Chapter 559

Wen Tiren took the lead in donating money, and the ministers in the court also donated money one after another. Everyone learned from others, and there were many officials. He also believed that people's chief assistant was the chief assistant of the great Ming Empire. He led the officials and managed the government. People only donated a year's salary. Their official positions were small. How can they learn from people's chief assistant?

Therefore, many officials below the rank of Chamberlain donate half a year's salary, which is called it. It can't be compared with the big men.

As a result, all officials of the imperial court collected more than 50000 liang of silver..

The fifty thousand taels of silver, if it falls into the hands of one person, must be a huge sum of money. However, it is estimated that it is far from enough to give more than 100000 people as starting fees. Even the emperor was disappointed. He pulled his face and asked for money from everyone without the identity of the emperor. Unexpectedly, it is only fifty thousand taels. Is that too little?

At this time, the emperor thought of an idea, that is, the imperial court has no money and can ask for it from officials. Since the imperial court has no money, can it also ask for it from dignitaries and businessmen in the city?

But when the emperor put forward this proposal, everyone did not say a word, and even Wen Ti Ren dared not say a word.

Last time Wen Tiren came up with such an idea, but it caused public anger and made everyone very angry. Now he doesn't dare to make such a self assertion. She knows that her reputation is bad. If she comes up with another bad idea, it's estimated that everyone will hate him.

But emperor Chongzhen tasted the sweetness in this fund-raising from officials. Even officials can donate. Why can't those noble and businessmen donate a little? You know, now is for everyone, for Daming, not for myself.

So he appointed that this time, led by the cabinet, with the cooperation of the six ministries, the supervision of the Inspection Institute, and the review of Dali temple, he must collect 500000 liang of silver within three days.

The 500000 liang of silver was not given to the national treasury or internal funds. It was directly handed over to Hong Chengchou's army to stop them quickly as a development fee.

Hong Chengchou and Lu Xiangsheng wrote a letter to ask for a response, saying that they only need 500000 liang of silver. With silver, they can solve their immediate problems and send troops to attack Shandong first.

Now that the emperor has ordered, everyone knows that it is impossible to push the pond, so they have to do such a thing.

But these officials don't look sad and unwilling. In fact, everyone is happy. The emperor apportioned it to them and didn't specify that they should go out, so they can collect wool in the capital.

With so many dignitaries and people in the capital, which one has no money? Each household apportions a few Liang, not to mention 500000 Liang, even 1 million Liang, which is no problem.

Moreover, since they have collected taxes from the whole city, they have to share a little profit to compensate for the loss of last donation. Therefore, it seems that the emperor forced it down. It is hard work on the surface, but it is actually a good job, so that they can openly and justifiably extend their hands for money.

This is probably something that emperor Chongzhen could not have imagined when he died.

This is also in line with the current national conditions of the Ming Dynasty, that is, there are all kinds of assessments and tax increases. The imperial court collects 100 liang of taxes, and eventually the officials will toss about 10000 Liang. It goes without saying who has the benefits.

As a result, the imperial court immediately issued an imperial edict to apportion 500000 liang of silver in the capital area, called suppression ring, mainly to collect money for Hong Chengchou and Lu Xiangsheng's army to attack Liu thieves.

As long as they attack Liu thieves, recover Shandong and restore the canal, the grain price will fall and everyone will be better.

But once the imperial edict was issued, the common people scolded their mother.

The imperial court wants to collect money and taxes. There is no bottom line. It unexpectedly increases taxes on them in the way of apportionment. Isn't this the emperor's world? Isn't it the scholar doctor's? Why should we let the common people pay when the world is in trouble? You don't have to?

If it's okay to tell others? To Hong Chengchou and Lu Xiangsheng's troops, everyone was very angry when they heard it. You know, when the capital was besieged, everyone looked forward to the stars, the moon and the two of them.

As a result, when JianNu besieged the capital and wreaked havoc in beizhili, several of them formed a heavy army group. They came slowly, and they didn't arrive until JianNu left. To put it bluntly, it's no difference between coming and not coming. Now, it's better to ask God to send God, but it's easier to send God, and they have to spend money to send them away. The morale of the people scolded.

Originally, Hong Chengchou's reputation was very poor, and Lu Xiangsheng was a little better, but both of them were scolded by the people in the capital.

The officials of the imperial court always pretended to be powerful and took chicken feather as an arrow. This time they took a real imperial sword, so they could freely ask for money.

They have done so much, but they have made these people suffer. Emperor Chongzhen made it clear that this tax collection is mainly collected from dignitaries and rich businessmen. As for ordinary people, don't disturb them. There can't be oil and water in the stone.

However, when an official makes a move, several will attack the dignitaries and dignitaries. You know, there are backstage and backers behind these imperial court. If you reach out to them for money, he can slap you in the face and teach you how to be a man.

And everyone is an official. Officials protect each other. Why should a dog bite a dog? So they decided to start with those businessmen and ordinary people who had no backstage. They set up cards to collect taxes one after another, or forcibly sent yamen servants to collect taxes on the door. If they didn't receive them, they would rob them. Anyway, they had to collect 500000 liang of silver in just three days.

In this way, the common people in the capital will suffer. If you want to charge tens of thousands of liang of silver from those dignitaries who are officials, maybe someone who copied a few treacherous ministers can copy a lot of silver.

But they didn't start with the officials. Instead, they started with the bitter ha ha and the common people, forcing them to pay. If they didn't have money, they forced them to sell their fields and land. They all had to raise money, which made the capital chicken fly and dog jump.

At this time, Zhou Hui was also in the capital. He was knowledgeable about the actions of these officials.

After Zhang Fengyi died, the emperor ordered to copy his house. East Hall and royal guards were responsible for copying his house, but when the royal guards and East Hall copied Zhang Fengyi's house, they finally copied more than 20000 liang of silver and handed it over to the state treasury.

They also praised Zhang Fengyi. Although he was not very good, he was honest as an official and didn't copy any wealth treasure.

Only Zhou Hui knew that the pit was going to die. At least most of the money was stolen by these royal guards and east hall people. Maybe even the imperial court. Otherwise, it would be difficult to suppress such a big thing.

According to Zhou Hui's knowledge, the money given to Zhang Fengyi by their Liu family alone is no less than 200000 liang of silver. Now it's good. These people go to copy the house and swallow it alone. Zhou Hui can be sure that Zhang Fengyi's property will not be less than one million. As a result, these officials are black. The Emperor just chewed a little bone and was very happy with a smile.

For example, this time, the emperor's intention was to collect taxes from these dignitaries. After all, they are the upper elite of the country and the beneficiaries of the national policy. It is normal to ask them to help when the court is in trouble. These officials should actively donate money and materials.

But this is impossible. These officials not only did not donate money and materials, but also took the opportunity to extort money and plunder the people. Originally, they only asked them to collect taxes from xungui and businessmen. As a result, they turned their spearhead into collecting taxes from the people, making chickens fly and dogs jump in the capital and complaining.

This is the characteristic of Daming. The characteristic of Daming is that those who have money don't have to pay taxes, but those who have no money have to pay taxes that they can't afford. Until he goes bankrupt, why are there so many rogue bandits? That's how they come into being.

Zhou Hui was happy to see these officials tossing about like this. The more they toss about, the better they can tear down the corners of Daming. It will come to an end only when the foundation of Daming collapses.

The reason why the Liu family has not started a rebellion now is that they realize that Daming still has a certain popular support. When his popular support is almost consumed and the people resent, it is the time for them to take action.

When Zhou Hui came to the capital, he mainly collected information about Hong Chengchou and Lu Xiangsheng's department. He saw that the two troops attacking them southward could not start because they had no food and pay. These are unimaginable in Liu Jiajun.

Moreover, they can make such a big noise, which is also related to Zhou Hui's planning. Hong Chengchou and Lu Xiangsheng's troops were already full of complaints and anger. After Zhou Hui's people provoked discord, these people suddenly blew their hair. If they didn't do it, they ran away, which made their morale chaotic.

It can be said that Zhou Hui's people are not regular troops, but they have played a role that regular troops can't play, which makes their powerful army almost collapse before they set out.

Even if they did not collapse, the morale of these soldiers had dropped to the bottom. Even Lu Xiangsheng, who was so good at fooling people and painting cakes to satisfy his hunger, could do nothing, let alone Hong Chengchou.

If it was a normal year, Hong Chengchou and Lu Xiangsheng had prepared for going south, but what they do every day is to visit the soldiers on the edge of violence in each military camp. They comfort the soldiers and let them wait patiently. The money and food of the imperial court will come soon.

When Zhou Hui saw these scenes, he shook his head. He didn't expect that the Ming Empire would be so difficult that it was trapped by 500000 liang of silver and forced to the corner. For 500000 liang of military expenditure, they actually got the capital chicken flying and dogs jumping and the people living in poverty.

It is conceivable that emperor Chongzhen ordered his officials to apportion 500000 taels of silver, but these officials collected at least 34 million taels of silver in the process of expropriation. Otherwise, how could they retain and share the profits? When these millions of taels of silver were apportioned, the capital would become a powder keg, and the Hundred Surnames would be angry and angry. This was a great help to the Liu family.