Traveling through the Ming Dynasty, as soon as you open your eyes, you will die

Chapter 53

When he saw Wu Sangui standing up to oppose the abolition of three salaries, Chongzhen asked kindly: "Why does Aiqing oppose it?"

"If Liao pay is cancelled, how will Guan Ning raise his troops?" This is the key. Liao's salary is the guarantee for Guan Ning. If this money is gone, then I Guan Ning's 100,000 troops - ah, no, there are only 50,000 left now. Then I have 50,000 Guan Ning, and I will really stand in the northwest of the capital, where I can easily drink the northwest wind.

Lu Mou stood up and asked with a smile: "Uncle Ping Xi, now there is no need to build a city in western Liaoning, and we are temporarily on the defensive against the Manchu Qing Dynasty. In this way, how much will your annual military expenditure be if we just support your 10 Guan Ning cavalry?" "

Wu Sangui made some calculations in his mind, and then gave him a big mouth: "At least two million a year."

Lu Mou snorted in his heart, in this fee, you cost me at least 100 million.

Lu Mou saw through it without saying anything: "Okay, let's count it as 200 million. The 100 Guan Ning you received now should be divided into million, right?"

Wu Sangui was stunned for a moment, but now that the words had been spoken, he could only nod in acknowledgement. Now he felt that he no longer had the capital to bargain with the court, mainly with this little Prince Ding.

"Okay. Not only will I meet your needs, but in order to reassure you and the soldiers of the Security Army, I will give you the 100 million for this year in advance, right now, as soon as the court is over, all at once. Give it to you immediately."

Wu Sangui was really shocked by Lu Mou's arrogance. Does this young prince actually have so much money in his hands?

"If this is the case, Your Majesty, then I agree to revoke the three salaries."

"But I have two conditions."

"Please tell me, Your Majesty."

"First, your Guan Ning must not lose the Inner Great Wall, and the soldiers must not mutiny because of money and food."

The meaning is already obvious, I can give you money, but you must not deduct it.

Wu Sangui actually understood what Lu Mou meant. He didn't want to deduct too much and lose his only strength: "I agree. But I am not responsible for the situation of the Guan Ning Army in Shanhaiguan."

We need to clear up the relationship. Don't force Guan Ning from Shanhaiguan to mutiny or lose him just to satisfy me. Then it can't be pinned on me.

Lu Mou smiled: "This is natural."

"Then please tell me about number 2, Your Majesty."

"The second point is that half of the capture of your Guan Ning cavalry must be handed over to the Imperial Household Department."

Wu Sangui smiled bitterly in his heart, you are using this method to force me to take the initiative to fight. But if it's true that half of the seizure is left behind, it's worth it.

He had secretly heard from his father that the young prince had confiscated two million taels of silver just by defeating Li Yan and Li Guo, not counting the jewelry and antiques.

When I was in Shanhaiguan, I could only embezzle some money from the court, and there was no extra income at all. If fighting bandits is really so profitable, then if I support those 5 elite soldiers, I can't let them eat and drink for free, I have to let them rob me of money.

"I and the prince have made an agreement."

"Well, after the dynasty is over, I will carry the 100 million silver dollars directly to your father and son's house. If there is a shortfall, you can use my gold crown to pay the bill." This heroic conversation made all the monarchs and ministers in the palace feel uneasy. He was impressed.

Everyone admired him for his bold conditions for taking action, his method of clearly forcing Wu Sangui, and forcing Wu Sangui to pinch his nose and admit it.

What really made the ministers happy was that Lu Mouzhen proposed to the emperor a salary increase for the ministers.

"The salary of officials in our court is really too low. It is the lowest record in history. If officials cannot have gray income, it will be difficult to support their families. We cannot let officials who want to be honest officials starve to death. We must Let officials live a decent life without being greedy. Only in this way can all officials settle down and serve the court and the people in a down-to-earth manner. For this reason, I request that for all the officials under our jurisdiction now, Double the salary.”

In fact, Chongzhen approved of this matter when father and son had an answer in the Imperial Study Room. He also knew why officials owed so much money to the treasury. It was because officials' lives were indeed too difficult. During the Ming Dynasty, all the famous upright officials in history were eventually buried wrapped in reed mats.

If becoming an official is just to be buried with a roll of reed mat, then who would be an upright official?

It's not that I haven't thought about raising the salaries of officials, but Ming Dynasty's finances have collapsed, so this idea has no strength.

But the situation is different now. Now is a critical time when the monarch and his ministers need to work together to keep the Ming Dynasty alive. Winning the hearts and minds of the people is crucial, but winning the hearts and minds of officials is even more critical.

As for the doubling of salary expenses, it is actually not such a big expense anymore.

Because now the Ming Empire only controls such a palm-sized area, and in the early days people were scattered and fled, including all the officials in the county offices in Zhili, there were ultimately less than a thousand people. Chongzhen, of course, happily accepted the offer of doubling the salary of officials after his son assured him that he had a solution.

This work of increasing salaries to buy people's hearts should have been done from above, and Chongzhen came to buy officials.

However, the last time his son violently collected debts, his reputation among officials was extremely bad. In order to still rely on this son to help him, and in order for him to do things in the future, there will be less resistance from officials. Chongzhen conscientiously asked his son to bring up this matter to ease the relationship between him and his ministers.

That's why there is such a scene today.

Seeing that his son had brought it up, Chongzhen was deliberately embarrassed: "Now that we can guarantee that all officials' salaries will no longer be in arrears, it is already very good. If we add more salaries, and there is no need to convert them, they will all be pure gold and pure silver. Your Majesty." Are you sure?"

Lu Mou smiled confidently: "I am fully confident that I can do this."

Under the eager eyes of the ministers, Chongzhen knocked on the table: "I'm sure about this."

As soon as he finished speaking, the hall, which had to be silent, erupted into cheers after waves, and some people even cried with joy. Now, the loan I owe to the British public can be repaid easily, and I can live a prosperous and decent life in the future.

The young prince is so considerate, and this person is so approachable.

Good policies are announced to the world, which makes the people all over the world feel moved at first. The emperor changed his gender, and Ming Dynasty began to love the people. If all such policies are implemented, good days will come for the people of the world.

Therefore, many people were hoping in their hearts that Master Wang would come soon to end the chaos, restore the administration of the court, fulfill the promise of the court, and let the people live a peaceful and prosperous life again.

For a time, the number of people joining the bandits dropped sharply. This truly achieved Lu Mou's goal of winning people's hearts and taking the heat from the rogue bandits.

(End of this chapter)