Although Yan Jizu escaped this catastrophe, other officials did not have such a good fate. In a short period of time, through a "serious" review, it was determined that the following eunuchs Deng Xizhao, the chief eunuch of Jizhen, Sun Maolin, the eunuch of the sub-prison, Chen Zubao, the governor of Shuntian, Zhang Qiping, the governor of Baoding, Ni Chong, the governor of Shandong, Wu Guojun and Chen Guowei, the chief military officers of Jizhen, Zu Kuan and Li Chongzhen, the chief military officers of Jizhen, and a total of 35 people below the deputy general and the state and county officials were sentenced to death and immediately executed; Hundreds of officials, large and small, including Liu Yuliang, the chief university scholar, were dismissed, dismissed, and demoted.

Among them, it is worth pointing out Zu Kuan, although he was convicted because of Gao Qiqian's blind command, which caused the annihilation of the entire army to which he belonged, it should be said that he also deserved it. However, the commander of this army, Gao Qiqian, was safe and sound, but he encountered a ghost knife, and the main reason for his conviction was that he suggested to rescue Lu Xiangsheng at that time. How so? The bad is on that mouth.

What is even more incomprehensible is that Yang Sichang, a scholar and secretary of the military department, was still absolutely trusted by Emperor Chongzhen and was not punished. And let him preside over the post-war conviction and meritorious service, how can this be called fair?

The large-scale mass execution was carried out in the summer, and dozens of people were beheaded at the same time, most of them high-ranking officials, so it attracted a large number of spectators. In the Ming Dynasty, officials who were beheaded by the emperor should normally look at the palace to thank them before they were executed. But this time, several of the people who were killed actually scolded before the execution, and the scolding was the current Son of Heaven. Due to taboos, there is no record of what they scolded, but the fact itself was appalling enough for that time.

The successive defeats on the battlefield have been frustrating, and even the post-war punishment and meritorious work cannot be done fairly, so the prestige of Emperor Chongzhen himself has also entered an unprecedented low period.

As for Wu Shigong, it is already difficult for the imperial court to decide. I don't know what to do with him or what to do with him. However, soon, Emperor Chongzhen and the ministers of the court found a place to arrange Wu Shigong. What exactly? Let's sell it here.

Finally, the Qing army was sent out of the customs, and calm returned to the Gyeonggi area. But Emperor Chongzhen did not dare to relax in the slightest, and his first thing was to discuss the aftermath with the ministers. The most important of these is how to rectify and strengthen the defense line of the so-called Nine-sided Great Wall from Shanhaiguan to Gansu.

Because the Qing army had already casually entered and exited the Great Wall fortresses four times, and the damage caused to the area around Gyeonggi was getting worse and worse. If we can't make up for the loss and build a solid line of defense, maybe one day when the Qing army comes in again, it will destroy Shenjing, and the consequences will be unimaginable.

So Emperor Chongzhen and his confidant Yang Sichang repeatedly discussed this issue, and Yang Sichang thought that the only way was to train new soldiers in the fortresses of the Nine Sides. Defend against the Qing army with a strong force. That is, to rebuild a Great Wall defense line against any Qing army that suddenly invades from any direction.

Therefore, Yang Sichang basically made a list: The three towns under the jurisdiction of the Xuanda Governor need to train more than 170,000 troops, and the five border towns under the jurisdiction of the Shaanxi Trilateral Governor need to train more than 150,000 troops. The five towns under the jurisdiction of the Jiliao Governor need to train more than 240,000 troops, and the four towns under the jurisdiction of the Baoding Governor need to train more than 150,000 troops. A total of 730,000 border soldiers had to be trained.

Oh my God!

But it doesn't matter if the list is actual or not. If there really is such a large and well-trained border army, it may indeed be able to resist the Qing army's re-attack. But to assemble such a large army, it is necessary to recruit a large number of new soldiers. The increase in troops requires an increase in salary, and training and improving equipment also require a lot of money, so the old problem of wanting to increase troops without pay is placed in front of Emperor Chongzhen and the imperial court.

Then, Yang Sichang calculated again. In order to complete this training of troops, it is necessary to allocate at least more than 4 million taels of silver every year. This is simply a fantasy for the Chongzhen court, which is extremely empty in the treasury and on the verge of financial collapse.

I can only call God again.

The Ming Dynasty at this time. The two contradictory problems of insufficient troops and lack of food and salary have already made Emperor Chongzhen and his ministers very troubled. And after trying all kinds of tricks, Zuihou always returned to the old way of sending more to the people. And at this time, Emperor Chongzhen also knew that this was to drink water to quench his thirst. So he decided to find a new way to make money. That is, it is directly squeezed from the common people to squeezed from the nobles and officials, which is called donation.

To be honest, Emperor Chongzhen at this time was really unimaginable. His own treasury was basically used as military salaries, and even the Korean tribute ginseng in the treasury was taken out and sold. Emperor Chongzhen himself lived a simple life, only a few dragon robes were replaced, and the diet was also very economical.

But Emperor Chongzhen didn't know that even in his own palace, it was still luxurious. Not to mention the expenses of tens of thousands of people in the palace, including his family, palace maids, and eunuchs, it is still staggering. This is also the dignity of being an emperor, you can't ask Emperor Chongzhen to DIY everything!

Just look at the layers of the inner prisons! Whatever it is, as long as it enters the palace, the price will skyrocket.

Once Yuan Guifei added a rosewood gauze cupboard, and the steward eunuch quoted seven hundred taels, about dozens of times the price. But the eunuch said: I originally needed 1,000 taels, and I tried my best to save 300 taels for the mother, so please don't tell the emperor the truth, I'm afraid that the emperor will not be able to make it with 700 taels of silver if I ask me to make it again.

But Emperor Chongzhen later saw the yarn cabinet and asked about the price. Yuan Guifei replied with a thousand taels. Unexpectedly, after Emperor Chongzhen observed it carefully, he said: "It's worth it!" A few days ago, the queen also used 1,000 taels to make a yarn cupboard, and the quality is not as good as this. ”

Therefore, Emperor Chongzhen has lived in the deep palace for a long time and does not know the suffering of the people at all, so he will make such a daxiao talk. But no matter what, Emperor Chongzhen still thought that he was one of the most frugal monarchs since the Three Emperors and the Five Emperors.

However, as the Ninth Five-Year Emperor, he was still frugal in every way, but the bureaucrats and nobles were so extravagant that he thought that it was only natural for him to squeeze money from the bureaucrats and nobles to enrich the state treasury. It's just that since the first year of his reign, he has repeatedly issued decrees asking his ministers to make voluntary contributions, but the ministers have prevaricated again and again, and have never received any practical results. This time, he was ready to take drastic measures and make sure to get the money. For this reason, he had a secret discussion with Xue Guoguan, who succeeded Liu Yuliang as the first assistant.

Xue Guoguan also did not work as a Hanlin, and entered the cabinet from a foreign minister, and had a bad reputation among the courtiers. He was insidious and tough, and after becoming the first assistant, he was bent on opposing the courtiers represented by the Donglin Party. Emperor Chongzhen wanted to search for his courtiers, and he felt that it was a good opportunity to scare the spirit of the courtiers, so he strongly agreed with it and actively offered advice to the emperor.

Xue Guoguan believes that the courtiers are rich and poor, and in general, the oil and water are not too large, and the focus should be on those imperial relatives who have huge family assets. And once the nobles took the lead in donating, the courtiers did not dare to resist stubbornly. But for those noble relatives, the cabinet is not easy to do, so he said to Emperor Chongzhen: "The outside group of bureaucrats, ministers, etc. are responsible for urging donations; In the case of relatives, the emperor must be the emperor himself. ”

In fact, speaking of which, Emperor Chongzhen obviously chose the wrong executor. The most suitable and effective way to do this kind of thing is undoubtedly the eunuch. Fighting poison with poison is also, Emperor Chongzhen doesn't understand this truth. That's when "Sunflower Treasure Book" came out, who was competing? Emperor Chongzhen collected the sharpest knife.

Anyway, let's not talk about it for now. After Emperor Chongzhen accepted Xue Guoguan's suggestion, he decided to start with the nobles first. However, he is well aware of the stinginess of the nobles, and everyone is not easy to speak. So Emperor Chongzhen decided to grasp a typical model first, break through from a point, and then expand to a comprehensive one. After several considerations, he chose the family of Li Guorui, Marquis of Wuqing.

Li Guorui is considered to be a cousin of Emperor Chongzhen, who is not close to him, and his ancestors have gathered a lot of money by relying on the Shili of the Empress Dowager Wanli, and he can be regarded as a big family among the nobles in Beijing. Before that, Li Guorui and his cousin brother Li Guochen had a quarrel over property, Li Guochen thought that he had not received the inheritance he deserved, so he sued the court in order to vent his anger, and said to Emperor Chongzhen: His father left a property of 400,000 taels, and it stands to reason that he should share half of it, and he is willing to donate the 200,000 taels to the court as military funds.

Because this was originally a family lawsuit and involved the traditional principle of inheritance of the eldest son, Emperor Chongzhen initially rejected Li Guochen's request. But at this time, in order to fully roll out the donation activities, Emperor Chongzhen brought up the old matter again, not only to accept the 200,000 yuan that Li Guochen claimed belonged to his name, but also to take the other 200,000 yuan from Li Guorui. Of course, it is not that the Li family will lose all their money, but that it will be borrowed temporarily and repaid when the country is sufficient. Of course, whether Zuihou can return it or not, only God knows.

400,000 taels of silver is a huge amount, and of course Li Guorui is distressed. On the one hand, he cried and lamented the poor, and on the other hand, he demolished the house and sold the land with great fanfare, and put the furniture and utensils on the thoroughfare for public auction, expressing his poverty, and deliberately making the emperor look bad. And this move also caused panic among all the nobles. Everyone knows that after Li Guorui, the knife will be cut on his head, so he also conspires to find a way to deal with the emperor.

And Empress Zhou's father, Zhou Kui, is the father-in-law of the current emperor, so he naturally became the leader of the nobles, and took the lead in saying to Emperor Chongzhen: The Li family is indeed poor, don't rush too much and lose the heart of the nobles. (To be continued......)