In a private residence in Nanjing City.

Qian Qianyi, Ma Shiying and several important Donglin Party members in Nanjing gathered here.

Qian Qianyi first summarized the recent rumors in Nanjing.

When talking about the rumor that Crown Prince Zhu Cilang was smuggling and collaborating with the enemy, he warned everyone: "Don't panic, this is definitely a rumor, the purpose is to alienate us from the Crown Prince. If we fall for it, we will lose the opportunity to fight for power after the Crown Prince inherits the throne."

"Mr. Qian," a Donglin Party member asked, "As far as I know, most of the merchant ships seized in the Shandong smuggling case were related to Zheng Zhilong. Is it possible that he did this? After all, he is the most likely suspect."

"Our merchant ships are all smuggling under his flag. If Zheng Zhilong implicates us when he falls, things will be troublesome."

Qian Qianyi was silent for a while and said nothing.

Although he did not participate in it specifically, he speculated based on experience...

This was not done by Zheng Zhilong alone, nor by the Donglin Party alone.

Instead, it was done by the Donglin Party and Zheng Zhilong in collaboration.

The Donglin Party members are courageous, and Zheng Zhilong is powerful.

They dare to do anything when they work together.

"Mr. Qian, please say something!" Seeing Qian Qianyi remained silent, Ma Shiying began to urge him.

"Zheng Zhilong's affairs are not urgent. The most urgent task is to let Yaocao (Ma Shiying) become the Nanjing Counselor of Aviation."

A Donglin Party member continued to ask: "What then? Just ignore Zheng Zhilong? What if he betrays us?"

"Everyone!" Qian Qianyi stood up and pressed his hands down: "The current situation is turbulent and people's hearts are unstable! The more times like this, the more we must remain calm. Zheng Zhilong's case is indeed troublesome, but as long as the court has not selected an imperial envoy to go south to investigate the case, the matter is not urgent and can be postponed."

"Now we have to find a way to get the military power in Nanjing. With the military power, everything will be easy!"

Everyone looked at each other and nodded.

Ma Shiying asked with some concern: "Mr. Qian, we have been meeting frequently recently, entertaining and giving gifts. If the Jinyiwei find out, I'm afraid they will..."

"Don't worry, it's been resolved."

"Ah?" Everyone was surprised: "Mr. Qian actually managed to deal with the Jinyiwei?"

"Money makes the world go round these days!"

"Mr. Qian is indeed the leader of Donglin!"

......

The sixteenth day of the twelfth lunar month.

Spring Harmony Hall in the Imperial City of Nanjing.

The Ming Crown Prince Zhu Cilang stared at the paper in front of him in amazement.

He never imagined that one day he would be caught up in rumors of smuggling to the enemy, and that the rumor was that he was smuggling to the Jiannu.

Not long after, Ni Yuanlu walked in.

Zhu Cilang quickly stood up and handed the paper to Ni Yuanlu: "Sir, we are in big trouble!"

Ni Yuanlu took the paper and found that it recorded many rumors that had been widely circulated in Nanjing recently.

One of them was that the prince was smuggling and collaborating with the enemy.

Ni Yuanlu had heard of this rumor a long time ago, but did not take it seriously at the time.

Unexpectedly, the rumor spread more and more fiercely and even reached Zhu Cilang's ears.

Ni Yuanlu looked at the paper in front of him and thought for a while, then said, "Your Highness, I'm afraid this matter will be very troublesome."

"I know the trouble is, so I asked you to help me come up with a solution."

Ni Yuanlu smiled bitterly.

The trouble he was talking about was completely different from the trouble Zhu Cilang was talking about.

But there were some things he couldn't say clearly, so he could only ask, "What is your purpose, Your Highness?"

Zhu Cilang replied: "Quench the rumors."

Ni Yuanlu shook his head: "I'm afraid not!"

"Why?"

Ni Yuanlu smiled and said, "Because it's not necessary."

"Why not?"

“Because no one believed it.”

"Impossible! If no one believed it, this rumor wouldn't have spread."

Ni Yuanlu said meaningfully: "The reason why it spread is not because some people believed it, but because someone was behind it and fanned the flames."

Zhu Cilang grasped the key point of this sentence. He asked in a deep voice: "Who is adding fuel to the fire?"

"I don't know."

"Then...what should I do next? I can't just let rumors spread, right?"

Ni Yuanlu pretended to think for a while and suggested: "I have three options, good, medium and bad. Please choose one for yourself, Your Highness."

Zhu Cilang's eyes lit up: "Please speak quickly, sir."

Ni Yuanlu looked around and confirmed that no one was around. He then said, "I have two more questions before I answer them. I hope Your Highness will answer them truthfully."

"Excuse me, sir."

"I want to know how much the deficit of the national treasury is this year?"

"Hmm?" Zhu Cilang was a little surprised by this question, but he still answered seriously: "The deficit of the national treasury this year is estimated to be around five million taels."

Ni Yuanlu continued to ask: "The money of the Nanjing branch of Daming Money House is all kept in the Nanjing Treasury. May I ask how much money Your Highness had on deposit at the beginning of the year and how much money is on deposit now? You don't need to be too specific, just give a rough figure."

"The Nanjing branch of the Daming Money House had less than one million taels of silver in its balance at the beginning of the year. At the end of last month, it took inventory and found that the balance was as high as six million taels of silver."

Ni Yuanlu narrowed his eyes and thought to himself: There are so many! It seems that Chongzhen is going to play a big one.

Under Zhu Cilang's expectant eyes, Ni Yuanlu began to talk about his countermeasures: "My best strategy is to let Your Highness pretend to be sick!"

Zhu Cilang's mouth twitched unconsciously: "Pretending to be sick?"

"Yes, pretending to be sick!"

"What about the regent?"

"Hand it over! Hand over government affairs to the court officials, and hand over military affairs to the nobles in Nanjing. Rumors or gossip, whatever happens outside has nothing to do with Your Highness."

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