Qiu Fengzhen, the prefect of Fengyang, never thought that one day she would find being an official so difficult.
The letters in my hands at this moment are nothing ordinary.
These are the knives that kill people and chase their souls!
These bastards are really as pervasive as those tarsal insects.
Qiu Fengzhen no longer dared to look down.
The more he watched, the more he felt that sooner or later the country would be defeated by these people. Cold sweat broke out on his back, and there was a cold air from the cracks in his bones.
Zhu Yunxi leaned on the back of his chair and looked calmly: "White Lotus Sect? Sure enough, there are also these Yin people involved."
As he spoke, he crossed his legs and gently crossed his legs, looking sideways at Gao Zhi, Bai Yuxiu and the other two.
Gao Yangzhi frowned and glanced at Qiu Fengzhen lightly.
The dignified prefect of Fengyang, the central capital, was so frightened by such a few letters. It is really a shame for the officials of the imperial court!
Bai Yuxiu said in a low voice: "If I remember correctly, when His Highness was summoned to provide relief for the disaster in Henan, when he arrived at Xuzhou Mansion, he encountered a rebellion and an ambush, and people from the White Lotus Sect were involved."
Qiu Fengzhen raised her head and took a deep look at the young head of the official department.
His Highness has actually already fought against the White Lotus Sect.
Did His Highness know in advance that this box contained a letter from the White Lotus Sect to the Cannibal?
Qiu Fengzhen hesitated for a moment.
Zhu Yunxi spoke up: "Prefect Qiu, what do you think of the White Lotus Sect? If I remember correctly, the imperial court had already issued a decree in the first year of Hongwu, banning the White Lotus Sect and other underground religious societies."
Qiu Fengzhen nodded repeatedly and hesitated: "Yes... yes... the imperial court has always cracked down on the White Lotus Sect..."
"Then..." Zhu Yunxi paused for a moment before continuing: "Then why do letters from the White Lotus Sect come in from Fengyang City, the central capital of the Ming Dynasty?"
Waves of accountability came all over the place.
The pressure made Qiu Fengzhen's legs tremble, and she was almost speechless.
"Chen...chen..."
"Chenchen..."
Gao Yangzhi rolled his eyes and thought for a while that he still had to explain himself to this fool.
He turned to look at Zhu Yunxi and said softly: "The White Lotus Sect is like a tarsal insect in our Central Plains. It has been banned repeatedly since the former Tang Dynasty. In the former Yuan Dynasty, the world was in chaos and the local people were in dire straits. This dynasty...
Although the imperial court has strictly inspected the White Lotus sect in recent years, the government is in the open and the White Lotus sect is in the dark, hidden among the common people, so it is difficult for the government to distinguish them. Zhongdu lives among the state capitals, and there has never been any turmoil, so it is even more difficult to distinguish.
The members of the White Lotus Sect fled into Zhongdu and secretly entered the imperial city of Zhongdu. They were outside the power and responsibilities of Fengyang Mansion. Although they committed a crime of negligence, they are excusable."
The cabinet minister begged for mercy.
Qiu Fengzhen was unexpected, but she couldn't help but calm down.
Although the prefect of Fengyang Prefecture in Zhongdu has the same rank as the prefect of Yingtian, starting from the third rank. But is he really happy as the prefect of Fengyang?
There is also a Zhongdu Left-behind Secretary in Fengyang City. Although it is responsible for the Zhongdu Guards Station, the grade of the Left-behind Secretary's Yamen is not even a bit higher than that of Fengyang Mansion.
Let's just say that Fengyang City was closed today, and the Si Yamen who stayed behind did not give the prefect Yamen a chance, so they sealed Fengyang City on their own.
Furthermore, where is the Imperial City of Zhongdu?
It was a forbidden area of the royal court.
As the magistrate of Fengyang Prefecture, can I manage the affairs in the Imperial City of Zhongdu?
Fengyang Magistrate’s Office is just a thing caught in the middle and receiving the blame!
However, Gao Yangzhi, who was explaining to Qiu Fengzhen and Fengyang Mansion just now, snorted coldly.
"Of course! It is my duty to guard the place as a minister. I have been here for several years, so the White Lotus Sect will never send you a letter just now."
Before the death of the dead, the White Lotus Sect must have had channels for communication, both internally and externally.
I don’t know how many years have passed since the White Lotus Sect entered Fengyang, the central capital. It was like entering a deserted land, treating the government as if there was no existence, and going in and out at will.
Fengyang Magistrate's Yamen, is there anyone aware of this?
As a minister, if you are not a traitor, you will be guilty of losing the city!"
Qiu Fengzhen was about to faint from fright.
Fortunately, it was just an inadvertent mistake. However, according to this young elder, it became a serious crime for losing the city.
"I'm... I'm down, I'm official... I'm... I'm..."
Qiu Fengzhen was completely speechless and trembled when she opened her mouth.
Snapped.
Zhu Yunxi slapped his palm on the armrest: "Whether the city has been lost or not, the court will decide for itself. Magistrate Qiu, you haven't read the letter in your hand yet."
"ah……"
Qiu Fengzhen opened her mouth and looked down at the letter in her hand.
He raised his head and looked at Zhu Yunxi in front of him, hesitatingly saying: "Yes... yes, yes... I'll take a look right now!"
Qiu Fengzhen lowered her head and looked at the remaining unread letters in her hand.
Now it has been confirmed that the White Lotus Sect is circulating in Fengyang City and has been in contact with the Canker. The following letters have exposed a huge group in front of him.
The prefect of Fengyang lowered his head tremblingly as he read such treasonous letters.
Zhu Yunxi tilted his head and looked at Gao Yangzhi: "Tell me, what surprises will these next letters bring us?"
The imperial court has affected the interests of many people in the past two years.
A pervasive organization like the White Lotus Sect will get involved in no matter what happens. And those whose interests have been touched will be even more nervous about the future.
They are accustomed to placing bets in advance and preparing their backup moves in advance.
Even if it ends up being a losing business.
Gao Yangzhi frowned, and he thought about all the reform decrees of the imperial court in the past few years, as well as all aspects involved.
The young cabinet minister couldn't help but feel shocked.
There are so many enemies in the imperial court!
"North."
After searching for a while, Gao Yangzhi gave a rough direction.
After finishing speaking, Gao Yangzhi lowered his head and glanced at Qiu Fengzhen in front of him. When he saw the other party was stunned for a moment, he wanted to raise his head but stopped, he knew that he had not said it before.
Zhu Yunxi smiled: "It's as I guessed."
"I... I also know it!"
Bai Yuxiu suddenly let out a low cry from the side, her eyes widened, and when she realized that her grandson was right in front of her, she immediately closed her mouth and muttered in a low voice: "The middle school system will be launched in the third year of Hongwu..."
Zhu Yunxi and Gao Yangzhi looked at each other, with a smile on their faces.
Twenty-five years ago, that is, the third year of Hongwu.
At that time, the Ming Dynasty had just been founded for three years, and the world had not yet been peaceful, but the remnants of the former Yuan Dynasty still occupied several areas in the south.
In order to stabilize the country and protect local armies, especially the newly established nine-border defense line, the imperial court reached an agreement with merchants from Shanxi Road and other places that would run through the entire Ming Dynasty and affect the entire empire.
Open to the public.
The original intention of the Kaizhong system was to ensure the provision of food and grass supplies for the troops and horses of Jiubian through Shanxi merchants who were close to Jiubian.
The capital Yingtian is located in the south of the Yangtze River, far away from Jiubian, and the road is long.
Every time the imperial court transports grain, grass, ordnance, more than half of it is lost on the road. If one stone of grain is transported to Jiubian, only half of it may be left.
In order to ensure that the troops guarding the nine sides would not go hungry and reduce the burden on the court.
The imperial court gave the legal status of official salt sales to merchants on Shanxi Road.
Merchants on the Shanxi Road used this to obtain salt from the Hedong Salt Pond, filling the role of the imperial court and transporting grain and grass supplies to important border towns such as Jiubian Datong and Juyongguan.
Since the implementation of the Kaizhong system in the third year of Hongwu, the imperial court has been able to save more than five million denier on the provision of grain and grass for the Nine Borders every year, and can ensure the supply of grain and grass for the Nine Borders on the spot and in a timely manner.
The agreement reached between the imperial court and Shanxi merchants had good intentions.
However, in the specific implementation process, there are countless opportunities for opportunism.
The merchants on Shanxi Road also have a long history and a long history.
The middle of the day is the market, bringing the people of the world to the world, praising the world's goods, trading and retreating, everyone gets what he has.
Merchants in the southern Shanxi region have been doing business in the world since the pre-Qin period.
By the Sui and Tang Dynasties, large-scale commercial towns had appeared in Jinzhou, Luzhou, Zezhou and other places.
Li Tang raised troops in Taiyuan and designated Taiyuan as the northern capital. Crossing both sides of the Fen River, commerce prospered.
Han Yu has a poem that goes: Hearing the street drums loudly, getting up in the morning feels like going to court.
In the former Song Dynasty, due to the country's border defense needs, the court needed a large number of war horses to ensure the strength of the army. The former Song Dynasty purchased a large number of war horses from the Liao Kingdom. At this stage, the merchants of Shanxi Road once again played an important role.
effect.
Border states set up forays to trade with the feudal lords, and merchants along the border went deep into the borders to engage in foreign trade.
Although the former Song Dynasty was worried that it would endanger the court's political power if it continued to be tolerated, and repeatedly ordered a ban on cross-border trade, the situation at the local level had long been difficult to recover, and everyone only cared about immediate interests.
By this dynasty, the Kaizhong system had been implemented for twenty years.
Merchants on Shanxi Road have already extended their tentacles from the Hedong Salt Pond, which was initially permitted by the imperial court, to the Jianghuai Salt Fields and other places.
Moreover, these big merchants, who were already extremely wealthy, once again accumulated a huge amount of wealth in just twenty years after the turmoil in the late Yuan Dynasty ended.
You must know that money and silk move people's hearts.
Shanxi merchants who have money will naturally use various means to ensure the wealth they have in their hands in order to earn more money, and also to ensure they earn more wealth.
Shanxi merchants, who hold the food and fodder supply for hundreds of thousands of troops in Jiubian Town, will use their power to the extreme.
"Introduce troops into the pass!"
Qiu Fengzhen suddenly exclaimed, her hands trembled, and the letters in her hands fell to the floor, and his whole face was full of fear.
The imperial prefect finally couldn't hold on any longer and fell to the ground.
Zhu Yunxi and others looked over with indifferent eyes.
Qiu Fengzhen, the prefect of Fengyang, could only think about the letter she had just opened.
It's full of treacherous words.
Qiu Fengzhen raised her head, but her eyes were empty.
"They...how dare they..."
"How dare you do this?"
"This is treason...this is treason..."
Zhu Yunxi sneered.
For these people, is there any time or thing that they dare not do?
Gao Yangzhi looked around: "This matter must be sealed and no news will leak out!"
The relationship is really huge.
The case that has been exposed is not something like Henan Road.
This is a major military case involving hundreds of thousands of troops from all nine sides of the Ming Dynasty!
If you are not careful, everything will be lost. The now impregnable Ming Dynasty's important nine-border town will receive a heavy blow from the inside.
At that time, what would the Mongolian Tatar tribe and the Oara tribe outside the Nine-sided Great Wall, these wolf-like and ambitious people, choose?
Will they give Ming a chance to take a breather and deal with its internal affairs?
The answer is clear and clear.
Zhu Yunxi nodded: "Please order some of the property here."
Sun Cheng, who was on the side, had long disliked Qiu Fengzhen, the prefect of Fengyang, for being such a coward. When the grandson said this, he immediately waved his hand.
Immediately, two imperial guards came forward and dragged Qiu Fengzhen aside, but did not leave but stood behind her.
Obviously, this was after listening to the words of Mr. Gao Ge, to prevent what happened here today from being leaked.
Sun Cheng personally took the people and began to count the belongings in the box.
Gao Yangzhi moved his steps and came to Zhu Yunxi's side.
"This matter is of great importance, involving the military, state and society. If you are not careful, it may lead to great chaos. I think that I should send a letter to report to His Majesty, and then start to make plans."
Zhu Yunxi tapped the armrest with his fingers and said softly: "What are your thoughts?"
"Originally, they were plotting things in secret, and the court didn't know about it. Now with these things, the court is in the dark, and they have surfaced."
Gao Yangzhi straightened up his words and continued: "When two armies are facing each other, they must also know where the enemy is. Now, all kinds of things on Shanxi Road have surfaced, and it is important to clear them out.
I believe that the most urgent task for the imperial court is to stop and recover the food and supplies for the Nine-Border Army.
Nowadays, the imperial court controls the Jiaozhi Road. Large ships cover the sea, and freight is constantly flowing. Grain and grass can be transported from the Jiaozhi Road, directly to Peiping, and forwarded to various places on the nine sides.
In the past, our country could only rely on merchants on Shanxi Road to supply food and supplies to the frontier army, but now it is different. Negotiations like that back then were a helpless move, and it was precisely because of this that it gave some people the confidence to think that they could use this
Take control of something you shouldn't have.
In this matter, the imperial court only had to take back the right to negotiate step by step and cut off Shanxi merchants from supplying food and grass supplies to the border army, so that the border army would have no worries.
If the frontier army will not be short of food and grass, then the morale of the frontier army will be stable. If the frontier army is stable, then the nine frontiers will not make mistakes.
There are no mistakes on the nine sides, and there are no opportunities outside. By stabilizing the nine sides, His Highness will have more opportunities and choices to calmly deal with the rebellion of Shanxi merchants in Shanxi Province.
At that time, whether it is mobilizing the troops and horses of the nearby Henan Province, or mobilizing the Beijing army under the command of Liang Guogong and Xipinghou to go north, they can thunder and shake off the Shanxi Road situation.
At that time, events in Shanxi Province will not affect the nine sides, let alone cause turmoil in the Central Plains."
After Gao Yangzhi finished speaking, he put his hands together and looked at Zhu Yunxi quietly.
In his plan, the imperial court wanted to completely replace the grain and grass sent by Shanxi Road merchants to the border army with grain and grass from Jiaozhi Road step by step.
As long as the imperial court stabilizes the hundreds of thousands of nine-border border troops, the influence exerted by Shanxi Dao and Shanxi merchants over the years will disappear.
The border troops are not in chaos.
The imperial court had countless ways to rectify Shanxi merchants.
Zhu Yunxi groaned softly.
It has to be said that the solution Gao Chunfeng came up with in such a short period of time was the most appropriate solution for the court.
Just when he was about to speak.
Sun Cheng, who was counting the belongings in the box, raised his head and shouted.
"Your Highness, the inventory has been completed."
"Including treasures, the total wealth here is no less than three hundred thousand taels!"