Although Emperor Zhen was powerless to reverse the demise of the Ming Dynasty, he was very resolute in doing things. In history, he was more resolute than any other emperor in the anti-opium campaign, and when the national treasury was empty, he resolutely refused to use the method of buying and selling official positions to accumulate wealth. The ruthlessness of his methods and the firmness of his determination were well understood by everyone in the secret room of Hiroyuki Oda.
When they glanced at each other, one of them was the most demanding of money. Zhou Kui also had some fear in his eyes. He had not expected that Tian Hongyu would talk about this matter. Everyone swallowed their saliva and asked with difficulty: "Father-in-law Tian, this is a matter punishable by death. You must know that the emperor will not tolerate us doing this. If it were other matters, it would be easy to talk about, but I dare not do this."
"Hey, sir, don't worry. We are all our own people here. I say this to serve as an example. If you have any good methods, you might as well tell us the situation. I believe everyone knows that after the rebels half surrounded the capital, the court has lost control of some places in the south of the Ming Dynasty. Although the emperor is wise and powerful, it is only a matter of time before these bandits are wiped out. At present, the administration in those places in the south is extremely chaotic. Some local officials have not been replaced when their terms have expired. We do this just to recommend some loyal people to serve the court. As for the ministers of the emperor, this is also to relieve the emperor's worries." Tian Hongyu smiled. On the surface, he did not seem to agree with what he proposed, but he kept talking about selling official positions.
Tian Hongyu kept saying that he was doing it for the emperor, but if there was one person present who was willing to truly care about Emperor Chongzhen, that person would probably be struck by lightning. As the saying goes, if a man does not work for himself, he will be punished by heaven and earth. This refers to people like Tian Hongyu and Zhou Kui. They knew in their hearts that this man might not have much time left in the Ming Dynasty, but under the accumulated power of Emperor Chongzhen, these people still did not have the courage to openly do things that Chongzhen hated.
"Brother Tian, if it's a nominal position, we can still find a way. But this kind of real vacancy is probably difficult to handle, right?" Zhou Kui was an extremely greedy person. Although he was afraid of Emperor Chongzhen, he also loved the white silver very much. After pondering for a long time, Zhou Kui opened his mouth to test Tian Hongyu's intention.
When Tian Hong met Zhou Kui and opened his mouth, he knew
Moved, Tian Hongyu felt proud in his heart, thinking to himself that this greedy man would not be unmoved by this. Humph, my Tian family and the Tang family have had a decades-long friendship. If I can do this for Prince Tang today, even if the Ming Dynasty is destroyed in the future, my Tian family will not fall into ruin.
"Brother Zhou, this is not very difficult. The current situation is different from before. Not to mention the extremely empty treasury, those soldiers have not received their salaries for a long time, and even eating is a huge problem for these soldiers. If there are enlightened gentry who are willing to worry about the emperor and donate some silver or food to the court, then shouldn't the court reward them? If they are only given an empty position, who will be willing to think about the court in the future? As long as everyone works together to promote this matter, not only will the court get a lot of money, thereby alleviating the emptiness of the treasury, but it will also make more people loyal to the court, right?" Tian Hongyu expressed his idea in a very official manner. Although this method was still buying and selling official positions, it was still feasible in terms of face. Now that Emperor Chongzhen was in a very difficult situation, Tian Hongyu's method was not impossible.
Zhou Kui's eyes lit up. After thinking carefully for a while, he felt that this was not impossible. The key was to join forces with other officials, especially the generals stationed in the capital, and have them submit some memorials demanding military rations. This would surely force the emperor to agree to this for the sake of silver and food. However, if he did this, there would be more people participating, and more people paying the money, so he would lose a lot of silver.
Seeing that Zhou Kuiyu was willing to agree to this, the others stopped objecting and began to discuss the details, including selecting a few people in the court who needed to be won over and how to contact those who needed to buy officers and soldiers in the future. As for the latter point, Tian Hongyu took the responsibility and, in order to make everyone more determined to do this, he told everyone that they could rest assured about the price and that no one would suffer any loss. With Tian Hongyu's guarantee, these royal relatives who relied on the Ming Dynasty did not consider the interests of the Ming Dynasty at all, but wanted to take advantage of the last bit of time of the Ming Dynasty to reap their own benefits.
A few days later, Emperor Chongzhen looked at some memorials in front of him and had an urge to kill people. Everyone stretched out their hands to ask him for money and food. His national treasury and the inner treasury had been emptied by these parasites. At this time, these guys still asked him for money and food. He spent so much money and food to support these parasites and those troops. He didn't know what the point of supporting them was. They always lost when fighting, but they were more arrogant than each other when asking for money. If it weren't for these useless trash, he wouldn't have ended up in such a difficult situation.
"Tell me, what's the point of me keeping these trash?" Emperor Chongzhen roared and threw several memorials in his hands to the ground. Hearing his roar, several eunuchs and palace maids nearby couldn't help shivering, and their faces turned pale in an instant.
These eunuchs and palace maids had to believe that when Emperor Chongzhen got so angry, someone would surely suffer. Wang Chengen stood beside Emperor Chongzhen and saw that he was angry again. He couldn't help but sigh in his heart. No matter who it was, if he could keep a good temper in such a situation, he would be a real inhuman being.
Wang Chengen silently picked up the memorials from the ground, and looked at the Emperor Chongzhen with some pity. His hair was gray, and he was not even forty years old, but his hair was gray. He felt so miserable. Even the water of the Yellow River could not wash away his gray hair. Wang Chengen thought so in his heart, and suddenly felt that his previous intrigues for power were so ridiculous. He fought with others, but in the end it was all in vain.
Wang Chengen silently placed the pieces back on the shore and gently said to Emperor Chongzhen, "Your Majesty, you must protect your health. The Ming Dynasty needs you to be strong at this moment. Your Majesty, there is no need to take what those ministers say to heart. There is always a solution for everything."
When Emperor Zhen saw Wang Chengen's caring eyes, his heart warmed slightly. He sighed and said, "Chengen, if those ministers could be half as loyal as you, the Ming Dynasty would not have fallen into its current situation.
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Wang Chengen did not feel proud of the praise from Emperor Chongzhen. If he had received such praise from Emperor Chongzhen in the past when his dynasty was prosperous, Wang Chengen would have been very happy. But now Wang Chengen watched the Ming Dynasty decline day by day. He had a feeling of enlightenment after experiencing the decline of many dynasties. All the glory of the past was just a memory. Now the years seemed like a kind of coldness after the prosperity. He and Emperor Chongzhen had different identities, but in this coldness, Wang Chengen understood Emperor Chongzhen's mood, the unwillingness and anger even more.
At this time, Emperor Chongzhen felt a stronger sense of closeness towards Wang Chengen. He was a eunuch, but had lived with Emperor Chongzhen for decades. Only in such a cold and aloof situation could Wang Chengen and Emperor Chongzhen have a stronger sense of closeness. Only at this time could Emperor Chongzhen feel the importance of Wang Chengen to his side. Who said that eunuchs were all hateful people? At this time, Emperor Chongzhen felt that those self-proclaimed ministers of the Qingliu clan were even more hateful. These ministers who hung the Qingliu memorial archway were the scourge of the Ming Dynasty.
When Emperor Chongzhen picked up those memorials again, he felt disheartened and frustrated. At this time, what was the use of being angry? Those ministers would not become loyal ministers because of his anger, and those useless generals would not become good generals because of his anger. I am not a king who lost my country, but they are the ministers who lost my country.
Different from the sad mood of Emperor Chongzhen, Tian Hongyu was very happy at this time. Looking at the 300,000 taels of silver on the lobby, this pile of silver was like a small mountain. How could Tian Hongyu not be happy? Tang Tong did not break his promise. The Tang family caravan quickly got the first batch of funds. With this money, Tian Hongyu believed that he could get Zhou Kui and others on his ship faster.
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