, this is not something that ordinary people can do, it seems that the emperor trusts him very much." General, what are you going to do? ”

Dignified and bright, rich in the world, there will be no shortage of capable military generals.

But because Chongzhen is always suspicious of people, many capable people will inevitably be suspected of being suspicious after making great achievements, and finally hate them for life.

Many courtiers know this very well, which is why they know that Zhu Changwu has made great achievements, but there are still so many courtiers who dare to impeach him.

In the eyes of these courtiers, Chongzhen should be worried that Zhu Chang's martial arts are high, and their impeachment should satisfy Chongzhen, so he dared to accept the silver from Wang Zhixin and Yang Guanguan. But no one thought that the seventh son of King Xiang would be so decisive, and he directly arrested them and raided their homes.

But what is even more unexpected is that Chongzhen seems to have never heard of this, which is completely inconsistent with his usual style, so it is no wonder that Fang Guangchen has such an exclamation.

"I'm going to go to Jingshi and meet this person for a while." Wu Sangui said as if he had made some kind of decision.

As a general outside, the more he holds the power of the army, the more likely he is to be suspicious, and even make a bad one, I don't know when a will is returned, he may be brought back to Beijing to be punished. Things like this are not uncommon in the late Ming Dynasty, and after seeing a lot, Wu Sangui is naturally on guard, as if his father Wu Xiang stayed in the Beijing Division, and he has been helping him make some connections.

But after all, he is an outdated general soldier, and Wu Xiang's ability is limited, at most, he will pass on news to him, so that he will not be like a blind man, and he doesn't know anything about the affairs of the DPRK and China. If something really happens, it will be difficult for him to help his father.

In this way, Wu Sangui has always wanted to find a fixed ally among the Jingshi.

He had tried before, and he had found some people, but unfortunately none of them could get into his eyes.

The people who are looking for them are either asking for too high a price, or they don't have any strength at all, so they can't affect Chongzhen. Like this, the result of spending money but not being able to do things is not what Wu Sangui wants.

Now that it's okay, there is a Zhu Changwu, this person can not only fight and fight, but more importantly, he has won Chongzhen's trust, and he dares to kill Wenchen.

It's good to kill Wenchen, such a person is destined to become the target of others in the eyes of others, so if he wants to gain a foothold, he naturally needs the support of others. Especially the support of generals like Wu Sangui, who hold military power outside.

Wu Sangui believed that as long as he expressed his willingness to form an alliance, Zhu Changwu would be very happy. When the time comes, one outside the main and the other in the main body, wouldn't it be beautiful for the two to cooperate?

"Mr. Fang, I'm going to leave for a while, and I'll leave it to you for the time being. If there is anything to do, you can discuss it with Zhang Guozhu, Wu Zhimao, Gao Dejie and others. Wu Sangui decided to meet Zhu Changwu, so he began to arrange the relevant matters after he left Shanhaiguan.

......

The auction ended without a hitch.

The results went even better than expected, at least that's what Zhang Ao thought.

200 bottles of perfume and 200 pieces of glass art were auctioned 40 times in the form of five pieces at one auction, and their prices were higher than one time. Later, when the goods became fewer and fewer, the price continued to rise, and finally ended with five glass artworks selling together for 200,000 taels of silver, and the auction price was sky-high.

The cost of 400 pieces of goods can be said to be outrageously low, but in the end, it was sold for a full 5 million taels of silver, so I don't know how many merchants present coveted it.

Just when everyone saw that all the goods had been returned to their owners, and thought that the auction was about to end, suddenly the officials of the household department came up to the stage and demanded the business tax from the person in charge of the auction in front of all the merchants.

According to the requirements of the new policy on commercial tax, the tax ratio of 10 to 2 will be 5 million taels of silver this time, and 1 million taels of tax will be paid.

The officials of the household department came up with the new policy, and the person in charge of the auction was very cooperative, and one million taels was presented in front of all the people, which caused the other merchants below to exclaim in surprise.

In the past, the commercial tax they paid was only 30 taels of silver, that is, they only had to pay 3 taels of commercial tax for a transaction of 100 taels of silver. But now, it turned out to be ten taxes and two, which is equivalent to a full increase of 7.5 times, which is really ruthless.

Look at the person in charge of this auction house, he paid the commercial tax without blinking his eyes, if they are not mistaken, these goods are from the Daming Research Institute, this is the property of that Young Master Zhu, he actually has to pay such a heavy tax, so can they still have less when it is their turn?

The merchants' ugly faces all fell into Zhang Ao's eyes, and he wanted to laugh in his heart at this moment. The young master's left hand and right hand are in and out of the right hand, so let's see how scared these profiteers are.

Very good, this is the effect that Zhang Ao wants, and it also lays a good start for what he will do next.

The auction was over, but all the merchants present did not look very good. They had previously snatched perfume and glass art, but they all disappeared at this time. In exchange for the words full of heavy taxes.

Huang Yuliang also participated in this auction, because he represented the Huang family, belonging to the wealthy group, this time he was robbed of five bottles of perfume and five glass artworks.