After Zhang Sizhi went to court, he was riding a sedan to his mansion when he heard a commotion in front of him.

"What's the fuss outside?"

"It seems like this store is owned by factory guards."

Does Zhang Si know that this kind of configuration is often used by Jin Yiwei and Dongchang eunuchs for private use?

"Sir, there is a Western shop opened on the street. It sells some glazed silver mirrors and a kind of fire folding bag that can be used many times."

"Oh? Is there such a thing? Stop, I'll take a look."

After hearing what his entourage said, Zhang Sizhi got off the sedan chair and saw a new shop opened on the street, with a young eunuch and a royal guard guarding it.

When he walked to the door, the store was already full of people. Zhang Sizhi looked from a distance and saw several clear mirrors hanging on the wall. The prices listed below were 400 taels of silver or 30 taels of gold.

Through the introduction of the store clerk, he learned that this silver mirror was sent from the far west. It was unique in the world and could illuminate people's faces clearly.

"Master, this glazed silver mirror is really expensive."

"It's quite expensive. You can buy one for me later and I'll give it to Madam.

By the way, I used gold and found out whose property this is, but I feel like it’s not something that factory guards could do."

Zhang Sizhi did not go further inside and returned to the sedan chair, not caring at all that the price of thirty taels of gold was too high.

After all, compared to 400 taels of silver, 30 taels of gold seems like a lot of money.

...the nineteenth day of the first lunar month of the Ming Dynasty...

Shuntian Mansion, Forbidden City, Fengtian Palace.

Chongzhen looked at the commotion below. The ministers were chatting with each other, and the military attachés were doing nothing. They looked accustomed to it.

From the anger in the first year of Chongzhen, to vigorous rectification, to habit, and then to numbness.

"Your Majesty, I have something to report."

Chen Yan, the cabinet scholar, stood up.

"speak."

"The Li thieves are powerful and now Luoyang is in danger. Please allocate money and food to your Majesty and summon the Governor of Huguang, Mr. Yang Ge, to rush to Luoyang's aid."

"I second the proposal."

"Your Majesty, no, Mr. Yang Ge is encircling and suppressing Zhang Xianzhong's troops. This is a critical moment. Don't give up halfway!"

"Your Majesty, there is a famine in Henan, and we urgently need to allocate funds for disaster relief."

"Your Majesty, the national treasury is empty and the borders are in urgent need. Please increase taxes."

"Your Majesty, Jinzhou General Soldier Zu needs money and food for his birthday."

It started again, these ministers would always argue among themselves for a long time, and then give Chongzhen a request that everyone seemed to agree with, waiting for him to make a decision.

It was because the decision-making power was still in Chongzhen's hands, otherwise Chongzhen would not even know whether he was the emperor or not.

While watching the excitement, he opened the system and wanted to chat with Chen Ye. Although Chen Ye had not revealed any future news to him in the past few days, he generally gave him some suggestions.

"Chongzhen: Shopkeeper, you don't know how excessive these ministers are. They actually said that I live a luxurious life and eat apples from the south in the winter. Why didn't they say that when they had a lot of fish and meat, I was still eating cornstarch."

"Chongzhen: Shopkeeper, they are quarreling again. Can you recommend some capable ministers to me? Don't just ask me to give you money."

"Chongzhen: Shopkeeper, the situation in Luoyang is extremely critical. If it is as you said, then the city of Luoyang will be invaded by bandits tomorrow."

Unfortunately, Chen Ye was in Do Not Disturb mode and ignored him.

"Your Majesty, no gifts are allowed."

Li Daiwen, the Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue, shouted loudly and stood up.

"Your Majesty, the national treasury is empty, but the local people are already suffering terribly due to the disaster. If we add more taxes, it will make things worse."

"Li Shangshu, how rich is the world? If you, the Minister of Hubu, cannot distribute money and food, it is because you, the Minister of Hubu, have failed in your duty."

"I am very cautious about my career, which actually costs the world a lot and reduces tax revenue. Your Majesty, I am loyal and have never neglected my duty!"

Li Daiwen shouted loudly that as the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, he was too stupid.

Chongzhen continued to think about it. It had been eight days and he would go to Wang Chengen's house after going to court.

It should have been sold out by now. Think about it, five thousand taels of gold, if exchanged for silver, can directly turn into more than 100,000 taels of silver.

If exchanged for more mirrors and lighters, it would turn into more money. Chongzhen, who had never been so wealthy, winked at Wang Dehua, who had been demoted.

Although Wang Dehua was greedy and wanted benefits, Chongzhen did not reprimand him seriously. One was because he was an old man who followed him, and the other was because it was normal for people in the palace to want benefits from each other.

When Wang Dehua received the look, he immediately cleared his throat and shouted "Quiet". The ministers below who were still scolding each other gradually became quiet.

"What's the point of making a fuss? Since we can't come up with a result through discussion, we'll withdraw from the court and wait until you can come to a conclusion."

With a wave of his sleeves, Chongzhen turned around and left.

Chen Yan, Li Daiwen, who were quarreling, and Fan Fucui, who was trying to break up the fight, were instantly stunned.

"Why is Your Majesty leaving?"

"I don't know? What's going on? Is it too noisy today?"

"The national affairs are worrying. Your Majesty must be too tired."

Zhang Sizhi thought for a while and walked to Wang Dehua, who was supervising the young eunuch's packing.

"Eunuch, your Majesty, what's going on?"

"I don't know either. I don't know where that bastard Wang Cheng'en got this treasure from. His Majesty was so happy that he even gave up my position as admiral."

"So, apart from Wang Cheng'en, has your Majesty seen anyone recently?"

"Master Zhang, do you care about anyone your Majesty sees? This is not in line with the rules."

"Master Wang, I don't feel sorry for you, right?"

With that said, Zhang Sizhi took out a silver ingot in his hand.

"Well, His Majesty has been in the palace recently and has never seen anyone except Wang Cheng'en who sent the treasure.

By the way, I recently heard someone say that Wang Chengen amassed a lot of money. If it were reported to the imperial censor, hmm, huh huh."

"Wang Chengen? Got it."

Zhang Sizhi lowered his head and left casually, while Wang Dehua smiled meaningfully.

Looking at the little eunuchs who were almost finished cleaning up, he randomly found an excuse to curse a few words. He had fallen out of favor recently and could no longer accompany His Majesty all the time.

When we walked to Wang Chengen's residence, the young eunuch who was guarding the door saw Chongzhen and immediately called out to the emperor loudly.

"Your Majesty, you are here, Shuanzi, go and wait outside."

After the young eunuch left, Wang Chengen opened the bed board.

"Your Majesty, look."

The brilliant gold looked dark red under the candlelight, but it was dazzling to Chongzhen's eyes.

"There are a total of 2,600 taels of gold here. In addition to the shop I opened, the gold from several merchants stationed in the capital is basically here. The rest is the banknotes from Kongji Bank, totaling 17,200 taels.

"

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, what's wrong with you?"

"What a loss of blood! What a loss of blood!"

"Didn't I say that? You don't want anything but gold. Really, if it weren't for...well, wouldn't you wait a moment? How can a great capital be built without gold?"

Chongzhen was so angry that he stamped his feet. Once the silver and gold were exchanged, he felt that not only did he not make seventeen thousand taels, but he lost seventeen thousand taels.

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Chapter completed!