Chapter 136: Enthusiastic Wei Zhongxian
"I obey your order!" Zheng Shiyi hurriedly accepted the order.

Chongzhen also warned: "Keep an eye on your subordinates, don't take the opportunity to embezzle. All the silver earned from selling out the country must be sent to the inner treasury without a cent missing, understand?"

At the end, Chongzhen's eyes were faintly threatening.

Since meeting Wang An, Chongzhen has become more and more aware of the true colors of these officials. He is no longer the naive little emperor who he was when he first came to power.

If we say that in history, when Chongzhen first ascended the throne, he still had expectations for the civil and military officials in the court and the Donglin Party, hoping to turn the tide with the help of the officials.

Under Wang An's influence, Chongzhen learned from Wang An the true face of Yuan Chonghuan and the Donglin Party, whom he regarded as his right-hand men. He also experienced the usefulness of Wei Zhongxian and the treasonous behavior of the eight Shanxi merchants. Chongzhen no longer viewed people in absolute black and white.

Good is good, bad is bad.

Therefore, even Zheng Shiyi, who seems to be fine at the moment, is not absolutely trustworthy in his mind.

Chongzhen was already a suspicious person in history, and now he has been made even more suspicious by Wang An. It is hard to tell whether this is a good thing or a bad thing.

However, there is one positive change, that is, Chongzhen is still as eager for silver as before.

However, in the original history, Chongzhen had limited talent in making money, except for asking for donations and impatiently levying suppression funds.

But since he listened to Wang An's advice and confiscated the salt merchants, Chongzhen seemed to have opened the door to a new world and was always thinking about who to confiscate.

This time when the Shanxi merchants were being prosecuted, they naturally would not give up such a good way to make money as confiscating their property, and they very mercenaryly advised Zheng Shiyi not to be greedy for "his money."

Zheng Shiyi was a little surprised. In the past, Chongzhen would never have said such inappropriate words.

However, Zheng Shiyi did not think much about it and just followed the order.

After Zheng Shiyi left, Chongzhen sat alone on the dragon throne and suddenly felt a little confused.

The rise of the Jurchens, the madness of Ligdan Khan, and the increasingly frequent provocations of the Mongolian tribes against the Central Plains dynasties caused frequent crises in the nine borders of the Ming Dynasty.

However, these are always just border troubles. It is understandable that the foreign races are still determined to destroy us, but why did the Ming Dynasty's own people also stand up against the court?

Civil uprisings broke out frequently across the country, including the White Lotus Sect in Shandong, the Two Kings in Shaanxi, and countless small-scale peasant uprisings.

Now, even some despicable and shameless businessmen have begun to betray the Ming Dynasty openly. The Ming Dynasty has not even finished its meal, but these people have already started selling pots!

Look at the civil and military officials in the court. How many of them are truly loyal to the emperor and patriotic?
The file that Zheng Shiyi had just given him mentioned that although Yuan Chonghuan and Zu Dashou accepted bribes from Shanxi merchants, it was a delaying tactic that had been planned long ago.

However, Zu Dashou's brother-in-law Wu Xiang and his son Wu Sangui sincerely accepted bribes and even took shares in the company, helping Shanxi merchants to resell contraband.

You must know that Wu Xiang is a border general of the imperial court and a first-rank general!
And Wu Sangui only passed the military examination in the first two years. It should be said that the imperial court was kind to this family, but they helped illegal businessmen to sell out the country!

Why is this happening? It seems like the Ming Dynasty has been abandoned by most people.

The reason why they still gathered around him was just to suck Daming's blood and eat Daming's flesh. They looked at Daming with cold eyes and waited for Daming to die.

"Shouldn't they be the most patriotic? After all, without the Ming Dynasty, how could these people be so prosperous and wealthy? The only reason they can be the best is because the Ming Dynasty court thinks highly of them."

"But in the end, it seems that these people are the ones who want Daming to die the most..."

Chongzhen thought of his father-in-law Zhou Kui and Duke of Chengguo Zhu Chunchen again. While they were enjoying the favor given by the court, there were so many relatives and nobles in the Ming Dynasty... Confused and angry, Chongzhen looked at the files again and looked at the names of Wu Xiang and Wu Sangui.

Although the memorials of Yuan Chonghuan and Zu Dashou had also arrived in the capital, they contained many excuses for Wu Xiang and his son.

But they should have also expected that the Jinyiwei had already reported the true situation to me, right?
Chongzhen thought about this and suddenly said tiredly, "Wang Chengen."

"I'm here!" Wang Chengen responded quickly.

Chongzhen rubbed his eyes and said, "Issue an order to dismiss Wu Xiang from his post as the general of Liaodong and never employ him again; as for his son Wu Sangui, for the sake of his young age and ignorance, he will be transferred to the deputy commander of the military headquarters of Nancheng in the capital to see the effect."

Wang Chengen quickly agreed, knowing that the so-called "let's do it for the sake of his young age" was just a cover.

In fact, he probably gave Zu Dashou some face and did not completely destroy the Wu family's future.

After Chongzhen finished speaking, he sighed and said, "My dear friend, please accompany me to visit my brother. I feel very depressed all of a sudden."

…………

"Eunuch Wei, you are a powerful eunuch, you must be very busy, right? How come you have time to play chess with me every day?"

A small courtyard on Xixie Street.

Wang An and Wei Zhongxian sat opposite each other in the front yard, playing chess.

Wei Zhongxian finished his words, leisurely picked up the teacup and took a sip, saying, "Brother An, don't dare to say anything nonsense. What power is all over the court? If the emperor hears it, will I still have my head?"

"Okay, okay, it's my fault for speaking without restraint, okay?" Wang An rolled his eyes.

During this period of time, Wei Zhongxian always came to his house and could not be driven away, and he would stay for the whole day.

This made Yun Zhao and Xiao Wu and Xiao Liu look at themselves and Wei Zhongxian with somewhat strange eyes.

He seemed to be doubting whether he had any feelings beyond friendship with Wei Zhongxian.

Although Wei Zhongxian was no longer as powerful as before, Wang An still could not afford to offend him. He could only serve him patiently with good tea and food and did not dare to treat him poorly.

Fortunately, Wei Zhongxian seemed to be easy to get along with, and he didn't mind Wang An's occasional disrespectful words. Gradually, Wang An became more relaxed in front of Wei Zhongxian, but he still didn't dare to drive him away directly.

Wei Zhongxian chuckled, rolled his eyes and asked, "Why haven't I seen your cousin come over during this period of time?"

When talking about his cousin, Wang An was furious and said, "Who knows what he is doing? He is always out of sight. Sometimes when I ask him where he lives, he won't tell me. He is so secretive. As a cousin, I have no chance to visit him."

Upon hearing this, Wei Zhongxian muttered inwardly, "Hey, isn't it the dragon?"

However, he excused Chongzhen by saying, "It's understandable that young people are so focused on their careers."

"By the way, Brother An, do you want to take your family to Jiangnan for a trip? All the food and lodging expenses are covered by our family!"

However, Wei Zhongxian's proposal was met with disdain from Wang An.

(End of this chapter)