"Tsk, tsk, these civil servants are shouting all day long that they cannot compete with the people for profit. In the eyes of these people, only the gentry and wealthy businessmen are the people! It's a shame that they can still be so shy in the court.

Tian Zhongjun’s patriotic shouts made the mountains resound!”

Looking at the people behind these smuggling merchants, Luo Sigong couldn't help but look down on those literati and gentry.

You know, ever since the little fat man used Baojingfang to pay commercial taxes, and after several years of planning and preparation, and then fully implemented commercial tax collection, the criticism of "competing with the people for profit" has never stopped. Especially especially

In the land south of the Yangtze River, this voice is still strong.

It's just different from the situation in the original history when public opinion was completely controlled by the gentry and literati. Nowadays, with the two sharp weapons of Royal Daily and Royal Weekly in hand, plus those "surrender" literati waving flags and shouting, the little fat man is fighting with these people in public opinion.

The battle was fought back and forth, and they still had the upper hand. There was no need to hide in the harem to escape like in the original history.

But as a result, since the legal tax exemption is gone, it is inevitable that illegal tax evasion will become more rampant due to the collusion between officials and businessmen.

And that's not to mention, taking advantage of the tax-free quota of officials and scholars in the Ming Dynasty, many people even directly entered into a "public-private partnership" with the officials and scholars. Therefore, the size of this tax-free quota, under the operation of these "officer" officials,

It will naturally become more 'humane' and 'flexible'.

"Haha, what's so strange about this? As the saying goes, 'Be a bitch and build a memorial at the same time.' These literati and gentlemen have always behaved like this!"

Different from Luo Sigong's reaction, Chen Rong, who controlled the Daming Daily, saw the faces of these literati and gentry more clearly.

"Haha, what Eunuch Yang said is apt. These literati and gentry are really the only words that can best describe them..."

…

"Uncle Guo, this is the confession of fifty-six smuggling merchants. The people behind it are all serving or retired officials..."

On the fifth day of winter, when Wang Bing had just led his army to Zhangzhou, Yang Rong and Luo Sigong, who had been waiting here for a long time, delivered the confessions of the smugglers to Wang Bing.

"Haha, it's just expected, nothing surprising."

After receiving the confession handed over by the two men, Wang Bing glanced through it and smiled nonchalantly.

'Huh? Is the Donglin Party going to show up in advance too?'

Wang Bing, who was just reading through these confessions, suddenly frowned.

It turned out that in one of the confessions, he discovered that these businessmen funded Gu Xiancheng's restoration of Donglin Academy through Ouyang Dongfeng, the prefect of Changzhou, and Lin Zai, the magistrate of Wuxi.

'Haha, this time and space has been changed so much by myself. Even the Dutch East India Company appeared in advance. It is not surprising that a Donglin Party was born in advance!'

After a moment, Wang Bing couldn't help but shook his head.

"Uncle Guo, what's wrong?"

Seeing Wang Bing frowning and shaking his head, Yang Rong and Luo Sigong suddenly became nervous.

Even though one of them is Tishuai of Jinyiwei and the other is the boss of Dongchang, they are extremely powerful, but in front of Wang Bing, they really are nothing.

Not to mention anything else, since the Ming Dynasty established the Factory Guard, apart from the emperor, let alone the ministers, even the princes of the past dynasties, no one can directly dispatch the Jinyi Guard and Dongchang at the same time like Wang Bing.

"Brother Yang, please pay attention to this Donglin Academy. All officials and scholars involved, no matter who they are, must be investigated carefully. No matter what method you use, it must be the same as those editors of "Royal Weekly".

Secretly hold it in the hands of His Majesty and become another mouthpiece for His Majesty and the imperial court!"

Although he was not surprised by the early appearance of the Donglin Party, Wang Bing never thought of letting such a crony party that harmed the country and the people continue to develop along the original historical path.

Therefore, after having the experience of recruiting those literati during Zhang Juzheng's ban on private academies all over the world, Wang Bing planned to recruit the newly emerged Donglin Party as well. Let it follow the example of "Da Ming Royal Daily" and "Da Ming Royal Daily"

The Royal Weekly formed the emperor's mouthpiece in three parts: one light and one dark. This allowed the power of public opinion to be firmly in the hands of the emperor and the court.

"Don't worry, Uncle Guo, I have experience in this matter, and I will definitely deal with those rotten guys, haha!"

After hearing Wang Bing's reminder, Yang Rong immediately spoke confidently and assured.

Speaking of which, military power, financial power, and public opinion power, these are what Wang Bing has been helping the fat man and the court to obtain. As long as these three things are under the control of the emperor and the court, the Ming Dynasty can continue to move forward smoothly.

Needless to say, now the military power has been firmly snatched away from the civilian officials through the Fifth Army Governor's Mansion by the little fat man with the gradual completion of the military reform.

With "Da Ming Royal Daily" and "Da Ming Royal Weekly" in hand, it can be considered that most of the power of public opinion is controlled. If the newly born Donglin Palm is also in hand, let it serve as the two royal daily newspapers and Royal Weekly.

If the sharp sword of official public opinion is supplemented by the people, the power of public opinion will be completely controlled by the little fat man and the court.

As for financial power, Zhang Juzheng's previous New Deal reforms can only be said to have laid the most important foundation. The little fat man's way of taking the lead in paying taxes and reformulating the commercial taxes can only be regarded as one of the legs.

And if you want the imperial court's finances to be able to run smoothly on two legs for a long time, the other leg of "officials and gentry paying for food and serving as errands" must also be controlled. Otherwise, no matter what happens, Ming Dynasty's finances will only be considered a lame.

!

"Uncle Guo, are these smugglers and the people behind them now..."

Just after Wang Bing made arrangements for the Donglin Party's unexpected surprise, Luo Sigong also asked about the treatment of the smugglers and the 'protective umbrella' behind them.

"Don't worry, where are you? If there are only a few of them, do I need to ask your majesty for the help of your factory guards?"

Before Luo Sigong could finish speaking, Wang Bing waved his hand at him.

"Uncle Guo, you mean..."

Seeing Wang Bing's reaction, Luo Sigong and Yang Rong couldn't help but their eyes lit up. There was no way, as the emperor's eagle dog, it was the factory guard's natural duty to 'handle cases'.

"Haha, as you thought. Since I asked you to help me, I want you to give full play to your strengths."

Seeing the excited expressions on their faces, Wang Bing couldn't help but reveal his plans directly.

"Those smugglers are just a trigger. I want you to use this as a guide and use all the skills of the factory guards on me."

"These Jiangnan gentry and officials are as important as they are. Any evidence they have of violating national laws must be obtained by me. It is better to make mistakes than to miss them!"

"Master Marquis, just take a look, our factory guards will not disappoint His Majesty and Master Marquis, hehehehe!"

Hearing Wang Bing's words, "It's better to make mistakes than to make mistakes", Luo Sigong and Yang Rong suddenly turned red with excitement.

There is no way, Jinyiwei and Dongchang have not handled such a big case for many years since Hongwu and Yongle.

However, before the two of them could finish their happiness, Wang Bing's next words directly extinguished most of their passion.

"I can naturally trust the methods of the factory guards. However, I would like to state first that what I and Your Majesty want are the handles of these Jiangnan gentry officials, not to shock the officialdom. So this time, as long as they are serving officials, you will only be able to detect them.

I don’t have the right to arrest, I will handle everything after I come back from Nanyang!”

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