There was one person sitting, one person standing, and one person kneeling in the Qianqing Palace.

The one sitting is Chongzhen, the one standing is Wang Chengen, and the one kneeling on the ground is Gao Qiquan.

Looking at Gao Qiquan with a humble face, Chongzhen suddenly laughed.

Gao Qiquan was shocked at first, and then he felt hopeless.

He felt like he was going to die soon.

Just when Gao Qiqian was daydreaming, Chongzhen spoke: "Gao Qiqian, do you think I will believe that you are the murderer behind the scenes?"

This sentence not only stunned Gao Qiquan, but also Wang Chengen.

"Yes, I did suspect you at first, but after thinking about it, I felt that you had no motive to commit the crime." Chongzhen continued.

Wang Chengen was the first to react. He whispered to Chongzhen, "Your Majesty, Xiao Shunzi and the others have been killed. If Gao Qiquan is not the murderer behind the scenes, it will be difficult to find the murderer."

Chongzhen smiled coldly: "The murderer cannot be found."

Wang Chengen and Gao Qiquan were both stunned and didn't know why Chongzhen said this.

What Chongzhen said makes sense.

There were three major cases in the late Ming Dynasty, namely the case of the assassination with a stick, the case of the red pill and the case of the palace relocation.

The murderer behind the stick-stabbing case has always been a mystery, and the Red Pill case is even more bizarre.

Only the last case of the palace move was an open case with no hidden secrets.

At that time, such a big case had not been solved, so there was even less research on the murder of a mere eunuch who served as a waiter on the kitchen.

The reason why he asked Wang Zhixin to catch the murderer with great fanfare was to tell the murderer that he had found the "murderer".

Only in this way can the murderer let down his guard and reveal his flaws.

But he couldn't say these words.

"Go ahead." Chongzhen stared at him and said.

Gao Qiqian was shocked, "I'm here."

"I know you are not the murderer behind this, but now that things have come to this, you must be implicated."

Gao Qiquan was so smart that he immediately guessed Chongzhen’s real intention.

He will bear this charge first and deal with it after the storm has passed.

He knelt on the ground and kowtowed: "Your Majesty, I am willing to accept the punishment."

"Okay, pack up immediately and go to Fengyang to guard the imperial mausoleum. Don't say anything when you get to Fengyang, remember?"

After hearing this result, Gao Qiqian breathed a sigh of relief: "I will keep it in mind. Thank you, Your Majesty, for not killing me."

In the next half month, Chongzhen only did two things.

The next morning at court, after the announcement of Lu Daqi's great victory, all the civil and military officials in the court laughed at the same time.

This battle was no less important than the Battle of Beijing.

If Lu Daqi is defeated, the south, which has finally gained some stability, will fall into chaos again.

In fact, Chongzhen had already guessed the outcome of the Battle of Fengyang.

Theoretically, the Battle of Fengyang could not be lost.

War is just the continuation of politics, and interests are the root cause of war.

In order to protect their own interests, all parties in Nanjing will cooperate with Lu Daqi as much as possible instead of undermining him.

Because if Lu Daqi were to be defeated, the interests of all of them would be harmed.

Whether they were nobles or members of the Donglin Party, all their wealth was concentrated near Nanjing.

The result of the defeat was that Li Zicheng marched south and approached Nanjing, and they had to either defend to the death or escape.

No one wants to see this result.

Therefore, when Lu Daqi sent troops, the internal opinions were surprisingly unified, which could be summed up in two words: support, support, and fucking support.

But it is hard to say what will happen in the next war.

The essence of war is interest, both externally and internally.

The longer the war lasts, the more troops, supplies, and military pay are needed.

Recruiting soldiers, purchasing supplies, and paying military salaries all require people to do the work, and these people belong to different interest groups.

Ending the war quickly would harm the interests of some people, so this is destined to be a long war.

However, there are also people who hope to end the war quickly. No matter what their purpose is, they are good people to the court.

"Your Majesty, I heard that Qin Liangyu has already marched towards Wuguan. The thief Li Zicheng will definitely attack from behind. I hope the court will issue an official document to remind him." Wang Jiayan, the assistant minister of the Ministry of War, said as he came out of the class.

"Li Zicheng has pursuers behind him, so he certainly wouldn't dare to sneak up on Qin Liangyu, so let her march forward without worry. Only by taking Wuguan can we force Li Zicheng to return to Guanzhong, and only then can the war in the Central Plains be eased." said another official.

Chongzhen did not accept anyone's advice, but sent Qin Liangyu a letter of commendation.

Let her distribute the rewards to the soldiers on her own and report to the court if there is not enough.

"Your Majesty," said Fang Yuegong, the Minister of Revenue, "The summer grain harvest has already begun. According to reports from various places in Northern Zhili, the harvest is quite good. Many people have a lot of surplus grain left after saving enough food. However... due to the lack of tax pressure, the people are unwilling to sell their grain."

Chongzhen frowned and asked, "In other words, there will be difficulties in preparing food and fodder this year?"

"That's right, Your Majesty." Fang Yuegong answered honestly.

His answer did not surprise Chongzhen too much.

Only after experiencing hunger do you realize how precious food is.

Prior to this, northern Zhili had suffered from drought, plague, and severe grain production reductions.

Most of the people suffered from hunger.

Previously, grain was sold to pay taxes.

Now that there is no tax pressure, they will hold on to food tightly to deal with possible disasters.

In their eyes, food is as important as life.

In fact, only Chongzhen knew that what was lacking in years of great disasters was not food, but conscience.

Local food shortages do exist, but overall there is enough food.

Most of the time food shortages are man-made.

For example, the rich and powerful hoard goods...

Just like the shortage of medicine during a certain period of time hundreds of years later, it was all man-made factors.

Looking at Fang Yuegong with a worried look on his face, Chongzhen also began to feel troubled.

If farmers don’t sell their grain, the imperial court won’t be able to buy grain, and the border troops will have nothing to eat.

Without food, there is no war...

This chain reaction is deadly.

"Do you have any good ideas?" Chongzhen looked at the ministers present.

Someone stood up and said, "I think we should resume collecting taxes as soon as possible. Only in this way can we force the people to sell their grain."

"Nonsense! Your Majesty's words are as good as gold. Exempting taxes is a move to love the people. How can we give up halfway?" someone retorted.

"Then what do you say we should do? We can't force it to buy, right?"

"We have no choice but to do this now. Give the local officials the task. They will surely find a way."

Everyone started talking.

Chongzhen sighed in his heart and expressed sympathy for the plight of local officials of the Ming Dynasty.

This is also the origin of the conflict between Beijing officials and local officials.

The Beijing officials who formulate policies just open their mouths, and the local officials below will run themselves into a pulp.

"Your Majesty, I have something to say..." Li Banghua couldn't help but stand up.

This concerns the food and fodder of the border troops. It is a major national issue and we cannot ignore it.

When all the civil and military officials in the court saw Li Banghua stand up, they stopped talking and looked at the 70-year-old man.

Chongzhen was somewhat relieved: "Mr. Li, please speak."