King Luhuang of the Ming Dynasty: My father, Ming Taizu

Although he couldn't be said to be depressed, he didn't mind telling about his political experiences. As for whether Zhu Tan could understand and learn from him, that was another matter.

In short, he was sure that Zhu Tan had been promoted to the title of marquis and had saved the prince. There might be some twists and turns in the future, but nothing fatal would happen. His daughter Lu Zhu had not been affected either, which was already very good.

If Zhu Tan knew what Ye Shen was thinking, he would definitely say that Old Ye is still a little naive.

You don’t understand how miserable we, the royal family, were when Jiajing ascended the throne!
While eating, a servant whispered something in Zhang Wei's ear.

Zhu Tan saw this and asked, "What's wrong?"

Zhang Wei came up to him eagerly, "Didn't the Marquis send me to watch over Shao Xi? These past two days, Shao Xi has been very close to the Zhou family, and has even been in contact with Dingxi Marquis Jiang He, Jinyiwei Commander Zhang Yue and others."

Zhu Tan said, "Who are Dingxi Marquis Jiang He and Jinyiwei Commander Zhang Yue? I have never seen them."

The nobles’ group found Xu Guangzuo immediately.

"Aren't they relatives? Jiang He and Zhang Yue, one is the son-in-law of Queen Mother Wang's nephew, and the other is the son-in-law of Rui'an Marquis Wang Yuan. One is Zhang Yue's daughter, the daughter of Wang Yuan's son Wang Qiao. And Wang Yuan's daughter is the daughter of Dingxi Marquis Jiang He."

Zhu Tan smacked his lips. Queen Mother Wang’s nephew?
"These two guys are not good people at first glance, keep an eye on them."

Ye Shen suddenly had an idea and interrupted, "I have also heard a little about this matter. It seems to be related to last year's provincial examination. Shao Xi and Wang Yuan should be fighting over the prefectural examination a year ago."

Zhu Tan had a good impression of the Queen Mother, so he wanted to ask her in detail.

"Mr. Ye never leaves his house, but he knows everything. Have you heard of it? Tell me about it."

Ye Shen heard Zhu Tan's teasing tone, but he didn't take it seriously.

"Last time, Tang Yin participated in the Tianfu County Examination and won the first place. He was troubled by the Imperial Censorate because he disliked Tang Yin, so Tang Yin lost in the last imperial examination. Later, Cao Feng, the magistrate of Suzhou County, helped Tang Yin and he became a Jinshi. I heard that Cao Feng and Rui'an Marquis Wang Yuan were both selected."

Zhu Tan was immediately intrigued. Tang Yin! Tang Bohu! Who would have thought that Tang Bohu had passed the imperial examination and won the first place in the imperial examination two years ago? It was really surprising!
Doesn’t this mean that he will become the top scorer in this year’s imperial examination?

Zhu Tan immediately shook his head. He knew very well that Tang Bohu was a failure in the imperial examination.

Because of one incident, he was demoted to a minor official and divorced his wife.

Ye Shen continued, "Tang Yin is quite famous in Jiangnan. The Marquis of Rui'an, the Earl of Changhua, Cao Feng and others all admire Tang Yin very much. When Tang Yin went to Beijing to take the imperial examination, it was Cao Feng who sponsored him financially."

"Could it be that Tang Yin has arrived?"

Zhu Tan couldn't help but feel itchy. He really wanted to have a good chat with this historical figure who was very famous among the people. He wanted to talk about the Four Sages and Qiuxiang. How wonderful it would be!
Li Shen frowned as he heard this.

"I've said before that Shao Xi and Rui'an Hou participated in the Ministry of Rites examination because of Tang Yin. It is said that Tang Yin can buy the examination papers with money, and Jiang Rong also implicated Li Dongyang and Liu Jian in this matter. If it continues like this, problems will arise sooner or later."

Zhu Tan thought again and realized that Tang Yin had indeed had an accident, and the crime he committed was cheating in the imperial examination.

But it seems that this matter has nothing to do with Tang Bohu, he was just harmed by someone.

Forget it, since I'm here now, it's my duty to help out. Just think of it as fulfilling my dream.

Zhu Tan finally understood the help and assistance that making friends with Ye Shen would bring to him, and he placed his hopes on Xu Guang, Chang, Guo Ning, and Ma Cong. How could he know about these official affairs?

However, his reputation was so bad that King Ning had no interest in Tang Bohu at all, so he had to endure it.

However, Shao Xi and Queen Mother Wang's nephew are not good people.

Tang Bohu’s involvement in this exam cheating incident is likely related to these two people, so they must be stopped from continuing their arrogance.

Zhu Tan rolled his eyes and changed the subject, saying, "I have severed my relationship with my eldest brother and the business has ended, but the issue of salt permits cannot be left alone. I heard that some nobles and royal relatives would ask for salt permits from time to time, disrupting the market and being disadvantageous to us."

Ye Shen thought so, while Xu Guangzuo and others pretended to be profound.

Xu Guangzuo smacked his lips, "Second brother, what do you mean by this?"

"I won't allow anyone to interfere. If there is private salt on the market, it belongs to me. No matter who it is, we will suppress it. Since everyone is here, let's make a plan to completely monopolize the salt permit market. At least we must take all the salt permits in the capital for ourselves."

The cup in Ye Shen's hand was almost falling to the ground, and he had just begun!
Was Zhu Tan slapping himself in the face by talking about the private salt monopoly in front of him?

Zhu Tan continued, "Other businessmen only do one-time transactions, but we are different. They want to be steady and take good care of everyone. My brother-in-law is so stingy that even his clothes are worn out. As his brother-in-law, I naturally have to give him some living expenses!"

Okay, Ye Shen stopped talking.

Everyone knows that Emperor Hongzhi Zhu Youtang was very frugal. When he first ascended the throne, he even refused to give away the gorgeous clothes sent from Jiangnan. It is said that his food and drink were also ordinary stuff.

Zhu Tan is a filial and loyal person, and Ye Shen wants to hear what Chu Tian has to say.

When they heard about the opportunity to make money, even two of the three great talents in the capital, including Ma Lin, became interested.

Ma Wensheng has been in officialdom for so many years, but he doesn't have the money to build a building.

Ma Cong has been around the three great talents in Beijing these days, and seeing how they are making a lot of money, he is extremely envious!

Although Chu Xian didn't understand the ways of doing business, in the officialdom, he only needed to imitate the actions in movies and TV dramas.

"First, I will tell the emperor that from now on, I am the only one responsible for this matter and no one else can do anything about it. Second, I will suppress those merchants who oppose me and make them lock me up. Then I will lock them all up, so that they can monopolize all resources, including prices."

Xu Guangzuo clapped his hands and said, "That's good. I'll go too. Second brother, just tell me what you want me to do, and I'll do it."

Guo Ning added: "I can borrow a centurion from the Jinyiwei. They are all cavalry and should be able to hold the situation."

Ye Shen didn't say anything, but Zhu Tan directly handed the work to his father-in-law.

"Mr. Ye, you can draft a letter of consultation, revealing all the matters concerning the princes, nobles, royal relatives, and salt permits, mainly targeting the Zhou family and Changhua Earl Shao Xi. Although he is engaged in jade, he should have participated in the salt permits of Lianghuai, so he was allowed to participate."

"My lord, what should I do?" Ma Cong asked worriedly when he saw that everything was fine.

"You have important business to attend to. The Emperor asked me to supervise you in improving the explosives! We can say that we want to use salt, raise the flag, and make those nobles shut up!"

Ye Shen couldn't help but admire him. When it comes to doing bad things, the new Marquis of Jianchang is really good at it. If Zhu Tan can really refine it, then it won't be long before he controls the salt industry in the capital.

Zhu Tan is not over yet!
During this period of time, he has been troubled by the chaos in Beijing, and he is one of the culprits.

Therefore, it is best to have the final say yourself, at least you can be in control of the overall situation.

"In addition to the private salt, there are also some merchants from other places, such as coal merchants, and peddlers from other places. They all need to be gathered together. Tomorrow I will talk to the emperor and ask them to take away all the businesses in the capital."

Zhu Tan’s idea was to establish an army in the Ming Dynasty, secretly replace the government’s chief of police, and do this job himself.

Everyone must obey his orders, and in this way, the security of the city will be greatly improved.

Finally, Zhu Tan called Zhang Wei again and asked Zhang Wei to find some thugs on the street.

But she still had to listen to what she was supposed to listen to. He would beat up anyone who dared to bully her without his consent.

After making up his mind, he took action. Zhu Tan also asked Ye Shen to write several letters of consultation.

There was no response! Soon, he was promoted to the Shangbao Division and resigned from his favorite position as an imperial examination censor.

As Zhu Tan planned, the name of Marquis Jianchang received mixed reviews in the capital.

There are also many people wearing red clothes on the street, most of them are ruffians.

They are responsible for many things, including going to the toilet, going to the toilet, going to the toilet, and even smuggling salt.

Through the propaganda of the red clothes, people gradually realized that those streets that were closely related to the people had all fallen into the hands of the Jianchang Marquis family.

However, there are some people who are very satisfied. Their lives now are like a vegetable market. Vegetables, coal and salt have become cheaper.

However, those who wanted to get to this position were complaining bitterly, and most of them were related to some prominent figures, pointing fingers at Chu Mu.

Zhou Shou and Zhou Yu were quite annoyed and ran to the palace to ask to see Empress Dowager Zhou.

After meeting them once, Zhou ignored them. If they wanted to meet again, he would say he was sick. Neither of the brothers had the courage to move forward.

In the Yunqing Marquis's mansion, Zhou Yu was displeased: "Brother, that Zhu Tan is really too much. No one wants to take my salt permit anymore. Moreover, Zhu Tan's servants have occupied the port of Tongzhou and snatched away all the salt on our three ships!"

Zhou Shou's expression also changed slightly.

"He relies on the emperor's favor to interfere in everything. Why don't we wait? If he does this, he will not only hurt us, but also the princes and nobles! Can you still bear it?"

Zhou Yu was a little unhappy with what he said, "Brother, losing money is one thing, but don't we even care about our face?"

"Once Emperor Xianzong is gone, we will lose face. Our two uncles are not Emperor Xianzong's uncles, and we are no match for the two men from the Zhang family. Therefore, we must keep a low profile!"

While Zhou Shou was speaking, a servant came to report that Shao Xi, the Earl of Changhua, was here to pay a visit.

Zhou Yu suddenly became excited, "Brother, Shao Xi and Zhu Tan are also in a mess. Why don't we let him deal with Zhu Tan? He is the nephew of three princes! Concubine Shao was very favored in the past. Even the emperor had to give her some face."

Zhou Shou thought so too, but as soon as Shao Xi entered the door, he didn't talk about business at all, nor did he say that he was bullied by Zhu Tan. Instead, he talked about the imperial examination.

Ye Shen was right. Shao Xi was indeed a friend of Tang Yin and Tang Bohu, and he admired Tang Bohu very much.

However, the first person introduced was the key. His name was Xu Jing.

Xu Jing was born in Jiangyin, Nanzhili. His family was very wealthy. He did business with Shao Xi. Shao Xi was engaged in the bloodstone business in his early years, while Xu Jing's father was the person in charge of managing Tianhuang stone.

Xu Jing and Tang Bohu were the top scorers in this year's imperial examination. They both arrived a year ago and were considered well-known figures in the capital.

There is Liang Chu, there is Tang Bohu who is admired, there is Xu Jing who is admired, there is Cheng Minzheng who is a minister, and there is Li Dongyang who is a prime minister.

Tang Bohu's family was poor, and even his travel expenses to the capital were paid by Xu Jing. However, Xu Jinghao was rich, and Tang Bohu was considered his good friend, so all the expenses in the capital were paid by Xu Jing.

Seeing Shao Xi rambling on, Zhou Yu interrupted: "Lord Changhua, what does this have to do with us? Are you trying to cheat? We have no right to interfere!"

Zhou Shou was still very cautious about this matter. The punishment for cheating in the Ming Dynasty was very severe.

Even if they are from the side branch and one is a marquis or earl, once they are involved, the consequences will be disastrous.

Shao Xi smiled and said, "Xu Jing and I have a good relationship. During this period, he has been in contact with Liang Chu, Cheng Minzheng and even Li Dongyang. I have also heard some rumors. I always feel that there is something fishy going on."

Shao Xi did not beat around the bush and said directly: "During this period, Jianchang Marquis Chu Ting has caused chaos throughout the capital. Liang Chu and Li Dongyang have heard about the people's dissatisfaction with him. Li Dongyang even smashed a teacup and cursed at Chu Chu."

The struggle between princes and nobles and outsiders was more for the sake of face, and at most there were only some flesh wounds.

However, it would be exciting to fight with those ministers.

Upon hearing this, the Zhou brothers immediately became interested. If Li Dongyang and Zhu Tan fought, Zhu Tan would probably suffer.

Zhu Tan is favored, but who is Li Dongyang?
Zhu Youtang had taught him when he was still the crown prince, so he still valued him very much.

Zhou Yu nodded hurriedly, "However, how can we allow Li Dongyang and Zhu Tan to become enemies? There is no substantial conflict between the two!"

Shao Xi said with a smile.

"In addition, the Minister of Justice Jiang Rong has impeached Li Dongyang and Liu Jian, who are both under Ma Wensheng. Ma Wensheng's son Ma Cong is very close to Zhu Tan. Isn't the relationship between them perfect?!"

The Zhous then realized that it was Jiang Rong who was discussing the matter with Li Dongyang and Liu Jian.

I didn't expect it was related to Zhu Tan. No wonder Li Dongyang smashed the teacup when he heard Zhu Tan.

Shao Xi expressed his plan.

"I know. It's probably true. The chief examiner is Li Dongyang, and the deputy chief examiners are Liang Chu and Cheng Minzheng. I have asked someone to contact Jiang Rong and give him money to let him pass. This time, Jiang Rong will definitely pass, but he cheated in the exam. When the time comes, Jiang Rong will definitely take advantage of the situation and drag him and his father into the water. Even if he is very favored now, the emperor will not allow him to cheat. By then, his life will be difficult." (End of this chapter)