Crazy at the end of the Ming Dynasty

But those nobles didn't know that due to the resistance of the cabinet ministers, the strict punishment law has not been enacted, so the issued banknotes did not recover a tael of silver, but the cost of printing was spent a lot.

The Baochao Bureau proposed that 200 million catties of mulberry strips were needed to make banknotes, which should be paid by Beizhi, Shandong, Henan, Zhejiang and other places as usual, so a large number of eunuchs went out of Beijing to destroy the office, which disturbed the restlessness everywhere; another [-] craftsmen were needed , had to be recruited near the capital, and the Gyeonggi area was in chaos.The limited funds of the national treasury were filled into the bottomless pit of printing money, but there was no benefit. Many courtiers raised objections to this.

Because Emperor Chongzhen insisted on making money by printing banknotes, the project of making banknotes never stopped; due to the obstruction of courtiers and no response from merchants and people, not a single banknote was actually issued.These banknotes have also become a lot of useless waste paper.

"However, if the court has no money, it shouldn't stare at us! Which one of our families has not been accumulated by the hard work of our ancestors?" A Hou Ye complained.

This complaint immediately resonated, and all the nobles also raised their voices, making the meeting place of the courtiers like a vegetable market.But the censor and the big Han generals who maintained the order watched those nobles making noise, and they all opened their eyes and closed their eyes.These people can't afford to offend, and now people's hearts are scattered, so no one wants to stop the nobles from complaining.

Suddenly a young uncle made a discordant voice: "Uncles and uncles, do you think this Ming Dynasty is...?"

But this question immediately silenced everyone.

In these days, with the entry of the Tartars outside the city, the Northwest Peasant Army was rampant, and a large number of people in the city died of the plague. The extreme sense of terror, pessimism and despair caused a lot of gossip in the capital.

There is a legend: the emperor dreamed that a god-man handed him a blank sheet of paper.There is only one word "yes" written on it.The market explained that the word "you" is a combination of half of "Da" and half of "Ming".

There is also a legend: there is a small house in the palace that has been closed for many years, and the prohibition handed down from the ancestors is not allowed to be opened.One day the emperor got up and insisted on opening it to see what was inside.The eunuchs cried and persuaded them to fail, so they had to open it.It turned out that there was only a small box inside, and there were two paintings in the small box, one of which was a painting of seven officials in court clothes.There are four characters written on it: "Officials are too many and the law is chaotic"; another picture shows several people crying across the river, and on it is also the four characters "Military and Civilian Weeping".People say that this is a palace town property left by Liu Bowen back then. Once it is exposed, the content in the painting will become reality, and it is still a sign of the country's subjugation.

However, among the folks, there are more rumors about ghosts and ghosts.Many people insisted that they had seen dead ghosts with their own eyes in broad daylight.Of course, some bold people took the opportunity to make that dead money.Some cunning eunuchs also took advantage of the opportunity.The eunuchs responsible for collecting city gate tariffs and market operating taxes put the taxes into their own pockets, and then reported to their superiors that the money they received during the day had turned into paper money for the underworld when they counted at night.

And once this kind of talk spread, the market panicked even more, so small businessmen had to put a water basin in front of small stalls and shops, and asked customers to put copper coins into the water to identify the authenticity.The majestic capital of the emperor.It has completely become a world where humans and ghosts are confused.

And the nobles present have all heard these rumors more or less.But this is just a few rumors in private, who dares to respond in public?So when the brainless uncle said it, everyone stopped talking.

"Marquis Chen! Why hasn't the emperor summoned us yet? Who is in the hall?" Seeing the awkward situation, the British Duke Zhang Shize changed the subject.

"It's Admiral Wu Xiang. His father is Changbo Wu in Eastern Liaodong." That Marquis Chen replied.The son-in-law of Marquis Chen is the big Han general in the palace of guards.So Chen Hou's news has always been relatively well-informed.

But Xue Lian at the side finally couldn't stand it any longer. During this sensitive period, it was simply too imprudent to openly engage in such matters of internal and external communication.So he coughed heavily immediately.

"What's the matter, Uncle?" The British Duke Zhang Shize didn't understand, so he asked Xue Lian stupidly.

"Misfortune comes out of your mouth! Think about Wu Xiushui a few days ago." Xue Lian said in a low voice.

But as soon as these words were said, everyone became quiet again.

At the beginning of the year, there was a Shandong Wude soldier named Lei Yanzuo who was preparing for the affairs and impeaching the governor of Jiliao, Fan Zhiwan.And when Emperor Chongzhen saw this memorial, he summoned Lei Yanzuo to Beijing to answer the same day, ordered the arrest of Fan Zhiwan the next day, and ordered the Justice Department to propose a punishment for the deposed former Minister of the Ministry of War Zhang Guowei and the former Minister of the Ministry of Household Li. To be asked, Fu Shuxun's punishment.

Afterwards, Emperor Chongzhen personally interrogated Fan Zhiwan, who was escorted to Beijing, and Lei Yanzuo also rushed to the capital to participate in the confrontation.But Fan Zhiwan categorically denied all the accusations, and said: "Lei Yanzuo is the best friend of the former minister Wu Zhen, and Wu Zhen asked him to serve as a minister. Half of the courtiers belong to Zhou Yanru's party, and half belong to Wu Zhen's party. And, thus implicating Yuchen."

Fan Zhiwan knew that the emperor hated courtiers forming cliques the most in his life, so he said this in order to divert his attention and save himself.But what Emperor Chongzhen wanted to do now was to kill people to vent his anger. He didn't listen to his excuses at all, and just reprimanded him to close the case.Finally, he remembered that Zhao Guangbian, the governor of Jizhou, who presided over the battle against the Qing with Fan Zhiwan, said, "Zhao Guangbian also stayed and joined the enemy, and only punished Fan Zhiwan. How can he be convinced?" The purpose is to arrest Zhao Guangbian and deal with him together with Fan Zhiwan.

In fact, Zhao Guangbian was relatively good among the governors and ministers at that time. Although he had no strategy and had no achievements in fighting against the Qing army, he was finally able to restrain his troops from burning, killing and looting everywhere.When Lei Yanzuo attacked and impeached Fan Zhiwan, he also praised Zhao Guangbian by the way, and compared Fan Zhiwan with his soldiers not disturbing the people.Unexpectedly, the emperor was so focused on managing people that Zhao Guangbian, who was fine at first, was also involved.So in the end, Fan Zhiwan and Zhao Guangbian will be escorted to Xishi to be beheaded together.

Although Fan Zhiwan's crony Yunyun did not save his own life, it still aroused Emperor Chongzhen's hatred for the two former assistant ministers Zhou Yanru and Wu Sheng.He felt that not punishing severely was not enough to calm the anger in his heart.

Emperor Chongzhen's extreme pessimism and disappointment with the current situation made him lose his mind, so he wanted to expand a minister's dereliction of duty case infinitely. (To be continued..)