Begging in late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 346 Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea
The ninth year of Chongzhen was an eventful year for the Ming Empire.

In fact, ever since Emperor Chongzhen became extremely troubled, that year has been an eventful year, but it is rare to see so many events like this year. Finally, the entire imperial court made up their minds to unite the northern and southern armies and concentrate on attacking the peasant army. Finally, they saw the dawn. Donglu stepped in again.

Entering the customs from Xifeng Pass, within a few days the Eight Banners Iron Cavalry were killed at the foot of the capital city. Zhang Fengyi, Minister of the Ministry of War, took the blame and went to battle, but still did not dare to confront the Donglu army head-on. Sit and watch Baofeng, Shunyi, Anzhou, Xiong'an, Ding Xing and other prefectures fell one after another, and the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty were dissatisfied with Zhang Fengyi, and impeachment memorials rained down on the emperor's desk.

But at this time, Wu Weiye, the censor of Jiangnan Taoist tea, impeached Song Qingshu and Ruan Dacheng for colluding with each other, and the memorial to accompany the capital with poison has arrived again. In this already turbulent court, another thousand catty stone was thrown.

Having not slept well for more than ten days, Emperor Chongzhen's eyes were as black as pandas. Even in order to maintain the majesty of the emperor, the powder used for makeup before going to court could not cover it up. Looking at the papers presented by the cabinet, the emperor clearly looked Quite impatient, now all his energy is on the Manchu iron cavalry that is close at hand, and he is not willing to care about the trivial matters in Jiangnan.

"What do you think of Wu Weiye's excerpt?"

Many of the officials and officials at the bottom are Donglin and pro-Donglin. The political bondage of Yangzhong salt merchants is on Donglin's side, and they are obviously not interested in this small matter in Jiangnan. None of the bosses opened their mouths, but Jiang Yingyuan, who had been bribed a long time ago, stood up.

"Your Majesty, Nanjing is the land of my ancestors, where the mausoleum is located. Although Song Ni is well-behaved and obedient to the court, he is a rogue after all. Even if Zhao'an, he should not be allowed to be filthy and should be the best place in the world, and Ruan Dacheng castrated the rebels of the party. As early as last year, some scholars reported him for being arrogant and rebellious. Nanjing is the place where scholars in the south of the Yangtze River gather. It is not good to let him deceive the public there. The majestic act of the emperor, please give me your majesty's order."

Still thinking about the war in Gyeonggi, Emperor Chongzhen didn't care whether the other ministers had any opinions, and waved his sleeves directly: "Just do what Jiang Qing said, how about the war in Suzhou, the Ministry of War Is there any report?"

Zhang Fengyi belongs to his own party. Recently, many people have used Zhang Fengyi to try to overthrow him. A little Ruan Dacheng and Wen Tiren, a scholar of the First Assistant University, didn't bother to pay attention. His eyes were cold, and he gave the right servant of the Ministry of War **** * With a wink, the latter hurriedly took out a memorial from his right sleeve.

"Report to Your Majesty..."

…………

It was another battle of words, how to deal with the enemy was not figured out, the cabinet and the ministries impeached each other, and shirked responsibility, but they quarreled for more than two hours. Finally, after the furious Emperor Chongzhen slapped the table enough for two words, It can be regarded as the end of the long morning dynasty.

Waking up at three or four o'clock in the morning, even a heroic figure like Wen Tiren would yawn sleepily when he returned to his office in Dongge. The big man didn't need to speak, but just looked at him directly, and the subordinates who were watching his words immediately knew what to do. After a while, Dongzhimen's cafeteria and a few hot side dishes came over.

An urgent report from eight hundred miles was placed on the table. Wen Tiren finished his lunch in a daze, then went into a daze again, thinking about whether to repeat the old trick and pretend to be sick to avoid this political tide. When Zhang Fengyi's head fell to the ground, Then he came out to clean up the mess, after a while, Wen Tiren, who was unsure, picked up the memorial directly, and just glanced at it absent-mindedly, all of his eyes immediately gathered on the memorial.

Among so many northern battle reports, this thing actually came from Jiangnan.

After all, he is a bachelor, with extensive knowledge and excellent memory. Wu Weiye, who was impeached just now, is a backbone member of the Donglin Party. After reading the memorial and thinking about the content of Wu Weiye's impeachment, he slapped the table suddenly. stood up.

"Notify Eunuch Cao that this pavilion is going to meet the emperor, hurry up!"

…………

When the capital city was full of swords and swords, Yangzhou City, thousands of miles away, was in a state of peace and prosperity. There seemed to be no sign of subjugation in the prosperous appearance of singing and dancing. People can't live without salt, with a population of nearly [-] million. All the table salt has to be sent from here, and the silver and white salt are blended with each other, superimposing the prosperity of Yangzhou.

The Green Willow Embankment next to the Grand Canal, in June and July, is a good time for outings. In the chain of pavilions beside the embankment, table after table of banquets have already been set up, and a dozen musicians are playing Jiangnan ditties, The famous Yangzhou thin horse, a few tender and tall beauties in the water are also dancing, a group of people wearing lun scarves and Confucian robes, old or young, crowding around the wine table, drinking wine and poetry, it is a good look Wei and Jin celebrities have a chic demeanor.

However, if a knowledgeable person looks at it at a glance, he will be extremely surprised. Except for a few lively scholars, everyone here is a well-known salt merchant in Yangzhou, such as Bao, the general merchant of the Bao family in Wuyuan. Lu, Wang Zhenmeng, the general merchant of the Wang family in Huangshan, and the Song family, Cao family, Zheng family, Xu family, etc., are simply a collection of big bosses.

Adding one piece to them can support a quarter of the taxation of the Ming Dynasty.

The wine glasses were held high, and all the salt merchants drank to the extreme, especially Mr. Bao, whose round face was as smooth as the American tomatoes introduced by Song Qingshu. He took a sip of the wine, and then glanced at He couldn't help but smile flattered by the winking eyes of the Yangzhou skinny horse with his sleeves thrown.

"Everyone is working together this time, I don't believe that that bitch from the north won't get out of Nanzhili! Come on, let's make a toast to expel that villain!"

"Okay, listen to Mr. Bao!"

After clinking the wine glasses, Wang Yangu, the younger generation of the Wang family, stood up shaking his head worriedly.

"Everyone, Anqing is still in the hands of that villain. I heard that that villain's combat power is not good enough. Even the Jiangnan navy has been frustrated. If he stops the Yangtze River, what will we do with the salt cargo we send to Huguang? Salt has been around for more than 200 years, if we lose Huguang because of this child, we will lose.”

"Hey, Brother Wang is overthinking! Does he dare? After all, this Nanzhili is the Nanzhili of the imperial court. He is just like the Japanese pirate king Wang Zhi back then. He desperately wants to clean himself up and recruit peace. Shall we handle it? Ha, don’t worry, we have to spit out as much as he eats, and he spits out money with interest!”

"After a while, let's follow Eunuch Cao's path again. At that time, we will kick out Ma Shiying, the governor of Lufeng, and replace him with a Qingliu prince. Without Ma Shiying to take care of him, the Song thief Anqing City may be lost immediately! "

The dignified three-rank governor of the imperial court, these big merchants also dare to change if they say they want to change. The self-confidence brought by that share of wealth can be seen. Holding the wine glass, he said hesitantly.

"He, Song Qingshu, can be regarded as number one. He has some tricks to take all the north and the south. Are we pushing him too hard? If he, Song, wants to counterattack, we will have trouble parrying him. The general manager, in my opinion, we Is it enough to stop, drive him out of Yingtian Mansion, teach him a lesson, and we can still contact him in the future, after all, those Yankees also have a lot of business in their hands."

"Brother Huanxiu, why do you still sympathize with that rogue?" The slender face of the general merchant Wang Zhenmeng immediately showed incomparable displeasure, and said coldly: "The rogue is also surnamed Song, it can't be you You came from the Song family, right? Tsk tsk, if it's the friendship of the same clan, subduing that Song thief will really be like a tiger with wings!"

The distribution of the cake by the salt merchants has been in accordance with the rules for 200 years, and no one dares to break the rules easily. When Wang Zhenmeng said this, Song Jing waved his hands in panic.

"The thief Song came from Guanzhong, so it has nothing to do with my Song family in Tunxi. Besides, he smuggled tea in Xin County, and my family's business suffered a lot. Mr. Wang, don't talk nonsense!"

"I hope so!"

After muttering something, Wang Zhenmeng poured another glass of wine with a cold snort. Who would have thought that at this time, a servant in green clothes and a cap suddenly rushed into the banquet in a hurry, looked left and right, and whispered hurriedly in his ear. up.

He was impatient at first, but Wang Zhenmeng's face quickly turned pale, and he stood up unbelievably.

"President Wang, what happened?"

A bad feeling emerged in my heart, and several other big merchants also hurriedly stood up and asked.

His face like a dried orange twitched a little, holding his wine glass, Wang Zhenmeng said in shock and annoyance.

"The beggars penetrated Chizhou, and now they have come to Dagong Mountain. My old man sent someone to ask for money, and he wants to pull Xiangyong to resist the thieves!"

The salt merchants who were chatting and laughing just now turned pale in an instant, and the happy Jiangnan tune came to an abrupt end...

(End of this chapter)