Before hanging himself, Chongzhen lifted the table

Chapter 228 Thoughts

However, no matter what, since ancient times, when it comes to marriage matters, it has always been about the right match and the words of the matchmaker ordered by the parents. Many people can only see what their other half looks like when they enter the bridal chamber.

Therefore, although Emperor Chongzhen was very powerful and an emperor at this time, such words were still too exaggerated, so much so that Queen Zhou still frowned, obviously not agreeing with them.

That is to say, the parties involved, Prince Zhu Cihong and Princess Kunxing, were excited. As a young person, of course I hope to choose my other half. Otherwise, there would not be the spread of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai, etc.

In fact, at this time in the late Ming Dynasty, there were already some such trends.

Not counting the choice of his own son-in-law among the Twelve Beauties of Qinhuai, Tang Xianzu's "The Peony Pavilion" and the like have also been circulated. Of course, although his purpose of creating "The Peony Pavilion" was not for love, but to reflect the issues of the imperial examination at that time. However, no matter what, there are some signs related to marriage.

At this time in the late Ming Dynasty, there had been great ideological liberation, and various ideas began to emerge, even the formulation of Xujun.

Emperor Chongzhen has now solved the problem of survival. Except for the pacification of the Liaodong rebels, domestically, the war has basically subsided. Therefore, if he wants to carry out drastic reforms, the impact of old and new ideas will inevitably exist.

Why don’t many science and technology, or technological products, appear in the East? It’s not that Eastern people are not smart enough, but it’s caused by different ideas.

A simple example is that scholars in the East studied the Four Books and Five Classics in order to become officials. After becoming an official, you enter the officialdom, which is all about interpersonal relationships. Many officials even have aides or masters who handle specific affairs.

Just imagine, if such a group of people hold power, how can the social atmosphere promote the progress of science and technology?

It is undeniable that there was indeed a group of scientific and technological talents in the late Ming Dynasty, including agriculture, medicine, physics, etc. However, this is not mainstream.

For example, people like Song Yingxing started to care about technology because they were frustrated in the officialdom and failed to pass the Jinshi exam in succession.

Therefore, if Emperor Chongzhen wanted to achieve major changes and promote the scientific and technological progress of the Ming Dynasty, he would inevitably promote new ideas and impact the old ideological pattern.

Marriage is one of the most important events in a person's life. It just so happened that the most noble prince and princess in the world had passed the age that they should have gotten married. Emperor Chongzhen made an impromptu decision and let go of their shackles, which triggered discussions and shocked the whole world. original ideology.

Against this background, if he promotes other systems and practices that have never existed before, they will not appear abrupt and can disperse some resistance.

Therefore, when he saw that Queen Zhou still seemed to have objections, he said to her again: "Marriage is a big deal, let them choose the person of their choice first. But in the end, we still have to help them decide whether to marry or not. We have already If you delay their marriage, it will be considered as compensation for them, let’s just settle it like this!”

When Queen Zhou heard this, she looked at her two adult children and felt guilty. Finally she nodded and said, "Your Majesty has made a decision, so naturally I won't object!"

If Emperor Chongzhen calls for freedom of marriage and free love at this time, he is taking too big a step and will definitely get into trouble!

Just taking a crucial step but leaving room for it can reduce a lot of resistance.

I believe that in the future, with the example of the prince and princess, the number of people meeting their significant other for the first time in the bridal chamber will definitely be reduced a lot. This measure will definitely win the support of young people! The future belongs to young people.

However, when Emperor Chongzhen announced the news during a meeting in the Wenhua Hall, it once again aroused opposition from the officials. In addition to some common objections, it is also emphasized that the crown prince is of great importance. If the prince is allowed to go out to find her, most of the women outside are vulgar or promiscuous women. How can she be the crown prince?

According to their wishes, concubines should still be selected from various places, and then the best crown concubine should be selected after layer upon layer of selection.

After hearing this reason, Emperor Chongzhen said with a smile: "Today is different from the past. It seems that you have been in the capital for a long time and you don't know the changes in various places!"

As soon as these words were spoken, many ministers immediately shut up. When it comes to being an official, of course it's best to be an official in the capital. Wherever you go, it doesn't matter if you're a high official in a feudal state. The one with the highest rank is always in the court.

But as soon as the idea came up, they were suddenly stunned. This was indeed the case in the past, but now, the chief minister of the Ming Dynasty is based in Yunnan, and another minister trusted by the emperor is leading the troops in the Toungoo dynasty that destroyed Dongwu!

While they were thinking about it, they heard Emperor Chongzhen say to them: "Now in our Ming Dynasty, there are female soldiers, women are knighted, and there are also King Shizhu. You don't know that wherever King Shizhu goes, the local women are all After hearing the news, we went out to see the King of Stone Pillars."

Having said this, he paused, raised his voice and emphasized: "Nowadays, it is not common for women in the Ming Dynasty to hide in the boudoir!"

When he first met Qin Liangyu in Shizhu, he had actually communicated with Qin Liangyu, asking her to encourage women when she traveled to various places, instead of hiding in her house and not going out.

It has to be said that Qin Liangyu is really loyal to the court. Nowadays, she cannot fight, but this matter is within her power. Therefore, wherever she goes, she does not mind some requests made by women, faces them kindly, and even gives words of encouragement, saying that women will not give in. The man's words, and she herself is the best evidence for this sentence, so it is very effective.

It doesn't matter that Emperor Chongzhen has been leading troops to fight in recent years, but he is not stupid. In fact, things have really changed.

When Emperor Chongzhen said this, he added: "How can it be possible to choose a good concubine in the past selection of concubines? I believe you know the answer in your own mind. This matter has been decided like this, and you don't need to say anything else!!"

This is also because he is the emperor, and the matter of his son marrying a wife is also a national matter. Otherwise, who else can interfere?

In fact, if these officials want to object, they have to oppose many things.

For example, industry competitions are held, the prince travels to the capital, women are given titles, etc. These are all very different from before.

It's just that Emperor Chongzhen killed so many people at the beginning of the [-]th century. For example, when the three princes said they wanted to rebel, no one could believe it. That is to say, they have selfish motives and cannot worry about the emperor's worries. They just care about their own family and not the court.

Most people have this kind of mentality. If you insist on going against the emperor for your own affairs, do you believe that the emperor will kill people and confiscate his house?

They believe that the current emperor can really do it. Especially when he has been leading troops in wars for so many years and his prestige is so high, things like using a knife may be more possible than before!

At this time, Emperor Chongzhen said to his ministers after Qiankun's arbitrary decision: "Now that the land and population registers across the country have been re-registered, you have a lot to do on this basis. The cabinet and the Supervisor of Ceremonies will take the lead and complete the registration as soon as possible." Let’s get everything done. I only pay attention to one point, the preferential treatment for officials and gentry must be taxed and then taxed.”    This is another version of sharing the land into an acre. According to the population, everyone must pay taxes. After completing this step, you can then refund the tax in accordance with the regulations to avoid tax evasion. And from a legal point of view, this has not changed much from before, but there is no room for manipulation by the officials below.

On the court's side, as long as they check the population data and the total amount of taxes, they can know the general situation of tax payment. Then focus on checking the list of those with meritorious service and the actual situation, so that tax issues can be effectively controlled.

Emperor Chongzhen looked at the ministers below and said with a serious expression: "In addition, the new tax system must make the rich pay more taxes and the poor pay less taxes! On the contrary, the chaos in the world has just passed, even if you have no money, Paying the same taxes on money will put too much pressure on people who have no money, and it may also cause unrest. I believe you don’t want to experience the world’s chaos again, right?”

In the troubled times that just passed, so what if you were powerful and wealthy? Also affected by the war, many people lost their homes and property. Whether it was Li Zicheng or Zhang Xianzhong, they killed countless rich and powerful people.

I would rather be a dog of peace than a person in troubled times!

This sentence is definitely very impressive for people who have just experienced a long war!

Therefore, when Emperor Chongzhen said these words, none of the officials in the court had any objection.

Ni Yuanlu, the Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue, said with emotion at this time: "Thanks to His Majesty's wisdom and martial arts, the troubled times can be settled in one fell swoop. Now that I think about it, it has only been a few years, and the changes have been so huge!"

He may have sincerely lamented that being the Minister of the Ministry of Finance was really too difficult.

Everything requires money, but the cleanest thing in the imperial court is the treasury. It is really difficult for him, the Minister of Household Affairs, to worry about money every day but cannot solve the problem.

But now, the emperor is issuing new money, and the people recognize it, and there is not even a sign of depreciation. The two banks in the north and the south are also doing well, with annual profits of hundreds of thousands of taels. This was simply unimaginable before.

Even from this point of view, the current emperor is more powerful than Emperor Taizu. Although it is now a metal currency, which is somewhat different from Emperor Taizu's Ming Dynasty banknotes, they are generally similar.

As a result, the Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes depreciated very quickly, but the metal currency was fine. This is the gap!

When he said this, other civil servants felt that he was flattering the emperor. Well-founded flattery, that is the best flattery. How can the Minister of the Ministry of Finance be allowed to be more beautiful than before?

As a result, other civil servants also started to praise him. In just a few years, so much has changed!

As a result, when Emperor Chongzhen heard their words, he smiled slightly and said, "Do you dare to make a bet with me? I say that in the next twenty years, our Ming Dynasty will change even more!"

Upon hearing this, the civil servants were suddenly surprised and looked at each other in confusion.

From troubled times to peace, this is already a huge change. From then on, it will be the Chongzhen era at most, but in essence the world is still settled, just like the peaceful and prosperous eras are connected together. How many changes can there be, and can they be greater than the changes from troubled times to peace?

To be honest, at this time, they even doubted that the emperor was inflated because he personally led the troops to pacify the world? After being so flattered by them, you start talking nonsense?

In ancient times, there was the prosperous Kaiyuan era of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, but then he forgot about it and led to the Anshi Rebellion, and the Tang Dynasty turned from prosperity to decline.

With such an example, Ni Yuanlu was a little worried and hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, the changes have been great nowadays, and people's hearts have been determined. It is a great good thing to maintain it!"

He could not expressly tell the emperor to refrain from arrogance and moral conduct, so he had to remonstrate tactfully.

How could Emperor Chongzhen not hear his inner meaning? Nowadays, when it comes to his ability to lead troops in war, he is absolutely certain, and no one dares to question it, because he is the authority. But in other respects, it is obvious that he does not yet have the authority to speak for sure, so these civil servants will question it.

It's time to show the power of the technology tree and let them know how much China's living habits will change a few years ago!

So, he smiled slightly and said confidently: "Just watch, how our Ming Dynasty will undergo earth-shaking changes in the next twenty years!"

When the officials in the Wenhua Palace heard what he said and saw how confident he was, they immediately became curious.

As soon as Wang Chengen, the eunuch in charge of the ceremonial department, saw the emperor's expression, he knew what to do to scratch the emperor's itch, so he, who had been silent during the discussion just now, immediately said: "This slave is very curious, what's going on? It will bring about earth-shaking changes in the Ming Dynasty, and it really makes the slaves fascinated, wishing they could immediately see the grand scene twenty years later!"

As soon as the eunuchs who were in charge of the ceremony heard his words, they were naturally good people and agreed with him one by one.

Sure enough, Emperor Chongzhen became even more excited after hearing this, and said to them: "Please wait and see, I can reveal one thing, that is, technology changed the Ming Dynasty. I will focus on various technologies of the Ming Dynasty next!"

After hearing the emperor's so confident words, many people wondered whether Emperor Taizu might have inspired some heavenly magic or the like when he had a dream. For example, if everyone could have divine power like the emperor, then the Ming Dynasty would indeed change a lot. big.

But as a result, I heard the emperor say that technology changed the Ming Dynasty. This time, they were stunned again.

technology? If they understand correctly, it is a craftsman's work. Can this change the Ming Dynasty?

how can that be!

Emperor Chongzhen knew when he saw their expressions that they didn't believe it. This is actually not surprising at all. In the land of China, all dynasties have not attached great importance to technology, which can be reflected from the status of craftsmen.

However, as people of later generations, this is common sense, that is, technology changes the world!

At this time, Emperor Chongzhen did not explain further. After announcing that the discussion was over, he sent a decree and summoned the three fathers and sons of the Song family to see him.

(End of this chapter)