But as soon as the ministers heard that taxes were going to be set, they immediately fell into silence. Once this matter was mentioned, it was no small matter. It was a major national matter, and if you said the wrong thing, it would be like falling into an abyss, so I didn't dare
Talk nonsense easily.
"Since you don't dare to say it, let me say it." Zhu Ling could also guess their little thoughts. Knowing that they were very repulsive in their hearts, he said alone.
"You have repeatedly said that you do not want to increase commercial taxes, so fine, then I will not increase them. If you have good suggestions, of course I will listen to them, but if there are bad ones or things that don't work, I have to change them as I said. Small changes will not do.
, it needs major reform. I have a way to know how to reform it specifically."
"The royal princes should first tighten their budgets every year, let them lay off some palace staff, and try to reduce expenses. I even heard that some princes have many concubines and maids. Because they cannot leave the fiefdom without permission, they can stay in their own homes.
The palace is in a state of decay and luxury, even more luxurious than mine."
"Your Majesty." Li Banghua stood up before Zhu Ling finished speaking: "Your Majesty's suggestion of reducing the prince's expenses is naturally good, but are the princes willing? Will they listen to your majesty? Even if they are afraid of your majesty's power, they will obey.
But inner dissatisfaction will also breed. If there is any dissatisfaction, wouldn’t it be another disaster for our Ming Dynasty?”
What Li Banghua said is not unreasonable. The princes of the Ming Dynasty did not have much power at all. They relied entirely on the support of the court. They were given some money and things every day to live a decadent life. They were not allowed to have private armed forces, and the palace was not allowed to keep too many servants.
They are not even allowed to leave the fiefdom without authorization. Such suppression is the limit.
If their salaries are further reduced, they will definitely be dissatisfied.
"I don't believe they dare to directly collude with thieves!" Zhu Ling immediately retorted loudly, which really made the ministers present dare not speak.
After scanning around, Zhu Ling said coldly: "Why do I want to seize the military power of the Guan Ning Army? The reason is that I have an army that can obey me. They will only be loyal to me and will not be influenced by others. If
If my brothers and uncles dare to rebel, the imperial court can immediately issue an order that anyone from the Ming Dynasty, regardless of civilian officials, can capture them!"
"They just have some spare money in the palace now, so I don't care about it. Let them keep it for use. I am not in a hurry to liquidate the land they plundered. Let them save some money first. But if they dare to have different intentions, I will definitely join the rebels.
When the thieves negotiate for peace, they must first be blamed by their ancestors."
After hearing His Majesty's tough words, the ministers naturally obeyed his orders. His Majesty is different from the past. In the past, one of His Majesty's edicts was deceived as soon as it left the capital. But now His Majesty actually has troops in his hands, and it is the Ming Dynasty.
Elite, no longer afraid of others.
"Forget it, let's stop talking about the tax issue here and discuss it later. Also, who is willing to go to Nanjing to support the prince?"
Zhu Ling thought for a while, I am afraid that among these people there are people from the Donglin Party. Once the issue of collecting taxes from the southeast is raised, they will definitely stop it. Even if they come down to die, they will inform the people involved in advance and find ways to deal with it. It would be better to
Let's put it aside for now, and wait until we have secured Shandong, and find some close friends to plan carefully.
When they heard that they were going to Nanjing to support the prince, several ministers couldn't help but have some thoughts in their minds. Especially about supporting the prince, they did not dare to say too much. After all, it was difficult to intervene in such matters involving the throne. But before, His Majesty had always asked the prince to go there.
Nanjing was very evasive, but today it was so determined that they couldn't help but wonder.
"I am willing to accompany His Highness the Crown Prince to Nanjing to stabilize the situation in the southeast." Li Banghua, perhaps because he was old and unwilling to bother, was the first to go out and said. He advocated the southern tour. It took a lot of effort to reach Tianjin, but it was only a short distance away from Nanjing.
It was a two-day journey, and I didn’t want to be tired after all.
"allow."
"I am also willing to go." Ling Yiqu also stood up and said that as the Minister of Rites, he would only attract people's disgust if he followed His Majesty, so why not go to Nanjing to rebuild the etiquette system.
"I only need to keep Wang Jiayan with me, and all other ministers can go to Nanjing. In addition, leave me 500,000 taels, and let the Ministry of Household Affairs take the rest to Nanjing." Finally, Zhu Ling also felt that
In view of the trouble they faced every day, he ordered most of them to take the boat to Nanjing.
Wu Linzheng, on the other hand, could never imagine why he was sent to Nanjing. He was the most loyal person to His Majesty here. When he heard His Majesty's words, he felt a little lonely. But after boarding the ship, a guard in Jinyi handed him a letter.
After reading it, I understood His Majesty's intention.
"The prince is young, and there is a serious struggle for power in Nanjing, and the queen is not allowed to take power. Today I order you to accompany the prince, protect the prince, and help him learn more about the art of the emperor, so as to stabilize the situation in the southeast in the future. The three thousand Guan Ning will be handed over to you.
In your hands, you and Gao Wencai will take command together. Remember the safety of the prince, and the situation in the southeast is entrusted to you!"
The moment he read it, his heart was filled with excitement.
After lunch, Zhu Ling and a group of people went to greet the ministers heading to Nanjing. This time when they arrived in Nanjing, Feng Kaizhang led the troops to escort him and took 3,000 Guan Ning troops to Yingtian. All the horses were carefully loaded onto the ship.
At the same time, some royal guards were sent as personal guards to protect the safety of the royal family.
Before leaving, he deliberately had a heartfelt conversation with Queen Zhou in order to untie the knot in his mind about killing her father Zhou Kui that day.
Empress Zhou was also very knowledgeable. When she learned from His Majesty's mouth that her father had committed evil deeds, was greedy for good land, and even wasted human life, she no longer defended herself for a while, but just complained about why her father was so stupid.
He bowed solemnly to Empress Zhang again. Originally, Zhu Ling was not allowed to do this as the emperor at this moment. But after all, Empress Zhang was kind to him, and it could even be said that it was a life-saving grace. He insisted on saluting, and Empress Zhang accepted it.
Already.
There were only a few children. Zhu Ling just hugged them and didn't say much. They were not his own children, so when they were alone, he actually didn't have much to say.
It wasn't until the fleet pulled anchor and set sail that he hurriedly took a few steps forward and said loudly to Zhu Cixiang, who was standing by the ship and looking at him: "I've been to Yingtian, please take care of yourself!"
…
After seeing off the fleet, the southern tour was finally more than half successful. As long as there were no big waves on the sea route, it only took a day or two to reach Nanjing, and he could finally do what he really wanted to do.
Tianjin cannot be stayed for long. Li Zicheng will sweep the entire north within three days, and Tianjin will definitely bear the brunt. On that day, he bluntly told Feng Yuanyang that Tianjin would be captured by bandits sooner or later, and asked him to quickly inform the people in the city.
In addition, burn excess ships, especially large sea-going ships, to prevent them from being captured by thieves.
Sure enough, as soon as the notice was posted, the people in the city immediately became confused. They went home to pack their luggage and planned to escape to the south. Of course, some people who had property here were naturally unwilling to leave, and some people even heard that Chuang Wang
He was very happy to be good to the people, and even scolded those ignorant people who ran away.
Naturally, people who had an inexplicable affection for the intruder could not escape the eyes of the Jin Yiwei, and they were all locked up. But after all, as the emperor, Zhu Ling also wanted to leave, so he let them all go before leaving.
"Your Majesty, Tianjin is almost an empty city now." Wang Jiayan looked at Tianjin behind him. It was prosperous a few days ago, but only two days later, many people have already left.
This situation was caused by a notice.
"Let's go, it's better than intruders coming here to recruit soldiers, grab some money, and expand their strength." Zhu Ling just looked back and then led the army to start the journey again.
This time they are going to Shandong, and the number one enemy this time is not a traitor or a foreign enemy, but his own minister, the Shandong commander-in-chief, Liu Zeqing, who was spurned by the ministers!