In the first month of the fifteenth year of Chongzhen, Li Zicheng attacked Fengyang Mansion in Nanzhili, Yang Sichang not only did not send troops south to attack on both sides, but roamed in Kaifeng Mansion.

Yang Ge is not in a hurry, and the officials in Henan are not in a hurry, as long as the thieves do not make trouble within their jurisdiction, they will not take the initiative to care even if they make trouble.

They are not in a hurry, but Chongzhen is in a hurry! The 180,000 army is crowded in Henan waiting to eat and drink, but what about the grain? What about the silver?

Forbidden City, Beijing, Cining Palace.

Eighty-six-year-old Concubine Liu was lying on the sickbed, surrounded by Emperor Chongzhen, Empress Zhou and others.

Concubine Liu was born in the Jiajing period, and went through the six dynasties of Jiajing, Longqing, Wanli, Taichang, Tianqi and Chongzhen, and was the concubine of the Wanli Emperor.

She has seen Gao Gong, Zhang Juzheng and others, and has experienced a series of major events such as Longqing switch, Zhang Juzheng's reform, Wanli's three major expeditions, the eunuch dictatorship, and Chongzhen's chaos, and witnessed the rise and fall of the Ming Dynasty.

Concubine Liu slowly opened her eyes, and when she saw that the emperor was sitting there asleep, she felt very sorry in her heart, and ordered someone to bring a brocade quilt to cover Chongzhen.

Chongzhen woke up and said bitterly: "Recently, there have been a lot of things in the court, I have frequently summoned the ministers, there is little rest, I haven't slept for two nights, I just lost my temper, I hope the concubine will forgive me." ”

Concubine Liu and Empress Zhou and others wept relatively, the emperor had a hard time, during the day in the Wenhua Hall to review the chapters, meet with the ministers, at night in the Qianqing Palace to read the chapters, when the military situation is urgent, they can not rest for several days and nights.

Several women wiped their tears and whispered comfort, talking and talking, but they saw that Emperor Chongzhen's eyes were gradually blurred, his head hung down slightly, and he actually fell asleep again.

The emperor of a dignified country has worked hard to become like this, and everyone looks bitter and can't bear to disturb it anymore.

At this time, Wang Chengen whispered in his ear: "Emperor, the ministers have arrived and are waiting in the Imperial Palace." ”

Chongzhen raised his head suddenly like a conditioned reflex, sobered up in an instant, and saluted to Concubine Liu: "Concubine Niangniang, I will retire first." ”

Concubine Liu knew that she was seriously ill and wanted to talk to him about the crown prince Zhu Cihong, but seeing that he was in a hurry, she had to nod and say, "Go ahead." ”

Chongzhen saluted again and hurriedly went to the Imperial Palace.

Looking at the emperor's distant figure, Concubine Liu sighed and said, "Empress, come here, the mourning family has something to say to you." ”

.......

In the Imperial Palace, Chongzhen was furious: "It's all this time, you still can't come up with a plan?" ”

Although Chongzhen has made Yang Sichang a supervisor, the first thing to solve is still the problem of food and salary.

Yang Sichang was in charge of the front line, only to realize that firewood, rice, oil, and salt were expensive, and the food and salary needed for the war far exceeded the budget, and the local government alone could not maintain the expenses of the 180,000 army.

The annual income of the Ming Dynasty is about 26 million stones, but most of them are stored in the local area, and the annual income of the household department is only a few million taels of silver, of which the military expenditure of the nine sides is as high as 8 million taels of silver, and the treasury is in a state of deficit almost every year.

In the battle of Liaodong in the twelfth year of Chongzhen, the Ming army conquered Shengjing, Monan Mongolia was annexed, the northern border improved, and the military expenditure was reduced, but under the strong request of the Liaodong generals, it still maintained a salary of four million taels of silver per year.

In all dynasties, the tax revenue of the state treasury was basically used for military expenditures, royal expenditures, and the construction of yamen.

Chongzhen pointed to Fu Shuxun, the head of the household, and said, "You can talk about it!" ”

Chongzhen dismissed Li Zhiwen, the original secretary of the household department, and promoted Fu Shuxun, the imperial historian of the right capital, who was "diligent and diligent", to be the new secretary of the household department.

Whenever there was an urgent task in the imperial court, Fu Shuxun tried every means to complete it, which won the praise of Emperor Chongzhen.

Named by the emperor, Fu Shuxun stubbornly said: "Your Majesty, Henan, Shandong, and Shaanxi have been in turmoil, the household department cannot collect taxes and silver, and the Liaodong Jiannu is ready to move, and several times the army has a tendency to attack Shenyang in Fushun, and Your Majesty wants to train a new army again, and the amount of money reported by all parties is huge, and the household department really has no money." ”

Daming's household department Shangshu all like to cry poor, and Fu Shuxun began to scoff at this, sometimes sneering a few words, but now he is in charge of the household department, looking at its accounts, which are bitter and bitter.

"No money?"

Emperor Chongzhen sneered, he had learned through Dongchang Fanzi that the crown prince Zhu Cihong had been in Jiangnan for two years, and last year alone, the annual tax revenue of several provinces in Jiangnan was as high as 50 million taels of silver, which is called no money?

Although Jiangnan is prosperous, there are Zhili, Shandong, Henan, Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Liaodong in the north, so it should be no problem to collect 20 million taels of silver a year, right? Why is it that there are only two or three million taels of silver?

I heard that Zheng Zhilong in the southeast can make a profit of 10 million taels of silver every year by collecting ship taxes, and now the prince has defeated the Zheng family and began to collect customs duties in sea trade, and now he is going to Yangzhou to inspect and clean up the salt merchants.

According to the calculations of Fang Yizhi, a reviewer of the Hanlin Academy, if these two pieces are brought down, Jiangnan's tax revenue will be at least 15 million taels of silver more per year.

Chongzhen was very unhappy after hearing this, and his heart was even more depressed, why is the prince here, the whole world is full of gold and silver, why is he so poor? Could it be that he is the reincarnation of the God of Wealth?

Chongzhen said coldly: "The prince raided the Jin merchants, the Jiangnan gentry and merchants, cut the corruption and the dirty, and the silver obtained was more than 10 million?" There are also tens of millions of taels of income every year, so it seems that I am not without money! ”

As soon as the words fell, the imperial hall was like a cold wind blowing, the cold was terrible, and all the ministers raised their heads in unison, and their eyes all turned to the first high emperor.

The cabinet ministers, the six ministries and nine secretaries, and the imperial historians of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, no one spoke, just stared at His Majesty the Emperor with blazing eyes.

Chongzhen glanced away, his brows furrowed slightly, this was the first time he had seen such a strange scene, and at this moment, the faces of the ministers seemed to have a coldness.

Thinking of the untimely death of several generations of emperors of the Ming Dynasty, and the repeated assassination of the crown prince Zhu Cihong in the past few years in the south, Chongzhen's heart was suddenly shocked, and he examined the ministers in the palace again.

At this moment, he seemed to see a group of hungry wolves with green light sticking out their fangs.

The ministers also noticed the emperor's abnormality, and Feng Ying, the secretary of the criminal department, took the lead in breaking the silence and said: "Your Majesty, the minister suggests that the army from Jiangnan be transferred into Henan to suppress the Kou and completely eliminate Li Zicheng!" ”

He continued: "Li Thief has been defeated many times by the Tianwu Army led by Huang Degong, and he is obviously not the opponent of the Tianwu Army, as long as His Royal Highness the Crown Prince arrives, the Central Plains can be decided!" ”

Chongzhen's cold eyes swept at him, it was this person, Chongzhen proposed to let the prince go south to suppress Kou at the beginning of the tenth year, so that the strength of the rebel son soared; When the Qing army entered the customs at the end of the eleventh year of Chongzhen, it was this person who proposed to let the prince raise troops to the north, and he almost lost the throne.

This old thing, repeatedly proposed that the prince lead the army north to fight this and that, and every time the battle is over, the prince's power will rise sharply, if the prince is allowed to go north again this time, it will not only be a major event in the Central Plains, but a big deal, right?

Chongzhen stared at him, feeling more and more that Feng Ying couldn't stay, and he had to find a reason to remove him.

In the past two years, the princelings left behind by Jingshi have been almost cleaned up by Chongzhen, and Zhu Cihong's teacher, Xie Sheng, the secretary of the ministry, has been dismissed and returned to his hometown not long ago.

For Feng Ying's proposal, Chongzhen naturally would not agree, if everything depends on the prince, then who is the emperor in this world?

He said coldly: "The matter in Jiangnan is a little decided, don't be careless, the prince still needs to sit in Nanjing, and it is not appropriate to go north." ”

The ministers were still silent, and Chen Xinjia, the secretary of the military department, stood upright, glancing at Feng Ying slightly from the corner of his eye, a trace of disdain appeared on his lips, and there was schadenfreude.