After Sun Chuanting coerced Xi'an officials and gentry to donate 170,000 taels in salary, he recruited 5,000 young people from Yulin and ordered his generals to train them. He then led the Futai expedition to inspect various prefectures and counties.
When they arrived at a post station in the east of Huaxian County, Sun Chuanting sent an order to stop at this post station. This post station was said to be a post station, but it had been abandoned for a long time. The conditions inside the station were extremely poor. The accompanying officials hurriedly sent people to clean up. They also sent people to find the local people.
Li is coming.
They had just packed up the inn and were about to check in when Chuan Ting was about to check in. However, a general came from Hua County, and it was Lieutenant General Luo Xueqi.
"Last General Luo Xueqi has met Lord Futai!"
"No need to be polite!"
Sun Chuanting responded insincerely and went straight into the inn. Luo Xueqi saw that something was wrong and hurriedly followed him, saying: "Your Majesty, the saddle and horse are tired. Let's rest first, and then we will go and have dinner."
"You should calm down first," Sun Chuanting said, "I have something to ask you."
"Sir, please speak."
"I have been walking along the road and I have seen that most of the fields in Hua County are abandoned. Let me ask you, how many fields in Hua County are abandoned?"
"This... I can't answer, but Futai wants to ask the people who know the truth." Luo Xueqi shouted outside, "Is the local leader here?"
The waiter outside the door was busy opening the curtain and coming in, "Please give me your instructions."
"My lord, I would like to ask you, how many abandoned fields are there in the territory?" Luo Xueqi asked.
"I don't know if it's far away. I only know that the ones near my hometown are 10% worse and 45% better."
"Isn't there a shortage of food?" Sun Chuanting asked.
"This is a blessed land, how come there is no shortage of food?"
"Then why not farm?"
"There are no cows."
"No cow? Why no cow?"
"Some were stolen, and the stolen cattle were either sold or slaughtered and eaten. The ones that were not stolen were also sold for profit."
"Selling cattle for fear of being stolen? No longer farming?"
"What kind of land are you farming? Ma Hu's servants are very demanding and miserable! The villagers can't bear the hard work, so they sell their cattle, abandon the land, and run away. But if they run away, the taxes and grain are still there, and the others in the household who didn't run away will have to suffer the consequences.
The household couldn't bear the compensation and ran away, so the relatives paid the compensation, and the relatives also ran away, so Benli sat there to pay the compensation, so the entire village abandoned their households and fled."
"If you have a farm and abandon your home, why don't you sell the farm and run away instead of abandoning your home?"
"It is precisely because we have the fields that we have to suffer from the labor. Once we buy the fields, the labor comes. Even if we pay all the harvest for the year, it is not enough to pay taxes. What's more, there are still labor. If there is another disaster year, how can we survive? So?
They have all escaped, but whoever has not escaped has the money to buy it, even the rich and big ones don’t dare to buy it!”
Sun Chuanting turned to Luo Xuequi, "Don't the state and county governments know about this situation?"
Luo Xueqi shook his head, "Most of the officials came from Gongju. Life here is difficult, and it is difficult to get promoted as an official here. Therefore, it is either greed or whipping to force the food to be finished. Moreover, there are many shortcomings in the yamen, and officials, big and small, are aware of it.
We are unable to eliminate the accumulated disadvantages and only seek to protect ourselves. How can we have time to take care of the fleeing households and the desolation of the fields? Therefore, even though we know that the people are complaining, we still pretend to be deaf and dumb."
"This is a thoroughfare, and there should be Fudao passing by it all the time. Could it be that no one asked about it, are they all blind?"
"My lord, the emperor said when he came to the throne, 'We have to send more troops to conquer the country. Recently, some commanders have repeatedly knocked on the bones and sucked out the marrow in order to achieve success!' The emperor knows it well! Every time the expedition comes, those people who cannot pay on time will be punished.
Being shackled by the shackles, not ceasing to follow the path, whipped and beaten, and called to justice. The emperor wants money, but he turns a blind eye. Who dares to talk in front of the emperor?"
"As more troops were added, a large number of people fled, and the burden was passed on to those who did not escape, so more and more people fled. The result was that the court eventually lost tax revenue and gained an army of rebels!" Sun Chuanting took a deep breath, "General Luo
, Not counting Lord Hong’s army, how many troops are there in the original garrison in Xi’an Prefecture?”
Luo Xueqi gave a wry smile and said, "There are twenty-four thousand on the roster, but in reality it is less than half. The rest are just fake, just pretending to be paid."
After hearing this, Sun Chuanting was silent, and then said after a while: "The severity of this disaster is beyond my expectation! I now understand why Xiang Sheng was appointed as the prime minister of the five provinces and failed to make three accurate remarks. It seems that the only reason is that Qin Bing
Defend the land of Qin, use the land of Qin to support the troops of Qin, and suppress thieves and organize them at the same time."
............
The capital is very noisy.
After Zhou Yanru returned to the prime minister, he excluded dissidents, favored Donglin Party members, and dismissed non-Donglin officials. For a time, there was a dispute between the north and the south in the court. In the south, there were Donglin Party members, and in the north, there were non-Donglin officials. Later, there were
The "Twenty-four Gas" case was exposed. The so-called "Twenty-Four Gas" was actually a mockery of the twenty-four officials, using the words "murderous gas", "stick gas", "violent gas", "yin gas", "
Attributive words such as "demon spirit" were added to the names of those Donglin officials who were listed, followed by nicknames such as "two-headed snake" and "grey ground snake". The compiler of the list took great pains to deliberately muddy the water.
, attacked both the "Northern Party" figures and the "Southern Party" figures, instigating mutual suspicion between them. Chongzhen had always opposed ministers forming cliques and fighting each other. For this reason, he issued a special edict after the 24th Gas incident.
Severely condemn officials and do not encourage this trend.
Jiang Cai, who was the public official in the matter of Li Ke, thought that the emperor's condemnation of them was influenced by the "Twenty-four Qi", so he criticized the emperor impassionedly. He said: The emperor has been cultivating himself recently and warned Yan
Don’t you hate being an official? Because you attach great importance to Yanguan, your requirements are particularly high. There are also loyal and loyal figures like Jia Yi of the Han Dynasty among Yanguan. Perhaps they were too impatient in their speeches and did not understand the emperor’s intentions.
, this is of course Yan Guan's fault. As for what the Emperor said, Yan Guan "comes out on behalf of others," I dare not say that there is absolutely no such thing, but most Yan Guan is not like this. What did the Emperor hear before he said this?
Maybe I saw something from the memorial, or maybe I just made an occasional guess and said this? Rumors about the "Twenty-Four Qi" have become very popular recently. It must be the treacherous officials in power who hate the officials who are unfavorable to them, and deliberately spread rumors and attempt to exaggerate.
Their statement aroused the emperor's anger, and used the emperor's anger to silence the officials. If the emperor cannot see through their conspiracy, then the officials will not dare to speak in the future. Who will discuss world affairs for His Majesty?
Chongzhen was still blaming himself for the burning of Fengyang's ancestral mausoleum. The purpose of issuing the "Edict of Sin" was to hope that ministers would share the responsibility with him, work together to tide over the difficulties, and that he wanted Zhou Yanru to be reinstated as prime minister. He also wanted to achieve something for the government.
After the improvement, I definitely don’t hope that the court will continue to have constant party disputes as before. You attack me, I attack you. In the end, it is the Ming Dynasty that will be destroyed, and it is him, the emperor!
Jiang Cai's groundless speculations and unfounded criticisms naturally made Chongzhen, who was already in a bad mood, furious. He issued an imperial edict without any explanation, condemning Jiang Cai for daring to question the emperor's edict. His contempt for the imperial court was intolerable and he should be arrested immediately instead of surrendering.
It was handled by the Ministry of Punishment, but Jin Yiwei, who had been silent for five or six years, was asked to interrogate.
In order to combat this trend of forming cliques for personal gain and attacking each other by looking for evidence, Chongzhen clearly instructed Jin Yiwei: Jiang Cai's crime was particularly serious. When he saw anonymous documents such as "Twenty-Four Spirits", he should destroy them immediately. Why did he spread them repeatedly in the memorial? He must be asked to do so. Tell me honestly what your motive is.
At this time, Xiong Kaiyuan, a member of the Donglin Party who served as deputy director of the Xingren Department, also submitted a memorial to the emperor, echoing Jiang Cai and falsely accusing the emperor of suppressing their public speaking.
After Chongzhen saw Xiong Kaiyuan's memorial, he ordered him to be imprisoned in Fusi Prison in Jinyiwei Town without saying a word, and asked Jinyiwei to command Luo Yangxing to secretly kill Jiang and Xiong in prison. The young emperor was already affected by these words. The noisy officials made me upset and upset. Since I came to the throne, whenever I go to court, there are always those who help the officials to find trouble. They either agree with the party and oppose the dissidents or criticize the emperor indiscriminately in order to gain a clear reputation. He asked them to do something serious, but they couldn't get anything done. They looked like a bunch of crows. Chongzhen had had enough, and he decided to use this time to punish Yan Guan.
The emperor issued a secret order, so Luo Yangxing naturally did not dare to act hastily. He discussed countermeasures with a group of colleagues of the Jinyiwei, but his colleagues reminded him that the former commanders of the Jinyiwei, Tian Ergeng and Xu Xianchun, died for killing Donglin Party members. We must learn from this lesson. In case the Donglin Party counterattacks, the current Jinyiwei base is no match for them. Kuang Chief Assistant Zhou Yanru is the leader of the Donglin Party. If they are ordered to kill these two As an official in Donglin, can Zhou Yanru let Jin Yiwei go?
Luo Yangxing was scared. It was ridiculous. He was not afraid of the emperor but was afraid of the Donglin Party. Instead of carrying out the emperor's secret decree, he revealed the secret decree to the official Liao Guolin, who in turn revealed it to his colleague Cao Liangzhi. These two people They are all Donglin Party members.
Cao Liangzhi did not believe that the emperor would issue such a secret edict and publicly impeach Luo Yangxing. This was an act of "becoming too king". It was impossible for His Majesty to issue such a secret edict. It was obviously a false accusation and slander. To say the least, even if there was such a thing, it would not be possible. It should not be leaked. He asked the emperor to immediately execute Luo Yangxing and Xiong Kaiyuan. Chongzhen was afraid of making the matter bigger, so he withheld the memorial without comment, did not send it to the cabinet, and let it go.
In fact, although Xiong Kaiyuan was a member of the Donglin Party, his conviction had a lot to do with Zhou Yanru. When Xiong Kaiyuan was the magistrate of Wujiang County, he admired Zhang Pu's intellectual reputation and strongly supported the restoration of society and held a conference in Wujiang County, which was quite popular. Famous people in the south of the Yangtze River loved him and praised him for "governing with articles and classics" and "knowing people and being a good scholar". After Zhou Yanru came back, he was promoted from a local official to a capital official.
After all, Xingrensi was an idle errand, and he hoped to be promoted. It happened that Guanglu Temple was short of staff, so he asked Zhou Yanru to "tongzi", hoping to get this lucrative position. For some unknown reason, Zhou Yanru did not help him get this job done. , causing his boss to be unhappy.
It happened that Chongzhen wanted ministers to make suggestions on how to encircle and suppress the bandits in the Central Plains. Xiong Kaiyuan wanted to take this opportunity to win the favor of the emperor, so he enthusiastically signed up and was soon called into the palace to express his opinions to the emperor. Xiong Kaiyuan originally wanted to impeach Zhou Yanru for his incompetent governance, but when he saw that When Zhou Yanru stood next to the emperor, he was too embarrassed to speak ill of him to his face, so he gave some perfunctory military opinions.
Two days later, Xiong Kaiyuan once again requested the emperor to summon him. Chongzhen summoned him and his cabinet ministers in Yude Hall. When Xiong Kaiyuan saw Zhou Yanru's presence, he said unceremoniously: "If the emperor is not secretive, he will lose his ministers, and if the minister is not secretive, he will lose his ministers."
**, please assist me to temporarily withdraw."
Zhou Yanru and other assistant ministers repeatedly expressed their intention to avoid it, but Chongzhen disagreed and asked Xiong Kaiyuan to speak out in front of the assistant ministers.
Xiong Kaiyuan had no choice but to bite the bullet and said: "Your Majesty has been seeking great order in the world for eight years, but the world has become increasingly chaotic. There must be a reason."
Chongzhen asked: "What's the reason?"
Xiong Kaiyuan said: "The focus of today's planning is to solve the problem of military pay and quell foreign aggression and internal strife. If you put the cart before the horse, even if you go day and night without eating or sleeping, it is impossible to achieve great governance in the world. Since His Majesty ascended to the throne, there have been dozens of ministers in the cabinet, but
His Majesty said they were worthy, and the left and right said they were worthy, but the feudal officials and the people did not necessarily say they were worthy. The emperor appointed them as his confidants, and those mediocre people in high positions, one after another, have caused natural disasters that have never happened so far.
There are signs of stopping. By the time the officials expose their crimes and the emperor punishes them, the politics will be hopelessly corrupted."
Chongzhen realized what Xiong Kaiyuan meant by his words, and understood that he was insinuating towards Zhou Yanru, but he deliberately pretended to be confused and asked: "Is there anyone in your mind who you would like to recommend?"
"I don't have it!"
Xiong Kaiyuan immediately denied it, but could not hide his inner secret. He looked down at Zhou Yanru while talking.
Zhou Yanru was such a smart person. He had already seen the signs and immediately appealed to the emperor and asked to resign from the post of chief assistant.
Yanru has only been in office for a few days this week. Can Chongzhen let him go? He said: "It is my fault that the world is not in order. It has nothing to do with you and others."
After hearing this, Xiong Kaiyuan raised his voice and said: "Your Majesty wants the ministers to tell the truth, but the ministers of the cabinet are standing by, who dares to express different opinions and suffer disaster! Besides, the former ministers imposed excessive taxes and attacked loyalty, but now the ministers pursue virtuous government
, releasing prisoners, reducing taxes, citing honorable men, it’s just an occasional sigh of injustice.”
These words were obviously not true, but he just did not dare to say them in front of Zhou Yanru. Chongzhen knew that Xiong Kaiyuan still had something to say, so after thinking about it for a moment, he asked him to step aside and go back to write a memorial and submit it.