Chongzhen did some calculations in his mind.
The total salary arrears of the three major camps, the Five Cities Military Division, the Imperial Guards, the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the East Factory and Tang Tong amounted to a shortfall of more than 900,000 silver coins.
Without considering Wu Sangui, he would have to prepare at least 1.5 million taels of silver, part of which would be used as reward, part of which would be used as food and salary, and the rest would be used to recruit soldiers.
"Wang Chengen, bring the account books of the Ministry of Revenue and the Imperial Treasury!" Chongzhen ordered.
Wang Chengen did not dare to be negligent and personally handed the account book to Chongzhen.
Chongzhen opened the slightly old account book and flipped through it page by page. The further he turned, the faster he turned. When he turned to the last page, Chongzhen suddenly felt a surge of anger.
He threw the account book to the ground with a bang and sat on the dragon throne gritting his teeth.
In the great Ming Dynasty, the national treasury had only 3,000 taels of gold and 10,000 taels of silver.
Converted into silver, the total amount is only 40,000 taels!
Forty thousand!!!
If you search the property of any official above the third rank in Beijing, the seized property will be more than 40,000.
He knew that the national treasury had been in deficit since the Tianqi Dynasty.
If the court had no money, the country would come to a standstill. Emperor Tianqi had no choice but to use the money from the treasury.
Fortunately, Emperor Tianqi had Wei Zhongxian, who had a way to make money.
What's the result?
After Chongzhen came to power, he killed Wei Zhongxian!
He is confused!
Whether it is Wei Zhongxian or the Donglin Party, whoever is in power will be corrupt.
The silver that Wei Zhongxian embezzled would sooner or later belong to the emperor, while the silver that the Donglin Party embezzled was put into their own pockets.
Chongzhen picked up the treasury account book and looked through it.
The national treasury had 40,000 taels of silver and the private treasury had 160,000 taels of silver.
A total of two hundred thousand taels of silver.
No wonder Chongzhen did not dare to move south in history. He was afraid that the soldiers would mutiny due to lack of pay on the way south!
Looking at the cold numbers, Chongzhen's heart gradually grew cold.
The anger in his chest slowly gathered and turned into a knife to cut people.
He held the hilt of the knife and said angrily, "It's fine if they are greedy for money on weekdays, but now the treasury is empty and the court is in danger, and they dare to be greedy! They are courting death!"
Wu Mengming and Wang Zhixin, who were standing beside them, lowered their heads at the same time, feeling uneasy. They knew that Chongzhen was mad at the account book, but in reality he was warning them.
Chongzhen felt a little comforted when he saw their performance. The Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Eastern Depot were his knives, and only by striking them with the front of the knives could they become sharper.
He changed the subject and said, "I remember that Commander Wu's son is getting married the day after tomorrow, and Wang Chengen is going to prepare a gift for me."
Wu Mengming was stunned. The Ming Dynasty was busy with state affairs, bandits were approaching, and the emperor, who was busy with all kinds of affairs, was still thinking about his son's marriage.
"Your Majesty, I cannot bear this!"
"You are my right-hand man, don't refuse."
"Your Majesty, I thank you for your grace!" Wu Mengming, who killed people without blinking an eye, knelt on the ground with red eyes.
Chongzhen turned to look at Wang Zhixin and said, "Wang Zhixin, you are the chief of the East Factory, you should take care of the eunuchs under you."
Wang Zhixin looked confused. He kowtowed first, then asked cautiously, "Your Majesty, I am terrified."
"Fearful? Just fearful? Du Xun is your disciple. The newspaper said he was loyal to his country, but as far as I know, he and Wang Chengyin defected to the enemy!"
Surrender to the enemy?
Wang Zhixin's face changed drastically after hearing this. The emperor's words revealed two pieces of information.
1. Du Xun surrendered to the enemy.
Second, Your Majesty obtained the information from other channels.
After the Xuanfu case was uncovered yesterday, the Jinyiwei and the Dongchang respectively learned from their own channels that the former eunuch Du Xun, who held the seal of the Imperial Kitchen, had committed suicide.
It sounds terrifying that the emperor had found out the news before they even knew it.
Does the emperor have other intelligence organizations?
Wang Zhixin trembled all over, fell to the ground and said, "It is my fault for not disciplining my children properly. I beg Your Majesty to forgive me."
Chongzhen stared at Wang Zhixin fiercely without saying a word.
Wang Zhixin is greedy for money. Although his wealth is not as much as that of the nobles, it is still a huge sum compared to others.
Chongzhen said nothing.
He was thinking about whether to replace Wang Zhixin and Wu Mengming.
The East Factory and the Embroidered Uniform Guard are two knives that need to be sharpened before killing people.
but...
Once the personnel are replaced, there will be chaos within the East Depot and the Embroidered Uniform Guard for a while.
It's no problem at ordinary times.
Time is running out now, and neither the Ming Dynasty nor he can accept the consequences of chaos.
Seeing Chongzhen didn't say anything, Wang Zhi panicked: "I have failed in my duty, please spare my life, Your Majesty."
Chongzhen nodded slightly: "Since you admit your guilt, I will give you a chance to redeem yourself during the morning court session."
"Thank you very much!"
"You are all my subjects. If there are mistakes, correct them. If there are no mistakes, you will be crowned. The bandits are coming. You should work together to help me resist the enemy."
"We obey your command!" Wu Mengming and Wang Zhixin kowtowed at the same time, but Li Ruolian seemed a little disappointed when he kowtowed.
Chongzhen watched the performance of these three people and a plan gradually took shape in his mind.
Wu Mengming is a relatively fair person, but he does not make decisions on a daily basis. He just follows the instructions of the East Factory and does whatever the East Factory tells him to do.
Wang Zhixin is capable and dares to do things, but his weakness is also obvious: he loves money like his life.
Li Ruo Lian is a loyal person who is not greedy for money and is a trustworthy person.
In this case, Wu Mengming continues to work with Wang Zhixin. They are the emperor's sword and the emperor's gun.
Li Ruo Lian hid in the dark and did the dirty and tiring work.
"Wu Mengming, you must write down every word I and the officials say during the court meeting. If you make any mistakes, you will be punished!"
"I obey the decree!"
Wu Mengming took out a pen and paper and quietly stepped aside.
Soon, Wang Chengen walked into the side hall and said respectfully, "Your Majesty, I have handed over 20,000 taels of silver to Dingxi Earl Tang Tong."
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