Saving the Ming Dynasty: I can exchange bodies with Chongzhen

Chapter 17 in progress!
"Your Majesty, you are still the same Majesty we are familiar with!" Wen Tiren said with a smile.

Huang Shijun was also relieved when he heard this. The emperor trusted Wen Tihen so much, which meant that he had no intention of punishing their faction.

Maybe I'm just overthinking it.

But the emperor was so swift and decisive in dealing with Wang Zhixin's matter that it made him feel a little nervous.

While the two were talking, the butler brought in another letter.

Wen Tiren glanced at the housekeeper and asked, "Who sent it?"

"I don't know. That person said that the Lord would know it if he saw it." The butler replied without changing his words.

Wen Tiren unfolded the letter and read it, frowning, "Your Majesty wants Luo Yangxing to select a group of supervisors to be in charge of the donation matters?"

"Why didn't I hear Luo Yangxing mention this?"

His relationship with Luo Yangxing was far from ordinary.

The two of them have always been sharing what they have.

During the early years of Chongzhen's reign, the chief minister Zhou Yanru and the second minister Wen Tiren were fighting openly and secretly. When Chongzhen first came to power, the throne was unstable, so he could only sit on the mountain and watch the fight.

In the end, Zhou Yanru lost to Wen Tihen, but Luo Yangxing, as a close confidant of Emperor Chongzhen, had a grudge against Zhou Yanru and also played a big role in the conflict.

And he has been keeping Luo Yangxing all these years,
Very few civil officials such as censors impeached Luo Yangxing.

Inspector, more than six million taels of silver, and Luo Yangxing didn't reveal a single word about it?

This couldn't help but make Wen Tiren a little annoyed.

……

Jinyiwei,
When Luo Yangxing was scratching his head over who to choose and who not to choose, he heard a servant outside report, "Master, Guang Shiheng, the military official, wants to see you."

"Gwang Si Hyung? Why is he here?"

There are not many records about Guang Shiheng in history books, only a few sentences, but he played a crucial role in the direction and even the demise of the Chongzhen Dynasty.

It was he who stood up passionately, spoke of loyalty and morality, stopped Chongzhen from moving the capital, and firmly advocated defending Beijing.

As a result, when the city was broken, he bowed his head and surrendered to Li Zicheng.

"Commander Luo, I heard that Your Majesty intends to form a group of inspectors and send them to Liaodong and Shaanxi?"

"Huh? How come I didn't know about this?" Luo Yangxing frowned.

"Commander Luo, stop pretending. I paid money to get the information from the palace, so it can't be wrong."

"..." The muscles on Luo Yangxing's face twitched a few times. He naturally knew that the palace was infiltrated like a sieve.

In the past, he was always happy to see it happen because he could get some unknown secrets, but now he is suffering from it.

"Commander Luo, since we've brought this up, let's just get straight to the point." Guang Shiheng, a member of the Military Department, said with a smile, "My son is also serving in the Jinyiwei and would like to take up a position. What do you think, Commander Luo?"

As he spoke, he extended five fingers towards Luo Yangxing.

Five thousand taels!
Luo Yangxing remained unmoved and said, "Master Guang, since you know this is a lucrative job, others will naturally know it too."

"Your son is in the Jinyiwei. Whose family doesn't have someone in the Jinyiwei? It's hard to decide who to give it to and who not to give it to!"

In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, it had long become a common practice for the second generation of incompetents to join the Jinyiwei and draw a salary without doing anything.

Not to mention those corrupt officials, even the famous ministers and talented people known to later generations, such as Yang Bo and Fei Hong, had their descendants stuffed into the Jinyiwei.

This was even more so during the Chongzhen reign. It was claimed that there were 150,000 people, but in reality there were less than one-tenth of them. In the eyes of civil and military officials, this was just a piece of "watered meat."

It tastes like meat and can be filled with water at will.

Even an ordinary deputy captain can occupy 20 positions and draw a salary without doing anything.

Now that he suddenly got a good job, who wouldn’t be tempted?

"Eight thousand taels!" Guang Shiheng gritted his teeth and said, "Commander Luo, it's not a small amount. It's not just me. Whether I can get back the ten thousand taels is another matter."

Luo Yangxing paused for a moment, "Master Guang, you can't say that. Once the inspector is sent out, he probably won't be back for a year or two. That's a long-lasting stream!"

Guang Shiheng clenched his palms and took a deep breath, "Ten thousand taels!" "Okay, since Lord Guang has said this, I naturally cannot be unkind, but I will not sign this matter, I promise you.

"I understand." Guang Shiheng rubbed his palms together, "Tomorrow, I will send someone to your concubine in the east of the city."

Luo Yangxing raised his head, "Oh, you know this too?"

"To avoid suspicion, this humble official is aware of this."

Luo Yangxing nodded and said, "Be careful when you deliver it, don't let anyone find out."

……

It only took a moment after Guang Shiheng left.

Another person came to visit, Zhang Sizhi, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites.

"Hey, Lord Zhang, how come you have time to come to my house?" Luo Yangxing hurriedly stepped forward to greet him.

The commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard is a third-rank official, and Zhang Sizhi is also a third-rank official. However, there has been a lot of support for him to join the cabinet recently, and his status has also risen.

Zhang Sizhi smiled and replied, "Commander Luo, I didn't send you a letter today, so I came to bother you directly. I hope you can forgive me!"

"Don't bother me, don't bother me, I still want to visit Master Zhang!" Luo Yangxing quickly asked the servants to change the tea, "I don't know why Master Zhang is here to visit, what's going on?"

"Commander Luo, you are really a forgetful person. My son has been a captain in the Jinyiwei for three years."

Luo Yangxing went over it in his mind several times before he remembered that when Zhang Sizhi was still in the Hanlin Academy, he stuffed his son into the Jinyiwei, and he hasn't come in all these years.

However, as Zhang Sizhi's official position rose, the Jinyiwei also took advantage of his status and gave his son a job as a deputy captain.

"Look at my brain, Lord Zhang, please forgive me."

Luo Yangxing pretended to be guilty and was about to slap himself, but Zhang Sizhi quickly stopped him and said, "Don't dare, don't dare. I'm here to ask Commander Luo for help."

"Oh?"

Zhang Sizhi ignored Luo Yangxing's pretense and continued, "I heard that His Majesty has entrusted Commander Luo with the task of establishing the Supervisory Commission. I really can't bear to do such a laborious task."

"I can't help you with anything else, but I have prepared six thousand taels of silver. Commander Luo must accept it. It is also a small token of my appreciation."

"This..." Luo Yangxing looked at the old fox.
Chongzhen in the palace didn't know, but he, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, knew it very well.

Official positions at all levels had long become commodities; people like the Donglin Party, Wen Tihen, and the Embroidered Uniform Guard all sold official positions and titles.

Taking the local area as an example, as long as someone can come up with 5000 taels of silver, he can be promoted to an official and become a fourth-rank prefect.

If you want to find a "fat" job, go to some good place to be an official and squeeze the people's money, you have to pay 6000 or 7000 taels of silver.

The salary for a sixth or seventh rank official post in the Ministry of War was much cheaper, about 1000 to 1500 taels of silver.

An official sent to a remote place gets six thousand taels of silver. For such a lucrative job... six thousand taels is indeed a bit too little.

But Zhang Sizhi was a third-rank official after all.
Luo Yangxing took a sip of tea and said, "I have been living with my concubine in the east of the city recently."

"I know, I know!"

Zhang Sizhi chatted with Luo Yangxing for a few more words before leaving on the pretext of something.

……

Outside Luo Yangxing's residence,

There were a few people selling buns and straw sandals, and a few beggars lying on the ground. They were lying lazily just now, but as soon as the door of Luo's house was closed, they immediately opened their eyes.

One of them said, "Did you write it down?"

"Write it down!"

A beggar whispered, "Zhang Sizhi, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, Chen Si, Liu Wu and I will follow him."

"Watch closely, keep your eyes open, if anyone scares them, I'll chop him down."

　It took me so long to post this book, please give me a recommendation vote! It’s not too much, right?
　　

(End of this chapter)