Before hanging himself, Chongzhen lifted the table

Chapter 20
The death struggle is absolutely inevitable.

After Luo Yangxing, the commander of the Jin Yiwei, came to his senses, he immediately said loudly: "There must be something wrong with this grand master's chair. Even a junior general cannot break it with one palm!"

After hearing this, Wang Zhixin and others naturally agreed.It has reached this point, whether or not to offend the emperor is secondary. They must get everyone to fight against the emperor, so that they can have a chance of survival.

After hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen sneered and said: "I still need to make lies to fool you? I, Emperor Taizu, reminded me that you are colluding with foreign officials, accepting bribes, showing filial piety, eating empty wages, and coveting the money of Mo's subordinates. There are so many things that deceive the emperor, why don’t you just do it from the truth?”

The Supervisor of Ceremonies is not only responsible for reviewing memorials, but is also responsible for many things.For example, there are eunuchs on duty in the Forbidden City, as well as printing and other printing factories, etc. The number of craftsmen under them is measured in tens of thousands.

Not to mention the Royal Horse Prison, which is in charge of the four guard camps of Tengxiang, its horses, elephant houses, etc. Emperor Chongzhen refers to the Emperor Chongzhen's empty salary and greedy military pay refers to the Royal Horse Prison.

Of course, the same goes for Jin Yiwei.

Among the pro-military guards, because Jinyiwei is responsible for the most things, Jinyiwei is larger than other guards and has more soldiers.Even if Luo Yangxing eats empty pay, he can't escape even if he is greedy for military pay.

But the question is, which eunuch would not be greedy?Throughout the dynasties, as long as one holds real power, he will definitely be greedy for money!
For example, Wang Zhen, an eunuch in the Yingzong period, found more than sixty treasury of gold and silver in his mansion when the court searched his home after his death.Since ancient times, there have been countless corrupt officials in history, but Wang Zhen was the only eunuch who counted gold and silver corruption in treasury units.

However, no matter what, this kind of thing cannot be mentioned openly.

Emperor Chongzhen continued to angrily rebuke: "At a time of national crisis, the army owes wages and the victims owe relief, but you are still lying on the body of the Ming Dynasty to suck blood. Have you ever been loyal to me and considered for me and the Ming Dynasty?"

Hearing this, Wang Zhixin quickly seized the opportunity and replied: "I just collected 23 taels of silver yesterday for Master Long Live to spend!"

When Emperor Chongzhen heard this, he sneered and said: "Coin? You gave me all the money for the coffin? If more than one hundred thousand silver is not found in your house, I will pardon you! How much silver is your annual salary?" , where did you get so much money? How dare you bully me when you are about to die!"

Speaking of which, Zhu Yuanzhang was also stingy. When he originally set the eunuch's salary, the fourth-grade eunuch only had an annual salary of 14 taels of silver.Note that this is only an annual salary, that is, it is paid on a yearly basis. The reason is that the eunuch has no wife, children, and children to support.

Of course, there will also be rewards in the palace, and the total income is more than this.But if you meet a stingy emperor, it's hard to tell.If we encounter a poor emperor like Emperor Chongzhen again, he may not even be able to pay his annual salary, and it will only cover food and accommodation.

According to historical records, after Wang Zhixin was defeated in the capital, he was chased by Li Zicheng to support him. He eventually vomited 15 taels of silver, and the value of gold and silver utensils was equivalent to this.In other words, Wang Zhixin's property, not counting fixed assets, such as houses and fields, amounted to 30 taels.

This amount of money is definitely a very large amount, an astronomical figure in this era.You know, after Li Zicheng arrived in Datong, Governor Xuanda took Ku Yin and wanted to escape back to the capital, in order to keep Ku Yin in exchange for the emperor's forgiveness.

How much money is this?

More than 1 taels!
The monthly salary for fighting on the battlefield is one tael of silver, and 1 taels of silver is what it takes a soldier to save for more than 800 years!
Therefore, when Emperor Chongzhen told how much money Wang Zhixin had, the maids and chamberlains present looked at Wang Zhixin, the eunuch No. 1 in the palace, with great shock and perhaps a hint of envy.

So much money, and according to the emperor's wishes, there will only be more, which makes them a bit unimaginable!
With so much money, the emperor only gave 1 taels, and he said that this was the money for the coffin?
The mentality of hating the rich has existed since ancient times, not to mention that the money came from the wrong source!Suddenly, most of the palace ladies and chamberlains stood on the opposite side of Wang Zhixin.A chamberlain brought out another imperial chair from the palace and waited for the emperor to sit down again.

After Emperor Chongzhen sat down, he looked down and shouted coldly: "When the country is in crisis, we should work together to overcome the difficulties. You serve me, and I will not treat you badly, but you can take what I give you. I don't If you give it to anyone who wants to touch it, I will never forgive you lightly!"

Having said this, he paused and then said: "I will check the roster in the palace. After verification, the chamberlains and maids will be paid with monthly salary."

The reason why Wang Zhixin and others were not killed directly, but in front of everyone, was because even the emperor could not really be alone and had to have obedient subordinates.

When the emperor punishes his slaves, he must be justified. Only then will the maids and chamberlains be convinced and will do their best for the emperor.It's not impossible to just kill without asking any questions or charges, but in that case, people's hearts will be dispersed.

Under normal circumstances, it's actually nothing.But if something happens, no one will support him.

When the capital city was destroyed, most of the eunuchs aimed to change the court. This was related to Emperor Chongzhen's harshness and unkindness. On the contrary, more maids committed suicide, which should be related to Queen Zhou's ability to manage the harem.

At this time, the maids and chamberlains heard what Emperor Chongzhen said. Even though for them, the salary had not changed, but was changed from an annual salary to a monthly salary, they immediately felt grateful to the emperor.Under such circumstances, when I look at Wang Zhixin and others, I feel even more disgusted.

Emperor Chongzhen could not wait for the results of the house raid to come out, and immediately ordered Li Ruolian to interrogate Wang Zhixin, Wang Dehua and Luo Yangxing for corruption and perversion of the law.

On the other side, at the Meridian Gate, as Wang Chengen came to deliver the order, the army immediately started moving.

They were not told whose house they were raiding, and Wang Chengen's men led them to the various houses of Wang Zhixin and others.No matter what, the movement is quite big.

There were some servants who were keeping an eye on these soldiers. When they saw them leaving, they followed them one after another.

About an hour later, news began to spread in the Imperial City.

"What's wrong, the house of the eunuch and the admiral of the East Factory has been ransacked!"

"The Luo Mansion of Commander Jin Yiwei was also surrounded by soldiers. It seems they are ransacking the house!"

“The house of the eunuch in charge of the Royal Horse Supervisor was also ransacked!”

Every news is very shocking.You must know that whether it is Wang Zhixin, Wang Dehua, or Luo Yangxing, they are all close ministers of the emperor and the most favored by the emperor.He was so powerful, why was his house suddenly confiscated by the emperor?And there were still three of them at one time!

(End of this chapter)