Among the several major matters mentioned by Chongzhen is taxation.

This made Lu Zhenfei particularly tempted, and the cabinet now dreams of levying business taxes.

If the proposal to levy a commercial tax was passed at the Great Pilgrimage, wouldn't even the Holy One have no right to stop it?

Lu Zhenfei suddenly felt that compared to this matter, the three affairs of Beijing's Guozijian, dealing with the generals and ministers, and liquidating the northern scholars were nothing at all, and this was a big deal!

Lu Zhenfei was already inclined to agree that the innovation of the Great Dynasty would be written into the Emperor's ancestral teachings.

However, the premise is that the cabinet assistant must also have the power to convene a grand court meeting, at least the cabinet chief assistant must have it.

Meng Zhaoxiang suddenly reminded: "Holy Lord, even if it involves the law, taxation and the use of troops, it may not be a major matter, for example, there are thieves in the mountains who kill people and overhaul goods, and they can be easily exterminated by simply transferring dozens of town troops into the mountains. ”

"Meng Ge's old words are reasonable, and I have lost my mind here." Chongzhen said, "I will not be so boring, but no one can guarantee that the emperors of later generations will not appear such an anomaly, in case there is an unscrupulous descendant who asks for the convening of the court meeting every day on matters related to the law, taxation and the use of troops, etc., the officials in Beijing are afraid that he will be exhausted to death, in view of this, it is necessary to make a clear limit on the specific number of times the court meeting is convened, such as a maximum of two court meetings a month." ”

Lu Zhenfei couldn't hold back any longer, and asked directly: "Holy Lord, do the ministers have the right to convene a great court meeting?" ”

Chongzhen immediately threw a meaningful glance at Lu Zhenfei, and said in his heart that they were really old foxes, and he thought of using the Great Dynasty to counter the imperial power and seek benefits so quickly.

"Of course." Chongzhen smiled.

It's just that Chongzhen doesn't mind this.

is still the previous sentence, Chongzhen is confident that he has absolute control over the court, so he doesn't mind giving the cabinet the power to convene the court, and in the future, he can even consider giving more officials the power to convene the court, similar to every people's representative can submit it to the council.

After a pause, Chongzhen asked again: "So, what about a few pavilion elders?" ”

Lu Zhenfei, Meng Zhaoxiang and other five cabinet elders exchanged opinions with each other, and said in unison: "The ministers agree to write the reform of the Holy Lord's Great Dynasty Meeting into the Emperor's ancestral teachings, so that the future generations of monarchs and ministers will abide by it." ”

"The ministers seconded the proposal." Six Shangshu, Shilang, Zuodu Yushi and other big officials came out one after another to echo it.

Immediately afterwards, more officials in the main hall, as well as officials on the cloud platform outside the main hall, also echoed.

Even Chongzhen did not realize that today's great court meeting would leave a strong mark on the history of the Ming Dynasty and even the entire Chinese history.

Because the political status of the Emperor Ming Zuxun as the first constitution of the Ming Dynasty and even all feudal dynasties in history was established at this court meeting, and more importantly, the status of the Ming Dynasty as the highest authority of the Ming Dynasty was also officially recognized at today's court meeting, and the future emperor can no longer be as good as the previous emperors.

Because Chongzhen designed a closed loop, revising the Emperor's ancestral teachings is also a major event, and it must be decided by the Great Dynasty Council.

That is to say, unless the emperor of later generations can persuade more than half of the civil officials and military ministers above the seventh rank in Beijing, he will not be able to change even a word in the emperor's ancestral teachings, let alone cancel the right to vote on major events at the Great Imperial Council, which is about as difficult as passing a proposal to abolish the veto of the five permanent members at the United Nations General Assembly.

……

At the Beitongzhou Wharf, Zhu Cihong shuddered for no reason.

"What's going on?" Zhu Cihong muttered, "Is there anything bad going to happen?" ”

Just as he was talking to himself, the sound of horses' hooves suddenly sounded outside the dock, and when Zhu Cihong looked closely, he saw Zhu Cijiong riding a snow-white horse, rushing into the dock at a gallop.

Behind Zhu Cijiong, dozens of cavalry followed.

These dozens of horses also rode the same high-headed horses.

After galloping into the dock, Zhu Cijiong pulled the reins of the horse again, and the white horse under his crotch suddenly stood up, and the two huge iron hooves kicked in the air several times before he slammed and let out a bang.

"Big brother, you can be regarded as here, and you almost want to die of your little brother."

Zhu Cijiong turned over and dismounted, rushed forward and hugged Zhu Cihong.

Zhu Cijiong also opened his arms and hugged Zhu Cijiong hard, no one knows what will happen in the future, but at least at this moment, the relationship between Zhu Cihong and Zhu Cijiong is still very pure.

"Third brother, let the eldest brother take a look at you." After hugging, Zhu Cihong looked at Zhu Cijiong carefully, "I have grown a lot taller, but I am darker and thinner than before, but I am much more energetic." ”

Zhu Cijiong laughed and said, "If you come in the wind and rain all day long, can you not be dark or thin?" ”

"Third brother, you and your father have worked hard." Zhu Cihong said emotionally, "But now that Jiannu has been destroyed by us, you can finally rest for a while." ”

"There's no time to rest." Zhu Cijiong shook his head.

"That is, eldest brother, you arrived today, if you arrive two days late, you won't be able to see my little brother, early tomorrow morning, my little brother and I will leave for Liaodong to prepare to form a cavalry corps."

"Oh yes, I almost forgot about it." Zhu Cihong patted his forehead and said.

"Big brother, what about Yu'er and Gui'er?" Zhu Cijiong rubbed his hands and said, "Quickly take it out and take a look, I haven't seen you for more than half a year, these two little guys must have grown taller and fatter, right?" ”

"Yu'er and Gui'er didn't come this time." Zhu Cihong said with some regret.

"When it comes to August and September, they and the crown princess will come with Concubine Li, Concubine Ran and Jinxiu."

"That's right, Qi'er and Gui'er are still young, and they can't stand the long hours of travel." Zhu Cijiong nodded and said, "Then I can only wait until I am busy with the cavalry legion, and then come back to see them." ”

Zhu Cihong hesitated, and finally asked in a low voice: "Third brother, did you go to worship in front of the Queen Mother's Mausoleum?" ”

"Go." Zhu Cijiong's expression immediately darkened, "Although Li Zicheng, a dog thief, has committed many atrocities, but the matter of burying his mother and burying him thickly, I still accept his affection, and if I have the opportunity to capture Li Zicheng alive in the future, I can still spare his life." ”

Zhu Cihong asked secretly: "Where is the queen mother buried?" ”

"It was buried in the Mausoleum of the Imperial Concubine of Tianshou Mountain." Zhu Cijiong said.

"Are you buried with Concubine Tian?" Zhu Cihong said thoughtfully, "Did my father say that he would move the tomb for his mother?" Or did your father mention the matter of building a mausoleum to you? ”

Regarding the matter of the mausoleum, Emperor Chongzhen is an outlier.

Other emperors repaired their tombs early.

But until Chongzhen ascended the throne for seventeen years, he had no plans to build a mausoleum for himself, and he didn't know if it was because he didn't want to start construction hastily because of a lack of money, or because of other reasons.

But now Daming is no longer short of silver.

"I don't dare ask." Zhu Cijiong shook his head again and again.

"If you are not afraid of being scolded, you can go and ask your father yourself."

Zhu Cihong was silent for a moment, and then asked, "What about the second sister and the little sister?" ”

Zhu Cijiong sighed lightly and replied: "The second sister is buried in the Zhou family cemetery, as for the younger sister...... No one knows where she is buried, and there are concubines such as Yuan Guifei like Xiaomei. ”

Zhu Cihong mourned in his heart, I'm afraid that there are no bones, right?

……

The Imperial Palace's Imperial Dynasty Meeting continues.

As Chongzhen had predicted, the proposal to re-establish the Beijing Guozijian and the liquidation of the northern gentry was passed smoothly, and the proposal to re-establish the Beijing Guozijian was unanimously approved.

Now we are discussing the third major issue -- how to punish the second surrender and the general.

In fact, there was nothing to discuss about the demotion of the generals, and everyone was in favor of the punishment of the generals.

Whether it was Wu Sangui, who led the wolf into the house, or Kong Youde, Geng Zhongming, Shang Kexi, Jiang Xuan, and Zu Dashou, who rebelled from the thieves, they were all escorted to the vegetable market and Ling Chi to be executed.

At issue were the two ministers such as Hong Chengchou, Wang Aoyong and Sun Zhiqi.

Many officials believed that these retainers should also be put to death, but that some dignity should be preserved for them, so it was better to hang them and leave them with a whole corpse.

There were also many officials who believed that the ministers should be given a chance to atone for their sins.

For this reason, he also brought out the famous quote of Zuo Chuan: Who is not faulty? After that, it can be changed, and it is very good.

There are also a very small number of officials who advocate severe punishment and sentence the second minister to the same death penalty as the military generals.

Thousands of civil servants of different ranks were divided into three factions of opinion, and a fierce debate ensued.

However, the military attache of the Internal Affairs Office on the right class has not squeaked, because they have long known what Chongzhen means, so they will wait for Chongzhen to give a hint before they will express their opinions.

Seeing that the time was almost up, Chongzhen bowed slightly.

Ma Mingluo, who was standing at the head of the class, immediately took two steps forward and shouted: "I have a word, all the princes listen!" ”

Ma Mingluo was originally a loud voice, and this shout made him even more vigorous, and the civil officials who were close to him were so shocked that their eardrums were buzzing, and they almost lost their ears on the spot.

The whole hall also fell silent.

Ma Mingluo said loudly at this time: "If you have a shallow view of the lower officials, it seems that Hong Chengchou, Sun Zhiqi, Wang Aoyong, Gong Dingyu and other ministers are willing to fall, and first descend to the thieves and then to build slaves, it is really innocent of death." ”

】

"But it's too cheap to kill them like that."

"So they should continue to build the railroad on the site."

"Use the rest of their lives to make the last contribution to Daming."

"Is it better to kill them a hundred times than to kill them a hundredfold? What do you think? ”

A civilian official immediately retorted: "What will happen after the railway is completed?" Let them go? ”

"." Ma Mingluo said, "After the Liangjing Railway, there is the Yunxi Railway, and after the Yunxi Railway, there are other railways. In short, let these ministers build roads to death, and if they don't kill them, they will suffer a hundred times more than killing them, so that it is enough to warn those who come after. ”

After saying that, the military ministers of the Internal Affairs Office on the right side came out to support one after another.

Immediately afterwards, more voices of support sounded under the verandah of the hall and on the gimbal.