"Your Majesty, the rebels in Shandong are using force to attack others. Although I argue with reason, these rebels are ignorant of etiquette and fearlessness. They threaten the court that if they don't comply, they will block the canal and attack Zhili. If they fail to achieve their goals, I swear
Don’t give up!”
Prone in the Yangxin Hall, Li Kangxian was dejected.
Shandong's request was obviously not something he, the Minister of Rites, could undertake, so he could only submit it to Chongzhen.
Fortunately, Li Kangxian, Wang Yingxiong and Lin Ma knew that the matter was of great importance and did not dare to spread the word loudly. Instead, they came directly to find Chongzhen.
As for Chongzhen, he did not hold a large court meeting, but summoned three people from the inner court.
Wen Tiren, Xue Guoguan and other people in power were also called.
After hearing the whole story, Chongzhen was furious, but at the same time he was very happy.
Fortunately, the matter was not discussed in the court, otherwise those stupid young civil servants and censors would have beaten and killed him and would have made it difficult for him to step down.
Today, Chongzhen is increasingly aware of the benefits of limiting the number of people discussing important national affairs.
That is to say, opinions can be easily unified, which greatly improves efficiency. At the same time, it also reduces the noise in the court, so that he will not be overwhelmed.
But with Shandong's threats before his eyes, Chongzhen still felt deeply humiliated.
"You little thief, I have been tolerant over and over again, but they have pushed even further. One day, I will definitely make them understand why the power of God cannot be violated."
Come on, as soon as the words "one day" came out, Wen Tiren and others understood that Chongzhen did not want to fall out with Shandong.
It’s not that I don’t want to, it’s that I don’t have the strength.
There is now more and more information about Shandong, and the imperial court's understanding of Shandong is getting deeper and deeper.
But the more they learned, the more frightened everyone in the court became.
Apart from anything else, the torch that Shandong gave to Lu Xiangsheng is now on display in the Military Staff Bureau.
The officials and craftsmen of the imperial court racked their brains, but they could not imitate it.
Not to mention the mercury fulminate whose formula was completely unknown, the rifled barrel alone made the top craftsmen of the imperial court vomit blood.
There was such a big gap between the two fire guns, and the results of the face-to-face confrontation in the Battle of Guangping were clearly known to everyone in the court. If a fight really broke out, it would probably only take a few days for Shandong to push to the gates of the capital.
Moreover, with the firepower of the new army, the so-called strong city and thick walls of the capital could not be defended at all.
Chongzhen was as fierce as fire, headstrong, and would rather bend than bend. But in the face of the real reality, he had to bend even if he didn't.
The most important thing is that Shandong has done things at a very good level.
It not only played the role of oppression, but also always gave Chongzhen and the court a certain hope.
Otherwise, once Chongzhen becomes completely desperate and insists on fighting with Shandong to the death, the Ming Dynasty will certainly perish early, and what Shandong will face will probably be an even more chaotic country.
By then, it will be even more difficult to unify and restore vitality.
Especially in today's Ming Dynasty, there are still many people who have not completely despaired of this old dynasty and feel that the Ming Dynasty can be saved.
The existence of this kind of idea and identity is the biggest obstacle to Shandong's future unification of the world.
Why did the Manchu Qing take over the world so smoothly?
Just because Chongzhen and the imperial court had completely corrupted the entire world, everyone could see clearly.
This dynasty is hopeless.
After disappointment comes despair, and after despair comes giving up.
Therefore, the Ming Dynasty at that time had no psychological barriers to surrendering to Li Zicheng, and the Manchus, who were of the same class, had no psychological barriers to surrendering.
Now Shandong has no intention to end the Ming Dynasty in one fell swoop. It is just putting a little pressure on it, but the whole Ming Dynasty feels panic and suffocation.
After understanding that Chongzhen did not want to fight tit for tat and would rather die than surrender, Wen Tiren knew what to do.
"Speaking of which, Shandong merchants from all over the country also abide by the law and never delay their tax contributions. On the contrary, they are more accommodating than the gentry and common people in various places. According to the veteran, it is mostly villains with evil intentions in various places who are trying to undermine the overall situation of the imperial court. They should be punished.
punish."
The word "official" has two meanings, no matter how you say it, it makes sense.
Wen Tiren paved the steps.
As the new Minister of Household Affairs and an ally of Wen Tiren, Xue Guoguan immediately understood.
"Your Majesty, the Ministry of Revenue has a plan. Since the beginning of the new year, commercial taxes have increased in many places. After careful investigation, I have learned that it is Shandong shops and merchants in various places who have taken the initiative to pay taxes. No surprise, in June
I should send more than two million taels of tax money to the capital."
These words shocked Chongzhen.
"Really?"
Of all the problems faced by the Ming Dynasty today, the one that troubled Chongzhen the most was money.
Money is needed for the nine frontiers, money is needed for peace and security, money is needed for official salaries, sacrifices, court meetings, and rituals all need money.
The annual income from the imperial court was only over 4 million, which was not enough to pay salaries to all the officials. The salary arrears for various soldiers and horses were already urgent.
Chongzhen even had the idea of levying a suppression rate in addition to the Liao rate.
If you suffer more for the people and wipe out the bandits, then the people will have a good life after the world is at peace, right?
Fortunately, he is not a fool, and he also knows that the people are now burdened with a heavy burden, and if the amount of taxes is increased, the consequences will be unpredictable.
I never thought that my tax bill would actually increase this year.
What's even more ironic is that the source of these tax dollars is actually provided by Shandong's businesses in various places.
“Why do Shandong rebels pay taxes so kindly?”
The emperor's nature made Chongzhen instinctively suspect that there was some conspiracy.
Otherwise, who would pay his own money to others in a good manner?
None of his own relatives do this.
Xue Guoguan is quite effective at doing things.
"I have inquired. Shandong merchants have said that this is the fee for protection. They are doing business on the court's territory, and after paying the money, they should be protected by the court. This time the Shandong rebels are angry and want to raise troops. I am afraid it will be the same.
reason."
Chongzhen was even more angry.
"The traitors all know that the imperial court is here, so they can be safe. But those gentry are all full of fat heads, but they refuse to contribute a penny to the country. They should be killed!"
All the ministers are so nervous, it’s hard to accept this.
Are they not gentry?
After learning that Shandong merchants actually paid taxes and money to the court, Chongzhen's attitude softened even more.
"Nowadays, the country is in dire straits. Those who contribute will not be generously rewarded, but should be preserved. All localities are ordered to severely detect those who cause trouble and make troubles. Those who commit serious crimes must not be tolerated and serve as a warning to others."
Wen Tiren, Xue Guoguan and others immediately responded, and at the same time began to think about how to use this incident to attack the political opponents in the DPRK and consolidate their own power.
There was another person whom Chongzhen did not mention, but Wen Tiren did not intend to let him go.
That is Zhang Pu.
He and Zhou Yanru were mortal enemies.
If Zhou Yanru's backers are eliminated, there is no fear that he will make a comeback.
But Zhang Pu's reputation was well known, and the government and the public looked up to him. If they want to touch him, they must not be tainted with a trace of filth.
Wen Tiren carefully observed Chongzhen's expression and began to use his killing move.
"Your Majesty, although Zhang Ximing is in the opposition, he serves the country loyally and will not let others come after him. When Zhou Ge was there, thanks to his repeated praise of paintings, everything went together. Shandong's move is really damaging our Great Wall, and we must not agree to it.
"
Chongzhen's face turned gloomy, and his green eyes flashed with danger.