In the imperial study, Zhou Ze waited for less than half an hour before Wang Chengen led a hunchbacked old man with a head full of silver hair into the room.
"Your Majesty, Wei Zhongxian is here!"
"Mm! Let him in! "Zhou Ze nodded and put down the brush in his hand.
"This old servant greets Your Majesty!" The current Wei Zhongxian, who had been imprisoned for many days, looked extremely exhausted. However, the moment he saw Zhou Ze, his spirit became extremely excited. He desperately wanted to grab onto this last life-saving straw.
"Wei Zhongxian, the civil and military officials have urged me to issue an edict to execute you several times. Do you know why I haven't issued an edict to execute you?"
"This old servant... This old servant is slow-witted. I hope Your Majesty can explain it in detail."
Zhou Ze looked at the old man who was kowtowing on the ground with a playful gaze. After a long while, he slowly spoke.
"When my royal brother passed the throne to me, he told me that a loyal and virtuous person can ensure the stability of the throne. 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 was unwilling to attend court when he was still alive?" Wei Zhongxian immediately became excited when he heard Zhou Ze mention the late emperor.
"Oh? Tell me about it! "
"When the late emperor first ascended to the throne, he also wanted to be a wise emperor whose name would go down in history. Unfortunately, the current Great Ming Dynasty is already in a precarious situation. Most of the people in the imperial court are rotten scholars who talk big but have no real ability. They often talk about the saints and the teachings of the ancestors, forcing the late emperor to retreat into the harem and indulge in carpentry!
"As a last resort, the late emperor raised this old servant to fight against the rotten scholars in the imperial court!
"Your Majesty, this old servant is a dog raised by the royal family. If Your Majesty wants to kill this old servant, you only need to issue an edict and you can easily take away this old servant's authority and sentence this old servant to death. This old servant will not have the slightest ability to resist!
"However, Your Majesty, have you ever thought that if this old servant dies, who will take the firepower of the rotten scholars in the imperial court for Your Majesty in the future? Without a vicious dog like this old servant, those who fish for fame but are actually thieves and prostitutes will target Your Majesty. "
"By then, Your Majesty, are you willing to be a wise emperor in the eyes of the courtiers and follow their orders, or are you willing to hide in the imperial harem and ignore the affairs of the court?"
Wei Zhongxian's eyes were filled with anticipation as he looked at Zhou Ze. He had already spoken so clearly. If this Emperor still wanted to kill him, then he would accept his fate.
Zhou Ze remained silent for a long time. In the end, he raised three fingers.
"Three requests!"
"Your Majesty, please speak!" Hearing Zhou Ze make a request, Wei Zhongxian immediately let out a sigh of relief. He was not afraid of the Emperor making a request. He was afraid that this young Emperor was a rash youth who did not understand the Emperor's way of weighing the pros and cons.
"First, I need money, a lot of money. You can't take this money from the people! Is it possible to complete this? "
"Your Majesty, don't worry. Nowadays, there are countless tyrants and rich gentry in the Great Ming Empire, especially in Jiangnan, they are even more uncountable! The wealth in the hands of these families ranges from a few hundred thousand taels to a few million taels of silver. This old servant only needs to find a few families who have committed serious crimes every year to confiscate their property, and it will be enough for Your Majesty's needs! "
Zhou Ze shook his head. "This is not a long-term solution. I need you to implement the business tax. One out of ten taxes, no one can stop it!"
Hearing this, Wei Zhongxian frowned. "Your Majesty, you may not know this, but when the previous Emperor was alive, this old servant had implemented the business tax according to the previous Emperor's wishes. Moreover, it was a very light one out of twenty taxes. However, the tax collector sent to collect the tax was beaten to death by the people as soon as he arrived in Jiangnan! I'm afraid that the merchants will be even more unwilling to accept Your Majesty's request of one out of ten taxes! "
"Hehe, whether it is one out of twenty taxes or one out of ten taxes, they will not accept it. In that case, why not raise the tax rate?"
"The business tax is not urgent for the time being. Wait until I completely control the military power in the capital camp, then slowly implement it!"
"In that case, as long as Your Majesty supports this old servant in the military, this old servant is confident that the business tax will be completely implemented!"
Zhou Ze nodded and continued, "Second, from today onwards, you will resign from your position as the director of the Ceremony Directorate and become the commander of the East Factory and the commander of the West Factory. I need the court to maintain stability, but I don't want the courtiers to be too free and come to find trouble with me! Do you know what to do? "
"Don't worry, Your Majesty. This old servant is the best at this! There are not many people under the buttocks of those rotten scholars who are clean. Whoever makes Your Majesty unhappy, this old servant will deal with them! "
Zhou Ze smiled. "This is your old profession. However, there is one thing that I want. I want real evidence, not evidence that I casually frame. You have to remember this clearly!"
"Don't worry, Your Majesty. Just the various evidence that this old servant has is enough to drag out most of the people in the court and behead them. There is no need to frame them out of thin air!"
Zhou Ze believed this. He knew very well that in the current court of the Great Ming Dynasty, there were almost no good people in the so-called Donglin Faction. All of them pretended to be poor, but in reality, all of them were extremely greedy. If they were all dragged out and beheaded, not many of them would be wronged!
"Third, you should be familiar with the Five Barracks, Three Thousand Barracks, Divine Arms Barracks, and the Imperial Horse Directorate in the capital, right?"
"This old servant understands Your Majesty's meaning. Soon, this old servant will hand over a list of the factions of the generals in each barracks to Your Majesty to help Your Majesty gain control of the military power as soon as possible!"
"In that case, I will have to trouble Superintendent Wei!" Zhou Ze nodded and smiled in satisfaction.
"It is this old servant's duty to share Your Majesty's burdens!" Wei Zhongxian felt as if he had been reborn from the brink of death. Even the sound of his kowtowing became louder.
"In that case, you may leave and begin to arrange the matters that I have given you! As for your appointment as the commander of the East Factory, it will be announced soon! "
"Yes! This old servant will not disappoint Your Majesty's expectations! "Wei Zhongxian bowed and slowly retreated.
After Wei Zhongxian left, Zhou Ze turned his gaze to Wang Chengen.
"Chengen, I am prepared to appoint you as the director of the Ceremony Bureau and the director of the Imperial Horse Directorate. Are you willing?"
"Your Majesty, these two positions carry great responsibilities. This servant is afraid that I will not do well and disappoint Your Majesty!"
"Haha, We have confidence in your abilities!"
Zhou Ze patted Wang Chengen's shoulder and couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. There were still too few people he could use at the moment. In truth, he didn't like this vicious hound, Wei Zhongxian, but he had no choice but to use him. Otherwise, without this vicious hound to keep the courtiers in check, it would be very difficult for him to carry out his plans normally.
.....
In the boundless void, Cheng Hao's figure flickered in and out of existence.
It could be said that the situation of over a hundred students and their movements were all under his nose.
When he saw Zhou Ze's actions after he woke up, he couldn't help but nod. This fellow might look a little lazy, but his mind was very clear. If nothing unexpected happened, this mission was in the bag.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
