Kangxi, your Qing Dynasty is dead

Chapter 153 I'm Stop Pretending, I'm Going to Sell My Office! (ask for subscription, ask for monthly pass)

"Little nun, what's your name?" Wang Zhongxiao asked with a smile. With his demeanor, there is no doubt that he is a tall, handsome, sunny, upright little Wang next door and a feudal warlord!
He has now found the location of Wu Xiaojiao according to the floor plan of Princess Mansion in Shihu Hutong that Wang Leiyong drew for him. Wang Leiyong stood outside with a murderous look on his face, as if he should keep away from strangers.

When Wang Zhongxiao entered this room, he saw that it was indeed a weeping, delicate and elegant girl with a bald head, even if she was placed with the big beauty Wu Xiaotu and the plump beauty Yang Xiaohuan, she could be called a beautiful bald girl.Although she was wearing a somewhat loose flag dress, she still couldn't hide her slim and graceful demeanor.

"I, I'm not a little nun." When the bald girl spoke, her expression was extremely tense, her whole body was shaking slightly, and she looked at Wang Zhongxiao with a look of sadness and anger.

"Why didn't the nun shave her head?" Wang Zhongxiao stretched out his hand to touch the cute little bald head, and asked with an easy-going expression.

"I, I'm really not a nun," said the little girl, "I shaved my head to pretend to be my second brother."

"Your second brother is Wu Shifan?" Wang Zhongxiao asked again.

"Yes" the little girl nodded.

"Where did he go?" Wang Zhongxiao asked knowingly.

"I don't know," the little girl shook her head, "My second brother has not been seen for several days. Er Niang told the outside world that he had chickenpox and was going to rest in bed, but she shaved my head and stuffed me under the bed to pretend to be my second brother. "

It turned out that this little girl was Wu Shifan's sister, Wu Xiaojiao. From what she said, it was obvious that she didn't know the truth of the matter.It seems that Princess Jianning is a very scheming woman, and she also loves Wu Yingxiong deeply, so she can do her best to protect the bastard born to Wu Yingxiong and his concubine.

"Little girl, you haven't answered my first question yet, what's your name?"

"I, my name is Wu Xiaojiao." The little girl replied timidly.

"Xiaojiao?" Wang Zhongxiao said, "As the name suggests, she is small and delicate."

"It's not that jiao, it's a nine at the beginning of the word grass." Wu Xiaojiao said, "It's the name of a kind of grass."

"Oh, that's right." Wang Zhongxiao said, "I'm Wang Zhongxiao, did your mother tell you?"

Wu Xiaoying nodded, her cheeks were red, and she said in an inaudible voice: "I said it. Er Niang asked me to go with you. Later, later"

"Then come with me," Wang Zhongxiao said, "I will take good care of you in the future."

Wu Xiaojiao looked at Wang Zhongxiao again, and found that this "Neighboring Warlord" looked handsome, spoke nicely, was not fierce at all, and looked like a good person, so he nodded, "Okay."

"Then do you want to cover your bald head with a piece of cloth?"

"My family has a wig." Wu Xiaojiao said as he spoke, and he took out a wig headgear and put it on his bald head like a magic trick. His appearance suddenly improved a lot!

Qianqing Palace, South Study Room.

"Reporting to the emperor, my second elder brother disappeared a few days ago, and Er Niang told the people below that my second elder brother had chickenpox and a high fever, and he needed to rest in bed. She also asked me to go to my second elder brother's room every day, Lie on the bed and pretend to be the second elder brother for a while, and even shaved the head of the slave. Wuwu, the slave is guilty, the emperor, please don't kill the slave, the slave must serve the king's guards well."

The one who was kneeling in the south study room, crying and pretending to be pitiful, was of course Wu Xiaojiao who had been brought back by Wang Zhongxiao.

However, Wang Zhongxiao did not take her back to the house in Tofu Lane, but took her to his own village outside Haidian Town, and did not let Wu Shifan meet her—Wu Shifan was sent to Yuyuantan.

After sending Wu Xiaojiao to Haidian, Wang Zhongxiao spent another night with Yang Xiaohuan teaching her how to lie to the emperor.Early this morning, Wang Zhongxiao took Wu Xiaojiao into the palace to deceive Kangxi so much that Wang Da's final minister was able to fish into the sea, and the dragon flew ninety-five!

Just now, Wu Xiaojiao was brought into the South Study Room by Wang Zhongxiao, walked to Kangxi's royal case, and when Yingying bowed, the little Emperor Kangxi had already condemned Wu Yingxiong to death in his heart-if he had such a beautiful daughter, he would not sacrifice it earlier. Coming out to serve the emperor is simply outrageous!
But when the cheated Kangxi was about to get angry, a young man next to him was the first to intercede for her, "Brother Huang, please forgive her, she is so beautiful and pitiful, she must not be a bad person."

Kangxi looked back, and it was his fifth younger brother, Prince Gong Changning, who spoke for Wu Xiaojiao.This kid Chang Ning has been "moved" by Wu Xiaojiao, and they all shed tears along with him!
"Your Majesty, this servant is also begging for mercy for this little girl, so please hold your hand high and spare her life!" Fuquan also spoke for his younger brother. He was not "moved", but Yang Xiaomi boasted last night. All night, the wind beside the pillow "blown over" him.

Seeing that the two good brothers had interceded for Wu Xiaojiao, Kangxi couldn't pursue it anymore, and what he hated was not Wu Xiaojiao helping Wu Shifan escape - killing Wu Shifan or not would not affect the quality of the "Certificate of Name".What Kangxi hated was that Wu Yingxiong didn't send the beauties to the palace early!

This shows that Wu Yingxiong has long wanted to rebel.
Kangxi sighed, and looked at Wu Xiaojiao with great reluctance——she still looks so good-looking with a shaved head, how hateful, what a beauty!
Kangxi gritted his teeth and waved his hand, "Okay, okay, Wang Datou, you take her back, I told you to reward her, so naturally I have to spare her."

"Thank you, Your Majesty, thank you, my Majesty, quickly."

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your kindness."

Kangxi nodded, "Kneel down!"

He doesn't want to look at Wu Xiaojiao for a moment now - just look at it and get angry!
Moreover, Kangxi can't let Wang Zhongxiao donate the little genus now.If Wu Sangui is eliminated, then he can of course bring Wu Sangui's granddaughter into the palace, but he can't do that now.Now that Wu Sangui is so arrogant, he made it clear that he wants to seize the Qing Dynasty, and Kangxi will bring Wu Sangui's granddaughter into the harem to give him great favor. What will the children of the Eight Banners below think?
You little emperor is so lecherous that you can't distinguish between the enemy and us, can you still defeat Wu Sangui?
Seeing Wang Zhongxiao lead the little beauty away, Emperor Kangxi let out a sigh of relief, and then looked at the eight university scholars, two Hanlin bachelors, two little princes, and Mi Sihan, the secretary of the household department, standing on the left and right. He smiled and said: "Although Wu Shifan ran away, the nomination certificates for those people have been established. These people can't be used by Wu Sangui, so can I use them?"

"Emperor Shengming!"

No one disagreed with this point, so they called "Shengming" together.

Kangxi asked again: "Then how should I use them? Let's talk about them."

"Your Majesty," Nalan Mingzhu was the first to leave the class and knelt down, "May I speak first, my servant?"

"Okay, tell me."

"Your Majesty, the servant is in charge of the Ministry of War, so let's talk about the use of soldiers to fight. The servant thinks that these people are not outstanding talents, but barely usable. Among them, Wang Fuchen and Wang Fuchen are the most capable. Wang Zhongxiao and his son, but how can they compare with Wu Yingqi, Wu Guogui, and Ma Bao? Not to mention Wu Sangui himself. But from ancient times to the present, wars have not only been fought by generals. Otherwise, how could Emperor Han Gao survive? Overlord of Chu? How could Sima Yi block Zhuge Kongming to death in Qinling and Qishan?"

Kangxi nodded, "It's reasonable. The key to war is to win by chance. But to use odds is to take risks. It has become a natural name and goes down in history. It flaunts the strategy of war, but if it is messed up, it will give the opponent the weak to win the strong, and the few to attack." This is a great opportunity. In this battle in southern Sichuan, to put it bluntly, both Wu Sangui and I want to use Qi, but I am not as good as Wu Sangui, a veteran. Hehe, I can’t accept it! But it doesn’t matter that I am not as good as him in using Qi. Use less odd, more use is right!"

Mingzhu said: "Your Majesty is wise. But forgive me for saying it bluntly. Although my Qing Dynasty is rich all over the world, the actual silver deposits in the treasury are only a mere 400 million taels."

"Mi Sihan!" Kangxi called out the name of Hubu Manshang Shu Mi Sihan.

"The slave is here." Mi Sihan hurried out of the shift and knelt down to Kangxi, but he didn't reply, he just looked so sad that the Minister of the Ministry of Households looked so poor!No money!

"How much money is there in the treasury now? Is it enough to spend?"

"Reporting to the emperor, there are still more than 350 taels in the national treasury over the years. Not enough to spend!"

"Not enough money?" Kangxi was taken aback, "Why is it not enough with so much money?"

"Reporting to the emperor," Mi Sihan said, "Although the balance of more than 300 million taels is not much, it is enough to meet the usual expenses and turnover. After all, the imperial court still has 4000 to [-] million taels of income every year. .But now is not an ordinary time, it is a wartime! Just the pensions and the expenses for reorganizing the army that have to be paid after the Southern Sichuan War can empty the national treasury!"

The loss of the Qing army in the Battle of Southern Sichuan was too great!With the addition of the Green Camp and the Eight Banners, there will be 3 to 300 people lost. How can this pension money have to go out to several million taels!If we want to make up for the war damage and strengthen the siege of Wu Sangui in various places, the balance of more than [-] million yuan will not be spent?
Kangxi was a little anxious, "Then what should we do? Does the Ministry of Households have any suggestions?"

"Your Majesty, the slave's suggestion is to levy more troops!" Mi Sihan said, "We need to pay for the use of troops in the southeast, and pay for the suppression of Oboi in the southeast to defend against pirates, and the increase of troops for training. Therefore, the slave proposes to increase the payment in Sichuan." , sea rate, and training rate. At least 18% of the regular class must be levied every year. Your Majesty, there are precedents for this increase. The Liao pay was also restored, with an extra charge of more than 520 million taels a year, which has been received until now.”

Kangxi frowned: "Then, then you are not afraid that the common people will rise up because they cannot stand the exorbitant taxes?"

"Your Majesty, I don't worry about this." Mi Sihan shook his head and said, "Actually, there is no such increase in sending and levy, and those gangsters have rebelled a lot. Isn't the Third Prince Zhu's rebellion happening every year?"

"Bastard!" Fu Quan yelled and cursed, "How do you talk? What do you mean rebellion happens every year? My Qing Dynasty is a bright world, and the sun and the moon are shining. Where are there so many rebels?"

"Fuquan, that's fine, what Mi Sihan said is right!" Kangxi frowned, "Although the holiness of this dynasty is better than that of previous dynasties, the troublesome people below don't know it, they just like to oppose it. But this additional levy The addition of faction should not be too much, after all, the lessons learned from Chongzhen's past are there.

Mi Sihan, a few days ago Wang Zhongxiao suggested that I reopen the sea trade and set up a Guangzhou shipping department to make money. Do you think this will work? "

Mi Sihan said: "Your Majesty, I don't think it is necessary to open a shipping department. If the imperial court wants to collect from the sea trade, they should just set up a tax customs. The shipping department still has to operate, so how can it be practical to set up a customs to collect taxes?" ?”

"Yes," Kangxi nodded, "Let's do this and set up a Guangdong Customs Road, let Wang Zhongxiao go to be the Taoist platform, and raise military expenses for his father."

"Your Majesty, I have something to say." Suo'etu immediately went out of class to play when he heard this.

"Go ahead."

Suo'etu said: "Your Majesty, Wang Fuchen now has [-] soldiers. If he has his own financial resources, won't he become a feudal town?"

"I have thought about this problem for a long time," Kangxi sighed, "but Guangdong is too far away from the capital, and the transportation is not very convenient. If Wu Sangui sends troops to Huguang and the pirate Zheng blocks the waterways of Fujian and Guangdong, then the two provinces The army’s salary route will be cut off. At that time, Wang Fuchen, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, will still try to get money, and maybe he will take all the chief secretaries of Guangdong and Guangxi in his hands!”

"Your Majesty is wise," Suo'etu said, "but you must be defensive. This slave suggests sending reliable personnel to serve as the governor of Guangdong and the admiral of Guangdong, and increase the number of pacesetters for the governor and admiral."

The Admiral of Guangdong's Water and Land has a lot of pacesetters, and the cost is of course quite astonishing.

"This will cost money again." Kangxi frowned, "Then Suo'etu, do you have anyone to recommend?"

"Your Majesty, my servant recommends Zhu Guozhi as the governor of Guangdong," said Suo'etu, "this Zhu Guozhi is very good at dealing with money! In addition, the servant recommends Li Lan, the son of Li Guoying, as the governor of Guangdong. After Geng's death, most of Liangyu's old ministries were used by Guoying, so Li Guoying's old minions were many, and Li Lan was not afraid that he would not have people under his command if he became Admiral of Guangdong."

Suo Etu recommended Li Lan not only because Li Lan could win over Li Guoying's old department, but also because Li Lan gave him a large sum of money.In addition, Li Lan and Wang Zhongxiao were jealous a few days ago because of "Wu Xiaogeng". Although it is not a big feud, there is still a rift at the end.

Kangxi thought for a while, nodded and said: "Zhu Guozhi and Li Lan are indeed available. But how much money can the Guangdong Customs collect in a year? Is it enough to spend?"

"Your Majesty," Mi Sihan said, "the Guangdong Customs Road can collect 100 million taels a year, which is the most. Maybe it can subsidize the military expenses of Guangdong and Guangxi, but there are so many troops in the whole country that have to spend, and I'm afraid it won't work if we don't send more troops!"

"Okay!" Fuquan suddenly interjected at this time.

"Fuquan, what did you say?" Kangxi looked at his brother.

Fuquan also came out of the class and knelt down to Kangxi, "Your Majesty, I have a suggestion, I don't know whether to say it or not."

"Speak quickly!" Kangxi said with a smile, "If you don't speak well, can I still punish you?"

"Your Majesty, the slave just said it," Fuquan said, "The slave's suggestion is to sell the official position to raise money!"

"What? Selling? Selling an official?" Kangxi was stunned, "Isn't it bad to sell an official? Chongzhen, the subjugated king, has never sold an official before, right? How could I do this?"

"What the emperor said is that Chongzhen didn't sell his officials much, so he died!"

"Ah?" Kangxi was a little bit dumbfounded, "Chongzhen died because he refused to sell his officials?"

"That's right," Fuquan said, "If Chongzhen is willing to sell the official, sell him 1000 million to 2000 million, can't he use this money to train an elite army with enough food and wages? With elite soldiers, he can defeat Li Zicheng or our Great Qing Dynasty."

This seems to make sense.
Kangxi didn't know how to educate his brothers for a while!
Didn't Chongzhen die from lack of money?He wants to have 2000 million taels, but it may not work if he has it!But Kangxi is absolutely sure that if he has 2000 million spare money, he can raise and train [-] new troops with sufficient food and wages and excellent firearms.

With such a new army, it will be much easier to fight Wu Sangui!
"Besides selling officials, is there any other way to get money quickly?" Kangxi asked again.

Kangxi is asking the wrong person this time!

Apart from selling officials, those people below don't know any other ways to get money!
Oh, there is another method they also understand, and that is to steal the house!

But no one would encourage the emperor to copy the houses of corrupt officials. Isn't this digging a hole and burying himself?

Seeing that the group of people below were shaking their heads repeatedly, Kangxi stopped pretending. Isn't he just selling an official?What's the big deal?If the Qing Dynasty wants Wu Sangui to be wiped out, Wu Sangui should be sold as an official!

"Then, let's sell the official!" Kangxi slapped the table, "How does this official sell? Do you all know?"

"do not know"

"Your Majesty, this slave doesn't know anything about selling an official!"

"Your Majesty, this servant will go back and look through the ancient books to see how the ancients sold their officials."

None of these ministers dare to say that they will sell their officials!If you say you can sell an official, isn't that the same as admitting that you have been doing this?At that time, Kangxi would no longer have to sell his officials, and if they ransacked their homes, he would have money.

"Your Majesty," it was Fuquan, the brother of the "helping brother demon", who was righteous, and he was not afraid that Kangxi would copy his house, so he started to give bad advice to his brother, "I know a little about selling officials."

"Then tell me, how do you sell this official?"

"Your Majesty, first of all, selling an official can't be called selling an official. It should be called donating an official or donating an official." Fuquan said, "Secondly, selling an official should be divided into three types: selling official titles, selling alternates, and selling actual vacancies. Selling official titles It means paying money with one hand and giving the official license with the other hand. Selling alternates means collecting money when the officials are elected. Whoever donates more money can be given priority to become an official and get the quota of alternates. Selling the real shortage means that there is no need for alternates, and the Take the real vacancy to take office.

In addition, the emperor can also sell the merits of the imperial examination. The imperial examination is too difficult. Many people fail to pass the exam. The emperor simply asks them to donate some money in exchange for a scholar or a scholar.Anyway, a scholar can't be an official, and it's very difficult for a candidate to be an official, and the bought candidate probably won't be admitted to a Jinshi. Isn't this just selling a piece of paper? "

(End of this chapter)