The ruthless emperor in the late Ming Dynasty forced Chongzhen to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 28
Snapped!
In the Qianqing Palace, in the East Nuan Pavilion, the fine inkstone was smashed to pieces on the ground.

The eunuchs on the side couldn't help shivering, it was the first time they had seen His Majesty lose such a temper.

As for Li Ruolian, Wu Xiang, Zhou Yuji, and Liu Wenbing who were kneeling on the ground, they didn't even dare to show their air.

"Zhou Aiqing, you don't need to be responsible for this matter, and step back first, go get busy!"

"It's Your Majesty, I'm leaving!"

Zhou Yuji wanted to take some responsibility. After all, as the governor, he had no choice but to get up and leave, seeing His Majesty's unquestionable tone.

"Li Ruolian!"

"I asked you to be responsible for the security of the outer city, is that how you are responsible for me?"

"I have repeatedly told you beforehand that after the thieves besieged the city, there must be no chaos in the city, but now it's good, there are thousands of people smashing up..."

The more Zhu Cihong scolded, the more angry he became, and the more he thought about it, the more afraid he became. This was a truce. If this happened when the bandits attacked the city that day, the consequences would be unimaginable.

"The minister is guilty, the minister has neglected his duties, and the minister has betrayed His Majesty's trust. Please forgive me!"

Li Ruo knocked the head of the chain with a bang, and his head was covered with blood. He felt so guilty. Thinking of His Majesty's trust in him, he wished to stab himself a few times.

"enough!"

"Nian Jinyiwei is expanding rapidly, and the team is uneven. It is inevitable that there will be mistakes. This time, I will be punished for half a year. If there is another time, I will not be lenient!"

"Get up!"

Zhu Cihong waved his hands and said in a deep voice.

He knew that he couldn't completely blame Li Ruolian for this matter.

After all, Jin Yiwei has been rotten for a long time. It is normal for some subordinates to neglect their duties and fail to supervise them for a while.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

The three of them hurried to get up.

Seeing that His Majesty did not say anything about punishing them, both Liu Wenbing and Wu Xiang heaved a sigh of relief.

"Wang Dehua, send the imperial doctor to bandage Li Aiqing!"

Looking at Li Ruolian whose face was covered in blood, Zhu Cihong said again.

As a result, Li Ruolian was moved again and cried bitterly, feeling even more guilty.

Wu Xiang and Liu Wenbing on the side were also quite moved. It seems that the Son of Heaven is not as ruthless and ungrateful as rumored.

It wasn't until Li Ruolian's forehead was bandaged that Zhu Cihong said in a deep voice, "Li Aiqing, why did those people lose control and smash and loot?"

"Your Majesty, because the prices of grain shops in the city have increased too much, the local residents rushed into the shops and looted them angrily. The young refugees and the soldiers of the Beijing camp followed them, which led to a riot and the scene got out of control." Li Ruolian hurriedly reported the truth.

"How high is the food price in the city now?"

Zhu Cihong frowned, he realized that he had neglected such an important thing, and that was the price.

"Return to Your Majesty, most of the rice is eight or nine dollars a bucket..."

"what?"

"Eight coins a bucket?"

"Hey, why don't they grab it?"

Zhu Cihong was dumbfounded in shock.

A slap was slapped on the dragon case hard.

Eight coins and one bucket, that is, eight taels and one stone, this is no longer outrageous, but it is going to heaven.

Seeing that His Majesty was so angry and swearing, everyone lowered their heads in unison, pretending that they didn't hear or see.

Immediately, Zhu Cihong calmed down, regained his imperial majesty, and said in a low voice: "Li Aiqing, I will give you two hours to find out how many grain shops are in the city, and who is the owner behind them!"

"It's Your Majesty!"

After Li Ruolian resigned, Wu Xiang and Liu Wenbing secretly glanced at each other, knowing that His Majesty might be about to use the knife again.

Jin Yiwei really didn't blow it out, and this kind of investigation is really easy to handle. In just an hour, Li Ruolian hurried back again.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, there are 130 grain shops in the capital, five of which are run by honorable royal relatives, three of which are run by wealthy merchants in the south of the Yangtze River, and the remaining [-]% ​​are run by Shanxi merchants..."

After speaking, he handed over a detailed record booklet.

Zhu Cilang took the booklet, and at the beginning, he saw the name of Ding Guogong, and there were more than 30 grain shops under his name.

This is just a simple grain store. If other stores are added, the number will only be even more terrifying.

Get a glimpse of the whole picture.

It can be seen that most of the profitable businesses in the capital and nearby counties are not run by nobles.

Shanxi merchants and Jiangnan merchants were able to stand up to the nobles in the capital, which shows that the economies of other provinces may not have been completely monopolized by the merchants of the two places.

thought here.

Zhu Cihong took a deep breath, knowing that now is not the time to rectify the economy, so he put down the brochure.

"Li Aiqing, I will give you one day to search all the shops opened by Shanxi merchants in the city, and the personnel will be temporarily detained."

Those expensive shops are absolutely untouchable now.

Jiangnan is rich in products, and those merchants are inextricably linked with civil servants and big clans in Jiangnan. After repelling the invaders, they still need blood transfusions from Jiangnan to restore their vitality, so it is not appropriate to move them for the time being.

But for those Shanxi merchants, he will not be lenient in the slightest. In the future, one family will be copied and one family will be killed. Apart from coal, Shanxi will have nothing but shit.

"The minister obeys the order!"

Although Li Ruolian was slightly shocked, he still hurriedly replied.

He had long expected that His Majesty might attack the grain shop, but he never expected that it was actually a shop run by all Shanxi merchants.

It seems that I still far underestimated His Majesty's courage and means.

Then he asked for instructions: "Your Majesty, most of the rioters have been captured. There are more than [-] people in total. Most of them are ordinary people from the outer city, and a small number are soldiers from the capital camp and refugees. Please show me how to deal with it!"

Zhu Cihong was silent for a while, and then said expressionlessly.

"I have promulgated a decree in advance, and those who dare to commit rebellion will be killed without mercy. You are not joking, let's deal with it according to the order!"

"Yes Yes!"

This time Li Ruolian's tone trembled.

That's more than [-] people!

This time I really want to become a butcher.

But no matter what happens in the future, he has no regrets.

After Li Ruolian left, Zhu Cihong began to think about it.

All those people were beheaded because there should be no trouble now, and it was also to tell everyone in the city that the law does not punish the public, and it is useless to him.

Similarly, he wanted to use these hundreds of heads to tell those refugees and the soldiers of the Beijing camp that he, the emperor, would not be stingy with rewards, but he would not be punished for his meritorious deeds.

As for whether the soldiers will be killed or not, as long as the rewards and punishments are clear, and they are not killing people randomly, there is no need to worry at all.

He naturally understands this kind of superficial truth.

However, although killing these people can greatly deter other local residents and refugees from being young and strong, so that they dare not beat up again, the matter has not been resolved.

Thinking of this, he decided to open several grain shops by himself.

It is sold at a limited price at a low price, and temporarily solves the life of residents in the outer cities. Anyway, he is now plentiful with food and salt.

It also saves you from arguing with those nobles to make them lower the price. If they don't sell it, you can sell it yourself.

But when he thought of the corrupt eunuchs, Zhu Cihong had a headache.

It is impossible for him to check the accounts from time to time, and it is impossible for him to put his mind on running the grain store, but he is not at ease about who will take the lead except for the two queen mothers.

But the two empress dowagers are obviously not suitable for such tasteless things as doing business, and Dongchang and Jinyiwei must not be able to do it either.

After struggling for a long time, Zhu Cihong's eyes suddenly lit up, and he finally thought of a suitable candidate.

Immediately, he set up his frame and went to Kunning Palace.

(End of this chapter)