"set fire?"
Li Dingguo looked towards the grassland and said, "I heard that the Shunyi Palace and Shunli Palace have been completed. It's time to set them on fire and let them start over."
This plan was formulated before Chongzhen's death.
The reason why it has not been implemented before is that there is no opportunity, after all, it will arouse the other party's suspicion.
Now the Western Tumed tribe opposes the Khoshut tribe's submission to the Ming Dynasty.
When the fire was set, the Xitumed tribe first suspected the Khoshut tribe, not the Ming court.
This opportunity is rare.
After hearing the explanation, Yue Zhenbang still had a question in his mind: "Sir, since this matter is so important, it should be handled by the Jinyiwei. Why did you let me get involved?"
Li Dingguo was silent for a while: "The reasons are complicated... First of all, no one can guarantee that the mission will be successful. If the Jinyiwei fails and their identities are exposed, this matter will involve the court and the emperor. At that time, the various tribes on the grassland will unite to fight against the court, and things will become out of control."
"On the other hand, if you fail and reveal your identity, the court can say that it is your personal behavior, or... at most it will involve me, and it has nothing to do with the court and the emperor. You should understand the pros and cons..."
"Secondly, the Royal Guards have been searching for the whereabouts of the former crown prince, and their focus is not on the Mongols. If such an important task is suddenly given to them, it will easily go wrong."
"The last point..." Li Dingguo paused, "This matter will bypass the three border governors, the Ministry of War, the Cabinet and the Imperial Household Department and report directly to His Majesty. If it is done well, it will be a great achievement and will help the entire clan to rise up. We are all soldiers, how can we hand over the credit to the Jinyiwei?"
Yue Zhenbang suddenly realized: "Thank you for your teachings, I understand now."
Li Dingguo pointed at the box and said, "I will give you two months of home leave. You must complete the mission during this period. If you don't have enough money, you can ask for more. You can prepare the manpower yourself. If necessary, you can mobilize my personal army."
Yue Zhenbang took a deep breath and finally made up his mind and said, "Don't worry, sir. I will definitely complete the task."
......
On March 16, the 34th year of Chongzhen, Zhu Cixiong completed the coronation ceremony in the Huangji Hall and inherited the throne.
According to convention, the new emperor must grant amnesty upon ascending the throne.
The other prisoners were easier to deal with, as all of them were pardoned except for those who committed the most heinous crimes.
But when he saw Hong Chengchou's name, the cabinet chief Qiu Yu was in a dilemma.
After pacifying Jiangnan, Chongzhen executed a group of prisoners.
Left behind were Qian Qianyi, the leader of Donglin, and Hong Chengchou, the former governor of Ji and Liao.
Qian Qianyi died of vomiting blood due to being scolded by students of the Imperial College.
Hong Chengchou was not only alive, but also living well.
After all, he was begging for food under the emperor's order, so many people gave him something to eat, more or less.
Just as Qiu Yu was hesitating whether to report Hong Chengchou's name, an official hurriedly walked in and said, "Sir, something big has happened."
Qiu Yu asked without even looking up: "What are you panicking about?"
"Hong Chengchou is dead."
Qiu Yu raised his head, a little surprised: "Dead? How did he die?"
"He starved to death!" The official swallowed and continued, "After the death of the previous emperor, Hong Chengchou begged for a living as usual. The people were already heartbroken, and when they saw that he was still alive, they became disgusted and united to not give him food, so he starved to death."
"Huh..." Qiu Yu let out a long sigh.
When Hong Chengchou died, the trouble was over.
He waved his hand and continued working.
An hour later.
He drafted the decree to exempt the whole country from taxes for one year and submitted it to the Imperial Household Department.
The Imperial Household Department immediately placed the drafted imperial edict on Zhu Cixiong's dragon desk.
Looking at the content above, Zhu Cijiong began to hesitate.
If we continue to exempt the people from taxes, the national treasury will be completely out of money.
If there is a war or other need for money, the court will be faced with a situation where it has no money available.
But if the taxes are not exempted, it will affect his prestige.
After thinking for a while, Zhu Cijiong said to himself: "If you lose money, you can earn it back, but if you lose prestige, it's hard to get it back."
Having said that, he approved the above contents.
How to make money?
Zhu Cijiong thought about it and came up with two words: confiscation of property.
However, Zhu Cijiong was once again troubled by the question of whose house to search.
The Donglin Party was badly damaged and could no longer be suppressed.
Other parties and gentry in Jiangnan were severely punished during the pacification of Jiangnan and could not move.
There are two groups of nobles, the new nobles and the old nobles.
Although the new nobles were all promoted by his father Chongzhen, they also belonged to him and could not be touched.
During the campaign to pacify Jiangnan, most of the old nobles died or fled, and nothing could be done.
After much thought, Zhu Cixiong came up with a name: Wang Zhixin.
This guy is as rich as a country, dishonest, and has a bad reputation.
Dealing with him can not only make up for the deficit in the national treasury, but also win reputation.
It can be said to kill two birds with one stone.
However, he knew that this was his first time to ascend the throne, and it would be a bit hasty to act now.
Everything has to wait until the time is right.
On April 16, Zheng Chenggong arrived in the capital from Fujian.
He talked with Zhu Cijiong in the Qianqing Palace for a whole day, and only left the imperial city and returned to the inn when night fell.
His eldest son Zheng Jing immediately brought a cup of tea: "Dad, have some tea."
"Well," Zheng Chenggong took the teacup and drank the tea in it.
Zheng Jing asked, "Dad, did His Majesty suddenly summon us to the capital to look for the former crown prince?"
"Shh!" Zheng Chenggong made a gesture to keep quiet and glared at him fiercely.
Zheng Jing quickly shut up.
Zheng Chenggong first looked outside through the crack in the door, then took the opportunity to pour water for washing his face and stayed outside for a while.
After making sure that no one was around, he closed the door and whispered to Zheng Jing: "This is the capital, there are Jinyiwei everywhere. You can eat whatever you want, but you can't say anything you want."
Zheng Jing lowered his head and said, "Yes, Dad taught me that."
Looking at his son who was not yet twenty years old, Zheng Chenggong felt that his words just now were a bit harsh.
So he walked over to him and patted his shoulder gently: "Don't blame Dad for speaking harshly, this is all for your own good."
Zheng Jing nodded vigorously: "My son will remember your father's teachings."
"Yeah," Zheng Chenggong nodded slightly and continued to sit on the stool and drink tea.
After drinking for a while, Zheng Chenggong lowered his voice and said, "There are some things I didn't want to tell you, but you are the eldest son in the family, so I have to tell you."
Zheng Jing stood up straight and put on a listening attitude.
Zheng Chenggong lowered his voice again: "It is said that Shi Lang is working for the Horan people in Batavia, and Liu Kongzhao fled to Luzon Island to serve as a guide for the Portuguese. Whether it is true or not, we must go there to search and give an explanation to His Majesty and the court."
"From now on, our Zheng family will have several more responsibilities, including shipbuilding, going out to sea, and looking for someone under the guise of doing business, especially that person (referring to Zhu Cilang). Before finding that person, our Zheng family's caravan cannot leave the ocean."
Zheng Jing was shocked: "How many ships do we need to build?"
Zheng Chenggong extended his right index finger.
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