There was no war in Yijizhen, and it fell into an eerie calm.

Qin Shuhuai led the army, and he had been in confrontation with Huang Taiji's army in Jizhen for a month. During this month, the two sides held their own turf, and there were no major battles except for small contacts between the spies and horse sentinels.

August 15, Mid-Autumn Festival.

The weather was extremely cold, and the soldiers had already changed into winter clothes. This time, the eastern clothes did not need to be brought by themselves, but were provided by the imperial court, which proves that the financial situation of the imperial court is slightly better this year.

In the past six months, Qin Shuhuai's southern and northern campaigns stabilized the situation for Chongzhen, and also created a good financial environment for Chongzhen.

The reason why Chongzhen lacked money in history was due to factors such as the unreasonable tax policy of the Donglin Party and the serious land annexation, but there was also an important point, that is, he had to use troops for a long time under the condition of internal and external troubles.

It is very expensive to use soldiers, and it is even more expensive to recruit soldiers, train, and purchase equipment after losing the war, and the use of troops is not effective, the land is occupied by the rogues, and the border is invaded by foreign invaders, and the financial and tax losses caused are also extremely considerable, which is also one of the important reasons why Chongzhen has no money.

The arrival of Qin Shuhuai allowed Chongzhen to lose a lot of battles, helped him stabilize the society, avoided the displacement of a large number of peasants and could not produce, and also avoided the Tartars from entering the customs at will to wreak havoc and loot property, which was naturally conducive to the decline of military spending and the increase of taxes.

What's more, his current martial arts alliance basically didn't cost Chongzhen any money. In history, Chongzhen had to invest a huge amount of money to raise an army of millions, but he might not be able to maintain the country, but now Qin Shuhuai's martial arts alliance not only did not cost him a dime, but was also ridiculously strong, winning a hundred battles. In this way, it is not an exaggeration to say that Chongzhen has saved gold and silver.

What's more, Qin Shuhuai also helped him "knock" an additional income of nearly 10 million taels of silver, which is almost the income of the Ming treasury for two years.

Under the combined influence of these factors, although Qin Shuhuai has not yet embarked on large-scale reforms, it is no exaggeration to say that if Chongzhen in history is called Huazi, then Chongzhen is at least an ordinary small household!

With a little money, he naturally wants to buy people's hearts.

Spending money to make winter clothes for soldiers is only one of them, and he successively announced that war-torn areas such as Sanbian and Jizhen would be exempted from taxation for one year (the areas that had previously announced exemption would continue to implement the original policy), and that the salary would be halved nationwide.

With Qin Shuhuai behind his back, Chongzhen is now arrogant!

Under Qin Shuhuai's continuous indoctrination, Chongzhen now knows very well that even if the Ming Dynasty's taxes are halved, it will only lose more than two million taels a year.

Maybe Chongzhen thought it was a lot in the past, but since Qin Shuhuai casually "knocked" him 10 million taels, he simply felt that it was a fart!

The Ming Dynasty is not poor, and it is very rich! For the wealthy merchants, these two million taels are simply just a scoop in the ocean! As long as they are taxed, let alone 2 million taels a year, even if they are taxed 10 million taels a year, they can still live a life of poverty and luxury.

For ordinary people, paying less than 2 million taels of taxes means that they can wear a few more clothes in winter, add an extra dish on weekdays, and have more confidence in the imperial court.

And the faith of the common people is the source of all his power. As the saying goes, water can carry a boat and can also overturn a boat, this truth Chongzhen is very clear.

It is clearer than that Chongzhen in history.

All the financial situation has only improved slightly, and he can't wait to "curry" favor with the people.

Sure enough, as soon as the emperor's order came out, the people were all rejoicing.

According to the Dongchang newspaper, there is no shortage of people who praise the emperor.

The reason is, of course, not that he reduced the tax, but that for more than a year, the officials and the army have won successive battles, and the society has become more and more stable.

If a year ago, there were a lot of people who believed that the number of Da Ming Qi was about to be exhausted, then now, there are very few people who can believe it. This also means that it is already difficult for rogues like Zhang Xianzhong and Li Zicheng to make a comeback.

And this strengthened Chongzhen's determination to eradicate the Donglin Party as soon as possible.

Because of the presence of the Donglin Party, he would never be able to tax the rich, and he would not be able to continue his policy of lightly paying for the poor and living with the people.

In the court, the undercurrent is turbulent.

The Donglin Party also smelled danger.

Nowadays, in various parts of the people, the book "The Biography of the Traitor" is known to passers-by. And although the "Biography of the Traitor" talks about officials who have been investigated and copied in this dynasty, almost every official has a deep connection with the word "Donglin".

Up to now, the word "Donglin", which once represented the clear stream, has almost been equated with "corrupt officials", "fame and reputation", "hypocrites" and so on. There are even good deeds that pop up out of nowhere, and they actually add the word "party" after the word "Donglin" to synthesize the "Donglin Party", which makes it clear that they are "friends"!

Moreover, those who do good deeds still have noses and eyes to say that Zhou Yanru, the head of the court, is the leader of the Donglin party in the court! And Qian Qianyi, the former waiter of the Ministry of Rites who is currently in the opposition, is the leader of the opposition party in Donglin. The two of them controlled the government one mile and one outside, bullied the king, and fooled the people, so that the people were not able to make a living, and even the emperor couldn't do anything about them!

It is said that the plot of this book has now been adapted into operas and lyrics, and even the bitch in the kiln can sing a paragraph to you!

In the folk, even a three-year-old child can say something like "Donglin Big Villain"!

It has to be said that Qin Shuhuai's public opinion offensive has achieved unexpected results! The Donglin Party is good at influencing scholars with literary crepe words, but Qin Shuhuai has directly influenced the whole world with the clearest vernacular, supplemented by the common people's favorite storytelling, singing, and opera!

It is self-evident who wins and who loses!

The Donglin Party is starting to panic!

What made them even more restless was that the people of the factory guards were indifferent to such rebellious remarks! Zhou Yanru went to Cao Huachun and Luo Yangxing several times, but these two people either closed their doors or met to fight haha, and they had no sincerity to arrest people at all.

And the local government wants to arrest people, but there are always factory guards to obstruct it.

This has to make them wonder, who is the mastermind behind this incident?

On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, in the name of admiring the moon, several bigwigs in Donglin secretly came to Zhou Yanru's mansion to discuss countermeasures, and even Qian Qianyi specially rushed over from Hangzhou.

Zhou Yanru, who was aging Longzhong, sat on the head, and two young and beautiful maids stood beside him. Under the hall, on the left hand side sat Qian Qianyi, a thin face and in his forties, and on the right hand side sat Chen Shang, a squire of the military department. There are also important members of the Donglin such as the imperial history and the envoy in Beijing. Although it was inconvenient for the governors from all over the country to come, they all sent representatives to come.

The atmosphere is relatively dignified, and there is no pleasant atmosphere of moon viewing.

"Everyone, I believe everyone is clear about the matter", Zhou Yanru said in a solemn tone, "Now the book "The Biography of the Literary Traitor" is sung all over the world, and it has dealt a great blow to my Donglin Qingyu. Now the public opinion is turbulent, and the spearhead is unanimously aimed at our Donglin scholars, and what is even more sad is that even some students are full of wealth, but they also listen to such absurd remarks, and if this continues, the world is bound to be in chaos!"