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

Chapter 466 Trading at a Loss
The key reason why Emperor Chongzhen did this was because of his character flaws. Before each replacement, he always had high expectations for the person who was about to be replaced, hoping that the replacement would achieve immediate results.

But the problem is, how can it be so easy to govern a country? Even curing an illness is not so exaggerated! As the saying goes, illness comes like a mountain falling, and illness goes away like pulling a thread. Even if a person is sick, doctors cannot cure the disease immediately. Minor illnesses are still possible, but serious illnesses require not only the effect of medicine, but also slow conditioning. How can a seriously ill person take medicine today and be alive and kicking tomorrow?
If this is the case, it is not a cure, but a magic pill. But Emperor Chongzhen did not think so. He felt that the cabinet did not meet his expectations at all. The cabinet elders he appointed, including the Prime Minister, were incompetent people who just wanted to eat and work. Since he gave them power and status, they should immediately make achievements, so as to live up to his promotion and reuse.

But the problem is not as simple as he imagined. Just like a company recruiting managers, a new person who has just joined the company should at least familiarize himself with the company's situation first, right? It takes time to get familiar with the company and understand the situation in all aspects. It takes a month at the shortest and more than two months at the longest. After understanding the problems of the company, targeted adjustments can be made. This is still a long process.

This is the case for companies, not to mention managing a huge empire. The cabinet chief ministers and cabinet elders are not gods. How could they manage the entire empire in an orderly manner the first day they took up their positions? It is simply impossible. But Emperor Chongzhen was a man with no patience. He was fine when he appointed them, but he lost his patience after a few days. When he did not see rapid changes, he was very disappointed with the people he appointed, and even felt that these people failed his expectations and were clearly good-for-nothings. He would find reasons to dismiss or demote them without thinking, and even find excuses to take out his anger and directly beat them with sticks or even put them in jail.

Emperor Chongzhen's behavior was incomprehensible to everyone, because there had never been a boss like this. It was really bad luck for the workers to encounter such a moody and impatient boss.

In the past, entering the cabinet was a dream for all officials. It was the highest political honor for an official, and becoming the first assistant minister was a sign of reaching the pinnacle of life. But now, entering the cabinet, which was considered the greatest honor by all officials, has become a political vortex that cannot be avoided. If you work under Emperor Chongzhen, it is okay if you do not enter the cabinet. Once you enter the cabinet, it almost means that your political life has come to an end, because once you become a cabinet minister or even the first assistant minister, bad luck is certain, and no one can escape this fate, whether it is a month at the shortest or half a year at the longest.

Those who can become officials are not stupid. Except for a few officials in the court, most of them studied hard and passed the exams. How could there be a fool who fought his way through the numerous scholars in the country and finally became an official?
Because of Emperor Chongzhen's actions and his character flaws, everyone understood what kind of person this master was after repeated actions. To put it bluntly, working under such a master means that the more you work, the more mistakes you make, the less you work, the fewer mistakes you make, and if you do nothing, you make no mistakes. The more capable you are, the more you are favored by Emperor Chongzhen, and the sooner you leave the political stage, because you will be reused, and then quickly blamed, and finally thrown away like used toilet paper, becoming a discarded pawn.

After decades of hard work, from being a student, to a scholar, to passing the imperial examinations and then becoming a Jinshi to become an official, and finally working his way up to his current position, could it be that this was the result he was pursuing?
Therefore, the atmosphere in the court has gradually changed. Many officials have begun to lie low and secretly beg for mercy every day, hoping that Emperor Chongzhen will look down on them and let them stay in their original positions for a few more years. They must never let Emperor Chongzhen use them.

Because of this, the cabinet became a place that almost all officials stayed away from. If Emperor Chongzhen did not directly appoint people to the cabinet, basically no one would take the initiative. This was a rare thing that had never been seen since the founding of the Ming Dynasty.

In fact, Xu Xiancheng did not know that the reason why Emperor Chongzhen did this was partly because he was dissatisfied with the cabinet. He felt that neither the chief minister nor the cabinet elders were suitable candidates. But he had no good way to change this. Many times, Emperor Chongzhen envied his grandfather, Emperor Wanli, and felt that if an emperor as diligent as himself could have a chief minister like Zhang Juzheng to assist him, then the Ming Dynasty would surely become strong.

Therefore, the purpose of Emperor Chongzhen's frequent replacement of cabinet members was to find the right person in his mind, preferably another excellent prime minister like Zhang Juzheng. But the problem was that Emperor Chongzhen's actions, not to mention how the ministers reacted, also directly destroyed the original balance between the cabinet and the imperial power, causing the cabinet to be in chaos for a long time. The prime minister, including the cabinet elders, had no time to carry out long-term and stable governance, because you may be a cabinet elder today, but you may be replaced tomorrow. The people below had no idea how long the orders issued by the cabinet would be effective, and could only wait and see or even sit back and do nothing.

In addition, even if Zhang Juzheng was resurrected, it would be useless. Working under such a master, let alone one Zhang Juzheng, even if there were ten Zhang Juzhengs, it would be useless. Besides, who is Zhang Juzheng? Zhang Juzheng's dominance is well known to the world. Can Emperor Chongzhen tolerate a minister like Zhang Juzheng? Don't forget that Zhang Juzheng has a famous saying, "I am not a prime minister, but a regent!" The minister actually climbed over the head of the master. With Emperor Chongzhen's character and temper, it would be a privilege not to chop off Zhang Juzheng's head.

In the end, Xu Xiancheng did not make any response to Sun Yuanhua's letter. Even in his reply, he did not mention the previous events. He just comforted Sun Yuanhua with a few words and gently advised him to be careful in Liaodong, ensure his own safety, do what he should do, and not to interfere in other matters.

After receiving Xu Xiancheng's reply, Sun Yuanhua was stunned for a long time after reading it. He understood Xu Xiancheng's reminder, but finally he sighed helplessly.

At this time, Huang Taiji, who had received a large amount of food, had enough confidence. With these grains in hand, the Qing Dynasty had enough reserves for a year, which gave him the basis for subsequent planning. Huang Taiji never thought of really shaking hands with the Ming Dynasty. As for the so-called peace talks, it was just a political means. However, Yuan Chonghuan's reaction and urgency for peace talks gave Huang Taiji unexpected gains. These gains not only solved the food problem, but also gave him more time to prepare.

In the blink of an eye, winter passed, and with the arrival of spring, Huang Taiji, who had rested for the entire winter, began to get restless. Facing the colorful world of the Ming Dynasty in the south, Huang Taiji had always been salivating and never gave up the idea of ​​invading the Ming Dynasty.

This time, Huang Taiji did not send troops immediately, but sent people to contact Yuan Chonghuan, asking about the Ming Dynasty's "sincerity" in the peace talks. At this time, Yuan Chonghuan was a little worried, because a large amount of grain had been sold, resulting in a shortage of food and grass in the Liaodong army. Although he purchased some grain from the interior, due to the drought in various places in the past two years, food was originally insufficient and the price was constantly soaring, so the purchased grain was not enough. If it continued like this, the problems on his side might not be covered up.

At this time, Yuan Chonghuan intended to solve the problem of military pay and food through the trade route of Pi Island. The main reason for killing Mao Wenlong before was because he had his eyes on Mao Wenlong's Pi Island and intended to take over Mao Wenlong's trade and transportation route.

But what Yuan Chonghuan did not expect was that although he killed Mao Wenlong, captured Pi Island, and controlled Mao Wenlong's Dongjiang Town and trade routes including waterways, the results were not optimistic.

Because of a series of changes caused by Mao Wenlong's death, Yuan Chonghuan did not profit much from the original trade route of Pi Island. In fact, many subsequent problems caused Pi Island to turn from a popular destination into a hot potato.

After Mao Wenlong's death, Yuan Chonghuan first divided Dongjiang Town into four divisions, which were respectively managed by Mao Chenglu, Xu Fuzou, Liu Xingzuo, and Chen Jisheng, and deputy general Chen Jisheng temporarily took charge of Dongjiang Town. Soon after, Yuan Chonghuan ordered the four divisions to be changed into two divisions, with Chen Jisheng leading the East Division and Liu Xingzhi taking charge of the West Division, and Mao Chenglu was transferred to Guanglu Island.

The original intention of doing so was to divide and rule, better control Dongjiang Town, and eliminate Mao Wenlong's influence on Dongjiang Town. But the problem was that although Yuan Chonghuan adopted such a measure, he also deliberately let Chen Jisheng and Liu Xingzhi, who were originally in conflict, lead a group each, intending to let each of them restrain each other, but the actual effect was completely different from what was expected.

The entire Dongjiang Town was originally under Mao Wenlong's command. With Mao Wenlong's influence and prestige over Dongjiang Town, Mao Wenlong could firmly control it even if there were conflicts within the town. But when Mao Wenlong died, many problems broke out completely. The arrogant and powerful generals in Dongjiang Town were unwilling to submit to each other, especially Chen Jisheng and Liu Xingzhi, who had deep personal grudges. Now the two have equal status and each holds a vassal. With Yuan Chonghuan's deliberate connivance and instigation, Dongjiang Town no longer had the stability of Mao Wenlong's period and became chaotic.

Now Chen Jisheng and Liu Xingzhi had conflicts from time to time, and the two sides even turned against each other completely regardless of their compatriots. Mao Chenglu, who was originally the most capable and popular, was marginalized by Yuan Chonghuan and took Kong Youde, Geng Zhongming, and Shang Kexi to Guanglu Island, far away from the core of Dongjiang Town.

That’s not all. These days, several of Mao Wenlong’s loyal subordinates, with Mao Chenglu as the core, wrote to the court every few days, cursing Yuan Chonghuan, speaking out for the injustice for Mao Wenlong, and requesting Emperor Chongzhen to rehabilitate Mao Wenlong and severely punish Yuan Chonghuan.

But Emperor Chongzhen ignored Mao Chenglu, which made Mao Chenglu and others even more angry. Although they could not do anything to Yuan Chonghuan for the time being, they could still cause some trouble for Yuan Chonghuan after garrisoning on Guanglu Island. As a result, Yuan Chonghuan's plan to profit from the trade routes he controlled was almost dashed. The input and output were not proportional at all. Even because of Dongjiang Town, Yuan Chonghuan had to spend a lot of money to stabilize Dongjiang Town. This was really a loss-making business.

(End of this chapter)