Wang Tiaoding is young and must not have lived enough yet. How can he dare to tell the truth?
He immediately cupped his fists and said, "Zhao Yan is indeed an outstanding person, rare in the world. However, there are two shortcomings in his nature. One is roundaboutness, and the other is benevolence."
Chongzhen asked strangely: "Is benevolence also bad?"
Wang Tiaoding explained: "This benevolence is the benevolence of a woman. Does your majesty know that Zhao Yan's army is getting stronger and stronger, but it is still limited to half of Jiangxi?"
Chongzhen was a little sulky. What does it mean to be confined to half of Jiangxi? Is it too little to occupy half of Jiangxi?
Chongzhen didn't answer, so Wang Tiaoding could only continue: "The officials, soldiers and soldiers under his command are all eager for war, hoping to expand their private lands and get promoted. However, Zhao Yan's wife is so benevolent that every time she sends out large-scale troops, she will harvest in the summer and harvest in the autumn.
After that, the troops will stop in two months at most. As he said, if too many troops are used, the people's lives will become increasingly difficult. Is this not a woman's kindness? With her prestige and military strength, she could have swept across Jiangxi two years ago."
"What a bastard said. The imperial court has many soldiers and generals. How can he seize Jiangxi as soon as he says it?" Chongzhen was furious.
Wang Tiaoding quickly bowed his head and did not dare to say anything more.
In fact, Chongzhen already believed this, and combined with the evaluations of Chen Yuding, Liu Tongsheng and others, he sketched a vivid image of Zhao Thief in his mind.
In Chongzhen, Zhao Han was the kind of Confucian scholar who believed in "benevolence and righteousness". Because of his own experiences, he hated the court and the big families, but he cared about and cared for the small people very much. Therefore, Zhao Han forcibly distributed the land of the big families to ordinary people. Even in
Although they were able to occupy the entire Jiangxi Province, they were afraid of using too many troops and affecting the lives of the people, so they only sent out troops for a month or two at a time, occupying a little territory and then closing it when they were good. They never forced the people to pay more taxes in order to expand the territory.
This is a rebel with ideals, morality and responsibility, completely opposite to people like Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong.
Seeing Wang Tiaoding kneeling on the ground, Chongzhen stopped his anger and asked: "With such benevolence as a woman, how can it be called roundaboutness?"
Wang Tiaoding said: "Zhao Yan followed the rules in his work. He followed the "Da Ming Code" as his guideline, but those who broke the law would be severely punished. At that time, there was a man who had already joined the whole clan, and he worked seriously and unswervingly.
He can be said to be an upright and upright official. Because he was drunk and insulted a good prostitute, he was sentenced to hanging according to the Ming Dynasty Law. This incident completely lost the hearts of the gentry, and many people fled with their families."
Chongzhen actually started to defend Zhao Han: "How can this be considered pedantic? When you are an official, you should abide by the rules!"
Wang Diaoding said: "Your Majesty, those who do great things do not stick to trivial matters. Killing an upright official for being a good prostitute has caused many gentry to flee. This is really enlightened."
Chongzhen said angrily: "You scholars just don't follow the rules and end up in such a bad situation in the world! You should be killed, you should be killed!"
Zhao Han's image in Chongzhen's mind added another "selfless" character.
It would be great for such a person to serve as an official for me. He is kind, righteous, loving to the people, and selfless. But it is a pity that he turned into a rebel. It is all my fault that the corrupt officials in Jiangxi forced a moral and disciplined scholar to rebel!
Chongzhen asked again: "How many scholars in Jiangxi are thieves?"
Wang Tiaoding replied: "There are also children from rich families who join thieves, but most of them are poor scholars. Jiangxi's literary style is at its peak, and most children from poor families study. Such scholars have no hope of imperial examinations, no way to serve the country, and no way to make a living. Zhao Yan also
Divide the land for them, so they flock to become thieves and officials. Although Zhao Yan is sophisticated, his servants are eclectic. Prostitutes, turtle masters, and domestic slaves can all be officials and officials. Rumor has it that those who are in charge of money and food for them are
Born into a family of slaves."
"How well does this slave manage money and food?" Chongzhen asked curiously.
Wang Tiaoding replied: "Because of his humble status, he was given a high position. This slave is grateful to Zhao Yan and works hard for the official. He imitates Zhao Yan in everything he does. He has money, food and taxes in his hands, but he does not own any property or have concubines.
He doesn't keep servants, he only lives on his salary, and he passes through countless money and food without taking any cents."
"I am also diligent and thrifty. Why are all officials corrupt, but there are so many honest officials under Zhao Yan?" Chongzhen was very interested in this and asked, "How does Zhao Yan rectify the administration of officials?"
Wang Diaoding replied: "Zhao Yan appoints people regardless of their origin. Even when he appoints people to be officials, he must start from a junior official. Those who have merit must be rewarded, and those who have made mistakes must be punished. There are corrupt officials every year, and if they are found guilty, they will be beheaded.
The worst case scenario is that he will be assigned as a miner."
Chongzhen frowned, and it was even more difficult to understand. He must be rewarded for his merits and punished for his mistakes. Why were all the civil and military officials in the dynasty corrupt?
Chongzhen really couldn't understand that he was diligent and frugal and never carried out any large-scale construction projects. The imperial palace was leaking and he couldn't bear to spend money to repair it. The emperors of the Ming Dynasty all took money from the treasury for personal use, but he took money from the internal funds for private use.
Qian Yangbing was the first emperor in the Ming Dynasty to selflessly serve the country.
For such a good emperor, why did the country get into such a situation?
Even God is punishing him. His finances were already in straits, and this year there was a nationwide disaster. As rich as Nanzhili, people in Zhejiang Province cannibalize people.
Suddenly, Chongzhen lost all interest in talking and waved his hand and said: "Let's go."
Wang Tiaoding did not dare to say anything and was taken away from the Forbidden City by the eunuchs.
Chongzhen went to Queen Zhou and sat there without saying a word.
Empress Zhou sighed secretly, came behind Chongzhen, and silently massaged Chongzhen's shoulders and back. She didn't dare to say more, because it would be useless. In history, when Beijing was besieged, Chongzhen asked his concubine to commit suicide, and Empress Zhou finally said her words of complaint:
"I've been married to you for eighteen years, and you haven't listened to a word, and that's why I'm in this situation today."
Empress Zhou hinted that Chongzhen would move south, but Chongzhen just pretended not to understand.
"Am I the king of a subjugated country?" Chongzhen said suddenly.
Empress Zhou did not dare to tell the truth or point out Chongzhen's fault. She only consoled him: "Your Majesty is diligent and loves the people, and he is not a king who has subjugated his country."
Chongzhen stared blankly at the candlelight and whispered: "Nanzhi, there is a great disaster in Zhejiang, people eat each other. The rebels in Jiangxi want to join forces with me to stabilize food prices, but I have been urging taxes in these two places. I can't even get a single
Are they worse than rebels? How can we train troops and suppress thieves without imposing taxes?"
Empress Zhou comforted her and said: "Your Majesty, don't worry, you can send your capable ministers..."
"Where can such a capable minister come from?" Chongzhen suddenly interrupted, "The civil and military officials of the entire dynasty are all greedy and despicable people. They are not even as good as the domestic slaves under the Zhao thief! That slave is in charge of the money and food for the Zhao thief. He works conscientiously and is not greedy for a cent. And
Where are my ministers? I really don’t think I know that half of Jiubian’s food and salary are missing before they leave the capital. The civil servants and military generals are greedy for money. I sent them to supervise the Ministry of Accounts, and the eunuchs from the Ministry of Work are also greedy for money. None of them are obedient.
, they all deserve to be killed! Then they said that Wang Yongzhong, I asked him to guard Jiangxi, but not to collect taxes, but he was beaten to death by merchants because of excessive taxation!"
Empress Zhou didn't know how to persuade her. She just felt sorry for her husband. She was really tired after these years.
How she wished that her husband would not be the emperor, but still be the same King Xin he was before. She was sitting in front of the dressing table, and King Xin secretly pulled her hair. She was startled by the movement and turned around suddenly, and her hair was thrown in King Xin's face. The eunuch was too frightened to speak.
, but King Xin laughed heartily.
King Xin at that time was so cheerful and interesting, but now the emperor is irritable and irritable.
"Deserve to kill, deserve to kill!"
In the middle of the night, Queen Zhou was awakened. She heard a few more sounds, but it was the emperor talking in his sleep.
Queen Zhou's tears suddenly welled up. She did not dare to cry out, she just cried silently and held her husband's hand to give him some comfort.
The next morning.
Chongzhen received urgent military information and Li Zicheng besieged Chengdu, which made him feel incredible. Because the military information a few days ago was that Li Zicheng besieged Hanzhong.
In just nineteen days, Li Zicheng's main force quickly crossed the Qinling Mountains and arrived outside Chengdu from Hanzhong!
How can the bandit-suppressing officers and soldiers pursue them?
Yang Sichang's strategy of spreading a net on all sides was as leaky as a sieve, and the officers and soldiers could only eat dust behind the rogues' butts.
However, Xiong Wencan was still very capable. Not long after he became prime minister of six provinces, he actually "recruited" Zhang Xianzhong.
It's just that Zhang Xianzhong's surrender was even more nonsense than Zhao Han's.
This guy was injured in battle, and it's not convenient to run around. He has nothing to do, so he can act with the court. While he is being recruited, he is reorganizing the army and preparing for war. There is still time to invite someone to lecture on "The Art of War" by Sun Tzu.
Really, Zhang Xianzhong started reading, or to be precise, listening to books.
Moreover, he did not listen to "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms", but only listened to scholars talking about serious military strategies.
Chongzhen ordered the soldiers at the front to rush into Sichuan to suppress the bandits, and then sent people to transfer Wang Diaoding's information.
He was a child prodigy who became a scholar at the age of eleven, and became a Jinshi at a young age. When he was a county magistrate in Beizhili, his achievements include suppressing bandits, building cities, calming the people, encouraging farming, and conducting evaluations. What a fucking talent!
Those bastards in the Ministry of Personnel are so capable, why don't they be transferred to the central government as officials?
Wang Diaoding waited and waited for more than half a month, and finally waited for Emperor Chongzhen's reply.
Nanjing's Minister of Household Affairs, Zuo Shilang, was imprisoned for questioning. Li Xuan, the right minister of Nanjing's Ministry of Household Affairs, was promoted to the position of Minister of Household Affairs in Nanjing. He was given Shang Fang's sword and had full authority to supervise the disaster relief work in Nanjing Zhili and Zhejiang.
As for joining forces with Jiangxi Zhao thieves to stabilize grain prices, they didn't mention it at all. Chongzhen couldn't afford to lose that person.
"well!"
Wang Diaoding sighed. Although he had expected it, he still felt sad.
If the imperial court does not cooperate with Jiangxi, grain prices will definitely not be able to be suppressed, and Zhao Han has nothing to do about it. Even if Jiangxi grain merchants are forced to sell the grain quickly, Jiangnan grain merchants will definitely not ship the goods.
Moreover, Wang Tiaoding could not leave the capital, so he was appointed by Chongzhen as an official to Shizhong.
Wang Tiaoding was speechless. This official position was useless.
There were two types of public commentators in the late Ming Dynasty. One relied on trolling to accumulate reputation, and the other relied on trolling to attack political opponents. There were very few people who really made suggestions and suggestions, and Chongzhen basically refused to listen, which led to the lack of serious discussion.
Things become less.
The initial role of the Sixth Section was to serve as the lubricant and supervisor between the Cabinet and the Sixth Department.
During the Jiajing period, the internal power of the Six Cabinets was imbalanced, and the position of the Six Sections became extremely embarrassing. During Zhang Juzheng's reform, the power of the Six Sections increased significantly, and they became the lackeys of the cabinet.
Chongzhen repeatedly tormented the cabinet, causing the cabinet, six departments, and six ministries to completely lose their due functions, and nothing could be done except political struggle.
Some ministers want to do things, but they are unable to do so in the court because the three major power agencies have become dysfunctional.
What Chongzhen should really do is to adjust the cabinet, the six departments, and the six ministries, and redefine the functional scope of the three major institutions, so that at least the court can function a little more normally!