Zheng Haizhu took advantage of Zhu Changluo to complain and knock on the lid of the teacup, and looked at Wang An who was standing on the side.
Due to the change in historical trends, Zhu Changluo survived. His eldest companion and direct descendant of the East Palace, Wang An, successfully ushered in the spring of his political career in March of the first year of Taichang - replacing the late Wanli Emperor's confidant Wang An. Eunuch Lu Shou became the chief minister of etiquette.
Due to the system in which the Ming Empire's cabinet and the Director of Ceremonies jointly discussed affairs, the Director of Ceremonies held the title of "internal minister". With the support of the emperor, his power was equal to that of the chief minister.
Wang An became even busier as a result.
In addition, he was getting older, and his close confidant, Cao Huachun, the general manager of Qianqing Palace, was basically responsible for serving Zhu Changluo.
Today, the emperor summoned Zheng Haizhu, but Wang An was also present. Obviously, Zhu Changluo did not shy away from scolding Yang Lian and other Donglin sects in front of Wang An.
When Wanli was still on the throne, Zhu Changluo, as a prince who was not favored by his father, felt that his status was quite precarious. At that time, the Donglin Sect and Wang An, the eunuch of the East Palace, were both "princelings", and they were very good allies.
However, the Donglin faction is, after all, a group with stricter barriers than the Qi, Chu and Zhe parties. These Donglin civil servants originally opposed mining taxes and criticized power. How could they really lead eunuchs like Wang An as comrades?
Therefore, whether it was the tone revealed in Cao Huachun's words or the presence of Wang An's escort today, Zheng Haizhu judged that in the short half year since he left the country, the Donglin civil servants who had gained the upper hand, even if the chief assistant Ye Xianggao was relatively peaceful, Zhao Nan Xing, Yang Lian and the others may have had some disagreements with the eunuchs in charge of the Supervisor of Ceremonies.
Zheng Haizhu then made eye contact with Wang An, sighed softly, leaned over and said to Emperor Zhu Changluo: "Your Majesty, please calm down. Mr. Yang and others are worried about the security of the capital, which is their duty as ministers."
Zhu Changluo's eyes were serious: "Then tell me, can Tianjin open the switch?"
"Yes, but hold off," Zheng Haizhu said calmly, "Your Majesty, I am not pretending to be magnanimous, but I have the courage to make suggestions to Your Majesty. Dong Lin fought hard for Your Majesty on national issues back then, but now although he opposes this and that After all, they are worried about the country. They are also His Majesty’s loyal ministers. They also manage the money bag for Your Majesty and keep an eye on the way of speech, so..."
She didn't speak directly, Zhu Changluo already understood.
The middle-aged emperor does not have the vigor and vigor of a young man, but like most older men in the world, he hates being manipulated by other men.
Zhu Changluo turned and stared at Wang An: "What Master Zheng said is almost the same as what you persuaded me. It's because I attach too much importance to friendship. The current ministers of several ministries are all under the Donglin sect."
Wang An sighed: "Long live my lord, so in the future, when we spend money and employ people, we still can't just rely on the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Ministry of Personnel. The old slave feels that Master Zheng went to Chahar at the right time. .”
"Oh?" Zhu Changluo turned his head and still looked at Zheng Haizhu, "Yes, look at how angry I am. Tell me about the business in Mongolia."
Zheng Haizhu's expression suddenly became serious from the calm one just now.
She picked up Wang An's implication without any hesitation, and said to Zhu Changluo categorically, regardless of the courtesy between the monarch and his ministers: "The business road from Daning to Chahar can be your majesty's new money bag. It's just that In order for the trade routes to prosper, Jianzhou Tatar raids must be prohibited. Therefore, a number of cities and military forts should be rebuilt in Daning Town and Xiaoling River. Our Ming Dynasty stationed strong troops to connect with Lin Dan Khan's Mongolian soldiers from the north to the south. Form a line of defense to stop Nurhachi’s Eight Banners Army.”
Zhu Changluo looked solemn: "How much will it cost?"
Zheng Haizhu roughly calculated the cost of building the city and raising troops to the emperor, and finally gave a plan: "If General Yang and others think that the Tianjin switch will attract bandits from the sea, then they will postpone the construction of Tianjin and let the Ministry of Household Affairs The money assigned to the Ministry of Industry was taken by Huang Zunsu to Daning Town to build a city and fort. No matter Mr. Ye Ge, Sun Hanlin, or Yang Zongxian, they all mentioned that it was necessary to ignore the customs, and Huang Zunsu did the same. Under Donglin’s sect, Your Majesty will appoint him as a patrol censor and send him to supervise the army outside the pass. Don’t you think the elders of Donglin have nothing to say?”
Zhu Changluo rolled his eyes for a moment, nodded and said, "This is a very good idea."
Wang An on the side knew the old events in Songjiang. He knew that Ma Xianglin and Huang Zunsu had shared the troubles in the bandit village, and together they had calmed down the storm of people raiding Dong's house. At this moment, he couldn't help but secretly praise Zheng Haizhu for his bright mind and his ability to turn around the disadvantages in the imperial prelude. The purpose of this incident If you can't achieve it, you can make up for it by doing something else.
In this way, the Ministry of Revenue in charge of Dong Lin tried not to give the Ministry of Industry money to build Tianjin Port, but in the end, didn't it go along with Zheng Haizhu's plan?
The emperor said sincerely: "I have one thing to say. I see that Huang Zunsu, although he is also a Donglin, is a practical minister. He collected money from Songjiang Customs for ship pilots, ship tax money, and the overcharged store tax in Shanghai County due to the switch. Yin, you made it clear. Judging from his enthusiasm in requesting funds from the Ministry of Industry, he does not object to the Tianjin Switch. Well, Master Zheng, the people you recommended to me are all good. Lu Juren, who is a lecturer at the Wenhua Hall, the emperor The eldest son and the fifth son of the emperor also like to listen."
Zheng Haizhu doesn't expect to become fat in one go, especially when it comes to face-to-face meetings.
Now that the idea of rebuilding Daning Town has been approved by the Holy Spirit, and the request for the Sichuan Army to be returned to Ma Xianglin, don't throw it out in a hurry. Put it aside until the next time, when the military pay to be sent to the north is obtained.
So she did not continue on the topic of Mongolia, but continued the emperor's words and said with a smile: "It's been half a year since we were separated, and I miss the prince and princesses quite a bit."
When talking about his own flesh and blood, Zhu Changluo, like most fathers in the world, softened his expression.
"Master Zheng, there is a lecture in the Wenhua Hall today, so please stop nagging here. Wang An, let Cao Huachun lead Master Zheng there."
Zheng Haizhu stood up to thank him, then remembered something again and reported: "Your Majesty is talented and praises his ministers for their ability to promote talents. I will recommend another person, Wei Jinzhong from the Xixin Division."
Zhu Changluo asked puzzledly: "What do you want him to do?"
"Go to Henan Mansion and remind King Fu that it's time to donate money."
Zhu Changluo clapped his palms together: "Yes, you and Wang An agreed last year in winter that Prince Fu would pay for recruiting the descendants of Daijun's clan to guard the border. How much do you want him to pay?"
Zheng Haizhu said: "I heard that more than ten years ago, the King of Chu was unjustly accused of having doubtful bloodline. After the court clarified it, he donated 20,000 taels of silver to the inner treasury to repair the Forbidden City palace. The Chu vassal was not rich, and the vassal vassal was not wealthy. There are many members of the inner clan, and the King of Chu can afford 20,000 taels. How can King Fu get 100,000 taels this time? In addition to recruiting new soldiers, there should be tens of thousands of taels in surplus. He can choose a strong frontier army to guard Daning. town."
"Well, okay," Zhu Changluo seemed to have figured it out and smiled narrowly, "Master Zheng, you will indeed help me select people. OK, please pass on my instructions. Wei Jinzhong will lead the Dongchang Fanfu and go to Luoyang today to handle matters."
After leaving Qianqing Palace, Cao Huachun said to Zheng Haizhu: "We admire Madam's magnanimity. It's okay if we don't arrange Yang Zongxian in front of the emperor. Wei Jinzhong's Caihu lady has offended you like that, so it's better for you to find a job for Old Wei." A very fat job."
Zheng Haizhu smiled: "It's all to get some money for Lord Long Live. Now that the money has been obtained, we can repay your kindness, right?"
Cao Huachun nodded and gave a thumbs up, but he guessed in his heart that what Zheng Haizhu thought was definitely not as grand as she said.
In the afternoon, when he went to pick up Zheng Haizhu to enter the Qianqing Palace to meet the Holy Spirit, Cao Huachun, who had received many generous gifts of furs and ginseng in the palace outside the palace last night, became more considerate and fed Zheng Haizhu various current news from the inner and outer courts.
One of them is that the Ministry of Rites is already handling the matter of canonizing the emperor's eldest son as a prince. Before the canonization, the eldest son of the emperor, Zhu Youxiao, was going to Mount Tai to worship heaven and earth at Dongyue for his father.
Thinking that Zheng Haizhu had specifically inquired about Ke Yinyue's movements, Cao Huachun suddenly realized that this woman might have figured out how to play chess in a short period of time.
She wanted to prevent Zhu Youxiao from taking his eldest companion Wei Jinzhong to Mount Tai, so that the Hakka family could not take advantage of this opportunity to get close to Zhu Youxiao again.
