October 25, the ninth year of Chongzhen.

Zhu Cixiang took Emperor Laozi away from Weihui Mansion, crossed the Yellow River, and arrived at Kaifeng Mansion.

The jurisdiction of Kaifeng Prefecture in the Ming Dynasty was very large, equivalent to five cities including Kaifeng City, Zhengzhou City, Zhoukou City, Xuchang City, Luohe City and parts of Xinxiang City in later generations.

The drought south of the Yellow River is still more severe than that north of the Yellow River. There are refugees digging up grass roots and peeling bark from trees everywhere, and corpses of starved to death can be seen on the roadside at any time.

There are no wild dogs biting corpses like in other novels. If there were wild dogs, they would have been killed and eaten by the refugees.

The granaries of most county governments were also empty. It was no longer possible to use Yue Yang's status as imperial envoy to order local officials to release grain. Chongzhen's mood fell again.

On a dry grassland, Chongzhen sat down without caring about his image. Wang Chengen's heart trembled when he saw it. He hurriedly went to the carriage to get a piece of cloth to put Chongzhen under it, but Chongzhen refused.

"If we put it back, the people will be displaced and people will starve to death every day, but I can only stare. Sitting on the grass is nothing. I should kneel here and apologize to the people..."

When Chongzhen spoke, two lines of tears instantly fell from his face. He stayed in the palace every day and could not feel the suffering of the people outside. He ate a few vegetarian meals and thought he was very frugal.

But now look at the life of the people of the Ming Dynasty under his rule. Not to mention eating rice and steamed buns, they even fight to eat grass roots and tree bark. If they move slowly, others will poach them.

Before leaving the capital, he thought that the extra two bells would have little impact on the people. But after leaving the capital, he realized how the Ming people could still surrender two bells, and what did they use to do so?

Zhu Cihong walked to the emperor and sat down next to me. Looking around, he saw a desolate and desolate scene.

He was equally depressed and sad. This place was still hundreds of miles away from Guangzhou, his hometown before crossing over. Zhu Cixiang could think of the tragic situation in his hometown more than three hundred years ago.

Seeing Zhu Cixiang sitting down next to him, Chongzhen asked:

"Your Majesty, droughts in Shanxi, Shaanxi, Anhui and other places are as severe as in Henan. Even the food from the south transported to the disaster areas may not be enough for the people. My father's heart is in chaos and I really don't know how to deal with it."

Although Chongzhen in history was very face-conscious, he would also criticize himself regardless of face. The fact that he issued edicts against himself many times can definitely prove this.

Zhu Cixi shook his head:

"Father, relying solely on imperial relief cannot completely solve the problem. We must find ways to make the disaster-stricken areas self-reliant. At present, the disaster-stricken areas may not be seriously short of food.

If my guess is correct, there should be a lot of food in the hands of large landlords, gentry and clan members. There are many vassal fiefdoms in Henan, one of which has never been a vassal.

At least 60% of the land in Henan is controlled by the clan, gentry and landlords who do not pay taxes. Only 40% of the land is in the hands of the common people, who make up the majority of the population.

Once there is a disaster year, let alone paying taxes, it will be difficult to eat. Just like now, if we want the Ming Dynasty to continue, reform is imperative, and all those who stand in the way can be killed!"

As Zhu Cixiang said, Henan is located in the Central Plains.

Because the land flowing through the Yellow River is fertile and rich in products, it gathers products from all over the world.

Therefore, many favored princes of the Ming Dynasty were arranged here, and eventually seven vassal princes came to dominate Henan.

The most famous among the vassal kings of Henan are Zhu Changxun, King of Fu, and Zhu Gongxun, King of Zhou.

King Fu was the third son of Wanli, and he was very favored. Wanli had a feud with hundreds of officials over him.

He just wanted to abandon his eldest son Zhu Changluo and make his third son the crown prince.

Encountered opposition from the ministers, this incident lasted for more than ten years and finally ended in Wanli's failure.

Wanli became disheartened and never went to court again.

Emperor Wanli did not go to court for thirty years, but it did not mean that he was neglectful of affairs.

Wanli then asked King Fu to control the Luoyang area, which was arguably the richest at the time.

Luoyang is the ancient capital, and its geographical location and political status are higher than those of other vassals.

He was also given thousands of hectares of fertile land, even covering the territories of other vassals.

For this reason, Wanli even expanded the border of Luoyang, but King Fu was also willful and asked to reward him with the salt tax revenue from Bashu.

As a result, Wanli also agreed, and then King Fu asked for the salt tax from Huai River to be given to him, and he also agreed.

King Fu's palace is magnificent and magnificent, far surpassing the palace. It can be said that he is as rich as the country.

The soldiers at that time said behind their backs:

"The emperor gave all the wealth in the world to King Fu, but asked us to work hard for the country."

This also paved the way for King Fu's tragic end in the future.

When Li Zicheng first entered Henan, no one followed him, but Henan was oppressed by the clan members.

Li Zicheng's words of exempting taxes and dividing land instantly attracted tens of thousands of refugees.

As a result, it gradually became a huge force, and someone gave King Fu advice when he attacked Luoyang.

Let him use his property to reward the soldiers who defend the city, and they will be grateful and work hard with their lives.

King Fu refused to listen, and then Luoyang City was destroyed. King Fu hurriedly escaped but was still captured.

There is even a legend in history that Li Zicheng cooked Prince Fu himself, which shows how much the people hated him.

However, compared with King Fu, King Zhou was much smarter and farsighted.

The Zhou king's lineage had a prosperous population, and by the end of the Ming Dynasty, more than half of Kaifeng City belonged to the Zhou king.

There were tens of thousands of people, and they lived through eleven lives, and there were eleven kings of Zhou.

Zhou Wang Zhu Gongzhen was determined not to be the "warehouse keeper" of the rogue bandits.

And unlike other vassal kings who desperately squandered money before their death, this King of Zhou knew very well that money should be spent wisely.

He spent all his money to support the army to fight against Li Zicheng. It was his investment and effort that caused Li Zicheng, who had attacked countless famous feudal towns in his life, to suffer repeated setbacks under the gates of Kaifeng.

In the fifteenth year of Chongzhen's reign, when Li Zicheng attacked Kaifeng Mansion, Kaifeng Mansion was flooded by the Yellow River.

King Zhou's family almost died in the Yellow River flood, and Kaifeng was flooded.

Zhu Gongzhen fled to Anyang, led his palace concubines and kings to live in the rain for several days, and later settled in Zhangde Mansion.

Soon after his death, the Zhou dynasty came to an end, and the remaining descendants were chased and killed by Qing soldiers.

Back to the topic

When Chongzhen heard Zhu Cixiang mentioning many vassal kings, his heart suddenly sank:

"The prince wants to take action against the vassal king? My father was afraid that the world would be in chaos, so when he became the ancestor..."

This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Chongzhen swallowed back the rest of the words after speaking here, but Zhu Cixiang already knew what he was going to say:

"Father, do you think the world is not in chaos now? It is a world for those who win the hearts and minds of the people. I have to save the hearts and minds of the people that have been lost over the years. If you dare not do it, just let me do it.

I will sacrifice anything for the sake of the people of the Ming Dynasty and the Han people. If anything happens to my son due to this matter, please ask my father to appoint my second brother as the heir apparent."

Chongzhen was silent for a long time and did not respond to Zhu Cixiang. After this trip to the capital, he had decided to support Zhu Cixiang's land reform, but he really did not dare to do it against his clan members, and he was not willing to do it.

The clan members are all the sons and grandsons of dragons. If he holds the throne, why don't he let them eat? If the clan clans all over the world unite to resist, won't he bring the Ming Dynasty into eternal disaster again?

The team continued to move forward, passing Zhengzhou and entering Zhongmou. Going further, they entered Kaifeng County, where the Kaifeng government office is located.

Find a place with few people to stop and eat, rest for two hours after the meal, and arrive at Kaifeng City before dark.

A large number of refugees gathered outside Kaifeng. Chongzhen and Zhu Cixiang both discovered something that surprised them. There were several soup kitchens here.

After inquiring, I found out that the king of Zhou was giving soup to the victims outside the city, and a merchant named Shen Wanwan also had a soup kitchen here.

After entering Kaifeng City, they found several porridge stations, including porridge sheds built by the government and those built by the king of Zhou.

What surprised Zhu Cixiang the most was that Shen Wanwan actually built two soup kitchens in his own name in the city.

This made Zhu Cixiang have a great interest in Shen Wanwan, and he planned to find time to meet this kind man to see who he was! I like the Ming Dynasty, and the heyday started from the time when the prince was in charge of the country. Please collect it: (https://www.myxls.net
Chapter completed!