In the central hall, Chongzhen took a sip of tea and then fell into deep thought.
In fact, I am reviewing the gains from this trip to Shanxi.
First, the eight major locust traders were killed and a very important supply line for the Jiannu was cut off.
Why is it said to be one? Because with such a huge profit, it is impossible for only the eight major locust merchants to be interested.
I don’t know if other businesses are involved in smuggling, it means they haven’t been exposed yet.
Putting aside everything else, it is clearly recorded in history that Huizhou merchants colluded with pirates and Japanese pirates.
We have to find time to look into the Huizhou businessmen's affairs.
The second is harvest. Although the eight major locust merchants have more than 52 million properties, some of them are fixed assets.
Such as restaurants, manors, antiques, calligraphy and paintings, etc., these cannot be cashed out for a while.
In addition to cloth, grain, etc., plus cash, the total is almost 40 million taels. What a terrifying figure.
In particular, food, medicinal materials, cloth, etc. are all he is most short of. He is still worried about the catastrophe in Shaanxi and Henan in the next few years.
As for the Jin Palace and the clan, as well as the gentry and wealthy merchants involved in the Jin Palace, they are estimated to have a family property of about ten million taels, and more of it may be fertile land.
However, he doesn't choose, no matter what it is, he needs it.
Third, it is to clean up the officials in Shanxi. Once all the replacements are completed, Shanxi will keep the officials clean for a long time, and the people will be better off.
In any case, this trip to Shanxi was full of rewards.
However, there is also a pity that the complete intelligence chain has not been found.
Judging from the current confessions, the eight major locust dealers should only pass on information, and they are only responsible for their respective sections, and they don't even know their own uplines.
In addition to the eight major locust merchants, there seems to be another route for transmitting information, and it is extremely hidden.
"Served with pen and ink!"
After hearing Chongzhen's words, Li Ruolian, who was waiting, immediately prepared the pen, ink, paper and inkstone on the desk next to him, and then retreated to a distance.
In less than half an hour, Chongzhen wrote four letters in succession.
"Li Ruolian, arrange for these two letters to be secretly passed on to Sun Zushou and Zhao Lejiao by your confidants, so as not to alert others."
"This letter is sent back to Beijing to Guo Yunhou, Minister of Household Affairs!"
"This one is for the cabinet!"
The letter to Sun Zushou asked him to go to Zunhua to find Cao Wenzhao to help deal with the ambush.
The letter to Zhao Lejiao asked him to pay attention to the Guanning defense line, especially the movements of the Liaodong generals, Jiannu and Mao Wenlong.
The letter to the cabinet was to urge Sun Chengzong to hurry up and prepare for the construction of the Ming Dynasty Lecture Hall.
At least before he goes back, the site and supporting facilities of the martial arts hall will be ready.
After what happened in Shanxi, there is a shortage of talents, especially senior generals.
Guo Yunhou was given another five million taels of silver shipped back to Beijing from the Xuanfu to continue purchasing grain in southern Zhili, Shandong, Jiangxi and other places.
It is allowed to use some means to take back the grain from the hands of wealthy businessmen as reserves to cope with major disasters in Shaanxi, Henan and other places in the next few years.
There is no food in the hands of the common people, but there is so much food in the hands of wealthy businessmen that it is moldy. One or two percent of the people control 60 to 70 percent of the food.
"I'll do it now!"
"Wait a minute, I have something to arrange!"
Chongzhen stopped Li Ruolian who was about to leave: "Do you know the White Lotus Sect?"
Li Ruolian's heart trembled and he quickly said: "Your Majesty, the White Lotus Sect originated from the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms. It is an association of religious bandits in the Pure Land Sect system.
The doctrine is that believers should be careful not to kill or drink alcohol. However, ambitious elements in the church have repeatedly plotted rebellion, which only resulted in countless killings.
But it has never been successful in hundreds of years, which is considered strange. "
After finishing speaking, my heart suddenly shook. Could it be that the White Lotus Sect has resurrected?
As soon as this thought came up, I heard Chongzhen continue: "Some time ago, Cao Bianjiao led the Warrior Battalion to suppress bandits and got news from several groups of bandits.
It is said that the White Lotus Sect is secretly planning something in the areas bordering Kaifeng, Guide, Henan counties, Shandong, and Zhili.
You send Jin Yiwei to check it out, and by the way, notify the people in Dongchang to check it out as well to see what the situation is. If there is any situation, please report it to me in a timely manner. "
"I understand!"
Li Ruolian felt relieved when he heard what Chongzhen said.
Fortunately, His Majesty got the news from Cao Bianjiao. If His Majesty had known about this first, the Jinyi Guards would have been extremely embarrassed.
There was the matter of the Eight Locust Merchants before, and the matter of the White Lotus Sect later. If it happened again, there would be no need for their Jinyi Guards to exist.
"Let's put aside the matter of Huizhou merchants and Mao Wenlong first. Now, in addition to the interrogation of the eight major locust merchants and nine tribes, the focus is on the slave establishment movement.
I don’t care whether you use money to open the way or people to open the way. In short, I want to drive a nail into Jiannu. If you want money, go to Wang Chengen and get it.
In addition, the Zhangjiakou information station provided by the eight major locust merchants, if you can catch the spy, just follow the vines and tell me if you have any news. "
"The last thing is to arrange for people to go to various guard posts and the army to inquire about it.
See if there are any generals with a good official reputation and the rank of Deputy Qianhu or above. Check the details and summarize them for me! "
"I understand!"
"Also, in the following interrogations of the eight major locust merchant clans and the interrogations of the clans and merchants of the Jin Dynasty, you Jin Yiwei must take this opportunity to rebuild the prestige of Jin Yiwei, but you must not commit unjust, false or wrong cases!"
Li Ruolian's face became solemn, and after making her promise, she bowed and left.
Watching Li Ruolian leave, Chongzhen poured himself a cup of tea. The eight major locust merchants were dealt with, and the next stage was the clan.
As for Jiannu, he would not be able to take the initiative to attack unless he followed the path of the Jisi Revolution in history.
He was not in a hurry anyway. The longer it took, the better it would be for Ming.
After determining the next stage of the task, Chongzhen drank the tea in the cup and continued to write on the paper.
Current silver: Xuanfu six million taels, Xi'an Prefecture 13 million taels. When writing this, Chongzhen was slightly startled.
"Well, I have to popularize Arabic numerals, punctuation marks, and measurement units when I go back. It's too laborious to write like this."
Then I crossed out what I had written and read it again, Xuanfu 6 million taels, Xi'an Prefecture 13 million taels...
Real objects: 4 million taels from Xuanfu, 6 million taels from Xi'an...
Expenditures: 3.9 million taels for the nine-border military reissue, 2 million taels for the Xuanfu government, 4 million taels for grain purchase, 2.2 million taels for disaster relief in Shaanxi...
A quarter of an hour later, Chongzhen calculated that since he succeeded to the throne, the total value of the property confiscated exceeded 110 million taels of silver, but the current silver was only about 60 million.
After being distributed to the Taicang Treasury of the Ministry of Revenue, the Jieshen Treasury of the Ministry of Industry, the Changying Treasury of Taipu Temple, the Silver Treasury of Guanglu Temple, etc., there are still about 40 million taels of internal funds plus the Treasury of the Ministry of Industry.
It seems like a lot, but actually it is a drop in the bucket compared to the first five-year plan.
The Firearms Research Institute and the Agricultural Research Institute are both money-burners, and they may not see results in a short time.
There are also the Industrial Research Institute, Qihuang Research Institute, Martial Arts Hall, military and political reform, military pay, etc. that are being prepared, all of which require a lot of money.
If you use all your strength, it's hard to say whether you can last for two years.
Especially for the Industrial Research Institute, once the cement is produced, the money will only be enough to build a cement road connecting Jiubian.
Not to mention many livelihood projects, such as building academies, building roads and bridges, etc.
After settling the accounts, Chongzhen, who had just felt his waist stiffen, suddenly felt very poor.
"When the inspection is over and the economy is about to improve, we can't raid homes for the time being. We have to slow down."
