"Your Majesty, you can't do this!"
Hearing Zhang Mingwei's words, Emperor Chongzhen was stunned for a while, and asked a little unclearly: "Sir, do you mean, do they deserve to be exterminated?"
"No!" After hearing this, Zhang Mingwei immediately shook his head and said, "For these Shanxi merchants, they are the sinners of China, and they are the ones who brought the annihilation of their clan to themselves. What I mean is that you should be careful when dealing with Shanxi merchants."
"Be careful?" Emperor Chongzhen was stunned for a moment when he heard this. Then his face became serious and he immediately asked, "Sir, do you mean they have accomplices?"
Zhang Mingwei nodded and said seriously: "Your Majesty, if any businessman does not have any official connections, it is absolutely impossible to become big. What's more important is that they are engaged in smuggling outside the customs, and they are still Bulk cargo. If there is no local awareness, does Your Majesty think it is possible?"
Emperor Chongzhen nodded after hearing this. It seemed that he wanted to keep things simple. At the same time, he was also very angry and said bitterly: "Local officials are absolutely involved, and I will never spare them lightly!"
Zhang Mingwei nodded after hearing this. He strongly agreed with this point. The traitors who harmed China should be punished by everyone!
With this in mind, he said to Emperor Chongzhen: "Has your majesty discovered that Jianlu entered the pass several times, and your majesty ordered King Qin to do it when the imperial army wanted to destroy the traitors? And that Jianlu was running rampant in the pass. Looting is obviously the result of knowing the strength and terrain within the pass, right?"
Emperor Chongzhen was shocked again. After Zhang Mingwei reminded him, he immediately remembered it.
In the summer of the 9th year of Chongzhen, Lu Xiangsheng, the Minister of War and the Minister of Military Affairs of the seven provinces of Sichuan, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan, Chu, Shandong and Jiangbei, followed the defeat of Gao Yingxiang, Li Zicheng and other bandits in Chuzhou and Qixiang Mountain. become. However, in July, Jianlu invaded the capital again, and the capital was under martial law. Emperor Chongzhen had to issue an edict to summon Lu Xiangsheng to lead his army to defend the capital, giving the bandits a chance to breathe.
In the eleventh year of Chongzhen, Hong Chengchou and Sun Chuanting joined forces to defeat Li Zicheng's eighteen cavalry who hid in the mountains and dared not come out. Zhang Xianzhong's troops were also cornered by the imperial army, especially the Yongwei Battalion, and finally had to surrender to Xiong Wencan in Gucheng. At this time, Jianlu entered the pass again, and the Ming army Qinwang gave the rogues another chance to rise again.
"Sir, what you mean is..." Emperor Chongzhen was not stupid, and he immediately guessed, "Is it because those Shanxi merchants leaked information, thinking that Jianlu should be involved?"
Seeing Zhang Mingwei nodded, he said with some doubts: "But this seems impossible! Even if those Shanxi merchants colluded with local officials, they wouldn't know so much, right?"
The transportation in this era is backward, and the information transmission is also backward. It is far from the situation in later generations where one can stay at home and know the world's affairs.
After Emperor Chongzhen finished speaking, he saw that Zhang Mingwei was still so confident. He suddenly woke up and asked quickly: "Sir, do you mean that there are people in this court who are colluding with Shanxi merchants?"
Zhang Mingwei listened, nodded and said: "Those Shanxi merchants who capitalize on the enemy and betray the country are making huge profits with unscrupulous intentions, and their net worth is unknown. They have the power to collude with the officials in the court, and it can even be said that they use money to smash them." , and train officials who can be used by them. Keeping the situation like this is their opportunity to make a lot of money!"
"Ho, ho..." Emperor Chongzhen sounded like a wounded beast, with a fierce look in his eyes and a low roar, as if he would fight for his life the next moment.
These damn businessmen actually did so many things that were unimaginable to him, causing the Ming Dynasty to fall. He wanted to be the king of the country, and his family and country were destroyed. These Shanxi merchants deserved to die, they really deserved to die!
Even the prince Zhu Cixiang angrily suggested to Emperor Chongzhen: "Father, what the sage said is absolutely true. Businessmen chasing profits are not good things!"
After hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen's face almost dripped with gloom. He nodded and was about to speak when Zhang Mingwei shook his head and said, "What the prince said is wrong. Tao Zhugong and Zigong are not both businessmen, but they can Don’t you think they are good people?”
Tao Zhugong was Fan Li, the great wise man who helped King Goujian of Yue to destroy Wu in the first battle; and Zigong was a disciple of Confucius and a capable man who got rich through business. Confucianism was later carried forward and spread for hundreds of generations, and his contribution was very great.
Hearing his words, Emperor Chongzhen and Zhu Cixi could not help but be stunned, and for a moment, they were speechless. These two businessmen are of course recognized as the kind to be praised.
When Zhang Mingwei saw it, he said seriously: "Let's just discuss the matter. The eight major Shanxi merchants are evil-minded and should be killed, but they should not harm the entire merchant class. As long as the court can regulate the merchants and guide them, they can clearly Said, Ming Dynasty will definitely benefit a lot."
Emperor Chongzhen listened and thought seriously for a while. When he was a little confused and wanted to ask for advice on how to regulate businessmen, he suddenly remembered what happened before and quickly changed his words and asked: "Sir, do you know that there are those officials above the court?" Have you colluded with those Shanxi merchants?"
He took this matter very seriously, so he asked it first.
"Your Majesty, there is no clear record of this matter in the history books!" After Zhang Mingwei replied, seeing the disappointed look on Emperor Chongzhen's face, he changed the topic and said, "But I have done some research, and there is one person who cannot escape." It’s related!”
"Who?" When Emperor Chongzhen heard this, his expression cheered up a little and he immediately asked.
For such people, he couldn't wait to kill them.
Zhang Mingwei looked into his eyes and slowly said word by word: "Chen Xinjia!"
"Ah?" When Emperor Chongzhen heard this, he suddenly screamed, "Is it him?"
This answer was something he never expected. Because among these ministers today, the one he trusts the most is actually Chen Xinjia.
"Well, there is a high probability that there will be no mistake." Zhang Mingwei reminded Emperor Chongzhen with a serious expression: "Your Majesty, think about this Chen Xinjia's resume?"
If it were an ordinary official, Emperor Chongzhen might not know. However, Chen Xinjia is the minister he relies on most, and of course he knows that. When he heard Zhang Mingwei's words, things about Chen Xinjia flashed through his mind.
Chen Xinjia, who was elected in the 36th year of Wanli, was first awarded the title of magistrate of Dingzhou.
In the first year of Chongzhen, he became a member of the Ministry of Justice, Wai Lang, and became a doctor. He moved to Ning to prepare for military affairs.
In the fourth year of Chongzhen, Dalinghe New City fell. Chen Xinjia originally resigned from office, but many people protected him, including the outer court and eunuchs. In the end, he was promoted and became the Deputy Military Envoy of Ningqian.
In the seventh year of Chongzhen's reign, he was promoted to censor of Youqiandu and governor of Xuanfu.
In the ninth year of Chongzhen's reign, Chen Xinjia's mother passed away. He resigned and went home to mourn.
In the eleventh year of Chongzhen's reign, on the recommendation of Yang Sichang, he was promoted to the right minister of the Ministry of War and the censor of the right capital, and the governor of Xuanda, and became the governor of Xuanda.
In the thirteenth year of Chongzhen, Chen Xinjia served as Minister of War. Since Jia Jun in the early years of Hongzhi, only Chen Xinjia has achieved the position of second-rank minister as a juren.
Emperor Chongzhen thought about this and didn't think there was anything special, so he asked doubtfully: "I don't quite understand what you mean, sir. What's wrong with his resume?"
