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The atmosphere in the hall was somewhat depressing. Wang Chengen carefully glanced at the frowning Emperor Chongzhen.
Wang Cheng'en was a eunuch, the eunuch in charge of ceremonies and writing pens beside Emperor Chongzhen. Although he was a little greedy for money, he was extremely loyal to Emperor Chongzhen. Therefore, Emperor Chongzhen usually liked to have him serve by his side.
The Chongzhen Emperor picked up an urgently delivered memorial from Ning Jiechu, the eunuch guarding Jinling. In this memorial, several local scholars jointly filed a complaint against Tang Jing, the commander-in-chief of Changzhou, accusing him of publishing the "Na Han Bao" newspaper to spread false rumors and slander the words of the sage.
The memorial was not long. After reading it, Emperor Chongzhen frowned even more tightly. At this time, Chongzhen was still young and full of vigor. He had no feelings for the censors and scholars in the court. These people always spoke in a sage's way, which made the young Emperor Chongzhen feel restrained. Once these people got hold of something in Emperor Chongzhen's words and deeds, they would jump out and accuse Emperor Chongzhen of wrongdoing. If Chongzhen beat them with a stick in anger, that would be even more serious. These people would become more arrogant after being injured, because Chongzhen's beating made them more famous.
For the current Emperor Chongzhen, what he hated most were those rebels. He would not take it too seriously whether the words of the saints were slandered. So after reading the memorial, Chongzhen just frowned but did not get angry. He picked up the "Call to Arms" that was delivered together with the memorial, opened the first issue of "Call to Arms" and began to read.
The first thing that caught the eye was a headline on the front page: "Who made the people of the Ming Dynasty suffer from poverty?" This was the speech that Tang Tong delivered in the theater. After Tang Tong revised the content of this speech, the main spearhead was directed at the Jiannu and local bullies and evil gentry. In this speech, Tang Tong said a lot of bad things about Chongzhen.
When Chongzhen read Tang Tong's description of his current predicament and the hardship and poverty he faced in his life, he couldn't help but sigh in emotion. After staring at the article for a while, Chongzhen muttered to himself, "I know how wise I am, and I'm surprised by Tang Tong's words. I didn't expect a mere military officer to have such insight."
After reading this article, Chongzhen already had some feelings towards Tang Tong. Chongzhen had no interest in Western things, technology, navy, etc. However, after reading "Record of the Evil Deeds of the Jiannu", when he saw Tang Tong's article cursing himself, saying that Zhang Xianzhong and others' rebellion was a disaster for the country and the people, and vigorously praising Zhu Yuanzhang's great achievements in driving out the Yuan people, Chongzhen had even more feelings towards this small Tangdu Commander. He couldn't help but think that those scholars and candidates had nothing to do after eating, and how could they be so loyal to the court as to spread rumors to confuse the public.
Finally, Chongzhen directly turned to the so-called "My Struggle" which was a misleading article. After reading it, the emperor Chongzhen couldn't help but get excited. He thought to himself, I never thought that my Ming Dynasty actually has so many advantages. Although this person did have some slanders on the words of the saints, and his ideas were quite unrealistic, such as opening more factories to ensure that all people in the world have jobs and food to eat, killing all the slaves and Tartars in the world, and letting the flags of the Ming Dynasty be planted everywhere the sun can shine, which were indeed a bit too arrogant and unrealistic, but generally speaking, this person was still loyal to the country.
Wang Chengen had been watching Chongzhen carefully from the side. The emotional relationship between him and Chongzhen was somewhat complicated. To some extent, Emperor Chongzhen regarded Wang Chengen as his own relative, and Wang Chengen also cared about everything about Chongzhen sincerely. He knew that Chongzhen had not lived a peaceful life since he ascended the throne.
When Wang Chengen heard Chongzhen actually say that the little Tangdu Commander was his confidant, he couldn't help but be surprised. To be able to get such praise from Emperor Chongzhen, this person must be extraordinary. Wang Chengen secretly kept him in mind.
Chongzhen waved the stack of Na Han Bao toward Wang Chengen and said, "Take a look at this man. Although his ideas are somewhat arrogant and unrealistic, he is still very loyal to our Ming Dynasty. Those local scholars are really just looking for trouble. They think I don't have enough to do."
Wang Cheng'en had been a little puzzled before. He stepped forward and took the newspaper, saying, "Your Majesty, those scholars are just trying to gain fame and reputation. But bringing this matter to your Majesty is a bit too much."
Chongzhen waved his hand, sighed slightly, and turned over the first urgently delivered memorial. When he opened it, he saw that it was another memorial accusing the Tangdu Commander of the same crime. Chongzhen frowned fiercely, read it casually, and threw it aside. He picked up the third urgently delivered memorial and saw that it was still accusing the Tangdu Commander of the same crime, saying that he was spreading evil spirits and misleading the people. Chongzhen snorted softly, threw it aside after reading only half of it. When he opened the fourth memorial, the first one, he just glanced at it and threw it aside. Then Emperor Chongzhen counted and found that there were as many as thirteen memorials accusing the Tangdu Commander of spreading evil spirits and misleading the people. He couldn't help but think to himself that this commander-in-chief named Tang Jing had offended too many people. Such a trivial matter had caused so many people to report it to me.
Chongzhen finally read the letter sent by the Jinyiwei regarding Tang Tong. When he saw the intelligence that Tang Tong had opened many factories near the Jinyiwei town under the name of other people, Chongzhen couldn't help but think in his heart that this guy was not completely unrealistic. He was still a little bit capable. Moreover, this guy was too reckless in doing things. For money, he would do anything. He even destroyed such a big Menglong Gang and extorted 100,000 taels of silver from the Suhuai Salt Gang. However, these gangs were not ordinary people. It didn't matter if they were destroyed by this guy. But I still have to teach him a lesson. This guy is too bold. He actually dared to take his military households to run a factory. If everyone behaved like him, then all the military households in the Ming Dynasty would become workers. Wouldn't I have no soldiers to fight for me in the future?
Unfortunately, although the intelligence about Tang Tong was very detailed, Captain Liu still ignored the power of the breech-loading rifle in Tang Tong's hand and did not include it in the intelligence. Chongzhen naturally did not know that there was something in the world that could change the means of war. If he grasped it, it could completely change the fate of the Ming Dynasty.
After thinking about it, Chongzhen asked Wang Chengen to help draft an imperial edict. In the imperial edict, Tang Tong was first reprimanded for not doing his job properly and fined him 300,000 taels of silver, to be paid within one year as a warning to others. Then Tang Tong was promoted to deputy general of Nanjing, responsible for the navy in Jiangsu, and combating pirates and smuggling activities in coastal areas. The reason why Chongzhen made this arrangement was because Tang Tong mentioned the importance of combating smuggling and developing overseas colonies in his "My Struggle". Although Chongzhen did not understand, his eyes were fixed on what Tang Tong said about enriching national taxes. He thought, didn't this guy say how much he could do? Then I will let him do this job. If he can really be of some use, it can also alleviate the emptiness of my treasury.
Although Chongzhen was stubborn and self-righteous, he was not a fool. After hearing other people's suggestions, he still had a certain ability to analyze some things. The wealth outside the Ming Dynasty that Tang Tong mentioned was very attractive to a person who worried about money every day. Although doing so was not in line with the words of the saints, there were several emperors in history who regarded the words of the saints as their own moral norms. Moreover, Chongzhen's imperial edict not only punished Tang Tong and appeased those scholars, but also gave Tang Tong a place to work for him and find some money to enrich the national treasury.
A young eunuch took the imperial edict out of the capital, and at this time, Tang Tong was worried about his three subordinates.
Tang Tong's three men were the three spies of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, but at that time Tang Tong did not know that they were spies. He only knew that the Embroidered Uniform Guard had captured these three people in his military camp.
Tang Tong has put a lot of effort into his 1,000 soldiers. In order to improve their combat effectiveness and rally their hearts, Tang Tong has tried every possible way. Now that his soldiers have been captured, he cannot help but ask about it. If he doesn't care about the lives of these three men, then whether the soldiers are loyal to him will be greatly affected.
After receiving the report from Zhang Yiheng and others, Tang Tong did not dare to waste time, because everyone in the Ming Dynasty knew that once you stay in the Jinyiwei prison for too long, it is hard to say whether you will get out alive. The Jinyiwei in this era is a kind of terrifying figure, and talking about them will make many people turn pale.
Tang Tong brought a few soldiers and Yagyu Saburo, prepared a big gift and went to visit the Jinyiwei Liu Baihu who arrested the people. At this time, Tang Tong didn't know that many people had reported him, and Liu Baihu was also feeling ashamed and angry, so he asked his men to interrogate the three people.
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