East Factory Governor

Chapter 122 Cao Huachun

Forbidden City, Supervisor of Rituals.

A middle-aged beardless man wearing a woven gold Lin robe, a rhinoceros belt around his waist, and palace boots was half lying on a small huanghuali wood couch.A little powder was applied to his face, which made it unnaturally white.The corners of the eyes drooped slightly, as if they were closed to rest their minds, but as long as they were lifted slightly, a powerful coercion would instantly spread.His fingers are slender and neat, the nail on the little finger is slightly longer than ordinary people, but it is maintained smooth and clean, even the concubines in the palace can't match it.

Glancing at the four men kneeling on the ground, he said in a slightly shrill voice, "Get up."

A femininity echoed in the air.

This person is Cao Huachun, Governor of the East Factory.

Cao Huachun, styled Ru, nicknamed Zhixuzi, was an eunuch who supervised ceremonies and held pens, was the admiral of Dongchang, co-admired the military affairs of the Beijing camp, and held a pen in the imperial study, and participated in the political affairs of the court.

He is the most powerful person in Ming Dynasty today except for the emperor. He is known as the "inner minister". He is nominally on an equal footing with the chief minister of the cabinet, but some of his powers are far greater than that of the chief minister of the cabinet.

Kneeling on the ground were Zhao Keli, who was in charge of thousands of households in Dongchang, Wei Chao, the new head of Zike, Zhang Jin, who was in charge of Ugly Kee, and Qi Jin, who is now the servant of the Ministry of Punishment.

"Speak, our family wants to hear your opinions." Cao Huachun said lightly.

The four of them looked at each other in blank dismay, but none of them dared to speak first.

In the house, there is only the crackling sound of burning charcoal in the basin.

In October of this year, the capital was extremely cold, and the first snow fell in the middle of the month.The people at the star observatory said that the auspicious snowfall in the sky is a good omen.

However, from below Chongzhen to above hundreds of officials in the court, all of them have sympathy.

If it is too cold, it will freeze to death.If winter comes too early, people will starve to death in the coming year.

What Chongzhen was worried about was that the civil uprising would intensify because of this, while the civil official group headed by the Donglin party members in the DPRK was worried that the DPRK Council that collected the "three rates" would be stranded as a result.

"Three Ratings" refers to the collective name of the three taxes of Liao Rating, Suppressing Rating and Lian Rating in addition to the normal tax burden.Liao pay, also known as new pay, existed in the 46th year of Wanli (1618), and was mainly used for military needs in Liaodong.The suppression payment and training payment were newly proposed by the Donglin Party members. The main purpose was to destroy the peasant army and train the frontier soldiers. These three payments were collected mainly from the bottom peasants.

Chongzhen feared that the people would change day by day, coupled with Qin Shuhuai's constant advocacy, he hated the court discussions initiated by these civil officials more and more, so he always refused to let go of the "three salaries" issue.However, under the instruction of Chongzhen, Cao Huachun repeatedly reprimanded the Donglin party members for forming a party for personal gain, caring only for their own interests and disregarding the life and death of the people.

People from the two factions quarreled fiercely, and Chongzhen was furious, and the court staff punished several civil officials who defended stubbornly.Under Cao Huachun's instruction, Jin Yiwei, who was in charge of the court battle, quietly used his internal force and killed two Donglin party officials.

But the will of the Donglin Party members is stronger than imagined.

If the "three salaries" cannot be discussed, then the empty treasury will inevitably open its bloody mouth to the gentry class again, and the tea tax, salt water, mining tax, etc. will be opened again, which will greatly damage the Donglin party members. Benefits are something they never want to see.

Therefore, Lin Youming, the servant of the Ministry of Rites, hit the pillar in the court and splashed blood on the Hall of Supreme Harmony to show his "dead remonstrance".The other civil servants in the DPRK suddenly smelled the dung smell like flies, and became agitated sickly and passionately. Many people wanted to follow suit, as if they were doing something extremely glorious.

Chongzhen had no choice but to shelve the discussion, and then retreated angrily.

All the officials believed that they had won the flag, carried out Lin Youming and walked away.Since then, Lin Youming has been praised by countless scholars and civil officials.

This is a common scene in the imperial court in the late Ming Dynasty.

Occasionally some sparks rose from the charcoal brazier, but they soon turned into ashes and fell powerlessly.

Cao Huachun glanced at the four of them lightly, then stopped on one of them, and said, "Yun Qi, you go first."

Yunqi is the name of Zhao Keli, who was in charge of punishing thousands of households.There are not many people who can call Cao Huachun by his nickname.

Zhao Keli thought for a while, and said, "Wen Tiren, the Minister of Rites, is in conflict with the Donglin party members. A while ago, he and the Donglin party leader Zhou Yanru impeached each other. At present, there is no conclusion on who is right. The subordinates think that we can use this This will blow the arrogance of the Donglin party members."

Cao Huachun nodded slightly, and said again, "Wen Tiren is a good person. He knew that the emperor didn't like the Donglin Party, so he jumped out to fight against them. However, the court needs such cunning people, who will fight with the Donglin Party. Tell me, how can I help you?" he?"

Zhao Keli said, "The subordinates have already collected some evidence of Zhou Yanru's crimes, which should be enough to bring him down. However, Zhou Yanru has a man named Dao Scar Ah San under his command, who also has some unspeakable things about Wen Tiren. The subordinates have not been able to find him yet."

Cao Huachun snorted coldly and said, "Can't find it? Could it be that he can fly with wings?"

A gust of cold air immediately dissipated, making the hearts of the four people tremble.

Zhao Keli immediately said, "The subordinates have sent additional manpower to search and arrest the whole city. As soon as the scar Asan appears, he will be killed on the spot. In addition, Zhou Yanru's mansion also has a lot of our eyeliners. If he gets evidence , Whether it is stolen or robbed, we will take it back."

Cao Huachun said coldly, "Our family will give you three more days, even if you dig three feet into the ground, you will still have to find that scar."

Zhao Keli was stunned, with a embarrassed expression on his face, but he still accepted the order, "This subordinate obeys."

Cao Huachun's face was still gloomy, he pondered for a while, and said, "Do you know why you are in such a hurry?"

All four were silent.

Cao Huachun sat up, picked up the teacup on the couch table, put it to his mouth but put it down again.

"Wen Tiren and others are treacherous villains, but they are the only civil servants who dare to oppose the Donglin Party. If we Dongchang don't gather them as soon as possible, that evildoer will take them into his arms sooner or later! If he passes This group of villains is not far from fighting against our East Factory if they meddle in the government!"

The four of them were startled, they never expected Duke Du to say such words.In the eyes of the four people, although Qin Shuhuai has been in the limelight recently, no matter whether it is the foundation in the court, the degree of trust by the emperor, or the strength in his hands, he cannot compare with Dongchang.In their view, Qin Shuhuai was just suffering from scabies, and when the limelight passed, they sent experts to quietly kill him, and then let Qi Jin return to the Jianghe Gang, and everything would be fine.

But the four never doubted Duke Cao Huachun's words.Since Duke Du said so, it means that Qin Shuhuai has become a serious problem for Dongchang.

There was a moment of silence in the room again.

After a long while, Zhao Keli said again, "Duke Du, Wang Chengen seems to intend to get rid of Qin Shuhuai too, why not..."

(Although it's 1 o'clock in the morning, it's still night, it's two more~)

(End of this chapter)