There was a lot of turmoil in the capital because of the marriage proposal, and at the same time, Jiangnan was not very peaceful either.
Emperor Longqing handed over the Jiangnan Salt Administration to Yu Zheng, the Minister of Household Affairs, with full authority to investigate, and was assisted by Lin Ruhai, the doctor of Lantai Temple.
Yu Zheng did not leave for Jiangnan in a hurry, but directly made a big fanfare and spread the news: He would strictly investigate the salt merchants and the illegal activities of the salt gang. In serious cases, they would confiscate their homes and harm the people!
Because Emperor Longqing killed a large number of people in Jiangnan some time ago, the officials who colluded with the salt merchants were also replaced by Emperor Longqing. Now they can't resist even if they want to.
Sure enough, as Yu Zheng was about to go to Jiangnan, as soon as the news of the strict investigation came out, all the salt merchants and salt gang members were in a panic, busy covering up all kinds of traces and cleaning up their tails.
But after working hard for more than half a month, suddenly, a letter came from the capital saying that Yu Zheng suddenly fell ill and could no longer get out of bed, could not leave the capital, and could not trace the salt merchants.
At this time, all the salt merchants were very happy. Although they had been busy for half a month in vain, at least nothing happened and their property and life were saved.
The salt merchants have continued to operate. Although Emperor Longqing's cruelty some time ago has made the salt merchants restrain themselves a lot, in the face of absolute profits, people will go crazy.
After communicating with the Zhen family, the salt merchants decided to reduce their scale but continue to operate. Now, almost most of the salt merchants, under the leadership of the Zhen family, have taken refuge with the second prince openly and secretly with Prince Yi Zhong.
They knew in their hearts that the only chance to make a comeback was to follow the dragon and support Prince Yizhong to give it a try. Even though the situation was over now, they had no way out.
However, before the salt merchants could be happy, just a few days after opening, news suddenly came from the capital: Yu Zheng, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, was concerned about state affairs and wanted to go south to investigate the case despite his illness.
A group of salt merchants: wc, the old, weak, sick and disabled can just rest and recuperate! With a salary of several hundred taels of silver a year, what are you trying to do with your life?
But the salt merchant still obediently stopped all activities, went dormant again, and then started busy cleaning up his tail again.
Not long after, news came that Yu Zheng fell ill again.
Salt merchant:……
After repeating this three times, the salt merchants were tortured so much that they wanted to kill themselves.
But the salt merchants didn't dare to gamble. Ever since they saw the cruelty of Emperor Longqing, if they were caught, they would have all their houses ransacked!
Therefore, even though the salt merchants were as tired as dogs, they still did not dare to relax and were as frightened as soon as there was news.
…
In the palace of Prince Yi Zhong, Prince Yi Zhong kicked a servant over and said: "What on earth does Yu Zheng want to do? There is no end to it. In the past month or so, how much money has he caused me to lose!"
Butler: "My lord, please calm down. This is a letter from the young gentleman."
Prince Yi Zhong quickly took the letter, opened it and read it carefully. The general content is as follows:
My subordinates have completed what the prince told me. Now the leader of the White Lotus Sect has been dethroned by the elders of the sect.
Nowadays, the White Lotus Sect has developed rapidly, with nearly one million followers, and has been incorporated into many sects and sects in the south of the Yangtze River.
Now among the eight elders of the White Lotus Sect: Kanshui, Lihuo, Genshan, and Duize, four have completely surrendered to the prince.
Now the saints in the sect have also been controlled by their subordinates. Within three years at most, the entire White Lotus Sect will be in the hands of the prince. At that time, all the land south of the Yangtze River will be in the hands of the prince.
I hope the prince will be patient for the time being, and when his wings are full, he can achieve success in one fell swoop.
There are many sects and sects in Jiangnan, which are complicated. It has always been the development base of rebels of all generations.
…
"After all, ginger is still old and spicy. Mr. Yu has not left the capital at all. He just spreads some news and makes the whole Jiangnan salt merchants uneasy."
There was a copper pot on the table, and Zhu Hui was holding a plate and pouring mutton into it.
Chen Chen: "Don't mention it. My father sent me a letter, saying that the salt merchants in Jiangnan have gone crazy during this period. They have been tortured so much."
Xue Hong: "Why don't you say that Mr. Yu is the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs and is in charge of the country's money bag. The salt merchants embezzling the salt tax is almost like putting a knife in Mr. Yu's heart. It would be strange if Mr. Yu doesn't kill them. Woolen cloth."
Everything about being sick or not is all fake!
When Zhu Hui entered the palace two days ago, he saw the old man Yu Zheng and Emperor Longqing squatting in the garden eating lamb legs! Their mouths were full of oil.
Do you look like a patient?
A leg of lamb, the two old men ate it all, but didn't leave any for Zhu Hui.
No, Zhu Hui was so angry that he came to Xue Hong and Chen Chen to wash the pot today.
Xue Hong: "The fleet, troops and horses are all ready. We will set off next month. Your Highness, are you two ready? And Your Highness, you are so seasick, do you really want to go?"
Chen Chen: "I definitely want to go. After all, I'm still curious about what Japan is like."
Zhu Hui: "I am definitely going to go even more! It is my duty to rob... and educate the barbarian people."
Xue Hong picked up the mutton with chopsticks and secretly rolled his eyes: Come on, he is the only decent and good person in this trio.
In the past six months, Bingzhangsi has become more and more proficient in making new firearms.
The new rifles can be used in almost all firearms camps in Beijing.
Among the 10,000 troops allocated to Xue Hong by Emperor Longqing, 3,000 were firearms troops and the rest were conventional troops.
During the Ming Dynasty, the population of Japan was over nine million. Although the army was far less than that of the Ming Dynasty, the entire island had at least three or four hundred thousand troops.
As for the fight between Japan and other countries, it was a village war. That was dozens or hundreds of years ago. Now Japan has barely completed its unification, and the small countries have unified into a large force.
It is bragging to say that China is like China and can easily fight hundreds of thousands of troops just for fun, but if you work hard, you can definitely get three to four hundred thousand troops.
Objectively speaking, although the combat power of the Japanese army cannot be compared with the regular army of the Ming Dynasty, at least it is a crushing victory against North Korea.
The reason why Xue Hong dared to lead an expedition to Japan with 10,000 people was not only guaranteed by his own Da Zhixuan strength, but also because Xue Hong knew the thoughts of Japanese people.
Even though Japan is now unified, as long as he takes action to kill Tokugawa Ieyasu and Toyotomi Hideyori, and then throws a wrench into the flames, he guarantees that the major names in Japan will definitely sweep away the trouble.
Even some ambitious daimyo would be busy attacking each other, and no one wanted to provoke the behemoth that was the Ming Dynasty.
Shi Jian Yin Shan could easily be captured by the Ming Dynasty.
As for whether Japan will be reunified quickly... Xue Hong can only say: everything is possible in dreams.
Will he let Japan be reunited again? It is the easiest thing to fan the flames of trouble. If he does not let Japan go back a hundred years from civil war, this Eastern Expedition will be a failure!
In order to promote national integration and allow Japan to return to the embrace of the motherland, Xue Hong specifically requested from Emperor Longqing that the soldiers assigned to him should preferably have brothers and be bachelors.
Emperor Longqing didn't quite understand this, but he still followed Xue Hong's request and transferred his troops to Xue Hong.
Isn't it a rule that a large army attacks Japanese aliens and robs the city for three years?
When the time comes, kill those who need to be killed and rob those who need to be robbed! Xue Hong leads an army of 10,000 across the ocean, and he must let people get some benefits, right?