"No, it's nothing." Li Qing did not dare to say directly.
Firstly, both the north and the south are being arrested at the same time, which involves too many areas. Secondly, Li Qing is afraid that the little emperor will do something unwise in his anger.
Zhu Qizhen was in his early twenties, an age when he was easily impulsive. Coupled with his previous consecutive victories, he was somewhat aloof.
Li Qing didn't dare let him be stimulated one after another.
After all, Li Qing himself was timid. He was not like this before, but Zhu Qizhen was not a real emperor.
Although the imperial power has been effectively strengthened under Li Qing's operation over the years, Zhu Qizhen's own imperial power... is just okay.
"Your Majesty, I want to go north and have a look." Li Qing said.
"What are you doing there?"
"..." Li Qing didn't know what to say. He pondered for a long time and said, "The emperor's influence on the border troops is not enough. It needs to be strengthened."
"That's true." Zhu Qizhen nodded slowly, "But there is no rush at this moment. Things must be done one by one. Let's settle the affairs in the south first, and then consider the north."
Li Qing pondered for a moment and felt that this was also the case.
In the current situation, if we go to the north to check, it would be okay if we can't find anything, but if we really find out something is wrong, we will be in a dilemma.
It would be great fun if conflicts arose between the north and the south at the same time.
Sigh... Fortunately, the Ming Dynasty's basic market is stable. After solving the problem of excessive issuance of treasure notes in a few years, it has become more solid as a rock, and the overall development is still upward... Li Qing comforted himself.
…
The court is in chaos again. Even Zhu Qizhen's retreat has been blocked. Can it be stopped?
But it was not as chaotic as imagined. It was just some Jiangnan officials who went to court all day long, scolding Zhu Qizhen for not caring about the lives of the people.
Zhu Qizhen was unmoved. He was interested in the interests of the wealthy gentry, not the common people.
In fact, the common people in Zhu Qi Town can still do it. Whenever there is a natural disaster, he will reduce or reduce taxes.
Li Qing was very satisfied with this.
To be fair, Zhu Qizhen was not a wise and powerful emperor, but at least he was not stupid and he listened to advice most of the time.
The reason why this is the case this time is also based on the perspective of imperial power.
As for the public opinion, it is said that Zhu Qi Zhenren did not understand and was bewitched by Wang Zhen. This is completely dominated by scholar-bureaucrats, but the real situation is completely opposite.
Wang Zhen was just Zhu Qizhen's mouthpiece, and it was Zhu Qizhen who really 'did evil'.
However, the evil that Zhu Qizhen did was not against the common people, but against the civil servant group, the nobles, the wealthy gentry, the official gentry... this collective group.
Zhu Qizhen never did anything to take away the people's wealth and neglect the lives of the people.
However, in this era, public opinion was in the hands of the gentry.
To be honest, from the perspective of imperial power, it was wrong for Zhu Qizhen to do this, even a big mistake. It was very unwise to go against a wealthy family in the feudal dynasty.
There is no other reason. The common people are easy to bully and the aristocratic family is difficult to deal with.
However, if we take a long-term view and look at the entire dynasty, he is absolutely right to do so. People are easy to bully, but feudal dynasties have always been overthrown by the people.
Zhu Qizhen was not wrong, but his methods were too strong.
One is because he is young, and the other is because he has been suppressed for too long.
In this case, he couldn't listen to Li Qing's brilliant tongue.
~
In October, Wang Zhen came to report:
Hundreds of carts of smuggled goods were seized, and more than thirty smuggling leaders were killed. The seized goods were being transported to the capital.
Zhu Qizhen was in high spirits and asked Wang Zhen to keep up his efforts.
Originally he had to spend money to buy it, but now it was better to check it directly without spending a penny. He was naturally happy.
Li Qing was worried. He knew that something would happen sooner or later.
The truth was just as he expected, something happened.
The twelfth lunar month.
Luchuan was in chaos again, followed closely by Burma and Siam, who were also in chaos and were planning to invade Yunnan.
When the news reached the capital, it was already the twentieth day of the twelfth lunar month.
Zhu Qizhen was furious, but also a little confused.
He just stopped smuggling, didn't he say he wouldn't do business with Luchuan, Myanmar, and Siam?
He can understand the turmoil in Luchuan. This guy has always been dishonest. Myanmar is close to Yunnan. If he wants to take advantage of the chaos and profit, he can reluctantly accept it. But what the hell is Siam doing to make noise?
Wang Zhen's ability was still good, and he quickly sent back the details of the unrest in Luchuan:
It turned out that the smuggled goods were twice as low as the original price. Luchuan rebelled because he could not buy high-quality and low-price goods.
Qianqing Palace.
Zhu Qizhen handed the letter to Li Qing, "Sir, what do you think?"
"Well... Siam and Burma may have it for this reason, but Luchuan definitely doesn't. They have always been dishonest and just found an excuse." Li Qing said after reading it.
Zhu Qizhen nodded lightly: "However, Fu Shen took a detour by land. The cost increased by more than one or two points, but they still sold it so cheaply. They made almost no profit and even lost money. Why did they do this? ?”
"It is impossible to lose money. Don't forget, there is no tax on smuggling." Li Qing said, "As for why we do this, the reason is very simple. It is to force the emperor to compromise and re-divide the market share."
After a pause, "There is a saying that a man can bend and stretch, so the emperor might as well let them do it once."
Zhu Qizhen shook his head slowly: "Retreat step by step, step by step. Today I let them do it once, but tomorrow they want me to give in again. I won't give in to this kind of thing."
"...If you don't give in, there will be a war!"
"Jiang knows how to fight." Zhu Qizhen shook his head and said, "As you said, Luchuan has always been dishonest. Even if there is nothing like this, they will find other excuses."
“What about Siam and Myanmar?”
"They are just joining in the fun. Once the Ming army arrives, they will definitely wait and see." Zhu Qizhen said firmly, "With them, they don't dare to challenge the Ming Dynasty."
Li Qing secretly sighed: It’s hard to fool the little emperor!
This is a fact. The Ming Dynasty is famous far and wide, and Burma and Siam will never dare to be openly enemies of the Ming Dynasty.
The reason why Luchuan did this was not to attack the Ming Dynasty, but to be independent and force the court to abandon the Luchuan Xuanwei Division and let them have the final say.
Helpless, Li Qing had no choice but to change his words: "Your Majesty, once the war started, money was flowing like water. The Chinese New Year is coming soon. If we send troops at this time, I'm afraid... if we don't give more benefits, the soldiers will be emotional. "
Hearing this, Zhu Qizhen couldn't help but feel pain in his heart.
He also understands this.
However, he still refused to back down.
"Luchuan cannot be lost in my hands." Zhu Qizhen said, "This battle must be fought."
Seeing that Li Qing was still about to talk, Zhu Qizhen added, "Sir, you don't think that Luchuan will be honest if I re-divide the market share of maritime trade, do you?"
"Of course not, their unrest has nothing to do with this." Li Qing shook his head: "Fighting is necessary, but it is necessary to re-divide the market share. Among them..."
"Let's talk about it after we fight this battle." Zhu Qizhen said, "Suppress this bad trend first, and then we can talk about it, and they won't be able to speak like a lion;
My husband once said that the lower the psychological expectations, the easier it is to be satisfied, right? "
"so……?"
"Fifty-fifty!"
Zhu Qizhen's promise was considered a compromise.
Li Qing nodded lightly. His psychological expectations were not high, and he was very satisfied with such a result.
It is unrealistic to expect Zhu Qizhen to win 30-70.
"Nothing else, I'll take my leave first." Li Qing said a little tiredly.
"Sir, wait a minute." Zhu Qizhen stopped, "I have one more thing to ask of you."
"I will do my best regarding the Queen's affairs." Li Qing promised.
Zhu Qizhen shook his head: "That's not it."
"?" Li Qing was surprised, "What?"
"I want my husband to go to Jiaozhi." Zhu Qizhen said, "Let someone help contain the rear. This can also deter Siam and Burma to prevent the situation from escalating. It can also reduce military expenditures and prevent the Ming army from bleeding. "
This is indeed a good idea, it can be said that it kills multiple birds with one stone, and Li Qing is confident that it can be achieved.
Hanhan is a real person, so this face will still be sold to him.
"I can go, but I have a request."
Zhu Qizhen was helpless: "A thousand taels of gold!"
"It's not about money." Li Qing said angrily, "Am I so greedy for money in your eyes?"
"No, isn't it?" Zhu Qizhen blurted out. Seeing Li Qing's face as dark as the bottom of a pot, he changed his words: "Sir, it's okay to just say it." ΟиЪ.ōΓＧ
“Don’t conquer by yourself, don’t conquer by yourself, don’t conquer by yourself!!!”
Say important things three times.
Zhu Qizhen was a little depressed: "Every time my husband travels far away, he always tells me this. Am I so unbearable in your eyes?"
Li Qing was too lazy to argue: "If you don't agree, I won't go!"
"...let's do it!"
