() "This, Your Majesty, is not there yet. The imperial doctor said it was just an unconscious behavior." Wang Chengen disappointed Emperor Chongzhen, but he immediately added: "But he is probably not far away from waking up."
"Well, it's better than before. Send a message and ask the imperial doctor and that Archie to serve him wholeheartedly and try to get Zhong Jinwei to wake up as soon as possible."
Emperor Chongzhen knew that he was happy too early, and he also understood that it would not be possible to recover immediately, after all, the poison was so strong.
"Your Majesty, it's time to go have a meal." Wang Chengen reminded.
Emperor Chongzhen then remembered that he had not eaten dinner yet, so he set out to eat.
The late night of winter enveloped Beijing City, and except for some necessary places, everyone was plunged into darkness.
"Kill!" Jianlu said with a ferocious face as he stormed to the top of the capital city with overwhelming force. The Ming troops defending the city walls were as if they were made of paper and had no resistance at all.
Emperor Chongzhen ran and shouted: "Help, help!..."
However, no one paid attention to him, and everyone ran faster than him.
Emperor Chongzhen finally ran to an open place and found a cavalry waiting there, with the word "Yuan" written on a large flag fluttering in the wind.
At this time, Jianlu caught up again, and Emperor Chongzhen hurriedly ran towards the cavalry, waving as he ran: "Yuan Aiqing, come and save me, come and save me."
When the cavalry saw Emperor Chongzhen running towards him, they turned around and ran away, which made him feel desperate.
Suddenly, another Ming army appeared nearby, dressed in ragged clothes, looking at Emperor Chongzhen. Just as he was about to ask them to come to rescue him, the group of Ming soldiers suddenly surrounded him, each one stretching out his hand and shouting: "
Silver, silver..."
"Ah!" Emperor Chongzhen sat up from the bed suddenly. After a while, he realized that he was dreaming just now. But the dream was so clear, and Emperor Chongzhen remembered every detail in it clearly.
Concubine Tian was accompanying her tonight. She was awakened by Emperor Chongzhen. Looking at Emperor Chongzhen's look, she knew she was having a nightmare. She soon noticed the sweat on his forehead and quickly took out the silk scarf beside the bed to wipe Emperor Chongzhen's sweat.
Emperor Chongzhen remained motionless, letting Concubine Tian wipe his sweat. After a while, he sighed.
At this time, the chamberlains and maids were alerted and rushed over.
Emperor Chongzhen waved to them: "It's okay, what time is it now?"
The waiter on duty carefully replied: "Yin Shi San Qi."
Emperor Chongzhen thought it was better to get up, as he usually got up at about this time.
After sitting in the study room, he took a copy of "Zi Zhi Tong Jian" and started reading it, but soon became distracted. That dream was so terrifying. The Jianlu were so tyrannical, but the army they relied on was so useless. Could it be that, could it be that
Do I really want to be the king of the kingdom?
Thinking of the pair of hands reaching out to him in the dream: Yinzi, Yinzi's shouting seemed to be in his ears. He couldn't help but sigh, Yinzi, I wish I had a cornucopia.
After a long time, I woke up from my deep thoughts and looked at the sky. It was almost time for deliberation. I wonder if there has been any result on the matter that I asked the Ministry of Revenue and the Cabinet to discuss yesterday.
As usual, it was still in the Wenhua Hall, and the cabinet and the six ministers were all present.
Although Sun Chengzong, Minister of the Ministry of War, is sixty-seven years old and arrived at the capital just last night, he can't see any impact of these factors on the old man now. He is in really good health.
On the contrary, Bi Ziyan, the Minister of the Ministry of Finance, was a little mentally weak.
But now is not the time for everyone to ask questions. Emperor Chongzhen first asked if there was a conclusion to what was discussed yesterday.
Everyone was silent for a while, but Bi Ziyan came out and said: "Your Majesty, ministers, we discussed for a long time last night and coordinated with various parties. It is estimated that the current silver in the court is only enough to provide food and fodder for an army of 300,000 people for a month.
Not counting the impact of the skyrocketing food prices in the capital."
"Where's the salary?" Emperor Chongzhen asked with a frown.
Bi Ziyan was a bit speechless, but now he had to say: "Your Majesty, I wonder if some of the internal funds should be used for emergency purposes."
"What?" Emperor Chongzhen was unhappy when he heard such a bad idea: "The previous few military payouts have already drained my internal funds, and now my treasury is full of rats!!!"
Emperor Chongzhen felt a little aggrieved when he saw these ministers just standing there and saying nothing, as if they thought he still had a lot of internal money: "Since I came to the throne, Dabao, I have canceled all kinds of taxes as you said, but I take this position.
At that time, the national treasury was already empty, and military expenses alone could not make ends meet. Need I say this?"
After a pause, he continued: "It's ridiculous to say that. Fortunately, I got a lot of silver from the investigation of Wei Zhongxian. I just made do with it in the past two years, and my salary was reduced by 10%."
"If you still don't believe it, let me calculate the account for you. The palace's annual income is about one million taels, including gold flowers and silver and light silver for the harem. But the expenses are very large: eunuchs, servants, Dongchang,
There are about 100,000 royal guards, 9,000 maids, 81,900 in the capital camp, and the salaries and silver of the distinguished clansmen in the capital, all of which come from the palace. Do your calculations, one million is enough.
If it’s not enough, it will be like the national treasury, which will be in deficit every year!”
"I know, but there is still a way." Bi Ziyan's voice became smaller and smaller.
Emperor Chongzhen was overjoyed after hearing this. It was a good thing to have a way. Why did his voice become lower and lower as he spoke, as if he was doing something wrong?
"As long as there is a way, come quickly."
"Your Majesty, please abolish Dongchang and Jinyiwei, so that some silver can be used."
"What? Say it again." When Emperor Chongzhen heard this, he felt a rush of blood rushing to his forehead and his eyes turned red.
Bi Ziyan didn't dare to speak anymore and knelt down.
"You are trying to force me into the palace! Do you really think that I am made of clay?" Emperor Chongzhen's hands were shaking. When he saw a bunch of memorials on the imperial table, he grabbed them and threw them at Bi Ziyan.
The other cabinet ministers and the minister knelt down together: "Your Majesty, calm down!"
Bi Ziyan raised his head and looked at Emperor Chongzhen and said: "Your Majesty, I am selfless and only care about state affairs. It is really difficult to raise money at the moment."
Emperor Chongzhen looked at Bi Ziyan's two panda eyes and understood that he probably stayed up all night last night because of the money. He couldn't help but soften a little, stopped talking, lowered his head, and looked straight at the imperial table.
Time passed by minute by minute, and the Wenhua Hall was quiet without a sound.
After a long time, Emperor Chongzhen raised his head. He seemed much older and his voice was a little dull: "I know that Bi Qing is also a clever woman who cannot make a living without rice. I remember that Bi Zisu, your younger brother, also died because of salary matters. I won't let you embarrass me."
.There are still some utensils in the palace that are made of silver. I have them melted down. In addition, everyone in the palace is waiting for the monthly silver to be halved from the original basis. I will collect some for you."
"Your Majesty..." An old man in his sixties lay on the ground and sobbed.
After a while, Emperor Chongzhen regained his composure and said to the people below: "All the ministers, please be level."
After all the ministers stood up, Emperor Chongzhen said to Han Xu: "You are the chief minister of the cabinet. I don't know what you can do to open things up?"
Bi Ziyan's proposal to abolish Dongchang and Jinyiwei just now was actually the intention of the cabinet. He wanted to take this opportunity to get rid of the annoying factory guards, but he did not dare to say it himself, so he forced the Minister of Household Affairs to take the lead.
Seeing that Emperor Chongzhen was now asking him about his plan to increase revenue, Han Xu thought for a moment: "Reporting to your majesty, I believe that the Liao salary cannot be reduced. This time when the invaders are invaded, the Liao salary will inevitably increase. The Liao salary will not only be restored to the previous amount, but also the most appropriate
An additional 20% should be added to the method to cope with the construction of captives."
When Emperor Chongzhen heard this, he remembered what Zhong Jinwei said about the common people, and he immediately rejected this idea in his heart: "In addition to raising taxes, does Mr. Ge have any other good ideas?"
At this point, he looked at the others and added: "If you have any good ideas, please speak up."
No one spoke. If he said the wrong thing, he would offend a lot of people. But the reason why Sun Chengzong didn't speak was because he was not good at financial management and couldn't think of a way.
The Wenhua Palace became quiet again, and Emperor Chongzhen felt a burst of disappointment.
Suddenly, a servant rushed into the palace fearfully, knelt down and said: "Your Majesty, we have an urgent report of the military situation ahead."
When Emperor Chongzhen heard this, he didn't care to discuss the issue of increasing revenue and reducing expenditure, and quickly read the urgent military report.
Sure enough, it was bad news again: Jianlu suddenly turned around and attacked the capital. Yuan Chonghuan's troops were nowhere to be found, and there were signs of instability in Tongzhou.
Emperor Chongzhen was already numb. There had been no good news during this period. He always thought that an army of King Qin would defeat the Jianlu in one fell swoop, or force the Jianlu to retreat. However, there was no sign of this miracle happening at all.
He passed this urgent report to the ministers below and said, "Tongzhou is very close to the capital. Is there anyone who loves me who is willing to visit it?"
Sun Chengzong thought that he could finally help, so he went out to the parade, and his unique loud voice sounded in the hall: "I am willing to go."
Emperor Chongzhen was very happy when he saw someone taking the initiative to help relieve his worries: "Master Sun, do you have any requests?"
"I rushed to the capital in a hurry, with only one family member by my side, and the entourage accompanying me from the Ministry of War has not yet arrived. If I go to Tongzhou at this time, something may happen on the way that will affect my errand."
"Of course." Emperor Chongzhen quickly added. He looked at Bi Ziyan and then said to Sun Chengzong: "I ordered the Jinyi Guards to select some capable people to accompany Master Sun."
Sun Chengzong said he had no objection.
"When can Master Sun leave?" Emperor Chongzhen was a little anxious.
"Your Majesty, if there is nothing for me to do here, I would like to leave immediately." Sun Chengzong was also anxious.
"Okay, I'll leave it to Master Sun to take care of Tongzhou." Emperor Chongzhen looked at Sun Chengzong and solemnly asked. The person recommended by Zhong Jinwei is indeed capable of doing practical things.
At this time, Jianlu and Tanma appeared near Tongzhou, and all the refugees from the capital area rushed towards Beijing City. It was always safer under the emperor's feet.
On the way to Tongzhou, Sun Chengzong bumped into Jianlu Tanma several times. It was only because of the escort of twenty-six Jinyi guards that he safely arrived in Tongzhou. However, five Jinyi guardsmen still died on the way.
Fortunately, he arrived in time and caught the commander-in-chief Yang Guodong who was about to run away. He grabbed him and began to inspect the city wall and arrange city defenses, which stabilized the morale of the army and the panic of the people in the city.
, followed by Huang Taiji also brought the main force of Jianlu to the capital of the Ming Dynasty.
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