In the late Ming Dynasty, there were many parties.
The Chu Party was mostly composed of people from Huguang, the Hui Party was mostly composed of people from Lianghuai, the Zhejiang Party was mostly composed of people from Jiangsu and Zhejiang, the Qi Party was mainly composed of people from Shandong, and the Jin Party was composed of people from Shaanxi and Shanxi.
Without exception, these parties are supported by businessmen.
Most Chu merchants were grain merchants; Hui merchants and Zhejiang merchants started out by selling salt and tea; Qi merchants sold salt and grain; Shanxi merchants had the most extensive business, selling salt, transporting grain, and selling minerals, and they could be found wherever there was border trade.
Officials and businessmen collude, businessmen pave the way for officials, and officials build bridges for businessmen.
They ate the flesh of the Ming Dynasty, drank the blood of the Ming Dynasty, and cursed the emperor of the Ming Dynasty.
Damn it.
Chongzhen stared at Fang Yuegong and asked, "I heard that you have close ties with the Chu Party."
Fang Yuegong immediately kowtowed: "Your Majesty, I am from Huguang, and I can't help but feel like a fellow countryman. Although I have contacts with the Chu party, I have not participated in the party struggle. I hope Your Majesty will understand."
Chongzhen stepped forward and patted Fang Yuegong on the shoulder, "Of course I know, otherwise I would not have promoted you to head the Ministry of Revenue."
"The salt monopoly proposed by the Chu Party has made the salt merchants in Lianghuai and Jiangsu and Zhejiang rich. On the other hand, the imperial court loses more than one million taels of silver every year in salt tax alone. The Chu Party has done everything that the Hui Party wanted to do but failed to do!"
"I have seen people who harm others to benefit themselves, but I have never seen people who harm others without benefiting themselves. Oh, I have gone too far. Let's talk about the current situation first."
Fang Yuegong blinked and understood Chongzhen's intention.
"I will allocate 1.5 million taels of silver to your Ministry of Revenue. Have you decided how to spend it?"
Speaking of the topic, Fang Yuegong cleared his throat and said, "Your Majesty, the capital is in danger. I plan to allocate all this money to the Ministry of War to stabilize the morale of the army."
Chongzhen shook his head and said, "Allow 1.2 million taels to the Ministry of War, and the remaining 300,000 to the Ministry of Works."
"Your Majesty, what is this...?"
"Don't ask if you shouldn't."
"As you wish."
"Fang Yuegong, I'm not asking you to go to the Ministry of Revenue to watch how you spend money. You have to find a way to make money. When you go back, think of a way to make money and write it down in a memorial and submit it to me."
"I obey the order."
Looking at Fang Yuegong's departing back, Chongzhen smiled grimly.
It doesn’t matter whether Fang Yuegong is a member of the Chu Party or not. What matters is that as long as he is close to the Chu Party members, he is considered a member of the Chu Party in the eyes of others.
Once his policies violated the interests of other parties, those parties would think that the Chu party was declaring war on them.
At that time, dogs will bite each other and the emperor will reap the benefits.
Fang Yuegong is a smart man and will definitely do things according to his ideas.
After Fang Yuegong left, Fan Jingwen came to the side hall.
Although Fan Jingwen is nearly sixty years old, he walks very briskly, with neither blurry eyes nor hunched back.
He walked to the throne with a worried look on his face and bowed, "Your Majesty, I, Fan Jingwen, pay my respects to you!"
"Minister Fan, please don't take what I said in the court to heart."
"It is a great pleasure in life for me to be able to take part in killing the Wei thieves!" Fan Jingwen's voice sounded a little excited.
He had long been fed up with what Wei Zaode had done, and today he felt extremely happy to see him die with his own eyes.
"I have two things to entrust to you. I wonder if Minister Fan is still able to eat?"
Fan Jingwen bowed and said, "Your Majesty, let alone two things, I can solve your worries even if it's twenty or two hundred."
"Okay!" Chongzhen raised his voice, "I intend to give you the post of Governor of the Beijing Camp."
After hearing this, Fan Jingwen looked at Chongzhen in surprise.
The Governor-General of the Beijing Camp has three major camps under his command, namely the Five Army Camp, the Shenshu Camp, and the Shenji Camp.
It is the main force guarding the capital.
Since the Jiajing period, the post of Governor-General of the Beijing Camp has always been held by nobles, and the lowest rank required was an earl.
It means a lot to hand over this position to him today.
"Your Majesty, the bandits are coming, so I will not refuse."
"Well, if you doubt someone, don't employ him; if you employ someone, don't doubt him. Minister Fan, go ahead and do it. I fully support you."
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
Fan Jingwen knelt on the ground with tears in his eyes and kowtowed seriously.
This trust is so rare.
"Okay, Minister Fan is old and doesn't need to be bound by etiquette." Chongzhen personally walked to Fan Jingwen and stretched out his hand to help him up.
"Before I talk about the second thing, I would like to ask two people, Jiao Xu and Tang Ruowang."
Although Fan Jingwen was old, he had a very good memory. After a little thought, he said, "Jiao Xu is from Ningguo, Nanzhili, and is currently serving as a deputy minister of the Ministry of Works; Tang Ruowang is a Westerner and is currently serving as the director of the Ministry of Works. He and Jiao Xu jointly developed firearms."
"Okay, in an hour you and the other two will go to Wuziku and wait for me. I have something important to discuss with you!"
Fan Jingwen began to have doubts in his heart.
The bandits are about to attack us, and even if we have great abilities, it is impossible to develop new firearms.
Even if it can be developed, mass production cannot keep up.
As a subject, he could not say much and could only bow and leave.
At this time, there were only two people left outside the palace gate.
"Wang Chengen, let the Earl of Xiangcheng come in."
"As you wish."
After being summoned, Li Guozhen hurried into the hall with strong and powerful steps.
The title of Earl of Xiangcheng was established in the fourth year of Jianwen, and it has been passed down to Li Guozhen for the eleventh generation.
The 26-year-old Li Guozhen, the Earl of Xiangcheng, was five and a half feet tall, with strong muscles that made his court dress round. He was full of energy and vitality, giving people an inexplicable sense of security.
Chongzhen was not fooled by his appearance.
In history, Li Guozhen was eloquent, but as a military general, he had no ability either in leading troops in battle or in making strategic plans.
They are the type of people who are loyal enough but lack ability.
Li Guozhen came to the side hall and knelt down to salute: "Long live the emperor."
"Please stand up."
Li Guozhen stood up, his dark face full of anxiety.
The Governor-General of the Beijing Camp is in charge of the troops of the three major camps, and he knows the soldiers under his command very well.
Among the 40,000 people, half of them have never touched a gun.
Although guns are standard equipment for the Shenji Camp, according to the rules, one of the training subjects for the Jing Camp soldiers is to become proficient in using guns.
How can we defend with such soldiers with weak fighting power?
He said with a sad face: "Your Majesty, I am guilty. The three camps in the capital are undermanned and weak in combat. As the governor of the capital camp, I have an unshirkable responsibility."
"Don't blame yourself, Lord Xiangcheng. The problems in the Beijing camp are not your fault. I will not punish you."
What Chongzhen said was true and sincere.
Li Guozhen became the governor-general of the Beijing camp on August 10, the 16th year of Chongzhen. His predecessor was Zhu Chunchen, Duke of Chengguo.
The blame for the Beijing camp lies with Zhu Chunchen, not Li Guozhen.
Seeing that Chongzhen had no intention of punishing him, Li Guozhen breathed a sigh of relief and said, "I wonder why Your Majesty summoned me here?"
"The Earl of Xiangcheng is the pillar of the Ming Dynasty. I plan to let you go to Nanjing to assist the crown prince. What do you think?" Chongzhen expressed his inner thoughts.
Li Guozhen swallowed his saliva. His first reaction was not joy, but caution.
Chongzhen was notoriously fickle and suspicious. Asking him to go to Nanjing to assist the crown prince at this time seemed like a trust but was actually a test.
If he answers incorrectly, the title of Marquis of Xiangcheng will end with him.
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