Brother Zhu Youxiao

Chapter 109
"Thirty Wen a day! Those who can come, those who can't, don't come as a burden!"

"Recruit the tracker! Recruit the tracker..."

"The boat in front is going to go in quickly, the back is going to be blocked!"

"Clang! Clang! Clang..."

In the early morning of November [-]th, the first year of Taichang, when all forces were surging, hundreds of ships of all sizes were waiting to enter the city at the bustling docks on the Yangtze River waterway.

Before dawn and the Yangtze River was still full of water vapor, the wharf was already full of Ming people who came to act as porters.

In the early morning bells of the city’s bell tower, on the wharf where thousands of people work, as the sun rises slowly, the mist of the Yangtze River is slowly evaporated, gradually revealing the city several miles behind the wharf.

A quaint and vast city lies on the ground, stretching for hundreds of miles, slowly revealing itself from the mist.

The city wall of this city is tall, majestic and majestic, like a mountain stretching across the front, full of solid strength, like a stone dragon lying on the edge of the Yangtze River, magnificent and majestic, overwhelming people can't breathe, the city wall Full of marks of the years.

It is in such a huge city that [-] million Ming people live.

This is the largest capital city in ancient history. Its scale is so large that no other city in history can hold a candle to it.

Ming Nanjing City, the southern capital of the Ming Dynasty, is divided into four layers of city walls: Miyagi, Imperial City, Capital City and Outer Guocheng from the inside to the outside.

The circumference of the outer Guocheng is more than [-] miles, the enclosed area is about [-] mu, the height of the city is three feet and three feet, the width of the city is two feet and four feet, and there are eighteen gates.

If such a city were placed in Europe in this era, it would be enough to become a country by itself.

In front of such a majestic city, everyone seems very small, but in such a small comparison, some people's rights are greater than this city, and even radiate the entire Jiangnan...

Scholar-bureaucrats, nobles, merchants, gentry, squires, rich peasants, traffickers...

Except for imperial power, this huge city has all the factors that Ming Dynasty should have, and because of the system of the two capitals of Ming Dynasty, if you control this place, you can control the whole south.

But at the same time, once there is any turmoil in the south, this is also the place where you need to pay for any turmoil.

The great hunger in Huaibei, this incident may have been very distant to the officials and lords of Shuntian Mansion before Shen Lian revealed the truth, but in fact it was fermenting in Jiangnan.

On August [-], the first year of Taichang, the great famine in Huaibei had already begun. The local residents had eaten up all the grass roots and bark, and even several cottages, closed doors and women were ordered to eat beans, skips and water chestnuts.

Subsequently, a large number of hungry people crossed the south of the Yangtze River to grab rice and grain, which caused the price of food in the south of the Yangtze River to soar.

On the first day of September, Zhenjiang Doumi Hundred Coins...

On September [-]th, in Suzhou and Songjiang, the price of Doumi increased to [-].

The merchant ships in Nanzhili could not expect the township rice from Sichuan and Huguang, and all the shops were closed, causing the price of dou rice in Nanjing to soar to [-] yuan.

Such a price, logically speaking, shouldn't appear in Jiangnan, but he just appeared.

Until then, Huai'an Mansion and Xuzhou were suddenly sealed off, and food prices were brought under control overnight.

Those who should earn money have already earned their hands, and the problem is left to Huai'an and Xuzhou to solve by themselves. Once this kind of problem is exposed, it will be a major case comparable to the four Hongwu cases!
Now, the blown balloon has exploded, and the first place to burst is close to the source, and the burst begins to spread.

If you want not to be affected, you can only survive with broken arms.

For some people, breaking their arms is too difficult for them, and giving up their chess pieces is already the biggest concession they have made...

"So at the beginning, the old man said, we shouldn't make such a big fuss, how will it end now?!"

"I was so happy when I received the cash back then, why don't you think about how bad this incident will be?!"

In the study room of a mansion in the city of Nanjing, when an old man in Taoist robes and with gray hair scolded the three people sitting in the study room, the three people were silent and could only bear it.

Things got serious... Everyone knew the answer.

The emperor changed to Beijing and sent the censor of the Northern Zhili Metropolitan Procuratorate to inspect the south of the Yangtze River. All this shows that the emperor has extremely distrusted the left-behind officials in Nanjing.

Moreover, Sun Ruyou, Fang Congzhe and others did not prevent the restructuring of the Jingchao, which also shows that the structure of the court has undergone changes that they are not aware of.

Everyone knows that the sky is about to change, but the question now is how to keep themselves before the sky changes.

Jin Yiwei and members of the Donglin Party are in Pizhou, six hundred miles away. Once the matter in Pizhou is resolved, they should be dealt with next.

In this regard, a fat-headed official wearing luxurious silk and satin couldn't help but say:
"So what if they have Long Live to back them up? As long as the officials in Huai'an and Xuzhou don't confess, they won't be able to do anything to us."

"Did Wei Guogong think of things too simply? Can the tragedy of hundreds of thousands of corpses lying on the street be solved by the death of a few officials of the fifth and sixth ranks?" A civil official sneered and pointed out the fat man identity of.

Wei Guogong Xu Hongji occupied a large piece of cultivated land near Nanjing, and he still had a lot of salt and tea in his hands. It can be said that his family alone cost Daming hundreds of thousands of taels of tax.

If his words were heard by Zhu Youxiao and Zhu Youjian, they might not be able to hold back their actions.

The fish and meat people killed hundreds of thousands of people, but they still don't want to repent. Such an ugly appearance is really disgusting to both humans and gods.

"Okay, it's useless to say these things, let's listen to Mr. Fang Ge and the others."

A civil servant who hadn't spoken for a long time couldn't help but sigh, and when he spoke, everyone patiently shut their mouths.

The bustling Nanjing city is secretly turbulent. They are waiting, but they don't know that the person they are waiting for is also ready to give up on them.

The player who abandoned chess was finally abandoned. While they were still waiting, Fang Congzhe and Sun Ruyou called Tang Binyin from Xuandang and Gu Tianjun from Kundang in a mansion in the capital of Shuntian Prefecture in Beizhili.

The four of them sat at the table, no matter how delicious the dishes on the table were, they also lost their aroma at this moment, like chewing wax.

At such a silent dinner, the first person who couldn't help but speak was Gu Tianjun, who represented Suzhou, that is, the leader of the Kunming Party in the prosperous eastern part of Nanzhili.

He put down his wine glass, and the sound of the glass touching the table made the other three look at him.

In front of everyone, Gu Tianjun said coldly:

"The great famine in Huaibei can't be concealed right now. Suzhou and Songjiang areas have been affected, and the price of rice is [-] renminbi. Who can afford such a price of rice?"

"The matter of the rice price is easy to solve. As long as Yangzhou releases grain storage, the price of grain in Huai'an and Susong, Yangzhou will go down. The focus now is how to deal with Jingcha." middle.

"How can we deal with it? This year is different from previous years. The people in charge of Jingcha are all members of the Donglin Party, and most of them are officials who were impeached and resigned a few years ago." Xuandang Tang Binyin couldn't help but said:

"At that time, you didn't want to find a way to get rid of the troubles. Now that you have been counterattacked, you think of us?"

Tang Binyin was so angry that they didn't take advantage of the affairs of Huai'an Mansion and Xuzhou, but were affected instead.

It's better now, not only has it been affected, but it actually has to wipe the ass of the Zhejiang Party.

Tang Binyin, like Gu Tianjun, was very annoyed, but they couldn't leave the Zhejiang Party behind.

Although the Donglin Party is fighting the Zhejiang Party the most, but right now they must deal with the two parties first, and then the Zhejiang Party.

The Zhejiang Party is very powerful, and a Beijing inspection will at most make them hurt and cannot be wiped out.

Sure enough, Fang Congzhe smoothed things over with a smile:

"Things are still under control, so don't worry."

"The meaning of this old man is very simple, that is, to blame the officials of the Zhejiang Party involved in this case on the old man, and the two of you just need to agree that Donglin will share the land tax equally for miscellaneous items."

Fang Congzhe and Sun Ruyou are indeed old foxes. They know the characters of Yang Lian and Zuo Guangdou, and they will definitely continue to investigate.

Therefore, they are not going to propose peace talks with Yang Lian and Zuo Guangdou, but directly push the benefits to more people.

After all, among the Donglin Party, officials from poor and rich peasants were a minority, and most of them were small and medium landlords, country gentry, and gentry.

That being the case, then reserve strength, let the officials in Nanzhili take the blame, remove them from exile, and then agree with the Donglin Party's political ideas of reducing land taxes, apportioning miscellaneous items, and removing tariffs.

To put it bluntly, the Zhejiang Party chose to take a step back and cede the interests to the Donglin Party and the imperial power.

After Tang Binyin and Gu Tianjun heard this, they frowned and thought carefully about the pros and cons.

Especially Gu Tianjun, Suzhou and Songjiang areas, after all, contracted a quarter of the taxes in Nanzhili. If the land tax is divided into miscellaneous items, will it harm the interests of local merchants and gentry? This is worth considering.

Compared to him, Tang Binyin didn't have so many worries.

The Xuan Party in the Fengyang area is mainly concerned with the land tax and the interests of the Lianghuai salt merchants.

Miscellaneous items have little impact on salt merchants, after all, they use a small amount of salt to attract and sell a large amount of private salt, which basically does not need to pay taxes.

On the contrary, the reduction of land tax is also beneficial to them.

So after thinking about it, Tang Binyin nodded and said: "The nearby officials in Huai'an and Xuzhou are involved, I will go back and persuade them."

He nodded in agreement, and Gu Tianjun from Suzhou Kundang was left.

Gu Tianjun frowned and raised his head, "I need to go back and think about this matter."

"Of course it is possible." Sun Ruyou nodded, and then said in order to show sincerity:
"Tomorrow morning, the Ministry of Officials and the Cabinet will dismiss a group of officials, including [-] officials from Zhejiang, [-] from Nanzhili, [-] from Shandong, and [-] from Huguang."

Sun Ruyou's sincerity has indeed been shown. The Zhejiang Party officials were abolished because of the sum of the Kunming Party, the Xuan Party, and the Qi Party and the Chu Party. There are thirteen more officials.

However, it is not difficult to see from here that Sun Ruyou is not going to actively provoke the Donglin Party in this Beijing inspection.

In this way, before the next Beijing inspection, the power of the Zhejiang Party will be greatly reduced.

Tang Binyin and the others thought this was the end of the matter, but Sun Ruyou continued:

"Not only that, but both the old man and Zhonghan will quit the cabinet and return to their hometowns."

"..." Hearing these words, Tang Binyin and Gu Tianjun frowned and couldn't sit still.

Once Fang Congzhe and Sun Ruyou resigned from office, how would they fight with the Donglin Party?
In the current cabinet, Liu Yixiu is a member of the Donglin Party. Although Shi Jikai is from Quanzhou, he is a person without party affiliation and politically inclined to the Donglin Party.

Although He Zongyan belonged to the Chu Party, he had no real power, so apart from Sun Ruyou and Fang Congzhe, only Zhu Guozuo and Shen Yu (guan) were left in the cabinet, two Zhejiang Party officials.

This is also the result of seven cabinet ministers since October.

If Sun Ruyou and Fang Congzhe withdrew from the cabinet and resigned to return to their hometowns, then at least one position in the cabinet should be vacant.

Who is in this position?Naturally, it was Han Yu who was the most vocal among the Donglin party members.

If Han Yu takes this position, then the five parties in the cabinet, Qi, Chu, Zhejiang, Xuan, and Kun, will change from overwhelming to balanced.

So after learning the news, Tang Binyin immediately said no, but before he could speak, Sun Ruyou said again:
"Don't worry, even if the two of us resign, according to Long Live's temperament, at least they will approve it after the Beijing inspection is over."

Sun Ruyou's words are very simple, that is, there will be no problem in protecting the five-party alliance until the end of the Jingcha. As for the Jingcha three years later, it will be a problem whether Sun Ruyou is still alive at that time.

After all, he is now seventy-one years old, and he is already considered a man of honor in the Ming Dynasty if he can live to this age.

Therefore, seeing what he said, Tang Binyin and Gu Tianjun stopped dissuading them, but after a hasty meal, they took people back to their mansion before the curfew.

Now what they have to wait for is whether the Changchao Donglin Party will compromise tomorrow morning...

------

"So, Sun Ruyou is ready to give in?"

While everyone was waiting, Zhu Youxiao in the Qianqing Palace of the Inner Court stood in front of the pieces of wood, listening to Luo Sigong's report behind him.

It is not difficult for Jin Yiwei to get the conversation content of Sun Ruyou and others. It can even be said that even if he can't get it, Sun Ruyou will ask someone to give the information to Luo Sigong.

This is a showdown with Zhu Youxiao. To put it bluntly, stop coddling the Donglin Party. If they do, they will quit.

The Donglin Party will accept it when it is good, and they will also abolish the Zhejiang Party officials in Nanzhili. In the future, there will be no move to withhold autumn tax, summer tax, grain, and additional money.

The Donglin Party made a profit, and the imperial court was able to obtain the southern tax revenue smoothly. In the end, everyone lived in peace. As for the officials and gentry in Huai'an Mansion and Xuzhou, they were regarded as abandoned sons.

As for the abolished officials in other places, Sun Ruyou and others hope that Zhu Youxiao will not be held accountable any longer, and that it is enough to remove them from exile.

Sun Ruyou's meaning was very obvious, but because of the obviousness, Zhu Youxiao was upset.

In his opinion, he is the emperor, and the world belongs to him. He doesn't need Sun Ruyou and the Zhejiang Party to give him what he wants, and he can take it himself.

Also...

Zhu Youxiao glanced at Luo Sigong who was reporting with his head down, and sneered in his heart: "Old man, do you really think I don't know about your relationship with Sun Ruyou?"

He sneered in his heart, but there was no expression of joy or anger on his face. Instead, he quietly built a small boat with concocted wood, and then said unhurriedly:
"Tell them to do it. Besides, Luo Sigong, I remember you are sixty this year, right?"

"Eh...Long live, I'm only fifty-four this year..." Luo Sigong was stunned, thinking that Zhu Youxiao had made a mistake.

Seeing this, Zhu Youxiao pretended to smile awkwardly and said, "That's right, right? It seems that I remembered it wrong."

A self-proclaimed name made Luo Sigong feel a bit cold in his heart.

This is not a misremembering, it was clearly a sign that he was getting old and it was time to give up his position.

Luo Sigong is a smart person, he quickly thought of the relationship between himself and Sun Ruyou and others, his heart tightened, and then he wrote:
"Although I'm only fifty-four, I injured my body while riding a horse in the early years and left leg problems. So today, apart from reporting the movements of Sun Ruyou and others, I also want to ask Wansui to resign."

"Please resign?" Zhu Youxiao frowned and said:
"It's very inconvenient for me to do things without you in the outer court. Let's talk about it another day."

"Long live!" Luo Sigong suddenly knelt down, looked up at Zhu Youxiao and said:
"The old minister is really weak, I hope Long Live agrees..."

"Hey... why are you bothering?" Principal Zhu You sighed, and then said:
"How about this, you should be tired for a while, Jinyiwei's affairs will be more troublesome, and when Lu Wenzhao comes back from the south, you will go home to take care of yourselves, I will never refuse."

Zhu Youxiao's self-proclaimed changed from me to me again, which made Luo Sigong heave a sigh of relief, and could only kowtow: "Thank you Long Live Long En!"

"Okay, you can go back and have a good rest. Also, I heard from Zhongxian that your eldest son Luo Yangxing has also reached his age. When you are old, you can favor him as the hereditary inheritance of Jinyiwei."

Zhu Youxiao looked reluctant to part with Luo Sigong, which made Luo Sigong have to accompany him in acting: "Thank you, long live, the old minister is resigning..."

"Well, let's rest early..." Zhu Youxiao fiddled with his wood without looking back, and Luo Sigong felt very uncomfortable when he saw this.

The position that was already stable was lost just because of taking some silver taels from Sun Ruyou and others.

Enyin Jinyiwei has hundreds of households, what is this compared to the commander of Jinyiwei?
Luo Sigong laughed at himself in his heart, he didn't know if he was laughing at himself, Sun Ruyou and the others, or Zhu Youxiao.

He walked out of the Qianqing Palace. It was obviously flat ground, but he walked out with a feeling of stepping down.

With a lonely back, he slowly disappeared on the road of Qianqing Palace, and at the same time Wei Zhongxian also walked into Qianqing Palace with Wang Tiqian and other eunuchs holding a dry log as thick as a person's waist.

"Long live, the wood is brought."

Wei Zhongxian knew how to flatter. Although Zhu Youjian reminded him to go to the inner school to study and write during this time, he was so smart that he learned a hundred characters and forgot fifty.

Right now he understands, he is better at learning, ten of them tied together are not Wang An's opponent.

Since you can't compare, then don't compare at all, he is flattering!

Knowing Zhu Youxiao's liking, he immediately took people to carry the wood every time he saw that Zhu Youxiao's wood was about to run out.

Sure enough, as before, when he heard Wei Zhongxian's voice, Zhu Youxiao turned his head and looked over.

His eyes directly passed Wei Zhongxian and Wang Ti, who were panting and sweating profusely, and focused on the wood.

"Well, this wood is good, and it is just right for the keel of the boat."

When Zhu Youxiao said this, Wei Zhongxian immediately became happy, and after leading someone to lift the wood to the shelf next to him, he flattered and said:

"Long live, the teak that His Highness Fifth Highness said, the slave has already sent someone to Siam to ask the King of Siam to find Beiyun."

"July next year will happen to be the day when Siam will pay tribute. By then, the King of Siam should be able to find teak and send it to the capital."

"Well, you did a good job on this matter, you should be rewarded..." Zhu Youxiao nodded in satisfaction, and Wei Zhongxian's eyes immediately lit up when he heard that he could get a reward.

His eyes were shining, and he looked at Zhu Youxiao with longing, and Zhu Youxiao looked at it, and when he found that he was wearing a middle coat and there was nothing around him, he turned his attention to the one he made a few days ago. Duck on wood carving.

He grabbed the duck wood carving, and then handed it over with Wei Zhongxian's dumbfounded expression:
"Reward you."

"Thank you Long Live Long En, this servant has long set his sights on this duck. This duck looks handsome and has a graceful figure. Only Long Live can make such a craft. To get the woodcarving made by Long Live himself is really a servant who has cultivated it for ten lifetimes. Blessings..."

Wei Zhongxian turned blankness into bragging in a very short time, as if the wooden duck in his hand was not made of wood, but made of gold and precious stones, which was extremely precious.

But I have to say that his flattery was good, and Zhu Youxiao was very useful when he heard it, so he patted Wei Zhongxian and said:
"Zhongxian, do a good job, and if I have a fine product in my hands in the future, I will give it to you."

After all, Zhu Youxiao set his sights on his semi-finished boat, turned his head and said to an eunuch:

"Come and see, is this boat different from your Jiangnan boat?"

This eunuch was found by Zhu Youxiao and Wei Zhongxian from more than [-] eunuchs in the palace. Before entering the palace, he was the son of a craftsman in Jiangnan Longjiang Shipyard, and he was also proficient in shipbuilding.

Zhu Youxiao is not keen on shipbuilding, but Zhu Youjian likes it after all.

In order to please his younger brother, Zhu Youxiao deliberately began to learn the craft of shipbuilding, and the eunuch quickly saluted after seeing it:

"Long live is extremely talented, but after studying for a few days, his skills are already comparable to those of young masters who have studied for three or four months in some shipyards in the south of the Yangtze River."

"Hehe, after all, I have been doing carpentry for five years. It's not difficult to build a boat. The main thing is..." Hearing someone boasting about himself, Zhu Youxiao also boasted.

But after boasting, he paused again, annoyed: "It's just that the blueprint my brother gave me is not the same as Daming's boat. I still have to learn how to make it, especially the inner structure..."

Zhu Youxiao began to think about it, and when Wei Zhongxian saw this, he called out all the court ladies and eunuchs except the shipbuilding eunuch.

It has long been known that the emperor did not like the presence of too many people when he was doing carpentry.

It's just that when everyone came out, Wei Zhongxian hugged the fist-sized wooden duck sculpture, thinking about something.

Seeing this, Wang Tiqian, who was next to him, hurried forward and said, "Mr. Factory, do you need the little one to help you put away this wooden duck?"

"Put it away?" Wei Zhongxian was stunned for a moment, and then a sly smile appeared on his face: "Uh-huh-huh..."

"No, the treasure given by Long Live, it's just too wronged to put it away."

As he said, Wei Zhongxian put the wooden duck into Wang Tigan's hands, then patted him on the shoulder and said:
"Find someone to take this thing out of the palace, and then find a rich man to buy this duck."

"Long live's craftsmanship is worth several hundred taels of silver..."

"Sold?" Wang Tiqian was taken aback, unable to believe it.

This is a woodcarving bestowed by the emperor. If he remembered it and asked Wei Zhongxian to take it out, it would be a disaster if Wei Zhongxian couldn't take it out.

However, Wang Tiqian didn't understand Wei Zhongxian's thoughts. After his doubts were seen by Wei Zhongxian, Wei Zhongxian pouted his old face and said with a ghostly smile:

"Of course I sold it, and the more you sell the better, I'm of great use!"

Thinking of his genius-like thoughts that day, Wei Zhongxian's old face gradually became obscene, and then he walked towards the palace where the Ke family lived, humming a ditty in his cock-duck voice...

　At 1 o'clock, there is still a chapter of [-] words
　　
　
(End of this chapter)