"This is...hand." Chongzhen said with some confusion when he saw the raised right hand.
"Yes, this is the hand. Then may I ask, Your Majesty, do you see the palm or the back of the hand?" Zhu Changwu continued to ask.
"Of course it's the palm of my hand." Chongzhen said impatiently, as if you thought I was an idiot.
"Your Majesty really has good eyesight." Zhu Changwu chuckled and slapped him in the face again. Then, before Chongzhen could get angry, he turned his eyes to the Crown Prince Zhu Cihong and asked: "Your Highness, is it the palm or the back of the hand that you see?"
"It's the back of the hand." Zhu Cixiang stood there and said truthfully.
"Well, the prince's eyesight is also very good." Zhu Changwu smiled again, and then said proactively: "Well, now the problem comes out. With the same hand, your majesty and the prince see completely different sides. So may I ask, who was wrong?"
"this..."
For a moment, the hall was extremely quiet.
This seems to be a very simple question, but why does it seem that every answer is wrong?
At this moment, even Princess Zhu Huiyu of Changping pursed her lips and kept thinking in her mind, but she didn't know how to answer.
Everyone was silent, and Zhu Changwu spoke again, "So, the ancestral system is like what your majesty sees, it is the palm of the hand, but later people stand at a different angle, and what they see is the back of the hand. Could it be said that the younger generations are just like the back of the hand?" Is it wrong? Just like the Ming Dynasty, what was the population at the beginning of the founding of the country? How many are there now? If nothing else, just take the people of the Huang family as an example. There were only a few sons and daughters in the time of Taizu, and the Zhu family How many people are there? But now, I'm afraid the Zhu family's population is hundreds of thousands, right?"
"Haha, at that time, Taizu would have no problem feeding the Zhu family. But now, hundreds of thousands of people have to rely on the imperial court to support them, and this number is still rising. How can there not be problems? ?”
Zhu Changwu's questions came one after another, and in everyone's ears, they were completely unable to refute them.
"Hey, in the final analysis, society is changing and progressing, and some rules also need to be changed. If they are not changed, problems will occur, or big problems. This is why there are so many dynasties in history, but in the final analysis, they only last for hundreds of years. The reason for the change. How should I put it, if you don’t adapt to society, then wait until society abandons you. For example, if you don’t compete with the people for profit, that’s it. It’s just a shackles imposed on the imperial power by those courtiers and vested interests. That’s all. But what about the facts?”
Having said this, Zhu Changwu smiled again and said: "The fact is that the ministers do not let the imperial power compete with the people for profit, but they are doing this thing. The government and businessmen colluded to encroach on the Ming Dynasty. It is ridiculous. Take a look, Zhu Chunchen was just a prince, and 3.2 million taels were found in his home, but the treasury only had more than 30,000 taels. This comparison..."
"Okay, don't say any more." Chongzhen's face became uglier as he listened.
How could he not know some things?
Sitting behind Jin Yiwei and Dongchang, Chongzhen certainly knew what the courtiers below were doing. But whenever he wanted to touch some of his ministers who had done too much, all the other ministers would jump out and accuse him, and many things could only be left alone.
So what happened to the emperor?
The emperor is also a human being, and as a human being he has to be controlled by others. Didn't someone say that? The so-called political struggle is a process of compromise, which ultimately achieves a balanced goal.
On the other hand, if someone doesn't understand the game and loses it, they may be in big trouble, or even when there is a change of dynasty.
Chongzhen stopped talking because the current situation had a lot to do with his character and the way he handled things. It can also be said that he made many mistakes during this process.
But Zhu Changwu doesn't care so much? He has never really feared the imperial power in his heart. How could he not say anything unless others asked him to?
"Your Majesty, today's Ming Dynasty is like a rotten tree, its roots are rotten. If you want to become strong again, you must make complete changes. If you want to do this, you must have great power, great wisdom, Courage is indispensable. Nothing can be accomplished without either. If Your Majesty does not have such great determination, then I advise Your Majesty to forget it and save your energy and ignore the things here. If you are willing, I can promise to send you away. In a place where it is difficult for others to find you, spend the rest of your life quietly. As for this world, let him take it if he wants to."
Zhu Changwu began to take strong medicine and spoke words to stimulate Chongzhen.
Chongzhen in history can be regarded as one of the few emperors of the Ming Dynasty who had great ambitions and was diligent.
Eliminate eunuchs, abolish inns, and appoint new officials...
Chongzhen did indeed do a lot of things, but it was a pity that he was born at the wrong time. During the Chongzhen years, there were constant natural and man-made disasters, corrupt officials were rampant, and the people were in dire straits.
The food harvest failed, man-made disasters occurred, and there were kings inside and slaves outside the Qing Dynasty.
During the Little Ice Age, severe droughts and floods occurred one after another in the summer, and the winter was extremely cold, with blizzards falling even in Guangdong and other places.
Under such an environment, even if you find the person who started with a bowl, you may not be able to turn things around. Not to mention that Chongzhen originally lacked strong methods in doing things, and his attitude was always hesitant. In addition, he was also suspicious. The Ming Dynasty would not be destroyed. That's the weird thing.
Fortunately, Zhu Changwu is here. If Chongzhen can seize the opportunity and hold this powerful arm, it is not impossible to rebuild the Ming Dynasty. Once done, extending the life of the Ming Dynasty for hundreds of years is not a problem.
Zhu Changwu took action and began to force Chongzhen to make a choice.
After hearing this, Chongzhen was breathing heavily and his whole body was heaving violently. It was obvious that his mood was very contradictory at this moment.
Seeing Chongzhen's appearance, Queen Zhou and others looked worried. Especially Wang Chengen, his accusing eyes kept scanning Zhu Changwu's body, as if blaming him for forcing Long Live Lord to make a decision.
This look fell in Zhu Changwu's eyes. No matter how he looked at it, he felt that Chongzhen and Wang Chengen were true love.
Under the gaze of everyone, Chongzhen's eyes slowly turned from wandering and hesitant to firm, and then he suddenly looked at Zhu Changwu, with a flash of light in his eyes: "Zhu Aiqing, if I follow what you said, Ming Dynasty may be restored. Become stronger?"
Faced with this problem, other people's eyes couldn't help but fall on Zhu Changwu.
It can be said that several people in the palace are very clear about the situation of Daming today.
As Zhu Changwu said, it is already rotten to the core. This can be seen from the fact that Chongzhen personally went to ring the Jingyang Bell this morning, but still no minister came to the court.
I am afraid that all the ministers have no hope for Ming Dynasty.
Since they had to abandon the Ming Dynasty first, and then Chongzhen abandoned them in turn, it was not a big deal.
This is the cause and effect, the natural cycle.
Facing the gazes of Chongzhen and everyone else, Zhu Changwu first plucked his ears in an indistinct manner, and then said lazily: "To save the Ming Dynasty, no one in the world can do it. But if I am willing, If so, I can still barely do it well.”
Hearing the previous sentence, Chongzhen almost died of panic. But as the second half of the sentence came out, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Wang Chengen looked at Zhu Changwu with an angry look. He probably meant that if he didn't finish what he said directly and had to make a big twist, would he really want to kill him?
Facing Wang Chengen's gaze, Zhu Changwu felt goose bumps all over his body. He secretly decided not to be with this eunuch Wang in the future. It was too scary.
"Can you really do it?" Chongzhen asked, although he was extremely happy after hearing this, but still a little uneasy.
"Of course. I don't have any other advantages, except that I can't lie naturally." Zhu Changwu answered seriously.
"puff!"
A laugh couldn't help but come from the mouth of Changping Pingzhu Zhu Huinao. She discovered that this Zhu Changwu was not only not afraid of his father and mother like ordinary people, but also spoke very well. It’s interesting, but more importantly, this guy is really an egomaniac. But he happened to be crazy without giving off a sense of disgust.
I really don’t know what kind of growing environment can create such a person.
Chongzhen ignored his daughter's laughter, but looked at Zhu Changwu with a serious face: "I believe in you, and you can also believe in me. As long as the Ming Dynasty can become strong again, I will definitely reward you generously. "
"Okay, let's not pour this chicken soup well. I want power and absolute autonomy. After all, the foundation of the Ming Dynasty is too weak now, and dangers from outside can appear at any time. At this time, it is probably too late to give slow medicine, and there is only strong medicine. Only in this way can I cure the disease. So next I may do something to make things clear that others don't understand. But His Majesty only needs to know one thing and only needs to see one thing, that is, whether Ming Dynasty is getting better day by day. "
"By the way, there are too many things to do. I'm afraid I won't have time to explain anything to His Majesty. You have to be mentally prepared for this first." After thinking about it, Zhu Changwu added this.
The reason why he rushed back tonight was because he needed to give an explanation for Zhu Chunchen's death. But he didn't want things like this to happen all the time. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to do anything. He would only have his mouth to explain things every day, so how could it be such a big deal?
"Absolute autonomy? Okay, I'll give it to you." Chongzhen agreed without hesitation.
During the day, Chongzhen thought a lot in Jianji Hall. Especially since from the beginning to the end, no courtier came to see him in the palace, he knew that he had been abandoned by the courtiers.
Not all of them surrendered to the invaders or slaves, but one thing was the same, that is, they, like themselves, believed that the Ming Dynasty was hopeless.
