Hearing Chongzhen's question, Cui Chengxiu was a little stunned. Although these days, he has been thinking about his recovery all the time.

For Cui Chengxiu, who once held most of the power of the court, the days of retreating to the countryside in the past two years are like a rotten wood that no one cares about, and the taste is really inhumane.

From the noble minister bending down and smiling at him, to the people avoiding him like the plague when he first returned to his hometown, the whole family was like the end of the day, and suddenly the purpose floated in front of Cui Chengxiu's eyes.

Cui Chengxiu, who returned to his hometown, finally understood why Li Si said that a husband can't be without power for a day. This sentence. Even if there is a good land and a beautiful house, and the house is full of gold and silver, if you have no power in your hands, this huge family business is just someone else's meal.

finally survived the three fires of Chongzhen's coming to power, and by buying the shares of Tangshan Iron Smelting Factory, he was protected by Chongzhen, and his life was a little more comfortable.

Because of the emperor's protection, public opinion against him finally began to gradually calm down. It stands to reason that as long as he is so cowered at home and no longer has the idea of making a comeback, then he can basically end up in his hometown as a squire.

But for Cui Chengxiu, who has just escaped the cusp, he is still unwilling to end his life at home. Whether it was building a reservoir or organizing a group to resist the Houjin invasion, he desperately wanted Chongzhen to see that he was still useful.

Cui Chengxiu's biggest wish now is to be able to return to the court with these merits, and then teach him a good lesson from the person who fell into him in the first place. First, he came to fight for a breath; Second, he didn't want to end his career with the name of a eunuch traitor, this bad reputation would not only insult the lintel, but also cause his family to become scum in the eyes of scholars and doctors, and be rejected by scholars, and eventually lead the whole family to fall into the class of scholars.

Whether it is for himself or for his family, Cui Chengxiu desperately hopes to wash away the reputation of being slandered by the Donglin Party. After hearing that Houjin had retreated and that the emperor had finally won the final victory, Choi Chengxiu thought that his chance to make a comeback was almost up. Therefore, after hearing the emperor's call, he rushed to Zunhua day and night.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he saw the emperor's face, he heard the news about his comeback. was so direct to the emperor, but Cui Chengxiu didn't know how to answer.

After he settled down, he said more cautiously to Chongzhen: "The minister can do a little bit for His Majesty, he is already overjoyed, where do you dare to ask for anything else." As long as it is a task arranged by His Majesty, the minister will accept it willingly. ”

Zhu Youzhen pointed at him with his finger and laughed, and said, "Cui Bingbu, you are not honest at all. If you arrange a position at random, you will inevitably complain about me in the future.

What's more, Cui Bingbu covered the sky with one hand in the court that day, and he was the one before he ascended the throne, and he had to retreat from the Qing Dynasty. Today's revival is just a return to the dynasty to hold an official position with no power, isn't it ridiculed? ”

Cui Chengxiu knelt down with a "poof", and said with a pale face: "The minister acted too much to Meng Lang in the past, and I ask Your Majesty to forgive me." ”

Zhu Youzhen shook his head and said, "I don't ask you this question to embarrass you, but I really want to know what you think." If you seek revenge just to prove your innocence, then I will arrange a leisurely official position for you, after all, Cui Bingbu, you have done a lot for Daming in the past year. ”

Regarding the emperor's suggestion, Cui Chengxiu naturally refused in his heart, and he hurriedly replied: "The minister does not dare to use the famous instrument of the court as his fig leaf, and the minister wants to seek revenge, so he naturally wants to do something for His Majesty and the court." Please also ask Your Majesty to be clear. ”

Zhu Youzhen stretched out his right hand and flicked it lightly on the table in front of him a few times, before he made up his mind and said to Cui Chengxiu: "I have a tricky matter here, and I have always wanted to find someone to do it, but this matter cannot be done unless there is great wisdom, great courage, and great benevolence, and I have been looking for a long time but have not found a suitable person." I wonder if Cui Shangshu has the courage to go next? ”

Hearing the emperor explain a task so cautiously, Cui Chengxiu's heart suddenly tightened, he knew that the task that the emperor wanted to do by himself must not be a good task. But now, it is difficult for him to retreat in front of Chongzhen, this retreat is estimated that this year's efforts have been in vain, and he will not be despised by the emperor, and it will be considered a waste to seek a recovery.

When the matter came, Cui Chengxiu really let it go, he gritted his teeth and said: "Please make it clear to Your Majesty, even if the ministers are broken, they should serve Your Majesty." ”

Zhu Youzhen immediately got up and helped Cui Chengxiu up, and then said with a smile: "As long as Cui Shangshu is willing to accept this task, I dare not say that the next cabinet chief assistant is yours, but the next cabinet chief assistant will definitely belong to Your Excellency." ”

Hearing that the emperor even promised the first assistant of the cabinet, Cui Chengxiu jumped a little frightened, and it seemed that the task assigned to him by Chongzhen would be even more difficult than he imagined.

Sure enough, after Chongzhen's politeness, he said: "The task I want Cui Shangshu to take over is to make my Ming Dynasty a country where cultivators have their own land." ”

Cui Chengxiu suddenly smiled bitterly in his heart, the political ideal of the cultivator having his land is not new, since the Song Dynasty before the Song Dynasty, there are still a large area of undeveloped land in China, so if you want to realize that the cultivator has his land, it is just a question of how to organize the people to move and open up the wasteland.

However, since the end of the Song Dynasty, except for some deep mountains and remote areas, there is no place in the sea that can be cultivated into a piece of wasteland. In the Ming Dynasty, the concentration of land in the hands of eunuchs, nobles, and clans exceeded that of previous dynasties, and the tax collection method of the Ming Dynasty stimulated social contradictions after land concentration.

After all, the tax collection method implemented by the Ming Dynasty was a fixed tax, which means that no matter what kind of changes have taken place in the conditions, as long as the imperial court has not made adjustments, the agricultural taxes paid in each region should be eternal.

But the eunuchs, nobles, and clans all enjoyed preferential measures of tax exemption, which meant that the more land was concentrated in their hands, the more taxes the remaining common people had to pay, and in order to pay these additional equal taxes, the bankruptcy of the yeoman farmers would be accelerated.

The more yeoman farmers disappear, the greater the taxes that remain to be paid, and this is a vicious circle that constantly exacerbates social contradictions. The courtiers of the Ming Dynasty were not unaware of this situation, so they had the drastic means of Hai Rui Qingzhang and forcing the magnates to return to the people; He Zhang Juzheng cleared the world's acres of land and tried to recognize the past land annexation to prevent the future land from continuing to be concentrated in the hands of the powerful.

Both of these methods represent the most knowledgeable and capable scholars of the Ming Dynasty, trying to save themselves from the Ming Dynasty, but these two were finally abandoned by the scholar class they wanted to help. Therefore, it can only be a beautiful political ideal for a cultivator to have his land in Daming, and anyone who wants to really realize this political ideal will fall into a situation from which he will never recover.

Cui Chengxiu, a senior bureaucrat of the Ming Dynasty, heard the conditions proposed by Chongzhen, and suddenly had the idea of wanting to stop and return to his hometown to spend his old age in peace. Although he loves power and is willing to take risks to gain power, he is not Zhang Juzheng, and he will risk the world's condemnation for an unrealizable political ideal.

Seeing that Cui Chengxiu couldn't respond for a long time, Zhu Youzhen finally said with some displeasure: "What? Cui Bingbu just had to go to the soup for me, these words are still in your ears, do you want to regret it? ”

Cui Chengxiu suddenly replied with some food: "Minister, the minister doesn't want to regret it, it's just that this task is so important, and the minister feels that he is inadequate, and I am afraid that it will delay His Majesty's major affairs..."

Zhu Youzhen looked at Cui Chengxiu's dodging gaze, interrupted him with a sneer, and said: "Cui Bingbu thinks that he still has a way out, the military department knows that since you returned to your hometown, the impeachment of you has not been broken, if it is piled together, I can probably fill this room."

Do you think that if you don't want to offend people, others will forget about you and let you spend your old age at home? Without me carrying these pressures for you, would you still be able to continue to live a leisurely life at home? ”

Cui Chengxiu bowed to Chongzhen again, and said with sweat on his forehead: "The criminal minister is really frightened, if it weren't for His Majesty's protection, how could the minister be so happy..."

Seeing Cui Chengxiu's plea of guilt and not daring to make any promises, Zhu Youzhen had to soften his tone and said: "Cui Bingbu is in a hurry day and night, and I am tired when I think about it. I think you might as well go back and rest first, and wait until tomorrow morning to reply to me. ”

Cui Chengxiu also felt that the current atmosphere seemed to be not suitable for continuing to communicate with the emperor, so he hurriedly bowed his head and said, "Thank you Your Majesty for your understanding, please retire first." ”

Just as Cui Chengxiu was about to exit the door, Zhu Youzhen suddenly asked him: "I wonder if Cui Bingbu has ever thought about what kind of nickname he will have in a hundred years?" ”

Cui Chengxiu suddenly stopped, looked up at the emperor in amazement, but Chongzhen had already turned around and continued to look through the books he had dropped before. Cui Chengxiu stood silently for a moment, until Chongzhen waved his hand back, and he bowed again and exited the room.

Under the guidance of a guard in front of the courtyard gate, Cui Chengxiu, who was very worried, walked out of the governor's yamen.

He was restless, and he was called a few times by the relatives guarding outside the gate of the mansion before he came to his senses, and took the horse whip handed over by his relatives, Cui Chengxiu's mind finally settled down a little. After he got on his horse, he instructed his retinue who was leading the mount: "Take me to the second child, and walk slowly." ”