It can be seen that Chongzhen's mind at this time could not be judged by common sense. He was not only suspicious but also hysterical or extremely extreme. However, if you think about it, a person who is suffering from mental pressure will not be able to remain rational when he reaches this level.
"Your Majesty, at this critical moment, there are some things that cannot be done, that cannot be done!" Chang Yu hurriedly knelt down and kowtowed.
This kid was so smart. He knew his intentions just by accidentally showing some murderous intent. Chongzhen was startled, but he pretended to be stupid: "What is an emergency?"
"The world is in chaos and people are in panic. If nothing happens, chaos will be added to chaos." Chang Yu's words are very direct. Now there are internal and external troubles, the officials in the court are watching, the nobles are eating and waiting to die, the vassal king
We are also watching a good show. Everyone is watching how you, Zhu Youjian, can survive this threshold. But if you destroy the vassal king without any reason, wouldn't it be tantamount to declaring war? Those who have long disliked your good deeds and the vassal kings will immediately rebel. This
This was not uncommon in the Ming Dynasty.
"Huh, I don't know what you mean. I don't know what you are talking nonsense!" Chongzhen snorted coldly. Chang Yu's heart trembled. Damn, you are with me like a tiger. You have to figure out the emperor's heart at all times and know what he means, but you can't show it.
Random speculation is too offensive. Don't speak too clearly or too full. It's always half light and half dark. It's so tiring!
Face to face is so tiring in front of me, but think about how muddy the water is in the court and how much work you have to do. How can it be as refreshing as going into battle to kill the enemy!
"You are so rude, you offend the emperor, you deserve death!" Chang Yu said quickly.
Chongzhen said nothing. He stood up and paced back and forth in the hall for a long time. He looked at Chang Yu and said, "Prince Shen and his family took refuge in the Prince of Jin's Mansion. Has the palace in Lu'an Mansion been robbed by thieves?".
"That should be the case, but when Prince Shen fled, he took most of the property with him." Chang Yu thought to himself, and that was not why he walked around eight times.
Sure enough, Chongzhen looked happy when he heard this: "Fortunately, if he falls into the hands of thieves, wouldn't he become an enemy?"
"Your Majesty, King Shen felt the emperor's great kindness during his lifetime, and saw that Taiyuan was short of salary, so he donated a sum of money," Chang Yu said.
"Oh, Prince Shen is really thoughtful. He is concerned about my concern. I wonder how much he donated?"
"Five hundred thousand! However, most of them are jewelry and the like, not cash. My subordinates have brought them to the capital to prepare for discounting. They should be in the Royal Horse Prison at this time. Please ask the emperor to send someone to count them!"
The smile on Chongzhen's face became even stronger: "I am most at ease with your work. Who else needs to be sent to do the inventory? There are many wealthy gentry in the capital, so they can get a good price. I will leave it to you at this time."
"Young man, I obey the order!" Chang Yu kowtowed.
"Get up and talk." Chongzhen was in a good mood when he learned that he had obtained five hundred thousand taels of silver from King Shen, and his desire to destroy King Shen disappeared: "Is there anything else you want to tell me along the way?"
Chang Yu stood up and sat down: "Your Majesty, yes!"
"Oh, is it important?" Chongzhen became interested.
"It's a matter of national origin" Chang Yu affirmed, and Chongzhen became even more interested.
"explain……"
In the Qianqing Palace, where the candlelight flickered and was as warm as spring, Chang Yu lowered his head and talked. Zhu Youjian and his son listened attentively, sometimes frowning, sometimes showing their faces. Only Wang Chengen next to him had the same expression, silently serving tea and pouring water.
.
The wind is high outside the palace and the moon is dark. The Forbidden City is like a huge monster dormant and motionless in the dark night. The whole palace has fallen into silence. The bustle of the grass field has dissipated. Some people are happy and some are sad. The imperial guards are still there.
While patrolling in an orderly manner, the man on the moat bridge outside Donghua Gate was still crying and wondering whether he would summon me to see me tonight, or the emperor had forgotten about me.
Needless to say, there was no Wu Mengming in Chongzhen's eyes at this moment, only the shining silver. At this time, his whole body was exuding an indescribable excitement, so that his eyes were shining, and he couldn't help but get up and walk to the regular room.
In front of Yu, "You mean, how many Shanxi merchants have you arrested for collaborating with the enemy and treason?"
"At least eight big heads" Chang Yu gestured with his fingers!
"Everyone is rich?" Chongzhen licked his lips.
"At this time, everyone is as rich as the country!" Chang Yu nodded lightly.
Chongzhen took a long breath, clenched his fist hard, waved it in the air, and made a low hey sound. He could not describe what kind of emotions he felt in his heart at this time, shock, excitement, anger, surprise, etc.
Mixed flavors.
Chang Yu is arresting a group of wealthy businessmen in Zhangjiakou and Shanxi for smuggling contraband to the Qing Dynasty and collaborating with the enemy and serving as spies.
Each of these wealthy businessmen has a net worth of tens of millions, it is said, but even if each house is confiscated with two to three million, seven or eight tens of millions will be put into the treasury. In the blink of an eye, the national treasury deficit and the worry of military pay shortage can be solved, and the worries of the shortage of military pay can be avoided.
He begged for favors with a straight face, and even did such despicable things as secretly engaging in intrigues to set up traps for nobles.
However, what made him extremely angry was that the merchants in the border towns were so blatantly smuggling and collaborating with the enemy, but he had never heard of it and no one reported it. This shows that the foundation is rotten and the collusion between government, businessmen and the army is making people sad.
It's horrifying, I've heard for a long time that Shanxi merchants are wealthy, but here they are!
If this is allowed to continue, the nine-sided city and the iron walls of the Ming Dynasty will probably be destroyed in one day!
Chongzhen was very sad, but now he was a little lucky. Fortunately, he was discovered in time. Fortunately, these profiteers could enrich the national treasury and solve the most urgent needs at present.
But, he wants real evidence!
The earthquake and impact caused by the robbery of eight wealthy merchants at once would definitely be like a tsunami. If there is no solid evidence, merchants all over the world will be panicked. They think that the emperor is poor and crazy, and he has found an excuse to raid the homes of wealthy merchants.
To replenish the national treasury, this behavior is so different from that of thieves!
"Chang Yu, if you don't have solid evidence, you must not act rashly. Even the prince has figured out the pros and cons," he couldn't help but remind him.
"Your Highness, I will not take action if I don't have solid evidence. I was shocked when I accidentally learned about this incident. I conducted a secret investigation and found many clues. There was no physical witness to prove the collaboration with the enemy, but smuggling is prohibited.
Please go to those merchants’ warehouses to check for sure!”
Chang Yu had a solemn look on his face: "I know that this matter is not a trivial matter, and even involves a lot of things. If there is no evidence, it is difficult to stop Youyou's mouth, but I have no intention of framing you. Otherwise, there are so many wealthy businessmen and gentry in the capital, why should you bother?"
Leave the near for the far!”
Yes, Chongzhen nodded vigorously: "According to what you said, those abominable profiteers have been operating in the border town for several years, and no one reported them. It can be seen that not just one or two people are involved. One move affects the whole body. If they are not handled carefully, only
I'm afraid it will cause chaos in the border town, so you should handle this matter carefully."
"This matter is supervised by Dongchang. Xiao Xiao has already ordered that evidence must be obtained. If there is no one to set up obstacles, he will not deliberately implicate him. He will only implicate merchants who collaborate with the enemy to avoid causing panic. However, Xiao Xiao has no intention of letting go of anyone involved.
, write it down in your notebook first, and wait for the news to pass, and then slowly calculate it for them. From my humble opinion right now, copying money is the most urgent need!" Chang Yu sneered at the corner of his mouth.
You are right, money is the most urgent need. Chongzhen's face showed a look of self-mockery, and then he stared at Chang Yu, his face gradually warmed up: "I am so lucky to have met such a talented person like you at this juncture.
!”
"Your Majesty is so complimentary." Chang Yu bowed, and Zhu Cixiang next to him also had a smile on his face, showing great joy.
"You will supervise this matter personally. As long as you have solid evidence, you will not be afraid no matter how much the government and the public talk about it." Chongzhen narrowed his eyes and smiled at the corner of his mouth: "The treasury will be full after the plundering of these houses, and I will have the money to mobilize troops."
, let’s see how long the intruders and those Tatars can remain powerful..."
When Chang Yu heard the truth, he couldn't help but oh my god, stop bragging. When you first took over, you would have money, food, soldiers, and generals. You didn't do anything to others, and the suppression was getting bigger and bigger.
Nowadays, everyone is in such a mess, they can’t get anything they want, they can’t get enough to eat, and as soon as they get some money, they start to lose money...
"The intruder fled, do you know where he is going now?" Chongzhen thought to himself for a while, and then asked about the serious matter.
"I have received the latest information, and the bandits are heading east. They should be meeting up with the bandit leader Liu Fangliang. I'm afraid the war in the Central Plains will get worse..."
Gone east? Chongzhen squinted his eyes: "He didn't go back to Xi'an!" He said with a sneer at the corner of his mouth: "It seems that he is very dissatisfied with you!"
Chang Yu also laughed: "The intruder needs to be beaten in five elements. If he is beaten a few times, he will be scared. I beg the emperor to issue an edict. I am willing to fight him again!"
To Chang Yu's surprise, Chongzhen did not nod immediately. Instead, he looked at the top of the palace in trance. It took him a long time to sigh and said, "Tell me about the Taiyuan War."
Chang Yu was a little doubtful, but he still recounted how he spied on the enemy camp and assassinated Li Laiheng, how he trapped and killed Chen Shangzhi in front of the battle, how he pretended to surrender to delay the construction of Taiyuan fortifications, and the subsequent several attacks by the rebels during the siege of the city.
The officers and men under his command demonstrated their merits.
Chongzhen, the prince and Wang Chengen listened with excitement, clapped their hands and applauded from time to time, and then praised Chang Yu greatly.
He said that the night was getting darker, but Chongzhen and his son did not look tired at all. They felt like they wanted to talk all night long, but Chang Yu was impatient. It was a dusty journey, so that was enough. Let me go back and have a nap first.
"Chang Yu, is every word of what you said true?" Chang Yu said with a dry mouth. Chongzhen listened with great interest. However, with his naturally suspicious character, he naturally thought that Chang Yu was adding fuel and jealousy to it, and even some shady things.
Things are also concealed.
"I don't dare to deceive the emperor. The emperor can have people investigate. If there is any deception, I am willing to be punished for deceiving the emperor!" Chang Yu bowed.
Chongzhen hummed and nodded slightly: "Is Wu Mengming still in the palace?"
"When the young one came, he was outside Donghua Gate. I didn't know at this time..." Chang Yu said.
"Call Wu Mengming over," Chongzhen said to Wang Chenen.
Wang Chenen walked quickly outside the palace.
Chongzhen's eyes fell on Chang Yu's shoulders.
Chang Yu understood in his heart and reached out to take off his clothes. Chongzhen and Zhu Cixiang couldn't help but get up and approach him.
Ah! The father and son couldn't help but exclaimed. Previously, Chang Yu's shoulder was stabbed with such a deep blood hole, which they saw with their own eyes. But in front of Chang Yu's shoulder, the blood color had disappeared, and most of the wound was healed, leaving only the nail.
A shallow pit the size of!
It only took an hour to be like this... Chongzhen opened his mouth slightly and looked at Chang Yu's face with surprise: "It's such a thing! How strange, how strange."
At this moment, Zhu Cixiang's heart was in a state of panic, and his whole body could not help but tremble. He, he must be some kind of god descending to earth...
"Chang Yu, I allow you to walk in front of the emperor, and there are no restrictions on you from the seven gates outside the capital and the four gates of the Nine Emperors City. From now on, you can act like a minister in front of me!" Chongzhen took a long breath and said this immediately
These words immediately made Chang Yu feel that the hard work for many days was worth it.
It was a great honor to serve before the emperor in the Qing Dynasty. In the Ming Dynasty, which was very different from the Qing Dynasty but also very shameless, ordinary courtiers did not receive such treatment.
All the sects in the capital and even the palace were not on guard against him, allowing him to come in and out at any time. Firstly, he was extremely favored, and secondly, it was convenient for him to do things. As for treating himself as a minister, it was tantamount to not treating Chang Yu as a slave. Chang Yu
From now on, Yu will no longer need to call him a small, humble slave in front of him. He can directly call himself a minister. It is a change of status both in public and in private!
This kind of treatment may even put Wei Zhongxian to shame when he was at the height of his power. However, Chang Yu also knew in his heart that the reason why Chongzhen acted like this was because he found that he was a useful person and had value of use, so he tried his best to win over and show his favor!
"My Lord, thank you for your kindness!" Chang Yu kowtowed, and Chongzhen reached out to help him up, with a solemn expression on his face: "I hope you will serve the Ming Dynasty wholeheartedly in the future, and I will live up to my high hopes for you."
"I am determined to go through fire and water for the Ming Dynasty, even if I die!" Chang Yu wanted to bow again, but Chongzhen took his arm and nodded vigorously: "You have been traveling so hard, take a break early, and come see me tomorrow."
"Your Majesty, please excuse me." Chang Yu secretly breathed out and slowly exited Qianqing Palace. When he reached the door, he said to Wang Chen'en, "My dear, please excuse me. Good night, my lord."
Wang Chenen quickly returned the gift: "I don't dare to accept it. Good night, Eunuch Chang! I send you my best wishes to Eunuch Chang."