Chongzhen Wiretapping System

Chapter 281 Two birds with one stone

It's not that the two of them were frightened because they saw the shocking data on the memorial; it's that they probably guessed what the emperor wanted them to do, and they were frightened.

Tax arrears and preferential exemption for officials and gentry are the two major taboos of the Ming Dynasty, and only those who truly have a heart for the country and the people will touch them;
And Zhang Pu?It can be seen from the fact that he controls the imperial examination, is he really serving the country and the people?If this is the case, doesn't he know how harmful it is to the country by cutting off the normal scientific research path of others?

As for Wu Changshi, let alone.In the original history, for the sake of power, he even poisoned Zhang Pu to death in an attempt to replace him. From this we can see, can he truly serve the country and the people?

And both of them are in the officialdom, how can they not know, if they touch these two things, what will happen to them next?
Emperor Chongzhen kept looking at the two of them, seeing the changes in their expressions, he knew what they were thinking, and immediately sneered in his heart, aren't you the leaders of Fushe, the leaders of Qingliu?Just now I vowed to serve the country and the people, and to be loyal to the emperor and serve the country, so this matter is for you to do!
In fact, when Wen Tiren was the chief assistant, he had already realized the harm of Fushe to Daming, so he wanted to rectify Fushe at that time.However, the power of Fushe is too great. Even if Wen Tiren is the chief assistant, there is nothing he can do. Not only can he not restrain the growth of Fushe, but he even implicated his brother Wen Yuren, who was charged by the magistrate behind Fushe and arrested. in prison.

At this time, Emperor Chongzhen saw that although Zhang Pu and Wu Chang had finished reading, he was still pretending to read the memorial with his head down, so he sighed lightly and said, "When I go out this time, I really understand what it means to be without a chicken crowing for a thousand miles." , The bones are exposed in the wild! Qing and others may not know, but seeing this situation, I am deeply saddened. Behind each bone, how many loved ones' tears and longings? Behind each ruined wall, how many families The families of the common people are destroyed? I just heard that you, like me, want to relieve the people’s worries. I believe that Qing and the other two will be very sad when they see such a thing, right? "

Zhang Pu and Wu Changshi heard it at this moment, and finally knew why the emperor praised the two of them from the very beginning when they met. It turned out that a hole was buried for them to jump, and they couldn't help being very speechless.

But for the two of them, don't say that they are in front of the imperial court, even if they are not in the imperial court, they must at least express their sorrow for this kind of thing, and behave for the country and the people, because this is the basis of their fame.The so-called leader of the Qingliu, the gentleman of the Ming Dynasty, must have such a performance!

Therefore, no matter what they thought in their hearts, they expressed their stance to Emperor Chongzhen together, and they were indeed very distressed.

When Emperor Chongzhen heard this, he made a serious face, pointed to the memorial in their hands and said: "The reason for all these tragedies is that the imperial court has no money and food, and is unable to relieve disasters in the face of natural and man-made disasters. Those Dingtians who are not exempted can pay taxes to the imperial court, I believe that such tragedies will not happen to the people again."

Speaking of this, he saw that Zhang Pu seemed to be about to speak, so he sneered in his heart, and said first: "Therefore, Qing and the other two are young and promising, and they have their own vigor. I have also seen it and heard the two Qings just now. Deeds of heart, loyalty to the emperor, serving the country, serving the country and the people, if this matter is not left to Qing and the other two, I feel that I have buried talents!"

Zhang Pu and Wu Changshi heard this and complained in their hearts, knowing that the emperor would say this.However, these two things really cannot be done!

Thinking about it this way, they glanced at each other, and seeing that there was no intention of agreeing first in the other's eyes, they knew that the other party actually wanted to take over by themselves.But is it possible?Who is stupid?

So, they turned their heads to look at Emperor Chongzhen again, and in a hurry, they wanted to talk and decline.

However, Emperor Chongzhen still did not give them a chance to speak, and his voice became a little colder: "I know this is very difficult, and I am afraid it will provoke revenge from some unscrupulous officials. But you can rest assured, with me here, anyone No one can touch you, I still have this responsibility. Of course, you can't live up to my expectations, and you have to take responsibility. Otherwise, the lesson from the past was just at the beginning of the year."

The lesson he mentioned was that at the beginning of the year, many officials refused to go to court on the pretext of illness.At that time, Emperor Chongzhen severely punished a group of people. Even Fang Fengnian, a minister in the cabinet at the time, did not escape. He was demoted several levels and became the prefect of Dezhou.

Zhang Pu and Wu Changshi naturally knew about these things, but compared to doing those two things, they could immediately weigh the gains and losses in their hearts, and would rather not be an official temporarily than offend so many colleagues.

Thinking of this, the two of them looked at each other again, and they both saw the meaning in each other's eyes.

However, before they could find an excuse, Emperor Chongzhen's tone became colder again, and he said coldly: "I believe that Qing and the other two should not disappoint me. Otherwise, they just lied to me in front of me, It is all a lie to say that you are loyal to the emperor, serve the country, serve the country and the people, and die. Those who committed the crime of deceiving the emperor, the head that was just taken off the head of Zhengyangmen City, will end up."

Speaking of this, he said in a more gentle tone: "Qing and the other two are the pillars of the Ming Dynasty, I believe it is impossible to be bold enough to deceive me in person, right?"

"It's over, it's over, it's over!" When Zhang Pu and Wu Chang heard such an obvious threat, they secretly groaned in their hearts, and even regretted it.If I knew this earlier, I should have been more reserved then!

Emperor Chongzhen had already made it so obvious that the two of them had no choice but to agree.Otherwise, it's not a question of whether there are officials to do it, but whether the little life can be saved!
The most important thing is that if you don't agree, it will be a crime of deceiving the emperor. Maybe their heads will be taken off and hung on the Zhengyang Gate, and at the same time, it will be announced to the world that the two of them are cheaters , They say that they should serve the country and the people, and be loyal to the emperor and serve the country, but if they are really asked to do things that are loyal to the emperor, serve the country, and serve the country and the people, they will be afraid and dare not.This is completely different from the image they worked so hard to create before.

Is this still clear?Or a gentleman?Pooh!I don't know what those officials and gentry would think, but the vast majority of the common people will see their truth clearly.From then on, it is their deceitful names that will be left in history!

In this way, is he willing to die unjustly or not?

Zhang Pu and Wu Changshi, as long as there is a way to go, they are absolutely unwilling to touch these two things.However, now Emperor Chongzhen doesn't give them any other choice, either they will be beheaded and beheaded for public display, or they can only accept these two things.

After Emperor Chongzhen finished speaking, he kept staring at the two of them.After a while, he noticed that the spirits of the two seemed to have shrunk a bit.Then, I heard the two of them express their opinions one after another: "My minister will follow the will and dare not go against it!"

"It is the duty of the minister to eat the king's salary and to be loyal to the king. Your Majesty has a purpose. I will do my best and go through fire and water to complete it." Since Zhang Pu agreed, he said it beautifully, "Admonition Paying the owed taxes can have immediate results, it is for the court and the common people, and I am willing to accept this matter!"

When Wu Changshi heard it, he immediately wanted to yell, "You Zhang Pu, you still have to be shameless, didn't you agree to listen to the emperor's orders, why did you grab one by yourself first?"

Checking the limits of privileges and exemptions for officials and gentry, and making up for back taxes are certainly more serious matters than collecting back taxes.After all, although most of those who are underpaid have official and gentry backgrounds, some of them are still rich peasants after all.But verifying the privileges and exemptions of officials and gentry is for officials of the Ming Dynasty. You can imagine how difficult it is!

At this time, Wu Changshi felt extremely regretful again. If he had known this, he should have taken the first step.

Thinking like this, he was naturally unwilling to give in, so he hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, Wei Chen has some experience in collecting tax arrears. If Wei Chen does it, it should be able to achieve immediate results!"

"..." Zhang Pu was speechless for a moment when he heard it, and when he looked at Wu Chang from the corner of his eyes, he really wanted to yell and shameless, and he could say such a thing, it was obviously a robbery!
Naturally, he would not give up, so he immediately followed suit and said that he also had experience in this regard.

The two quarreled in front of the imperial court, and the quarrel became more and more fierce, and the smell of gunpowder gradually came out.

Emperor Chongzhen probably didn't know that they were so noisy, but in fact, he didn't want to check the preferential treatment of officials and gentry.Hehe, the self-proclaimed gentleman, the leader of the country's clean stream, has such a face!
After letting them quarrel for a while and feeling that their relationship was completely broken, Emperor Chongzhen coughed and interrupted their quarrel.

He smiled and said: "Qing and the other two are so active, I am very relieved. If this is the case, then it will be like this..."

After all, it was still up to the emperor to make a decision. When Wu Changshi and Zhang Pu heard that the emperor was going to make a decision, they couldn't help but immediately held their breath, waiting to hear what the emperor would make.

"...Qing and the other two are responsible for the verification of the exemption of officials and gentry in their respective regions and the collection of owed taxes."

Hearing this, the two of them couldn't help being startled. They didn't expect that the result of the quarrel was that neither of them was better than the other, and they both took on two things together.

In this way, Zhang Pu couldn't help but hate Wu Changshi to death, he was the one who wanted to rob him, otherwise, he would just do a reminder to pay the owed taxes.

And Wu Changshi naturally hated Zhang Pu too, if you don't rob me, I will be so unlucky?

Emperor Chongzhen didn't care what the two of them were thinking, so he continued: "Qing and the other two are from Jiangnan, and they are very familiar with Jiangnan, and Jiangnan is a place where Ming taxes are heavy. Therefore, Zhang Qing patrolled Yingtianfu, Zhenjiang Mansion and Yangzhou Mansion, and Wu Qing will patrol Changzhou Mansion, Suzhou Mansion and Songjiang Mansion to supervise these two matters. Before the harvest of summer grain next year, I must give me a result."

Speaking of this, his tone softened a bit: "As long as you do well, I will nominate Qing and the other two as governors, and then expand the scope to share my worries!"

They have only been Jinshi for a few years. If they have normal qualifications, it is impossible to be promoted to governor so quickly.You know, the governor is a high-ranking official of the Ming Dynasty, and he is a senior official in Xinjiang.

However, if there is a choice, neither Wu Changshi nor Zhang Pu wants to be the governor so soon.It is really this errand that will offend too many people.I don't know anything else, but the network of contacts they built through Fushe will be torn apart.

As for Fushe, it is actually the two of them, especially Zhang Pu, who can have the foundation of today's life, which is the greatest political resource he has obtained.This network of contacts will not only make him a governor, but even join the cabinet as the chief assistant, without any difficulty.

Thinking of this, Zhang Pu felt even more distressed, why did the emperor choose himself to do this?Is it because both myself and this Wu thief are teaching the prince?Come to think of it, it might be so!Otherwise, if it was just about rehabilitating the society, the emperor might have questioned himself long ago, instead of waiting until now.

Thinking about it this way, Zhang Pu couldn't help but feel very regretful. If he had known this, he would not have promoted public opinion while the emperor was not in the capital, so that his reputation would spread to the empress, and he would not have taught the prince, and there would be no such thing as today. up!
The reputation is too good, sometimes, it is not a good thing!

Emperor Chongzhen didn't care what the two of them thought. For him, this matter could kill two birds with one stone.

If the two of them go to their hometown, the place where they have the best reputation, to check the quotas of privileges and exemptions for officials and gentry, and collect unpaid taxes, they will inevitably become enemies with the officials and gentry who originally supported them.In this way, even if Fushe is not closed, I believe Fushe will not have the same energy as before.

The second advantage is that if they can really do this, they can collect taxes and carry out inspections on the preferential quotas for officials and gentry, which will be of great benefit in curbing land mergers in the late Ming Dynasty and the financial crisis.

If the two of them can break the situation, then they will carry out national promotion. Even if they don't need the methods of later generations to make money, they can still meet the needs of ZTE.

However, Emperor Chongzhen felt that there was a high probability that it would be impossible to succeed.The two of them going to the south of the Yangtze River will definitely face many difficulties.

In this regard, Emperor Chongzhen will give them help, and it is best to succeed.If it doesn't work, then Emperor Chongzhen will come forward in person, or another person will be chosen to continue to argue about this matter.

Judging by the development of the situation, Emperor Chongzhen didn't mind flipping the table if there was a violent disturbance, at least he already had the capital to flip the table at this time.Simply implement "officials and gentry work together on errands, and one pays food".

However, this is different from that in the Manchu and Qing Dynasties. The Manchu and Qing Dynasties were able to introduce this because there were still their masters on the heads of the officials and gentry.Their master can get paid by doing nothing.Instead of the officials and gentry, they became the new highest-level parasites on the common people.

After the matter was settled in this way, Emperor Chongzhen did not give the two of them a chance to sway their minds, and immediately made a decree to the world, appointing Zhang Pu and Wu Changshi as patrol officers in the south of the Yangtze River, full-time checking the quota for the preferential exemption of officials and gentry and urging the payment of owed taxes.Immediately, the entire officialdom of Daming was a sensation.

(End of this chapter)