Chapter 334: Father and son, mine, lijin, transfer of crime

At noon on the 30th day of the twelfth lunar month, everyone came to pay homage to the congratulations, and all the military generals and civil servants under him went home for the New Year. Everyone was also familiar with it and was not qualified to participate in the General's New Year's Eve dinner.

Li Meng finally became purified. Those who are in a high position have their own private affairs and official affairs, and family affairs are also state affairs. Don’t expect any private space. Li Meng now has this feeling. The so-called high places are so cold, that’s it. For lunch, Yan Ruoran led a group of women and Li Hong, who held Li Meng’s son. The whole family had a reunion dinner together. Li Meng felt a little guilty about his son.

I have been fighting all year round, never held it a few times, and I have never changed my diapers, and I have not even participated in festive days such as one year old.

Li Hong is over one year old now. His parents have good genetic genes and are born with a golden spoon in their mouths. The children are very strong and stubborn, which is obviously one piece higher than their peers.

During these days at home, Li Hong called Li Meng a little "father" without any silence. He couldn't rest in the house every day, and he always had to go out crazy regardless of the cold weather outside. This made the wet nurses and maids turn their minds and maids busy every day and serve this little ancestor.

This lively spirit made Li Meng extremely happy. Regardless of ancient and modern times, the child is always evaluated as "benevolent". Li Meng is a military general, but he doesn't want his son to become a "benevolent" child. Boys always have to be a bit bloody and wild, but Li Hong and Li Meng are always not very close, and have a sense of alienation. The attitude of his mother is obviously more close to his father than his father. This sense of strangeness makes Li Meng very uncomfortable.

In modern times, Li Meng often heard people who often travel outside complaining, saying that they often went out for business and didn't dare to shout when they met when they went home. They gradually became unfamiliar with each other. At that time, he did not get married and started a family, and could not feel this feeling. Unexpectedly, after this era, he actually met himself.

Li Meng could only smile bitterly at this situation, thinking that he worked hard here, and laid a great foundation for his child's future. Thinking of this, he was a little more balanced.

Lunch was eaten with the female family and her son, and Li Meng called Liu Fulai and Sun Chuanting together for dinner, and the three of them gathered in the side hall for a drink.

The old eunuch had the New Year’s Eunuch with Li Meng and the others at noon. Sun Chuanting also ate it at home. The three of them had a drink at dinner. In fact, they were looking for a quiet place to discuss some things.

In this side hall, Sun Chuanting naturally took off the iron face. Since following Li Meng, Sun Chuanting also knew that it was the idea of ​​the old eunuch Liu Fulai who rescued him from the imperial prison that year, but the situation was like this. He would not be angry or blamed. He was also an open-minded person, and he would not be angry about the impossible past. Meeting was nothing more than meeting and smiling.

Sun Chuanting was really scared when he thought about it. After Yang Sichang committed suicide, Zheng Chongjian, the governor of Shaanxi who was framed by Yang Sichang, was found a reason to abandon the market and beheaded by Emperor Chongzhen to pay tribute to the emperor, and thought that Yang Aiqing would "take revenge". God knew if he was in the imperial prison, he would be angry. Thinking of this, he felt a little more grateful to Liu Fulai.

On this table, Sun Chuanting had no self-esteem. The old eunuch once served as a eunuch in the Sili Prison and served as a garrison in Nanjing. According to the customs of the Ming Dynasty, Liu Fulai should be considered a first-rank official of the dynasty, and his identity was only higher than Sun Chuanting.

Needless to say, although the three of them are all great figures in the world, their identities and statuses are close to each other and they are from the same camp. Therefore, the private banquet is also harmonious and friendly.

In the Jiaozhou Camp system, Sun Chuanting and Liu Fulai did not have much real power, but their status was very high. They were both considered consultants and other things. In front of these two people, Li Meng generally did not maintain the majesty towards his subordinates, and his behavior and words were relatively casual.

The dishes were very simple. The three of them had already passed the era of pursuing their appetites. They were of high status and had a great power. They could eat whatever they wanted, but they began to cherish their blessings and health. Most people have a lot of false speculations about the extravagant life of the superiors. Even if they had never eaten ten thousand yuan a day, they were not even a place to put a chopstick, it was mostly for the purpose of making a spell. Li Deyu had 30,000 yuan a soup, but he liked lead and mercury and wanted to take it to the immortals.

Li Meng and the other three were all from small powders and didn't have much thought of making a difference. They didn't even think about the lead and mercury stuff. There were only peanuts, shrimps, steamed fish, various cured flavors, etc. On the table, they were just some cucumbers and eggplants. These were all produced in greenhouses outside the city, which were difficult for ordinary people to eat. There was also the wine, which was also a top-notch Beijing-style wine.

The three of them drank a glass of wine, and Li Meng put down the glass and asked:

"Mr. Sun, Xuzhou is the place where the troops stationed in Shandong are stationed. The places where the troops stationed in Jiaozhou camp are now becoming more and more large. Now the areas adjacent to Henan and Nanzhili are connected to Shandong. However, the territory is large, and the guards of Jiaozhou camps are a bit insufficient. But if the army is expanded, there will be no need to find them in a hurry. At present, Jiaozhou camp has jurisdiction over various places, and there are countless places to spend money, but there is no new investment. I really have no money to pay... I wonder what the uncle and Mr. Sun will do?"

The military expenditure was in a difficult situation. Liu Fulai and Sun Chuanting knew that since they were the role of consultants and counselors, they had considered this matter. However, this was the first time they met and there was no communication in advance. Both of them were the demeanor of important officials and were somewhat reserved.

The two looked at each other, and Liu Fulai picked up the wine glass and made a gesture of inviting people first. Sun Chuanting spoke first. To talk about finding wealth, Sun Chuanting really had no new ways. The traditional education he received since childhood, and becoming a local official was nothing more than to encourage people to promote agriculture and sericulture. The next step was to lead troops for a long time, and he had no experience in this economic approach.

Sun Chuanting also had successful economic deeds, but it was not much different from Li Meng. He also set up military farms in Xi'an and recruited refugees. This experience was not helpful to the current situation. Therefore, when he said this, he felt that he was a little confident.

"Mr. Li, Zhaoyuan, Dengzhou. It started to mine gold since the early Ming Dynasty and was abandoned in the late Ming Dynasty. When Sun was an official, he also heard colleagues in Shandong chatting, saying that the gold mine was abandoned, not without mines, but without good management, and natural disasters and mountain collapses. This is what it was abandoned, so the master may be able to send someone to explore."

After saying this, Sun Chuanting smiled awkwardly. The mining area of ​​gold and silver minerals was indeed profitable, but it was a bit tricky to use this as an economic way. Li Meng regarded himself as a supporter and asked about the economic way. But he had to answer this way, which was indeed a bit embarrassing.

What he might have thought of is this allusion. Sun Chuanting also carefully thought about the methods that could be proposed, such as farming, trade, and taxing salt. What he could have thought of was that Shandong was doing, and it was better. This suggestion for mining was just a few casual conversations when he was an official, but he didn't expect to use it as a strategy today.

Even Sun Chuanting, who was used to the storm, was a little embarrassed and nervous. He simply picked up the wine glass and saw Li Meng's reaction.

Who would have thought that Li Meng was stunned for a while when he heard what he said. Then he patted his forehead hard with his hand and said with regret:

"Damn, confused..."

When Sun Chuanting heard this, his face looked a little ugly, but he adjusted quickly. Now he was under Li Meng's hands and could only bear it. However, Liu Fulai stared at Li Meng at the side, thinking that his nephew was not so reckless in his daily life. There was also a meaning of reminding and blame in his eyes.

The two people at the same table changed their expressions, which made Li Meng, who was patting his forehead, react. He quickly smiled and said:

"Mr. Sun, don't misunderstand it. Li blamed himself for not expecting that Dengzhou Prefecture is still the jurisdiction where Li Meng started his family. He ignored it so much. He really blamed himself for being confused. I really want to thank Mr. Sun for reminding me... Come on, I'll give Mr. Sun a cup."

After saying this, Sun Chuanting felt very happy. He then raised his glass and helped him with his left hand. This was the etiquette of a person with a slightly lower status.

Li Meng really blamed himself for being confused. When he was still in modern times, he served in Weifang and was a financial escort in Qingdao. He still had some impression of Zhaoyuan, who had always had the Golden County. The arrogant and extravagant mine owners were even more memorable. Sun Chuanting said that it was abandoned during the reign of Emperor Shenzong and probably had nothing to do with the mineral source.

Because the gold mines in Zhaoyuan were still being mined until the 21st century of modern times, there were hundreds of years between them, and there must be abundant storage. Such a rich large mine was completely ignored under one's nose. As a guard, it was really a dereliction of duty.

However, the mining of this gold mine will be helpful to Li Meng and his millions of people and hundreds of thousands of soldiers. The amount mined is not a small number. To reach such a scale, the manpower and material resources required are not small, nor will it be effective immediately. However, this gold mine will definitely be of great help to me in the future.

Mr. Sun was indeed a big shot. He made him suddenly feel enlightened by his casual suggestion. Li Meng was no longer so irritable. The old eunuch Liu Fulai said slowly:

"Li Meng, the situation is not small, but no matter what you do, you are missing a name. For example, you can't collect taxes in Shandong, you can only sell salt in a compromise, but this also requires a lot of manpower and material resources... "

Li Meng nodded and said:

"My uncle said that 90% of the land in Shandong is concentrated in the hands of less than 30 landlords. Each family has its own background backer behind them. Although it is not impossible to collect taxes and collect labor service from them, it is not impossible to do so in the current situation. The Lu Palace has already started to make trouble. In another year, Li can collect it..."

Hearing Li Meng's words, Eunuch Liu chuckled softly, but then he preached to Sun Chuanting:

"Mr. Sun, our nephew is good at everything, but he lacks the motivation of young people. He is always slow to do things, and he is lukewarm, but he is like an old man."

When Sun Chuanting heard this, she smiled and said something to Liu Fulai and Li Meng's uncle and nephew, but she could not speak rashly. Li Meng was not angry, but just picked up the wine pot and gave the old eunuch a glass of wine, and then poured it into Sun Chuanting. He knew that Liu Fulai had not finished speaking.

"Li Meng, when you were in the Laizhou Prefecture, when you were weak in the Dushi, you naturally had to be trembling and cautious. Now that you have such a situation, if you are still careful, it would be cramped. It would be a shame that the heroes in the world would look down on you. Being introverted is certainly a must for great things, but if you don't show your edge, it would be wrong."

Sun Chuanting agreed with this statement quite a bit, nodding slightly, with Li Meng's current strength and skills. In Shandong, some villains who are unable to take the stage want to provoke it, just like a mouse in the mountains wants to cause trouble for a tiger. He is very overestimated. However, such a ridiculous thing is related to Li Meng's constant low-key attitude. The tiger always lies there and does not move, which makes the mouse think that this is a pool of meat.

Many people don’t understand. With Li Meng’s current situation, why are you still so low-key? With Sun Chuanting’s knowledge, even Li Chengliang was different from Li Meng’s strength. Now, Zuo Liangyu, Huang Degong and others are just bed bugs that can be killed by hand compared to Jiaozhou Camp. Some wise and intelligent people can vaguely detect it. Shandong General Li Meng seemed to be afraid or trying to hide it, but the reason is that people can’t think of it.

When Li Meng heard this, he ignored it. He just smiled and said calmly:

"What my uncle said is, what should I do with my nephew??"

When the old eunuch Liu Fulai first entered the Li Mansion, he was still quite cautious in his behavior and was now very relaxed, because he also realized that Li Meng was really treating himself as a relative and elder. The old eunuch was relieved, and his behavior was relatively casual. He did not care about Li Meng's undeniable reaction and said:

"Tax land rent is indeed a problem. Even if the dozens of landlords do not have any background. You have collected rent without a nameless person in the past. It is easy to cause chaos. This chaos is in the heart of our Li family. It is always a problem. Don't touch it for the time being."

Sun Chuanting, who was beside him, took a sip of the wine glass on his lips, and his heart felt quite complicated. Although he was already loyal to Li Meng and Jiaozhou Camp, the world was still the world of Ming Dynasty. Sun Chuanting had been fighting for this world and the court for many years, but someone in front of him said "our Li family's territory", which is really...

"There is a Jin River flowing in Qilu. Jiaozhou Camp urgently needs silver money. It is extremely convenient to scoop some out of this Jin River."

When he talked about this, Sun Chuanting suddenly realized what the "Jinhe" Liu Fulai mentioned was. His eyes widened, but he felt a little admiration in his heart. This old eunuch really had some tricks and the way he thought was extremely clever.

Li Meng pondered for a moment, looked up and asked in a deep voice:

"Uncle, is it that you are talking about the canal?"

The old eunuch was slightly drunk, and when he heard that Li Meng was exposed by him at a glance, coupled with Sun Chuanting's shocked eyes, he was a famous minister today and a hero in the world. He seemed to admire him very much, and he couldn't help but feel satisfied. He was a castrated man. Those literati always felt that only he could survive the world and support the court. When he looked at the eunuch, he looked at him like a pig or a dog. Even if he flattered, he actually looked down on him behind his back. Today, Sun Chuanting's admiration was not like doing. Liu Fulai's mood was a little higher, and he patted his palms lightly and said with a smile:

"That's true. The land of the Ming Dynasty for hundreds of years was maintained by grain, and the grain transport was completely maintained. The northern Zhili and Shanxi were immediately in a state of embarrassment. Moreover, merchants in Jiangnan sold goods to the north and relied on the transportation of the grain transport. However, when passing through Shandong, except for charging some fees at Jiningzhou Terminal and prospering the market, there was no profit in other areas."

Sun Chuanting had recovered from that complicated feeling. When he heard the old eunuch talk about this, he also followed the jig and said:

"Along the Shandong Canal, there are really a lot of manpower and financial resources for this river construction every year. Before the Tianqi Year, the canal transportation project was still in short supply. In recent years, the imperial court could not allocate money, but local repairs were a loss of money. Moreover, for this canal transportation, the people on both sides of the Huai River and the Yellow River suffered greatly. In order to ensure the canal transportation, I don't know how many families have flooded."

"That's true. The canal transport ships running on the river transport only three or four out of ten out of ten, but merchants account for more goods. They only enjoy the convenience of canal transport, but do not spend a penny. How can such good things happen in the world? As a general guarding Shandong, it is natural to do something for this canal transport policy."

Eunuch Liu seemed to have a vain case, and he talked about this and even thought of the reason for collecting money. Li Meng leaned on the back of the chair and hugged his arms. After careful consideration of the old eunuch's words, Liu Fulai became more and more excited and stopped drinking, and said loudly:

"There are three places where the canal is set up. Jining, Linqing, and Dezhou happen to be in front, middle and back three places. This matter is handed over to the Lingshan Trading Company's branch to handle. They are in the operation of this canal. There are many eyeliners and familiar people, so others can naturally hide it. As for how many draws, one can be drawn by one hundred draws, and sand can form a tower. There are more ships on the canal, and one can be drawn by one hundred draws, which is enough."

Li Meng was tapping on the table there. He felt that his annoyance had been wiped out. After pondering for a moment, he raised his head and said in a deep voice:

"My uncle's method is indeed a clever strategy, but the water transportation is the lifeblood of the capital. If we set up a checkpoint there, the court will definitely be extremely angry. If this matter is a big deal..."

Sun Chuanting wanted to speak, but those ideas were always unable to say them. He still had some obstacles in his heart. He hesitated for a while, so he picked up the chopsticks, picked up the dish and put it in his mouth, and ate it on his own, avoiding the embarrassment. Hearing Li Meng's inquiry, Eunuch Liu calmed down and leaned on the back of the chair. He said leisurely:

"So what can I do when I get angry? The elite soldiers in the northern part of the Ming Dynasty were surrounded in Songshan. Although there were eight generals in the northern part of Zhili, most of the troops were formed in only one year. Moreover, the imperial court has not paid you a penny of money to Shandong for several years. It is necessary to raise money locally, which is a matter of reason."

Liu Fulai carefully distinguished the situation for Li Meng. Although the Beijing camp was known as 100,000, the warrior camp was only 30,000 to 40,000. However, these people still had to guard the palace, the governor, governor, general and other senior generals. However, the troops led by them were all grass-roots teams that had been in armies for less than a year and could do nothing.

Speaking of which, the only thing that can be fought is the 20,000 troops deployed in the Tongzhou area. This is the local troops brought back from Huguang by the eunuch Liu Yuanbin of the Beijing Camp. However, the ability of this army is only compared with the Beijing Camp soldiers and the grass-roots teams. They fought Zhang Xianzhong several times in Huguang area and were defeated and could not get the top spot. In this northern Zhili, they were just a short man to draw the general.

The powerful soldiers and horses of the Ming Dynasty are now surrounded on Songshan!

Li Meng's nearly 100,000 troops were just south of the northern Zhili area, from Dezhou to the capital area, and it was a flat and gentle terrain. It could also go directly to Tianjin Wei along the canal, and then attack Tongzhou. It was truly unstoppable.

For the capital, the Shandong soldiers and horses at this moment are like giant beasts peering at the side. The people in the capital have to consider what they want to say and do. However, can Emperor Chongzhen and the ministers in the capital feel and understand so sensitively? Do they have a basic understanding of the situation in the world? This is really hard to say. There is no foolproof strategy, because the fools are always creative.

After three rounds of drinking, Liu Fulai's proposal was almost settled. One night, the firecrackers and fireworks outside had already started to set off. The old eunuch drank a little too much and felt tired. He simply went to the inner hall to rest and tease Li Hong by the way. The other generations said nothing more. The old eunuch Liu Fulai pampered Li Hong so much.

Since Sun Chuanting brought Tiemeng to follow Li Meng, her mood has been relaxed and her body has recovered a lot. She drank more wine tonight. Seeing Eunuch Liu go out, Sun Chuanting smiled dejectedly, straightened her body, and said:

"Sir, what the old man said just now is that the tax on the canal transportation is drawn, and one hundred is worth one hundred. What is the name of the place where the money is collected? "

What is the name is just a trick of a literati, it doesn't matter. Li Meng could also feel the dilemma in Sun Chuanting's heart. After three hundred years of raising scholars in the Ming Dynasty, Sun Chuanting went to the Qionglin banquet, and came out with a flower hairpin, and rode a horse on a horse in the sky. He always had a thought that he could not let go of the Ming Dynasty and the emperor, but this is also normal and normal. However, the name Lijin is indeed very suitable for setting up a card and tax on the canal. It is concise and to the point that merchants know what it means. It's just that the word "Lijin" has heard it in a trance.

Sun Chuanting looked at him and drank a little too much. After talking about the name of "Lijin", he smiled and said:

"Mr. Li, don't be too proud of the lords in the court. Over the years, Shandong soldiers and horses have been so low-key and obscure. Those fools in the court may not have any concerns when doing things."

After a pause, Sun Chuanting drank another glass of wine, and then said slowly:

"The transportation of goods in the south and north has always been a great fortune. Most of the southern merchants were wealthy families in Jiangnan. The ministers in the court were all from Jiangnan Shilin, and they were closely related to each other. The transportation of the canal was so profitable, why wouldn't the court collect taxes and money? It's not that I don't want to collect it, but I can't move it. I wonder if Lord Li still remembers the leader of the Donglin, Li Sancai. That is the leader of the Donglin who was recorded by the general."

Speaking of this, Sun Chuanting's face turned red and looked a little drunk. When Wei Zhongxian investigated the Donglin Party, he set up a Donglin spot general record, and listed these backbone ministers of Donglin. Donglin and eunuchs fought each other for almost 30 years. It was a temporary reputation for being able to enter this general record. He felt extremely honorable.

Li Meng did not have any in-depth understanding of this, but not only did his subordinates often discuss it, but even Liu Fulai and his father-in-law Yan Yan Zheng often mentioned it. He had some impression.

"At that time, Shenzong sent a tax supervisor to collect taxes on the canal transportation. But Li Sancai's family was a wealthy merchant. Isn't this tax collecting a cut? He immediately clamored and found an excuse to imprison the mine supervisor. Afterwards, he also reported to the emperor to abolish the world's commercial tax. Now, the merchants in Jiangnan and Jiangbei are still praising Li Sancai for being righteous and brave, asking for his orders. Lord Li, your actions are probably a riot in the north and south, and there is no Li Sancai. There is also Qian Muzhai and Ruan Jizhi, please be careful..."

After hearing this, Li Meng understood that if he drew Lijin, he would be in opposition to a huge interest group, which was a wealthy merchant in Jiangnan and Jiangbei. These people had close ties with ministers and scholars in the officialdom, and even the court had taxes. They tried their best to fight against each other. Don't say that they were not correcting their reputation.

Thinking about these people clamoring in the court and the country, Li Meng also felt it was troublesome. But this trouble was similar to the need to peel the oranges. Sun Chuanting had another drink and said with a smile:

"It's okay, it's okay, it's just this trouble. Shandong has 100,000 spirit armor. These noises are just crows, but it's annoying to hear it, and there's nothing to do. These people... compare themselves with famous officials... but they are just the ability to make mistakes..."

After saying so much, Sun Chuanting was drunk and didn't care whether he was rude or not. He lay on the table and slept soundly. Li Meng was excited. The firecrackers were crackling outside, and the excited shouts of his family could be heard. Li Meng poured himself a glass of wine and drank it all in one go.

The recent sorrow has swept away, and I only feel that the sky is wide in front of me. The fireworks outside are colorful, and various colors are reflected on the window paper. With a "click", I don't know what kind of fireworks exploded in the sky, and it makes the room brighter. Li Meng raised the empty cup in his hand, not knowing where to greet him.

This year, everyone in Jiaozhou Camp has been having a very happy life.

After receiving the letter from the Confucius Mansion, Chen Xinjia was relieved and found a good home for his daughter. However, he also understood that the Confucius Mansion agreed to his marriage request, and the things mentioned in the letter must be conditions.

Chen Xinjia, as the Minister of War, naturally knew how difficult it was, but he felt that he had to do this.

The head of the Ministry of War Zhang Ruoqi was sent to Hong Chengchou's army to supervise the army and urged Hong Chengchou to accelerate his march. These were the main reasons for Songshan's defeat, although the supervisor Zhang Ruoqi had not returned to the capital yet.

However, after Wu Sangui fled back to Shanhaiguan, some news gradually came out of the officers and soldiers who retreated from Songshan, which was nothing more than how the army was forced by the supervisor, and the imperial court's secret orders and orders. It was precisely because of these factors that the governor, such as Hong Chengchou, who had led troops for many years, made a rash advance. He was led by Huang Taiji and captured the retreat route and surrounded Songshan.

After Songshan was defeated, the court was extremely frightened. The censors knew that if they said something rashly at this time, they would definitely be pissed off by Emperor Chongzhen.

But almost half a year has passed. Who should bear this responsibility in the court? Although Emperor Chongzhen should be the most responsible for this great defeat, the censors certainly did not dare to say this, but there must be a minister responsible for this.

Chen Xinjia knew that as long as the censors started to speak, the possibility of this responsibility on him was the greatest, and he would inevitably be charged with beheading the head and abandoning the market.

Now we must find something to divert the attention of the censors. Arrogant, domineering, bullying scholars, and insulting civilized military generals are quite good goals.
Chapter completed!