In the third hall of the Duke's Mansion, Li Zhi looked at the eunuch who announced the decree, frowning and saying nothing.
Li Laosi walked up and stuffed fifty taels of silver into the eunuch. The eunuch who announced the edict knew that the edict he announced was not a good thing, and originally thought that he would not get the money. He stuffed the money into his sleeve and quickly handed over the edict.
He handed it to Li Laosi, bowed to Li Zhi, and left happily.
Li Xing, who was standing aside, saw the eunuch walking away, stood up and cursed: "The emperor is tired of being greedy. We rely on our own troops to rob North Korea, but he has to intervene no matter what. If you have the ability, let the people from the capital
The new army goes to North Korea to rob it?"
Zhong Feng said with a smile: "I guess the emperor wants to expand the new army, but he can't raise food and wages. Nowadays, the scholars in the south don't listen to the emperor anymore, and there are more and more tax arrears. There are more rebels in Henan and Huguang.
, the emperor’s finances are becoming increasingly tight.”
Zhong Feng suddenly said: "Is the emperor now only in charge of matters in Beizhili and Shanxi?"
After thinking about it, Zhong Feng asked himself again: "Does Shanxi need to discuss with the Donglin Party to manage Beizhili?"
Li Xing spat: "No matter how difficult it is for the Emperor, he can't make money from us. We have no money, and we have never thought about the Emperor's money. What Tianjin and Shandong should turn over to the warehouse every year should be transferred to other military towns.
One tael of silver is a lot for us. There is no loyal minister like my eldest brother."
Zheng Kaicheng pondered and said: "The emperor did not explicitly ask for money. In the imperial edict, the emperor only hinted that we should turn over some." After a pause, Zheng Kaicheng added: "But speaking of it, North Korea is a legal vassal of the Ming Dynasty. If the emperor does not authorize it,
Call this an illegal crusade."
Zhong Feng smiled and said: "What can the emperor do? Can he lead his 80,000 new troops to Tianjin?"
Zheng Kaicheng said: "That's not the case, but it is always inappropriate to grant authority to others at that time. Now that we are enemies of the gentry all over the world, it is the time when we need allies to fight against the enemy together."
After hearing Zheng Kaicheng's words, everyone was silent for a while. Now Li Zhi wants to unite the common people and dutiful merchants in the world to fight against the gentry and government merchants who are sucking the blood of the Ming Dynasty. Whether it is for the illiterate civilians or the merchants who do honest business.
It is of extraordinary significance to say that the emperor is their sustenance and spiritual support.
Li Zhi's generals all understood that until Li Zhi's prestige reached a certain level, Li Zhi was not prepared to leave the emperor and go it alone.
Li Laosi, who was sitting on the chair, suddenly said: "Then give one million taels of silver to the emperor. If it is too much, we will lose the meaning of the Northern Expedition to Korea."
When everyone heard what Li Laosi said, they looked at each other for a while, but no one spoke.
Zheng Kaicheng said: "We got 14 million, and we gave one million taels to the emperor. Isn't it a bit disrespectful?"
Zheng Kaicheng's words caused the other generals to laugh, as if they had heard a funny joke.
I don't know who said: "Zheng Kaicheng, sell your newly built mansion and donate it to the emperor."
Li Zhi also smiled and said: "The emperor wants to train a new army and is very short of money. Let's agree to give one million taels to the emperor."
####
Wang Chengen looked at Li Zhi's memorial and pursed his lips.
"Your Majesty, Li Zhi is being disrespectful. He said that if he could get 15 million from the conquest of North Korea, he would give one million to the emperor's inner treasury. One million is not even a fraction.
"
Wang Chengen said: "This Li Zhi killed Shanxi merchants and gentry in Jiangnan, and made a lot of money. So far, he has only paid five million taels to the emperor. If this goes on, Li Zhi will become richer and richer, while the emperor will become richer and richer.
As we become poorer and poorer, we will create a situation in which the internal environment is neglected and the external environment is emphasized."
Wang Dehua, the eunuch of Dongchang Printing, looked at Zhu Youjian's face and said: "Your Majesty, according to reliable information, Li Zhi copied 30 million taels in Shanxi and more than 13 million in Jiangnan. In these two places,
He earned more than 43 million. After excluding what was handed over to the emperor, he still had 38 million taels, which can be described as a huge sum of money."
"It is said that the Duke's Mansion in Tianjin has run out of money, and the money has been placed in the granary of Fanjiazhuang."
The light rain in summer kept falling. Zhu Youjian walked to the window, looked at the wet Forbidden City, and shook his head.
"The Duke of Jin's ability to amass wealth is really great."
"Every time I take action, I hold high the cause of justice and kill Chu Xiao cleanly without leaving anyone with anything to say."
"It's a pity that there is only one Li Zhi. If my Ming Dynasty had more than one Li Zhi to check and balance each other, why would I need to worry about the country and the country every day?"
Hearing the emperor's praise, Wang Chengen and Wang Dehua looked at each other, somewhat disapprovingly.
Wang Chengen took a step forward and said: "Your Majesty, we cannot let Li Zhi easily prevaricate this time. If Li Zhi does not hand over more than five million taels, we will openly protect the vassal state of North Korea and declare Li Zhi's crusade against North Korea illegal.
"
Wang Dehua also seemed to be resentful of Li Zhi's instigation, and was very dissatisfied with Li Zhi's unremitting efforts. He said to Zhu Youjian: "Your Majesty, our Dongchang fans in Fanjiazhuang cannot penetrate, but in the prefectures and counties of Tianjin and Shandong
We have a lot of details to do. As long as we spread the news that the Holy Emperor disagrees with the crusade against Korea, Li Zhi's behavior of disobeying the imperial edict and robbing the vassal country will be known to his subjects. The image of Li Zhi's righteousness in these years will be
It fell apart overnight."
Wang Chengen rolled his eyes, clapped his hands and said, "This is a wonderful move! It's wonderful!"
Zhu Youjian looked back at his two confidant eunuchs and frowned.
"Nonsense! Do you want to force me and Duke Jin to become enemies?"
When Wang Chengen and Wang Dehua heard Zhu Youjian's words, their smiles suddenly froze in fright. They fell to their knees on the ground, kowtowed and said, "I don't dare!"
Zhu Youjian shouted: "The Duke of Jin has been loyal in the southern and northern wars over the years, and he can be said to be the mainstay of our Ming Dynasty. Although he controls Tianjin and Shandong, he never owes the food and salary that should be handed over. If I listen to your careless words,
If the Duke of Jin is dissatisfied with me, the country and the country will be in danger."
"Now that the thieves have occupied Henan and the thieves have settled in Huguang, it is the right time to employ people. I now understand that if we continue to follow the public opinion of the Donglin Party, we will only turn good people into rebels and bring chaos to the world. Li Zhi
Even if you are a little bit instigating, you can't conflict with him because of it."
Wang Dehua was about to speak, but was overtaken by Wang Cheng'en. Wang Cheng'en kowtowed on the ground and said: "Your Majesty is a wise man! This servant is short-sighted and deserves death!"
Zhu Youjian looked at the two young eunuchs and said nothing.
Swinging his sleeves and sitting on the throne, Zhu Youjian read Li Zhi's memorial again and said slowly: "One million taels is not a small number. It is enough to arm 10,000 new troops and support 10,000 people for a year.
Food and wages are due.”
"Li Zhi used private troops to conquer North Korea, and the court did not need to contribute any force."
"Publish my decree and give the righteous title of conquering North Korea to the Duke of Jin. North Korea once surrendered to the Qing Dynasty and committed treason, and should be fined 15 million taels of silver. The general Li Zhi is fully responsible for this matter. If North Korea cannot wake up and pay
For your sins, I grant the Northern General Li Zhi the authority to dispatch troops and generals to act expediently."
