"Do you regret it?"

Hearing Cheng Shijie's question, Emperor Chongzhen smiled bitterly or bitterly, if you want to say that Emperor Chongzhen does not regret it, it must be false, whether it is Cheng Shijie or Lu Xiangsheng, they have reminded him that the Northern Expedition is not not a Northern Expedition, but it takes a suitable time, and the more the Northern Expedition army, the better.

More troops means more consumption, this is very certain, in history, there have been many examples of winning more with less, for example, during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, Fu Jian led a million troops to attack the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Xie Xuan led 85,000 Beifu soldiers to win more with less, and directly defeated the Qin who unified the north with a million army.

In addition, there was the battle of Hubu Dagang, although the Liao army claimed to be 700,000, but in fact there were only 50,000 cavalry and 400,000 foot soldiers, but they were directly defeated by the Jin army.

Even in the Ming Dynasty, the battle of Daling River was the hardest battle fought by Jiannu since the Chongzhen Dynasty, and it was a thousand wounded enemies and eight hundred self-losses.

It's just a pity that Emperor Chongzhen insisted on going his own way, and hundreds of thousands of soldiers died in front of Emperor Chongzhen, how could he not regret it?

But what's the use of regretting, and you can't bring the dead back to life! The fiasco of this battle also made Wen Tiren and others directly open the country and welcome Jiannu Emperor Taiji as the new monarch, and almost half of the entire Northern Zhili was lost. However, the problem is that even if the truth is close at hand, Emperor Chongzhen does not admit his mistake, but instead pushes the mistake on Cheng Shijie's head.

In the end, Emperor Chongzhen did not admit that he would regret it, but looked directly at Cheng Shijie and said seriously: "Cheng Shijie, you were promoted step by step by me, and I have never trusted anyone like you, not even the Lu Qing family." I want to know, in your heart, what kind of person I am? ”

Cheng Shijie smiled and said: "In my heart, you are a friend who is easily impulsive, suspicious by nature, and has many shortcomings, but is not bad in nature." ”

Emperor Chongzhen was stunned: "Friend? You're a friend."

Cheng Shijie said very seriously: "Yes." You have given me trust, and you have promoted me step by step to become a feudal official in charge of the territory, if I am not promoted and appreciated, I still don't know where I am wandering! I always remember this love, so I know that keeping you will have endless troubles, but I still insist on finding a way back for you, so that you and your family can live carefree, this is my reward to my friends. ”

"If someone gives you a point, you give someone ten points...... Friend, Cheng Shijie has a friend like you, which is the greatest luck in my life Zhu Youzhen! ”

"I think so too!"

Cheng Shijie was idle left and right, so he asked rhetorically: "What kind of emperor is Emperor Han Ling in your heart?" ”

If Cheng Shijie chats with Emperor Chongzhen, it is best to use the Han Dynasty as an example, because Emperor Chongzhen's cultural level is not high, except for the Three Kingdoms and the script, he does not know much, but he knows the Three Kingdoms the most.

Emperor Chongzhen thought for a moment and said, "He is a very capable emperor, and he is also a legend. ”

Among all the emperors in the world, Emperor Chongzhen actually liked Emperor Liu Hong very much, but Emperor Ling of Han was the last emperor with real power in the Eastern Han Dynasty, not a puppet. Like Emperor Chongzhen, he was not an emperor originally, and he could only become an emperor by chance.

Judging from the records in the history books, the political chaos under his rule, the power of the eunuchs reached its peak, the ten permanent servants acted recklessly, the state finances were seriously corrupt, and the people were not able to make a living. It's a complete faint king.

However, in fact, from the perspective of Emperor Chongzhen, Liu Hong was a very capable emperor, his reign was very short, he died young, and became the emperor as a puppet at the age of twelve.

Thinking of this, Emperor Chongzhen suddenly woke up and knew what was wrong with his problem.

Liu Hong, who also unexpectedly ascended to the emperor at a young age, saw the problems of the Eastern Han Dynasty at a glance, at that time, the power of the scholars of the Eastern Han Dynasty reached its peak, completely elevating the imperial court, and the decrees of the imperial court could not be conveyed at all...... Listened to the Donglin Party.

Cheng Shijie said: "Do you understand now? ”

"Some understand, some still don't!"

Cheng Shijie said: "In this world, whether it is the gentry, officials, or the common people, they all need to eat, so the question is, we all know that Zhang Jiaoqi has millions of yellow turban believers before the incident, this Taiping Taoist believer is also called five buckets of rice Taoism, that is, you can get five buckets of rice by joining Taiping Dao, and one million yellow scarves is 500,000 stone rice, where did the people outside Zhang Jiaofang come from? Where did these 500,000 stone rice come from? Have you thought about it? ”

Emperor Chongzhen was slightly stunned: "Where did you come from?" ”

"With the productivity of the Han Dynasty, these 500,000 stone rice need 300,000 mu of fertile land to produce in a year, and these 300,000 mu of fertile land need at least 10,000 mu of people to cultivate, of course, the account is not calculated like this, to obtain 500,000 stone grain, with the tax of 30 taxes of the Han Dynasty, at least 15 million stone grain must be produced, even if it is 10 taxes and 1, it also needs the output of 5 million stone grain!"

Emperor Chongzhen faintly understood: "These grains are provided by the Shi clan?" ”

"That's right!"

"Then why did they provide this food to Zhang Jiao?"

"Because they want power, after the party is reinstated, the party members, that is, the scholars, are driven out of the court by the eunuchs, and they need a reasonable opportunity to return to the center of the court, and the best way is a turmoil that spreads throughout the country. So Zhang Jiao appeared, and the yellow scarf appeared! ”

Cheng Shijie's interpretation of the Three Kingdoms is different from most mainstream people, because he looks at the period of the Three Kingdoms, just like some people read Journey to the West, from different angles, they will come to different conclusions and different views.

Why did Liu Hong crack down on the party, because the party regarded the emperor as a puppet, and he was a member of the party from top to bottom, because the inspection system maximized the power of the scholars, and the emperor was left behind, so he could only choose to cooperate with the eunuchs, as for Liu Hong's sparing no effort to collect money and sell his official beard, this is a fact, because he wants to feed the military power, only the army can protect the imperial power, and the emperor without military power is also a puppet who can be kneaded by others.

This is just like Cheng Shijie discussing with Sun Zhilan why Cao Cao wanted to kill Bian Rang, why Cao Cao slaughtered the city in Xuzhou, and why Mi Zhu supported Liu Bei, to put it bluntly, it is all naked interests.

Boss Cao wanted to hit Qu County, that is, Mi Zhu's hometown, because at that time, only Mi Zhu's family had money and food in the land of Qingxu, and the family had tens of thousands of servants and hundreds of millions of money and grain.

The Yanzhou scholars led Lu Bu into Yanzhou, not because Lu Bu won the hearts of the people, but because Lu Bu could fight, and he was the only one who dared to fight Cao Cao, why Lu Bu couldn't sit still in Xuzhou was because Xuzhou chose Liu Bei at that time.

After Shijie explained this way, Emperor Chongzhen realized what he was really wrong about, it was not that he didn't trust Lu Xiangsheng, Lu Xiangsheng was just one person, even if he listened to Lu Xiangsheng's words at that time, the Guan Ning army would also rebel, and Huang Taiji would also lure the enemy deep and intercept the Northern Expedition army.

The difference is that Lu Xiangsheng may not be fooled, and if he returns from the armed parade, the loss will not be so big, in fact, unless Cheng Shijie is allowed to lead the Northern Expedition of the Ning Navy, and there is no other army to assist, it is possible to achieve victory.

From Emperor Chongzhen's belief in the Donglin Party and the eradication of Wei Zhongxian, in fact, there was nothing wrong with eradicating Wei Zhongxian itself, he was not Chongzhen's person, but at that time, Wei Zhongxian's inheritance should be taken over by eunuchs such as Cao Huachun or Gao Qiqian, and not to expand the attack on the eunuch party, so the result is that the eunuch party is just a change of leader.

Just like the dispute between the donkey and the elephant, let the two sides continue to fight, and the final result is far better than listening to the Donglin Party.

Cheng Shijie accompanied Emperor Chongzhen for eight days, as the regent of the Ming Empire, he actually ran to such a remote place, stayed for eight days, did nothing, and accompanied a waste emperor who had lost everything to ride, hunt, and fish, which is simply incredible.

But for Cheng Shijie, this is all trivial, if no one urges, he can stay here for half a year!

Cheng Shijie looked at Emperor Chongzhen and seemed to have accepted his fate, and he still enjoyed this kind of life of nothing to do after being deposed, but he was clear about what kind of fate he would face after stepping down from the pinnacle of power. There is no family affection in the heavenly family, how many emperors have a good end after handing over power?

Many emperors are obviously too old to even walk, and they still cling to power, why? It's not because of fear, that after handing over power, he will not die well, and even cause disaster to his descendants!

Emperor Chongzhen made a big mistake, but fortunately, Cheng Shijie was a person who missed the old days, tried his best to save his life, and let him live in seclusion in such a picturesque place, and even more to protect his family, and Cheng Shijie didn't seem to have the intention of killing everything, he was already very satisfied.

Now he only hopes that his children will not arouse Cheng Shijie's suspicions, not get involved in the whirlpool of politics, and grow up peacefully, so he won't ask for anything! And only Cheng Shijie can do this.

Cheng Shijie came to see Emperor Chongzhen and found that he was not depressed, his mentality was not bad, so he was relieved, he was really afraid that Emperor Chongzhen would die, after all, Emperor Chongzhen was not bad in nature, but he was a little eager for quick success, and he was already much better than most leaders.

Perfect.

Of course, it is impossible for Cheng Shijie to give up his current rights, unless...... Cheng Shijie is dead.

Just when Cheng Shijie was about to wait for the army to go south to pacify the small court in Jiangnan before leaving, there was another problem in Beizhili.

"Your Majesty, emergency!"

Cheng Shijie took the information and looked at it, and was speechless.

The lives of the Ming Dynasty are very worthless, frozen to death, starvation, disease, death, in short, it is very difficult to live in peace, but finally there is no need to fight, and there is no need to forcibly conscript them to serve in conscription, and finally have their own land.

As a result, there was a massive disease, a terrible plague.

In the judgment of the Ministry of Health, it should be plague.

Cheng Shijie knew that the Ming city of Beijing would be easily conquered by Li Zicheng, and the most fundamental reason was not that the defenders of Beijing betrayed the Ming Dynasty, but because of the plague.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the plague began in the sixth year of Chongzhen (1633) in Shanxi. It spread to Hebei in the fourteenth year of Chongzhen, and spread to more regions with Li Zicheng and the Qing army. In the fourteenth year of Chongzhen (1641), the plague spread to Beijing, causing a large number of deaths in the population of Beijing.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the plague made "the children in the neighborhood stunned, there were coffins, there were no coffins, and the nine doors counted more than 200,000." Between August and December 1643, a conservative estimate of the death toll in Beijing was as high as one-fifth of the city's deaths.

Now there is a plague in Beizhili, which has caused tens of millions of deaths, you must know that since the first month of the first year of Dingxin, the grain from Luzon and Dayuan has met the food needs of Beizhili and Liaoxi, and even the price of grain has been beaten back to one or two or three dollars per stone of grain.

In response to this epidemic, Cheng Shijie has no good way, first of all, the plague is not like the cold and flu, you can easily buy medicine, this medicine is a prescription drug, and because the disease is basically extinct, the production volume is not high, and it is easy to attract the attention of the above if you buy it.

While returning to the capital, Cheng Shijie issued an important order to the Ministry of Health to catch rats.

Eliminating rats is to eliminate the source of infection, and secondly, because rats will eat food, and the common people are poor, even if the food and food that have been eaten by rats will continue to eat, which has caused the large-scale spread of plague.

If we want the people to take the initiative to hunt and kill rats, we must give a certain amount of compensation by killing rats, as they did in the seventies, and prevent the people from working in vain.

Cheng Shijie's order was well implemented, and a multi-departmental joint action group led by the Ministry of Health was immediately set up in the capital, led by Yang Qingyun, with the Royal Army and the militia cooperating in action.

First of all, do a good job of publicity, so that the people understand the danger of rats, and understand that the food contaminated by rats must not be eaten, but the people can take the contaminated grain and vegetables and exchange them with the government for new food.

For the killed rats, they cannot be disposed of on the spot, but are eliminated in a centralized manner, burned and buried with quicklime, and at the same time, the rat tail is used to calculate the rat tail and catch five rat tails for a pound of food.

When Cheng Shijie returned to Beijing, he saw hundreds of people catching rats on the way, especially the factory urgently produced rat traps, and the rat traps were placed in the hands of people everywhere in a free way.

"Meet the King!"

"How's it going?"

"The situation is very serious!"

Sun Zhili smiled bitterly: "I can't help but have a large-scale plague in Beizhili, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Nanli, Henan, Shandong, and Huguang have all had plague, but the most serious is Shanxi, and we can't reach it!" ”

Cheng Shijie sighed and said, "Is the epidemic under control now?" ”

"It's under control for the time being, it's just the original plan to attack Nanming in three ways......"

"There's no rush for this, anyway, the meat is rotten in the pot!"

But the problem is that the financial expenditure of the rodent extermination operation is too large, especially the exchange of five rat tails for a pound of food, as well as the exchange of rat-contaminated grain, and the treasury of Daming will soon be overwhelmed.

As vice minister and finance minister, Yang Yunniang suggested that Cheng Shijie issue treasury bonds, but this proposal was immediately rejected by Cheng Shijie, and the issuance of treasury bonds was a backup plan adopted last year in order to cope with the shortage of military spending. Yang Yunniang took it to heart and decided to raise the treasury bonds issued for disaster relief.

Yang Yunniang was very puzzled and asked, "Why not?" ”

"First of all, in addition to Liaodong, the people of the Ming Dynasty are too poor, they have no money in their hands, they want to buy treasury bonds, and they have no money to buy, and secondly, the people of Liaodong who can buy them, most of their money is used to expand production capacity, and the gentry who have the money to buy treasury bonds have a quarrel with us, they will definitely not buy it, if no one comes to buy the treasury bonds, it will affect the credibility of the empire, no, absolutely not!"

"What then? The grain in our hands will not last long, according to optimistic estimates, it will be half a month at most......"

Cheng Shijie said lightly: "Then I can only find a fat sheep to come out and kill and eat meat!" ”

"There's no fat sheep anymore!"

Yang Yunniang smiled bitterly: "Land reform and tax pursuit, those gentry and big families have eaten almost, vassal kings and nobles, those who die, those who run, and those who stay are all poor ghosts......"

Cheng Shijie suddenly had a flash of inspiration in his head: "There is!" ”

"What?"

"Little day, little day seems to owe us a beating, beating!"

Cheng Shijie said: "Inform the Military Department, the General Staff Department, and the Admiralty Department that a meeting will be held in an hour!" (End of chapter)