Buried alive in the Qing Dynasty

Page 209

As long as the big banks and big bank accounts in various places can be included, once the silver passes in the interbank market, it will all become silver dollars. "

"Are there enough silver coins?" Ma Chenglong, Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, asked, "How many silver coins does Dongyin Coin Factory cast in a year? Is it a few million?"

Zhu Heqian took the question with a smile and said: "Ma Shangshu, don't worry... the millions of silver dollars a year are for market circulation, and it is enough for now. Most of the silver dollars in the interbank market settlements are fake , and you can also cast large amounts of silver coins, fifty yuan, one hundred yuan, or even one thousand yuan! If the silver is too heavy, then use gold to cast it."

Chapter 482 Three years of no war, five years of Ping Liao!

In the north of the inner city of Nanjing, next to the bank of the Yangtze River, there is a low hill called Lion Mountain. On the top of Lion Mountain is a world-famous unfinished building called Yuejiang Tower.This Yuejiang Tower is called a building, but in fact there is only a huge stone base, and there is nothing that looks like a building.

The reason for this is that when Emperor Hongwu built the Yuejiang Tower, he changed his mind after only repairing the base, perhaps because he felt that spending too much money was meaningless.So it was unfinished, and it lasted for hundreds of years.

However, the base of the Yuejiang Tower, which stands high on the top of the Lion Mountain and can have a panoramic view of the spectacular scenery of the Yangtze River going east, has become a good place for the emperors, generals, talented scholars and beauties in Nanjing to climb high and look far away. .

Today, at the base of the Wangjiang Tower on the top of the Lion Mountain, it seems that a big man has come here. Cuirassier guards riding on tall horses guard the steps leading to the top of the mountain, and erected a sign with the words "No Passing" tattooed on it. banner.

And on Yifengmen Inner Street at the foot of the Lion Mountain, there was still a long line of chariots and horses parked, as well as officers and soldiers in brightly armored guards.It's mealtime now, these officers and soldiers are all sitting neatly on the ground in units of "leaders" (equivalent to companies) under the command of the officers, taking out dry food and buying it from a restaurant on the inner street of Yifengmen Broth, eaten with relish.

It seems that a certain official was sent away today, and other dignitaries were farewelled for him at the Yuejiang Tower on the Lion Rock.

Looking at the base of the Yuejiang Tower, a large tent with a golden roof was built for some reason, and a shed was set up next to the tent. Inside the shed was a mobile kitchen, and several cooks were busy frying and cooking by the stove. .A series of fragrant and hot dishes were cooked, and after they were placed on the plates, several middle-aged women in cross-collar jackets and horse-faced skirts carried them into the big tent with trays.

In the tent, after sitting for a few days, Zhu Heqi and Yang Qilong were in the middle.Both of them were wearing brand new black cotton cross-neck robes - this was the latest product of the Zhinu Palace, and they were cotton robes dyed with sulfur black.

These are also the "only" two clothes in the world that are dyed with chemical synthetic dyes... Although black is not a particularly expensive color, it is a good start after all!

Accompanying Zhu Heqi and Yang Qilong was Yang Ziyun, today she was wearing a carmine red dress, a red short jacket on her upper body, and a red horse face skirt on her lower body.The bright red color is in great contrast with her jade-white skin, coupled with her beauty and curvy figure, she is an eye-catching existence everywhere!

It's a pity that the two men in the tent don't seem to have much interest in her as a stunner. From the farewell banquet, the two of them talked about salt, salt households, salt merchants, silver numbers, silver coins, silver tickets, white silk, etc. Cotton yarn and so on.

Of course Zhu Heqi sent a character like Yang Qilong to Jiangbei with a big goal!

And what can be called a "big goal" is of course not just a little salt tax.Now there are only two big goals for Zhu and Qi. One is to achieve equal farmland in the four provinces of Jiangbei, Jiangnan, Zhejiang, and Jiangxi.

The second is to build the Ming Dynasty's Yinyuan Empire.

And the realization of the two major goals is inseparable from the efforts of Yang Qilong, the governor of Jiangbei, especially the establishment of the Yinyuan Empire.

The success of the silver circle empire is of course inseparable from the blessing of bulk commodities... In fact, the reason why the Spanish silver empire can succeed is also because of the support of bulk international trade products such as silk, porcelain, tea, and sugar.

It is no exaggeration to say that the reason why Spaniards can use silver to buy and buy is because they can exchange silver for silk, porcelain, tea, and sugar produced in China.Once China stops exporting, or Europe stops importing these things from China, then the Silver Anchor ceases to exist.

Since silk, porcelain, tea, and white sugar can support silver's status as an international reserve currency, Zhu Heqian of course wanted to use such domestic commodities as salt, raw silk, and cotton yarn to stun the silver coins issued by the Daming East Silver Coin Factory.

Compared with raw silk and cotton yarn, the official salt is of course the most silver dollar and the most beneficial pillar.

"In the 11th and 300th years of Qing Yao Kangxi's salt tax, there were about 70 million taels, of which Huai salt accounted for more than half...about 1000 million taels! The sales revenue of Huai salt is estimated to be [-] million taels. There are more than two.

Brother Qilong, I will give you three years, and you must convert all large Huaiyan transactions into silver dollars.In addition, it will take you three years to complete the equalization of land in Jiangbei Province.

As long as these two major events are completed, we will be able to wipe out Liaodong, the lair of the demons, within five years!This is called 'three years without war, five years of Ping Liao'. "

Zhu Heqi was talking to Yang Qilong about his plan - three years of no war, five years of flat Liao!

"No war for three years?" This was the first time Yang Qilong had heard Zhu Hechi talk about it, "My lord, do you mean that starting from this year, we will not fight for the next three years?"

"Yes!" Zhu Heqi said, "From June this year, for the next three years, we will not take the initiative to find someone to fight... If someone wants to fight, the lonely family is willing to accompany them."

"Your Majesty," Yang Qilong said, "The current situation in the world is favorable to us!"

Zhu Hechi laughed and said, "Before the Battle of Chibi, the general trend of the world was favorable to Cao Cao!" He paused, "Brother Qilong, we have risen too fast in the past two years... The foundation is not stable, it is relying on Wu Sangui's attack of Dongfeng and the benefits of sugar and medicine made Kangxi flustered."

In the history without Zhu Heqi, without sugar medicine, and without the "Kaqiu Kill" rocket launcher, Wu Sangui also showed a destructive momentum at the beginning of his army.

If it wasn't for Shang Zhixin, Geng Jingzhong, and Zheng Jing's three helpers who were too loose and patronizing their own people to pinch each other, the Qing army in the south of the Yangtze River would not be able to stop them from working together.

Zhu Heqi's tone became a little heavy: "But Kangxi's chaos does not mean that we are solid! Before we won so easily, it was actually caused by us fighting Wu Sangui. But now Wu Sangui is dead, and Wu Yingxiong seems to have stabilized The internal situation of Wu Zhou.

This Wu Yingxiong has no ambition to sweep the world, but only wants to maintain three points in the world, so he will definitely unite the Qing Dynasty against the Ming Dynasty!

So in the next few years, we will be able to fight against two!If the six provinces in our hands cannot be truly governed, the trend of the Three Kingdoms may last for a long time like the Three Kingdoms of the Later Han Dynasty. "

Yang Qilong thought for a while, "Isn't there still Wu Yingqi? He still has a large army in his hand!"

Zhu Heqi shook his head and said with a sneer: "This Wu Yingqi may not be Yuan Tan, but he is by no means a hero who can sweep the world... He is not even as good as his old man Wu Sangui!"

……

In Kaifeng Mansion, the whole city is plain and lifeless.

After Kang Mazi was defeated, Wu Yingqi settled in this famous capital of the Central Plains. At the same time, he also sent two armies, Wu Guogui and Ma Bao, to advance westward to Henan Prefecture and Shanzhou.Prepare to swallow these two pieces of fat first!

According to his mind, the peace treaty with Kang Mazi was just a scrap of paper. After he digested the Henan state capital he had just captured, he would march westward and take Shaanxi and Gansu.

Isn't that what Li Zicheng did back then?After defeating Sun Chuanting in Henan, he did not attack Beijing immediately, but went west to Shaanxi. After he became emperor in Xi'an, he left Shaanxi and went to Shanxi to fight all the way to Beijing.

This route looks good, he Wu Yingqi can also take a look, what if it succeeds?By then he will be "Wu Zicheng".

But the development of the matter greatly exceeded Wu Yingqi's expectations. He thought he could be "Wu Zicheng", but he didn't expect God to give him a "Yuan Tan's script"-his father Wu Sangui was murdered!

And this enemy who killed his father is probably his seemingly loyal elder brother Wu Yingxiong... Now Wu Yingqi doesn't know what to do!

Raise troops to attack Wu Yingxiong, it seems that he has really become Yuan Tan, and let Zhu Heqi pick up ready-made ones later.

Acknowledge Wu Yingxiong's leadership position... This guy's father will be killed, let alone his brother?

So Wu Yingqi has no direction, and has been hesitating here in Kaifeng Mansion, and this hesitation... It seems that he is not even worthy of Yuan Tan!

Chapter 483 Wu Yingqi, pick up the guests!

"Father, you can't hesitate any longer! When grandpa called Wu Yingxiong and Kong Sizhen to kill the adulterer and adulterer just now, you should listen to me and go south immediately to seek rebellion. At that time, Wu Yingxiong had nothing to use And daddy, you have the prestige of defeating Kangxi, aren't you invincible? But you are afraid of being Yuan Tan, afraid of Qinglu and Zhu Ming's fisherman's gain. Now it's all right, Qinglu and Zhu Ming are right We have no interest in the troubles in our family. But Wu Yingxiong's tricks are one after another... almost scooping out all of our subordinates!"

It was Wu Shicong who spoke, and he was standing angrily in front of his father, Wu Yingqi, talking nonsense!

But Wu Yingqi, like a primary school student who made a mistake, sat there dejected. Hearing his son talk about "digging people", he finally couldn't help it, and muttered: "I also try to dig people under Wu Yingxiong. yes, but..."

It turned out that Wu Yingqi was not that honest. Although he was hesitating on the surface, he made a lot of small moves in private.

He thought that with a hundred thousand troops in his hand, and the prestige of defeating Kangxi to seize the Central Plains, there must be many civil servants and generals of Wu Zhou who wanted to take refuge in him.

Moreover, Wu Yingxiong seemed a little afraid of his brother who held a heavy army, not only sent Wang Shirong to speak soft words, but also sent his son Wu Shilin to Wu Yingqi's army.

So throughout February, Wu Yingqi felt very good, thinking that he could win without a fight, so he has been working hard to win over Wu Yingxiong's powerful faction, such as Xia Guoxiang, Hu Guozhu, Guo Zhuangtu, Li Benshen, Wu Zhimao, Zu Zeqing... ...oh, and Soo Yeon-ling.

Sun Yanling served as Wu Zhou's governor of Hunan under Wu Yingxiong's recommendation. He already had some remnants of the party under him, and some old ministries were detained by Zu Zeqing in Guangxi, and Wu Yingxiong also helped him beg for them.So after staying in Hunan for more than a year, Sun Yanling recruited some soldiers again.

Under Wu Yingxiong, he is considered a powerful faction!

But this time Wu Yingxiong arrested his wife, and it is said that Lu Yifeng, the governor of Jiangling Prefecture, tortured her severely.

So Wu Yingqi sent someone to lobby Sun Yanling to join forces.

Unexpectedly, the envoy he sent was directly tied up by Sun Yanling and sent to Wu Yingxiong, and Sun Yanling also publicly announced his divorce.

Now Wu Yingqi's attempt to win over Sun Yanling failed completely!

The three sons-in-law of Wu Sangui, Xia Guoxiang, Hu Guozhu, and Guo Zhuangtu, after receiving letters from Wu Yingqi, sent letters to Wu Yingqi one after another, advising him to make peace with Wu Yingxiong and telling him not to learn from Yuan Shang.

Moreover, the three of them also guaranteed Wu Yingxiong in the letter, saying that it was absolutely impossible for Wu Sangui to be poisoned to death by Wu Yingxiong.They also said that Kong Sizhen was the most likely to strike... because Kong Sizhen was the secret envoy sent by Bumbutai to the Wu Zhou camp.

The three of them also told Wu Yingqi in the letter that Lu Yifeng, governor of Jiangling Prefecture, had found ironclad evidence—no poison was found in the residual liquid of the bottle of allicin that Wu Sangui took, but it was found in the fish soup that Wu Sangui drank. It was poisonous.Although Chen Yuanyuan cooked the soup, Chen Yuanyuan asked Kong Sizhen to watch it for a while.

Now the interrogation of Kong Sizhen has reached the final stage. Although this woman is very stubborn and refuses to confess no matter how hard she is tortured, she still cannot escape in the end.

Therefore, Xia Guoxiang, Hu Guozhu, and Guo Zhuangtu advised Wu Yingqi not to believe in rumors, and to do things that hurt relatives and make enemies happy.

As for Zu Zeqing, Wu Zhimao, and Li Benshen, they still don't know their positions because they live far away.But these people probably won't stand out and take chestnuts for Wu Yingqi...

So Wu Yingqi's wooing of Wu Yingxiong's subordinates was a complete failure so far!

At the same time, Wu Yingxiong's win over Wu Yingqi's men was very successful!Including Wang Pingfan, Gao Qilong, Liu Zhifu, Zhang Zufa and some other generals who defended Nanyang, Runing, Ruzhou, and Xuzhou, they accepted Wu Yingxiong's official position in February and March.

But Wu Yingxiong didn't let these people send troops to attack Wu Yingqi, but let them lead their troops south and return to Hubei.At the same time, more than 4 voluntary evacuated households were relocated from Nanyang Prefecture near Xiangyang, and it was announced that these people would be relocated to sparsely populated Sichuan provinces such as Luzhou, Xuzhou, Jiading and Zizhou. Long, Liu Zhifu, Zhang Zufa and others will receive the titles of Marquis of Luzhou, Marquis of Xuzhou, Marquis of Jiading, and Marquis of Zizhou, and they will live near the people and live on the land.

In other words, one person is a real ten thousand households!

As soon as these four commanders left, Wu Yingqi immediately lost 6 soldiers and horses, leaving only [-] troops, of which more than [-] were replenished after the Battle of Zhuxian Town, and their strength has been greatly weakened.

But Wu Yingqi still has the power to fight!

However, Hong Shiming, Wu Yingxiong's envoy who "remained the queen of the great president", came to Kaifeng Mansion at this time with an order to make Wu Yingqi the king of Henan.

According to this decree, Wu Yingqi can get Henan, Kaifeng, Nanyang, Ruzhou, Xuzhou, and Shanzhou, a total of three prefectures and three states.Moreover, the troops led by Wu Yingqi, Wu Shicong, Ma Bao, and Wu Guogui all stayed in the Henan king's territory and were arranged by Wu Yingqi.

In addition, Kong Sizhen can also be escorted to Kaifeng Mansion and let Wu Yingqi handle it!

Now Wu Yingqi began to hesitate again.

When Wu Shicong heard the news, he was rectifying the army and preparing to fight back to Jiangling.So he didn't even have time to take off his armor, and flew back to Wu Yingqi's abode directly from Kaifeng Fucheng school grounds.

"Shi Cong," Wu Yingqi saw his son's murderous look, so he had no choice but to comfort him, "The most urgent thing now is to avenge your grandfather... as a father, I want to wait for Kong Sizhen to arrive in Kaifeng and execute her Ling Chi before marching into Jiangling. .”

Wu Shicong was almost annoyed by his father, "Daddy! Do you think that Wu Yingxiong really doesn't want to fight with us by making so many soft words? He is delaying time so that he can poach our corners!

The current situation is that we have soldiers but no money, and he has money but no soldiers!

But our soldiers have to be coaxed with money!We haven't paid our salaries for two months. If this continues, even Third Uncle and Manager Ma will have to rely on Wu Yingxiong, and we'll still be fighting each other by then! "

"Isn't this the land of three prefectures and three states in Henan?"

Wu Shicong stomped his feet, "These ruined places have just been harmed by the Qing captives. How can we support our army? And how can the two of us be the ones who can manage the territory well?"

What he said was right, Wu Yingqi, Wu Shicong and his son were all strong generals, but they couldn't manage territory.

When the two father and son were arguing, there was a sudden rush of footsteps outside the door, and then Liu Xuanchu's voice was heard: "General, General Jinwu, there are guests coming to Kaifeng Mansion."

"Mr. Liu, please come in."

Wu Yingqi hurriedly invited Liu Xuanchu in.

This Liu Xuanchu is now the brains of the Wu family and his father.But this think tank is a principled think tank, and he refuses to persuade Wu Yingqi to send troops to kill his brother... This is fratricide!

Liu Xuanchu saluted Wu Yingqi, "Grand General, General Jin Wu, this is a distinguished guest, you have to welcome yourself."

"Guest? Who is it?" Wu Yingqi asked, "Do you need me to pick it up in person?"

Liu Xuanchu said: "General, there are two groups of distinguished guests this time, one group is Zu Zepu, Zu Yonglie, Zuo Chunqiu and others."

Wu Yingqi asked: "Zu Zepu, Zu Yonglie? Are they envoys of the Qing captives?"

Liu Xuanchu shook his head, "No, they are Zhu Ming's envoys!"

"Zhu Ming?" Wu Yingqi was stunned, "Then who are the other people?"

Liu Xuanchu said: "The return group is Li Guohan's son Sang'e and the first-class bodyguard Alani... envoys sent by their Qing captives."

"Sang'er... this is also our acquaintance!" Wu Yingqi pondered for a while, and smiled bitterly, "It seems that both sides have put their hearts into it, and I really have to go out to pick up the guests myself!"

Chapter 484 Selling Yourself, Selling Your Country, Selling Your Brothers!

The two groups of guests that Wu Yingqi wanted to pick up did not come together...otherwise they would not have been able to pick them up.

Although these two groups of people entered Kaifeng Prefecture almost at the same time, their distance from Fengfu City was still different.

The envoys Sang'e and Alani sent by Emperor Kangxi arrived in Kaifeng Fucheng first, while Zuo Chunqiu, Zu Zepu, and Zu Yonglie arrived a day later.

So Wu Yingqi can only answer one call a day.It's a wave, not one!Sang'er and Alani are only the principal and deputy envoys, and there is a team following them!

A large group of people came to Kaifeng from a long distance with Emperor Kangxi's imperial decree and several carts of gifts.

Of course, Kaifeng Mansion was not their nominal destination.In name, they went to Jiangling Mansion to mourn Wu Sangui, and they just passed by after opening the Feng Mansion.But in fact, what the idea is, everyone knows it in his heart.

Although Wu Yingqi was a bit confused, he was not so stupid, so Sang'e and Alani didn't point it out when they saw the cat crying about the mouse, and politely invited them to worship Wu Sangui's tablet in the Xingyuan mourning hall.

After the worship, the deputy envoy Alani also touched a large bag of quilts from the attendant, and handed it to Wu Yingqi with a solemn face.

Wu Yingqi was a little confused when he saw the quilt, what does it mean?Why do you want to be bedded?For whom?

Kangxi's first-class bodyguard Alani was a master who could talk about mountains and mountains. Seeing Wu Yingqi's confusion, he explained with a sad face: "General, this quilt is called the Dharani quilt. It is made of yellow satin and gold, with five colors. Sanskrit characters, please also ask the great lama to recite scriptures and recite mantras... Cover the body for burial, and you can be sent to the Western Paradise and get Bodhi fruit.

This can only be used when the Qing emperor and empress dowager are buried.When the Fifth Great Lama went to Beijing, Lord Shunzhi asked him to recite scriptures and chant mantras for the three Dharama Sutras. One bed was used by Lord Shunzhi himself, and the other bed was used by the Empress Dowager in the future. This bed was originally reserved for the present. holy.However, the current Holy Majesty felt that he was still young and could not use it for the time being, and he also heard that his father was poisoned to death by Zhu Heqi, so he gave this bed of Dharani to the President for use. "

Wu Yingqi frowned and asked, "I used such a good quilt for my late father. When Kangxi died later, what kind of quilt should I cover for burial?"

This question is really ugly!

Just making Sang's face turn blue, but Alani kept his composure and continued to flicker: "The emperor doesn't need this, because he has already worshiped the great lama of Xueyu as his teacher, and now he is a lay disciple of the great lama... ...Taiji and Cholos Galdan of the Junggar tribe in the Western Regions are brothers."

In fact, Suo'etu, the envoy sent by Kangxi to the snow-covered plateau, is still on his way... It's hard to say whether the fifth great lama accepted him as an apprentice, but this does not affect Alani's nonsense.

And Wu Yingqi also knew something about the great lama in Xueyu. When his family was in Yunnan, they were "neighbors" with the great lama.Both Wu Sangui and the Great Lama "love to make friends", so they often communicate with each other.

Wu Yingqi also heard that the Fifth Great Lama had a very powerful apprentice named Galdan, who was not a lama and went down to become a Taiji of the Junggar tribe in the Western Regions, and married his sister-in-law as his wife... This younger brother is amazing Wu Yingqi was so envious.