Chapter 17 Section 1 Chongzhen is waiting for the rain

Chongzhen, who succeeded in eradicating rape, devoted all his energy to the great cause of Zhongxing Daming. He deeply felt that time was not enough.The land of Ming Dynasty is so vast, the talents of Ming Dynasty are so scarce, there are so many memorials of Ming Dynasty, and the people of Ming Dynasty are so miserable——Thinking of the people of Ming Dynasty being so miserable, Chongzhen burst into tears: It has been more than two hundred years since the founding of the People's Republic of China. Why is the simple goal of making people's lives better still not achieved? God is not beautiful either.In the four years of Chongzhen, since the beginning of spring, there has not been a drop of rain in the capital. The thirsty land is so dry that people feel hairy, and it also makes Chongzhen feel ashamed: This is all because of my incompetent leadership, and now, I am so angry. God was furious.

In order to move God, Chongzhen moved.He moved from Qianqing Palace to Wenhua Palace, and he also ate vegetarian every day and tortured himself hard.He hoped that God would see some rain from his devotion to self-torture every day to let him understand that Chongzhen was still saved and that he was still a worthy emperor. Chongzhen is waiting for the rain. The days of waiting for the rain are difficult, but they are also full of hope. But hopes are being dashed - the drought is getting worse. Chongzhen was really ashamed this time.Everyone in the world knew that he was praying to God for rain, and they all sincerely believed that the rain was coming soon.Because Chongzhen is the son of heaven, the son of heaven.He prayed to God for rain, can God not give some?How much is also a meaning!

But it never rained. Waiting for the rain turned into an act of terror—how could it not be scary to wait like this?If God does not rain all the time, it means that it does not recognize the emperor, and the legitimacy of Chongzhen's administration will be questioned by the world.This is a major matter that concerns the country, the country, life and death. Chongzhen finally wrote the "Edict of Guilt".He listed all the anxieties in his heart, and hoped that the officials under him would come and review themselves with him: The employer chooses improperly, the person in charge refuses to move forward, the criminal law fails and the prison is full of injustices, the Mohist officials are rampant and the people are lost, the officials discuss and repair grievances for selfishness, and bribery is the criterion for impeachment. The thirteen provinces recruited and secretly sent poor people, the frontier people anointed and filled the officials' private pockets, and the army harassed places and killed innocent people.

This is an emperor's self-criticism, but Chongzhen doesn't know if he can pass this time-everyone said God's eyes are sharp, I changed all these shortcomings, God, you should forgive me. The officials under him were also moved by Chongzhen, and they offered advice one after another.Except for the method of artificial rainfall, I didn't think of any other methods.Zhejiang Taoist censor Wang Daozhi pointed out to the emperor from the perspective of the Confucian theory of interaction between heaven and man: the emperor killed people too hard in the past two years. Now it's time to raise the world to peace, and don't start killing at every turn.

Although Wang Daozhi's words were offensive, they did sound reasonable.That's right, did he kill too much and strike too hard, so that God didn't agree.Especially for Yuan Chonghuan, Ling Chi executed him. Thinking about it now, it seems that he didn't need to be so ruthless.A trace of regret flashed in Chongzhen's heart, but soon, he reminded himself not to regret it. The emperor cannot regret it.This is the difference between emperors and ordinary people, and Chongzhen is not the only one who uses heavy codes in troubled times. The ancestor Zhu Yuanzhang is more ruthless than me!Why is there nothing wrong with him?

Chongzhen still wanted to persevere, but there was a problem that he couldn't get around: What if it doesn't rain all the time?Doesn't this make everyone in the world come to see my joke?Chongzhen decided that things can be done, but words cannot be said.Two days later, on the pretext that the weather was getting warmer, he ordered the release of the prisoners who had committed minor crimes. At the same time, Chongzhen also expressed that he could remove the shackles at his discretion as a show of leniency. Of course, it was not only Zhejiang Dao Yushi Wang Daozhi who shared the emperor's worries, but Yunnan Dao Yushi Wang Xiangyun also shared Chongzhen's worries.This is a stereotyped essay on a higher level, and Wang Xiangyun's perspective is to solve the difficulties of people's livelihood.Wang Xiangyun talked eloquently: The root cause of the great poverty of people's livelihood today is that there are too many private parties from the government, too much taxation and consumption, too cold concern for the people, and too eager to collect money.Therefore, in order to solve the difficulties of the people, we must start from the above aspects and truly benefit the people.After hearing this, Chongzhen felt that the truth was the same, but if he really wanted to benefit the people, his grandma's problem was really serious.This military expenditure has been increasing, and the imperial court's expenses are already tearing down the east wall to make up for the west wall. Where does the money come from... Come on, let it rain from the sky, let's make room.

Chongzhen lenient punishment, implemented benevolent government, and stepped up self-torture every day, but the rain still hasn't fallen.It is said that spring rain is as expensive as oil, Chongzhen thought, this is not as expensive as oil, it is much more expensive than gold.What I give to benefit the people is all gold. More than a month has passed, no download.Two months have passed, and it's the end of April in the lunar calendar, and it still hasn't been delivered.The fields around the capital are cracked everywhere, and it is impossible to plant rice seedlings at all.The plan for a year lies in spring. If the seedlings cannot be planted, there will be no harvest in autumn.

There are buzzing sounds everywhere in the capital, and there are whispers in the court.Chongzhen seems to have heard something, but also seems to have heard nothing.He was very panicked.After so many efforts to no avail, this is God's spurning on him, and this is the doubt of the legitimacy of his governance by the entire Ming Dynasty.He really felt that it must have been a mistake to kill Yuan Chonghuan, and God was punishing him. Chongzhen began to have nightmares.In the dream, Yuan Chonghuan, who only had a skeleton left, always stood in front of him speechless, his deep-set eye sockets were gloomy, and there seemed to be infinite grievances.In the dream, Chongzhen struggled in every possible way, losing the dignity of the emperor.In the dream, Yuan Chonghuan was completely flirtatious without saying a word.In the dream, Chongzhen said thousands of words and gave thousands of reasons, but it was always too late to withdraw and regret.

In fact, regarding the Yuan Chonghuan incident, Chongzhen thought he was merciful.Because according to the "Law of the Ming Dynasty", a criminal who collaborates with the enemy and treason must be executed by Ling Chi, and his family members who are over sixteen (years old) will be executed, and those under fifteen (years old) will be enslaved to the meritorious family.After Yuan Chonghuan was executed by Ling Chi, Chongzhen only "trapped his wives, concubines, children and brothers of the same birth two thousand miles away, and the rest were released without asking."That's enough, what more?

Moreover, facing the buzz of the people in the capital, Chongzhen felt that they should also be responsible.Back then, when Yuan Chonghuan was sent to Xishi Lingchi to be executed, how many people in the capital rejoiced.This is a national carnival. Everyone thinks that the biggest traitor of the Ming Dynasty has been found out, and everyone is proud to eat his flesh raw.Because there were too many people who wanted to eat his meat, the panic buying flooded the entire West Market.What kind of scene was that—"cut a piece of meat, and the people in the capital fought for it from the executioner. The executioner rushed wildly, and the people competed for the meat with money, and it was eaten up immediately. Opened his stomach, and the people robbed it in groups. Those who got a piece of it were bitten with shochu, and the blood flowed between their teeth and cheeks, as if they were spitting and cursing. Those who found the bones smashed them with a knife and axe, and all the bones and flesh were gone, only one song remained, and passed it on to the nine sides." This is what the historians have seen with their own eyes, and they are going to write it down in history.Now, there is retribution, and it doesn't rain, but it's all on me.How can there be such people in the world?It is true that the people can make it, but not by it.

Chongzhen blamed himself for several days, and the rain still didn't fall.He hated it in his heart, feeling that after all, he was the emperor, so he couldn't be as knowledgeable as the common people.The work of praying for rain still needs to be unremitting.In early May, Chongzhen pushed the work of praying for rain to a new climax.He led civil and military officials to walk from the Forbidden City to Chongyu Altar in the southern suburbs, and held a grand ceremony of praying for rain.Chongzhen let go of the emperor's self-esteem, knelt down on his knees, and couldn't afford to prostrate, that was really pious.But Chongzhen's piety terrified civil and military officials—I have seen the emperor half kneeling to pray for rain, but I have never seen the emperor kneel down to pray for rain.They swarmed up and pulled Chongzhen forcefully, but Chongzhen couldn't hold on, and vowed to persevere on his knees to the end.Chongzhen burst into tears, choked with sobs, and beat down the officials of Ming Dynasty deeply with a look of determination to feed a tiger with his body for the country and the country.They also knelt down on their knees, unable to crawl, crying loudly.The entire Ming Dynasty united and prayed for rain, and if the rain did not fall, they would die endlessly. In June, it had to rain, and it was heavy rain, which lasted for three days and three nights.Chongzhen's prestige in the ruling and opposition parties suddenly rose unprecedentedly.All the officials praised the sincerity and enthusiasm of the emperor for praying for rain, and the people secretly rejoiced that they had met a good leader. Only Chongzhen himself was a little depressed, because he couldn't figure out whether the rain was begged by him or by him. He was frightened—this point is too important, because it is related to the fate of a dynasty. He wants to know whether the Lord of Heaven is sincerely on his side with Chongzhen. The day will certainly not be long.