"It's this set again!"

Chongzhen doesn't need to look in the mirror now to know that he must be helpless, if others say this, Chongzhen is nothing more than a haha or vague past, but this old man is like a piece of kraft candy and always refuses to forgive, forcing Chongzhen to arrest Yue Yang and ask for guilt.

If someone else forced him like this, Comrade Xiao Zhu would have been furious, but this old man is different from others, this old man can be called a rare moral model in Chongzhen's time, he has been an official for more than 40 years, and he has supported a family of four with his meager income, and the family is so poor that the thief can come out with tears in his eyes.

But also because this old man is rigid and unapproachable, the biggest pleasure after work is to sit in the small courtyard with a pile of wood to play carving, and wait until a batch of carvings to let his old wife go to the market to sell, and he also has a rule that each carving only sells for ten cents, and does not sell more, which makes many people who want to give him benefits scold this old man is simply a stone in the pit, smelly and hard.

Seeing the old man standing below and looking at himself with firm eyes, Chongzhen couldn't help but sigh lightly, put down his hands rubbing his temples and said helplessly: "Zhong Aiqing, I told you a long time ago, the Marquis of Zhongyong implemented the new policy in Shandong this time is also for the sake of the imperial court, the Ming Dynasty is now financially exhausted, and the household department has long been overwhelmed, almost every month Cheng Aiqing will come to complain to me, do you say that it is okay not to implement the new policy?" ”

It is said that Chongzhen, as the emperor, has put his posture so low, Zhong Wei should also accept it when he sees it, after all, the emperor's face is not so easy to refute, but this old man is not biased, and still stalks his head and says: "The emperor's words are wrong, the law of the Ming Dynasty is formulated by the Taizu in a group, how can it be changed at will, not to mention that the Marquis of Zhongyong wantonly slaughtered the gentry and merchants, if this move is not severely punished, wouldn't it be even more conniving at such evil acts, if my local government is like this everywhere, won't my Ming Dynasty be chaotic?" ”

"Exactly...... Lord Zhong has a point. The minister seconded the proposal! ”

"The minister seconded the proposal!"

"The minister also seconded it!"

As soon as Zhong Biao's words were finished, more than a dozen officials stood up behind Zhong Biao and expressed their support to him.

"The minister also implores His Majesty to severely punish Yue Yang!"

"Yes, Yue Yang must be severely punished!"

More and more officials stood up, and soon dozens of others stood up in unison to demand that Chongzhen deal with Yueyang strictly. Looking at the large number of ministers standing in front of him, Chongzhen suddenly felt a sense of powerlessness welling up in his heart, he didn't understand what was wrong with these ministers? Why do the two of them look at Yue Yang so unpleasantly, and they must put him to death? Are these people going to do nothing but do something moral, and then attack this and impeach that every day?

Unlike Chongzhen, who was on fire in his heart, many people in the main hall were secretly happy when they saw that so many colleagues were attacking Yue Yang. For example, Cheng Guoxiang, the head of the household, is one of them. Seeing so many people asking for strict punishment of Yue Yang so in unison, he also began to be eager to try it in his heart, anyway, he didn't want money for impeachment, why didn't he take the opportunity to step forward and push it? Thinking of this, he set his eyes on the position at the front, and the one standing on that seat was Yang Sichang, the first assistant of the cabinet.

But what disappointed him was that Yang Sichang was standing there, his hands were inserted into the wide sleeves, his eyes were slightly closed, his face was peaceful, as if he had nothing to do with himself, seeing Yang Sichang's appearance, Cheng Guoxiang was stunned in his heart, didn't Yang Sichang want to trip Yueyang a long time ago. Why didn't you say a word today?

Cheng Guoxiang is Yang Sichang's hardcore confidant, and he naturally has to look at Yang Sichang's face before doing things. The body slowly shrank back into the crowd.

There are still many people who have an idea with Cheng Guoxiang, they all belong to Yang Sichang's descendants, and when they saw that their boss didn't move, they also put out their thoughts of joining in the fun.

And at this time. More and more ministers have come forward, and even Zhou Tingru, the second assistant of the cabinet, has also come forward. I saw Zhou Tingru say impassionedly: "Your Majesty, Yueyang is in the name of the new deal. Behind his back, he was full of private pockets and damaged the public and private, and the minister thought that the court must not tolerate the adulterer, even if he did not investigate it thoroughly, he would be transferred back to Shanxi, and the people of Shandong would be given a sunny day. ”

"Smack......

A crisp sound came, and Chongzhen slapped heavily on the dragon case and glared at everyone: "Enough...... Yue Yang was sent to Shandong by me, and you can't wait to attack him after less than two months in office, what do you mean? ”

"It's broken!"

Hearing Chongzhen's anger, many ministers below were stunned for a moment before they woke up, this big boss of his own family has always been a donkey temper who does not walk and regresses, and his own group of people persecuting him like this will arouse his rebellious mentality, and now I am afraid that he will not deal with Yue Yang.

Sure enough, Chongzhen's voice sounded in the Taiji Hall again: "You wait for one by one to open your mouth and shut up morality, but now the Ming Dynasty needs not these things, the court needs silver, food, and the people need to live and work in peace and contentment, can you give these things?" ”

As soon as Chongzhen's words came out, everyone was silent, if you want to talk about the ministers of this year, when it comes to moral articles or the way of Confucius and Mencius, you will come with your mouth open, but if you talk about the ability to do things...... Don't mention that, otherwise you won't be able to kill a huge country in another time and space.

Seeing that Chongzhen was angry, most people were silent, only Zhong Wei still wanted to say something, but he was interrupted by a voice as soon as he spoke.

"Report ...... Zhongyong Marquis, Dongyang Pavilion Scholar, Xuanda Governor, Shandong Governor, and Shandong Caoyun Governor Yue Yang sent someone to send six hundred miles to expedite! ”

"Oh!" Chongzhen's heart couldn't help but jump violently when he heard this, could it be that this Yueyang is going to have something wrong with it? Thinking of this, he hurriedly said, "Quickly let someone send the fold up." ”

The eunuch said cautiously: "Your Majesty, the person who came claimed to have been ordered by the Marquis of Zhongyong to personally present the fold to the emperor!"

"And this?" Chongzhen's curiosity rose in his heart, and he waved his hand: "Then let him in." ”

"Slave obeys!"

Soon, a military general wearing a five-grade official uniform strode in, and when he came to the Taiji Palace, he knelt down on one knee and said loudly: "Chen Xuan's army praises Wuqing and knocks to see my emperor, long live my emperor, long live, long live!" ”

"No rudeness!"

"Emperor Xie!"

Wu Qing stood up, took out a letter from his arms and held it above his head, and soon a eunuch came over to take the fold and inspect it, then handed it to Wang Chengen, and finally handed it over to Chongzhen's dragon case.

After Chongzhen took it, he couldn't wait to open it and read it at a glance. When he saw half of it, his face immediately changed, and then he let out an exclamation.

"What...... Is this really the case? ”

Chongzhen's exclamation was loud, and the people around him heard it, and everyone's eyes looked at him. At this time, Chongzhen's face showed an abnormal flush, and his body sitting on the dragon chair also shook. Wang Chengen, who was standing aside in fright, hurriedly supported him.

The ministers below also shouted in unison: "Your Majesty, what's wrong with you, you have to take care of the dragon body!" ”

Zhou Tingru turned his head to Wu Qing, who was standing in the main hall, and shouted: "What is written on your letter fold, how can it make the emperor so shocked?" ”

In the face of Zhou Tingru's shouting, Wu Qing just squinted at him and didn't manage him. His attitude made Zhou Tingru's heart even more angry in his eyes, and he was about to call the warrior in front of the palace to take down this guy. However, at this time, Chongzhen had already settled down, grabbed the fold in his hand and shook it and asked Wu Qing: "Wu Aiqing, is what this fold says true?" ”

"Emperor Qiqi, it is indeed true, these silver have been shipped from Jinan, and Marquis Yue has sent five thousand soldiers to rush to the capital for the Asian Games, and it must arrive in the capital in half a month!"

"Good...... All right! Yue Aiqing is worthy of being an important minister of the country" Chongzhen stood up with laughter, the whole person looked extremely excited, and his face became flushed with excitement.

Chongzhen said as he stepped off the throne excitedly. Yang Sichang, who came to the front and handed the fold to the front, sighed, "Take a look, take a look...... You people are loyal to the court and me, but if you have half of Yue Yang, I won't have so much hard work. ”

Chongzhen's actions aroused everyone's curiosity, what exactly was written in Yue Yang's letter. How could it cause such a big reaction from the emperor.

Yang Sichang was no exception, when he saw half of it, the expression on his face quickly changed several colors like Chongzhen, and the whole person's expression looked like he was happy or annoyed, but he looked incredulous, and the whole person looked like he was suffering from a loss of heart.

Yang Sichang's appearance also aroused everyone's curiosity. Zhou Tingru couldn't help but ask: "Your Majesty, what does this letter of the Marquis of Zhongyong say?" ”

Chongzhen also slowly recovered from the excitement and said to Yang Sichang: "Yang Aiqing." You fold this letter to all of you Aiqing to read. ”

"Obey the order!"

Yang Sichang deserved to be the first assistant of the dynasty, and after listening to Chongzhen's words, he quickly cleaned up his mood, and glanced at everyone with a very strange expression, and then read: "The loyal and brave Marquis Yue Yang nodded his head:

At the beginning of the year, the minister was ordered to go to Shandong to take up his post, and after arriving in Shandong, the minister rectified military affairs, expelled the rogues and began to collect commercial taxes, and achieved certain results, but there were also many illegal traders and gentry who were extremely hostile to the new policy, and even gathered to resist taxes and killed and injured many tax officials, in order to severely punish this tyrannical behavior, the minister had to mobilize Shanxi and Liaodong garrisons to suppress it for a long time, arrested 117 official gentry and merchants, a total of more than 6,000 people, and seized a total of 10,260,000 taels of gold, silver and money. For these money ministers, they did not dare to be arbitrary, and sent 5,000 soldiers to escort them into Beijing for His Majesty's use. After this battle, the ministers thought that many businessmen in Shandong had a lot of money...... Therefore, the ministers took it for granted that a commercial tax should be levied on them, and they should step up the matter of opening the sea......"

When Yang Sichang read out the song in a low tone, everyone in the hall was stunned, none of them expected that Yue Yang would be able to confiscate so many silver taels from Shandong. More than 10 million taels, these silver have been the current Ming Dynasty for two years of taxes, how much can this silver do.

"Your Majesty!"

Soon an old voice sounded in the hall, and Zhong Wei also walked out of the crowd, and he said to Chongzhen tremblingly: "Your Majesty, is this matter serious?" ”

Chongzhen said dissatisfiedly: "How can this matter be fake? Yue Yang clearly wrote on the fold that this was the proceeds of the seizure of those merchants and gentry who violently resisted taxes, and besides, he had already sent a sergeant to escort the gold and silver to the capital and would arrive in a few days, so if Aiqing didn't believe it, he could come and watch. Speaking of this, Chongzhen glared at him with some dissatisfaction, this old man just loves more seriously.

In fact, when he heard this, Zhong Wei also believed it in his heart, after all, this kind of thing can't be faked, and no one is stupid enough to cheat. His clenched fists slowly loosened, and with a light sigh, he retreated back to his position and never spoke again.

There was also silence in the main hall, and the officials who were originally clamoring to punish Yue Yang were also dumb, and no one said that they wanted to escort Yue Yang into Beijing. Because they knew that no matter what he said, it could not compare to the real money of more than 10 million taels. said a thousand ways and ten thousand, everything is fake in these years, only silver is real, and what the Ming court lacks today is silver.

However, there are no absolutes, and soon someone stood up and spoke, and this person was Cheng Guoxiang, the head of the household.

"Your Majesty, the current embarrassment of the household department of the imperial court, since the Marquis of Zhongyong sent someone to send such a sum of silver taels, the minister thinks that he should send someone to escort him into Beijing and send it to the treasury of the household department for the needs of the imperial court!"

As soon as Cheng Guoxiang's words came out, all of a sudden glance looked at him. Many people exclaimed in their hearts: "Grass...... This old boy moved quite quickly, and immediately started the idea of this money. ”

What made them even more unexpected was that as soon as Cheng Guoxiang finished speaking, Yang Sichang also stood up and said: "Your Majesty, what Lord Cheng said is extremely true, now that there is no silver in the household department of the imperial court, the silver sent by the Marquis of Zhongyong has solved our urgent need, and it should be sent to the treasury of the household department for unified dispatch by the household department." ”

When everyone heard this, they all looked at Yang Sichang with the eyes of a celestial person, "Nima's." This guy didn't say a word when everyone was denouncing Yue Yang just now, but now he sees the benefits but jumps faster than anyone else, no wonder people can be the first assistant! ”

In fact, not only the officials, but even Chongzhen's face changed slightly. He didn't expect that before he saw the silver, someone jumped out to grab the silver with a roar, you are too shameless. Chongzhen was reluctant to send these silver to the household department, after all, once the silver entered the household department, it would not be his own. He was sure that the yamen, who had been waiting for hunger for a long time, would soon divide up the silver, but he had no good way to stop it.

In the Ming generation, the imperial court divided money very clearly. The silver of the household department belongs to the state, and if the emperor wants to use the silver of the user department, it must be approved by the cabinet, so the old Zhu family has set up an inner treasury, which is equivalent to the small treasury of the old Zhu family, and the royal expenses are withdrawn from the inner treasury. But here's the blame, when the household department ran out of money and the court was in urgent need of silver, the ministers would write to the emperor and ask him to take money from his own small treasury to subsidize it. And in the beautiful name of the family, the country and the world, the world is all yours, shouldn't you have some blood now if there is something? So the old Zhu family, who had a lot of savings in Wanli, became poorer and poorer, and finally Chongzhen had to send eunuchs to get the antiques in the palace out of the palace and sell them.

Just when Chongzhen was anxious, Wu Qing on the side spoke, "Everyone, these silvers were sent by our marquis, and it seems that you should also ask our marquis if you want to move these silvers, right?" ”

"Uh......"

Wu Qing's words made everyone stunned, this seems to make sense, people have come all the way to send the silver, and it is too unkind to want to take the silver without even saying hello.

Cheng Guoxiang stroked his beard and said to Wu Qing: "You are the praise of the Xuan army, what you said seems to be reasonable, but shouldn't your marquis transport the silver into the capital and send it to the treasury of the household department for the use of the imperial court?" ”

"Who said it was going to be shipped into the warehouse?" Wu Qing said lightly: "Just now, I heard that many ministers in the court are persuading the emperor to arrest my marquis and punish the crime. ”

"You ......"

Cheng Guoxiang couldn't help but be angry, you kid is deliberately looking for fault. I didn't say a word just now. He forcibly endured the dissatisfaction in his heart and said with a calm face: "Then according to your opinion, what should be done with this silver?" ”

Wu Qing said with a cold face: "The lower official has already said before he comes, his old man has long expected that there will be many ministers in the court to impeach him this time, in this case, this silver should be sent to the inner treasury, so that the emperor can decide how to dispose of this silver." ”

"This kid is so good!"

Hearing this, Chongzhen, who was distressed about this silver, was so excited that it was like hugging this kid and kissing him, this kid is really good at understanding his intentions and has a future!

But unlike Chongzhen, the officials on the side felt as uncomfortable as if they had eaten a big lump of Xiang after hearing this, this guy Yueyang is so bad that even if he is in Shandong, he will not forget to disgust them. I want to refute it, but just now a large number of people did jump out to impeach Yue Yang, saying that he was fighting with the people for profit and slaughtering officials, gentry and businessmen, and now they sent the silver to themselves, but they were eager to send the silver to the treasury of the household. But if they watched such a large sum of silver be sent into the inner treasury like this, and from then on it was in the hands of the emperor, they couldn't do it, so they were all scratching their ears and cheeks there.

In the end, Chongzhen made a decision, the 10 million taels of silver were sent to the treasury of the Ministry of Households, and all the others were sent to the inner treasury, and in this way, the more than 10 million taels of silver sent by Yue Yang were divided up before they arrived in the capital. (To be continued......)