In the Qinzheng Palace, Chen Xinjia, Hong Chengchou, Ma Shaoyu, and Zhang Ruoqi bowed to the ground, and they all didn't dare to raise their heads.

In the main hall, Emperor Chongzhen's heavy breathing was wheezing, and the four of them could hear the thick anger from their voices.

"Liu Yan really said that?"

"Yes."

The four of them didn't dare to hide it in the slightest, and told the matter one by one, and finally Chen Xinjia had the courage to say: "Your Majesty, the minister has already said that the soldiers of the army must not be taken lightly, and they must be rewarded in accordance with the laws of the imperial court." But now the soldiers in all towns are being treated harshly, and the new army under Liu Yan is even more so, those arrogant soldiers and fierce generals have grievances in their hearts, so they do such a big rebellious thing! ”

Emperor Chongzhen asked Ma Shaoyu and Zhang Ruoqi: "Tell me about the two of you, how about Liu Yan and the general soldiers of each town, this incident, are they resentful of the lack of rewards, so they are angry and committed, or are they just wolf-hearted and dog-hearted, this time they are just using the topic to play, just for the sake of harming the country!" ”

Ma Shaoyu and Zhang Ruoqi had already figured it out on the way here, after the Battle of Jinzhou, the two of them and the soldiers and horses of the towns were already one, and if the towns were characterized as rebels, the two of them would not have good fruits to eat.

So Ma Shaoyu gritted his teeth and said: "Your Majesty, the soldiers of all towns fought bloodily in the Battle of Jinzhou, and they are willing to die for the sake of the country and your Majesty, and there is no problem with loyalty." This time it was only because of the traitors in the court and the mistreatment of meritorious soldiers that there would be such an incident! ”

Zhang Ruoqi also said loudly: "Your Majesty, the soldiers in all towns are already in hardship, and now there is no reward, it will definitely chill their desire to serve the country, and I hope Your Majesty will think twice!" ”

Emperor Chongzhen frowned and groaned for a while, to Wang Chengen

said: "Find Zhou Yanru and Li to ask for it." ”

At this time, it was already nightfall, Wang Chengen was stunned for a moment, and asked, "Now?" Your Majesty, it's better to ...... early tomorrow morning."

"Right now! Just go! ”

Wang Chengen was suddenly startled and hurriedly went to deliver the decree.

It didn't take long for Zhou Yanru and Li to be asked to be brought by Wang Chengen, and the two were surprised to see Hong Chengchou, Ma Shaoyu, and Zhang Ruoqi also there, and saw Chen Xinjia looking at him angrily, and their hearts sank.

The two of them saw that Emperor Chongzhen was also looking at them angrily, and their hearts were even more cold.

"Minister, meet Your Majesty!"

After the two bowed, they didn't hear the word "flat" for a long time, and they suddenly broke out in a cold sweat.

"Chen Aiqing, you can inform Elder Ge and Li Shangshu."

"Yes."

Chen Xinjia immediately told him about the situation outside the city, and Zhou Yanru was dumbfounded, he couldn't imagine that the soldiers and horses outside the city were so bold, and he didn't know how to answer for a while.

Li waited to ask his brows, and lowered his head to think about something.

"Elder Zhou Ge, I followed your advice and treated the meritorious soldiers harshly. Now that more than 200,000 troops have blocked Desheng Gate, how will this matter end, Aiqing will give an explanation! ”

"This, the minister, the old minister thinks ......"

Zhou Yanru only felt that his mind was blank at this time, he had calculated everything, but he didn't count Liu Yan to turn his face directly, and he didn't expect that Liu Yan's prestige in the towns was so high, he raised his arms and shouted, and the chief military officers of the towns all followed suit.

"Liu Yan!"

Zhou Yanru roared angrily in his heart, but he couldn't say a whole word on his lips, he was so anxious that he was sweating profusely, and Emperor Chongzhen was very disappointed when he saw it.

"Li Shangshu, what can you do!

”

Li Zhiwen arched his hand and said: "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that the top priority is to pacify the army of all towns within two days, especially Liu Yan, the chief military officer of Qinglai Town. Even if all the soldiers and horses are reversed, as long as Liu Yan does not rebel, the situation will not collapse! ”

"Then how to appease the army of the towns?"

Li Zhiwen said: "The minister thinks that His Majesty can issue an edict and order all officials and businessmen in the capital to pay donations immediately, and limit the amount of their respective donations according to the size of their official positions and the amount of family wealth, and complete them within one day. ”

"At the same time, the imperial court will also withhold the monthly offerings of the hundreds of officials in the court, as well as the offerings of the king of the capital this month."

"In addition, the minister thought that His Majesty would also take out the silver from the treasury as a subsidy, so he raised money from three places, first gave enough silver and pension silver to the soldiers of each town, and first pacified the army of each town."

"As for the promotion of the chief officers of the towns......"

Li Zhiwen looked at Chen Xinjia and Hong Chengchou and said, "The minister doesn't know about this matter. ”

Emperor Chongzhen looked at Li Zhiwen approvingly, and finally someone said something reliable, so he took Li Beiwen as the mainstay, Ma Shaoyu and Zhang Ruoqi as representatives of the military department, as Li Beiwen's deputy, the three of them donated to the hundred officials and Shang Jia Na, and the household department should immediately intercept the hundred officials and the vassal kings to support, and within one day, enough silver must be raised.

Ma Shaoyu and Zhang Ruoqi glared at Li Beiwen angrily, they raised millions of taels of silver in one day, even if the king of heaven and Lao Tzu came, they couldn't do it, Li Beiwen was pulling the two of them to die together!

Even if this matter is done, the three of them will become a thorn in the side and a thorn in the flesh of the civil and military officials and the king of the capital domain, and they will still be in the court in the future

Is there a place to stay?

The two of them wanted to eat Li Zhiwen alive, but they were helpless.

Li waited for the question, but calmly accepted the order, and then said: "Please also ask Your Majesty to issue an edict, and the ministers will be ordered by the emperor to donate and withhold, so that they can raise money within one day, otherwise Your Majesty will directly dispose of the ministers and other edicts and prisons." ”

Ma Shaoyu and Zhang Ruoqi's eyes suddenly lit up, and they said secretly: "You kid is so calculating, pushing Your Majesty to be a villain!" ”

Emperor Chongzhen's face was also stiff, and he was forced by Li to ask for it, so he had to immediately order Wang Chengen to draft a decree and use a seal, and then handed it over to Li and the three of them with a black face.

In the Ming Dynasty, the standard of 100 officials was ridiculously low, in the Tang Dynasty, a product was 8,000 per month, and another job field, a product was 60 hectares, and there was a world of money, a product was 2 million (2,000 guan), and the Song Dynasty's Yulu was higher than that of the Tang Dynasty.

In the Ming Dynasty, there were only eighty-seven stones, which was not even a fraction compared with the Tang and Song dynasties. Therefore, in the "History of the Ming Dynasty", it is said: "Since ancient times, the official system has been thin, and there has been no such thing." ”

Therefore, although there are more than 3,700 civil and military generals of all sizes in the capital, this month's Yulu is converted into silver, and it is only more than 300,000 taels of silver.

As for the vassal kings, in fact, according to the law of the Ming Dynasty, the vassal kings could not live in the capital, but in the late Ming Dynasty, many vassal kings bought houses in the capital and lived in the prosperous capital for a long time, and the imperial court did not prohibit it.

At this time, there were dozens of royal relatives such as vassal kings and generals in the capital, and the imperial court had to pay money and grain every month, about 100,000 taels of silver.

Together, these two items are only more than 500,000 taels, which is not enough at all.

As for Emperor Chongzhen's internal affairs,

At this time, he could only take out 100,000 taels of silver, Wang Chengen took Li Beiwen and the three of them to collect it, and the rest had to come out of the merchants in the capital.

Then Emperor Chongzhen looked at Chen Xinjia and asked, "The matter of silver is temporarily resolved, how to deal with the promotion of the chief military officers of each town!" ”

On the way here, Chen Xinjia already had a plan, and immediately said: "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that the first thing is to add an official to Liu Yan. The general officers of the rest of the towns have already hung the general's seal and sealed the earl, although they are all titles and earls temporarily added by the elders, and they are not even miscellaneous generals, but they can be counted as the number one. Therefore, as long as Liu Yan doesn't make trouble anymore, the chief military officers of the rest of the towns can be appeased. ”

Emperor Chongzhen nodded in agreement, but he didn't expect Zhou Yanru to say, "Your Majesty can't!" That Liu Yan coerced heavy troops to coerce the saint, this is a great crime of disrespect, the court did not punish him, but added officials to him, and everyone will follow Liu Yan in the future, then the country will not be a country, who will bear this responsibility! ”

Chen Xinjia retorted: "Liu Yan is already meritorious, why can't he be promoted?" Who is responsible for the situation today? It's Liu Yan, or you! ”

"Don't be ashamed!"

Zhou Yanru also scolded loudly at this time, the situation was very unfavorable to him at this time, if Liu Yan was successfully promoted, then he would no longer have a status in the heart of Emperor Chongzhen, and the position of first assistant would also be handed over to others.

"Liu Yan is extremely arrogant, what he does today is different from Dong Zhuo of the Han Dynasty and Zhu Wen of the Tang Dynasty? They must be punished severely! ”

The two immediately quarreled, if it weren't for Wang Chengen calling the two little eunuchs to pull them, it is estimated that Chen Xinjia and Zhou Yanru would have pinched

Together.

Emperor Chongzhen was so angry at this time that he couldn't get rid of it, and he couldn't wait to pull Chen Xinjia and Zhou Yanru out and kill them with a cane, and then shouted loudly: "This is the palace, not the streets and alleys of the market, you are the ministers of the court, not the women of the village, all shut up!" ”

Chen Xinjia and Zhou Yanru stopped immediately, but both of them looked at each other angrily, and no one would give in today.

"Hong Aiqing, what do you think?"

Hong Chengchou never spoke, and was asked by Emperor Chongzhen at this time, so he arched his hand and said: "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that since Zhou Ge Lao does not agree to give Liu Yan a promotion to an official position, it is okay, after all, what Liu Yan has done this time is indeed excessive, and then giving him an official promotion will indeed make the people of the world follow suit." ”

Chen Xinjia glared at Hong Chengchou in surprise, while Zhou Yanru breathed a sigh of relief.

"However, Liu Yan made great achievements in the Battle of Jinzhou and the Battle of Kaifeng, and if the imperial court did not express it, it would also snub the heart of the soldiers in the world to serve the country, and the gains outweighed the losses."

Emperor Chongzhen said impatiently: "Then what should I do, Hong Aiqing said quickly, don't go around the corner!" ”

Hong Chengchou said: "The minister thinks that Liu Yan's official position will not be promoted for the time being, but to increase his authority, Qinglai Town only has Qingzhou Mansion and Laizhou Mansion, and His Majesty can issue a decree to merge Dengzhou Mansion and Yanzhou Mansion into Qinglai Town, and double the jurisdiction of Qinglai Town, so as to appease Liu Yan, and at the same time, it is also necessary to exempt Qinglai Town from paying taxes for five years in the four states of Qinglai Town, as well as three salaries. In this way, Liu Yan must be satisfied. ”

Chen Xinjia immediately laughed, and immediately said: "Your Majesty, Governor Hong's proposal is very appropriate, and the minister seconded it!" ”

Zhou Yanru objected again and said loudly

"Your Majesty, by all means, Liu Yan only has two mansions, and he has trained more than 80,000 elite troops, and he dares to run rampant, if there is a land of four mansions, his power does not know how much it will swell, and His Majesty will definitely ......"

Emperor Chongzhen looked at Zhou Yanru with a loyal look for the country, as long as he was different from his political views, no matter what was right or wrong, he had to stand up and oppose it, and then he couldn't come up with his own way to deal with it, just to oppose it for the sake of opposition, Emperor Chongzhen couldn't bear it, and immediately slapped the table and stood up: "Since this is not good, that is not good, what is the response of Zhou Ge Lao." ”

Zhou Yanru held back for a long time, but finally said: "At this time, a court meeting needs to be held, and the ministers of the court and the central government will discuss it together, and the old minister is helpless at this time." ”

"Helpless? What do I want you to do? ”

After Emperor Chongzhen angrily reprimanded, he ordered Zhou Yanru to be driven out of the hall, Zhou Yanru was like ashes at this time, and he was taken out by two Han generals in despair.

Immediately, Emperor Chongzhen approved Hong Chengchou's strategy, ordered people to draft a decree overnight, and ordered Chen Xinjia and Hong Chengchou to take the holy decree and rush back to Desheng Gate overnight to spread the decree.