I am the prince of the Ming Dynasty, I don't give up

Chapter 113: The Eighth Year of Zhengde
It was a bit bleak in the late autumn in the capital city. A convoy slowly stopped at a parade ground outside the capital city.

"Is this the place where the prince originally held the Cuju League?" Yu Chunlai frowned as he looked at the dilapidated stands and the weed-covered stadium.

"Yes, it was like this when I came here last year." The speaker was Lu Xin, who had followed Zhu Houxuan to Beijing three years ago.

"It's only been a few years. How come it has become like this?" Yu Chunlai continued to ask. He had not been in good health in recent years and had not been to the capital.

"I guess it was caused by the chaos caused by Liu Liu and Liu Qi in recent years. When the prince first organized this league, there were huge crowds of people here. At that time, all the regiments of the Beijing Camp formed teams. When this chaos happened, many regiments were transferred out to fight, so they probably couldn't take care of this area," Lu Xin explained hurriedly.

"Alas~" Yu Chunlai sighed, "I've been in Qizhou for so long that I almost forgot what the outside world is like. This journey here is really desolate everywhere!"

"If you compare these places with Qizhou, aren't they all dilapidated? I have been sent to many places by the prince in the past few years. After going around, I feel that our Qizhou is the best." Lu Xin said with a sneer.

"The rebellion caused by Liu Liu and Liu Qi has been settled. I estimate that these places will recover in a few years." Yu Chun said.

"The rebellion of Liu Liu and Liu Qi has been put down, but aren't there still those Mongols? In recent years, the Mongols have taken advantage of the fact that the border troops were transferred to the interior to suppress bandits. They have been attacking the border every year. The world is not yet at peace," Lu Xin couldn't help but retort.

Yu Chunlai was speechless and returned to the convoy, which then started moving slowly again.

"Bang!" A memorial was slammed down on the table. "Open up the treasury! Open up the treasury! Where is the money in my treasury?"

"Father, please calm down!"

"Father, please calm down!"

Two people's voices sounded at the same time.

Qian Ning looked fiercely at the person next to him, and that person glared at Qian Ning without showing any weakness.

This man has a burly and strong appearance, with a conspicuous scar on his face. This is Zhu Houzhao's new adopted son and new favorite - Jiang Bin.

Jiang Bin was originally the commander of Weizhou Guard, just an ordinary border army officer. When Liu Liu and Liu Qi revolted, the army in the capital could not control the war, so the court sent border troops to suppress Liu Liu and Liu Qi. The scar on his face was caused by arrows piercing his cheek during the battle, and the arrowhead went out of his ear. This man did have some real military achievements, but he also killed innocent people and took credit for his achievements.

After the uprising was suppressed, Jiang Bin led his troops through the capital and bribed Qian Ning with the silver he had looted from the rebels and the people, and was summoned by the emperor.

As a result, Zhu Houzhao liked Jiang Bin's military temperament and military ability very much, and promoted him to the position of deputy commander, and allowed him to enter and leave the leopard house. Once when he went to the Royal Zoo, the tiger in the cage was accidentally released, and Zhu Houzhao was forced into a corner by the tiger. Qian Ning saw this and trembled in fear, but Jiang Bin rushed forward to rescue him without hesitation. From then on, Zhu Houzhao looked at Jiang Bin in a different light.

From then on, Zhu Houzhao felt resentful towards Qian Ning. Although Qian Ning did not completely lose Zhu Houzhao's favor, her position had been replaced by Jiang Bin.

Qian Ning now regrets the most that he accepted Jiang Bin's bribe, so he has never been very friendly to Jiang Bin. Three years have passed since Zhu Houxuan left Beijing, and Zhu Houzhao has not had a good time in these three years.

Two months after Zhu Houxuan left, Liu Jin fell from power thanks to the efforts of Zhang Yong and other court officials. Many items of usurpation and rebellion were found in Liu Jin's home, and more than five million taels of silver were also seized (Note 1). Liu Jin was executed by slow slicing, and his followers were liquidated.

The fall of Liu Jin meant that Zhu Houzhao's five years of rule on the throne became a joke. Two months later, the Liu Liu and Liu Qi Rebellion broke out. In fact, the Liu Liu and Liu Qi's rebel army was not particularly strong. They did not capture any famous big cities, but were constantly fighting on the move. The people in the north were also severely oppressed, and there were many respondents. Therefore, the court had to send more officers and soldiers to siege the rebellion. It took three years to quell the Liu Liu and Liu Qi Rebellion.

No matter what era, war is a very expensive thing.

In order to quell the rebellion of Liu Liu and Liu Qi, the imperial court directly emptied the national treasury and used the silver confiscated from Liu Jin as compensation. Even the small treasury that Zhu Houzhao had saved up over the years was emptied, and the local treasury was also emptied.

Zhu Houzhao has been very well behaved in recent years because the scale of this rebellion was indeed quite large.

Although the war had subsided, the court still had to spend money every year, and the empty treasury would make even the mice shed tears, so the court officials set their sights on Zhu Houzhao's treasury, but Zhu Houzhao had no money either!
When the Liu Liu and Liu Qi Rebellion broke out, he could not withstand the pressure from court officials and closed a large number of imperial farms and shops, and gave the land of the imperial farms to landless peasants for cultivation.

As for other income, such as gold and silver, tributes from various places, etc., they are actually not much.

The most profitable were the two industries left by Zhu Houxun, but the manager of the Cuju League had no idea how to manage the league, and could not control so many noble families. Most importantly, he himself was greedy, which directly led to a significant drop in the profits of the Cuju League, but at least it could still be maintained. Once the war broke out, it could not even be maintained.

The lottery industry is more profitable, but more people are watching it. Zhu Houzhao asked Ma Jing, the eunuch who managed the imperial farms and stores, to manage the lottery. Just as Zhu Houxuan had expected, the lottery industry began to enter a vicious circle. By now, the lottery has become notorious among the people.

Zhu Houzhao was furious and killed Ma Jing and several other managers, but he still could not reverse the decline. The industry that once made a million dollars a year started to lose money in just three years because too few people bought lottery tickets and the money was not enough to cover the running costs of the lottery shop.

Now the position of lottery management has gone from being very popular to being something that everyone wants to avoid.

Now these court officials are asking him for money again. Where can he get the money?

Although Qian Ning and Jiang Bin were able to make Zhu Houzhao very happy and also embezzled a lot of money in private, it was still difficult for them to help Zhu Houzhao find money.

They could only persuade Zhu Houzhao to calm down, and they dared not say anything else.

At this time, someone reported: "The envoy from the Jingwang Mansion has arrived, saying that he is here to deliver a gift for this year's Wanshou Festival."

Note 1: According to historical records, a total of 3 taels of gold and taels of silver were seized from Liu Jin's home. This number is definitely false. The amount of silver circulating in the Ming Dynasty during the entire Zhengde period would never have exceeded million taels. This number is calculated based on the Veritable Records of Emperor Wuzong.

"(The emperor) personally searched his house and found gold and silver worth millions, other treasures that were incalculable, and also a counterfeit seal, 66 ivory plaques, two swords in the shape of a fan, as well as clothing, armor, bows and crossbows." (The Veritable Records of Emperor Wuzong of the Ming Dynasty, Volume )
I didn't expect that I would skip three years.
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(End of this chapter)