Chapter 126: The Love of the Water

Zhan Hui is from Wuyuan County, Huizhou Prefecture. He is less than fifty years old this year. His father Zhan Tong also served as the Minister of Personnel. He can be said to be a family of officials. He has two sons. His eldest son Zhan Yuanxian became the county magistrate in Zhejiang after passing the imperial examination. He was young and promising. His second son Zhan Yuanzhi will take the imperial examination in two months. He was highly expected by Zhan Hui. Today he was ordered to go to Ye Tianming's house to find out the news and brought back an unfavorable news.

Ye Tianming was one of the gangsters that Zhan Hui liked. He had a clean family background and had no backer. He was especially valued by the emperor. In fact, when Ye Tianming was the prefect in Hanyang, Zhan Hui fell in love with him. At that time, he tentatively put forward the request for marriage. On the one hand, he learned that Ye Tianming's second daughter was gentle and beautiful, and was a rare good daughter-in-law, but on the other hand, he sent a clear signal that Ye Tianming could become his person.

After the Li Shanchang case, Zhu Yuanzhang selected a group of officials with both moral integrity and ability to enrich the central court in the local government. Ye Tianming was one of them. Although Ye Tianming, who had first arrived in the capital as an official, was cautious in his official position and did not want to involve parties, under the intention of Zhan Hui, he also approached the Qin King's Party intentionally or unintentionally. At this moment, the Qin King smuggling case broke out. In order to get rid of his relationship with the Qin King, Zhan Hui decided to use Ye Tianming, who had no background, as a shield to block Zhu Yuanzhang's possible liquidation for him.

In the study, Zhan Hui had a gloomy face and listened to his son telling Ye Tianming about Ye Tianming's respect and rudeness. All of this happened because of Li Weizheng's arrival. When it comes to Li Weizheng, Zhan Yuanzhi felt jealous. The Ye Sutong he liked was a engagement with this person. An idiot who failed the exam for scholars five times. He was really a flower in cow dung. His hatred then turned to Ye Tianming. The dignified Shaoqing of Dali Temple actually stepped on two boats. Since he refused to terminate the engagement, he promised him what he promised to do. Isn't this a joke?

After reporting the situation, he couldn't help but say hatefully: "Father, Ye Tianming is willing to fall into depravity and insists on having a relationship with the Elf Uniform Guard Eagle Dog. His father doesn't need to be polite to him."

"Rareless!" Zhan Hui angrily rebuked, "Can you call Ye Tianming's name? What qualifications do you have to comment on seniors? Don't you get out of here to read the book."

Zhan Yuanzhi was so scared that he shivered and retreated tremblingly. When he walked to the door, he heard his father say coldly: "He is no longer a thousand households in the Jinyiwei. If you can have half of this ability, my Zhan family will have successors."

Zhan Yuanzhi was shocked, and a trace of jealousy flashed in his eyes, and he stepped back with his lips tightly.

Zhan Hui was the only one left in the room. He looked up at the snow-white roof with his head blanketed with his eyes flashing. Half a month ago, he did something stupid by the order of the King of Qin: to initiate the impeachment of Li Weizheng, but on the night when he was sent to him, he suddenly received another unexpected news that the King of Qin was taken away from the palace of the vassal king.

Besides the emperor, who else could give this order? If the news could be two hours earlier, he would not have sent the damn impeachment memorial. The following news made him even more shocked. Li Wei was going south to accept a secret order to investigate the smuggling case of the King of Qin.

The King of Qin smuggled 300,000 taels of silver. No matter what the silver is used for, the King of Qin is over. What about him? Will he become a victim of burial? No! Never! This is not possible, but it is not that he can solve the problem by expressing his determination. He needs to find a scapegoat. Ye Tianming is undoubtedly the best scapegoat. There is no background and his signature is on the impeachment book.

At this moment, Zhan Hui also knew that Li Wei was the fundamental reason why Ye Tianming changed his attitude, so he had to rush in front of Li Weizheng. Zhan Hui immediately picked up a pen and wrote a note, and ordered his confidant to quickly give it to Lu Siyuan, a demon scholar in the Jinyiwei.

Since Zhao Yue was killed, Lu Siyuan has been silent and has been in reflection. But what made him reflect was not the frustration in the competition for the Three Jinyiweis, but the fact that he found that his partner had chosen the wrong choice. Zhao Yue was killed, the King of Qin pushed all the responsibility on his head and ordered people to scold him fiercely. From then on, there was no news, which means that the King of Qin no longer trusted him.

The change in the attitude of the King of Qin made Lu Siyuan both disappointed and regretful. The disappointment was that he had misunderstood. He thought that the King of Qin had great talents and strategies. Once Zhu Biao encountered misfortune, he could take on the prince's throne. However, Lu Siyuan finally discovered that the King of Qin was an ambitious but narrow-minded person, and was not a wise ruler who could be entrusted at all.

At the same time, he was also very regretful. After doing some things, there was no way to eliminate traces. He had expressed his loyalty to the King of Qin, so he had been very low-key in the past few months, and he was not very concerned about Li Weizheng's trip to Guangdong. In the past few months, Lu Siyuan had a very peaceful life and no one came to disturb him. Until ten days ago, Jiang Yan told him that the King of Qin was cut off by the emperor for the smuggling silver case. This news was like a big rock falling into a well. Lu Siyuan was confused. He had a strong premonition that he might be involved in the case.

Lu Siyuan's worries were nothing wrong. Although he was silent for nearly half a year, there was a person who had never forgotten him. On the last day of the 23rd year of Hongwu, a quarter of an hour ago, he received a note from Zhan Hui.

There is only one threatening sentence in the note: 'Tonight, be sure to ask Luo Ziqi to confess that Ye Tianming, the young minister of Dali Temple, is the confidant of the King of Qin, otherwise...'

Otherwise, Lu Siyuan knew very well. Otherwise, Zhan Hui would tell Jiang Yun that Lu Siyuan had been loyal to the King of Qin, and this was Lu Siyuan's secret door. Once Jiang Yun knew that he had betrayed him, not to mention that his status and future were over, Jiang Yun would even take his own life.

This note is like a dose of poison. Lu Siyuan knew that if he took it, he would slide down deeper darkness and would be held in his hands by Zhan Hui. He would completely become a tool for Zhan Hui to eliminate dissidents. Lu Siyuan felt in pain, how could he be relieved?

At this time, there were rapid footsteps outside the door, and his housekeeper reported outside: "Master, there is a young man named Li Weizheng looking for you, and he said he can help you with guidance."

Lu Siyuan thought about it and immediately realized that Li Weizheng must have come for Ye Tianming's affairs. He pondered for a moment and immediately ordered the housekeeper, "Please invite him to my study!"

After a moment, Li Wei walked into Lu Siyuan's study under the guidance of the butler. He bowed and smiled, "Brother Lu, I'll give you an early life."

Lu Siyuan smiled bitterly and quickly asked Li Weizheng to sit down and ordered someone to serve tea. He also bowed slightly and said, "I heard that Brother Li was promoted to commander of Weihai Guard. It is a joyful congratulations. Although the Jinyiwei is glorious, it has no future after all. To put it bluntly, it will always be a bad life. So when I heard that Brother Li had the Jinyiguard, my first reaction was envy. When will I have the chance to become a magistrate in the local area?"

Lu Siyuan is telling the truth. Li Weizheng and him no longer have any conflicts of interest, and there is no need for him to regard Li Weizheng as an enemy. Moreover, this hostility was largely caused by the relationship between the King of Qin. Now that the King of Qin has fallen, one more friend will be the more path.

Li Wei was just smiling but not speaking. He picked up the teacup and sucked the tea carefully. After a while, he smiled faintly and said, "Brother Lu must have received the order from Zhan Hui!"

Lu Siyuan's face changed. He stared at Li Weizheng's eyes and slowly shook his head and said, "I don't understand what Lord Li means?"

Li Weizheng smiled casually and said slowly: "Brother Lu, actually I know that when I was a three thousand households, you and Wang Han went to Zhao Yue's house. You didn't come forward, you just stayed in the carriage. In addition, Leng Qianqiu also told me that you are the King of Qin, Brother Lu, I'm right!"

Lu Siyuan's face turned red and white. After a while, he asked in a low voice: "How did Leng Qianqiu know?"

Li Wei was looking at the man who was tortured by the King of Qin and shook his head with some pity, "Brother Lu, you are still called the Poison Xiushi. Can't you see such a simple thing? Whose person Leng Qianqiu is? How could he know that you have defected to the King of Qin? In fact, you have been betrayed by the King of Qin and have been sitting on the edge of the knife. You just don't know it. Today is Zhan Hui coming to force you, and tomorrow is a prince XX to threaten you. If you promise something, it is equivalent to putting a rope around your neck. You have a way out, but if you really participate in the King of Qin's case for Zhan Hui, you will kill yourself. Even Jiang Yan can't protect you. I might as well tell you the truth. In the King of Qin, there are many relevant stakeholders staring at him. Why should Brother Lu destroy himself for Zhan Hui's own selfishness?"

Li Weizheng's words were written in Lu Siyuan's heart. After a long time, Lu Siyuan sighed and said, "Did I ever want to do things for Zhan Hui? It's just that he seized my handle. Once he told Jiang Yan, I had no way out. If there was a third way, I would not take this risk and participate in the case of King Qin."

Li Wei suddenly laughed. As the saying goes, the authorities are confused. This sentence is good. He shook his head and smiled, "How come Brother Lu has no way to go? He is really a stubborn person. If Brother Lu is willing to listen, I will point you three ways."

Lu Siyuan suddenly stood up, bowed to Li Weizheng, and said excitedly: "I am willing to listen carefully, please teach me!"

"The first way, if you haven't written any letter of loyalty, you simply refuse to admit that you have surrendered to the King of Qin. At worst, the King of Qin has come to win you over. But in this way, Lord Jiang will blame you for hiding him, and you will have prejudice against you, and you will not deserve the loss, so this can only be considered a bad strategy; the second way is that you will deal with Zhan Hui in reverse, and use your power in your hands to bring down Zhan Hui for the crime of the King of Qin. At that time, any unfavorable remarks he made against you can be regarded as frame-up, but there is the emperor's change. The emperor arrested Luo Ziqi and was imprisoned, but did not arrest Zhan Hui. This shows that he was also hesitating about Zhan Hui. From this point of view, the risk and victory rate are half each, which can be said to be a mediocre strategy."

"What is Lord Li's best strategy?" Lu Siyuan asked impatiently. He would definitely not choose the worst strategy. Even if he does not admit Zhan Hui's report in the future, what about Leng Qianqiu? There are also the staff of the King of Qin. If they come to prove it, they will have no way to retreat. Although Zhongce is a little better than the worst strategy, the risk is too great. Zhan Hui not only controls the Ministry of Personnel, but also controls the Supervision Bureau. If he wants to defeat him, Jiang Yan will not support it first, so this Zhongce is actually difficult to implement. What he cares about now is the best strategy.

"The best strategy is actually very simple." Li Wei was staring into Lu Siyuan's eyes and said word by word: "Thirty-six strategies are the best."

‘Let’?’ Lu Siyuan sat down slowly. He never thought about leaving the Jinyiwei and had never considered this aspect at all. How to go? Where to go? After staying for a while, Lu Siyuan hesitated and asked: “Does Lord Li think this best strategy work?”

Li Weijing sneered and said, "If it is not feasible, why did Mr. Lu defect to the King of Qin?"

A sentence reminded Lu Siyuan, yes, why did he surrender to the King of Qin? Isn’t it because he wants to find a way out for himself? The cunning rabbit dies, the lackeys cook, and Jiang Yan will be slaughtered by the emperor sooner or later. How could he rely on him for the rest of his life? Lu Siyuan’s eyes slowly lit up, sooner or later, the word “leave”, why can’t he leave now? His money has been made, and he is not a court official, but just an aide. He can leave and hide it and enjoy it for a few years. When the opportunity arises, he comes out to make a decision. This is the real best strategy.

Li Wei knew from his eyes that Lu Siyuan was moved. He smiled slightly and gave him the last pill of reassurance, "If Brother Lu doesn't mind Shandong being barren, you might as well hide in my territory, and I will take care of you."

Lu Siyuan looked at the corner of the wall blankly and was stunned. Although he had the intention to leave the Jinyiwei, the matter came too suddenly and he needed time to think about it. After a while, Lu Siyuan sighed and said, "This matter makes me think about it carefully."

After a pause, he said again: "But Lord Li can rest assured that I will never interfere in Luo Ziqi's affairs."

That night, Lu Siyuan left a letter to Jiang Yan, in which he was vague about the reason for his departure, but he also hinted that Jiang Yan was wary of the Supervision Bureau's intervention in the case of King Qin, and then the family quietly left the capital and disappeared.

The night of New Year's Eve gradually enveloped the capital. The sound of firecrackers in the streets and alleys was one after another, the aroma of food was floating, and every household was brightly lit and laughter was endless. The most anticipated moment of the year was the reunion banquet on New Year's Eve.

But the palace was deserted and could not feel the excitement and festiveness of New Year's Eve. Zhu Yuanzhang seemed to have no sense of New Year. He also reviewed memorials in the imperial study room as usual. He had eaten supper easily. There were already high memorials on the imperial desk. Although they were a little less than usual, there were still many. This would be a sleepless night. No wonder, in Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes, the Ming Dynasty was a big country. He did not object to the people's New Year and the holidays. But as a parent, he needed to finish the family affairs before he could have a rest. However, there were so many things at home, which destined him to never have a rest, especially at the end of the year, when he would receive the vassal states, hold various major ceremonies, and consider the arrangements for next year's major events, so the court was even more heavy.

At this moment, Zhu Yuanzhang was considering a major strategic plan for the Northern Yuan Dynasty to rebuild the Dongshengwei and Datong Wuwei. In the sixth year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang realized that the Northern Yuan Dynasty could not be destroyed in one day, so he changed his strategy to the Yuan Dynasty and focused on defense. Hongzhou, Weizhou, Ding, An, Wu, Shuo, Tiancheng, Baideng, Dongsheng, Feng, Yunnei and other prefectures and counties that were repeatedly invaded by the Northern Yuan Dynasty moved all the border residents, and the Dongsheng Five Guards also evacuated.

However, after the 21st year of the Fishing Sea Battle in Hongwu and this year's annihilation battle, the remnants of the Northern Yuan were on the verge of collapse. Judging from the information obtained, there were obvious signs of division within the Northern Yuan. The two large tribes, Oirat and Tatar, had an opposition due to internal power disputes. The Northern Yuan was likely to be in two. In this case, the Ming Dynasty could not rush to launch a large-scale military force against the Northern Yuan to prevent the Northern Yuan from reunifying under the pressure of the army. Instead, we should wait for the Northern Yuan to split. At the same time, we should take advantage of this opportunity to clear out the remnants of the Ming border and consolidate the Ming defense. Now is undoubtedly the best opportunity to rebuild the Dongshengwei and Datongwei.

In Zhu Yuanzhang's plan, the five guards in the east, five guards in the east, and six guards in the west, so a total of 16 guards were built, calculated based on an average of 5,000 people per guard, that is, 90,000 military households, together with their families, this is the size of 50,000 and 600,000. But what made Zhu Yuanzhang embarrassed was that the border troops had no extra troops. Dongsheng and Datong guards could not be out of nothing, so they could only move military households from the mainland. Zhu Yuanzhang had considered this matter for two days. He finally decided to choose one of the four households from the civilians of the prefectures in Shanxi to change it to military households, and transferred them to Dongsheng Prefecture and Datong Prefecture to rebuild the defense system, including the mobilization of food, livestock and a large amount of city-building materials, etc.

In this way, the Dongshengwei and Datongwei will play a role in blocking the hinterland of Hetao, connecting Xuanfu in the east, Kaiping in the east, and Ningxia in the west, "from west of Liao, there are thousands of miles of momentum," which is an extremely critical strategic decision.

But this is also a big matter involving hundreds of thousands of people in a province. Zhu Yuanzhang stood in front of the Shanxi map with his hands behind his back and said nothing. He had to consider all factors such as food, logistics, and city building.

Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but sigh. What he was worried about was not the issue of people's strength, but the finances of the Ming Dynasty. Although the New Sixteen Guards could be self-sufficient in military farming, the early migration and city construction costs had to be borne by the finances, and Shanxi's tax revenue would be reduced accordingly. This increase and decrease caused the finance that had just balanced income and expenditure to be in short supply again. There was insufficient money and food. This was an old problem that Zhu Yuanzhang had been worried about for more than 20 years. Although wasteland was reclaimed every year, it still could not keep up with the population growth. There was also the depreciation of Baochao. It is said that Baochao in Jiangsu and Zhejiang has been depreciated to ten jin to one tael of silver, and private transactions do not recognize Baochao at all.

It would be useless to recognize silver, no matter how he issued an order, it would be of no use. The people were not afraid of death. What if they did? In fact, Zhu Yuanzhang also knew what the problem was, lies in his uncontrollable issuance of treasure money. Of course, he knew in his heart, but what could he do? He wanted to fight against the Northern Yuan Dynasty and build the Great Wall. Even if the soldiers did not need the court to support them, what about their armor, horses, and equipment? There was also the mobilization of civil servants, which one did not require money and food. He set an example and was already frugal to himself, but the money and food he earned every year was still far from enough. It was hard for a good woman to cook without rice! He could not start a prison and collect wealthy people from the people!

It is precisely because of this reason that he relaxed the restrictions on merchants in the middle of the year, hoping to increase taxes. Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but remembered the second son, King Qin's 300,000 taels of silver, and exchanged 300,000 taels of gold from Japan for 300,000 taels of gold. The profit in the middle made him stunned, and he was also moved by it. Therefore, he decided to sell the old equipment in stock to the Southern and Southern Dynasties in Japan in the name of Goryeo to extend the confrontation between Japan and the Southern and Northern Dynasties and obtain Japanese silver. It only hates the harassment of Japanese pirates and local Japanese warlords, which has not been completed yet.

"Your Majesty, the prince is looking for a meeting outside." The eunuch's report interrupted Zhu Yuanzhang's thoughts.
Chapter completed!