The capital, the imperial city.
On the way to Kunning Palace, Chongzhen suddenly remembered something and asked hurriedly, "Wang Chengen, how is the prince?"
"Your Majesty, the prince has been escorted to Zhigu by the soldiers of the Yongwei Battalion. Once the southward migration team arrives, we can board the ship and head straight to Nanjing!"
"Oh, that's great. Did the team that migrated south encounter any danger?"
"The Ministry of War reports news about the southward migration team every day. Yesterday, everything was fine. If there is any trouble, it will be tonight!"
Chongzhen nodded.
He will board the ship tomorrow. Li Zicheng has no navy, so it is impossible for him to intercept the prince at sea.
He asked these questions not because he cared about the team migrating south. Although those people were loyal ministers, couldn't loyal ministers bring harm to the country?
He only cares about the prince.
The prince is the key figure in whether Liu Zeqing can be executed, and no accidents can happen!
When he arrived at Kunning Palace, Chongzhen felt increasingly sleepy.
The hard work over the past few days had made him mentally exhausted. The emperor in reality was completely different from what he had imagined.
Not only did he have to find ways to keep Beijing, but he also had to compete with these civil and military officials in a battle of wits and courage.
Tired, so tired.
With the comfort of Queen Zhou, Chongzhen fell asleep quickly.
......
Early morning, Qianmen Street.
"Selling newspapers, selling newspapers!"
"In the seventeenth year of Chongzhen, two cents for one copy, two cents for one copy!"
People who got up early had just finished taking out their feces and urine when they saw a few children around ten years old walking past them with a stack of papers.
"Report? The imperial court's official report was sold out?"
"No, the imperial court's official bulletin is not called Chongzhen 17th Year. Anyone who dares to use the reign title of Your Highness must be a tough guy."
"Let's talk about it. Is there a possibility that this is the emperor's report? The emperor is very short of money recently. Not only is he selling things in the palace, he is also organizing a half-day tour of the imperial city. You can visit the palace for one thousand taels of silver!"
"It's possible. Anyway, I only have two cents. I might as well buy it and have a look."
After receiving the newspaper, the man opened it and saw a line of huge black words:
The first issue in the 17th year of Chongzhen.
The emperor's pardon decree: exempt the whole country from land tax for one year, abolish the three taxes, and never increase taxes again!
The man who bought the newspaper thought his eyes were blurry. He picked up the newspaper and looked through it carefully. He asked the person next to him, "Brother, am I reading this correctly? This court newspaper says that the emperor will exempt the land tax for one year?"
He was asking a young scholar, who took the newspaper and read it with an expression of disbelief.
How is that possible?
Land tax accounts for 70 to 80 percent of the court's tax revenue. Can it be exempted just like that?
What is the emperor doing?
Is this Ming Dynasty still okay?
The scholar returned the newspaper to the man and whispered, "Just read it casually, bro. Don't take it seriously. I am just some playboy writing this nonsense."
"Oh!" The man took back the newspaper and read it while looking at it.
"The Emperor was assassinated on his way back to the palace after inspecting the Wuzi Treasury. The murderer was the current first-class duke, Zhu Chunchen. Zhu Chunchen has now been transferred to the Ministry of Justice and is awaiting a joint trial by the three courts."
"The bandits are coming, and the court is recruiting soldiers to defend the city. Anyone who can carry a weight of ten kilograms can go to the Ministry of War to sign up for the army. Young and strong people will be given four taels of silver for defending the city, and the rest will be given three taels of silver for defending the city."
"Former Cabinet Prime Minister Chen Yan and Military Secretary Guang Shiheng secretly colluded with bandits and the Jiannu. In order to destroy the evidence, the Jiannu's spies in the capital created a massacre to exterminate the entire family. Now the spies have been identified, and they are eight businesses that work for the court. They are..."
"The bandits broke through Xuanfu and headed straight for Juyongguan, the gateway to the capital!"
Everything he read was something that had happened recently in the court.
Some caused a sensation in the capital, while others were unknown.
Although these things are big and small, they are all things that people want to know and things that they talk about with relish after reading them.
As more and more newspapers are sold, the information in the newspapers is spread more and more widely.
“Is what’s written here true?”
"It's true. I just asked my second uncle's aunt's nephew. He works in the palace and he said that the contents of the official newspaper are absolutely true and were written by His Majesty himself."
"Great! That's great! The emperor knows we are poor, so he exempted us from the land tax for one year. I think it's not an exaggeration to say that he is a famous emperor throughout history, right?"
"Not too much, not too much!"
In the 17th year of Chongzhen, the above news spread rapidly across the capital like a whirlwind.
Children were walking around the streets selling newspapers tirelessly, people were eager to sign up to join the army, and there was countless topics to talk about after dinner.
The officials felt mixed emotions as they read the newspaper.
Some people were happy that the emperor had handled these matters concerning the capital and the Ming Dynasty very properly, and the dawn of the Ming Dynasty had arrived.
Some people are sad, their colleagues were killed, and their financial paths were blocked. All of this was done by Chongzhen!
More officials feel helpless.
This official report reveals all the court information and officials' actions.
The mysterious and noble image they had previously shown to the common people was torn to pieces by this newspaper.
Not only is the sense of mystery gone, but even the dignity is little left.
Simply put, there is not much sense of superiority left.
Who to blame?
Blame the emperor? They dare not!
We can only blame the eunuchs who print newspapers and the kids who sell newspapers.
Palace of Heavenly Purity, East Warm Pavilion.
Chongzhen sat beside the dragon desk, handling official business while listening to Wang Chengen report to him on the people's reactions.
"Wait, someone read the newspaper and then sold it for a penny?"
"Yes, because of this, the newspaper sellers and buyers even had a fight."
"The Ming Dynasty is indeed full of dishonest businessmen!" Chongzhen said casually and slapped his thigh. He ordered: "Go, ask the Jinyiwei to find a few famous dishonest businessmen for me. I have something to tell them to do."
"As you wish."
Just as Wang Chengen was about to leave, he saw the Cabinet Chief Li Banghua running towards him in a hurry.
"Your Majesty, urgent news!"
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