Lin Gao Qiming

If this person were to resurrect, the first person he would have to deal with would be himself... To be precise, if Zhou Yanru were to resurrect, the Donglin-Fushe Group would first have to eradicate himself...

When Wen Tiren thought of this, he felt a thorn in his back. This matter must be resolved as soon as possible!

How to solve it? Zhou Yanru had a very bad reputation, and was full of misdeeds during his time in court. Some people in his hometown even wanted to dig up his ancestral grave. But these alone are not enough to ruin the emperor's perception of him. After all, these are considered "little details."

Wen Tiren has been an official for many years, and he knows very well that the "holy family" is very fickle, and the chief minister of the cabinet is at the forefront of the storm, and he will be criticized by thousands of people if he is not careful.

The threat must be eliminated as soon as possible.

At this moment, he already had murderous intent.

Before he could continue thinking, the emperor came.

Today the emperor's complexion is better than in previous days, no longer dull. The cabinet ministers knew that the situation had been stable recently and the emperor was probably in a much better mood.

After the monarch and his ministers had seen the ceremony, the emperor sat down on the throne. Although he had a strange dream last night, he slept soundly afterwards. When I woke up today, I felt much better than before. Ever since Concubine Tian served Nanyang fruits every night, he felt more energetic than before. I wonder if it was because of the effects of these fruits.

There is also some controversy among the imperial doctors about the efficacy of this fruit, because the imperial doctors have never seen it and cannot tell what it is like. Whether it is "getting angry" or "getting rid of it" has been debated for a long time. Chongzhen was very angry and simply dismissed the opinions of the imperial doctors.

Wen Tiren saw that the emperor did not have any specific issues, so he selected some more important things to report from various reports in recent days. Most of the reports were drafted directly by the cabinet without having to read them carefully, and were handed over to the Secretary of Ceremony. The supervisor approves the red one. Only a few important military matters require the advice of the cabinet. From the situation point of view, it is still a "holy dictatorship".

Chongzhen ascended the throne at a young age and had not received complete imperial education and experience. In actual handling of specific government affairs, he relied mainly on the suggestions of cabinet ministers. Wen Tiren was best at figuring out the emperor's intentions and was good at practical matters, so his compositions could often be in line with the emperor's wishes. As for other cabinet ministers, most of them were members of Wen Tiren's party and rarely raised contrary opinions. Therefore, the political affairs of the court were mostly decided by him alone.

The emperor did not find it strange that Wen Tiren decided on cabinet affairs alone, treating his colleagues as puppets and wielding power through voting. Instead, he felt that he was "lonely and loyal". Therefore, everyone at that time thought that the emperor was "suffering from the plague".

After the government affairs had been discussed for a while, the emperor slowly said: "The bandits have been rampant for a long time and have trapped two provinces. There is nothing the imperial court can do. Is there any strategy that can be used to cure this problem?"

Since the Kun thieves made a surprise attack on Guangzhou, the "Kun thieves" have also been on the agenda of the imperial court's military and state affairs, and they were often mentioned in large and small court meetings.

When it comes to the power of the Kun bandits, they are actually much greater than those of the Donglu and rogue bandits. So far, the Donglu have only occupied the capital of Liaodong and the hometown of Guangning. Don't talk about the territory inside the pass, even the important passes outside the pass such as Jinzhou are still under the control of the imperial court; the rogue bandits are as fast as fire, but they swirl and attack, and move around. Although they once captured Zhongdu and caused a lot of damage, But it has never been able to occupy the state or county for a long time.

Only this bandit took over the territory of Guangdong and Guangxi in just two years. Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, except for the abandonment of Annan, there has never been such a "loss of land".

In the past few years, the imperial court has discussed the matter of conquering the Kun thieves more than once, but it has never been able to get to the point. There are too many places where soldiers and money are needed. Compared with Guangdong and Guangxi, which were originally in the southern border, they are only a few hundred miles away from the capital. The Donglu who have broken through the border several times and the rogue bandits who have been rushing left and right in the hinterland of the Central Plains pose a greater threat. It doesn't seem too "imminent" anymore.

Therefore, from the emperor down to the officials, except for some officials from Guangdong, most of them did not pay much attention to the "conquest of Kun". Moreover, the strong mysterious temperament of Kun Thief made it impossible for officials to make suggestions. When the imperial court consulted the ministers on how to suppress Kun, there were many memorials of all kinds, many of which were ridiculous.

Some people say that the thieves have sharp artillery, and the artillery is used to attack the city. If the city gates are hung with the memorial tablets of the ancestors of the Zhao and Song Dynasties. Since he claimed to be a descendant of Zhao and Song Dynasties, he would not be such a kingless and fatherless person. This thief definitely did not dare to attack the Zhao and Song Dynasties. The memorial tablets of ancestors were fired. Some people also suggested sending people to the Song Emperor's mausoleum to destroy the feng shui and disperse the royal aura. Some people even say that after the Kun thief claimed to be the Song Dynasty, the official notice never had the seal of the Song Dynasty. There is news that he is a traitor and traitor from the Australian Song Dynasty. He can send an envoy to find the location of the Song Dynasty and ask the emperor of the Australian Song Dynasty to send troops to jointly destroy the Kun thief.

This matter was dragged on while being discussed but not decided. In recent years, Jiangxi, Guizhou, Fujian and other places have done some "preparation" work either by the imperial court or by the governor themselves, building forts, casting new cannons, and replenishing the number of soldiers... But compared with For the Guan Ning army gathered in Shanhaiguan, these preparations were just a drop in the bucket.

Now that Kun Thief is still "quiet", why did the emperor suddenly ask about this?

The ministers were obedient and did not dare to speak randomly before the emperor set the tone. Wen Tiren knew the emperor's thoughts. The emperor had hinted at "stroking" many times before. Wen Tiren had no choice but to negotiate peace with Kun Thief. If the emperor wants peace, he himself will never object. But he knew the emperor's temper well. He also knew the direction of public opinion in the court. The word "negotiating peace" is almost the same as "traitoring the country and seeking glory". The emperor refused to bear the reputation of "peace negotiation" and asked his cabinet ministers to come forward with their opinions.

In fact, all the cabinet ministers knew about this idea, but none of them wanted to say anything. Because the emperor cherishes feathers very much, if the negotiation fails and the news leaks out, the emperor will not hold the vat for him.

Seeing that everyone was silent, Chongzhen asked directly: "Mr. Liu?"

Liu Yuliang was the second-ranked member of the cabinet. When he heard Chongzhen's question, he responded carefully and said: "The thief Kun claims to be a descendant of Zhao and Song Dynasty and a loyal overseas official. However, his hair is short and his clothes are short, but what he does is transform the barbarians into Xia." The method is called Yi Zhong, but they are actually barbarians. Most of these bandits are from the south and are not accustomed to the climate, water and soil of the north. Although it is a immediate concern, it is not a serious danger. The minister believes that the current plan is to suppress the rogue bandits first. "

This statement is watertight. It does not talk about "suppression" or "pacification". It only talks about "suppressing the rogue bandits first", and it caters to the strategy of "an internal peace" proposed by the emperor not long ago. Even if the emperor is picky, he can't find anything wrong with it.

Sure enough, Chongzhen looked dissatisfied when he heard this, but he didn't say much. Then he turned his attention to Xue Guoguan.

Xue Guoguan thinks that this person is "yinzhixi carving, has not learned much literature", and has never had a position to speak of. At the time of Tianqi, he was appointed as Hu Ke, and he attached himself to Wei Zhongxian to impeach Donglin officials. In the early days of Chongzhen, he also impeached Wei Zhongxian's remaining party, and the court was clear about what was wrong. He had to step down from his post in the name of returning home to avoid the limelight. It took Chongzhen three years to rise again. He was able to enter the cabinet only because of Wen Tiren's recommendation, and he was also one of Wen's party members.

When the emperor asked him about it, he had already prepared a countermeasure. Said: "The Kun thief claims to be a Miao descendant of the Song Dynasty. Regardless of whether it is true or not, it is obvious that he yearns for China. Although he does not obey Wang Hua now, he has never heard of anyone arrogantly claiming to be the ruler. Officials who fell into the imperial court were sent out with many gifts. So. He received many preferential treatment from the clan, so I guess he is not an arrogant and rude person..."

Having said this, he quietly observed the emperor's face, and seeing that he was not unhappy, he boldly continued: "Kun thieves know integrity and shame. I think they are different from Donglu bandits. If you can learn to be loyal, trustworthy, benevolent and righteous, , and it’s not a stubborn stone.”

This was a step further than Xue Guoguan's words, but he still didn't open the window paper. Next, everyone said the same thing, going around and around, and they all meant "to appease", but they refused to say the word "to appease".

The emperor felt a little impatient and turned his attention to Wen Tiren again.

Wen Tiren said: "In the case of the traitor, we should only take care of it slowly and not act too hastily. I think we should inform the new governor of Southern Jiangxi and order him to train troops and prepare for war. He will make more careful preparations and find out the news. In preparation for the imperial court's attack in the future."

Everyone said some "mitigating" things, but he was the only one who said the opposite, and everyone was stunned. Then I heard him say: "The thieves have been in the army since they started, and they are rumored to be invincible. It is inevitable that they will be arrogant and arrogant. If they do not blunt their edge and show the power of our country, it may be difficult to understand what loyalty is..."

Wen Tiren's words were somewhat baffling. But the emperor understood what he meant. It is not difficult for these human spirits to figure out the emperor's intentions, but to figure out the emperor's specific intentions and actions, it depends on each person's cultivation level.

Chongzhen nodded slightly. Although there was no clear suggestion of "appeasement", at least the cabinet ministers had a "consensus". What Wen Tiren said just now was also very in line with his wishes. He didn't want his cabinet ministers to know the specific details. After all, this is not a glamorous thing.

"Recently, ministers have reported that Guangzhou has been captured, Yue Harbor has been abandoned, and maritime trade has been cut off. Please open Shanghai as a port in the south, allow Chinese and foreign merchants to trade in the port, and re-establish the city shipping department to measure and collect taxes. Every year. It is estimated that we can get 200,000 taels of silver to cover our salary. What do you think?"

In the 17th century, China strictly speaking had only two foreign trade ports, one was Guangzhou and the other was Yuegang. Guangzhou is an "old custom" and there are Portuguese trade middlemen, so it is of little significance to Chinese maritime merchants; most maritime merchants sail to the Eastern and Western countries through the port of Yuegang.

The management models and trade forms of the two ports are different, so they are divided into "Guangzhong Case" and "Yuegang Case". However, in any case, the taxes collected have a strong local flavor. It wasn't until Wanli sent eunuchs to serve as tax collectors that tax revenue from sea trade became part of the emperor's internal treasury revenue.

However, these two cases placed great restrictions on maritime trade, so Yuegang trade gradually declined in the last years of Tianqi and was transferred to Anping under the control of Zheng Zhilong. Both the central court and local officials actually lost the maritime trade tax revenue of Fujian ports.