The most powerful patriarch in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 160
Chapter 158

After Sha Potian and others leave,

Lu Changle made a gesture of invitation to Li Dingguo: "Mr. Li, please sit down."

Li Dingguo sat down calmly, glanced at Lu Changle, and asked, "My identity has been revealed, what is General Lu going to do with it?"

As a young Zhuge in the army, Li Dingguo not only wants to fight, but also thinks about the way out for the rebel army.
In Li Dingguo's view, the imperial court lost the battle of Songjin, and Xiangbei was likely to be attacked by Jianlu.

Central China gathered most of the remaining troops of the Ming Dynasty, and Li Zicheng, who was stronger than Zhang Xianzhong, was also in Central China.
Li Dingguo believed that the relatively stable and prosperous south is more suitable for the development of the rebel army.
But many people in the army are waiting for the imperial court to take advantage of the Jianlu duel, including the adoptive father Zhang Xianzhong, who also intends to do so.

The eldest brother, Sun Kewang, will lead people to the west, hoping to enter Sichuan to claim the land and become king, and then go south by himself, hoping to open up a new battlefield in Fujian.

Zhang Xianzhong stated that whoever develops well will focus on that direction.

After the baptism of many forces in Fujian,
Besides Zheng, the strongest are the Three-Eyed King and Lu Changle,

Li Dingguo knew that the Three-Eyed King could not resist Zheng's attack, so he persuaded him to form an alliance with Lu Changle,
There is no need to defeat Zheng Shi, as long as the two of them don't lose too quickly and consume Zheng Zhilong's strength as much as possible, that's fine.
In the end, let the adoptive father Zhang Xianzhong come to the oriole, that is the most perfect ending.

Take the initiative to follow, one is to see who Lu Changle is and why he can rise in a short time,

The second is to look for the iron abacus and prepare to integrate the forces lurking in Fujian to prepare for the next move.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he saw Lu Changle, his identity was revealed.

Needless to say, someone must have betrayed himself.

Even though he was captured, Li Dingguo didn't panic,

He followed Zhang Xianzhong when he was ten years old. During these years of fighting in the north and south, he crawled out of the dead many times.
Li Dingguo has long regarded life and death indifferently, and has cultivated a big heart.

Lu Changle chuckled: "I admire Mr. Li very much, and I am reluctant to kill you for the time being."

I have been thinking about how to take him down and keep him for my own use.
Unexpectedly, he took the initiative to deliver it to the door. There was nowhere to find it, and it took no effort to get it.

"General Lu, the Ming Dynasty has accumulated so much that it is powerless to return to heaven. Think about it. Zheng Zhilong, a pirate, can also win the crown with a monkey. It can be seen that it is absurd. There is no need for a general to be loyal to such a court. He knows that it is a dead end. There is no need to go all the way. Black." Li Dingguo persuaded.

If you didn't kill yourself, then you still have value,
Li Dingguo planned to persuade Lu Changle to let him go, so it was a good relationship.
If you're lucky, use Zheng's pressure to retaliate and persuade Lu Changle to form an alliance with his adoptive father,
That would be best.

Form an alliance first, and then find a way to overtake Lu Changle step by step, the strength of the foster father will inevitably increase greatly.

This general who suppressed bandits came from a local rich family in Fujian, and he seemed to be still young.
Shouldn't be hard to lobby.

Lu Changle threw a piece of flower cake into his mouth, and said while eating: "You can't go all the way to the dark, this makes sense, Mr. Li, go ahead."

As soon as Li Dingguo opened his mouth, Lu Changle knew that he wanted to persuade him,
Coincidentally, I also wanted to persuade him to leave Zhang Xianzhong, just to have a contest.

"The general is admonishing like a stream, and I admire you." Li Dingguo was overjoyed, and quickly complimented Lu Changle.

No matter what, if you are willing to listen to yourself, then you have a chance.

Seeing that Lu Changle didn't respond and was still eating snacks, Li Dingguo was not angry, and quickly said:

"Six years after the apocalypse, the gunpowder factory in the capital exploded bizarrely, it was horrible, like hell;
In the sixth year of Chongzhen, the plague broke out in Shanxi, everyone was in danger, ten rooms were empty,
Natural disasters and man-made disasters, these years are too many,
These are warnings from God, and God is also dissatisfied with Emperor Dog,

Providence cannot be violated,
Look at the present, the common people have no money in their pockets, no food to fill their stomachs,

Many people want to sell their children to be wives, and change their sons to eat each other, but those dog officials don't care about the lives of ordinary people at all,
They have rich clothes and fine food, big fish and big meat, and they continue to increase the wages and taxes of the people,

Such a court, no matter what,

Why didn't General Lu rise up and pull the dog emperor from the dragon chair. "

When Li Dingguo was talking, he kept staring at Lu Changle, trying to judge his inner thoughts from his face,
Unfortunately, nothing was seen.

Lu Changle's face was very calm, neither angry nor smiling, even when he heard about pulling the emperor off the dragon chair, his face was still calm,
As if nothing had anything to do with him.

"Very well said, what is Mr. Li going to do?" Lu Changle asked him to finish speaking first.

Seeing that Lu Changle had no objection, he seemed to encourage himself to say that, Li Dingguo was overjoyed, and immediately said: "Naturally, we will rise up and kill all those corrupt officials, local tyrants and evil gentry, and those imperial relatives who are domineering. , and the dog emperor is also slaughtered, and we ordinary people don’t have to be bullied by them anymore.”

"Indeed, you did the same." Lu Changle nodded and said, "Young Master Li, let me ask you a question. Among the officials, there are also upright officials. Among the country gentry, there are also people who are willing to do good, build roads and help students, and among the royal relatives, there are also righteous people. Yes, like this kind of people, Zhang Xianzhong and his subordinates did not seldom kill them, what is the explanation for this?"

"That's because they resisted. There are many people in the foster father's army. It's not surprising that there are occasional villains with evil intentions. The big men don't care about small things, and sacrifices are inevitable for a great cause."

Lu Changle took a look at Li Dingguo and continued: "Occasionally one or two things happen, and that's justified. I heard that Zhang Xianzhong's department, where they are trapped, give priority to taking property, horses, mules and other animals. , The horse is seven steps and three, it is too extravagant, even the imperial court can't afford so much money and food, Mr. Li, are the sources of these horses clean?"

Li Zicheng paid great attention to buying people's hearts, and even asked him to compose a poem:

Seeking promotion in the morning and seeking harmony in the evening, it is difficult for the poor to survive these days.

Open the door early to pay homage to King Chuang, and all the disciplines, big and small, are happy.

Kill cattle and sheep, prepare wine, and open the city gate to welcome King Chuang, who does not pay for food when King Chuang comes.

Eat his mother, eat her mother, if you can't eat enough, there will be King Chuang.

If you don't work on errands and don't pay your food, everyone has a good time.

I don't know how many people are looking forward to it when King Chuang comes and doesn't pay food.
I don't know how many suffering people heard that Li Zicheng was coming, and they took the initiative to open the gates of the city to welcome them.

Zhang Xianzhong relied on his bravery and strategy, as well as his superb guerrilla tactics, to make a name for himself,
The main force, everyone has a fine rider or a pair of horses,

Jiema has paid, coming and going like the wind, walking hundreds of miles a day and night,

That's it, surrounded by the court on all sides, he escaped from birth many times.

Li Dingguo's eyes were a little erratic, and he forcefully argued: "Those horses were all captured from bullies and evil gentry. We will pay for the mules and horses of ordinary people."

When speaking, Li Dingguo's tone was not firm enough,

Every time a place is captured, Li Dingguo can control himself to be law-abiding,

But it can't stop others,

After conquering a place, many people, in order to vent their inner dissatisfaction and rage,
Burning, killing, looting, and rape of civilian women are all evil,

Sometimes, in order to boost morale, the foster father would also promise that he would not have to observe military discipline for a period of time after breaking the city, and that the soldiers could do whatever they wanted.

I have seen too many tragedies over the years.

Lu Changle chuckled: "Mr. Li, you are a smart person. Just know what is going on, and we won't bother with this issue. Now let me ask you, why did you rebel?"

"The government's taxation is too heavy, and the pressure is tight. If you can't survive, you will reverse it." Li Dingguo said without thinking.

"Oh, is it heavy?"

"Heavy, we can't even afford to eat, and the government is forcing us to pay taxes. If we don't pay, we will be thrown into prison and have no jobs." Li Dingguo said with a confident face.

Lu Changle put down his teacup, looked at Li Dingguo and asked, "Young Master Li, you said that the imperial court's taxes are heavy, but do you know how much the other dynasties' taxes are?"

"I don't know." Li Dingguo shook his head.

If you are too busy with your own affairs, who cares about the affairs of other dynasties.

"Let me explain to Mr. Li." Lu Changle said seriously:
""Hanshu Shihuozhi [-]" records: Receive more than half of the Fu. Yan Shigu's note: Most of the half, take two-thirds. That is two-thirds;

Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty implemented a tax of [-], and during the reign of Wenjing, a tax of [-] was implemented. Emperor Guangwu of the Eastern Han Dynasty restored the land rent to [-] of [-], which was equivalent to less than [-]%, about [-]%;
In the Tang and Song dynasties, rent regulation was based on the promotion of the land equalization system. The land equalization system stipulated that every farmer should receive [-] mu of land. Therefore, when the state collects rent regulation, it only asks about the person, not property, or taxes. About fifteen tax one;

During the Yuan Dynasty, the north imitated the Tang Zuyong adjustment method, and the south imitated the Tang two tax law, and the tax was also about [-] taxes;

Calculated, the Ming Dynasty was the lowest, about one forty tax, thirty one tax, even if three rates were added, it was still lower than the previous dynasty,
In terms of taxes, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty was the most conscientious in all dynasties.

Such an emperor, do you still want to overthrow him? "

After listening to Li Dingguo, he couldn't find any rebuttals for a while, but he didn't give up so easily. After thinking about it, he quickly said stubbornly: "The tax revenue is so low, so why are we still living so hard, and the common people are still living so hard. "

"It's less on the surface, but in fact, you have to pay a lot more, such as errand fees, tea fees, various red envelopes, filial piety, kicking dendrobium, fire consumption, etc., the common people are being tricked by them."

Lu Changle asked back: "Those were taken by the officials, but they didn't fall into the hands of the emperor. You say the emperor is not good. Do you know what time the emperor gets up, what time does he go to bed, what does he do and what does he eat every day?"

"Those officials are all his officials. If he can't manage well, he must be looking for him to settle accounts."

"What the emperor can do is hug left and right in the palace, eat more than 300 dishes per meal, all kinds of delicacies from mountains and seas, and eat whatever he wants."

I heard that Mr. Shu said that there are three thousand beauties in the palace and harem, one of whom sleeps every day, and they don't wear the same ones for ten years.

"No." Lu Changle shook his head and said, "Young Master Li, that's just hearsay. As far as I know, the emperor goes to court early in the morning and gets up before dawn. He often writes memorials until midnight, and each meal does not exceed four dishes. There are no more than two dishes, and even the queen weaves the cloth herself, by the way, I don’t know Huang Hu and Zhang Xianzhong, how many dishes are there for a meal?”

Chongzhen wanted to do something great and also wanted to save Daming,
He is very attentive to political affairs and is also very harsh on himself.

It's a pity that he has a suspicious personality and a small mind. When he took over, Daming was a mess.

Accumulated malpractices have been deep, and there is no strength to return to heaven,
In fact, he was able to keep it for a few years before dying, which is very good.

He hanged himself on Meishan Mountain and fulfilled the ancestral motto of the emperor guarding the country with his death.
Regardless of his reasons, this courage alone is worthy of admiration.

Li Dingguo shook his head and said: "It's fake, it must be to deceive the people. No matter what, Daming is in such a mess, so many people starve to death, he is the chief culprit, and those officials are negligent, and he must be responsible."

How is it possible, those rich landlords in the south of the Yangtze River have more than ten dishes per meal,

Dozens of extravagant dishes, like a flowing water table, have been changed batch after batch,
The adoptive father Zhang Xianzhong loves to eat meat, and every meal is full of meat. He often holds banquets and eats and drinks with his subordinates.
I don’t know what will happen tomorrow today, enjoy as much as you can,
Even if Li Dingguo was killed, he didn't believe that the emperor would be so frugal.

For some reason, I have a feeling in my heart that there is no need for Lu Changle to deceive himself.

Lu Changle did not argue with him, but said with great interest: "Mr. Li, let's not discuss whether it is true or not. I have a question for you. How many good things have you done by claiming to be a rebel army? If you come to be the emperor, are you going to How to do it?"

"I am the emperor?" Li Dingguo said with surprise.

Isn't Lu Changle the general who suppressed bandits appointed by the dog emperor? How could he say such rebellious words?
"Yeah, suppose, don't worry, you can say whatever you want, Mr. Li, if you dare to rebel, you won't even dare to speak the truth."

Li Dingguo couldn't bear the anger the most. He heard the words and said loudly: "Why don't you dare? If I become the emperor and let the landlords and wealthy households distribute their land and money to the common people, eat with them and spend with them, the common people will not use it." Paying food is not a job, and everyone can live a good life."

Li Dingguo still remembers the feeling of being hungry when he was a child.

"Papa papa" Lu Changle clapped his hands and said, "Good idea, I didn't expect Mr. Li to be so great."

After Lu Changle finished speaking, he quickly asked: "We have robbed all the rich and rich, and there is no more to rob, so what should we do?"

"Plow the land together, as long as you have hands and feet, you will definitely not die of hunger." Li Dingguo said confidently.

"What if someone doesn't know how to till the land? Or someone is lazy, what should we do?"

"I can't teach you. If you are lazy, then persuade him well."

"Some people are diligent and good at farming, while some are lazy and don't even want to hoe the grass. At that time, some people have surplus food for their families, and some people don't have enough to eat and starve. What should we do? Grab it again? If this is the case, who will dare to farm hard? "

Li Dingguo thought for a while, and said with some hesitation: "If you are disobedient, teach him a lesson."

"What about the obedient ones? The people you plundered and killed included many local tyrants and evil gentry who were fish and meat, and many people who made their fortunes through hard work and thrift. Don't they die unjustly? Kill them if they have money. Who will dare to farm hard in the future?"

Li Dingguo was silent.

Lu Changle presses on step by step: "What if there is a disaster if you don't pay the food? Foreign enemies have invaded, and there is no food, who will go to the battlefield to fight against the enemy? If there are casualties and no money to pay, what should we do?"

These questions were too sharp, and Li Dingguo didn't know how to answer them all at once?

"Mr. Li, you are called the Rebel Army, in the name of doing justice for the heavens. I believe your original intention is good. If I remember correctly, you have followed Huang Hu and Zhang Xianzhong for ten years. During these ten years, how many practical things have you done for the common people? ? And violated the original intention, how many unreasonable things have been done."

"Ask yourself, are you thinking about how to save the people now, or are you thinking about how to expand your territory, where to rob money, food, and women?"

"What you said to the common people for the sake of Latin, now think about it, how much of what you said has been done?"

"Some people don't want to rebel with you, but you are better off. Force them to do illegal things, rob them of their belongings, and burn their houses down. How are they doing now? How many people have died in foreign lands?"

"Running here and there all these years, I have often returned to the places you have harmed. What is the place that was populated or prosperous before, after you captured it, what does it look like now?"

"You think about robbing the rich and helping the poor, and if you finish robbing the rich, will those ordinary people have a better life?"

Every time Lu Changle said something, Li Dingguo's face turned pale,
When it came to the latter, Li Dingguo's face was as pale as paper, and cold sweat flowed out.

(End of this chapter)