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

Chapter 453: Reunion on the Two Islands
Sun Yuanhua smiled bitterly but did not answer. Instead, he turned his gaze to Xu Xiancheng.

Xu Xiancheng immediately explained the situation to Li Xin. Although Li Xin was now serving in the Ministry of Works, he was not actually a real official. In addition to being Xu Xiancheng's assistant, Li Xin was more responsible for actual specific work. He did not even have to go to the Ministry of Works. Naturally, he was not aware of the twists and turns in officialdom. It was normal for him not to know some things, but Xu Xiancheng was different.

Xu Xiancheng was not only a deputy minister of the Ministry of Works, but also a supervisory censor. In addition, he was a member of the Imperial Academy and one of the founders of the Fushe Society. The Fushe Society was also known as the Little Donglin Party, so although his official position was not high, his status in the Qingliu was not low. He knew some news that outsiders might not know.

Now the imperial court seemed to have done a lot, but neither the closure of post stations nor the collection of Liao taxes actually played any role. On the contrary, these measures were extremely harmful. The former led to the dismissal of tens of thousands of people from post stations across the country, and these people's unemployment caused instability in many places.

As for the latter, although there is a precedent for the levy of Liaoxiang, as early as the Tianqi period, Wei Zhongxian levied commercial taxes in the name of Liaoxiang in Jiangnan. Now that Liaodong has military needs and military funds are seriously insufficient, it seems that there is no problem in levying Liaoxiang again, but the problem is that the objects of this Liaoxiang are different.

At first, Wei Zhongxian targeted the money collected by the wealthy gentry and merchants in Jiangnan, and mainly levied taxes on the rich areas of Ming Dynasty. But now the so-called Liaoxiang is levied on ordinary people, and the group of people levied is not limited to Jiangnan, but directly expanded to all provinces in the country.

The difference is so obvious. Not to mention whether these operations can make money, even if they can make money, how much of it can be used for practical purposes is another matter.

Let's not talk about other things for now. Xu Xiancheng has absolute say in the Ministry of Works. Since Emperor Chongzhen ascended the throne, the expenses of various departments of the Ministry of Works have increased sharply. Things that could be done with one hundred taels of silver before may not be accomplished with two hundred taels or even three hundred taels now.

The amount of money spent has increased several times, but the actual amount is much less than before. Every time the money passes through several hands, it decreases by several percent. What is going on is known to everyone from top to bottom.

Xu Xiancheng was very unhappy about this, although he was also short of money. You have to know that Xu Xiancheng did not have much money on him when he went to Beijing to take the imperial examination. He was sponsored by his sister and brother-in-law. After passing the imperial examination and becoming an official, Xu Xiancheng was not rich either, otherwise he would not have lived in such an ordinary courtyard.

A gentleman loves money but gets it in a proper way. Xu Xiancheng is not a conservative person, but as a scholar he still has some persistence in his heart. When he was studying abroad, Xu Xiancheng had many friends in Nanjing. Now he is an official in the Ministry of Works and controls the Yuheng Qinglisi. If he wants to get money, he has plenty of opportunities.

But up to now, Xu Xiancheng has never abused his power for personal gain or made a penny in private. Apart from his own salary and the normal "filial piety" in official circles, Xu Xiancheng has never been greedy.

However, sometimes Xu Xiancheng was helpless. It was not easy to stay clean from corruption, not to mention that the entire officialdom was like this. Other officials were involved in corruption, but you kept yourself clean. You became an outlier in the officialdom and were rejected and guarded against. Therefore, Xu Xiancheng could only stick to his original intention. Although he saw and understood many things in his heart, he was powerless and even turned a blind eye and a deaf ear to them.

"Brother Chuyang is going to Liaodong, I am really envious. To be honest, if Commander Yuan hadn't named Brother Chuyang, I would really like to go in his place." Xu Xiancheng couldn't help but shook his head and sighed, looking at Sun Yuanhua with great emotion.

Sun Yuanhua understood why Xu Xiancheng said that, and he also knew the distress in his good friend's heart. Unlike other officials, the young Xu Xiancheng was a talented and ambitious person. Although his current official position was not low, he was also a member of the Qingliu and was at the time of being valued by the court.

But the current atmosphere in the court is really not very good. On the surface, the court has shown a sense of revival since the fall of Wei Zhongxian, but in fact the situation is not so. Let’s not talk about other things for now, just talk about the court affairs. Many things sound good, but the actual situation is unsatisfactory, even worse than when Wei Zhongxian was in power.

Faced with such a situation, it is indeed better to leave Beijing than to stay in the capital. I had heard before that there was an idea of ​​sending Xu Xiancheng away from Beijing, but later this matter was shelved.

The reason for this is that we have to mention Yuan Chonghuan, the governor of Ji and Liao. Others may not know, but Sun Yuanhua knows, because Sun Yuanhua was the person Yuan Chonghuan specifically requested, and he was also Yuan Chonghuan's confidant, so he knew some situations better than outsiders.

Based on Xu Xiancheng's official position and ability, Emperor Chongzhen originally planned to select people from the capital to serve as the Ningqian or Shandong Military Preparations Commissioner, and at the same time select suitable people to serve as the Governor of Liaodong and the Governor of Shandong.

However, this matter had not been finalized and personnel were still being selected. But Yuan Chonghuan, who had just resolved the Ningyuan mutiny, suddenly submitted a memorial to Emperor Chongzhen, proposing the idea of ​​reorganizing Liaodong and hoping that Emperor Chongzhen would support him. He also suggested that the court should not arrange the posts of Governor of Liaodong and Governor of Shandong for the time being, for the sake of the great plan of pacifying Liaodong, and consider these things after he had completed the reorganization in Liaodong.

Out of trust in Yuan Chonghuan, Emperor Chongzhen quickly agreed to this request and gave up the idea of ​​appointing the Governor of Liaodong and the Governor of Shandong. For this reason, the appointment of Ningqian and Shandong Bingbei Dao was shelved. After all, although these two positions were not governors and the official positions were not high, they had considerable power. In the absence of the governor, the power in the hands of the Bingbei Dao was not much different from that of the official governor. Once the appointment was issued, it would violate Yuan Chonghuan's request. For this reason, Emperor Chongzhen terminated the appointment.

This incident directly affected Xu Xiancheng, who was originally a suitable candidate for the Shandong Military Preparations Department. If Yuan Chonghuan's memorial had come later, Xu Xiancheng might have been appointed. But now, as soon as Yuan Chonghuan's memorial was submitted, Emperor Chongzhen suspended all personnel appointments for Ji and Liao, causing Xu Xiancheng to lose this opportunity.

"When I go to Liaodong and meet Commander Yuan, I will definitely recommend you to him. With your talent, you are worthy of being a governor, not to mention a mere military governor of Shandong. When you come to Jiliao, we will serve the country under the command of the commander. Wouldn't it be great to make achievements in Jiliao?" Sun Yuanhua smiled and comforted Xu Xiancheng. Xu Xiancheng laughed after hearing this. Although he knew that this was a comfort, he was very happy. "Brother Chuyang, what about me? You won't forget me, will you?" Li Xin picked up the wine pot and poured a glass of wine for Sun Yuanhua, and asked jokingly with a smile.

Sun Yuanhua immediately laughed again, stretched out his hand and nodded at him: "Of course I won't forget you, my dear brother, I know your talent, how can I miss such a good thing?"

"Hahaha! Well said! Come on, let's have another drink!"

"cheers!"

The three of them raised their glasses and drank together. Then they drank it all in one gulp, put down their glasses, looked at each other and laughed again.

The next day, Xu Xiancheng and Li Xin personally escorted Sun Yuanhua out of the capital, and they accompanied him ten miles out of the city before reluctantly saying goodbye.

After bidding farewell to his good friend, Sun Yuanhua mounted his horse and rode north with his entourage. The sound of horse hooves gradually faded away and soon his figure was no longer seen.

After leaving the capital, Sun Yuanhua headed north and arrived at Shanhaiguan ten days later. After resting for a day in Shanhaiguan, Sun Yuanhua continued to head east towards Ningyuan.

When he arrived in Ningyuan, he found out that Yuan Chonghuan was not in Ningyuan. After asking, he learned that Yuan Chonghuan took a boat to Shuangdao, reportedly to meet with Mao Wenlong. Sun Yuanhua did not take it seriously and stayed in Ningyuan temporarily, waiting patiently for Yuan Chonghuan to come back. However, he never expected that on his way to Ningyuan, a shocking event happened in the Ming Dynasty, and this event was related to Yuan Chonghuan whom he wanted to meet.

A month ago, at the invitation of Yuan Chonghuan, Mao Wenlong took the initiative to travel from Pi Island to Beixunkou for a meeting. However, he did not expect to see Yuan Chonghuan in Beixunkou. After that, Mao Wenlong went to Dengzhou to find Yuan Chonghuan but still could not find him. Finally, he had no choice but to take a boat directly to Juehua Island, and then from Juehua Island to the Ningyuan Governor's Office.

Although the two eventually met in Ningyuan and had a private conversation, the conversation did not produce any results. This made Mao Wenlong very uncomfortable, but out of respect for Yuan Chonghuan, Mao Wenlong did not get angry, and when Yuan Chonghuan asked to make another appointment for the meeting, Mao Wenlong agreed to Yuan Chonghuan's request.

In this way, the first meeting ended without any results. After returning to Pi Island, Mao Wenlong kept waiting for news from Yuan Chonghuan. After waiting for nearly a month, Yuan Chonghuan finally sent him a message saying that he would meet in Shuang Island. After receiving the message, Mao Wenlong quickly agreed to meet with Yuan Chonghuan. At the agreed time, he took a boat from Pi Island and went to Shuang Island to meet Yuan Chonghuan.

Shuangdao belonged to Mao Wenlong's Dongjiang Town defense zone and was Mao Wenlong's territory. In order to avoid being "stood up" by Yuan Chonghuan again, Mao Wenlong was more cautious this time and did not arrive at Shuangdao in advance, so Yuan Chonghuan arrived at Shuangdao two days earlier than Mao Wenlong.

After receiving the news, Mao Wenlong ordered the boat to speed up and rush to Shuangdao. When he arrived at Shuangdao, Yuan Chonghuan was already waiting for him on the island. After Mao Wenlong got off the island, he met Yuan Chonghuan. The atmosphere was very harmonious and they talked and laughed, as if they were old friends.

Because the main characters had arrived and it would be inconvenient to continue staying on the boat, Mao Wenlong agreed to Yuan Chonghuan's proposal to camp on the island together. So the two of them got off their boats and set up temporary camps on the island.

That night, Mao Wenlong hosted a banquet for Yuan Chonghuan, and Yuan Chonghuan gladly attended the banquet. After three rounds of drinks, Yuan Chonghuan suggested that everyone leave so that he could talk to Mao Wenlong alone. Mao Wenlong didn't think much about it and immediately waved his hand to let his subordinates go out. After the people left, he personally filled Yuan Chonghuan's glass with wine and asked Yuan Chonghuan what he wanted to talk about.

"Marshal Mao, today our army and I are meeting in Liaodong. It is not easy for us to cross the sea to get here. We are all for the sake of national affairs. We should work together. What do you think?"

Mao Wenlong said without hesitation: "I agree with what Lord Yuan said. It is for the sake of national affairs that you and I meet here, and we should work together to achieve our common goal."

"Good!" Yuan Chonghuan slapped his thigh happily and said, "Since Marshal Mao has no objection to this, then this department is willing to discuss with Marshal Mao about the plan for advancement. This is a major military and national issue."

(End of this chapter)