Chongzhen really thought he knew: "I know about commercial taxes. The people are already in great difficulty. The court officials told me that commercial taxes are to compete for profit with the people. If you collect commercial taxes, the people will have a heavy burden and the Ming Dynasty can no longer withstand the troubles. Therefore, no matter how difficult it is, I have no say in collecting commercial taxes from the people."

"Father, you are wrong, you are extremely wrong." Zhu Cilang replied.

Queen Zhou was shocked: "Ciyang, what are you talking nonsense!"

If you say that the emperor is wrong, someone else would have moved a long time ago. Even if the emperor does something wrong, you cannot say that the person is wrong in a straightforward way, but you should say it tactfully. For example, if Your Majesty is wrong, it may be inappropriate, rather than saying that you are wrong, it is extremely wrong.

But Zhu Cilang was the prince, and the family was a common meal. Chongzhen didn't care and waved his hand to signal Queen Cao not to make a fuss: "You said, what's wrong with me?"

Zhu Cilang pondered for a moment: "Does Father still remember a poem? Yongfengwei connects Yongning Township, and one acre of official land and eight dou of grain. People have no thickness in farming, so they can enjoy renting it to their officials.

The big doumen two years ago, the grain and seedlings at the bottom of the dike were not even half apart. The inner servant reported the disaster to the county officials and they are still forced to rent them like a soul.

It is surprising that if there is a land that has not been rented, all the land is sold by the people. The rich family gets the land of the poor and pays the rent, and rents the old ones every year to collect new debts."

"Yongfeng Ballad" is a poem written by Wang Bi of the Ming Dynasty. It reflects the hardship of the people. The official land and rent are very high. When encountering natural disasters and man-made disasters, they have to sell the official land. As a result, although the land is sold, the tax cannot be paid. The old rent plus the new debt can only be sold to the family's livestock, cattle and sheep, and even children have to be sold.

Chongzhen then chanted: "The old rent is gone, and the new rent is raised, and he even sells yellow calf to the city. One calf is a thousand literature, and the debtor calculates interest but not mother.

Don’t be sad if you have a calf to sell. The neighbors in the east sell their calf to sell their children. I hope that if you have a child by my side, you will have to plant official fields next year.”

Zhu Cilang nodded: "That's true, if the father continues to collect taxes, then civil unrest will continue to occur. In the end, this will end..."

Zhu Cilang did not dare to continue, because Empress Zhou frequently winked him. Chongzhen was not angry, but looked sad: "I don't know that I don't know where the country gets money to fight without taxes. I am in trouble. If the world is peaceful, I would like to be a good emperor with light taxes and low taxes. Yes, but now that thieves are everywhere, what can I do?"

Chongzhen felt that he shouldn't complain about his son, but after he was alone for a long time, he had to find a place to vent. Empress Cao was a little unhappy. This was a rare moment for a family to reunite with each other, but Zhu Cilang broke this beauty: "Son, it's not too late to talk to your father when you grow up. Your father devotes his life to the country and work hard every day, and you even say these words that hurt your father's heart."

Zhu Cixuan did not mean to stop: "Mother, son ministers did not mean to hurt his father. Instead, Donglin was in great strength and the court was full of power. This was not levied on commercial tax because the Donglin party members colluded with merchants."

"Ciyang, what are you talking about?" Empress Zhou was furious and then said to Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, this child is confused. I am not disciplined by you. Please calm down your anger."

Because Empress Zhou found that Chongzhen's face was extremely ugly, Zhu Cilang was really frightened after saying these words. With Chongzhen's temper towards others, the person who was talking was either moved or exiled.

Unexpectedly, Chongzhen just said three words coldly: "Speak on."

Since he said this, Zhu Cilang simply gave up. Anyway, these words were what he wanted to say to Chongzhen: "Father, the salt merchants in Lianghuai, the merchants from all over the southeast coast, as well as the large merchant groups such as Shanxi merchants, Zhejiang merchants, and Hui merchants, and even the industrial taxes related to the country's foundation, such as mining, shipbuilding, armour, weaving, kiln smelting, firing, papermaking and other handicrafts. Behind them are the participation of Donglin ministers. If the father collects commercial tax, it will affect the fundamental interests of these people. Therefore, these ministers told his father what commercial tax was to compete for profit with the people, but in fact they were just excuses for fear that the court would compete with them for profit."

With a "bang!", Chongzhen overturned the table angrily.

While the family was having dinner, Empress Zhou asked the palace people in the hall to retreat. The Emperor Longyan was furious, and the palace people outside the hall were so scared that they knelt down one after another. Although they could not hear what was quarreling inside, Emperor Longyan was furious and turned the table up and they heard it.

Emperor Chongzhen was angry, and all the palace people were so scared that they were trembling. They didn't know what the queen and prince in the palace had done, which made Emperor Long live so angry.

Queen Zhou was also so scared that she hurriedly pulled Zhu Cilang to kneel down: "Long live to calm down, it's all my fault. It's okay for me to discipline me. Please forgive me!"

In official history, there were very few things that the Ming Dynasty called the emperor, which was only available in the Qing Dynasty. Generally, people in Chongzhen called him the Emperor or the Emperor, and Empress Zhou liked to call him His Majesty privately. Seeing Chongzhen angry, she hurriedly changed the name to Long Live.

Zhu Cilang was extremely stubborn. Although he was forced to kneel down, he had no desire to repent.

Chongzhen trembled all over his body and pointed at him angrily: "Say, where do you hear these words from? Where do you hear them?"

Zhu Cilang raised his head proudly: "Father, do you need to listen to this? How many eunuchs, harems, vassal kings, bureaucrats, gentlemen, and many businesses are controlled by these people. None of these people collect taxes on them, and most of the taxes are lost. The court simply keeps increasing taxes on the people and small and medium-sized merchants: if you should be levied, you will not be levied, and you will be levied on the people and those small merchants who make a living. The son minister said that in three months, it would be less than 10 million taels in three months. If the father believes in the son minister, let alone 10 million taels, the son minister can also collect 30 million taels for you!"

Chongzhen's face turned pale, and Empress Zhou knelt on the ground and was frightened. She had no doubt that Chongzhen would slap Zhu Cilang on the face in the next second. Or, with a command, he would take Zhu Cilang away from the position of prince and imprison him and imprison him.

But Chongzhen did not do this, but sat down on the chair dejectedly. In fact, he was not angry with Zhu Cilang, he was angry with himself.

There are so many ministers, each of whom pretends to be hypocritical and selfless, and no one says this to him. Unexpectedly, the prince of the Jinyiwei even came to tell him these unpleasant words. In fact, it is impossible to blame the ministers. The ministers are not just because of their moodiness, no one dares to speak up for justice.

In other words, even if someone wants to tell the truth, he will be attacked by court officials and eventually become the target of public criticism. Chongzhen himself will not distinguish between right and wrong, so he will definitely be punished with this person.
Chapter completed!