Ming Zuo

Chapter 602 This moment is right now
"Your Majesty, the rebels in Shandong are aggressive with force. Although the ministers and others are fighting with reason, these rebels are not polite and fearless. They threaten that if the court does not obey, they will cut off the canal once and attack Zhili twice. If they fail to achieve their goals, they vow Don't give up!"

Crouching in the Hall of Mental Cultivation, Li Kangxian was dejected.

Shandong's request is obviously not something he can undertake as a minister of the Ministry of Rites, so he can only report it to Chongzhen.

Fortunately, Li Kangxian, Wang Yingxiong, and Lin Qian knew that the matter was important, so they didn't dare to spread the word everywhere, but came directly to Chongzhen.

As for Chongzhen, he did not hold a grand meeting, but three people summoned by the inner court.

They also called Wen Tiren, Xue Guoguan and other people in power.

Hearing the whole story, Chongzhen was furious, but at the same time rejoiced.

Fortunately, this matter was not discussed in the court, otherwise, those stunned young civil servants and censors would yell and kill him, and he would be unable to get down again.

Today's Chongzhen is more and more aware of the benefits of limiting the number of people discussing major state affairs.

That is, it is easy to unify opinions, which greatly improves efficiency.At the same time, it also reduced the noise in the court, so that he would not be overwhelmed.

But Shandong's intimidation was in front of him, and Chongzhen still felt deeply humiliated.

"Little thief Cuoer, I have been patient again and again, but they have made an inch of it. One day, I will make them understand what it means to be so powerful."

Come on, as soon as the words "someday" came out, Wen Tiren and others understood that Chongzhen did not want to turn against Shandong.

It's not that I don't want to, but that I don't have the strength.

There is now more and more information about Shandong, and the court's understanding of Shandong is getting deeper and deeper.

But the more they learned, the more frightened everyone in the court became.

Among other things, the fire hat gun that Shandong gave to Lu Xiangsheng is now placed in the staff bureau.

Officials and craftsmen of the imperial court racked their brains, but they could not imitate it.

Not to mention the mercury fulminate, which has no formula at all, the rifled barrel alone caused the top craftsmen of the imperial court to vomit blood.

There is such a big gap between the firecrackers in the area, and the result of the face-to-face confrontation in the Battle of Guangping, the whole court actually knows it clearly. If there is really a fight, and Shandong is pushed to the capital, it may only take a few days.

Moreover, with the firepower of the new army, the so-called thick walls of the capital could not be defended at all.

Chongzhen is as fierce as fire, headstrong, and would rather bend than bend.But in the face of the real reality, you have to bend if you don't bend.

The most important thing is that things in Shandong are controlled at a very good speed.

It not only played the role of oppression, but also always gave Chongzhen and the court a certain amount of hope.

Otherwise, once Chongzhen was completely desperate, broke the cans, and insisted on fighting to the death with Shandong, then Ming Dynasty would of course perish early, and what Shandong would have to face would probably be an even more chaotic world.

At that time, it will be even more difficult to unify and restore vitality.

Especially in all parts of Daming today, there are still many people who are not completely desperate for this old dynasty, and still think that Daming can be saved.

The existence of this kind of thinking and identity is the biggest obstacle for Shandong to unify the world in the future.

Why did the Manchu Qing take over the world so smoothly?
Just because Chongzhen and the imperial court have ruined the whole world, everyone can see clearly.

The dynasty is doomed.

After disappointment is despair, and after despair is giving up.

Therefore, at that time, there were no psychological barriers in surrendering to Li Zicheng in the Ming Dynasty, and even less psychological barriers in surrendering to the Manchus who were of the same class.

Now Shandong has no intention to end the Ming Dynasty in one fell swoop, but only exerts a little pressure, but the whole Ming Dynasty feels panic and suffocation.

Knowing that Chongzhen didn't mean tit for tat and would rather die than submit, Wen Tiren knew what to do.

"Speaking of which, Shandong merchants from all over the country abide by the law and don't delay in contributing taxes. On the contrary, they are more accommodating than the gentry and common people in various places. According to the veterans, most of them are villains with schemes in various places who try to undermine the overall situation of the court. punish."

There are two official words, and it makes sense no matter what.

Wen Tiren paved the steps.

As the new Minister of the Household Department, Wen Tiren's accomplice, Xue Guoguan immediately understood.

"Your Majesty, the Ministry of Household Affairs has plans. Since the beginning of the new year, business taxes in various places have increased. After careful inquiry, I have already learned that it is actually the shops and merchants in Shandong who have voluntarily paid the tax. Not surprisingly, in June There should be more than two million taels of tax silver to send to the capital."

This statement surprised Chongzhen.

"Sure?"

Of all the problems in Ming Dynasty today, the most troublesome thing for Chongzhen is money.

Nine sides want money, Pingkou want money, hundreds of officials need money for salaries, sacrifices, court meetings, and etiquette systems all need money.

The annual income to the imperial court is no more than four million, which is not enough to pay the salaries of hundreds of officials.The salaries of various soldiers and horses in arrears are already imminent.

Chongzhen has even thought about it, planning to levy and suppress the salary in addition to the Liao salary.

No matter how hard the people are, the bandits will be wiped out. After the world is peaceful, the people will have a good life, right?
Fortunately, he is not a fool, and he also knows that the burden of the people is heavy now, and if the amount of payment is increased, the consequences will be unpredictable.

I never thought that this year's tax payment has actually increased.

What's even more ironic is that the source of these tax money 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 their own money to others in a good manner?
None of his own relatives did that.

Xue Guoguan is quite competent in his work.

"I have inquiries. Shandong merchants have said that this is the cost of protection. They do business on the court's territory and pay the money, so they should be protected by the court. This time the rebels in Shandong are angry and want to raise troops, I'm afraid it's the same reason."

Chongzhen was even more angry.

"The rebels know that the court is there, so they can keep safe. But those gentry are full of fat, but they refuse to pay a penny for the country. They should be killed!"

All the ministers are dumb, this is not easy to answer.

Are they not gentlemen?

Knowing that Shandong merchants had actually paid taxes to the imperial court, Chongzhen's attitude became more relaxed.

"Nowadays, the country is in dire straits, and those who contribute will not be rewarded generously, but should also be preserved. All localities are ordered to strictly investigate those who smashed and rioted, and those who committed serious crimes should not be tolerated, so as to serve as a warning to others."

Wen Tiren, Xue Guoguan and others quickly responded, and at the same time began to think about how to use this matter to attack political opponents in the court and stabilize their own power.

There was another person, Chongzhen didn't mention it, but Wen Tiren didn't intend to let it go.

That is Zhang Pu.

He and Zhou Yanru are sworn enemies.

If Zhou Yanru's backer is destroyed, he is not afraid of making a comeback.

But Zhang Pu's reputation is well-known, and the government and the public look up to him. If he wants to touch him, he can't be contaminated with a trace of coquettishness.

Wen Tiren observed Chongzhen's expression carefully, and began to perform his ultimate move.

"Your Majesty, although Zhang Ximing is in the wild, he serves the country faithfully and will not be left behind. When Zhou Ge was old, thanks to his repeated praise of the painting, everything went well. Shandong's move is really destroying our Great Wall, and it must not be allowed. "

Chongzhen's complexion suddenly became gloomy, and there was a dangerous gleam in his green eyes.

(End of this chapter)