Carrying AK into Ming Dynasty

Chapter 16 The Shabby Royal Banquet

Inside the Qianqing Palace.

Liu Hongjian stared blankly at the imperial banquet in front of him. After coming to the Ming Dynasty, he hadn't eaten a decent meal. Finally, he was able to eat a free meal, and it was the Emperor Chongzhen who invited him to accompany him. Delicacies from mountains and seas, delicacies on jade plates.

Looking at the several dishes in front of him, Liu Hongjian didn't have the nerve to do it first, this...is too shabby!
A plate of shredded pork with garlic sprouts, a plate of stir-fried cabbage, a plate of stir-fried meat with unnamed green vegetables is also more vegetables and less meat, a small pot of duck blood vermicelli soup, the only thing that can be decently ordered is the grilled oil in the middle bright chicken.

This is the emperor of the Ming Empire, the supreme ruler of a land with an area of ​​several million kilometers. The feast for the heroic officials turned out to be four dishes and one soup. Is the imperial family so poor and weak?

"This time, Aiqing rescued me from the fire and water. I was supposed to entertain Aiqing with delicacies from mountains and seas. However, due to the national calamity, in order to reduce the burden on the common people, the food and clothing expenses in the palace have been greatly reduced in recent years. Aiqing is here. Let's make some!"

Chongzhen's face was very gentle, and his words did not sound like a gentleman's tone to his subjects, but more like a kindness to juniors.

"Come to Aiqing, I offer you a toast!" Chongzhen raised his glass to Liu Hongjian.

"Don't dare, kid! It's a great honor to have the banquet given by the emperor." Liu Hongjian hurriedly picked up the wine glass and stood up to show respect.

Hiss - really spicy!After taking a sip of wine, Liu Hongjian almost burst into tears.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, distilled liquor was already very popular, and the baijiu brewed was almost the same as modern liquor, and it was brewed from pure grains, unlike the previous life, when more than 90.00% of the liquor on the market was alcohol mixed with water.

"Hehe, doesn't Aiqing often drink alcohol? There are no outsiders here, Aiqing doesn't need to be polite, just move your chopsticks!" Emperor Chongzhen picked up a chopstick with vegetables with a calm expression.

"Thank you, Your Majesty! The Emperor laughed at me because I'm not good at drinking." The smell of alcohol rose a little, and Liu Hongjian quickly picked up a chopstick of food and stuffed it into his mouth.

"You should call yourself a minister. Are there other people in the family? Life can go on!" Chongzhen said and picked up the wine glass again. It seemed that Chongzhen liked to have a drink when he had nothing to do.

"There is still an old father in the minister's family, and a wife who is a scumbag. Although life is a bit poor, it is no problem to eat enough!"

Humph, look at me dressed like this, you know that my family has no money, don't talk about these useless things, you should give me some money and flowers!Liu Hongjian picked up the wine glass with a smile on his face, but secretly slandered in his heart.

"Oh, by the way, Your Majesty, when I was in danger defending the city, I was rescued by a pawn. If it wasn't for that pawn, I probably wouldn't be able to sit here and drink with the emperor now, so I hope that Your Majesty will forgive him." Military household status!"

"This is a trivial matter! I'm sure! Wang Erxi write it down, and the people from the Fifth Army Commander's Mansion will take care of it later." Chongzhen turned his head and said to the eunuch Wang Erxi who was waiting beside him.

After drinking for three rounds, Liu Hongjian's face turned red from drinking, and he no longer knew what he was talking about, but Chongzhen didn't seem to change his face, and he was still talking like a family chat.

"Your majesty, it's not me...I said you, you are the emperor. The so-called whole world is the land of the king, and the shore of the land... Could it be the king's minister, you are rich...wealthy all over the world, but your life is not as good as a seventh-rank man. Beijing official, this is too...too shameful..."

Liu Hongjian was so dazed that he didn't care what the occasion was and who he was talking to. Wang Erxi, who was waiting by the side, was stunned and kept winking at Liu Hongjian until his eyes nearly cramped.

"Elder-in-law, your eyes...have sand in your eyes, why are you blinking non-stop!" Liu Hongjian pointed at Wang Erxi, causing Wang Erxi to kneel down in fright.

"Hehe, yes, I may be the most failed emperor in the world!" Chongzhen knew that the kid in front of him was just outspoken and did not intend to offend, not only did not get angry, but gave a wry smile.

"No, no, as far as I know, you are... a fairly diligent emperor, and I heard that you still wear... wearing patches..."

"Don't talk nonsense! Uncle!" Wang Erxi, who was kneeling on the ground, couldn't help whispering to Liu Hongjian when he saw Liu Hongjian's speech became more and more unrestrained.

"Back off, go and pour some sober tea for Liu Aiqing!" Chongzhen still looked normal, because he wanted to hear what earth-shattering words this presumptuous young man could say.

"Hey! Seeing that the emperor cares so much, I'll tell you one... one way to get rich!"

"Oh? Aiqing, tell me quickly." The world has been poor for a long time, and natural disasters continue. How can there be any way to get rich? Could it be that the Ministry of Industry has discovered a new copper mine?Chongzhen immediately became interested.

Liu Hongjian looked around like he did in TV dramas, and signaled that Chongzhen has ears on the wall, Chongzhen waved his hand and even Wang Erxi drove out together.

"Let me tell you, Your Majesty, Daming has money, and it's innumerable, but it's not in the palace, let alone on the people who don't have enough food or clothing. Do you know where it is?" Speaking of money, Liu Hung-chien woke up halfway from the wine, poured himself a cup of tea, and drank it all in one gulp.

Seeing that Chongzhen was silent and listening attentively, Liu Hongjian took another sip of tea and continued.

"The gentry, the gentry, and... and those scholars in your palace who are shaking their heads!" Liu Hongjian said while looking at Chongzhen. If the Emperor Chongzhen showed signs of losing his temper, he would definitely not say the second half of the sentence, but Chongzhen just showed doubts.

According to later historical records, Chongzhen once called on his ministers to raise donations. In order to set an example, Chongzhen wanted his father-in-law Zhou Kui to donate 10 taels to lead the way.

Later, seeing that she couldn't get away with it, Empress Zhou asked for her own pocket to give her father 5000 taels, and asked him to make up another 1 taels. As a result, the father-in-law Zhou only donated 3000 taels, and the remaining 2000 taels were stuffed into her by Zhou Guozhang. fanny pack.

After King Li Zicheng conquered the city of Beijing, most of the so-called ministers of the Ming Dynasty took the lead to join Li Zicheng, but they were blackmailed by Li Zicheng. Zhou Guozhang’s family found 300 million taels of silver, and even hundreds of carts of rare treasures. In the entire city of Beijing, more than 7000 million taels of silver were fished out.

The collusion between government and businessmen is so obvious, Liu Hongjian knew about it, but Chongzhen didn't.

"Aiqing, I know a little bit about what you said, merchants are meaningless, I wanted to collect commercial taxes before, but most of the ministers disagree..."

joke!Since ancient times, the family of officials and businessmen has already reached a political and business alliance. If you want to cut off their financial resources, the ghost will agree!

"Haha! It's no wonder they agree! The emperor must have heard the story of the cold lips and teeth. Well, maybe they are flattering those gentry in this way! I will ask the emperor a word! The emperor must tell the truth to me, and he must ask for help before saying it." Your Majesty forgive me my innocence!"

After installing X, it's time for the main show.

"I know that you care about Daming, and you love Qing, but it's okay to say so!" Risking his life, he saved Daming twice without giving it to the officials. In the eyes of Chongzhen, Liu Hongjian is a licentious person who regards fame and wealth as dung The warriors are worthy of great use.

"I just want to ask, is the face of the emperor important? Or the century-old foundation of Ming Dynasty?"

(End of this chapter)