Since Kangxi ascended the throne, the Empress Dowager knew that there was no good thing whenever she heard that several auxiliary ministers came to find her. However, for more than half a year after Prince Kang and Ebilong left the capital, the three auxiliary ministers left behind had not bothered her.

Today, while drinking tea and eating snacks, the Empress Dowager chatted happily with other Manchu ladies. Among them was Prince Jianning, the daughter-in-law of the Prince of Pingxi. Princess Jianning attracted Wu Yingxiong very well. Her husband repeatedly expressed his intention to not want to go to the southwest to inherit the vassal state. However, after hearing about this from the Empress Dowager, Oboi hurriedly said that this matter was not allowed. After Wu Sangui passed away, even if Wu Yingxiong was unwilling to leave the prosperous Beijing to go to the remote southwest, he would have to let him lead the vassal state far away, so as to avoid any bad thoughts from the people under Wu Sangui's subordinates - Oboi was always very good to the Han vassal kings, but always wanted to enforce strict military laws against the Manchus, which led to many people in the Eight Banners not resent him.

Just as everyone was talking and laughing, a ghostly eunuch came to the Empress Dowager and whispered: "Sony, Oboi and Suksaha are all here, and I'm waiting outside to ask for the Empress Dowager."

Since Gao Mingzhan sent the four-color jade and called the Empress Dowager the Lord of the Buddha, people inside and outside the palace have also called the Empress Dowager the Lord of the Buddha interestingly, but they have never known who the congratulations were written by.

The report made the old Buddha froze suddenly. His hand holding a piece of snack stopped in the air, his mouth was opened, but the snack was not sent in for a long time. Seeing the Empress Dowager's performance, the room suddenly became cold. It was still full of laughter and joy a moment ago, but it became silent in the blink of an eye.

"Yes." After the Empress Dowager recovered, she wanted to put down her snacks, but after hesitation, she pretended to be calm and gently put them into her mouth, chewed slowly, and then greeted the ladies in the room as if nothing had happened: "The ministers don't know what they have to argue, so I'll come back when I go and see them. You can sit for a while."

Since the Empress Dowager did not show any expression, everyone was with her. Princess Jianning was the first to stand up and said with a smile: "What a bunch of useless things, I don't know how to save my mother's worry."

Everyone also complained about the regents, and everyone was smiling, as if they were convinced that there was nothing extraordinary.

After entering the study, the Empress Dowager saw that the little emperor was already sitting on the dragon throne. The three ministers of the regent looked serious and the whole room was filled with an atmosphere of anxiety. As soon as they saw the Empress Dowager, the three of them hurriedly knelt down on the ground and kowtowed.

"Get up." The Empress Dowager knew that these three people had practiced their scheming very deeply, and even if the sky fell, they might not be despicable. Since they looked anxious, it must be very difficult. This expression was deliberately made for me to show her, and she planned to pretend to be pitiful before she spoke.

The Empress Dowager sat on the chair, grabbed the armrest with both hands, and confirmed that she would not jump up and hit people or smash the three bastards in front of her with an inkstone, then she let out a long sigh: "Tell me, what's wrong?"

"This year's canal transportation is about to begin again." Sony replied: "Huguang Governor Zhang Changgeng said that Deng Ming has escaped from Jingzhou again, as if he is going to go to Yangzhou."

After the canal transportation was cut off last year, some people in Beijing even advocated giving up Gansu, and there was still half of Ningxia to give Vitra Mongolia to shrink its strength and make every effort to ensure Jiangnan. Some people even suggested using these land to buy Vitra Mongolia, let them send troops to assist in the war, and cooperate with the Qing Dynasty to attack Sichuan. However, this incident was too disturbing, and if the northwest was abandoned in one breath, those Han officials and scholars who passed the imperial examinations would probably break with the Qing court. Besides, what consequences would be unpredictable if Vitra Mongolia was placed on the edge of Xi'an. If Vitra did not join forces with the Qing Dynasty and instead joined forces with Deng Ming, the situation would only be worse.

"Are you planning to give up west of Xi'an?" The Empress Dowager thought of this first reaction. Only such earth-shaking events can make the three auxiliary ministers deliberately look pitiful in front of him.

"Slaves still think it is not feasible," Oboi kowtowed immediately. Suksaha was neutral on this issue. The Han officials may not be willing to let go of the land, but the Manchus had nothing to let go. But Sony and Oboi both firmly opposed it. Since these two ministers of the regent have unified their views, giving up the idea of ​​the northwest would certainly become empty talk: "In theory, Deng Ming would also regard Qin as his territory, so many people think that Vitra Mongolia and Deng thieves would definitely fight. But Deng Ming cannot use common sense to speculate. Who can know Deng Ming's thoughts..."

"Okay, okay." The Empress Dowager impatiently interrupted Oboi's cliché. Oboi and Sony always said that they should not lead Vitra Mongolia into the Great Wall unless they had to. In addition to the reasons Oboi just said, they were also worried that many Han people might regard the Qing Dynasty as Mongolian horse bandits who took it away after robbing it, rather than the new dynasty that was determined to unify Haiyu. The Ganzhou Green Camp in the northwest was the most powerful green camp unit of the Qing court. In order to save some money, they gave them to the enemy, which was really not worth the loss: "What do you plan to do? Let Deng Ming fight again in Yangzhou? Do you have a boat?"

"No ship." Sony replied hummingly.

"Then what do you want to fight?" Seeing that the three of them kept hesitating and asking questions before they could squeeze out an answer, the Empress Dowager became even more irritable and uneasy.

"Maybe you can't stop fighting." After Suksaha finished speaking, he tried his best to retreat, trying to make himself less conspicuous.

"If you don't fight, then let the canal transportation this year be lost again?" The Empress Dowager's voice grew louder and louder. She raised her arm and planned to point at one of the three. Seeing this, Sony and Oboi also shrank their necks together.

"Sony!" The Empress Dowager's arm fell heavily, and finally pointed at the head of the Chief Auxiliary: "What the hell is going on? Please reply honestly."

Sony looked at Oboi and Suksaha who were hiding behind him with resentment, cheered up and said to the Empress Dowager: "Zhang Changgeng reported that he bribed one of Deng Ming's confidants. This person was deeply trusted by Deng Ming, and Deng Ming obeyed his advice..."

"Isn't that Mutan?" The Empress Dowager did not give Sony the opportunity to delay time, and asked in the intercept: "What bad idea has Zhang Changgeng come up with again?"

"Zhang Changgeng said that Mu Tan said that if the canal transport is handed over to him, he would have a way to convince Deng Ming not to send troops. As long as he was asked to transport grain every year in the future, even if Deng Ming sent troops, he could ensure that the canal transport was not cut off." Sony tried hard to find a more euphemistic statement to explain this to the Empress Dowager, but after searching, he couldn't find it. The content still sounded so terrifying.

"What?" The Empress Dowager forced Sony to repeat it again, and shouted: "Let the Sichuan thieves transport grain to me in the Qing Dynasty?"

"No, it's Mutan, not Deng Ming." Sony hurriedly corrected.

"Aren't Mu Tan a Sichuan thief?" the Empress Dowager asked angrily.

"Well, this Mu Tan, strictly speaking, should be a Fujian thief who fled to Sichuan. After all, he was not the same as Deng Ming, so he was crazy about corruption and bribery. However, having such a person by Deng Ming is really the blessing of the emperor and the empress dowager." Sony continued to think about the words while talking nonsense: "Well, Mu Tan means that as long as he pays him 50% of the benefits, he will be responsible for delivering grain and silver from various provinces to Tianjin."

"Can the Sichuan thieves' ships reach Dagukou?" The Empress Dowager was shocked.

"It's not Mu Tan's ship. He knew the Fujian thieves in Zhoushan. The Empress Dowager also knew that after Zheng Ni died, the Fujian thieves split up and one fled to Zhoushan. Mu Tan said that some of them were his old friendship and were willing to transport the grain from the Qing Dynasty to Tianjin." Sony told the Empress Dowager that Mu Tan asked the court to ensure the safety of the people who transported the goods. The grain and the grain and silver association were sent to him. The first batch left safely and the next batch came again. However, even so, the transportation of the grain would be much faster than in previous years. In previous years, the transportation of the grain would start in July, and it would not arrive in Beijing until at least the end of November or early December. Mu Tan promised that he could deliver all the goods to Tianjin in November.

"The Sichuan thieves transported grain for me in the Qing Dynasty and hired Fujian thieves to transport it. My Qing governor gave them the silver and grain, and then they returned it to the court-" The Empress Dowager jumped up: "Sony, think about it yourself, are you talking about human words?"

In the eyes of the Empress Dowager, this matter was simply not feasible. If the silver and grain fell into the hands of the thieves, they would definitely not be honestly sent to Tianjin.

Sony glanced at Oboi and Suksaha. Both of them lowered their heads, and Sony had to bite the bullet and continue answering.

"The slave didn't believe it at first. But Zhang Changgeng said that in order to ensure that the court did not suffer losses, he would not deliver the goods first. When Mu Tan sent part of the tax to Tianjin, Zhang Changgeng would deliver the goods, and then transport the next part, and use 800 miles to speed up the message."

The Empress Dowager looked at Sony coldly, and there was no joy or anger on her face. After a moment, she slowly said: "It seems that Zhang Changgeng is most likely to be anxious to jump over the wall. Perhaps Deng Ming wanted to surround Wuchang, and even if he could defend it, he could not complete the canal transportation. He bribed Mu Tan and said in a stern voice that the Sichuan thief was going to Yangzhou again."

"At the beginning, I thought so. But Zhang Changgeng's memorial was signed by Jiang Guozhu, Governor of Liangjiang, Zhao Guozuo, Governor of Zhejiang, and Lin Qilong, Governor of Grain Transport. They said they had joined forces to bribe Mu Tan, and Mu Tan wanted to take over the grain transportation of the Qing Dynasty." Sony said and handed over the memorial.

The Empress Dowager took the memorial over and looked at it carefully. At this time, Sony added fuel to the fire: "Shandong Governor Zu Zepu said that Deng Ming always believed in his words and deeds. Mu Tan must be a gentleman who was righteous when he got his words and deeds. This is a wonderful way to ensure the safety of the canal transportation."

The Empress Dowager suddenly jumped up from the chair and rushed to Sony like a leopard. She picked up a stick in her hand at some point.

"Without being trustworthy, a gentleman, is this used to be a rebel? Zu Zepu dares to say it is a clever plan!" The Empress Dowager shouted, while beating Sony with a stick in a daze: "Bare you to death, beat you to death, a dog slave!"

Sony kept claiming to be damned. He was a warrior. Although he was old, his body was still very strong. It would be no big deal if he got a few sticks.

After beating Sony for a while, the Empress Dowager, who had not yet disappeared, looked at Oboi again, pointed at his nose and cursed: "And you, the dog guy, didn't the Huzhou dealer just write this book? What's the big deal? You are very forced to rebel. Now, I'm going to sweep the two palaces, take advantage of your wishes, right?"

Although the Ming Shi case was supported by other regent ministers, it was always hosted by Oboi. The Empress Dowager thought it was just some Han landlords, and she was too lazy to ask about such trivial matters. If everything was done according to Oboi's wishes, the Han people were shocked and their property was confiscated into the official position, the Empress Dowager would probably not ask about this matter. The dead people were no longer Han people, not Manchus, what did it have to do with her?

But now the matter in Zhuang Yuncheng has become a big deal, affecting Zhejiang's taxes and canal transportation. The Empress Dowager ordered the slaves to report the causes and consequences of the matter. As a result, he hated Oboi's incompetence: "I thought it well, I had to enrich the treasury and make the Han people honest. But after a year of work, I didn't even understand whether the other party was a bandit leader like Yu Qi or a scholar. I actually wanted to send a few constables to take them away! Now, I heard that the dealer dug out all the money and bought the Sichuan thieves' strong bow and crossbow. Not only did he have to work hard to wipe out, but the money you had been thinking about all day was also put into Deng Ming's pocket."

If only this were the case, the Empress Dowager might not be so angry. What made her even more furious was that in a previous report from Zhejiang, the Jingnan Army even claimed that the Jingnan Army spent 100,000 taels of silver to buy ten red-clothed cannons, and those cannons were stolen from Ningyuan. Sichuan had no intention of concealing this matter, so when Zhao Guozuo asked about the Sichuan people, he told the Zhejiang Governor the whole story of obtaining the cannons.

A few days ago, after hearing that Ning Yuan had an accident, the Queen of Heaven was concerned, but none of the servants in front of her took it seriously. They all said that the land could not cause any big disturbance... The facts proved that the Queen Mother's concern was right. The Ming army actually ran back to Liaodong to move things, but these ministers of the regent are still in the dark, and even needed Zhejiang to remind the Qing Dynasty that there was something wrong with the Longxing Land. Since Mao Wenlong's time, only the Qing Dynasty has moved things in other people's houses in the past few decades. When has the things in her own house been moved? Even some old cannons, that's not possible!

Thinking of the anger, the Empress Dowager slapped Oboi with a stick again: "Aren't you thinking about Zhuang Yuncheng and the others' money? As a result, Deng Ming made all of them away, and they were still using the emperor's cannon. If I had known this, why wouldn't you sell the cannon to Zhuang Yuncheng yourself? Wouldn't you get the money?"

After fighting Sony and Oboi, the Empress Dowager walked back to her seat and gasped for a while. She also knew that Sony and the others had no choice. The canal transportation had been cut for a year and the national treasury was still ongoing. If something unexpected happened to the canal transportation this year, the life would be even worse. Moreover, Beijing now knows that the Southeast Governors and Governors have mostly made many private transactions with Deng Ming. In order to keep their heads and official positions, they are likely to unite to deceive the court. However, the important thing is that they are willing to pay taxes to Beijing. Through this point, Sony analyzed that most of the Southeast Governors and Governors have not yet wanted to surrender to the enemy. They are still optimistic about Beijing during the Ming and Qing War, so they worked hard to complete the tax work assigned by Beijing. Even if they have some private transactions with Deng Ming, it must be a false conspiracy. Therefore, Sony felt that it might as well pretend not to be able to see this. Since Beijing cannot eliminate Deng Ming but wants to negotiate peace with him, it is not good for Tai to blame the Southeast Governors and Governors too harshly.

Sony even quoted an allusion from the Three Kingdoms period of the Han Dynasty, that is, Cao Cao burned down all the correspondence between Yuan Shao and his officials after the Battle of Guandu. Since these Southeast officials are still inclined to the Qing Dynasty, some private actions are mostly forced, so it is better to avoid rushing them all to the South Ming side.

The Empress Dowager agreed with Sony's analysis, not only because this analysis makes sense, but also because these words made her feel at ease, which was what she was willing to believe.

Sony observed his expression and felt that the Empress Dowager seemed to be angry, so he began to persuade again: "Emperor, Empress Dowager, since we entered the pass, we have sacrificed so many children to take the Southeast, so that we can get the silver and food from there? The soldiers of the Eight Banners were bleeding and sweating just to make their children live a better life and have no worries about food and clothing? Can we not want these silver and food because of face?"

"Who said I don't want it?" The Empress Dowager glared at Sony coldly. Like Sony and Oboi, the Empress Dowager, as a person who came from the Nurhaci period, positioned the Manchu group as a large gang of thieves who robbed money and grain. In other words, in the past ten years, he has read more flattery memorials, and the Empress Dowager gradually began to pay attention to his face: "But we can't let the Ai family be shameless."

"As long as the people who come to send money don't enter the Haihe River and do not attack the Fujian thieves, the people will not know who sent the canal to us. Mu Tan is jealous of money. The court can completely use this greedy thief to ensure that the money and grain from the southeast can be safely transported to Beijing." Sony gave another good advice.

"Well, but--" The Empress Dowager nodded first, and seemed to have been persuaded, but she pointed to a sentence in the memorial and commented hatefully: "The other party will lose 50% of the money. Although it is much more than the canal transport, it is still a lot of money. It has been taken away by Mu Tan, a man who should be cut into pieces! Humph, after the canal is safe, the Ai family will definitely tell Deng Ming the good things he did, so that the thief who was stolen by the thief who was stolen will die without a place to die. Even if the two sisters of this guy are favored (it has changed to two), the Ai family will not believe that Deng Ming would not be moved after hearing so much money!"

"The Queen Mother's Holy Ming." Sony echoed, and he sucked the sour smell in the Queen Mother's tone: "Why don't the slaves go to explore Zheng Xi's way? Ask them if they are willing to use 30% of the fee to help us transport the canal transport?"

The Queen of Taihuang pondered for a moment, her expression changed, and suddenly became furious again. She waved the wooden stick for the second time and whispered the wooden slave to Sony: "You dog slave actually asked the Ai family to discuss with Zheng Ni? The Ai family wants money, but it cannot be shameless! Are you still talking about human words?"—

Author's note: I am indeed a little busy on weekends. Today is done at the last moment. I dare not guarantee whether there is any tomorrow.
Chapter completed!