The Soul of the Han Dynasty in the Late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 492
In fact, burglars and thieves did not become the biggest bandit leaders because of their great skills, and defeated Daming. Before them, Gao Yingxiang, Shen Yikui, Zijinliang, Wang Jiayin and other rebellious boys were not necessarily worse than them.

It was because these two bastards were so fateful that the first rebellious thieves were short-lived, while the thieves who offered the thieves and the thieves failed to be killed after repeated failures, which made them accumulate rebellion experience in their more than ten years of rebellion career.

It was also because of the wanton killing and destruction by bandits from all walks of life that the lives of the common people of Ming Dynasty became more and more difficult year by year, and the income of the imperial court decreased year by year.

Being able to respond to all calls is not because of the charisma and talent of the thieves and the thieves, but because the suffering people are really driven to nowhere.

One ebbs and another, year after year, Daming, a giant who is constantly bleeding, is finally taken away by the intruders and those whose combat effectiveness is not worth mentioning.

Huang Han thought that even if he was lucky, if he could kill Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong this time, the general climate of refugees at the end of Ming Dynasty would not change fundamentally.

At that time, there will naturally be other thieves who can stand out, and maybe their level will be higher than the second thieves. For example, Li Guo and Li Dingguo may be better than Xian thief and Chuang thieves.

The key point is that the Ming government has to do something, so that tens of millions of refugees can get rations and be able to farm and see hope, instead of being deceived by the lies of robbers who "do not pay for food" and rely entirely on robbery.

But expecting those scholar-bureaucrats who are stupid to read sage books to wake up is undoubtedly a dream.

Historically, the finances of the Ming court were exhausted, the soldiers were exhausted and the people were poor, and the national treasury was in jeopardy. Chongzhen, who was in a hurry to go to the doctor, called on officials to help pay and borrow money from the emperor's relatives and nobles.

But the rich and powerful were all insensitive, and very few were willing to pay a thousand taels of silver, and the household department only received 10,000+ taels of silver, which was a drop in the bucket.

When Li Zicheng captured the capital, the treasury of the Ming Dynasty was empty, and the impatient intruders immediately exposed the nature of the robbers, arrested civil servants and generals, Xungui, and handed over their salaries, and bought gold and silver treasures worth tens of millions of taels of silver.

Huang Han looked at the emperor who was two months younger than himself but showing signs of premature aging, his eyes showed sympathy, wishing he could persuade him not to do the drudgery of the emperor, and persuade him to eat, drink and have fun every day, and just put the State affairs are left to oneself.

Why bother? In the end, he was so busy that he ruined Daming's country and society that had lasted for more than two hundred years. All the sons, without exception, died violently.

There are really not many officials who dare to look directly at the emperor, and Huang Han is probably one of the rare ones. Chongzhen inadvertently met Huang Han's eyes, and he noticed the strangeness in Huang Han's eyes.

Huang Han didn't avoid the emperor's gaze, he said earnestly: "Your Majesty, the state affairs are difficult, so you don't have to demand perfection, spend more time with your family and let the state affairs go for a while, and relax is more conducive to maintaining a calm mind. Leading to being deceived by people with ulterior motives."

Wang Chengen, who had been waiting on him all the time, saw beads of sweat dripping from Huang Han's forehead when he spoke like this, thinking that this stunned young man really has no scruples!He dared to teach the emperor how to do things.

Huang Han really had good intentions, he didn't dare to persuade Chongzhen to give up, he could only persuade him not to be so diligent, a mediocre person holds great power but must do everything himself, the direct consequence is that doing more and making more mistakes is better than not doing it.

Chongzhen saw Huang Han's sympathetic eyes and mistakenly thought that Huang Han cared about him, worried that he was too tired, smiled and said:
"I know Aiqing's heart. As long as I can wipe out the bandits and usher in peace in the world, I will be able to work hard to rule. In another two or three years, I will appoint Aiqing as the general to wipe out the Dongnu."

The emperor's promise was not simple. In the Ming Dynasty, only a few people could become great generals by using culture to control military forces. This was an old story more than 200 years ago.

Huang Han had no choice but to kneel down again and said: "Long live my emperor, long live my emperor, I will serve my country faithfully and die!"

The plan in his chest was implemented, Chongzhen was relieved, his face showed exhaustion, Huang Han resigned knowingly, and gave up the plan to have a meal with the royal family, and then eat and chat with the emperor.

He strode out of the Forbidden City, and found that it was very lively outside, a large group of generals and eunuchs were waiting, Fang Zheng, the leader, turned his pale face into a flower with a smile.

Immediately, he saw many familiar faces, including Li Ruolian, Lou Yun, Zhang Chao, as well as many generals from Jingying and Jinyiwei.

Fang Zhenghua stepped forward and said: "General Ping Liao is really loyal to the emperor and patriotic. He came to see His Majesty without delay when he came to the capital. It made our family and everyone wait for half a day."

Li Ruolian said loudly: "Only General Ping Liao can do this, can he be like this, other civilian and military generals can get the favor of the emperor summoned as soon as they come to the capital? Will they play against the emperor for such a long time?"

At this time, two people came to the Forbidden City, namely Wang Chengen and Cao Huachun.

The emperor knew that Huang Han would gather with Fang Zhenghua, Li Ruolian and other old acquaintances who had fought together after seeing him, and signaled that the two confidant eunuchs would also participate, so Wang and Cao followed.

Cao Huachun said cheerfully: "Why does Lord Li still call him General Pingliao? It's time to call him Marquis of Dongping. There are only a few people who have been knighted in these years. Our family is Marquis of Dongping, congratulations!"

Huang Han hurriedly said: "The inner minister is polite, I am able to have today because of the emperor's favor, Eunuch Cao, Eunuch Wang, Eunuch Fang and everyone! I would like to invite everyone to go to the city that never sleeps to get drunk. I don't know if you would like to show your respect."

Fang Zhenghua laughed loudly and said, "We've been waiting here for almost two hours. We just want to have fun with Lord Hou. Of course we're going."

Li Ruolian said: "Nowadays, the city that never sleeps is amazing. Too many people want to go there but feel ashamed. Marquis Dongping invites brothers to go there to play tricks. It's our wish! This time we must play a full game."

Huang Han cupped his hands to Wang Chengen and Cao Huachun, "I wonder if the two inner ministers will be on duty tonight, would you like me to be your host?"

Cao Huachun said: "Our family just wanted to listen to Dongping Hou's Gao Lun, so we asked the emperor for leave, and just waited for Hou Ye to speak!"

Huang Han said: "Then what are you waiting for? Let's go to the outer city! Everyone, please don't save money for me, call your good friends, it's rare to get together, we won't return today if we don't get drunk."

When they came to the restaurant, they didn't choose a private room so that everyone could sit together and have fun. Instead, they sat down in a flower hall with six large round tables. Fang Zhenghua introduced new faces to Huang Han one by one.

Fang Zhenghua's current status is detached, he is a celebrity in the eyes of the emperor, and his status in the Beijing camp is very important. In addition, he is a great eunuch with all talents in civil and military affairs, who can fight on horseback.

(End of this chapter)