golden scales

Zhu Cihong was taken aback for a moment, and thought to himself: Could it be that the father received some news?Does he know how much money I received?Do you want to split some out?Is it an affirmation?

In the blink of an eye, Zhu Cihong's mind had turned hundreds of corners.

"The son of a thousand gold can't sit still, you are the country, how can you enter the dangerous place lightly?" Chongzhen said with a face full of blame: "Your mother was so anxious about this that she passed out."

"My son and minister are not filial." Zhu Cihong felt relieved: So the emperor didn't know!

"And you want to show that the Tian family cares about the heroes, but some people spread rumors outside, saying that there was no plague in the Duke Cheng's mansion, and you used the name of the plague to carry out the massacre." Chongzhen was quite angry in his words.

Any parent instinctively believes that their children are a replica of themselves when they were young.Therefore, parents who studied hard when they were young never believed that their children would skip class; parents who followed the rules when they were young never believed that their children would make friends with gangsters;

When Chongzhen was a child, he was a seed of literary youth. He liked to read and study Confucian classics.When Zhu Cihong was in the palace, he was eager to learn and never slack off, he was a copy of Chongzhen, how could the emperor believe that the prince would do such a crazy thing?

Who would have thought that Zhu Cihong was a person in two lifetimes, and he was not very good at being the present day.

"I have ordered Dongchang to investigate secretly. Whoever dares to say such insane words must not be tolerated!"

Zhu Cihong shook his head slightly and said: "Your Majesty, the words of defending the people are more important than Fangchuan. There is a saying: If you see people's hearts for a long time, why bother to defend yourself? If someone is convicted because of this, it may not be good for a thousand years. The disciples pierced through the association, saying that the Tian family had a guilty conscience."

Chongzhen looked at his son carefully: "You are too kind. You should know that people's hearts are dangerous, and you can't trust them all!"

"Your servant understands," Zhu Cihong nodded and said, "It's just that this matter should be left alone, and it's not appropriate to set up a big prison when the state affairs are in turmoil."

Chongzhen took a deep breath: "Since you say that, I will spare those JR people for the time being."

"Thank you, Your Majesty, Father," Zhu Cihong said with a smile, "Actually, this rumor is also slandering Duke Cheng. As the legacy of Duke Cheng, you can know that Zhu Chunchen really understands righteousness, is magnanimous and selfless, and can be called a model. The living people will also be grateful for life."

"You're right!" Chongzhen seemed to be inspired: "Publish Zhu Chunchen's legacy to the mansion, so that all the civil and military people in the world can see it!" After that, he remembered his failure in recruiting, and asked the prince with a forced smile: "Cihong, the good buds you mentioned last time when you entered the palace, how many inches have grown now?"

Zhu Cilang remembered that His Majesty the Father had promised that as long as he could get as much charity money from the people, he would allocate the same amount of money and food from internal funds.Not to mention the black income from Cheng Guogong, the donations on the books alone already amounted to more than 20 taels.This amount is the total amount of domestic funds today. If it is really reported, the dignified emperor of Ming Dynasty can only renege on his promise and lose weight, or cut his flesh at the pain.

"Nowadays, all the city's businessmen and people are happy to donate. My son can use this donation not only for epidemic prevention and disaster relief, but also for training the Beijing camp." Zhu Cihong said generously: "Father, the emperor doesn't need to pay another amount from internal funds. .”

Chongzhen thought that the prince died to save face, and said with a smile: "The poor have no money to donate, but the rich are mostly ruthless. Who will give it to you? If you want to stand up in front of me, you will have to tighten your belt when you turn around."

Zhu Cihong was not someone who would spit out when provoked, but the matter had come to this point, it was not an option to let his father look down on him all the time.Even if you don't have to worry about your father's taboo, showing your ability is a necessary means to gain trust.

However, the emperor's face still has to be taken into account, otherwise it will not be a question of whether he will do things, but whether he will be a man.

Zhu Cihong said: "Your servants are quite helpful. The account is complicated and hard to explain. I'd better order someone to fetch it, and my father will go over it in person."

Chongzhen nodded in agreement.

Only then did Zhu Cihong order someone to spread the word and let Yao Tao enter the palace with the account book of the donation.

It is not too far from the East Palace Waidi to the Wenhua Palace, Chongzhen and Zhu Cihong and his son happened to have a discussion on their experience in military training.Although Chongzhen is a literary and artistic youth, he has indeed practiced internal prostitution, and wants to use tens of thousands of eunuchs in the palace to compile and train a new army.However, from the problem that these "new troops" used gunpowder to easily cause explosions, we can more or less get a glimpse of their strength.

Without strict military discipline, without institutionalized codes, without breaking down tactical actions, and without formulating necessary equipment maintenance rules, how can it be possible to develop a strong army?

But since he is the emperor, he is more or less privileged.For example, his own failure in military training did not prevent him from instructing the prince on how to train soldiers.

Zhu Cihong had carefully read the military books of Qi Jiguang, Xu Guangqi and others. Since he arrived at the East Palace Mansion, he practiced it himself. He listened to the reports of the ten-member regiment every day to understand the psychological trends of the soldiers.As far as military training experience is concerned, Zhu Cihong is by no means a generation who talks about soldiers on paper.However, as a son-in-law, the emperor still had to agree with what he said.

Since someone can use the thoughts of a great man to guide tomato breeding, then the emperor's golden words must also be useful!

Zhu Cihong finally waited until Yao Tao came in with the account book, and presented it to the imperial court with his own hands.

Yao Tao brought in the general ledger first, and the ledgers and journals were all waiting outside in a box for the emperor's inquiries.

Chongzhen didn't have so much to ask, he was stunned by the amount on the ledger.

"Why...why are there so many!" Chongzhen looked at Zhu Cihuang with some doubts.When he was soliciting donations, it was a great honor for the nobles to donate a thousand taels of silver. People's surnames are ordinary.

Why did the crown prince manage to raise more than [-] taels in just over a month?

"Among them, the main reason is that the tax can be deducted." Zhu Cihong said modestly: "I am afraid that the Ministry of Household Affairs will collect a lot of tax due to this. It means that His Majesty the Father intercepted the commercial tax in advance to provide disaster relief for the son."

Chongzhen is still skeptical, even if the business tax is not so much.

Of course, it is impossible to receive so much money just by deducting taxes.

The key lies in the plague in Cheng Guogong's mansion.

There is a saying: when the false is true, the true is also false, where there is inaction, there is and there is nothing.

This is really brilliant.

Some people in the capital firmly believed that the rat plague had indeed broken out in Duke Cheng's mansion, and it was contained by the magical powers of Lord Donggong Taiweixing, and the entire city of Yanjing was preserved.Naturally, some people think they are smart and spread "rumors", saying that this is the prince who robbed his house and robbed it in the name of epidemic prevention.

Those who believe in the former will donate silver taels out of awe.

Those who believe in the latter offer silver taels out of fear.

Anyway, there is no engraving on the silver, and the psychological monologue of the donor will not be written on the books.Of course, Emperor Chongzhen couldn't understand the truth.

Soon, even ordinary people in the city discovered a phenomenon: for those who donated a lot of money, the Tsingshan doctor would always sprinkle more lime outside his house, and his home was naturally safe.And those rich and noble families who were stingy and refused to donate money, even if they used lime to pave the road, they still could not escape the plague outbreak.

For a time, nursery rhymes were sung everywhere in the capital:

"If you want to live, donate more money, and save your family with a merit;

At this time, I was reluctant to part with yellow and white things, and the God of plague came to cry too late. "

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