stubborn thief

There are pipes under the floor tiles of Qianqing Palace, and the air-conditioning comes from the ice room, which brings a bit of coolness to people even in the scorching summer heat.

But the coolness that filled Emperor Chongzhen's heart made his heart and liver tremble. Coupled with the darkness of the three main halls, it only made people feel cold all over.

It's not that the Forbidden City has bad feng shui, it's just that the three main halls are not well built, because essentially... it's not for people to live in, it's a temple.

The important affairs of the country depend on military service and sacrifice. The Forbidden City is a place dedicated to handling the important affairs of the country.

In fact, except for the super otaku Wanli, no one of the Ming generation emperors lived permanently in the Forbidden City.

Although the Forbidden City was built by Zhu Di, Zhu Di did not live in the palace city, but in the Xiyuan Longevity Palace, which is across the sea from the palace city.

The same was true for Emperor Wuzong. He was responsible for the first large-scale renovation of Xiyuan. He built a platform for the review of riding and archery, and specially reviewed and practiced archery and horse training. Later, the platform was abandoned and a pavilion was built, and a two-story hall was built, called Ziguang Pavilion.

The platform duel between Chongzhen and Yuan Chonghuan took place in this place.

Jiajing first lived in the palace city. Later, he was assassinated by a palace maid, so he hid in Xiyuan for decades and also lived in the longevity palace.

In the past thirty years, he presided over the second large-scale renovation of Xiyuan and the reconstruction of the three main halls.

The reason why Xiyuan was renovated was because he wanted to cultivate immortality in it. He thought that the name Changshou Palace would not work. Emperor Chengzu was an ordinary person and lived in Changshou Palace.

I, Emperor Taojun, am not an ordinary person, but an immortal, and I must live in the Longevity Palace.

At that time, Jiajing was obsessed with cultivating immortals and was so conceited that he claimed to be in charge of the Great Master of Five Thunders. As a result, on a thunderstorm night, he attracted Thunder God, and a thunder struck the three main halls, burning fifteen doors on the second floor of the three halls.

Later, the commander-in-chief of Wu Lei Dazhen wrote an imperial book called "Fire Warning or Questioning", which was announced at home and abroad like an imperial edict, calling on everyone to believe in science and not to be superstitious. Thunder and fire are normal things, and there is no such thing as telepathy from heaven and man. .

Xiyuan is a good place. The colorful life of the emperor all happened in Xiyuan.

It's a pity that those colors have nothing to do with Chongzhen.

The country has reached such a state that Chongzhen has no way to enjoy himself. The internal friction in the past few years after he ascended the throne has almost tortured him to death.

When he first came to the throne, he was very confident, worked hard for a while, and was diligent in thinking. He really wanted to find the country's problems and solve them.

To say that he did not have the authority of the emperor was not the case. Important officials in the imperial court would be killed on request; important border defense generals could be replaced on request; and if an edict was given to the subordinates, everything would be executed immediately.

But when people are killed, the new ones still can't handle it; when people are changed, the army still has no money and food; the will is carried out, but the desired effect is always not achieved, or even goes in the opposite direction.

The world was falling hard towards the abyss. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't hold it back. Instead, he clearly wanted to lift it up, but it fell even harder.

He has only been on the throne for a few years, and Chongzhen is not old now. He is still one of the youngest rulers in the world in terms of age.

However, over the past few years, I have experienced many hopes and suffered heavy losses, and I have long since stopped believing the nonsense about 'good opportunities' and 'victory' that officials said in their reports.

The light of hope gradually disappeared from his eyes, and it was difficult to be interested in anything anymore. There was only one kind of person left.

Those who speak aggressively are liars who want to gain fortune through coercion; those who speak tactfully are liars who seek to gain advancement by flattery.

Those who say there is a good opportunity are liars who take advantage of his character flaw of being greedy for success; those who say they can't defeat the enemy are liars who are timid and afraid of fighting and are just trying to survive.

They are all liars.

There's no way, I can't tell.

He only knew that Yang Jiamo was a good general, Duan Fuxing was a loyal hero, Zu Kuan was a bit reckless, and Deng Qi was also a good general not to mention Shu Wu.

It's a shame to feel that one doesn't know whether he's loyal until he's killed in action, but what else can be done?

He himself was weak and virtuous, and indeed he was not wise enough to identify his loyal ministers and good generals before they died on the battlefield and give them full support.

Because his vision has proven his failure time and time again.

If you believe in your own vision, you will be wrong; if you go against your intuition, you will be foolish.

But the more this happens, the less he can have great hope for those who are still alive... After all, the loyal ministers are dead, and you are still alive. What does this mean?

Especially in the past month.

The job of the emperor is indeed not done by humans, especially the emperor who is in adversity.

Just two months ago, the news that Chongzhen received was that Chen Qiyu had ambitiously formed a five-province coalition. In Shaanxi, Chen Bu's heavy army group, the Qin Army, the Sichuan Army, the Ningxia Army, and even the Northern Zhili Relief and Suppression Army, equipped with elite troops and strong generals. Transferred to Shaanxi, Chen's troops were sent to six mountains, with the intention of annihilating Liu Chengzong in one fell swoop.

Then he received news about this powerful army. Deng Qi was thrown to death under the city, Tang Jiuzhou was scattered on the mountain, and Zu Kuan was killed in front of the battle.

Zuo Liangyu, Cao Wenzhao, and Long Zaitian's heavy army group were separated by Liu Chengzong on Fengxiang Plain, and they didn't know whether they were alive or dead.

Not even the news of whether he is dead or alive can be spread.

In fact, Chongzhen did not believe in his own abilities, so he was unwilling to micromanage a feudal official like the governor unless absolutely necessary.

Since the information from Shaanxi could not be sent back, Chongzhen made a special trip to Shaanxi. He did not dare to find Chen Qiyu for fear of delaying the military situation, so he ordered people to find Qin Fulian's state affairs to understand the situation.

It turned out that the governor of Shaanxi was really good at practicing sit-ups for state affairs.

One moment he was paralyzed by the gas and could not see anything; the next moment he got up again and the light returned; the next moment he was paralyzed again and it was difficult to tell whether he was alive or dead.

Chongzhenguang was so angry that he wanted to chop Jinyi Fanzi to death with a knife.

Just going back and forth like this wasted the most critical time. By the time Chongzhen sent the second wave of agents to inquire for information into Shaanxi, they would not be able to come back.

Just can't come back, it's like a stone sinking into the sea.

The unknown made Chongzhen extremely scared. Did Liu Chengzong capture Xi'an?

He quickly dispatched a third wave of Jin Yiwei. This time, he sent ten people directly to Ningxia to look for Hong Chengchou and Shaanxi to look for Chen Qiyu via the Great Wall, the Yellow River in Shanxi, Tongguan and other places.

The first one to report back was Ningxia Road, telling them that when they reached Yulin Town, the Tatars outside the mouth were gathering troops to attack the border wall to the north, and the bandits from Hengshan were trying to break the fort and kill the generals to the south.

The border wall between Ningsai Camp and Pingshan Dun was buried by wind and sand, but the situation was very strange. The gap was clearly there, but the Mongolian cavalry gathered to the north of the border wall and did not go south; the Hengshan bandits gathered to the south of the border wall. , not going north.

The two sides faced each other across the castle piers buried in the sand. They neither contacted nor attacked. Whenever they saw Ming troops nearby, they rushed up to fight. The Jin Yiwei couldn't get through at all.

However, a Jin Yiwei risked his life and entered Yan'an Mansion. He heard that the Black Dragon King Temple Mountain had gathered young men from ten miles and eight villages in Fushi County, and they were building Liu Chengzong's ancestral tomb.

The latest news is that Zhang Zhen, the general who entered Yan'an from the Marshal's Office, led his army to Bao'an County. He did not lead many troops, only a thousand or so. However, the well-known village elders from Yan'an counties all followed him to Bao'an. This gang The human bodyguard has more than 3,000 people.

Those who took the Shanxi road did not have any good information. What they saw was that the refugees gathered around Taiyuan City and became a disaster. The government could not provide relief. However, along the Yellow River, people migrated on a large scale. Ten houses were empty, and there were many villages. When the plague breaks out, every household has their coffins and feasts carried out, and every village becomes a ruin.

The situation in Shaanxi on the west bank of the Yellow River is better, but it is difficult to get through.

First, the people in Jiazhou, Wubao and other places were on tight defense. As if they had received some order, all the boats along the Yellow River were snatched away by the villages on the other side. They could not see a boat for hundreds of miles along the coast.

Secondly, the villagers were very fierce. They carried bows and arrows, carried muskets, and set up various cannons along the coast. Their age and richness were an eye-opener for Jin Yiwei. The Hongwu cannons are considered first-class advanced firepower, and there are even return guns and ballistae in the wooden forts on the shore.

The news coming back from these two lines was enough to make Chongzhen feel outrageous.

I never expected that the Tongguan side was really outrageous.

The Jin Yiwei group walking through Tongguan included one hundred households, two small flag officers, three warriors, and three flag soldiers, a total of nine people.

The journey all the way to Luoyang went smoothly, and we even had a meal at Prince Fu's Mansion.

But this meal went bad, and the two Jin Yiwei Banner soldiers broke away from the team as soon as they left Luoyang. Baihu's apology report said that the two men were shocked by the wealth and splendor of Prince Fu's palace, and they broke down and left the army. , went to vote for Liu Chengzong.

In fact, along this Jinyiwei road, there were all Touke Palaces, not only Prince Fu's Palace, but also Prince Lu's Palace and Prince Zheng's Palace, but only Prince Fu's Palace was so rich that they collapsed.

They were not the first wave to collapse. Zuo Liangyu and Deng Qi's reinforcements entered Shaanxi from Henan and passed Prince Fu's Mansion along the way. Hundreds of them also fled.

Because King Fu was too rich, so rich that it exceeded people's psychological endurance. This may not be that shocking to ordinary people, but to the reinforcements who passed through Henan and entered Shaanxi to fight, it was extremely devastating.

"Luoyang is richer than the imperial palace. It makes Zhu Changxun, one of the richest people in the world, fat, but we are left to fight with hunger and die at the hands of bandits. How unfair!"

To be honest, the King of Han from Pingliang Mansion didn't have the chance to come to Luoyang, otherwise he would have transformed into a new generation of Jin Chanzi just by taking a look.

They are all princes. Han Fan is rich. He is rich because he is a prince at the beginning of the country. He has a large population, many kings and nobles, and many luxuries.

But Prince Fu was so rich that he was as rich as an egg.

There are two types of royal families in the Ming Dynasty, one is the clan, and the other is the clan granted by Emperor Wanli.

Specifically, there are three people, Wanli's younger brother Zhu Yixi, the king of Lu, his son Zhu Changxun, the king of Fu, and his son Zhu Changhao, the king of Rui.

As for Wanli's other two sons, Zhu Changrun and Zhu Changying, they delayed joining the vassal state until the Tianqi years, but they did not gain that much benefit.

The domineering King Lu was favored by Wanli and Empress Dowager Li, and all the regulations for the vassal period exceeded the standards. The courtiers at that time had great opinions and hoped that Wanli could follow the old system.

But King Fu was Wanli's favorite son, and it would be even more outrageous when King Fu came to power.

It was so excessive that after that, the courtiers did not dare to mention King Wanli Fu. When it came to matters related to the clan, everyone said that they should follow King Lu's old rules.

Because Wanli did not follow the rules towards Prince Fu. During the thirty years when Wanli was idle in government, all the memorials sent to the inner court by senior ministers and feudal officials were like nothing. Only the memorials from Prince Fu's palace were submitted in the morning and the replies came out in the afternoon. Yes, there is no request that cannot be refused.

When King Fu came to feudal vassal, he was given 20,000 hectares of Zhuang farmland. The rich farmland in Henan was insufficient, so it was supplemented by the fertile farmland in Shandong and Huguang.

In addition, Zhang Juzheng's property was confiscated, various miscellaneous taxes along the Yangtze River from Yangzhou to Taiping, Anhui, 1,300 yuan of tea silver from Sichuan salt wells and Huai salt were all given to King Fu.

The salt alone is no longer excessive. Henan has always used Hedong salt.

The salt import system of the Ming Dynasty was closely related to the grain and grass provided by the border garrison. Merchants were required to transport grain to Jiubian, and Jiubian issued a certificate. The merchants exchanged the grain transportation certificate for salt import, and then used the salt import to sell salt at the salt farm.

The weight of salt from each salt field varies according to the distance from Jiubian.

For example, the Hedong salt field is close to the border wall, and one lead of salt is 200 jins; the Huaiyang salt field is far away from Jiubian, and one lead is 660 jins.

At the same time, salt areas in various regions also follow the principle of selling nearby.

As for the salt quotations Wanli gave to King Fu, no matter what, he could sell salt in Huaiyang and Hedong. Anyway, selling salt anywhere was just a matter of writing a letter to his father, which greatly affected Henan and Nanyang. , the salt industry in the three prefectures of Huaiqing.

Of course, this situation of favoring others and being different from each other is not Wanli's fault.

It's just that before Wanli, those princes who were canonized and given preferential treatment by the emperor were in a state of continuous undercutting during Jiajing, Longqing and even Wanli years.

In the final analysis, Emperor Jiajing and the princes are basically distant relatives who came out of the fifth server, and they will not be lenient in cutting off their treatment.

So much so that in this era, those granted by Wanli had the most preferential treatment among the three vassal states.

There is no way, Emperor Taichang is the son of Wanli, and Tianqi and Chongzhen are both Wanli's grandsons.

Now, King Fu Zhu Changxun and King Lu Zhu Changzi are both close uncles of Chongzhen, and their status is the most respected among the kings.

It is not an exaggeration to say that King Fu and King Lu were extravagant and lustful, but from the perspective of Emperor Chongzhen and the royal family... they were actually virtuous kings.

First, they did their job well: they enfeoffed the people without granting them land, they did not come to the people with noble titles, and they did not take care of things while taking their salary.

Second, when the royal family needed money, they were very active in donating money. They ranked second and third among the kings, second only to the King of Tang, and far ahead of the poor and stingy Han Fan, Lu Fan, and Dai Fan.

The king of Tang Dynasty always donated the most money. For the battle of Saerhu alone, the old Tang king donated 5,000 taels at the beginning of the battle, and another 3,500 taels after the battle was defeated.

But for the royal family, Tang Fan was far inferior to Fu Fan and Lu Fan... The old Tang King had a problem with his character. In order to change the heir, he imprisoned the prince and grandson for sixteen years, and also tacitly allowed the son born by his concubine to poison the prince to death.

If Chen Qiyu, who was the chief envoy at that time, had not warned the old king of Tang, the young king of Tang would have died long ago.

In addition, the princes of the Tang Dynasty all liked to participate in social activities. For the princes, the scale of such things was difficult to grasp.

On the other hand, Prince Fu and Prince Lu are the good princes who do not interfere in other people's affairs.

King Fu was a greedy and lustful drunkard. He drank heavily behind closed doors every day. When he drank too much, he would go to sleep and drink when he woke up.

King Lu was an artist who loved to play the harp. He left six or seven-inch fingernails and protected them with small bamboo tubes, and made three thousand pieces of King Lu's harp.

At the same time, he also studied antiques and imitated thousands of bronzes from the Shang Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty based on the Xuanhe Bogu Tu. They were inscribed as "Made in Lu Guo", but they were specially wrapped in cowhide and buried underground to prevent rust. Cover the inscription.

Therefore, Chongzhen had no objection at all to these two wealthy imperial uncles.

If someone has money, it was given by his grandfather, not to mention that they both gave him money.

Because of fear of death, as soon as Li Zicheng entered Huguang and Zhang Yichuan entered Nanyang, King Lu, who was far away on the north bank of the Yellow River, sent a memorial to Chongzhen, asking for an additional 3,000 guards and willing to donate 10,000 taels of silver to help pay.

Chongzhen happily agreed.

Then the king of Tang, who faced the threat of Zhang Yichuan in Nanyang, also wrote a memorial after hearing the inquiry, and also asked the emperor to add 3,000 guards and donate 10,000 taels of silver to help pay.

Chongzhen refused without thinking.

Because there has been a lot of quarrel in the imperial court recently over the issue of clan transfer, the core issue is to allow the clan government to recommend talented clan members into the bureaucracy through recommendation methods.

One of the strong supporters of this matter was the young Tang King Zhu Yujian.

Chongzhen knew very well that King Lu was really afraid of death when he asked for additional guards.

The King of Tang asked for more guards... This guy really wants to make great achievements! (End of chapter)