Regarding the fact that the Jiannu used the entire family of Prince Lu and Zu Dashou to exchange for the remains of Ajige and Ebilun.
Chongzhen’s attitude was that the sooner the change, the better.
What he cared about was not the entire family of Prince Lu, but Zu Dashou himself.
As long as he could come back alive, Chongzhen could solve half of the problem of Guanning Army.
But the Jiannu kept dragging their feet.
In order to force the other party to submit, Chongzhen began to increase the stakes.
Isn't it a delay?
The stakes increase by one for every day of delay until the other party flips the table.
In fact, Chongzhen did not expect the Jiannu to release Zu Dashou.
But he has always claimed to the outside world that he wants to bring Zu Dashou back.
Chongzhen did this for no other reason than to tell the Guanning Army that Zu Dashou had made contributions to the country, and although he was forced to surrender to the Jian Nu, the court had never forgotten him!
After Chongzhen expressed his attitude, the court meeting continued.
After an unknown amount of time, the court meeting ended with the censor impeaching Wang Yongji.
Chongzhen did not leave, but sat on the dragon throne and sulked alone.
He really wanted to punish these censors.
But the censor would not be convicted for his words, and Wang Yongji did fail to take Ningyuan.
So Chongzhen could only endure it.
Minister of Revenue Xie Sanbin followed Fan Jingwen and walked towards Wenyuan Pavilion, the cabinet's office.
As soon as he walked out of the palace gate, Wang Chengen came up to him and said, "Thank you, Minister, please stay. I have something I want to consult you about."
"Oh?" Xie Sanbin immediately perked up. He bowed to Wang Chengen and said, "Eunuch Wang, please speak."
Wang Chengen looked around and whispered, "How about... let me talk for a moment."
"Okay, Eunuch Wang, lead the way!"
Wang Chengen nodded and walked to the side of the hall.
Xie Sanbin was very excited.
Wang Chengen was a close aide to Chongzhen, and there was no harm in having a good relationship with him.
As he walked, Xie Sanbin suddenly realized something was wrong.
Because Wang Chengen brought him to the side door of Huangji Palace.
While he was in doubt, the palace door was opened from the inside by Chongzhen himself.
Xie Sanbin was stunned at first, then he quickly bowed and saluted: "Your Majesty, I, Xie Sanbin, greet you."
"Come in and talk." Chongzhen said expressionlessly.
"Yes." Xie Sanbin changed his previous excitement and followed behind into the hall tremblingly.
The palace door closed, and Chongzhen turned around and said to Xie Sanbin, "Xie Shangshu, do you know why I want to see you?"
Xie Sanbin thought for a moment and tentatively replied, "There is a war going on in Liaodong and the court is in urgent need of money. I guess your majesty is looking for me to discuss the silver issue this time."
"Xie Shangshu is indeed a very smart man," Chongzhen forced a smile on his face, "The court is in deficit now! If the deficit is resolved, the war in Liaodong may not be won; but if the deficit is not resolved, the war in Liaodong will undoubtedly be lost. Even if we win a few battles in a short period of time, we will still lose in the end."
Xie Sanbin said apologetically: "Your Majesty, please forgive me. I am trying to find a way to solve the deficit."
"You recommended Song Quan to inspect the salt industry in Jiangnan. It has been almost half a year. How is the progress?" Chongzhen asked.
"The progress is relatively smooth. We have investigated several corrupt officials and businessmen who bribed. If nothing goes wrong, we will be able to transport back one million taels of silver before the Mid-Autumn Festival, and another large sum of silver before the end of the year." Xie Sanbin replied.
"Too small." Chongzhen said suddenly.
"Hmm?" Xie Sanbin didn't understand and asked quickly, "Your Majesty, please enlighten me."
"You are so timid and cowardly. I am a little disappointed." Chongzhen showed a disappointed expression.
Xie Sanbin was a little panicked.
Judging from Chongzhen's words, he wanted to dismiss him from his position as Minister of Revenue.
Before becoming the Minister of Revenue, his position was Minister of the Ministry of Rites.
This position may seem important, but in fact it does not have much real power. No real power means less contact with officials and fewer people to offend.
After becoming the Minister of Revenue, Xie Sanbin held real power.
From important officials in the imperial court in Beijing to provincial governors from other places, all of them had official dealings with him.
The number of other officials is too numerous to count.
No matter how careful he is, he will always offend some people.
When he was the Minister of Revenue, these people did not dare to touch him, nor could they touch him.
Once you leave that position, countless attacks will follow.
Xie Sanbin knelt down and saluted Chongzhen in panic: "I am a humble official with limited knowledge and ability. Please forgive me, Your Majesty."
"No," Chongzhen shook his head slowly: "You are very capable, but a little timid."
Are you timid?
Xie Sanbin raised his head and looked at Chongzhen, struggling with these three words.
Chongzhen did not explain, but continued: "I know you are from Donglin and a student of Qian Qianyi."
Xie Sanbin became even more panicked.
He knelt down and kowtowed, saying, "Your Majesty, Qian...Although Qian Qianyi is my teacher, I only learned his talents, not his character (there was a cheating case in the imperial examination when Qian Qianyi was the chief examiner in Zhejiang)."
"Why is Minister Xie kowtowing? Please stand up quickly!" Chongzhen ordered Wang Chengen to help Xie Sanbin up.
Seeing Xie Sanbin's extremely frightened eyes, Chongzhen began to comfort him: "Don't panic, Minister Xie. I have never denied your talent, ability and character! I just hope you can be braver."
Although Chongzhen mentioned the word courageous twice in a row, Xie Sanbin still couldn't understand it.
He had no choice but to bow to Chongzhen and say, "Your Majesty, please explain my doubts."
"Haha," Chongzhen laughed bitterly and asked Xie Sanbin, "Xie Shangshu, why do you think there are so many parties in the court? There are Donglin Party, Qi Party, Jin Party, Chu Party, Zhejiang Party and countless other parties."
"This..." Xie Sanbin was unable to answer.
He neither knew the purpose of Chongzhen's asking this question nor the answer to the question, so he could only stand there and pretend to be silent.
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