weaving

Chapter 1055 Summoned
Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Empire was in the worst mood. In just over ten days, he had already accumulated a large stack of memorials to impeach Yongningbo Zhang Cheng on his desk.

What is arrogance and domineering, what is contempt for superiors, what is privately collecting business taxes, what is competing for profits with the people, exploiting the gentry, and secretly trading with slaves, which is suspected of helping slaves out of trouble, this is the most lethal strength.

However, some people impeached Zhang Cheng for lightly provoking frontier quarrels, which caused the army of slaves to go west and wanted to attack Xuanda, thinking of revenge.

In short, the various impeachment memorials really caused Emperor Chongzhen a lot of headaches. At first, he didn't pay much attention to this matter. Occasionally, he didn't even read some books on impeachment of Zhang Cheng, and just left them aside.

In the eyes of Chongzhen, even though Zhang Cheng has such and such shortcomings and problems, Daming seems to be inseparable from him today!
As for being arrogant, so what?
Anyway, in front of Emperor Chongzhen, Zhang Cheng was as well-behaved as a mouse after meeting a cat. In Chongzhen's eyes, Zhang Cheng's sincerity and straightforwardness were even better than those of the cabinet ministers around him.

Not to mention contempt for Shangguan, although Zhang Cheng's official position is only a mere second-rank Xuanfu Town Chief Military Officer, but he is a dignified super-rank Earl of the Ming Dynasty, no matter how big the court officials are, they will bow down when they see him, This is the rule.

"Humph!"

The more Emperor Chongzhen thought about it, the more angry he was, and he started to levy business taxes and taxes from those court officials and gentry. If he was not afraid of destroying the foundation of the country, he would have thought of doing this a long time ago!

The country and the dynasty have reached a critical moment of life and death, but these gentry and merchants are sticking to their own pockets, not thinking about the country at all.

Previously, because the national treasury was becoming increasingly empty and it was difficult to support the huge expenditure of the two-front war, Emperor Chongzhen had summoned the royal relatives in Beijing, the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty, and asked them to donate money to the court to help them pay.

But in the end, they just managed to scrape together thousands of taels of silver.

All the relatives of the emperor, nobles, elders, and ministers were crying for poverty. They were messing around, selling yards, furniture, and even slaves and maids. It was too much!

In fact, Emperor Chongzhen didn't know that in the history that hadn't changed in the slightest, when the thief Li Zicheng swaggered into Beijing, under a severe and brutal copying operation, tens of millions of taels of silver were copied from their homes. Come.

Perhaps it was a good thing for Emperor Chongzhen not to know about it. If he knew about it, he would have to climb out of the coffin and scold these moths of the country!
The current Emperor Chongzhen still has some thoughts in his heart. The battle in Liaodong was fought very well, which made Jiannu a lot more honest and well-behaved.

Just last month, Chen Xinjia, Minister of the Ministry of War, was still reporting to him that Ma Shaoyu had established a line with Jiannu, and Jiannu seemed to have the idea of ​​peace talks, and his attitude was very sincere.

This may be the sign of the rejuvenation of the country, and he instructed Chen Xinjia to contact Jiannu, if the peace negotiation is successful, then he can mobilize a large and powerful army to encircle and suppress the rogues raging in Yu Province and Huguang.

At this critical moment, he was still counting on Zhang Cheng to complete the army as soon as possible and send troops to Yu Province to contribute to his great cause of Zhongxing. How could he be punished for collecting a little business tax?

Even if he, Zhang Cheng, attacked the gentry on Donglu and Xuanfu, so what?
Xuanfu Town is originally the Shitu Guards Office, most of them are military households, and how many gentry can there be? Zhang Cheng has a strong army of more than [-] men and horses. Doesn't he need money and grain to support these soldiers? ?

Those gentry don't think about the national crisis, they only know how to protect the interests of the family, what's the use of staying like a man without a king and a father?
In fact, there are tens of thousands of powerful troops under Zhang Cheng's command, but Emperor Chongzhen did not know the exact number of soldiers and horses. The information reported by all parties shows that there are only more than 2 troops.

The imperial court was in financial constraints, and could only afford half of Yongningbo's men and horses, and he had to figure out the rest on his own.

Most of the gentry in Xuanfu are concentrated in Yanqing and Baoan prefectures on the East Road, and most of the other places are military households with hereditary military positions. Now Zhang Cheng can get money and food from them to raise soldiers without the need for the court to bother, isn't it just right!
Even if the gentry all over the world attack it in groups in the future, Zhang Cheng can still be blamed for all the crimes. Anyway, the king will never make mistakes.

Chongzhen is not a fool, Zhang Cheng has been able to go smoothly, in addition to the reason why he needs to work hard for the country, the bigger reason is Chen Xinjia's full protection.

After all, Chen Xinjia didn't want to lose his powerful foreign aid, and it was precisely because of this that officials began to attack him, but these impeachment memorials were also kept by Emperor Chongzhen.

Looking at the candlelight not far away, Emperor Chongzhen also felt a little tired. He turned his head and looked at the pile of memorials on the imperial case, and couldn't help but let out a sigh.

"Ugh."

Every day there are endless memorials, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan, Shandong, and even Gyeonggi and Nanzhili have constant disasters, rebellion and thieves are difficult to deal with, they still have the mind to deal with these red tapes For trivial matters, Zhang Cheng was impeached.

But what can he do?

It's not that Chongzhen didn't think about killing and replacing all the wine bags and rice bags of these corpses, but who else can come up?

Over the past ten years, he has trusted and reused batches of talents, but the outcome has not been satisfactory. The situation in the country is getting worse day by day, and he often meditates late at night.

Could it be that the previous emperors were also so difficult to do?
At this time, Wang Dehua, the chief eunuch on duty today, just came to serve him, to see if the emperor had any other orders or needs.

He stepped into the hall lightly, first checked the candlelight, then touched the teapot, and ordered people to pour out the residual tea and replace it with new tea, but was stopped by Emperor Chongzhen.

Wang Dehua glanced at the patch on Emperor Chongzhen's robe, and thought that the emperor was reluctant to throw away even a pot of residual tea. His heart was full of emotions, and he couldn't help but shed a string of tears.

"Wang Banban, there is news from Bian Yongqing."

Seeing the emperor's question, Wang Dehua quickly stopped the tears flowing in his eyes, knelt down gently and replied: "Return to the emperor, no news is precisely the best news."

"Oh."

Emperor Chongzhen was slightly taken aback when he heard the words, and immediately understood what he meant, and felt a little relieved in his heart, and asked: "The rumors in Beijing are still the same. If Yongning Bo is greedy and domineering, our family believes that the rumors are true.

It is not groundless to levy commercial taxes and exploit the gentry, but Yongningbo needs money and food to train and raise soldiers for the country. Those gentry and merchants have been favored by the emperor, and now it is time for them to make some contributions to the country. "

Unlike those civil and military officials and nobles in the outside world, most of them have no good impressions of the gentry and merchants. They not only look down on each other, but also often bind each other because of conflicts of interest, and fight constantly.

Don't look at these eunuchs of the inner court, each of them has their own shops, and there are dozens or even hundreds of them, but most of them are not operated by themselves, and many of them are released to collect rent.

Therefore, they were not very interested in Zhang Chengqiang's business tax collection. When they heard about it, they felt a sense of pleasure in their hearts, and at the same time, there was a trace of jealousy.

You must know that the forced collection of commercial taxes has always been exclusive to them. Looking back, I don’t know how many eunuchs, big and small, in the inner court, have made a lot of money through this matter.

But when Emperor Chongzhen came to power, this invisible welfare came to an abrupt end, which made him very angry.

At this time, Emperor Chongzhen asked again: "What new rumors are there about Zhang Cheng secretly building slaves and raising slaves for self-respect?"

In fact, Chongzhen was asking Wang Dehua his own opinion on this matter, but he did not speak out, but asked the rumors in the market under the pretense, which was also to prevent Wang Dehua from replying.

"My lord, although there are still such rumors in the market, most of them are just jokes."

Wang Dehua saw that Emperor Chongzhen's expression moved slightly, but he was not angry, so he continued boldly and confidently: "Emperor Yongning is loyal to the emperor, defends against the Tartars outside, suppresses bandits inside, and has made great achievements year after year. If you say that he is domineering, greedy and lustful There is evidence.

But if it is said that Yongning Bo had a private relationship with the Tartars and raised slaves to be self-respecting, even the people in the capital would not believe that the adulterous relationship with the Tartars would kill two false kings who built slaves?

Not to mention self-respect in raising slaves. Yongning Bo Yongyi's army was stationed in Xuanfu, far away from Jiannu, and Liao's annual salary was several million, and he didn't get a cent, so why raise slaves? "

What he said is true. If it is said that raising slaves is self-respecting, it should be Liaodong generals such as Zu Dashou, Wu Sangui and others. You can safely and securely distribute a large amount of gold, silver, money and food.

Emperor Chongzhen naturally knew the truth of this, so he was very concerned about the peace talks with the slaves. If the peace talks were reached, the money and food saved could be used to suppress thieves, and Liaodong no longer needed so many troops to garrison. The bandit suppressing forces that can be called upon.

However, "the world is unsatisfactory, and ten people live in seven or eight." Emperor Chongzhen's peace talks with slaves and his desire to mobilize troops to suppress bandits are destined to encounter many obstacles, and it is impossible to succeed!

"Tell Bian Yongqing that you should urge Zhang Cheng to send troops to Yu Province as soon as possible, that is..."

"The old slave leads the order."

Wang Dehua waited for a while, and saw that Emperor Chongzhen had read the memorial on the imperial case wholeheartedly, and there was no new order, so he quietly withdrew.

…………

In the 15th year of Chongzhen, on February [-]th, the sun had already set from the west, the moon hung on the branches, and the bleak cold wind hit, and the chill did not recede.

In the capital of the Ming Dynasty, in the warm pavilion of the Qianqing Palace in the imperial city, Emperor Chongzhen, who was reviewing the memorials, suddenly felt upset for some reason.

Suddenly, Emperor Chongzhen, who was sitting behind the imperial case, heaved a sigh of relief. He got up and left his seat and walked out of the Qianqing Palace, wandering back and forth on Danchi.

The chill brought by the cold wind in the spring night invaded his skin, making his slightly swollen temples feel refreshed. Immediately, he took a deep breath of cool air, and then slowly exhaled the stuffy air accumulated in his chest again.

In his mind, he counted the sound of cloud boards coming from Xuanwu Gate, and heard the sound of watchmen coming from Dongyi Chang Street. He felt even more anxious in his heart, and couldn't help asking secretly: "Chen Xinjia hasn't entered the palace yet? It's already the second watch." Gosh!"

Just at this time, a small eunuch walked gently beside him, bowed and said: "Qi Zuo Huangye, Chen Xinjia is waiting to be summoned in Wenhua Palace."

"what……"

After hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen was invigorated and said loudly, "Come here!"

It turned out that during this period of time, the impeachment memorials of Zhang Cheng and Chen Xinjia were flying all over the sky, and more and more speech officials participated, with the momentum of further expansion.

Chongzhen still trusts Chen Xinjia very much, and is also very satisfied and comforted with his performance since he took office, but he is not completely unimpressed with Zhang Cheng.

It's just that due to Chen Xinjia's protection, of course the most important thing is when the country employs people, Zhang Cheng is indeed a rare general, and he has won consecutive battles wherever he goes.

In Chongzhen's heart, he still hopes that Zhang Cheng can be like Guo Ziyi, the famous general of Zhongxing in the Tang Dynasty, and assist him like Li Yu, the emperor of Tang Dynasty, to turn the tide and become a ZTE emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

At that time, let's not say that he will be made a county king, even if he is a prince, it's okay!

Once upon a time, there were thieves raging inside and Tartar invaders outside. They couldn't even guard their own ancestral tombs. The enemy flaunted their power outside the capital and plundered for several months before retreating safely.

All these exhausted Emperor Chongzhen physically and mentally. He did not know how many times he went to the ancestral temple late at night to pay homage to the emperors of the past dynasties, hoping to get their blessing and help, but it didn't help.

Especially when the supervisor Yang Sichang was unfavorable in suppressing the bandits, after he passed away in Shashi, Jingzhou, Emperor Chongzhen's dream of becoming the king of Zhongxing in the Ming Dynasty was also extinguished.

However, this time the Battle of Jinzhou in Liaodong made him see a ray of light in the dark night, as if he had seen hope, and he couldn't help rekindling his heart to be the king of Ming Zhongxing.

Today, during the court meeting in the morning, Chen Xinjia also participated as Minister of the Ministry of War, but there was a lot of talk at that time. Apart from some daily trivial matters, they only discussed some disaster relief and combat strategies for dealing with the rogues in the Zhongzhou area.

Although Chen Xinjia, Minister of the Ministry of War, is shrewd and capable, but Daming is already terminally ill. For more than ten years, he has been trapped in a situation of internal and external difficulties, and he has not been able to get rid of the predicament of fighting on two fronts.

Insufficient troops, exhausted food and salaries, generals who will not die, soldiers who have no fighting spirit, military discipline and many other problems cannot be solved, but if you want to save this crisis out of thin air, how can you do it?

Therefore, in the court meeting in the morning, although the monarch and his ministers discussed for a long time about how to eliminate the rogues who ravaged Zhongzhou, there was no result at all.

However, Emperor Chongzhen was originally an impatient person. The more he was in distress, the more anxious he would be, restless, and even had trouble sleeping and eating.

In this state of his, it is easy to lose his temper in the palace. Maybe some eunuch or palace maid will be questioned and punished if he gets into trouble. He didn't even dare to breathe out.

Just after today's dinner, Emperor Chongzhen received a secret report from Chen Xinjia, Minister of the Ministry of War, saying that there was new news from Ma Shaoyu outside Shanhaiguan.

(End of this chapter)