Eighth year of Chongzhen

Chapter 36
On the throne in the Central Palace of the Forbidden City, Zhu Youjian, wearing a black gauze folded upper scarf, a round neck and narrow sleeves, and a regular uniform embroidered with dragon patterns, sat upright, looking expressionlessly at the officials and relatives in the hall.

This is the first time he has held a court meeting since he traveled through time. Several court elders headed by Wen Tiren, civil servants of all ministries and above, and all the relatives headed by the British Duke Zhang Weixian attended the meeting.

Hou Xun, Shangshu of the Ministry of household affairs, is reporting the affairs of the headquarters.

It's not so much a memorial as a vomit.

Since he succeeded Bi Zisu as Minister of the Household Department in the seventh year of Chongzhen, he has been conscientious and dedicated.But it is hard for a clever woman to cook without rice. In addition to years of severe drought in Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan, Huguang and other provinces, rebels have been raging for a long time. For production, it doesn't matter if the taxes and taxes of these provinces are not handed over, the Ministry of Households has to allocate a large amount of money and food to them.

Not to mention the bottomless pit of Liaodong.

Now the imperial court has 18 officers and troops stationed in Liaodong in name, and they eat horses and chew on horses, spending millions of taels a year. It’s hard to say how many of these millions of taels went into the pockets of the warlords in Liaodong. .

The imperial court is dumb and eats Coptis chinensis—knowing it well, in order to guard against the Jian captives, they have to bite the bullet and satisfy the appetites of these military leaders.

At the end, Hou Xun said with a bitter face: "Now there are only 20 taels of silver in the treasury of the household department, and there are so many documents asking for money from governors and generals everywhere. I am exhausted physically and mentally, and I am really powerless! What is the plan for now?" , the only way is to increase the dispatch of wages, once the matter is of great importance, I dare not make decisions, so I can only respectfully invite the Holy Judge!"

Zhu Youjian said: "What is the way to suppress wages that Qing said? Let's hear it!"

Hou Xun hesitated for a moment, and said: "Your Majesty Qi Zuo, what I said today is to serve the public wholeheartedly. If the Holy Majesty adopts my foolish opinion, I fear that the people will be violent and will be criticized by thousands of people!"

Zhu Youjian said in a warm voice: "As long as you are dedicated to the public, you don't have to worry too much. You can play it. As for whether to accept it, I will decide for myself!"

Hou Xun gave a salute, and said: "The so-called suppression of salary, I want to collect it in four ways: one is to lose it equally, and distribute it equally according to the area of ​​the cultivated land in the Ming Dynasty. Each field is one mu, and rice is given to Liuhe, and every meter is one stone, which is converted into silver. Eight coins, only this item can be converted into 190 million taels of silver per year; the second is the overflow land. From the sixth year of Wanli to the 11th year of the Ming Dynasty, the cultivated land area of ​​the whole Ming Dynasty was added to the cultivated land. The second one is added together, and you can get about 40 taels of silver; the third is the case of sending school supervisors. Now there are a large number of officials and wealthy businessmen in Daming, who are idle at home and causing trouble. I am very interested in the name of the member. I suggested that a certain amount of property be exchanged for the name of the supervisor, and there must be many responses. As mentioned above, if my Majesty accepts your proposal, the total amount of silver will be about 20 million taels per year, which is enough to greatly alleviate the current crisis."

Just after Hou Xun's report was completed, Zhan Shi Huang Daozhou, the young man of Zhan Shifu, came out to play and said: "Your Majesty, I oppose the words of the Ministry of Households. Since the rise of the army, Liao's salary and training salary have been increasing day by day, and the people are miserable. Words! The Ministry of Households has now introduced the theory of equal losses, which will definitely aggravate the hardships of the people. The cause of the bandits in Shaanxi is known all over the world. Could it be that the Ministry of Households is afraid that there will be fewer rebels?!"

At the end, Huang Daozhou couldn't help but stern.

Zhu Youjian frowned slightly, and said: "Hou Qing's plan is based on the affairs of the Ministry as the starting point, and the original intention is to relieve the court's worries. Huang Qing does not need to be labeled. Since Huang Qing does not agree with the Ministry of Households' policy, what is Qing's plan?" High opinion, tell me and listen!"

Huang Daozhou thought about it and then said: "I think the current plan is to restore the system of the emperor Taizu Gao. Soldiers are farmers in daily life and soldiers in wartime. They cultivate the fields to support their families. In this way, no tax will be added. And the soldiers are self-sufficient!"

Chang Ziyu of the Bingke gave a speech and said: "Although Shao Zhanshi's words are reasonable, have you ever thought about it? Nowadays, bandits are raging, soldiers are in chaos, droughts are everywhere, people are in panic, and officers and soldiers are fighting everywhere. How can there be enough troops?" Guarantee the safety of one party? Then how to cultivate the fields? Moreover, cultivating the fields requires a lot of money, grain and cattle. Now the treasury is empty. How can the imperial court get it out? Even if the strategy you said can be implemented, the long-distance water will not quench the near-thirst. The mission is successful, I am afraid that the bandits have already reached the capital! Suppressing bandits requires soldiers, and using soldiers requires payment. What the Holy Majesty needs is to solve the urgent needs of the moment, not to talk about things that cannot be seen in the future!"

Huang Daozhou was speechless.

He is a master of literature and a man of learning, but governing the country is not his forte. Just now he heard that Hou Xun asked the emperor to send more money to suppress the salary.

Listening to Chang Ziyu's words now, I feel that I am too idealistic.He was very magnanimous in his heart, after saluting to the emperor, he bowed his hand to Chang Ziyu, Chang Ziyu respected his knowledge and hurriedly returned the salute.

Zhu Youjian signaled the two of them to return to the train, and slowly said: "Qing and others are all thinking about the court, I understand it in my heart. Now that the country is facing a crisis, all the ministers should speak freely and make suggestions for Ming Dynasty, instead of a dead body. I only want to seek my own self-interest. Last year, I ordered the family of the honored relatives to donate to the court. It has been almost a year, but unfortunately no one has responded. You have received the grace of the Ming Dynasty for 200 years, so far, there is nothing in the autumn of life and death. I am very disappointed in the loyalty of the country! The governors of Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan, Shandong, and Huguang also ordered the local gentry to donate, but unfortunately they didn't get any money. When I think of this, I sometimes laugh secretly! Wherever the thief goes, it is like locusts crossing the border, not a single blade of grass grows. After the thief destroys the county, all the wealth of your family is all for him. How can you be so stupid? I regret it when the steel knife rests on my neck. I should have donated money at the beginning Help the country, kill these thieves, and you won’t have the disaster of exterminating your family today. Some people really don’t cry when they don’t see the coffin! I also say here, you can do it yourself. I have the confidence to wipe out the thieves. At that time, Whoever works for me, whoever looks on coldly, I will give you an explanation!"

All the ministers in the hall lowered their heads when they heard the emperor's sharp words. Some felt ashamed, while others secretly disdainful.

Zhu Youjian saw everyone's expressions in his eyes, and was extremely disappointed in his heart.

He continued: "The thieves must be exterminated, and the imperial court must send heavy troops to suppress the thieves. If the food and salaries do not come from the people, then they must come from the treasury and internal funds. Now that the treasury is empty, you are naturally thinking about my internal funds. Ha ha, don't worry, Daming is the world of the Zhu family, I will not be a miser, and I will not wait until the death of the country to guard a lot of useless things! I am different from you, I know in my heart, Some people don’t care about Da Ming’s survival at all. To them, Da Ming’s death is just a change of master! But they don’t think about it, if the master is changed, will the new master treat them as kindly as Da Ming? Humph, thief No matter whether they are slaves or slaves, they are all people who lead beasts and cannibals, if that day comes, their fate will not be so good!"

After finishing speaking, Zhu Youjian got up and walked away, Wang Chengen hurriedly followed behind him, leaving the stunned officials in the hall behind.

Although everyone knew that the emperor was short-tempered, they had never seen him say such harsh words. Judging from the emperor's attitude just now, he was already extremely angry. His words pointed directly at people's hearts and hit his face directly.

Chief Assistant Wen Tiren sighed and said: "I'll let His Majesty down, so let's all go back to the office. Think about what His Majesty said when you have nothing to do. I advise you, it's better to be less careful and more for the sake of your heart." Daming Jiangshan think about it!"

Everyone can't speak, they all have their own concerns and disperse.

After returning to the Hall of Martial Arts, Zhu Youjian calmed down, and after sitting in the imperial case, he began to think about the next plan.

In his layout, Shaanxi is the most important part.

Now Hong Chengchou is leading troops to fight Li Zicheng who is active in northern Shaanxi. Hong Chengchou has Cao Wenzhao, Cao Bianjiao, Zuo Liangyu and other fierce generals under his command, and Liaodong cavalry from Wu Sangui and Zu Dale are helping out. Although Li Zicheng cannot be wiped out in a short time, But at least it can be blocked in the northern Shaanxi area, preventing it from fleeing to other places.

The only thing needed now is time, and Sun Chuanting has gained a firm foothold in Xi'an, the hinterland of Shaanxi.Redistributing land is equivalent to beating local tyrants and dividing land in later generations. This is the most basic measure to win the hearts of the people.

The personnel of the Huangzhuang Administration Bureau sent by Zhu Youjian to assist him will first do well drilling, and strive to rapidly expand the scale of the well drilling team to cope with the drought.

Then, after the grain is produced, the new type of military grain will be made to avoid the huge consumption caused by the long-distance transportation from the capital, and it will be able to provide supplements to Hong Chengchou's army.

The silver that Sun Chuanting obtained by copying his family property could be quickly distributed to the officers and soldiers under the two men. With sufficient food and salaries, I believe the morale of the officers and soldiers will be greatly improved.

If there are still those who disobeyed and refused to obey orders, I believe that Hong Chengchou and Sun Chuanting's methods can deal with it.

Gao Yingxiang and Tuo Yangkun, who are currently active in the border area between Henan and Chu, are the biggest threat to Ming Dynasty. Although Lu Xiangsheng has outstanding ability, he is loyal.However, the troops under his command are weak and there are too few cavalry. Although they can defeat the bandits, they cannot be wiped out.

Can't run away from others, Gao Yingxiang has many cavalry under his command, and every time he faces a battle, he uses cannon fodder composed of refugees as the front line.As long as the officers and soldiers are too strong to resist, they will resolutely abandon the cannon fodder and run away. After a while, they will bring new refugees to besiege the prefecture and county.

Now with the assistance of Zu Kuan and Li Chongjin's Guan Ning cavalry, the situation should improve.

But Liaodong soldiers and horses have been disobeying orders for a long time. Lu Xiangsheng is not as decisive and resolute as Hong Chengchou and Sun Chuanting.

Besides, Gao Yingxiang and others were looting prefectures and counties everywhere, and when the officers and soldiers arrived, he began to flee.Although Lu Xiangsheng's Tianxiong Army was good at fighting, it came from Hebei and was not good at fighting in the mountains. In addition, it was difficult to supply food and grass in time, so they could only look at the mountains and sigh.

It seems that it is necessary to send an army accustomed to crossing mountains to help.

Thinking of this, Zhu Youjian suddenly remembered the six thousand Sichuan soldiers who had mutinied some time ago and were stationed in Fancheng after being appeased by Hong Chengchou.

He Renlong, who was temporarily kept in the barracks by Hong Chengchou, followed him to northern Shaanxi. Later, the Ministry of War appointed Qin Liangyu's nephew, Qin Yiming, as the commander-in-chief of the [-] Sichuan soldiers.

Zhu Youjian decided to place this Sichuan army under the command of Lu Xiangsheng.

The Sichuan army endures hardships and stands hard work. Although the military discipline is not good, its combat effectiveness is still good.And he is good at fighting in mountains, and can show his strengths in places with high mountains, dense forests and complex terrain.

Thinking of Chuan Bing, the image of a famous heroine in later generations appeared in Zhu Youjian's mind-Qin Liangyu!
This is the only female hero recorded in the official history in Chinese history, the only female general who was named a marquis by virtue of her military exploits, one of the few women with both civil and military skills, and what is even more rare is her utter loyalty to the Ming court.

After Zhang Xianzhong invaded Sichuan in the 15th year of Chongzhen, due to the lack of food and salaries of the imperial court, Qin Liangyu destroyed his family to relieve the difficulties, and used his family's money to support the officers and soldiers and resist the bandits.

When Zhu Youjian read this passage in later generations, he couldn't help but be impressed by the heroine's magnanimity. This is the real national hero, who sacrificed everything for the benefit of the country and the nation.Her husband, two older brothers, one younger brother, and one nephew all sacrificed their lives for the country one after another, and they can be called loyal.

Such heroes, because of their gender, have not been valued by those mediocre officials who hold great power in history.

He fought everywhere for the country, but was repeatedly made things difficult and despised, so that he could not display his ambition to serve the country.It was not until the Longwu period of the Southern Ming Dynasty that she was named a marquis and worshiped general, but it was too late, and the heroine was already very old.

After the fall of the Nanming Dynasty, Qin Liangyu refused to surrender to the Qing Dynasty, and finally retired to the mountains and forests, and had a good death.

The current governor of Sichuan, Shao Jiechun, is a mediocre official, cowardly and ignorant of soldiers. He has always looked down on Qin Liangyu and ignored her suggestions. Such a person should not steal a high position.

Although Sichuan is relatively calm now, because of the dangerous terrain, the bandits have not attacked Sichuan.

But in the later period, Li Chuang and Zhang Xianzhong successively entered Sichuan, causing disasters in the land of Sichuan and Shu.

As for who will take over the post of governor of Sichuan, Chongzhen thought of one person, an upright but somewhat willful minister.

In the fifth year of Chongzhen, Fu Zonglong, who was implicated and unemployed because of Sun Chengzong's forced resignation, was a straightforward person who had the courage to do things, dare to take responsibility, and would not flatter.

Dare to speak righteously, he was disgusted by the emperor when he spoke for the poor in front of Chongzhen, and was not liked by the courtiers because of his straightforward personality.

Zhu Youjian knew that Fu Zonglong was captured by Li Chuang, and finally died of scolding a thief. He was a loyal and courageous person.

Such a person was not appreciated in the history of his previous life. Now that he has come to this world as a time traveler, of course he cannot bury his talent.

Then, in the coming ninth year of Chongzhen, the drought in Shandong, Henan and other places was severe. Many prefectures and counties had no food harvest, hungry people were everywhere, and countless families fled famine.

These hungry people have become the best source of soldiers for the rogues, and this is something that must be taken seriously.

Drought is a natural disaster that cannot be controlled by humans, but man-made disasters can be prevented.The way is to use food to stabilize the people. As long as there is a bite to eat, the people will not follow the bandits to rebel against the court.

Now we must plan ahead and do our best to prevent the tragedy from happening.

There is also the production of firearms.

Since the implementation of assembly line production and the implementation of various incentive mechanisms, the output of various weapons has increased greatly. Under the strict supervision of Bi Maokang and others, the quality has also been fully guaranteed.

At present, the monthly output of excellent firecrackers is about [-] rods, and there are countless other knives, guns and arrows.

Zhu Youjian has given Sun Yingyuan an order to increase the number of firecrackers in the Yongwei camp to 1000, of which [-] are new-made firecrackers, and the remaining [-] are also carefully selected and are of excellent quality.

He also issued an order to the Military Weapons Supervision that all the firecrackers produced in the future will be received by the Yongwei Battalion, and strive to expand the firecracker battalion to 2000 people as soon as possible.

Because in the ninth year of Chongzhen, Jiannu would break in and threaten the safety of the capital, Zhu Youjian was going to deal a heavy blow to Jiannu on the front line of Xuanda, weakening its vitality, reducing the pressure on the Liaodong defense line, and gradually reducing Liao's salary to the court. heavy burden.

After pondering for a long time, under the order of Zhu Youjian, the eunuch, the supervisor of ceremonies, drafted a series of decrees, sent them to the cabinet for seal, and then sent them all to various places by Jinyiwei on horseback.

(End of this chapter)