Outside the Palace of Heavenly Purity.
The eunuchs from the Zhidianjian were cleaning the courtyard.
The Zhidianjian was one of the twenty-four supervisors in the inner court. He was in charge of the cleaning of the palaces and corridors and was responsible for sanitation work.
When they saw Chongzhen coming out, the eunuchs in the Palace Administration immediately stopped what they were doing and knelt on the ground respectfully.
"What's your name?" Chongzhen asked the leading eunuch.
The leading eunuch hurriedly replied: "Your servant Tian Yu greets His Majesty."
Chongzhen continued to ask calmly: "Why did you enter the palace?"
Tian Yu lowered her head and answered, "My family is poor, and I was forced to enter the palace to make a living."
"Tell me about the situation at home."
"As you wish." Tian Yu didn't know what she had done wrong. She knelt on the ground and swallowed her saliva. Then she said, "I am from Binzhou, Shandong. In addition to my parents, I have a younger brother. In the summer of the twelfth year of my reign, I entered the palace and served as a supervisor in the palace until today."
"How many acres of land did your family have before entering the palace?"
Tian Yu replied respectfully: "Fifteen acres."
"Fifteen acres?" Chongzhen was a little surprised.
Tian Yu thought Chongzhen didn't believe her, so she hurriedly explained, "What I said is absolutely true."
Chongzhen smiled slightly, "It's not that I don't believe it, I just think that fifteen acres of land should be enough for your family of four to eat and survive. Is it caused by the three additional taxes levied by the court?"
The three levies refer to the Liao levy, the suppression levy and the training levy.
The Ming Dynasty fought against the Jiannu in Liaodong and collected Liaoxi tribute to pay for military expenses. Later, bandits arose everywhere, and in order to raise military expenses, additional suppression tribute was levied. Later, the Jiannu entered the pass to plunder, and additional training tribute was levied to train soldiers.
When it comes to the three salaries, Tian Yu was stunned and hesitated to speak.
Wang Chengen stood by and scolded him, "How dare you! The emperor asked you a question and you dared to hide it! Come, drag him away and beat him!"
"I'm telling you, I'm telling you." Tian Yu knelt on the ground and kowtowed continuously, with sweat all over her forehead.
Since it was a matter concerning the imperial court's tax collection, he dared not speak nonsense, for at the very least he would be beaten with a stick, and at the worst, someone might die.
But the current situation didn't allow him to think too much, so he could only answer honestly.
"In fact, the additional taxes are not much. Compared with the previous taxes, they are only one and a half times higher. As long as the land is not too small, there will be no problem with food. The problem is that the government has repeatedly increased taxes, and the grain is sold at a low price for silver. In order to make up for the tax shortage, I entered the palace."
Chongzhen frowned and asked, "Under what pretext did the government impose the additional taxes? Don't the local censors care?"
Tian Yu swallowed her saliva again: "I entered the palace in the summer of the twelfth year of my dynasty, and the taxes in Binzhou, Shandong have been collected until the twenty-fourth year of my dynasty. I don't know anything else."
???
Isn't this just eating up the food for the next year?
No wonder the people rebelled; it was the imperial court that forced them to do so.
The imperial court only raised three taxes on the surface, but no one knows how much tax was actually imposed on the people.
If it is impossible to collect miscellaneous taxes, then collect them in the name of land tax. After collecting this year, collect them next year. If there is nothing left next year, collect them the year after!
The officials who came later had no choice but to continue drinking poison to quench their thirst in order to achieve their performance targets!
This rule needs to be changed.
Chongzhen gritted his teeth, turned and left.
Tian Yu didn't know if he had made any mistakes. He knelt on the ground and grabbed the corner of Wang Chengen's clothes: "Eunuch Wang, did I say something wrong?"
Wang Chengen replied calmly: "We don't know, we only know that your words will cause many people to lose their lives."
"Ah?" Tian Yu fell to the ground, a look of horror on his face.
Wang Chengen smiled coldly, shook off Tian Yu's hand and said, "Your ancestors' graves are smoking before the emperor will question you. Just stay here and don't let your imagination run wild."
After saying that, Wang Chengen hurriedly followed.
The next morning.
You could hear a pin drop in the Huangji Hall.
Chongzhen did not raise the issue of taxation at the first time, but, at the suggestion of Li Banghua, discussed those who had devoted their lives to the court but had not been honored after their death.
"Your Majesty, the former Shaanxi Three Border Governor Sun Chuanting was defeated and died for his country while defending Tongguan. Since his body is not found, it is said that his whereabouts are unknown."
"Among the surrendered bandits, there were some who saw Sun Chuanting's death. When Tongguan was breached, Chuanting was afraid of being captured and humiliated by the bandits, so he drew his sword and rode into the bandits, where he was killed and his body burned by the bandits."
"Now that the truth has been uncovered, I propose that Sun Chuanting be given a title to honor his merits."
With Li Banghua taking the lead, all the civil and military officials in the court followed suit.
"Okay. Chuanting is a civil servant but has the talent of a good general. He is brave and responsible, and outstanding. I should shed tears for this loyal minister and righteous man." Chongzhen sighed with red eyes.
Sun Chuanting was too stubborn. In fact, he didn't necessarily want to die to show his determination.
We can fight and retreat at the same time. If Tongguan is gone, we can defend Datong. If Datong is gone, we can defend Xuanfu. If Xuanfu is gone, we still have Juyongguan!
As long as time is exchanged for space, history is likely to be rewritten.
What a pity!
Chongzhen forced Sun Chuanting to death.
If Sun Chuanting really did that, he would most likely be punished and imprisoned by Chongzhen if he retreated.
Sun Chuanting must have understood this truth, so he decided to fight to the death!
Therefore, the emperor's character determines the behavior of his ministers.
In history, Chongzhen had an inextricable role to play in the demise of the Ming Dynasty.
Seeing that the emperor agreed, civil and military officials began to discuss what posthumous title would be most appropriate for Sun Chuanting.
The posthumous titles of Ming Dynasty officials include Wen, Zhong, and Wu. (The posthumous titles of nobles and royal family members are not listed here, but those who are interested can look them up on their own.)
"Wen" is generally the posthumous title of civil officials, while "Zhong" and "Wu" are the posthumous titles of military generals.
Before the Ming Dynasty, the posthumous title of Zhongwu was the highest reward and recognition for military generals.
In the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang gave Xu Da the posthumous title of Wuning in recognition of his achievements, while the posthumous title of Zhongwu was given to Chang Yuchun, who fought bravely in battle!
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