People in Zongwu: Starting with the Yin Gui Sect

Chapter 331

Wu Yu nodded in satisfaction after hearing that no one escaped, but then he thought of something.

"By the way, take out 20% of the 15 million taels of silver seized this time and distribute it to the people below, and give an extra portion to the families of those who died in the battle!"

When they heard that there was extra money to be taken, both Xu Xianchun and Wei Zhongxian's eyes lit up. 20% was 3 million taels, and even if they split it in half, it would be 1.5 million taels. Thinking of these two people, they immediately kowtowed to thank him.

"Your Majesty, thank you very much, my Lord!"

But Wu Yu shook his head, "Don't thank me in a hurry. This money is given to you with conditions. In the future, the proceeds from each operation will be distributed according to this, but there is one thing that you are not allowed to make a profit from it!"

Wu Yu still understood the principle that if the water is too clear, there will be no fish. Since this kind of thing cannot be stopped, then just put it out in the open. Although it may be less than what they get themselves, at least the money will be safe.

"I (old slave) obey your order!"

The two of them could think of what Wu Yu could think of, so after hearing this, they agreed without hesitation, and at the same time they thought in their hearts that they must teach those who dared to touch this a lesson after returning.

"Okay, that's it. Take the people away for interrogation. All officials involved in this matter who are below the fourth rank should be arrested or killed."

After removing such a cancer from the Ming Dynasty, Wu Yu felt much more comfortable. Although the decree of amnesty was issued a few days ago, not all crimes were included in the amnesty.

After the two men left, Wu Yucai said to Wang Chengen beside him: "My dear companion, write about this matter in the next issue of the Daming Dibao, so that people all over the world can see what kind of virtues these profit-seeking merchants have, and see what reasons those officials in the court have to stop me from levying more commercial taxes!"

On the tenth day of the ninth month of the seventh year of Tianqi, a newspaper about the eight major Shanxi merchants colluding with the enemy and selling out the country completely detonated the entire Beijing city, and even spread to all parts of the country at an incredible speed.

The people who learned about the above content gnashed their teeth in hatred, thinking about how many parents lost their sons, wives lost their husbands, and children lost their fathers in order to protect this country.

But who would have thought that those profit-seeking merchants, for their own interests, disregarded the safety of the country and the people, and resold a large amount of materials to the enemy, making these materials that were originally supposed to support the front line a weapon in the hands of the enemy.

Thinking of this, thousands of people flocked to the Three Law Courts, demanding that all these illegal merchants who colluded with the enemy and betrayed the country be sentenced to death. Even those Donglin Party officials who had requested the emperor to exempt commercial taxes some time ago were scolded.

Compared with the indignation of the people, the Donglin Party officials were gloomy. When they thought of the fact that they had said some time ago that collecting commercial taxes was competing with the people for profits, it was not long before the eight Shanxi merchants headed by the Fan family did such a thing.

When they thought of this, many people wanted to find a hole to crawl into. Of course, it was not because of shame, but because they were angry. They were angry that those Shanxi merchants were caught by the Jinyiwei and the East Factory.

But they were angry, but they could do nothing about it. After several months of development, the "Da Ming Di Bao" has become the most authoritative source of information in the entire Ming Dynasty.

Almost no one would doubt the truth of the content in the Di Bao. Although the title was a bit exaggerated, such as shocking this today and shocking that tomorrow, everything was so true.

It is precisely for this reason that the Donglin Party's voice in the public has almost dropped to the freezing point. Now no matter what they say, no one will believe it. Everyone takes the official newspaper as the standard.

Even the storytellers in the restaurant, which has always been the main means of public opinion, have lost their jobs because no one cares about them.

Of course, they did not think of getting rid of the newspaper behind this newspaper, but no matter how many times they wrote letters, all the memorials would fall into the sea.

Even extreme measures have not been tried, but in the end they all failed without exception, and they lost a lot of manpower in vain.

In the end, they were forced to think about setting up a newspaper to compete with it, but the emperor did not give them this opportunity at all. He directly ordered that all newspapers except the "Da Ming Official Newspaper" were illegal, so they were completely helpless.

A few days later, taking advantage of the incident of the eight major Shanxi merchants, Wu Yu directly convened the third court meeting.

"There are three purposes for holding a court meeting today!"

Before Wang Chengen could shout "If you have something to report, please report it" or "If you have nothing to report, please leave the court", Wu Yu took the lead in talking about the content of this court meeting.

"First, the cabinetSince the fall of Wei Yan, there has been a vacancy in the cabinet, and the Prime Minister has come to me for this matter more than once.

After many discussions with the cabinet, I finally determined the number of people to join the cabinet this time. Now I will take the opportunity of this morning court to announce the list of people to join the cabinet. "

When Wu Yu finished speaking, almost all the officials looked constipated. What did Wei Yan fall? They still remembered that Wei Zhongxian and Xu Xianchun went to Shanxi to arrest the eight major merchants two days ago.

However, when they heard that the main content was the addition of cabinet members, their eyes lit up again, and the officials of the Donglin Party seemed particularly indifferent, obviously they had already made up their minds.

On the contrary, Li Biao and other three cabinet members looked puzzled. When did His Majesty discuss it with them? Why didn't they know it?

Thinking of this, the three of them couldn't help but look at Huang Liji, and then saw that Huang Liji looked calm.

Seeing this, the three of them glared at him and cursed secretly This Prime Minister was not a good person. He did not inform them of such an important matter in advance.

In fact, how could they know that Huang Liji was also confused at this time, wondering when the emperor had discussed it with him, why didn't he know.

However, when he saw that the emperor was also staring at him, he immediately understood the reason. This was clearly using him as a shield.

But even if he knew it, he could not deny it in front of all the civil and military officials, otherwise his position as the Prime Minister of the Cabinet would be over, not to mention that he still had a handle in the hands of the emperor. If it were not for the emperor's efforts to protect him, I am afraid that he would have rolled out of the court like Cui Chengxiu and others.

"Silence! "

Seeing that the officials could not stop for a long time, the officials in charge of maintaining order immediately shouted, and the officials who heard the sound also quieted down.

Seeing that everyone stopped making noise, Wu Yu signaled Wang Chengen beside him to read the decree.

But as he read one by one, the faces of the Donglin Party officials became darker and darker, because the people arranged by His Majesty to join the cabinet did not include the former cabinet chief Han Yu and the former right assistant minister of the Ministry of Rites Qian Qianyi who they had previously recommended.

This made them all wonder if some small actions during this period had angered His Majesty, so that he intended to suppress their Donglin Party. Until they heard the name of Sun Chengzong, their faces looked better.

But when they heard that Wen Tiren was the second cabinet assistant, their faces darkened again.