usatvline Chapter 682 The treasury is empty
Chapter 682 The treasury is empty
Chapter 682 Empty Treasury
The Forbidden City, the Imperial Study.
Qian Qianyi knelt on the ground with a mournful face and said aggrievedly, "Your Majesty, you cannot believe the slanderous words of that mad dog Wang Wenzhou. How could I have corresponded with the Tartars? I have always been loyal to the emperor and loved my country. How could I do something like selling out my country for personal gain?"
Inside the Imperial Study, a group of Donglin Party leaders knelt on the ground, feeling extremely wronged. Wang Wenzhou, that mad dog, had gone too far! If you want to rebel, then raise the flag and rebel! Why are you trying to pin this on us?
Anyone with eyes can see that the accusation is a blatant fabrication by Wang Wenzhou, and the crucial point is that the accusation is absolutely true. The secret letters that Wang Wenzhou released were all handwritten by Huang Taiji and Dorgon at his behest.
The Donglin Party leaders were terrified and rushed to pledge their loyalty, fearing that Zhu Youjian might be foolish enough to mistake them for traitors.
"Get up, all of you. I am not a three-year-old child. How could I believe such absurd words?" Zhu Youjian waved his hand, signaling them to rise.
"Sigh..." Zhu Youjian sighed and said helplessly, "I suppose you have all read this issue of the Hanshan Weekly. I want to ask you, how should we deal with this now?"
At this moment, Yang Changsi hurriedly entered the room, knelt down and kowtowed, saying, "Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor!"
"Rise, Minister Yang." Zhu Youjian waved his hand.
When Yang Changsi entered the room and saw so many colleagues, he understood that they must have all read the "Hanshan Weekly" before they came to the palace to meet the emperor.
Yang Changsi said anxiously, "Your Majesty, Wang Wenzhou has rebelled and is now in rebellion. The court should immediately send a large army to quell the rebellion. This old minister is willing to lead the army and share Your Majesty's burden."
Zhu Youjian began, “With all my beloved ministers here, I was just about to discuss this matter. I have already urgently summoned Sun Chuanting’s troops to go to the Hanshan area for defense.”
Zheng Sanjun quickly said, "Your Majesty, it is already close to winter, and it is not advisable to start a war."
Qian Qianyi nodded and echoed, "This old minister also thinks so. At present, we should focus on appeasement! This old minister suggests that we send a wise and prudent minister to Hanshan to temporarily appease the mad dog Wang Wenzhou."
"We second that!" The Donglin Party leaders echoed.
"Huh?" Yang Changsi was very surprised. Have you Donglin Party members gone mad? Wang Wenzhou has already used the pretext of killing you to purge the court of corrupt officials, and you are actually opposing the start of war?
Yang Changsi said coldly, “Colleagues, the traitor Wang Wenzhou has committed treason and rebellion. How can the court sit idly by? If we allow this to continue, we will only let it go unchecked…”
Yang Changsi remained silent for a moment, then solemnly said, "The Ming Dynasty will surely have countless mad dog Wang Wenzhous!"
Zhu Youjian nodded; he was actually a proponent of war as well.
Although he had made meticulous preparations beforehand, intending to have Wang Qiang take the blame if the assassination failed, how could he, as emperor, tolerate Wang Wenzhou's rebellion under the guise of "purging the court of corrupt officials"? Just as Yang Changsi had said, if he tolerated Wang Wenzhou, many others would surely follow his example. Then the Ming Dynasty would truly be on the verge of collapse.
Zhu Youjian thought for a moment and then said, "Minister Yang is right, my mind is made up..."
Before Zhu Youjian could finish speaking, Qian Qianyi quickly interrupted him. Zhu Youjian was the emperor, and Qian Qianyi was the subject. What Qian Qianyi was doing was wrong, but he had no choice but to do so. If he objected after Zhu Youjian had finished speaking, it would be a slap in the face to Zhu Youjian.
"Your Majesty! The treasury of our Great Ming is empty, and we have no silver to use!" Qian Qianyi said.
"What!?" Zhu Youjian was dumbfounded. The national treasury was empty? I took nearly 40 million taels of silver from Wang Wenzhou. Some time ago, Wang Wenzhou's wives and concubines launched a donation campaign, and the people and officials of the Ming Dynasty donated another 60 million taels of silver, totaling 100 million taels of silver. And you are telling me that the national treasury has no money?
"Bang!" Zhu Youjian slammed his fist on the table in anger, his palm turning red. He was truly furious.
Zhu Youjian asked in a cold voice, "Wen Tiren, I ask you, how much silver is left in the national treasury?"
Wen Tiren shook his head with a wry smile. "Your Majesty, although I am the Grand Secretary, as you know, the government is entirely controlled by the Donglin Party. The Minister of Revenue is a member of the Donglin Party. If they want to spend money, can I stop them? You ask me, but I don't know either!"
Wen Tiren cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, this matter should be answered by Cheng Guoxiang, the Minister of Revenue, as he knows the inside story better than this old minister."
Cheng Guoxiang succeeded Hou Xun as Minister of Revenue.
Wen Tiren looked at Cheng Guoxiang and said, "Lord Cheng, what are you thinking about? Quickly answer His Majesty's question!"
Cheng Guoxiang said with a wry smile, "Your Majesty, the national treasury currently has 340,000 taels of silver."
"Bang!" Zhu Youjian angrily picked up his teacup and smashed it on the ground. "You son of a bitch! You all your mothers! My national treasury has a hundred million taels of silver, and you've spent it all in less than a year?"
"Your Majesty, please calm down!" Wang Chen'en quickly patted Zhu Youjian's back.
Zhu Youjian pointed at the crowd with trembling hands, and asked angrily, "I'm asking you, where did all the silver go? One hundred million taels of silver!"
Everyone lowered their heads, looking at each other, each wanting someone else to speak. Whoever spoke up would be scolded, and nobody wanted to say anything.
"Bang!" Zhu Youjian slammed his hand on the table and asked in a cold voice, "Wen Tiren, I'm asking you, where did the silver go?"
"Hmm..." Wen Tiren thought for a moment. He couldn't take the blame for this, so he said, "Your Majesty, please calm down. Minister Cheng is in charge of the Ministry of Revenue. Minister Cheng, please answer His Majesty's question!"
Cheng Guoxiang thought for a moment and then said cautiously, "Your Majesty, the recent expenditures from the national treasury have indeed been quite large. However, every single expenditure is documented. Take the largest expenditure, for example: the return of 48 million taels of silver from the Three Trials Special Fund."
"Bang!" Zhu Youjian slammed his hand on the table and asked angrily, "Return the Three-Shot Special Fund! What kind of money is this?"
"Hmm..." Cheng Guoxiang shook his head with a wry smile. "Your Majesty, you can't play like this. This is an imperial decree that you personally gave to my predecessor, Lord Hou Xun."
Cheng Guoxiang looked at Qian Qianyi, his eyes pleading for help.
Qian Qianyi nodded and said, "Your Majesty, back then, the mad dog Wang Wenzhou massacred local officials in Shaanxi. His excuse was that the local officials were overcharging for 'three gongs' (a form of bribery), even for more than ten years. When you learned of this, you took pity on the people and issued a special decree to return the overcharged 'three gongs'."
Zhu Youjian said coldly, "How much has Shaanxi paid in total over the years? Forty-eight million taels? Do you think I'm a fool?"
Zhu Youjian was furious. These bastards! No wonder Boxin called them treacherous villains and said he wanted to "purge the court of corrupt officials" and kill them. Now I think Boxin did the right thing!
Qian Qianyi said with a wry smile, "Your Majesty, Shaanxi did not return that much silver. After the three 'thieves' in Shaanxi were returned to the people, people in other places protested to the government, demanding the return of the overcharged 'thieves'. After investigation, it was found that the situation in Shaanxi was more or less the same in various places. Therefore, the amount to be returned is relatively large."
"You...you..." Zhu Youjian pointed angrily. He finally understood that the silver in the national treasury had really been spent by this group of people. Now there was no money left to fight the war, so he could only appease Wang Wenzhou.