Chapter 230: Repaying Evil with Kindness

Duke Baoguo Zhu Hui was taken away.

The housekeeper had no choice but to rush to the Duke of Ying's mansion immediately.

Zhang Mao was also shocked when he heard the news.

After all, the nobles have been declining over the years. As long as ministers of the Duke's size do not commit any major mistakes, His Majesty the Emperor can almost forgive and tolerate them. At most, he will just give them a warning.

What's more, Zhu Hui is the Duke of Baoguo!

His father Zhu Yong made outstanding contributions to the Eight General Seals of the Ming Dynasty and was an absolute pillar of the country!

What happened to make His Majesty so angry that he directly put Zhu Hui into the imperial prison?

As the leader of the nobles, Zhang Mao had more things to consider. He had to wonder if it was some civil official who made a slanderous statement, causing His Majesty the Emperor to suppress the military generals and nobles, and Duke Baoguo Zhu Hui was an obvious political signal!

If this is really the case, then things will be really troublesome!

Zhang Mao's face was uncertain for a while, then he looked at the housekeeper of the Baoguo Mansion and shouted: "What have you done recently?"

"Did the commander Mou Bin tell him what the crime was when he arrested people?"

The housekeeper knelt on the ground and answered tremblingly.

"Yes! The commander said!"

"The crime is colluding with Pingjiang Bo Chen Xiong to resell salt permits..."

Pingjiang Bo Chen Xiong!

The Pingjiang Bo who was suddenly thrown into prison!

Zhang Mao's eyes turned, and then he suddenly remembered something.

"Did Zhu Hui have a sister who married Chen Xiong?"

The housekeeper nodded hurriedly and admitted the matter.

Zhang Mao's face became extremely ugly, and he shouted: "Then how much bribes did you receive through Chen Xiong?"

"Every year... 50,000 salt permits every year!"

When these words came out, Zhang Mao was so angry that his face turned blue!

What a big deal!

No wonder His Majesty the Emperor was so angry!

But it's not right!

Chen Xiong was imprisoned more than a year ago after Tang Hao left Beijing and went to sea. With the nature of Chen Xiong, a playboy who is fierce on the outside but weak on the inside, he must have explained all his corrupt actions in detail, which also means that His Majesty knew about this matter more than a year ago!

In this case, why did His Majesty take action at this moment and directly imprison Zhu Hui?

Zhang Mao frowned and thought for a moment, and finally a light flashed in his mind.

Zhongshan Marquis, Tang Hao!

That's right, it's because of Tang Hao!

Zhu Hui previously sent servants to Zhongshan Marquis's mansion to cancel the engagement, which was a disguised humiliation of Tang Hao.

This can be regarded as adding insult to injury!

Even if the disaster today was not caused by Tang Hao, it must be because of Tang Hao. His Majesty is probably venting his anger on Zhongshan Marquis!

Thinking of this, Zhang Mao couldn't help but smile bitterly and shook his head.

He had long advised Zhu Hui to use his brain and not to be profit-driven in everything!

Seeing that the Marquis of Zhongshan was in prison and in danger of losing his life, Zhu Hui, the idiot, could not wait to draw a line with him, and even let a servant humiliate him, turning from a relative to a mortal enemy!

Now, the Marquis of Zhongshan is not only safe and sound, but also launched a bloody revenge!

Why bother!

Zhang Mao cursed the housekeeper, and still felt unsatisfied, so he directly called the servants to beat the housekeeper violently, until the housekeeper was covered in blood and had only his last breath left, Zhang Mao asked the servants to stop!

"Don't resent me!"

"I'm saving your life!"

"When we go to the Marquis of Zhongshan's mansion, whether you live or die depends on the Marquis of Zhongshan's decision!"

"You can only blame yourself for looking down on others. A mere servant dares to humiliate the Marquis of Zhongshan and bring disaster to your master's family!"

"It's better to kill you than to treat a dog like you!"

After cursing for a while, Zhang Mao had to be thick-skinned and took the wounded housekeeper to the Marquis of Zhongshan's mansion.

After all, Zhu Hui, the Duke of Baoguo, is not only his junior, but also a major force in the noble group. He can't be abolished by His Majesty the Emperor just because of a small matter!

Tang Hao is discussing matters with Tang Yu at this moment. He is going to take 100 Tang family members to Shandong to take up his post.

In this era, whether it is military generals or nobles, they all have to rely on the power of the clan behind them, especially the gentry. As a gentry clan that controls the local countryside, these court officials have been invested in by the clan since they started to study and cultivate virtue without paying attention to the outside world. In the future, when they become officials, they will naturally have to pay it back!

Tang Hao does not need to bear these clan obligations. The reason why he wants to take away 100 Tang family members is that he reminded Tang Hao of the last time Tang Shaozong instigated a rebellion.

Most of the Tang family members actually recognized him as the head of the family, and did not listen to Tang Shaozong's truth and then add insult to injury to Tang Hao.

This is quite valuable!

Even if these Tang family members are for profit, Tang Hao has to accept this favor.

One is because he also needs some trustworthy people around him to control the Qinghe Shipyard for him.

The second is that there are still many vacancies in Shandong Weisuo. In view of the overall needs in the future, Tang Hao plans to insert some spies in, so as to better control Shandong.

Tang Yu was naturally very happy about this and immediately ordered someone to go and make arrangements.

He hoped that the master of the family could make use of the children of the Tang family and give them a bright future, so he would naturally not refuse.

So just when the two were discussing happily, the doorman came in angrily.

"My Lord, Second Master, the Duke of England is here to visit, and he brought the domineering housekeeper of the Duke of Baoguo's Mansion with him!"

Hearing this, Tang Yu's face suddenly turned pale.

Tang Hao was a little confused, he didn't know what happened yet.

After listening to Tang Yu's narration, he also became a little interested.

Zhu Hui, Zhu Hui, you really deserve your father Zhu Yong!

How could Zhu Yong, a famous general of his generation, give birth to such a stupid and short-sighted waste son like you?

"In other words, this Zhu Hui not only broke off the engagement with us, but also humiliated us?"

Tang Hao asked in a cold tone, with a cold light flashing in his eyes.

Let's break off the engagement, Tang Hao doesn't care about such a woman.

But you humiliated me, that's a bit too much, right?

Who do you think you are?

Just a dandy waste who relies on the shadow of his father!

Tang Yu sighed and mentioned another secret, which was the marriage between the Pingjiang Earl's Mansion and the Baoguo Duke's Mansion.

Tang Hao finally reacted after hearing this. No wonder Zhu Hui had always been so dissatisfied with him. It turned out that he had cut off his family's financial resources!

But, so what?

Tang Hao smiled and shook his head.

"Let's not talk about Zhu Hui for now. The old man, the Duke of England, still needs to be treated with courtesy."

Soon Tang Hao and Tang Yu went out to greet him in person. They saw that the Duke of England, Zhang Maozheng, had a livid face, and there was a butler who was beaten to a pulp beside him.

"Old Duke, what's going on?"

Tang Hao asked with a smile.

Zhang Mao was filled with shame and said, "Zhu Hui, this bastard, was possessed by a ghost for a while, so he did such a thing!"

"This is the housekeeper who humiliated you that day. I have already taught him a lesson for you. If you are still not satisfied, just kill him!"

As soon as these words came out, the former arrogant housekeeper was frightened and knelt on the ground, kowtowed to Tang Hao frantically and begged for mercy.

"Spare my life!"

"My Lord, spare my life!"

"I deserve to die! I deserve to die!"

In less than a moment, the ground was covered with blood.

Tang Hao glanced at this guy coldly, without any interest.

"Old Duke, I have heard the general process from my second uncle."

"To be honest, he is just a small character. The reason why the evil slave dared to do evil is because he relied on the power of his master. Since the Duke of Baoguo sent him, he had the intention of humiliating me!"

"Let's not talk about other things for now. If you want to expose this matter, you can let the Duke of Baoguo personally admit his fault to me, Tang Hao, and that's it!"

Zhang Mao was stunned when he heard this, and then looked at Tang Hao with suspicion.

"Tang Hao, Zhu Hui has been arrested by the Jinyiwei and thrown into the imperial prison. Don't you know about this?"

Tang Hao was also stunned and said: "When did it happen? I really don't know, and the housekeeper matter was just told to me by my second uncle!"

After confirming this, Zhang Mao's face became even uglier.

Because if this is true, the person who really wants to deal with the Duke of Baoguo Zhu Hui is not Tang Hao, the Marquis of Zhongshan, but His Majesty the Emperor!

Trouble!

This is really troublesome!

Because Zhang Mao was still unsure why the Emperor suddenly took action against Zhu Hui!

"Tang Hao, has anyone offered slander to His Majesty?"

"Or does His Majesty intend to suppress the nobles, and Zhu Hui is just the beginning?"

Zhang Mao looked at Tang Hao nervously, with a pleading look in his eyes.

There is no way, the noble group today is no longer as good as before, and can't stand any tossing at all.

Tang Hao was stunned when he heard this, holding his chin and thinking for a long time. Combined with Zhu Houzhao's recent performance, the final result is only one, that is - making money!

"Old Duke, don't think too much!"

"If I'm not mistaken, His Majesty should be... short of silver!"

Zhang Mao: "???"

Hmm?

Short of silver?

Do you need to put someone in prison?

Tang Hao calmed Zhang Mao, then took him into the hall and discussed the shipbuilding and going to sea in detail.

Zhang Mao's eyes lit up when he heard this. He was right. Tang Hao and the little emperor really wanted to start ocean trade!

At this moment, Zhu Hui's life or death was not important!

What was important was how to get on this big ship and get a share of it!

"Tang Hao, this time, you must give the noble a chance no matter what!"

Zhang Mao abandoned his old face and almost begged Tang Hao humbly.

But Tang Hao still said the same thing and asked back: "Old Duke, are you ready for the boat ticket?"

Boat ticket?

What counts as a boat ticket?

Silver!

Yes, silver!

Zhang Mao took a deep breath and said in a deep voice: "As long as His Majesty is willing to let us nobles join in, we will donate half of our family wealth!"

"My Duke Ying's Mansion will contribute 100,000 taels, Zhu Hui's Duke Baoguo Mansion will contribute 80,000 taels, and other nobles will be responsible for lobbying and persuading. I only ask that when the fleet goes out to sea in the future, His Majesty can allow us to participate in it, not for profit, but for military merit!"

Profit?

No matter how much profit you make, it is not as important as military merit!

Zhang Mao also saw that even though Tang Hao is now in a high position and has the power of the Beijing Army, he did not continue to go out of the border to the north to attack the Tartars in a short period of time!

It's not that Tang Hao is unwilling, but the civil officials and gentry are unwilling, and the Ming Dynasty is unwilling!

So if the military commander wants to make meritorious deeds, he will have to turn his attention to other places besides the nine-border frontier army!

For example, the navy!

Tang Hao's real goal is the Navy!

And the navy also performed meritorious service, wiping out Japanese pirates and bandits. Isn't this a meritorious service?

Therefore, Xungui must seize this opportunity no matter what and follow Tang Hao, the Marquis of Zhongshan, on board the ship!

Furthermore, in a sense, this can be regarded as working hard with His Majesty the Emperor. With such a layer of origin, His Majesty the Emperor will not easily suppress the nobles again. They can at least have a solid sleep from now on.

"The old man is interested."

"But forget about Zhu Hui's money. He will probably be emptied by His Majesty this time!"

Tang Hao said with a smile, very satisfied with Zhang's knowledge.

Why did he reveal this secret? Why did he take the initiative to tell Zhang Mao? It was not just for money!

It costs money to build a shipyard, it costs money to build warships, and it also costs money to train craftsmen!

So the more money, the better, not to mention these wealthy people!

Don't look at these guys who have been complaining to Tang Hao before, saying that life can't go on anymore and it's getting more and more difficult.

At first, Tang Hao really believed in their evil deeds, but later he gradually realized that something was not right, especially after experiencing the salt policy, Tang Hao finally realized that these military generals and nobles were similar to civil servants and gentry, so they should I have never made less money than ever!

That is to say, he had just arrived in Ming Dynasty and didn't understand anything, so he would believe the nonsense of the British Duke Zhang Mao!

For example, Zhu Hui, the protector of the country, relies on his father's merits and his own title of Duke. God knows how many bribes he has accepted and how much national interests he has misappropriated!

Therefore, do not underestimate anyone in the history books, because this is the Ming Dynasty, and they are no longer simple names, but living people of flesh and blood!

"Your Majesty, there is really nothing we can do."

"Money is needed to train troops in the Dongguanting camp, and the civil servants and gentry have blocked this matter very hard. The amount of money they allocated is not enough to support a thousand people, let alone 50,000 soldiers."

Tang Hao comforted him with a smile: "I'm afraid your majesty is also trying to vent his anger on me this time. In addition, I have to walk away with another hundred thousand taels of silver in one breath, so I suddenly attacked Duke Baoguo. After all, Duke Baoguo Corruption is a fact, and His Majesty has long wanted to skin him!"

After figuring out the whole story, Zhang Mao couldn't help but sigh.

"That's all, it's all Zhu Hui's fault!"

"I have warned him a long time ago not to be too utilitarian and accept any money!"

"But this bastard just can't listen. He is greedy and has no conscience. He deserves to suffer this fate!"

But when you scold, you still have to beg for mercy.

"But Mr. Tang, after all, he is Zhu Yong's son. Zhu Yong has fought for our Ming Dynasty all his life. There is no credit but hard work. I still hope that your majesty can look at Zhu Yong's face and save this bastard's life!"

Tang Hao immediately patted his chest after hearing this.

"Don't worry, old lord, I will enter the palace to meet the saint right now!"

"It's just that I will leave Beijing for Shandong tomorrow, so this money..."

Zhang Mao said in a deep voice: "I will set off immediately to convene the nobles in Beijing for discussion. The first batch of "ship tickets" will be delivered to you tomorrow!"

"Old Duke really understands justice!" Tang Hao gave him a thumbs up.

Seeing this, Zhang Mao shook his head helplessly and smiled bitterly, and then mentioned one more thing.

"Speaking of which, how long will you be leaving this time?"

"When will you and my Shu'er get married?"

Tang Hao was speechless for a moment, because he had really forgotten this and that he wanted to marry a wife.

"You're such a bastard!" Zhang Mao couldn't tell, and immediately scolded: "My Shu'er worked hard for you, but in the end you completely forgot about it!"

"What? Sharpen your will?" Tang Hao was startled and asked immediately.

After asking Zhang Mao about the reason, Tang Hao couldn't help but praise him.

"What a wonderful woman!"

"How can you miss such a beautiful person?"

Tang Hao laughed loudly, and then looked at his second uncle Tang Yan.

"Second uncle, could you please discuss the wedding date with me, the old man? It should be within these days."

"I will go to the palace to meet the Holy Spirit. I will also ask for a favor from Your Majesty. I must at least give Shu'er a royal decree. Otherwise, how can I live up to her affection?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Tang Hao stood up and left, leaving the two elders looking at each other.

"no!"

"Isn't this a little rushed?"

Tang Er shouted and asked, but Tang Hao had already walked away.

"Mr. British, are you in a hurry?" Tang Yan could only look at Zhang Mao.

But Zhang Mao also laughed loudly and said: "If you don't have to rush, don't rush. If there is an order, why is there any rush?"

"Immediately prepare three matchmakers and six hires. We will finish it in one go today. Let me see who dares to comment!"

Following the British Duke's order, the entire Zhongshan Marquis Mansion immediately became busy.

…

Qianqing Palace.

Tang Hao met the saint again.

"Your Majesty, there are two happy events. Which one does Your Majesty want to hear?"

This was the first time Tang Hao started joking with Zhu Houzhao. The latter also became interested, put down the passionate fantasy book, pretended to think for a moment, and said lazily: "Let's listen to Xiao Xi first!"

"I'm just happy that because of your majesty's wisdom, you suddenly arrested Zhu Hui, the Duke of Baoguo, which shocked the nobles of the capital. Just now, the British Duke Zhang Mao took the initiative to find me, and then I followed the trend and told him about organizing a fleet to go to sea. Honorables of the capital They are willing to invest in building a shipyard and building a fleet. All they want is one, and we will take them to play together!”

Zhu Houzhao was dumbfounded and stood up suddenly in shock.

"How much are they willing to pay?"

"The British government has one hundred thousand taels, and the rest of the nobles vary from level to level. It is estimated that there are about five hundred thousand taels!"

As soon as these words came out, Zhu Houzhao was immediately overjoyed!

Five hundred thousand taels!

Oh my god, Zhu Houzhao has never been so rich!

Upon seeing this, Tang Hao couldn't help but stretched out his hand and waved it in front of him, reminding him: "Your Majesty, this is the money used to build the shipyard and build the fleet. It has nothing to do with you!"

Zhu Houzhao: "..."

After a brief silence, there was endless roaring.

"no!"

"Absolutely not!"

"It must be divided in half!"

"At least you have to return the one hundred thousand taels to me!"

"Is it easy for me to accumulate all this wealth? It's all me..."

"That's all the stolen money I got from raiding corrupt officials!"

"..."

Zhu Houzhao withered and could not refute.

Tang Hao then stretched out his hand with a smile.

"Second good news, please give me an edict from your majesty!"

"You want a hammer, you want a life..."

Zhu Houzhao was originally roaring, but then he was stunned.

"A decree?"

"Are you getting married?"

"That's right!" Tang Hao laughed, "Just these few days! We will go to Shandong after we get married!"

Zhu Houzhao felt sincerely happy when he heard this.

This damn savage is finally getting married!

"Your Majesty must work harder!"

"What's the meaning?"

"Otherwise, if you don't have my son when he lands, I will doubt you... No?!"

"!!!"