Following the little eunuch while walking slowly in the imperial garden, Pang Gang discovered a strange thing, that is, there were very few eunuchs and maids along the way. Pang Gang actually felt a hint of decline in this originally warm spring season.
.
Pang Gang, who felt strange in his heart, couldn't help but ask: "May I ask this father-in-law? I found that many places in the imperial garden were not cleaned during my trip. Could it be that the father-in-law in charge just ignores it?"
Hearing this, the young eunuch smiled bitterly and said: "General, you don't know. The emperor is a diligent and frugal emperor. In order to raise money for the army, the emperor's hair has turned gray. In recent years, the emperor has repeatedly reduced the palace's expenses. Now the palace
There are already less than a thousand people here, and such a small amount of manpower is only enough to serve as servants in some important places. How can we take care of everyone one by one."
Pang Gang nodded after hearing this. It seems that the rumors in later generations that Chongzhen was the most frugal emperor in the Ming Dynasty were not false. This can be seen from the fact that he reduced the expenses in the palace and dismissed a large number of eunuchs and maids.
While they were talking, the two of them had arrived at a small pavilion, and Chongzhen was sitting on a stone bench.
The young eunuch led Pang Gang to the small pavilion and said respectfully: "To report to the emperor, I have been ordered to bring Dingyuan General Pang Gang to see you."
Chongzhen nodded. Upon seeing this, the young eunuch immediately made a gesture of invitation to Pang Gang. Pang Gang strode into the small pavilion, lifted his official uniform, knelt down on one knee and saluted: "Wei Chen, General Dingyuan, Commander of Qingzhou
Envoy, lead Pang Gang, the general of the three states on the east road, to see the emperor."
Chongzhen raised his hand and said softly: "I love you!"
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
Looking at Pang Gang who was standing respectfully aside, Chongzhen pointed to the stone bench beside him and said, "Aiqing, please sit down too."
Pang Gang bowed and sat on the stone bench next to him. At this time, he finally had the opportunity to carefully look at the last king of the Ming Dynasty. At this time, he no longer had the majesty he had when he went to court in the morning. His face was pale and
His face was full of exhaustion, and even the smile looking at Pang Gang had a hint of loneliness.
Soon two palace maids brought two food boxes, and soon there were four dishes and one soup on the stone table. A bowl of white rice and bowls and chopsticks were placed in front of them.
Chongzhen picked up the chopsticks and said to Pang Gang: "I heard that Aiqing resettled and gathered refugees in Qingzhou and made great achievements in reclaiming wasteland. Yesterday, I saw Aiqing's heroic appearance of fighting the enemy bravely. I was very relieved. Today is special
Give a banquet to show your appreciation."
Pang Gang looked at the two meats, two vegetables and one soup in front of him, and couldn't help but shake his head and said: "Your Majesty, you are so frugal, the palace will never shorten your food and clothing expenses."
Chongzhen smiled bitterly and said: "There is no way. Silver is used everywhere now. Jiubian needs five million taels of military pay a year, and the imperial court's annual tax is only four million. If I don't save money, how can I still have money?"
Pay it to the soldiers of Jiubian."
Pang Gang was speechless after hearing this. Today's Ming Dynasty is not without money, but very rich. It's just that the money is hidden in the cellars of the wealthy gentry in Jiangnan. During the Ming Dynasty, especially at the end of the Ming Dynasty, the industry and commerce in Jiangnan achieved unprecedented development.
Development, and even the prototype of capitalism appeared. The wealth of merchants and gentry with a little wealth was hundreds of thousands or millions. But why were the households in the Ming Dynasty still so poor? Because there was a "strange phenomenon" in the late Ming Dynasty.
” - Any country’s policy of strengthening control over private economic activities, and any country’s attempt to increase industrial and commercial taxation, will inevitably be resolutely and unanimously resisted by the Donglin Party, the spokesperson of their interests in the court. Moreover, such boycott activities will
Almost without exception, they succeeded, and such success further convinced them of their correctness. "Don't compete with the people for profits, hide wealth from the people" has almost become their invincible theoretical magic weapon.
"What they mean is that if your country wants to develop, it can only focus on agriculture. If you want to increase agricultural taxes, you can discuss it. If you want to increase industrial and commercial taxes, don't even think about it! "Don't talk about benefits, just talk about justice."
, those are all words spoken to the national government and the emperor, which means that your government and your emperor only need to talk about justice. Talking about benefits is not good and it is disgraceful!
Originally, the business tax in the Ming Dynasty was already very low, only one-thirtieth. If this tax rate were to be used in later generations, all businessmen would go crazy. However, even such a low tax rate was still too high in the eyes of those Donglin Party members.
So after years of unremitting efforts, even one-thirtieth of the tax was finally exempted. In the end, the court became poorer and poorer, and finally the entire country was lost.
However, the irony is that in 1644, when the Chuang King Li Zicheng led his bandit army to conquer Beijing, the thirty-five-year-old Emperor Chongzhen asked the eunuchs to ring the bell to summon officers and soldiers to serve the king in a state of emergency. But those who usually served in the court
No one from the impassioned Donglin Party showed up, and they had long since dispersed. Only the eunuch Wang Chengen was with him. He was truly alone and hanged from a locust tree in Meishan, north of the Forbidden City.
When Chongzhen was hanged, the eunuch commented: "If Wei Zhongxian was still alive, the world would not be like this."
The comment of the civil servants was: "It is unethical for a single man to be the head of the family!"
However, Emperor Chongzhen’s evaluation was: I am not the king of the subjugation of the country, but all my ministers are the ministers of the subjugation of the country.
Looking at the emperor who was already white-haired when he was not yet thirty years old, Pang Gang opened his mouth and thought about what he wanted to say, but then he thought of the indiscriminate killing, suspicion, greed for money, harsh government, and stupidity of Chongzhen in later generations.
Although the evaluations of many other subjugated kings may not be absolutely correct, it is absolutely correct to summarize Chongzhen’s life with the four words “powerless”. The Ming Dynasty is now a terminally ill patient, and anyone who wants to save it is definitely not wrong.
Everyone in this dynasty will be dragged into the endless abyss by him.
Thinking of this, Pang Gang silently swallowed the words in his heart. He ate the white rice in the bowl without saying a word. After a while, Pang Gang ate all the rice in the bowl. He refused the palace maid's gift.
Pang Gang, who was adding food to his meal, stood up and saluted Chongzhen again to express his gratitude to the emperor for the banquet.
Chongzhen put down his bowl and chopsticks, looked at Pang Gang with encouragement in his eyes and said in a warm voice: "After returning this time, I hope you can stabilize the situation on Shandong East Road, and you must live up to my wishes."
Even though Pang Gang already knew the fate of the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty, he couldn't help but feel a little moved in his heart. He bowed and solemnly replied word for word: "Your Majesty, please rest assured. I am wrongly loved by your Majesty. I am grateful to you. It is my duty to protect the country and the people."
I have responsibilities, how dare I fail to do my best?"
A smile appeared on Chongzhen's tired face: "That's good! Please step back."
"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Pang Gang bowed and silently stepped back a few steps before being led by a young eunuch and walking back.
When Pang Gang and the little eunuch just walked out of the imperial garden, three palace maids happened to come from the front, headed by a girl of twelve or thirteen years old in palace clothes. The little eunuch immediately led Pang Gang to stand
Waiting for the palace maids to pass by on the roadside, but when the palace maid passed by Pang Gang, her sharp eyes turned to Pang Gang, and Miaoman's figure stopped. The little eunuch did not dare to neglect, and hurried
He saluted and said: "This slave has met Princess Kunxing and Princess Jin'an!"
"No gift!"
Pang Gang, who was standing on the roadside with his head lowered following the little eunuch, heard a crisp voice. Pang Gang looked up and saw a graceful and graceful girl standing in front of him. Listening to her words, her voice was like pearls.
It was both soft and crisp, and extremely pleasant to the ear. Pang Gang took a closer look at her and saw that she looked innocent, playful and naughty, with flushed cheeks. Although she was young, she had a beautiful face and an elegant demeanor. She was really more beautiful than in the painting.
The one who walked down was even more beautiful, with such a handsome and impeccable character as a pearl.
Pang Gang was moved in his heart and thought to himself: "Is this Zhu Ainao, the former Princess of Kunxing in the Ming Dynasty, who was known as Princess Changping in later generations? I didn't expect that she would be so beautiful at such a young age."
There are many legends about Princess Changping in the late Ming Dynasty. For example, it is said that she was the master of the famous heroes Gan Fengchi, Bai Taiguan, Lu Siniang and others during the Yongzheng period. The master Jin of later generations was also his master. This princess was also mentioned many times in the novel. But Pang Gang knew that the real fact was that the beautiful Princess Kunxing first fell into the hands of Li Zicheng after Beijing was conquered by Li Zicheng, and later fell into the hands of the Manchu and Qing court. In less than a year, she died of illness due to excessive longing for her parents. The poet Wu Weiye once wrote "Elegy for Princess Siling" for her: "Your Majesty's voice is beautiful, the previous dynasty has a bright destiny, and the great writings are spread far and near, and she is mourning. Rise and Fall".
Faced with such a bleak life experience, Pang Gang, the last princess of the Ming Dynasty, was filled with emotion. He hurriedly bowed and said: "Pang Gang, commander of the Qingzhou capital of General Dingyuan, has met Princess Kunxing."
Princess Zhu Aiao of Kunxing blushed and said to Pang Gang: "It turns out that General Dingyuan, I and I also saw the heroic figure of the general fighting with the Tatars at the top of the city yesterday. General Gao Yi and I admire you very much. Please accept this. I pay my respects to you!"
After saying this, Zhu Aona bowed and saluted Pang Gang. Upon seeing this, Pang Gang quickly bowed back and even claimed that he did not dare.
After seeing the ceremony, Zhu Yulao asked curiously: "General Pang, aren't you afraid that you are in such danger when fighting the Tatars?"
Pang Gang was stunned for a moment before replying: "I want the princess to know that if you say you are not afraid, it would be a lie. However, the situation was critical at that time. As a general with a thousand households, it is the duty of a general to lead the army. Otherwise, all the soldiers under his command will be the same." If you follow this example, won’t it lead to chaos?”
Zhu Yuyao was silent for a long time, and a trace of sadness appeared on her innocent face, and she said sadly: "I have learned a lesson. It is not easy to be a general or a king!"
Listening to Zhu Yushuo's rather mature words despite her young age, Pang Gang took a deep look at her and said softly: "Princess, if you have nothing important to say, I will leave."
Zhu Yasuo nodded and walked forward with the two palace maids, leaving only a faint fragrance...