A big stick in one hand and sweet dates in the other has always been one of the best ways to subdue your subordinates.
Businessmen in Huizhou and Zhejiang have always been well-informed. Li Chuanwen and Xiao Wenxuan collected all the conclusive evidence against Liu Zhenmin through the franchise businessmen of "United Shipping Company". This is a big stick!
At the same time, taking advantage of the financial crisis in Huai'an Prefecture, he gave part of the profits of "United Shipping Lines" to Liu Zhenmin to make up for part of the losses of Huai'an Prefecture. This is a sweet date!
As a result, Liu Zhenmin gave in easily, and without any hesitation, he changed his appearance from a "sinking party" official to become Zhao Junchen's crony minion!
It is foreseeable that by using this method, Zhao Junchen can not only control Liu Zhenmin, but also gradually control the entire Huai'an Mansion!
In fact, in Zhao Junchen's plan, Liu Zhenmin was just the entry point for him to control Huai'an Mansion. Bribing the officials of Huai'an Mansion through Liu Zhenmin was Zhao Junchen's real goal!
In this way, no matter who is the next governor of Huai'an, Zhao Junchen will maintain a certain influence on Huai'an.
Zhao Junchen had great ambitions and planned to use this method to take advantage of the current situation to control all the local governments along the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal and the Yangtze River Waterway. However, in order to prevent Emperor Deqing from further fear, he had to temporarily hide his strength. .
Therefore, Liu Zhenmin is still Shen Changmao's disciple on the surface.
After officially joining Zhao Junchen, Liu Zhenmin, Li Chuanwen, and Xiao Wenxuan became "one of their own", so Liu Zhenmin's attitude was also very enthusiastic, and he invited Li Chuanwen and Xiao Wenxuan to stay at the Huai'an government office to rest overnight.
However, Li Chuanwen and Xiao Wenxuan had already booked an inn, but they still politely left.
*
After the two of them left the Huai'an government office, Xiao Wenxuan's expression was a bit disdainful, and he said to Li Chuanwen: "This Liu Zhenmin is really a weakling. He surrendered so easily. None of the back-ups we prepared were used. Compared with Song Zhen, the prefect of Changzhou, it is much easier to deal with... In the past few days, the two of us spent a lot of words and methods to persuade Song Zhen."
Having said this, Xiao Wenxuan pondered for a moment and then added: "It is precisely because of this that such people cannot be trusted."
During this period of time, in order to realize Zhao Junchen's plan to control local yamen, Li Chuanwen and Xiao Wenxuan have been running around. Huai'an is their fourth stop, and Liu Zhenmin is also the fourth local official they have conquered under Zhao Junchen.
After hearing what Xiao Wenxuan said, Li Chuanwen nodded and said: "Don't worry, buying Liu Zhenmin is just an expedient measure for Mr. Zhao. Zhao Junchen will naturally not trust him, he just wants to use his hand to subdue the officials in Huai'an Mansion! Our dynasty has a system of exiled officials. This Liu Zhenmin will leave after staying in Huai'an Prefecture for a few years, but the officials in Huai'an Prefecture have been living here for generations. We only need to control these officials through the Ministry of Revenue and the "United Shipping Company" If you want to make money as a military official, you won’t be afraid that they won’t listen to Mr. Zhao. At that time, no matter who the governor of Huai’an Prefecture is, Mr. Zhao will be able to easily control the situation in Huai’an Prefecture! Wait until all the government offices along the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal and the Yangtze River Waterway are After being secretly controlled by Mr. Zhao, Mr. Zhao’s power and influence are enough to be on par with Zhou Shangjing!”
Having said this, Li Chuanwen was slightly excited.
Zhao Junchen is not yet twenty-five years old, he has only been in officialdom for four or five years, and his rise to power has only happened in the past two years. Zhou Shangjing is already nearly seventy years old, and he has been running a temple for decades.
He is a veteran of both dynasties, but once Zhao Junchen's plan is carried out smoothly, his power and influence will soon be comparable to that of Zhou Shangjing. It is not an exaggeration to say that such a speed of development is a temple miracle throughout the ages!
If we wait until Zhao Junchen is in his forties or fifties, what kind of power will he have?
Li Chuanwen was used to seeing the big world, but after thinking about this scene, he still felt a little agitated.
Xiao Wenxuan's thoughts were not as far-reaching as Li Chuanwen's, and he just frowned and said: "However, the juniors still don't understand that Mr. Zhao founded the 'United Shipping Company' to rectify the imperial business tax, that is, to weaken the local government's private tax revenue.
, Now that the 'United Shipping Company' has finally achieved results, it has redistributed the profits of the 'United Shipping Company' to various yamen... In this way, the results of the 'United Shipping Company' have been greatly reduced. Isn't it a wasted effort?
...Besides, why should someone like Liu Zhenmin be given so much money?"
Seeing that Xiao Wenxuan was a little skeptical, and obviously did not understand Zhao Junchen's deep considerations, Li Chuanwen couldn't help but shake his head and said slowly: "It seems that you still haven't figured it out... That's all, I will take this opportunity to explain it to you.
Well, of course, Mr. Zhao’s wisdom is as deep as the sea, and I can only figure out part of the intention.”
Xiao Wenxuan said quickly: "Please give me some advice from Senior Li."
Li Chuanwen asked: "Why does Mr. Zhao receive the attention of His Majesty? Why is he an indispensable minister in the temple? It is because the court has money and food difficulties, and only Mr. Zhao can maintain the turnover! But have you heard that 'the bird is gone and the bow is hidden'"
'Four words? If the results of Mr. Zhao's business tax rectification are too significant, the money and food situation of the imperial court will definitely be greatly improved. At that time, will Your Majesty still pay attention to Mr. Zhao? Is Mr. Zhao still indispensable? Therefore,
Mr. Zhao simply distributed part of the profits of the "United Shipping Company" to the local yamen. On the one hand, it was to calm the grievances of the local yamen. On the other hand, it was to take the opportunity to infiltrate the local government. Finally, it was to reduce business taxes and continue to ensure the results of rectification.
Status...this is one of them!"
After a pause, Li Chuanwen continued: "Besides, you don't have to worry that the results of the United Shipping Company are not significant enough! You have to understand that before Mr. Zhao took action to rectify the commercial tax, the situation of our commercial tax was extremely corrupt, and we could only pay
The collection is less than one hundred thousand taels of silver! As long as the 'United Shipping Company' can provide the court with more than one million taels of commercial tax this year, it will be an outstanding achievement! We will gradually increase this number in the future, because there is still a lot of room for improvement, Zhao
Your Excellency has made achievements every year, which means that you can receive awards from the court every year! On the contrary, if you hand over all the profits of the 'United Shipping Company' to the court in one go, the future increase will be relatively limited, and Mr. Zhao's achievements will be limited.
It’s become less...that’s the second thing!”
Having said this, Li Chuanwen hesitated for a moment and then said: "As for the third one, I guess Mr. Zhao is worried about local instability! Think about it, after losing the income from private taxes, local officials must make up for their losses.
They will further increase taxes and oppress the people. After the people are oppressed, there will be unrest among the people. This is what Mr. Zhao never wants to see, so he will give some benefits to local officials to reduce the suffering of the people.
Oppression... If you want to benefit the people, you must first benefit the officials; if you want to enrich the people, you must first enrich the officials. If you make the officials poor, it will only be the common people who suffer in the end. This is an everlasting truth in officialdom!"
After hearing Li Chuanwen's explanation, Xiao Wenxuan finally understood part of Zhao Junchen's thoughts and suddenly said: "I see, Mr. Zhao really has good intentions!"
Li Chuanwen nodded and said: "Many of Mr. Zhao's decisions may seem unreasonable, but they all have deep considerations. This is the last time I will remind you. From now on, you will have to figure it out on your own!"
Xiao Wenxuan nodded seriously and said: "Thank you, senior, I understand!"
*
And just when Xiao Wenxuan was asking Li Chuanwen for advice, Xuanfu Military Town, which was the closest to the capital among the nine major border towns in the Ming Dynasty, was brightly lit that night and was very lively.
Xuanfu Town is one of the nine-border towns established in the early Ming Dynasty. It was named after the town's general troops were stationed in Xuanhua Prefecture. The border wall under its jurisdiction stretches from Yongguan to the east and reaches the Xiyang River in the northeast of Shanxi in the west. It is the center of the capital to resist the Mongol threat.
This important barrier has always been the most valued by the imperial court. The general of Xuanfu Town will also be awarded the title of "General Zhenshuo". Among the nine major border towns, only Jizhou Town can be compared with it.
It is precisely because of the importance of Xuanfu Military Town that the Xuanfu Army has always been the most elite field force of the Ming Dynasty. Unlike Shaanxi and Gansu, which were extremely corrupt and weak in strength, Xuanfu Military Town rarely caused the imperial court to worry about it.
.
Of course, although the degree of corruption is not as high as that of Shaanxi and Gansu, the Xuanfu military town is also corrupt enough. The situation of empty pay, blood-sucking soldiers, and oppression of military households is also prevalent inside the military town, and the soldiers in the military town are also vulnerable.
!And the strength of Xuanfu Military Town is only because the generals of Xuanfu Military Town have more private soldiers and are stronger.
The current commander-in-chief of the Xuanfu, General Zhenshuo, is named Zhao Zicheng. He has a handsome appearance and a tall figure. He is good at using a rotten silver spear. He is known as "The Son of the Three Kingdoms, the Son of the City of this World". He has a great reputation in the army.
Now, at the age of thirty-seven, he has taken the position of the commander-in-chief of the Xuanfu. In addition to his proficiency in military strategy and martial arts, it is also because of his profound background and all-round talent.
Zhao Zicheng came from a noble family, and his brother Zhao Zishan was a well-connected marquis in the capital. Zhao Zicheng himself had the support of Shanxi merchants. The two thousand private soldiers in his hands were all well-equipped.
This is because of the secret support of Shanxi merchants!
In fact, in order to maintain their influence, Shanxi merchants have been infiltrating military towns in Shanxi, Datong, and Xuanfu for many years. In addition to the military salary from the court, the money and food supported by Shanxi merchants are these three.
The main financial source of Chujun Town! Without the secret support of Shanxi merchants, the situation of Xuanfu Military Town would not be much better than that of Shaanxi and Gansu.
However, in the past six months, Shanxi merchants have quietly withdrawn from Xuanfu Military Town and introduced to Xuanfu Military Town a "Jubao Trading Firm" with an extremely mysterious background. This firm not only has a mysterious background, but also has very rich financial resources.
, He also gave greater support to the Xuanfu Army, and soon became the God of Wealth of the Xuanfu Army.
The big shopkeeper of "Jubao Trading Company" is named Zhao An. He is slightly older than Zhao Zicheng, but his appearance is much older. He looks like he is in his forties or fifties. His personality seems kind, but in fact he is shrewd and dare not let anyone do anything.
underestimate.
And that night, the reason why the Xuanfu Military Town was so lively was precisely because Zhao An was here!