My father is Chongzhen? Then I have no choice but to rebel.

Chapter 74 Chongzhen: My money! This is all my money!
After a moment, Chongzhen murmured:

"If we include the land taxes owed by other ministers in the court, wouldn't that mean there are tens of millions of taels of silver?"

Zhu Cixi shook his head:
"It should be more than ten times more than this! Zhang Sizhi is not a big fish among these people."

"Which of those ministers who have resigned doesn't have thousands or even tens of thousands of acres of land?"

"Besides that, there are also the princes and the gentry of Jiangnan. The land they occupy is no less than that of the civil and military officials of the imperial court."

"Based on the current grain price of two taels of silver per dan of grain, they all collectively owe the country approximately 1 million taels of tax each year."

"From the first year of Chongzhen to now, it is about 16 billion taels of silver!"

This was calculated by Zhu Cilang based on the 5:1 tax rate during the Chongzhen period and the price of two taels of silver for one stone of grain.

By the end of the Ming Dynasty, taxes and prices had collapsed, and sometimes a stone of grain could even be sold for four or five taels of silver.

What’s even worse is this 5-tax-1 ratio!

5税1老百姓根本活不下去，因为5税1到下面之后，肯定会变成5税2或者5税3。

The normal tax rate should be 20 to 1 or 30 to 1. Chongzhen must have been driven crazy to do this.

This is also a problem that Zhu Cilang must solve later!

At the same time, Chongzhen was completely shocked by the numbers given by Zhu Cilang!

The whole person was stunned.

To be honest, he was completely confused. As an emperor, he certainly knew that the gentry groups in Jiangnan had been resisting taxes in recent years.

But he never imagined that the amount of taxes owed by these guys was so outrageous.

If these taxes were paid normally, the national treasury would increase by at least 1 million taels of silver every year!

You have to know that this is a full 100 million taels of silver!
He had never dreamed of so many things!
With this money, he could recruit and train more troops and easily defeat Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong.

You can also beat the Jiannu army to a pulp.

It can also make sure that all people can afford to eat!
Thinking of this, Chongzhen couldn't help but feel angry.

At this moment, he no longer cared about Zhu Cilang's deception into him killing people. In his opinion, he still killed too few people!
It wouldn’t be excessive to kill ten times as many of these termites!
The next second, Chongzhen seemed to have thought of something, then looked at Zhu Cilang in shock and said:
"Wait. Are you planning to reform the tax system next?"

Chongzhen has never been a fool. Through the conversation just now, he realized Zhu Cilang’s ambition!
Zhu Cilang did not hide it, nodded and said:

"That's right! I've already asked Sun Chuanting to check the amount of farmland in Shaanxi while he's in Shaanxi to suppress the bandits. Once the amount of farmland is checked, we'll start the next step of tax reform."

"In short, Shaanxi is being used as a testing ground for implementing the new tax system."

"Under the new tax system, whether you are a prince, a noble, a civil or military official, a gentry, or a farmer, you all must pay taxes."

"Of course, this also includes your imperial estate, father. Taxes must also be paid!"

"You should also know that ever since you imposed the Three Taxes and raised the tax rate to 5:1, half of the people in the Ming Dynasty are having trouble surviving."

“因为5税1到最后肯定会变成5税2或者5税3。”

"If the tax system is not reformed, even if Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong are killed, the internal problems will still not be completely resolved."

"The Ming Dynasty will eventually be destroyed."

“Therefore, tax reform is imperative!”

Chongzhen fell silent. Now he was no longer angry at all.

Because he knew that everything Zhu Cilang did was entirely for the future of the Ming Dynasty.

If he really succeeds, the entire Ming Dynasty will usher in an unprecedented peak!
If he fails
Do not!
He cannot fail!
Anyway, he has taken all the blame. This rebellious son has both money and military power in his hands. How could he fail?
For the first time in his life, Chongzhen suddenly began to like taking the blame.
After a moment, he slowly said, "Have someone prepare writing brush, ink, paper, and a blank imperial edict."

Zhu Cilang was speechless when he heard this:

"Father, what do you want to do?"

Chongzhen looked at Zhu Cilang and said seriously:
"You haven't killed enough before. I will write you a few more imperial edicts. Go and kill some more people and take all their property and land to enrich the national treasury."

Zhu Cilang was actually speechless for a moment.

But he could understand Chongzhen's current mood.

As an emperor who could not make money no matter what he did, he must have felt unbalanced when he learned that he was the only one who had no money in the entire Ming Dynasty, while the civil and military officials, the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River, and the nobles were all rich.

If it were Zhu Cilang, he would also feel unbalanced.

But it was obvious that now was not the time to kill.

Thinking of this, Zhu Cilang smiled and said:

"There's no need to attack them for now. When the opportunity arises in a while, none of them will be able to escape."

Chongzhen didn't know what the opportunity Zhu Cilang was talking about was, but seeing how confident Zhu Cilang was, he knew it couldn't be a good thing.

Suddenly, Zhu Cilang seemed to have thought of something and asked curiously:
"Father, haven't you killed many civil and military officials before? Haven't you raided their homes and investigated their specific properties and lands?"

When Chongzhen heard this, he looked a little embarrassed.

He did kill many ministers, but under the instigation of civil and military officials, he rarely confiscated their property.

Every time he decided to confiscate the property, the ministers would stop him with various reasons and persuade him to be a wise and benevolent ruler.

In addition, Chongzhen didn't like the Jinyiwei very much, so he never really knew the family background of those officials.

When Chongzhen thought of this, he became so angry that his blood boiled.

Because these people have been in arrears with the country’s land taxes!
If Ming Dynasty had this much money, how could it be like this now?
This is all my money! My money!
Chongzhen couldn't help but shout in his heart.

Although Chongzhen did not answer his question, Zhu Cilang knew what was going on by looking at Chongzhen's expression.

I have to say, it's quite speechless!
For a moment, the air suddenly became quiet.

Chongzhen recalled what he had done before, and finally sighed, then looked at Zhu Cilang and said:

"Ying'er, it was Father who wronged you before. You did a great job."

Yan'er?

Zhu Cilang felt somewhat uncomfortable when he heard this name.

After all, he was used to hearing the term "rebellious son".

Suddenly at this moment, Zhu Cilang seemed to have thought of something, and then said:
"Father, please write another imperial edict." "What imperial edict?"

Chongzhen asked curiously.

"Didn't we kill Minister of War Ding Qirui today? Next, I've decided to appoint Li Banghua as the new Minister of War and have him reorganize the Beijing camp."

"Li Banghua has arrived this morning, and I have just discussed the entire matter of the Beijing camp with him."

"After the imperial edict appointing Li Banghua is read out at tomorrow morning's court session, he can start working on this matter!"

Zhu Cilang replied.

Li Banghua?
When Chongzhen heard this name, his expression changed slightly.

Because ten years ago, Li Banghua was appointed as the Minister of War by him personally, and the Beijing camp was reorganized under his orders.

However, at that time, the nobles and civil and military officials were obstructing the plan, so the plan to reorganize the Beijing camp was abandoned halfway.

In desperation, he formed the Yongwei Battalion.

etc.
Brave Guard Battalion!
Thinking of this, Chongzhen hurriedly asked:
"By the way, do you know what the Brave Guard Battalion is like now?"

Zhu Cilang nodded and said:

"Not long ago, I received a secret report from the Yongwei Battalion, saying that after several battles, more than half of the Yongwei Battalion's personnel had been injured."

"Among them, the eunuch admiral died on the battlefield, and the eunuch in charge of the imperial pen was seriously injured. Therefore, I have allocated some money to allow them to rest and recuperate before returning to the capital to reorganize their affairs."

Chongzhen first breathed a sigh of relief, then said:

"You did the right thing, and it's time to let them come back."

You must know that the Yongwei Camp can be said to be the only army loyal to Chongzhen, and it is also the only army that Chongzhen can directly dispatch without going through anyone, so Chongzhen does not want this army to be destroyed in this way.

So Chongzhen no longer hesitated.

"Alright! I'll help you write the imperial edict appointing Li Banghua as the Minister of War!"

Soon, pen, ink and a blank imperial edict were delivered, and Chongzhen picked up the pen to write the imperial edict again.

This time, without Zhu Cilang's instructions, his handwriting was already very sloppy and even crooked.

At first glance, you can tell that it came from a seriously ill person.

Looking at Chongzhen who was writing the imperial edict in front of him, Zhu Cilang was still very satisfied.

It would actually be nice if this kind of father-son relationship could continue like this.

He was doing the work in the front, while Chongzhen took the blame behind.

After all, dads always take the blame for their sons.

Soon, Zhu Cilang left Kunning Palace with the imperial edict appointing Li Banghua as the Minister of War.

At noon that day, a group of officials headed by Ding Qirui and their families were all beheaded at the Meridian Gate. Zhang Sizhi was poisoned to death because he was a cabinet minister.

This move once again shocked the court, and almost all officials were in a state of panic.

But this time they did not dare to gather together to comment on such things as usual.

Even several cabinet ministers, six ministers and other high-ranking officials all closed their doors to visitors!
After all, everyone knows that Chongzhen now has the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the East Factory, and the West Factory, and it is even possible that they have Chongzhen's spies around them.

If you are not careful, you may end up in fatal disaster.

Early the next morning, as the bell for court rang, the ministers filed in, and Zhu Cilang also appeared in front of everyone.

After a simple greeting, Wang Chengen said loudly:

"When there is something going on, we will start, and when there is nothing going on, we will retreat."

At this moment, Zhou Yanru was the first to stand up.

"Your Highness, I have something to report."

Zhu Cilang nodded:
"Mr. Zhou, please speak."

Zhou Yanru continued:

"Your Highness, the cabinet ministers, the Minister of War, and others have already been brought to justice. I believe they deserved their punishment!"

"But these positions cannot remain vacant, so I would like to recommend some people to fill these positions."

When Zhu Cilang heard this, he sneered in his heart.

Sure enough, Zhou Yanru was worthy of being the leader of the Donglin Party. When he saw his fellow Donglin Party members being killed, he immediately thought of using other people to fill the vacancies in order to maintain the power of his own party.

Unfortunately, his wishful thinking was wrong.

Then, Zhu Cilang immediately said:

"Lord Zhou, you may not know that when I reported this matter to the Emperor yesterday, he had already made a decision."

"The position of cabinet minister is temporarily vacant. We will appoint a suitable candidate when one is found. As for the candidate for the Minister of War, Father has decided to appoint Li Banghua, the Minister of War from Nanjing."

"Wang Chengen, summon Li Banghua to the palace!"

Wang Chengen then said loudly:

"Send Li Banghua to the palace!"

After saying this, Li Banghua walked in from the palace gate.

He had a resolute expression and walked with steady steps, and it was obvious that he was confident about this appointment.

When the civil and military officials present saw Li Banghua, they were all shocked, as if they had seen a ghost!
There was actually nothing wrong with enthroning Li Banghua as the Minister of War. After all, Li Banghua was also the Minister of War in Nanjing.

But there is a key problem here!

So Li Banghua was originally in Nanjing? How did he suddenly come to the capital for no apparent reason?
And he has to be the Minister of War as soon as he arrives?
Doesn't this mean that Chongzhen had planned to appoint Li Banghua as the Minister of War from the beginning and secretly transferred him to the capital?
And the killing of Minister of War Ding Qirui was just to make room for Li Banghua?

Oh my God, what is going on?

When did Chongzhen become so smart?

(End of this chapter)