In the capital of the Ming Dynasty, in the Nuan Pavilion of the Wenhua Hall in the imperial city, Emperor Chongzhen still felt a little uneasy. He looked like he was closing his eyes to rest, but in fact his mind was racing rapidly.
After a while, Emperor Chongzhen suddenly sighed and said: "As a minister, Xie Sheng actually leaked the matter of appeasement to the court, causing criticism from officials. It is extremely hateful. I think he has never done anything serious. Just cut him off."
When he said this, his eyes were fixed on Chen Xinjia, and he continued: "At that time, it was inappropriate for Aiqing to talk to him about the matter of approving Donglu secretly.
However, I still have high hopes that my love for you will remain the same. Let bygones be bygones, but be sure to be more cautious in the future! "
Emperor Chongzhen's words were actually intended to give Chen Xinjia a lesson so that he could learn from past mistakes and avoid making the same mistakes again.
Here, as soon as Chen Xinjia heard that Emperor Chongzhen brought up Xie Sheng's old story again, he immediately knelt on the ground again, kowtowing, and big beads of sweat rolled down his forehead.
He was very clear about Emperor Chongzhen's suspicious, fickle, irritable and vicious nature. Even though he now had the emperor's reliance and trust, he was always worried about disaster, for fear that if he made a mistake, he would end his life in the first half of his life. All efforts were in vain.
Naturally, he understood very clearly in his heart what the emperor's intention was in mentioning Xie Sheng to him at this time, and a chill ran down his spine. He kowtowed and said repeatedly: "I am really guilty of Xie Sheng's matter.
Fortunately, the emperor was so kind and generous that he did not impose severe punishments. He still sent his ministers to treat the guilty center so that they could do the hard work of dogs and horses. Although the humble ministers were grateful, they were always fearful and cautious, and they were even more cautious when encountering problems.
How important is it to send Ma Shaoyu out to discuss the matter of appeasement? Do you not know how important this is?
I will never dare to reveal another word, your Majesty, don't worry! "
Emperor Chongzhen felt slightly satisfied when he saw that the goal of knocking on the mountain and shaking the tiger was achieved. However, he did not immediately ask Chen Xinjia to stand up. Instead, he asked him calmly: "Every time I give you an order, you must abide by the decree. Burned immediately?"
Chen Xinjia, who was still kneeling on the ground, felt that his heart had reached his throat. He forced himself to calm down and replied: "Every time I kneel down to read your Majesty's edict, I burn everything with my own hands. Not even a single word dares to survive in this world.”
Emperor Chongzhen nodded with satisfaction, and then whispered to him: "It is the style of an ancient minister to say nothing about greenhouse trees. Please be careful!"
After he finished hammering, he ordered Chen Xinjia to get up and answer, and then asked: "According to Ai Qing, will Ma Shaoyu's trip to Shenyang go smoothly?"
At this time, Chen Xinjia did not dare to sit down. He just stood in front of the chair and bowed and replied: "In my opinion, although the captives have a tough tone, they are already strong on the outside and capable on the inside. They will not make any excessive demands. Ma Shaoyu will definitely be very happy in this trip." smoothly."
Emperor Chongzhen thought so too, but he still felt uneasy and said: "As long as the Eastern captives are willing to obey and sincerely appease them, the soldiers and people in Liaodong can be temporarily peaceful. In the spirit of being gentle and distant, I will not hesitate to use the land and the people at my discretion." Gold and silver rewards.
I can secretly tell Ma Shaoyu to know this! "
Chen Xinjia heard the words and said hurriedly: "Yes, yes. I am a humble minister, and I will obey the imperial order."
Emperor Chongzhen asked again about the situation in the Central Plains: "The second attack on Kaifeng failed and the troops retreated. What is the situation in Henan Province now?"
Chen Xingjia hurriedly replied: "Gao Mingheng, the governor of Yu, successfully defended Kaifeng, and the situation in the Central Plains eased slightly. However, although Chuangni retreated from outside Kaifeng, he turned to attack the surrounding state capitals.
More than ten cities, including Xuzhou, Tongxu, Weishi, Weichuan, Yanling, Linying, Changge, Xinzheng, and Sishui, have all fallen into the hands of thieves. There is no pure land around Kaifeng. If the thieves come back, I'm afraid... Hard to defend. "
"Wang Qiaonian, where are you now?"
Emperor Chongzhen continued to ask in a deep voice: "Where is Zuo Liangyu again?"
Chen Xinjia replied tremblingly: "Wang Qiaonian led his army eastward out of Tongguan last year. Last time, he reported that his troops had arrived in Luoyang and were about to join forces with Zuo Liangyu's troops at Kaifeng City to fight the bandits.
However, before Wang Qiaonian and Zuo Liangyu's army arrived, the thieves had already retreated. Wang Qiaonian reported that he wanted to join forces with Zuo Liangyu in Xiangcheng to fight together against the enemy. No new reports have been returned yet. "
"I heard that Wang Qiaonian dug up Chuangni's ancestral grave?"
Hearing Emperor Chongzhen's question, Chen Xinjia's heart also moved. It was rumored that Emperor Chongzhen had issued a secret order to Wang Qiaonian, asking him to dig up the ancestral grave of the traitor Li Zicheng in order to destroy his dragon spirit and make it impossible to accomplish anything.
However, all this must be a private rumor among the people and cannot be taken seriously at all, and Chen Xinjia also knew very well that even if this rumor was true, Emperor Chongzhen would never admit it.
He was very clear about the character of Emperor Chongzhen. After thinking about it carefully, he decided to respond truthfully and just listened to him: "Wang Qiaonian had a memorial. Before leaving Tongguan in the east, he secretly ordered the border of Mizhi County to slow down. , asking him to dig up Li Ni's ancestral grave to cut off his foundation and defeat his ancestral virtues.
Bian Dashou was indeed conscientious in his work. He personally led the county government officials to secretly visit the ancestral graves of the rebels. He dug a total of 16 places, and finally the ancestral graves of the rebels were eliminated. "
Wang Qiaonian dug up Li Zicheng's ancestral grave. There are many records about this matter, which are very accurate. However, there are different opinions on whether he followed Emperor Chongzhen's secret order. Without clear evidence, it cannot be confirmed.
According to legend, after Mizhi County Magistrate Bian Dahui received an order from Wang Qionian, the governor of the three sides, he found a man named Ai Zhao, who was also from the vicinity of Shuangquan Fort, and asked him to secretly visit the burial place of the ancestors of the Li family.
But that is the tomb of Li Chuang’s father and ancestor after all!
Everyone in Li Jiqian's village refused to reveal the location of King Li Chuang's ancestral grave. Bian Dasheng and Ai Zhao also searched for some relatives of the Li family, but still found nothing.
In desperation, I had to dig around based on the approximate location I found. Regardless of whether it was the Li family's ancestral tomb, I would rather dig wrong than let go.
Finally, they dug sixteen graves in succession before finally finding an ancestral grave of the Li family. According to the locals, it was an ancestor of the Li family. After digging up the grave, the rotten bones were scattered randomly. Throw it all over the floor.
Later, it was said that there was an iron lamp in the tomb of the ancestor of the Li family. The light had not been extinguished at that time. A wooden sign in front of the lamp even read a line: "If this lamp is not extinguished, the Li family will be prosperous."
Mizhi County Magistrate Bian Dashu blew out the lamp in one breath.
There is also a legend that after the lid of the coffin in the tomb of the ancestor of the Li family was pried open, everyone saw that the body was covered with long yellow hairs.
There was a small hole behind his skull, as big as a copper coin, and coiled inside was a small red snake, about three or four inches long, with two horns. It flew straight up into the sky, about a foot high, towards the sun. He stuck out his tongue several times before falling down and dying on the ground.
The county magistrate Bian Daxuan found the body of the little snake, found someone to dry the wax, and sent it to Xi'an along with the skull of the ancestor of the Li family. Wang Qionian, the governor of the three sides, sent someone to Beijing secretly.
The bones in other graves were scattered around, some were burned, and some were sprinkled with filthy substances such as dog blood and chicken blood, and then discarded far away.
Of course, these are just folk rumors, not recorded in historical data, and cannot be taken seriously at all. The reason why people are so far-fetched is that they hope to add some feudal superstitious color of God's help to Li Zicheng.
After the Wenhua Palace summons was completed, Chen Xinjia, Minister of War of the Ming Dynasty, walked out of the Wenhua Gate, but his heart was still restless and uneasy.
He knew deeply that Emperor Chongzhen was very anxious about the Donglu peace negotiation. Although the Ming Dynasty seemed to have the upper hand, but even so, he still could not predict whether there would be any changes in the peace negotiation this time.
Suddenly, he seemed to hear the worried words of Emperor Chongzhen again in his ears: "Try our best to promote peace negotiations with Donglu... Kaifeng cannot allow any loss..."
…………
On February 23rd, in Qi County, Shanxi Province, the afterglow of the setting sun shone on the gate tower at the top of the city. It seemed that there was no longer the coldness of the past, and it was truly the time for spring to return to the earth.
Qi County, known as "Zhaoyu" in ancient times, is located in the central part of Shanxi Province and is under the jurisdiction of Taiyuan Prefecture.
It borders Taigu County to the east, Pingyao County to the west, Qinzhou to the south, Qingyuan County to the north, Yushe County to the southeast and Wenshui County across the river to the northwest.
More than half of the land in Qi County is mountainous and hilly, which is not suitable for farming. In addition, this area has been the "Sichuan-Shaanxi thoroughfare" since ancient times, so there are many business houses in the county, with business names all around, and the economy is very prosperous.
The ancestral home of the Wang family, Wang Dayu, who is also one of the eight great families in Zhangjiakou, is in Qixian County. In addition, the ancestral home of Wang Dayu, who also participated in the secret meeting in Zhangjiakou a few days ago, is also in Qixian County.
Although their Qu family is not as wealthy as Wang Dayu, the Changyuanhou, Changyuanchuan, Changshunchuan and other business names they run are also famous in Shanxi.
In particular, Changyuanhou's silver account business is famous for benefiting Shanxi merchants, which saves Shanxi merchants from the danger of carrying money long distances.
On this day, in the courtyard of a deep house with five entrances in the west city of Qi County, a father and son were having a private discussion. There was not even a single domestic slave in the room, which showed how obscure the content of their discussion was.
"Father, I think you can't be an enemy of Uncle Yongning!"
The person who spoke was Wang Muchen, the young master of Ruichangtai, Shanxi Province, the eldest son of Shanxi merchant Wang Dayu, and his designated successor as the next head of the family.
Looking at Yushu Linfeng, his very calm and capable son, Wang Dayu's heart was also ups and downs, and it was difficult to make a final decision.
After all, the choice this time is different from before. Once a decision is made, the whole family's wealth and life are at stake, not the loss of money and wealth.
Wang Dayu did not dare to make hasty decisions regarding matters related to the future of his family, so after the secret meeting in Zhangjiakou, he did not delay at all. Instead, he made an excuse to go back to Shanxi to arrange to contact the commander-in-chief Wang Pu, and hurried back.
When Wang Muchen was getting married to Zhang Cheng, Qin Zichen, who had worked with Datong Qiandeji, and Wang Pu, the commander-in-chief, went to Xuanzhen North Road to attend the wedding banquet and presented five thousand taels of congratulations.
Of course, his move was not his own initiative, but was recognized by his family, and was personally recommended by Wang Pu, the commander-in-chief of Datong. It was precisely because of this that Ruichangtai also obtained the right to open a business on North Road.
However, due to the face of the eight Zhangjiakou families, the Wang family did not come forward directly. Instead, they cooperated with the Qin family of Datong to develop the market on North Road under the name of Qiandeji.
Businessmen have always given priority to their interests. Although there are many businessmen who care about their family, country and the world, in the troubled times of the late Ming Dynasty, even living a good life has become very luxurious, so there is no need to talk about the feelings of family and country.
The reason why Wang Dayu did this was just to leave a way out for himself. After all, the Wang family was based in the third town of Xuanda. For every newly promoted general, he would collect intelligence and try to establish relationships with them. Be prepared for emergencies.
Now, having just returned from Zhangjiakou, he couldn't wait to call his son Wang Muchen to discuss the next step.
Just listen to Wang Muchen continue to say: "My father has never gone to the North Road in person, nor has he had much interaction with Uncle Yongning. It is understandable that he does not know the power of Uncle Yongning. However, it cannot be explained that my father does not know the power of Uncle Yongning!"
Wang Dayu was not surprised by his son's tone. After all, he was the successor he had trained. He did not want Wang Muchen to be a submissive person. On the contrary, he hoped that he could make his own judgment.
“Father, Uncle Yongning was just a guerrilla general, so he followed Governor Lu to fight fiercely with slaves in Julu, and later he killed General Yue Tuo, the general of Jiannu Yangwu in Jibei Formation, and he rose to prominence due to his achievements.
After being promoted to the rank of general, he first led troops to aid Henan, killing the intruders and defeating them. Then he led his troops into Liao to aid Jin, and once again killed Duduo, Prince of Jiannu Rui, who was Prince Dorgon of Jiannu Rui. His younger brother then defeated Jiannu and solved Jinwei.
Now, he is the majestic Ming Dynasty Yongning Bo, the chief military officer of Xuanfu Town, the general of Zhenshuo, and has tens of thousands of loyal and brave soldiers under his command. How can he be a figure that can be defeated by a mere group of businessmen and gentry? "
Seeing that his father seemed to be thinking, Wang Muchen knew that he had initially convinced his father, so he continued: "My father has never been to Beilu and doesn't know the actual situation there. How can he trust it based on only the rumors from a few of them?
Mu Chen has personally experienced what the North Road is like. Although Uncle Yongning levies commercial tax, it does not deny us merchants a way to survive. The ministers on the North Road even think that imposing commercial tax is a good thing. "
"oh?"
Hearing this, Wang Dayu was also quite moved, and even a little surprised. He couldn't figure out how the levy of commercial tax could be a good thing since it was a way to spend money from outside.
Previously, although he sent his son to follow Wang Pu to the north road to congratulate Zhang Cheng on his wedding, he originally wanted to form a good relationship and did not pay much attention to it. Even if Zhang Cheng later became a rising star, he only told Wang Muchen not to break it off. I haven't invested much in this thread.
He said with doubts on his face: "Come, let me tell you to my father, why is this business tax a good thing for our business?"
"My father has been in the mall for a long time. He should know that it is not easy for us and others to do business. Not only are the roads dangerous, but the various checkpoints are also severely exploited. Although there is no business tax paid, the expenditure on management still accounts for a large part of the profit.
Under Yongning Bo's rule, although commercial taxes were levied, apart from that, there was no need to manage various government officials, and there was no exploitation at all checkpoints. As long as no prohibited goods were carried, they were all allowed to pass through. "
In Wang Dayu's surprised eyes, Wang Muchen continued: "As long as merchants on Qibei Road complete tax returns and pay taxes according to the type and quantity of goods they handle, Yongning Bo's soldiers will provide escorts even if they go to other places. There is a minimal fee.
My father also knew that all the warriors under Uncle Yongning's command were brave, not to mention the small bandits and bandits, but also the guardsmen in various places in Xuan Town. When they saw Uncle Yongning's military flag, they all treated him kindly and never dared to exploit him again. . "
"Is there such a good thing?"
"It's more than that."
Wang Muchen looked at his old father and said to him: "My father doesn't know the truth and only listens to external rumors. In fact, under the rule of Uncle Yongning, not all goods are taxed. There are many goods that are low-profit and needed by the people. Goods, as long as they do not reach a certain quantity, are completely exempt from commercial tax.”
He then added: "By doing this, Uncle Yongning shows his love for the people and respect for business!" (End of Chapter)
