Outside Dinghuai Gate is the Admiral Caojiang Office.
Chongzhen was going through the account books accumulated by Admiral Caojiang's office over the years one by one. Beside him stood respectfully Uncle Chengyi Liu Kongzhao and two scribes.
"Not bad, the accounts are kept watertight."
While flipping through the account books, Chongzhen praised: "I can hardly see where any manipulation has been done."
The two scribes wanted to deny it, but they opened their mouths and could not utter a single word.
Because Chongzhen was just sitting there casually, a captivating aura was revealed unconsciously, which shocked the two of them so much that they did not dare to talk nonsense.
Needless to say, Chongzhen at this time
Every move he makes can make the officials accompanying him tremble with fear.
Of course, the premise is those officials with ulterior motives.
For example, Zheng Sen, Huang Zongxi and other Qin Wang scholars did not have this feeling at all.
Liu Kongzhao's heart was filled with 15 suspension bridges to fetch water, and he was very nervous.
He knows better than anyone whether there are any problems with the accounts of Admiral Jiang's office. Can there be no problems? There are too many problems! In other words, no year's accounts are truly without problems.
"Uncle Sincerity." Chongzhen suddenly said with a smile, "Have you accumulated a lot of wealth over the years?"
"Uh, ah?" Liu Kongzhao hurriedly denied, "Reporting to Your Majesty, the salary I received from the imperial court in these years is barely enough for the household expenses, so I haven't accumulated much family assets."
"That's not right." Chongzhen smiled and said, "You have 800,000 taels of silver in the account of the Exchange. Don't think that I will be deceived just by borrowing the name of your distant uncle and wife and brother.
You were kept in the dark."
"Your Majesty, things are not what you think." Liu Kongzhao knelt on the ground again and said in panic, "Of the 800,000 taels of silver, 500,000 taels are the public property of the clan, and the remaining 300,000 taels are
It is the dowry that my wife brought from her mother's family. This eight hundred thousand taels actually has nothing to do with me. Your Majesty can tell you clearly."
"Uncle Sincerity, why are you panicking? I'm just asking, and I won't rob you." Chongzhen said suddenly, "Do you really think I would like your three melons and two jujubes? It's only eight hundred thousand taels, haha."
"Yes, yes." Liu Kongzhao quickly flattered him, "The Holy One is rich all over the world and has nine continents. Naturally, he won't care about this mere 800,000 taels of silver."
While he was talking, Jin Xuan strode in.
Jin Xuan, like Chongzhen, wore a phoenix-winged helmet and mountain armor.
It's just that Jin Xuan's mountain armor is dark black, and the breast shield on his chest is one size smaller than Chongzhen's.
"Your Majesty." Jin Xuan bowed his hands and said, "It's almost noon. Shouldn't we leave for Nangong?"
"There's no rush, I'm going too early and I won't be able to see the climax of this wonderful show." Chongzhen said, "Let's let them continue singing for another hour. We'll wait until the next hour."
"But, will the news be exposed?" Jin Xuan asked worriedly.
"After all, the Holy One has transferred three thousand elite cavalry under his command. It is impossible for such a big movement not to be discovered by the informants planted by the Donglin Party."
"Oh, yes, I didn't think about that."
Chongzhen nodded and said, "However, it's not a big problem."
Speaking of this meal, Chongzhen said to Liu Kongzhao: "Uncle Sincerity, please send a confidant to tell Gao Hongtu, Jiang Yueguang and others that Jin Xuan's three thousand cavalry have been tricked by you to attack Admiral Jiang's office and disarm them.
.”
"Your Majesty, I accept the order." Liu Kongzhao gave a long bow and summoned a servant to the chariot.
After a while, the servant left with the secret letter written by Liu Kongzhao, and Chongzhen did not stop him.
At this time, Chongzhen never believed that Liu Kongzhao still had the courage to tip off the Donglin Party.
Chongzhen then ordered Jin Xuan: "Jin Qing, ask all the soldiers in the cavalry camp to dismount and take off their armor to rest, and then transfer a brigade of pacesetters from Caojiang Admiral's Office to guard the surroundings of the cavalry camp."
"I accept the decree." Jin Xuan accepted the decree and left.
Chongzhen raised his head and looked at the sky outside his cabin, then said with a smile: "Uncle Chengyi, it's almost lunch time, haven't you ever thought of inviting me to have a light meal in your cabin?"
"Please, please, please immediately." Liu Kongzhao said hurriedly.
"I will ask someone to arrange it, and I will arrange lunch."
Watching Liu Kongzhao leave, Chongzhen also fell into deep thought.
There is no longer any suspense about the handling of the Donglin Party.
Any official involved in the regicide case will be killed without mercy.
But Chongzhen had not yet made a final decision on how to deal with nobles like Chengyi Bo and Wei Guogong. The best way to relieve his anger was of course to kill him.
Killing is the simplest thing. Not only can you relieve hatred, but you can also make money.
After capturing all the nobles who stayed in Nanjing such as Wei Guogong and Cheng Yibo, 70 million taels may not be that much, but 30 million taels is certainly a lot more.
But the problem is that the side effects of doing so are too great.
Killing Wei Guogong, Cheng Yibo is indeed a relief, but it will inevitably make Zheng Zhilong, Huang Degong, Zuo Menggeng and even Wu Batan feel afraid, and it will even leave a bad impression in the minds of Prince Qin that he only treats heroes. If
If this is the case, I am afraid that no one will sincerely work for the royal family in the future.
It's nerve-wracking.
…
Not only Chongzhen was troubled, but also Gao Hongtu.
Because at this time, the Jinluan Hall in Nangong had turned into a large-scale brawl scene. Hundreds of low-level civil servants and military generals had already fought together, and many of them had been beaten with bruises and swollen faces.
The most miserable one even had six of his teeth knocked out.
Logically speaking, the Donglin Party should have the absolute upper hand in such a fight.
However, not only did the Donglin Party fail to gain the upper hand, it even gradually fell into a disadvantage because the originally neutral low-level civil servants and military generals had already come to support the crown prince.
Speaking of which, officials from the neutral faction are actually very angry with Donglin Party officials.
Because the power of the six ministries, five temples, two courtyards, and one government were all taken away by Donglin Party officials, and each of these Donglin Party officials was more possessive than the last, and the neutral officials could not even drink soup. Who can do this?
Can you bear it?
So taking this opportunity to support the new king, the neutral officials went berserk collectively.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Of course, there is another factor that must be mentioned, and that is the role played by market exchanges.
Many of the officials who sided with the prince had made money directly or indirectly through relatives from bond trading on the exchange, so they were very angry at the Donglin Party's actions.
If the Donglin Party really controls the exchange, where will they make money?
Officials from both sides fought fiercely, and the Jinluan Palace became the scene of a large-scale fight.
Gao Hongtu and Shi Kefa both came forward to stop it, but no one listened to them at all.
In the end, it was Wei Guogong Xu Hongji who decisively called in soldiers from the Beijing camp to finally stop the fight.
At this time, several weak officials had been beaten to death in the palace. Zhu Cizheng quickly ordered the imperial doctor to be treated in the palace. Fortunately, his life was not in danger.
At this point, this great court meeting can no longer continue.
Gao Hongtu immediately decided to leave the court and go back to the Yamen for dinner, and wait for the noon court meeting after six hours to make a decision.
As soon as the court was over, Gao Hongtu and Jiang Yueguang took a dozen of their confidants back to their cabinet room and asked Gao Fu to guard the door of the room.
"Teacher, Mr. Xie Ge suddenly changed his mind, and so many officials suddenly turned against us. This is unusual. The student thought there must be a reason for it," Li Jinglian said.
"Yi Zhou, what do you think is the reason?" Gao Hongtu asked solemnly.
Li Jinglian said in a deep voice: "Could something happen at Admiral Cao Jiang's office?"
"Admiral Jiang's office?" Jiang Yueguang frowned and said, "With Uncle Chengzhi in charge over there, what can happen?"
Li Jinglian said in a deep voice: "Mr. Jiang Ge, have you forgotten that after Ma Mingluan was imprisoned and when the Chief Situ proposed that the Ministry of Household Affairs take over the Ministry of Internal Affairs, what happened in the court?"
"His Majesty's secret edict?!" Jiang Yueguang couldn't help being surprised.
"If the nine ministers who went to disaster really had the secret edict left by the Holy Emperor, it would really be possible to mobilize three thousand cavalry. In this case, even if there is a sincere uncle sitting in Cao Jiang's Admiral's office, it would be useless."
"Isn't this impossible?" Yuan Pengnian said in stunned silence, "The Holy One has never returned to Nanjing, and it is even less likely that he could have predicted such a situation today. How could he have left a secret edict for this in advance?"
Li Jinglian said in a deep voice: "Of course it is impossible for the Holy One to predict today's situation. If he really had the ability to predict the unknown, he would not have been assassinated and died in Yangzhou."
After a pause, he added: "However, with the Holy Spirit's character, it is entirely possible to leave a secret edict for the nine ministers who are going to be in trouble so that they can mobilize their troops in critical moments."
While he was talking, Gao Fu hurried in.
"Sir," Gao Fu reported in a low voice, "Someone just sent a secret letter, saying that the three thousand cavalry originally stationed at Mochou Lake outside Qingliangmen have gone to the Admiral's Office to kill Cao Caojiang."
"That's it." Li Jinglian stamped his feet and said, "Unfortunately, the student was right."
Even Gao Hongtu was a little panicked now and asked hurriedly: "Yizhou, what should we do now?"
A stern look flashed across Li Jinglian's eyes, and he said in a deep voice: "Teacher, there is only one way to deal with the situation now, and that is to ask Duke Wei to immediately dispatch the capital camp to control the entire city of Nanjing!"
"After the Beijing camp troops take control of the entire city of Nanjing, we can proceed to the noon court."
"At that time, my mentor will directly force the civil servants and generals in Beijing to express their stance at the court meeting."
"If you support the Yongwang, that's all. If you dare to make false claims and support the Crown Prince or Dingwang..."
Speaking of this meal, Li Jinglian made a beheading gesture and said solemnly: "Kill without mercy!"
Hearing Li Jinglian's words, everyone present, including Gao Hongtu, looked stern.
Because if we follow what Li Jinglian said, there will probably be a river of blood flowing out at noon today, and at least hundreds of civil and military generals will be beheaded.
Even when Dong Zhuo proclaimed himself Emperor Xian of Han, he had never killed so many people.
At the moment, everyone's eyes are focused on Gao Hongtu, and this decision can only be made by Gao Hongtu.
Gao Hongtu hesitated for a long time, but finally made up his mind: "Let me bear this infamy. For the sake of the eternal stability of the Ming Dynasty, and for the concept of co-governance by scholars and officials, why should I care about the infamy after my death?"
At that moment, Gao Hongtu went straight out of his house and went to the governor's office to look for Wei Guogong.
…
Wei Guogong Xu Hongji was also sitting on pins and needles in the palace of the Fifth Army Commander's Mansion.
Xu Hongji's younger brother Xu Yaoji, his eldest son Xu Yinjue, and nephew Xu Renjue were also present at this time.
"Brother, please stop hesitating." Xu Yaoji said, "Whether you support King Yong's accession to the throne or support the Crown Prince's accession to the throne, you must come up with a charter, and you can't be ambiguous anymore."
"Yes, father." Xu Yinjue also said, "Otherwise, both sides will be offended."
"Why don't I want to make a decision earlier?" Xu Hongji said angrily, "But you tell me, which one should I support? King Yong or Crown Prince?"
Xu Renjue said: "The Donglin Party has taken control of the overall situation in Nanjing, so it is natural for them to support King Yong on the throne."
"No." Xu Hongji shook his head and said, "That is to say, Gao Hongtu and other scholars are only thinking about supporting King Yong. They have never thought about what will happen once King Yong is established."
"What will happen?" Xu Renjue asked, "Will the prince raise an army?"
"Yes, the prince will definitely raise an army." Xu Hongji said, "Don't forget, there are 30 frontier troops in Xuzhou and 200,000 local warriors in Huai'an Prefecture. They all listen to the prince."
"Even if he does something serious." Xu Yaoji said disapprovingly, "When the prince has reorganized his troops and went south to Huaiyang, the Donglin Party has already reorganized the political situation in Nanjing. By then, they can mobilize the wolf soldiers from Huguang, Jiangxi and even Guangxi.
King Qin and the Zheng family from Fujian may not necessarily help the prince."
"Yes." Xu Renjue said, "Without the navy, the prince's army would not even be able to cross the Yangtze River."
Xu Yaoji continued: "When the time comes, there is a big river in front and no food and grass behind. The prince's army will soon collapse without a fight, and the country of Ming Dynasty will belong to the eternal king from now on."
Well, the father and son Xu Yaoji and Xu Renjue never thought that doing this would lead to the destruction of the Ming Dynasty.
Xu Hongji was a little moved, but he still hesitated: "However, if the Donglin Party is really allowed to control the overall situation of the DPRK and China, it will be difficult for our Xu family to make money from the exchange. Those civil servants will look ugly."
Xu Yaoji said: "Then tell them that our Xu family wants to occupy half of the stock exchange."
While the brothers and nephews were discussing, the housekeeper suddenly came in and reported: "Master, Mr. Gao Ge is here to visit."
"Brother, Mr. Gaoge must be here to ask for your opinion." Xu Yaoji said, "You can't hesitate any longer. If you miss this village, you won't have this store. If you offend the Donglin Party, our Xu family will be in trouble."
It’s hard to move forward in Nanjing.”
"I know, I know, you can avoid it for now." Xu Hongji sent Xu Yaoji and the others away, and asked the housekeeper to invite Gao Hongtu in.
"Wei Guogong!" Gao Hongtu said straight to the point as soon as he walked in the door, "I need the capital camp to maintain the court situation, so if you have any conditions, you can just put forward them."
Now that we have reached this point, there is no need to hide it anymore.
Because both Gao Hongtu and the Donglin Party know very well that only interests are the most convincing.
If there is not enough interest, it will not be enough for Wei Guogong Xu Hongji to bet all his chips.
[Note: Don’t call me out of context, I’m really just writing this, there must be a process of singing]
