Jiajing Chengming

Chapter 57 I Want a Head

Qingning Palace.

Zhu Houcong sat on the throne, leaning against the dark yellow cushion, and glanced coldly at the three cabinet ministers in front of him.

"How many times have I said that there is no prime minister in the mountains in this dynasty, and there is no such thing as one now, and there will be no such thing in the future!"

“But they all treat a private residence as a real cabinet!”

Zhu Houcong laughed as he spoke, then sighed, "There are really few people you can trust nowadays!"

After Zhu Houcong said this, Liang Chu, Jiang Mian and Mao Ji were all trembling in their hearts and could not help but prostrate themselves on the ground.

"Otherwise, there wouldn't be only Luo Qinshun, Zhang Cong, and the new champion I selected who congratulated me on my stabilization of more than 200,000 soldiers and civilians, and believed that I could usher in a new era of prosperity."

Zhu Houcong continued speaking.

"Even you!"

"My Prime Minister!"

"If there is a problem, I would rather hope that Master Yang can solve it, rather than come and hope for me!"

After saying this, Zhu Houcong suddenly pointed at Liang Chu below and gnashed his teeth.

"Chen Wan is dead!"

"I went to see the Grand Tutor because the Chief Censor, Lord Chen, wanted five million taels of silver on behalf of the borders. The amount was so large that it almost emptied the national treasury and still could not meet the demand. In order not to use the internal treasury, I had to go to see the Grand Tutor and ask him to mediate so that the ministers outside the court would understand the court."

"After all, Lord Chen and General Peng are all disciples of the Grand Tutor. It is more appropriate for the Grand Tutor to come forward than for Your Majesty to come forward, because it is not reasonable for a monarch to ask for help from his subjects."

Liang Chu then kowtowed and answered.

After Zhu Houcong heard Liang Chu's truthful explanation, his tone softened and he asked, "Did he agree?"

"no!"

"I am incompetent and have failed to convince the Master."

Liang Chu replied.

Zhu Houcong turned around suddenly and looked at Liang Chu, causing his black hair to fly up: "What did he say?"

"Grandmaster, I want you to agree!"

"Even though I said that if this is the case, the grain tax in Jiangnan should not be reduced, he would not agree, saying that everything should be based on the grand ceremony."

"As for the problem of lack of funds to support the people, he said, we should ask Your Majesty to allocate funds from the treasury to help."

When Liang Chu reported back, Gu Dayong, the eunuch on duty here, opened his eyes wide, looked at Liang Chu, and also glanced at Zhu Houcong.

Liang Chu continued to answer, "The Grand Tutor said that Your Majesty is a sage and benevolent ruler. How could you sit back and watch the common people suffer? Therefore, this move will only cause the palace's favorites to resent. If I dare not offend the palace's favorites, I can stay in the palace. When he recovers from his illness and returns to the cabinet, he will fight for the people of the world!"

After Liang Chu said this, Jiang Mian and Mao Ji looked at Liang Chu in astonishment.

Gu Dayong clenched his fists and gritted his teeth.

Zhu Houcong laughed after hearing this and exclaimed: "What a great old man who makes decisions!"

"Everyone, get up."

Soon.

Zhu Houcong spoke in a gentle tone.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Zhu Houcong waited for Liang Chu to sit down, Jiang Mian and Mao Ji to stand up, and then said, "Change the chair for Yuanfu. An elderly person should lean back when necessary. This will be the case in the future. I am not a mean king. I will still be considerate when it is necessary."

Gu Dayong bowed and agreed, and immediately ordered someone to bring a chair for Liang Chu.

Liang Chu hurriedly expressed his gratitude.

Jiang Mian and Mao Ji pursed their lips and watched Gu Dayong, smiling, lead people to carry a palace chair behind Liang Chu, and personally helped Liang Chu sit down.

All of a sudden, they looked more like subordinates accompanying each other.

Zhu Houcong said after Liang Chu sat down: "I have also read the document that Chen Jin requested for military supplies from various borders."

"Did the arrears of wages reach such an extent when my brother was in power?"

Then, Zhu Houcong asked Liang Chu and others: "What are you going to do?"

"I sincerely ask Your Majesty to allocate funds from the treasury to help the people and stabilize the morale of the army!"

"Although the late emperor did not allow the nine frontiers to owe such a serious amount of wages when he was alive, the chief censor and his men are suspected of blackmailing the court by doing this, but after all, it is a request for the emperor's grace, and Your Majesty cannot refuse to agree to it and win the hearts of the army."

Liang Chu stood up again and crawled on the ground, saying with gritted teeth.

"Your Majesty, what the Prime Minister said is absolutely right. The court really does not have that much silver right now."

"I have recently heard that in Huai, Yang, Pi, and Xu Prefectures, the houses and fields of the army and civilians have been completely submerged. Within a hundred miles, there is no smoke from cooking. Children and girls are sold, and the money is paid by the pound. Some people even look at each other and cry bitterly, and jump into the water to die. I also heard that in Fengyang, Sizhou, and Hongze, hungry people have gathered in groups and robbed merchant ships and passengers in broad daylight. I don't know when they will be suppressed."

"Moreover, the Huguang Lake burst its banks, and the flood affected fifteen prefectures, causing countless refugees to flee famine. Your Majesty must have seen some of this when he entered the capital."

"Therefore, we can only ask you, my Lord, to have a little mercy and allocate funds from the treasury to help the people in need!"

Jiang Mian also knelt down and said in pain.

Mao Ji also knelt down and said, "We are incompetent. It is really difficult to rely on taxes to maintain peace in the world. Now I only ask Your Majesty to think about the people, help the people first, and then punish us for our crimes." Zhu Houcong was silent here.

The entire hall was in complete silence.

After a while.

Zhu Houcong then said: "I know you are in trouble."

"It's difficult for me too!"

Zhu Houcong then smiled bitterly again.

"There are so many people in the harem, and I am the heir to the throne. I can't really let the Empress Dowager and the Royal Concubine live a worse life than before after I ascend the throne."

Zhu Houcong waved his hand when he got to this point and said, "Let's not talk about this for now!"

"My fellow ministers, you should understand why the imperial court has to look at the faces of those governors outside now."

"Have you ever seen a parent who is afraid of his son?"

"Unless the knife is in the hand of the good-for-nothing rebellious son, the parents don't have a knife in their hands, so they can't teach the rebellious son a lesson."

Zhu Houcong then turned around and glanced at Liang Chu and the others: "This is the disadvantage of not having strong troops at the center of the court. From the Grand Tutor to you, and then to that Chen Jin, you all chose to stand by those rebellious sons."

"Even the whole court is filled with rebellious sons!"

"You're almost holding a knife to my neck."

Zhu Houcong then stood up and shouted, then asked everyone with a smile:

"Is this okay?"

“This is incredible!”

follow closely.

Zhu Houcong's face darkened, and he leaned back, put his hands on the armrests of the chair, his eyes cold.

Liang Chu and others knew that the emperor wanted them to agree to strengthen the central military power, especially the emperor's military power.

"Chen Wan is dead!"

Liang Chu kowtowed and pleaded guilty.

then.

Liang Chu said, "Your Majesty is wise. I also think that the central government cannot do without a strong army, just like parents cannot do without a stick. When the Weiwu Training Camp was closed, I was welcoming Huguang, so I couldn't stop it. After learning about it, I thought it was unnecessary. But I thought that the Taifu's move was also to relieve the people's suffering, so I didn't ask to restore this camp. Now I think it is indeed necessary to restore this camp."

In terms of strengthening central power, Liang Chu, the chief minister of the cabinet, and Zhu Houcong agreed.

He also didn't want the border towns to threaten the central government.

After all, the history of the late Tang Dynasty is a recent lesson.

Liang Chu also didn't want him, as the chief minister of the cabinet, to have to look after the faces of the border officials.

At the same time, he also knew that Zhu Houcong was an ambitious emperor, and was obviously deliberately using his request for him to pay out the treasury to negotiate with him. No matter whether he was considering the country and the people or his own life, he could not go against his will. He could only tactfully persuade him to consider the people more, treat the people of the world with kindness as much as possible, and not just care about his personal achievements.

Therefore, Liang Chu would not directly prevent the emperor from strengthening the central military power.

"That's not all."

Zhu Houcong said seriously at this time:
"The Beijing camp must be reorganized!"

"In addition, the Imperial Guards must be strengthened. The more than 200,000 newly resettled soldiers and civilians in Gyeonggi Province will be used to strengthen the Imperial Guards. The fleeing military households will be temporarily divided into six Imperial Guards under the Provincial Government. From the six guards, we will recruit strong men to form an elite battalion to serve as my Imperial Guards!"

After Zhu Houcong said this, Liang Chu hurriedly said: "Your Majesty is wise, but if we want to increase the military pay, where should we increase it from? Please allow me to discuss with the Ministry of War."

"That gets to the root of the matter."

Zhu Houcong said with a smile.

Zhu Houcong was not disgusted by Liang Chu's mention of money, but had been waiting for Liang Chu to say this.

Zhu Houcong then stood up and said, "Let's talk about what you just asked me to do to help the people and stabilize the army."

"I can spend the treasury, but I can't spend it in vain."

As soon as he heard that Zhu Houcong was willing to go out.

Liang Chu and other cabinet ministers breathed a sigh of relief. Even though Zhu Houcong said that he could not go out for nothing, as long as the emperor was willing to go out, they would not make it too difficult.

"Please give me your Majesty's instructions!"

"first."

"I want a head to fall off!"

Zhu Houcong stretched out a finger and spoke in a cold tone.

Jiang Mian was stunned on the spot.

"Lord Jiang, you should know whose head I want?"

Zhu Houcong also asked Jiang Mian with a smile.

(End of this chapter)