Saving the Ming Dynasty: I can exchange bodies with Chongzhen

Chapter 66 Chongzhen: Too few people were killed
Xiangyang has always been the seat of prefecture, circuit, state, route and county.

Chongzhen was sitting and waiting for Prince Xiang to come back, but he heard Hongtao running over, "Prince, hurry up, the prince is calling you over!"

"Ah, what do you want me to do?"

"We said we should meet the county magistrate together so that he can have some impression of you."

"How can this be?" Chongzhen was horrified and quickly refused. Just as he was about to retreat, he caught a glimpse of Prince Xiang Zhu Yiming waving at him from a distance.

Looking at Prince Xiang's earnest eyes, Chongzhen's mouth twitched a few times, but he finally walked over.

When they got closer, Zhu Yiming pulled Chongzhen's sleeve without saying anything, "My son, follow your father to meet Lord Wang."

Chongzhen followed Prince Xiang Zhu Yiming into the county magistrate's mansion and was temporarily arranged in the reception room by the housekeeper.

I could vaguely hear the crying of a child and the cursing of a woman coming from inside, "You are still a seventh-rank official? No money, no money, no money at all times, your family has always been tight on money."

"Your mother is sick and your baby is just one month old. People are lining up to send money to your home. It would be fine if you didn't want it, but you went out to borrow money from loan sharks... You can't live like this."

"What do you know? I'm about to be promoted!" A man's voice came, "My teacher, Mr. Huang, is about to celebrate his 70th birthday. He was the chief examiner when I passed the imperial examination. He helped me pass the exam, and he is my lifelong mentor."

"Although I am only ranked 95th on the third list, which is a very low ranking, scholars respect their teachers. It is reasonable for me to give a generous gift to my teacher, otherwise my colleagues will inevitably say that I am ungrateful."

The woman's tone suddenly rose. "Difficult? That means the road ahead will be difficult. Our road is difficult now. You even sold my dowry. All you want to do is to fit in with their circle all day long."

"But can they look down upon you?"

The man angrily cursed: "Summer insects cannot talk about ice..."

Chongzhen frowned as he listened to the sound coming from the back court.

To give a gift to your mentor, you have to borrow money from a loan shark?

Just as he was thinking about it, a man in the uniform of a seventh-rank official came hurriedly from outside and said with a smile: "My Lord, Prince, I am really sorry for the neglect!"

"It's okay, we just got here too." Prince Xiang Zhu Yiming stood up and said with a smile, "We have known each other for many years. I just heard you and your wife talking about sending gifts to Mr. Huang in the court. I can't leave Xiangyang Prefecture, so I would like to trouble Mr. Wang to bring one for me as well."

Uh?
County Magistrate Wang was stunned for a moment, then his face turned red in an instant, "Your Majesty, there is no need to be like this? You and Mr. Huang don't know each other..."

He understood very well that Prince Xiang Zhu Yiming did not want to give a gift to Lord Huang, but only wanted to choose a gift for him.

After all, Prince Xiang Zhu Yiming and Huang Shijun had no friendship.

Seeing that the Prince of Xiang was sincere and determined to send him off, County Magistrate Wang sighed and said, "Thank you for your kindness, Your Highness. I have been in Xiangyang Prefecture for almost two years. I should be able to stay in Beijing to serve this time."

"Really? Then congratulations in advance!" Prince Xiang Zhu Yiming couldn't help but bow and congratulate.

"This year, on my mentor's 70th birthday, I will meet with Master Huang and ask him to give me some advice."

"..."

County Magistrate Wang and Prince of Xiang Zhu Yiming were close friends, so they didn't beat around the bush when talking. They talked directly, and as they talked, they talked about the land and many mines in Xiangyang Prefecture.

There are coal mines, copper mines...

Chongzhen listened to them saying one name after another, behind them were relatives, sons-in-law, nephews, relatives and friends of high-ranking officials in the court.

Lord Liu owns 100,000 acres in Xiangyang Prefecture, Lord Luo owns more than 100,000 acres, Lord Wen and Lord He own 100,000 acres in total...

But these straightforward words made Chongzhen's brows even more twisted, his teeth clenched, and the muscles on his face bulged.

With such a simple calculation, the land of these officials and gentry actually accounts for more than 70% of the fertile land in the entire county?
The land owned by officials and gentry was exempt from taxes, but the taxes in Xiangyang Prefecture never decreased and were all borne by the common people.

No wonder farmers are so poor even when the weather is good. If a natural disaster occurs, I am afraid these farmers will have to sell their land and become refugees...

At this moment, Chongzhen suddenly realized that what was the point of speaking for the people and what was the imperial court not competing with the people for profit? All the opposition he had brought to the table was that he wanted to levy taxes on the mines, which was actually competing with these senior officials in the imperial court for profit.

It has nothing to do with the real people.

He found that the county magistrate in front of him seemed to be someone he had seen before.

Chongzhen's pupils shrank suddenly, "Wang Fangsheng? That's the one..."

Is he the Wang Fangsheng who used the harshest words before, cursing the imperial court’s policies and food, causing the world’s situation to become dangerous?
In the eighth year of Chongzhen, it was he who submitted a memorial saying that the treasury was empty and the military pay was insufficient. He also took the lead in slandering the collection of mining taxes, saying that it was stealing profits from the people. As a result, the Shaanxi rebels suddenly marched south and unexpectedly captured Fengyang, the capital of the Ming Dynasty, the birthplace of Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty. They dug up the Ming Tombs of Zhu Yuanzhang's ancestors and burned them. The raging fire and thick smoke lasted for several days without dissipating.

He wrote a memorial to the emperor accusing him of all misconduct, and countless ministers in the court agreed, forcing him to take an embarrassing step - he became the seventh-rank official in the capital who issued the edict of repentance.

Chongzhen watched Prince Xiang Zhu Yiming and Magistrate Wang chatting with a fiery gaze. It was not until he came out of the county government office that he suddenly came to his senses. "Father, why is Magistrate Wang so sure of his words? He will definitely be promoted and stay in the capital?"

Prince Xiang Zhu Yiming smiled slightly, "In the beginning, he offended the emperor on behalf of his mentor and was demoted here to be a county magistrate."

"Wealth and honor are sought in danger. A memorial and a beating in court not only caught the attention of high-ranking civil servants, but also helped me rise to a high position in two years. It was worth it!"

Chongzhen's eyes suddenly widened, and he murmured, "Master, Master...it turns out that these civil servants are behind this."

He thought back to that day... All the civil servants echoed his opinion, and no one in the entire hall stood on his side. In the end, he could only issue an edict of remorse.

Prince Xiang Zhu Yiming was walking in front, and suddenly found that Chongzhen had stopped, and quickly turned around, "My son, don't think too much, now is not the time to find a backer, our old Zhu family's Jinshi is different from those candidates who go to Jinshi."

"We don't need a master! Your Majesty will never allow them to go along with the corrupt people."

"Master! You don't take bribes, and you don't come with eunuchs?" Chongzhen clenched his fingers, his eyes red, "Bullshit! It's all bullshit!"

Woodworm!
The biggest pest was in the imperial court. At this moment, he suddenly understood why Zhu Changgan wanted to kill those ministers. He cursed in a voice that only he could hear: "Kill them, kill them!"

"How come we only killed 19 people before the Meridian Gate that day? That's really too few..."

(End of this chapter)