stubborn thief

Chapter 254 Progress
Monk Gama fell into a state of doubting life.

Liu Chengzong said earlier that he wanted to take this palace as his own, but he was unwilling to accept it in his heart.

Nangsuoqian Mo Palace is a symbol of Nangqian Wangzhu's family ruling Nangqian, not to mention it is also their amulet.

Whoever captures this fortress can rule for a radius of six hundred miles.

But because this incident was linked with the three-day fall into the city, Monk Gama only laughed at the arrogant Liu Chengzong in his heart.

In the past 400 years, this fortress has only been attacked by people from inside and outside, and has never fallen due to strong attack.

He believed that the local leaders in Nangqian still had their heart for the Zhu family, and if they found an opportunity to reoccupy the fort in the future, they could also rely on the castle to drive away the Liu family.

They are the eternal rulers of this land just as the sun rises and the moon sets.

How to describe Monk Gama's thoughts?

This is difficult for him to accept. In his long life, all the cognitions he has received are that this palace is the strongest fortress in the world.

But in just half a year, it was breached twice in succession.

The previous time it could be said that the inside and the outside cooperated, but this time... Counting the mountain climbing, it took Liu's army less than two hours to plant the Liu character flag on the castle.

The defenders were very determined to resist. Monk Gama climbed up the mountain. From the mountain platform to the interior of the castle, there were many corpses everywhere.

The white horse that went out of the city to meet the enemy was like the original, the body was placed on the platform, the left shoulder was punched by an iron bullet, and the iron knife was still tightly held in the right hand.

Put together with the white horse Ruben are sixteen tiger heroes. They all wore tiger or wolf skins and made great contributions in past wars. Some of them died from bullets and some died in close combat.

The blue horse Ruben died behind the city gate, and the chain armor on his body was useless, and it was beaten with holes everywhere by the broken iron.

The corridor was stained with blood, and the tapestry on the wall was still inlaid with broken bones and iron pieces. The corpses had all been moved out, and the black horse was among them. It took a long time for people to recognize him from the corpse without the helmet.

The lieutenant general of Daiben's army died on the roof platform of the castle. According to the captives, he was killed by stray bullets as early as the battle began.

Except for Bai Lijun's dumb Daiben who was captured, the next three lieutenants were all killed in battle.

Three of the six Jiaben were killed, one was captured in the city, two escaped, one fell to his death on a cliff, and the other broke his leg. He handed over his saber and helmet at the foot of the mountain and surrendered to the Mongolian soldiers.

Of the more than 94 defenders, only 300 surrendered in the city, and more than [-] bodies were found. Some people hid in the mountains or fell into the east ravine.

It was a ravine that even the eagles would not fly over. Monk Gama didn't think those people would survive.

In fact, Ga Ma knew that the defenders had no chance of resisting indecisiveness. When the castle was built, no one considered that someone would escape.

There is no way out except to stick to it.

But only four people were killed in the siege army, and three of them were knocked off the cliff by falsely surrendered prisoners.

In the end, the man did not die in the battle. He was shot by the Tiger Hero with a musket at close range. It was not until the Liu character flag was planted on the top of the castle that he finally couldn't hold his breath.

Monk Gama's world view collapsed, and the fortress as strong as a snow mountain was breached at the cost of only one person.

In the past, he worried that Liu Chengzong would not be able to live in Qinghai-Tibet for a long time, his power would not extend to Nangqian, and he would not be able to provide him with protection after his annexation.

But when the Lion Army captured Nangsuoqianmo Palace in two hours, he couldn't help worrying that Liu Chengzong wanted to rule the place too much.

He found Liu Chengzong at night and said: "I don't want this palace anymore. I hope the Grand Marshal will let my housekeeper go down the mountain, find a suitable place to build a manor, and give me some land."

The oil lamp is always on, making the night in the small living room smoky.

Liu Chengzong flipped through the Thangka of surgical instruments and bone composition drawn by Ngawang Daiben, and listened to Chen Shifo's translation.

He raised his head and glanced at Monk Gama, who was close at hand, and the monk had an embarrassed expression.

What does it mean to build a manor and bestow land, as if Liu Chengzong wants to take all the money into his own.

A big feudal lord family that ruled a radius of six hundred miles for hundreds of years, the last heir, had only two options in this case.

If you really want to let go of power, just roll up your bedding and talk about building a manor with a piece of land in Juerwan or Haibei, no matter how rich you are.

If you want to seize power, you should sit here and chat with Liu Chengzong about the promise of being a chieftain and paying tribute from generation to generation.

On Nangqian's family's hereditary land, if you give you a little manor land, isn't that telling all the local lords in Wei Zang that cooperating with Liu Chengzong will not end well.

Liu Chengzong raised his finger, smiled angrily, shook his head and said: "Gama, Gama... my army regained your homeland for you, so many good soldiers were killed and injured, but you still regard yourself as an outsider ?”

"outsider?"

Monk Gama saluted and asked, "What does the Generalissimo think I should do?"

"You will be the chieftain here, go and get back your land, let the whole Nangqian return to your hands, if you want to rebuild Genbang Temple, then rebuild it, it's okay, but the law."

Liu Chengzong looked at Monk Gama and said, "The law must obey me."

Monk Gama shook his head and said, "I don't want to repair it anymore. The master who established Genbang Temple once said that if this temple is destroyed, no one can rebuild it."

"Then don't fix it."

Liu Chengzong doesn't care about this matter, he cares more about the law, he can't forget the law that a human life is only worth a straw rope.

"What law does the Generalissimo wish to promulgate?"

Liu Chengzong was not in a hurry to express his thoughts, he just said to Ga Ma: "You are my official, what kind of laws do you think I will promulgate?"

Monk Gama was relieved when he heard these words, it was like a promise that with such an army protection, he no longer needed to be afraid no matter what.

In fact, what he was most afraid of was that Liu Chengzong regarded him as an outsider, because he had also heard that this lion was a rebel who beat landlords in the Han area.

"Abolish chieftain aristocrats, abolish slaves, tear down temples, prohibit lending, equalize land and exempt taxes?"

After the monk Gama finished speaking, he shook his head and said, "The Generalissimo should promulgate stricter laws against slaves, guarantee the power of the nobles and temples, and allow the nobles and monks to pay more tribute."

When Chen Shifo translated this sentence, he watched Liu Chengzong cautiously... He didn't want to be pulled out and chopped up by the enraged Liu Chengzong because of translating this sentence.

But fortunately, Liu Chengzong was not angry because of these, but asked flatly: "Why do you say that?"

Gama took it for granted: "The generalissimo is Han, and the army is also Han. They are all rebels from Ming Dynasty. I went south with the army, and I often heard that the soldiers wanted to fight back to the Han land. They needed money, food, minerals, livestock, and treasures."

Monk Gama said: "The Generalissimo said that I am an official. Since I am an official in Nangqian, I must help the Generalissimo to do these things. Abolishing the slaves of the chieftain nobles, tearing down the temples and prohibiting lending, and exempting the land from taxes. Help the Generalissimo do this."

Liu Chengzong nodded: "Go ahead."

Monk Gama became more courageous. He said: "Nangqian has a radius of 2 li, and there are only [-] people. The land here cannot withstand intensive cultivation. A slave planting one mu of land only needs [-] tsampa in a month. Forty catties of grain, a farmer can only harvest fifty catties of grain."

He spread his hands and said: "A slave eats ten catties, I keep ten catties, and the rest eats five catties on the way, and can give fifteen catties to the marshal; , the five catties given to the generalissimo were eaten on the way."

After the monk Gama finished speaking, he shook his head and said: "The army of the Generalissimo is like the gods in the sky, able to defeat everything on the earth. No matter what they want to do, the monks, laymen and nobles on the earth dare not say anything. Whoever dares to say it will pull out their tongues." beheaded, skinned and hung on a mountain...but we get nothing."

Liu Chengzong understood.

It seemed that there were always two paths before him.

One way is very easy and simple, you just need to rob money or let others rob it in another way, as long as you don’t care how these things come from, you can always get everything you want.

But it was all a clear reminder to him that you are a conqueror, not a ruler.

Wanting to rule a piece of land is by no means simply taking away the best things here, just like keeping food in Heshui County and helping victims of disasters in northern Shaanxi.

It is easy to abolish something, but it is difficult to replace it with something after abolishment.

There are [-] people in a radius of [-] miles, and the population density per square kilometer is [-]... Even a simple Liu Chengzong marching south can temporarily double the population density of this vast land.

With a fragmented road network, high mountains, and barren land, it might be too much of a luxury for ordinary people to talk about business.

The narrow room fell into a long silence.

Chen Shifu looked at Liu Chengzong who was in deep thought, racking his brains to say something, to help.

But he couldn't think of one.

Until Liu Chengzong raised his head: "I need secular chieftains, Nangqian, all chieftains will be secular chieftains, without monks, can you do it?"

"It's hard."

This time there is no need for Monk Gama to speak. Chen Shifo said: "There is no temple, which is equivalent to no Confucianism, no market, and no pawnshop for lending money in Han... There are so many people in Han, it is worth learning Confucianism in every county, but it is not worth it here."

Liu Chengzong nodded. In fact, there are deeper things that Chen Shifo didn't say.

Monks have the motivation to build temples, and they can also benefit from it, but if they are secular nobles, they don't have the motivation to practice Confucianism, markets, and pawnshops.

What's more, even if there is such motivation, it is definitely not Liu Chengzong's original intention.

Until here, Liu Chengzong's expression finally relaxed. He shook his head and still looked at Ga Ma: "I need you to be a secular leader, can you do it?"

Ga Ma said with a smile: "I must be a secular leader. I need to get married and have a baby in order to continue the chieftain."

"That's fine, but before that, you have to recruit an army to fight. I will deal with King Baili. Together with the Mongolian herders, you will attack all the nobles who surrendered and rebelled and take back their land."

Monk Gama has been talking eloquently because he understands this land and understands the underlying reasons for these current situations.

It was as if the room was too small, and Monk Gama knew that it was because the mountain was too high, the castle was too high, and the three-story living room needed more support, so the room could only be small.

Only when it comes to fighting, Ga Ma's expression changed.

It's going to be a big purge.

"Marshal, if this is the case, there will be no nobles in Nangqian."

"I'm not asking you to kill them, I'm asking you to take back their land and completely hold Nangqian in your hands. I may install some officials. My people need to learn to govern the place."

Liu Chengzong nodded and said: "But those lands will belong to you. You will not be the owner of the pocket in name, but the actual owner of the pocket."

Nangqian is a natural choice for Liu Chengzong.

King Baili's army destroyed the temple, and the war destroyed the original power structure. When the war is over, these things will be slowly restored according to the will of the people in this land until they are restored to their original state.

The three or four years after the end of the war belonged to a period of vacuum and redistribution of power.

It is very suitable for reform experiments, but Liu Chengzong has the final say on how to reform, but the people here have the final say.

"You need to seize power and implement something more progressive. What is progress? It's not just equalizing the land and exempting taxes all of a sudden. There's a lot of resistance, and you're moving forward...you don't understand this."

Liu Chengzong looked at Monk Gama, stood up and said with a smile: "The transition from slavery in Tubo to serfdom is progress in itself, and progress from slavery to slavery is also progress."

"Abolishing the abuse of corporal punishment and ensuring the safety of slaves is a huge step forward."

Liu Chengzong never thought that he needed to reach the sky in one step and achieve perfection.

There wasn't much he needed to do, nor was it difficult.

You just need to move forward tenaciously no matter how big the obstacles ahead are, and every inch you advance will be worth every inch.

The greatest significance of Nangqian Tusi's existence, in Liu Chengzong's plan, is to withstand the backlash of reform.

Everyone is happy if they succeed. Even if they fail, they will gain more experience in ruling Qinghai-Tibet.

"Follow me steadily. Don't just stare at one place in Nangqian. Nangqian is too small. You should look at the whole Qinghai-Tibet. The small changes you make will make your name known to future generations."

On the face of Monk Gama, there is both the joy of getting a large amount of land and the anxiety of facing a strong enemy. How painful it is to open a knife to himself!
"Marshal, this matter can be handled by the Mongols. I want to fight against those nobles, how can I recruit troops from them?"

"You can't let the Mongols do it all for you. Your land, of course you come to conquer it. You can promulgate the first law. You can draw slaves from the nobles who follow you. Those who fight bravely will be rewarded by you." The price of a sheep is redeemed from the owner."

"Then, based on their military exploits, land ranging from [-] mu to [-] mu will be granted. The slaves who surrendered and fought bravely can also receive such rewards."

Ga Ma pouted, agreeing that those lands should still be given to slaves.

Liu Chengzong said with a smile: "That's only a lot of land. You will confiscate the land of many nobles. Even if you liberate [-] slaves and give them all [-] mu of land, that's only [-] hectares of land."

"Go quickly." Chen Shifu said with a smile: "Those noble lands are beckoning to you. In the end, you will receive taxes from 5000 people, and you will make a lot of money!"

　good evening!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)