Pay?
The ministers were shocked. Everyone knew what the court was like. Where did the money come from?
Even the Minister of Revenue, Fang Yuegong, was baffled. The Ministry of Revenue was in charge of the world's finances. Even a mouse would probably cry when it entered the national treasury.
Sending court offerings, could it be that the emperor was muddle-headed from thinking about money?
There were still hundreds of thousands of taels of silver in the national treasury, but this money was for disaster relief in Shandong and Shanxi. Secondly, they needed to use this money to collect the rebels in various places.
Besides, you've already given the officials a salary from the hundreds of thousands of taels of silver in the national treasury. What about the disaster relief and the money for the bandits?
"Lord Wansui, I have something to say."
Thinking of this, Fang Yuegong did not care if he was afraid of offending the officials or if Chongzhen would be angry. He directly stood up and reported.
Chong Zhen smiled and waved his hand." Don't say anything first. I know what you mean. Fang Qing's family wants to say that the Ministry of Revenue has no money and the national treasury has no money." This money was used for disaster relief and to quell the raiders.”
"That's what I mean." Fang Yuegong bowed.”
The officials could no longer remember how long it had been since Emperor Chongzhen was so happy.
He was even a little too happy. The situation in the country was so grim, but the Emperor was still in the mood to talk nonsense in the court.
Chong Zhen cut to the chase and searched the crowd."Where is the country's father?"
Country Father? Only then did the ministers turn their heads and look at Zhou Kui.
At this moment, Zhou Kui's face was filled with despair, as if he had lost his parents.
Chong Zhen frowned. He also knew that his stingy father-in-law was not a good person, so he called out again,"Country Lord!"
The emperor has summoned you, why aren't you agreeing? Are you courting death?
Amidst the ministers 'surprised cries, Zhou Kui stood out with a long face."Your subject is here."
"Tell the ministers."
Seeing Zhou Kui's expression as if his father had died, Chong Zhen was already a little unhappy.
However, Zhou Kui could not be happy. He lowered his head and turned to his colleagues half-dead.
"With the establishment of the slave bandit pass, the refugees rebelling, and the continuous natural disasters, as the country's ruler, I should set an example for my colleagues. I am willing to offer another five hundred thousand taels of silver to the court to relieve the salary of my colleagues. I hope that my colleagues will work together to pledge loyalty to my Ming Dynasty and to my Lord.”
Zhou Kui finished his sentence as if he was reading a book, without any expression.
In reality, he didn't want to say these words. It was Zhou Kui's eldest son who saw his father's absent-minded appearance and was afraid of causing trouble in the court.
Hence, he copied the script by hand and had Zhou Kui recite it all the way.
When he was summoned by Lord Wansui, he could just recite it.
Hence, this scene happened. Zhou Kui was half-dead and expressionless. He mechanically finished reading these few sentences, but it gave the officials below a big fright.
500,000 taels. Everyone knew that the number one miser in the capital was rich. He was really rich.
Didn't he donate 800,000 taels to the imperial court last time? This time, he donated another 500,000 taels.
Those who knew were all thinking that no matter how rich the country's father's family was.
With such a donation method, he would probably go bankrupt this time.
There were also people who wondered if Lord Wansui was going to do something big to the officials.
First, he made the Crown Prince the Deputy Commander of the Brocade Guard. Then, he investigated Chen Yan, Wei Zao, King Zhixin, and the others, scaring the officials half to death.
Fortunately, after the crown prince went to the border to supervise the army, the officials were slightly relieved.
And this time, the Minister suddenly donated another five hundred thousand taels. What kind of signal was this?
With Zhou Kui's personality, was it because he was afraid of being punished in the future that such a stingy guy suddenly gave away all his assets?
And he had been greedy for so much. Would Lord Wansui take revenge on him in the future?
There were quite a few officials who thought so, and some of them even wiped their sweat in fear.
However, most of the officials were grateful, especially those officials who claimed to be the pillars of the clean stream.
Some of these honest officials were indeed clean in their sleeves for the sake of their reputation. The court had delayed their salaries for so long, and some of their families could not continue to live.
This time, the country's father had actually donated five hundred thousand taels of silver. The salaries of the officials in the capital were finally settled.
Although it couldn't be paid in full, at least a few months would be good.
"I am very comforted by your loyalty. Dear ministers, I swear in the name of the emperor that I will not touch a single cent of this money. I will use it all to pay the salaries owed to the various ministries.”
"Long live our emperor, long live! Long live!"
The ministers were so moved that they knelt on the ground again.
Only Zhou Kui continued to droop his head, looking at the world that was gray to him.
He thought to himself, how many bowls of porridge would he have to save to earn 1.5 million taels of silver just like that?
Probably until the end of mankind.
Zhu Ci Xin's team was already more than 80 miles away from the capital.
Eight hundred thousand taels of silver were sent to Liaodong under the escort of Changping's commander, Li Shoujing.
Beside Zhu Cixi was the secret guard Meng Fanchao, as well as the two Thousand Households of the Embroidered Uniform Guards, Xia Dechao, and Li Hao.
At the same time, the courier sent by the capital's Hui Guan had already arrived in Liaodong.
Jinzhou Songshan, Jiliao Governor Hong Chengchou was at his wit's end.
Not to mention the news from the spies outside the pass, the construction slave Huangtaiji had been moving frequently recently and had the potential to invade.
Even his subordinates had been causing trouble recently. The generals only had one request: pay.
The court had delayed the payment of the army's salaries, the rewards for the soldiers who had fought in the past, and even the pension for the soldiers who had died in battle.
Although the imperial court had given them rewards, they were all fake. The soldiers did not receive any real rewards.
Without pay, the soldiers complained and caused trouble.
What worried Hong Chengchou more was that if this continued, not to mention the morale of the soldiers, there was even the possibility of a mutiny.
If Huang Taiji sent troops to attack again, how would the soldiers resist?
Although Liaodong had hundreds of thousands of elites, their morale was low. The consequences would be unimaginable if war broke out.
Ever since Yuan Chonghuan was executed by Emperor Chongzhen, until the 13th year of Chongzhen, Hong Chengchou had assumed the position of Governor of Jiliao. Who was Hong Chengchou?
In history, he was a general who surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, but whether this person was a traitor or not was quite controversial.
Putting aside Hong Chengchou's reputation as a traitor, this person could be called both civil and military. He was a rare talent.
In the battle of Songjin, Huangtai Ji sent a large army to besiege Jinzhou, which was bound to be conquered.
Hong Chengchou advocated slowly approaching Jinzhou, step by step set up camp, while fighting and defending, do not rashly fight.
However, the Minister of War Chen Xinjia, this dog, forced Hong Chengchou to hurry up the battle. Under the circumstances where Emperor Chongzhen also hoped to be prudent, he forced Hong Chengchou to end the battle quickly.
As a result, Hong Chengchou was defeated and captured. He began to starve himself for several days and refused to surrender.
Huangtai Ji sent all the people he could use to persuade them to surrender, but they were all scolded back.
Huang Taiji still did not give up, and after constantly persuading Hong Chengchou, he finally surrendered.
Not to mention Hong Chengchou's merits and demerits, at least before he was captured, this person was loyal to the Ming Dynasty.
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。