I'm really not the carpenter emperor

When the imperial court dealt with urgent matters for local officials, the emperor often issued an order to the Beizhen Fusi, and then the Beizhen Fusi notified the local supervisory department, so that the order could be communicated from top to bottom.

For example, in the matter of Yan Zibin, the magistrate of Mizhi County, Zhu Youxiao ordered Xu Xianchun to be handled by the supervisory department, and the troubles were resolved within half a month.

Of course, if the imperial court issued any new decree, the Supervising Department would often become the target of public criticism and the vanguard of implementing the decree.

At that time, the court proposed to increase the tariffs on the canal, which caused the supervisory departments in Suzhou, Hangzhou and other places to be smashed by businessmen who bewitched the people.

Many people thought that smashing the supervisory office would prevent the dissemination of the imperial government's decree, but they were wrong.

The supervisory department is just a means for Zhu Youxiao, as the emperor, to better control the place. There are more such means.

So after hearing Tian Ergeng's words, Zhu Youxiao was actually not surprised, because he, the emperor, planned the Shanxi incident.

Speaking of it, even though he won the battle of Hetao, the loss of military expenses was too great, which had already affected the operation of the court, so the pigs raised were slaughtered to make a capital turnover.

These "pigs" are Shanxi merchants.

The Fan family was solved before, but after three years, Shanxi merchants are still taking risks and making a lot of money for the country. Anyway, it is not a good thing, and the benefits of slaughtering it will be great.

This time, Zhu Youxiao planned to take one step at a time and completely solve the century-old chaos caused by Shanxi merchants, and then he winked and signaled to continue.

Tian Ergeng saw the wink from his boss, Nuonuo said:

"Returning to Your Majesty, the Taiyuan Governor's Department of Economics and Investigation found that Shanxi merchants were suspected of collaborating with the enemy and traitorous country. Please make a clear decision."

When this memorial was handed over to Zhu Youxiao, the elders in the cabinet all looked at each other, thinking about the meaning of the emperor playing this game.

All the people present are the best of the best. No matter how surprised Zhu Youxiao behaved, they will not fully believe it.

Between monarchs and ministers, like officials, there is no complete trust.

If an emperor showed any attitude, even the humerus ministers around him would completely believe it, without even the slightest guess or doubt.

Then there is no doubt that the emperor failed.

At this point, the feeling that Zhu Youxiao left these important court officials is that a typical companion is like a tiger. You will never guess whether the emperor's seemingly happy heart is turbulent or not.

For example, the general officials would not think much about this urgent performance by the governor of Shanxi, but these old guys in the cabinet are very careful.

Could this be the emperor's arrangement long ago?

Apocalypse's five-year cabinet is no better than Wanli's forty-seven years. Those who come in at this time have their own abilities.

As for the official and business affairs, I have long understood in my heart.

The Shanxi Governor's Office investigated the case of Shanxi merchants, and they directly received a signal that the emperor might take big actions against the Shanxi merchants.

Otherwise, asking them to come and listen to this today, is it because they have nothing to do?

In fact, instead of talking about Shanxi merchants, it is better to directly talk about businessmen.

No matter how big these people are, their status is far inferior to that of court officials.

It can even be said that since the early Ming Dynasty, merchants have not had any independent status.

If you want to do it for a long time, and there are no bones left that will not be eaten by the forces of all parties, you must have one or more strong backers.

Therefore, at this time, there are no more than two kinds of large businessmen.

One is official merchants, merchants attached to the local government and even courts, and officials at all levels for their convenience.

There is another kind, which is the imperial business that has gradually developed since the first year of Tianqi.

The meaning of this kind of businessman's existence is to make money for the current emperor.

Of course, the ultimate intention of developing the imperial business other than making money is only understood by the person above.

As for Shanxi merchants, they are typical official merchants.

Their backgrounds are local officials at all levels in Shanxi, and even senior officials from Shanxi in the imperial court.

At present, Shanxi merchants are forming a group, which has led to the situation that there are no imperial merchants in Shanxi.

In fact, everyone in the cabinet knew the political situation at a glance, and they all knew in their hearts that the emperor would clean up Shanxi merchants sooner or later.

The pretext may be different, but the ultimate goal is the same.

If the imperial merchants can't compete with the Shanxi merchants who have already formed a size, then the emperor will step in openly to form an absolute crushing trend.

You know, no matter how high the backing is, it will not be higher than the sky.

Sure enough, the more Zhu Youxiao looked at it, the uglier his face became, and even at the end, he threw the memorial to the ground.

Following the sound of papers being scattered in the hall, all the elders of the pavilion knelt down and trembled.

"Humph!"

"These merchants from Shanxi didn't care about driving up food prices during the war, but they actually provided supplies and information about the officers and soldiers to the western prisoner Chahar!"

"Food, ironware, horses, cloth and silk... When the government and army bought them, they pushed back and forth, and there were all kinds of difficulties, but they were sold to Xilu at a high price, and there were no difficulties at all!"

"Your Majesty, calm down..." Wei Guangwei led all the ministers to shout, and said:

"What your Majesty said is very true, Shanxi merchants traded captives and betrayed the country, and I am planning to report this matter to Your Majesty today."

Zhu Youxiao took a few deep breaths, looked sideways and asked:

"How does Mr. Ge plan to deal with it?"

"Shanxi merchants colluded with captives and disrupted the country, driving up the price of food at the local level. This is an unforgivable crime. I think this matter should be handed over to Dongchang for investigation!"

As soon as these words came out, the rest of the cabinet scholars in the Hall of Mental Cultivation looked at each other in blank dismay.

Two of them looked even more perplexed, this Wei Guangwei is an official from Henan, it is a light heart to say such words.

But even if the two cabinet ministers from Shanxi have nothing to do with this matter, it will not sound good in the local area.

Just thinking about it, Zhu Youxiao squinted over and asked lightly:

"Hu Shiguang, Xu Weijing, what do the two lovers think?"

5 Chapter Eighty

Hearing this, the two quickly lay down on the ground.

Hu Shiguang said: "The minister, the minister agrees with the meaning of the chief assistant!"

Xu Weijing was sweating profusely, and was even more frightened, he hurriedly said: "The minister is the same! Shanxi merchants disrupt the country, what should be done!"

The two Shanxi officials in the cabinet have said so, and the others will not stand up for the interests of others, and the tone of this discussion has been set.

Zhu Youxiao nodded, turned around and said:

"Since the cabinet has no objection, let's make an order accordingly."

"By the way, the two Aiqings are officials from Shanxi, and they can handle affairs with ease when they return home. Hu Aiqing will take the lead in punishing Shanxi merchants, and Xu Aiqing will cooperate with them!"

"This……"

Hu Shiguang and Xu Weijing looked at each other, the emperor is killing people!

But now, it’s impossible not to do it. Judging from the emperor’s temper, it’s okay to honestly deal with the Shanxi merchants.

But if you dare to refuse, or even do some tricks after you go down, you may die in the end worse than Shanxi merchants.

Ye Xianggao and Yang Lian are both self-proclaimed smart people, and they haven't died for a few years.

"Why, is there any difficulty?" Zhu Youxiao smiled and said: "If you have any difficulties, you can tell me, and I will help if I can."

Hu Shiguang quickly said: "No, there is no difficulty!"

Xu Weijing bowed his head and said: "Yes... I was just thinking that Shanxi merchants are really hateful, how could I have such a fellow countryman..."

Zhu Youxiao nodded and said: "That's good, this matter is urgent, and the two lovers should leave Beijing and go to Shanxi immediately."

"I am in the capital, waiting for the good news of your return!"

The emperor issued an order to expel the guests, and the two of them didn't want to stay any longer, and they both bowed to leave.

After Hu Shiguang and Xu Weijing left the Hall of Mental Cultivation, they just bowed their heads forward and turned several turns in a row before slowly letting out a sigh of relief.

"Mr. Hu Ge, what should we do?" Xu Weijing wiped the hot sweat from his forehead, and followed step by step.

Hu Shiguang sat down on the ground and said:

"how could I know?"

"The emperor wants to run Shanxi merchants. You and I are both ministers from Shanxi. Even if we don't leave Beijing to host this time, we will not be favored by us."

"This is great. Your Majesty said that we have become the host and co-organizer!"

"Yeah, what should I do?"

"I'm afraid that the local officials in Shanxi will annoy the two of us to death, and the factory guards will keep an eye on you and me. If there is any mistake, it will be lost!"

Xu Weijing was also sitting beside him, his face was full of shock and fear, he kept shaking his sleeves to fan the wind, but there were more and more beads of sweat on his forehead.

The two usually fight openly and secretly, but now because they come from the same nationality, they have become grasshoppers on the same rope.

As for what to do, no one has a clue.

But one thing is settled, this time, if you don't kill Shanxi merchants, you will die.

……

Various sects of the capital posted notices about Shanxi merchants collaborating with captives to harm the country, but this did not affect the tranquility and prosperity of the capital in the slightest.

Taiyuan Shanxi.

Two people came from a distance on the official road, the one in front wore a fat long gown that was obviously not his own, almost all of them were buried in it, but walked with carefree steps.

The short-dressed helper who followed was not so relaxed.

With a pale face and sunken eyes, he was carrying a bag of rice and followed step by step, his body staggering.

Suddenly, the helper turned his shoulders and put the rice bag on the side of the road, panting heavily and sweating profusely.

"Why are you resting again!" The man in the long gown jumped up and cursed loudly.

"I'm really sorry, let the villain take a breather." The helper didn't dare to say more, but said in a low voice.

"Take a break!?"

"Working like this, when will we be able to carry all the rice to the shop?" Who would have thought, the man in the long gown screamed even more fiercely when he heard this.

With such a loud voice, many passers-by on the street gathered around to watch the fun.

A group of officials stopped, and one of them, a tall one, separated from the crowd and asked with a frown:

"How can you make trouble on the official road?"

The skinny helper is afraid of this scene, and he is afraid that he will lose this bowl of rice if he makes a big fuss.

The officials saw that this man's body was as thin as a plank, and they couldn't bear it, and wanted to say something good for him.

But the helper rushed to say: "The villain is not good, it's all because the villain is not good, I missed the shopkeeper's business..."

The man in the long gown glared, and said angrily:

"Don't take the money if you don't have the strength!"

Turning his head, he said with a smile to the officials: "Master, you just arrived, come to judge."

"My shopkeeper hired him to carry the rice, but he was lucky. He stopped at three steps and rested at five steps. He didn't walk half a mile after a meal."

"Master, we are Yuci Chang's rice shop, the buyers are all rich and powerful, how can we wait for him?"

At first I almost wanted to say something for the helper, but when I heard that it was the rice from Yuci Chang's, I suddenly muttered in my heart.

He glanced up and down at the helper and said:

"You are also a man. I can't see the weight of this rice bag at sixty or seventy catties. Is it so hard?"

Although the helper didn't expect the government to stand up for him, he still couldn't help feeling disappointed when he saw that the official's name had shrunk after hearing Yuci Chang's name.

At this time, there was a burst of surprised discussion from the crowd.

But two officials in official uniforms passed by here. Judging by the patch on the official uniforms, the official rank cannot be lowered.

These two people are the two cabinet scholars who came down to investigate Shanxi merchants, Hu Shiguang, a scholar of Dongge University, and Xu Weijing, a scholar of Wenhuadian University.

The two were riding on horses. After seeing this scene, they didn't want to care about it. They stopped after hearing that the helper was carrying a rice bag from Yuci Chang's.

The Yuci Chang family is a wealthy businessman in central Shanxi, and is one of the Shanxi businessmen to be punished this time.

According to folk rumors, the Chang family has assets of hundreds of thousands of taels. The family was originally from Taigu County, Shanxi Province. In the 10th year of Hongzhi, they moved to Liujiazhai, Chewang Village, Yuci County.