The national treasury had long been emptied. Suppressing the rebels required money, disaster relief required money, officials 'salaries also needed money, the army needed money, and the capital guards also needed money. In short, money was needed everywhere.
It was not easy for him to get eight hundred thousand taels from Zhou Kui, and in addition to the 370,800 taels of silver donated by the officials.
There was also the 670,000 taels of silver that he had obtained from the three dog officials. Was this not enough?
"Imperial Father, don't you still have the 670,000 taels of silver that were confiscated from Chen Yan and the other three officials?”
Chong Zhen shook his head.
"The drought in Shanxi and the locust plague in Shandong all require money, my son. Zhen knows you have done well these days, but there are always priorities.”
"We can delay the pay of the soldiers in Liaodong for a while. Let's solve the disaster in Henan and Shandong first.”
Divergence. This was the first time Zhu Ciao had a disagreement with Emperor Chongzhen.
This made the relationship between father and son a little delicate.
"No, Imperial Father promised that eight hundred thousand taels of silver would be used to pay the soldiers of Liaodong. How can he go back on his word? You are the emperor. If the soldiers of Liaodong knew about this, have you thought about the consequences?”
"Cishan!"
This time, he looked at him angrily. Only Zhu Cihao dared to speak to Chongzhen like this.
Looking at his son, Chong Zhen felt a little guilty.
"Zhen, zhen is also in a difficult position. You have to understand zhen's difficulties.”
Some people might think that Chongzhen was retarded and had put the cart before the horse.
In fact, from Chongzhen's point of view, what he did was not wrong.
The situation in Liaodong was indeed tense, but Slave Jian wouldn't make any big moves in the short term. On the other hand, the domestic situation was not optimistic.
First, the disasters continued. The rebels under Zhang Xianzhong and Li Zicheng were extremely rampant.
First, Zhang Xianzhong's troops entered Sichuan, then Li Zicheng's troops entered Henan, and the Ming army was defeated at Guanyinyan.
Puzhou government famine, vegetation has been eaten up, the government dug a pit outside the city gate to bury the starved to death, buried until full, hungry people scramble to the pit to cut meat to eat, even father and son couples eat each other.
Shandong Yizhou locust plague, Chongzhen thirteen years, locusts everywhere full foot, hundreds of trees without leaves, thousands of miles of bare land, a bucket of wheat two thousand.
People dig grass roots and peel bark, father and son cannibalism, bones crisscross, babies abandoned all over the road, many people put up straw signs to sell, tossing and turning in the ravines countless.
In the spring of the following year, the plague continued, and more than half of them died.
For Emperor Chongzhen, the most important thing now was how to deal with the domestic situation.
There was also the salary arrears of the various ministries. The Ming Dynasty's officialdom was indeed dark, and they could not kill everyone with a single stick.
At the very least, a small number of officials could be considered to have clean hands. The imperial court had not paid their salaries for a long time, so what was their family going to eat and drink?
In the capital, there were even miserable scenes of sixth-rank officials borrowing money to survive, and their wives and daughters working for others. It would not make sense if he did not give out his salary.
However, Zhu Ci Xin knew that the situation in the northeast seemed calm, but in reality, there were many undercurrents. Slave Jian in the north was about to launch the famous Battle of Songjin.
The Battle of Songjin in Liaoxi began with the Qing army besieging Jinzhou and ended with the capture of Songshan City by the Qing army and the capture of Ming army commander Hong Chengchou.
The war lasted for two years and ended in a crushing defeat for the Ming army. The elites of the Nine Borders that the Ming Dynasty had spent all their national strength to build were all lost. Only 30,000 soldiers were left to follow Wu Sangui and retreat to Ningyuan. After that, all the Ming Dynasty cities outside the pass fell, and the cavalry outside the pass were wiped out, leaving only Ningyuan alone.
The Battle of Songjin was the last battle of the Ming and Qing dynasties on the Songjin battlefield. It could be said to be the most brilliant work of Huangtaiji's military career, and also an example of besieging a city to attack reinforcements in Chinese military history.
In the future, the Ming Dynasty would no longer have the ability to organize an effective counterattack against the Qing army.
Only by respecting your opponent can you win.
In this aspect, Huangtaiji's military accomplishments were truly impressive.
Unfortunately, Chongzhen, who was far away in Beijing, did not know the seriousness of the matter.
However, Zhu Ciao was very clear that there must not be any problems in the Liaodong and Liaoxi corridors.
"This won't do. Since Imperial Father has already promised your son, this 800,000 taels of silver must be given to the soldiers of Liaodong and Liaoxi.”
"Imperial Father, please reconsider. Slave Jian's desire to destroy our Great Ming is still alive. The situation in the north cannot be slowed down!”
Chongzhen was furious, but he looked at his son and did not flare up.
He merely flicked his sleeves coldly and said,"
"Zhen has made up his mind. There is no need to say anything more, my son.”
It was over. The hard work of the past few months!
Zhu Ci Xin had finally managed to get back so much silver for the Ming Dynasty, but it was denied by Chongzhen's words.
The Brocade Guard had investigated three officials, but they were temporarily unable to carry out any major operations.
If they continued to search, it was very likely to cause a chain reaction among the ministers. At that time, it would be even more troublesome.
Besides, if he didn't go to Liaodong and Liaoxi to distribute the military pay now, something big would definitely happen there.
"Then, then Imperial Father will give your son 200,000 taels. Your son only needs 200,000 taels. Your son is willing to take this two hundred thousand taels of silver to Liaodong to greet the soldiers.”
"W-what? What did you say?"
Chong Zhen was a little surprised.
"Your son is willing to go to Liaodong and greet the elites of the nine borders.”
"Once Slave Jian attacks Songjin, the soldiers there won't be able to pay and they won't be able to fight. Imperial Father, your son is begging you!"
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