When Zhu Ling heard these two people asking about this matter, Zhu Ling took it seriously. Because these two people had once advocated moving south, and today they asked for a meeting at night for this matter, they must have something important to do, so he sat upright and continued: "
Li Qing and Wang Qing rushed to the palace late at night. Did they have other ideas about traveling south?"
Li Banghua glanced at Wang Jiayan beside him, knowing that he had to say this himself, he cupped his hands and said: "Your Majesty, in the past few months, you have been silent about traveling south. Even the humble ministers mentioned it, so as not to be scolded. A few days ago, you broke into the city and besieged it.
But suddenly he proposed to travel south, and I was waiting for His Majesty to think about it. I thought about it for several days and really couldn't think of anything."
"Not just the two of us, all the other ministers also expressed doubts about His Majesty's sudden move. Everyone was wondering if His Majesty could give a clear explanation?"
Wang Jiayan also stepped forward and added that the two of them had obviously prepared in advance for singing a harmony, and even a large group of people behind them were waiting for news, so they entered the palace to meet the saint in the middle of the night.
After all, the southward movement was too shocking. Since the Ming Dynasty moved its capital to Beijing, how many people have dared to write a letter about the southward move? Everyone knows the fate of several officials who wrote to the south. They were either demoted or exiled. More than that
He will also be shamed by the officials of the DPRK. For the DPRK, this behavior is simply an act of trying to live in peace and contentment.
Yu Shaobao once scolded the then official Xu Youzhen mercilessly for advocating moving to the south, saying that this was an act that would bring shame to the Ming Dynasty and disgrace the ancestors. He then fought to the death to defend Beijing, and Xu Youzhen was even more criticized.
As an official joke.
Even if he became a cabinet minister in the future, the officials and people under him would not look down upon him at all, and later generations would always regard him as a villain. The reason for this is naturally not only his death in Shaobao.
They had already anticipated the fierce rebuttal of the ministers of the DPRK and China when they proposed to move south. However, their original intention was for the continuation of the Ming Dynasty, not for their own future, wealth and life. However, at that time, His Majesty was afraid of being infamy and flatly refused, even if it was because of this.
Chen Xinjia did not regret at all even though he was sentenced to death.
But in the past few days, His Majesty actually spoke directly about the move to the south. At first, they only thought that His Majesty was acting on a whim, but judging from his successive actions in the past few days, it seems that His Majesty really had this intention. And most of the other ministers also had it when they reached such a juncture.
I wanted to move south, but I just needed a name, so I searched for the answer late at night.
Seeing the two of them looking like this, feeling uneasy, Zhu Ling had no choice but to put down what he was doing and explained to the two of them: "It was my decision to go south, not someone else's request. I had never allowed it before, but I just felt that it wasn't here yet.
At the critical moment, Wu Sangui's reinforcements were always on my mind, but when the intruders surrounded the capital, Wu Sangui's reinforcements still did not arrive. I knew that the urgency at this moment was even greater than that of the earthen fort."
"This is also a last resort. I have moved my capital here. Later generations of emperors have experienced several desperate situations and have not given up. Until the critical moment, I have no shame to say that I moved south. If I want to say that I have to bear the infamy, isn't the infamy that I have to bear not enough?
Foolishness, incompetence, and willfulness are all blamed on me!"
After listening to Zhu Ling's heartbreaking words, Li Banghua and Wang Jiayan also felt quite sad. As ministers, they did not need to consider that their ancestors had spirits in heaven. All they thought about was that the Ming Dynasty would continue and their lives and property would be preserved.
, that’s all, but often ignores His Majesty’s thoughts.
They were silent and lowered their heads, as if they were downcast.
"My move was not done in a hurry, but after careful consideration. Since you are here today, I will simply inform you of the arrangements for the next few days."
As he said that, Zhu Ling motioned to Wang Chengen to bring the paper on the table. Li and Wang were also curious. I wonder what His Majesty's arrangements are for the next few days? Why did he give it to them?
But when the two of them took the paper and scanned it, they suddenly realized it. They looked at each other and expressed great amazement at the content on it. They immediately looked up at Zhu Ling and said passionately: "Your Majesty's move is really brilliant! More than that,
He saved my Ming Dynasty and even completely eliminated the ills left by my Ming Dynasty! You are worthy of your Majesty! You can be called wise."
"You two don't need to praise me so much. You could have thought of these methods, but no one would think about it, and no one would dare to tell me. Therefore, even if you have the best ideas, they are just empty talk."
Zhu Ling spoke lightly, but his eyes showed fatigue.
"I thought that there must be an expert behind your majesty, but now it seems that it is all done by his majesty alone. This is the real master." Wang Jiayan couldn't help but praise Zhu Ling, but this man's compliments were not as usual today.
words of flattery, but words of sincerity.
"You two have got the answer, and you should be relieved. But please don't spread the above content to the outside world. There are still many traitors whose hearts belong to the intruders in this capital. It is naturally not good if something goes wrong. If you really want to say it,
, just tell them to just pack their luggage and settle down in their house in the next few days."
"Follow the Holy Orders."
The two of them couldn't hide their inner excitement and joy when they spoke, and they spoke with vibrato.
"By the way, these contents can only be told to the officials I summoned outside the palace that day. The rest of the people are not to reveal a word." Zhu Ling was afraid that the news would spread, and Li Zicheng knew the news in advance, so he did not forget to remind him before leaving.
them.
"Your Majesty, what are the arrangements for the Guan Ning Army today?" Wang Jiayan did not forget to ask about the Guan Ning Army. It was absolutely impossible for the imperial court to have such a large army stationed in Beijing, but in such a situation, they had no choice but to
remain silent.
"They have already arranged their accommodation, and I will arrange for some servants in the palace to serve them soon."
"Your Majesty has made such careful arrangements, I feel much more at ease."
"Then the two ministers resigned."
On the way, Wang Jiayan looked deep in thought. After all, he couldn't help but be tortured by his inner thoughts. He couldn't help asking: "Li Yushi, your Majesty seems to have changed a person these days. He is very different from what your Majesty once did. I don't know."
Why."
"Don't speculate on these things. As long as His Majesty is still His Majesty, we ministers should not doubt it. Unless you think that the current Holy Emperor is someone else pretending to be someone else, and there is indeed evidence to prove it, otherwise if this word reaches His Majesty's ears, the crisis of the Ming Dynasty is
After that, your crisis is about to come."
After hearing Li Banghua's somewhat shocking tone, Wang Jiayan could only smile and say nothing more. He knew that Li Banghua's personality had always been like this, so there was no need to argue with him.
As soon as the two of them left, Wang Chengen respectfully asked Zhu Ling: "Your Majesty, that slave will go now."
"Wait a minute, add another sentence."
"Your Majesty, please speak."
"Inform all provinces about the official document of this great victory and let them publicize it."
"As you command, Your Majesty."
With that said, Wang Chengen exited, and Zhu Ling was the only one left in the empty hall. Some of the eunuchs and maids who served him were kicked out by him. It was quite rare for him to be clean, and he could only have such a moment late at night.
time.
In order to sort out what has been done and what has not been done in the past few days, Guan Ning's army has arrived in the capital. In less than three days, he will lead the courtiers to leave this place and go to Nanjing to stay temporarily.
But he arranged the next trip for himself. Instead of going to Nanjing, he asked the prince to go. He mobilized part of the Guan Ning Army and sent one person to escort the queen and others to Nanjing safely. He continued to guard the north, which happened to be eradicated.
Let’s take a look at the bad customs in the North over the past few decades to prepare for the future.
The biggest headache for him now is still the biggest problem that has never changed - money.
As an emperor, especially as an emperor like Chongzhen, you can feel the importance of money every day. Military pay, food pay, pensions, rewards, etc. are all things that require money.
But at the end of the Ming Dynasty, money became extremely scarce, and taxes could not be collected at all. The taxes collected by Chongzhen were scheduled for more than ten years! How could the people survive with such a heavy burden? Not to rebel would be wrong.
The best proof of Ming Dynasty's loyalty.
However, he did not think of the people as the source of the money. If he wanted to continue the Ming Dynasty, he could only reduce taxes. Even if this had little effect, it was at least much better than increasing taxes.
Now, he has no money at all, so Wang Chengen has to raise all the funds needed to rebuild the East Factory by himself. The inner hall and the treasury only have a few thousand taels of silver, which is not even enough for a good piece of clothing.
.The proceeds from the previous house raids were given to the Bingmasi, Jinyiwei and Jingying, and 700,000 yuan was given to the intruders.
The rest was given to Guan Ning's army for rest and recuperation, and only a small part was given back to the people. Although the situation has eased a lot, it is still walking on thin ice.
It seems that this time the knife has to be used again.
[Author's digression]: I'm very grateful to all the book friends for reading these days. It really comes from the bottom of my heart. I admit that several times the writing of the articles was average and there were even typos, but everyone still didn't dislike it.
This moved me very much. The greatest success of an author is not how much money he makes from his books, but how many readers like him. Even if there are not many, he still persists.
Thank you to the two book friends Shizi and The Lifeboat of the Chaoyang for their golden ticket support! Thank you.