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

Chapter 35: Plant my dragon flag at Deshengmen!

Liu Fugui was stunned when he saw the dozens of Jinyiwei who suddenly appeared in front of him.

Wasn’t he selling bran just now?

Where did these bastards come from?

They also said he was reselling military rations. Isn't military rations something only men can touch?
A series of question marks appeared above Liu Fugui's head.

Unfortunately, he didn't have time to ask questions. After the eunuch announced the decree, he was dragged out of the door by seven or eight Jinyiwei.

The ivory plaque worth one hundred thousand taels that was hanging around his waist fell to the ground with a clang.

Things happened so fast that the crowd didn't know what to do for a moment.

The eunuch cleared his throat and took out a scroll of imperial edict from his sleeve.

He shouted towards the door, "All people, receive the order, kneel~"

Although hundreds of refugees were panicked and wanted to escape, their long-standing fear of imperial power made them kneel on the ground subconsciously, not even daring to raise their heads.

The eunuch held up the imperial edict with both hands and read it loudly.

"The Emperor, by the Mandate of Heaven, decrees~"

As soon as he finished speaking, a dozen Jinyiwei strongmen behind him repeated it at the same time so that the refugees in the distance could also hear it.

"I have been entrusted with the mandate of Heaven to care for the people. I work tirelessly, day and night, with the sole concern of protecting my people. Recently, natural disasters have been frequent, the borders are in turmoil, and there have been rebellions by traitors, forcing you to flee the cities and sleep in the streets. Every time I hear the cries of hunger, it burns my heart. Though war rages everywhere and the people suffer, my heart aches. How can I bear to see these innocent children suffering in the ditches?"

"I hereby order the Ministry of Revenue to open the Taicang granary with 100,000 dan of millet, and to establish 100 porridge mills in Shuntian Prefecture. All hungry civilians in the city, young and old, who are unable to work, will be provided with one meal a day. Furthermore, I order the Ministry of Works to repair military equipment in the capital, and to prepare arrows and spears for officials. All able-bodied refugees who are able-bodied and able-bodied will be provided with two meals a day, so that the able-bodied can have food and the elderly and weak can be cared for."

"Though I hold the throne, I worry about drought and floods when I observe the stars at night, and I'm wary of enemy cavalry when I read border reports during the day. Even if the treasury is empty, I must first help you, my people. All of you, the people, should understand the court's earnest efforts, disregard rumors, and live your lives in peace. Anyone who takes advantage of this opportunity to cause trouble or embezzle relief grain will be arrested and executed by the Five Cities Military Command to enforce discipline."

"Special order to officials both at home and abroad: Relief efforts are to be overseen by Li Guozhen, the Earl of Xiangcheng. The Embroidered Uniform Guard will dispatch cavalry to oversee the investigation. Anyone found guilty of withholding funds will be deemed guilty of deceiving the emperor and will be executed without mercy!"

"I hereby order~"

The eunuch closed the imperial edict, and none of the refugees kneeling below dared to move, because they simply couldn't understand it!

The eunuch had already thought of this situation. He coughed twice and spoke again to the crowd.

"The Emperor is thinking about you peasants. He knows you're cold and hungry, so he has specially sent an order to the Minister of Revenue to open the granaries and release the grain."

"In the capital, regardless of gender, age or status, those who cannot work get one meal a day, and those who can work in the Ministry of Works get two meals a day! You peasants, you should know that the emperor only eats two bowls of porridge a day."

There was deathly silence outside the fence.

It was not until several buckets of thick porridge were brought in front of the crowd by the Embroidered Uniform Guards that the crowd burst into tears.

But it was not fear, but an indescribable gratitude.

The people are always so lovely and so innocent.

They would not think about who had brought them to this situation. They only knew that the emperor who was high above and in power over the world still remembered them, the common people.

I don't know who started it, but a large group of hungry people knelt down in the direction of the imperial city. The uneven shouts of "Long live the emperor" scared away the crows that were waiting for food on the roof of the grain market.

The old man, whose firewood had been requisitioned to reinforce the city's defenses, was now in tears, and his hand was shaking as he held his grandson's.

He excitedly shouted to the refugees around him, "The emperor hasn't forgotten me. I donated four ounces and seven cents to the emperor! He knows I'm hungry. He hasn't forgotten me! He hasn't forgotten me..."

Scenes like this can be seen everywhere on the street.

In just one noon, 65 grain stores were sealed off.

Twenty-seven thousand shi of dirty grain were seized.

He also ordered the imperial guards in four directions, headed by Ni Yuanlu, and including 1,960 officials of all ranks, as well as 117 noble families including Zhang Shize, to hand over the remaining grain in their palaces.

Led by the royal family, the capital implemented a wartime rationing system, and the Ministry of Revenue unified the allocation and distribution.

This is Zhu Youjian’s real purpose!

What's the big deal about raiding grain merchants? When he learned about the situation of the five grains in the morning, he immediately thought of the rationing system of various countries during World War II.

The situation in the capital is even more severe now than it was then, and a large number of refugees may starve to death at any time.

It was a good time to implement rationing.

On the one hand, it can reduce food expenditure and redistribute the rich and the poor, and on the other hand, it can thoroughly check the actual population of the capital and fully deploy the capital's war potential.

When this plan came out, Ni Yuanlu was astonished. This plan was very suitable for the current situation in the capital, and the whole city was united, with nobles and common people working together to protect the country, which was very much in line with the values ​​of Ming Confucianism.

There is no reason to object.

Wu Xiang was even more certain that Zhu Youjian had been hiding his incompetence before, and was now taking advantage of the crisis in the capital and the panic of the ministers to completely purge the court!
The actual effect is also very significant. At least now people are coming to deliver food.

Moreover, the actual number is not much different from what the Jinyiwei found out.

After all, in their eyes, one thousand dan of grain was less than three thousand taels of silver, and it was not worth offending the emperor, whose majesty was growing, for such a small amount of money.

The Jinyiwei were very busy.

Investigate the nobles, officials, wealthy businessmen, and grain merchants, and now we have to cooperate with the new Hanlin scholar Song Ye to carry out population census work.

If it weren't for the addition of the purple entry and Li Ruolian taking the lead.

I guess he would have kicked the bucket a long time ago.

……

In the court, Zhu Youjian was so busy that his eyes were red.

The mess Chongzhen left him was so huge that even with the system's support, he was unable to take care of it.

Since Wu Xiang and the other two arrived in the morning, they have not been allowed to leave.

Afterwards, officials from the Ministry of Works, Ministry of War, Beijing Garrison and other departments arrived one after another.

There is nothing else, just one topic.

city ​​defense!

Last night's night attack was very successful, according to the battle report from Yebushou Baihu.

At least seven granaries of grain and grass were burned, totaling more than 100,000 shi!
According to rough estimates, the rebel army only had less than 300,000 shi left. Considering their number of 700,000, they could only hold out for two months at most.

Plus the food and fodder needed for the retreat.

So the rebel army only had forty days left to attack the city.

If we can hold the capital for forty days, everything will be fine.

Unfortunately, these short forty days became a gap that the court officials could not cross.

There are 5,000 elite soldiers in the capital city.

As long as Li Zicheng gets angry and leads his entire army to attack, the capital may not be able to hold on for even a day.

Ni Yuanlu still used the same old tricks, there was nothing he would not agree to under any of the conditions.

If they can hold out for seven days and wait for the arrival of the Guanning Army, the capital will have a chance to turn things around.

But it was rejected by Zhu Youjian and Wu Xiang.

Last night's night attack had begun to show results. Li Zicheng had no idea of ​​the strength of the city and would definitely not launch a large-scale attack.

Now, as long as Li Zicheng follows Wu Xiang's strategy and focuses on attacking Deshengmen, he can hold out until Wu Sangui arrives.

The strategy of selling official positions and steadily confiscating property was still being implemented. During these seven days, Zhu Youjian was confident that he could extort 20 million taels of silver without affecting the overall situation in the world.

This is already the limit of the speed of house search.

All the officials were arguing about how to get Li Zicheng to attack Deshengmen, and the whole place was filled with saliva.

Some say that Deshengmen was opened on purpose, while others say that the troops were deployed outside the city to lure Li Zicheng into a decisive battle.

Some even said that Li Zicheng was given a tactical plan and the battle was scheduled to take place at Deshengmen.

The quarrel gave Zhu Youjian a headache.

As the sky gradually darkened, there was still no specific plan.

Zhu Youjian slammed the table with a dark face.

"Enough! Plant my dragon banner on Desheng Gate!"

"I will go there in person. I don't believe Li Zicheng won't come!"

(End of this chapter)