Chongzhen roared at the ministers in the audience, dug up the ancestral grave of my old Zhu family, and wanted me to appease them, you really didn't treat me as a human being.

Thinking of this, Chongzhen's eyes were red, and the ministers below looked at each other's noses, noses, mouths, and mouths, calmed down, and didn't say a word, Zhang Xianzhong's surrender was not important to them, and it didn't touch their interests, so they were happy to watch from the wall and watch Chongzhen and Yang Sichang fight.

Yang Sichang knelt on the ground at this time, silent, his head slightly lowered and did not speak, and when Chongzhen finished roaring, Yang Sichang spoke again: "The minister thinks that he can accept Zhang Xianzhong's surrender." ”

Chongzhen glared at Yang Sichang at this time and shouted: "Yang Sichang, you are the secretary of the Ministry of War, you don't want to use the army to exterminate the traitor, you have to make the traitor surrender, and you are also a traitor who dug up the tomb of the Ming Emperor, what do you want?" ”

Hearing this, Yang Sichang slowly raised his head, looked at Chongzhen and said, "Your Majesty, this is the plan that the Ministry of War has calculated that is most in line with the current interests. ”

Chongzhen looked at Yang Sichang and said, "What do you mean?" ”

Yang Sichang groaned slightly: "Your Majesty, Zhang Xianzhong has 200,000 troops entrenched in Hubei, and the thief is not much smaller than Gao Yingxiang, if it is according to Your Majesty's will, we need to mobilize a large army to exterminate it." ”

Hearing this, Chongzhen said: "Then transfer troops and let Lu Xiang rise." ”

Yang Sichang heard this and said: "Your Majesty, Lu Xiangsheng is the governor of Xuanda, and he needs to guard the Xuanda Mansion to prevent the Tartars from committing crimes. ”

"Haven't the Tatars been fighting North Korea lately? They won't make a mistake in a short time. ”

"Your Majesty, how can the affairs of the military state be child's play, Xuanda is an important town on the nine sides, how can it be empty for a long time."

Chongzhen frowned slightly when he heard this: "Then let Sun Chuanting go." ”

Yang Sichang said: "Sun Chuanting is the governor of Shaanxi, and his soldiers and horses are only more than 10,000, 10,000 against 200,000, even if Lord Sun is a divine soldier, I am afraid the odds are not great." ”

"Then send troops to him from other places and let Hong Chengchou help him."

"Your Majesty, Li Zicheng is still entrenched in Shanxi, and he needs Lord Hong Chengchou's soldiers and horses to exterminate him."

Chongzhen frowned when he heard this: "Then send soldiers and horses from other places, doesn't Shandong Zuo Liangyu have 30,000 Shandong soldiers?" There was no war in Shandong, and he was sent over to support Sun Chuanting. ”

Yang Sichang heard this: "What Your Majesty said is very true, General Zuo Liangyu can indeed be used as a support, if General Zuo Liangyu is mobilized, he can fight with Zhang Xianzhong." ”

"Then send Zuo Liangyu to go, Zhang Xianzhong is also a traitor, I want to catch him and take him to the capital Lingchi to be executed."

Hearing this, Yang Sichang said: "What Your Majesty said is extremely true, such traitors will never be forgiven, but Your Majesty, the transfer of troops from Shandong to Hubei has cost a lot, and you have also asked the household department to allocate a military salary of one million taels of silver to Zuo Liangyu, the general soldier of Shandong. ”

"What?"

Listening to Yang Sichang's words, Li Shiwen, the head of the household department, almost jumped up, one million taels of silver, I am a dog, and now you know how serious the household deficit is?

At this time, Li Shiwen hurriedly got out of the crowd and knelt on the ground and said: "Your Majesty, these years have been fighting year after year, Liaoxiang has accounted for half of the household tax revenue, and now the internal war, that is, to exterminate Gao Yingxiang, it cost our household department a million taels of silver, and now let the household department take out another million taels, Your Majesty, the household department really can't take it out." ”

Chongzhen listened to this and looked at the household book Li Shi asked, the headache was very ah, Li Shi asked is the old minister enabled by Chongzhen, Li Shi asked is the 31st year of the Ming Wanli Guangdong Township test people, the second year of the A Branch Jinshi, and then served as the director of the Ministry of Rites, after Wei Zhongxian gained power, the power was monstrous, and the ancestral hall was built everywhere, when the officials met Wei Zhongxian's ancestral hall must be worshipped, but Li Shiwen was disdainful, so he was hated by Wei Zhongxian, but he was still very smart, knowing that offending Wei Zhongxian, there would be no good fruit to eat, So he took advantage of Wei Zhongxian's lack of trouble, resigned due to illness and escaped the catastrophe.

Later, Chongzhen ascended the throne, Wei Zhongxian fell, Li Shiwen was enabled as the head of the household department, the governor of Caoyun, after his arrival, Li Shiwen was still very talented, not only standardized the rules and regulations, and took the lead in rectifying Caoyun, was loved by Chongzhen, and was promoted to the head of the household department.

But since he arrived, Li Shiwen knew that the most difficult official in the Ming Dynasty was the Hubu Shangshu, the local disaster was in trouble, and the money was needed, and the imperial court yamen allocated salaries and needed to be funded, and Liaodong was a big money-eater, and the people in northern Shaanxi, Shanxi, Hubei, Henan, and the people needed money to counterbalance the rebellion.

Good guy has been here since he came to office, and Li Shi asked a fifty-year-old man to lose his beard, and he was worried.

Now Li Shi asked if he could break a penny in half and spend it, it was really quite miserable, and the Ming Dynasty had been stormy in recent years, there were few places where taxes could be collected normally, and the military salary expenditure was an astronomical amount, which simply forced Li Shi to die, fortunately, Lantian County is still exquisite, and there is never a shortage of taxes, but it is also a drop in the bucket.

Now it's okay, if you open your mouth, you will ask for a million military salaries, do you really dare to open your teeth, and you treat our household as a big wrongdoer.

Li Shi asked kneeling on the ground, it was difficult for a good woman to cook without rice, he knew too well what virtues the Ming Dynasty's household was, not to mention a million taels, even if it was 10,000 taels of silver, he had to work hard to save this money.

In fact, the taxes of the Ming Dynasty in these years are still relatively large, although there are disasters and famines in many places, the taxes of the Ming Dynasty are less than in previous years, but they can also reach 15 million taels.

But this money is a drop in the bucket compared to the big hole of the Ming Dynasty, not to mention anything else, the town in Liaodong alone, the annual basic military expenditure will be four million taels, and if there is a special war, four million taels will definitely not be enough.

In addition to Liaodong, Shaanxi, Shanxi, and Hubei, these places also cost four or five million taels to suppress bandits, pay and maintain the army.

And in addition to these places where soldiers are used, there are soldiers and horses raised in some places, such as Shandong, there are general soldiers, there are water divisions, there are armies in various places, and the officials' salaries also need four or five million taels of silver.

This is 123 million taels of silver out, this is not plus the fortune of the vassal kings in various places, this is also a large amount of expenses, the Ming Dynasty has been in the country for more than 270 years, the descendants of the Zhu family are crazy to reproduce, according to the "Mingshen Sect Record" records, Wanli 23 years, the population of the clan is as high as 157,000 people.

According to the records of the modern "Collation and Research of Wanli Accounting Records of the Ming Dynasty", the national financial expenditure during the Wanli period was more than 18.5 million taels, of which the expenditure of the clan was as high as 5.5 million taels, close to one-third of the national fiscal expenditure that year.

One-third of the taxes were used on the vassal king, plus the use of troops in Liaodong, the suppression of bandits in the country, the raising of troops in various places, and the imperial court, all of a sudden the taxes of the Ming Dynasty were used cleanly, and a few days ago it rained and thundered, and a palace in the north of the Forbidden City was trampled, and the emperor was reluctant to rebuild.

It's not that Chongzhen doesn't want to repair, but the household department really has no money, the accounts of the household department are put on the bright side, how much money has been collected this year, how much money has been used, at a glance, there is no way to fake, these money add up, the most basic expenses this year are towards 20 million taels, and this year's tax is only 15 million taels, how to fill this big hole, all make the household department anxious.

And now Yang Sichang opened his mouth with a military expenditure of one million taels to support Zuo Liangyu, the general soldier of Shandong, to attack Zhang Xianzhong, that is really daring to open his teeth.

Li Shi asked out of the column and cried poor, Yang Sichang's expression naturally didn't say a word, and it took a long time before he spoke: "Li Shangshu, Zhang Xianzhong is against thieves and rogues, digging up the imperial tomb, the crime is unforgivable, when Ling Chi is executed, now His Majesty intends to levy, but you are unwilling in every way, why is this, is it because of a mere one million taels of silver, and let the anti-thieves get away with it, and ask Li Shangshu to raise money quickly, and our military department will quickly send troops to clear this thief." ”

Li Shi asked and looked at Yang Sichang after hearing this, his eyes were full of anger, don't you know what virtues my household has? Aren't you adding fuel to the fire?

However, Li Shi was not stupid to ask, and he also understood what Yang Sichang meant, Yang Sichang was advancing by retreating, he wanted to Zhao'an Zhang Xianzhong, but the emperor was unwilling.

So put the facts on the table and be reasonable, now I want to use money to make the emperor bow his head, and he is the gun that Yang Sichang wants to grab, Yang Sichang wants to force himself to say to the emperor, the household has no money, or don't use the sword easily.

But can you say it yourself?

can't say this, Yang Sichang, a bastard, is really her mother's yin and poison, not as loyal as his father Yang He.

Li Shi asked and didn't say much when he thought about it, now the situation is like this, everything is clear in front of him, the household department has no money, there is really no money, he even overdrew the money for dredging the luck in the coming year to solve this year's problems, but if you demolish the east wall to make up the west wall, you can't tear down the east wall completely.

So Li Shi didn't say anything, just knelt, and secretly scolded Yang Sichang in his heart for not being a son of man.

In this way, the situation is deadlocked, the court ministers do not speak, what is there to say, look at the excitement, see if this emperor is for the sake of the country to be able to abandon his ancestors and personal humiliation, or in a fit of anger, regardless of the country, he took out a million taels of silver to destroy Zhang Xianzhong.

Hey, this is not rigorous, the soldiers and horses in Zuo Liangyu's hands are not as good as Hong Chengchou, and Lu Xiangsheng is excellent, even if the soldiers enter Hubei, whether they can beat Zhang Xianzhong is another matter.

Although Zhang Xianzhong is a rogue, his combat effectiveness is not cheesy, and he has fought with the old lady Qin in Shu many times, and he can still retreat with his whole body, which is very revealing.

Thinking of this, everyone peeked at Chongzhen, only to see Chongzhen's face blue and white, colorful for a while, and his chest rose and fell with anger, but he couldn't say a word.

Yang Sichang was not in a hurry, and knelt on the ground, as if an old monk had settled down.

Finally, after a long silence, Chongzhen said with a dark face: "Zhang Xianzhong wants to be edicted, and all the soldiers and horses in his hands must be removed, and I can give him a big official, but I don't have to raise soldiers and horses in my hands." ”

Hearing this, Yang Sichang arched his hand and said: "What Your Majesty said is very true, but." ”

"Huh?"

Chongzhen looked at Yang Sichang, Yang Sichang said: "Your Majesty, Zhang Xianzhong has the habit of being a rogue for the first time, and he is still very worried in his heart, especially when he knows that he has offended His Majesty, he does not dare to hand over all the military power, and he will definitely not agree to remove all the soldiers and horses." ”

Chongzhen clenched his fists and said, "If you don't agree, I won't agree with him." ”

"Your Majesty thinks twice."

Yang Sichang bowed again, Chongzhen gritted his teeth and said: "Yang Aiqing, Zhang Xianzhong doesn't want to hand over the military power, and he still wants to accept the benefits of the imperial court, how can there be such a good thing, you have forgotten about Ling Zun." ”

Chongzhen's words poked Yang Sichang's lung tube, his father Yang He Zhao'an had been a rogue all his life, and finally was stabbed in the back, and he was exiled and died of illness, which was also a pain in Yang Sichang's heart.

Because of his father's affairs, he almost lost his career.

Thinking of this, Yang Sichang knew that this was Chongzhen venting his dissatisfaction and beating himself, Yang Sichang restrained his emotions and said: "Your Majesty, you handed over the military department to the minister, the minister knew that his father had made a big mistake at the beginning, and the minister also blamed himself in his heart, so the minister risked being disliked by His Majesty, and he also told His Majesty the best solution to the matter." ”

"Good medicine is good for disease, Daming has been weak for many years, the national strength is empty, the household has no money, at this time I absolutely can't afford a large-scale battle, if I follow Your Majesty's will, as long as you mobilize soldiers and horses to launch a war of extermination against Zhang Xianzhong, then it will be in line with Your Majesty's wishes, but it will make the situation of Daming even worse."

"The minister can't do such a thing just to please Your Majesty, if you do it like this, how different is it from the minister, if the minister really does this, it will be ashamed of your Majesty's trust, and ashamed of the position of the secretary of the military department."

"As the old saying goes, it's not too late for a gentleman to take revenge for ten years, he Zhang Xianzhong committed such a mistake, he must be punished, but not now, now what the Ming Dynasty needs is to recuperate, what is needed is to restore the national strength, not to continue the war, so the minister risked killing his head, and proposed Zhao'an Zhang Xianzhong, as long as he was recruited into the imperial court, and when the Ming Dynasty recovered its national strength, it would not be easy to kill him?"

"Song Jiang was so arrogant in the Song Dynasty, he defeated Tong Guan, Gao Yu, and the court had no way to deal with him for a while, but after being edicted by the imperial court, the emperor solved it with a glass of poisonous wine, so why send a large army to conquer and waste national strength?"

"Please also ask Your Majesty to think twice, don't be rash."

Yang Sichang's words were convincing, and he said earnestly to Chongzhen, Chongzhen's eyes were slightly red when he heard this, he knew that what Yang Sichang said made sense, but did he have to endure this breath?

Thinking of this, Chongzhen sighed: "That's it, you can tell Zhang Xianzhong about Zhao'an's conditions." ”

Hearing this, Yang Sichang said: "Yes, His Majesty proposed to remove his military power just now, Zhang Xianzhong did not agree, but the minister negotiated with him, although he was unwilling to give up all the military power, but he was also willing to get rid of most of the soldiers and horses, expressing his heart to surrender, he only left a few self-defense soldiers and horses, the number of which was about 20,000. ”

"Twenty thousand."

Hearing this, Chongzhen's expression became better, after all, from 200,000 to 20,000, this sincerity is still quite sufficient, Chongzhen heard this and said, "What else?" ”

Yang Sichang said: "The second is that all his titles will be removed, and he will personally send a letter of request to His Majesty to repent of his mistakes." ”

Chongzhen snorted coldly when he heard this, and stopped talking.

Yang Sichang didn't care either, and continued: "In the end, he only has one condition, and that is that he wants a place to be stationed, preferably Lantian County. ”

"What?!"

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