Zhu Youjian listened to Gao Qingyun's praise of Qin Liangyu and the respectful expression on his face.
It was truly unexpected that he would speak so highly of Qin Liangyu, this female general.
Of course, he also had some understanding of Qin Liangyu.
After all, during the Tianqi era, Qin Liangyu's White-Spear Soldiers had already achieved remarkable military exploits.
However, in his mind, the White-Spear Soldiers were just exceptionally powerful, but they had little to do with Qin Liangyu.
In retrospect, it seems he was the one who viewed people with prejudice.
According to Gao Qingyun, holding military power was the greatest form of prestige, a view that Zhu Youjian deeply agreed with.
Although his reign title has been decided, it will not be implemented until next year.
At that time, the Minister of Cultural Relics will also need to go to the ancestral temple to offer sacrifices to the ancestors and announce it to the world.
If you calculate the timing, he can hold his coronation ceremony just in time for the White-Spear Army to enter the capital.
Having made up his mind, Zhu Youjian prepared to immediately order Qin Liangyu to lead the White-Spear Army into the capital.
After making his decision, Zhu Youjian thought of Wei Zhongxian again, and his brows furrowed involuntarily.
He looked at Gao Qingyun and asked, "According to what you're saying, does that mean Wei Zhongxian has to be kept alive indefinitely?"
"If such a malignant tumor remains in the court, wouldn't that negatively impact His Majesty's reputation?"
"Of course we can't keep them indefinitely, but we can't kill them immediately," Gao Qingyun replied with a smile.
"Wei Zhongxian was a fine knife."
"Wouldn't it be better to use them first and then kill them?"
"Does the gentleman mean to have Wei Zhongxian suppress those officials in the court?" Zhu Youjian quickly realized.
"That's right. The fact that the Chongzhen era was the last dynasty of the Ming Dynasty to be destroyed was not something that Wei Zhongxian alone could have accomplished."
"Corruption in officialdom and incompetent officials are the main reasons."
"According to the History of Ming, although Emperor Chongzhen lacked political talent and was stubborn, there is no doubt that he wanted to revitalize the Ming Dynasty."
"The History of Ming states that Emperor Chongzhen was extremely frugal and even reluctant to replace his dragon robe with a new one."
"But the officials in the court were extremely greedy and extravagant."
"In 1644, Li Zicheng led his army to attack the capital. At that time, although there were officials and soldiers in the capital who risked their lives to defend it, the national treasury was empty, and the soldiers had neither wages to receive nor food to eat."
"Emperor Chongzhen had no choice but to ask his ministers for help and ordered them to borrow money."
"However, to everyone's surprise, the ministers all declined to serve the country."
"At this critical juncture, Emperor Chongzhen remembered his father-in-law, Zhou Kui."
“Zhou Kui has accumulated a lot of wealth. If he can take the lead in donating, perhaps the other ministers will follow suit.”
"Emperor Chongzhen asked Zhou Kui to donate 100,000 taels of gold, but Zhou Kui said that he was an honest official with limited salary and could only donate 10,000 taels at most."
"Including the Empress's five thousand taels, Zhou Kui secretly kept two thousand taels, and in the end only donated thirteen thousand taels."
"Later, Emperor Chongzhen borrowed money from his ministers again, and this time he was able to borrow some, but it was only a few dozen taels at most, and a few hundred taels at most."
"Compared to these ministers, there was an old man from the common people who donated all his life savings of four hundred taels of silver to the country."
"In the end, Li Zicheng led his army to capture the Forbidden City, and Emperor Chongzhen had no choice but to commit suicide."
"However, what Emperor Chongzhen did not know was that the Ming Dynasty had already been hollowed out by these parasites."
"Those ministers who complained of poverty before Emperor Chongzhen handed over astonishing wealth in the face of Li Zicheng's brutal torture."
According to historical records, Li Zicheng obtained more than 70 million taels of silver, which shows that these ministers had already emptied the country's wealth and disregarded the people's livelihood.
Zhu Youjian clenched his fists so tightly they cracked as he listened to Gao Qingyun's words.
His eyes blazed with boundless killing intent.
With the nation in peril, these so-called ministers are truly good officials of the Ming Dynasty; it seems only the emperor is genuinely poor.
Meanwhile, those ministers were all incredibly wealthy.
With over 70 million taels of silver, if even a tenth of that could be contributed, the Ming Dynasty probably wouldn't have perished.
Zhu Youjian took a deep breath to calm his anger, and looked at Gao Qingyun and said, "According to what you said, Wei Zhongxian is indeed a good knife."
"If used properly, the national treasury could become fully replenished."
“It’s no use.” Gao Qingyun smiled upon hearing this: “The Ming Dynasty had too many accumulated problems by the time it reached Emperor Chongzhen.”
"Corruption in government and officials, a decline in military strength, coupled with the constant natural disasters during the Little Ice Age."
"Seventy million taels of silver alone cannot save the Ming Dynasty."
"But we're just saying this for now. The Ming Dynasty has been gone for 380 years."
"There's no point in discussing it any further now."
"Why don't you tell me about the situation in your Dahe Village?"
"I came here to teach in a rural area with a mission."
"Although my eyes are injured now, please rest assured that I will definitely have no problem teaching the children."
Upon hearing Gao Qingyun say that discussing the Ming Dynasty was useless, Zhu Youjian's face immediately revealed a peculiar smile.
It is now 1627, which is 17 years away from the Ming Dynasty's demise in 1644, as Gao Qingyun just mentioned.
Although he didn't know why Gao Qingyun was here.
But with someone like him who knows the future, their Ming Dynasty still has a chance.
Zhu Youjian had no intention of telling Gao Qingyun the truth that what was before them was the Ming Dynasty.
He was afraid that Gao Qingyun would not be able to accept it if she knew, so he replied in the same tone as Gao Qingyun: "What you said is right, it is of utmost importance that you come to our Dahe Village to teach."
"We'll discuss the Ming Dynasty later."
"Now that you are injured, you should rest first."
"We will inform you of the following arrangements once we have made them."
"Okay, then I'll trouble you." Gao Qingyun nodded without much suspicion.
Now he is blind and has to rely on teaching the children here to cure his eyes. Many things have to be arranged by the local villagers.
So it's still important to build good relationships.
Otherwise, given his condition, if he were to leave Dahe Village, he wouldn't be able to teach his children, let alone go out without someone to take him with him.
After leaving the room, Zhu Youjian returned to his own room.
Wang Chengen followed closely behind Luo Yangxing, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.
After the door was closed, Zhu Youjian's authoritative voice rang out: "Not a single word of what happened today is to be revealed. Do you all understand?"
"Yes, Your Majesty," both of them replied, bowing their heads.
Then Zhu Youjian looked at Luo Yangxing and ordered, "Commander Luo, deal with the people who were in Mr. Gao Qingyun's room just now. I don't want anyone else besides you to know about this."
"Understood, Your Excellency. I will take care of it immediately." Luo Yangxing bowed and then left the room.
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