"Emperor, aren't you talking nonsense?" Zhou Hou looked at his son Zhu Cihong distressedly, "Isn't it too hard to work for the country and the people these days?" ”

"yes, yes!" Emperor Chongzhen also nodded again and again, "Why don't you take a good break for a few months, Brother Chun?" ”

He only said half of it, and the other half was: Let the Father come for the country and the people! My father now knows how to be a treacherous gentleman!

It turned out that after more than two years of study (learning from his son), Emperor Chongzhen felt that he had greatly improved in governing the country - if he had the current level in the first year of Chongzhen, he would have governed the world in an orderly manner.

At that time, he was so naïve, he actually believed that everything in the Ming Dynasty was bad for a group of corrupt officials and traitors!

Therefore, after he came to power, he was busy looking for good officials who were not greedy, dirty, or treacherous to do things to save the situation...... But I didn't expect this way to be completely wrong, the problem of the Ming Dynasty was not at all from the corrupt officials and traitorous ministers, but from the three groups of scholars, hereditary military attachés and nobles and clansmen who divided the country!

Needless to say, the clan has a lot of people breeding every day, and there are so many princes, county kings, generals, and lieutenants that they can't be counted, and they all have to be paid, which is simply a financial black hole!

However, no matter how big the black hole of the clan is, it is not as big as the black hole of the hundreds of military guards of the Ming Dynasty! There are so many military households and military fields on the books, but how many of them can actually go into battle to kill the enemy?

There are very few!

How come hundreds of guards have more than 100 million acres of land, right? These fields are all state-owned! Since you can't raise soldiers, you can collect some rent, right?

Still no!

Why is this happening? It was the honorable and hereditary military attachés who divided up the military land of the guard...... The military system of the Ming Dynasty is to raise soldiers with soil, and if the land is gone, it will be difficult to raise soldiers.

The hereditary honorable military attachés eat military households and military tuns, while the scholars who read the sages and take the imperial examination eat the people's fields, official fields, hidden fields and commercial taxes!

Through means such as buying and selling, encroaching upon, and deceitful mailing, these scholars, mainly those who have not yet entered the government, have eaten most of the land in the world, and they have not increased taxes, paid assessments, or paid rent. What's more, they also shelter businessmen and make profits by helping them evade taxes!

The preferential treatment given by the ancestors to the people and talents was all used by them to divide the financial resources and taxes of the imperial court!

Emperor Chongzhen originally thought that the biggest problem in officialdom was that there were too many corrupt officials, but now he finally knew that corruption was not a problem at all when he became an official, and the real problem was that he was already greedy without being an official...... That's the real problem!

If you can be corrupt when you become an official, and if you don't become an official, you can't be greedy, you can only be a poor scholar, and look at those corrupt officials drooling, then the Ming Dynasty will not be poor like that.

Because only when you become an official can you have the opportunity to be greedy, which means that the wealth and glory of the scholar are pinched in the hands of the emperor!

The emperor gives, and they can be rich! The emperor doesn't give it, and the poor one is bigger!

There are so many poor people in the world who are stretching their necks and red-eyed to be corrupt officials, will there be some who are willing to make money for the royal family? Will they only care about their own wealth, regardless of the poor death of their masters?

However, the tax exemption and preferential treatment given by the Ming Dynasty to scholars and the privileges of showing off talents and lifting people were repeatedly expanded by them, and finally became a tool for dividing up the country's tax sources and digging into the corners of the Ming Dynasty's feudalism.

The civil officials of the Ming Dynasty are all rich before they are officials!

Moreover, the benefits of this "getting rich before becoming an official" are often greater than being a corrupt official.

For example, that Qian Qianyi, he hasn't been an official for a few years! And he didn't have any fat shortage, why is he still so rich?

Isn't he just a home that uses his status as a celebrity and his fame in the imperial examination to exempt taxes, shelter from the shadows, and send them out?

If you lose your office, you can be prosperous and rich, can anyone still be a good official?

Therefore, the problem of the rule of the Ming Dynasty is not official corruption at all, but that corrupt officials are not good at being corrupt!

Why did Zhu Cihong, a rebellious son, respond to all calls? Isn't it just leading a group of empty-handed northern nobles and corrupt officials to Jiangnan? Are they disobedient? If you don't obey, you don't have to be greedy...... These guys don't have any money to eat, how can they live without corruption? So they are all Zhu Cihong's dogs! More obedient than a dog!

While using the empty-handed noble and corrupt officials in the north, the disobedient son tried his best to take away the privilege of "getting rich before the official" of the southeastern scholars, which was completely right......

Emperor Chongzhen has already made up his mind, if there is still a chance to take power, he must be more ruthless than the disobedient son, and he will definitely put the southeast scholar doctor on the road to bankruptcy!

Now I wonder if there is such an opportunity?

Emperor Chongzhen looked at his son expectantly, he was dark and thin, and he lost a lot of weight...... It's really a bit like Hanako! I wonder if he's really tired and confused?

"Father, son and son are filial, a little tired, a little bitter, you can get through it." Zhu Cihong smiled, "I will never let my father be burdened by mundane affairs again, so my father can just rest assured that he will support his old age...... It's just that the Inner Zen ceremony will be postponed slightly, and it will be held when the retainers come back from dinner. This Chongzhen will not be there for twenty years! ”

Why? Chongzhen's face suddenly became gloomy, you are a rebel, you refuse to make up a whole number for your father!

Zhou Hou only knew that he felt sorry for his son, and asked: "Brother Chun, do you really want to go ......?"

"Go ask for food!" Zhu Cihong explained with a smile, "There are always more than 2 million northland refugees in the southeast who can't eat...... Erchen was ready to follow the practice of chasing the Son of Heaven in the Sui and Tang dynasties, and took them to Huguang, Jiangxi, and Guangdong to eat. ”

Chasing the Son of Heaven? Chongzhen thought to himself: Then it should be me! But how do you ask for food? The ancestors had this craft, but it was not passed down!

"......I see," Zhou Hou frowned lightly, "Brother Chun, are those gentry from Huguang, Jiangxi, and Guangdong willing to take out grain?" ”

"Ken!" Zhu Cihong smiled, his tone had become cold, "They are all enlightened gentry...... Seeing so many people who have no food to eat, they will definitely give their food! ”

That's for sure! When encountering the two million people brought by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince pulling cannons and riding a warship to eat a large number of refugees, the gentry of the Ming Dynasty will definitely be very enlightened...... Food goes to people's comfort!

You're going to take the refugees to grab food!

The hatred in Chongzhen's heart! How could I not have thought of such a good idea? This method should have been used when Yang He was asked to appease the Liukou back then! I took out 100,000 taels of silver out of my own pocket, and begged several vassal kings to take out 50,000 taels of silver and 20,000 stone of grain...... But that's a fart! There are so many rogues who can't eat enough at all, and they all end up in vain!

I knew that I should have used the method of a rebel, and personally led Yang He Zhao'an's rogues to Jiangnan to eat big households!

Let the big families take out money and food, and the refugees will eat 30%, and I will eat 70...... With money and food, recruit troops to fight the eastern captives, the world has long been pacified!

It's stupid!

Chongzhen looked at his son and said in his heart: How good is it for the two of us to change? You will be the father and emperor, go to pick up the mess left by the Xi Temple, I will be a minister, and I will be the successor in the future......

Zhou Hou looked at her husband's remorseful appearance, and she felt sad, she now knew that her son was not confused, so she said in a consultative tone: "Brother Chun, you won't be able to come back in a few months after you go to Huguang, right?" It's autumn now...... Why don't you take the throne after the New Year! You have to let Chongzhen have twenty years, right? ”

"Okay," Zhu Cihong glanced at Chongzhen, "Then let's make up an integer for my father!" ”

It's been twenty years..... Chongzhen sighed.

Zhou Hou saw Chongzhen sigh, thinking that Chongzhen had other knots, and he must be worried about the safety of the two concubines. So she said to Zhu Cihong again: "Brother Chun, Cizhao that child is still young, and he was caught by the rogue and frightened, so it is understandable to say something wrong." You're the big brother, don't be too careful......"

Chongzhen also remembered at this time, and nodded again and again: "Yes, yes, yes, and Cihuan." Brother Dachun, do you know Cihuan's whereabouts? ”

Zhu Cihong smiled: "Father, mother, don't worry, the sons will not worry about the fourth brother...... Not only will he not be counted, but he will also give him Yunnan seal. Now his guards are being reorganized, and when Erchen goes to Huguang again, it will almost be time to go to Yunnan.

As for the fifth brother...... Erchen did not know his whereabouts. ”