Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 316 The villain's revenge from morning to night
Emperor Tianqi promoted Yuan Chonghuan, and Wei Zhongxian was secretly delighted. Then he was just about to go a step further and give Sun Chengzong some more eye drops. It would be even better if he could get rid of Sun Chengzong at the same time.

But he was interrupted by Emperor Tianqi as soon as he brought up the topic. It seemed that Emperor Tianqi had no intention of listening to Wei Zhongxian's slander against Sun Chengzong. This made Wei Zhongxian extremely jealous. Even at this point, Sun Chengzong was still so important in the eyes of Emperor Tianqi. As the most loyal eunuch around Emperor Tianqi, Wei Zhongxian couldn't help but sigh that it was not easy to get rid of Sun Chengzong.

Picking up the tea and drinking it, Emperor Tianqi glanced at Wei Zhongxian. Seeing his indignant expression, he understood what Wei Zhongxian was thinking.

Emperor Tianqi secretly laughed. Although Wei Zhongxian was a useful servant, he was not very cunning and sometimes acted too hastily. However, this was not a bad thing for him. He was just a eunuch. If Wei Zhongxian did not have such a personality and did not show his emotions, he would not trust him so much.

Although he did not intend to let Wei Zhongxian continue to provoke Sun Chengzong, Emperor Tianqi still had to take care of Wei Zhongxian's mood. Just like raising a dog, a dog raised by oneself cannot have its own thoughts. It can only bite whoever the owner tells it to bite, and it must not bite without the owner's permission. Sometimes, you have to throw a bone for it to chew on, so that it can wag its tail at you more happily.

"How is the border trade going?" Emperor Tianqi asked, changing the subject.

When the emperor mentioned border trade, Wei Zhongxian instantly became excited and immediately reported to Emperor Tianqi the situation of overseas trade in the south. According to him, the trade in the south, especially in Haojing, was progressing well. Now that the war in Fujian had ended and the Dutch had been repelled, the Dutch should not dare to cause trouble again for at least a dozen years.

With the retreat of the Dutch, Haojing's overseas trade routes have been restored. It is estimated that the profits this year will be very huge. In addition, with the increase in tax revenue from various places, the court has no shortage of silver for the time being and it is enough to meet expenses.

"Your Majesty, I have calculated carefully. If the silver collected from various places by the end of the year increases by 30% compared to last year, there will be a lot left after deducting the Liaodong military expenses and other expenses."

"Good!" Emperor Tianqi was very happy to hear that. Having money in hand was better than anything else. After being the emperor for several years, Tianqi had long understood that even if he was the emperor, he could not do anything without money. With money, he would be confident. As long as he had enough money in his hands, the Jiannu in Liaodong would be completely solved one day. By that time, the external threat would be solved and the Donglin Party would be eliminated in one fell swoop. With great power in his hands, he would be able to create a prosperous Tianqi era, so that the Ming Dynasty would regain its former glory.

"This is a good job..." The Emperor Tianqi was delighted. He reached out and touched it, took out the jade pendant he carried with him and threw it to Wei Zhongxian: "This thing is a reward for you. Work hard and I will not treat you unfairly."

"Thank you, His Majesty, for your reward..." Wei Zhongxian quickly knelt down and kowtowed, raising his hands and respectfully taking the jade pendant. This was the emperor's personal belongings, and Wei Zhongxian was so moved that tears came to his eyes.

Wei Zhongxian's reaction made Emperor Tianqi even more satisfied. He suddenly remembered another thing and asked.

"I remember that I issued an edict to confer a title on the Mongolian Tenger tribe and allowed them to engage in border trade. How is this going now?"

"Your Majesty, I was just about to tell you." Wei Zhongxian bent over to add water to Emperor Tianqi's teacup, and said with a smile: "Your Majesty's instructions, I will naturally do my best to do it. I have already asked the East Factory and the Embroidered Uniform Guard to do it. The people below have done a good job. The news just came that you have earned this amount of money..."

As he spoke, Wei Zhongxian stretched out his palm and shook it, then uttered a number. When Emperor Tianqi heard it, he instantly became excited and asked hurriedly if the number was correct.
"It's absolutely correct!" Wei Zhongxian swore, "I am watching it personally, how dare those people deceive Your Majesty. Moreover, the silver is on the way and will reach the capital in a few days. I have already arranged it. Once the silver arrives, I will send it to the inner treasury. Your Majesty, don't worry."

"Good! Good!" Tianqi was even happier. He had never thought that he could earn so much money from border trade with Mongolia in such a short time. This unexpected fortune made Tianqi happier than the growth of taxes in Jiangnan and overseas trade. After all, the money from the former went into the Ministry of Revenue, which was the country's money, while the latter went into the inner treasury, which was his private money.

No wonder my grandfather, Emperor Wanli, was keen on sending eunuchs to local areas to serve as mine supervisors and tax supervisors, and he did not give up until his death. Wanli was the emperor, the great Ming emperor. When I was young, I did not understand why my grandfather did this. Now that I am the emperor, I have completely understood my grandfather's intentions. With so much silver in the treasury, I will have a lot more money in my hands, and I am really happy.

Not only that, Wei Zhongxian also told Emperor Tianqi that through trade with the Tengger tribe, the Ming Dynasty also obtained a lot of military supplies, which included horses, cowhide, beef tendons, etc.

These are all good things! The Ming Dynasty had always been short of horses. Previously, the Ming Dynasty had its own horse policy to solve the problem of war horses, but this horse policy went astray after a short period of time and eventually ended in failure.

Whether fighting against the Mongols or the Jiannu in Liaodong, war horses are an extremely important resource. You must know that to deal with nomadic peoples like the Mongols and the Jiannu, it is not enough to rely solely on infantry. The Ming Dynasty must have a strong cavalry, using cavalry against cavalry, and with the cooperation of infantry, there is a possibility of victory.

As for cowhide and beef tendon, they are equally important. The former is the main material for making armor. Although the Ming Dynasty has paper armor and cotton armor, these two types of armor cannot replace traditional armor. Traditional armor is still made of cowhide as the main material. Whether it is protection or durability, it is simply not comparable to paper armor and cotton armor. As for beef tendon, it is even more important. Beef tendon is the main material for making bowstrings. Without beef tendon, the Ming Dynasty cannot make qualified strong bows and cannot play the role of archers on the battlefield. Although firearms are now widely used, because the quality of firearms officially produced by the Ming Dynasty is too poor, the frequency of failure is too high, and even the barrels often explode, the Ming army still prefers to use traditional bows and arrows.

The trade with the Tenger tribe went smoothly. Not only did he get a large amount of silver, but he also got scarce war horses and other supplies, thus strengthening the Ming army's armaments. Upon hearing this, Emperor Tianqi smiled so hard that he couldn't stop.

He immediately praised Wei Zhongxian a few words, commending him for doing a good job and asking him to pay more attention to this matter and that he would be rewarded handsomely if he did a good job.

Without thinking, Wei Zhongxian patted his chest to express his loyalty, saying that he would do a good job according to the emperor's wishes and bring back more silver and things for Emperor Tianqi and the Ming Dynasty.

To be honest, when Weiyuan Guard sent the amount of revenue, Wei Zhongxian was also shocked. He originally thought that although border trade was profitable, it could only earn a few thousand taels of silver at best. But who would have thought that in just one month, the profit from border trade exceeded the expected dozens of times, and this did not include the gifts from his subordinates. If all were added up, the total amount was really astonishing.

Now Emperor Tianqi took the lion's share, and he and his subordinates also got a lot, so everyone from top to bottom was delighted.

Wei Zhongxian was not stupid. How could he give up such a good deal? Not to mention using this to please Emperor Tianqi, he would not let the money he had earned slip away.

Seeing that Emperor Tianqi was in a good mood, Wei Zhongxian took the opportunity to suggest increasing trade. He told the Emperor that if the manufacturing potential of Jiangnan could be further mobilized, not only would more profits be made from overseas trade, but trade with the Tengger tribe would also increase further.

Emperor Tianqi thought Wei Zhongxian's suggestion made sense and agreed to it immediately. Wei Zhongxian was secretly delighted, and he also reminded Emperor Tianqi that as border trade unfolded, someone in the court would surely come out to disrupt the situation, especially those Donglin Party members who were even more jealous of others and would definitely use various excuses to prevent border trade from continuing.

We have to be on guard against this matter. If the Donglin Party persists and raises the banner of competing with the people for profits, or even says that trading with the Mongols is suspected of "aiding the enemy", it might cause trouble.

After hearing this, Emperor Tianqi nodded slightly, indicating that he understood. In fact, he had such an idea without Wei Zhongxian reminding him. However, even if the Donglin Party jumped up and down, it would be useless. He was not stupid. How could he give up such a huge benefit based on a few words from the Donglin Party? These Donglin Party members could not do anything, and could not make money for the court and himself. They shouted about benevolence, righteousness and morality, but in fact they were just stirring up trouble. How could they be satisfied?
Without making any comment and smiling, Emperor Tianqi waved his hand to let Wei Zhongxian rest assured. As long as he did not nod his head, no matter how violent the Donglin Party was, what could they do about it? Besides, didn't Wei Zhongxian still stand in front? Wasn't this servant sent here for this? When the Donglin Party really made trouble, Wei Zhongxian would naturally stand up for him, and he, the emperor, would just sit on the mountain and watch the fight between the tigers, and take sides when appropriate, without having to worry about the Donglin Party at all.

After saying this, Emperor Tianqi thought of Nan Juyi again and asked Wei Zhongxian how to reward Nan Juyi after the Battle of Penghu.

Wei Zhongxian smiled and said that although Nan Juyi had made contributions, he also had faults. He had used clever tricks to deceive the emperor before, and it was good that the emperor did not dismiss him from office. Now he was just making up for his crime by making amends.

Moreover, although the battle of Fujian was won, the Ming Dynasty suffered heavy losses. Overall, Nan Juyi could only make up for his sins with merits. He suggested that Emperor Tianqi did not need to promote Nan Juyi, but only to encourage him with a few words, and at most to reward him with fifty taels of silver as a great favor.

Emperor Tianqi laughed and nodded in agreement with Wei Zhongxian's suggestion. Wei Zhongxian kept saying that the emperor was wise, but he was very proud in his heart. The reason why he deliberately said these words to prevent Nan Juyi from getting promoted was actually very simple. When Nan Juyi first submitted a memorial, Wei Zhongxian spoke well of him. Logically, Nan Juyi should be grateful to Wei Zhongxian.

Nan Juyi did have a great contribution in this victory, but his victory report did not mention Wei Zhongxian at all, which made Wei Zhongxian, who was full of expectations, very angry. In Wei Zhongxian's view, it was his own credit that Nan Juyi escaped the blame and made meritorious contributions. In addition, during the battle of Fujian, Wei Zhongxian was in charge of the capital and instructed his subordinates to help Nan Juyi a lot, especially providing Fujian with a large amount of weapons and other supplies to ensure the success of the war.

Now it's time to reward people for their contributions. You, Nan Juyi, should at least mention yourself when you report your victory, right? Wei Zhongxian actually didn't care about any military achievements. Why would a eunuch like him want such things? But there is a difference between mentioning and not mentioning. If you mention yourself, you can gain more trust in front of Emperor Tianqi and more face in the court. But Nan Juyi didn't mention his own contributions at all, and he simply didn't take him, Eunuch Wei, seriously.

If Nan Juyi can do the first day, Wei Zhongxian can do the fifteenth. Wei Zhongxian is a villain, and villains seek revenge from morning till night. Isn't this a direct eye drop? Poor Nan Juyi in Fujian at this time didn't know it. Just because of a negligence, his merits became a bubble, and there was no further news about promotion.

(End of this chapter)