Li Zicheng did not immediately make a move to the officials of my Daming, he knew that these officials were different from Emperor Chongzhen, who was just a lonely man, and had no real power except for the so-called fame. But these officials in Beijing are different, their protégés are all over the world, they have money, connections, and influence. Now most of these people have also expressed their obedience to him.

Li Zicheng understands that if he accepts the submission of these people and lets these people continue to be officials, relying on the influence of these people, it won't be long before his reputation will change from a rogue and a thief to a great man and a saint who has just been martyred, and this poor boy will be nailed to the shame pile of history. Those gentlemen who sang the praises of him as a "shameful and qualified" saint monarch when Chongzhen destroyed Wei Zhongxian, whom they hated the most, would not hesitate to call him "cruel", "stupid", "greedy", "lustful", "lazy", "arrogant", and "unlearned...... In short, all the negative words that you can think of, or that you can't think of, are pulled out and poured on the head of this poor creature who can no longer defend himself. It won't be long before they can get his name synonymous with 础纣. In fact, in the written records of the Spring and Autumn Period, the king of Shang was not so perverted, basically he had a habit of drinking alcohol "for the sake of drinking for the long night", but as time passed, all kinds of crimes continued to fall on his head. By the time of my Ming Dynasty, it was said that the king of Shang had been charged with more than 3,000 crimes. And these are obviously made up by the shameful literati of later generations. Although Li Zicheng didn't know the history of the changes in King Shang's crimes, he also understood this.

With the help of these people, maybe he will be able to control many areas without bloodshed, and he will be able to ...... However, Li Zicheng did not immediately accept their "allegiance", first of all, because he was indeed very short of money to spend.

"The dissatisfaction of the army has become more and more obvious, and today alone, there have been hundreds of robberies, thefts, and even killings, which is not a good sign." Li Zicheng thought.

When Li Zicheng first entered Beijing with his army, because he had expectations for his future, he attached great importance to the discipline of the army under his command, and the generals under his command were also the same. So at the beginning, Dashun's army was in Beijing, and basically did not commit any crimes in the autumn. However, the discipline of the army must also be built on a material basis, without military salaries, if you want to maintain discipline, even if you have a powerful political commissar, it is a very difficult thing, not to mention that Li Zicheng's subordinates, not only did not have a political commissar, but it did not take long to change from a robber to an army.

And Li Zicheng also knows that the process of military discipline corruption is like a landslide. In the beginning, maybe it was just something as trivial as "Lao Tzu doesn't need money to eat in a restaurant in the city, eat a few rotten watermelons", like before the landslide starts, just a few small pieces of soil start to slide downward, but if you can't stop it from the beginning, the scale of the landslide will grow bigger and bigger, and become unstoppable. The current situation is already very dangerous, and if he can't get a sum of money immediately, Li Zicheng estimates that a large-scale mutiny will occur within two or three days at most. At that time, not to mention being an emperor, whether he can save his life is a question.

In addition to this immediate problem, Li Zicheng has more long-term worries about whether to accept the allegiance of these guys. Li Zicheng knew that these people did not unconditionally take refuge in him, and their investment was more of a transaction. But will Li Zicheng be able to satisfy them?

"No matter how good I am to them, can I be better than Emperor Chongzhen to them? Their official positions and status were all given by Emperor Chongzhen, but are they loyal to Chongzhen? As soon as something happened, they immediately sold Chongzhen Tianzi! So, if anything, they're going to sell me. In that case, why should I put myself in danger of a mutiny for the sake of some unreliable guys? Li Zicheng asked himself, but he felt that he still had to give those Ming Dynasty officials a chance.

"Your Majesty, Prime Minister Niu asks to see you." A voice interrupted Emperor Dashun's musings.

"Invite him in." Li Zicheng said as he stood up to greet him. For this famous scholar who followed him at the earliest, Li Zicheng still has great respect and trust.

Niu Jinxing entered the room and knelt down first and kowtowed to Li Zicheng. Li Zicheng hurriedly smiled and helped him up and said, "The prime minister and I are like brothers, when no one is around, you can't be so formal." ”

"Your Majesty, the ceremony must not be abolished." Niu Jinxing also stood up with a smile.

"Quick, go and bring a chair to the prime minister." Li Zicheng said to a eunuch, and the eunuch brought a chair and put it beside him.

"What are you doing so far?" Li Zicheng frowned and said, "Take some...... Come back a little more. ”

The little eunuch moved the chair closer and moved it all the way to Li Zicheng, who expressed his satisfaction. Niu Jinxing thanked him and sat down.

"Is there something about the Prime Minister coming to me?" Li Zicheng asked.

"Wechen is here for the matter of military salary." Niu Jinxing replied, "Now we have captured Beijing and destroyed the Pseudo-Ming. Although the world has not yet been completely calmed, it is also indispensable to reward the soldiers, otherwise, the morale of the army is afraid to be unstable. ”

Li Zicheng nodded and said: "What the prime minister said is, but the prime minister also knows where we have money in our hands." ”

"But if you don't have money, the army will have problems...... Your Majesty......" Niu Jinxing suddenly looked to the side.

Li Zicheng immediately understood what Niu Jinxing meant, and he said to the eunuchs standing aside: "You all go out, keep the door watched, and don't let people in." ”

Then the eunuchs went out and closed the door.

"The prime minister can say it." Li Zicheng smiled.

Niu Jinxing stood up again, knelt on the ground first, kowtowed, and then said in a trembling voice: "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that the only way to do this is to rely on looting!" ”

Li Zicheng stood up suddenly, his eyes widened and he glared at Niu Jinxing angrily and said: "When I was a thief before, I met the prime minister by luck, and the prime minister warned me that since ancient times, thieves are only the precursors of kings. The prime minister taught me to 'kill less, help the hungry, and collect people's hearts'. Li Mou is not talented, and since then, he has made up his mind to level the world and clear up a bright future for the people of the world, but now, the prime minister actually wants to teach me to be a thief again? ”

"Hooray! Hurry up and do the right thing! Niu Jinxing kowtowed a few more times on the ground and said, "If you can't come up with the money at this time, the army will be chaotic, and Your Majesty's more than ten years of hard work will be completely wasted in one day!" ”

Li Zicheng sighed, sat down heavily on the chair, and said, "In the capital, there are high-ranking officials of the former Ming Dynasty everywhere, and they must have a lot of money there. However, these protégés are all over the world, and the power in their hands is not small. If you rob them, you will ...... in the future."

"Your Majesty? Who...... Who said to rob them? Niu Jinxing, who was kneeling on the ground, suddenly raised his head and said in surprise, "How can you rob them?" That's going to happen! ”

"Don't rob them? Rob whom? Li Zicheng said in surprise, "Are you going to rob those small people who are going to rise to the bucket?" Where do those people have the money? ”

"Oh, Your Majesty, how can those people have no money? Now those who can live in the city of Beijing, those who do small business, always have some money at home. Hooray, you look at Jianxi, they break through the gates and loot almost every year, but the real big city, in fact, has not been conquered much, but when did they not grab enough money? The city of Beijing is so big, and there are so many middle-class families engaged in small business, robbing them will definitely be enough for military salaries and rewards. ”

"A middle-class home? Oh, the middle class home! Li Zicheng stood up again. He gritted his teeth and took a few steps in the room, then stood up and said, "Today's middle-class family, I'm afraid it's just been able to stop starving to death!" It's easy for Lao Tzu to take people to rob them, and when they are done, they will all starve to death! Don't you know that?! ”

"Weichen naturally knows." Niu Jinxing knelt on the ground and replied without raising his head.

"Then you still have such an idea!" Li Zicheng said angrily.

"Your Majesty, Weichen doesn't want to do this, it's just that either we let them starve to death, or our army collapses in a mutiny, these two can only choose one! The sage said that things should be done in a hurry, and now is the time to obey the power. Niu Venus replied by lowering his head to the floor.

"There are still so many rich people and so many gentry in Beijing, even if you rob them, it is better than robbing those poor people! At least they won't starve to death! Li became a self-enlightened man.

"The emperor is merciful, but those people are not ordinary people, robbing them, I am afraid that there will be endless troubles." Bull Venus Road.

Li Zicheng shook his head and said: "'Eat his mother, wear his mother, open the door to meet the king, and the king will not pay for food." How many of our victories are now due to the poor who want to be hungry? This palace ......" Li Zicheng pointed to the palace road where he was with his fingers, "This palace was originally owned by the former Ming Emperor, why did it fall into my hands now?" Isn't it because the Ming Dynasty made the people of the world starve to death! Prime Minister Niu Cheng, when you told me the story of the ancient sage, you told me that Wei Zheng told Tang Taizong of our old Li family that 'water can carry a boat and also overturn a boat', and Emperor Taizong also accepted it with pleasure and sincerity. At that time, I thought that this was a holy monarch and a virtuous minister, and I thought that one day if I had the opportunity to become an emperor, I must be a good emperor like Emperor Taizong who loved the people like a son, and you would also become a good prime minister like Wei Zheng and even Fang Xuanling. I didn't expect you to come up with such an idea! Hmph, King Chuang didn't pay for food when he came, he didn't need to pay for food, King Chuang starved them all to death, so naturally he didn't need to pay food! ”