My father is Chongzhen? Then I have no choice but to rebel.

Chapter 95: Letter from Huang Taiji!
As for Wang Zheng, his appearance surprised Zhu Cilang even more.

Because he is indeed a mechanical genius, he has even successfully developed a simple stamping machine.

When he came, he brought a wooden model and gave Zhu Cilang a brief demonstration. Zhu Cilang was stunned at the time.

It was this epoch-making invention that gave Zhu Cilang hope for currency reform.

After all, the existing currency in the Ming Dynasty was too messy, so he always had the idea of issuing silver dollars similar to those in the Republic of China period.

Of course, he would also print portraits of Chongzhen and himself on the silver coins.

This move not only unifies the currency, but also unites people.

Imagine how the soldiers would feel when they received their military pay, and it was engraved with Zhu Cilang’s portrait.
As long as this is accomplished, it will not be so easy for anyone to incite soldiers to rebel in the future.

Because as long as the soldiers see the portrait on their military pay, they will know who they should serve!

But of course, currency reform will have to wait for some time.

As for Wang Zheng, he naturally entered the Mechanical Bureau of the Firearms Research Institute smoothly.

Overall, everything is moving in a good direction.
After the morning court session that day, Zhu Cilang practiced riding and archery as usual, with Li Ruolian, Fang Zhenghua and Li Hu standing by.

After what happened before, even if Zhu Cilang still couldn't hit the target, these three people didn't dare to underestimate him anymore.

After all, they all knew in their hearts what kind of power the prince possessed.

As for why I have to practice horse archery, it’s probably because I think it’s fun.
Not long after, a young eunuch came hurriedly to report that the Jinyiwei wanted to see him.

Zhu Cilang rode up to the young eunuch and asked:

"Did you tell me what it was?"

The young eunuch replied respectfully:
"I asked and was told that Ma Xianglin, the Shizhu envoy, has arrived."

Ma Xianglin?
When Zhu Cilang heard this name, he was instantly delighted!
Ma Xianglin, the son of Qin Liangyu, a female general in the late Ming Dynasty, and Ma Qiancheng, the envoy of Shizhu, was extremely brave and handsome.

When fighting, he wore silver armor and rode a white horse. He often charged into the battle alone and took the heads of enemy generals in the chaos of the army.

Because he is always brave, he is called 'Little Ma Chao'!
Later, he was injured in the eye during a war and earned the nickname "One-eyed Horse".

In the 14th year of Chongzhen, Ma Xianglin defended Xiangyang. After the rebels broke through Xiangyang, Ma Xianglin died a heroic death.

Before his death, he wrote to his mother Qin Liangyu:

"I swear to live and die with Xiangyang. I hope you will not worry about my safety!"

Qin Liangyu's reply consisted of only one sentence:
"Good! Good! Shingo-er!"

Like his mother Qin Liangyu, Ma Xianglin is also a national hero!
Thinking back, Zhu Cilang immediately dismounted and ordered:

"Take him to the warm room of the East Palace. I'll be there soon!"

Not long after, Zhu Cilang finally met this general who was quite famous in history.

Although Ma Xianglin did not know Zhu Cilang, he recognized the dragon robe Zhu Cilang was wearing.

Then he immediately bowed and said:
"Shizhu Envoy Ma Xianglin pays homage to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!"

Zhu Cilang hurriedly helped Ma Xianglin up with a smile, saying:
"General, there's no need to be so polite. You must have worked hard coming all the way here!"

"By the way, how many people did you bring with you this time? Did General Qin come with you?"

General Qin, also known as Qin Liangyu.

Although in history, Qin Liangyu was eventually conferred the title of "Marquis of Loyalty", this title was not conferred by Chongzhen, but posthumously by the Southern Ming court.

In other words, Qin Liangyu did not obtain this title before her death.

So Zhu Cilang could only call Qin Liangyu General Qin for now.

But of course, the title of Marquis will be arranged immediately when Qin Liangyu arrives!

After all, with Qin Liangyu's achievements, she is definitely worthy of the title of marquis.

Ma Xianglin naturally didn't know that the prince in front of him was planning to confer a title on his mother, so he just replied respectfully:
"According to His Majesty's decree, my mother and I have brought over 30,000 men with us, but the main force will take some time to arrive."

"I have arrived first with two thousand cavalrymen and am now stationed outside the city."

Zhu Cilang nodded after hearing this, and then instructed Fang Zhenghua:

"I'll go to the treasury and get ten thousand taels of silver, and then send some wine and meat to reward General Ma's men."

"Slave, you obey!"

Fang Zhenghua quickly replied.

When Ma Xianglin heard this, he was naturally moved to tears. Just as he was about to say some words of thanks, a young eunuch hurried in.

"My Lord, the Imperial Guards have an urgent report!"

Zhu Cilang was slightly stunned, then said:

"Where did it come from?"

The young eunuch replied:
"He said he was from Shanxi and wanted to meet His Royal Highness the Crown Prince in person to report on the situation in Shanxi."

Zhu Cilang's heart trembled, knowing that it must be about the Eight Imperial Merchants, and he immediately said:
"Let him in quickly!"

The young eunuch hurried out.

Seeing this, Ma Xianglin knew that the prince had important matters to attend to, so he bowed respectfully and said:

"Your Highness, I will take my leave first."

Zhu Cilang knew that Ma Xianglin was trying to avoid suspicion, but he didn't care much. He waved his hand and said:
"You are not an outsider, there is no need to retreat."

These words made Ma Xianglin feel inexplicably moved.

You know, this was his first time meeting the prince, and he didn't expect to be treated so warmly right after they met. Not long after, the Jinyiwei outside the door ran in.

But as soon as he stepped in, he fell to the ground.

Li Ruolian stepped forward, helped him up, and then checked the situation.

Then he looked at Zhu Cilang and said:
"Don't worry, Your Highness, he's just overtired, his life is not in danger!"

Zhu Cilang nodded, then signaled the eunuch next to him to pass the tea. Li Ruolian picked up the tea and handed it to the Jinyiwei's mouth.

After drinking a few cups of tea, the Jinyiwei finally calmed down.

He then took off the things on his back with great effort, handed them to Zhu Cilang respectfully and said:
"Your Highness, I have fulfilled my mission! The things have been delivered."

After saying this, he fainted before Zhu Cilang could take the thing.

"Hurry up and take him away. Have the Imperial Hospital send someone over to take a look!"

Zhu Cilang gave another order.

Soon, two guards carried the Jinyiwei away.

Then, Zhu Cilang looked at the thing that the Jinyiwei had just handed to him.

But for safety reasons, Li Ruolian first carefully checked these things, and only handed them to Zhu Cilang after confirming that they were correct.

The first thing that caught his eye was a list of names of people whose property was to be confiscated. Zhu Cilang quickly glanced through it and couldn't help but laugh.

He looked at the crowd and said:
"I never thought that the eight major Shanxi merchants would have such a rich fortune. Come and see for yourself!"

After saying that, he handed the list of items confiscated to Li Ruolian, Fang Zhenghua and others.

Although Li Ruolian, Fang Zhenghua and others knew nothing about the house searches in Shanxi, they couldn't help but gasp when they saw the numbers on the list.

5300 million taels of silver, 430 million taels of gold, and 135 boxes of various rare treasures.

This does not include shops, land, and grain. When calculated in total, all the assets are as high as 7000 million taels!

Ma Xianglin also came over to take a look out of curiosity, and was also shocked by the numbers in front of him and was speechless.

At this moment, Zhu Cilang had already opened another list of bribery.

Just a glance and his brows furrowed. The more he looked down, the gloomier his face became, as if water was about to drip out of it.

Fang Zhenghua and others noticed that Zhu Cilang was acting strangely, and they immediately fell silent, not daring to say a word.

After a moment, Zhu Cilang said nothing, but handed the list of bribes to Fang Zhenghua and asked them to take a look at it.

Fang Zhenghua took the list and took a look at it. His eyes widened suddenly, and he was even more shocked than when he saw the list of items confiscated.

He flipped through several pages and said in disbelief:

"How is this possible? Shanxi merchants have actually been collaborating with the enemy and selling out their country. Even the general and governor of Xuanfu are involved!"

"There are over a hundred generals and civil officials, both large and small. Are these guys desperate for their lives?"

When Ma Xianglin heard this, his head exploded.

Is it possible for a foreign official like him to hear such things?
At this moment, Ma Xianglin really regretted not leaving here just now.

But now, I can't leave even if I want to.
Zhu Cilang ignored everyone's reactions and picked up the unsigned letter.

Judging from its appearance, the letter should have never been opened.

He casually opened the envelope and saw only two pieces of paper.

One of them was a letter, and the other was a silver note worth one hundred thousand taels!
This type of silver note can be directly exchanged for silver anywhere in the Ming Dynasty!

Zhu Cilang put the banknote aside and read the contents of the letter.

However, after just a few glances, he was immediately filled with anger.

Because this letter was actually written by Huang Taiji to Wang Chengyin, the general of Xuanfu. The content of the letter was very simple, which was to ask Wang Chengyin not to make things difficult for the eight major Shanxi merchants in transporting grain.

And this one hundred thousand taels of silver note is the bribe he gave!
After reading this letter, Zhu Cilang's anger reached its peak.

Although he had known for a long time that the Shanxi merchants were collaborating with the enemy and betraying their country, it was impossible for Xuanfu to be unaware of it, and he also knew that this group of guys must have been involved in it.

But he never imagined that these guys could actually communicate directly with Huang Taiji.

He underestimated these people after all!
However, as he had considered before, he could not simply issue an imperial decree to execute these people.

Because the more than one hundred people on the bribery list almost included all the military officers and civil officials in Xuanfu. If an imperial edict was really issued, a riot would definitely break out in Xuanfu immediately.

Recall them all back to the capital and kill them?

No, no!
Even a fool could understand what was going on when so many military officers and civil officials were recalled at once.

We must find a proper way to resolve this matter!
You know, among all the border towns, Xuanfu is definitely a relatively different one.

Before 1571, the fifth year of the Longqing reign, the Ming Dynasty and Mongolia were still in a state of fierce confrontation, with conflicts breaking out from time to time.

But after 1571, Emperor Longqing decided to open Zhangjiakou in Xuanfu Town, making it a place for trade on the border.

It is precisely because of this transformation that Xuanfu Town has become a peaceful market town.

A large number of merchants began to pour in, and the economy of Xuanfu Town experienced unprecedented development, becoming an important economic center on the Great Wall.

The Mongols no longer had to risk their lives to plunder the Ming Dynasty. They could use horses, cattle and sheep to exchange for the salt, tea, silk, porcelain and grain they wanted.

The Ming Dynasty could also exchange salt, tea, silk, porcelain and grain for a large number of horses, cattle and sheep.

This is totally beneficial to both parties!
This is also the reason why the eight major Shanxi merchants chose to be here.

Because there are indeed endless opportunities here!
Therefore, whether from an economic or military perspective, Xuanfu cannot be in chaos!

(End of this chapter)