Zhu Youjian's heart was very cold. It was a chill that came from the enemy.
The late Emperor's death was the Donglin Party's doing. From the Donglin Party's actions, the possibility of them being involved was extremely high.
Moreover, Tianqi Zhu Youxiao's imperial technique was quite good. If he did not come from the future, he would probably be fooled by the Donglin Party.
According to the Donglin Party's methods, the Ming Empire would die even faster. The officials, gentry, and wealthy businessmen would collude to reduce the main taxes of the empire to the minimum, or even exempt them from taxes.
If the emperor who didn't understand heard it, the Donglin Party's flatbread was really good, but for those who understood the economy and intelligence, this was the theory of national subjugation.
During the Tianqi Era, although Tianqi hid in the palace and seemed to be doing nothing, Tianqi knew how to let Wei Zhongxian out to balance the various factions in the court.
The Donglin Party was the most powerful, so they became an important target for the eunuchs.
His predecessor was very dissatisfied with this, but Zhu Youjian, who came from the future, was exactly the opposite. Killing Wei Zhongxian was a failure.
If the Donglin Party came to power and the court was filled with justice, then the Ming Dynasty could only wait for its subjugation.
He could not open the sea ban, collect mining taxes, salt taxes, or other commercial taxes. If he collected them, he would be competing with the people for profits, which did not conform to the model of a wise ruler.
The only thing they could do was to follow the rule that had never changed since ancient times, which was to collect only agricultural taxes. The officials and gentry were exempted from agricultural taxes, and all taxes had to be extracted from the tenant farmers.
The poorer the group, the more taxes they had to pay. The predecessor actually thought that such a theory was a good one.
Abolish the East and West Factories, abolish the Jinyiwei, and hand everything over to the Donglin Party to govern. This is the true wise ruler?
After Zhu Youjian ascended the throne, he immediately kicked the Donglin Party away and insisted that the ministers appointed by the former emperor remain unchanged.
Although Wei Zhongxian was a bit rough, he had curbed the Donglin Party's control of the government.
Letting the eunuchs take the lead was the wisest move at the moment.
It wouldn't be too late to clean up after he finished setting up.
Not long after Zhang Yan left, Wei Zhongxian immediately came to probe!
Zhu Youjian looked at Wei Zhongxian who was kneeling in front of him and said,""Old Wei, do you want to know the purpose of my Imperial Sister-in-law's visit?”
Wei Zhongxian immediately buried his head on the ground and said in fear,"This old servant doesn't dare! This old servant is here to ask Your Majesty…"
Zhu Youjian found it funny and said casually,""You did very well, but you didn't use enough strength. Now that the ministers in the court wanted to overthrow the ministers appointed by the previous emperor, what did Old Wei think?”
Wei Zhongxian actually wanted to know what the young emperor was thinking, but the emperor remained the same, which made Old Wei very uncomfortable!
"Sigh, since ancient times, there has always been one emperor and one courtier. If I maintain the original state, the courtiers in the court will be in panic, right?”
"No, this old servant doesn't have such thoughts. This old servant is a servant of the emperor and only obeys His Majesty's orders.”
"Very good! Since you still have such loyalty, I will give you a mission:
Secretly investigating the cause of the late emperor's death, especially the Donglin Party, the possibility of them doing so was extremely high.”
" Your Majesty, this…" Wei Zhongxian looked at Zhu Youjian in horror.
"Ever since the rebellion at Tumu Fortress, the officials in the court have become more and more courageous.
All wise rulers had short lives. It was the same for Emperor Wuzong, Emperor Guangzong, and Emperor Tianqi.”
Zhu Youjian's expression was calm and he did not seem angry, but Wei Zhongxian could feel the killing intent in the emperor's heart.
Wei Zhongxian had been worried that the emperor would settle scores with him after the fall, but he was relieved. Clearly, the emperor had never thought of punishing him.
The emperor didn't approve of the Donglin Party. On the contrary, the emperor wanted to continue the strategy of cleaning up the Donglin Party.
Thinking of this, Wei Zhongxian was so moved that he cried. He said sincerely and angrily,"Your Majesty, this old servant is guilty. I failed to protect the former emperor. This old servant deserves to die…"
Zhu Youjian's expression immediately turned cold as he said,""You indeed deserve to die. You're just an idiot who didn't understand the former emperor's will and didn't realize that I wanted to harm the former emperor.”
Wei Zhongxian gritted his teeth." Your Majesty, even if I have to die, I will find the mastermind and kill his entire family!"”
" Yes, but you also have a lot of power now. Wang Chengen will be in charge of the West Chamber, and the Brocade Guards should not interfere. You should do a good job in the matter of the seal eunuch and the East Chamber. Investigate it secretly and don't alert the enemy. Wait for my order.”
"This old servant obeys the decree!" Wei Zhongxian was happy, as if he was drinking ice water in the middle of summer.
"From today onwards, deal with the Ke family. Don't leave any tails for yourself, including the eunuchs. Hand over 70% of the money you embezzled.”
Wei Zhongxian felt like he was on a plane, sometimes in the sky and sometimes on the ground, making him nervous.
At the same time, Wei Zhongxian also understood that this was the last chance the emperor was giving him.
If he still dared to fill his own pockets, the emperor would probably deal with him.
Wei Zhongxian had long been dissatisfied with the Ke family. Especially after the emperor ascended the throne, he had warned the Ke family not to interfere in the affairs of the palace, let alone despise the two empresses in the palace.
However, Ke shi ignored her. In the past, Ke shi had the former emperor as her backing. Now that the former emperor had passed away, how could the current emperor tolerate her continuing to stay in the palace?
After watching Wei Zhongxian leave, Wang Chengen said worriedly,""Your Majesty, are you being harsh?"
" On the contrary," Zhu Youjian said calmly," I stripped him of his power and only gave him the seal of the eunuch and the admiral of the East Chamber. He understood my intentions."”
In terms of ability, Wang Chengen was far inferior to Wei Zhongxian, but Wang Chengen won in loyalty.
There was also a benefit. Wang Chengen's execution ability was very good, and the tasks assigned to him could be completed meticulously.
Wang Chengen was in charge of the West Chamber to supervise the East Chamber and the Jinyiwei.
The East Chamber and the Brocade Guard were the two swords in the hands of the emperor. They were to face the court officials, nobles, vassals, and military intelligence.
It was not in his interest as the emperor to have all the power in Wei Zhongxian's hands.
Checking and balancing was necessary, and at the same time, it sent a signal to the court that the emperor was preparing to make a move against the eunuchs.
Zhu Youjian was not short of silver now. Ever since he sent Wang Chengen to investigate the Imperial Villa and deal with the corruption of the eunuchs in charge of the Imperial Villa, he was not short of silver.
In order to make the investigation more thorough, Zhu Youjian even spent 500 points of value in the system to exchange for an elite who was proficient in statistics.
It could be said that with this talent's assistance, Wang Chengen was really shocked. The entire Imperial Villa was embezzled by the eunuchs, and there were tens of millions of taels of silver.
As many as five hundred eunuchs were killed, and the lowest amount of corrupt eunuchs was ten thousand taels of silver, while the highest amount was a hundred thousand taels of silver.
It didn't seem like much, but there was a huge amount!
After Wang Chengen and Li Zhengqing cleaned up and counted the Imperial Villa, there were two million mu of land, and they were all fertile land.
At present, two million mu had been sown with high-yield rice. At least this year, Huangzhuang alone could obtain six million tons of grain.
These grains were enough to solve the current famine, which was why Zhu Youjian was so calm.
Zhu Youjian understood that the most important thing now was to solve the famine. After all, this was caused by natural disasters and man-made disasters. If it was solved, there would be no civil strife.
Even if they appeared, it would be a small matter and would not affect the national policy of the Ming Empire.
Furthermore, the ten million taels of silver had already been purchased by Chongzhen to store up grain to solve the empire's food shortage.
Thinking of this, Zhu Youjian ordered,""Big partner, I need to clean up the West Chamber. If we don't have enough manpower, we can dispatch some from my guards to deal with these traitors and corrupt people.”
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