Han Mingyu was very apprehensive when he rode a donkey, it was not the first time he had seen the emperor, after all, the head of the household department still had the qualifications to stand on duty, although the rank was relatively low.

But now he is just an eight-rank promotion, he is worried that Emperor Chongzhen is going to condemn him to another crime, he is already miserable enough, and now he hopes to take care of his granddaughter after raising his body.

After the team arrived at the noon gate, Han Mingyu dismounted the donkey and handed over the mount to the guards guarding the gate, and he followed a small yellow gate into the Forbidden City through the small gate on the right side of the noon gate.

After the Emperor's Palace, the Middle Palace, the Jianji Palace, and the Imperial Road, Han Mingyu finally arrived at the gate of the Qianqing Palace, and there were already eunuchs tiptoeing into the palace to report.

"Minister Han Mingyu greets Your Majesty!" After Han Mingyu entered the main hall, he bent down and saluted.

The etiquette of the Ming Dynasty is different from the Qing court drama of later generations, whether it is the court or the discussion, there is no need to kneel, unless there is a disagreement with the emperor, or there is a disrespect in the future, the courtiers will kneel and admonish.

"Han Aiqing, let's get even!" Chongzhen's tone was very easy-going, which made Han Mingyu feel a lot more relieved.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Han Mingyu straightened up and stood aside, he didn't dare to look at Chongzhen, for fear of provoking the saint's anger again.

Thanks to Han Mingyu, he was a professor before, facing hundreds or even thousands of students every day, even when he saw the emperor, he did not have the slightest stage fright.

"Is Han Aiqing resentful of injustice because of his demotion?" Emperor Chongzhen took a sip of the tea bowl.

Emperor Chongzhen doesn't like to beat around the bush, and has always been straightforward, which is a typical straight man in later generations.

However, none of the ministers and eunuchs around them like to tell the truth, and they are eager to quote scriptures and scriptures to prove that their views are correct.

"Back to Your Majesty, the minister doesn't dare, if you can avoid a dispute in the court because of this, what is the minister's responsibility for this crime?" Han Mingyu said.

This is what Han Mingyu said in his heart, a small principal cannot affect the overall situation, and the same is true for promotion, but this makes him see the situation more thoroughly.

"Han Aiqing's bearing is commendable, alas! Don't hide it from Aiqing, I originally intended to promote you, but after reading your performance, I don't know that I can't completely blame Governor Chen for the battle of Carriage Gorge.

However, the matter of the thieves in Shaanxi is very important, and the matter of the court is not something that can be assumed in a few words, and I also feel a deep headache.

Since I inherited the great cause, I have been lamenting all night and not daring to neglect government affairs, lest I have lost the ancestral foundation if I mishandle it, and I have seen the displacement of the people in the land of Shanxi, and I am also heartbroken! ”

Emperor Chongzhen chatted and remembered the music presented by the prefectures and counties in Shanxi, and his heart was uncomfortable and his eyes were red.

"Your Majesty, don't be too harsh, the territory of the Ming Dynasty is vast, and the shortcomings accumulated in the past two hundred years cannot be eliminated in a day." Han Mingyu comforted.

He can see that Emperor Chongzhen called him not to ask for guilt or praise, but to put it bluntly, he just needs a listener, to put it bluntly, he is looking for a stranger to complain.

"Aiqing said in the recital, the humble did not dare to forget the country, I thought about it for a long time, and thought it was true, if the courtiers all over the world could think of the court and the people, I naturally did not need to be so worried.

However, in recent years, I have found that it has become more and more difficult for me to do something, and there have been many fights among the courtiers, but none of them can concentrate on their work, but I can't find out what the problem is? ”

Chongzhen looked extremely miserable, and the only thing he had received the full support of his courtiers since he succeeded to the throne was when he eliminated Wei Gelding when he ascended the throne.

After Wei was eradicated, the imperial court made a big move to wipe out the courtiers who had been implicated with Wei Zhongxian, and Emperor Chongzhen has been haunted by this over the years, and he felt that it was a bit overkill, although it was not his original intention.

"Your Majesty, the minister dares to ask, what do you think is the reason for the current situation?" Han Mingyu ignored Chongzhen's complaints, he may have known that Chongzhen was just looking for him to chat, but he didn't want to just chat.

Because he knows what the problem is, but he can't say it directly, one is because of his identity, the second is because of his position, and the third is because of his trust.

Speaking from the heart, Han Mingyu was very sympathetic to the young emperor in front of him, Chongzhen had indeed worked hard, but he was only seventeen years old when he ascended the throne, and he had not undergone an orthodox imperial education, how could he be the opponent of those scheming courtiers.

What's more, now that these courtiers have joined forces to become friends, no matter how high your status is, what can you do if you can't even get out of the imperial city?

Of course, they spared no effort to eradicate Wei Zhongxian's courtiers, and there were very few people who could hold on until Wei Zhongxian's fall and refused to be in cahoots with him.

But in the later stage, it slowly changed its taste, and it became an opportunity for some courtiers to eradicate dissidents, who made you too young to see through it?

Regarding the move to eradicate the eunuch party, Han Mingyu felt that Chongzhen had only done half of the right thing, and Wei Zhongxian was certainly not a good thing, but it did play a role in suppressing the Donglin Friends.

The bad thing is that you killed Wei Zhongxian, not only did you not find a way to check and balance the courtiers, but let it go, and let the Wenchen family fight for power and profit.

Wei Zhongxian can at least help you make money to raise the soldiers of the Nine Sides, Wei Zhongxian at least knows that no matter how chaotic the imperial court is, the army can't be chaotic, but where does Wenchen care so much?

Alas, in the final analysis, this little emperor is too stupid and naïve, he has been wronged, a backstabber, and he blames himself every time, which can be regarded as unprecedented and unprecedented.

"Why?" Chongzhen's face was a little surprised.

In the past, he had summoned other courtiers to tell him what was going on, but most of them were just resigned, saying whatever he liked, or fooling him by quoting scriptures.

Only the little treasure money in front of him was raised, and when he talked to him, not only did he not have a trace of panic, but he also dared to ask him questions without humility or arrogance.

But he didn't get angry, and after a little thought, he said, "I thought it was because the treasury was empty. ”

If the imperial court has no money, it will not be able to support more soldiers, and if the soldiers cannot get their salaries, they will not fight to the death, and if they do not have enough to eat, their combat effectiveness will be greatly reduced.

In the same way, there is no way to provide disaster relief without money, so there will be civil unrest, all because of the lack of money.

"Then the minister dares to ask again, what is the reason for the lack of money in the imperial court?" Han Mingyu said again.

At this moment, he seems to have returned to the lecture hall of the later generations, and it has always been his way of teaching, and Emperor Chongzhen, who is just in his early twenties, is also similar in age to college students.

"Now that the court is worried about internal and external troubles, I think that the emptiness of the treasury is due to the use of troops everywhere." Chongzhen thought for a moment.

What Chongzhen said was also the truth, at least in his heart, the income of the imperial court has basically not changed for decades, which also led him to never think that in fact, Daming has never been short of money, but the money is not in the hands of the imperial court.

"Alas! What His Majesty said is not unreasonable, if you want to start from the economy to rectify the dynasty, it can be regarded as a road, but Your Majesty still lacks two carriages! Han Mingyu followed Chongzhen's train of thought.

There are many reasons for the demise of the Ming Dynasty, but Han Mingyu did not tell Chongzhen all of them, he is only a small mention at present, and it is suspicious to say too much.

"Economy? Carriage? What does Han Aiqing mean? Emperor Chongzhen obviously didn't understand, but he also had a strong interest in the elderly junior official in front of him.

"These two carriages are the superintendent and the army, Your Majesty, the minister does not dare to say anything, but if you have these two carriages, you can solve the doubts of Your Majesty just now." Han Mingyu replied.

He didn't dare to say that let Chongzhen investigate those ministers, it would be very easy to lead to death, and at the end of the point, whether he could understand it all depended on the understanding of the young emperor in front of him.

But Han Mingyu obviously overestimated Emperor Chongzhen's understanding, or Emperor Chongzhen saw that Han Mingyu had an answer in his heart, so he simply didn't bother to think about it.

"I'm stupid, can Aiqing explain it more clearly?" Chongzhen has always been very modest in asking politics.

"This ......" Han Mingyu was speechless.

He thought he had made it clear enough, and if everything was really on the table, he was worried that he would not survive tomorrow morning, after all, there were not just the two of them in the palace.

"Stand down, all of you! Wang Daban'er stood guard at the door. Chongzhen didn't need Han Mingyu to remind him at this point.

After the eunuch surnamed Wang instructed the people in the palace to retreat, he also looked around the main hall, and then guarded the door of the main hall.

Han Mingyu is still struggling, and at the same time, he is also phrasing, saying too much will be lost, not to mention that he is facing Emperor Chongzhen now, but as soon as he goes out, he will face the spying of the ministers.

It is a matter of life and death, it is not an exaggeration at all, his official position is too low.

"Wang Daban'er is my side, and Han Aiqing still wants to know everything." Chongzhen urged.

"Your Majesty, since Your Majesty insists that the minister's words are contrary to your ears, I hope that Your Majesty will pardon the minister's sin of gaffe first." Han Mingyu knew that he couldn't hide, so he had to say.

After receiving Chongzhen's affirmative reply, Han Mingyu pondered for a moment, sighed slightly in his heart and said:

"Your Majesty, if you find a trustworthy person and secretly visit the family property of the important ministers of the court, including those of his clan, you may be able to understand the meaning of the minister."

……

PS: Regarding the true character of Emperor Chongzhen, I have consulted the rhetoric of several history books, and most of them are just stubborn, mean, and suspicious.

As said in AK's book, Emperor Chongzhen's character was not born like this, anyone who was deceived for more than ten years would become suspicious, he was happy and worried that the military generals of Wenchen would unite to deceive him, and later simply stopped believing in the ministers, so later generations of officials wanted to say that he was stubborn and self-serving, but in fact, when Emperor Chongzhen first ascended the throne, how much he believed in those courtiers!

However, the pen was not in Chongzhen's hands, but fell into the hands of the so-called widows after the death of the Ming Dynasty, and they naturally wanted to exonerate themselves, not to mention that the Donglin Party was full of private pockets, so this pot was finally detained on the head of Emperor Chongzhen.

However, there is one thing to say, Emperor Chongzhen is really not good at strategy, he doesn't know how to check and balance at all, and he has more than enough heart but not enough strength.

This book is the story of Chongzhen's seven years, at this time Chongzhen was only just suspicious of Wenchen, and his political means were not so mature, but it is certain that Chongzhen was very straight when he was young, and he was a little eager for quick success.

Therefore, after seeing that Han Mingyu has a strategy for governing the country, he is impatient to ask clearly.