The next day, when Chongzhen went to the morning court, he first raised the issue of tax exemption.

Chongzhen said with a smile: "Ladies and gentlemen, because I see the continuous natural disasters and the fact that the treasury is now full, I want to exempt the people from paying taxes for three seconds, and at the same time, the grain handed over to the landlord by all the people who rent land should be halved. What do you think? ”

Before he finished speaking, Li Sancai stood up and objected: "Your Majesty, this matter is not to be played, although the treasury is now full, but the three-year tax exemption does not mention whether the treasury can last until that time, when some people are used to tax exemption, how to collect taxes?" ”

Chongzhen saw that before he finished speaking, Li Sancai came out against him, and couldn't help but be angry, and said coldly: "Then according to Li Aiqing's meaning, I just watched my people suffer from hunger, right?" ”

Li Sancai hurriedly explained: "Your Majesty is wronged, the minister has no such intention!" The minister's meaning is that this matter should be considered in the long run, and no conclusions should be drawn at will. If this matter is rash, when my Ming treasury is empty, when the tax revenue cannot be collected, my border soldiers will be panicked, and the combat power may not be as good as before. ”

Chongzhen said with a smile: "Li Aiqing means that the treasury is full, and there will be no deduction in the military salaries of the border officers, right?" Well, then please trouble the household department to explain to me why Jinyiwei's military salary arrears have not been paid so far, and Jinyiwei has to do something else in order to support his family, so as to earn extra money to supplement his family. I dare to be in arrears like this under my nose, and the soldiers who are desperately defending against the enemy at the border pass are afraid that their military salaries have been deducted for a long time! ”

Zhou Shunchang, the head of the household, hurriedly stood up, knelt on the ground and said aggrievedly: "Your Majesty, the minister is wronged!" Indeed, the minister has already allocated the general's salary. ”

After hearing this, Chongzhen smiled coldly and said, "Really? That's good for me to pass Liu Chengye up, and you will confront him face to face. ”

As soon as the words fell, Wang Chengen retreated to announce Liu Chengye. After a while, Liu Chengye hurriedly felt the palace.

Liu Chengye was about to salute, but Chongzhen said impatiently: "Excuse me, Liu Aiqing and ask you, how long has it been since Jinyiwei's military salary has been paid, and the last time it was paid, was it enough?" ”

After listening to this, Liu Chengye clasped his fists with both hands and said respectfully: "Back to Your Majesty, Jinyiwei's military salary has not been paid for a year and six months, and it has been twenty-six taels and six yuan per capita since the last military salary was issued. Minister Liu Chengye pleaded with His Majesty and settled the arrears of military salaries as soon as possible. ”

After hearing this, Chongzhen glanced at Zhou Shunchang coldly and said, "Zhou Aiqing, should you give me an explanation?" Jinyi Wei has been in arrears for a year and a half, and the soldiers here are probably in arrears for two years! ”

Zhou Shunchang's face turned pale with fright after hearing this, and he hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, the minister doesn't know about this, every time the minister is paid by the general." There must be a misunderstanding in this matter, please ask Your Majesty to find out.! ”

Chongzhen waved his hand and said, "Okay." Liu Chengye I will give you three days, and within three days, you must investigate the arrears of the general's salary to me clearly, if you can't find out, then you don't have to do it, the commander of the Jinyi Guard. ”

Liu Chengye was embarrassed after hearing this, and said with some embarrassment: "Your Majesty, if someone secretly obstructs it, it is to give the minister three months, and the minister will not be able to investigate clearly." ”

After hearing this, Chongzhen said coldly: "I give you the right to cut first and then play, if anyone dares to obstruct it, there will be no mercy!" ”

Zhou Shunchang was anxious when he heard this, if he really let Liu Chengye investigate, I am afraid that his greed for military salaries will be exposed, and then he will not be able to cut off even if he has nine heads. Thinking of this, Zhou Shunchang secretly gave his subordinates a look, and when his subordinates saw Zhou Shunchang's eyes, they knew what they wanted to say.

Ding Fengzhong, the head of the household department, walked out tremblingly, knelt on the ground and said: "Your Majesty, the minister is guilty, and the minister should not be greedy for military salaries because of the difficulty in the turnover of funds in the family's business. ”

After hearing this, Zhou Shunchang angrily rushed to Ding Fengzhong, kicked it hard, kicked Ding Fengzhong to the ground, and said angrily: "Ding Fengzhong, you are confused, this official treats you well on weekdays, and you actually do such a foolish thing!" ”

Then he knelt on the ground and said: "Your Majesty, your subordinates are not strict, resulting in your subordinates being greedy for military salaries in Mexico, and please punish Your Majesty!" ”

Liu Sancai hurriedly stood up and pleaded: "Your Majesty, it was his mistake that Zhou Shunchang was not strict, but he also didn't know anything about this matter, and asked His Majesty to take it lightly." ”

Subsequently, dozens of officials stood up and pleaded for Zhou Shunchang. Seeing this, Chongzhen held back his anger and said: "Since all of you Aiqing have interceded for Zhou Shunchang, I will spare Zhou Shunchang from death, but the death penalty can be avoided and the living crime cannot be escaped, and Zhou Shunchang will be demoted to three levels and punished for three years." Zhou Shunchang was given three days to make up for the arrears of military salaries for the soldiers at the border pass and the Jinyi guards. If you don't make up the arrears of your pay in time within three days, watch your head. ”

After hearing this, Zhou Shunchang hurriedly said gratefully: "Thank you, Your Majesty, for not killing you!" The guilty man shall make up for his fault, and make up all the arrears of military pay within three days."

"As for Ding Fengzhong, he was greedy for the military salary of Mo without permission, causing the food and salary of the Jinyi Guard and the border soldiers to be not paid in time, which caused panic among the people. All the men in the family were exiled to Mobei, and without my order, they were never allowed to return to Beijing. Female dependents were all used as official prostitutes. ”

After hearing this, Ding Fengzhong said tremblingly: "On behalf of the family, thank Your Majesty for not killing. After speaking, Liu Chengye dragged Ding Fengzhong down.

"Well, now let's talk about tax exemption! What are the opinions of Aiqing, they have put forward one after another. ”

"Your Majesty, the minister believes that now that natural disasters and man-made disasters are continuous, the imperial court should not only appropriately reduce or reduce taxes, but also open a warehouse to help the victims and avoid the tragic situation of starvation all over the wilderness, so that my people of the Ming Dynasty will be grateful to our emperor."

"Your Majesty, this matter must not be, I have Houjin in the north now, the Japanese in the east, and the thieves in the south, and my Ming army may fight on three fronts at any time, and I am afraid that the money in the treasury will not be able to withstand such a spending."

……

Chongzhen looked at the civil and military officials arguing with each other, and with a headache, he helped his forehead with a headache and said, "Quiet! What does Gu Shoufu think this matter should be? ”

Gu Xiancheng saw that Chongzhen had asked him the problem, and couldn't help but smile bitterly, and said helplessly: "Your Majesty Shengming, now that disasters and man-made disasters continue today, my people of Daming are now having difficulty eating, let alone paying taxes." In order to avoid the emptiness of the treasury, the minister was willing to take the lead in donating 100,000 taels of silver as the treasury. ”

After hearing this, Chongzhen said with a smile: "Gu Aiqing is worthy of being the first assistant of my Ming Dynasty, so worried about the country and the people, what do you think Aiqing?" ”

Li Sancai listened to Gu Xiancheng's words, and couldn't help scolding his mother in his heart. Yesterday he said that he would prevent His Majesty from being tax-exempt, but today he suddenly changed his mind, not only agreeing to tax exemption with both hands, but also donating 100,000 taels of silver, so where did he put the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty?

Gu Xiancheng, as a first assistant, donated 100,000 taels of silver, and the rest are you embarrassed to donate less? Of course, you can also donate, but if you don't donate, although Chongzhen won't say anything, he can't tell how to calculate himself in his heart!

"Your Majesty is willing to donate 80,000 taels of silver to share your Majesty's worries."

"Your Majesty is willing to donate 60,000 taels of silver to share your Majesty's worries."

……

Seeing that all the civil and military officials donated one after another, although Li Sancai was reluctant to give money, he was afraid that he would not donate and be hated by Chongzhen. I could only bite the bullet and say: "Your Majesty, the minister is willing to donate 70,000 taels of silver to share your Majesty's worries." ”

Chongzhen looked at the civil and military officials, you donate some and I donate some, so he instructed Wang Chengen to count the silver donated by the civil and military officials, and finally found that he had raised more than 12 million taels of silver. He simply waved his hand and ordered: "I am the people of the Ming Dynasty, thank you Aiqing for your great help." In this case, I should simply waive taxes for five years, so that my people can rest and recuperate. ”

The officials resisted the urge to scold their mother, and flattered them against their will: "Your Majesty Shengming! ”

Chongzhen smiled and said, "Is there anything else?" If there is nothing else to do, let's retreat! ”

After waiting for a while, no one spoke, and Wang Chengen shouted at the male duck's throat: "Retreat!" ”

"Long live my emperor, long live, long live!" After speaking, all the civil and military officials retreated one after another.