Zhu Cilang sighed and looked at the officials of various departments in Shanxi: "You are all good officials. I know that there are corrupt officials everywhere in the Ming Dynasty, but everyone here is good. It is not your fault that there is the current situation in Shanxi."

"Your Highness, Your Highness, your Highness will be clear!" The officials knelt down one after another. They were so frustrated.

The court kept reproaching, and Chongzhen only knew how to repeatedly issue orders to scold. However, no one knew how difficult it was for these local officials.

The court never cares about how local officials rule. They only know that if something happens, you will be held accountable. Natural disasters and man-made disasters have nothing to do with the court. They are all the affairs of you parents and officials.

Zhu Cixuan has never been a nonsense person. He said lightly: "All up, it's not the time for you to cry. When the bandits come to the city and break through the city gate in the future, it's not too late for you to cry again. Now, what I want to know is, who has a good plan to combat the bandits?"

The officials looked at each other and thought about how to combat the enemy. However, the imperial court was short of money and food, and life was as difficult as these local governments.

These Shanxi officials have studied them many times on weekdays. But what can they do? The reason for the spread of bandits is that they are drought and poor grain harvest.

The officials were silent, and Zhu Cixuan looked at the Taiyuan Prefect: "Mr. Sun, do you have a clever plan?"

The prefect Sun Kang stood up and wiped the sweat from his forehead: "Your Highness forgives your crime, your subordinate is ignorant, and he has no good plans to combat the enemy."

Zhu Cixuan looked at everyone again: "Do you have no good way?"

No one answered that if there was a good way, there would not be so many bandits in the Central Plains.

Zhu Cixuan cleared his throat and then carried his hands on his back: "I have no way to do it. Our Ming Dynasty is already rotten. Why not give up struggling and let everyone die."

As soon as these words were spoken, the officials looked at each other again, what did the Crown Prince say?

People who are familiar with Zhu Cilang, such as the dog-legged Wangcai, and the secret guard Meng Fanchao and others, all know that this is how the prince speaks. Sometimes he will go around in a few circles and then stick out a little finger to poke you to death.

For example, now, Shanxi officials looked puzzled. The prince brought the 12th Regiment Battalion and more than 100,000 troops to suppress the enemy. If all of them were stationed in Shanxi, the situation in Shanxi would be stable within one or two years. But in this case, what should we do in Shaanxi, Henan, Shandong, Huguang, Sichuan and other places? The enemy bandits in those places are no less than Shanxi.

Seeing that no one answered the officials, Zhu Cixuan continued, "But, I have learned a good way in Xinyang City. If this continues, your Shanxi bandits may be pacified. At that time, I will write to you to the court again. One of the officials here will be counted as one, and all of them will be considered a great achievement."

The officials became increasingly confused. The prince's words were really mysterious and foggy. After a while, Bi Gongchen, the deputy military chief, asked: "Your Highness, I am ignorant, please don't keep your guard."

Zhu Cilang smiled slightly: "This trespass Li Zicheng rampages everywhere, causing huge losses to the people of the Ming Dynasty. The trespass Li Zicheng occupied Huguang and turned the land of Huguang into the base camp of bandits. Li Zicheng was extremely ambitious and wanted to compete with the court. However, Li Zicheng thought about his troops entering Henan."

Bi Gongchen interrupted him and said, "I have heard that the thief has entered Henan. Most of Henan has fallen, and the thief has arrived at Kaifeng Prefecture."

Zhu Cilang nodded: "That's right, but what you don't know is that Li Zicheng suffered a great loss in Xinyang City."

Bi Gongchen replied, "I have heard a little. The day before yesterday, I issued an edict to briefly state this matter. The imperial edict said that the thieves attacked Xinyang City were frustrated, and they threw down countless corpses under the city, and retreated with defeat. The thief encouraged me and waited for a few words, saying that if there were bandits attacking the city, I would let me learn from the Hongniang."

Zhu Cilang snorted: "You know that Xinyang City guarded by Hongniangzi defeated Li Zicheng, but they don't know what method they used."

Everyone shook their heads together, Governor Cai Maode stood up and bowed and said, "Your Highness, I have just heard that the husband of Hong Niangzi led the soldiers and civilians to defend together, which made the bandits return in vain."

"That's right, this is what I want to say. The husband of Hong Niangzi, Li Yan, was originally a talent recruited by the palace. Since Li Zicheng can inspire refugees to use it for his own purposes, why can't you?"

As soon as this statement came out, the officials were shocked. Bi Gongchen asked in surprise: "What is your highness meant to ask the ministers and others to recruit those refugees?"

Zhu Cilang nodded and said, "Yes, the reason why Li Zicheng was able to grow stronger was because he would recruit some refugees as bandits wherever he went. These bandits could not eat, so they could only burn, kill, loot."

Bi Gongchen was even more surprised: "How can I do it if I burn, kill, loot, and loot? Besides, how can I solve the problem of food and grass after the incorporation of these large number of refugees?"

"I ask you, where did Li Zicheng's food and grass come from?"

"Since, of course, they robbed the rich gentry and businessmen. There are also the grain stored in the official warehouse."

Zhu Cilang sneered: "Those landlords and gentry who were unkind are hoarding food to raise the price of food. Some of them bullied the people and annexed the land of the people. This caused the people to be displaced, and the people were resentful, and then they became bandits. If you serve as an official, you will arrest all the wealthy and unkind gentry families and confiscate their illegal money to use to support soldiers, why worry about the injustice of the bandits?"

This is equivalent to giving local officials the right to recruit troops independently. During the war, Zhu Cixuan was in charge of Shanxi and monopolized the military and political power of Shanxi. He did this to solve the problem of bandits.

However, the side effects of doing this are also extremely great. That is, it will cause the people in various places to gain self-respecting troops and a terrible situation of separatist rule. How did the Eastern Han Dynasty disappear and how the late Tang Dynasty perished, all of which were related to this. The Eastern Han Dynasty was destroyed and the warlords were separated, and the Tang Dynasty was destroyed and the vassal ruled.

Zhu Cilang did this like opening Pandora's box. For the Ming Dynasty, it was really equivalent to drinking poison to quench thirst.

The governor Zhao Jianji, the governor Cai Maode, and the military chief Bi Gongchen said in surprise: "Your Highness, does the court agree to this?"

Zhu Cilang nodded: "When the palace left the capital to pacify the enemy, he had already obtained the favor of his father. Soon, the father would issue an edict to appoint local troops to pacify the enemy in various places."

Zhu Cilang took a lot of effort to convince Chongzhen to do so. Chongzhen still retained his own opinion on this. Isn’t Zhu Cilang afraid that it would cause separatist situations in the vassal states? He was afraid, but he could only do so with a tough bullet.
Chapter completed!