I really don't want to be emperor at the end of Ming Dynasty

Chapter 483 The whole world is the granary of Ming Dynasty

Chapter 512

Although both taxes and taxes collect money and food from the people, their purposes are different. The word "fu" is composed of the two characters "Bei" and "武", which means currency is used for war. Taxes in ancient China first referred to the collection of land products and industry and commerce. Used for general national funds. As recorded in the "Book of Han·Criminal Law": "There are taxes and gifts. Taxes are enough for food, and taxes are enough for soldiers. All countries implement it."

The Qing Dynasty first restored the old system before the reform of the Ming Dynasty, continued to increase the Ding tax, and then instituted a "never increase tax", but it looked at this as a kind of imperial favor!

This is the same routine as supermarkets first increase prices and then discount. Of course, the so-called "imperial grace" can only be compared with the barbaric policies of massacre, surrender, and land enclosures in the early Qing Dynasty for nearly a hundred years.

The Qing Dynasty never promised to increase taxes, but it did not promise to never increase taxes. In fact, it was just a left-handed thing to deceive others. Qian Mu's "Outline of National History" said: "Since the 50th year of Kangxi, there will never be an increase in taxes. The Qing court disciples Keeping the good name of "never adding gifts" and making donations one after another is like allowing dozens or hundreds of hungry tigers and wolves to roam the people, and the harm will be more serious than adding gifts."

Cheng Shijie's promise to never collect taxes is actually very simple. The military expenses generated by the imperial court's external military use will not be shared among the people, but because Ming Dynasty is currently enjoying the war dividends of external expansion.

Following the promulgation of Cheng Shijie's imperial decree "The Cheng family will never enjoy the gift!" Emperor Chongzhen was even more disheartened. No matter how capable the Zhu family's descendants were, they could no longer regain the lost country from the Cheng family.

The subjects and gentry all over the world, even the landlords and gentry who were dissatisfied with Cheng Shijie, shouted long live Cheng Shijie.

Although the gentry has the privilege of tax exemption, they do not have the power to exempt themselves from taxes. The state uses troops and levies three salaries, and the gentry cannot escape either. They just pay more and pay less.

The common people were also very satisfied with Cheng Shijie's arrangement and shouted long live the Holy Ming.

In the Imperial Ancestral Temple, fifteen memorial tablets of Emperor Hongwu, Emperor Yongle...all the way to the Ming Xizong stood silently, witnessing the birth and glory of the Ming Dynasty, the rapid decline of the national destiny of the Ming Dynasty, the resurgence of the Ming Dynasty, and the decline of the Ming Dynasty. The past emperors seemed to have stood up from their mausoleums, silently looking at their descendants who had shown signs of fatigue early due to overwork, and silently looking at the splendid country that they had devoted their efforts to manage.

Emperor Chongzhen burst into tears looking at the Ancestral Temple.

After offering sacrifices to heaven, there was naturally a banquet for the officials. Cheng Shijie not only gave a banquet for the officials, but also for the people of the capital. The people of the capital were also lucky, with more than 2.4 million people, as well as the people who came to watch the ceremony. , more than three million people enjoyed the feast of Cheng Shijie, the new king.

Naturally, this feast cannot be like a flowing banquet. Cheng Shijie had people prepare a big gift and send it to the people of Gyeonggi and the people who came to attend the enthronement ceremony. Everyone, regardless of age, male or female, was given a bag of rice and two Ten catties, ten catties each of mutton and pork, ten catties of fish, and one catty of wine.

More than three million people could only distribute more than 60 million kilograms of food. For Cheng Shijie, it was nothing more than transporting a few more ships from Luzon or Nanyang. The same was true for meat. If it was during the Chongzhen Dynasty, even if it was Even if you have money, you can't buy so many things.

However, now there is no shortage of food in the Ming Dynasty, let alone wine. As for meat, it only consumes a small part of the capital, which was unimaginable before.

Cheng Shijie remembers very clearly the first time he attended the banquet of Emperor Chongzhen. The dishes at the banquet were only a little richer than home-cooked dishes, and there were not even many meat dishes. This foodie who was determined to stick to the wall was disappointed. , he thought there was a banquet between Manchu and Han people.

In contrast, Cheng Shijie's banquet for ministers and people's representatives was very rich. More than two thousand sheep were prepared, and sumptuous dishes were served in large plates. The wine made from potatoes was free of charge. On the table, the aroma of vegetables and wine mix together, making people salivate.

Everyone was getting hungry after working on the enthronement ceremony for so long. They all sat down, picked up bowls and chopsticks, and began to eat and drink. The wine lovers each poured a full glass, drank from it, or tasted it, and everyone was full of admiration. Especially the representatives of the military, they finally got what they wanted.

Cheng Shijie officially ascended the throne, and they finally settled their worries. If Cheng Shijie did not ascend the throne, they would launch a military revolt. After all, no one wanted to have a sharp sword hanging over their heads.

Just because they are Cheng Shijie's soldiers and eat Cheng Shijie's food, no one who becomes emperor will let them go easily.

Cheng Shijie first came to the side of the military representative. He held a wine glass and said: "Fellow soldiers, over the years we have lived in rough clothing and endured hunger. We have stood shoulder to shoulder and worked together to open up the situation. I thank you all for your support to me over the years." Thank you for your hard work! I can't give you much, especially privileges. I can't give it to anyone. Today is the day when I become the emperor. Everyone, drink as much as you like and have fun. Come on, I respect you all. One cup!"

Thousands of military generals and officials jumped up from their seats like springs pressed to their limit, raised their glasses, and shouted in unison: "Congratulations to Your Majesty!"

The wild voice, the strong figure, and the uniform movements startled the civil servants who were drinking. Some of them muttered in a low voice: "These Qiu Ba gang are not simple!"

"Be careful what you say, beware of trouble coming from your mouth!"

In the Dingxin Dynasty, unlike in the Chongzhen Dynasty, even the censor's adviser could not make random remarks. Anyone and anything impeached must have conclusive evidence. The tradition of the censor reporting on the news has become a thing of the past.

In particular, the status of soldiers is already very high. If you dare to use insulting words and terms to call soldiers, the consequences will be quite serious. As long as they are heard by others, just one word of Qiuba is enough to make them lose their official title at least, or lose their official title at worst. Then he was sent to Zhanzhou.

Cheng Shijie is also a very loyal person. On this special day today, it is naturally impossible for him to forget the soldiers around him. In addition to the more than 1,250 soldier representatives and more than 600 officers who came to attend the royal banquet, other The soldiers in the military camp were also distributed abundant food.

Just like this time, the people of Enshang and Gyeonggi gave the same reward to all the soldiers and their families. The standard was doubled, fifty kilograms of high-quality rice, twenty kilograms each of mutton and pork, fish, and wine were also enough.

Compared with the original army of the Ming Dynasty, the officers of the Royal Army and the Royal Navy of the Ming Dynasty are all professional soldiers. They only have two things, fighting and preparing for war.

Even if they come to a banquet, their backs are very straight, like a bayonet when they sit down, and like a javelin when they stand up, their eyes are sharp, and they are extremely energetic. In front of civil and military officials and fellow villagers, they appear very reserved, and even speak deliberately Lower your voice for fear of scaring people.

Now the Ming Dynasty's army no longer adopts a hereditary system, and has an obvious retirement age. All soldiers and officers on the list are not too old. They have not contracted the bad habits of soldiers. Strict military discipline has become their behavior. Every move, every word and every deed must be based on the rules and regulations, and we must not violate them even a little bit.

He drank three drinks with the soldiers before returning to the civil servants' banquet. At the civil servants' banquet, the ministers talked endlessly to Cheng Shijie. There was always a hint of compliment in his words. This kind of conversation was half-talk, half-hidden. Cheng Shijie was very unhappy.

Cheng Shijie noticed that compared to other last emperors in the past dynasties, Cheng Shijie did not give Emperor Chongzhen an insulting title. For example, Zhao Kuangyin gave Li Yu, the later lord of the Southern Tang Dynasty, a disobedient prince, and the Jin Dynasty named Song Huizong a coward. Duke De, etc. Now Emperor Chongzhen does not have a title or other status.

In terms of age, Emperor Chongzhen is actually much younger than Cheng Shijie. Emperor Chongzhen is five years younger than Cheng Shijie. But now it seems that Emperor Chongzhen has grown white hair and his face is full of vicissitudes and fatigue, while Cheng Shijie's face is full of vicissitudes. Hong Guang is nominally in his forties, but in fact he is younger than someone in his thirties. In Cheng Shijie's view, Emperor Chongzhen was pitiful. With such a mess and such a group of unscrupulous ministers, his life was miserable.

"Common people see you, Your Majesty!"

Cheng Shijie looked at Chongzhen and said, "We are friends, you don't have to pay such a big courtesy!"

In fact, if you think about it seriously, although the dragon chair has infinite magic power, it is not as beautiful as people thought. After sitting on it, you realize that there are many emperors who are not what you want. For example, the father and son Huizong of the Song Dynasty and Qinzong of the Song Dynasty were actually top calligraphers and writers. Their calligraphy and literary skills were enough to make them famous in history. However, they ascended the throne and became the emperor for various reasons, and then they met unfortunately. He fell into Jingkang and ended up with the tragic end of "sitting in a well and looking at the sky".

Zhu Houzhao, Emperor Wuzong of the Ming Dynasty, had endless whimsical ideas. If he were allowed to be a performance artist, he would definitely have amazing achievements. However, he became the emperor and left behind a ridiculous reputation for favoring and treacherous people. He is simply a negative example of the emperor. .

A little closer, Zhu Youxiao, this guy has extraordinary craftsmanship and creativity. He is a genius carpenter and genius designer, but God insists that he be the emperor... It is a tragedy for him and for the Ming Dynasty.

Based on Cheng Shijie's observations over the years, Chongzhen found that although he was very diligent and studious, and knew how to draw inferences from one example, he vaguely knew how to be an emperor, but he did not have the appearance of an emperor. Emperor Chongzhen's start was too bad. Unless he was a prince who had been trained to be an emperor long ago, he would not be able to change the situation of the Ming Dynasty.

On the contrary, after Cheng Jialong's efforts in the past few years, when Cheng Jialong was replaced by Emperor Chongzhen who had just ascended the throne, Cheng Jialong would never be deceived like Chongzhen.

"I'm very happy to see you. It's okay for you to enjoy the life of a commoner, but you have to remember that your surname is Zhu. Your origin and this surname are doomed for you, your children, and your grandchildren. You will not be together for several generations. It may be truly civilian, so you must work hard to let everyone in the world know that Zhu Youjian is not bad, do you understand?"

In this world, I am afraid that only Cheng Shijie can talk to Chongzhen like this.

Chongzhen was stunned on the spot, but Queen Zhou hurriedly said: "Thank you for your teaching!"

Emperor Chongzhen looked at Cheng Shijie and said, "You want to keep me as a catfish?"

"He is indeed a man who has been an emperor. He is smart!"

Cheng Shijie did not kill Chongzhen, nor did he think about killing Chongzhen to avoid future troubles. He looked at the Cheng family not far away and said: "I will have fun being the emperor for a few years. When I have enough, I will let him be. He may He will do a great job when he becomes the emperor, but it does not mean that he can always be diligent and caring for the people. Someone must put pressure on him. If he does not do well...I will replace you."

Chongzhen was stunned for a long time and smiled bitterly: "I feel more and more that it is right not to be the emperor...!"

As Cheng Shijie said that he would replace Cheng Jialong with Chongzhen at any time, Chongzhen clearly felt countless unkind glances on him. There was no doubt that if Cheng Shijie hadn't protected him, he would have died miserably.

After Cheng Shijie held his enthronement ceremony, the fifth year of reform began.

The fifth year of Dingxin was a very unfavorable year. Until the spring plowing, there was no rain in the whole north, and various pests became more and more ferocious. In the original time and space of history, Li Xin took refuge in Li Zicheng and offered advice to Li Zicheng. At the same time, Niu Jinxing recommended to Li Zicheng Song Xiance and Li Zicheng began to explode rapidly.

In comparison, in this year, the entire Ming Dynasty was very peaceful. More than 200 counties in 19 prefectures in Shanxi, Beizhili, Henan, Shaanxi, and Gansu provinces were affected by drought and insect pests.

However, because they were now subjects of the Dingxin Dynasty, taking advantage of the drought and the flow of the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River, Cheng Shijie ordered the cabinet to organize people from the five provinces to make every effort to repair the Yellow River.

Dredge rivers and repair embankments.

Although the weather was dry and 20 to 30 million people were affected by the disaster, no one died of starvation. With the work-for-relief method, the lives of the people were not greatly affected. After three or four months of busy work, the people They found that after working for three or four months, they earned more than ten dan of food, so they had no worries at all.

The rice and wheat eaten in the north of the Ming Dynasty mainly came from the Mughal Empire. In February, the Ming Dynasty's Indian Ocean Fleet launched a new round of attacks on the Ganges River coast on the pretext of suppressing Mughal pirates' attacks on Ming Dynasty merchant ships. The eleven local kings provided the Ming Dynasty with 8 million shi of rice and more than 4 million shi of wheat. In addition to the grain provided by Luzon, Dayuan, and the Indo-China Peninsula, the Ming Dynasty received a total of more than 30 million shi of foreign food. stone.

There is simply not enough food in the people's homes to eat.

As the only Ming vassal in Europe, the City-State Republic of Venice learned that the Ming suzerainty was suffering from drought. They purchased more than three million stones of grain from the European colonial authorities and transported it to the capital.

It wasn't until June that Ming Dynasty Prime Minister Sun Zhishan finally breathed a sigh of relief when he looked at the mountains of grain. "With these nearly 40 million shi of grain, Ming Dynasty can finally tide over the difficulties!"

Cheng Shijie said calmly: "I have told you a long time ago that your worries are unnecessary. The world is very big. The Ming Dynasty has more than two million troops and the most advanced artillery and warships in the world. The whole world is the granary of the Ming Dynasty! "

Sun Zhiwan just picked up a report. This was a report from Shen Qidong, director of the Xinming Management Committee. After learning that the Ming Dynasty was hit by the disaster, Xinming organized Baidu to collect food and purchase food from the indigenous people, providing no less than Four million stones of grain.

Sun Zhiman sighed: "Your Majesty clearly sees thousands of miles away, but I am far behind!"

Cheng Shijie said: "I just got the news that King Charles I of Great Britain is in trouble. This is an opportunity for Ming Dynasty to intervene in Europa!"

(End of this chapter)