Chapter 683 The emperor said that he must not be absent!

(0683)

"Tomorrow, the cabinet ministers will be summoned to discuss matters in Wenhua Palace."

"The six ministers, ministers, and ministers must participate, and no one must be absent."

Chongzhen thought for a moment and suddenly said.

"Yes, the emperor."

Wang Chengen agreed to go.

When the old eunuch turned around, he felt a little emotion in his heart. When did the emperor summon the ministers to discuss matters and even added a sentence "Don't be absent" afterwards? The emperor is the supreme emperor, and his golden words are imperial edicts. The emperor *** who dares to absent the life and death of the ministers? Even if he adds this sentence unconsciously, does he think that someone will say he is sick?

Wang Chengen knew some inside information about Wen Tiren's sudden illness and resignation. Wen Tiren really didn't want to do it anymore and wanted to go back and enjoy his old age. After being the prime minister for so many years, he had already earned enough for his descendants to enjoy it for several generations. Now, the situation in the court is getting worse and worse, and it has reached an irreversible point. If he doesn't leave now, he will probably have a long hand. In other words, Wen Tiren abandoned Chongzhen and wanted to escape the haze of the court.

However, Chongzhen didn't know that he thought Wen Tiren was really sick. He confidently felt that no one would be unwilling to stay by his side. Unless he didn't want them anymore, they would never leave on their own initiative. It was with such confidence that after Wang Chengen left, Chongzhen still paced back and forth in the study, thinking about things seriously.

After appointing Yang Sichang to govern the king and the king, Chongzhen realized a huge problem, that is, his hands lacked some necessary things. Such things are money and grain. The commander of the king's army must have money and grain. If the commander has no money and grain, the generals, deputy generals, generals, guerrillas and other things will not listen to you at all.

This is what Chongzhen heard from the Jinyiwei. The current military commander can basically only rely on the distribution of money and grain in his hands to control the army. Obedient generals get more money and grain. Disobedient generals get less money and grain. If they go against the commander, they will be cut off from the supply of money and grain. The consequence of cutting off the supply of money and grain is that the grassroots soldiers will rebel and ask for money and grain.

This is a very deadly control measure. Once it is out of control, a large-scale rebellion will be formed. However, apart from such fundamental measures, the commander of the army can never think of a better control method. The authority of the court and the authority of the superiors are constantly losing as they lose battles everywhere. To be honest, even if he is the emperor, if he has no money and food, his army will definitely not be obedient.

However, the treasury has been empty for a long time and the treasury is empty. Even if Chongzhen wants to do his best to help Yang Sichang, he will not be able to do it. Without enough money and food, no matter how capable Yang Sichang is, he will not be able to accomplish anything! However, since he wants to support Yang Sichang, he hopes that Yang Sichang can make military achievements. The problem of money and food should be solved as much as possible.

However, after thinking about it, Chongzhen still did not think of any good ideas. The main source of money and grain in the court was Jiangnan. The money and grain in Jiangnan all entered the capital through the canal transport. Now, the canal transport has been temporarily cut off, and the tax and silver in Jiangnan cannot be transported in time, which made the court's lack of money and grain in money and grain more and more serious. No one can guarantee when the canal transport will be restored.

Yang Yipeng, the governor of the canal transport, was actually in the capital and was waiting for dispatch at any time. However, the cutoff of the canal transport had nothing to do with Yang Yipeng. The canal transport was cut off by the Tatars, and Yang Yipeng had no ability to drive the Tatars away at all. In the end, to restore the canal transport, it would still depend on the efforts of the court and the efforts of the army. Only by driving the Tatars out of the pass can the canal transport be smooth. However, it is not easy to drive the brutal Tatars out of the pass?

After the second update, Chongzhen was not sleepy at all. He simply walked around the yard of the Ganqing Palace. The two palace maids stood silently on both sides of the alchemy with two silk lanterns. The other eunuchs and palace maids on duty stood far away in the dark shadows, and they did not even dare to show off their grandeur. As state affairs continued to fade, Chongzhen's temper became increasingly elusive. The eunuchs below did not dare to touch Chongzhen's bad heads.

Occasionally, a sharp and cold north wind blew, and the iron horses at the eaves of the palace made a sound of Ding Dong, but Chongzhen seemed to have never heard it. His mind was thinking about the bad situation that made him very worried, and he sighed from time to time, and seemed very lonely in the darkness. After a long time of visit, he lowered his head and walked back to the East Warehouse of the Ganqing Palace with heavy steps, and sat down again in front of the imperial case.

At present, Jiangbei, Huguang, Sichuan, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan, Shandong, Hebei... Half of China has heavy famines everywhere, with rebellions everywhere, with tens of thousands of large stocks, followed by thousands of small stocks, and hundreds of small stocks everywhere. There are also famines and riots in the south of the Yangtze River, Hunan, Jiangxi, Fujian and other places. Even the so-called fish and rice towns in Suzhou and Jiaxing have also encountered droughts, locust plagues, and grain prices are rising. There are constantly crowds of people, openly robbing grain.

Since he ruled over the country, the situation has become worse and worse, and now there is almost no quiet land. The direct consequence of these things is that the tax revenue of the court is getting smaller and smaller every year. However, the expenditure of the court is getting more and more year by year. The most obvious example is the continuous increase in military expenditure. The income of the court is completely insufficient to the military expenditure.

In the past, Nanzhili could pay 200,000 taels of tax and silver a year, but last year it was only a few hundred thousand taels. The same is true for Zhejiang. In the past, Zhejiang could pay more than one million taels of tax and silver a year, but last year it was only less than 700,000 taels. If the situation did not improve, the tax revenue this year might be even smaller. It was a drop in the bucket, and such a small income was not enough to see.

However, the military expenditure increased significantly. In addition to dealing with the Donglu and the Shaanxi chaos army, the court also had to deal with a guy named Zhang Zhun. The imperial army was increasing continuously, but there was always no news of victory in the battle. Even if there was, it was often found that the following generals were killing good people and taking credit. While deceiving the court, they also forced more people to join the ranks of the chaos army.

"The treasury is so clean, how can it be?"

Chongzhen felt that his mind was so painful that it seemed to faint.

At present, state affairs are in full swing, and not only Yang Sichang urgently needs food and wages. For several days, he received emergency documents from various provinces every day, either asking for wages or military personnel. Because of his dissatisfaction with Zhang Fengyi, Chongzhen recently appointed the new governor of Ji Liao. However, the first thing this governor of Ji Liao, named Wu Aheng, took office was to ask the court for money and food, and he was also very upbeat.

In the memorial, Wu Aheng said that since he came out of the pass and moved to Liaodong, he has always encouraged his soldiers to serve the country with death. However, it is difficult for him to fight and defend. He said that he would rather "betray the ground and repay the emperor's kindness" and asked the emperor to order the Ministry of Revenue to raise military funds quickly and transport them outside the pass, so that the soldiers of the three armies should not "fight against the enemy" and their morale would be lost. The dense and sparse wording of this seal made Chongzhen both moved and sad, and then felt very helpless.

The Liaodong military supervisors and governors seemed to be all the same. Gao Qiqian, the Liaodong military supervisor, was not active in advance, but he was very active in asking the court for money and food. A memorial came on time almost every three days. Every time Chongzhen saw Gao Qiqian's memorial, he wanted to bring him over immediately and kick him to death. But after calming down, he didn't care. There were not many people he could trust now, and Gao Qiqian was one of them.

With Wu Aheng and Gao Qiqian's examples, other towns were naturally desperately calling Qiu and asking the court to allocate food and pay. Wang Kun was calling, Hong Chengchou was calling, and all the commanders of the army were calling. Even Zuo Liangyu dared to write to the court directly to ask for enough food and pay, otherwise the soldiers might change. This was simply a threat to the court.

That night, Chongzhen slept very uneasy and was lying on the bed, still thinking about how to raise funds. After thinking about it, he finally came up with a quick way, which was to ask the royal relatives and nobles to lend some money to the country. He thought that every royal relative "received the country's kindness" and "shared with weal and woe" with the country. The country is in great difficulty at present, and others are unwilling to pay, so they should take out the money and make an advocacy, which can also make the subjects all over the world know that he is a king and a father without selfishness.

But which royal family should be called as a role model?

Chongzhen heard on weekdays that there were three richest families among the royal relatives: one was the empress's family, one was the concubine's family of Concubine Tian, ​​and the other was the Li family of the Marquis of Wuqing. The first two families were new households. Relying on the status of the royal relatives and the queen, Concubine Tian was favored by the emperor. He annexed land and operated business in the capital area. After more than ten years of accumulation, it has surpassed many old royal relatives.

The Wuqing Hou family was the mother of Emperor Wanli, Empress Dowager Xiaoding, and the current generation of Marquis Li Guorui was Chongzhen's cousin. It is said that before Wanli took power, the state affairs were chaired by Empress Dowager Xiaoding and Zhang Juzheng, the prime minister of Quan. According to legend, Empress Dowager Xiaoding often transported the gold, silver and treasures in the palace to his parents' home, some were publicly rewarded, and some were not publicly rewarded. Therefore, to this day, the Wuqing Hou family is still very rich, and is the first among the old and new royal relatives.

Among these three royal relatives, one can be a role model, and the other royal relatives are convinced and pay the money. However, Chongzhen refused to stab the queen and Concubine Tian, ​​so he could not ask Zhou Kui and Tian Hongyu to be a role model first. After thinking about it, it is more appropriate to ask Li Guorui to be a role model. Because of Zhang Juzheng, Chongzhen did not like Li Guorui's family very much. This time he was about to bleed, so he happened to act like their family.

He also thought that asking for money from various royal relatives may not be smooth. If he encounters resistance, he will be strict and blamed, and even used national laws. But this is not an ordinary event. No such story has been said by ancestors in all generations. Will the ancestors be accustomed to the spirits of heaven? What would all the royal relatives and nobles say? After thinking about this repeatedly, Chongzhen suddenly hesitated again.

It was finally time to go to court, Chongzhen tried hard to cheer up, finished dressing, and then came to Wenhua Hall. Wenhua Hall was originally a place where the emperor specially received new Jinshi. Now, Chongzhen changed his affairs here, mainly to change the environment and mood.

All the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, as well as the Secretary of the Six Ministry of the Secretariat, the Minister of the Secretariat, and the Minister of the Tribute all stood here. Wang Chengen announced the arrival of Chongzhen, and all the ministers knelt down and bowed. They knelt down three times and nine times in a manner, with a lot of etiquette. Wang Chengen sang a tribute next to him, his face full of seriousness and meticulousness.

For some reason, Chongzhen had no desire to say that he was exempted from courtesy today. He sat upright on the dragon throne and asked all the ministers to salute all the ministers obediently. Chongzhen probably felt that the people in front of him were not able to help him solve the problem, just like a waste. Even if they were not waste, they were mediocre. For such waste and mediocre people, let them kneel a little more.

After the ceremony was finished, Chongzhen had no extra words to say, and directly asked the ministers present to solve the problem of food and salary. As a result, as soon as he finished speaking, the entire Wenhua Hall was in a mess, with only the whistling sound of the wind. Thirty or forty ministers stood in the huge Wenhua Hall, listening quietly to the wind outside, without any intention of speaking.

Today, the wind and sand in *** City were particularly strong, blowing the Han generals at the gate of Wenhua Hall to almost unsteadily stand. The wind and sand have been blowing for four days and four nights, covering the entire *** City in gray. Even in the Forbidden City, there are many wind and sand in many places that have not been cleaned up, let alone many places in *** City.

Due to the continuous invasion of the Tartars, the northern part of the Ming Dynasty was desolate, and a large number of fields were abandoned. Coupled with the years of drought, large areas of deserts were formed, which was the main reason for the formation of dust storms. However, most people do not understand the principles and believe that it is the gods who blame it, and that God is punishing some people.

The old people in *** City said that this was something that had not happened in hundreds of years. There were rumors in secret that it was probably going to change. These rumors spread to Chongzhen through the secret spies of the Jinyiwei. Chongzhen was angry and had a little more inexplicable fear. Most people would rather believe in the existence of gods and ghosts than not.

Seeing that no one was talking, Chongzhen was secretly angry, and his hatred for the ministers in front of him became stronger and stronger. I don’t know when, Chongzhen held a suspicious hostile attitude towards all civil officials, believing that they could not help them solve the problem. The cold situation was long, but no one spoke. Chongzhen had to ask, “How much money does the Ministry of Revenue still have?”

Hou Xun, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, left the list and replied with a dead face: "The salt tax in Jiangnan cannot be transferred to the capital. Taicang Silver is currently less than 10,000 taels of silver."

The ministers present were all silent.

The whistling sound of the wind outside seemed to be even louder.

The treasury of Taicang silver, the treasury of the Ming Empire, was less than 10,000 taels of silver! It made people feel like they were going crazy when they said this number. Many people wondered if Hou Xun had said less than "10,000", which was almost the same if it was less than 1 million taels. However, this is the real situation. No one suspected that Hou Xun would tell lies. Hou Xun said that the treasury was less than 10,000 taels of silver, which was really less than 10,000 taels of silver.

Hearing this horrifying number, the new chief assistant Liu Yuliang had to cough, kneel down from the line, and said bitterly: "The national treasury is empty, and the ministers are really unforgivable. I also ask the emperor to give him a punishment."

Although he was the newly appointed chief minister and did not have much responsibility for the mess left by Wen Tiren. However, for safety reasons, Liu Yuliang was the first to sue. His educational level was not very high, and the one he was most reluctant to study and passed the imperial examination was entirely due to some other reasons. Wen Tiren suddenly fell ill and suddenly became the chief minister, which made him feel very stressed. For some reason, Liu Yuliang was always worried that he would be used as a scapegoat by Chongzhen.

Faced with the mess in front of him, Liu Yuliang was absolutely powerless. The court wanted people without people, money without money, and food without food. Even Wen Tiren was so smart and skillful, and could not play with people. How could he play? If he wasn't afraid of angering Chongzhen, Liu Yuliang would now want to retire and leave. He didn't know why Wen Tiren suddenly got sick. If he could learn Wen Tiren's skills, he would have to do this. The current chief assistant is definitely a life-threatening person!

Chongzhen frowned and said, "Now is not the time to ask for guilt, so we have to find a way to solve it."

Liu Yuliang was a little relieved and then went back to the queue.

The other ministers looked down at their toes and refused to speak.

Seeing that the situation was about to continue to be cold again, Chongzhen had to encourage and said, "Those who speak are not guilty. No matter what suggestions you have, you can speak freely. I will never blame you."

Grand Secretary Fan Fucui stepped out and said: "The day before yesterday, a student from the Taishu wrote a letter to the Wei minister and explained some ways to raise food and money..."

Chongzhen frowned and said, "Where is the turn of too many students to talk too much about the country?"

Fan Fucui insisted: "After reading it, I feel that it makes some sense. Perhaps, the emperor and all the ministers present can listen, the words are not guilty!"

This was a bit rude, which was quite tempting to make Emperor Chongzhen accept his opinions. However, the civil officials of the Ming Dynasty basically did not care about this, especially the cabinet ministers in the cabinet, who often competed with the emperor. Fan Fucui's anger had not completely subsided a few days ago, so it was not surprising that he said such words.

Sure enough, Chongzhen didn't care too much, nodded and said, "You'll say it."

Fan Fucui said slowly: "This student is named Li Lian. He said that when today's chaos is in chaos, the northern country and the Central Plains have been completely decayed, but Jiangnan has only had the fruits of war. However, Jiangnan has not suffered any disaster for many years. The large households have merged land and operated business, and only know how to be rich and frugal, compete for luxury, and have a large number of wives and concubines, and have a thousand houses. They just want to satisfy their own selfish desires and do not think about the difficulties of the country."

"The root of the chaos in Qin, Jin, Yu, Chu and other provinces is that the wealthy households only know how to exploit the common people and annex the land, causing too much disparity between the rich and the poor. Even in the harvest year, the common people still cried out in hunger and cold. When they encounter a famine, the weak had to go to the side of the road to starve to death, and the strong would rise up and rebel. The turbulent people in Shaanxi were killed continuously, which is the most fundamental reason."

"Today, Jiangnan seems to be very stable, but in fact there are crises lurking everywhere. If the rich and wealthy households do not merge the land as soon as possible and rescue the suffering of the common people quickly, then the disaster of the collapse of Qin, Jin, Yu, and Chu will also occur in Jiangnan. He begged the emperor to issue a resolute edict, ordering the Jiangnan large households to automatically report their industries and pledge military salaries. If there is any disobedience, his property will be confiscated and not tolerated at all. In addition, he also suggested that the large households strictly prohibit the merger, and carefully clear the land to equalize the burden on the people."

After Fan Fucui finished speaking, Wenhua Palace seemed even more quiet, and no one dared to speak. Originally, everyone thought that this student had any suggestions, but they didn't expect that it was Zhang Zhun's style! There was a very serious problem in Fan Fucui's retelling, which was to remeasure the land. Why did you need to remeasure the land? Of course, you have to prepare to redistribute the land! Zhang Zhun's "Juntian Ling" is like this! Why do everyone present hate Zhang Zhun? It is because Zhang Zhun wants to divide their land!

Now, this Tai student named Li Lian is actually taking the blame for the world. When it comes to such content in the memorial, I really don’t know how the word "death" is written. Jiangsu and Zhejiang are the source of wealth of the court. The court can do anything, but it cannot do something in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. If Jiangsu and Zhejiang are also messed up, the court will be completely finished.

After hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen was also half happy and half sad. The method provided by Li Lian was indeed practical on the surface. The problem is that it must not be moved in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. If the wealthy families in Jiangsu and Zhejiang all stood up to oppose the court because of Li Lian's suggestion, the foundation of the ruling of Jiangsu and Zhejiang in the court would also completely collapse. After hesitating for a moment, Chongzhen said slowly: "What do you think, what do you think?"

Fan Fucui couldn't help but sigh slightly. He knew that Chongzhen would react like this. He was not decisive when he should be decisive, and not merciful when he should be merciful. This is Chongzhen's biggest problem. He seemed so arbitrary to Lu Xiangsheng's mistake. Without thinking or saying anything, he would put Lu Xiangsheng to prison. However, Li Lian's proposal was indecisive and dared not make any decisions.

If Chongzhen had a firm attitude and no fewer people would agree with him. In the Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas, there would not be many people who dared to fight against the court. However, once Chongzhen looked like he was soliciting opinions and was not firm in his attitude, this suggestion would be easily beaten back. Isn’t it easy to take out the money from someone else’s pocket?

Sure enough, Fu Zonglong, the Minister of Works, took the lead in refuting, believing that Li Lian's suggestion had shaken the foundation of the court. Now, there are many refugees in the world, and the only source of finance and taxation is the wealthy families in various places. If even they are dissatisfied with the court, the consequences will be unimaginable. Fu Zonglong proposed that Li Lian beheading and showing the public to calm the people's hearts. Other ministers also spoke one after another, and did not agree with Li Lian's proposal.

This time, it was Chongzhen's turn to be depressed again.

If there is not enough money and food, how can we help Yang Sichang create military achievements?
Chapter completed!