"Yongfeng Ballad" was a poem written by Wang Bi in the Ming Dynasty. The poem reflected the hardships of the common people.
The official land rent was very high. When they encountered natural or man-made disasters, they could not pay the rent and had to sell the official land.
In the end, even though they sold their land, they still couldn't pay the taxes. The old rent and new debts could only be sold off their livestock, cattle, sheep, and even their children.
Chongzhen continued to chant,"The old rent is gone, the new rent is urgent, and the yellow calves are sold to the city." A calf is worth a thousand wen at any time, and the interest of the debt-bearer is not counted in the mother's account.”
"If there is a calf to sell, don't be sad. The eastern neighbor sells calves and children. I hope I have a son by my side. I still have to plant official fields next year.”
Zhu Ci Xin nodded." That's right. If Father continues to collect taxes, the civil unrest will continue." In the end, this in the end "
Zhu Ci Xin did not dare to continue because Empress Zhou kept giving him looks.
Chong Zhen wasn't angry. Instead, his face was filled with grief.
"How could I not know? However, if they did not pay taxes, where would the country get the money to fight wars? If the world is peaceful, I am willing to be a good emperor with light taxes. But, but now thieves are everywhere, what can I do?”
Chongzhen felt that he should not complain to his son, but after being alone for a long time, he had to find a place to vent.
Empress Cao was a little unhappy. This was a rare moment for the family to reunite, but Zhu Ci Xin had broken this beautiful moment.
"My son, it's not too late to discuss these military affairs with your father when you grow up. Your Imperial Father has been working hard for the country every day, yet you still say these words that hurt his heart.”
Zhu Ci had no intention of stopping.""Mother, your son has no intention of hurting father. It was because Donglin was powerful and the court was filled with people. The reason why they didn't collect taxes was because the Donglin Party colluded with the merchants.”
"Ci Xu, what nonsense are you talking about!"
Empress Zhou was furious and immediately said to Chongzhen,""Your Majesty, this child is muddle-headed. It is ChenQie's fault for not disciplining him properly.”
Because Empress Zhou realized that Chong Zhen's expression was extremely ugly, Zhu Ci Xin's heart was filled with fear after saying these words.
With Chongzhen's temper towards others, those who spoke would either have their heads removed or be exiled.
Who knew that Chongzhen only said three words coldly,"Continue."
Since he had said this, Zhu Ci Xin might as well go all out. Anyway, these were the words he wanted to say to Chongzhen.
"Imperial Father, the salt merchants of the Huai River, the merchants of the southeast coast, the large merchant groups such as the merchants of Jin, Zhejiang, and Hui, and even the labor taxes related to the country, such as mining, shipbuilding, armaments, weaving, kiln smelting, burning, and paper-making, all have the participation of the officials of Donglin.”
"If Imperial Father collects the business tax, it will affect the fundamental interests of these people. Therefore, these officials told their father that the commercial tax was a way to compete with the people for benefits. In fact, they were just afraid that the imperial court would compete with them for benefits.”
"Bang!"
Chong Zhen flipped the table over in anger.
When the family was eating, Empress Zhou asked the palace people in the hall to leave.
The Emperor's dragon face was furious, scaring the palace people outside the hall into kneeling down one after another.
Although they couldn't hear what was going on inside, they could hear the Emperor's angry face flipping the table.
Emperor Chongzhen was furious, and all the palace servants were trembling in fear. They didn't know what the Empress and Crown Prince had done to make Lord Wansui so furious.
Empress Zhou was so frightened that she hurriedly pulled Zhu Ciao to kneel down.
"Wansui, please calm down. It's all ChenQie's fault. It's fine if ChenQie disciplines you, please forgive me!”
It was very rare for the official records of the Ming Dynasty to address the emperor as emperor. That was something that only existed in the Manchu Dynasty.
Generally, everyone in Chongzhen called him Lord Wansui or Lord Emperor. Empress Zhou liked to call him Her Majesty in private.
Seeing that Chongzhen was angry, she hurriedly changed her name to long live.
Zhu Ci Xin was extremely stubborn. Although he was forced to kneel down, he did not have the slightest bit of remorse.
Chongzhen was so angry that his entire body trembled as he pointed at him angrily.
"Tell me, where did you hear these words from? Where did you hear them from?”
Zhu Ci raised his head arrogantly.
"Imperial Father, do you still need to listen to this? How many eunuchs, harem, vassal kings, bureaucrats, and gentlemen were there? How many businesses were controlled by these people? And these people did not collect taxes from them, so most of the taxes were lost.”
"The Imperial Court is only continuously increasing taxes on the people and small and medium-sized merchants. We won't levy those that should be levied. We'll levy the commoners and those small merchants and hawkers who make a living. Your son said three months. Three months to gather ten million taels is still too little!”
"If Imperial Father trusts this son, forget about ten million, this son can even collect thirty million for you!”
Chongzhen's face turned from green to white. Empress Zhou knelt on the ground and was shocked. She had no doubt that Chongzhen would slap Zhu Cishi's face in the next second.
Or, he could give the order to have Zhu Ciao taken away from his position as Crown Prince and imprisoned.
However, Chong Zhen did not do so. Instead, he sat down in his chair dejectedly.
In fact, he was not angry at Zhu Ciyao. He was angry at himself.
So many officials, each of them pretending to be sanctimonious and selfless, but not a single one actually said these words to him.
He did not expect that the Crown Prince, who had entered the Brocade Guard, would say such harsh words to him. In fact, he could not blame the ministers.
It was only because of his moods that the officials did not dare to speak up for justice.
In other words, even if someone wanted to tell the truth, they would be attacked by the courtiers and eventually become the target of public criticism. Chongzhen himself could not distinguish right from wrong, so he would definitely punish this person.
Until today, when Zhu Ciyao told him these words, Chongzhen finally understood.
It turned out that collecting business taxes and competing with the people for profits was just a reason for the officials to fool him!
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