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

Chapter 374 Conspiracy
Capital.

After the great victory in Ningyuan, the whole court was in an uproar, and everyone was excited, as if the Jiannu would be defeated after this battle.

But in fact, the Ming army did not gain much advantage in the Battle of Ningyuan. Instead, the battle of Juehua Island caused extremely heavy losses to the Ming army. Not only were more than 10,000 Liaodong soldiers and civilians massacred, but a large amount of supplies stockpiled on Juehua Island were also burned.

Although the court discussed these two battles separately, they were actually the same battle. If calculated in this way, the losses of the Ming army far exceeded those of the Later Jin Jiannu. However, in order to boost morale, appease people's hearts, and reduce the impact of the Battle of Juehua Island, the court tacitly separated them, vigorously promoting the former and keeping silent about the latter.

It can be considered a kind of helplessness, but even so, the problems brought about by the Battle of Juehua Island must be solved. Because of such a huge loss, the reserve materials in Liaodong are seriously insufficient. The Ming court needs to mobilize materials to rebuild Juehua Island for military use.

But how easy is it to do this in a short period of time? The stockpiling of materials on Juehua Island was prepared when Sun Chengzong was in office, and it took several years to complete. All the savings and reserves of so many years were gone overnight, and it was impossible to fill such a large gap all at once.

But no matter how difficult it is, it must be done. This is not only recognized by Emperor Tianqi, but also by Wei Zhongxian. Although the Jiannu returned empty-handed under the city of Ningyuan, who can guarantee that the Jiannu will not continue to send troops next?

If the Jiannu send troops to western Liaoning again in a few months, the reserves of Ningyuan City will not be able to support a long-term war. As an important material base on the front line, Juehua Island bears the logistical pressure of the Ningjin Defense Line, so it is very important to rebuild the Juehua Island base.

In addition, in the Battle of Ningyuan, although Yuan Chonghuan repelled Nurhaci with strong fortresses and powerful artillery, the loss of gunpowder and other materials in Ningyuan was extremely large. After the war, due to the destruction of the Juehua Island base, Ningyuan's supplies could only be transported from Shanhaiguan, which left a shortage of supplies in Shanhaiguan and other places. In addition, the distance from Shanhaiguan to Ningyuan was not short, and land transportation was very unsafe, so it was necessary to rebuild the Juehua Island base.

At the same time that Yuan Chonghuan was appointed Governor of Liaodong, Emperor Tianqi also decided to rebuild the base on Juehua Island and stockpile a large amount of supplies on Juehua Island for military use in preparation for a possible war in the future.

Emperor Tianqi directly handed this matter over to Wei Zhongxian. After receiving the order, Wei Zhongxian sent people to the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Revenue to convey the order, requiring the two ministries to take inventory of the required materials as soon as possible and make preparations for rebuilding Juehua Island. Moreover, they were not given much time, only two months, and it must be completed no later than June 10th.

After the task fell to the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Revenue, the two ministries complained bitterly that it was extremely difficult to complete such a major task in such a short time. But Wei Zhongxian didn't care about that. He wanted the result instead of the process. In addition to completing the task given to him by Emperor Tianqi, Wei Zhongxian did not forget his more important task, which was to continue to attack the Donglin Party and completely wipe out the Donglin Party, which was almost powerless.

Although Wei Zhongxian was born a gangster, he had improved a lot in these years by helping Emperor Tianqi handle government affairs. He was of course aware of the difficulties in completing such an important task in such a short time. But he just suppressed it, and he suppressed it unconditionally. In addition to completing the task, another purpose was to purge the Donglin Party.

Wei Zhongxian knew the situation of various departments in the court very well. In recent years, the Donglin Party controlled the government, but did not do much work, but made a lot of money. Especially in the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Revenue, the Donglin Party colluded with each other and emptied a lot of things, passing off inferior goods as good ones, or falsifying the amount, which was a regular operation, and there were countless loopholes.

This time, by rebuilding the Juehua Island base, it was a good opportunity to investigate these problems openly, dig out those corrupt officials, and then use these solid evidence to deal a heavy blow to the Donglin Party. Wei Zhongxian's plan was wicked, but from the perspective of the Ming Dynasty itself, although Wei Zhongxian did this to strike down political enemies, it was also for the purpose of cleaning up the Ming Dynasty's internal affairs, which was a good thing.

The sky gradually darkened. Somewhere in the capital, a middle-aged man with a long beard was discussing with another slightly fat man behind closed doors.

Under the candlelight that had just been lit, both of them looked unhappy. They both held high official positions in the court, one was a third rank official and the other a minor third rank official. A third rank official was equivalent to a vice minister in a department, while the power of a minor third rank official was not much different.

"With the eunuch party forcing us like this, I'm afraid it will be difficult to get through this." The bearded man had an extremely ugly expression on his face, his fists clenched on his knees, his look extremely solemn.

The slightly fat man sighed and said, "Wei Yan's behavior is really like Xiang Zhuang dancing with a sword to target Pei Gong! How can we prepare so many supplies in such a short time? If we fail to do so, Wei Yan will definitely make trouble. I have heard the news today that the treasury books have long fallen into Wei Yan's hands. If we can't get anything out by then, Wei Yan will use the treasury books as an excuse to make trouble, and we will die without a burial place."

"Wei Yan! He and I can never coexist!" The bearded man was so angry that his face was distorted and his teeth were chattering, but even though he cursed, he could do nothing.

Wei Zhongxian was really vicious. He had already planned out the material preparations he proposed. Wei Zhongxian had obtained the inventory book before that. The so-called inventory book was an account book, which recorded in detail the amounts of production, warehousing, outbound shipment, and balance.

The amounts proposed by Wei Zhongxian were exactly the numbers on inventory. According to common sense, these amounts could be obtained because that was how they were recorded in the inventory books.

But the problem is, where is the common sense? The actual inventory of the Ming Dynasty's warehouse has always been far less than the book inventory. Generally speaking, a difference of 20% to 30% between the two is normal. In serious cases, the actual inventory is less than half of the book inventory.

Where did the missing parts go? Need I ask? They had already been sold by the upper and lower hands, and the money from the sale was naturally divided among everyone.

This kind of thing has been going on for a long time and has become a routine many years ago. After the Donglin Party came to power, there were more such small actions. In the past, everyone was more careful and would even find ways to fill in the gaps by moving money around. But in the past few years, the Donglin Party has been in control of the government and everyone has been unscrupulous. They only thought about making money and didn't even think about filling the gap. As a result, the loophole became even bigger.

This time, Wei Zhongxian directly issued an order to collect materials and transport them, under the pretext of rebuilding Juehua Island, and only gave such a short time. After years of loopholes, even gods could not fill them in just two months. These days, the bearded man and the slightly fat man racked their brains to think of all ways, but the current material reserves are still far from the book inventory. When the time comes, Wei Zhongxian will personally bring people to transport the materials, and then it will be impossible to hide it anyway.

Wei Zhongxian's eunuch party is now in full swing, and the Donglin Party is suffering. Especially after Yang Lian and Zuo Guangdou were persecuted to death, the Donglin Party members were even more sad and lamented. The vicious Wei Zhongxian would never let the Donglin Party go. This time, he used Juehua Island to rebuild, and Wei Zhongxian's purpose was very clear, that is, to catch the Donglin Party's handle and completely destroy the remaining forces of the Donglin Party in one fell swoop.

Once Wei Zhongxian accomplished this, not only the two of them, but the entire Donglin Party would be doomed. Thinking of the consequences, the two of them couldn't help but sweat.

"Let's put aside the irreconcilable conflicts for now. The key is how to resolve this matter. You also know that this matter is not a trivial matter. If Wei Yan succeeds, the consequences will be disastrous. If it were just you and me, it would be fine. It would be nothing more than a quick fix, but my Donglin Party is destroyed in an instant. I really don't want to accept this! To be honest, brother, I have already made preparations. If it doesn't work out, I will end my life..."

The slightly plump man sighed, and when he saw the bearded man looking at him, he smiled bitterly and took out a small porcelain bottle from his arms.

This small porcelain bottle looks inconspicuous, about the size of a finger, with the mouth of the bottle sealed with wax, and no one knows what is inside.

“What is this…?” The bearded man was startled and asked in a trembling voice.

The slightly fat man nodded silently and smiled bitterly, "I got this with great difficulty. It is said that one drop in the mouth will only take two breaths to understand. I am ashamed. I think I don't have the character of Yang Lian, Zuo Guangdou and others, and I can't stand Wei Yan's torture. If I fail, I am ready. I can be considered to have a quick death."

The long-bearded man's eyes stayed on the porcelain vase, and he sighed after a long while. The words of the slightly fat man touched his heart. Thinking of the miserable conditions of Yang Lian, Zuo Guangdou and others in prison, the muscles on the long-bearded man's face trembled involuntarily. Like the slightly fat man, he also had no awareness of being tortured by the eunuch party, and was even more unwilling to be tortured in this way. If this was the case, ending it in this way was a solution.

"How many of these are there?" Thinking of this, the bearded man pointed at the porcelain bottle and asked.

"This thing is not easy to mix, and I don't have much. I prepared this one specially for you, brother." The chubby man said softly.

"You are thoughtful." The bearded man's expression relaxed, as if a stone in his heart had suddenly fallen to the ground. He nodded, reached out to take the small porcelain bottle, and his fingers brushed across the smooth porcelain bottle. He stared at it for a long time before carefully putting it away.

After the bearded man put away the porcelain bottle, the slightly fat man said, "Brother, don't use this thing lightly unless it is absolutely necessary."

"I can save myself that."

"In addition..." The slightly fat man hesitated, looked up, and then said: "I have thought about it for a long time in the past few days, and I think there may be a way to save this matter."

As soon as these words came out, the bearded man immediately perked up and quickly asked the slightly plump man what solution he had thought of.

The slightly plump man did not speak immediately. He stood up and walked to the door, opened it and looked out. Seeing that there was no one outside and it was very quiet all around, he closed the door and walked back to his seat. Then the slightly plump man lowered his voice, put his mouth close to the bearded man's ear and whispered a few words.

As the slightly fat man spoke, the long-bearded man could sit still at first, but soon his eyes widened and he showed a look of astonishment. After the slightly fat man finished speaking, the long-bearded man didn't come back to his senses for a long time. Only after a long time, he looked at the slightly fat man with a complicated expression.

"Brother, this... this..."

"Brother, this is our only chance!" The slightly fat man gritted his teeth and said, "As the saying goes, a man of small mind is not a gentleman, and a man of no evil is not a hero. To achieve great things, one should not be too particular about small matters. This is the only thing we can do now."

"But what if..."

"There is no such thing as a chance of failure. If we don't do it, we will just surrender. Not only will you and I not be able to save our lives, but the rest of you will also be captured by Wei Yan. In this way, there is still a glimmer of hope! Brother, if you don't make a decision, you will suffer the consequences. If this fails, I will take the responsibility alone and will never implicate others!"

The bearded man had a very complicated expression, with his eyes full of confusion. He thought for a long time and asked the slightly plump man if he was sure about doing this. The slightly plump man smiled and said that this was not difficult to do, he was very sure, as long as he thought about the aftermath. Once successful, the difficulties they faced would be solved, and their Donglin Party would have a chance to breathe.

The man with the long beard continued to think about it for a long time, and finally he was moved. He nodded and agreed to it. At the same time, he told the chubby man that the news must not be leaked and no one should be told before doing this, not even other people in the Donglin Party.

Seeing that the bearded man agreed with his suggestion, the slightly fat man finally put his mind at ease and patted his chest to assure himself that he knew the importance of the matter. Since the two had reached an agreement, the next step was to discuss the details. They immediately whispered to each other and conspired until the middle of the night before they finalized it.

(End of this chapter)