After sleeping all day, Li Xiao came to Cui Chengxiu's mansion again as agreed. Li Xiao admitted that there was a gambling element last night, but he was right. What he wants to know now is, why? Why did Wei Zhongxian keep him a small child?

The boss.

After giving Cui Chengxiu a half-length mirror, the famous traitor immediately asked Li Xiao if he had eaten with a smile. After receiving a positive answer, he directly introduced Li Xiao into his study.

"You don't know why I came to you!" Cui Chengxiu sat down at the main seat and asked with a smile.

"I don't know." Li Xiao sat down and held his hands.

After the servants of the Cui Mansion served tea, they withdrew. Only Li Xiao and Cui Chengxiu were left in the room!

"Now we are grasshoppers on a rope. You can't jump, and you can't fly me." Cui Chengxiu's finger moved back and forth between himself and Li Xiao. Li Xiao had to admit depressedly that he had now put on

The eunuch's coat.

Why the hell is this so awkward! I am now a member of the eunuch party!

"After what happened last night, whether you like it or not, you have been branded as the Governor, and you can't wash it off even if you want to. Today Zhao Nanxing and the Governor had a big quarrel, and everyone knew that it was the Governor who defended

I know you. Do you know why we protect you?"

"Don't know?" Li Xiao's answer was very honest, he really didn't know.

"The Governor is just and selfless, and likes to promote talents for the country. Seeing that you are a talented person who serves the country, I will do my best to help you."

"Uh...!" Li Xiao was very doubtful whether what he said was human language. Wei Zhongxian is fair and selfless? He also likes to promote talents for the country? Li Xiao wants to ask back, do you believe it yourself?

"Do you believe this?" Seeing Li Xiao's embarrassed expression, Cui Chengxiu asked again with a smile.

Li Xiao never imagined that Cui Chengxiu would actually ask him this.

"Uh...! I don't believe it!" Li Xiao told the truth. He didn't believe it even if it was a news broadcast or a trick.

"Yeah! I don't believe it either. Since you and I don't believe it, then let's say something real and talk about it." Cui Chengxiu paused and seemed to be organizing his words.

"Actually, I protect you just so that you can fight. Only you can defeat the Tatars in Liaodong, at least you will not let the Tatars launch a large-scale attack on our Ming Dynasty again.

You have also seen the current situation in the court. Donglin and we are on the same level. I know that you actually don’t like to see us in your heart. Don’t deny it, your eyes betray you.

Sometimes I actually look down on myself. I have to listen to a eunuch shouting and drinking all day long. If my ancestors find out, they will definitely scold me Cui Chengxiu and go to hell. But there is no way, I am old and young. After becoming this official

Even if you enter Vanity Fair, who dares to say that you can only make friends and not offend others? If you are not an official, the whole family will be stepped into the mud by villains. Everyone must live and live well, there is no way!

I really want to be Zhao Nanxing's dog, but you ask him if he is willing? Even if I were to be his dog, I would just stew dry vegetables in a pot and chew him until there is no bones and dregs left, and I would have to call him a fool when I spit it out.

Your warm face has never touched someone else's cold buttocks? To put it bluntly, they don't regard us as human beings at all.

You must have heard how your majesty came to the throne. It was the Donglin Party who worked hard to create it. When your majesty ascended the throne, he generously rewarded the Donglin Party members. Zhao Nanxing called it "Zhongzhengyingyingchao"!

But why does Your Majesty still support the Governor and let him build a force in the court? Don't you think that without the support of the emperor, the Governor can easily build such a force?

The governor has the advantage of being a governor. He is a prisoner. His status restricts him to being a slave, and it is absolutely impossible for him to become a master one day. No matter how powerful his power is and how high his status is, all he needs is a note from Your Majesty.

, you can strip him clean.

On the other hand, those people in Donglin are all arrogant. They look down on this one and that one, as if no one in the world can be an official unless they are from the Donglin Party.

Prevent one party from becoming dominant and powerful officials like Zhang Juzheng. This is something that the royal family has always been very vigilant about!

Donglin's power was so great that the emperor had to be on guard. Only then did the Governor come into being, and only then did we, the Duke, gather around him.

If you say something that shouldn't be said, let's say it in this study. I won't admit it outside this door.

Do you think being an official is all about loyalty to the Ming Dynasty, loyalty to His Majesty, and the common people? There are such moral masters, but they are definitely rare figures in a hundred years. They are absolute leaders in the officialdom.

Alien!

In the officialdom, there are actually people like me. Promotion and wealth are what everyone pursues. If not for these privileges, who the hell is addicted to becoming an official. Do you think the butts of those people in Donglin are really clean? Go check it out.

, whoever doesn’t have hundreds or thousands of acres of land in his hometown. If he really has hundreds of acres of land, then he must be a good and upright official.

Not for promotion? Do you think Donglin will fight to the death to ensure His Majesty ascends the throne? Not for promotion? Who do you think would risk losing his head to come up with three major cases?

It’s a bit too much and a bit confusing! I just want to tell you that no matter Donglin or we people, we are all just living together. What does it mean to have a family, a country and a world, and how to create peace for all generations? These days are pure farts, really

It is true to put gold and silver in your pocket and live a wealthy life.

Since everyone eats in one pot, we must at least ensure that this pot exists. The Ming Dynasty is our pot, and the Tatars are here to smash the pot. We people are not afraid of fighting no matter how hard we fight. But the pot cannot be smashed, and this pot must be smashed.

Everyone has nothing to eat.

You are the one who has been used to stop the Tatars from smashing the pot for so many years. Only you can defeat the Tatars, the rest Xiong Tingbi, Yuan Yingtai, and Wang Huazhen are all embroidered pillows. So I suggest that the governor protect you!"

Oh my god! This is really a teaching template for Houheixue. What did Cui Chengxiu eat today that he couldn't digest? He was so heartbroken. Counting on this person's sincerity, Li Xiao felt that it would be more reliable to look forward to world peace.

"Uh...! I've learned a lot." Li Xiao held it in for a long time and could only say this.

"Do you know why Your Majesty chose the Governor instead of Wang An and the Wei Dynasty?"

Li Xiao shook his head and said he didn't know.

"Because the governor can make money.

The country of Ming Dynasty seems to have a lot of acres of land, but the acres of land that actually pay taxes are getting less and less. The court wants to raise troops, so the Tatars are struggling in Liaodong. Do you think it can be done without raising troops? They started tossing in the Wanli year, and the people in the northwest

Goodbye, Yang Yinglong from the southwest, and the Japanese pirates from Korea. Each one is more difficult to deal with than the other. Money is like running water. The battle is won and the national treasury is emptied!

By now, the state treasury has been unable to make ends meet.

The imperial court does not make or grow money, so what should the treasury do if it loses money? It can only collect taxes. Why do you think Lord Wanli risked the disgrace of the world and sent internal supervisors to collect mining taxes? To put it bluntly, the imperial court has no money.

This is the conflict between Donglin and the court. Li Sancai resisted the mining tax. What do you really think he was doing for the common people? Ask how many coal mines in Shaanxi belong to Li Sancai’s family? How many coal mines belong to his Donglin family?

Xian?

Nowadays, the feud between the Governor and the Donglin Party is at loggerheads, but actually the root of it is also the word money.

We need to raise troops in the Northeast, and we need to raise troops in the Northwest. There are pirates making trouble in the South, and it won't work if we don't raise soldiers. We need money to raise soldiers, to raise soldiers. As the same saying goes, if the court doesn't make money, it won't grow. Where does the money come from?

You have to count on taxes.

But the rule of the country for many years is that officials and gentry do not pay taxes. In fact, to put it bluntly, those in Donglin do not pay taxes. In order to get money, the governor targeted them.

What are the political differences and what is controlling the government? In fact, the root lies in what the governor wants to implement, that is, the officials and the gentry should work as one and pay for the food.

I am also an official and a gentry, and my family owns several thousand acres of land. I am not willing to pay the grain to both officials and gentry, but both the governor and the emperor want to do this. I just said that the governor is protecting you to prevent the Tatars from ruining the pot. I will protect you.

, is to allow you to regain Liaodong. At least consolidate Shanhaiguan and not let the Tatars step into Shanhaiguan!"

"Mr. Cui, you are kidding me. I am the boss, and I am considered a seventh-rank official until I die. You asked me to regain Liaodong, why don't you let the Tatars set foot in Shanhaiguan? This is the responsibility of the governor of Jiliao! I

That’s what I want to do, but who will listen to me? You won’t let the Governor recommend me to be the Governor of Jiliao, will you?”

Cui Chengxiu looked Li Xiao up and down: "You are thinking too much."

"Recover Liaodong if you can. You can do it or not. But the bottom line is to ensure that Shanhaiguan is not breached. If you can do it, Mao Wenlong is the new Jiliao Governor. As for you, the commander-in-chief of Shanhaiguan is you, Li

That's awesome.

You must think clearly, you can do it. I, Cui Chengxiu, will guarantee you a promotion and wealth with just four words. If you can't do it, the Tatars will be imprisoned. I, Cui Chengxiu, will give you four words, confiscating your family and exterminating your clan."

"You guys have decided on this matter? Governor Ji Liao is a first-rank official, and you, Mr. Cui, have said that it probably won't count. As far as I know, Dong Lin's favorite is Sun Chengzong."

"You don't have to worry about this, you just know what you have to do."

"Can I refuse?"

"Can't!"

"If I must refuse, what will be the consequences?"

"The Donglin Party and the Governor will become your enemies, and it will be useless even if you send His Majesty a glass mountain. Also, you and your brothers Mao Wenlong and Ao Canghai will all die in the capital. They will die miserably!

"

"You threaten me!"

"Even so, in fact, as long as in this city of Beijing, no one can fight against these two forces at the same time, not even the one from Qianqing Palace."

"I understand that the taxes collected by the officials and gentry as a whole are to support the army. As long as we don't raise soldiers, or we don't raise so many soldiers, we don't have to spend so much money, and there is no need for the government and gentry to pay the grain as a whole.

This is in the interest of you, Dong Lin, and all the officials and gentry. So you united and wanted to use me, because I can defeat the Tatar soldiers with very few soldiers.

Tell me! How many troops are you planning to disband after Mao Wenlong takes office?"

"Smart! Since you are a smart person, it is easy to talk, 150,000!" Cui Chengxiu said coldly.

Li Xiao shook the revolver on his waist!

"As far as I know, there are a total of 210,000 troops in the passes along Shanhaiguan. You suddenly laid off 150,000 people and asked me to guard Shanhaiguan? Do you know that from Laolongtou to Balipu, Shanhaiguan has sufficient defense lines?

It's three hundred miles long. You give me 70,000 people and you calculate for me how many people there are for one mile of land. I must have a reserve team in hand!

When the time comes, the Shanhaiguan defense line will be like a sieve, and the Tatar cavalry can gallop at will. Do you really think that I, Li Xiao, have wings and can fly? If you want to confiscate your family and exterminate your clan, why don't you just kill me with one knife now?"

"One hundred and thirty thousand! Abolition of one hundred and thirty thousand troops. This is the lowest bottom line."

"Twenty thousand people, at most, 120,000 people will be laid off. And I have the final say on who will be laid off and who will not be laid off, but you have to execute it."

"Are you talking about business with me? Why do all the good things belong to you? You decide the list of people to be eliminated. We will do the things that offend others. We are not as smart as you."

"Don't tell me, this is just a business. I just made part of my conditions. I estimate that you can save at least three million taels of silver a year through this layoff. I want two hundred thousand taels!"

"You are so poor that you are crazy. Be careful that you have the money but not the life to spend it."
To be continued...