It can be seen that Chongzhen's mind at this time could not be judged by common sense. He was not only suspicious but also hysterical or extremely extreme. However, if you think about it, a person who is suffering from mental pressure will not be able to remain rational at this level.
"Your Majesty, at this critical moment, there are some things that cannot be done, that cannot be done!" Chang Yu hurriedly knelt down and kowtowed.
This kid is so clever. He knows his intentions just by accidentally showing some murderous intent. Chongzhen was startled, but he pretended to be stupid: "What is an emergency?"
"The world is in chaos and people are in panic. If nothing happens, chaos will be added to chaos." Chang Yu's words are very direct. Now there are internal and external troubles, the officials in the court are watching, the nobles are eating and waiting to die, the vassal king They are also watching the show. Everyone is watching how you, Zhu Youjian, can survive this threshold. But if you destroy the vassal king without any reason, wouldn't it be tantamount to declaring war? Those who have long disliked your kindness will immediately rise in arms and rebel. This This was not uncommon in the Ming Dynasty.
"Hmph, I don't know what you mean. I don't know what you are talking nonsense!" Chongzhen snorted coldly. Chang Yu's heart trembled. Damn, you are with the emperor like a tiger. You have to figure out the emperor's heart at all times and know what he means, but you can't show it. Random speculation, too offensive, can't speak too clearly or too full, always half light and half dark, too tired!
Face to face is so tiring in front of me, but think about how muddy the water is in the court and how much work you have to do. How can it be as refreshing as going into battle to kill the enemy!
"You're so rude, you offend the emperor, you deserve death!" Chang Yu said quickly.
Chongzhen said nothing, stood up and paced back and forth in the hall for a long time, looked at Chang Yu and said, "Prince Shen's family took refuge in Prince Jin's Mansion. Has the palace in Lu'an Mansion been robbed by thieves?".
"That should be the case, but when King Shen fled, he took most of the property with him." Chang Yu thought to himself, and it wasn't just for this reason that he walked around eight times.
Sure enough, Chongzhen looked happy when he heard this: "Fortunately, if he falls into the hands of thieves, wouldn't he become an enemy?"
"Your Majesty, King Shen felt the emperor's great kindness during his lifetime, and saw that Taiyuan was short of salary, so he donated a sum of money," Chang Yu said.
"Oh, Prince Shen is really thoughtful. I am concerned about my concern. I wonder how much he donated?"
"Five million! However, most of them are jewelry and the like, not cash. My subordinates have brought them to the capital to prepare for cashing. They should be in the Royal Horse Prison at this time. Please ask the emperor to send someone to count them!"
The smile on Chongzhen's face became even stronger: "I am most at ease with your work. Who else needs to be sent to do the inventory? There are many wealthy gentry in the capital, so they can get a good price. I will leave it to you at this time."
"Young man, I obey the order!" Chang Yu kowtowed.
"Get up and talk." Chongzhen was in a good mood when he learned that he had obtained five hundred thousand taels of silver from King Shen, and his desire to destroy King Shen disappeared: "Is there anything else you want to tell me along the way?"
Chang Yu stood up and sat down: "Your Majesty, yes!"
"Oh, is it important?" Chongzhen became interested.
"It's related to the foundation of the country" Chang Yu affirmed, and Chongzhen became even more interested.
"explain……"
The candlelight flickered, and in the warm spring-like Qianqing Palace, Chang Yu lowered his head and talked. Zhu Youjian and his son listened attentively, sometimes frowning, sometimes showing their faces. Only Wang Chengen next to him had the same expression, silently serving tea and pouring water. .
The wind is high outside the palace and the moon is dark. The Forbidden City is like a huge monster dormant and motionless in the night. The whole palace has fallen into silence. The bustle of the grass field has dissipated. Some people are happy and some are sad. The Imperial Guards in the imperial city are still there. While patrolling in an orderly manner, the man on the moat bridge outside Donghua Gate was still crying and wondering whether he would summon me to see me tonight, or the emperor had forgotten about me.
Needless to say, there was no Wu Mengming in Chongzhen's eyes at this moment, only the shining silver. At this time, his whole body was exuding an indescribable excitement, so that his eyes were shining, and he couldn't help but get up and walk to the Chang'an. In front of Yu, "You mean, how many Shanxi merchants have you arrested for collaborating with the enemy and treason?"
"At least eight big heads" Chang Yu gestured with his fingers!
"Everyone is rich?" Chongzhen licked his lips.
"At this time, everyone is as rich as the country!" Chang Yu nodded lightly.
Chongzhen took a long breath, clenched his fists hard, waved it in the air, and made a low hey sound. He could not describe what kind of emotions he felt in his heart at this time, shock, excitement, anger, surprise, etc. Mixed flavors.
Chang Yu is arresting a group of wealthy businessmen in Zhangjiakou and Shanxi for smuggling contraband to the Qing Dynasty and collaborating with the enemy and serving as spies.
Each of these wealthy businessmen is said to have a fortune in the tens of millions, but even if each house is confiscated with two to three million, seven or eight tens of millions will be put into the treasury. In the blink of an eye, the national treasury deficit and the worry of military pay shortage can be solved, and the worries of the shortage of military pay can be avoided. He begged for favors with a straight face, and even did such despicable things as setting up casinos to set up traps for nobles.
However, what made him extremely angry was that merchants in border towns were so blatantly engaging in smuggling and collaborating with the enemy. However, he had never heard of it and no one reported it. This shows that the foundation is rotten and the collusion between government, businessmen and the army is shocking. It's horrifying, I've heard for a long time that Shanxi merchants are wealthy, but here they are!
If this is allowed to continue, the nine-sided city and the iron walls of the Ming Dynasty will probably be destroyed in one day!
Chongzhen was very sad, but now he was a little lucky. Fortunately, he was discovered in time. Fortunately, these profiteers could enrich the national treasury and solve the most urgent needs at present.
But, he wants real evidence!
The earthquake and impact caused by the raid on eight wealthy merchants in one go would definitely be like a tsunami. Without solid evidence, merchants all over the world would be panicked, thinking that the emperor was poor and crazy, so he found a way to raid the homes of wealthy merchants. To replenish the national treasury, this behavior is different from that of thieves!
"Chang Yu, if you don't have solid evidence, you must not act rashly. Even the prince has figured out the pros and cons," he couldn't help but remind him.
"Your Highness, I would not take action if I didn't have any solid evidence. I was shocked when I accidentally learned about this matter. I conducted a secret investigation and found many clues. There was no physical witness to prove the collaboration with the enemy, but smuggling is prohibited. Please go to those merchants’ warehouses to check the products!”
Chang Yu had a solemn look on his face: "I know that this matter is not a trivial matter, and even involves a wide range of things. If there is no evidence, it is difficult to stop Youyou's mouth, but there is absolutely no intention to frame you. Otherwise, there are so many wealthy businessmen and gentry in the capital, why should Xiao Leave the near for the far!”
Yes, Chongzhen nodded vigorously: "According to what you said, those abominable profiteers have been operating in the border town for several years, and no one reported them. It can be seen that not only one or two people are involved, but one move affects the whole body. If they are not handled carefully, only I'm afraid it will cause chaos in the border town, so you should handle this matter carefully."
"This matter is supervised by Dongchang. Xiao Xiao has already ordered that evidence must be obtained. If no one sets up obstacles, he will not deliberately implicate him. He will only implicate merchants who collaborate with the enemy to avoid causing panic. However, Xiao Xiao does not intend to let go of anyone involved. , write it down in the book first, and after the news passes, slowly calculate it for them. From my humble opinion, copying money is the most urgent need now!" Chang Yu had a sneer at the corner of his mouth.
You are right, money is the most urgent need. A look of self-deprecation appeared on Chongzhen's face, and then he stared at Chang Yu, his face gradually warmed up: "I am so lucky to have met such a talented person like you at this juncture. !”
"Your Majesty is so complimentary." Chang Yu bowed, and Zhu Cixiang next to him also had a smile on his face, extremely happy.
"You will supervise this matter personally. As long as you have solid evidence, you will not be afraid no matter how much the government and the public talk about it." Chongzhen narrowed his eyes and smiled at the corner of his mouth: "The treasury will be filled with money after the houses of these people have been plundered, and I will have enough money to mobilize troops." , let’s see how long the intruders and those Tatars can remain powerful..."
When Chang Yu heard the truth, he couldn't help but oh my god, stop bragging. When you first took over, you would have money, food, soldiers, and generals. You didn't do anything to others, and the suppression was getting bigger and bigger. Nowadays, we are all in such a mess, we have nothing to ask for, we have nothing to eat, and we start to lose money as soon as we get some money...
"The intruder fled, do you know where he is going now?" Chongzhen thought to himself for a while, and then asked about the business.
"The young one has received the latest information, and the bandits are heading east. They should be meeting up with the bandit leader Liu Fangliang. I'm afraid the war in the Central Plains will get worse..."
Gone east? Chongzhen narrowed his eyes: "He didn't come back to Xi'an!" He said with a sneer at the corner of his mouth: "It seems that he is very dissatisfied with you!"
Chang Yu also laughed: "The intruder needs to be beaten in five elements. If you beat him a few times, you will be scared. I beg the emperor to issue an edict. I am willing to fight him again!"
To Chang Yu's surprise, Chongzhen did not nod immediately. Instead, he looked at the top of the palace in trance. It took him a long time to sigh and said, "Tell me about the Taiyuan War."
Chang Yu was a little doubtful, but he still recounted how he spied on the enemy camp to assassinate Li Laiheng, how he trapped and killed Chen Shangzhi in front of the battle, how he pretended to surrender to delay the construction of Taiyuan fortifications, and the subsequent several attacks by the rebels during the siege of the city. The officers and men under his command showed their merits.
Chongzhen, the prince and Wang Chengen listened enthusiastically, clapped their hands and applauded from time to time, and then praised Chang Yu greatly.
After saying that, the night was getting darker, but Chongzhen and his son did not look tired at all. They felt like they wanted to talk all night long, but Chang Yu was impatient. It was a dusty journey, so that was enough. Let me go back and take a nap first.
"Chang Yu, is every word of what you said true?" Chang Yu said with dry mouth, and Chongzhen listened with great interest. However, with his naturally suspicious character, he naturally thought that Chang Yu was adding fuel and jealousy to it, even some shady things. Things are also concealed.
"I don't dare to deceive the emperor. The emperor can have someone investigate. If there is any deception, I am willing to be punished for deceiving the emperor!" Chang Yu bowed.
Chongzhen hummed and nodded slightly: "Is Wu Mengming still in the palace?"
"When the younger one came, he was outside Donghua Gate. I don't know at this time..." Chang Yu said.
"Call Wu Mengming over," Chongzhen said to Wang Chenen.
Wang Chenen walked quickly outside the palace.
Chongzhen's eyes fell on Chang Yu's shoulders.
Chang Yu understood in his heart and reached out to take off his clothes. Chongzhen and Zhu Cixiang couldn't help but get up and approach him.
ah! The father and son couldn't help but exclaimed. Chang Yu's shoulder had been stabbed with such a deep blood hole before, which they had seen with their own eyes. But in front of Chang Yu's shoulder, the blood color had disappeared, and most of the wound had healed, and it was only the size of a fingernail. A shallow pit!
It only took an hour to be like this... Chongzhen opened his mouth slightly and looked at Chang Yu's face with surprise: "It's such a thing! How strange, how strange."
At this moment, Zhu Cixiang's heart was in a state of panic, and his whole body couldn't help but tremble. He, he must be some kind of god who came down to earth...
"Chang Yu, I allow you to walk in front of the emperor, and there are no restrictions on you from the seven gates outside the capital and the four gates of the Nine Emperors City. From now on, you can act like a minister in front of me!" Chongzhen took a long breath and said this immediately These words immediately made Chang Yu feel that these days of hard work were worth it.
It was a great honor to serve before the emperor in the Qing Dynasty. In the Ming Dynasty, ordinary courtiers who were very different from the Qing Dynasty but also very shameless did not receive this treatment.
All the sects in the capital and even the palace were not on guard against him, allowing him to come in and out at any time. Firstly, he was extremely favored, and secondly, it was convenient for him to do things. As for treating himself as a minister, it was tantamount to not treating Chang Yu as a slave. Chang Yu From now on, Yu will not need to call him a "little slave" in front of him. He can directly call himself a minister. It is a change of identity in public and private!
This kind of treatment may even put Wei Zhongxian to shame when he was at the height of his power. However, Chang Yu also knew in his heart that the reason why Chongzhen acted like this was because he found that he was a useful person and had the value to be used, so he tried his best to win over and show his favor!
"Your Majesty, thank you Lord for your kindness!" Chang Yu kowtowed, and Chongzhen stretched out his hand to help him up, with a solemn expression: "I hope you will serve the Ming Dynasty wholeheartedly in the future, and I will live up to my high hopes for you."
"I am determined to go through fire and water for the Ming Dynasty, even if I die!" Chang Yu wanted to bow again, but Chongzhen took his arm and nodded vigorously: "You have been traveling so hard, take a break early, and come see me tomorrow."
"Your Majesty, please excuse me." Chang Yu secretly breathed out and slowly exited the Qianqing Palace. When he reached the door, he said to Wang Chenen, "My dear, please excuse me. Good night, my lord."
Wang Chenen quickly returned the gift: "I don't dare to accept it. Good night, Eunuch Chang! I send you my best wishes to Eunuch Chang."
“It’s time to work”
