Chapter 48 Section Two

Chongzhen once again deeply felt the importance of money. Not only do you need money for the New Year, but you also need money for wars. In the past, Chongzhen would live the year decently, exhausting the imagination of an emperor, but now, Chongzhen can no longer afford such a year.If he lives a decent life again, I am afraid that the seventeenth year of Chongzhen will be the last year of his life. The situation was so severe that Li Zicheng's rapid breathing could be clearly heard. The money must be saved for war, and the last kingdom of Ming Dynasty must be preserved.Chongzhen decided to live a frugal year.He no longer arranges singing and dancing programs, and only eats two meals a day. Instead of using bowls made of gold and silver, he uses bowls made of copper, tin and wood.He also asked all officials, big and small, not to wear silk and satin anymore, and not even to show too brisk a look on their faces, but to always think about the day and day, and don't wait for the time to think about the time.Under the advocacy of Chongzhen, the entire Ming Dynasty passed a solemn, solemn and sad year.

On the first day of the first lunar month in the seventeenth year of Chongzhen, as if to cater to the solemn, solemn and sad atmosphere, the most powerful sandstorm ever blew up in Beijing.In a sky full of dust and sand where you can't see your fingers, the early dynasty of the new year of the Chongzhen Dynasty began. According to the usual practice, every year in the early morning of New Year's Day, there will be a ceremony for the emperor to accept the congratulations of all officials.Although this year has advocated diligence and frugality, the necessary rituals are still indispensable.Besides, it doesn't cost much to hold this ceremony—now, Chongzhen's standard for measuring everything is: how much does it cost?

But Chongzhen was very disappointed. He came to Huangji Hall early in the morning, but there was only one lazy person on duty in the hall, and no official came to work.Obviously the time for work has passed, why didn't anyone come?Chongzhen ordered to ring the bell, the louder the better, and keep ringing to bring out the spirit of Daming.In this way, the court bell on the first day of the 17th year of Chongzhen has been ringing for more than an hour. The civil and military officials rushed out of their homes in a panic and came to the east and west Chang'an gates. I rushed to the Huangji Hall, like a retreating team, and started a new year of office life in shock.

They are all busy, busy collecting red envelopes, busy eating and drinking, busy looking for a way out... My Daming is not dead yet!I, Chongzhen, still have breath!Why, you can't wait so much that you don't even come to court?The first day of the new year, the first day of the 17th year of Chongzhen, ah, the clock rang for more than an hour, and it was struck so fast, so worrying, why did it do this?It's not that you don't want to come, you don't want to work for this dynasty anymore, isn't it?To actually ask Chongzhen to beg you bitterly to come to court, this is a sign of national subjugation, this is the bell of subjugation, this is sending Chongzhen to the end!I thank you, thank you for sending me to the end, so many people, haha, so many people...

When Chongzhen said this, he clasped his fists with both hands and bowed repeatedly to the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty. The officials of the Manchu Dynasty were so frightened that they lay on the ground and did not dare to raise their heads.Chongzhen wiped away tears: I will put my words here today, and if this situation continues, within a year, Daming will be done!At this time next year, Li Zicheng will stand here to say hello to you. Presumably by then, you will not let Li Zicheng personally ring the bell for you and invite you to come to court, right? Your Majesty... I will forever swear allegiance to my Majesty...

There was a lot of crying from civil and military officials in the whole dynasty, and these officials suddenly felt a huge panic. Yes, if this dynasty suddenly died, what would they do? who are we?Where do we come from?Where are we going?These classic questions are torturing every Ming official.Only when the dynasty exists can there be officials. If the dynasty falls, where is their way out?No one can give a clear answer. Chongzhen calmed down and sat back on the dragon chair: Swear allegiance to the death?What kind of death allegiance law?Just relying on this mental state?Well, let's not talk too much about this issue, let's talk about practical issues.Li Zicheng's troops have already attacked Shanxi, with 500,000 troops, what should we do?To stop him or even destroy him, we have to form an army of millions. It is not difficult to form an army of millions, but the difficulty is to raise millions of military pay.We all know that the national treasury has long been empty due to years of wars, and everyone has ideas on where the money will come from.

No one said anything. Chongzhen said sarcastically: Just now he said he would swear allegiance to the death, but now why, no more allegiance? A minister came up with an idea.He spoke incoherently, for the idea startled him himself.He suggested that the emperor take out all the money from his private house (the money from the inner court) as military pay, which made Chongzhen suddenly at a loss for what to say.It's not that he was reluctant to take it out, but he felt that he didn't have much private money, so it would be useless to take it out.Furthermore, using private money as military pay to go to war, in the eyes of Chongzhen, is a sign that a dynasty is at the end of its rope. Even though he just now faced all the officials with certainty and burst into tears, he felt that Ming Dynasty was about to end, but this was not the case. is his real thought.He felt that as long as he persisted, Daming could still procrastinate.Everything in this world is afraid of the word "delay". It has been delayed for seventeen years, so why can't it be delayed for another seventeen years?Chongzhen suddenly expressed cautious optimism about Daming's prospects.