After all, Liu Zongzhou was in his last years, and he was tired of traveling all the way, and he couldn't hold on after talking to Chongzhen, and was soon sent by Chongzhen to the post house in the city to rest.

However, before leaving, Chongzhen was repeatedly advised to return to Nanjing to settle down.

also made serious criticism of Chongzhen, believing that as an emperor, he should not mingle with the head of Qian, which would be unorthodox and unconventional.

sent Liu Zongzhou away, Zhu Cihong looked like he wanted to speak and stopped.

"Hong'er, what do you want to say to your father?"

"Father, the son does not say a word and is unhappy."

"You say."

"Erchen also thinks that what Mr. Qishan said is right, my father should maintain the prestige of the king, and should not be in the company of the head of Qian, let alone eat and live with the soldiers of the border towns and practice together."

After Zhu Cihong finished speaking, the tent quieted down.

Several big eunuchs standing around instantly became alarmed.

Since ancient times, the most difficult people to get along with are the emperor and the prince.

In the past, the crown prince was young, so Long Live Lord only favored him.

But now that the crown prince is about to come of age, he has his own opinions, and he has inadvertently challenged the monarchy, which is very troublesome for them.

Sure enough, Long Live Lord began to drive people away.

"Gao Companion, Han Companion, you all go out."

"Wang Daban, you guard the tent door, and no one is allowed to come within ten steps."

After sending a few big eunuchs away, Chongzhen asked the three brothers Zhu Cihong: "Father and Emperor tested you today, why do you say that Da Ming has fallen into such a situation today?" ”

Zhu Cizhi looked dazed, obviously never thinking about this question.

Zhu Cihong looked pensive, obviously not thinking about it yet, or having made a new discovery.

Only Zhu Cijiong said very firmly: "Father, the son-in-law knows that the reason why my Ming Dynasty has become what it is today is because of the greed and contempt of the civil ministers, the cowardice and fear of war, and the continuous natural disasters. ”

Chongzhen's eyes turned to Zhu Cihong and asked, "Hong'er, what is your point of view?" ”

Zhu Cihong raised his head and looked at Chongzhen and said: "Father, my sons think that the biggest problem of my Ming Dynasty is the lack of state use, and the expenditure is becoming more and more complicated. ”

"That's right." Chongzhen nodded happily, "The problem of my Ming Dynasty is, in the final analysis, a financial problem, as long as the financial problem is solved, all problems will be solved." ”

After a pause, he asked, "So how to solve this dilemma?" ”

Zhu Cihong said without thinking: "It's nothing more than the second way to open up sources and reduce expenditures, and open source is to increase taxes, and at present, the tax burden of the people of my Ming Dynasty is extremely heavy, and it cannot be levied again, so we can only reduce expenditure." ”

Chongzhen said noncommittally: "Then tell me again, how should you reduce expenditure?" ”

Zhu Cihong thought for a while and said: "Once, when serving the scriptures, Erchen once heard from the officials of the household department that the state expenditure of my Ming Dynasty was more than 1,800 taels of silver, including more than 900 taels of silver for recruiting soldiers, more than 400 taels of official salaries, and more than 500 taels of clan expenses, mainly these three items. ”

Chongzhen bowed his head slightly, from the middle of Wanli to the present, it is basically this number.

The only exception was the year before the reign of King Fu Zhu Changxun, the expenses of the clan swelled to more than 10 million taels, but this was not the norm, and it fell back to more than 5 million taels in the second year.

Zhu Cihong continued: "Among the three, the salary of recruiting soldiers can only be increased but not reduced, and the official salary cannot be reduced, so the only thing that can be reduced is the clan expenditure. ”

"Then you are in the hands of the civilian clique."

"Huh? When you fall for the civil official group? What does my father mean by this? ”

"My father asked you, how did you get the 3 million taels of silver every year?"

"Inside? Didn't the palace servants collect the money through the tax superintendents, the mine superintendents, and the weaving bureau? ”

"The tax superintendent, the mine superintendent and the weaving bureau? That's right, in the first few years of the restoration of tax supervision and mining supervision, some silver was added to the internal treasury, but now there are only two jujubes left, and sometimes they even can't make ends meet, especially the Weaving Bureau, which has never been relieved of the profit of one or two silver from the internal treasury since the seventh year of Chongzhen. ”

"Ah, this? So the money from the inner money is from ......"

"That's right, the annual 3 million taels of internal silver are deducted from the clan's expenses, if it weren't for the support of 3 million taels of internal silver every year, we would have died early tomorrow."

At this time, Zhu Cihong and Zhu Cijiong's three views were shattered.

It is said that the officials of the Ming Dynasty are greedy, and the biggest corrupt official is their father?

Only Zhu Cizhi had already dozed off, and he was not interested in the topic of his father and the two imperial brothers, but Chongzhen did not criticize him harshly, people don't like politics, don't force it.

The most taboo thing about choosing a prince is to catch ducks on the shelves.

Chongzhen asked again: "Then do you know where the 3 million taels of silver from the internal money are used?" ”

"This retainer knows." Zhu Cihong said without thinking, "First, it is used to help the victims of disasters in various provinces, and the second is to recruit soldiers in border towns to pay military salaries and rewards. ”

"Brother Huang, isn't it?" Zhu Cijiong couldn't help but retort, "Isn't there already 9 million taels of troops recruited in the border town?" Isn't that much silver enough? Do you want your father to use the silver from the inner money to make up the holes? ”

Zhu Cihong sighed: "Second brother, do you know what the monthly salary for recruiting soldiers is?" Guan Ningjun only folded 2 taels, and the rest of the recruits folded only 1 tael! Even according to the standards of the Guanning Army, a recruit only needs 24 taels of silver a year, and 9 million taels of silver is enough to maintain an army of nearly 400,000 people! ”

"Huh?" Zhu Cijiong shouted in disbelief, "But the strength of the Guanning army was only 120,000 at the most, and there were only 60,000 left before the fall of the Jingshi. ”

Zhu Cihong continued: "But the salary has not been reduced by one or two! ”

Chongzhen then asked: "Then the question is, where did the 9 million taels of silver go?" And where did the 3 million taels of silver I filled in go? ”

"yes, where did you go?" Zhu Cijiong said blankly.

Zhu Cihong frowned, as if he had thought of it, but he couldn't grasp the essentials.

At this time, Zhu Cizhi next to him yawned: "Where else can I go, I must have been embezzled." ”

"No, it's drifting!" Zhu Cihong finally figured out the key, "This is not what is commonly referred to as corruption, because the entire civil service group has benefited." ”

"yes, it's gone."

Chongzhen said: "The 9 million silver, together with the 3 million filled in the internal money, only more than half of it can be handed over to the border town governor and the general army, and then it will be deducted and divided among the military attaches at all levels, and in the end the silver that can really be used to raise troops is even less than one-third, now you know?" ”

Zhu Cijiong asked with a shocked face: "So 9 million plus 3 million taels, half of which was sent to the border town, and the remaining 6 million taels were drifted away by the civilian group?" ”

Zhu Cizhi: "Why didn't my father arrest all these corrupt officials and corrupt officials?" ”

"Hehe, that's a good question, why didn't my father arrest these corrupt officials? Because it can't be done at all. Chongzhen sighed lightly and said, "Take Liaoyu as an example, 5 million taels of Liaoyu were drifted by the cabinet before they left the household department, and when they left the household department, they were drifted away by the military department. ”

"If the court is backed by a strong mountain, and there is Shoufu or Shangshu to say hello, there will be less drifting."

"But no matter how little it is, it will not be less than thirty percent, and the border town can get seventy percent of the silver, and most of the time it can only get sixty percent or even fifty percent."

"So, was the silver embezzled by officials at all levels?"

"There is definitely corruption in it, but not all of it is embezzled."

"Let's just say that the cabinet is drifting, but it is actually used to pay benefits to the officials of the Beijing Division."

"Benefits?" Zhu Cihong, Zhu Cijiong, and Zhu Cijiong all looked dazed, what do you mean?

"It's all kinds of honors." Chongzhen said, "You also know that Emperor Taizu Gao's standard of income for officials at all levels is very low, and the price of the Beijing division is expensive, and only that meager salary can not support the family at all, such as the officials of the six departments and other real power departments are fine, but if the officials of the Qingshui Yamen such as the Hanlin Academy and the Zhan Mansion do not have the New Year's Honor, they will starve to death one by one, and they all say that the Hanlin Academy is a place for the prime minister, but who knows the hardships. ”

Zhu Cihong finally understood: "This is the case for the cabinet, the six ministries, the local political envoys, the inspection envoys, and the commanders, and even the government offices, state offices, and county government offices. ”

"Yes." Chongzhen nodded, "Otherwise, what else will you use to feed the servants of the whole world?" ”

Zhu Cihong said a little angrily: "So the official's expenditure is far more than 4 million taels? ”

"Of course, it's not just 4 million taels, it's more than 10 million taels, and the officials are the big ones." Chongzhen sighed, "Emperor Taizu Gao has dug a big hole for us descendants in the future. ”

"He set the officials low, and his original intention was good."

"I am afraid that the officials will erode the people's fat and ointment, and I want to reduce the burden of the people, this original intention is still worthy of recognition."

"But his approach is too simplistic and crude, and the officials have power in their hands, will they not benefit themselves? Expect them to oversee themselves? Isn't that? ”

"As a result, the ostensible administrative expenses are reduced,"

"But all kinds of hidden expenses are flooding like a flood."

"In the last account, the expenses have more than doubled! It's a big loss! ”

"Father, this matter must not sit idly by." Zhu Cihong hurriedly said, "You have to change the law!" ”

"Change?" Chongzhen said faintly, "You are against the civil officials of the whole world, this is to encroach on the financial power of the entire civil official group, as the saying goes, blocking people's financial path is like killing your parents, have you thought about the consequences?" ”

"Ahh Zhu Cihong was dumb for a moment, he really didn't think about this consequence.

But he knew that Emperor Wanli, the grandfather of the emperor, and the grandfather of the emperor, Emperor Jiajing, had fought with the civil official group, and in the end it seemed that they won and lost? He didn't dare to think about it anyway.