Daming Town Haiwang

Chapter 303, the game of politics
The incident of the Qianqing palace leaking began to continue to ferment. First, the eunuch Li Guang committed suicide by drinking poison out of fear. Then the factory guards found a large amount of gold and silver treasures, land deeds, house deeds, etc. from Li Guang's house. Of course, the most important thing was to find out He made a list of bribes, which clearly listed the civil and military ministers who sent money to Li Guang.

Emperor Hongzhi was furious and ordered a thorough investigation of the matter. All of a sudden, the whole capital was in a panic, and everyone was in danger, especially those civil and military ministers who had bribed Li Guang.

Four-wheeled carriages were moving rapidly in the streets and alleys of the capital, and there were anxious civil and military ministers inside, and they were desperately moving around.

The mansions of the three cabinet elders, the mansion of Bo Shou Ninghou of Jianchang, and the mansion of Ningbo Zhouyu, the mother's head of Empress Dowager Zhou, had a large number of visitors almost every day, and all of them came for one purpose.

That is to let the Sange elders, the Zhang brothers, and Zhou Yu write a letter of remonstrance to Emperor Hongzhi, don't make this matter a big deal, let everyone turn it into a small matter, and expose it this time.

Originally in history, Emperor Hongzhi did not thoroughly investigate the matter at the suggestion of the Zhang brothers, and let it go, because the involvement was so extensive that hundreds of ministers of civil and military affairs were involved, ranging from Shangshu, Duke, and local officials. Military and political officials, if there is a thorough investigation, I don't know how many people's black hats will be thrown away.

Wang Yue, the famous trilateral leader in history, was repeatedly impeached by the censor because of Li Guang's case, and finally died of extreme indignation.

It can also be seen from this that the civil servants of the Ming Dynasty were pissed, and when these military generals and nobles were caught, they were desperately punished. Even this Wang Yue was actually a civil servant, but he was in charge of the three. Because of the side affairs, those censors acted like crazy, impeaching Wang Yue by Shangshu every day.

As for the civil servants in Li Guang's case, these censors selectively ignored them, especially when Emperor Hongzhi didn't pursue them.

However, because of the arrival of Liu Jin, the time-traveling butterfly, and the matter of Li Guang's case, Emperor Hongzhi did not listen to the suggestions of the Zhang brothers, but continued to order Xiao Jing to continue to investigate the case very strongly, which made the civil and military officials of the entire ruling and opposition parties The ministers were all panicked and frightened.

No one knew what Emperor Hongzhi would think or do. The roster was already in the hands of Emperor Hongzhi, and only by relying on this Emperor Hongzhi could clean up the people on the list.

And Emperor Hongzhi also followed up on this matter, once again throwing out the matter of privately opening a salt farm. This time, although some civil servants in the Manchu Dynasty jumped out to object, their voices were already very small, and some people came out to speak for Emperor Hongzhi .

Why are private salt farms allowed? A salt farm can receive two million taels of tax money every year. This is a good thing that benefits the country and the people, and it should be vigorously supported.

Some people even lamented the disadvantages of the salt government, bluntly saying that the original salt government and the people did not get actual benefits, but only fattened those salt merchants, thinking that Emperor Hongzhi’s move meaningfully changed the current situation of the salt industry. After receiving tax money, ordinary people can also eat cheaper salt, and even put on Emperor Hongzhi the title of eternal sage, comparable to Yao and Shun.

Therefore, after several court meetings, the matter of private salt farms was officially announced to the world in the form of a newspaper. The original situation that salt and iron were all monopolized by the imperial court began to change.

The imperial court allowed private individuals to open saltworks, but it was a very rigid rule. Anyone who opened a saltworks had to pay a tax of two million taels of silver every year before being allowed to open.

It can be said that Emperor Hongzhi played this chess move extremely beautifully.

Take advantage of the case of Li Guang and firmly grasp the handle of the minister of Chinese and military affairs in the court. Smart people will know what to do. The handle falls into the hands of Emperor Hongzhi, who can deal with you at any time.

So at this time, if you still oppose the proposal of Emperor Hongzhi, of course, the proposal to allow the establishment of a private saltworks will definitely not be proposed by Emperor Hongzhi himself.

He can ask any official to bring it up, but everyone knows that this is actually what Emperor Hongzhi meant.

So smart people know what to do at this time. Many officials from the Jiangnan area were originally the most resolutely opposed, because the opening of private salt farms seriously damaged the interests of salt merchants and big families in the Jiangnan area.

Their favorite thing is to maintain the current situation and maintain the current order, so that they can rely on salt to eat their brains full of fat and become rich like an enemy.

But now, even if they knew this, they still had to agree with Emperor Hongzhi's proposal, because is their own black hat more important or the interests of the interest groups behind them?
They knew exactly what to do. If it was something that Emperor Hongzhi insisted on promoting, if it was in the past, everyone could spray the saliva on Emperor Hongzhi's face together, and then they would understand nothing. Emperor Hongzhi, who only believed in literati, would accept it obediently. Everyone You can also gain a reputation for daring to speak out.

But it is different now. Emperor Hongzhi activated the power of the factory guards, and also allocated hundreds of thousands of taels of silver to the factory guards to strengthen the power of the factory guards.

Emperor Hongzhi had a lot of information in his hands, and even had a gap with the civil servants, and no longer believed in the civil servants as before, because he knew the true colors of these civil servants.

In the matter of the Li Guang case, the small tails of a large number of officials were firmly grasped in their hands. If they jumped out like before at this time, it would be courting death.

One's own life is naturally more important than anything else, there is no doubt about it, as for the interests of the interest groups behind it, they can't care too much now.

The case of the theft of the official storehouse last time was not over yet, and now there is another case of bribery by Li Guang. The officials from Jiangnan have suffered a major blow, and there is a sword hanging over their heads, and they will ask for their little ones at any time. Life.

This is politics!
The previous Emperor Hongzhi trusted civil servants and did not need the power of factory guards in his hands, so what he saw in his eyes were virtuous officials everywhere in the court and the field, and there were no sages left in the wilderness. .

So he listened to the suggestions and arrangements of these civil servants in everything, coupled with his weak temper, he was a good old man, so he was properly arranged by these civil servants, and the civil servants lived a very comfortable life.

Especially those officials in the Jiangnan area, on the one hand relying on the current system to desperately serve the interest groups behind them, so that those salt merchants are full, and on the other hand, they can continue to consolidate the power of Jiangnan Shilin in the court , This is also an important reason why the Donglin Party was able to dominate the court in the late Ming Dynasty.

Because of the influence of Liu Jin's time-traveling butterfly, subtle changes occurred.

Emperor Hongzhi, who reused the factory guards, obtained a lot of information, and any decision was based on a lot of information, so he also saw a lot of things clearly.

He no longer blindly believed in civil servants, and began to slowly reuse military commanders and nobles, so there was a series of huge changes in the following series.

Emperor Hongzhi, who didn't have much scheming, was able to play such a move. Relying on Li Guang's case, he successfully realized his original intention that was impossible to implement.

The news quickly spread throughout Daming with the newspapers, and the salt merchants in the Jiangnan area were whining and mourning, and they all saw that their good days were coming to an end.

The start of private salt farms means that the existing salt and iron system will slowly undergo drastic changes, and they will lose the basis for their survival.

As for those who are capable but have not been involved in the salt industry, they are rejoicing that they can finally insert their hands into the lucrative industry of salt.

The military commander Xungui Group, the gentry and aristocrats in the north have long coveted this, and have been suffering from no chance, and now the opportunity has come.

However, the mandatory requirement to pay two million taels of silver a year to set up a private saltworks also made everyone hesitate. This amount is really too big.

This is also an important reason why officials from the Jiangnan area agreed, because they felt that no one could make money after paying two million taels of silver to run a salt farm, unless the salt produced was sold at sky-high prices.

And once the private salt farms are sold at sky-high prices, they will have no way to compete with the salt merchants behind them. The price is very important. Now that competition has been established, it depends on whose price is cheaper at the market level, and the common people will not care so much. , they only care about the price.

This is also a political game. We can agree to your proposal, Emperor Hongzhi, but the rigid regulation of two million taels of silver is also a condition, a condition they strive for.

They believe that even if someone can get involved in the salt industry, they can't make a penny in it, and they will be able to maintain their current interests in the end.

It will be different when there is Liu Jin, a traveler. With the introduction of the policy, Liu Jin also applied to the imperial court for a private salt farm in the first time, and the two million taels of silver was also sold in one box and one box on the same day. Sent to the treasury.

This made the salt merchants and officials in Jiangnan slightly dumbfounded, and then became nervous. Liu Jin, a shit-stirring stick, has absolutely no good things in his field, and everything before will be peaked.

Let Liu Jin enter the field of salt industry, who knows what will happen.

However, the news that Liu Jin and the prince Zhu Houzhao will build the Qianqing Palace for Emperor Hongzhi out of their own pockets has spread throughout the capital again.

On the one hand, everyone sighed that Liu Jin and Zhu Houzhao had strong financial resources, and at the same time, there was a lot of discussion about the announced new Qianqing Palace. The new Qianqing Palace will be built with cement and blue bricks, which is completely different from the original Qianqing Palace.

　People are subject to change, and so is Emperor Hongzhi. I hope everyone can give me some advice~
　　
　
(End of this chapter)