When Emperor Chongzhen heard this, he immediately became concerned. At this moment, he was no longer simply optimistic about Wei Zaode, but had a complete appreciation. He could first come up with a solution in such a short time. Moreover, his thinking was so clear and his words were reasonable and well-founded. Moreover, he had the experience of resisting the Manchu captives. With this alone, he was far superior to the ministers in the court.

Emperor Chongzhen turned to the side, and Li Ruogui, the magistrate of the Jinyiwei, hurried forward and spoke softly for a while. Emperor Chongzhen smiled and nodded with satisfaction, saying, "In the past, I also heard that when the captives attacked Tongzhou, many people took the initiative to go up to the city to help the official army defend, but they never thought that there were the ones among them. What you did was to make many court ministers ashamed!"

Wei Zaode bowed and said, "This is all the duty that students should do."

Emperor Chongzhen smiled and said, "You are loyal to the country and what you say is very reasonable. Come on, give tea and seats. Please sit aside for a while and wait for me to listen to the high opinions of other students."

Wei Zaode bowed to thank him, and the eunuch next to him moved a seat to the left side of the corner of the hall. He bowed to the ministers and then sat calmly on the seat.

Zhou Xian also secretly praised in his heart that Wei Zaode is indeed powerful. Not to mention the strategies mentioned are feasible or not, his grasp of the timing and control of Emperor Chongzhen's character have surpassed everyone here. He first spoke to relieve Emperor Chongzhen's embarrassment; then he described his own countermeasures well, and although what he said was not a golden and jade strategy, it was definitely not a pure brick and stone. Finally, he talked about his past contributions to completely impress Emperor Chongzhen. He is worthy of being the chief minister of the cabinet at the age of 40, and he was indeed extraordinary when he took action.

Seeing that Wei Zaode was so valued, everyone showed admiration and envious eyes on his face. Then they spoke, which was very lively for a while. But most of them were either unclear or had no choice but to offer suggestions. In Zhou Xian's opinion, there were only Jian Ce who was named Ge Shizhen, who proposed that "it was better to train troops than to increase troops, and it was better to clear wages than to increase wages" and another who proposed that Gao Eryan, "first strengthen the people's hearts, then stabilize the capital, stabilize the inside and then go out, and Xu visited Liaodong" had many advantages.

In a panic, the palace examination lasted for several hours. Emperor Chongzhen was also very willing to listen to the immature opinions of these students. After noon, he even gave food once and allowed them to continue talking. After basically everyone said it, Emperor Chongzhen looked around and suddenly looked at Zhou Xian and asked, "Zhou Xian, among all of them, it seems that you are the only one who has never spoken from beginning to end. You are accompanying the prince, and you are a high school Jinshi, so you can't fall into others. Do you have any ideas? Let's hear?"

Emperor Chongzhen's sudden voice immediately attracted everyone's eyes to Zhou Xian. The identity of the prince accompanying him to study is the desire of every scholar. Everyone was curious about what kind of person he was. But looking around, he saw only a young man about sixteen or seventeen years old. In addition, he had never spoken. If Emperor Chongzhen did not speak, no one would even realize his existence. He couldn't help but feel some contempt in his heart, thinking that it was just that.

Zhou Xian was stunned when he heard this, and hesitated secretly. He was not without ideas, but the Ming Dynasty's disease was from the inside out, and the headaches were caused by the pain and foot pain could not solve the fundamental problem. When those useful words were said, whether Emperor Chongzhen listened or not, it would definitely touch the interests of a large number of people. Seeing Emperor Chongzhen's smile, he was moved in his heart, and then went forward and bowed and said, "Your Majesty, the student has some ideas, but after thinking about it, he felt that it might not be feasible. Therefore, it would be fine if he didn't say it."

Emperor Chongzhen smiled and said, "I haven't said it yet! I feel it's not possible. You are really interesting. You are all for the new Jinshi in the Ming Dynasty. Although you have not yet served as an official, you will be pillars of the court in the future. When you first became an official, you are not afraid of making mistakes, but you are afraid of not doing it. Therefore, whether it is possible or not, I have my own arguments, let's talk about it."

Zhou Xian breathed a sigh of relief, and then said, "I have heard what all the students said just now, and they are worthy. But whether it is to educate the people or train and increase troops, it requires a basic condition, that is money. Without money, you can't do anything. Only when the imperial court enriches the treasury can it do everything below."

The imperial treasury was so empty that no one could know better than Emperor Chongzhen. Defending the Manchu captives requires money, suppressing rebels and thieves requires money, and pursuing the refugees requires money. He heard Zhou Xian say this, and he couldn't help but nod his head secretly. Wei Zaode next to him saw Chongzhen's heart, and stood up and said, "If you want to fill the treasury, it is nothing more than that of the imperial court's taxes. However, now the Central Plains are in corruption and thieves are everywhere, and Shandong, Hebei, and even the capital are ravaged by Manchu captives, which is not much better than the Central Plains. More than 80% of the imperial court's taxes rely on the south. If taxes are increased, it may cause civil unrest. And reducing expenses is definitely even more unfeasible. The expenditures in the court have reached the point where they cannot be saved. Therefore, Brother Zhou's words are probably only theoretically, but they are not feasible."

Zhou Xian nodded. No matter what kind of character Wei Zaode is, he does have talent and knowledge, and he saw the problem at first glance. Emperor Chongzhen did not stop him from speaking, obviously he also agreed with it.

Zhou Xian smiled and said, "It is true that as Brother Wei said, there are only two ways to increase revenue and reduce expenditure. There is no way to reduce expenditure. Moreover, in the future, the court will completely suppress the rebels and bandits and wipe out the captives. This flow will not only not be stable, but will be stable. But in Zhou's view, there are some places that can be decided by the court. As long as the court really makes up its mind, it can increase at least tens of millions of silver every year."

Emperor Chongzhen was surprised, holding the dragon chaise in his hand, and asked forward, "Where can you do it?"
Chapter completed!