The autumn wind is bleak, the weather is cool, and the grass and trees are shaking and turning to frost. It is September, and the sequence belongs to the third autumn. Even the capital city, which is crowded with people, inevitably adds a sense of desolation.
On Zhuque Street, a carriage and horses carried heavy boxes with seals on them. They were accompanied by soldiers who could not see the end of the box.
The people with good intentions counted a total of two hundred and forty carriages!!
Behind the carriage were prison cars.
The boxes on these two hundred and forty carriages are filled with white money!
After Lin Ruhai went on a killing spree in Jiangnan, he earned a total of more than six million taels of cash, as well as various land deeds, house deeds, manors, pawn shops, restaurants, etc.
For safety reasons, Lin Ruhai ordered people to transport the silver coins back to the capital in batches. These silver coins were only the first batch.
The wooden boxes used to carry silver in the Ming Dynasty had specifications. Each box contained one thousand taels of silver. There were five boxes in each carriage. The two hundred carriages in the front contained a total of one million taels, and the forty carriages in the back contained a million taels.
The interior decorations are all expensive antique calligraphy and paintings.
These carriages passed through Zhuque Street and headed straight for the palace.
Not long after, Emperor Longqing received the news that all the silver coins had entered the treasury.
Emperor Longqing smiled from ear to ear. The stolen silver worth ten million to several million taels was enough to live a good year!!
The soldiers of Jiubian have received their silver rewards, and the officials' rewards at the end of the year have also been received. Various New Year activities can also be held with confidence.
Emperor Longqing was in a good mood. It was rare that he did not review the memorials in the imperial study room, but came to the imperial garden to enjoy the scenery.
At this moment, Queen Yin came over with several palace maids.
Although Queen Yin is in her forties, she is still radiant, with a smile on her face, an unshakable step as she walks, and her every move shows nobility.
Empress Yin: "Your Majesty, why are you so reluctant to come out of the imperial study today? Is there something happy about you?"
When Emperor Longqing saw Empress Yin, who had accompanied him through the most difficult time, approaching, a gentle look appeared on his face unconsciously: "Hahaha! Zi Tong is here. Come here quickly, I have something happy to share with you." (
Zi Tong is the nickname given by the emperor to his queen. Zi is the noblest tree, and Zi is homophonic to Zi, which means having a son.)
Emperor Longqing took three steps at a time, took Queen Yin's hand, and sat down together. First, he said that Xue Hong had improved the firearms and increased the rate of fire, and then ransacked Lin Ruhai's house. The treasury suddenly gained tens of millions of taels of silver.
Queen Yin showed a surprised look on her face, and then congratulated: "Congratulations to your Majesty, these tens of millions of taels of silver have solved an urgent need. There are also improvements in firearms... I don't know much about this concubine. Could you please give me some money?"
Tell me?"
Emperor Longqing felt very satisfied when he saw Queen Yin looking for knowledge. He held Queen Yin's hand and talked like a child.
While Queen Yin was listening, she showed surprise and happiness from time to time, which made Emperor Longqing feel more comfortable.
The emperor is the master who controls the heaven and earth, but he is also a human being after all. His emotions always need a place to vent, and Queen Yin played this role very well.
To outsiders, even in front of his son, Emperor Longqing was a real dragon emperor who was very moody. But facing Queen Yin, Emperor Longqing showed a side of himself that few people knew.
Emperor Longqing talked for a long time, and seemed to be a little thirsty. Before he could say anything, Empress Yin handed over a cup of warm tea, and all the tacit understanding was revealed.
Emperor Longqing drank tea, moistened his throat, and said, "This is Lin Ruhai! Although he was appointed by my father as the third flower, I still value him very much. Unfortunately, he is always wavering between civil servants and nobles.
, makes me very annoyed!”
Queen Yin pursed her lips and smiled: "But now he has found his way back, hasn't he? Congratulations to Your Majesty for getting another talent."
Emperor Long Qing nodded with a smile, and then said angrily: "Lin Ruhai is the second best, what really annoys me is those bastard nobles!"
"Everyone is greedy for power and refuses to make room for others. His father-in-law wants to compete with me in the ring? Ridiculous! Stupid!"
In fact, when Emperor Longqing first ascended the throne, he had a good impression of these nobles. After all, after all of them were heroes, the country had nothing to support them.
But after a while, Emperor Longqing discovered that something was wrong. The army was almost all members of the noble lineage, and most of the generals were just drunkards!
Even the elite Nine-Border Army of the Ming Dynasty had its combat effectiveness reduced by several levels due to these bastards!
Emperor Longqing originally wanted to cut through the mess quickly, but in the end the Supreme Emperor took action to protect the nobles. The nobles, as well as a small number of civil servants, all turned to the Supreme Emperor, with a vague intention of alienating him as the emperor.
Even the Supreme Emperor is interested in supporting the old Crown Prince’s son, Prince Yi Zhong!
Although Zhu Maoxi, that ambitious guy, had always been gentle and gentle to the outside world, Emperor Longqing knew that if this guy really became the emperor, he would definitely be a lunatic who could be compared with Gao Yang!
But Emperor Longqing was not one of those mediocre kings. He used sugar-coated bullets to cut and beat him, and took back control of the court bit by bit!
Don’t you nobles like fame? Then I will give you rewards to paralyze you. When you relax your vigilance, I will promote you and replace the real positions with false high-ranking officials!
For more than ten years, except for Jiubian because of the important matters, the other armies have been firmly in the hands of Emperor Longqing.
Emperor Longqing then focused on the issues of salt administration and land annexation.
Emperor Longqing suddenly thought of the sweet potatoes contributed by Xue Hong and the others, and the anger in his heart subsided again.
Emperor Longqing suddenly thought of a question. Xue Hong improved firearms, which was a moderate achievement. How could he not be rewarded for his merit?
However, Emperor Longqing had already decided to break the ancestral tradition and grant Xue Hong the title of Marquis of Bowen. He would only wait until the beginning of the next spring to announce the news about the sweet potatoes and the awards to Xue Hong and Chen Chen.
Xue Hong is only sixteen years old now, so it would be bad to give him too high a reward. This is also to protect him.
Seeing Emperor Longqing's frown, Queen Yin said, "What is troubling your majesty?"
Emperor Longqing: "I can't say what's bothering me, it's like this..."
After hearing this, Queen Yin said, "Whose child is this Xue Hong?"
Emperor Longqing: "He is the descendant of the Xue family in Jinling, and his father is from my Ziwei family, but he passed away a few years ago."
Queen Yin: "Does this Xue Hong have any brothers or sisters?"
Emperor Longqing's eyes lit up: "That's right!! Since Xue Hong can't reward him for the time being, then reward his brothers and sisters!"
Emperor Longqing thought to himself: "Hmm...that Mrs. Xue Wang is short-sighted and forced Xue Hong to leave the house. No one can seal her!"
"But Xue Pan and Xue Baochai heard that they have a deep friendship with Xue Hong, so they might consider it."
Emperor Longqing immediately decided to issue an edict to reward Xue Pan as the benefactor of Ziwei as a token of appreciation.
After all, Ziwei Sheren is a seventh-grade position and does not have much power, so naturally there is no need to consider everything.
In order to show his affection for Xue Hong, Emperor Longqing asked Xia Shouzhong to go and announce the decree in person.