Ming Dynasty entry: I am Chongzhen, the greatest emperor of all time!

Chapter 13: Selling official positions and titles? Good idea!

Looking at the Duke of Yingguo, Zhang Shize, who was less than 40 years old and had a heroic air in front of him, Zhu Youjian had some impression of him.

Similar to other loyal ministers in the late Ming Dynasty.

Although Zhang Shize doesn't have much ability, he is loyal.

He refused to escape, flee or surrender, and was finally executed by Li Zicheng.

Now it seems that Zhang Shize's mind works quite quickly.

Zhu Youjian just said that the nobles were rich, and Zhang Shize asked to take his servants to guard the city.

If it were the previous Chongzhen, he might not have taken action against the Duke of Yingguo's Mansion.

Unfortunately, the person he met was Zhu Youjian.

No matter whether you are loyal or treacherous, just hand over the money first!
Are you a loyal subject?

Then we can share the money together later.

Are you a traitor?

Then don't blame the emperor for being ruthless.

There was no direct response to Zhang Shize's request.

Zhu Youjian first turned to the page of the Duke of Yingguo's Mansion in the account in his hand.

Then he looked at Zhang Shize with a smile and read slowly.

"The Governor-General of the Imperial Court, in his capital, has 140,000 taels of silver, 140 private soldiers, 5,000 mu of land, and over 1,000 shops, which is equivalent to nearly 500,000 taels of silver."

"This... these are all my ancestral property..." Zhang Shize was frightened when he heard his family fortune being read out by the emperor.

He had inherited the title less than a year earlier and had embezzled some money from the Beijing camp, but that was only a small part.

Does the emperor want to confiscate all of them?

"Of course I know that it is your ancestral property." Zhu Youjian said calmly.

The Duke of Yingguo started from the Yongle period and continued to Zhang Shize for a total of nine generations.

It would be strange if he didn't have that much wealth.

A top nobleman in the Ming Dynasty, a duke for nine generations, was not as good as Zhou Kui, who had been the emperor's father-in-law for more than ten years.

It is easy to imagine how greedy Zhou Kui was.

Zhu Youjian would never kill such a loyal nobleman and confiscate his property.

If he does this, he will become a real lonely man.

His plan was to pull one group together, beat another group, and divide another group.

Facing the extremely terrified Zhang Shize, Zhu Youjian waved his hand and took out a seal.

"Don't be alarmed, Duke Ying. Since you've requested to guard Desheng Gate, I can't refuse your loyalty."

"How about this? If Duke Ying is willing to lend me two hundred thousand taels of silver, I will appoint him Grand Secretary, Vice Minister of War, and Commander-in-Chief of the Desheng Gate Defense. When the rebels retreat, I will repay you with three-tenths of the interest."

Having said this, Zhu Youjian paused and then added.

"I heard that your beloved wife is pregnant. I promise you that if it's a son, he will inherit the Dukedom of England and can marry a princess when he comes of age. If it's a daughter, she will be given to the Crown Prince as his consort."

As soon as the words were spoken, the whole place fell silent.

Especially Zhang Shize, his whole body couldn't stop shaking.

Not to mention the title of Grand Secretary, he was promoted from a nobleman with no real power to the Minister of War.

The fact that his son was Princess Shang and his daughter was the Crown Princess was enough to make this hereditary Duke excited to the point of fainting.

This is a time to rest with the country!
Your Majesty, you told me there would be benefits! It's just some silver!!!
As if fearing that Zhu Youjian would go back on his word, Zhang Shize knelt down instantly and kowtowed repeatedly, but the corners of his mouth couldn't help but rise.

"I am willing to donate! I am willing to donate all my property to thank God for His grace! As long as I am alive, the Deshengmen will survive!"

Another loyal minister of the Ming Dynasty, Ni Yuanlu, felt dizzy and almost fainted.

"Your Majesty, absolutely not! Selling official positions and titles! This is... the way to bring disaster upon the nation! Your Majesty, are you trying to emulate the ancient rulers Jie and Zhou? The examples of Emperor Ling and Emperor Huizong of the Han Dynasty are still fresh in our minds!"

When Zhu Youjian heard this, his eyes suddenly lit up.

"Selling official positions and titles? What a great idea!"

He was worried about how to get money from the wealthy merchants in the capital. According to Li Ruolian, the wealth of these wealthy merchants was no less than that of the nobles.

But he couldn't raid the homes of wealthy businessmen like he did the homes of noble ministers.

After all, the noble ministers were still officials of the Zhu family, and they earned money that the Zhu family collected from all over the world.

Just follow the law.

Rich businessmen earned their money themselves. Can we blame them for making a lot of money since there was no commercial tax in the Ming Dynasty?
If they really went up and confiscated the rich merchants, there was no doubt that the whole Jiangnan region would be in chaos.

Now Ni Yuanlu actually came up with a good idea.

You have money and I have power. Let's cooperate.

Thinking of this, Zhu Youjian could no longer sit still. He ignored the ministers below the stage and shouted loudly outside the hall, "Wang Banban? Wang Banban?"

Wang Chengen pushed open the palace door and trotted to Zhu Youjian.

"This servant is here. What are your instructions, Your Majesty?"

"Quickly, draw up the decree."

"Ah? Oh oh oh." Although Wang Chengen was confused, he still hurriedly found the drafting paper and stood by with a brush in hand.

"Any wealthy merchant in the city who donates 10,000 taels of silver will be promoted to earldom, and those who donate 100,000 taels of silver will inherit the title without succession! This will take effect immediately and will only last for three days."

"Wang Banban, you must cooperate with Jinyiwei Xu Feng to personally handle this matter. No other personnel are allowed to be involved!"

"Ah?" Wang Chengen was even more confused. He even forgot to write and stared at Zhu Youjian blankly.

"What are you looking at me for? Write!" Zhu Youjian was a little impatient.

"No! This is a recipe for disaster! If you dare to revoke my imperial decree, I will fight you to death!"

If Ni Yuanlu hadn't had a shred of rationality in his heart, he would have gone up and torn Wang Chengen and the draft paper into pieces.

Faced with such an order and Ni Yuanlu's anger, Wang Chengen didn't know how to start writing.

Why is our emperor acting more and more like a king who lost his country?!
Or should I give some advice?
"Your Majesty... this... selling official positions and titles is not feasible... Even if I draft an imperial edict... I'm afraid the cabinet won't even approve it..."

Zhu Youjian then remembered the Ming Dynasty's cabinet voting system.

Simply put, when the court discusses something, the emperor drafts an edict and sends it to the cabinet. The cabinet chief and the elders study whether the matter is feasible, and then draft a document for approval and distribution throughout the country.

An imperial edict without a draft document and approval is called a Zhongzhi, which can only represent the emperor's personal wishes and lacks legal rigor.

But Zhu Youjian didn't care about that now. The cabinet was rotten from top to bottom. If they were allowed to draft the imperial edict to sell official positions and titles.

Who knows how much money he can make.

"Send me the imperial decree directly. Write it now, and let the people of the whole city know it tomorrow morning!"

"No! Absolutely not! Your Majesty, please revoke your order! Otherwise, I will smash my head against the wall and die in this palace!"

Ni Yuanlu walked quickly to the pillar of the hall and held the black hat in his hands.

His eyes were red and his face was pale.

Whether it was leading people to search properties, misusing the Party guards, or selling official positions and titles.

They are all madly attacking the moral bottom line of this great scholar.

Zhu Youjian looked at this rigid and pedantic loyal minister and asked a question softly.

"Mr. Ni, tell me, if Li Zicheng breaks into the city and hangs me on Coal Hill, would that be in accordance with national etiquette and law?"

This sentence made Ni Yuanlu suddenly speechless. "The rebels... How could the rebels possibly break into the capital? Once the heavenly troops arrive, the rebels will fall without a fight."

"Haha, Ni Qing, why don't you go and take a look at the situation in the city before you talk?" Zhu Youjian sneered.

"There are only 4,700 old and weak soldiers left in the Beijing Camp, and the remnants of the Yongwei Camp are still using wooden sticks. How many arrows can the Jing Army, composed of several thousand eunuchs, withstand? Minister Zhang had to remove all the copper nails in the Ministry of Works to make a batch of arrows!"

"The rebels still have hundreds of thousands of troops, why can't they break the city? Is it only if I hang myself on Coal Hill that I can meet Lord Ni's requirements?!"

"Old minister...old minister...Beijing Camp..." Ni Yuanlu looked dazed. He had never thought that the capital would be broken, let alone that it had become so corrupt.

Isn't this just a simple rebellion by the people? How could the emperor, who is destined to be the emperor, be slaughtered by the people?
But when the facts were before his eyes, he had to believe that thousands of old and weak people were indeed unable to defend the capital.

Zhu Youjian slowly stood up and spoke in a very low voice, as if he was talking to his ministers, or as if he was talking to himself.

"I can still give them titles and protect them, but when Li Zicheng comes, they might even lose their lives..."

(End of this chapter)