355 Rewards, feasts

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"This time, Lu Aiqing personally led the troops to fight the Tartars, nine deaths, hard work, Li Aiqing served the country loyally, bloody battles, I was very relieved, and I stepped forward to listen to the seal!"

As he spoke, Chongzhen waved his hand, and a eunuch holding a holy decree in his hand walked out.

"Boom la la ......"

At this time, Lu Xiangsheng and the generals also quickly knelt down, and Li Zixiao of course also knelt down.

Soon, the main hall sounded, and the eunuch's sharp voice sounded: "Fengtian carrier, the emperor said, Lu Xiangsheng is loyal to the country, live up to my expectations, and specially add the title of the crown prince to protect the title, reward five hundred taels of silver, and five brocades."

Yongcheng Tun army guerrilla Li Zixiao, meritorious service, pillar of the country, promoted to the rank of Pingyuan general, Xuzhou commanded and guarded Haizhou, Huai'an, Yangzhou Jiangbei defense, reward three hundred taels of silver, three brocade horses. ”

After listening to what this eunuch said, Li Zixiao had already fallen into ecstasy in his heart.

He was promoted to the rank of general, awarded the rank of general of Pingyuan, and served as the commander of Xuzhou, and guarded the Jiangbei of Huai'an in Haizhou and Yangzhou.

Li Zixiao couldn't wait to look up to the sky and laugh at this time, this time he is developed, he is not blind to the 1.5 million taels of silver he gave out, Lu Xiangsheng really said that Chongzhen met his requirements.

Before, what Li Zixiao was most worried about was that Chongzhen would get up in his heart, guard against and weaken the strength in his hands, and send him to the northern border, or Shaanxi, and western Henan to garrison.

If he really went to the northern border, with the hatred of the Tartars for him at this time, it was estimated that in two days, Dolgon would lead a large army to destroy him.

And if Chongzhen sealed him to the west of Henan, or even Shaanxi, there would now be thousands of miles of red land and homeless people, and it would not be a foundation at all.

And when the time comes, he will have to face Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong, these two large rebels, these two guys are not good, and when he sees these people under Li Zixiao, he will definitely swallow them up.

Therefore, Li Zixiao had already been angry with Lu Xiangsheng before he entered Beijing, hoping that Lu Xiangsheng would speak well in front of Chongzhen and seal the others to Shandong and Jiangbei together.

Now it seems that Lu Xiangsheng did not live up to Li Zixiao's high expectations, and the 1.4 million taels of silver donated by Li Zixiao really made Chongzhen excited.

Chongzhen was in a good mood, and he was embarrassed to refuse Lu Xiangsheng's words, so he simply agreed.

In the Ming Dynasty, the general was only a military rank smaller than the general soldier, and the general was responsible for guarding various places for the imperial court, and he had soldiers and horses in his hands.

Li Zixiao did make a lot of achievements this time, but it was really because of Li Zixiao's background and his age that it was impossible for him to achieve the position of chief soldier.

This point has been thought of by Li Zixiao from the very beginning, if Chongzhen really dares to give Li Zixiao a position of general soldier, it is estimated that the ministers of the Manchu Dynasty will not agree.

And being promoted to a general is indeed the most appropriate, and sure enough, in the end, things are the same as Li Zixiao expected.

And the rank of Pingyuan general, this title is actually a fictitious title, but after all, he is a genuine general, if he is replaced by someone else, this is a major event for the glory of the ancestors.

But for Li Zixiao, this is of little use to him, and what he values is real power.

And this commander of Xuzhou is what he values the most, because it is a real job.

In addition, he also led the defense of Huai'an and Yangzhou in Haizhou.

In other words, Chongzhen has already handed over the military strength of Jiangbei to him, which is what really excites Li Zixiao.

Of course, Li Zixiao also knew that in fact, at this time in the Jiangbei area, in the past two years, the Japanese have repeatedly violated the border and plundered the coastal cities, and Chongzhen has already received countless reports.

However, at this time, the Ming army and guards in the Jiangbei area had already been corrupted to the extreme, and it was impossible for them to win against those ferocious Japanese robbers.

Since Lu Xiangsheng proposed to let Li Zixiao go to Shandong or Jiangbei, Chongzhen simply pushed the boat down the river and transferred Li Zixiao to Jiangbei to prepare for dealing with the Japanese invaders.

For Li Zixiao, of course, he is more willing to deal with the Japanese than against the Tartars and the rebels, and Jiangbei is the most ideal place for Li Zixiao to have a foundation.

This time, he was appointed by Chongzhen, and then he could enter Jiangbei in a bright and bright way and build his base.

Xuzhou Mansion, Huai'an Mansion, plus a Yangzhou Mansion, the entire three prefectures of Jiangbei are all considered rich areas after all, and they are enough to support a large number of troops.

After all, if Li Zixiao wants to expand his troops in the future, he must have territory and population in order to support him, and he must not sit on empty seats.

"Emperor Xie, long live my emperor, long live, long live!"

After listening to the reward, Li Zixiao, who was so happy that he almost danced, also knelt down again with Lu Xiangsheng in front.

Emperor Chongzhen sat on a high place, Li Zixiao's ecstatic expression was clearly reflected in his eyes, and he also had the idea of taking Li Zixiao for his own use.

After everyone thanked him, Chongzhen said kindly: "Li Aiqing, thunder, rain and dew are all Jun's grace, Wang'er and others can work hard to serve the court in the future, don't live up to my high hopes!" ”

After listening to Chongzhen's words, Li Zixiao immediately said respectfully: "The last general will obey the holy order, long live my emperor!" ”

But Li Zixiao thought in his heart at this time: Chongzhen, Chongzhen, if Lao Tzu didn't know that you would be destined to be the king of the country in the future.

With today's reward, I can't say that I will really have a heart of allegiance to you and the idea of supporting the Ming Society, but now I won't.

I am destined to embark on a path of hegemony, but I can guarantee that until you do not die, I will try not to openly raise the banner of anti-Ming.

In the future, I will kill all the Tartars, level the rebellion of the rebel army, let the people of the Ming Dynasty get out of the sea of fire, and will not let the Han family fall into the hands of the Tartars.

Of course, Chongzhen didn't know what Li Zixiao was thinking at this time, nodded and smiled: "Okay, Lu Aiqing, Li Aiqing, you stand down!" ”

"Yes, Emperor Xie!"

Lu Xiangsheng and Li Zixiao retreated, and then soon after, they retreated.

At this time, Lu Xiangsheng came to Li Zixiao, muttered a few words to him, and left early, he had to deal with Kong Youde's Ling Chi.

Later, with the sound of retreat, the officials in the hall dispersed, and walked outside the hall in twos and threes.

There were many court officials who came to congratulate him, but there were also many officials who were too lazy to take care of Li Zixiao, and it was obvious that those officials were from Yang Sichang's faction.

After Li Zixiao and the other officials were about to finish, they were about to step out when a little eunuch hurriedly walked in front of Li Zixiao from the inside.

The little eunuch whispered and said: "General Pingyuan, please stay, the emperor has an order, please go to the imperial garden, the emperor ordered, today in the imperial garden and the general to give a banquet!" ”

"Feast?" Li Zixiao couldn't help but be taken aback.

The emperor gave a banquet, this is a rare honor for the courtiers, at this time, Li Zixiao couldn't help but speculate in his heart, what was Chongzhen giving him a banquet for?

"Is it really to win me over?" Li Zixiao thought in his heart.

Seeing a look of surprise and uncertainty on Li Zixiao's face, the little eunuch just smiled and said nothing.

Then, Li Zixiao secretly took out a piece of silver from his sleeve, quietly stuffed it into the little eunuch's hand, and asked softly: "Dare to ask this father-in-law, why did the emperor give a banquet to Li?" ”

The little eunuch shook the heavy silver in his hand, his eyes narrowed into a slit with a smile, and said in his heart: Gonggong Liu is really right, this General Li is really generous, and this edict is really earned.

So, the little eunuch smiled and said to Li Zixiao: "General Pingyuan, don't blame, the power of heaven is unpredictable, and our family doesn't know why the emperor wants to give a banquet."

But just now we watched the emperor's color, and there is no unpleasantness, it must not be a bad thing, although the general is relieved to go, but the general face saint should also pay attention to some taboos, such as ......"

As the little eunuch walked, he told Li Zixiao about some taboos in the palace, which also made Li Zixiao feel that the ingot was too worthwhile.

Li Zixiao followed the little eunuch and walked slowly in the imperial garden, and Li Zixiao discovered a strange thing.

That is, they came all the way, and there were very few eunuchs and palace maids along the way, Li Zixiao looked at the ancient buildings around him, and he actually felt a sense of emptiness.

Li Zixiao felt strange in his heart, and couldn't help asking: "Dare to ask this father-in-law, this official has traveled all the way and found that there are many places in this imperial garden, but no one has cleaned them."

Wouldn't the father-in-law in charge send someone over to clean up? You are not afraid that the Holy One will see it and punish you. ”

When the little eunuch heard this, he smiled bitterly and said, "Master Li doesn't know that the current saint is a diligent and thrifty son of heaven, and in order to raise the food and salary of the border army, the saint even has his hair gray.

In recent years, the saint has repeatedly reduced the expenses in the palace, and now there are less than 1,000 servants in the palace.

With such a small amount of manpower, it can only be placed in some important places to listen to errands, and like these unimportant places, it can't be taken care of. ”

Li Zixiao nodded after hearing this, and sighed in his heart, he sighed for Chongzhen, and the emperor did his part, which was really pitiful.

It seems that it is rumored in later generations that Chongzhen was the most frugal son of heaven in the Ming Dynasty, and it is not a lie, as can be seen from his reduction of palace expenses and the removal of a large number of eunuchs and palace maids.

Of course, this is mainly because Chongzhen really has no silver in his hands, and over the years, the imperial court has been short of money every year, and Chongzhen has repeatedly transferred money from his own internal funds to fill the holes.

Today, Chongzhen's own small treasury has been squeezed clean, if it weren't really forced to do it, Chongzhen would never be willing to do this.

While he was talking, the little eunuch led Li Zixiao to arrive, and next to a small pavilion in the imperial garden, Chongzhen was sitting on a stone bench.

The little eunuch led Li Zixiao to the side of the small pavilion and said respectfully: "Emperor Qi, the slave is ordered to lead Pingyuan General Li Zixiao to meet the driver!" ”

Chongzhen nodded, and when the little eunuch saw this, he immediately made a gesture of invitation to Li Zixiao.

After Li Zixiao strode into the small pavilion, he knelt down on one knee in his official uniform, and saluted: "General Weichen Pingyuan, Xuzhou Commander Li Zixiao, see the emperor!" ”

Chongzhen raised his hand and said softly: "Aiqing is flat!" ”

"Emperor Xie!"

Looking at Li Zixiao, who was standing respectfully on the side, Chongzhen pointed to the stone bench beside him, and said, "Li Aiqing, sit with me!" ”

After Li Zixiao bowed, he sat on the stone bench beside him, and at this time he finally had the opportunity to take a closer look at the last king of the Ming Dynasty.

At this time, Chongzhen no longer had the majesty he had when he went to court in the morning, and his pale and pale face was full of exhaustion.

Soon, two palace maids brought two food baskets, which contained meals.

A moment later, four dishes and one soup were placed on the stone table, and a bowl of white rice and a pair of chopsticks were placed in front of each of them.

Chongzhen picked up the chopsticks and said to Li Zixiao: "I heard that Aiqing is in Yongcheng, resettled and took in the victims, and made great achievements in reclaiming wasteland.

Yesterday, I heard Lu Aiqing talk about Aiqing's courage to kill the enemy, and I was very relieved, and today I held a special banquet to show my appreciation. ”

After Li Zixiao heard Chongzhen's words, he became apprehensive in his heart, and it seemed that Chongzhen had sent someone to understand what he had done in Yongcheng County.

In this way, many of the policies he implemented in Yongcheng County were completely unnecessarily the Ming ancestral system, and it is said that Chongzhen knew about it and should be angry.

But Li Zixiao could really see that Chongzhen was in a good mood at this time, and he didn't mean to blame him.

In fact, what Li Zixiao didn't know was that Chongzhen had long had the idea of changing the ancestral system of the Ming Dynasty, and there were many policies, which were not suitable for the Ming Dynasty to implement at this time.

For example, the most hateful one can't collect taxes from scholars and merchants, Chongzhen knows that Li Zixiao is in Yongcheng, but everyone has to collect taxes.

In fact, the taxes collected per person are not very much, and they will not affect the lives of the people, but if you gather a small amount of money, you can accumulate a lot of wealth.

Chongzhen is not Li Zixiao, and the entire Ming Dynasty is not a small Yongcheng, Li Zixiao can implement the tax policy in Yongcheng at this time, and it is difficult for Chongzhen to implement it in the entire Ming Dynasty.

After listening to Chongzhen's words, Li Zixiao came back to his senses, looked at the two meats, two vegetables and one soup in front of him, couldn't help shaking his head, and said: "Your Majesty, you are so thrifty, the minister is ashamed!" ”

Chongzhen smiled bitterly: "There is no way, now silver is used everywhere, Jiubian will have to pay five million taels a year, and the imperial court's annual tax is only four million."

If I don't save some money, how can I pay the soldiers of the Nine Sides! There were also rebellions in Shaanxi, Huguang and other areas.

Hong Chengchou and them also need me to allocate money to him, so that they can continue to encircle and suppress the leader of the rebellious army named Li Zicheng, and if they don't get rid of him for a day, I won't be at ease for a day. ”

After Li Zixiao heard this, he was silent, the current Ming is not without money, but very rich.

It's just that all the money is hidden in the cellars of those rich gentry, especially the rich people in the Jiangnan area at this time, who are simply living a luxurious life.

During the Ming Dynasty, especially at the end of the Ming Dynasty, the industry and commerce in Jiangnan developed unprecedentedly, and even the rudiments of capitalism appeared.

At that time, the property of the merchants and gentry who had a little wealth was all in hundreds of thousands, millions.

However, at this time, why are the households of the Ming Dynasty still so poor every year?

That's because, in the late Ming Dynasty, there was a "strange phenomenon" in the Ming court.

Any state that strengthens its policy of controlling private economic activity, any state that attempts to increase the tax collection of industry and commerce.

These behaviors were inevitably resisted and rejected by the spokesmen of Shang Jia's interests in the imperial court, that is, the Donglin Party.

This is the same problem that Chongzhen is facing at this time.

Moreover, these boycotts, almost without exception, have been successful.