Who were Chongzhen’s enemies?

Ni Yuanlu seemed to know, but also seemed not to know.

A vassal king?

Ni Yuanlu shook his head.

After the killing of the princes by the refugees, there were very few left.

In addition, with the several rounds of reducing the power of the princes from Yongle to the present, there is really very little that the princes can do.

Chongzhen might regard them as trouble, but he would never regard them as enemies.

Because they are not qualified.

Businessmen are enemies?

Ni Yuanlu shook his head again.

From ancient times to the present, it has never been heard of a businessman turning the tables.

The Ming Emperor Chongzhen would never regard them as enemies.

After eliminating two options through the process of elimination, the answer is obvious.

Judging from all the previous signs, Chongzhen regarded all the gentry and landlords in the world as enemies.

However, he did not take action openly, but instead used various means to make the people stand against the gentry and landlords and fight against them.

Although this move affected local order, it did not cause major chaos.

After all, the judicial system is not broken, and under the supervision of officials at all levels, it is clearer than before.

But what does this have to do with the prince staying in Nanjing?

"Fourth elder brother," Ni Yuanlu said with a bitter smile, "I can understand who the enemy is, but I don't understand why Your Majesty allowed the Crown Prince to stay in Nanjing for so long!"

"That's right, you don't understand. When that day comes, both you and I will be implicated. If you're lucky, you can return to the court in Beijing. If you're unlucky, you might lose your life." Fang Yuegong's words were still so mysterious.

"Then..." Ni Yuanlu asked the last question: "Prince Ding was sent to the Liaodong front by His Majesty, and Prince Yong is spending money in the capital. Although they are not the eldest sons, they are close to the capital. As the saying goes, distant relatives are close to relatives. Tell me the truth, will His Majesty pass the throne to the crown prince in the future?"

"Uh..." Fang Yuegong pondered for a while, "The future of the Ming Dynasty is becoming more and more complicated. I can't see through it at all. We can only know what will happen in the future."

"Okay," Ni Yuanlu didn't ask any more questions, "Come with me to see His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

The two of them passed through one palace gate after another and finally arrived outside the Chunhe Hall.

"Greetings, Mr. Fang." Zhu Cilang's eunuch Chen Kuan led the others in bowing.

"You are too polite. I am just an ordinary person. You don't have to be polite." Fang Yuegong clasped his hands together.

"Mr. Fang is the Crown Prince's teacher, so naturally we have to pay our respects to him," Chen Kuan continued.

Just when Fang Yuegong was about to continue being polite, Crown Prince Zhu Cilang personally pushed open the palace door and walked out.

When he saw Fang Yuegong, he immediately bowed and said, "Student Zhu Cilang greets Mr. Fang."

Fang Yuegong didn't dare to accept it at all, and immediately returned the greeting: "I, Fang Yuegong, greet His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

After some polite exchanges, Fang Yuegong finally arrived at the Chunhe Hall.

He looked around and found that although the hall was very clean, it was shabby everywhere.

There are signs of repair on the roof, but the signs of previous leaks are also very obvious.

The walls and pillars had long lost their luster, and in the dim light seemed to be telling of a century of vicissitudes.

After offering him a seat and tea, Zhu Cilang said, "I have found a house for Mr. Fang in Nanjing. I hope you will not refuse."

"Thank you, Your Highness," Fang Yuegong did not refuse.

First of all, this is the prince's gift. Accepting this gift means that you are willing to be the prince's teacher.

Secondly, he had no place to live in Nanjing, and renting a house would cost a lot of money.

Although he served as the Minister of Revenue of the Ming Dynasty, he never embezzled any money.

So he could only accept the prince's gift to alleviate his current predicament.

After chatting for a while, Zhu Cilang began to test Fang Yuegong.

Fame is fame, but you have to ask to find out whether someone has real ability.

He asked seriously, "Mr. Fang, what do you think of the war in Liaodong?"

"I think the key to the Liaodong war is not attack, but defense. It is easy to capture Liaodong, but difficult to defend it. As more and more cities are recovered, there will be more and more situations where troops need to be divided to guard them. If we cannot balance the relationship between offense and defense next year, there may be big problems. As the governor-general of Pingliao, Wang Yongji should have made plans." Fang Yuegong analyzed the situation in a few words without offending Wang Yongji. He was very experienced.

"Then what does Mr. Fang think of the Shandong uprising? Will they cause a nationwide uprising like before?" Zhu Cilang asked again.

"There is nothing wrong with the taxation policy of the Ming Dynasty. The problem lies in natural disasters and official governance. Although there was a civil uprising in Shandong, they were all forced to revolt by local corrupt officials and sudden floods. As long as disaster relief is provided in time, corruption is investigated and the people are given an explanation, I believe the civil uprising in Shandong will soon be quelled."

Zhu Cilang nodded and asked, "Mr. Fang, what do you think of the salt inspection?"

Fang Yuegong blinked his eyes: "Your Highness, do you want to hear the truth or a lie?"

"How do you tell the truth? How do you tell a lie?"

"Falsehood is only flattery, truth is everything."

"Then listen to the truth. Students have heard enough lies."

"The essence of the salt inspection was that the imperial court had a deficit, so in order to make up for the deficit, it sent people to ask for money from the salt merchants. In simple terms, it was plundering the merchants. Since the merchants earned the people's money, it was essentially plundering the people."

With every word Fang Yuegong spoke, Zhu Cilang's expression became uglier.

The salt inspection seemed to be the idea of the imperial court, but in fact it was the idea of his father Chongzhen.

After all, he had been trained in the art of ruling.

Ministers are just the shadows of the emperor, and the one who truly controls behind the scenes is the emperor.

Now Fang Yuegong's every sentence involves the word "plunder", which really seems to be an allusion to Chongzhen.

"However," just as Zhu Cilang was about to stop Fang Yuegong, Fang Yuegong changed the subject: "The reason why salt merchants can make huge fortunes is entirely due to the salt law that was tailor-made for them."

"The implementation of the salt monopoly law was inseparable from the salt merchants bribing officials. Strictly speaking, the root cause of the court's plunder of merchants was caused by the merchants themselves. It can be said that they reaped what they sowed."