Chapter 345 I Am the King of Tricks
In order to achieve a deterrent effect of killing one person to warn the rest, Zhu Youjian ordered a public trial, and the trial was held on the grass outside the East City Gate.
On the day of the public trial, the crowd of people who came to watch was so large that the wide grass was crowded.
All 35 strong men who made trouble admitted that they were spies of the Qing Dynasty, lurking in the capital to spy on intelligence, and were finally sent to the mining area to serve hard labor.
Either way, they would die, and before they died, they would have to suffer all kinds of terrible tortures from the Jinyiwei. No one could bear it, so they all signed and sealed on the paper and admitted that they were spies of the Qing Dynasty.
This public trial greatly deterred those who had evil intentions and were ready to make a move, and also made them understand that the emperor would never compromise on the issue of taxing merchants, and they could only find another way.
Although those who had evil intentions were temporarily quiet, the shock brought by the public trial was still fermenting.
With the help of some well-informed people, the simple and honest people knew the ins and outs and the truth of the matter. It was the Donglin Party, the wealthy merchants of the Chamber of Commerce, and the aristocratic families who instructed the thirty strong men to deliberately make trouble, forcing the small merchants who were open for business to close their doors, and then continued to strike, not allowing the people to buy various daily necessities, and wanted to starve the people to death.
The real purpose was to force the emperor to cancel the tax exemption for the people and impose taxes on the merchants.
Those so-called well-informed people were sent by Zhu Youjian, who intentionally or unintentionally spread these news among the people to let ordinary people know the truth of the matter. Although there was an element of exaggeration, it touched the hearts of ordinary people.
Many people suddenly realized that Emperor Chongzhen was not the bad emperor as rumored, but a good emperor who cared about the people. Those Donglin Party, merchants, and aristocratic families were the bad guys. They actually opposed the emperor's tax exemption and labor service, and not only opposed it, but on the contrary, they wanted to increase their taxes and labor service, which was very bad conscience.
Before, the Donglin Party members disguised themselves too well and established a lofty image in the hearts of the people. Now, this image has collapsed in the hearts of the people. Although many people are still half-believing and half-doubting, the wind direction has been one-sided.
Some people with bad tempers even spit and greet their eighteen generations of ancestors when they talk about the Donglin Party.
Zhu Youjian was very pleased with the reaction of the people. He who wins the hearts of the people wins the world. This is a wise saying. Even if Li Zicheng is reborn, he may not be able to fool the people to follow him to rebel.
Playing tricks with me, hehe, I will let you know how powerful the routines from another time and space are.
"Your Majesty, I think that we can actually force those businessmen and aristocratic families." Gu Junming said with a smile.
"Hmm? Military Advisor, please speak."
Zhu Youjian's eyes lit up. It would be great if he could force those merchants and aristocratic families to reopen for business. After all, those guys closed their shops and went on strike, which put a lot of pressure on him, forcing him to use the reserve grain that he had spent a lot of time and effort to store with a lot of gold and silver for the decisive battle with the Qing Empire.
If those guys can hold on for another ten days or half a month, his reserve grain warehouse will be clean, cleaner than his face.
"Your Majesty, I think we can do something about the business license." Gu Junming said with a smile. Perhaps influenced by the emperor, he felt that his tone of voice had a bit of a ruffian flavor.
Oh, it's true that those who are close to ink will be black, and those who are close to vermilion will be red.
Gu Junming's trick is very simple, that is, to spread the word that the business license will be temporarily suspended in the short term because the business management regulations are imperfect and need to be revised, or to make up a random reason. The time is tentatively set at one year later, which will definitely make those merchants and aristocratic families who are still closing their doors and striking their businesses jump up and down.
Think about how much loss it will be if you can't sell things for a year?
In order to prevent those guys from closing their doors and striking their businesses for various reasons after obtaining the business license, they have to be given a time limit of three to five days. If they still don't open their doors for business after the time limit, their business licenses will be revoked, and they can only apply for business licenses again after one year.
In order to increase the difficulty of applying for business licenses, a business integrity assessment index system can be established. If they violate it three times in a row, their business licenses will be revoked.