"What's the situation on the grassland?" Zhu Qizhen asked urgently.
"It's very pessimistic. The Tatars are completely suppressing the war. If this trend continues, the Tatars will unify the grasslands in five years at the latest."
"How is this possible?" Zhu Qizhen didn't understand and couldn't accept it.
"I have supported them with so many firearms, why can't they be defeated?" Zhu Qi Zhen said angrily, "Boyan Timur is too useless!"
Yu Qian slowly shook his head: "This shouldn't be the problem."
Zhu Qizhen paused for a moment, slowly dispelled the anger in his chest, and asked calmly: "How do you say this?"
"In terms of conspiracy and calculation, Boyan Timur is indeed not as good as the Tatar leader, but the battle on the grassland is more about strength, real strength." Yu Qian frowned and said, "In my opinion, the problem is very likely It’s out of us.”
"Where are we?"
Yu Qian nodded and spoke slowly: "I suspect that someone is smuggling firearms to the Tatars."
Zhu Qizhen's expression suddenly changed, and he said solemnly: "Do you have any evidence?"
"No." Yu Qian said, "I would like to investigate."
"No, you can't go." Zhu Qizhen flatly refused.
"Why?" Yu Qian was puzzled, "Your Majesty, I have no reason to speculate. In fact, it is no secret that border officers smuggle oil, salt, iron pots and other daily necessities. The profits are as huge as maritime trade;
Mr. Li once said that human greed is endless. They dare not smuggle salt and iron, but they dare not smuggle firearms. "
"I know, I know..." Zhu Qizhen kept repeating, and it took a long time before he calmed down, "I believe your guess, but you can't go."
Yu Qian frowned and said, "Please let me know from your Majesty."
"The army is not like fighting in temples. It is like a powder keg that will explode if you are not careful." Zhu Qi said, "If you go and find nothing, it's okay. If you really find something, you will never come back. .”
The civil service group cannot be wiped out. Yu Qian must be capable and loyal, and Zhu Qizhen does not want anything to happen to him.
"They may not dare!" Yu Qian didn't believe it.
Zhu Qizhen said firmly, "They may not dare!"
He stood up, walked back and forth for a few steps, and sighed: "My control over the army, not to mention Taizu and Taizong, is far inferior to that of the late emperor. The Beijing army is acceptable, but the army on the border... Alas!
They are used to being wild and will not be so submissive unless I..."
"The emperor must not leave the center lightly." Yu Qian said quickly, "The situation in the court has always been unstable. If the emperor steps away, the court will be in chaos. And... the country has not been established, so it is better for the emperor to sit in the capital."
Li Qing had repeatedly warned him not to allow Zhu Qizhen to lead the expedition in person, but Yu Qian dared not be dissatisfied.
"I understand." Zhu Qizhen was a little angry. They had been married for several years, but they didn't even have an heir.
The imperial doctor said that the queen was cold and needed to be nursed back to health slowly, but after so long, there was still no results, which made him very distressed.
"You don't need to worry about the border affairs." Zhu Qizhen said, "I will leave it to Zhang Fu. Let's talk about the affairs in Beijing first."
Heaving a sigh of relief, Zhu Qizhen said in a deep voice, "Do you know about those people kneeling at the palace gate?"
"I know something." Yu Qian said, "Your Majesty, there are too many people involved this time. We can't keep them locked up, right?"
"This is exactly why I called the teacher here." Zhu Qizhen nodded, "We can't slack off in government affairs. The only remaining ministers of the six departments are you, Wang Zhi, and Hu Xi; the minister... seems to have all gone in. Can you three be busy enough? ?”
"What does the emperor mean...?"
Zhu Qizhen said: "If you are too busy, I will fire them all. Since they are disobedient, why do I keep them?"
"Absolutely not!" Yu Qian said hurriedly, "Your Majesty, the consequences of doing this will be too serious."
Zhu Qizhen sneered: "Why, do you really think that without them, Ming Dynasty will never change?"
"That's not what I meant." Yu Qian shook his head, "Such a large-scale dismissal will put the emperor and the civil servants on completely opposite sides, making reconciliation impossible."
Zhu Qizhen smiled bitterly. He leaned back on his chair, looked up at the sky, and said quietly: "There is no possibility of reconciliation now."
Yu Qian was silent for a moment and comforted, "It's still different. The emperor can punish them if they make mistakes, but if they are dismissed on a large scale, officials who are promoted later will feel that they have to follow the same old path, so they will gang up and fight against you as soon as they come up;
If the emperor continues to follow the same pattern, there will be a vicious cycle, and the situation in the court will never be better in the future. "
After a pause, "The Emperor can dismiss them from their posts, but he cannot dismiss them all at once. Take your time."
"Take your time, take your time..." Zhu Qizhen said with a bitter look on his face, "You have been orthodox for ten years!"
"Your Majesty, the Spring and Autumn Period is at its peak, so why rush for a moment?" Yu Qian comforted, "Time is coming, things have changed a lot now, haven't they?"
Hearing this, Zhu Qizhen's face looked much better.
Then he thought of Li Qing again.
It's all thanks to Li Qing that such a big change happened in the court situation.
Thinking of this, Zhu Qizhen immediately said: "Here comes someone!"
The young eunuch in the distance stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty."
"Bring some royal guards and pass on my instructions to Li Qing to return to the capital to see me."
Yu Qian was stunned and said: "Your Majesty, Mr. Li is currently engaged in business reform in Jinling. At this juncture..."
"Is Jinling more important or is the imperial government of the capital more important?" Zhu Qizhen interrupted, "Let him come back first. I also want to know about the progress of Jinling. If it doesn't work, let him go back."
Zhu Qizhen said to the young eunuch, "Go ahead."
"Yes, I obey the order." The little eunuch walked away in a jittery manner.
Yu Qian opened his mouth and couldn't persuade him any more.
"Then... what about those officials?" Yu Qian asked, "I, Wang Shangshu, and Hu Shangshu can handle the affairs of the six yamen, but what about the Metropolitan Inspectorate and the cabinet?"
"Alas...!" Zhu Qizhen was filled with anger, but he could only compromise.
"You will be fined for one year, grounded at home, official duties will be carried out, and the fittest will survive!"
"Your Majesty!" Yu Qian breathed a sigh of relief and secretly sighed: This court has never been peaceful, when will it end!
…
The ministers came out of the prison, all majestic and high-spirited, like generals who had won a great battle, not to mention how majestic they were. óΠъ.oяＧ
The little emperor finally relented.
They are happy and firmly believe that the law does not punish everyone.
Isn't it just a year's salary? How many officials in the Ming Dynasty depended on their salaries?
As for staying at home, carrying out official duties, and survival of the fittest, in their view, it was just the incompetence and rage of the little emperor.
Wang Zhen is already wilted, and next is Li Qing.
~
Jinling.
Shen Xin pursued them fiercely and successfully killed the rich gentry and took over all their properties.
There is only one Shen Xin in Jinling today.
But Shen Xin's ambitions went far beyond that. After dealing with the rich gentry in Jinling, he immediately moved to Suzhou and Hangzhou.
In the same way, start the price war with raw materials.
However, things didn't go so smoothly this time.
After all, people in Suzhou and Hangzhou are not given for free. The wealthy gentry are working together to advance and retreat together, and Shen Xin has nothing to do.
On this day, Shen Xin came to Li Qing, hoping to borrow money from the court.
Li Qing decisively refused.
"You won't become fat after one bite, and you will chew off more than you can chew..." Li Qinghao tried to persuade him, and finally managed to persuade Old Shen, who was above him.
"You need to stabilize the current situation first, and quickly put the industry into operation. Production, sales, and profit margins are the serious business." Li Qingdao, "When you accumulate wealth, you can then take action against them and get twice the result with half the effort."
Shen Xin nodded and asked: "Master Imperial Envoy, what percentage of the future overseas market can the imperial court share with the common people?"
"I can't promise you this." Li Qing shook his head, "But for now, you have a lot of room for development."
Shen Xin was about to say something, but when he saw a young eunuch walking in arrogantly, he shut up.
"Master Li." The young eunuch stepped forward with joy, "Our family is now polite."
"You're welcome, father-in-law." Li Qing stood up and said, "Did the emperor ask father-in-law to come?"
The young eunuch nodded: "Exactly, the emperor has said that you should return to Beijing immediately to see the emperor."
"Out of the palace..." Li Qing suddenly stopped and said to Shen Xin, "Boss Shen, please go back."
"Uh...yes." Shen Xin stood up and said uneasily, "If Imperial Envoy Li leaves..."
"Don't worry, there are still Six Eunuchs, Eunuch Liu and others, there are thousands of fans, and nearly a thousand Jin Yiwei, no one dares to do anything to you." Li Qing waved his hand, "You do business well, pay taxes well, you won't Any danger.”
"Then the grassroots please retire."
After Shen Xin left, Li Qing asked: "What happened to the capital?"
The little eunuch told Li Qing what he knew.
After hearing this, Li Qing frowned: Even Wang Zhen dared to commit suicide, would it be...
