"Your Majesty," Zheng Zhilong smiled, "as far as I know, this Marquis Shen actually wants to be an official! He is different from me. I am a vulgar businessman and really don't want to be an official and be restrained. And Marquis Shen was born in the Imperial Academy. Why don't you want to be an official? But when he reaches his position, ordinary officials have long looked down on him."

Of course Shen Tingyang wants to be an official, but the officialdom under Emperor Zhu has always had an unspoken rule that southerners suffer! Otherwise, with Shen Tingyang's qualifications and talents, he would have been a cabinet minister long ago. Even if he did not join the cabinet, he would still be a cabinet minister. There should be a governor, how can a Beiyang Minister serve as a governor? The Beiyang Minister sounds quite big, but in fact he is just the general manager of a public-private joint armed transport company.

In the early days when the Ming Dynasty did not have a navy and the private shipping industry did not develop, it was indeed necessary for the two "companies" of Beiyang and Nanyang to exist. But now that both private shipping and the imperial navy have risen, the two "companies" of Beiyang and Nanyang should also exist. The private nature has been restored.

"That's right!" Zhu Cixiang nodded lightly, "Duke Quan, what official position do you think I should give him?"

"Don't your Majesty want to set up a special yamen to deal with the unofficial properties of the Northern Expedition?" Zheng Zhilong said, "Besides, aren't there still loud voices in the imperial court to return the capital? Your Majesty, why not set up a cabinet for retaining the capital, headed by Shi Yugong, and add The Minister of the Household Department of the capital was awarded to Marquis Shen, and the Household Department of the capital was ordered to be in charge of the industries without officials during the Northern Expedition.

The Pavilion Elder of Liudu is also a Pavilion Elder, and His Majesty can also promise that Marquis Shen will be appointed as the Pavilion Elder of Nanjing in the future. In this way, he will definitely be happy to take charge of the Household Department of Liudu!"

Zhu Cixiang laughed: "Okay! Okay! This is a good idea! Shen Tingyang must be willing to be the cabinet minister. There is no civil servant in the Ming Dynasty who doesn't want the position of cabinet minister. And the capital should indeed have a cabinet, so can To appease the northerners who want to move north."

He paused and said, "Old Taishan, don't talk about today's discussion outside the house. In addition, the accounts of the Ministry of Accounts should be a little poorer before drawing up a borrowing plan! We must prepare early before the cabinet meeting on the third day of April. Regarding the case, we need to discuss it with Mr. Wei Ge and the others and explain clearly the difficulties in the Ministry of Household Affairs."

Zheng Zhilong said repeatedly: "I know, I know, I will definitely cry out for my poverty!"

Emperor Zhu smiled and said: "Okay, I will cry with you then! That's enough business. I have asked the imperial concubine to prepare a family banquet. Let's have some together!"

Zheng Zhilong quickly stood up and saluted: "I thank your Majesty for the banquet."

Shen Tingyang, the second richest man in the Ming Dynasty, also shouldered a great responsibility in the Northern Expedition in the past three years. His Beiyang Governor's Office was the general contractor for the shipping of logistics supplies for the Northern Expedition. In particular, Shi Kefa captured the Tianjin Guard and opened up the Wei Dynasty. After the establishment of the river channel, Shen Tingyang had more things to do. He not only had to be responsible for the shipping of Shanghai and Tianjin, but also was responsible for the dredging and water transportation of the Wei River and canals. Later, when he attacked Beijing, he had to send 250,000 troops The required grain, fodder, baggage and siege artillery were transported all the way to the walls of Beijing.

His contribution to the Battle of Beijing is not small!

Therefore, in Emperor Zhu's merit book, Shen Tingyang's name is very high, ranking behind Shi Kefa, Prince Kong Dai, Yan Yingyuan, Gao Jie, and Huang Degong. After that, the reward for the title of Duke of Kenanshen has been determined.

Because he was going back to the court to receive a title, Shen Tingyang also returned to the south, but he did not arrive in Nanjing yet. Instead, he returned to his hometown of Shanghai. At this time, he was visiting his fellow countrymen Luo Grand Duke, Xia Yunyi, and Hou Xuanyan.

Grand Duke Luo was the prefect of Shanghai and also the diplomatic and commercial envoy. He did a very good job as an official, so he continued to do so.

Xia Yunyi is now over sixty years old and has retired at home. He has established a Gezhi Academy and teaches the standard curriculum of Nanjing Primary School and Nanjing Middle School. Recently, he has also been working with several Shanghai gentry officials to organize the Shanghai University Hall.

Hou Xuanyan was from Jiading County in Suzhou, but he was one of Su and Song Dynasty, so he was from the same hometown as Grand Duke Luo and Xia Yunyi. He was also a Jinshi in the 18th year of Chongzhen, but his official career was mediocre. Now he is officially appointed as the magistrate of Shanghai County, and he is Grand Duke Luo. 's deputy.

Shen Tingyang, who was settled in Chongming Institute of Suzhou Prefecture, had always been the leader of Su Song's official circles because he had joined Zhu Cixun early enough and his official title was high enough.

Now is another critical moment when the political situation is about to change, so as soon as Shen Tingyang returned to his hometown, Duke Luo, Xia Yunyi, and Hou Xuanyan came to visit together.

After some rambling pleasantries, in the back garden of Shanghai Shenyuan Garden, Grand Duke Luo turned the topic to moving the capital and finance.

"Master Marquis, I heard that Your Majesty completely rejected the proposal to move to the north due to financial deficit?"

Shen Tingyang snorted and smiled: "Short of money? Today, the Holy Master and Duke Quan have joined forces. How can we still lose money? Grand Duke, you have been an official in Shanghai for more than ten years. You don't know whether you are losing money or not?"

Grand Duke Luo laughed: "The imperial court will not lose money if it is in Nanjing. But many people are worried about what will happen in the north! Especially in the towns of Anbei, Peiping, Daning, and Shuofang."

Xia Yunyi nodded and said: "The King of Jinling is not enough after all. When Emperor Taizu was still alive, he wanted to move to Xi'an and Kaifeng, but unfortunately he could not make it."

"If we want to go to Kaifeng or Xi'an, we might as well go to Beijing!" Shen Tingyang shook his head, "Beijing can still be maintained by sea transportation. If the capital is moved to the Central Plains or the northwest, the capital with hundreds of thousands of people will have problems eating and drinking."

Hou Xuanyan was a talented man from the south of the Yangtze River. He had never been to the north. He was surprised and said: "How can the Central Plains be so dilapidated? The capital city of hundreds of thousands of people cannot support it?"

Shen Tingyang said: "Even if we can make a living, there is no future. The wealth in the world has long been gathered in the southeast! And the wealth in the southeast is still increasing day by day!"

"The southeast is not a place to use force!" Xia Yunyi said, "Since ancient times, the only people who have determined the south and the north are Taizu Emperor Gao and today, and no one else."

Shen Tingyang shook his head: "In the past, the military force in the North relied on war horses, and the military force in the southeast relied on boats. And if boats and ships did not go to sea, they would not be able to go to as many places as war horses. The strength of the northern people's military power should be Here it comes. But today’s military force relies on flintlock guns and smoothbore cannons! However, both of them came from the south. And now the population in the south is several times or even ten times that of the north. With more people and more guns, the force can still Weak? Even the horses from the north are now no match for the horses from the south coming from the sea, so the proposal to return to Beijing will not succeed. We must know this."

While he was talking, one of his sons hurried in, holding an envelope folded out of yellow paper.

Seeing this envelope, the faces of everyone present changed slightly, and they cast envious glances at Shen Tingyang.

Shen Tingyang said: "Is it an edict?"

"That's the order," said Shen Tingyang's son, "the imperial guards are here."

Nowadays, the Ming Dynasty's edicts are divided into two categories: imperial edicts and central edicts. Imperial edicts are issued through the channels of the cabinet or the Grand Marshal's Palace, and require the joint signature of the chief assistant or military adviser to be valid. Central edicts are issued directly from the palace.

However, the Zhongzhi is not an "illegal" imperial edict. Zhu Cixi will not issue an "illegal" imperial edict. The difference between the Zhongzhi and the imperial edict is that they have different uses. The main purpose of the Zhongzhi is to summon foreign ministers and other people to the palace for audience. , give orders to Jinyiwei, or use internal funds to distribute rewards.

Shen Tingyang was not a royal guard, but was the second richest man in the Ming Dynasty. He did not need Emperor Zhu's money, so the sudden imperial edict summoned him to the palace for an audience.

The meeting between the two governments has not yet resumed, and the emperor is still nominally recuperating. So he is anxious to issue a decree to summon "Shen Erfu". Should he be allowed to join the cabinet?

Since the Ming Dynasty moved south, Emperor Zhu has been pursuing the goal of using the north to control the south, using exiled northerners to suppress the southern gentry. Now the only southerners among the cabinet ministers are Qian Qianyi and Zheng Zhilong. Qian Qianyi has always been of no use, just a vase. And Zheng Zhilong was not a southern gentry, but he was also the head of the state, so of course no one else could compare to him!

Now that the North has been restored, is it time for southerners to take their official career to a higher level? Should some of the governors of the northern provinces and the top leaders of each state government be given over to southerners?
Chapter completed!