At this time, the imperial city was already heavily guarded!

There were twice as many guards outside Dong'an Gate as usual.

This made Zhu Youzhen feel uneasy, could it be that something really happened to the imperial brother?

After entering the Donghua Gate, the atmosphere in the Forbidden City was even more tense.

In addition to the original forbidden army guards, there were many martial eunuchs armed with sticks.

At the beginning, Wei Zhongxian instigated the imperial brother to carry out "internal exercises" and took the opportunity to train three thousand eunuchs, and these people are now handy.

Wei Biao is really a wolf ambition, and he has been planning for a long time!

Just when he was about to arrive at the Qianqing Palace, Zhu Youzhen was suddenly taken by Li Yongzhen into the nearby Heart Cultivation Palace.

Li Yongzhen said with a smile: "Your Majesty is still taking a lunch break now, please ask His Royal Highness King Xin to rest here for a while, and wait for the slave maid to go to the Qianqing Palace to confirm the situation." ”

A short time later, a eunuch walked in.

This person had originally been in Zhu Youxiao's palace, so he knew this person. However, this person then followed Cao Huachun to Kunning Palace.

Yang Kun said softly: "Yang Kun, the eunuch in charge of the Heart Cultivation Palace, pays a visit to His Royal Highness King Xin. ”

"The queen asked the slave maid to bring a message to His Royal Highness, this time His Royal Highness has a rare opportunity to see His Majesty, and he must find a way to stay in the capital!"

On the road just now, Li Yongzhen was very vigilant, and he didn't let himself have a chance to communicate with Wang Chengen at all.

At this moment, this Yang Kun suddenly appeared in front of him, which was very suspicious. Although he had stayed in Kunning Palace, he could not prove that he was the person sent by the imperial sister-in-law.

And there is no reason for the imperial sister-in-law to let people repeat her previous words.

It seems that this is most likely a conspiracy of the eunuchs!

Zhu Youzhen said: "Thank you for your concern, but this king should have gone out a long time ago, so he took the initiative to ask the imperial brother." This king really has no intention of staying in Jingshi! ”

Seeing Zhu Youzhen say this, Yang Kun was anxious, and he said: "This is all Wei Biao's conspiracy, Your Highness must not be fooled!" ”

Zhu Youzhen said: "Because of this, this king wants to stay away from the land of right and wrong in Beijing. If the imperial sister-in-law is willing to help, she might as well ask for a better fief for the king in front of the royal brother. ”

The conversation between the two was between Wang Tiqian and Wei Zhongxian, who were listening to it in the next door, and it turned out that Zhu Youzhen had the intention of avoiding trouble.

But that's fine, as long as he, Zhu Youzhen, stays away from the capital and doesn't participate in the succession to the throne.

But a Yang Kun can't completely dispel their doubts, what if Zhu Youzhen is pretending?

So Wang Tiqian looked at his henchman Wang Chengen.

Then they walked out of the Dark Chamber.

Wang Tiqian whispered: "You have worked hard by King Xin's side over the years, as long as you can get King Xin, our family and Gonggong Wei will guarantee you to enter the ceremonial supervisor!" ”

For the eunuchs, the celebrant is the ultimate goal of each of them, and there are almost no eunuchs who do not want to enter the celebrant eunuch, just like the literati enter the cabinet.

Otherwise, there would not be so many eunuchs who want to enter the "Inner Study Hall" to study.

Wang Chengen hurriedly said: "The slave and maid have thanked the prince and the "nine thousand years old" for their appreciation! ”

Soon Wang Chengen came to Zhu Youzhen's face, and said excitedly: "Just now, the slave went to inquire with the acquaintance of the celebrant and the eunuch, and His Majesty has ordered the prince to conquer Xinyang, Henan, and give 5,000 hectares of farmland. ”

To be honest, Xinyang is not a good place, although the 5,000 hectares (500,000 mu) of farmland is not small, but it is a small amount compared to the 40,000 hectares of Luwang.

Zhu Youzhen, as the only surviving brother of the Emperor of the Apocalypse, is really a bit shabby.

However, Zhu Youxiao knew very well that Wang Chengen must have come to test himself again on behalf of Wei Gelding.

At this time, he was also very excited, and said loudly: "Great, this king can finally go to the domain, I will go to thank the imperial brother." ”

After that, he had to walk out of the Heart Cultivation Palace.

At this moment, Li Yongzhen walked over and said, "Why is the prince so happy?" ”

Zhu Youzhen said softly: "Gonggong Li, I heard that the imperial brother has sealed me to Xinyang, but is there such a thing?" ”

Li Yongfang said: "Where did the prince hear the news? This is only the suggestion of the celebrant, and His Majesty has not yet made a final decision. Please come with me, Your Highness the King! ”

Emperor Zhu Youxiao's health has been deteriorating recently, and he has begun to cough up blood, and now he is no longer able to walk on the ground.

He knew that his time was not far off.

The succession to the throne became a top priority.

Although the Ming Dynasty did not have a precedent for canonizing the posthumous son as the crown prince, Wei Zhongxian still made an attempt.

He said: "Now that the imperial concubine is 5 months pregnant, the slave maid feels that it must be a crown prince, why doesn't Your Majesty choose a good name for the crown prince in advance and canonize him as the crown prince." ”

Emperor Zhu Youxiao of the Apocalypse actually attaches great importance to his prince, and he posthumously crowned each of the three deceased princes as princes.

This is unique in the history of the Ming Dynasty!

But he was not too excited about the pregnancy of the imperial concubine this time.

He knew in his heart that his body couldn't get his concubine pregnant at all, and this was most likely the ghost of Wei Zhongxian and others.

So he didn't agree to Wei Zhongxian's request.

just asked rhetorically: "Father-in-law Wei is so desperate that I can't wait for my emperor to be born?" ”

Wei Zhongxian had to say in fear: "The slave doesn't dare!" ”

Zhu Youxiao knew that he couldn't last long now.

Although he really wanted to have a son to inherit his throne, Empress Zhang Yan was right.

Now the world of the Ming Dynasty is not peaceful, the domestic uprising is surging, and Li Xianzhong, the prince of Liaoguo outside the Guan, is eyeing him.

Even if Concubine Ren is really pregnant with her own flesh and blood, how can this orphan and widow sit firmly in the future?

In his heart, he had already decided to pass the throne to his only imperial brother, King Zhu Youzhen.

However, he had already sensed that the atmosphere in the palace was abnormal.

Since the last time he fell ill, he had never seen the first assistant Sun Chengzong again, and it must have been Wei Zhongxian who blocked the palace and prevented foreign officials from entering.

Even Queen Zhang Yan can only see each other every once in a while.

Therefore, this time, Wei Zhongxian reported to the king that he had written a series of letters requesting to go out of Beijing to become a vassal domain, and he said that he needed to listen to the king himself in person.

Soon Zhu Youzhen was taken to the warm pavilion of the Qianqing Palace.

He hadn't seen his imperial brother for a long time, and at this time, Zhu Youxiao's eyes were blank, his face was a little swollen, and there was no blood.

At first glance, he looks seriously ill.

Zhu Youzhen's eyes were a little moist, and he almost cried and said, "Brother Chen, please say hello to the imperial brother!" ”

Zhu Youxiao reluctantly squeezed out a smile and said, "The imperial brother has grown taller again!" ”

Then he said to Wei Zhongxian: "Father-in-law Wei, hasn't the queen arrived yet?" ”

Although he was very reluctant, Wei Zhongxian finally invited the queen Zhang Yan over.

After all, the palace was under his control at this time, and Zhang Yan, a female streamer, naturally couldn't make any waves.

Soon Zhang Yan also came to the Qianqing Palace.

Zhang Yan said: "I haven't seen you for a few days, Your Majesty's complexion is much better, and His Royal Highness King Xin is also here!" ”

Zhu Youxiao quickly also gave Zhang Yan a salute and said, "I've seen the imperial sister-in-law!" ”

Zhang Yan said: "The concubine was still flying a kite in the palace just now to pray for His Majesty, it seems that it has had an effect, and Your Majesty has really improved!" ”

This is the code that Zhu Youxiao agreed with Zhang Yan before, as long as she learns that King Xin has entered the palace, she will fly the designated kite outside the palace.

And when Sun Chengzong saw the kite, he would take the token he gave before and lead the troops to break into the palace.

Of course, it is not easy for this news to pass on to Sun Chengzong outside the palace.

Fortunately, Cao Huachun was willing to help and used the channel of the Intelligence Department to inform Sun Ge Lao of the news.

At this time, what she had to do was naturally to cooperate with Zhu Youxiao to delay time and wait for Sun Chengzong to bring people into the palace.

So Zhang Yan began to talk to Zhu Youzhen about family life, is the princess good, and does she still have the habit of living in the palace?

Although Wei Zhongxian felt a little strange, the royal family was chattering, and it was not easy for him to intervene as a slave.

In the end, Zhu Youxiao finally got down to business and said, "I heard that the emperor's brother wants to go out to become a vassal? ”

Zhu Youzhen said: "According to the ancestral system of the Ming Dynasty, the younger brother has already reached the age when he should go out to join the domain, and it is time to leave the Beijing Division!" ”

Zhang Yan said: "Now that Your Majesty's dragon body is sick, how can the prince, as Your Majesty's own brother, leave the Jingshi?" ”

"Your Xinwang Mansion has just been built, so you can stay for a while!"

Zhang Yan, a slut, is really eventful, Wei Zhongxian hated it on the side, but at this time, he couldn't intervene at all.

Sure enough, not long after, Zhu Youzhen changed his words and said: "What the imperial sister-in-law taught is that this matter is indeed reckless!" ”

At this time, Li Yongzhen hurriedly came to the warm pavilion.

Wei Zhongxian knew that something was wrong as soon as he saw his panicked expression, and hurriedly came to the outside of the warm pavilion under the pretext of excuse.

When Li Yongzhen saw Wei Zhongxian come out, he quickly pulled him aside and whispered: "Godfather, something is wrong, Sun Chengzong is going to break into the palace with His Majesty's token." This time he brought the Yulin Battalion, and the little ones couldn't resist it! ”

Although Wei Zhongxian ordered Sun Chengzong not to enter the palace, the token in his hand did not expire.

At this time, if he wanted to break into the palace with all his heart, they really couldn't stop it.

Although the martial eunuchs under his command have good combat strength, they will definitely not be able to stand up to the Yulin Battalion, and they cannot compare with this group of well-equipped regular troops.

And this matter is really going to make a big fuss, and it's still my own side to blame.

Li Yongzhen said: "Godfather, you old man can't hesitate at this time, today it is King Xin, the queen and Sun Chengzong, it is obvious that these people are colluding, they are going to attack us." ”

Wei Zhongxian is not clear about the stakes, I am afraid that His Majesty is going to pass on the throne to King Xin.

But at this moment, he is powerless to stop it, unless he holds His Majesty hostage with King Xin.

But this is no different from rebellion.

His Majesty would not have lived for a few days, even if he could kill King Xin, but the most important thing in the Ming Dynasty was the vassal king, which was nothing more than a change of person to ascend to the throne.

With His Majesty's trust in himself, he should not be able to kill himself.

At this time, Wang Tiqian also rushed over, and he said to Wei Zhongxian: "If you keep interrupting, you will suffer from it!" ”

Although Wei Zhongxian leaned towards the government and the opposition and claimed to be "nine thousand years old", he only wanted to control the government and government, and never thought that one day he would "add nine thousand and change long live".

After all, he was just a slave of the Emperor of the Apocalypse.

After some struggle, he said, "Inform the little ones, let Elder Sun Ge come in!" ”

Seeing Wei Zhongxian's final compromise, Wang Tiqian couldn't help but be disheartened, he had already anticipated his end.

In the end, Sun Chengzong still came to the Qianqing Palace.

Seeing that everyone had arrived, Zhu Youxiao didn't pretend.

He said: "King Xin Zhu Youzhen listened to the decree and established King Xin Zhu Youxiao as the 'imperial brother', and King Xin inherited the throne after a hundred years. ”

Zhu Youzhen hurriedly knelt on the ground at this time and said: "How can the minister's brother He De, please also ask the imperial brother to take back his fate!"

Zhu Youxiao was strong before, but now he is physically exhausted, he leaned on the body of Queen Zhang Yan, took Zhu Youzhen's hand and said: "Daming Jiangshan Sheji is important, my brother can't shirk!" ”

Zhu Youzhen was already in tears at this time, and he said: "Brother Huang, rest assured, my brother will be conscientious and conscientious to protect my Ming Dynasty!" ”

Zhu Youxiao said: "When the imperial brother first succeeded to the throne, he was almost the age of the imperial brother, and he failed to understand the deep meaning of his father, so that it caused the 'disaster of the feudal town' in Liaodong today. ”

"Sun Ge is always my teacher, and now he is also the first assistant of the cabinet, you can ask Sun Ge Lao's opinion more if you are undecided, especially for the matter of Liaodong, don't be rash!"

Sun Chengzong said prostrately: "The old minister will definitely do his best to assist the new emperor, and he will die with all his might!" ”

Zhu Youxiao looked at the queen Zhang Yan beside him and said, "The middle palace has been with me for six years, and I have benefited a lot from the advice of Chang Zhengyan. In the future, young and widowed, good and merciful, good deeds in the palace! ”

Zhu Youzhen said: "The imperial sister-in-law takes good care of her brother, and the brother should take good care of herself, don't worry about the royal brother!" ”

Finally, he glanced at Wei Zhongxian again and said, "Zhongxian is loyal and loyal, and he can count big things, so he should be appointed!" ”

At this time, Zhu Youzhen had long hated Wei Zhongxian, but he couldn't disobey him in front of his imperial brother.

I had no choice but to say: "Brother Chen obeys the will of the imperial brother, and will definitely continue to reuse Gonggong Wei!" ”

Emperor Tianqi's move was undoubtedly to save Wei Zhongxian's life in front of Zhu Youzhen.

Wei Zhongxian was very grateful, knelt down and said: "The old slave is grateful to His Majesty, and he will definitely assist King Xin, and he will not dare to slack off!" ”

Seeing that the Emperor of the Apocalypse still trusted Wei Zhongxian so much when he was dying, everyone was actually a little puzzled, but at this time they could only obey.

In the end, Zhu Youzhen said to Zhu Youzhen: "My brother should be Yao Shun!" ”

On the eighth day of December in the sixth year of the Apocalypse (1626), the Emperor of the Apocalypse Zhu Youxiao died of illness in the Forbidden City, and the Dongnuan Pavilion of the Qianqing Palace was only 22 years old.

According to the edict of Emperor Tianqi before his death, as well as the ancestral system of the Ming Dynasty "the emperor has no heir, and the brother dies with the younger brother".

Zhu Youzhen, who was only 16 years old, became the sixteenth emperor of the Ming Dynasty, with the year name Chongzhen.

Emperor Chongzhen did not make much action after succeeding to the throne, but appointed Wang Chengen as the eunuch of the ceremonial supervisor Bingbi.

and promoted Dolgon to the eunuch of the Qianqing Palace.

The cabinet was still under the leadership of Sun Chengzong, the first assistant.

He also ordered that the eunuch Wei Zhongxian, the eunuch of the celebrant and the pen, be responsible for coordinating the funeral of the Emperor of the Apocalypse.

The Ministry of Works was ordered to immediately build the tomb of the Emperor of the Apocalypse.

In order to test whether Emperor Chongzhen would attack him, Wei Zhongxian ordered his sworn friend to be in charge of the seal Wang Tiqian to Emperor Chongzhen and ask Emperor Chongzhen to return to his hometown.

Emperor Chongzhen did not allow it.

Since then, Wang Tiqian has submitted it 3 times in a row, but all of them were rejected by Chongzhen, and asked him to pass the word so that he didn't have to think about it and did a good job.

Zhu Youzhen's series of operations made the eunuchs who were frightened before a little more relieved, after all, Emperor Tianqi clearly asked Emperor Chongzhen to reuse Wei Zhongxian.

However, the arrogance of the eunuch party has become no longer arrogant, and in fact, a large number of eunuch party officials have resigned since last year.

Now they are even more panicked, even if the Emperor of the Apocalypse protects Wei Zhongxian, but he doesn't protect them?

How many bad things these people have done before, they know it themselves.

The so-called once a son of heaven and a courtier, now that Sun Chengzong, a member of the Donglin Party, is the first assistant, the day when the Donglin Party will liquidate them will not be too far away.

But "the whole world is not the king's land"?

Even if they resign and return to their hometowns, they will be liquidated in the future.

Thinking about it, there is only one place in the world that is safe, Liaodong.

All he can do now is to transfer the family property to his nephews as soon as possible, so that they can take these properties to Liaodong.

Even if they pay more taxes to Li Xianzhong, it doesn't matter, I'm afraid that only the Duke of Liao can protect them in the whole world.

As a result, a large number of eunuch members began to secretly sell their family property in their own names, and transferred their children and nephews, huge amounts of property and their own property to Liaodong.

To be honest, the civil and military forces in Liaodong have never understood, why did Li Xianzhong not support Wei Zhongxian's rebellion, but let Chongzhen succeed him?

It may not be difficult for Li Xianzhong to help Wei Zhongxian get a young master out, but as a later generation, he knows very well that his biggest enemy is not Emperor Chongzhen, nor Sun Chengzong's Yulin Battalion.

It is the gentry class of the Ming Dynasty, the bureaucratic system that is rotten to the roots.

Even if he used force to seize the Ming Dynasty, these problems were still not completely solved, and the contradictions were only temporarily alleviated.

The best way is to use the hands of others to turn all this upside down and start over, so that you can completely activate the current society.

Liaodong was a special case, because there were no powerful landlords and gentry bureaucrats, and the most powerful was the land controlled by the same generals as the Wei Suo.

These people do not dare to oppose themselves because their core interest is not land.

So whatever kind of policy they make, they will implement it.

Moreover, Liaodong can open up a lot of new wasteland every year, and there are not enough to have Monan and North Korea.

The land problem is not serious, and it is entirely possible to ensure that the cultivator has his own land.

After a period of trial implementation, the original policy of adding deed tax to the purchase of 1,000 acres of land has been further strengthened.

Now as long as more than 100 acres of land is purchased, a 50% deed tax will be levied.

The so-called good at the top will be very bad at the bottom.

Now everyone knows that Li Xianzhong, the Duke of Liao, does not like his subordinates hoarding land.

There are even rumors that not only the purchase of land, but also those who have more than 100 acres of land in their existing names may be subject to tariffs.

Some prescient landlords began to dispose of too much land in their hands in order to avoid risks.

Either transfer it to the name of the children of your own clan, or simply sell it outright.

Liaodong already has the potential of a commodity society.

Because of the presence of a large number of working classes, they had a surplus of silver taels in their hands that could be used to buy things, including land.

Liaodong did not impose excessive taxes, and the government stipulated that the land rent for leased land was not allowed to exceed 5% of the land output.

In addition, the collection of land rent must be calculated after the land tax is removed.

In this way, even the tenants had a surplus of food.

Many people bought land one after another, so that the land in Liaodong gradually transferred from the hands of the landlords to the hands of the common people.

Fan Wencheng said with a smile: "Qi Liao Guogong, a large number of eunuch members are transferring their families and property to Liaodong. It is estimated that in the first two months of the seventh year of the Apocalypse, the silver taels they brought into Liaodong exceeded 8 million taels. ”

In fact, the current financial situation in Liaodong is also not optimistic, because they may have trouble with the imperial court at any time, so their industries in the interior have been affected.

Li Xianzhong's own industries have basically been transferred.

Glass, perfume workshops, and even the shares of "Heaven and Earth" were ostensibly transferred to the honorable names of Jingshi and Nanjing.

Of course, the actual operation and management is still done by the original people, although the shares are hung in the names of these nobles, but the profits Liaodong will also take.

Just let the family help and always lose a few percent of the profit every year.

This can ensure that even if there is a war with the imperial court, Chongzhen will not want to directly copy Li Xianzhong's property to enrich the treasury.

Liaodong increased its troops by 30,000 last year, and made a lot of investment in the garrison in the Monan area, resulting in a deficit in Liaodong for the first time in the entire 6th year of the Apocalypse.

The income that year was 8.8 million taels, and the expenditure was as high as 9.6 million taels.

The expenditure has gone straight to 10 million taels, and Li Xianzhong's garrison of Monan is a big expenditure.

So Li Xianzhong needs to borrow money from others.

The merchants of the Ming Dynasty were all landlords and old wealth, and they would rather pile up the silver in the cellar to get moldy than think of using them to make more silver.

Coupled with the development of commerce and trade in Liaodong, it is really inconvenient to have no banks.

Liaodong can also transport silver by sea and the Liaohe River.

If you want to go from Liaodong to Guihua City to sell and buy, you have to walk thousands of miles with silver.

Therefore, Li Xianzhong officially opened the Liaodong Bank in Liaodong.

As long as the silver is deposited in Liaodong Bank, 1% interest will be given for 3 months, and 4% for 1 year.

No interest for less than three months.

Since Liaodong requires a license for both business and land and shop sales, you must have a local household registration in Liaodong, or you have a reward permit issued by the governor's yamen to buy and sell.

Therefore, the identity of the children of these "eunuchs" has become a big problem.

In order to avoid falling out with the imperial court in the future, Liaodong did not accept any eunuch party members.

But their dependents can be accepted.

Deposit 50,000 taels as collateral in Liaodong Bank to obtain the residence qualification of a family, and deposit 100,000 taels to obtain business qualifications.

If the family size is more than 50, it will be doubled.

Originally, Li Xianzhong had to use the reserve fund of 5 million taels of silver at least once

In this way, these eunuch children became the reserve depositors of the Liaodong Bank, and the Liaodong Bank received 6 million taels of silver as soon as it opened.

Among them, Tian Ergeng alone saved 600,000 taels.

Moreover, their silver is in the nature of a deposit, and they cannot withdraw the principal, but can only withdraw interest.

Over time, the merchants found that this Liaodong Bank was very convenient, for example, from Yingkou to Kaiyuan to sell and buy, and there was no need to transport silver.

With the silver ticket, you can withdraw the silver, and after earning the silver, you can save it locally and withdraw it from another place.

Small amounts of money are free of charge, and large amounts are subject to a handling fee, but it is much cheaper than shipping them yourself.

And the deposit bank really has interest to take.

The loan of Liaodong Bank is also very convenient, you can borrow if you have assets or guarantors, and the general annual interest rate does not exceed 20%, which is much cheaper than the loan sharks on the market.

Of course, the disadvantage is that there are still relatively few outlets of Liaodong Bank.

There are only seven outlets: Guangning, Liaoyang, Yingkou, Lushun, Shenyang, Kaiyuan, and Guihua City.

The emergence of the Bank of Liaodong not only solved the problem of capital gap, but also greatly promoted the development of commerce in Liaodong, and also increased a large amount of tax revenue in disguise.

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