I'm really not the carpenter emperor

The visitor smiled slightly and saluted:

"This is Zheng Zhihu, the younger brother of Zhangzhou's defender Zheng Zhilong, who has met General Wang Shen!"

Wang Mengxiong laughed loudly, motioned him to sit on one side, and asked:

"There have been a lot of things going on in Zhangzhou's defense recently. Why did you come to Quanzhou when you have time? Is there something wrong with the new salt law in Zhangzhou?"

Zheng Zhihu also laughed and said:

"The general is overwhelmed. The new salt law is being implemented smoothly in Zhangzhou. My Zheng family... my brother Zheng Zhilong who guards Zhangzhou has always respected the new salt law."

"However, the general also guessed some things correctly. I came to see the general this time because of the new salt law."

Wang Mengxiong was so excited, he waited quietly for the next sentence, raised his hand and took a sip of water, and said calmly:

"Oh? What does Zhangzhou defense mean..."

Zheng Zhihu made a fool of himself, got up after a while and said with a smile:

"My elder brother has already read the content of the new salt law of the imperial court, and praised His Majesty for his sageness. He sent me here to give great credit to the general."

Hearing this, Wang Mengxiong was dumbfounded, and then sneered: "It's a great contribution, Zhangzhou implements the new salt law, what's the matter with me, the South Road general?"

"Unless there is a civil uprising like in Shandong, I will be credited."

Zheng Zhihu shook his head, approached and said:

"Zhangzhou is also under the jurisdiction of the general. If the implementation of the new salt law is smoother than other places, how can it not be due to you, the general of the South Road?"

"Think about it, is that the truth?"

Wang Mengxiong looked up at him.

"what do you want to say in the end?"

Seeing his skeptical look, Zheng Zhihu immediately turned pale with worry, and hurriedly saluted and said, "I'm wronged, I'm wronged!"

"My elder brother sent me here just to show that the Zheng family is willing to obey the imperial court and hand over all the salt industry halls. If there is no conflict, wouldn't it be better."

Hearing this, Wang Mengxiong finally understood what Zheng Zhilong meant this time, but he didn't refuse. After thinking about it, he raised his hand as a signal.

"Go on, Ben will listen."

Zheng Zhihu leaned closer again and said in a low voice:

"Actually, my elder brother sent me here to make friends with the generals. Since the Zheng family said that they were recruited by the imperial court and have become ministers, they naturally have to respect the imperial court's decrees."

"Pay it early and pay it late, you have to hand it over, and whoever you hand it back to, doesn't it all have to be handed over."

"Instead of waiting for Mr. Yu or Mr. Futai to come down to collect it, why not send troops to Zhangzhou and take over all the salt business halls of our Zheng family. If it is said, it is not all due to your contribution. what..."

Hearing this, Wang Mengxiong unexpectedly flew into a rage and attacked the case.

"presumptuous--"

"Do you dare to say such things in front of this general, sowing discord?"

Zheng Zhihu was obviously taken aback, lowered his head and cried:

"The general has misunderstood me! What I said today is really because I have many friends and many connections. The general is not unaware of the officialdom of Ming Dynasty."

"Even Zongbing Yu once took [-] gold from my brother..."

Hearing this, Wang Mengxiong was shocked, he subconsciously said:

"Wait a minute, Yu Zizao took your silver? He even took [-] gold, [-] gold! That's enough for him for two lifetimes!!"

Good guy, not only did Yu Zizao collect the money, but he didn't get any of it, and he didn't even know it until now. Fortunately, Lao Tzu rushed up to fight the Dutch with his warship in the Penghu naval battle!

If it wasn't for today, he would have kept this matter a secret!

Twenty thousand gold!

Zheng Zhihu looked at Wang Mengxiong sitting here with his eyeballs shaking, his expression uncertain, and he sneered in his heart. It seemed that no matter what, today's goal had been achieved.

Yu Zizao also did a really good job. After the Penghu naval battle, he took [-] gold from our Zheng family, but he didn't divide it at all.

What's more, even the Quanzhou general didn't know about it.

"Since the general is unwilling, I will retire first."

Wang Mengxiong looked at Zheng Zhihu, who was gradually leaving, and gritted his teeth. He, Yu Zizao, was unkind, so don't blame me for being unrighteous. It seems that he has to walk this road by himself.

The [-] gold in Yu Zizao was so unshakable, if he was credited for promoting the salt method, I'm afraid I would not get any of it.

Thinking of this, Wang Mengxiong gritted his teeth, stretched out his hand and said:

"and many more!"

"You go back and tell the Zhangzhou garrison, just say what he said in the official document, and you will have considered it."

Zheng Zhihu looked overjoyed, turned around and said:

"My brother is right. The general is really smart."

After Zheng Zhihu left, Wang Mengxiong became more and more angry as he thought about it, and punched the desk hard.

Yu Zizao, you are too greedy!

At the time of the naval battle, you told me not to chase after the fleeing Dutch warship Galen. It turned out that you had planned to give up this warship to the Zheng family!

Well, this is a handle.

When the time is right, you can either protect yourself or fight back. Yu Zizao, Yu Zizao, if you fall into the hands of my Wang Mengxiong because of this matter, you will really disgrace your father Yu Dayou.

Chapter 494 Capture the Guihua City

The situation in Fujian surprised many people. The Zheng family, who thought they would be a stabbing head, were extremely honest, and Zhu Youxiao was a little suspicious of his honesty.

Zheng Zhilong, who was just 20 years old this year, handed over the Zheng family's base in coastal Fujian to the imperial court without the slightest hesitation or dissatisfaction.

The hurdle in Fujian has passed, and the implementation of the new salt law is a foregone conclusion.

The tyrants, salt merchants, and officials in the rest of the coastal areas had no choice but to abide by the new salt law despite their reluctance, watching the imperial court snatch such a piece of fat to their lips.

From February to April in the fourth year of Apocalypse, after nearly two months of turmoil, Zhu Youxiao finally took the first step to rectify the salt industry.

After taking back all the salt farms across the country, what the Salt Patrol Division has to do is to check the number of acres of salt fields and how much salt has been piled up over the years.

For Zhu Youxiao, there was another unexpected joy this time, which was the proceeds from ransacking homes in various places.

Local tyrants, as well as the shocking government-business collusion in Denglai, Shandong, were basically wiped out in one fell swoop this time, and Zhu Youxiao's pockets bulged again.

These silvers must be used wisely.

Checking the number of acres of salt fields across the country and the accumulation of salt goods over the years is a big job, and it will take at least a month to complete, and Zhu Youxiao is in no hurry.

There is another matter in Shandong right now, that is, Wang Weijian has been implicated in the Denglai Salt Act.

Wang Weijian is a pivotal figure no matter in the scholar forest or in the current imperial court. At first Tang Wanfeng dragged him into the water to take the opportunity to protect himself.

Unexpectedly, Zhu Youxiao didn't care about the face of this feudal official at all, and directly sent troops to suppress the local civil unrest, and directly copied the Tang family when he got the evidence.

All of a sudden, Wang Weijian was in an extremely embarrassing situation.

On the one hand, he accepted paintings from the Tang family.

On the other hand, the lack of reporting and turning a blind eye to this incident is largely due to the fact that his meeting with Tang Wanfeng misunderstood the local officials.

The new salt law is currently focused on implementation, and the incident of people being arrested in the East Factory has become smaller and smaller. Presumably Wei Zhongxian also saw that the salt law was implemented smoothly, and he didn't want to cause trouble again.

But to Wang Weijian, this will always be like a sharp sword hanging above his head, which may suddenly fall down at any time.

Li Yangzheng, Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishments, was born with his colleagues in Donglin, so he had the best opportunity to speak for him in the court.

But Li Yangzheng's attitude on this matter was very vague. He closed the door to see him, but he didn't say no. Then he suddenly changed his attitude at the court meeting the next day and proposed that the tyrants involved should be killed.

Li Yangzheng's attitude towards officials involved in the new salt law is suddenly so tough, which makes Wang Weijian even more disturbed.

It must be something happened in Beijing that made Li Yangzheng seem like a different person.

Everyone knows that once the matter of Wang Weijian is dealt with, a large number of people will definitely be involved.

Although the implementation of the new salt law has made a lot of noise, it is limited to the three prefectures of Denglaiqing, and there is basically no trouble in Fujian. If we investigate this time, it will be the whole of Shandong.

The territory of Shandong's six prefectures is not a small place, and they are all veterans who have been officials in the local area for many years.

Zhu Youxiao knew in his heart that if he really wanted to clean it up, he had to figure it out slowly. These local officials have always been in the same breath, and it may be more difficult than the last major imperial examination case.

This kind of thing can't be done only by Wei Zhongxian, but also needs to have his own spokesperson, so Zhu Youxiao called Wei Guangwei, the current chief assistant of the cabinet.

Wei Guangwei performed very well in the previous trial, and his attitude towards Liao affairs is much clearer than his predecessor Han Yu.

Zhu Youxiao called him here this time mainly for one thing.

Since the first year of Tianqi, Zhu Youxiao has been secretly cultivating a force that can replace Donglin. Now that Donglin is in decline, this force should raise its head and replace the Donglin Party to contend with the Wei Party.

The cabinet signing room is also in the Forbidden City, very close to the Xinuang Pavilion where Zhu Youxiao often stays, and it takes about a stick of incense to arrive.

"Chen Wei Guangwei, I have met His Majesty."

Zhu Youjiao was reading a memorial sent by Zaisai of Fuyuwei, and when he heard this sentence, he just nodded slightly, and motioned for the little eunuch beside him to bring a chair.

After Wei Guangwei sat down, he said slowly:

"There was news from outside the Great Wall this morning. The three guards of Taining, Duoyan, and Fuyu were victorious in successive battles. Dulong Sengge couldn't resist, and led Tumote's troops to move north."

"The hundreds of miles of land in Guihua City and Chi'er Mountain now all belong to Daming. What Zaisai and the others want to ask now is whether the imperial court's previous promises are still kept."

"What do you think, Mr. Ge?"

When Wei Guangwei heard the words, he pondered in his heart.

Dulong Sengge led the Territory Mott's troops to invade Datong with Lin Danhan, and was defeated by Zhang Wanbang in the town area. He suffered heavy losses. It is natural that he cannot resist the surprise attack of the three guards now.

Two months ago, Zhu Youxiao issued an edict ordering the three guards to attack Tumot, and the troops were sent out last month, and the news of victory was not reported until the middle of this month.

This also shows that although the three guards surrendered to Daming, they each had their own thoughts.

Among them, Zaisai, Hou Jin, and Chahar are all enemies, and he is the most loyal to Daming, because he has no other way to go.

Duoyan's Yong Xiebu, who was said to be a rough man, decided to board this thief ship because he coveted the large sum of money from Zhu Xieyuan.

Unexpectedly, getting on the boat would be tantamount to breaking with Houjin, and Duoyan was sandwiched between Chahar and Houjin, and to the north was Zaisai, Daming's loyal dog leg.

Besides continuing to work with Daming, Yong Xiebu had no other choice.

As for Taining's Yier Deng, he is actually the most treacherous one.

This guy was greedy for the large bounty that Zhu Xieyuan gave to stabilize the three guards in northern Saibei at that time, and he didn't want to completely break with Jianzhou. This time the three guards jointly sent troops to Tumote, he was the most hesitant and tried his best to shirk.

It is even said that Zhu Youxiao's Dujian Mansion has found out some rumors.

Now the old slave outside the pass is seriously ill, Huang Taiji has almost completely defeated Amin and Daishan in the overt and covert competition for the Khan position, and Yier Deng seems to be in secret contact with Huang Taiji.

Of course, this is just a rumor. It has not yet been confirmed whether it has been done, or whether it is someone else's plan to provoke.

But even so, it was enough to make Zhu Youxiao wary of Yier Deng. If Yier Deng really planned to join Houjin, no matter whether he had an excuse or not, he would kill him first.

Zhu Youxiao was still thinking about the next step outside the customs and at home, but he heard Wei Guangwei say:

"Returning to Your Majesty, if the Ming Dynasty wants to regain the Mongolian tribes, it cannot just rely on killing and conquering. It should focus on appeasement, supplemented by conquest."

Zhu Youxiao's eyes lit up, and he motioned for him to continue.

"Qizou Your Majesty, the imperial court can tell all the tribes of Mongolia to invite the religious lords of the Yellow Sect to Guihua City, and make Guihua City the center of the Yellow Sect's mission."

"The three guards of Fuyu, Taining, and Duoyan, who have contributed the most this time, can be stationed in the city first, and the remaining ministries that have surrendered to the imperial court can send special personnel to serve as missionary ministers and settle in Guihua City."

Zhu Youxiao nodded and said with a smile:

"Restrain the ministries with the law of religion so that they can be used by me. When you arrive in Guihua City, you will be my minister of missionary affairs in Daming, and no longer just the lord of the ministries. This is a good suggestion from Mr. Ge."

"Who is the current religious lord of the Yellow Sect, and where can I get it?"

Chapter 495 Discussing the Garrison in Tibet

As the chief assistant of the cabinet, Wei Guangwei had to prepare many things in advance.

One must know that the emperor may ask anything in person, and he has heard about matters outside the customs, so he has naturally done sufficient preparations.

Wei Guangwei didn't hesitate for a moment, and said directly:

"Returning to Your Majesty, the religious lord of the Yellow Sect is called the Panchen Lama. I recently learned that the current fourth Panchen Lama, Lobsang Chokyi, is handling temple administration at Ensa Monastery, one of the three major monasteries in Lhasa, accepting disciples and teaching the Dharma."