Zhou Yanru thought carefully about taking in these two people.
If Chongzhen is unable to fight against Donglin, even if he takes in the two, he will not be implicated.
On the contrary, at the appropriate time, I can hand over these two people to the emperor to gain the emperor's favor...
The house purchased by Zhou Yanru is not small in area. It has left and right yards, front and rear yards, a garden in the front and a pond in the back.
The original purpose of spending five thousand taels of silver was to have a more comfortable place to live in the south after leaving the wilderness.
After all, it is inconvenient to stay at a friend's house, which is far inferior to owning a house in the local area.
Although the house in my hometown in Yixing is large, the location is relatively remote and cannot be compared with the bustling Nandu, Yangzhou, Suzhou and other places.
There was a lot of noise outside, and Zhou Yanru did not dare to go out easily. He could only send a few close servants out to make more inquiries.
He entertained Hou Fangyu and Maoxiang who came to take shelter at home, and discussed countermeasures together.
"Brother Zhou!"
"Brother Zhang, what are you..."
The next day, Zhou Yanru saw Zhang Cai who came to visit and couldn't help but feel a little puzzled.
Zhang Cai is three years younger than the other party, so he always calls him "Brother Zhou". Zhou Yanru treats him politely in the same way.
"Oh~! It's hard to explain in words!"
"Sit down and talk!"
Zhou Yanru instinctively felt that Zhang Cai took the initiative to come to him, and there must be something wrong, maybe something he couldn't tell, so he asked his servants to serve him good tea.
"Eldest brother, as an important member of the imperial court, today is not a weekend off, right?"
Zhang Cai didn't join the cabinet, and he didn't even get a chancellor, but the right minister of the Ministry of Punishment had direct access to Shengcong, even if it was a paid job.
"Brother Zhou, to be honest, I have been dismissed from office by His Majesty!"
"ah?"
Zhou Yanru was shocked when he heard this and stroked his beard to digest this extremely shocking news.
How long had Zhang Cai been in office before he was dismissed?
Chongzhen had collected money before, but was he planning to burn bridges across the river?
"Not only me, Zhang Wei, Qian Shisheng, Hou Xun, and Qian Qianyi were all dismissed from office. Yesterday, Hou Xun and Qian Qianyi's homes were confiscated by factory guards, and their family members were imprisoned. It is said that His Majesty took out a heavenly book, which contains It records the future decisions of the mortal ministers calculated by the immortal military advisor Liu Bowen, and the leader is implicated in it!"
Zhang Cai escaped the disaster. No factory guard "visited" his home yesterday, which made everyone in the Zhang family heave a sigh of relief.
"Book of Heaven?"
Zhou Yanru couldn't believe this. Since he had never heard of it before, he didn't know how to evaluate it for a while.
"Exactly! Liu Bowen said that the Ming Dynasty would have been destroyed by the Donglu, but Emperor Taizu Gao couldn't bear this happening, so he asked Liu Bowen to tell the prince about the calculation, and the Book of Heaven came from this. According to the above, Jiangnan General A large number of scholars have surrendered to the Qing Dynasty. Your Majesty is planning to prepare for a rainy day! I didn’t really believe it at first, but after what Zhu Yongyou said, I have no choice but to believe it.”
Zhu Yongyou is from Songjiang Prefecture, and Zhang Cai's hometown is in Taicang. The two places are not far away. The two are not closely related, but they have acquaintance.
After Zhang Cai retired from the court, he went to Zhu Yongyou to inquire about the truth. Then he was so shocked by what the other party said that his face changed drastically and he could not calm down for a long time.
"Ah? This... was destroyed by Donglu?"
Zhou Yanru just told two students yesterday about the letter he received. The letter said that the prince was pushing for the emperor's chicken army. Isn't the content of this heavenly book contrary to the facts?
Which one is true?
"Brother Zhou, don't worry, it's just what the heavenly book says. Your Majesty announced at the court meeting yesterday that the prince led the royal army to a complete victory in Beidu, killing and wounding no less than 50,000 Eastern captives!"
Zhang Cai also didn't quite believe that the king's army could defeat the invincible Donglu army. It was 300,000 troops, not comparable to 300,000 to 50,000. However, even the prince would never dare to lie about this kind of thing.
"Oh? Seriously?"
Zhou Yanru immediately became excited. What Zhang Cai said confirmed what he said in his letter. Master Wang indeed defeated Huang Taiji in Jifu.
"His Majesty also showed letters from the Beiting Cabinet, the Ministry of War, and the Ministry of Household Affairs, as well as photos, which involve important border affairs. They should be true!"
In the face of many evidences, Zhang Cai had no choice but to believe it.
If you are still stubborn, you will be sent to the north to verify the situation.
"So that's it, very good, very good! Why doesn't Brother Zhang go to court?"
Now Zhou Yanru had a clear understanding. He had to start two plans, but now that the news of Wang Shi's victory was verified, a lot of trouble was saved.
"Alas~! It's just because of this great victory! Yesterday, after His Majesty announced that the king's army had achieved an unprecedented victory, he wanted to impose an additional commercial tax to meet the conditions of providing five million taels of silver to the Beiting next year. Hou and I Xun, Zhang Wei, Qian Shisheng and others expressed their objections and were dismissed by His Majesty!"
Zhang Cai didn't expect that Chongzhen would turn his back on him. This was not just a matter of accepting money. He was simply extremely shameless and even more hateful than Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty who also sold his official position.
I bought this important position just to fight for the rights and interests that the merchants deserved at the critical moment, but this time I didn't get the rights and the job was taken back by the emperor.
"Isn't it possible that the leader was also dismissed from office? How come his home was confiscated? The same is true for the Hou family!"
If he was also dismissed from office by the emperor, Zhang Cai was safe and could still come to him, while Qian Qianyi's house was confiscated and his punishment was completely different, which Zhou Yanru could not understand.
"Just because of one thing!"
"What's the matter?"
"The leader..."
"There are no outsiders here, Brother Zhang, don't hesitate!"
"The leader...the book of heaven says clearly, the leader surrenders to the Qing Dynasty!"
"Ah? This..."
"Hou Xun would not have ended up like this, because the Book of Heaven said that his son Hou Fangyu surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, but also helped the Qing Dynasty to commit oppression. He gave advice to the Qing army, dug up the Yellow River embankment, flooded thousands of hectares of farmland, and caused millions of people to suffer. He also helped the Qing army to suppress the rebels. Qingyi Army!"
"..."
Qian Qianyi's surrender to the Qing Dynasty was scary enough, but I didn't expect that Hou Xun had a son with such great abilities. It was really amazing!
"Brother Zhang, does he know who else in the court has surrendered to the Qing Dynasty?"
Zhou Yanru still has to think carefully about how to deal with Hou Fangyu, and now he still needs to find out as much information as possible.
"After His Majesty moved to the southern capital, whether he formed a cabinet or appointed various ministers and ministers, he probably made the decisions based on what the heavenly book said. The second assistant, Gao Hongtu, was regarded by the heavenly book as a loyal man and eventually committed suicide by drowning. I was very happy about this, so I donated 100,000 taels of silver. Upon seeing this, the remaining loyal and good people naturally donated generously."
After asking about so many things, Zhang Cai didn't dare to drink at all, for fear that he would become dizzy after drinking and forget most of such important things.
I hurriedly wrote it down while I could still remember it, so that I could relax and go out to find Zhou Yanru.
"What about outside the court? Does Brother Zhang know that besides Hou Fangyu..."
"Wei Xuexue, Peng Bin, Chen Mingxia, Gong Dingzi, Ruan Dacheng!"
"Ruan Dacheng also surrendered to the Qing Dynasty?"
"It is rumored... so!"
Ruan Dacheng is six years older than Zhou Yanru in terms of age, and naturally much older than Zhou Yanru in terms of qualifications, but he is a friend of Donglin veteran Zuo Guangdou.
"How is the chief assistant?"
"According to the Book of Heaven, the chief assistant was the chief assistant in his previous life. After the Qing army went south, he traveled to many places to organize resistance against the Qing Dynasty, and was eventually captured and killed. Therefore, he was not implicated this time!"
Zhang Cai was still wondering why Emperor Chongzhen would promote Qu Shichun to the position of chief minister, and now he finally understood the whole story.
Qu Shichun was able to serve as the first assistant, and he also received Qian Qianyi's approval and recommendation.
Since a disciple of Donglin can be the first assistant, anyone can be, and it will be easier to get twice the result with half the effort to win the emperor's favor.
"How about Zheng Sanjun?"
This person is known as the "Earth Star Iron Flute Immortal" in "Donglin Dianjianglu", and he can also be regarded as a Donglin general.
"I'm afraid I'm like a stranger to you!"
Zheng Sanjun also helped Donglin, but after Donglin lost power, Zheng Sanjun no longer planned to be controlled by Donglin.
Qian Qianyi once said this to Zhang Cai. Probably the other party no longer buys Qian's face.
Not only Zheng Sanjun, but also several Nanguan officials who were able to participate in court discussions were mostly similar to Zheng Sanjun.
Beiguan, who accompanied the driver south, did not approve of Donglin's actions, even though his hometown was in the south.
No matter where they come from, most of the Beiguan group puts loyalty to the emperor as their top priority, rather than serving the country.
Although the two seem to be one, they are still very different when broken down.
The former serves the emperor and has the priority of protecting the emperor's interests.
The latter served the imperial court and had the highest priority of protecting the interests of the imperial court.
If Dong Lin uses the guise of protecting the interests of the imperial court to protect businessmen who evade taxes, the Beiguan Group will certainly not buy it.
Through many interviews, we learned that almost all Beiguan officials had bought the fund-raising gadgets created by the prince.
The quantity is secondary, the important thing is that this move is equivalent to receiving the certificate of investment.
These officials used this to reassure the prince, and the prince could also use this to ensure the interests of these dedicated people.
Beiguan's accompaniment did not mean that he was against the prince, but that he came to serve Emperor Chongzhen out of loyalty to the emperor.
If the emperor dies, it is obvious whether Beiguan will join Donglin or go to the prince.
First of all, the prince is orthodox, the foundation of the country, and the first heir to the throne of the Ming Dynasty.
Secondly, the prince has immortal magic, can make money, and can also prevent the Ming Dynasty from being destroyed by the Donglu.
Finally, many new orders issued by the prince were in line with the wishes of these officials.
The prince's policy of neglecting agriculture and focusing on business was completely opposite to Donglin's idea.
There are irreconcilable contradictions between the two and they are bound to be irreconcilable.
The prince has the army, and Dong Lin has the merchants.
Whether merchants can fight against the army, I'm afraid everyone has the answer in their hearts.
Now, before the prince could do anything, the emperor had already started to attack Donglin, Fushe, Jishe and other gangs.
Confiscating the mansion and jailing Qian Qianyi, Hou Xun and others are the most obvious signals.
"How is the situation outside?"
"Yesterday, nearly a thousand scholars were arrested by the factory guards. His Majesty required each scholar to write a confession and have his family pay five hundred taels of silver before they can be released. Otherwise, the arrested scholars will be sent to Beiting."
"Ah? Why is this?"
"Your Majesty said that the scholars prevented the Southern Court from imposing additional commercial taxes, and the tax money is used to meet the needs of the Northern Court, so it is most appropriate to let the prince handle this matter!"
"This...how does Brother Zhang think the prince will deal with it?"
"Everything in the world is unpredictable, and I don't dare to speculate rashly!"
Through the many actions of the prince before, Zhang Cai believed that even if the prince would not execute so many scholars, he would still make them suffer a lot.
"Brother Zhang is here this time..."
"The leader has been arrested. I wonder what Brother Zhou plans to do? How does Dong Lin plan to respond?"
"Now that Your Majesty has taken action, asking the scholars to petition again is just a moth flying into the flames. I think that in the name of the imperial court's intention to impose additional commercial taxes, merchants, city ministers, and coolies can be mobilized to raise hundreds of thousands, or even hundreds, of thousands of people. The strength of tens of thousands of people was used to fight against the imperial court's seizure of the wealth. The market went on strike first, paralyzing transactions in all walks of life. Starting from Nandu, it echoes Yangzhou, Suzhou, Hangzhou and other places. If things go on like this, there must be gains!"
Judging from yesterday's situation, it is not easy to let the scholars rush in front.
Corresponding adjustments must be made, that is, new tactics must be used to combat the emperor's tyranny.
Now that Qian Qianyi has been imprisoned by factory guards, Zhou Yanru thinks this is a good opportunity.
As long as you can show enough wisdom, you can gain the favor of everyone, and you can even convince many businessmen.
"What Brother Zhou said makes sense. This plan is similar to the one used to resist the mining tax during the Wanli period. If we can work together and unite as one, great things can be accomplished!"
Having said so much just now, Zhang Cai has finally reaped the fruits.
This is considered an exchange of information, so naturally he would not return empty-handed, otherwise Zhou Yanru would be just being smart.
Even if this person really wants to replace Qian Qianyi and lead Donglin, in addition to winning over people within Donglin, it is best to have a few foreign aids to get twice the result with half the effort.
Qian Qianyi acted like this before. When Zhou Yanru came up and copied it, there was nothing wrong with it.
The two whispered again. After Zhang Cai got the information he wanted, he stood up and left.
Hou Fangyu is actually the second minister!
No wonder the factory guards want this guy!
Hou Fangyu is the son of Hou Xun. In line with the original intention of taking care of the descendants of his colleagues, Zhou Yanru will still do his best.
At the very least, this valuable chess piece will not be discarded easily before all the value of Hou Fangyu is squeezed out.
After meeting Zhang Cai, Zhou Yanru now has doubts about whether he is safe here.
Especially since Zhang Cai had previously said that his name had never appeared in the Book of Heaven, could it be...
Have you become a dispensable character?
Isn’t this too unsatisfactory?
If the existence of the Heavenly Book is true, how could I disappear on it?
Otherwise, the emperor used this book to deliberately deceive the officials in order to realize his conspiracy.
"Master, it's not good, the Jin Yiwei is here!"
The housekeeper hurried in and reported some very bad news.
Before Zhou Yanru could go out to check, a group of people came in from outside. It was estimated that there were no less than thirty people.
"Are you Zhou Yanru?"
"Exactly!"
"This is a search warrant granted by the Holy Spirit. I hope you will cooperate!"
"..."
Without waiting for Zhou Yanru's reply, Jin Yiwei began to search around his house.
If someone has an order, Zhou Yanru should not openly confront it, otherwise he will be suspected.
Zhou Yanru was not sure whether Jin Yiwei could catch those two students. It was best to escape.
If he had known earlier, he should have asked Zhang Cai to take these two people away, and he would not have been frightened by a group of uninvited guests at this moment.
Soon, the Jin Yiwei drove everyone in the courtyard to the front yard, lined up in an orderly manner, and verified their identities one by one.
The housekeeper has a roster, otherwise he wouldn't be able to pay monthly.
Although not many are issued, having a roster makes it easier to go through the process.
When Zhou Yanru saw that Hou Fangyu and Maoxiang were also in the team, he felt bad.
"General Qi, is that not necessary? These are all poor people, just doing odd jobs in the house."
Following Zhou Yanru's instructions, the steward took one hundred taels of gold, put it into a bag, and stuffed it into the hands of the leader.
"What about those people whose clothes are not shabby? Are they also household servants?"
"Master Cha, where are all the relatives? My master is the former chief minister, and he is a well-known family in his hometown. It is normal to visit relatives."
The other party weighed the object in his hand. Without opening it, he could tell by just feeling the weight that it was not silver, but gold.
One hundred taels of gold is equivalent to one thousand taels of silver. Zhou Yanru was really willing to spend money to eliminate disasters.
"Forget it! Take it!"
"Thank you, Commander-in-Chief!"
When the Jin Yiwei exited the courtyard, Zhou Yanru was relieved. Hou Fangyu and Maoxiang were even more scared and sweating profusely.
"General Banner, I'm sorry to see someone inside who looks similar to Hou Fangyu!"
"Oh? Who is it?"
"The white-faced scholar holding a fan!"
"Why didn't you say anything?"
"I'm not sure about my humble position!"
"Go back and arrest people immediately!"
"yes!"
