After sending Li Zhi and Liang Ruyuan out of the city, Lu Er waited until dawn and then entered the city grandly.
Sure enough, the atmosphere in the city became more tense. Lu Er returned to the printing shop, bought two kilograms of good meat from the market, and went to the home of his former Jinyiwei colleague Zhu Su.
Zhu Su, originally named Li Su, was given the national surname Zhu because he did things properly and made contributions in a major case in the 20th year of Jiajing.
Zhu Su, like Lu Er, was originally Lu Bing's confidant and favorite general. After Lu Bing died suddenly, Zhu Su quickly cut off Lu Bing and saved his life.
However, Zhu Su also moved from a key position to an insignificant position. His current position is as the admiral of the imperial prison, that is, the jailer who guards the imperial prison.
This time Lu Er entered the capital, and Su Ze gave him the task of "burning the cold stove".
The people Lu Er made friends with among the factory guards were all capable but marginalized Jinyi guards. These people had lost their power and their lives had long been different. Lu Er always brought gifts to visit and was generous. They were very Hard to refuse.
Zhu Su worked as an errand all night and came home early this morning. When he saw the pork in Lu Er's hand, he welcomed him into the house warmly.
"Second Master Lu is here as soon as he comes. What else do you need to bring?"
Lu Er handed the pork to Zhu Su's mother-in-law. Looking at the other party's smile, he also knew that Zhu Su had lost power and his family had long been ruined.
Jin Yiwei is also a military attache, and his hereditary status of hundreds of thousands of households sounds majestic, but his annual salary is less than eight taels of silver.
With this salary alone, there is no way to survive in the capital, let alone the fact that the imperial court has been in arrears with wages every now and then over the years.
Zhu Su was in relatively good condition among the Jinyi guards, and he still had some luck in guarding the imperial prison. Those who were assigned to more peripheral departments really had some troubles to uncover.
Lu Er and Zhu Su chatted for a while, and then Zhu Su started talking about what happened last night.
"Second Master Lu, something big happened yesterday."
Lu Er made a listening expression.
Zhu Su said slowly: "Does Immortal Lan know? Immortal Lan is in prison."
Lu Er pretended to be surprised. He covered his mouth and said, "Lan Shenxian? Isn't Lan Shenxian the most favored Taoist priest by the emperor?"
Zhu Su nodded and said: "I heard that Lan Shenxian said in front of the emperor that Yan Ge was always a treacherous minister, and it was because of Yan Ge's strength that he was imprisoned this time."
Then, Zhu Su said: "Last night, Xiaoge Lao went to prison and met Lan Shenxian."
"This Blue Immortal is also very stubborn. Mr. Xiaoge said that as long as he revealed the person behind it, his life would be spared. However, Lan Immortal insisted that no one instigated him. He also insisted that the Yan family and his son were traitors. What a good spirit!”
Lu Er immediately pulled Zhu Su and said, "Old Zhu, be careful what you say!"
Zhu Su immediately said: "I know, I know, isn't this my brother?"
Zhu Su quickly said in a low tone: "Lan Shenxian suffered a lot after Xiaoge Lao left. If the old commander is still here, he will definitely keep him safe in prison."
Speaking of Lu Bing, both of them fell silent.
When Lu Bing was in Jinyiwei, although he was a Jinyiwei, Lu Bing was an upright person. Although the things Jinyiwei did were no different from what they do now, everyone felt that they were serving the country and being the emperor's pawn, and they even felt a little proud. .
However, after Lu Bing's death, the Jin Yiwei became a tool to harm Zhongliang. Many innocent ministers were arrested and tortured in prison. Old Jin Yiwei like Zhu Su felt a strong sense of discomfort and were not even willing to say that they were Jinyiwei.
People are all moral. No matter how shameless a villain is, they will still be afraid of the gazes of thousands of people. Jin Yiwei's errands are also human beings. They know better than others whether what they do is right or wrong.
Even after Lan Daoxing was imprisoned, Jin Yiwei also respected Lan Daoxing, a tough guy who refused to bite.
If Lu Bing was here, he would definitely protect him.
But now the governor in charge of the factory guard is Chen Hong. This eunuch with a pen is fierce and cunning, and he is best at catering to his superiors and bullying his subordinates.
Lan Daoxing suffered a lot of inhuman torture as soon as he entered the imperial prison. He was tortured before trial. Even the Jin Yiwei who used torture to extract confessions could not stand it anymore.
Zhu Su and Lu Er both sighed, Lan Daoxing was dead.
Sure enough, three days later, Lan Daoxing died in prison without biting anyone.
At this point, even the blazing Yan Dang could not continue to bite, and could only vent his anger on Lan Daoxing's disciples.
Lan Daoxing was defined as a "demon", and his disciples and disciples were also defined as the remaining demon men, and they were all sent to Guangxi.
Yan Dang's arrogance is high, but Qingliu dares to be angry but dare not speak out.
Yan Shifan, who had always felt that his father was weak, saw Yan Song take action and killed the popular Taoist official around the emperor. He once again felt the power of Yan Ge, the man who could dominate the sky with one hand. Sure enough, Jiang is still hotter! Yan Shifan, who had moved out of the house, also moved back to the house and began to serve his old father again.
But after getting rid of his political enemies, Yan Song's old face covered with age spots showed no trace of joy.
Yan Shifan helped his father clean up the study room, while Yan Song lay on the recliner with his eyes half-closed.
"Dad, what's wrong with you? Aren't you happy that the monster Lan Daoxing is dead?"
Yan Song squinted his eyes, looked at his son, and finally sighed.
"It prospered but then declined, Donglou, you still don't understand this truth. This time, Lan Daoxing was so smooth that it made dad feel scared."
Yan Shifan stopped. Although he had no achievements in the imperial examination, he was also very smart.
Yan Shifan has an amazing memory. Apart from Yan Song, only Yan Shifan can remember which book is placed on Yan Song's bookshelf and where it is.
When he was still living in Yan Song's house, Yan Shifan helped him pack the bookshelves. Since Yan Shifan moved out, Yan Song's bookshelves were completely in disarray.
Yan Shifan asked: "Did your Majesty do it on purpose?"
Yan Song did not answer the question, but closed his eyes and said: "Whether you and my father will fail depends on two things."
"What two things?"
"The first is whether this year's conversion of rice to mulberry can be successfully completed and whether we can get money for His Majesty."
"The second is Hu Zongxian's fight against the Japanese."
Yan Shifan smiled and said: "Zhejiang has done a good job converting rice to mulberry, and has started raising silkworms."
"Hu Ruzhen's side fought against the Japanese, and they also had three battles and three victories in Taizhou. Zhejiang's newly trained soldiers are pretty good!"
Yan Song sighed again, his son was indeed smart, but Yan Shifan's smartness was too quick to judge the situation.
At the same time, in the Fuzhou Bosi Yamen, Eunuch Tao and Su Ze were having a similar conversation.
"Xiangong Su, Yan Maoqing, the inspection censor, will arrive in Fuzhou tomorrow. The strict party is now in power. I'm afraid the Fuzhou Shipping Department is going to bleed heavily!"
Eunuch Tao paced back and forth and said anxiously: "The palace has long been dissatisfied with me for occupying this privileged position, especially as the factory boss Chen Hong has become more and more powerful. He has colluded with the Yan Party. My godfather has long been dissatisfied. The Za family I don’t know if I can hold this position!”
Eunuch Tao got angry and had bubbles forming on the corners of his mouth, but Su Ze drank the tea calmly.
"Ms. Su, please say something!"
Su Ze put down the tea cup and then said:
"Don't worry, father-in-law, there is no problem with our shipping company's accounts."
During these days, Su Ze led his students to deal with the account books of the Shipping Department from top to bottom. Su Ze's [Accounting Room] skill increased to Level 6.
When upgrading to Level 5, Su Ze specifically chose the [False Account Expert] skill among the three blue skills.
The three blue skills are:
[Audit Expert: When checking the account books made by others, accounting skills +2]
[Financial Expert: When formulating your own financial system and conducting internal verification, accounting skills +2]
[Fake Account Expert: When writing fake accounts, accounting skills +2]
Su Ze used the skills of [Fake Accounts Expert], and the "organized" account books of the Shipping Department can be said to be flawless.
However, a ledger is a ledger. As Yan Maoqing, the leading financial expert in the Yan Party, naturally cannot only look at the ledger.
Eunuch Tao naturally understood this truth, and Su Ze said again:
“The strict party is about to fall.”
Eunuch Tao suddenly stopped and looked at Su Ze doubtfully.
Eunuch Tao has connections in the palace, and the news he received did not show any signs that the strict party was about to collapse.
Su Ze raised his finger and said, "How many years has it been since Mr. Yan Ge became the chief minister of the cabinet?"
Eunuch Tao thought for a while and said: "Yan Ge always joined the cabinet in the 21st year, and it has been twenty years now."
Su Ze said: "There is no thirty-year-old prince in the world, and there is no twenty-year-old pavilion elder."
"Your Majesty must leave many things to the Yan Party, such as changing rice to mulberry, and fighting against the Japanese in Zhejiang Province. But the more people there are in the Yan Party and the more things the Yan Party does, the less His Majesty can tolerate them. Jing The king decided to join the vassal because His Majesty has seen that if King Jing really gets the full support of the Yan Party, he can really take the throne, so he decided to be the crown prince."
"The balance of power has been broken. According to that person's character, the day to attack the strict party is approaching."
Eunuch Tao quickly asked: "When?"
Su Ze raised his finger and said: "Two things, change rice into mulberry, and Zhejiang will fight against the Japanese."
Eunuch Tao said: "I heard that the conversion of rice to mulberry farming in Zhejiang was very good? Governor Hu also fought three victories in Taizhou, Zhejiang, and repelled the Japanese offensive in the spring. Doesn't that mean that the strict party will still be in power?"
Su Ze shook his head and said: "As long as the Yan Party accomplishes one of these two things, it will be close to its collapse. If it accomplishes both, the Yan Party's collapse is just around the corner."
"ah?"
Eunuch Tao looked at Su Ze in confusion, but Su Ze did not explain, but looked into the distance and said:
"Eunuch Tao, there is nothing wrong with the accounts, there is nothing wrong with the money handed in, your position is secure."
"If you vote for the Yan Party, this is the biggest problem."
Eunuch Tao originally had the idea of giving a large sum of money to befriend Yan Maoqing, but after hearing Su Ze's words, he immediately gave up the idea.
Since he entered Fujian, Su Ze has done everything right and has built a firm trust in Eunuch Tao for a long time.
Since Su Ze said that the Yan Party was going to collapse, he would just receive Yan Maoqing in a business-like manner.
Moreover, Eunuch Tao actually knew that the imprint of Li Fang's party was too deep on his body, and he was afraid that joining the strict party would not end well.
After calming Eunuch Tao's heart, Su Ze said again:
"When Yan Maoqing comes this time, the most important thing is to change the rice into mulberry."
Eunuch Tao asked in confusion: "Why?"
"To change rice into mulberry, you have to change it into silver in the end. The reason why Party Yan sent people to Fuzhou Ship Division is to seize this last link."
"When Yan Maoqing comes this time, he will definitely raise the price of silk and force the Ryukyu tribute envoys to buy more silk."
"This matter is a bargaining chip for my father-in-law and Yan Maoqing to negotiate. We must hold on tight. Yan Maoqing will not be able to make any money in the Fuzhou Shipping Department."
Eunuch Tao immediately understood what Su Ze meant. Yan Maoqing came here to exchange rice for Sang Duo, and checking accounts and extorting money were only secondary tasks.
As long as he stood in Yan Maoqing's way, he would have no choice but to let go of checking accounts and extorting money, and would not dare to trouble Eunuch Tao in depth.
When Yan Maoqing's conditions are finally met, Yan Maoqing will definitely compromise and no longer conduct an in-depth investigation of the accounts.
"High!"
After coming out of Shibosi Yamen, Su Ze felt tired.
This is the reason why he feels that the Ming Dynasty's reforms are difficult to save. In order to accomplish a simple thing, the entire system is constantly in internal friction, calculating, and coordinating the interests of multiple parties.
Those in power have more interests, but the people have fewer interests. Ming Dynasty made reforms again and again, but the benefits went into the mouths of interest groups, which was nothing more than passing from one mouth to another.
When everyone was full, the people who had no food to eat rose up and the Ming Dynasty was gone.
When the Fuzhou Shipping Division first started, it gave the imperial court a lot of money, but in the blink of an eye, other forces came to pick peaches.
The same is true for Fang Wanghai's banknote customs office. The banknote customs tax law has only been in effect for a long time, but now it is almost abolished.
When Su Ze returned to his mansion, his father-in-law Fang Wanghai was reading in the yard.
Later that year, Wanghai simply submitted a memorial, saying that he had fallen ill in Fuzhou and refused to go to South Zhili.
Fang Wanghai didn't care what the court said, since he didn't want to go to the Nanjing Household Department anymore.
"Rulin, you're back. What does Shibosi say?"
"Eunuch Tao is like a frightened bird."
"Hahaha!"
After Fang Wanghai finished laughing, he said in a somewhat offended tone, "I'm about the same."
Then Fang Wanghai took it and said, "Ru Lin, what is the difference between the 'mercantilism' mentioned in your book and Hong Wu's sea ban policy?"
This "Mercantilism" was a draft of a new book written by Su Ze. Fang Wanghai happened to have nothing to do, so Su Ze asked him to help with proofreading.
The mercantilism proposed by Su Ze can be regarded as a more fundamentalist mercantilism. The focus is to increase the earning of foreign gold and silver currency through overseas dumping. At the same time, it must also restrict the departure of domestic currency and restrict foreign businessmen from obtaining currency from the country.
After taking charge of the Bank and Customs Department for a period of time, Fang Wanghai's financial capabilities were greatly improved. He saw at a glance the value of mercantilism, which was a good way to solve the current shortage of money in the Ming Dynasty.
But Fang Wanghai still had some doubts, so he asked.
(End of chapter)
