At the end of Song Dynasty: I want to be the master of ZTE

Chapter 11 Adventure
27. It’s a sunny day at Caishikou, Wenzhou.

Countless people huddled together and watched the scene on the high platform.

Chen Wenlong sat in the middle, surrounded by soldiers and many prisoners.

Seeing that it was almost done, Chen Wenlong said loudly: "I have ordered Yu Shi Zhongcheng to review the case. The criminal is Chen Yuanxing, and the sufferer is Chen Twelve."

The originally energetic Chen Yuanxing was now like a dead branch, being held up by two soldiers. He knew that he was going to die soon, while another middle-aged man, Chen Twelve, walked up to the high platform with excitement and fear. .

Chen Wenlong said gently: "Chen Twelve, tell me what happened to you."

"Ms. Sir." Chen Twelve kowtowed and said, "The villain is suing Chen Yuanxing for instructing his servants to rob civilian girls and force them to kill."

The facts are not complicated, it's just that Chen Yuanxing instigated his servants to rob Chen Twelve's daughter and kill her.

The evidence includes Chen Twelve's complaint, the testimonials of Chen Yuanxing's servants and family members, the testimonials of the wandering Taoist priests supported by Chen Yuanxing, 130 two recovered corpses, and various tools for committing crimes.

Chen Yuanxing, who was in his 70s, had no intention of lusting after women, but in order to live forever, he actually listened to lies and made an elixir with the blood of a girl's heart, killing more than a hundred people.

"Kill this old thief!" the crowd roared.

"Kill this old thief!" The roars immediately became one.

Such evil people are really rare in all dynasties. No wonder people are excited and want to kill the old thief.

In fact, Chen Yuanxing could not be called unscrupulous, but he was not too secretive, otherwise he would not be easily turned over. The reason why Zhou Wenzhen did not investigate was because he was Chen Yizhong's great-uncle.

"It's so bad, even if it has nothing to do with it, Zuo Zai should resign, let alone his uncle, he is really suspected of covering up. If there is no punishment, where is the authority of the central government? Why is Li Shu?" Lu Xiufu said.

"Zuo Zai Xuanfu Liuqiu, although he is not in danger of Yuanluo, he is in danger of waves. How can he be implicated inexplicably?" Liu Fu said.

"Besides, he is an elder and important minister, worrying about state affairs, so why should he care about a mere uncle? This is not a cover for indulgence, or even lax discipline. There is no reason to be implicated."

"How could Chen Yuanxing dare to do this if he didn't have the power to dominate?" Lu Xiufu said.

Zhao listened to the two people arguing and looked through the collected account books.

Zhao Shi was furious when he learned about the case, but after seeing the account book, he suddenly lost his temper.

Chen Yuanxing's family alone confiscated more than 3 acres of fertile land, more than [-] shi of grain, and more than [-] guan of money, which could supply the army for half a month.

Seeing that Lu Xiufu and Liu Fu were no longer arguing, Zhao turned to Jiang Wanzai and asked, "What do you think, Grand Master?"

Jiang Wanzai said: "If you don't blame the police officer, you should resign! However, his mother served the country with loyalty, and she should be honored with a royal decree."

Zhao Shi thought carefully for a while and had to admit that Jiang was still hotter.

For the sake of the authority of the imperial court, Chen Yizhong must be punished. However, as he is a senior minister and one of the faces of the imperial court, and he also shoulders the important task of investigating Liuqiu, he and others must not be disappointed.

When the Yuan army invaded the territory, Chen Yizhong ran away with a bucket. Empress Dowager Xie issued an edict to recall him but refused to follow it. It was only after his mother warned him that he returned.

Chen Yizhong has a filial heart, and his mother is sensible and patriotic. It is a good reward for his mother to calm Chen Yizhong's heart.

"In that case, I will take the position of Prime Minister of Zuo in Chen Yizhong and add his mother as a first-class lady." Zhao Shi then said: "I have more than [-] acres of land owned by Chen Yizhong. Can I use this to implement the public land law?"

"No!"

Whether it is Liu Fu, Lu Xiufu or Jiang Wanzai, they all speak in unison and their opinions are surprisingly consistent.

Zhao Shi said: "Although Jia Sidao's implementation of the public land law at the beginning did a lot of harm to the people, it is true that the cost increased. Now we are abandoning the harm and taking advantage, why not?"

The "Public Land Law" generally involves the forced redemption of land exceeding a certain amount from the government gentry, and then the government rents it to farmers for cultivation. It can be regarded as a collection of land nationalization and restrictions on the upper limit of individual land ownership.

Although Jia Sidao received a bad reputation because of this, it did greatly alleviate the court's embarrassment of insufficient funds.

Zhao Shi believes that as long as the implementation process is fair and just, this policy still has a bright future.

"Jia Sidao boasted that the public land law would reap a lot of benefits, but in fact it only brought benefits by increasing the number of children. The public land law only brought me so little but caused endless harm, which is not good enough." Lu Xiufu said.Liu Fu said: "In the beginning, Jia Sidao paid with Jiaozi, but later it was invalidated due to excessive distribution of Jiaozi. Now that the court has no money, it cannot trigger Jiaozi and cannot take over the land. If it is forced to conquer, the rebels will be numerous and the situation will be completely corrupted." ."

Jiang Wanzai said: "Jia Sidao can implement this strategy because the court is stable. Now that powerful enemies are on the side, if the court implements the public land law, the powerful officials and gentry will surrender to the Yuan Dynasty because of their interests."

With your words and my words, Zhao quickly dispelled the idea that Zhao was unrealistic.

During Lizong's time, the court had the credibility and force to issue more banknotes at will, but today's court does not have this ability.

Without money, there is no way to redeem it, only to rob it.

The problem is that when Lizong was in power, Meng Yuan's threat was not serious enough, so everyone had to hold their noses and endure it. Now the situation is different. If we continue to fight, everyone can pat their butts and join Meng Yuan.

Zhao Shi sighed and asked, "Now that we are short of money and food, is there any good strategy?"

"To clean up the officials, encourage farmers and mulberry trees, promote commerce and trade, and save money, that's all." Jiang Wanzai said a few very correct nonsense, but it did not relieve the urgency.

However, Lu Xiufu, Liu Fu and others remained silent, obviously there was no good solution.

Zhao Shi raised the account book in his hand and asked: "If the powerful are thoroughly investigated and all illegal activities are pursued to the end, and their family wealth is lost, is there an emergency?"

Jiang Wanzai replied: "This is a bad policy. It is not advisable unless forced. Otherwise, wherever the imperial court comes, there will be rebellion everywhere and it will be difficult to restore the country."

"The situation is very bad at this time, so why not make it worse?" Zhao Shi said: "Basically speaking, if I use [-] acres of land to settle [-] households and recruit [-] soldiers, is it not as powerful as a powerful man?
In order to protect the family's fields, wouldn't the soldiers fight tooth and nail?If you teach about the righteousness of family and country, who can be defeated?

As long as the imperial court controls a place and consolidates it, and the soldiers it obtains are loyal and not afraid of death, what is the point of just rebelling against thieves?

At this time, we are not defending the country, but actually attacking the country. However, whether we are defending or attacking, we are just competing for the hearts and minds of the people.

If the people's hearts are with me, then the country can be restored. If the people's hearts abandon me, the Zhao family will perish. However, what is the people's hearts?

There are tens of millions of people in the world, but only eleven of them are officials, gentry, powerful people. I will take over the land from the powerful people and give it to the people, and agree on a share. I will also exempt them from excessive taxes, corvee, and other burdens. In the end, I will attack one person nine times. How can I be invincible? "

Kublai Khan and Zhao Kuangyin were similar. They relied heavily on the powerful officials and gentry and basically ignored the people at the bottom. Now Zhao is planning to do the opposite and use the bottom to fight for the top.

Back then, Jia Sidao took the lead in dedicating land, but now that Zhao had no land and no money, he started to rob it openly.

"Destiny is determined by the people's hearts. If the people's hearts are not there, the destiny will be lost. Your Majesty has this insight, which is comparable to that of Taizu Taizong." Lu Xiufu sighed.

Liu Fu frowned and thought for a moment, then said: "Your Majesty's idea is excellent, but I'm afraid it will be sold before it is implemented."

"What do you think, Grand Master?" Zhao Shi asked.

Jiang Wanzai asked: "Throw yourself into death and survive. Fall into death and live again. When your Majesty dies, I will follow you."

"Please take charge of this matter!" Lu Xiufu asked.

"Good." Zhao Shi nodded and said, "Full power is entrusted to Mr. Lu, and Chen Wenlong is his deputy."

Liu Fu hesitated for a moment and asked, "What if there are good people who abide by the law and obey the law?"

Zhao Shi smiled and said: "In this case, people know their loyalty and advise them to reduce rent and interest to help the court stabilize the people's hearts. The court will select talents from them and appoint them as officials in return. Isn't it possible that those who are unwilling are committing evil acts?"

"Rebellions will definitely arise again and again. If the Yuan captives come again, they will die without a burial place!" Liu Fu sighed.

"As the Grand Master said, you can throw yourself into a dead place and survive; you can be trapped in a dead place and survive." Zhao Shi said with a smile.

Zhao knew very clearly that it was difficult to fight the Mongols in the usual way, and he had to make a deflection with his sword.

This will be a big adventure.

if not?
Zhao Shi didn't think that Meng Yuan's manpower and material resources could not produce gunpowder. When the two sides' armaments were leveled, what they were fighting for was the will and the hearts of the people. Whoever could occupy the hearts of the people would win the final victory.

Fortunately, the accompanying soldiers and civilians are all loyal people and basically have nothing. There is no need to worry about them launching a rebellion. This is probably the only benefit in troubled times.

(End of this chapter)