Huang Taiji's mind was very complicated at this time.

Now that he has become a prisoner, he naturally has nothing to say.

Faced with the question of the Emperor of the Apocalypse, he could only answer: "Becoming a king and defeating a king, unfortunately falling into your hands today, what else can I say, it is nothing more than death." ”

Say this.

The Emperor of the Apocalypse said coldly: "Where is it so easy to die, take him down and keep him under strict care." ”

At this time, he didn't want to be verbose with Huang Taiji, since the other party begged for death, but the Emperor of the Apocalypse hadn't played enough, think about it, take this Huang Taiji out every once in a while, and let everyone think of his great achievements in Liaodong, what a happy thing.

Huang Taiji is like a signboard of the Emperor of the Apocalypse, and the Emperor of the Apocalypse is even thinking at this time, waiting for a few days to be free, I will catch him wandering the streets of this capital.

At the sound of an order, several guards dragged Huang Taiji down.

Immediately, the Emperor of the Apocalypse issued another decree, this Wei Zhongxian obeyed the order, took a group of factory ministers, to the Daming Gate Tower, and then read out His Majesty's safe return, Wang Huan's will to destroy the three clans, and the will of the king to become a vassal.

Outside, the indignant scholars who were mixed in the crowd seemed to have withered all at once, all of them were like pig's livers.

At this time...... From all sides, cavalry and warrior battalion soldiers and horses were transferred, and the warrior battalion and horses were stacked on top of each other, holding large shields, advancing mightily, and the feeling of oppression like a mountain had already made people frightened, so in just a moment, most of the people dispersed.

After a while, outside the Daming Gate, even a single scholar and the people disappeared.

Wei Zhongxian, who was just standing on the city tower, didn't feel relaxed.

This time it taught him a great lesson, Your Majesty is here, he is an invincible nine thousand years old.

And once something happened to His Majesty, he found that sometimes he couldn't control the situation at all, and the appeal brought by a royal bloodline with legitimacy was amazing, and the vast majority of those who welcomed him in the past, except for a few of his godsons and godsons, did not dare to act rashly.

If this is the case in the capital, let alone outside the capital.

At this time, he let out a long sigh, looked at the mess outside the Daming Gate, and then summed up two things in his heart, one of which was to collect more children and grandchildren, but all good seedlings must be accepted, especially that Zhang San...... If he can come back safely from this trip, he must immediately put it away.

Second: Your Majesty must not have an accident.

And at this time, Tian Ergeng on the side said: "Godfather......"

Wei Zhongxian turned his head, glanced at him lightly, and said lazily: "Okay, there's nothing for you here." ”

"Yes." Tian Ergeng nodded, and suddenly thought of something: "New County Marquis...... It's getting more and more like the sky. ”

Wei Zhongxian's eyes narrowed slightly, with vigilance, and glanced at Tian Ergeng with a meaningful look: "What, are you afraid?" ”

Tian Ergeng sneered: "Where, I just think I should remind my godfather." ”

"We don't need to be reminded, we are eunuchs, he is a relative and a minister, can he still cut his roots, come to the celebrant and grab the position with us? I'm afraid that you want to remind yourself, I'm afraid that the time will come...... You don't have the power in your own hands, right? ”

Wei Zhongxian smiled and said, "Don't fool us with this set, don't you still point to us to charge into battle?" We know very well in our hearts that the person who can replace us is in the palace. ”

Tian Ergeng didn't dare to say anything more, and hurriedly said in fear: "Yes, yes, my son is dead." ”

Wei Zhongxian flicked his sleeves and said coldly: "This time, Jinyiwei responded to the wrong situation, and almost caused a big disaster, if it wasn't for His Majesty coming back in time, you Tian Ergen would not be able to escape the blame, so let's go and reflect on it." ”

Tian Ergeng touched a nail, and hurriedly responded like a worm.

……

At this time, in the warm pavilion.

The Emperor of the Apocalypse had sat down, and he looked a little tired, believing in what the King had done had broken his heart and made him sullen.

But what made him even more sad was that the subjects of this world, after seeing it today, realized that many people really wanted him to die outside.

This trend of wanting to immediately support King Xin to replace him made the Emperor of the Apocalypse realize how unpopular he had become.

Therefore, in front of Zhang Jingyi, the Emperor of the Apocalypse couldn't help but complain: "I have ascended to the pole, why don't I walk on thin ice?" These people want my money everywhere, but they want me to give the people lightly? I sent the mine eunuchs out to prevent the eunuchs from trying to earn money, but should this money be distributed to the people? How have the people become impoverished, and the people have risen in all directions, what else can I do if I remove the mining tax and the commercial tax? ”

He took a sip of tea, and was so angry that he circled around in this warm pavilion, and then scolded: "These people, all day long, always talk about kings, ministers, fathers, sons, and sons, and I also said that although they are stupid and stupid to read, at least they have no other plans. But I never expected that they would still have these thoughts. ”

"King Xin is young, and now he believes in them every day, and now he is so bold that he wants to replace me, how can I have such a brother......"

Zhang Jingyi stood aside and watched the Emperor of the Apocalypse silently scolding.

In fact, Zhang Jingyi knows very well that any comfort is useless now, people just want to find someone to talk to and scold people.

Simply, he served as a stake.

This made him feel like he was back in the days when he was a Han general.

"I've decided, I'm not going to go to court, let them go, I want to see...... What can they do? ”

Zhang Jingyi smiled and said, "Your Majesty...... Why be angry about such a thing? Since King Xin is not sensible, let him be a vassal, and slowly he will be sensible. As for some ministers and scholars, the ministers have a word, and they don't know whether to talk about it or not. ”

The Emperor of the Apocalypse stopped and stared at Zhang Jing: "Say it." ”

Zhang Jing said: "At the beginning, I Ming Dynasty implemented the Yellow Book, recorded the population, and the records of the household department showed that when Emperor Taizu Gao was there, I had 59.87 million in the Ming Dynasty. And just the year before last, that is, in the sixth year of the Apocalypse, His Majesty ordered someone to count the population, and the registered population was 51.65 million. Your Majesty, the Ming Dynasty has been peaceful for more than two hundred and fifty years, but ...... Isn't it strange that the world has been handed over to His Majesty, and the population has not increased, but has decreased by nearly two percent? ”

In any dynasty, the population is often greatly reduced during war, but with the establishment of a new dynasty, the population will continue to increase.

But the Ming Dynasty is also wonderful, from the early days of the founding of the country to the beginning of the country, the population has actually decreased.

The decrease in population means a decrease in taxes, that is to say, after more than 200 years of development, not only the registered population is declining, but even the ability to collect taxes is also declining.

So much so that at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the imperial court could use countless soldiers and horses, could fight in the south and the north, and even swept the desert again and again, went to the West, and conquered Annan. By the middle of the Ming Dynasty, it was still possible to plow the court and sweep the holes. And when it comes to the Emperor of the Apocalypse, a liao salary has already made the imperial court anxious.

The Emperor of the Apocalypse said with a gloomy face: "I also know about this, when this registered oral report came up, I still didn't believe it and asked to continue the investigation, but at that time, the reporter said that the inventory had been very carefully. They said that it was all due to the exiles, and that the people would not keep to themselves. ”

Zhang Jing smiled and said, "Of course, there is a certain reason for the homeless, but this homeless ...... After all, there is a finite number. It is ridiculous to blame the homeless. In the minister's view, the crux of the problem lies in the hidden households, those gentry families, and the hidden population, so as not to pay taxes, but ...... The amount of silver to be spent by the court is indispensable, so ...... Taxes levied...... Can it also be reduced? In this way, the tax is imposed on those who have no hiding, and these people are precisely the most helpless people! ”

"Their taxes are getting heavier and heavier, and at the end of the year, don't say that they have food in stock, and they can't eat enough food to eat. Once you encounter a natural disaster, you will either starve to death, or you can only sell yourself into slavery. ”

The Emperor of the Apocalypse frowned and said, "I also know this. ”

Zhang Jingyi continued: "The most terrible thing is that those who hide the population and have a large amount of land, they wantonly annex and the local government, but they dare not ask. What is the difference between these people and the emperor in the locality? Their children would hire famous teachers, and then teach them the Four Books and Five Classics every day, so that these children could go to the examination to gain fame, so they had a three-jinshi, a five-jinshi, and a nine-jinshi. Their sons were officials in the court, and they annexed land in the local area, and hid the people who should have paid taxes to the court, and became their domestic slaves. They even open mines, support business behind them, and make money every day. And the imperial court is unsustainable, the money and grain requisitioned every year are not even as good as when Emperor Taizu Gao was there, Your Majesty think about it, in the long run, what will the court do, what will the people do? ”

Emperor Apocalypse said: "It is precisely because of this that I sent eunuchs to collect mining taxes and commercial taxes. ”

Zhang Jingyi shook his head: "Look, this is a palliative treatment but not a cure, the cost of collecting taxes for the eunuchs is too high, and the strong dragon does not suppress the head snake, these eunuchs are in the place, but they are facing those who have been operating in the local area for hundreds of years, these people have officials, and they are also married to each other, they control both public opinion and money and food, and now the eunuchs want to collect taxes, how can they be willing?" ”

The Emperor of the Apocalypse put his hands behind his back, his face became more and more heavy, and then he looked straight at Zhang Jing: "Then what do you think you should do?" ”

He didn't think that Zhang Jing would say so much to him in this matter for no reason.

Zhang Jingyi said: "At the beginning, the Ming Dynasty and the scholars ruled the world together, which is actually not wrong, using the scholars to manage the people of the world, the emperor does not have to do it himself, the emperor only manages the big politics." But now...... However, the ministers found that these gentry who had managed the place for His Majesty had become more and more hungry, like gluttony, and they were far from being satisfied with the small profits that the court had given them. ”