The Ming Dynasty: A bookstore sells the history of the Ming Dynasty, leaving Emperor Chongzhen bewil

It was no coincidence that Liu Zongzhou and Qian Qianyi came together, because the last time Liu Zongzhou said that Qian Qianyi was afraid, Qian Qianyi reacted like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, and he got all worked up.

So this time, when he heard from Grand Secretary Han Kuang that the Emperor had once again left the palace at a critical moment and even skipped the morning court session, Qian Qianyi volunteered to go and advise the Emperor, and asked Liu Zongzhou if he dared to do so.

Neither of them would yield to the other, so they went together to the palace gates and blocked the emperor's way back to the palace.

From the very beginning, Qian Qianyi demonstrated the spirit and integrity of a scholar-official, his concern for the country and its people, his courage to speak frankly and remonstrate, and his integrity in the face of death.

If Emperor Chongzhen had remained ignorant of history, he might have truly been moved by Qian Qianyi's spirit and integrity. But having learned about history and looking back at Qian Qianyi now...

"That jumping clown!"

Emperor Chongzhen cursed inwardly, but said nothing aloud. Instead, he stared at Qian Qianyi and said, "Don't think I wouldn't dare kill you!"

At this moment, Qian Qianyi remained steadfast in his righteous indignation: "To die for the country and its people is an honor beyond measure!"

Liu Zongzhou, standing to the side, secretly praised him, "Old Qian, I, Old Liu, have misunderstood you."

However, this remark made Emperor Chongzhen laugh.

It took Chongzhen a while to suppress his laughter. He glanced at Qian Qianyi and said, "What if I said that my departure from the palace was for disaster relief?"

"Was he leaving the palace for disaster relief?"

Qian Qianyi had clearly sensed the smile on Chongzhen's face. He didn't understand why, but he was genuinely angry and embarrassed. He retorted, "I have never heard of an emperor who would skip the morning court session and leave the palace alone to devise a way to provide disaster relief!"

Emperor Chongzhen thought for a moment and said, "How about this, I'll make a bet with you all. We'll bet on whether I have a way to provide disaster relief. If I lose, I'll issue an edict of self-reproach to the people. If you lose, you can decide what to do."

Issuing an edict of self-reproach was an extremely severe punishment for the emperor, as it was equivalent to admitting to the world that he was wrong. However, Emperor Chongzhen was an emperor who was quite fond of issuing edicts of self-reproach. During his reign, he issued a total of six edicts of self-reproach, most of which were concentrated in the later period of his reign.

The Emperor's display of such great sincerity truly startled Qian Qianyi and Liu Zongzhou.

Qian Qianyi didn't hesitate much and said directly, "Very well, if I lose, Your Majesty, I will do as you please!"

In fact, both Qian Qianyi and Emperor Chongzhen knew that it was impossible for a minister to be killed because of a bet. If that were the case, it would be a laughing stock in history.

Emperor Chongzhen smiled and said, "I will not kill you. I only ask that you jump into the moat in front of all the civil and military officials!"

……

"Summon all officials to the palace for a meeting!"

After seeing Qian Qianyi and Liu Zongzhou off, Chongzhen immediately gave instructions to his attendants. Taking advantage of the brief moment while the officials were in the hall, Chongzhen hastily ate a few bites of food and then went to the Hall of Supreme Harmony...

On the dragon throne.

Emperor Chongzhen sat upright, glanced at the assembled ministers standing in neat rows, each holding a tablet, and slowly said, "Shaanxi has suffered a great disaster. Who do you think is suitable to be the imperial envoy to go to the disaster area to provide relief to the victims and comfort the people?"

"Or, anyone who wants to volunteer can step forward!"

After he finished speaking, the entire hall fell silent.

With no money and no food, and millions of disaster victims, it was an absolutely hellish situation.

Who dares to go?

Furthermore, recommending someone at this time is tantamount to pushing that person into a fire pit.

So after waiting for a while, no one spoke up.

Emperor Chongzhen then spoke, "I know this is a difficult task. Since none of you have spoken, I will decide!"

"By imperial decree, Hong Chengchou, the Shaanxi Grain Supervisor, is hereby appointed Imperial Commissioner, granted the Imperial Sword, and given full authority to oversee disaster relief efforts and to provide relief and comfort to the people on my behalf!"

"Your Majesty, we obey!"

The courtiers in the hall responded in unison.

This time, no one stood up to object, and no one argued; it was a rare moment of consensus.

They were all wondering what had happened to Hong Chengchou that made him so unlucky to have caught the emperor's eye and end up with such a mess.

With no money or food, all they gave us was an imperial sword—what good is that?

soon.

The imperial edict appointing Hong Chengchou, the Shaanxi Grain Supervisor, as Imperial Commissioner was issued from the capital and urgently sent to Shaanxi.

Along with the imperial edict, there were also two secret memorials personally written by Emperor Chongzhen.

One method was naturally disaster relief, while the other required Hong Chengchou to find Wang Er, Gao Yingxiang, Zhang Xianzhong, Li Zicheng, and other figures listed by Emperor Chongzhen, and execute them immediately, erring on the side of caution and not letting the guilty go free...

……

The end of the year is approaching, but there is still an important task to be done before the New Year.

That was the small court assembly held before the emperor at the end of the year.

Don't underestimate this small court assembly; it's one of the most important meetings of the year, with the main topics being revenue and expenditure and the budget.

Even a family needs to calculate its income and expenses at the end of the year, let alone a large imperial court.

Those who were able to attend this meeting were all members of the imperial cabinet and high-ranking officials from various ministries.

In preparation for this small court assembly, officials of all ranks in various departments and government offices began preparing relevant materials at the end of November and spent a whole month preparing.

The Ministry of Revenue, in particular, was in charge of the imperial court's major financial affairs.

If it were during the Jiajing or Wanli reigns, the emperor would only listen in on such important meetings, and even the imperial approval would be handed over to the eunuch in charge of writing.

Now, Emperor Chongzhen, who was determined to revitalize the Ming Dynasty, naturally wanted to preside over the meeting himself.

"The Ministry of Revenue should report on the revenue of the two capitals and fourteen provinces for the year, as well as the expenditures of various ministries and localities, to see whether the national treasury was in surplus or deficit last year. Each ministry should then report on next year's budget, especially for major expenditures, which must be budgeted in advance."

At this moment, Bi Ziyan, the Minister of Revenue, stepped forward without hesitation.

Not long ago, news came from Liaodong that his younger brother, Bi Zisu, the governor of Liaodong, was rescued from the rebels and wanted to commit suicide out of shame and indignation, but Sun Chengzong stopped him in time and saved his life. According to Sun Chengzong, all of this was due to the emperor's foresight, and he told him to thank the emperor if he wanted to.

Therefore, Bi Ziyan was truly grateful to Emperor Chongzhen, but while he was grateful, he still had to truthfully state the difficulties he faced.

"To be honest, the Ministry of Revenue had a very difficult year. Since I took over the Ministry of Revenue, the national treasury had been embezzled and squandered by Wei Zhongxian, with a deficit of more than 1.3 million taels of silver. But thanks to the Emperor's benevolence and virtue, and his tireless efforts, we managed to get things back to normal by the end of the year."

"Over the past month or so, the Ministry of Revenue has finally settled all the expenses of the past year and settled all the accounts that needed to be settled. I will now report the details to Your Majesty."

"In the past year, the total tax revenue collected from the two capitals and fourteen provinces amounted to 4.36 million taels of silver, and the initial budget for various expenditures was over 4 million taels of silver. However, according to the Ministry of Revenue's calculations, the bills submitted by various ministries totaled 5.17 million taels of silver."

"With revenue and expenditure balanced, the national treasury is short of 810,000 taels this year. Adding to the deficit of more than 1.3 million taels last year, the actual deficit of the national treasury will exceed 2 million taels of silver by the end of this year."