"His Majesty!"
As soon as these words came out, all the ministers knelt down to apologize.
If someone else said it, it would be a conspiracy to rebel.
However, from the emperor's perspective, the meaning he wanted to express was very clear.
The scholars outside said they were loyal to the Ming Dynasty and welcomed the Qing Dynasty in their hearts.
These ministers in the palace can continue to be officials if they change their hairstyle and outfit.
"I think that since I came to the throne, although I have no talent, I have been diligent. I am not a coward, but a tyrant, and the relationship between the monarch and his ministers is far from being alienated. However, some people want to slander me as a coward, and even a tyrant, and take advantage of everyone. This method is used to alienate the relationship between the monarch and his ministers, so as to achieve the ulterior purpose. As long as I don't die immediately, those evil people will not be able to succeed. As long as I live one more day, I will make those evil people suffer for one more day. To say that increasing business taxes is tantamount to Extracting the tooth from the tiger's mouth, okay! This time I will pull out the tiger tooth to see if it can be pulled out or not! Didn't the tiger come down the mountain? It just happened to be delivered to your door! This time I will be Wu Song, the hero who fights the tiger. Even if I don't If I can succeed, I will have a prince who will inherit my legacy, so I won’t be afraid that I won’t be able to kill this beautiful tiger!”
Chongzhen believed that what the traitor could do, he could probably do it too, it just took a little longer.
Anyway, if we don't clean up the merchants, we won't be able to collect taxes and money, so we take this opportunity to clean it up thoroughly.
It is understandable that the soldiers will not obey the orders of the court. It is because of the lack of money and food.
It is understandable that farmers disobey the imperial orders because they cannot survive.
Merchants continued to obey court orders, not only evading taxes, but also attempted to interfere in national affairs.
Chongzhen could no longer tolerate such domineering and arrogant behavior no matter what.
There is collusion between officials and businessmen. The merchants are supported by scholars and protected by officials. Do they think they can fight against me?
Businessmen do not pay taxes, but want to be independent. In this case, businessmen are not businessmen, and emperors are not emperors!
If he couldn't even collect taxes and money, wouldn't the emperor become a beggar living in the back mansion? ? ?
"In the early years of Tianqi, Gao Panlong wrote "Stop the Commercial Tax and Reveal it", lashing out at the commercial tax and denouncing the harm of the commercial tax. Ye Xianggao wrote "Please Stop the Mining Tax", calling for the abolition of the mining tax and the removal of mine supervisors. These two people wrote well and spoke wonderfully, which made me admire them with admiration. I was very happy and ordered the factory guards to search their homes. I believe you all can understand, right? It’s okay not to understand. Just look at Gao and Ye. The wealth of the family can be seen clearly, just accepting benefits from merchants is as much as ten thousand taels. Is this what a minister does when he listens to the merchants and then reprimands the emperor? In the eyes of these two thieves, the merchants are the emperor, but the emperor is Students, just for his scolding! What he said was righteous, but privately he was addicted to ink. If these two thieves hadn't died early, I really wanted to show them as a warning to others! I don't want to pay even thirty taxes, so be good! From now on, the commercial tax in the areas under the jurisdiction of Nanting will be ten taxes and two taxes. Those who evade taxes can be arrested once verified, and those who resist can be shot on the spot!"
Do you want to embarrass me?
I will make you extremely embarrassed first!
"Your Majesty, think twice!"
Chief Assistant Qu Shishu did not expect that the emperor would be so angry that merchants would treat him like a rogue bandit.
"I hope your Majesty will think twice!"
The ministers also hurriedly said that if this situation continues, the emperor and the merchants will soon be at odds with each other.
Weird things might happen, with the government troops sinking merchant ships, robbing caravans, and ransacking merchants' courtyards.
"My dear friends, the situation is like this, so I tell you that it's okay to come if you want. The prince told me about this matter, and I didn't want to tell you. I didn't want to ascend the throne and become the emperor, but my brother died young, so I It was a last resort. The reason why my emperor brother died young was because some people did not want him to live anymore. The reason was to collect commercial taxes. If the emperor brother were alive, he would definitely order Wei Zhongxian to vigorously collect commercial taxes. It is a matter of every year With a huge amount of tens of millions of taels of silver, some gangsters would naturally not sit still and wait for death, so they decided to take risks. Now, the same group of people don't want me to collect commercial taxes. Even if they are all taxed on farmers, they can't do it anymore. I want to levy every cent from the merchants. If I want to levy it, the bad guys will first let the scholars petition, then let the moths oppose, and finally they will assassinate the king. I am not afraid of death, but I am afraid that I will be ashamed when I see the emperor brother. As long as the Ming Dynasty can be here If I can be revived in the hands of the prince, I will not regret it even if my body is shattered to pieces!"
Chongzhen originally did not believe in this secret. After moving to Nandu, as he saw and heard more and more, he gradually began to change his mind. Recently, he became convinced of what the naughty son said.
For tens of millions of taels of silver, not to mention disobeying orders, even assassinating the king and killing the driver, those people would dare to do it!
The current fight is about life or death. Shaking hands and making peace may have been wiped out long ago.
"Your Majesty, do you have any relevant evidence?"
Qu Shishu suddenly widened his eyes and showed an expression of disbelief. This was not an act, because once verified, it would have a lot to do with Dong Lin.
If the culprit who murdered Emperor Tianqi was in Donglin, then as the chief assistant from Donglin, he would naturally be blamed.
"So what? Those gangsters have long since died, so what's the use of punishing three or five descendants? The chief minister listens to the noise outside. It's the same as before! I can't collect taxes, but gangsters can evade taxes. Chief Minister, tell me who is the emperor of the Ming Dynasty? The great banner is just about to be raised outside to destroy the Ming Dynasty and surrender to the Qing Dynasty!"
Chongzhen sneered with his hands behind his back and asked the chief minister next to him. How funny this scene was, but it actually happened.
"Your Majesty, please stay calm. Maybe after some time, you will calm down!"
Qu Shishu could not appease the thousands of scholars outside, so he could only choose to appease the emperor in front of him.
In his mind, he kept wondering whether this was a hint that the emperor planned to attack Donglin.
Known as the "Six Gentlemen of Donglin", Yang Lian, Zuo Guangdou, Wei Dazhong, Zhou Chaorui, Yuan Huazhong, Gu Dazhang and others have always had opinions inconsistent with the emperor's.
Because he failed to defeat Wei Zhongxian in the fight, he died unjustly in prison one after another. Later, when the eunuchs were completely eliminated, the injustice was finally overturned.
But now that Emperor Chongzhen said this, doesn't it mean that he is avenging Wei Zhongxian, and at the same time thinks that Donglin was the instigator behind Emperor Tianqi's death?
Conspiracy to kill the emperor!
This is a huge crime!
The entire Donglin cannot afford it!
Judging from the current situation, it is not easy for Donglin to reverse the unfavorable situation.
Especially changing the emperor's view of Donglin is almost as difficult as climbing to the sky!
Perhaps Emperor Chongzhen did not have direct evidence to prove that Donglin was the mastermind, but did Donglin have evidence to prove his innocence?
If there are neither parties, but the emperor determines that Dong Lin is the mastermind, the situation will be even more critical.
I'm afraid that the emperor will try his best to bring down Donglin. Cleaning up officials from Donglin in the court is only the first step!
Next, ordering the arrest of Donglin scholars and forcibly closing Donglin Academy was the second step.
From now on, he may be imprisoned, convicted, or even beheaded...
It is not impossible to create "Sixteen Gentlemen of Donglin".
The main blame lies with Qian Qianyi and others, who were too impatient to regain power.
Now Donglin is implicated in the death of Emperor Tianqi, and is also implicated in tax evasion by merchants.
This is not enough. Add to this the "national dispute" and the ownership of the army.
Everything is a big deal. Is it because you don’t want to die quickly enough?
Emperor Chongzhen moved to the southern capital this time. Perhaps his abilities were no longer what they used to be, and he would no longer be controlled by the courtiers.
From "It's hard to disobey your orders" to "It's hard to disobey your orders", only twelve years have passed!
There is not much difference between Donglin now and Donglin in the past, but Chongzhen now is no longer the Chongzhen he used to be.
If the minister refuses to obey, then replace him!
The prince behaves this way, and the emperor behaves this way!
It makes the official life miserable, but he dare not speak out to refute it!
The lighter one is dismissed from office and becomes an official, the more serious one is sent to guard the border, how majestic it is!
The prince used this method to eliminate dissidents in the court, and the emperor also copied it.
Qu Shishu now finally felt that it was becoming increasingly difficult to be the chief minister, especially since he had to balance the powerful relationship between Donglin and the emperor at all times.
"Calm? The chief minister is optimistic! As long as I order the collection of commercial taxes, there will be no peace outside. The chief minister is in Jiangnan, has he ever heard of the tragedy in the Central Plains? Farmers have been suffering from natural disasters for a long time, and the government has imposed additional agricultural taxes. , causing thousands of farmers to leave their homes and become homeless. They were not even allowed to eat tree bark on the road. In the end, they had to eat dirt and die of abdominal distension. Or they exchanged their children for food and lit a fire to roast them. How miserable? Scholars and merchants outside What? But it has reached the point of eating the land? Have you ever changed your son to eat? If the chief minister does not believe it, I can write a letter and ask the prince to ask the chief minister to go to Henan immediately and replace the governor Lu Daqi? I am ashamed of thousands of farmers, but I am determined not to do it. Ashamed of the merchants! Regardless of Shanxi merchants or Jiangnan merchants, anyone who evades taxes will be classified as a Ming Dynasty sinner! If merchants paid taxes in full, why would there be such trouble? How could there be so many bandits! If the chief minister has a kind heart, he will not sympathize with this person. Waiting for the profiteers!"
The whole of Henan, except for a few big cities along the river, has almost become a wild place, with wandering trees everywhere, and it is still out of control.
In order to suppress the endless stream of rogue bandits, the imperial court had to provide relief to the victims and raise troops to attack them, which cost as much as one million taels of silver every year.
Tracing back to the source, it was caused by merchants evading taxes!
The imperial court's tax collection was regarded as "taking Min's wealth"!
"..."
Qu Shishu was speechless. If he really wanted to replace Lu Daqi, he could only do as he was told.
Everyone now knows the terrible situation in Henan. Even the Jinshi who passed the imperial examination are unwilling to go to Henan to serve as officials.
The prosperous Jiangnan supported Henan with some money and grain, and things would not develop to this extent.
A merchant is willing to spend thousands of taels of silver to buy a skinny horse, but no one would be happy to ask the merchant to spend the same amount of money to provide relief to victims of disaster.
"You are promising! Go out and tell the outside world, and disperse within half an hour, otherwise you will be responsible for the consequences. If you are caught, you will be sent to Liaodong to guard the border!"
"yes!"
"From now on, anyone who excuses a merchant will be regarded as a collaborator and will be sent to Liaodong to guard the border! If he surrenders to the Eastern captives during this period, it will just confirm my speculation, and he is undoubtedly a traitor!"
It is difficult to guarantee that someone among the ministers will pursue the policy of "good birds choose trees to roost in", but no one dares to openly declare that they are honored and proud to be the second minister!
Chongzhen's arrangement in this way was to pinch the fate of the officials. Even if one of the hundred officials guarding the border surrendered to the Donglu, it would have a great impact.
It will directly shatter the so-called integrity, pride and other righteous rhetoric, and in an instant he can turn into a scum, a coward, and a coward who is greedy for life and fear death!
"I can tell you a secret now, which is even bigger than the secret just now. Do you want to hear it?"
Chongzhen felt unhappy, so he wanted to show off what he knew but the ministers didn't know. In this way, after releasing some secrets, he would feel better.
"His Majesty!"
Second Assistant Gao Hongtu felt that the emperor seemed to be angry now, so he should wait until he calmed down before talking, lest he really said something that should not be revealed.
"Hmm~! Second Assistant, do you know that Liu Bowen, the military advisor of the Immortal Realm, estimates how many years we have in the Ming Dynasty?"
"Please forgive me for being stupid, I really don't know!"
"Five years! My Ming Dynasty died in the seventeenth year of Chongzhen, or was destroyed by bandits!"
"ah???"
No one could take it calmly now, they were all terrified.
Does the Ming Dynasty only have five years left to live?
How can it be so unbearable?
"Quiet~!"
Under the instruction of his master, Wang Chengen shouted loudly, and then the hall fell into silence.
"The summary is that the king's army rushed out of the border to fight and was defeated by the Donglu, and was defeated by the rogue bandits in the Central Plains. The three hundred thousand troops were defeated one after another. The imperial court was besieged internally and externally, and Taicang, the Ministry of Revenue, could not come up with wages to recruit troops. I was desperate, so I He hanged himself on Meishan Mountain. Afterwards, the ministers first surrendered to the bandits, and then surrendered to the Eastern captives. They shaved their hair and re-braided their hair, and happily became the second minister, and even the third minister. They also claimed that the Qing Dynasty was orthodox, and that the barbarians deserved their crimes, and they regarded themselves as meritorious officials. .I am introducing you like this, I wonder if you are happy?"
At this time, Chongzhen was no longer angry. He wore a weird smile throughout the introduction. After speaking, he sat on the dragon chair and looked at everything below.
"His Majesty!"
Qu Shishu didn't want the emperor to continue talking, so he simply resigned from the court.
What was originally discussed was various important matters, but instead it turned out that the Ming Dynasty was dead...
"Chief Minister, I have here what the prince wrote about the original results of the Chief Minister. Maybe he was a loyal minister, maybe he was a second minister, maybe he was a third minister. I wonder if the chief minister dares to read it?"
Chongzhen was still very interested in scaring Qu Shichun. At least scaring a living person, the chief assistant, should be fun.
Donglin has tricked himself, and he has tricked the chief assistant who was born in Donglin. Is this considered a courtesy? Fair and reasonable!
"...If I am a traitor, I will ask Your Majesty to grant me death, so that I will not help the emperor and cause harm!"
Qu Shichun thought for a while and then made up his mind. How can I live in this world with dignity as a minister?
"Okay! Big companion, go get it and ask the first assistant to take a look!"
"yes!"
"By the way, let's rest for a quarter of an hour so that all my dear friends can relieve themselves respectfully, so as not to be frightened to the point of embarrassment again!"
The nunzi said that even a court meeting must be people-oriented. The ministers cannot be allowed to stand for two hours. At least the elderly ministers must be given a moment to rest.
Chongzhen said he was tired, otherwise the rest time would have been postponed.
Just let Wang Chengen go get the information and whet everyone's appetite.
Many people will be very interested if they are lucky enough to see their past lives.
But many people also have considerable concerns about the possibility of becoming a second minister.
If the prince says that someone is a traitor, the emperor will probably think so.
Now that the Ming Dynasty has not yet died, the emperor has not yet died, the emperor has just suffered a defeat, and the rogue bandits are struggling to gain power, do we need to elaborate on the fate of the two ministers?
This is equivalent to being sentenced to death on the spot, and it still needs to be warned...
The first assistant, Qu Shichun, was already ready, and the second assistant, Gao Hongtu, was almost the same.
Huang Degong didn't believe that he would defect to Donglu. It would be better to hit his head against a pillar and die.
After a quarter of an hour of hesitation, the meeting continued.
"I won't embarrass you dear ones. Those who want to see, stand on the left, and those who don't want to see, stand on the right. Just stand in line and I promise not to hold you responsible!"
Who said that once you become a minister, you won't take part in the imperial examination?
This is the best imperial examination!
The test is conscience and courage!
Although a stove was being used for heating in the main hall, the indoor temperature was definitely not hot, and even talking made me feel white.
However, at this time, many ministers began to sweat on their backs, and what emerged was cold sweat...
"Don't worry. If I stand in the middle, might I have to tear off half of it so that you can't see it?"
