When the boss came over with herbal tea, I felt inexplicably nervous.
There was no other reason. A dozen men with fierce looks were looking at him. He was just a man trying to make a living.
How can I withstand the gaze of these murderous people?
At this time, he finally felt that these people were not simple. After carefully putting the herbal tea away, he bent down and wanted to leave.
"Wait a minute, I just heard you discussing the court's policy. Can you tell me about it?"
After taking a sip of herbal tea, Zhu Youxiao felt refreshed in his throat and chest.
It was a bit unbearable for him to have to wear a robe in this scorching hot weather.
Seeing the noble young man in front of him asking questions, the boss smiled flatteringly and then said:
"What we ordinary people know, we can only hear it through hearsay. However, the imperial court has opened a newspaper, so we ordinary people also know a little bit."
"Just now we were talking about how good Master Tianqi was in killing those honorable ministers and nobles this time."
Speaking of this, the boss shut up. After all, the person in front of him didn't know his specific identity. If he couldn't hold the door and got into trouble, he would be doomed.
Zhu Youxiao nodded, stared at the messy and dirty streets and asked:
"Those honorable ministers and nobles all have great achievements in their ancestors. It was thanks to their ancestors that Grandfather Taizu was able to conquer the great Ming Dynasty."
"Now that the emperor has wiped out their entire clan, what do you think? Don't you think the emperor is too cruel and ruthless?"
"Hey, what are you talking about? Master Tianqi is the Holy Lord Mingjun."
"Although we haven't read books and don't understand those big principles, we can still distinguish between good and bad, right and wrong. Master Tianqi has thought about us, small people."
"It is true that these nobles have great achievements in their ancestors, but the court did not treat them badly. They were given excellent titles and salaries. How many generations have they been rich?"
"But even so, they are still not satisfied. They are so bold that they plan to kill the king. It would be trivial to destroy all nine of his clans."
"If the imperial court can give me a title, I won't hesitate to go up the mountain of swords and into the sea of fire."
"You are a noble person. Maybe you don't understand the sufferings of the people and all these messy things."
"Since Lord Tianqi came to the throne, although the lives of ordinary people like us have not improved much, they are much better than before."
"Let's just talk about the price of food. It has not increased for a whole year and has even dropped several times. The number of people in the capital who have starved to death is not as high as in previous years."
"When those storytellers read the newspapers, they told us that Master Tianqi doesn't want the money of us idiots, but only wants the money of corrupt officials, evil tyrants and evil gentry, and that they must use their ill-gotten wealth in a righteous way.
superior."
"What did those gentlemen say?"
The boss got stuck when he said this. Zhu Youxiao had already guessed what this sentence was, and immediately answered:
“Could it be that we take it from the people and use it for the people?”
Bang, the boss slapped himself on the side of the head and said quickly:
"That's it."
"It was because of the looting of the homes of so many corrupt officials and evil gentry that the imperial court became rich, so the price of food naturally came down."
"I killed so many this time"
Hearing the boss's high praise for him, Zhu Youxiao's face did not turn red and his heart did not beat.
In fact, most of the houses he confiscated went into his own private treasury and were used to support and expand the army. There was no so-called benefit to the people at all.
It seems that the old man Cheng Guoxiang is behind this.
As the Minister of Household Affairs, he controlled Taicang and the treasury. He knew exactly how much money and food the imperial court had available for expenditure.
Moreover, he is a person who is unfounded and cares about people's livelihood. Only he can do such a thing.
"Well, I live in the inner city. I heard that there are a lot of gangsters and some tyrannical bullies in the outer city."
"They colluded with the government officials and people from the Military and Horse Department, but they did a lot of evil. Is this true or false?"
After chatting for a while, the boss was no longer as nervous and cautious as before. He sat down opposite Zhu Youxiao and began to say:
"Young Master is right. There are many different kinds of people in this outer city. There are all kinds of people, so naturally they are indispensable."
"There are many scoundrels in the Army and Horses Division. Some rely on money to make their way in, while others get in through connections."
"On weekdays, their favorite thing to do is to cause trouble, especially for shacks like ours set up on the street. Alas."
The boss sighed after finishing speaking. Obviously, the matter involved cannot be explained clearly in a few sentences.
Zhu Youxiao left the palace this time just to experience firsthand the daily life and sufferings of the common people.
By the way, I also want to feel the public opinion and see the current people's views and attitudes towards the Ming Dynasty and his emperor.
After a conversation with the owner of this herbal tea shop, Zhu Youxiao already got the answer.
What he needs to do next is to continue to implement and issue new policies.
The first step is to renovate the city of Beijing.
Even though this place is at the foot of the so-called emperor, it is much larger and more prosperous than other regions and cities.
But in fact, when you really see it, you will find that it is nothing more than that.
The inner city is better. The people living there are either dignitaries or people from wealthy families. At least they have enough food and clothing.
But the outer city is full of filth and dirt. It is extremely messy and has no order at all.
To describe the scene Zhu Youxiao saw now, there were countless excrements from horses and donkeys, as well as all kinds of garbage and mosquitoes.
Needless to say, the smell was so combined that it was impossible to describe it in words. Zhu Youxiao covered his nose the whole time.
Although the Ming Dynasty's national power is now limited, this is still the capital, the capital of a country.
Zhu Youxiao absolutely couldn't bear it. Even if he spent some money and food, he would change the current situation in the capital.
What's more, the late Ming Dynasty was an era when plague flourished, and plague and other major epidemics occurred frequently.
How many tens of millions of people died from the plague in the late Ming Dynasty?
In particular, the plague in the 17th year of Chongzhen directly caused Zhu Youjian to be unable to defend and hang himself, and later Li Zicheng's defeat.
Based on this, no matter how many difficulties there are, he must take action now.
Of course, the Five Cities Army and Horses Division is now a mere facade, and the government offices do nothing on this matter.
Therefore, he can only do this himself, or at least have enough understanding to arrange for the people below to do the work.
After drinking herbal tea, Zhu Youxiao set off again, heading towards more remote areas.
Only by getting among the people can we truly understand their needs and sufferings and solve the problems in a targeted manner.