national surname chiming

In the sixth year of Longwu, the 28th of the first month.

Zhu Shuren rode on a tall steed horse, changed into a rare set of silver full-body plate armor with chiseled gold patterns on the surface, and appeared outside Yongding Gate with thousands of cavalry.

He is cautious by nature, and usually goes to the battlefield to supervise battles. He wears black steel armor with a frosted surface, which does not reflect light, and is very low-key.

But today is different. This is a big day to announce the complete restoration of Zhengshuo in the world, and to show the Ming army's prestige in the world.

Although silver is still [-]-[-]% heavier than steel, it is still half lighter than gold.As long as the size is a little thinner, it can still be worn.

On both sides of the Yongding Gate in the outer city, all the way to the Zhengyang Gate in the inner city, the main force that had liberated the capital a few days ago had already been closely guarded along the way, with banners flying and spears and bayonets everywhere.

The soldiers who participated in the military parade took a few days to change and wash their crimson shirts, and if they were damaged, they first borrowed the short robes that were not required to participate in the military parade.

I also polished the forged steel breastplate, polished the rusted and scratched places, and polished the bayonet, and then I participated in the ceremony full of energy.

Zhu Shuren came to Yongding Gate, took a deep breath, glanced left and right, and his heart was full of excitement.Outside the Yongding Gate, at least [-] cavalry lined up to greet them, and from inside Yongding Gate to Zhengyang Gate, there were estimated to be [-] soldiers lined up to welcome them.

The might of the Ming army has reached a new height, but who would have thought that just a few years ago, the situation in the Ming Dynasty was still so precarious.

"Enter the city!" Zhu Shuren made a casual move, and the guard behind him immediately tilted the big banner forward slightly, and the thousands of troops behind him naturally marched in order.

The crisp sound of the horse's hooves stepping on the blue stone was dazzled and continuous for a while.

After passing through the Yongding Gate, the real scene of Beijing's outer city finally unfolded in front of Zhu Shuren's eyes one by one.Even though Zhu Shuren was mentally prepared, he couldn't help feeling emotional.

So broken!There are ruins everywhere, and as far as I can see, there are several huge piles of corpses that are still being burned. They were all handled by the Ming army who broke the city a few days ago, according to the plague prevention experience and hygiene requirements formed in the past few years. .If it wasn't for the military's improved health awareness, this level of destruction would at least have caused the smell of corpses to spread throughout the city for several months.

No wonder, in the past seven or eight years, the city of Beijing in front of me has changed hands three times, repeated saw-saw massacres, and the original social governance system has completely collapsed.

Li Zicheng burned it once when he entered the city, but he didn't burn it much when the Tartars entered the city, because at that time Dorgon was still counting on long-term rule in Beijing.

But in the end, Hauge knew that the Central Plains could no longer be held, and the capital was destined to be returned to the Han people, so he became very beastly, and he also followed Li Zicheng's example of killing, looting and destroying for a while.After all, the city of Beijing suffers a serious disaster every time it changes hands.

The last time Zhu Shuren had an impression of this city, he stayed in Chongzhen for 14 years. He returned to Beijing for the last time to report on his work from the prefect of Huangzhou.

In this way, it has been almost ten years.

"Sure enough, it's the suffering of the prosperous people, and the suffering of the dying people. Now that the pass has been completely restored, I will go to the meeting and ask Your Majesty to ask for a three-year tax exemption for the people of Henan, Hebei, Shandong, Shanxi, Shanxi, and Gansu."

Zhu Shuren believed that the horse would rein in, put the bridle on and walked slowly, giving orders casually.The accompanying civil servants naturally said that the prince is benevolent, and he is the living plan of the world.

However, the three years of tax exemption that Zhu Shuren said must include the current year. It is only the end of the first lunar month, and agricultural production has not yet started.Although the city of Beijing has been brought back, it will take at least a few months to clear out the remnants of the enemy in remote areas and hunt down the remnants of the Manchus who collapsed and fled.

Therefore, it would be good if the North can completely settle down within this year, and it should not have paid taxes this year.If there were remnants of the Qing army who fell into bandits in an organized way, they might not be wiped out within a year.

Now, after recuperating in the first five years of the Longwu Dynasty and paying equal attention to commerce and agriculture, the Ming Dynasty has reversed its financial structure, and the proportion of commercial taxes has been increased repeatedly.Before recovering the northern provinces, the south was more than self-sufficient financially, and could squeeze out money for the Northern Expedition.

Therefore, as long as the capital is not moved back to Beijing within a few years, and additional financial burdens are not artificially created, water and sea transportation will be lost, the south's finances will definitely be enough to spend, and the status quo will be sufficient.

Another advantage of not collecting taxes from the six northern provinces is that they can demand local self-sufficiency. The imperial court no longer collects taxes.

After repeated see-saw cleaning by the Qing army, the population in the north has been decreasing sharply every year due to the wars in these years. Now the total population of the six provinces mentioned above is only 800 million For the immigration part, only the natural population is counted).

The harshest years of the Little Ice Age have passed. Even if the land is still barren and the output is not high, but there are fewer people and more fields, and there is sufficient land for crop rotation and fallow. It is absolutely possible to support yourself by planting as much as you want.

During the next three years of tax holidays, what Daming has to consider is how to find out from the south those people who originally went into exile from the north to the south. The government will subsidize a little start-up funds and seed rations for the first year, so that they can embark on the road to return home. Rebuild the North.

Those people who have been exiled to the south, after all, have experienced the good days in the early years of the Longwu Dynasty, received the favor of Emperor Daming and Prince E, and are more grateful to Daming's rule.

Letting them go back to their hometowns and mix them with sand can also further declare the new atmosphere of the imperial court, so that those northern people who are closed and insist on staying in their hometowns can feel the changes in Ming Dynasty as soon as possible.At the same time, it is also convenient to promote the policy of permanent tenancy rights, change the production method of the people who have always lived in the north, and make them realize the importance of building water conservancy and sustainable development.

After all, during the years of Tianqi and Chongzhen, and even later during the reign of the Qing court, the economic order in the north had been messed up. Everyone, down to the common people, had a mentality of living every day
Farmers don't even bother to protect their own cultivated land, wishing for their fertility to be exhausted and water conservancy to fall into disrepair. Anyway, who knows if the land rented this year will continue to be planted next year?How can people be willing to invest in the future without a system to protect people's long-term stable food?
Zhu Shuren estimates that the number of refugees fleeing from the south and returning to the north in the future will be at least seventy-eight million. In this way, the population who have stayed in the north and the population who have been to the south and then returned to the north can basically be divided into two groups. Reaching one to one, even the number of returnees from the north can overwhelm the outcasts who have been staying in their hometown.After this reintegration, the proportion of the population who is interested in Daming can account for the majority.

And even if 800 million people are returned to their hometowns, the total population of the six northern provinces will return to 500 million, which is absolutely affordable by the arable land and productivity.For a long time in the future, it will not fall into the Malthusian trap again because of the explosion of reproductive population.

……

Entering the inner city from Zhengyang Gate, and then all the way into the Forbidden City, Zhu Shuren saw several places where the fire had not been extinguished and the smoke had not cleared as far as he could see.

Even in the Forbidden City, there were many palaces that were broken and burned by Hauge before he left.Fortunately, most of the places he burned were of little cultural value.

Because many palaces have been rebuilt by the Qing people in the past six years. Li Zicheng had already burned them down once before.Only those parts left over from the early Ming Dynasty are considered to be of relatively high value as cultural relics.

There were still some escaped maids and eunuchs left in the palace, so it was probably too late to take them away.The maids in the front palace had been directly divided by the soldiers of the Ming army when they first entered the city, and there were only a few women left in the inner palace. It is estimated that Huang Degong and Li Fuming also knew the seriousness and did not dare to divide them privately. Let people guard the palace gate strictly. Check military discipline and wait until Zhu Shuren arrives.

Zhu Shuren rode his horse all the way to the bottom of Danchi, then dismounted and walked up the stairs to the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

Huang Degong stood by and guided, and waited for Zhu Shuren to stand still, and then reported some details about taking over the Forbidden City, and asked Zhu Shuren to make amends, saying that some soldiers, when chasing and killing the stubborn enemies in the palace, would inevitably have dirty hands and feet .

But Huang Degong also emphasized that when the Tartars withdrew, they moved as much as possible of the valuable things that could be moved, and many things were scattered, and they were easily trampled and damaged if they were not picked up.

Zhu Shuren also knew that military achievements should not be taken too seriously, so he generously ordered: "If you find gold, silver, jewelry and utensils, you can dispose of them according to military discipline, and don't worry about inequalities.

Calligraphy and painting historic sites, if you are willing to take them back to the imperial court, the imperial court will also compensate them with a price. They will never be taken for nothing. You must make it clear to the soldiers. "

Huang Degong quickly agreed, and then mentioned whether the women left by the Tartars need to be seen by the prince first.

Zhu Shuren raised his eyebrows, he didn't want to fall into such domineering words and deeds, so he reprimanded Huang Degong a few words, and then said: "Let there be old and stable maids in the palace, first give these palace ladies a physical examination.

Anyone who has been defiled by the Tartars will definitely not be able to stay in the palace, and will be distributed to meritorious soldiers according to their ranks.Those who have never been defiled by the Tartars will be locked in the inner palace for several months, no outsiders are allowed to enter and leave, and they will sing the will of His Majesty alone. "

After taking over the court affairs, Zhu Shuren asked about the massacre losses in the capital before the Tatars withdrew. Huang Degong and others were unable to make detailed statistics, so they could only make a rough estimate from the data of corpse collection.
It is said that there are about 30 to [-] dead, and the population of Beijing has dropped by at least [-]% to [-]%, and now there are not even [-] people alive in the city.

Zhu Shuren: "Did the traitors and false officials be taken away when the Tartars withdrew? How were these people dealt with? There were also other gentry who took the initiative to surrender, such as the imperial merchants. What's the situation?"

Huang Degong: "Those hard-core traitors and false officials, especially those who carried the flag and were of high rank, all followed them outside the customs. However, some were not reused. Originally, the Tartars gave some high-ranking idle jobs in order to win people's hearts. There are still those who don't like it, and they are all left behind."

When the Qing army entered the customs, for the Beijing officials who stayed in Beijing in the Ming Dynasty, as long as they escaped Li Zicheng's torture and survived, they would be more or less given official positions to win people's hearts.

It's just that some people don't have much ability, and they are useless in terms of talent. It's nothing more than the fact that the ranks in Daming were already very high, and the Qing court couldn't push them down too low, so they only gave ranks and no real power.Now that they are going to escape, the traitors with real talents will of course be taken away, but those wastes that are just used to whitewash the peace are all left behind.

Zhu Shuren stroked his beard, and he had already decided the fate of these people: "Anyone who has served Daming before, and those who volunteered to serve when trespassers and tartars entered Beijing, will all be sent to prison and punished.

If the first emperor retired to live idle after his death, and was forced to become an official by the Tartars, he could be exonerated.

If the first emperor was an official in the dynasty, and has insisted on not being an official or clearing his official career since then, find out and give them all salaries and titles according to their original ranks.In the future, I will draw it up slowly, and I will be hired when there is a real shortage.If he is old, or insists on not being an official, and died of old age within the past seven years, Enyin's son will be allowed to show his loyalty.

Of course, the above-mentioned strict order is only valid for civilian officials, military generals can be pardoned as long as they participate in the killing of Tartars anyway, and they did not actively betray the Ming Dynasty at the beginning.

For civil servants, if there are technical civil servants who are proficient in arithmetic and craftsmanship, they can also follow the exemption standards of generals and stay in the post to commit crimes and make meritorious service.Those who can only play with words and ink, please ask for blessings. "

Zhu Shuren knew very well that in this kind of world, it is enough to stabilize the hearts of the generals, and in the future, he needs to chase down the poor bandits and completely solve the threat of Manmeng.

After hundreds of years of baptism in the imperial examinations, the civil servants have already been overwhelmed with talents hundreds of times.Who can't read the Four Books and Five Classics, and who can learn to do by reading the Four Books and Five Classics.

Don't give those traitors a chance, there are enough old-fashioned talents, why leave the fat to those trash to buy people's hearts, there are better options worth buying Zhu Shuren.

After Huang Degong and others heard the words, they were really moved, and felt that Prince E's generosity and kindness were more profound than those of the Ming Dynasty.

After explaining these general disposition opinions, Huang Degong revealed another news to Zhu Shuren, saying that when the Ming army took over the Ministry of Punishment and other departments a few days ago, some criminals were found to be imprisoned there, and some of them may need Zhu Shuren to personally Give treatment opinion.

Zhu Shuren was also unambiguous, so he took the time to go to the Ministry of Punishment, and unexpectedly saw Hong Chengchou there.

Zhu Shuren was also a little emotional, crossing his hands across the cell door in a courteous manner, asking, "Isn't this Governor Hong, don't you come here unharmed? I heard that you also wanted to ask for a late festival at the last moment, and let Gu order the historian who compiled the real records of Chongzhen to write All subsequent records about you have been deleted?"

A decayed old man in the prison cell, with pale hair and haggard appearance, was a little strange and dull at first when he heard Zhu Shuren's voice, and it took him a long time to react:

"You are the surname of the country? Lord E? You are truly a talent in the world. The ancestor of Han Gaoming, Xionglue, and the great Ming Dynasty have fallen to the extreme, but you have turned it back by ten years of work. I have never seen such an ancient person in my whole life."

Hong Chengchou met Zhu Shuren 12 years ago, but only a few times, so he didn't have much impression. At that time, Zhu Shuren had just won the second list of Jinshi, and he stayed in the capital for the first few months as an editor of the Imperial Academy. That's when he met him.In the second year, Zhu Shuren went south to become a magistrate, and Hong Chengchou went to Liaodong to supervise the teacher, and he never saw him again.

Zhu Shuren has an impression of the other party because the other party was in power 12 years ago.And how could Hong Chengchou take a small Hanlin seriously at that time.

At this moment, one has power over the world, looking down from a high place outside the prison, while the other is extremely sluggish. The contrast between fortune and misfortune is so strong that one has to sigh with emotion.

Zhu Shuren observed the old traitor playfully, and then asked: "Could it be that time you secretly informed Brother Cangshui about the military situation, and Hauge found out that you were imprisoned here?"

Hong Chengchou smiled wryly: "If it was discovered, I'm afraid he would have been martyred for the country long ago, that's fine, it's over. The old man didn't understand it at the time, and felt that Daming must be hopeless, so there was nothing to say.

This time, it was Hauge who wanted to slaughter and loot the city. Seeing that there were still so many old stories in Beijing, the old man couldn't bear it, so he advised him to pay attention to the hearts of the people.Hauge thought that I wanted to double-face three swords and sacrifice the city after he left, so he was temporarily imprisoned for questioning, but the royal master of the imperial court entered the city before he found out, so let it go. "

Hong Chengchou finally persuaded Hauge not to slaughter and loot the city, not necessarily out of kindness, but because he had been an official in Beijing for so many years, and he had too many old friends of Han gentry, so he had to persuade him in order not to let his own people suffer.

But regardless of deeds and intentions, Zhu Shuren saw that he finally tried to persuade him, so he left him with his life.

"For the sake of notifying Brother Cangshui of the Tartar military situation before the Neihuang War, it's okay to save your life! Didn't you want the history books to not write about your deeds 15 years after Chongzhen?

Hehe, it is impossible for Gu to tamper with the false history. At most, I will write to you "the 15th year of Chongzhen... It is said that Hong Chengchou died in the rebellious army, but since then there are many folk legends that his official career is clear, and it is difficult to distinguish the truth from the false". As for the truth , Let future generations judge for themselves!
If you want to keep your reputation, you have to expose a lot of other traitors who have been demoted and hidden Qing court officials. After all, they have worked with you, and those people are alive and running around outside. It is not easy to hide your affairs.

As for you, anyway, you are already a dead person in the history books. Seeing that you are old, I will give you a cleaner yard and confine you for life! "

Even if Hong Chengchou survived, his treatment would be equivalent to life imprisonment.And it was Hong Chengchou himself who needed to be imprisoned for life, otherwise he would not be able to make it up if he continued to show his face.

Zhu Shuren gave him an extrajudicial favor, which is nothing more than better food, clothing and accommodation conditions during his life imprisonment, similar to the convalescent prisons that are used to detain high-level prisoners in later generations.

Hong Chengchou kowtowed like pounding garlic, and thanked again and again, expressing that he would cooperate with the court to make more confessions about the inside story of the Qing court, and dog bite dog to attack other traitors.

……

After the traitors were demoted, Zhu Shuren continued to ask about the situation of the traitors, businessmen and gentry in the next few days.

Later, I was told that those eight imperial merchants in Beijing had been brought under control.

But their main tribe is still in the Datong and Zhangjiakou areas of Shanxi.When Jiang Guan raised his troops in Datong, he detained those people, and those in Zhangjiakou had to wait for follow-up to send them back to the capital.

Zhu Shuren was not in a hurry, so he waited slowly and let the generals keep an eye on it.

Later, after more than half a month of tossing, the traitor Shanxi merchant groups in Datong, Zhangjiakou and other places were finally sorted out like melons, and they were all caught in Beijing.

For the Fan Yongdou family and other eight major locust merchant families, of course, there is nothing to say. They were all dragged to the Caishikou outside Xuanwumen, and they were all executed in line. The side branch is the ordinary beheading.

They were executed together with a bunch of well-known traitors and civil officials who had just been cleared out, all of whom had taken the initiative to advise the Tartars and had ironclad evidence of mutilating their compatriots.According to the seriousness of the crime, there are ranging from lingering to hanging.