On February 26, the second year of Chongzhen, the emperor suddenly decided to expel all the eunuchs and maids in the imperial garden of the palace, and then held a small banquet here.
Originally, it was Zhu Youcong's sixteenth birthday three days ago. According to tradition, a grand coming-of-age ceremony should be held for him to celebrate. However, this fat boy has always been heartless and had already dealt with this matter.
Forgot; and Emperor Chongzhen, who had just returned, was busy dealing with the ministers and did not think of it at all. If Wang Zhizhen, who came from Luoyang yesterday, had not brought blessings from Wang Fu and his family, no one would have noticed this.
thing.
"Brother Cong, I have to apologize to you first!" Chongzhen picked up the wine glass, his face full of guilt. As a younger brother, he was busy working for the Ming Dynasty, but he forgot his birthday. He was really not a good person.
Good brother.
"Why are you apologizing? When I defeat the Tatars next year, why don't you give me something more lively?" Isn't it just a bad birthday? If there is no one to celebrate, then everything will be the same? Besides, there is no one.
Remind me, maybe I can still live younger.
"The sins of my subordinates..." This is the first time Gu Xichou spoke with sobs. This young prince is fulfilling his original promise step by step, working hard for the well-being of the people in the world, and is so busy that he has forgotten his birthday. Until now.
He did not forget to drive out the Tartars and restore the glory of the Ming Dynasty. As a minister, he could not even remember such a trivial matter.
"Okay, okay! Where's the sour smell! I asked you here today not only to drink with me, but also to discuss business with you!" In addition to Lu Xiangsheng who is still strolling around Liaodong, the two divisions led by Sun Chengzong are also
On the way to the capital, all the think tanks under Zhu Youcong had arrived. As for the obscure late emperor and the naughty Sun Yuanhua, they were busy producing weapons, and no one would pay attention to them in a short period of time.
"Please give me your instructions, General Zhenguo!" Li Guopu, who was integrating into this small circle for the first time, was not like the other old friends. He straightened his court clothes and then bowed respectfully. He did not expect that he was not only criticized under the city, but also
This ruthless young general did not make this cruel general angry, but he was reused because of it. Although he was busy scheming with the courtiers all day long, as long as he thought that he was lucky enough to participate in the process of rebuilding the glory of the Ming Dynasty, all the grievances could be ignored.
"There is an old saying: Unjust profit will lead to chaos in the law; cheating will lead to chaos in things; chaos in things will lead to disputes among people; chaos in the law will lead to dissatisfaction among the people. We, the Ming Dynasty, should be determined to establish a heart for the world, a destiny for the people, and a future for all generations.
Open Taiping. How can you, as important ministers, ignore its advantages and disadvantages? Let’s first talk about how you can prevent the root cause of this disaster." These people in front of you are extremely smart. They will be the feudal officials guarding various places for a period of time.
For some things, guidance must be used to let them know why they do what they do, instead of just telling them what to do like the ones at the institute.
"This..." Everyone was confused at once. They didn't expect that this little fat man would raise this big issue of governing the country and bringing peace to the world at such a time.
"Students are the first to make suggestions. If there is anything wrong, I will ask the emperor, the general and all the adults to correct it!" It was not a problem if everyone did not say anything. Gao Doushu had been thinking about such issues for many years. He witnessed this when he stayed in Baoding Mansion.
There are too many dirty things, and I also have some ideas of my own. "In the opinion of students, the first thing to do is to imitate the sages, respect benevolence and righteousness, and practice the great road..."
"Respect benevolence and righteousness?" Zhu Youcong shook his head and said with a smile: "Since the beginning of the Han Dynasty, we have respected benevolence and righteousness for thousands of years, but there are still people who bully each other and corrupt moral customs, and there are quite a few of them. Sages?
Are there really sages in this world? Master rarely talks about profit, but when he traveled around the country, and finally the state of Lu paid homage to the prime minister, it was not just to promote his teachings; his disciples deposed hundreds of schools of thought and only respected Confucianism, weren't they all seeking profit?
?It can be seen that as long as there are people, this struggle for interests will never be extinct. This is also a concentrated expression of the greedy side of human nature. Relying on benevolence and righteousness alone is obviously a fool's errand for some people. Therefore, this method is not advisable!"...
"Then, we should equalize the wealth and the poor?" If you want to say where is the most stable place in the Ming Dynasty now, Luoyang should be the first. In Wang Zhizhen's view, the reason why Luoyang is united is not because of the good policies implemented by the young generals, which allowed the people to live and work in peace and contentment.
, have all lived a prosperous life? And Luoyang’s policy, to put it bluntly, is not just to allow everyone to have land for farming and a house to live in?
"Yes, you really have a bit of revolutionary romantic spirit!" Zhu Youcong laughed and said, "Equalizing the rich and the poor is just a beautiful dream. Absolute equality in this world is
It will never be possible. Moreover, equalizing wealth will only make the people of the Ming Dynasty lose their ambition to make progress. Mozi and others also wanted to do this back then, but what was the result? Wasn’t it bloody?"
"Then what should we do according to the general's wishes?" The old fox was an old fox. Seeing the two impulsive young men being frustrated, Gu Xichou simply threw the baggage back. The little monster scolded the two saints, let's go again
You might lose face if you show up!
"I think it's better to let the emperor point out the crux of the problem for us first, and then prescribe the right medicine!" Otherwise, Tianqi and Chongzhen are brothers. Neither of them is a good person. One of them emptied Zhu Youcong's head.
Mechanical common sense, the other even ignored the concubine and pestered the little fat man every night to discuss the shortcomings of today's politics.
"Your Majesty, please help us clear up our doubts!" Yes, there is an emperor sitting next to him! He is the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, so he must have a more thorough idea, at least more reliable than this ignorant fat man.
"Actually, I have been thinking about this issue before I came to the throne. What happened to my Ming Dynasty!" It seems that being thick-skinned is the traditional virtue of the Zhu family. Chongzhen simply did not mention Zhu Youcong and directly took all the credit. "This
I went out with the army the next time and defeated the Tatars, but I also learned about the problems of our Ming Dynasty from them."
When everyone heard this, they all felt disdain in their hearts. If it weren't for the emperor who said this, they might all have slapped him in the face. Tatars? As for those people who don't care about production and don't obey the king's rule, what do they have that our Ming Dynasty can learn from?
Is it possible that we will have to live like them in the future by plundering everywhere?
Chongzhen suddenly said cautiously: "Don't take it seriously. Think about it, why do the Tatars work so concertedly every time they harass me on the border of the Ming Dynasty? This time they invaded, their division of labor was clear, and everyone did their own thing.
, only working hard for the purpose of defeating my Ming Dynasty. Is there no reason for this? "
"What the emperor means is that because the Tatars are poor and the Ming Dynasty is rich, they have to work hard to improve their lives?" But can this be learned? We cannot ask the people of the Ming Dynasty to disperse their wealth first and then go to the
Tatars fighting against each other? Although Li Guopu also saw it, he still couldn't figure out the reason behind it.
"This is just one of the reasons!" Chongzhen reminded everyone: "Don't be fooled by the superficial appearance of things. See the essence of things clearly. Think about it, if they were really poor, they would have such sophisticated weapons in their hands.
, will he have such an excellent war horse under his body? If my Ming Dynasty is really rich, will it even be in arrears with the pay of the Liaodong army, and the soldiers will even use the swords they saved many years ago that are almost rusty? "
After hearing what Chongzhen said, everyone began to think. It seems that the Tatars are really poor. At least their treasury is abundant. Judging from the weapons captured, the Tatars are really willing to give up in this regard.
Spending money, including those bronze cannons, all use real materials. Although the craftsmanship is not as good as that of the Ming Dynasty, it can be seen that a lot of thought was put into it.
On the other hand, the Ming Dynasty is really shameless to talk about the treasury. There are no specific examples to compare the expenses of the imperial court and the expenses to appease the people, but only in the military aspect, it is not as good as the Tatars. The branch under Yuan Chonghuan's command
Ning Tieqi is better off. Although they are often in arrears, no matter how hard they work, they can at least still issue military pay, and the weapons they are issued can still be used. However, the remaining military towns are not as lucky as them.
Not to mention the distance, Zuo Liangyu's troops currently stationed in Wuchang have not been allocated any money for several years, forcing Zuo Liangyu to allow his men to harm the people while suppressing bandits.
The money spent on the army. If the imperial court was really rich, would it end up in this situation? Wouldn't they all be like the army in Luoyang, with three meals a day and enough pay at the end of the month? Speaking of which, we really can't blame the army of the Ming Dynasty.
Without fighting power, it is like a plate of loose sand. They say that the emperor is not short of hungry soldiers. If you make people worry about their own food and clothing all day long, who has the energy to serve the country?….
"In addition, why are you people able to get a good education since childhood and stand out among the tens of millions of people in the Ming Dynasty?" Chongzhen also accidentally thought of the national bourgeoisie's control of central power while talking with Zhu Youcong at night.
This problem. In fact, this matter had been very prominent as early as the Wanli period. By this time, it was already hard to get rid of.
"This..." Even Zhang Guowei, who has been stationed in Lingshan for a long time and has not been able to participate in many major decisions, can easily answer this question. That is not because our family has money, so we have better educational opportunities.
Is it easier to win the imperial examination? But what does this have to do with the future of the country?
"Recently, I have been reflecting on whether the scholar's saying of 'hiding wealth among the people' is right or wrong. Letting the people live a good life is of course what we pursue, but if the country is always poor and the people are rich, then we can really ensure that
Everyone's stable life? Don't forget the Song Dynasty, which was the richest dynasty in China for thousands of years. But what's the result?" Chongzhen paused and then said: "I and my brother Cong have summoned everyone today. Firstly,
In order to congratulate him on his birthday, the second thing is to ask everyone to think about what is the crux of the problems that plague the development of Ming Dynasty. And what methods can be used to minimize the impact on people's lives while solving the emptiness of the national treasury?