"Your Majesty, the rebels in Shandong are using force to attack each other and are aggressive. Although the ministers argue with reason, these rebels are ignorant of etiquette and fearlessness. They threaten that if the court does not comply, they will cut off the canal and attack Zhili. They will not achieve their goals. Don’t give up!”
Prone in the Yangxin Hall, Li Kangxian was dejected.
Shandong's request was obviously not something that he, the Minister of Rites, could undertake, so he could only submit it to Chongzhen.
Fortunately, Li Kangxian, Wang Yingxiong, and Lin Ma knew that the matter was of great importance and did not dare to spread the word loudly. Instead, they came directly to find Chongzhen.
As for Chongzhen, he did not hold a large court meeting, but summoned three people in the inner court.
Wen Tiren, Xue Guoguan and other people in power were also called.
After hearing the whole story, Chongzhen was furious, but at the same time he was very happy.
Fortunately, the matter was not discussed in the court, otherwise those stupid young civil servants and censors would have made it difficult for him to step down by shouting and killing him.
Today, Chongzhen is increasingly aware of the benefits of limiting the number of people discussing major national affairs.
That is, opinions can be easily unified, which greatly improves efficiency. At the same time, it also reduced the noise in the court, so that he would not be overwhelmed.
But with Shandong's threats before his eyes, Chongzhen still felt deeply humiliated.
"You little thief, I have been tolerant over and over again, but they have pushed even further. One day, I will definitely make them understand why the power of God cannot be violated."
Come on, as soon as the words "one day" came out, Wen Tiren and others understood that Chongzhen did not want to fall out with Shandong.
It’s not that I don’t want to, it’s that I don’t have the strength.
There is now more and more information about Shandong, and the imperial court's understanding of Shandong is getting deeper and deeper.
But the more they learned, the more frightened everyone in the court became.
Apart from anything else, the torch that Shandong gave to Lu Xiangsheng is now placed in the military staff bureau.
The officials and craftsmen of the imperial court racked their brains, but they could not imitate it.
Not to mention the mercury fulminate whose formula was completely unknown, the rifled barrel alone made the top craftsmen of the imperial court vomit blood.
There is such a big gap between the two fire guns, and the result of the face-to-face confrontation in the Battle of Guangping is actually clear to everyone in the court. If there is a real fight, it will probably only take a few days for Shandong to push to the capital city.
Moreover, with the firepower of the new army, the so-called strong city and thick walls of the capital cannot be defended at all.
Chongzhen was as fierce as fire, headstrong and would rather break than bend. But in the face of the real reality, we have to bend even if we don’t bend.
The most important thing is that Shandong has done things at a very good level.
It not only played the role of oppression, but also always gave Chongzhen and the court a certain hope.
Otherwise, once Chongzhen becomes completely desperate and insists on fighting with Shandong to the death, the Ming Dynasty will certainly perish early, and Shandong will probably face an even more chaotic country.
It will be even more difficult to unify and restore vitality by then.
Especially in today's Ming Dynasty, there are still many people who have not completely despaired of this old dynasty and feel that the Ming Dynasty can be saved.
The existence of this kind of idea and recognition is the biggest obstacle to Shandong's future unification of the world.
Why did the Manchu Qing take over the world so smoothly?
Just because Chongzhen and the imperial court had completely corrupted the entire world, everyone could see clearly.
This dynasty is hopeless.
After disappointment comes despair, and after despair comes giving up.
Therefore, the Ming Dynasty at that time had no psychological barriers to surrendering to Li Zicheng, and the Manchus, who were of the same class, had no psychological barriers to surrender.
Now Shandong has no intention to end the Ming Dynasty in one fell swoop. It is just putting a little pressure on it, but the whole Ming Dynasty feels panic and suffocation.
After understanding that Chongzhen had no intention of tit-for-tat and would rather die than surrender, Wen Tiren knew what to do.
"Speaking of which, Shandong merchants from all over the country also abide by the law and never delay their tax contributions. On the contrary, they are more accommodating than the gentry and common people in various places. In the opinion of the veteran, there are probably villains with evil intentions in various places who are trying to undermine the overall situation of the imperial court. They should be punished. punish."
"The Sword Comes"
The word "official" has two meanings, no matter how you say it, it makes sense.
Wen Tiren paved the steps.
As the new Minister of Household Affairs and an ally of Wen Tiren, Xue Guoguan immediately understood.
"Your Majesty, the Ministry of Household Affairs has a plan. Since the beginning of the new year, commercial taxes have increased in many places. After careful investigation, I have learned that it is Shandong shops and merchants everywhere who have taken the initiative to pay taxes. No surprise, in June I should send more than two million taels of tax money to the capital."
These words surprised Chongzhen.
"Really?"
Of all the problems faced by the Ming Dynasty today, the one that troubled Chongzhen the most was money.
Money is needed for the nine frontiers, money is needed for peaceful bandits, money is needed for official salaries, and money is needed for sacrifices, court meetings, and rituals.
You can go to the imperial court with an annual income of less than four million, which is not enough to provide salaries to all officials. The wages owed to various soldiers and horses are already urgent.
Chongzhen even had plans to levy a suppressive salary in addition to the Liao salary.
If you suffer more for the people and wipe out the bandits, then the people will have a good life after the world is at peace, right?
Fortunately, he is not a fool, and he also knows that the people are now burdened with a heavy burden. If the amount of taxes is increased, the consequences will be unpredictable.
I never thought that my tax bill would actually increase this year.
What's even more ironic is that the source of these tax dollars is actually provided by Shandong's business in various places.
“Why do Shandong rebels pay taxes so kindly?”
The emperor's nature made Chongzhen instinctively suspect that there was some conspiracy.
Otherwise, who would pay his own money to others in a good manner?
None of his own relatives did this.
Xue Guoguan is quite effective at doing things.
"I have inquired. Shandong merchants have said that this is the fee for protection. They do business on the court's territory, and after paying the money, they should be protected by the court. This time the Shandong rebels are angry and want to raise troops. I am afraid it will be the same. reason."
Chongzhen was even more angry.
"The traitors all know that the court is here, so they can keep safe. But those gentry are all full of fat heads, but they refuse to contribute a penny to the country. They should be killed!"
All the ministers are so nervous, it’s hard to accept this.
Are they not gentry?
After learning that Shandong merchants actually paid taxes and silver to the court, Chongzhen's attitude softened even more.
"Nowadays, the country is in dire straits. Those who contribute will not be generously rewarded, but should be protected. All localities are ordered to severely detect those who cause trouble and make troubles. Those who commit serious crimes must not be tolerated and serve as a warning to others."
Wen Tiren, Xue Guoguan and others immediately responded, and at the same time began to think about how to use this incident to attack the political opponents in the DPRK and consolidate their own power.
There was another person whom Chongzhen didn't mention, but Wen Tiren didn't intend to let him go.
That is Zhang Pu.
He and Zhou Yanru were mortal enemies.
If Zhou Yanru's backers are eliminated, there is no fear that he will make a comeback.
But Zhang Pu's reputation was well-known, and the government and the public looked up to him. If you want to touch him, you can't touch him with a trace of sex.
Wen Tiren carefully observed Chongzhen's expression and began to use his killing move.
"Your Majesty, although Zhang Ximing is in the opposition, he has served the country loyally and will not be followed. When Zhou Ge was there, thanks to his repeated praise of paintings, everything went together. Shandong's move is really damaging our Great Wall, and we must not agree to it. "
Chongzhen's face turned gloomy, and his green eyes flashed with danger.
