Chapter 5 4.fundraising
Unable to leave, and there is no specific arrangement for guarding, Chongzhen can only hope that Chen Yan's gentle trap, dreaming that Li Zicheng will be trapped in the trap, unable to extricate himself, and he will sit on the sidelines and wait for the rabbit.
At this time, Li Zicheng was not idle for a moment, and he did not miss his children Yubo in Guanzhong.After he occupied Chang'an, in order to solve his worries, he first directed his troops to the Hexi Corridor—sent several troops to Lanzhou, Zhangye, and Ganzhou, and killed more than 47,000 residents. Hefu died in a disaster; soon, he went north to Yulin to conquer Yan'an Mansion, Sheng Chenyiwei, and went to Mizhi to visit the ancestor's tomb...
The sound of the police news is like the snowflakes flying in front of the eaves, one by one, dense and dense, making the emperor's hands and feet as cold as ice, and his heart as cold as iron. Just when he was restless, the Ministry of War handed over the Tang newspaper from Shanxi, According to Governor Cai Maode, the bandits' cavalry were already wandering along the Yellow River, and the soldiers in Jin Province were short of pay. Seeing that the freeze was imminent, if the bandits took the opportunity to cross the river, the consequences could be imagined...
Seeing this, Chongzhen's heart jumped into his mouth, his hands trembled, and he repeatedly said, "That's bad, that's bad."
At this time, Wang Chengen, who was standing by the side, did not know the content of the pond newspaper. Seeing that the emperor was angry, he couldn't help but look up. Chongzhen put the pond newspaper in Wang Chengen's arms and asked face to face:
"Well, where did that Yu Yinggui go?"
This question was so abrupt, thanks to Wang Chengen's unruffled thinking, he glanced at the pond newspaper, and immediately understood what the emperor meant, so he played in a low voice:
"As far as I know, he has been wandering between Jiexiu and Huozhou."
Chongzhen became angry, and said fiercely: "My intention is to let him defend the river. Instead of going to Hejin and Puzhou to supervise the war, what is he doing in Jiexiu and Huozhou?"
Wang Chengen thought to himself, although Yu Yinggui had been given the title of censor of the right capital and governor of the three sides, and the armies of Jin and Hebei were under his control, when he left the army, the emperor only sent a thousand people from the Beijing army to accompany him, and issued imperial silver ten thousand taels and silver flowers The four hundred and the two hundred silver medals are used as rewards. As for the soldiers in front who owed their wages for eight months, the leaders of the soldiers flew badges several times to urge them to pay, and the emperor did not reply.According to the art of war, if there is no food, no soldiers will gather.Yu Yinggui has no food or salary in his hands, how can he fight with empty fists?But the emperor was very angry, so he had to play back carefully:
"Jiexiu and Huozhou are both on the banks of the Fen River. If you want to talk about Fanghe, he is on the Fenhe River."
"Nonsense." Chongzhen patted the case, "The 2,500-mile river defense, Pingyang is in the middle, if you don't guard the Yellow River and guard the Fen River, isn't it the end of the game? If Pingyang doesn't guard, Taiyuan will be isolated, and Shanxi will be ruined?"
This is what everyone wants. Moreover, Shanxi is the barrier of the capital. If there is a mistake in Shanxi, it will be Beijing's turn next.Since the emperor won't leave, he has to raise troops and pay for the front line. This military pay can no longer be delayed.But when it came to money, Wang Chengen knew it was difficult, so he had to stand with his hands down and kept silent.
Chongzhen kept sighing on the throne, and walked down again. Finally, Wang Chengen couldn't bear it, and asked tentatively: "Didn't the minister Jin Zhijun write a memorial the day before yesterday, and the emperor has not released it yet."
"Jin Zhijun? What did he say?" Chongzhen raised his head, his eyes seemed to be in a daze.
There are different opinions on state affairs. Today one minister makes a memorandum, and tomorrow another minister makes a statement. Some of the memorandums are not in line with the emperor's wishes, but they can't find a reason to refute them, so they leave them there and deal with them coldly. ".The memorials left in the middle school are often the emperor's deepest impression, because most of them stepped on the emperor's painful feet and violated the emperor's taboo, how could they forget it?Wang Chengen understood that the emperor was pretending, but since he brought it up by himself, he had no choice but to murmur and carefully reminded:
"He seems to be asking the emperor to send money, send money, and pay for the army."
Internal money is the emperor's private money, which is managed by himself, which is different from the national treasury under the management of the household department, so it is called "internal money".In fact, you are the son of heaven, rich in the world, and when you become the emperor, the world is yours, so what is the division of inside and outside, and what private house is kept?But the emperor of the Ming Dynasty had private money.They are worthy of being the descendants of Zhu Yuanzhang. Zhu Yuanzhang was born in a poor beggar, and he followed the folk saying that a beggar is afraid of being poor when he becomes an official. Therefore, even when he became an emperor, he did not forget to keep his private house.At present, the treasury is empty, but the emperor's internal treasury is very rich.In the past, when the army sent frequent reminders, saying that the soldiers were suffering from hunger and cold and demanded a quick payment, but the emperor kept pushing back, Jin Zhijun couldn't bear it, so he boldly put forward this proposal not long ago.Chongzhen couldn't get enough of it, so he threw it aside and ignored it.Hearing what Wang Chengen said now, he couldn't help but sneer and said:
"This handsome man of gold, his eyes are only on silver. The servant of the military department doesn't care about the military, but he is in charge of the affairs of the household department. He only cares about money. When he sees people pooping, his throat itches. Once the internal money is empty, look at it." What else did he say? Besides, this suppression of bandits is a national war!"
Emperor Chongzhen didn't say what he said next, but Wang Chengen understood that since it was a national war and everyone had a share, why should the emperor only pay for it?
Seeing that the emperor was angry, Wang Chengen was so frightened that he quickly bowed his head and remained silent.But Chongzhen was still angry.He thought, Jin Zhijun's memorial must have something to do with it. The courtiers have been jealous of their money for a long time, and there must be a lot of private discussions. Things will make a big fuss.It seems that killing a few ministers can't suppress these damned guys.
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but said fiercely: "The government is made out of hand by cronies. Jin Zhijun has a background in this discussion. He is not only a member of the Donglin Party, but also Yuan Chonghuan's same year and friend. The old case is for Yuan Zonghuan's grievances."
Yuan Chonghuan was executed for the crime of treason, and Jin Zhijun only raised the internal money, which is really irrelevant.What the emperor said was far-fetched, but now that Yuan Chonghuan was involved, Wang Chengen dared not speak up.
Chongzhen continued to think about his thoughts.Although Jin Zhijun's proposal did not move his heart, there was another memorial to Zeng Yinglin from the military department that he played together with Jin Zhijun, which left a deep impression on him.In this memorial, Zeng Yinglin advocated persuading wealthy gentry to sign up for donations.It is said not to suffer from widowhood, but to suffer from inequality; not to suffer from poverty, but to suffer from restlessness.The rich gentry pay taxes on clothes, rent and food, sucking blood from the common people. Now that the country is in trouble, the rich gentry should take some money out as military pay.What's more, the rogues are playing the banner of "equalizing the rich and the poor". If the wealthy gentry don't take the initiative to contribute money to help the court, do they really have to wait for the rogues to "equal the rich and the poor"?
He didn't pay attention to these words at the time, but now that he thinks about them carefully, his heart can't help but be moved.I thought to myself, seeing that the rogues are about to cross the Yellow River, the ministers are still indifferent, strolling around Qianmen Zhushikou as usual, going to the Eight Great Alleys as usual, playing songs and drinking every day, not caring about state affairs at all. treasury.If they were not officials, how could they be so rich?Zeng Yinglin said it well, they paid taxes on food and clothing, and sucked blood from the common people, so they should also bleed a little this time.Thinking of this, he couldn't help but pause, looked at Wang Chengen, sighed and said:
"Forget it, the matter has come to this, and it has to be like this."
Wang Cheng'en thought that the emperor's "have to do this" meant paying internal money, so he couldn't help nodding.
Chongzhen made up his mind, and immediately ordered Wang Chengen to dig out Zeng Yinglin's archived memorial, read it carefully, and then sat on the throne, closing his eyes and meditating.
Wang Chengen didn't understand until he read Zeng Yinglin's memorial. After a long time, the emperor wanted to solicit donations from his courtiers-to let his courtiers bleed without bleeding.
Eight years ago, in the eighth year of Chongzhen, a martial artist named Li Jing wrote a letter, advocating that the wealthy gentry in the south of the Yangtze River sign up for payment.But when the emperor discussed this matter with his ministers, they were immediately opposed by the ministers, and the academician Qian Shisheng even thought it was the cause of the chaos.It is said that the rich gentry are the source of food and clothing for the local poor, and now the rogues are spreading chaos in Qin, Jin, Chu, and Henan, and the south of the Yangtze River is at peace. The people are thieves.After what he said, Chongzhen's determination at that time was shaken.
Now that I think about it, why didn't I persist?This Qian Shisheng speaks for the rich gentry just because he was born in a wealthy family in the south of the Yangtze River, trying every means to evade me. There is really no good thing in this group of courtiers!
Emperor Chongzhen gritted his teeth with hatred when he thought of the past.Although he was an eunuch in front of him, he wanted to talk, so he read Zeng Yinglin's memorials to Wang Chengen.Zeng Yinglin said in this memorial: The rich gentry have money, as long as he spends one tenth, he can keep the other nine tenths, why not do it?Otherwise, when the bandits came, they would run out of houses and lose their lives.
While reading, Chongzhen poked the words on the memorial with his finger, and said fiercely:
"When Li Jing wrote the letter, I wanted to adopt it, but Qian Shisheng objected, but failed. That Qian Shisheng was a person who didn't understand the matter at all. When the Donglin party members were framed by Wei Zhongxian to recover the stolen goods, he was willing to go bankrupt and help Donglin, but when the country is in trouble, he doesn't advocate giving money, do you think he still has the slightest heart of loyalty and patriotism? This Zeng Yinglin speaks like a human being."
Wang Cheng'en thought to himself, what Zeng Yinglin said made sense. After the rogues gained power, they wanted to equalize the rich and the poor. How could the ministers and rich gentry survive by guarding the golden mountains and the silver seas?Therefore, half of this battle is fought for the emperor, and half is fought for the rich. If the emperor does not come out, you should.But looking back, the average Beijing official is actually very poor, and the rich are only high-ranking officials. If you sign up to pledge donations, you should first donate from the assistant ministers.So, he told the emperor about it. When Chongzhen heard this, he immediately remembered that group of useless silverfish, and thought, yes, the country is in trouble, and they can't be let out.
So, he hurriedly delivered an order and summoned his assistant ministers.Before the summoning, he thought in his stomach, several meetings had no results, he should change his strategy this time, raising donations is not like moving the capital, it is a majestic matter, although there is no need to beat around the bush, but since people want to take money out, they must Let them taste the sweetness.
The emperor here is thinking, and the ministers over there are also using their brains.Several cabinet meetings in a row came to nothing, and the five great scholars in the cabinet were a little apprehensive, fearing that if Tianyan was furious, they would suffer unforeseen disasters. be careful.
I don't want to go to court, the sky is pleasant, and when I meet, I order the ministers not to bow down.The ministers didn't know where this "majestic emperor's favor" came from, and while they were terrified, the emperor suddenly stood up, stepped down from the throne, and gave a deep bow to the ministers who stood there blankly.
This is really a very special person, and he is very polite!But it was so abrupt that the ministers were at a loss and said they couldn't bear it.Don't want the emperor but sincerely say:
"Should be, I entrust state affairs to you gentlemen. You gentlemen are my teachers. How can students be rude when they see their teachers?"
After hearing this, the ministers became even more panicked. You looked at me and I looked at you, and they couldn't even spin their tongues.The emperor returned to his seat and said again:
"The rogue bandits swept across the counties in the west of Hexi, and went north to Yan'an and Yulin. Their worries are gone. It will be a matter of time to drink horses in the Yellow River. Do you all know that?"
The emperor had already passed on the Tang newspaper to his ministers, so everyone hurriedly kowtowed and said, "The ministers already know about it."
After answering this sentence, the ministers seemed to be dumb, because it was hard to tell what the emperor liked to hear, or what would be worthy of the emperor's great gift.
In this way, the atmosphere turned from panic to dullness.
Chongzhen acted for a long time, but failed to achieve the desired effect. He felt unhappy, and couldn't help but lose his face. He glanced at the ministers, then stopped on the face of the first assistant Chen Yan, and said:
"The rogues won Guanzhong, and they didn't miss their children's treasures. Instead, they immediately swung their swords and burned them everywhere. It seems that the husband's temple is a small difference, a thousand miles away."
As soon as Chen Yan heard the emperor's old news, he understood that he could no longer pretend to be deaf and dumb, so he went out and played in a low-key manner: "Yes, I did not have enough information at the time. But the reason why I said this is also because of the lack of financial resources of the country. , we can’t make great efforts to conquer the army for the time being.”
This "insufficient financial resources" is the topic that the emperor wants to discuss today, so he immediately blocked him and said: "If the financial resources are not enough, you must find a way. Today's matter is not whether the imperial court is happy or not, but that the bandits are about to cross the Yellow River. Can't we let him call?"
Li Jiantai, Jiang Dejing and the others were even more cautious when they saw the chief assistant speak up.This gave Wei Zaode, who always wanted to express himself, a chance, so he immediately went out to play and said:
"The emperor's reprimands are right. The state affairs are troublesome, and the courtiers should not only seek to retreat and protect themselves, but should be loyal and wise to relieve the worries of the emperor and father."
The emperor's accusation had already embarrassed Chen Yan, and Wei Zaode's words made him even more uncomfortable as the chief assistant, so he said angrily:
"You can speak freely when discussing government affairs in the court. If Mr. Wei has a good plan, why don't you say it earlier?"
Unexpectedly, Wei Zaode responded calmly: "I think that the current situation is not that there are no soldiers to rely on, but generals to rely on. People like Yu Yinggui can neither take the lead and motivate the soldiers, nor can they predict the enemy's decision-making and gain insight into traitors. In addition, the Yellow River did not protect the Fen River, Puzhou did not protect Taiyuan, and the important towns and dangerous passes were neglected, resulting in the opening of the door for the bandits to take advantage of, which is really disappointing."
The emperor nodded again and again.But Chen Yan was very disgusted, because it was Chen Yan's idea to send Yu Yinggui as the supervisor at the beginning, and Wei Zaode's suggestion was clearly to blame himself, so he retorted:
"I think it's too harsh to say this. The imperial court is scattered in Shanxi, Zhili, Shandong and other places. Although there are still millions of troops, they have been in arrears for eight months. Yu Yinggui has repeatedly submitted memorials to urge He also said that if he didn’t pay any more, the army might mutiny, but the imperial court has been unable to help him, even if he has three heads and six arms, he can’t fight with empty fists.”
With this statement, we are back to Kaixian's old topic of "weak financial resources".Everyone was silent for a while, and it was Emperor Chongzhen who spoke first:
"With limited financial resources, is there no other way to think about it?"
Wei Zaode finally heard the emperor's implication, and hurriedly said: "I think that the current situation is difficult. When I am serving the country, the predecessors have done a lot of righteous deeds to destroy the family and relieve the difficulties. As a minister, I should follow the example of the predecessors. This has been done before. Someone wrote a letter, advocating internal and external ministers and workers to donate to help pay, and the minister thought it might as well give it a try."
This is exactly what the emperor wanted to say, but he didn't know how to say it, but Wei Zaode said it first, he couldn't help but look at Wei Zaode approvingly, and nodded repeatedly.
Chen Yan was really taken aback.He understood that Wei Zaode's idea was aimed at the veterans. He had only been an official for a few years, and he had only been in the cabinet for a few months.But I can't do it myself. As the chief assistant, I have been an eunuch for many years. If I donate the salary, it will be the top pick. Thirty-five thousand emperors will think it is too little;I had no idea what to do, and was in a dilemma, so I had to pretend to be deep and play:
"It's not a good way to donate money. I remember that as early as the eighth year of Chongzhen, someone proposed this proposal. The assistant minister Qian Shisheng..."
As soon as Chen Yan mentioned Qian Shisheng, Chongzhen's anger burst out, and he immediately interrupted him and said: "The times are different, and the realms are different. Don't mention the past."
As he spoke, he complained, saying that the national treasury was empty, even the internal funds were exhausted. Some people were jealous of the internal funds, thinking that there was a cornucopia in the internal treasury, which was inexhaustible.As he spoke, his tone became uneasy:
"The situation is critical, and it is impossible to protect the day and night. You are helpless. You are unwilling to share the worries of the country, and you are sitting on a lot of money. You have to endure starvation and cold, and the city has fallen. Let me ask you, once the bandits get their way, can you not wantonly plunder? You want to have a picture. The day is safe, can you get it?"
As he spoke, he tapped on the imperial case again and again with his knuckles, and said sadly: "I think you gentlemen are so stingy, it's tantamount to giving food to robbers!"
Hearing what the emperor said, Chen Yan knew that his words were inappropriate, so he stood with his hands down and remained silent.
I don’t want to talk about Chongzhen’s words, but I’m concerned about Li Jiantai’s thoughts—these days, Li Jiantai has been reading the Tang newspaper, concerned about whether the rogues cross the river.I thought, once the rogues cross the river, my family will be the first to be robbed, instead of donating to the rogues, it is better to donate generously, and maybe you can make money. Seeing that Wei Zaode's proposal was appreciated by the emperor, he immediately kowtowed and said:
"I think that when there is an emergency, there must be an extraordinary move. If you donate or lose, it is a must try. The minister's family has a small property, and the minister is willing to spend all the family assets to relieve the country's difficulties."
Of the five assistant ministers, the first assistant was reprimanded for not meeting the order, and two of them advocated donations. Jiang Dejing and Fang Yuegong saw that the situation was not good, so they had no choice but to agree.Seeing that Li Jiantai was selling off his land, they knew that there was a lot of room for change, so they also said that they would take the lead in pledging donations to enrich the national treasury.
Chongzhen saw that the four ministers supported his opinion, so he glanced at Chen Yan with piercing eyes, and said, "Okay, okay, it's rare that everyone can sympathize with the difficulties. If the ministers can follow the example of you, why don't you worry about the perpetrators?" ?”
Seeing that he was isolated, Chen Yan couldn't help being busy, but after all, he has been in the cabinet for many years, and he can be called a cunning and cunning man, so he said:
"The reason why I hesitated was because I was afraid that if this discussion came out, all the officials would not be able to feel at ease. Since all the officials are so eager for justice and donate generously, how can I not be willing to lag behind? How can a humble minister avoid the duty of being a courtier?"
Hearing that Chen Yan was willing to bleed, although Chongzhen was still dissatisfied, he still nodded in praise.
Although there were some bumps and bumps in the beginning of this ministerial meeting, the ending was still perfect, which was what Chongzhen hoped to see.I thought to myself that I did a good job in this bow, as long as the assistant minister takes the lead, others will be able to talk.