"Internal money, internal money, as soon as the money is used, let me take it out from the internal money. I have solved it all, so what else do I want you ministers to do?"
Chongzhen looked annoyed as he looked at the Ming ministers in front of him who often shouted that they were loyal ministers.
The Minister of Hubu lowered his head and said nothing.
"Don't pretend to be dead in front of me, answer me!" Chongzhen did not let Shangshu go.
Seeing that he could not speak anymore, the Minister of Household Affairs raised his head and said: "The taxes collected by the imperial court every year are limited. However, in the past two years, Jiangnan has been flooded. The production of fertile fields has been reduced, and the harvest of poor fields has been lost. However, the expenses of the imperial court have become larger and larger day by day. I demolished the east wall to make up for the west wall. After repairing the west wall, I have to find a way to make up for it from other places. The last time Fu Zonglong went to Shandong, he took away the last bit of money from the Ministry of Revenue. Now I can't get any money out. No matter how hard you try to force me, Your Majesty, I can't do anything."
"According to your opinion, I can only abandon the Ningjin Defense Line and hand over the last remaining people of the Ming Dynasty in Liaodong to the slave thieves?" Chongzhen said angrily.
He was fed up with being chased for money and food every day and having the household department cry about poverty.
"I don't dare." Shangshu of the Ministry of Finance bowed his head again.
"Chief Assistant, how do you solve the problem of money and food required by Shanhaiguan?" Chongzhen turned his attention to Li Biao, the Chief Assistant of the Cabinet.
Li Biao stood up and said: "I believe that the top priority now is to solve the Shandong issue first. Shandong is a neighbor of North Zhili. Changes in Shandong threaten the stability of the capital and shake the security of the country."
"What I'm asking now is about the money and food that Gao Di wants. Is it possible that the chief minister is too old to hear me clearly?" Chongzhen said with a dark face.
Ji Fu Cheng Ji Ming, who was also standing below, heard this and his heart moved.
The emperor said in front of all the courtiers that the chief minister was old, and he wondered if the emperor had other ideas.
Li Biao said: "There is a dangerous town like Shanhaiguan in Liaodong. It is almost impossible for the slave chiefs to break through Shanhaiguan. However, there is no dangerous place like Shanhaiguan on the road from Shandong to the capital. Once the tiger thieves in Shandong If you deliberately go north, it will be several times more difficult to stop a tiger thief than a slave thief."
As soon as these words came out, Chongzhen fell silent.
Why didn't he want to solve the problem of the tiger-character flag? However, he failed again and again, which disappointed him to the point that he no longer wanted to mention the tiger-character flag.
He lied to himself that as long as he didn't mention the tiger-character flag, there seemed to be no such thing as the tiger-character flag in Ming Dynasty.
"I think that the tiger thief incident cannot be delayed, and I would like to ask your Majesty to give you a clear warning." The Minister of War also stood up to support Li Biao.
With the Chief Assistant and the Minister of War taking the lead, most of the officials present stepped forward to express their support for dealing with the Tiger Flag.
There were even a few officials who usually did not deal with Li Biao, but they were consistent with Li Biao regarding matters concerning Tiger Character Banner.
"Since you all want to deal with the tiger bandits first, who is willing to go to Shandong to assist Fu Zonglong in suppressing the rebellion?" Chongzhen looked at the courtiers in front of him.
And just when he said the words, he suddenly thought that instead of discussing with the ministers the money and food that Gao Di wanted, why did he suddenly have to deal with the Tiger Flag.
The scene fell silent instantly.
No one in the court spoke again to answer Chongzhen's words.
To deal with the Tiger Flag, no one is willing to go to Shandong to deal with the Tiger Flag in person.
Everyone has an account in their mind, and they all know that going to Shandong is a thankless task. If the job is done well, not only will it be useless, but you will be impeached. If the job is not done well, you will not only be impeached, but also lose your life. in Shandong.
Staying in the center not only does not take risks, but also requires you to impeach a book every now and then. If you succeed, you will become famous. If you fail, you will be famous, and you will gain a reputation as a person who is dedicated to the public.
"Why is no one talking? Wasn't it very lively just now? Everyone is clamoring to deal with tiger thieves. When I asked who is willing to go to Shandong, why are all of them mute! Say it!" The last two words are almost It was roared from Chongzhen's mouth.
The courtiers in front of him made him more and more disappointed.
Cheng Jiming suddenly stood up and came out, facing Chongzhen and said: "Your Majesty, I thought that the Ningjin Defense Line was really beneficial to our Ming Dynasty in the past, but now the situation is different from before. The threat of tiger thieves in Shandong has exceeded that of slave thieves. The top priority is how to contain the tiger thieves in Shandong and prevent them from going north to threaten the capital."
"What Mr. Chengge means is that the Ningjin Defense Line, which the imperial court has spent a lot of money and food on to maintain for so many years, is no longer needed?" Li Shou looked at Cheng Jiming in a bad tone.
In the past, when Han Xu was the chief assistant, the two of them had a common enemy, so cooperation was naturally greater than hostility.
Now that Han Xu has withdrawn from the court, one of their first and second assistants has naturally become their rivals.
Cheng Jiming looked at Li Biao and said: "It's not that we don't want to abandon the Ningjin Defense Line, but we are giving it up temporarily. After the problem of tiger thieves is solved, the imperial court can retake the Ningjin Defense Line, and even Liaoyang and Shenyang can be recovered together."
Sitting on the dragon chair, Chongzhen's eyes lit up.
What he wants to do most is to become the King of ZTE and regain the territory of Ming Dynasty that was occupied by slaves and bandits. Who dares to say that he is not the King of ZTE.
Cheng Jiming, who had been secretly paying attention to Chongzhen, noticed the expression on Chongzhen's face and immediately knew that he had scratched Chongzhen's itch.
"If the Ningjin defense line is abandoned, what will happen to the imperial soldiers and horses guarding there?" Li Biao asked, staring into Cheng Jiming's eyes with a bad expression.
Cheng Jiming said: "Of course we will be transferred to Shandong to quell the rebellion. If possible, we will quell the rebellions in Henan, Shaanxi, Shanxi and Datong together to completely eradicate the tiger thieves."
"Your Majesty!" Li Biao looked directly at Chongzhen on the Dragon Throne and said, "Let's not talk about whether the Ningjin Defense Line should be abandoned for now. Once the proud soldiers and generals in Liaodong are not properly placed, big problems will arise."
As the chief assistant, he knew that the Ningjin line of defense was not simply a line of defense to stop slave thieves, but also the life of the generals in Liaodong.
Once the imperial court clings to Shanhaiguan and abandons the Ningjin defense line, it will be equivalent to killing the generals of Liaodong. No one can guarantee that the generals of Liaodong will do something crazy.
"The arrogant soldiers and fierce generals of Liaodong are all soldiers and generals of the Ming Dynasty. How dare they disobey the emperor's orders!" Cheng Jiming retorted.
Chongzhen, who was sitting on the dragon chair, said slowly: "What Cheng Aiqing said is right. The chief assistant should not be too alarmist."
He didn't believe that Liaodong's generals would do anything too outrageous. At most, they would be a little perfunctory with some of the court's orders, but he still didn't dare to mess around with important matters.
"Your Majesty, the Liaodong generals have been in Liaodong for many years and have long been accustomed to the situation in Liaodong. If they are all transferred to Shandong rashly, it may be difficult for them to adapt. I hope your Majesty will think twice." Li Biao bowed to Chongzhen.
The imperial court has spent a lot of money and food on the war in Liaodong over the years, and the generals of Liaodong have already formed interest groups because of the money and food.
He couldn't say these words directly, he only hoped that Chongzhen could understand what he meant.
(End of chapter)
