Raising money is the most headache thing, Zhang Zhifa felt dizzy when he heard it, in the past, in the court, the emperor said that he was dumbfounded, he also bowed his head and kept silent, but today he was called by order, he couldn't hide, he suddenly thought of a folded book he saw a few days ago, and stood up and said: "The minister has been discussing with Cheng Guoxiang, the head of the household department, and has not yet come up with any feasible method." As the first assistant, when the people are exhausted, they are hesitant and can't share the emperor's worries, and they really deserve death. However, a few days ago, the minister saw a chapter and talked about the strategy of raising salaries, but the minister thought it was delusional, so he did not submit it. ”

"What did you say?"

"I implore the emperor to decree and order the big households in Jiangnan to lose their salaries."

"Oh? It is true that all parts of Jiangnan have been peaceful for many years, and they are extremely rich and extravagant, so it is natural for the big families in Jiangnan to donate some money. Who wrote this note? ”

"It's a student named Li Lian."

"This can save the emergency ......" Chongzhen couldn't help but feel a little moved, but seeing that Yang Sichang was speechless, he asked, "What do you think?" ”

Yang Sichang and Zhang Zhifa greeted each other, and then said: "The minister thinks that Li Lian can't compromise the scholar's opinion, and there is nothing to be desired." ”

Zhang Zhifa blushed, and said with a bit of mockery: "Yang Benbing thinks there is a clever plan for him." ”

"Shoufu praised, Si Chang didn't have any good ideas, he just felt the need to think twice. The so-called persuasion is actually forced requisition, and from this point of view, there are four infeasible aspects. Most of the country's talents come from the south of the Yangtze River, and the matter of persuasion is very important, and many of the gentry involved are officials in the court, and it is bound to be discussed in a raging manner, and people's hearts will fluctuate, which is not feasible. Most of the country's annual income comes from the south of the Yangtze River, and the rice and people's food in the capital, as well as the military food of, thistle, and Liao, are all the same. The rich family is the source of food and clothing for the poor, and if a rich family is harmed, many poor people will lose their support, let alone have no way to live, and have to be thieves. The most terrible thing, this proposal is proposed, and the outlaws and scoundrels are in trouble with the rich, and the chaos is numerous, and it is difficult to contain it. ”

Yang Sichang said that Zhang Zhifa was speechless, and Chongzhen woke up and said: "These rich families are really the foundation of the country, if they are skin, the poor are hair, and if the skin does not exist, the hair will be attached?" To persuade them to lose, it is better to ask the Jingshi Qi Wan and Xun Lao with help. ”

Zhang Zhifa is a Jinshi in the twenty-ninth year of Wanli, and has served in Beijing for a long time, knowing the inside story of Qi Wan and Xun, he was so frightened that he couldn't stop warning himself: "I can't say it, I can't say it!" Sweating all over his body, he lowered his head deeply, not daring to look at Chongzhen. Even Yang Sichang, who wants to do something, is also a little shocked when he hears it, those relatives and old relatives of the emperor and the country, or belong to several generations of families who have been awarded the title of knighthood, and the country is resting, the honor is unlimited, and it is not comparable to ordinary eunuchs, and it is really impossible to provoke, so as not to come to a catastrophe and endless troubles.

After a while, Chongzhen couldn't wait for the echo, and asked Zhang Zhifa: "Qing looked at Qi Wan with help, who should be asked to come forward first and set an example?" ”

Zhang Zhifa said: "This, this ......"

"Who should I ask for first?"

"This, this ......" Zhang Zhifa was sweating profusely, his mouth was wide open, and his voice was so low that it seemed to be hidden deep in his throat.

"Which one the hell?"

"This, this...... It's really hard to say. ”

"What's not to say?"

"This, this...... Rong Chen returned to the cabinet to discuss. ”

Chongzhen asked sharply: "You are the first to speak, you don't dare to speak out, such a corpse vegetarian meal, the state affairs are not bad!" If the two ends of the first rat only seek self-preservation, they must be asked. Get up! ”

Chongzhen watched Zhang Zhifa retreat with annoyance, sighed and said: "This is also a last resort, I don't have a bottom in my heart, I'm afraid that there will be any obstacles to it." ”

Yang Sichang bowed and said: "If Your Majesty is arbitrary, those Qi Wan and Xun will naturally not dare to disobey the country's grace, but they will definitely find a figure who is respected by Delong, and he is willing to come out to be an example, and other Qi Wan and Xun Jiu will follow, and this matter will be easy to do." If the leader is not selected accurately, things will be easy to do, and then he will be in a dilemma, and if he cannot raise military salaries, his majesty will damage his prestige and accumulate virtue. ”

"Look, who can take the lead among Qi Wan?"

"Qi Wan is not comparable to foreign ministers, and ministers are not as clear as the emperor. Besides, the minister has lived in Beijing for a few years, and he has never befriended a single Qi Wan or Xun Lao, and the stakes are really not clear. ”

"I cut down on food and clothing, I don't dare to use a single amount of money, and I have repeatedly reduced my daily meals, and some of the emperor's relatives actually know how to share my worries and squander them at will! I heard that Li Guorui, the Marquis of Wuqing, recently expanded Tsinghua Park, and spent more than 100,000 taels of silver! In the end, Chongzhen showed a fierce gaze.

"The minister also heard about it. Tsinghua Garden through this expansion, occupy more than ten miles of the local circle, lead Wanquan River water into the park, before and after the heavy lake, a look of the misty, near the water flying bridge, wading the river and climbing willows, the building pavilion, the rockery Wan turn, the water and wood Tsinghua, the wind and fragrance ten miles, the victory of the forest spring, worthy of the first place under the famous garden, the silver is naturally not spent. Yang Sichang knew that the emperor's two fathers-in-law, Zhou Kui and Tian Hongyu, were richer, but the emperor seemed to have the intention of taking Wuqing Marquis, and he didn't dare to make any extraneous branches.

Chongzhen sighed, half resentful and half helpless, and said: "Marquis Wuqing is the nephew of the Empress Dowager Xiaoding, and I still have to call him a cousin." I know that he is one of the richest families among the old and new imperial princes, when the ancestor was young, the Empress Dowager Xiaoding shipped a lot of money, Li Guorui took the lead, and the rest of the royal relatives were kind to convince him. If it weren't for the treasury being washed, I would be helpless, and I couldn't bear to force Qi Wan to donate silver. ”

"The minister knows that it is difficult for the emperor to ......" Yang Sichang's eyes were hot, and after only half a sentence, he choked up and couldn't say any more.

"It's easier to ...... than when Taizu started his business" Chongzhen also felt a lot of emotion in his heart, but it was not easy to reveal in front of the courtiers, and he was trying his best to hide it, and overheard Ma Yuancheng say outside the curtain: "Long live Lord, please see Liu An, the eunuch in charge of Kunning Palace." ”

Yang Sichang withdrew, and Liu An, who looked anxious, entered the warm pavilion and cried on the ground, "Long live the lord, the queen has been crying bitterly and refuses to eat, let the slaves and maids advise in every way, but ignore them all, a few hours, the mother has not entered the water and rice, but what to do!" ”

Chongzhen was bent on raising money, and did not take Liu An's words to heart, he said indifferently: "You go to Zhongcui Palace to invite the prince, and go to the Chufang Palace to invite the three princes and the princesses to Kunning Palace, and kneel down to persuade them to eat." ”

Half an hour later, Liu An ran back crying, tearfully telling the queen that she still refused to eat. Chongzhen ordered him to go to Yikun Palace to invite Yuan Guifei, Chongzhen handed over the two gifts to Yuan Guifei and ordered her to persuade her. Yuan Guifei entered the East Warm Pavilion of Kunning Palace, and saw Queen Zhou sitting on the bed crying, and couldn't help crying for a while, before persuading: "The emperor heard that Niangniang didn't have lunch, and she was restless in the Qianqing Palace, and she didn't even have the intention to read the documents. ”

Queen Zhou cried sadly: "Good sister, you don't know how bitter my heart is, I have been a husband and wife for more than ten years, and in front of everyone, he doesn't care about my face, what is the interest of my life?" It's better to die clean! Today, I understand that many of the concubines of all dynasties died of resentment. What about brocade clothes and food, glory and wealth, it's not a passing cloud! The husband and wife in the palace are ruthless, and the blessings and misfortunes are impermanent, woo, woo...... What else could it be like! Either he was beaten into the cold palace by old age and decay, or he was slandered and deposed and claustrophobic, and there was an even worse reward for a glass of wine and a three-foot white silk ......"

Yuan Guifei was frightened when she heard this, but she persuaded in her mouth: "Niangniang is too careful, the emperor is definitely not that kind of person, our Ming Dynasty has been passed down for more than ten generations since Taizu, to say a word of disrespect to the ancestors, there are only a handful of ancestors and ancestors who are indifferent to women, but Taizu and Xiaozong." Niangniang, but look at the gift from the emperor, you know. She clapped her hands gently, and recently a palace maid and a eunuch, the palace maid was holding a yellow dragon wrap, and the eunuch was holding a vermilion lacquer food box. The eunuch carefully opened the food box, which was full of the secret silk nest tiger's eye candy made by the sweets, which was Chongzhen's favorite sweet, Queen Zhou's heart warmed, and gradually stopped sobbing. The palace maid unfolded the yellow dragon's wrap, and there was a mink mattress inside, and when Queen Zhou saw it, she asked in surprise: "This is also sent by the emperor?" ”

Yuan Guifei said: "It was handed over to me by the emperor himself." ”

Queen Zhou got up and left the bed, hugged the mink mattress, and tears rolled down again. Yuan Guifei was surprised: "Why is Niangniang crying again?" ”

"I'm not crying, I'm rejoicing. My sister is right, the emperor is not a ruthless and unrighteous person. Empress Zhou hugged the mink mattress tightly, and there was no sadness on her face, "You must not know if this is an old thing in the palace of King Xin, or, or my dowry at my wedding." At that time, I was thin and the weather was extremely cold, and my mother's trustee Gao Shiming brought in this mink mattress to keep me warm......" A red glow flew on her face, as if looking forward to the beauty of the wedding night, she sighed in her heart, the emperor has all the opportunities, and there is such a delicate mind, after all, she has not forgotten the kindness of the husband and wife in the past! She felt that her own was wrong, and those grievances disappeared without a trace, and she hurriedly said to Yuan Guifei: "If you return to the emperor, just say that I have eaten according to the order, please don't worry about it." ”

At dusk, Chongzhen stepped out of the East Warm Pavilion, paced in the main hall of the Qianqing Palace, looked up and saw the big plaque hanging south in the main hall, the four big characters of "Respect for the Heavenly Ancestor" were majestic, and the unhappiness of the dispute with the queen suddenly dissipated, the nine-fold Boshan Xuan furnace next to the imperial case was wafting with light smoke, he felt a little hungry, after dinner, Ma Yuancheng saw that the emperor did not say where to live tonight, and beckoned the little eunuch into the imperial dining room with his hand, the little eunuch knelt in front of Chongzhen according to the rules of the palace, held a brocade box and knelt in front of Chongzhen, opened the lid of the box, revealing a row of ivory brands, each sign is engraved with the name of the palace. Chongzhen wanted to stay in which palace tonight, so he took out a tooth card engraved with the name of the palace, and the eunuch immediately took the tooth card to inform the palace concubines to dress up and wait. But he knelt for a long time, but Chongzhen looked at the tooth card and was distracted. "Yangzhou Skinny Horse", Chongzhen's heart involuntarily poured out these four words, he wanted to suppress it as much as possible, but it was a little futile, these four words were always churning in his mind, such a beautiful and refined wonderful person would be Yangzhou Skinny Horse? He didn't believe it at all, but the queen's words lingered in his ears and lingered. He secretly thought: Give Cao Huachun a secret decree and order him to secretly visit to see the details of Tian Guifei's background. The decision was made, and he groaned and pulled out the tooth card of the Chengqian Palace, and the little eunuch shouted outward: "Chengqian Gongtian Niangniang waits for the ----" covered the brocade box and retreated with bated breath.

The palace courtyard of the front and back of the Chengqian Palace, the five main halls are double-crossed and four-fold rhombic flowers and doors and windows, and the high-hanging gold wire cover silk palace lamp is reflected in a red. The east and west halls are hung with large plaques written by Chongzhen himself: Zhenshun Zhai and Mingde Hall. Chengqian Palace is exquisitely arranged, furnishings the exquisite furniture and novel things purchased from Yangzhou, a large painting case of Huanghuali by the window is placed on a Tang Dynasty Kei-shaped green jade inkstone, next to the inkstone is placed most of the imperial ink, there are four gold seal characters of "Deze Wanfang", and the word "square" has been worn out most of it. There are all kinds of lake pens in the red inlaid jade pen holder of the Yongle year, a frangipani tribute paper is painted with a peach tree, and a corner of the grass house is faintly exposed in the depths of the peach forest under the mountain. Chongzhen knew that he was painting the story of Cui Hu of the Tang Dynasty, and he had the meaning that it was too late to find Fang. After looking at it for a moment, he was quite touched, and asked: "Concubine Ai has learned a lot, and the piano, chess, calligraphy and painting are all exquisite, who taught them?" ”

"It was learned by the concubine when she was in Yangzhou, when she was still young, and her understanding of the wonderful meaning of calligraphy and painting was not deep, and the teacher did not explain, but only taught Linming to copy the painting spectrum, which was very boring!"

"Studied in Yangzhou?" Chongzhen's heart ached, "How many masters have you invited?" ”

"There's only one."

"That person is naturally as versatile as Concubine Ai." Chongzhen became suspicious.

Tian Guifei didn't notice it, and said with a smile: "It's natural at that time, otherwise how can you teach your concubines?" ”

"I want to meet your master."

"Okay!" Tian Guifei clapped her hands and said, "The concubine also wants to see her mother." ”

"Your master is actually ......" Chongzhen was shocked, prostitutes all call the bustard their mother, is their concubine really from the Qinglou? He didn't dare to ask any further, for fear that he would expose it to his face, lose face, and didn't know how to deal with it.

"When will the emperor pass the decree?" Tian Guifei was really a little overjoyed, according to the rules of the palace, the concubine could not meet her family casually, even if it was the biological mother, it was the same, and she could not enter the palace without an edict.

Chongzhen held back his displeasure and said perfunctorily: "Let's wait for the weather to be warm and harmonious!" ”

Seeing that his face was a little gloomy, Tian Guifei asked, "Why is the emperor troubled again, could it be that the concubine said the wrong thing?" ”

"No, it's not ......" Chongzhen waved his hand and said: "I am hiding the emptiness, and it is not easy to worry about raising salaries, so I plan to use Qi Wan with help." ”

"Qi Wanshi received the grace of the country, and he should donate silver and lose his salary."

Chongzhen almost said: "You go and persuade Tian Hongyu and donate tens of thousands of taels of silver." When the words came to his lips, he changed his words: "I intend to ask Marquis Wu Qinghou to donate first." ”

"What if he doesn't donate?"

Chongzhen snorted coldly: "Sent to the edict to see if he can't get the money!" ”

Concubine Tian dissuaded: "I'm afraid that going to prison is not a way, and I may not be able to force him to pay the money." Li Guorui is not young, in case there is a three-long and two-short, one is that the emperor's face is not good-looking, and the other is sorry for the Empress Dowager Xiaoding. ”

Chongzhen said hatefully: "That was what he asked for, and I can't care about it." This matter must not be anticlimactic, and Li Guorui must be subdued. Otherwise, everything will be difficult in the future. He has always not allowed the concubines to intervene in state affairs, not even to inquire, although Tian Guifei said a little reasonable, but he committed a big taboo in his heart. Tian Guifei was worried that the emperor forced Li Guorui to use the first move, and there were second and third moves behind...... If the father relies on his grace in the palace to resist the decree or order himself to intercede with the emperor, this matter is very tricky, she mustered up the courage to say: "The emperor is playing a dangerous move, take Li Guorui to open the knife, all Qi Wan is bound to be in danger, the rich and poor are different, the pledged silver is different, it is bound to cause injustice, not only the Qi Wan of the Beijing division looks at each other, compares, even the vassal kings outside the Beijing division are afraid of being frightened, and everyone hates the emperor in their hearts." ……”

"Are you interceding for them? It is a rule that concubines are not allowed to interfere in politics, you are so bold! Chongzhen brushed his sleeves away, and Tian Guifei was stunned for a long time. Her remorse angered the emperor, hoping that the emperor would be able to dissipate his anger and return to Chengqian Palace. She waited patiently, and after more than half an hour, Wang Ruifen hurriedly came in and said that the imperial eunuch Ma Gonggong came to deliver the decree, and then heard Ma Yuancheng shouting in the courtyard: "Tian Niangniang takes the decree---- " She hurriedly dressed up and trotted out, kneeling at the foot of the steps to listen to the decree. A little eunuch held a silk lantern high, and Ma Yuancheng unfolded the holy decree and recited: "The emperor has a decree: Concubine Tian is favored, not self-restrained, vainly discussing national politics, and protecting Qi Wan." Gu Nian has no major mistakes on weekdays, and will not be severely punished, so he will be relegated to Qixiang Palace and reflect on himself. If you don't follow the holy decree, you are not allowed to leave the gate of Qixiang Palace without permission! The five princes are still young, and the emperor is allowed to take them to Qixiang Palace, and the remaining two princes and four princes are all left in the Qiangong Palace and are not allowed to follow without permission. Chin this! …… Thank you! ”

"Shane!" Concubine Tian seemed to be hit on the head with a stick, her face was pale, her body trembled for a while, and she slowly kowtowed her head, if it weren't for Wang Ruifen and others to support her, she almost collapsed to the ground and couldn't stand up. Qixiang Palace is a cold palace, Emperor Shenzong was destroyed in the fire because of the Qianqing Palace and Kunning Palace, he had moved here for several years, and no one lived in it for nearly 30 years after that, only a few eunuchs and palace maids regularly sprinkled and cleaned, the palace was in disrepair, decayed in many places, cold as an ice cellar, and Chengqian Palace was not the same day, how to spend the long night, Tian Guifei did not dare to think about it, and secretly complained: The emperor is so ruthless!

Wang Ruifen took off the phoenix crown for her, and said with tears: "The slave maid can't go to Qixiang Palace to serve, so I'll go and clean up your things for you." Niangniang must want to open some, the second prince and the fourth prince are still waiting for you to come out! ”

Tian Guifei took Wang Ruifen's hand and said miserably: "The day of your beginning? Alas, when I left this Chengqian Palace, I really don't know if I will come back in the future. The second prince and the fourth prince will be handed over to you, bother to take care of them, poor children without a mother! ”

"Rest assured, serving the two princes is a slave and maid's internal matter, and it will not be instructed." Wang Ruifen took a green gauze headkerchief and covered it on her head for Concubine Tian. **Holding the sleeping five princes, a little palace maid accompanied her with a burden, Tian Guifei said goodbye to the eunuchs and palace maids of Chengqian Palace, and moved to Qixiang Palace overnight. The snow that had just fallen was as soft as cotton wool when stepped on, but after walking a few steps, Tian Guifei felt that her feet were cold. Out of the place of Chengqianmen, looking back at the Chengqian Palace in the snow, she couldn't help but hide her face with her sleeves and sobbed quietly.