Chongzhen nodded and said, "You are right. Some things in the palace can be sold, and some cannot. It is not up to me to decide whether to sell or not. The Queen has the final say. The Queen will point out all the things in the palace that can be sold. You can carry these things out of the palace with me and set up a stall near the Xisi Archway."
"All the money from buying things will be used as military pay!"
Setting up a stall?
The palace maids and eunuchs looked at each other, wondering what the emperor was up to.
Wang Chengen stood behind Chongzhen and whispered, "Your Majesty, this cannot happen! If this gets out, it will damage the reputation of the royal family."
If the emperor sold his property to supplement military pay, how would the Ming Dynasty save face if this were to get out?
"Are you questioning me?"
Wang Chengen fell to his knees with a thud, not daring to talk nonsense anymore.
Chongzhen only gave a verbal warning and did not really punish him. Wang Chengen was right, setting up stalls did damage the reputation of the royal family.
But doing so can win the hearts of the people and make them believe that the emperor is also a victim of corrupt officials.
Only in this way can they truly think about the emperor and the court.
"If you sell more, I will reward you. If you don't sell a penny, I won't blame you. Do you understand?"
"The servants understand!"
"Well, Zi Tong, look through all the things in the Qianqing Palace and sell all the useless ones."
"This..." Queen Zhou hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said, "I obey your order."
Just as Chongzhen was about to say something else, Wang Zhixin hurried over from outside and asked for a meeting.
The first words he said after being allowed to enter the palace shocked Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, Wu Mengming committed suicide out of fear of punishment!"
"Suicide?" Chongzhen narrowed his eyes and stared at Wang Zhixin fiercely.
"Yes, Your Majesty. Wu Mengming committed suicide out of fear of punishment after leaving a letter in blood."
Wang Zhixin said as he handed over a letter written in blood.
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