Emperor’s Battlefield: I, Zhu Houzhao, like to push horizontally

Chapter 95 The real cancer of Ming Dynasty is actually the emperor.

"Dong dong dong..."

"Clang clang clang..."

As the first ray of sunlight from the east shines through the ground, serious drums and solemn bells ring out from the Bell and Drum Towers.

"Squeaky..."

The palace door slowly opened, and a group of Yulin generals marched out in unison.

"Open the morning!"

A very penetrating sound came from the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

The civil and military officials waiting outside the palace gate lined up in four queues under the supervision of the censor, and went through the palace gate to the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

Originally there were three queues of civil and military officials, but later the dog officers were added, so there was an additional team.

Although they belong to the civil service system, they are somewhat uncomfortable with being the head of a dog.

The cabinet bosses discussed with Dahuang and asked these dog officials to form a special team.

This not only reflects their equal status with other officials, but also prevents unnecessary conflicts between officials.

"Ta Tata..."

As the officials walked towards the main hall, Zhang Lie, who was leading the imperial guards, waved slightly.

He led the royal guards and followed closely the officials and nobles into the palace.

Hearing the movement behind them, the officials behind the team couldn't help but look back.

They always felt that something was very wrong about today's situation, but they couldn't tell what was wrong, which made them feel panicked.

As everyone entered the main hall, they saw Zhu Youtang, who had already arrived, and His Royal Highness, who was rarely seen, sitting on chairs and waiting quietly.

"I will pay my respects to Your Majesty and Your Highness the Crown Prince!"

The civil servants were at Liu Jian, and the military generals under the leadership of Xu Da paid homage to Zhu Youtang and Zhu Houzhao.

"You Aiqings are flat!"

Zhu Youtang, as always, stretched out his hand humbly to excuse everyone.

Zhu Houzhao's expression was very calm, and he just nodded slightly towards the civil and military officials.

After saluting according to the rules, the officials were divided into two rows, standing in the main hall and waiting quietly.

In the past court meetings, the censor on duty should now be asked to report the officials' check-in, whether any were late or asked for leave, and whether there was any disrespectful behavior while the officials were in the palace.

However, as soon as the Censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate stood up today, Zhu Houzhao waved his hand.

Seeing this, the censor quickly bowed and returned to the class.

Such actions, coupled with the extra guards on duty outside the palace, made even the slowest person aware that something was wrong.

For an instant, everyone held their breath.

"There are a total of two things to be dealt with in this grand meeting today."

Standing up slowly, Zhu Houzhao spoke under everyone's gaze.

"The first thing is about the distribution of the rats in the Ministry of Household Affairs and the rewards I mentioned before taking you to the Han Dynasty world."

As expected, Zhu Houzhao said that everyone was most concerned about the matter, but no one's expressions were at all relaxed.

After waving to the side, Liu Jin, who was standing at the foot of the steps, quickly stepped forward with a tray and handed it to Zhu Houzhao respectfully.

Picking up the thick memorial in the tray, Zhu Houzhao waved it to everyone.

"The second thing is what is recorded in the notebook in my hand."

The civil and military officials below raised their eyelids for only a moment, then retracted them instantly.

"Zhou Shangshu!"

Zhu Houzhao shouted down, and the Minister of Household Affairs, Zhou Jing, stood up quickly.

"The minister is here."

Zhu Houzhao looked at him and asked in a deep voice: "How much food does the Ministry of Revenue have now?"

Zhou Jing's heart trembled slightly.

The prince, who had never cared about government affairs, suddenly asked about money and food. This was not a good sign.

Zhou Jing suddenly felt a chill on his neck, as if something cold was slowly rubbing on it.

Although he had a bad feeling in his heart, he had to answer this question.

"Going back to Your Highness the Crown Prince, this year we are repairing water conservancy and dredging channels, and there are disasters in many places. In addition, the border troops have been mobilized, and the Ministry of Revenue has consumed a huge amount of money..."

"Dong dong dong..."

Zhu Houzhao knocked on the armrest of the chair and said with a cold face: "I'm asking you how much you have left. I'm not asking you to settle accounts here."

Zhou Jing quickly shut up. Zhu Houzhao's overwhelming momentum was so great that a layer of dense cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

Not daring to reach out and wipe it, Zhou Jing quickly answered. "Currently, the household deposits are less than 50 taels. As for food, it is only enough for the capital area for two months."

"50 taels, haha, that's a lot!"

For ordinary people and even rich people, 50 taels is an astronomical figure. They can eat delicacies every day and marry a daughter-in-law every day, which is more than they can spend in a lifetime.

But for such a big country, 50 taels is really nothing. If you use it casually, the money will be gone.

Zhu Houzhao's sneer made the sweat on Zhou Jing's forehead fall drop by drop from his chin onto the carpet of the hall.

Zhou Jing knew that he had to explain himself, otherwise he would be trapped.

"Your Highness, the household department has no money and food, and I am also helpless."

"Since your Majesty ascended the throne, you have given many rewards to the feudal princes. The amount of Shioyin land is so huge that it has surpassed ancient and modern times..."

"The taxes of our dynasty are already lower than those of other dynasties. Just for the land that has been awarded in the past ten years, the taxes that can be collected have reached one hundred and one percent of what the imperial court collects."

"There are also other rewards such as salt, tea, and so on, all of which are in the amount of one hundred and fifty, or even one hundred and ten."

"Your Highness." Zhou Jing knelt on the ground and said with a sad face: "It's not that my household department can't save money and food, it's that God doesn't help us."

"Over the years, natural disasters have continued in various places. Coupled with the consumption of border defense in the north, this has accounted for more than half of the imperial court's income."

"There are also river renovations, other expenses, and the retention of local government offices. The court's income can only barely support it."

"If your highness doesn't believe it, you can go to the Ministry of Household Accounts to check the accounts. If I make any lies, I will kill the whole family, and your highness can take it away at any time."

After saying that, he knocked his head heavily on the ground.

The other ministers looked at Zhou Jing who was kneeling and silent, their eyes full of shock.

Is this guy crazy?

He actually said His Majesty's faults in front of so many people and in this big court meeting.

Even if His Majesty is easy to talk to, he will probably get angry if he loses face in front of so many people.

Zhou Jing didn't know that what he said would anger Zhu Youtang.

But he really had no choice. If he continued like this, he, the Minister of Household Affairs, would no longer be able to do his job.

The imperial court was already very poor, but Zhu Youtang not only showed no sympathy for him, but often rewarded the feudal king with honors and honors.

You said you wanted to give me a reward to gain a good reputation, so just give me something casually.

He even rewarded the land with salt and tea, which were related to national taxes.

Not to mention other vassals, the land and other rewards received by the Zhang family alone were astronomical figures.

He had complained about this matter many times before, hoping that Zhu Youtang would restrain himself from such generous behavior.

As a result, everything ended in silence every time. Zhu Youtang neither responded nor changed, and just kept doing what he should.

This made Zhou Jing's heart feel cold.

The emperor is a good emperor, but it is not good to be too good.

Now he saw hope in Zhu Houzhao, so he wanted to take advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to tell all these things, hoping that Zhu Houzhao, his son, could persuade him to do less bad things and give less rewards.

Zhou Jing's words made Zhu Houzhao frown.

He didn't care about the other person pointing out his father's mistakes, but he was worried about why he had such a prodigal father.

In his previous life, he had no research on this aspect of history. He only knew about Zhu Houzhao's life and what Zhu Youtang did. Zhu Houzhao didn't know much about it.

Zhu Houzhao is not a student of history. Most of his knowledge is from short videos and novels. He really doesn't know much about these things.

After coming to the Ming Dynasty, because he was an only son, he was afraid of accidents, and because of his young age, Zhu Youtang rarely let Zhu Houzhao out of the palace.

The affairs of the imperial court were rarely told to him, and Liu Jian and other teachers were even less likely to talk about his father's faults in front of his son, Zhu Houzhao.

In their indoctrination into Zhu Houzhao, he was a good emperor and wanted Zhu Houzhao to learn from him.

Zhu Youzhao had only heard about Zhu Youtang's feat of spreading large amounts of money to noble vassal kings, but he really didn't know the specific amount.

But now Zhu Houzhao knew it after hearing what Zhou Jing said.

It turns out that my father is not only a devoted emperor, but also a super spendthrift.

Good guy, Zhu Houzhao now finally understands why many people in his previous life felt that the decline of the Ming Dynasty began with Zhu Youtang.

Zhu Qizhen lost his family, and his family was just a defeated army. As long as the population of the Ming Dynasty is still there, the court can recover.

As for Zhu Youtang, a prodigal, he was digging at the roots of the imperial court and feeding the feudal nobles who could never be satisfied.

Glancing at Zhou Jing, who was prostrated, Zhu Houzhao took a deep breath and turned to look at Zhu Youtang, who was sitting at the top, feeling a little guilty and not daring to face Zhu Houzhao.

Daddy, daddy.

I originally thought that it was these civil servants and nobles who were causing trouble to the imperial court, but I didn't expect that you are the big rat at the top.

Dad, it's very difficult for me to do this.

(End of this chapter)