Cao Huachun suffered a huge shock when he heard that Zuo Menggeng planned to open the Forbidden City to the public.
"Your Majesty clearly knows that the royal palace is a place where the royal aura gathers and where all the people look up to it. How can it be like a bustling flower street where anyone can come in and out? In this case, where is the majesty of the royal family?"
Zuo Mengeng helped him up again.
"Haha, our empire's royal family does not live here, how can it affect our majesty?"
He pointed to the magnificent Forbidden City and expressed his thoughts.
"Look, such a large palace complex requires a huge amount of money every year just to maintain it. Just relying on national financial allocations, in the long run, isn't it the same situation as the Ming Dynasty? Instead of doing this, it is better to open this place up so that all people in the world can Browse for sightseeing. Tickets, peripherals and other items can also be a source of income, reducing the financial burden on the country."
After hearing him compare Daming to Ming Dynasty, many people present changed their minds.
Especially in the last years of the Ming Dynasty, the financial constraints were unforgettable for many people.
Why did the Ming Dynasty die?
Foolish kings and mediocre ministers, extravagant sects and vassals, land annexation, natural and man-made disasters, etc. are actually just appearances.
There is only one core reason.
Financial collapse.
And the cost of the Forbidden City in front of the country's finances is obvious to all.
At the critical moment when Sun Chengzong was building the Liaodong defense line, Emperor Tianqi even went so far as to destroy the strategic decision in order to rebuild the three main halls.
In addition, the cost of such a large palace, including the royal family, eunuchs, maids, guards, and daily maintenance and operations, is actually very staggering.
The outside world generally focuses on the vassal's expenses and does not have an overall impression of the palace's expenses.
But Zuo Mengeng did.
Lu Ping once made a statistics in private.
The data really scared Zuo Mengeng.
In a normal year, excluding various major projects, the palace's annual expenditure exceeds 10 million taels.
Ten million taels!
Just thinking about it makes Zuo Mengeng's head hurt.
Although most of the expenses are maintained by industries such as Huangzhuang, isn't it still a matter of competing with the people for profits after acquiring these industries?
Now that the Forbidden City is empty, a lot of personnel expenses have been reduced, but just to maintain the buildings, even one million yuan a year is not enough.
Hou Xun and others would definitely not agree to let the empire pay for this money for no reason.
There is only one way.
That means the Forbidden City creates its own revenue.
Zuo Menggeng knew only too well how much revenue the Palace Museum would generate in a year.
Is it feasible to appropriate it into this era?
It sure works.
People in this era were more in awe and yearning for imperial power.
If you have the opportunity to enter the place where the emperor once lived, as long as the tickets are not too exaggerated, I believe countless people will flock to it.
Let the operators of the palace sell some peripheral products, maybe it will be enough to support themselves.
After all, the previous Kong Sheng Museum has set a good example.
The Confucius and Saints Museum in Qufu no longer needs state financial support and is able to self-finance.
The Kong Sheng Museum is like this, isn’t the Forbidden City even more attractive?
When Zuo Menggeng explained everything clearly, everyone suddenly understood and were all very moved.
After all, the empire is built on business, and the top management is very supportive of anything that can make money.
No one would like to be able to reduce national financial consumption on a large scale.
"Mr. Mu Zhai, you and Mr. Cao are old friends, and this matter is under the management of your department. You can talk and come up with a suitable plan."
Zuo Mengeng handed the matter over to Qian Qianyi.
The head of the Ministry of Culture is definitely not bad at doing this kind of thing.
Qian Qianyi stepped forward and looked at Cao Huachun, feeling really sad to meet an old friend.
"Mr. Cao, I haven't seen you for many years and I still haven't thanked you for saving my life!"
When Qian Qianyi went to the countryside and returned home, Zhou Yanru still refused to let him go and insisted on killing him.
Qian Qianyi was forced to take Cao Huachun's route to save his life.
It can be said that Cao Huachun was his savior.
Cao Huachun was also very happy to see his old friend.
"It turns out it's Mr. Qian. From now on, he will be begging for food under Mr. Qian. Please take good care of him."
Regardless of how they discussed it, Zuo Mengeng said to Zhang Yan: "It's hard to come back once, but I don't know when the next time will be. Let's go back to the place where we used to live and see if there is anything we can't bear to part with. From now on. This is a museum, and it’s impossible to take it away.”
Zhang Yan had already seen Liang Fa running quickly. Knowing that there was a military and national event, she went inside accompanied by Xu Ruolin.
"Your Majesty, when Azige and Duduo evacuated from Xiangyang, they massacred the city. All the people in the city were killed."
When the shocking news came, Zuo Mengeng's eyes immediately turned red.
"Tell Huang Sanhu to beat him to death."
Everyone felt his anger and did not dare to advise him.
As for the atrocities committed by Azig and Duduo, everyone felt that no amount of severe punishment would be excessive.
Azig and Duduo still adhere to the old fighting methods.
Since you have to run away, avoid the pursuers from catching up and cutting off the back road.
But they didn't know that their actions had earth-shattering consequences.
News of the massacre by the Qing army spread, and the people in Xinye, Nanyang and other places in front of them all ran away after hearing the news.
Azige and Duduo entered Henan, but could not find even a grain of food supply.
They didn't know that the Military Intelligence Bureau was already operating in Henan.
Ruzhou Prefecture, Henan Prefecture and other places further ahead are also in the clear wilderness.
As Zuo Mengeng's order is issued, this army that the Manchu Qing relies on will face the whirlpool of a nationwide war.
Azig and Duduo did not dare to go in the direction of Kaifeng Mansion.
Because the Central Plains strategic cluster has entered the boundary of Kaifeng Prefecture, it will definitely get ahead of them.
Furthermore, most of Kaifeng Prefecture is a yellow flood zone, and the roads are muddy and difficult to navigate. They are also afraid that they will not be able to get out if they get stuck.
After discussion, Azige and Duduo decided to go to Shangzhou and Lantian and head north of Shaanxi to avoid the sharp edge of the National Defense Forces.
】
If successful, no matter how fast the Wehrmacht marches, it will be impossible to catch up with them.
But bad news came, which shocked Azig and Duduo.
Just when they led their troops to besiege Li Zicheng, Liang Yue, who had originally retreated to Gansu, made a comeback. Xi'an was captured in just ten days, and now it lies across Shangzhou, blocking their way into Shaanxi.
"What to do now?"
Azige was restless and a little undecided.
"The Chinese army has already reached Xuzhou and will capture Jiaxian County at the latest. By then, we will have no way out."
Knowing the speed of the National Defense Force's advance, the Qing army generals were extremely helpless.
The Eastern Front was obviously deadlocked.
Duduo's eyes were full of fierceness.
"Then attack Shangzhou by force. How capable is Liang Yue that he dares to stop my army from moving forward?"
Because of his victory over Li Zicheng, Duduo looked down on the peasant army.
He didn't think Liang Yue would be more powerful than Li Zicheng.
Even if Liang Yue seizes Wuguan, he has an absolute geographical advantage.
