Wei Zhongxian himself was illiterate, so the cabinet votes were usually read to him by Wang Tiqian, the Chief of Ceremonies, and Li Yongzhen, the Chief of Ceremonies, who would then handle them according to Wei Eunuch's opinions.
When the cabinet vote was about to be sent to the Supervisor of Ceremonies, several people were really excited.
Li Yongzhen laughed and said: "The Donglin Party members are actually going to attack Uncle Ning Yuan. This is really good news! I heard that Uncle Ning Yuan set up a private customs in North Korea to collect taxes, and also sold trade licenses, earning a lot of money. If one of our people can become the governor of North Korea, it will be a huge income!"
Wei Zhongxian glanced at Li Yongzhen and said, "How can things be so easy?"
"Currently, the Donglin Party members control important positions in the DPRK. Even if Uncle Ning Yuan loses the position of Governor of North Korea, it will not be our turn to take the position. In the end, isn't it an advantage for the Donglin Party?"
Li Yongzhen said: "I don't think so. From Ning Yuanbo's point of view, if he can't keep the governor of North Korea, would he be willing to let someone from the Donglin Party become the governor of North Korea, or would he rather let someone from our party become the governor of North Korea?"
Even Wang Tiqian, who has always been calm, said: "We, the Chief of Ceremonies, and Ning Yuanbo have always formed an alliance to fight against the Donglin Party. However, Ning Yuanbo has never participated in the battles in the court. This time involves the huge interests of North Korea, and he The noble forces behind it will definitely take action."
"Although we cannot agree to this vote to remove Uncle Ning Yuan, so as not to increase Dong Lindong's arrogance, there is no need to reject it so quickly."
"You can stay in the middle for now. On the one hand, the Donglin Party can continue to make trouble and confront the honorable nobles head-on. In addition, the godfather can also get more benefits from Uncle Ning Yuan."
Wei Zhongxian has been dealing with Li Xianzhong much longer than Li Yongzhen. Although Ning Yuanbo is not very domineering on the surface, he is generous and known as the "God of Wealth".
But this is only based on the premise that he feels that you are valuable and can share it with him.
If you think he is easy to bully and take the initiative to blackmail him, I'm afraid he will eat you to the bone.
Go to North Korea to grab money from Uncle Ning Yuan?
I don’t even want to think about how the original Liaodong mine supervisor, Mr. Han, died on the way to the copper mine.
Li Yongzhen is still too young and not as clear as Wang Tiqian.
Warlords like the Li family, who have dominated Liaodong for decades, are different from the Donglin Party who only know how to fool around all day long.
Now the Ming armies in Liaodong and North Korea are under the control of Li Xianzhong. If he doesn't nod, even if the North Korean governor is ordered to go to North Korea, he will definitely not be able to get money.
Whether it is with the help of the Tatars or the Korean mob, Li Xianzhong can make you die without any problems.
In the end, Wei Zhongxian said: "Let's keep this vote in hand but not issue it. We want to see what other tricks the Donglin Party can come up with?"
The cabinet's proposal to remove Lee Xianzhong, the Korean governor, soon caused an uproar among the noble circles.
Since Li Xianzhong took control of North Korea, the nobles have made a lot of money through the North Korean trade route. Now that the Donglin Party members want to remove Li Xianzhong, this will definitely affect their interests.
Chengguo Gong Zhu Chunchen and others quickly held a gathering in heaven and earth. All the nobles also expressed that they must fight against the Donglin Party at tomorrow's court meeting to ensure that their trade routes in North Korea are smooth.
But the Donglin Party felt a little surprised.
Liu Yijing, a bachelor, said: "Wei Yi and Li Xianzhong have always been in collusion. This time, the Supervisor of Ceremonies did not reject the cabinet's vote to remove Li Xianzhong. The sun is really shining in the west!"
Han Xu, the Minister of Rites, said: "I think it was Wei Yi who was eyeing North Korea's money and wanted to get a share of it. Don't tell me that Ning Yuanbo Li Xianzhong is really a talent. He created this 'Ming Army in North Korea' and took control of it all at once." The lifeline of North Korea. The King of North Korea still has to spend money to raise soldiers for our Ming Dynasty. This is really a dumb man eating coptis and unable to tell the story of his suffering!"
Ye Xianggao said: "Li Xianzhong is good at digging into camps. He seems to be humble and not domineering, but in fact he uses money to integrate various forces."
"Now Liaodong is run by him like a piece of iron, and the imperial court has no way to intervene. Compared with his father Li Rusong, and even his grandfather Li Chengliang, it is worse. If it is not controlled, sooner or later it will become a disaster for our Ming Dynasty."
Liu Yijing said: "Mr. Ye Ge, don't worry too much. Li Xianzhong is just a warrior, and only those nobles in the court look after him!"
"These people gather because of profit, and they will naturally disperse because of profit!"
"Since Wei Gong does not object to this matter, he will definitely recommend his people to go out to control North Korea. The current situation in North Korea is also very complicated. It has to face the Tatar attack, deal with relations with North Korea, and manage the Ming troops stationed in North Korea. We have to recommend people who live in a town with decent living conditions.”
Liu Yijing is right. Yuan Yingtai and Wang Huazhen, the two former chief officials of Liaodong elected by the Donglin Party members, overturned one after another. Therefore, the selection of the governor of North Korea this time must be done very carefully!
After thinking about it, among the Donglin Party members, only Zhang Heming, the right minister of the Ministry of War, had once put down the Miao rebellion and was a man who knew the military.
Moreover, the title of Minister of War is enough to control North Korea.
At the court meeting, Ye Xianggao indeed launched an attack on the accusations made by the North Korean envoy.
However, Emperor Tianqi Zhu Youxiao seemed to be more concerned about the war in Korea.
He said: "Xiong Shangshu, what is the current war situation in Korea?"
Xiong Tingbi said: "Your Majesty, our 'Ming Army Garrisoned in Korea' has repelled the Tatar attack. At present, the Korean army, with the assistance of our army, has begun to launch a counterattack and begin to regain its lost ground in Jiangyuan Province!"
Zhu Youxiao said: "The Tatars invaded North Korea because the North Korean army could not defend its territory. Now that the 'Ming Army stationed in North Korea' has helped them repel the Tatars, what else does the King of North Korea have to cry about? Isn't it okay? look for a job!"
After Zhu Youxiao finished speaking, Zhu Chunzheng, Duke of Chengguo, immediately said: "Your Majesty, the Ming army stationed in Korea, under the command of Ning Yuanbo, protected Korea for more than a year, recovered the Yellow Sea Road, and helped it successfully resist the Tatars. King of Korea Instead of being grateful to the Ming Dynasty, they scolded our Ming army stationed in the DPRK. This trend must not rise!"
"How can Uncle Ning Yuan be replaced because of his hard work and merits? Wouldn't this make the loyal ministers feel cold?"
After Duke Cheng Guo finished speaking, the British Duke and other distinguished nobles immediately echoed!
The nobles thought that Wei Zhongxian would definitely speak out to support them. In this way, the matter was basically done.
Unexpectedly, neither Wei Zhongxian nor the 'Fengsheng Lady' Ke Yinyue said a word at this time.
Chief Assistant Ye Xianggao took the opportunity to say: "Uncle Ning Yuan is currently in charge of Liaodong Economic Strategy and is busy with military affairs. At this time, he should concentrate on conquering Jianzhou and completely quelling the Jianzhou Rebellion. He really has no time to distract from Korean affairs."
"It has been more than half a year since our army last arrived at Hetuala City, and Liaodong's military strength has been fully restored."
"I would like to ask your Majesty to issue an order for Uncle Ning Yuan to conquer Jianzhou again and send troops to Hetuala!"
"In order to allow Uncle Ning Yuan to conquer with peace of mind, the cabinet recommended that Zhang Heming, the right minister of the Ministry of War, go to North Korea. In this way, Uncle Ning Yuan will be able to completely put down the Jianzhou Rebellion!"
After Ye Xianggao finished speaking, a group of cabinet ministers and Donglin Party members immediately echoed his words.
This group of people kept praising Li Xianzhong and praised Ning Yuanbo to the sky.
It is said that he is the pillar of the Ming Dynasty, holding the purple golden beam across the sea, and will definitely fulfill the late emperor's last wish and completely put down the Jianzhou Rebellion.
How can nobles and nobles speak against these civil servants?
At this time, Zhu Youxiao, who was undecided, looked at Wei Zhongxian. After getting confirmation from the other party, he issued an order on the spot: order Ning Yuanbo Li Xianzhong to send troops to attack Jianzhou again.
Then Zhang Heming's appointment as the governor of North Korea was approved.
Zhu Chunzheng was also speechless. If the Donglin Party slandered Li Xianzhong, they could still argue with their arguments.
But now they are constantly "praising and killing" their purpose is to let Li Xianzhong conquer Jianzhou so that the position of North Korean governor-general can be vacated for Zhang Minghe.
Originally, in North Korea under the control of Li Xianzhong, merchants from Liaodong and northern merchants from the capital monopolized trade.
Zhang Minghe is from South Zhili, and many Donglin Party members are also from Jiangnan. As he comes to power, those Jiangnan businessmen will definitely enter North Korea in large numbers, further squeezing their profit margins.
At this time, Mao Yuanyi was meeting Wei Zhongxian in the secret room of Dongchang.
Mao Yuanyi said with a smile: "Earlier Ning Yuanbo raised money for His Majesty Wanli in North Korea, and he promised to donate 150,000 taels of silver every year. Now His Majesty Tianqi seems not to be interested in these silvers. Ning Yuanbo said that he would pay the 150,000 taels every year. Give it to Eunuch Wei to save for Your Majesty."
Wei Zhongxian was naturally happy to receive money.
However, he really couldn't understand Li Xianzhong's operation, so he said with a smile: "Mr. Ye Ge and the others keep an eye on His Majesty's internal funds every day. It has only been more than a year since Master Wanli passed away, and more than 5 million yuan in silver has been spent from the internal funds." Two, if our family hadn't been keeping an eye on it, in a few years the wealth accumulated by the previous emperors would have been emptied by them."
"But there is still something unclear about our family. Even if Uncle Ning Yuan no longer wants to be the governor of North Korea, why should our family not take action?"
"This will give these Donglin Party members an advantage."
Mao Yuanyi smiled slightly, and then said: "As the saying goes, if you want to take something, you must give it first."
"Eunuch Wei is fighting against these Donglin Party members. Is he worried that he won't be able to take advantage of them?"
"Nowadays, the Minghe Mansion is full of people, and there must be many wealthy businessmen and officials involved in it."
Only then did Wei Zhongxian realize that Li Xianzhong's move of retreating into advancement was really wonderful!
This time he did not take action to stop the Donglin Party, and Li Xianzhong was removed as the governor of North Korea. The Donglin Party members must be arrogant.
As long as he catches the evidence that they bribed Zhang Minghe, he can take the opportunity to bring down a group of Donglin Party members.
Even if they didn't pay bribes, as long as they appeared in Zhang Minghe's house, I could still find a way to get them to admit it.
He laughed and said: "Okay, okay, okay! Uncle Ning Yuan has a way, and our family will remember Uncle Ning Yuan's kindness! Please rest assured, Uncle Ning Yuan, our family will fully support this expedition to Jianzhou, and we will definitely not Let those Donglin Party members add to the chaos."
Mao Yuanyi raised his hand and said: "Uncle Ning Yuan's expedition to establish the state requires the support of Yan Mingtai, the governor of Jiliao, and Xiong Tingbi, the minister of the Ministry of War. I also ask Eunuch Wei to keep the two of them."
"Xiong Benbing is a member of the cabinet. When Eunuch Wei is in need in the future, Xiong Benbing will definitely speak for Eunuch Wei."
Originally, Li Xianzhong wanted Xiong Tingbi to join Wei Zhongxian directly, but unfortunately Xiong Tingbi was too stubborn and refused.
Nowadays, either the Donglin Party or Wei Zhongxian's people are from the DPRK. Xiong Tingbi will not be able to survive in the DPRK unless he joins one party.
In the end, Li Xianzhong had no choice but to tell Wei Zhongxian that these two people were his own and let Wei Zhongxian take care of them.
At present, he is extremely short of civil servants. Although he already has a list, it is difficult for him to transfer officials due to the Donglin Party's control over the lower bureaucracy. For the time being, he can only reuse the existing officials in Liaodong.
If the development follows the normal historical line, it will take at least three or four years for Eunuch Wei to fully control the government. He cannot wait that long.
Since those old guys from the Donglin Party have grabbed hold of me and refused to let go, don't blame yourself for being rude to them! He could only help Wei Zhongxian to deal with these bastards faster.
Zhang Minghe's appointment as the governor of North Korea was a good job. Previously, businessmen from the south of the Yangtze River had been excluded from North Korean trade. This time I heard that North Korea's governor-general had been replaced and immediately began to move around. Many officials in the DPRK and China stepped up their movements, all wanting to get a piece of North Korea's pie.
So Zhang Minghe was already making a lot of money even before he went to North Korea to take up his post!
Soon he boarded a ship from Tianjin and rushed to North Korea.
Zhang Minghe took some staff and two hundred servants on two lucky ships and set out for his destination, Incheon.
It is said that people are in high spirits during happy events. Zhang Minghe stood on the bow of the ship and looked into the distance, imagining the luxurious life he would live in after arriving in North Korea.
The voyage for the first two days went very smoothly until they entered the Bohai Strait between Lushun and Dengzhou, when two giant warships appeared in front of them.
A staff member said tremblingly: "Governor Zhang is not in good condition. We seem to have encountered pirates?"
Although they were Ming navy masters, the small Fuchuan looked like toys when faced with the giant sailing ship.
Soon the two warships approached them one after the other.
Originally, Zhang Minghe wanted to rely on the elite servants on the ship to fight, but the pirates used Lumi guns from a long distance to directly kill more than a dozen servants.
This time Zhang Minghe was completely honest.
Zheng Zhilong shouted: "We are the caravan of the East Ryukyu Company. When you enter the Yellow Sea, you must pay us protection fees, otherwise we will confiscate your ships and take you back to our home base as slaves."
Zhang Minghe almost fainted from anger. He was about to be captured by pirates and made a slave before his good life had even begun?
He said: "This is the official ship of the Ming Dynasty. If you rob me, aren't you afraid of being wanted by the navy of the Ming Dynasty?"
After hearing this, Zheng Zhilong and others burst into laughter.
He said: "My ship is a light Galenic sailing ship with a displacement of 800 tons. It is equipped with 88 12-pound Hongyi cannons. What will your Ming navy use to hit me?"
Let me tell you, I have the final say over this sea now. I don’t have the money to throw you all into the sea to feed the sharks.
Zhang Minghe came to North Korea to make money, so naturally he didn't bring much money with him. In the end, a thousand taels of silver were found on the ship.
Zheng Zhilong cursed angrily: "Someone throw this corrupt official into the sea and feed it to the sharks."
Zhang Minghe quickly said: "I am the Ming Dynasty's governor in Korea. I have money, but I am not on the ship."
Zheng Zhilong smiled slightly and said: "Let two people go back and bring silver to redeem the people. Since you are a governor, you will have 50,000 taels of silver. If you are one penny short, you can go to the Dragon Palace to be the governor of the Dragon King."
Fifty thousand taels made Zhang Minghe feel a pain in his heart. All the money given by the merchants before had to be spent this time.
It is simply unrealistic to ask the navy to rescue oneself. Let alone whether these pirates will fight against each other, the largest blessing ship of the Ming Dynasty is simply not enough to look at in front of this ship.
A few days later, after paying a ransom of 50,000 taels, Zhang Minghe was finally released to Incheon Port.
Although Kong Youde was the person in charge of the Ming army stationed in North Korea, his identity was the Jinyiwei Zhenfu envoy affiliated with Nanzhen Fusi, so he did not need to report to Zhang Minghe.
As a North Korean general, Yu Wanli led his people to greet Governor Zhang at the dock.
Zhang Minghe, who suffered heavy losses, originally expected to make up for the damage from the ground, but as a result, not a single merchant ship was seen on the dock.
He asked: "Didn't you say that there were merchant ships transporting goods at Incheon Port? Why didn't you see it?"
Yu Wanli said with a sad face: "Originally, there was, but recently a pirate named 'East Ryukyu Company' appeared. All merchant ships were robbed, so there are no ships coming."
"The pirate named Zheng Zhilong has lied. If you want to do business, you must pay him money, otherwise you can't even think about it!"
Zhang Minghe originally wanted to make a fortune in North Korea, but now, merchant ships have to pay taxes to pirates. Then Zheng Zhilong must be a lion's mouth. He scooped up a piece of wool from the merchant ship. How much can he still get?
Then, depressed, he set his sights on the salt fields of Hwanghae Road.
As a result, the officials in charge of the salt field ignored him at all. In one sentence, the income from the salt field was used to pay the Ming army, and he, the governor in the DPRK, had no right to embezzle it.
Sadly, Zhang Minghe found that he, the governor of North Korea, had nothing to gain.
However, Jin Yao, the new North Korean leader, still found Zhang Minghe. Jin Yao decided to rope in Zhang Minghe and Zhang Minghe to sell salt together and jointly monopolize the goods from Ming Dynasty to North Korea.
This made Zhang Minghe overjoyed. He, the governor of North Korea, finally had a way to make money.
Soon the two got together.
Although Zheng Zhilong directly collected half of the protection fees from merchant ships traveling in Jiangnan, this huge profit still prompted them to continue to transport silk from Jiangnan to North Korea.
Zhang Minghe teamed up with Jin Yao to raise the price of these silks, and they still made a profit.
However, the good times did not last long, and the North Korean leader Jin Yu was directly stabbed to death by an assassin in the street.
Not only him, but also those North Korean "Western Party" officials either "died accidentally" or were assassinated.
Overnight, North Korea's leading officials, left and right officials, and officials who were closely related to Jin Yu all died inexplicably.
The whole of North Korea fell into a state of terror, and the former North Korean leader Jin Zidian, who was soon imprisoned, was once again appointed as North Korea's leader by King Li Jie of North Korea.
After Jin Zidian came to power, he naturally carried out counterattack and liquidation. Jin Zidian directly sent a mission to the Ming Dynasty to accuse North Korean Governor Zhang Minghe of colluding with Jin Yu to smuggle goods and disrupt North Korean prices.
The cabinet controlled by Dong Lin will naturally not report this matter.
But the evidence that Zhang Minghe accepted bribes was already in Dongchang's control.
Those wealthy Jiangnan businessmen who had been cheated by Zhang Heming couldn't swallow this sigh of relief. Zhang Heming took a lot of money from them, but Zheng Zhilong appeared again and robbed half of the goods.
How can they endure this?
Soon, Wei Zhongxian reported Zhang Minghe's bribery and private opening of the sea ban to Emperor Tianqi.
Wei Zhongxian even directly told His Majesty that the North Korean envoy's accusation against Zhang Minghe was suppressed by the cabinet.
Emperor Tianqi was furious and directly issued an order to escort Zhang Heming, the governor of North Korea, back to Dongchang Prison.
Eunuch Wei finally launched an attack on the Donglin Party!
Thank you to all book friends for your support with monthly tickets, recommendation tickets, and follow-up subscriptions!
Thanks to book friends "878231.qdcn", "zbqzbq", "20211028130942650", "Snow Mountain Flying Pig 2046", "ykkj", "2022071923717313", "20190701211446617", "20180199095816917", Monthly ticket support.
(End of chapter)
