Chongzhen Daming: Starting from Coal Mountain

Chapter 108
"I see." Chongzhen nodded.

Then he asked again: "As far as I know, the amount of iron used in a waist knife is almost the same as that of a large kitchen knife, but the cost of a waist knife is several times that of a kitchen knife. Does Kang Weng know the reason?"

Kang Shaojing suddenly realized that he had made a slip of the tongue, and quickly covered it up: "Caomin don't know."

Chongzhen looked at Kang Shaojing with a half-smile and said, "Is Kang Weng really ignorant or is he not ignorant?"

"Caomin don't know the truth." Kang Shaojing pretended to be stupid, "Your Majesty is clearly aware of the details, so he must know the reason."

"Of course I know." Chongzhen said with a sneer, "It's nothing more than the fact that the officials of the Military Warfare Bureau eat vegetarian meals and fill their pockets, while the craftsmen are perfunctory and shoddy, so there is absurd thing that a waist knife is not as good as a kitchen knife."

Kang Shaojing hurriedly flattered him: "Your Majesty sees thousands of miles clearly, and he is truly an unprecedented sage."

"Kang Weng, I treat you with sincerity, it's meaningless to say these things." Chongzhen waved his hand, and then said suddenly, "If I entrust you with making the firearms of the War Bureau and Military Weapons Bureau, would you be willing?"

"Ah?" Kang Shaojing was stunned when he heard the words, what does this mean?
In all fairness, if he could really supply the court with firearms, it would be a big deal.

But Kang Shaojing was more worried about the hidden murderous intentions here, the people in Old Zhu's family were not very well behaved.

Chongzhen said again: "You don't have to worry about the price. I will give you whatever price the Bingzhan Bureau reports to the Ministry of Industry, and you will never be in arrears for a penny of funds, but you must guarantee the quality."

Kang Shaojing puffed and knelt on the ground: "Please take back your sincere orders, the grassroots are really embarrassed."

"What?" Chongzhen's face turned pale, and he said coldly, "Kang Weng, don't you want to?"

Cold sweat broke out on Kang Shaojing's forehead, and he said: "The grassroots are worried that they will miss the state affairs. If this is the case, the grassroots apologize for their crimes with death, and if they harm Daming, they will not be able to atone for their crimes with a hundred deaths."

Chongzhen stared at Kang Shaojing for a few seconds, then suddenly chuckled.

"Kang Weng, I'm just joking with you, don't mind."

Kang Shaojing instantly felt his body lighten up, and the coercion disappeared in an instant.

Chongzhen said again: "Kang Weng, I was just joking with you just now, and now I want to say a few heartfelt words to you. Did you encounter any difficulties when you were doing business? If you need my help to solve the problem, Also please be sure to speak out, I will definitely do it for you if I can do it.”

"This?" Kang Shaojing looked at Chongzhen, it was difficult to tell the truth from the fake.

To be honest, I am worried that there will be some trap hidden in the middle?
If you accidentally fall into the wrong path, you might follow in Shen Wansan's footsteps.

But if you don't say anything, you will really miss such a good opportunity.

Because their merchants want to sell some goods now, it is really inconvenient.

For example, this time when grain was sold to Huai'an Mansion, the world only knew that they sold it at a price of 1.5 taels per stone, but who would know that they were actually losing money?
This time it was purely to help Lu Butang!

Chongzhen saw that Kang Shaojing still had concerns, so he said patiently: "Kang Weng, how about this, I will be staying in Yangzhou for half a day this time, and before leaving, I will invite Yangzhou merchants at Xingyuan Banquet, the garrison eunuch. Please let Kang Weng know Merchants from all walks of life in Yangzhou must attend at that time, and I will announce a very important decision at the banquet."

"The grassroots lead the decree." Kang Shaojing knelt down and bowed, got up and left the barracks in a hurry.

Watching Kang Shaojing leave, Chongzhen sighed: "Long'er, Jiong'er, have you seen it? The big hole that grandpa Taizu dug back then has not been filled up to this day. Yangzhou merchants still can't trust our old Zhu family, Yangzhou merchants This is the case, and the merchants in other places must be the same."

"I don't know how to flatter." Zhu Cijiong said angrily, "Without them, wouldn't we be able to get things done?"

"Jiong'er, you belong to the reckless thinking." Chongzhen shook his head, "You can't just do things in a daze."

Zhu Cihong said: "So what my father urgently needs to do now is to follow the example of Shang Jun's Nanmen Limu?"

"Lang'er's words are right." Chongzhen said, "What the father needs to do now is to erect the tree at the south gate, but the price of the tree at the south gate of the father is much higher than that of Shang Jun back then."

……

The next day, Yangzhou guarded the hall of the eunuch Xingyuan.

"Quick, hurry up, move the screen away."

"The plaque, and the plaque, the plaque is also taken off."

"There are also these porcelains, and they are all removed."

There were beads of sweat on Qu Shangzhong's forehead.

Originally, he was a well-behaved Yangzhou garrison eunuch, and he didn't live in a very good place. He would receive invitations from Yangzhou salt merchants every now and then, and famous prostitutes waited on those who were popular and hot.

More importantly, there are thousands of sons and grandchildren under his command, who can call the wind and rain in Yangzhou.

As a result, I suddenly received an edict this morning, saying that Shengjia was going to Yangzhou at noon.

This frightened Qu Shangzhong half to death, and immediately summoned Qi Gan's son and grandson to clean up and guard Xingyuan.

"Godfather, what is Fei doing? How bright are these screens, plaques and porcelain?"

A godson asked in confusion, well, he is actually just unwilling to do rough work.

Ever since they recognized Qu Shangzhong as their godfather, these godsons have transformed from green-skinned gangsters into Yangzhou tyrants in an instant. In just a few years, they have amassed tens of thousands of wealth, bought a lot of houses, and even took in several concubines. They are pampered When I get used to it, I am not too willing to do the rough work before, because I find it tiring.

"Bright? Are you trying to kill our family?"

Qu Shangzhong was furious when he heard the words: "Long Live Lord is coming to Yangzhou!"

"Long live God came to Yangzhou, this is a good thing." Several godsons said happily with their eyes brightened, "Long live God must have come to support godfather you, and the matter of setting up a card to collect taxes at the water and land wharf in Yangzhou will be settled. Since then, we have been able to earn a living without drought or flood, and my son does not believe that this dog official Ma Mingpai really has the courage to resist the order."

"You know what a fart." Qu Shangzhong's face darkened.

But there are some things that can't be said to these godsons, they can't be said.

Because the godfather Han Zanzhou just mentioned something cryptically, telling him to be careful.

While he was busy, a young man suddenly broke in and shouted sharply: "Master, here we come, here we come!"

"What's coming? Who's coming?" Qu Shangzhong scolded, "You're frizzy, and you can't hold your breath at all. How many times has God told you to do it before Mount Tai collapses without changing your face. "

"Uh yes." The little gangster took a breath and said again, "Long Live Lord is here."

"What?" Qu Shangzhong yelled, then turned around and ran out of the gate.

Looking at the back of Qu Shangzhong leaving in the dust, the little gangster and the other sons looked at each other in blank dismay.

After a while, Qu Shangzhong led Chongzhen and his party in, and then saw screens, plaques, porcelain, and a cage that was about to be carried outside, all of which were calligraphy and paintings.

Seeing this, Qu Shangzhong was about to cry.

Han Zanzhou's old face was also blackened.

Chongzhen walked to a cage as if nothing had happened, and took out a scroll from it.

Han Zanzhou quickly took a step forward and helped Chongzhen slowly unfold the scroll.

"Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains?" Chongzhen's eyes lit up suddenly, and then he shook his head again, "Unfortunately, it's not the real one. This should be the fake one copied by Master Shen, but it can be considered a treasure."

Handing the scroll to Han Zanzhou to put it away, Chongzhen smiled and said, "Kong Shangzhong."

"The servant is here." Kong Shangzhong hurriedly walked to Chongzhen in small steps.

"There are a lot of collections in Xingyuan." Chongzhen smirked at the cage, and asked again, "Are you moving it outside? Or are you messing with it inside?"

"Go back to Lord Long Live." Kong Shangzhong endured the pain in his flesh.

"After the Jiashen national disaster, the capital fell, and the imperial city of Liudu fell into disrepair for a long time. Long live God didn't even have a place to live. The slaves were really distressed, so they wanted to sell all these collections and decorations, and raised some money to repair Liudu. Imperial City."

"It turns out that's the case. I've got my heart." Chongzhen nodded, but no joy or anger could be seen on his face.

Kong Shangzhong was apprehensive, but he continued, "This is what slaves should do."

Chongzhen pointed to the godsons standing on both sides and asked: "Are these your godsons?"

"Going back to Lord Long Live, they are the godsons who call me indiscriminately. How dare slaves." Kong Shangzhong said hastily, "These are the officials and followers of Yangzhou guarding the eunuch Xingyuan."

"Really?" Chongzhen smiled, and said lightly, "Everyone is arrested."

"Yes!" Hu Guozhu cupped his hands, and shouted back, "Come here, arrest me!"

The eight hundred barbarians immediately divided into two groups, half guarding the outer perimeter of the Xingyuan, and the other swarming in. The hundreds of green-skinned gangsters who happened to gather at the Xingyuan were caught right away, and none of them slipped through the net.

Kong Shangzhong was completely stupefied, so what's going on?
Long live Lord, how can you turn your face when you turn your face? There is no sign at all?
Chongzhen beckoned to Fu Shan and other four fleeing scholars to come over: "Can you count? Can you read the account book?"

Fu Shan and other four scholars came to Chongzhen and bowed in unison: "Hui Sheng said, I just understand a little bit."

"It's good to understand." Chongzhen nodded and said again, "I entrusted you with a task, to roughly sort out the accounts of the Yangzhou Garrison Eunuch Office within half a day, no precise figures are needed, just about it."

Pointing at the hundreds of green-skinned gangsters who were knocked down by Yi Ding, he said: "I also counted all the ill-gotten wealth these bastards collected in my name."

"Ah? This!" Fu Shan and the others looked distressed.

Your Majesty, the workload is too much, half a day is not enough.

Chongzhen shook his head: "I only give you half a day. If you have acquaintances in Yangzhou, you can ask for help. If you need the army to come forward, you can ask Hu Guozhu to transfer Yi Ding."

That's all right, it's not a big problem if you can find someone to help.

At that moment, the four people in Fu Shan bowed together: "Caomin and others lead the order."

While talking, a eunuch reported: "My lord, Huang Jiarui, the governor of Nanzhi, and Ma Minglu, the prefect of Yangzhou, are asking to see you."

"No, I'm tired after driving all night." Chongzhen directly refused, and then led Zhu Cihong and Zhu Cijiong into the guard camp surrounded by dozens of barbarians.

(End of this chapter)