Wang Chengen was startled by Chongzhen's voice and whispered, "Your Majesty, Duoduo slaughtered the Longmen Guards and retreated to the outside of the pass from Dushikou. Tang Tong speculated that Duoduo would enter the pass again from other places."
Chongzhen sat on the bed in silence for a long time.
If he remembered correctly, the total number of Longmenwei soldiers and civilians was about 20,000.
Duoduo actually massacred the city!
Beast, worse than beasts.
Chongzhen was filled with anger at this moment! Extremely angry!
They trample on my Ming land, rob my money and food, and kill my people!
Damn it, damn it all!
But he soon regained his composure.
Anger will only make people lose their reason.
The urgent task is how to respond.
Huang Degong's army has arrived in Wei County and is confronting Li Zicheng, and the outcome is still unknown.
The capital had very few soldiers available.
What should we do if Duoduo enters the country again?
A quarter of an hour later, Chongzhen took a deep breath and said to Wang Chengen outside the door: "I... understand. Inform the cabinet and come to the Qing Palace to discuss matters in an hour."
"Immediately summon Duke of England Zhang Shize to the audience."
"As you wish."
The moment Duke Yingguo Zhang Shize learned that he was going to enter the palace, he felt very nervous.
From the time the prince moved south, to the siege of the city by Li Zicheng, to the invasion of the Jiannu army, he did almost nothing except guarding the city gates in accordance with orders.
During this period, many major events happened in the court.
Liu Wenyao was given an important position and not only took charge of the Beijing camp, but also made many military achievements.
If nothing unexpected happens, the Liu family will have another nobleman.
In contrast, these veteran nobles not only failed to receive rewards for their achievements, but instead fell into hardship.
Duke Chengguo was killed for his crimes. Although Duke Dingguo was cleared of the suspicion of assassinating the emperor, he was forced to stay in his palace for a long time because of this incident.
He, the first-class duke, was the only one trembling in fear in the capital.
If his grandfather Zhang Weixian had not entered the palace at the order of the Queen Mother after the death of Emperor Tianqi to create conditions for Chongzhen to ascend the throne, he would probably have ended up like Zhu Chunchen.
I wonder what awaits him now that he has been summoned!
Quarter of an hour later, Zhang Shize came to the Palace of Heavenly Purity with a melancholy look on his face.
"Your Majesty, I, Zhang Shize, kowtow to you."
"Stand up." Chongzhen waved his hand and asked him to stand up.
"Oh!" Without waiting for Zhang Shize to speak, Chongzhen deliberately sighed.
Zhang Shize was a little flustered and asked hurriedly, "Why is your majesty sighing?"
Chongzhen pretended to be deep and paused for a moment before saying, "Do you know that I exempted the land tax for the whole country for one year?"
"I know."
"Alas!" Chongzhen sighed again, "What a pity! Although I exempted the country from taxes for a year, these benefits did not fall on the people. Especially those people who rented land to grow crops, they still have to pay the rent. They didn't have enough to eat before, and they still don't have enough to eat now!"
Zhang Shize stood there respectfully, analyzing carefully.
Chongzhen deliberately said these words to him, and he had to respond accordingly based on the meaning of the words.
If you misunderstand the emperor's meaning, the consequences will be similar to those of Duke Chengguo.
"Your Majesty, I think we should find a way to get those who have more land to take the initiative to reduce or exempt the land rent for the people."
Chongzhen said nothing and stared at Zhang Shize.
Although Zhang Shize is not very old, he is extremely meticulous.
The reason why the Duke of England could survive to his generation without declining, apart from the complicated relationships, was more due to his sense of smell.
Be loyal to your superiors, be non-partisan with officials, and use both kindness and severity to your subordinates.
The most important thing is to be able to stand up at the critical moment!
Just like what Zhang Weixian, the then Duke of Yingzhou, did after the death of Emperor Tianqi, who risked his life to enter the palace to receive the imperial edict and establish the new emperor.
Zhang Shize naturally understood these principles. He bowed deeply to Chongzhen and said: "I have thousands of acres of land. I am willing to reduce the rent for the tenants by half."
Unexpectedly, his statement was not met with joy, but Chongzhen's sneer: "Haha, since the Duke of Ying has so much land at home, why did you remain indifferent when I called on all officials and nobles to raise funds?"
Zhang Shize suddenly broke out in a cold sweat.
He wanted to make some excuses, but after seeing Chongzhen's cold eyes, he immediately gave up the idea of resistance.
Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, there have been countless nobles, and just as many were killed or deposed.
If the emperor really wanted to kill him, he could have just found a random crime to kill him. There was no need to question him like this.
Instead of resisting, it is better to confess honestly!
Zhang Shize fell to his knees and cried, "Your Majesty, I am in trouble."
"Speak." Chongzhen's tone was still so cold.
"I have indeed thought about donating money, but I have many concerns."
"First, donate money like land to Qin. If you are short of money in the future, the first person you think of is still me. When will this end?"
"Secondly, my power is limited. Even if I donate money to help the court, no one except Your Majesty will appreciate my kindness. Instead, I will be isolated by others."
"Also, if the imperial court raises funds again one day, if I don't donate, I will definitely be criticized; on the contrary, no one will criticize others who don't donate."
"So I didn't donate at that time."
Chongzhen was silent for a moment.
What Zhang Shize said did make sense, but it was not enough to convince him.
The role of nobles is to meet the emperor's urgent needs and respond to his needs.
Qualified nobles can lead troops to the front when the emperor is short of generals, and can donate money to support the emperor's military expenses when the emperor is short of money.
Zhang Shize is obviously unqualified.
"Great! That's a very good point!" Chongzhen said sarcastically, "So what you are competing for is not the amount of money donated, but the amount of money not donated. In this case, there is no need for me to protect you."
"Li Ruolian?" Chongzhen shouted outside the palace gate.
"I'm here." Li Ruolian ran in hurriedly.
"Show the Duke of England what you have in your hand, so that he won't be accused of wronging me."
"As you wish!" Li Ruolian opened the account book in his hand and handed it to the Duke of England personally.
It would have been better if Zhang Shize hadn't read it. After reading it, he felt cold all over.
The first page of the account book contains the contents of the Iron List of Dukes and Marquises.
In the fifth year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang formulated an iron list to warn dukes and other meritorious officials, which contained nine items.
Among them, the admonition to the dukes and marquises states:
It is forbidden to seize the mountains, lakes, tea gardens, reed marshes, gold, silver, copper factories, and iron smelters owned by officials and civilians; the tenants, managers, firemen, slaves, and their relatives are not allowed to bully the people and seize their land and property; it is forbidden to accept those who want to seek private support in order to avoid corvée...
The content on the second page is from the Jizhilu, which is not much different from the content of Shenjiegonghou.
The third page contains some clauses of the "Great Edict", which states that the private property of nobles must pay taxes as a whole.
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