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Text Chapter 45 Face

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    Since Kangxi ascended the throne, the Empress Dowager would know that something bad was going on as soon as she heard that several auxiliary ministers came to her together. However, more than half a year after Prince Kang and Ye Bilong left the capital, none of the three auxiliary ministers left behind.  It bothered her.

    Today, the Empress Dowager was drinking tea and eating snacks while happily chatting with other Manchu noblewomen, including Princess Jianning, the daughter-in-law of Prince Pingxi. Princess Jianning had won over Wu Yingxiong very well, and her husband  In private, he has revealed many times that he does not want to go to the southwest to inherit the vassal state.  However, when Ao Bai heard about this from the Empress Dowager, he quickly said that this was not possible. After Wu Sangui's death, even if Wu Yingxiong was unwilling to leave prosperous Beijing and go to the remote southwest, he would still have to be allowed to lead the vassal country from afar to save Wu Sangui.  What bad intentions did the people under his command have - this Obai was always very kind to the Han vassals, but always wanted to enforce strict military laws against the Manchus, which led to many people in the Eight Banners not wanting to see him.

    While everyone was talking and laughing, a ghostly eunuch came close to the Queen Mother and reported in a low voice: "Soni, Obai and Suk Saha are all here, waiting outside to see Lafayette."

    Ever since Gao Mingzhan sent the four-color jadeite and called the Queen Mother Lafayette, people inside and outside the palace also called the Queen Mother Lafayette in fun, but they never knew who the congratulatory message came from.  Handwriting.

    This report made Lafayette freeze for a moment. The hand holding a piece of snack stopped in mid-air, and his mouth was opened, but the snack could not be put in for a long time.  Seeing the performance of the Empress Dowager, the room suddenly became cold. A moment ago it was full of laughter and laughter, but in the blink of an eye it became silent.

    "Yes." After the Queen Mother recovered, she wanted to put down the snack, but after a slight hesitation, she pretended to be calm and gently put it into her mouth, chewed it slowly, and then greeted her calmly.  The ladies in the room said: "A few ministers are arguing about something. The Ai family will go and have a look and then come back. You guys should sit by yourself for a while."

    Since the Empress Dowager remained silent, of course everyone accompanied them. Princess Jianning was the first to stand up and said with a smile: "What a bunch of useless things. I don't know how to save the Queen Mother."

    ??Everyone also complained about the auxiliary ministers. Everyone had a smile on their face, as if they were convinced that there was no big deal.

    After entering the study, the Empress Dowager saw that the young emperor was already sitting on the throne. The three auxiliary ministers looked serious. The whole room was filled with an atmosphere of anxiety. As soon as they saw the Empress Dowager, the three people hurriedly  Kneel down and kowtow.

    "Everyone, get up." The Empress Dowager knew that these three people had practiced cultivation very deeply, and their expressions might not change even if the sky fell.  Now that he looks panicked, things must be very difficult.  This expression was deliberately made for myself, intending to pretend to be pitiful before speaking.

    The Empress Dowager sat down on the chair and grasped the armrests tightly with both hands. After making sure that she would not jump up and hit anyone or hit the three bastards in front of her with the inkstone, she breathed a sigh of relief: "Say it, so what?"  Already?"

    "This year's water transport is about to start again." Sony reported: "Zhang Changgeng, the governor of Huguang, said that Deng Ming came out of Jingzhou again and seemed to be heading to Yangzhou."

    After the water transportation was cut off last year, some people in Beijing even advocated giving up Gansu, Ningxia and half of Shaanxi to Vitra Mongolia, shrinking their forces and making every effort to secure Jiangnan; some even suggested using these lands to buy Vitra Mongolia and let them send troops to help and cooperate with them.  The Qing Dynasty invaded Sichuan.  However, this matter was too big, and if the northwest was abandoned in one fell swoop, those Han officials and scholars who passed the imperial examination would probably break with the Qing court.  Besides, it is difficult to predict the consequences of placing Vitra Mongolia next to Xi'an. If Vitra did not join forces with the Qing Dynasty but instead joined forces with Deng Ming, the situation would only be worse.

    "Are you planning to abandon the west of Xi'an?" The Queen Mother's first reaction was to think of this. Only such an earth-shattering event could make the three auxiliary ministers deliberately look pitiful in front of themselves.

    ¡°I still think it¡¯s not feasible,¡± Obai kowtowed immediately.  Suksaha took a neutral stance on this issue. Han officials might be reluctant to part with that land, but there was nothing the Manchus couldn't let go of.  However, both Sony and Obai were firmly opposed. Since these two auxiliary ministers have unified their views, the idea of ??abandoning the northwest has of course become an empty talk: "It stands to reason that Deng Ming would also regard Qin as his territory, so many people  I think Vitra Mongol and Deng¡¯s thieves will definitely fight. But this Deng Ming cannot be guessed with common sense. Who can know Deng Ming¡¯s thoughts"

    "Okay, okay." The Queen Mother impatiently interrupted Obai's clich¨¦.  Obai and Sony always said that Vitra Mongolia should never be led into the Great Wall unless absolutely necessary.  In addition to the reasons that Obai just mentioned, they are also worried that many Han people may regard the Qing Dynasty as if they just robbed it.The Mongolian horse bandits of ?? rather than the new dynasty aiming to unify Haiyu.  The Gansu and Shaanxi Green Camps in the northwest were the most powerful Green Camp troops of the Qing court. In order to save some money, they were sent to the enemy. It was really not worth the gain. "Then what are you going to do, fight Deng Ming again in Yangzhou? Do you have a ship?"

    "No boat." Sony replied gruntingly.

    "Then how do you want to fight?" Seeing that the three people kept hesitating and asking questions before they could squeeze out an answer, the Queen Mother became even more irritable and restless.

    ¡°Perhaps we don¡¯t need to fight.¡± After Suksaha finished speaking, he tried his best to shrink back, trying to make himself less conspicuous.

    "If we don't fight, then we will let this year's water transport fail again?" The Queen Mother's voice became louder and louder. She raised her arm, intending to point at one of the three people. Seeing this, Sony and Obai also shrank.  neck.

    "Sony!" The Empress Dowager's arm fell heavily, and she finally pointed at the head of the Chief Assistant Minister: "What's going on? Please answer me honestly."

    Sony looked resentfully at Obai and Suk Saha who were hiding behind him, cheered up and said to the Queen Mother: "Zhang Changgeng reported that he bribed a confidant of Deng Ming, who was deeply trusted by Deng Ming.  Deng Ming also obeyed his words"

    "Isn't it that Mu Tan?" The Empress Dowager did not give Sony a chance to delay, and asked, "What bad idea did Zhang Changgeng come up with again?"

    "Zhang Changgeng said that Mu Tan said that if he was given the water transport, he would be able to persuade Deng Ming not to send troops. As long as he was allowed to transport grain every year in the future, he could ensure that the water transport would not be destroyed even if Deng Ming sent troops.  Cut off." Sony tried his best to find a more euphemistic way to explain the matter to the Queen Mother, but he couldn't find it, and the content still sounded so scary.

    "What?" The Empress Dowager forced Sony to repeat it again, and then shouted: "Let the Sichuan thieves transport grain to me from the Qing Dynasty?"

    "No, it's Mutan, not Deng Ming." Sony quickly corrected him.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t Mu Tan a Sichuan traitor?!¡± the Empress Dowager asked angrily.

    "Well, this Mu Tan, strictly speaking, he should be a Fujian thief who fled to Sichuan. In the end, he and Deng Ming are not of the same mind, so he is crazy about taking bribes. However, having such a person beside Deng Ming is really an emperor.  What a great blessing to the Empress Dowager." Sony rambled on, while continuing to think about his words: "Well, what Mutan means is that as long as he is paid 50% of the benefits, he will be responsible for delivering the grain and silver from each province.  To Tianjin.¡±

    "Can the Sichuan pirates' ships sail to Dagukou?" The Empress Dowager was shocked.

    "It's not Mu Tan's ship. He knows the Fujian thieves in Zhoushan, and the Queen Mother also knows that after Zheng Ni's death, the Fujian thieves separated, and one group fled to Zhoushan. Mu Tan said that some of them were his old friends, and he was willing to  Transport grain from the Qing Dynasty to Tianjin." Sony told the Empress Dowager that Mu Tan asked the court to ensure the safety of the people transporting the goods. Caoliang and Caoyin will be delivered in batches, and the next batch will come after the first batch leaves safely.  But even so, water transportation will be much faster than in previous years.  In previous years, water transportation started in July and would not arrive in Beijing until at least the end of November or early December, but Mu Tan promised that he would be able to deliver all the goods to Tianjin in November.

    "The Sichuan thieves helped me transport grain to the Qing Dynasty, and also hired Fujian thieves to transport it. My governor of the Qing Dynasty handed over the silver grain to them, and then they returned it to the court -" The Empress Dowager jumped up: "Sony, you  Think about it for yourself, are you speaking human language?"

    In the opinion of the Empress Dowager, this matter is simply not feasible. If the silver grain falls into the hands of thieves, they will definitely not send it to Tianjin honestly.

    Sony glanced at Obai and Suksaha, both of whom had their heads lowered, so Sony had no choice but to bite the bullet and continue to answer.

    "The slave didn't believe it at first. But Zhang Changgeng said that in order to ensure that the imperial court would not suffer losses, he would not deliver the goods first. When Mutan sent part of the tax to Tianjin, Zhang Changgeng would deliver the goods, and then transport the next part, using eight dollars in the middle.  Baili rushed to deliver the news."

    The Empress Dowager looked at Sony coldly, with no sign of happiness or anger on her face. After a moment, she said slowly: "It seems to the Ai family that Zhang Changgeng jumped over the wall in a hurry. It was probably Deng Ming who wanted to surround Wuchang, so even if he  Even though we could hold on but couldn't complete the water transport, we bribed Mu Tan and even made alarmist claims that the Sichuan bandits were going to Yangzhou again."

    "My slave thought so at first. But Zhang Changgeng's memorial was also signed by Jiang Guozhu, Governor of Liangjiang, Zhao Guozuo, Governor of Zhejiang, and Lin Qilong, Governor of Water Transport. They claimed that they jointly bribed Mu Tan. Mu Tan wanted to  We'll cover all the water transportation in the Qing Dynasty." Sony said and handed over the memorial.

    The Empress Dowager took the memorial and looked at it carefully. At this time, Sony added fuel to the fire: "Zu Zepu, the governor of Shandong, said that Deng Ming always kept his word, and Mu Tan must have been a gentleman after receiving his words and deeds."  ,?It can be regarded as a clever way to ensure the safety of water transportation.  "

    The Queen Mother suddenly jumped up from her chair and rushed in front of Sony like a leopard. She didn't know when she picked up a stick in her hand.

    "Keep your word, a gentleman. Is this used to accuse rebels? Zu Zepu dares to say it is a clever plan!" The Queen Mother yelled and hit Sony with a stick without thinking: "I'll beat you to death."  Beat you to death, you bitch slave!"

    Sony kept claiming that he deserved it. He was a martial artist. Although he was older, his body was still strong. A few sticks would not cause any serious problems.

    After beating Sony for a while, the still angry Queen Mother looked at Obai again, pointed at his nose and cursed: "And you bitch, didn't the banker in Huzhou just write a book? What's the big deal?  ? You really forced others to rebel, now it¡¯s better, sweeping the two houses, taking advantage of your wishes, right?"

    Although the Ming History Case had the support of other auxiliary ministers, it had always been sponsored by Obai. The Empress Dowager felt that it was just some Han landlords, and she was too lazy to ask about such trivial matters.  If everything had been done according to Obai's wishes, and the Han people had been frightened, and their property had been confiscated and confiscated into the officialdom, then the Empress Dowager would most likely not have interfered with the matter, and the people who died would no longer be Hans, not Manchus, and  What does she have to do with it?

    But now Zhuang Yuncheng's matter has become a big deal, affecting Zhejiang's taxation and water transportation. The Empress Dowager ordered her subordinates to report the cause and effect of the matter. As a result, she resented Obai's incompetence: "It's a good idea, but also  We need to replenish the national treasury and make those Han people more honest, but after a year of doing this, they didn't even understand whether the other party was a bandit leader like Yu Qi or a scholar, and they actually wanted to send a few policemen to take them away! Now!  Well, I heard that the banker dug out all the money to buy the powerful bows and crossbows of the Sichuan thieves. Not only did they have to work hard to exterminate them, but the money you spent all day thinking about them also went into Deng Ming's pocket."

    If that was all, the Empress Dowager might not be so angry. What made her even more furious was that the previous report from Zhejiang actually said that the Jingnan Army spent 100,000 taels of silver to purchase ten red cannons, and  Those cannons were stolen from Ningyuan - Sichuan had no intention of helping Obai conceal this matter, so as soon as Zhao Guozuo inquired about the Sichuan people, he told the governor of Zhejiang the ins and outs of obtaining the cannons.

    After hearing about Ning Yuan's accident a few days ago, the Emperor and the Empress showed some concern, but none of the minions in front of her took it to heart. They all said that there would be no big disturbance in that land Facts have proved  The Empress Dowager was right to worry. The Ming army actually went back to Liaodong to move things, but these auxiliary ministers were still kept in the dark. They even needed Zhejiang to remind Longxing of the Qing Dynasty.  Something happened - since Mao Wenlong's time, in the past few decades, only Daqing has moved things to other people's homes. When have things in his own home been moved?  Even if it's some old, clunky old cannon, that won't do!

    Thinking that she was getting angry, the Empress Dowager slapped Obai with a stick again: "Aren't you worried about Zhuang Yuncheng's money? In the end, Deng Ming stole it all, and he used the emperor's cannon. If you had known this, why didn't you  If you go sell the cannon to Zhuang Yuncheng yourself, won't you get the money?"

    After beating Sony and Obai, the Empress Dowager walked back to her seat and took a breath. She also knew that Sony and the others had nothing to do. Water transportation had been cut off for a year, and the deficit in the treasury continued.  If there is another accident in water transportation this year, life will be even more difficult.  Moreover, everyone in Beijing now knows that most of the governors of the southeast have made many private deals with Deng Ming. In order to save their heads and official positions, they are probably working together to deceive the court. But the important thing is that they are still willing to pay taxes to Beijing.  Through this point of analysis, Sony said that most of Southeast Asia has not yet wanted to surrender to the enemy. They still looked favorably on Beijing during the Ming and Qing wars, so they worked hard to complete the taxation work assigned by Beijing. Now even if there are some private transactions with Deng Ming, it will definitely  It's imaginary and arrogant.  Therefore, Sony felt that it was better to pretend not to see this. Since Beijing had no way to eliminate Deng Ming and wanted to negotiate peace with him, it would not be good for Tai to be too harsh on the governor of the southeast.

    Sony even quoted an allusion from the Han Dynasty's Three Kingdoms period, that is, after the Battle of Guandu, Cao Cao burned all the correspondence between Yuan Shao and his officials. Since these southeastern officials still tended to favor the Qing Dynasty, some private actions were probably out of necessity, then  It would be better to avoid driving them all to Nanming.

    The Queen Mother agreed with Sony¡¯s analysis, not only because it made sense, but also because these words made her feel at ease and they were words she was willing to believe.

    Sony looked at the words and felt that the Empress Dowager seemed to be a little angry, so he began to persuade again: "Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager, since we entered the pass, we have sacrificed so many of our children to take the southeast, in order not to get money and money from there.  Food? Isn't it because the soldiers of the Eight Banners shed blood and sweat so that their children can live a better life and have food and clothing without worries? Is it possible to lose face just because of face???These silver grains?  "

    "Who said no," the Empress Dowager glared at Sony coldly. Like Sony and Obai, as a person who came from the Nurhaci period, the Empress Dowager positioned the Manchuria Group as a large-scale organization that robs money and food.  The gang of thieves, that is, in the past ten years, has seen a lot of flattery memorials. The Queen Mother gradually began to pay attention to her own face: "But we can't let the Ai family lose face."

    "As long as the people who come to deliver the money don't enter the Haihe River and don't use the banner of Fujian thieves, the people will not know who brought the money to us. Mu Tan is blind to money, and the court can take advantage of this greedy thief.  , to ensure that the money and food from the southeast can be safely transported to Beijing." Sony said another round of good words.

    "Well, but -" The Empress Dowager nodded first and seemed to be basically convinced. However, she pointed at a sentence in the memorial and commented bitterly: "The other party will cost 50% of the loss, although it is less than the water transport."  There was a lot of money floating around, but that was a lot of money, and it was all taken away by Mutan, a man who deserved to be cut to pieces! Huh, when the canal is safe, the Ai family will definitely tell Deng Ming all about the good deeds he did.  Let this thief who stole from his master die without a burial place. Even if his two sisters are favored again (there are already two), the Ai family will not believe that Deng Ming will not be moved after hearing so much money!"

    "The Empress Dowager Shengming." Sony agreed, smacking the sour taste in the Empress Dowager's tone: "How about I go explore Zheng Xi's path? Ask them if they are willing to pay 30% of the fee.  Help us transport water?"

    The Empress Dowager pondered for a moment, and the expression on her face changed. She suddenly became furious again, and swung the wooden stick at Sony for the second time: "Ai, you are such a slave, and you actually asked Aijia to discuss with Zheng Ni in such a lowly manner?  We need money, but we can¡¯t be shameless! Are you still speaking in human terms?¡±¡ª¡ª

    Author's note: I was really busy over the weekend. I got it done at the last minute today. I can't guarantee whether it will be available tomorrow.
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