Not only Zhu Ling was shocked by the price of alcohol, but also Wang Jiayan Shi Kefa and others were surprised when they heard what King Lu said. As imperial officials, they are now high-ranking officials. However, their salaries are pitifully small. , only about five hundred taels. But who would have thought that such a small bottle would cost fifty taels a bottle!
In other words, their annual salary can only buy ten bottles of alcohol! Even some people present can't afford it!
Anyone else would find this extremely ridiculous, but it is true. And most people can’t buy it at such a high price!
King Lu continued without changing his expression and without a beating heart: "When the war broke out this time, I have seen the effect of the substance called alcohol, which is very effective. Generally, soldiers are injured, and although they receive timely treatment, there is still a possibility that Death, but after applying this substance, the soldiers were in some pain, but they were able to survive! When the merchants saw it, they wanted to buy it one after another. The minister then made a rule that each merchant could only buy one hundred bottles, and more than one hundred bottles were allowed to be bought. The price of each bottle is increased by one tael, but there are still many people who rely on connections to buy it.”
After King Lu finished speaking, everyone also smiled bitterly and felt helpless. At such a high price, there were still people buying it so crazily. It seems that the merchants in the Ming Dynasty were still very rich.
"Then where is the money now?" What Zhu Ling is most concerned about is where the money is. Since he handed over this matter to King Lu, he is also willing to serve the court, and he can also get military pay, which is the best of both worlds.
"Your Majesty, the money is being settled and we will deliver it in the next few days." King Lu replied respectfully.
"Everyone, judging from this matter, the merchants of Ming Dynasty are not short of money. No matter in troubled times or prosperous times, the annual income of ordinary people is not enough for them to buy something. This alone has no reason for them to protest against business taxes. !" Zhu Ling suddenly yelled, causing everyone to kneel down in shock.
"Needless to say thieves, they are just thieves. They treat merchants directly by robbing. Although I represent the imperial court and the Ming Dynasty, if there are still people who resist the imperial court at this juncture, don't blame me for being ruthless." Then, he turned his gaze. He turned to Huang Bodang and said sternly: "Huang Bodang, I order you to be the tax inspector and go and find out for me who are resisting the imperial government's national policy!"
"I obey the decree!"
Huang Bodang answered immediately.
"In addition, King Lu, please contact Wu Linzheng in Nanjing and try to open up the sales of alcohol in the south. In this way, the silver from alcohol alone can support half of the Ming Dynasty's military pay." Zhu Ling looked at Lu again. king.
"I obey the decree."
King Lu, who had been frightened by Zhu Ling just now, naturally showed fear.
"Everyone, I'm tired. You can discuss the matters after the war among yourselves. Just hand me a note when the time comes. I'm a little tired, so I'm going to have a rest." After that, with Wang Chengen's support, he left from behind. .
The remaining ministers also withdrew one after another. Although there were many unresolved matters today, after all, His Majesty had left, so they could only retreat to discuss it first, and then discuss it again at the court meeting.
After leaving the palace, Zhu Dadian stopped Shi Kefa on the way and said that he had something to discuss. It happened that Shi Kefa had nothing to do when he returned, so he went to a restaurant with him. The two opened a private room and ordered wine and side dishes. After the child left, Zhu Dadian spoke.
"Shi Shangshu, since the Battle of Yanzhou ended a few days ago, the Ming Dynasty has been relatively stable. Although the Northern Expedition is still very difficult, your Majesty probably doesn't plan to do the Northern Expedition for the time being." Zhu Dadian filled the glasses for the two of them. Tsukuru said casually. Apart from some blood, all the wine he ordered today was the best in the restaurant.
Seemingly seeing Zhu Dadian's thoughts, Shi Kefa said calmly: "That should be the case. Although the situation is better than before, it is still not optimistic. Our country does not have the strength for the Northern Expedition, so why should we do it? Okay?
Are we going to squander the easily established army of 100,000?"
"If we don't go to the Northern Expedition, then the next step is to stay in Shandong?" Zhu Dadian looked at Shi Kefa closely and wondered. From his point of view, he has now gained such an advantage and his morale has been greatly boosted. If he can take advantage of the situation to pursue, he will
The recovery of Shandong will certainly be out of the question.
On the contrary, Shi Kefa just smiled indifferently and continued: "Do you really think that the Chuang Army only has these 100,000 troops? They are just here to attack Shandong. If Li Zicheng's entire army is included, there are probably 800,000 troops. Besides,
Our government has surrendered all the way, and the number of soldiers surrendered alone is hundreds of thousands. Doesn't this just increase the strength of the intruders? The imperial army only has 100,000 troops, and we must not take such a risk."
"Oh, it's a pity that this victory only allowed us to defend the city." Zhu Dadian sighed, somewhat unwillingly.
"Of course you generals want to fight more wars and make achievements, but what we are looking at is the overall situation. Right now, Zhang Xianzhong has entered Sichuan. If Chengdu falls, Sichuan will almost be lost." Shi Kefa looked worried, but felt sad in his heart.
The great cause of restoring the country is becoming increasingly weak, and it is inevitable to be upset. "I think your Majesty wants to stabilize Shandong. After wiping out Zhang Xianzhong first, he will then attack Li Zicheng."
"Then it would be better to abandon Shandong and concentrate all our forces in the southwest." Zhu Dadian was not satisfied with this arrangement and immediately said with some displeasure.
"What do you know?" Shi Kefa glared at him and said, "Have you forgotten that there is the capital and Wu Sangui in the north? It goes without saying that the status of the capital is in the hearts of the people in the world. Once it falls, it means that the imperial court is gone. And if Wu Sangui died in battle or
They surrendered to the enemy and established slaves to enter the customs. Not only Li Zicheng, but also the Ming Dynasty was very weak against them!"
"Then if you want to wipe out Zhang Xianzhong, what about Shandong?"
"There must be someone guarding it."
"Who will His Majesty ask to guard Shandong?" Zhu Dadian was a little nervous. After all, His Majesty had just appointed him as the Inspector of Shandong a few days ago. This kind of thing happened to fall on him.
"Let someone who knows the military and is loyal guard it."
…
King Lu's Hall
Zhu Ling wrote something on the imperial desk, but he didn't like it, so he just wrote and threw it away. Wang Chengen on the side took the trouble to pick it up, put it aside, and then stood aside again.
At the end, even he himself didn't know how many times he wrote, and Wang Chengen didn't know how many times he bent down before he stopped.
"What's bothering you, Your Majesty?" Wang Cheng'en chose to ask when Zhu Ling finished writing. On the one hand, he didn't bother him, but on the other hand, he was concerned.
"I have deduced here many times, but failed every time." Zhu Ling was really depressed. What he actually wanted in his heart was to kill Zhang Xianzhong first, regain his generals, and then come back to encircle and suppress Li Zicheng. But Li Zicheng acted according to what he wanted.
We will never give up our occupation of Shandong.
After that, he will definitely attack Shandong on a large scale, and Jiannu also has wolf ambitions. If Shanhaiguan is blocked, he can enter from Mongolia. Li Zicheng will definitely not be able to hold on all the way to the Central Plains. But if this is the case, the final situation will still become history.
Just like that, the Ming Dynasty occupied the south, and the slaves stepped over Li Zicheng with iron hoofs, and then the troops went straight to Nanjing!
He could not guarantee that the Ming Dynasty at that time could stop Jiannu. After all, his own strength alone was not enough to fight against him.
"Why does Your Majesty insist on wiping out Zhang Xianzhong? We are far away from the bandit, and besides, we managed to defend Yanzhou. Once we divide our troops to attack the bandits in Sichuan, what if the intruders attack?" Wang Cheng'en didn't understand Zhu Ling's thoughts and said blankly.
"Zhang Xianzhong has several adopted sons, and they are all brave generals. One of them even has the style of a commander. If they can be recruited to surrender, the power of the imperial court will be greatly increased, and Li Zicheng naturally does not have to worry. Even if Jian Jian
Even if the slaves attack, Ming Dynasty still has the strength to fight, which is enough to show the strength of those few people."
After saying this, Wang Chengen couldn't help but pay attention to Zhang Xianzhong's adopted son.
"Actually, Your Majesty can go to Nanjing." He immediately said: "The southwest and Shandong are the farthest apart in terms of location. And Nanjing is really conveniently located in the middle. It can not only command the war in Shandong, but also monitor the situation in the southwest. After all, there are still people in the southwest.
The problem of military pay for our imperial army is not as serious as that of the frontier army. Secondly, Nanjing is now turbulent, and your Majesty will be able to suppress it if you go."
"What's the matter?" Zhu Ling heard what Wang Chengen meant and immediately turned to look at him.
Wang Chengen was also very nimble. He immediately took out the secret fold from his sleeve and handed it to Zhu Ling.
Zhu Ling opened it and took a look. After a few glances, he was extremely shocked by the contents. Then he dropped the secret fold on the case and his eyes became cold. At this moment, thoughts of murder filled his heart.
"Your Majesty, this matter has been going on for several days. But because of the war, in order not to disturb Your Majesty, I didn't say anything, and it has been postponed until now." Wang Chengen knew that His Majesty was really angry, and his voice dropped a lot.
"Are you sure this is true?"
"My slave will guarantee it with my life!" Wang Chengen immediately knelt down and said loudly.
"A group of rebellious ministers!" Zhu Ling roared and stood up immediately: "Xuan Wang Jiayan, Shi Kefa, and Zhu Dadian came quickly to discuss the matter."