Before hanging himself, Chongzhen lifted the table

Chapter 57 Human Heart
In the Wenhua Hall, a group of people are already waiting here.

In the past, before the emperor arrived, they might still communicate with each other.But this time, no one of them spoke.

Looking down at his official boots, he could still see blood stains.

The Shura scene outside the Meridian Gate was really shocking to civil servants like them.In particular, the three hereditary princes were executed by the emperor without hesitation!

Compared to the others, they were better off. At least the emperor named them after the murder, and Emperor Taizu endorsed them as loyal ministers, so they would probably be fine!I just don’t know why the emperor summoned them all from the Procuratorate. What’s the reason?
As they were thinking, they suddenly saw movement outside the palace. When they turned around, they found that Emperor Chongzhen was dismounting from his horse, and then hurriedly entered the palace under the protection of several chamberlains and imperial guards.

So, they hurriedly picked up the car.

Emperor Chongzhen said "Ping Sheng" and went to sit on the throne. Then he looked at them and said: "According to Emperor Taizu's deduction, when the capital city was destroyed, all your ministers died for the country. Therefore, I can rest assured to use your ministers. Let’s get through this difficult time together!”

The people standing below include Li Banghua, the censor of the left capital, Shi Bangyao, the censor of the right deputy capital, Wang Zhang, Chen Chunde, Zhao Zhuan, Yu Zhiyu and Wu Ganlai. They heard the emperor once again emphasize their loyalty and couldn't help but His spirits were lifted, and he immediately echoed in unison: "I obey the order!"

Emperor Chongzhen glanced at them, and then said: "In more than a month, the capital will fall. I have no choice but to lead the army in person and leave the prince to supervise the country. You and others in the capital must cooperate with the cabinet to assist the prince and defend the capital. In this regard, If you have any ideas, please feel free to tell me!"

If he had said it a day ago, it is estimated that these censors would have opposed him as soon as he finished speaking.

War is not like playing house. You, an emperor who has never fought before, just lead the troops to go to war. Do you think you will definitely win?What if you lose or die?
However, just today, they saw the emperor's vigorous and resolute actions, and even suppressed the rebellion in the capital with an iron-blooded style and lightning speed. This allowed them to see the style of Emperor Taizu and Emperor Chengzu in Emperor Chongzhen, and they became more A glimmer of confidence.

But even so, they are still worried.

Since the emperor allowed them to speak freely, Li Banghua, who had the highest official position, quickly came out and reported to Emperor Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, since it is arranged like this, I think it may be arranged for King Ding and King Yong to go to the south to prepare for any eventuality."

He originally advocated that the emperor guard the capital to await King Qin's army, and that the prince go south to Nanjing to prepare for any eventuality. However, knowing that the emperor had already made a decision, he changed his suggestion.

Theoretically speaking, Li Banghua's idea is indeed a sound solution. Even if the capital falls, the Ming Dynasty will not be in chaos because it has no owner.If we look at the historical situation, his suggestion is very reasonable and can avoid civil strife in the Southern Ming Dynasty to compete for the throne.

But at this time, Emperor Chongzhen shook his head after hearing this and said without hesitation: "The capital is in danger, and the only way to survive is to burn the cauldron and sink the boat. If I order King Ding and King Yong to go south at this time, it will definitely arouse people's hearts. Being in panic is not conducive to defending the capital."

The more critical the situation, the more important people's hearts are.A little spark can trigger chaos in people's hearts.

Emperor Chongzhen had made up his mind, and if it didn't work out, he would be benevolent. It didn't matter what happened in the future. Unless he time-traveled to King Ding and King Yong, then he would definitely agree 100% with Li Banghua's proposal.

At this time, Emperor Chongzhen added after finishing his words: "After the capital is out of danger, I will send King Ding and King Yong south to urge the transportation of supplies and grain to the north. Before that, they must live and die with the capital together!" Li Banghua finally gave up on the emperor's determination.After all, it makes sense for the emperor to say that at this time, we have to break the boat to have a chance of winning!
Seeing that he stopped talking, he reported to Wu Ganlai about the incident: "Your Majesty, I think that the current predicament is not due to food, grass, supplies and military pay! What I worry about is that the soldiers will flee when they hear the thieves, and the people will be happy when they see the thieves. , We are not afraid of being without pay, but we are afraid of being without people. I believe that the people's support is the most important thing, so we should reduce taxes immediately!"

Historically, he once made such a proposal to Emperor Chongzhen, but although Emperor Chongzhen agreed, it was too late.

At this time, Emperor Chongzhen heard his point of view and immediately replied: "I also know this. Li Thief's ability to achieve great things is related to his winning the hearts and minds of the people. Before I go on the expedition, I will declare to the world and cancel the three rates, and wait for stability in the future With the situation under control, I will further reform the tax system to reduce the burden on the people."

Having said this, he paused and said: "However, military pay and supplies are equally important. Only by rebuilding the capital camp and having an elite army can I defeat the thieves and stabilize the situation."

Wu Gan had already considered this when he came to see the emperor. He couldn't help but feel very happy and returned to the queue. He had no other explanation.

However, he did not, but Emperor Chongzhen did.Emperor Chongzhen looked at him and said: "One of the sayings of Li Thief to win people's hearts is that equalizing the land will exempt them from taxes, and King Chuang will not pay taxes when he comes. This is obviously unrealistic. Is there any dynasty that does not need to pay taxes and taxes? Starting from this point, you must use words that ordinary people and soldiers can understand to spread the word and expose the hypocrisy of Thief Li!"

When Li Zicheng had no political ideas, he was just a group of thieves with no foundation, so they were chased by the government and the army.However, when he re-entered the Central Plains in the 15th year of Chongzhen, he put forward his political ideas and won the support of the people. In a very short period of time, he expanded rapidly and became the largest force capable of changing dynasties.

Why did Li Zicheng encounter almost no resistance later on? It was because he won the hearts and minds of the people and the trend was established!

If Emperor Chongzhen wanted to turn things around, he not only had to compete with Li Zicheng on the battlefield, but also had to fight Li Zicheng in public opinion.

Wu Ganlai happened to have this understanding, so he handed the matter over to Wu Ganlai.When Ningwuguan is saved and you can take a breather, let's plan carefully in this public opinion war. For now, we can only waste the three salaries that we can't get at all, which can be regarded as a simple way to win over the people.

At this time, Emperor Chongzhen continued to say to Wu Ganlai: "If Wu Qing needs anything in this matter, you can report it to the prince. I will also tell the prince to give you the necessary support!"

"I obey the order!" Wu Ganlai felt the emperor's attention and quickly agreed.

Afterwards, Emperor Chongzhen looked at the others and said: "You are the censor. At this critical moment, I will put aside other matters and supervise all the officials with the purpose of assisting the prince to defend the capital. I will use all my strength to do so." How are you?"

Some of the people involved in party disputes are not motivated by personal interests, but have different beliefs, different stances, etc., which lead to attacks on each other, resulting in delays in getting down to business.

Before Emperor Chongzhen left the capital, he had to remind these censors, who were loyal to the country, how to do things during this extraordinary period.

(End of this chapter)