From the end of Jiajing to the era of great pirates

When candidates come to Beijing, they usually go to the guild hall, but the Zheng family is rich and has such a school directly based on the academy.

As long as they are candidates of Xindonglin Academy, they can come to the academy to stay. In fact, it is usually used as an office in Beijing, but if the emperor doesn't want money, he won't think of sending anyone here.Especially recently, because the emperor wanted to collect taxes on ore and light industry, the confrontation with the ministers was extremely serious, and he was not in the mood to summon his brother-in-law.

Xiong Tingbi also had no intention of visiting the emperor before the exam to avoid rumors.

Now in order to resist the tax, these ministers are a little red-eyed. What is the foundation of the country? They go to court. Anyway, they are determined to go against the emperor. As long as the emperor wants to, the ministers will object unless you stop collecting taxes.Lao Xiong wanted to visit the palace before the exam, and maybe he would be disturbed if he won the imperial examination, even if the emperor didn't care about the exam questions at all.Moreover, the time before the exam was indeed precious. He only briefly visited two relatives and friends of the Xiong family, and then studied behind closed doors.

Zhu Jue has always been puzzled. What are the reasons for these ministers to fight against taxes without caring about anything?Their family is not as wealthy as the Zheng family, but it is not much different, at least it is far above the food and clothing line.They definitely wouldn't have nothing to eat after paying taxes. They had such a stalemate with the emperor over this matter. The child the emperor liked couldn't be a prince. If the emperor didn't want to go to court, he had to let him go.Many insignificant things are treated as national affairs, while national affairs are treated as trivial matters.Privately, some people were even bribed by the slave builders, and in the end the country was sold. What was the plot?

Xiong Tingbi also had similar confusion, but it did not affect his preparation for the exam.

Until the day of the exam, everyone encouraged each other and entered the exam room.

After a few days of exams, all the candidates looked a little sloppy when they came out, but several of them, including Lao Xiong, felt like the spring breeze was blowing on their faces. Among them was his foster brother Zheng Jing, who obviously did well in the exam.Then waiting for the results to be released is naturally painful. Anyone who has passed the exam will understand it, so there is no need to elaborate.

On the day when the results were released, the sound of firecrackers in the capital began one after another in the morning, mixed with the sounds of good news, which added a festive atmosphere to the capital.

Newspapermen like to come to Xindonglin. I have been here several times, and they are all ranked second or third. It can only be regarded as a warm-up.Most of them are children of the Zheng family, but there are also a few people with foreign surnames mixed in.

"Report..." The voice of another newspaper came from afar, and it seemed to be coming here again, "Good news, Mr. Zheng from Kuaiji County, Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province, the No. 4 tribute scholar in the high school B-level examination, the saint above the Jinluan Hall !”

"Report..." Before Xiong Tingbi could be happy for his sworn brother, another report came one after another, "Good news, Mr. Xiong Tingbi, from Ezhou County, Jiangxia County, Hubei Province, is the No. 2 tribute scholar in the high school B-level examination, and is the top saint in the Jinluan Hall!"

All the students were immediately overjoyed. Regardless of Zheng Jing, he was his own son. Xiong Tingbi was a generous man and he married a daughter of the Zheng family. His popularity was already good. At this time, they were even more congratulatory. For a moment, the two brothers wanted to say something to each other. It’s hard to say anything.

Xiong Tingbi went to Xindonglin only after he won the imperial examination. He had already experienced the glory of No. 1 in the provincial examination. Now the main thing he was happy about was that he could go to the palace to meet the emperor and get some errands.

As a member of the Zheng family, you can still find work even if you don't get the Jinshi, but the name is definitely not justified, and there will be many people who hinder you. It's not as legitimate as being admitted to the Jinshi.

The emperor in the palace obviously thought so too, so when Xiong Tingbi immediately went to the palace to ask for an audience, the summons was immediately sent.

I followed the small yellow door leading the way to Dongnuang Pavilion. When I entered the door, I saw a curtain hanging in the middle of the room. The figure behind the curtain could vaguely see the phoenix crown and harem on the body.Lao Xiong came to see the concubine as a member of her family. Naturally, it was the concubine who he met first. The latter was dressed in full clothes and obviously attached great importance to this meeting.

Concubine Zheng was also very happy. After all, she was her brother-in-law. Having such a promising man in the family would not only support the family, but also the emperor would have a reliable helper. She kept saying yes.

After all, there is a difference between inside and outside, so the visit ended quickly, and Xiong Tingbi followed Xiaohuangmen to the emperor's palace.Wanli did not go to court, so naturally he could not be received at Fengtian Hall.Wanli didn't like to study at Nuan Pavilion or anything like that, so he rarely went there, so he just stayed in the palace.

"See you, humble minister..." When he arrived at the door, Xiong Tingbi was waiting for the big gift. Before he opened it, he heard a series of urgings from the palace, "Okay, okay, we are all relatives, why do we need such a big gift? Come in, come in quickly. .I haven’t seen what my brother-in-law looks like.”

Old Xiong hunched over and followed the eunuch who led the way in, when the emperor said again: "Look up, we are all relatives, don't care about the red tape."

Lao Xiong felt warm in his heart. This was the second time the emperor said, 'We are all relatives', and he stood up.

"Yes, yes." The emperor nodded frequently, "My brother-in-law is like a dragon and a tiger, and he has the appearance of a general. Was it hard to go to Beijing this time? How long were you on the road?" If this was an ordinary scholar, he would definitely feel unhappy, but the old man Xiong was different. He originally liked military affairs, and he also knew that the emperor's appreciation was not mixed with the views of the noble and the military.

Lao Xiong had already intended to remind the emperor of the benefits of sea transportation, and took advantage of the situation and said: "Your Majesty, the sea route I took this time only took four days in total, and one of them was from Tianjin to the capital."

"Huh? So soon?" The emperor did not expect such a reply, and he suppressed all the words he had prepared to express his greetings to.

"The ship I am traveling on is the Zheng family's maritime trade ship. That ship is fast, but if it were an ordinary sea ship, it would not take more than ten days. In fact, when I come here this time, I also want to invite Your Majesty to take a ride on it. "

"Me?" Wanli thought for a while, but still refused: "Let's forget it. If I want to leave the palace, the government and the public will definitely be shocked again. Those ministers..." It doesn't matter if I don't say it, I know the reaction of those people just thinking about it. .What's more, Wanli doesn't have much interest in traveling. It's better to do less than to do more.

As he spoke, he did not forget to comfort him: "I know what my brother-in-law is thinking. Your concubine said you have something to ask me for?"

"Your Majesty, I would like to go to the Ministry of Rites first after the imperial examination, and then go to Japan to find Li Dan, so that your majesty can persuade a navy to come. When the Japanese army attacks the country for the second time, they can come to the rescue and save the court from having to summon them all the way. The coming of the Southern Army can also save your Majesty some money, and prevent the small state of Burma from disrespecting the Celestial Empire."

"Hmm." Wanli hesitated. He had thought that his brother-in-law would come to ask for an official position, but he didn't expect that it would be this kind of official who would persuade pirates to ask for a navy?If this kind of thing is brought to the court, I'm afraid the chosen minister will have to cry and refuse, right?The reason is to take the initiative to save money for myself, which is so heart-warming, as if she is my brother-in-law.

On the Myanmar side, the war has actually started since the 11th year of Wanli. The Ming Dynasty has always won, but the Ming Dynasty did not fight back, so the war will be endless.Although the Toungoo dynasty of Myanmar shouted various excuses to retaliate against the Ming Dynasty, they actually had tens of thousands of people, claiming 30 to engage in various small border actions, but the Ming Dynasty never bothered to pay attention to them.If you don't fight once, it won't be over.The ministers in the DPRK tried to persuade him to calm things down, but they were really annoying.

It's better to think about your own relatives and think of yourself for all kinds of good things.

"It seems that my brother-in-law is also quite knowledgeable in military matters?"

"Go back to your majesty, I know something about it." Xiong Tingbi wanted to mention Qi Jiguang, but the matter was agreed upon, and he had to rely on the concubine's pillow skills.So you can't retreat at this time, and it's not a bad thing to practice with Myanmar first.

"Very good, very good!" Wanli was very satisfied. Relatives were the best. No wonder the Han Dynasty liked relatives so much.Aren’t Huo Qubing and Wei Qing both relatives?This kind of talented relative is really useful. "I have agreed to the matter of the Ministry of Rites, but you must pay attention to safety when you go to the Japanese country. If they really regret it, I will immediately transfer you to the Ministry of War, and the naval force that was persuaded to come back will be under your command. Beat those little bastards hard, and when you return victoriously, I will transfer you to Yunnan, and you will also take good care of those little bastards in Myanmar who are not convinced by the king!"

Chongzhen was the only emperor who had no idea about the net worth of his ministers and foolishly negotiated with them to borrow money. Looking at 5000 years of history, he was the only one.Wanli was not as stupid as his grandson. He vaguely knew that the Zheng family, as well as the wealthy gentry in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Fujian, were secretly engaged in maritime trade and had money.

That's why he was determined to collect taxes. He didn't understand why these people were trying to keep up with him.Zhu Jue also had this doubt, but Zhu Jue was just doubtful, but Wanli felt hurt and innocent. He was the emperor, the supreme king in the world, why did he collect some taxes?Don’t you have any power at all?

At this time, Lao Xiong took it upon himself to do the hard work, and Wanli felt the kindness of family and relatives.He was not worried about Old Xiong's safety or whether the matter would work out. Anyway, the Zheng family was engaged in sea trade, so if they could come up with such a thing, they must be sure of it.

As for Lao Xiong's intention to remind that sea transport can replace water transport, Wanli has a headache just thinking about it. He also knows that sea transport is good, convenient and saves money, but millions of water transport workers are dependent on food and clothing. If there is an eventuality, the world will be unstable... He always spoke the lines that the ministers would say. His relatives were doing it for his own good, but he couldn't afford to offend those ministers!The promise he made to Concubine Zheng has not yet been fulfilled, so let's forget about such a big job.

Therefore, Wanli has decided that except for water transportation, Xiong Tingbi's other requirements will be fulfilled.