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

Chapter 33
"Li Zhuangshi, Mrs. Li, I actually like to make friends with heroes and righteous men, but I grew up in the deep palace, and I don't have this opportunity. I am very happy to talk with you two today. Come, I will respect you and my wife!"

"Don't dare, it should be my husband and I who respect His Majesty for being loved by His Majesty."

"Okay, how about drinking together?"

After finishing speaking, the three raised their glasses at the same time and drank the wine in the glass in one gulp.

The husband and wife were deeply moved when they saw the little emperor's arrogance, and wished they could get acquainted earlier.

"In my long palace, most of the things in various places are only known from memorials. Can you two tell me about the current situation in various places in the north?"

Zhu Cilang picked up a piece of dish and said casually.

In fact, this was also one of his purposes for entertaining the two of them.

After all, his predecessor knew nothing about the external situation, and he only knew a thing or two from historical records in his previous life.

Knowing that natural disasters continued at the end of the Ming Dynasty, the people were in dire straits, and there were thousands of miles of barren land in the north, but the specific scene can only be imagined.

It is unrealistic to talk about how to govern without knowing the real situation in various places.

And within a short period of time, he will definitely not be able to personally inspect various places, and his subordinates may not report the truth.

The two of them didn't have such worries, one was born in the bottom class and the other was born in a gentry, they must know everything about it, it would be nice if they could learn something about the real situation.

"I wonder what your Majesty wants to know?"

Li Yan was still thinking about Zhu Cihong's intentions in his words, but Hong Niangzi asked directly.

"Then let's talk about Henan first!"

"For example, how many people are there, how the fields are being cultivated, etc."

"Your Majesty, Henan is located in the Central Plains, and the situation is the most serious. Most of the places are empty, the villages are abandoned, the fields are barren, and the population is ten to seven."

The red lady drank the wine in the glass in one gulp, and then said slowly in a low tone.

After speaking, I was afraid that he would not understand, so I made a metaphor in detail.

"Let's put it this way, Your Majesty, if you go to any county, you will find that most of the villages are deserted. At first glance, it is bare and full of cracked land. It is difficult to see anything else except the bones on the roadside. .”

"Hey! So, it really is a purgatory on earth, with thousands of miles of barren land, and ten thousand people will not survive?"

Zhu Cihong took a deep breath, felt the heavy pressure, and had the idea of ​​running to the south again. The north is so bad, it's so bad that people feel hopeless.

"Your Majesty, it's actually not as horrible as Jiannei described. The situation has improved in the past two years. At least the counties have a little vitality, and some fields have been restored. The Central Plains is no better than other provinces. All you need is to recuperate. In 20 years, you will be able to recover."

Li Yan said, and gave Hong Niangzi a hard look.

The latter had an innocent face, and said in his heart that the little emperor himself wanted to ask, and I was just telling the truth.

"Then how many people are there?" Zhu Cihong looked at the red lady, obviously believing what she said.

"No one has counted the specifics. It's hard to say. I think there are still 200 million. However, children under the age of ten and elders over the age of 40, Si Ye can't see any of them anyway."

"Oh, why is that?"

"Because the elders have starved to death long ago, and the children have been eaten, especially the young ones of four or five years old."

After the red lady finished speaking, she looked at Zhu Cihong, wanting to see if he would be frightened, and Li Yan also watched Zhu Cihong's reaction calmly.

Although Zhu Cihong's face was ugly, he was not frightened.

After all, what he said was not true to what he saw, so he was silent for a while, and then continued to ask: "Then what is the situation in Shanxi and North Zhili?"

"Anyway, it's much better than Henan, but the landlord's family has no food left, and most of the people can't eat enough, so they start to change their sons to eat."

"What about Shaanxi?"

"Shaanxi is miserable..."

"Cough cough!"

Seeing that she was about to shake out her old background, Li Yan coughed quickly, feeling extremely helpless towards his wife.

The red lady could only sneer: "Let my husband tell His Majesty about the situation in Shaanxi. He is a scholar and knows more than I do."

Li Yan also said something ambiguous, obviously unwilling to say more about the situation in Shaanxi.

Zhu Cihong didn't force it, and asked again about the specific situation in Henan and Shanxi, but he didn't hide anything from Li Yan in the two places, and he almost answered every question.

Just like this, the three of them drank and chatted, and before they knew it, two hours had passed.

Zhu Cihong was always asking questions, Li Yan was answering, and Hong Niangzi would interject from time to time.

"Your Majesty, what do you think about the peace talks?"

Seeing that Zhu Cihong was a little drunk, Li Yan couldn't help asking after all.

"You must be running out of food and grass. The city is full of troops and the combat power is rising. Why do I want to talk about peace?"

"Wouldn't it be better for me to order the army to kill them when the food and grass run out and the morale is gone?"

"Your Majesty, our army's food and grass can only last for another three months, and the previous few sieges were blocked and the losses were quite large.

Of course, our army is not unable to attack, but because we don't want to lose too much of the elite veterans, so we want to negotiate peace.

If Your Majesty insists on not wanting peace talks, our rebel army's tens of thousands of elites will definitely fight to the death, and the outcome will be unpredictable. I hope Your Majesty will think twice! "

"Besides, since His Majesty is determined to reorganize the country, it is even more necessary to negotiate peace and buy time. Otherwise, the stalemate will be too long. Once the Northeast Jiannu takes the opportunity to enter the customs, both sides will be in danger of destruction. This is the student's heartfelt words. I hope His Majesty will seriously consider it."

After Li Yan finished speaking, he got up and bowed again to the end.

Seeing that Zhu Cihong remained calm, he gritted his teeth and added:
"If Your Majesty is waiting for reinforcements from various kings, the students can tell the truth. Except for Wu Sangui from Liaodong, no Ming army has come to help.

And Wu Sangui only brought a mere [-] soldiers and horses, and stopped in Yutian area three days ago. His Majesty may find it difficult to count on it. "

"Oh!"

Zhu Cihong's eyes lit up, he was not afraid of Wu Sangui procrastinating, but he was afraid that that guy would not come.

Then he said calmly: "I can agree to peace talks, canonize Li Chuang as the King of Qin, and stay in the northwest forever. I will not obey the imperial edict or have an audience with him!"

Li Yan was overjoyed, but he couldn't help frowning when he heard the back, and winked at the red lady beside him.

The red lady understood immediately and said: "Your Majesty, you have come all the way to the capital to have an audience, so you must reward me with some gold, silver and food, right?"

"Forget it, then reward Li Chuang with a jade belt, a boa robe, a hundred taels of gold, a thousand taels of silver, some beautiful jade, and ten altars of imperial wine."

Zhu Cihong thought about it and said seriously.

The husband and wife looked at each other and felt a sudden headache. They didn't know whether the little emperor really didn't understand or pretended not to understand.

Li Yan had no choice but to wink at her again.

The red lady said again: "Your Majesty, it doesn't matter what kind of reckless robe and jade belt, and the imperial wine and jade are also optional, but the silver reward is at least 300 million taels, and the grain is also 100 million shi. Otherwise, if it spreads, the world will laugh at your majesty." mean?"

Li Yan added: "Your Majesty, in addition to Shaanxi and Henan, Shanxi can be returned to Daming. If Your Majesty agrees, our army will immediately retreat."

"Hmph! Do you really think that I am a wealthy native of Shanxi?"

"If I really have so much money and food, why would I let you come to the capital?"

"The maximum amount of silver is 50 taels, and the grain is [-] shi. Shanxi and Henan have to return all of it, otherwise there will be no discussion!"

Zhu Cihong slapped the table with an angry face and said.

"This…"

"Master, what His Majesty said is the truth, why don't we go back and let King Chuang decide for himself."

Li Yan was a little embarrassed, the conditions were far from what he had imagined, so he wanted to fight for it again, but Hong Niangzi got up and said directly.

In her opinion, this little emperor is much more pleasing to the eye than Chuang Wang, and he really has people in his heart.

So she really didn't want to lie to him. If it wasn't for the fact that the husband didn't want to be a villain, she would have surrendered directly, and even talked about a hell of a sentence.

"That's fine, Your Majesty, the student and my wife will leave first, and I will reply to Your Majesty after consulting my great queen."

Li Yan had a wry smile on his face and could only speak.

"The reception is not good today, it's getting late, the two of you should rest for the night, and go back tomorrow!"

After speaking, without waiting for the two to refuse, he ordered the surrounding big Han generals to send the two of them to rest.

(End of this chapter)