"I will be strict with you and see Your Majesty!"
In Dongnuan Pavilion, Bi Ziyan saluted immediately after seeing Chongzhen.
Chongzhen suppressed his inner excitement and looked at Bi Ziyan, who was later called the best god of wealth in the Ming Dynasty.
This man was as famous as Yuan Keli, the censor of Youqiandu in the first year of Taichang and the governor of Tianjin. He was a figure who suppressed the White Lotus Sect in Hebei and Shandong and did not dare to take the lead.
Because he opposed Wei Zhongxian's betrayal of the Nantaipu Temple horse pasture, Wei Zhongxian was scolded by the emperor through the mouth of the emperor, and then resigned angrily.
During his tenure, he was responsible for coastal defense, repairing warships, managing weapons, and building naval forces. It can be said that he was one of the few civil servants in the Ming Dynasty who understood the navy.
But this is not the point. Historically, this man was famous for being good at managing complex economic affairs. To put it bluntly, he was good at managing money.
When financial resources were exhausted and he could not make ends meet, he carefully coordinated and calculated carefully to support the Ming Dynasty's finances for nearly ten years. If it weren't for him, Ming Dynasty would have collapsed a few years earlier.
Although there is still some money in the treasury now, it was all stolen from other people's houses, and not much has been developed. What is lacking is a master like Bi Ziyan who is good at financial management.
But Bi Ziyan had a task related to Ming's future strategy, so he could only wait slowly even if he was anxious.
"Bi Aiqing, get up!"
"Come here, give me a seat!"
After Bi Ziyan sat down, Chongzhen said in a deep voice: "Bi Aiqing, I have always heard that you are good at solving financial problems. Although there is still some money in the warehouse, it will not last long. Is there any countermeasure?"
"Your Majesty, this is what I have thought about over the past year. There are twelve items in total. Please take a look at it!"
After Chongzhen took it, he slowly read through it.
Increase salt imports, merchants transport millet to strengthen the border, eliminate redundant troops and redundant service, check the fraud of military pay, develop paddy fields in Jingdong, inventory hidden fields in the world, establish military camps and commercial tax...
Each of the twelve items has specific implementation regulations and assessment standards. As long as he is an official who handles practical matters and is authorized by the court, he can basically achieve results.
As soon as Chongzhen finished reading, Bi Ziyan took out another booklet and presented it to him: "Your Majesty, this is a tax list compiled by me personally. The purpose is to solve the problem of local officials embezzling tax money!"
…
A quarter of an hour later, Chongzhen finished reading what Ziyan had submitted and sighed in his heart. This man who was later rated as the best god of wealth in the Ming Dynasty was indeed well-deserved. It is no wonder that he could support the Ming Dynasty's finances for ten years.
It's a pity that this financial expert in history was eventually tricked by Chongzhen.
Because of a trivial matter, Chongzhen became suspicious and was arrested and imprisoned. He was rescued by court officials, but he was still imprisoned for half a year. He died soon after he was released from prison. It was a pity.
Now that Chongzhen controls the household department, he must make good use of it.
"Bi Aiqing, I will ask the cabinet to discuss these contents with you. Once finalized, implementation will begin!"
"I obey the decree!"
"Your Majesty, Mr. Sun Chengzong, Mr. Sun Ge, and Mr. Yuan Keli, Mr. Yuan Ge, are already waiting outside!"
While the two were talking, Wang Chengen entered Dongnuan Pavilion and reported.
After Chongzhen put the notes and inventories in his hands away, he said: "My eldest companion, please pass this on to your two dear friends.
In addition, if the order is passed, starting immediately, no one is allowed to approach Dongnuan Pavilion for more than ten meters without my permission. Anyone who violates this will be executed! "
After Wang Chengen left, Chongzhen picked up a cup of tea and sat down on the soft couch. After Sun and Yuan entered the Dongnuan Pavilion to salute, he said in a deep voice: "Bi Aiqing, tell me about this trip!"
Bi Ziyan's face became serious: "Your Majesty, there are three things to do during this trip: governor Denglai, exploration of the Dongjiang River, and spying in the DPRK. I have already written a memorial. Please read it!"
Chongzhen took the three memorials and read them while saying, "Keep talking!"
"Your Majesty, the first thing to do is to governor Denglai. Denglai was established to prevent Houjin from going south by sea and to prevent harassment by Japanese pirates. It has jurisdiction over the Denglai Navy and the three coastal defense stations.
After receiving the order from the imperial court, I conducted secret visits and open investigations. It was found that the Denglai navy was corrupt, lacked training, and lacked warships. There were less than a hundred large and small warships. The only large-scale fortune ship was also scarred, and the navy was less than four thousand. people.
What's more, the navy teamed up with the Coast Guard and merchants to smuggle, and warships actually acted as merchant ships, transporting goods to sea. "
After Bi Ziyan finished speaking, Yuan Keli's face on the side was full of anger.
Without him, because he served as the governor of Denglai from the second to the fourth year of Tianqi, collected refugees in Dengzhou City, and trained Liao soldiers. How could he not be angry when three years of hard work were wasted.
"Yuan Aiqing, don't be angry, listen to Bi Aiqing's investigation first!"
Chongzhen comforted Yuan Keli and said, "Bi Aiqing, please continue talking about the other two things!"
"Your Majesty, the second thing is that I, in the name of comfort, investigate whether Mao Wenlong had an affair with Jian Nu, as well as the exact military strength and Dongjiang Island.
Let’s talk about the military strength first. Dongjiang Town’s troops are distributed on more than thirty islands around Pidaoji. I was afraid of arousing Mao Wenlong’s suspicion, so I only went to seven or eight islands. I didn’t know exactly how many people there were.
However, based on my estimate of their food consumption, the number of warships entering and exiting Pi Island, and the environment of each island, the maximum number is no more than 30,000 people.
The military yellow roll of Dongjiang Town records that there are 150,000 people. Based on this calculation, 80% of the pay is empty.
I have calculated that since the first year of Tianqi, Dongjiang's annual military pay ranges from 240,000 to 470,000 taels, and the amount of empty pay is shocking.
Among the several islands I inspected, the combat power of these sergeants was definitely elite, perhaps not as good as Jiannu, but definitely not weaker than the Liaodong sergeants. "
"Secondly, Mao Wenlong is suspected of forming a party for personal gain in Dongjiang Town. There are more than a hundred godsons, godsons, etc., all of whom hold positions in Dongjiang.
For example, Geng Zhongming and his brother Geng Zhongmao are responsible for the financial situation of the entire Dongjiang Town. Shang Kexi, Kong Youde and others guard each island separately, acting as horns to each other. The entire Dongjiang Town army is more appropriately called the Mao Family Army. "
"Third, Mao Wenlong has business dealings with North Korea. He personally admitted this. He told his ministers that he did it as a last resort.
Pi Dao was not originally called Pi Dao, but it was changed to Pi Dao after he went there. He said, "If the skin does not exist, the hair will not be attached." So it was changed to Pi Dao.
Because of poverty, insufficient military pay, and limited supplies, he could only do business to make up for the arrears of military pay.
Chen speculated that he had business dealings with Hou Jin, but the difference was through official or private channels! "
"Fourth, Mao Wenlong had contacts with Jiannu. Jiannu once sent envoys to Pi Island to persuade Mao Wenlong. It is not known what they discussed specifically.
But judging from the current situation, Mao Wenlong should have rejected Huang Taiji's solicitation.
Your Majesty, this is some of the situation in Dongjiang Town. Among the above four points, the last three points are based on my speculation after getting some information. They may be biased, but the general direction should be correct. "
After Bi Ziyan finished speaking, he remained silent and waited for Chongzhen's questions.
Chongzhen slowly looked through the memorials, his expression unchanged.
He knew something about Dongjiang's military strength and Mao Wenlong's situation, and Bi Ziyan's investigation was just to confirm historical records.
He knew that being on the hook was serious, but he didn't expect it to be this serious.
After a while, Chongzhen suddenly came to his senses. Bi Ziyan said there was a tip. Where did he get the tip from when he just went to Pi Island?
"Bi Aiqing, who is the informant you are talking about?"
