Boundless Sky

Chapter 89: Zhou Ze and Wei Zhongxian

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In the imperial study room, Zhou Ze waited for less than half a stick of incense, and Wang Chengen led an old man with a stooped figure and silver hair, and walked in.

"Your Majesty, Wei Zhongxian has been brought here!"

"En! Let him in!" Zhou Ze nodded, and put down the writing brush he was playing with.

"Old slave, pay homage to Your Majesty!" Today's Wei Zhongxian, who has been in prison for many days, made his expression extremely tired, but the moment he saw Zhou Ze, his spirit became extremely excited, and he desperately wanted to seize this last moment. A lifesaver.

"Wei Zhongxian, civil and military officials urged me several times to order you to be executed. Do you know why I have not issued an order to execute you for so long?"

"Old slave... this old slave is dull, I hope His Majesty will explain in detail."

Zhou Ze looked at the old man on the ground who kept kowtowing playfully, and then slowly opened his mouth after a long while.

"When the emperor passed the throne to me, he once told me that the presence of loyal and virtuous people can keep the throne stable. I have never understood this sentence. Eunuch Wei, can you explain it to me?"

"Your Majesty, do you know why the late emperor was obsessed with carpentry and did not want to go to court when he was alive?" Hearing Zhou Ze talk about the late emperor, Wei Zhongxian immediately became excited.

"Oh? Tell me!"

"When the first emperor ascended the Great Treasure, he also thought about being a Ming emperor with a long history, but it is a pity that today's Ming Dynasty is already in turmoil, and most of the courts are full of boastful and unrealistic rotten scholars. The training forced the first emperor to retire to the harem and indulge in carpentry!"

"As a last resort, the late emperor raised the old slaves to fight against the rotten scholars in the court!"

"Your Majesty, the old slave is a dog raised by the royal family. If His Majesty wants to kill the old slave, all he needs is a will, and he can easily deprive the old slave of his authority and give the old slave to death. The old slave has no power to resist!"

"But Your Majesty has ever thought about it. After the old slave is dead, who will share the firepower of those corrupt scholars in the court for His Majesty in the future? Without the vicious dog of the old slave, those men who steal and prostitute for fame will target Your Majesty. you."

"When the time comes, Your Majesty, would you like to be a wise ruler as the courtiers say, and act under their control, or be a foolish ruler who hides in the harem and ignores court affairs?"

Wei Zhongxian looked at Zhou Ze expectantly in his eyes, he had already spoken so clearly and blatantly, if the emperor wanted to kill him, then he would accept his fate.

Zhou Ze was silent for a long time, and finally stretched out three fingers.

"Three requirements!"

"Please speak, Your Majesty!" Hearing Zhou Ze's request, Wei Zhongxian heaved a sigh of relief. He was not afraid of the emperor's request, but he was afraid that the young emperor would be stunned and didn't understand the emperor's balance.

"First, I need money, a lot of money, you can't snatch this money from the people! Is it possible to do this?"

"Your Majesty, don't worry, there are countless powerful and wealthy gentry in the Ming Empire, especially in Jiangnan! The wealth in the hands of these families ranges from hundreds of thousands to millions of silver. The old slave only needs to find money every year. A few families with serious crimes ransacked their homes, which is enough for His Majesty's money!"

Zhou Ze shook his head, "This is not a long-term solution. I need you to implement the commercial tax. Ten taxes are one, and no one can stop it!"

Hearing this, Wei Zhongxian frowned, "Your Majesty, you may not know that when the late emperor was still there, this old slave implemented a commercial tax according to the late emperor's will, and it was a very slight one-twenty tax, but in the end the tax collectors sent to collect the tax, As soon as he reached the south of the Yangtze River, he was beaten to death by the people! I am afraid that the merchants will not accept the ten taxes that His Majesty asked for!"

"Hehe, no matter if it's 10% tax or 10% tax, they won't be able to accept it. If that's the case, why not raise the tax rate?"

"Don't worry about the business and taxes for the time being. After I fully control the military power of the Beijing camp, I will slowly implement it!"

"In this way, as long as His Majesty supports the old slave in the military, the old slave has the confidence to fully implement the commercial tax!"

Zhou Ze nodded and continued: "Second, from today onwards, you will step down from your position as the head of the Rites and Superintendent, and serve as the admiral of the East Factory and the admiral of the West Factory. I need this court to basically remain stable, but I don't want The courtiers are too idle to trouble me! Do you understand what to do?"

"Don't worry, Your Majesty, this old slave is the best at this! Few of those rotten people are clean. Whoever offends His Majesty, this old slave will take care of them!"

Zhou Ze smiled, "This is what you are good at, but there is one thing, what I want is real evidence, not criminal evidence that is randomly framed. You have to remember this point clearly!"

"Don't worry, Your Majesty, the various criminal evidences that this old slave possesses are enough to drag out and behead most of the people in the hall, there is no need to frame them out of thin air!"

On this point, Zhou Ze believed it. He knew very well that in today's Ming Dynasty, the so-called Qingliu of the Donglin Party hardly had any good things. All of them pretended to be clean-sleeved and poor, but in fact they were all greedy, and they were all pulled out and hacked, and few of them were wronged!

"Thirdly, you should be familiar with the Five Army Battalion, the Three Thousand Battalion, the Shenji Battalion, and the guards in charge of the Imperial Horse Supervisor in the capital, right?"

"Your Majesty's meaning, this old slave understands. Soon, this old slave will hand over the list of the factions of the generals in each camp to His Majesty, and help His Majesty to control the military power as soon as possible!"

"If that's the case, Governor Wei will be in charge!" Zhou Ze nodded and smiled in satisfaction.

"It is the duty of this old slave to share your worries for Your Majesty!" Wei Zhongxian felt as if he had been reborn from the dead, and even the sound of kowtowing became a little louder.

"So, you go down and start deploying the few things I entrusted to you! As for your appointment as the admiral of the East Factory, it will be issued soon!"

"Promise! This old servant will live up to His Majesty's expectations!" Wei Zhongxian bowed and kowtowed before slowly retreating.

After Wei Zhongxian left, Zhou Ze set his sights on Wang Chengen.

"Cheng'en, I am going to appoint you as the chief inspector of ceremonies and chief inspector of horses, would you like it?"

"Your Majesty, these two positions have great responsibilities. The servants are afraid that they will fail to do well, and they will bear His Majesty's trust!"

"Haha, I still have confidence in your ability!"

Patting Wang Chengen on the shoulder, Zhou Ze couldn't help but heaved a sigh of relief. There are still too few people he can use now. In fact, he doesn't like Wei Zhongxian, a vicious dog, but he still has to use it, otherwise there would be no such vicious dog. It is difficult for him to carry out some follow-up plans to check and balance the courtiers.

 …

In the boundless void, Cheng Hao's figure appears and disappears from time to time.

The trials and every move of hundreds of students can be said to be under his nose.

When he saw Zhou Ze's actions after waking up, he couldn't help but nodded. Although this guy looked a little tired, he was very clear-headed. If there were no accidents, this mission would be considered stable.

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