Crazy at the end of the Ming Dynasty

Wu Shigong could not ignore Yu Ji's urgent report.However, because Shanhaiguan is in the hands of the Qing army, if the Daping army wants to reinforce and transport food, it must leave the pass at the Great Wall Pass and go a long way to Ningyuan and Zhenyuan.And because of the threat of the Qing army and the Mongolian tribes, too few people would not be able to go, so Wu Shigong planned to ask Yao Liang to bring an association to reinforce the two cities outside the pass with food and grass after the beginning of spring.

In addition, not to mention those miscellaneous troops, the Daping Army will also station 5000 soldiers and horses in the capital to guard against possible rebellions launched by the forces of the former Ming Dynasty.In Tongzhou Daying, [-] soldiers and horses will be stationed to guard the food and grass living here.In the west of Beizhili, a town of [-] people will be arranged to guard the line of Xuanda and be ready to reinforce the Western Expedition Army in Shanxi at any time.In the Fengtai camp outside the capital, the Pegasus Town of Zug is also stationed, as a general reserve, ready to mobile reinforcements everywhere.

Calculated in this way, there are only nearly 9 remaining main forces of the Daping Army.Wu Shigong unified them into the Northern Expedition Army, appointed Xue Yongli as the General of the Northern Expedition, and asked him to lead the most elite main force of the Daping Army to form a defense line around Shanhaiguan, preventing the main force of the Qing army from pouring out of Shanhaiguan. out.

However, no one, including some senior officials of the Daping Dynasty, knew that the Marine Corps led by Gonzales and Huang Ding had also quietly expanded to a town of [-] troops.They are stepping up their training at Tianjin Wei, preparing for the decisive battle that will take place in the future.

After reading those military memorials, Wu Shigong was already exhausted.He said to Ye Zhong: "Move the rest of the booklets to the back room!"

There is a small room behind Wu Shigong's study room where he annotated memorials.If Wu Shigong was busy too late, he would sleep in this hut.I will not go back to any concubine's bedroom to affect their rest.

As soon as he entered the hut, Wu Shigong half-lyed down on the bed.He didn't bother with the remaining memorials, thinking about taking a rest first.I want to chat with Ye Zhong for a few words.

After Wu Shigong lived in the palace, there would of course be a group of eunuchs and maids in the palace to serve Wu Shigong's family.However, the number of eunuchs and court ladies left over from the previous Ming Dynasty is really huge, with a total of more than 3 people.That is, many eunuchs are scattered all over the country, not in the capital, and they were killed and captured by the Dashun Army and the Manchus, and then escaped. However, the number of eunuchs remaining in the capital now exceeds 8000 .

And the loyalty of these people is already questionable.The maid is fine.The maids in Wu Shigong's mansion in Ru Ning can be used instead, but eunuchs are hard to find.

That is to say, Ye Zhong, the supervisor of the Runing Army, is acquainted with Wu Shigong, and Ye Zhong had the experience of studying in the study in the palace before.So after consulting his opinion.This time, Ye Zhong and Wu Shigong's whole family rushed from Runing to the capital and served as Wu Shigong's accompanying eunuch.

"Ye Zhong! From now on, I will not set up prisons such as Lijian and Yumajian in the palace. You, a great eunuch, may not be as powerful as your seniors." Wu Shigong said casually.

"It's nothing!" Ye Zhong said with a smile, "If you can serve a hero like the emperor, then the tomb of the old slave is smoking. It's just... the emperor should pay attention. You should call yourself 'Zhen'."

"Always forget!" Wu Shigong said with a smile, "But you eunuchs have all come to the palace to serve me, so we must let you survive."

"The slave will thank the emperor on behalf of those little bastards." Ye Zhong bowed and smiled.

In fact, what Wu Shigong said to Ye Zhong today was just blowing wind.In his prediction, the reform of the royal eunuch institution was not just drastic, but a complete overthrow.

In the future internal supervision, not only will there be no institutions such as Lijian and Yumajian that hold important powers, but even procurement and other things will be almost completely set aside.Merge into a separate Royal Affairs Department, which will be managed by Liu Yuanlai, Wu Shigong's housekeeper in Runing.In this way.The number of eunuchs and court ladies in the palace will definitely be greatly reduced, and even power will disappear.

Why is this so?Because in the future Daping Dynasty, the national finance will be completely separated from the royal expenditure.The annual annuity allocated by the state to the royal family is only about one percent of the total fiscal revenue, plus a fixed maintenance fee for the palace and state banquet entertainment expenses, the maximum is 20 taels per year.

Of course, as the country's fiscal revenue increases in the future, the annual royal annuity will gradually increase, but no matter what, the royal family will not have huge income.In addition, the expenses of royal weddings and funerals will also be borne by himself, so Wu Shigong's pressure to support his family can be imagined.Therefore, it is impossible to afford the expenses of so many eunuchs and court ladies.

In fact, in his heart, Wu Shigong still disliked eunuchs, such inhuman products.If it weren't for the social atmosphere at this time, and the royal family also needed such dignity, maybe Wu Shigong would have abolished the eunuch system.But now, we can only look forward to the enlightenment of the people in the future and the progress of society.

But for Ye Zhong, he didn't take Wu Shigong's words seriously.The eunuchs who have entered the inner study are a group of well-educated people.Of course, they are very familiar with history.Ye Zhong understood that at the beginning of each dynasty, because there was a strong emperor, the eunuch's weakness was always a matter of course.But in the future, as the emperors raised in the deep palace lack experience, their reliance on eunuchs will become more and more heavy.

Of course, Ye Zhong is not interested in thinking about such a distant matter.But as the chief eunuch in the palace, even if Wu Shigong deprived the eunuchs of all their rights, Ye Zhong's fortune would still not be shaken.In order to make the emperor happy, why should I bother with other eunuchs and court ladies?

But Ye Zhong didn't think about it, Wu Shigong always had to make arrangements.After all, some eunuchs, such as Liu Yuanbin, Xiao Yuegui and others, have helped the Runing Army to some extent, Wu Shigong still has to remember their love.The eunuchs who have studied in the inner study have merits in terms of cultural knowledge and administrative ability, even surpassing some rookie officials who came from the imperial examination.

And those professional eunuchs such as mine supervisors and tax supervisors also have strong professional knowledge.It's a pity that this group of talents just gave up like this, at least they should be shunted away.Wu Shigong only needs to restrain their exaggerated greed.

There are also some old eunuchs and court ladies, if they are kicked out of the palace, it will actually kill them.After all, morally speaking, Wu Shigong not only inherited the Zhu family dynasty, but also accepted eunuchs and palace maids as domestic slaves.To leave them alone would be detrimental to the benevolence of the royal family. (To be continued..)