I'm watching the gate in the jail

The spring breeze cuts the palace brocade across the country, and the moon is clearly visible in the palace of Yitianlou.

Coming out of Zhaode Palace, Zhu Jianshen walked happily, as if he was still immersed in the family happiness.

It has been nearly a month since the imperial physician diagnosed Minister Wan as pregnant.

Her nausea became more severe, she began to vomit and lethargic.Even horse riding and sword dancing, which I liked very much, became tired and lost interest.

All this made him both happy and flustered.

The joy of becoming a father for the first time is intertwined with the distress of seeing a beloved woman become so haggard, which makes the 19-year-old emperor worry about gains and losses, but he can't stop his excitement.

It is one thing to be promoted to be a father soon. If Chief Servant Wan gives birth to a boy baby, after he is crowned prince, it means that the country is stable.

At that time, he will be able to let go of his hands and feet and do more things.

Wash away the haze that my father added to this great empire, and bring back its former glory—just like at the time of Emperor Yongle, all directions came to congratulate, all nations came to court, and the world was peaceful!

"Your Majesty, the papers for Wan Zhenfu and Qiu Xunjian have arrived."

Wynn and Qin Chang walked slowly under Zhu Jianshen's Yuyu.

It's still early in the day, and the industrious little emperor should still be working in the Hall of Martial Arts for a long time.

"They finally arrived in Xunzhou. It's hard for me to wait."

Thinking of Wanda, Zhu Jianshen couldn't help but smile.

By the spring of next year, Minister Wan will give birth.

When the time comes, you must call Uncle Xiao Lang back to your side.Let him enter the palace from time to time, and accompany Chief Wan to make her happy.

Doesn't he like to cook, like the imperial dining room, so he is asked to cook for his sister every day.

Regardless of whether the child is a boy or a girl, he will promote Minister Wan and make her a noble concubine...

Due to the obstruction of the Empress Dowager Zhou and the courtiers, he had no way to make Wan a queen for the time being.

But Zhu Jianshen is not worried, as long as he and Chief Wan's son become emperor.Waiting for them to live forever, Minister Wan will be posthumously named queen after all.

At that time they will be buried together, life after life, never separated.

"Qin Chang, companion, I remember you are also from Guangxi, right?"

Zhu Jianshen glanced down at Tan Chang, "Tell me about the customs and customs of Guangxi."

Qin Chang has always been very eloquent and can speak well. Compared with the silent and steady Huai En, he is more favored by Wan Zhen'er.

Now that Zhu Jianshen asked about his hometown, as usual, he should express it a lot, but found that he almost didn't remember it.

Qin Chang is a native of Yishan, Guangxi. He entered the palace for 12 years. He just turned [-] this year, and spent almost his entire life in the palace.

Like Wynn, he was also sent to serve in the palace because of the crime of his relatives.When he was a child, he grew up beside the Empress Dowager Sun. Because of his cute and smart appearance, he was almost pampered and grew up with only the flowers in the inner palace.

For him, his childhood hometown is already a distant dream.

Seeing that Tan Chang couldn't answer, Zhu Jianshen didn't care.

"By the way, I heard that Mr. Li Ge has been ill recently. He didn't go to court yesterday or today, so is he okay?"

The "Old Li Ge" mentioned by Zhu Jianshen is Li Xian.

When Zhu Jianshen was the prince, he was almost deposed for the second time. Fortunately, with the support of Li Xian and Queen Mother Sun, he was able to keep his position as the prince.

The lord Chief Assistant is now a [-]-year-old veteran, and he suddenly said that he was not feeling well, which is always a little worrying.

"This……"

Qin Chang looked at Wynn who was walking with his head down beside him in embarrassment.

Wynn thought for a while, and said in a more tactful way, "Mr. Li Ge and Wang Hong, the Minister of the Ministry of War, have some disagreements because of the appointment of talents..."

Because of the need to use troops against Guangxi, the two military departments of Beijing Shuntianfu and Nanjing Yingtianfu are rapidly expanding.

Although Wang Hong is the Minister of the Ministry of War and the highest authority in the Ministry of War, Li Xian, as the chief assistant, still needs his approval for the final appointment of personnel.

There were two talents recommended by Wang Hong, Yue Zhenghe and Zhang Ning, both of whom were rejected by Li Xian.Not only that, the two were also sent to other places.

In Wang Hong's view, this is clearly an act of Li Xian using his power to cover up the sky with one hand and suppress his rights in the Ministry of War.

Wang Hong had had many quarrels with Li Xian because of the Ministry of War's clean-up of officials who were missing officials.This time it turned out to be such a mess, but Zhu Jianshen never expected it.

"Actually... Wang Shangshu submitted a report today and is waiting for His Majesty's reply."

Wynn said cautiously, "Wang Shangshu He Begs for bones, wants to return to his hometown for the elderly, please Your Majesty to unify."

Zhu Jian listened deeply and fell silent for a while.

This Wang Shangshu is six years younger than Li Shoufu, and he is about to retire and return home?

"I thought that the use of troops to the south was only related to military affairs. But I didn't expect that before the official war started, the chaos in Beijing would have become like this..."

Zhu Jian smiled wryly.

Both Li Xian and Wang Hong are loyal and capable ministers.Let's not say much about Li Xian's kindness to him.

Wang Hong has always been known for his straightforward personality, vigorous and resolute, and informal.Not to mention, as long as he was able to recommend Han Yong, who had been impeached, to serve as the president of Guangxi, he can see that he employs eclectic people.

And Li Xian is also a well-known corporal of courtesy and virtuousness, who speaks out and dares to advise.

Zhu Jianshen can guarantee that he doesn't use Yue Zheng and Zhang Ning, it's definitely not because of power expansion, but because there are other trade-offs.After all, as the chief assistant, what you have to consider is not just one part of the Ministry of War, but the overall situation.

"Hey... Huai's companion, drafting an edict for me, appeasing Wang Shangshu, the army is ready to go, the most important thing is morale. Don't mention such things as begging for bones. "

Zhu Jianshen said helplessly, "Mr. Li Ge's side...Tan Chang's company, I will go to visit the pension tomorrow on my behalf, so don't chill the old minister's heart."

The two servants sang together.

Zhu Jianshen, who was originally in a good mood, no longer had the joy of leaving Zhaode Palace after all this.

Arriving at the Hall of Martial Ying, sitting under the "Comprehensive Map of Guangxi Yudi" hanging high, Zhu Jianshen simultaneously opened the memorials of Han Yong, Wanda and Qiu Zijin who just arrived today, comparing and examining them.

Wynn and Qin Chang stood below, not daring to make a sound.

Especially Wynn, as the palm print eunuch in charge of approving reds, he has naturally browsed through the memorial.It never occurred to him that the first report that Uncle Xiaoguo sent back from Guangxi was to sue Huang Ren, the local guard eunuch in Yongzhou Prefecture, and the eunuch in charge of purchasing tributes from the palace in the capital.

Guarding eunuchs in various places, guarding eunuchs, and purchasing eunuchs are all under the jurisdiction of the ceremonial supervision.As the eunuch in charge of ceremonies and seals, he is the admiral of Dongchang, and he bears the brunt of the responsibility in terms of responsibility.

"presumptuous!"

Furious, Zhu Jianshen threw the note written by Yang Xiuxian for Wanda in front of the two of them.

The two hurriedly knelt down.

The memorial was scattered in front of the two of them, revealing the big characters "The servant made trouble" inside.

"Wynn, let's see what good things your subordinates are doing? The guarding eunuchs left the camp without authorization and collude with the eunuchs in order to get promoted. What are these things! Don't they know that I have decided to use troops against Guangxi? This Time to cause trouble there, causing public anger, is it intentional to make life difficult for my army of begging thieves?"

"Your Majesty's atonement."

These two people are people around Zhu Jianshen who have grown up with Zhu Jianshen for many years, and they know that the young emperor has always been a bit depressed because he experienced too much suffering in his childhood.

Except in front of Wan Niangniang, even when facing her own mother, the Empress Dowager Zhou, she seldom directly expressed her happiness and anger on her face.

Today's blows came again and again, causing the little emperor to explode suddenly.

"I, I really..."

Zhu Jian took a deep breath and blushed.

"First the cabinet, the Ministry of War, and now the East Factory! Okay, very good... very good. Is there only Jinyiwei available?!"

Zhu Jianshen clattered the table.

Wynn and Qin Chang prostrated themselves on the ground, not daring to say anything.

"Qin Chang, I order you... to set off within this month and rush to Guangxi to assist Uncle Lang to continue to investigate the situation there. In addition, tell Uncle Lang that he must return to the capital before the end of the year. His sister misses him and asks him Definitely go back to Beijing for the New Year.”

Zhu Jianshen was asked to go to Guangxi, so on second thought, let Qin Chang go.Not to mention that he is from Guangxi, after all, he is more lively and gets along better with Wanda.

As for Wynn...

"You can solve the matter of your East Factory by yourself."

"Yes."

Wynn knelt down and took the order.

Zhu Jianshen suddenly felt a little powerless.

At the beginning, Emperor Taizu, after the Lantian case and Hu Weiyong case, deposed the prime minister and replaced the prime minister with the cabinet to assist the emperor in handling the government affairs.

At the same time, that is, during the period of Emperor Hongwu, the Jinyiwei Agency was established to supervise officials and check thieves.

After the Battle of Jingnan, Yongle Emperor Zhu Di broke the ancestral precept that eunuchs should not interfere in politics, and set up the East Jiji Factory to supervise Jinyiwei.

Eunuchs who were not able to study at first also had the opportunity to study in the inner school. The eunuchs who held the pen and the palm seal even had the power to approve memorials and participate in the government. .

Jinyiwei and Dongchang have indeed strengthened the imperial power's control over officials and common people to a great extent.But there are also scum like Cao Jixiang, Wang Zhen, and Menda, who use the imperial power to do their best.

Since Zhu Jianshen became the prince of Jian Guo, he began to suppress the rights of Jin Yiwei and Dongchang, and put more rights in the former cabinet.

Today's Jinyiwei Commander Yuan Bin and Dongchang Admiral Huai En are both prudent and mature, cautious people who dare not cross the line easily.

The recent big cases brought up by Jin Yiwei were still due to Uncle Xiao Lang's various stupid behaviors, otherwise he doesn't know how long he will keep a low profile.

As for Dongchang... Zhu Jianshen took a look at Wynn who was kneeling and cleaning up the scattered memorials on the ground.

There is no doubt about Wynn's loyalty and ability, and the guardian eunuchs and procurement eunuchs must be restrained soon.

However, is it not enough to have only one East Factory?

The Jinyiwei supervises all officials, and the East Factory supervises the Jinyiwei, so who can supervise the East Factory...

The young little emperor sat on the cold dragon chair and began to think about this question.

Once the seeds of doubt are planted in the heart, it will take root and germinate sooner or later.

"Si Jin Restaurant" won its first battle in front of wealthy households in Xunzhou City. From the second day of its opening, it was filled with guests almost every day, and the entire hotel was busy with their feet on the ground.

For this reason, Wanda had to announce to the outside world that the signature dish "Boiled Fish with Booming Boiled Fish" will be available in a limited amount every day, with [-] cents each in the lunch and dinner markets.

As for the high-end dim sum takeaway business undertaken, due to the chef's limited energy, he can only deliver one delivery per day. Please come to the counter of the store at the beginning of each month to register in advance.

"Treasurer Wan, where is Brother Yang?"

Here, Wanda was "humming and humming" cooking. Girl Duoduo walked into the back kitchen with an empty food box. After looking around, Yang Xiuxian was nowhere to be seen. She asked a little lonely.

"He went to Wang's house to deliver snacks."

Wanda ladled the dishes into the plate and rang the bell beside the stove.

Mei Qianzhang yelled outside: Here we come, and quickly ran into the kitchen.

"Why is she here?"

Seeing Girl Duoduo, Mei Qianzhang was puzzled.

"Leave me alone!"

Duoduo gave him a blank look.

This girl has a bad temper and some eyes are over the top.In the entire Sijin Restaurant, except for Yang Xiuxian and Wanda, she would show good looks to everyone else.

"Then when will Brother Yang come back?"

She put the food box on the table and asked behind Wanda.

Today, she begged his wife for a long time before she agreed to change the snack box in person.Just to be able to see Brother Yang.

Who knew that after finally running out, the person was not there.

"It depends on how long the master of the Wang family intends to keep him."

Sijin Restaurant has a clear division of labor, the shopkeeper Wanda is busy cooking, Mei Qianzhang waits in the hall, Qiu Zijin settles accounts, Gao Hui is in charge of all sundries, and Yang Xiuxian is in charge of delivering snacks to wealthy households.

With his eloquence and years of experience in Jinyiwei, it is only a matter of time before he can find out the background of these big families.

After listening to Duoduo, his face suddenly changed, "Which royal family? Is it the royal family whose daughter is in her 20s and hasn't married yet?"

The more Duoduo thought about it, the more likely it was, and he jumped up and down in a hurry, and couldn't help complaining to Wanda, "You, how could you ask Brother Yang to deliver the snacks? How can Brother Yang do this kind of rough work?"

The most important thing is that Brother Yang is a good-looking talent. If Master Wang takes a fancy to him and asks him to become his son-in-law, what will he do?

"I won't tell you anymore! I'll go find him."

No, the more she thought about it, the more likely it was.

In order to prevent Yang Xiuxian from being "preempted" by other women, Duoduo decides to go to the Wang family first and give Miss Wang a blow.

Wanda watched inexplicably as she suddenly lost her mind and turned to leave. Before she finished frying the dish in her hand, she heard a loud noise coming from outside the door.

"You, get out of the way!"

"You just go away!"

The two girls were yelling at each other, and a group of men around them were booing, wishing that they would pinch each other the next moment.

"what happened?"

Wanda opened the curtain and came out, and saw Duoduo confronting a girl she didn't know, who also looked like a girl, and the air was full of gunpowder.

"You are Shopkeeper Wan?"

Seeing Wanda coming out, the girl pushed Duoduo away and walked in front of him.

"I am... are you?"

"I'm a girl from Wang Yuan's family, and my name is Chunlan."

The name should be a Han girl, but maybe she has stayed in Guangxi for a long time, and her style has changed.Unlike the women in the inland areas, they are more bound by boudoir training and cannot let go of their hands and feet.

"Ah, Steward Yang went to the mansion today, what's the matter?"

Wanda asked curiously.

"Our master and Manager Yang hit it off. I want to stay with Manager Yang for lunch, or even dinner. Let me let you know."

As the little girl spoke, she raised her chin and deliberately glanced at Duoduo.

"Our master asked me to ask you for him, does Guanshi Yang have a wife in the capital? Who else is there in the family?"

"What, what does this mean?"

Wanda was stunned when he heard that.

"Of course it's because I've taken a fancy to Guanshi Yang."

As Chunlan said, she gave Wanda Fu a blessing, "My servant congratulates Shopkeeper Wan. You must know that our Yuanwai master has noble relatives in the court, and he can marry our Wang family. From now on, your 'Sijin Restaurant' will be in Xunzhou There must be a bright future.”

claim kinship?

It's just a takeaway, can Mr. Yang set himself up?

Wanda was shocked.

"nonsense!"

Before Wanda could react, Duoduo attacked her girlily, pulled out the small whip from her waist, aimed at Chunlan and hit her in the face.

Chunlan screamed, pulled Wanda's sleeve and hid behind him.

Duoduo didn't dare to be rude to his master's righteous brother, so he quickly withdrew his whip.

"You, take back what you just said!"

She pointed at Chunlan and threatened loudly.

"Bah! How old are you, dare to order me?"

Hiding behind Wanda, Chunlan stuck out her tongue at Duoduo.

"Brother Yang is mine!"

Duoduo finally spoke out what was in his heart.

Seeing everyone in the restaurant looking at her at the same time, Miss Duoduo readily admitted.

"Yes, I like Brother Yang, I want to marry him!"

Qiu Zijin, who was doing the accounting, didn't even notice that the brush in his hand fell off, and Mei Qianzhang, who was pouring wine for someone, almost poured the wine on the head of the guest.

"You, shameless!"

When Chunlan heard the words, she jumped out from behind Wanda, "A girl, you are not ashamed to speak out!"

"Aren't wild geese greedy? I never eat wild geese! You are greedy, you are greedy!"

Although the level of Chinese is still not up to the level of understanding idioms, Duoduo instinctively knows that this Chunlan girl is scolding herself.

"You are shameless."

"Your lady is shameless!"

"Ugly."

"Your lady is ugly!"

The two started low-end personal attacks with their hips on their waists. Wanda finally understood now——Yang Xiuxian's charm is too great. It's only been a few days since he came to Xunzhou Mansion, and there are women fighting over him. Woke up.

"Tsk... Get them out quickly, how can you do business like this."

Wanda felt a little sour in her heart, frustrated and self-consciously ridiculous, so she asked Gao Hui to come forward and settle the two girls in a listless manner.

Gao Hui is not a man who is sympathetic to women and jade. He grabbed a girl by the back collar with one hand and threw them all out the door.

He also paid special attention to throwing it far away, so as not to disturb the guests who were waiting in line for dinner at the door.

When the restaurant was closed, Yang Xiuxian came late and entered the hotel with an empty food box.

As soon as he entered the door, he saw that everyone was staring at him teasingly. Mei Qianzhang's eyes were particularly explicit, with a strong meaning of watching a show.

Master Wan, on the other hand, was a little restless, and when he saw him enter the door, he actually averted his eyes to the side, as if he didn't want to meet his eyes.

"Guard Yang, the Wang family's food is delicious, isn't it?"

The first one who couldn't bear it was indeed Mei Qianzhang.

This guy has been carrying the dishes for a whole day today, and he can't lift his tired hands.Seeing Yang Xiuxian walking in with ease and leisure, I was really upset.

"How can you eat two meals in a row if it's not fragrant?"

Qiu Zijin was also dazzled by counting money today, he wondered if he had been with Mei Qianzhang for a long time.Not to mention Mei Qianzhang's feelings, he actually started to take on some quack habits, and even became more courageous, even daring to sneer at Qianhu from Beizhen Fusi.

Although Gao Hui was silent, there were three words clearly written in his eyes: watch a good show.

"I... inquired about an interesting piece of news at Wang's house."

Yang Xiuxian felt that something was wrong. Although he didn't know what happened when he was not in the store, he decided to talk about the business first, so that the embarrassing atmosphere would be resolved quickly.

He turned around and closed the door of the hotel. Seeing that he really had something to talk about, everyone followed him upstairs.

Mei Qianzhang knew that he should disappear at this time, touched his nose, picked up the broom and began to sweep the floor.But to his surprise, Yang Xiuxian asked him to come up and listen together, saying that he had something to ask him.

"The master Wang I met today is also in business. He has cooperated with Wang normal years and has a close relationship."

Everyone thought that even though this was the case, the girls of the two families did not seem to have a good relationship.

"This Wang Yuanwai is a professional salt teacher. He has tens of thousands of acres of fertile land outside Xunzhou City."

Yang Xiuxian was a little excited.

He had thought before that Wang Zheng was a Yao man after all, no matter how powerful he was in Guangxi, if he had no power in the court, he would definitely not be able to be a regular salt merchant and could only sell private salt.

The Ming Dynasty inherited the salt and iron monopoly system of the Song Dynasty. Merchants who want to sell salt must obtain a legal "salt guide".Salt merchants rely on salt to lead to the salt field to withdraw salt, and then conduct salt trading in designated areas where it can be sold.

"Yanyin" is a treasure to make a fortune.After Yiguan traveled south, the entire Yangzhou area, and even the Jiangnan area, can enjoy the prosperity it has for thousands of years. In addition to the fact that the local area itself is a land of fish and rice, it is not unrelated to the development of the local salt industry and the spread of salt merchants in the Huaihe River and Huaihe River all over the country.

In addition to implementing the monopoly of salt and iron in the Ming Dynasty, the "opening Chinese law" was also implemented.

The so-called "opening the Chinese law" means that because of the lack of food and various daily necessities due to the bitter cold at the border, the government encourages businessmen from all over the country to go to the border to open up markets.

The government used Yanyin as an attraction. After the merchants transported the grain to the military station on the border, they exchanged salt from the local defenders for legal salt trading.

"Salt Yin" connects the imperial city, merchants and military bases together.

Since the founding of the country, this key to unlocking wealth and treasures has been firmly held by the relatives of the emperor, high-ranking eunuchs and local officials.

There is no way, and there is no way to get in touch with this business.

The Chunlan girl accidentally leaked it before, and there are people in the court of Mr. Wang, which explains everything.

Now Yang Xiuxian got further news.

Master Wang not only has people in the court, but also in the army, and even in the Yao people.

"How do you say that?"

Wanda felt as if she had vaguely grasped some key points.

"You mean Shangtun, right?"

The first person to react was Mei Qianzhang, who was familiar with the local conditions.

"It should be that there are Yao people who planted land for that old man."

"Hey? Didn't you say that merchants are responsible for transporting grain to the border? Why is it farming? Wang Yuanwai is not a merchant? He is a landlord?"

Qiu Zijin was a little puzzled.

"How much consumption is there to transport grain from the inland to the border? It's better to reclaim the fields on the spot and hire local natives to farm. In this way, it can also save the loss of traveling along the road."

Mei Qianzhang shook her head, "I've seen it in many places in Guangxi. Many Liao people farm land for wealthy Han merchants to make a living."

Then the most important question came again - these businessmen who came from the capital or from the Lianghuai area should not have owned land locally.

The land they now own locally is called "Shangtun" or "Yantun".It is a characteristic product of the Ming Dynasty that specially supplies the local garrison with food and grass.

So inevitably, another characteristic product of the Ming Dynasty was involved...

"Ah! It's refugees again! It's refugees again! It's land occupation again."

When Wanda heard this, he immediately understood. From the capital to Guangxi, he made a detour and faced the old problem again.

The original intention of the establishment of commercial villages must be good. As the saying goes, "call merchants to transport grain and give salt", local farming can not only directly supply grain and grass to the army, but also reclaim frontier land and reduce wasteland, killing two birds with one stone.

But people are needed to cultivate the land, and businessmen are all profit-seeking, so hiring undocumented refugees and low-cost laborers has become the only choice.

Using various means to annex the land of the local natives themselves and let them become their own tenant farmers is simply the best choice for rapid development of farming.

As a result, most of the Liao people must have lost their original land, or stayed as refugees, planted land for salt merchants, and became tenant farmers in black households.Or simply take the risk and go up the mountain and become a rogue.

Not only that, no matter how high the profit of official salt is, it cannot be higher than that of private salt...

In addition to the business of farmland and Yanyin, this Mr. Wang is likely to work with Wang Zheng to use his legal salt to open the way for private salt trading in secret.

It is not even ruled out that even the local defenders have participated in this "buying and selling" with huge profits.

The more chaotic Guangxi is, the more talented they are able to fish in troubled waters, taking advantage of the gaps when local officials come and go like lanterns, and can't be stationed for a long time to handle cases, to seek their own interests.

If this is the case, the magistrates of Guiping County and Teng County in Xunzhou Prefecture who were burned before the government office and treasury were taken away, and the county magistrates of Teng County... It is not clear why they died.