His problem is that the situation in the Ming Dynasty is so bad, how can we break the situation?

Before, when Zhang Mingwei was about to answer this question, he was interrupted by Wang Dehua.

As long as you have a little bit of vision, you can actually see that the Ming Dynasty was already terminally ill at this time. Even if the main force of the Ming Dynasty did not perish, it would be powerless for people of this era to turn the world back. That's right, even Emperor Chongzhen, who had never left the capital in the imperial palace and was most unwilling to perish the Ming Dynasty, had already felt the breath of a country's destruction.

This is not alarmist, a very simple example can illustrate this situation.

The background of the Battle of Songshan was that Zhang Wenheng, who defected to Jianlu and served as deputy director of the Jianlu Nei Secretariat, reported the situation of the Ming Dynasty to Huang Taiji, which triggered Huang Taiji to attack the Ningjin defense line again.

The traitor said: "The civil and military officials are all bought by money. The civil and military officials are not scheming, and the military officials are not brave. Those who control military horses will overcome military money; those who make equipment will reduce official money. Soldiers are living in poverty and equipment are not practical. What is the intention to use their lives? Whenever they go to war, they take advantage of the king and plunder. As the saying goes, "Tartars, thieves are combs, and their own troops are as good as combs." How can there be more military horses? Besides, eunuchs are powerless, like money and flattery, and rewards and punishments are lost. Good officials who are in charge of work cannot do anything; good people who are not in charge of work refuse to come forward. They lie together and lie, and everything is very bad."

Zhang Mingwei saw this description when he checked the information and was deeply impressed.

At this time, when Emperor Chongzhen asked again, he quoted this passage first, and then said to Emperor Chongzhen with a serious expression: "This passage is really not an exaggeration, it has been proved by history. Therefore, after repeated measurements, I suggest to Your Majesty..."

Emperor Chongzhen had recovered from the attack of the king of the devastated country at this time, but after hearing these words, his face turned pale, and then he quickly responded to Zhang Mingwei and said, "Sir, please say it!"

After hearing this, Zhang Mingwei turned to look at Zhu Cilang and said, "First, the prince's southern tour. If your Majesty and I do our best and fail in the end, the Ming Dynasty will still have a backbone and there will be no more kings in the history of the Southern Ming Dynasty. The ministers will fight for power because of this, but the enemy is still constantly flirting with internal friction."

Emperor Chongzhen had already seen the history of the Southern Ming Dynasty through the documentary. Therefore, he had no resistance to this proposal and immediately nodded and said, "Just do as the sir can say!"

As for the case of letting the prince go to the south, he had never happened, but he didn't care at this time. After all, the Ming Dynasty was about to perish, and if he had all kinds of concerns, he would be really stupid!

In fact, since a few years ago, Emperor Chongzhen has no longer cared about everything in order to save the situation.

For example, during the 11th year of Chongzhen, the Henan Censor Zhang Renxue saw that bandits were everywhere in the world and harming the people, but the generals were afraid and dared not fight. Therefore, he submitted a memorial request to "change the military position, jump with a spear and horse, and fight against the bandits for the court."

However, this incident immediately aroused strong opposition from the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of War and the Censorate, saying that "there is no precedent for civil servants to be transferred to military positions, and he can be allowed to continue to be in charge of military affairs in the name of the military censor." However, Emperor Chongzhen finally did his own thing and approved Zhang Renxue's report, and appointed him as the deputy governor and general officer of Henan.

History says that Emperor Chongzhen wanted to go south, but was eventually persuaded by civil servants. It can only be said that if he really made a decision, no matter what reason he used, it would be impossible to stop Emperor Chongzhen from moving south. In the final analysis, it was just that he himself was unwilling to leave.

At this time, Zhang Mingwei proposed that the prince’s southern tour be in case of unexpected surprises. For Emperor Chongzhen, who already knew the historical results, of course, he would not care whether there was a precedent or not, and agreed immediately.

After hearing this, Zhang Mingwei asked with a serious expression: "Your Majesty, what is the tax revenue from the north of the Yangtze River now?"

Hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen's face darkened and he sighed to the sky: "There are thieves everywhere, how many taxes can they receive!"

"Then don't collect it!" Zhang Mingwei immediately took over the topic and said something amazing, which immediately attracted the attention of several people in the hall. "Anyway, if you can't collect it, your Majesty will not give the order. The local officials will reduce the taxes in the prefectures north of the Yangtze River by half. The money and grain obtained will be used to consolidate the city defense and recruit people to defend the city. This approach has three major benefits."

Emperor Chongzhen's face was grim and he asked seriously: "I would like to ask for advice from sir!"

"First, it is to compete for the people's hearts!" Zhang Mingwei raised his voice very seriously and emphasized, "If the Ming Dynasty wants to revive, the people's hearts are the most important."

After a pause, he immediately explained: "The prestige of the court has been harmed by local tyrants and evil gentry, especially the official army like thieves. If I remember correctly, the reason why the thief Li Zicheng finally stood out from the many thieves was because he proposed the slogan of equalizing the fields and exempting the thief, which was supported by the people. Your Majesty, it is not an exaggeration to emphasize the people's hearts. The court must win the people's hearts again!"

"Your Majesty, think about the ordinary people. On the basis of the tax they usually pay, they have to pay three more wages, but there are natural disasters and man-made disasters. Those people who have not followed the thief have the hardships of life!" Zhang Mingwei stared at Emperor Chongzhen's face seriously and said, "At this time, there are rumors that they will open the door to welcome the King of Chuang. The King of Chuang will not pay food when they come. You said, on the one hand, they can't survive, but they can survive. What would the ordinary people choose?"

The tragic situation among the people has actually been reported by the censors, and Emperor Chongzhen has also seen it. Therefore, although Zhang Mingwei did not describe in detail what to do with the son, he immediately thought of those memorials.

"Father, sir is right!" Zhu Cilang, who had not spoken, suddenly spoke up and said, "Mencius said that the people are the most important, and the country is the next, and the king is the least. We must pay attention to the interests of the people so that the country can be stable."

Mencius's words do not mean that the common people are more important than the king. Instead, to make the rule of the king strong, one must attach great importance to people's livelihood issues. Otherwise, Mencius would not be respected by feudal emperors as a saint who was known as Confucius and Mencius.

Although Zhang Mingwei had already said it clearly enough, he did not expect the prince to say this, and for a moment, he couldn't help but nod to Zhu Cilang with approval.

Emperor Chongzhen did not expect it and nodded with some relief and said, "Well, listen carefully to the teacher's teaching!"

Seeing that his views were praised, the prince couldn't help but feel a little happy, so he quickly agreed and continued to listen carefully.

Emperor Chongzhen turned to Zhang Mingwei, and there was still a worry between his eyebrows: "What the sir said is very true, but if there is no tax collection, how can the government expenses be obtained? Where does the military pay come from?"

"I probably get a lot of short-term food and salary like Wang Dehua. The Ming Dynasty had fattened so many traitors and corrupt officials, and unscrupulous nobles..." Zhang Mingwei said this and showed a little ruthless intention, "As long as you come step by step, first install the inner palace and then install the capital, they will be fat sheep waiting to be slaughtered!"

Of course, Emperor Chongzhen hated these people to death. He wanted to be the king of the country, and it was these worms that caused them to be harmed! Therefore, he certainly would not have any objections to this proposal.

"Reduce taxes to win the people's voice. At the same time, we must promote the disasters of the thieves and expose the lies of the thieves. If we really need to equalize the fields and exempt the taxes, can the thieves survive by drinking the northwest wind?" Zhang Mingwei said this and sneered, "Public opinion wars should be taken seriously, which is the most important part of winning the hearts of the people. In addition, we will summarize the experience of defending the city in various places, compile them into books, and issue local officials. At the same time, we will give local officials greater power. If we encounter thieves, we will build the enemy to attack the city. In this case, we will be allowed to recruit all the supplies in the city, including those of the vassal kings and gentry. After all, once the city is broken, these plenary sessions will be cheaper to build the enemy."

Emperor Chongzhen was a little hesitant at first when he heard what he said. He thought that if there would be disobedient vassal states appear?

However, as soon as this idea appeared, he rejected it himself.

Because the local officials of the Ming Dynasty were all officials from other places, and it was impossible to be an official in one place for many years, so they would not be able to lose their ranks. Even if it really happened, their power would be limited to one city and one pool, and they could not confront the court at all.

Besides, he thought Zhang Mingwei was very right. Instead of worrying about the possible "family states" situation, it would be better to think about the situation of the situation where the thieves were robbed and the Jianlu broke through the city.

Therefore, after Zhang Mingwei finished speaking, Emperor Chongzhen nodded and agreed: "What the sir said is very true. If the city is broken, it will only give up the thieves and the enemy for nothing, and strengthen their strength."

In the original history, local officials did not have such authority. Only a few ruthless people would do this when they encountered bandits attacking the city. Most officials considered that if the city was kept, they would be attacked by powerful vassal kings and would not end up eating good results. Therefore, most officials did not dare to offend the powerful vassal kings, and naturally they were destroyed by many places.

Zhang Mingwei then turned to look at Zhu Cilang and said, "The prince's side is not just a simple southern tour, but also very important things to do!"

When Zhu Cilang heard this, he immediately became more respectful and asked respectfully: "I would like to ask you for advice!"
Chapter completed!