Follow Zhu Yuanzhang to conquer the country

Chapter 42 It’s time to ransack the house and kill some fat pigs
  Li Shanchang hurriedly knelt down at this time: "Your Majesty, your Majesty! The subordinates have no such selfish motives. This is really because the subordinates do not understand Mr. Zhang and ignore the problems. After all, it is the first time for the subordinates to become an official. Here, the secret Xin doesn’t know much about it, but I think Mr. Zhang comes from a real official family after all, so he understands this better."

Li Shanchang can only admit now that he did not expect that he was not as good as Zhang Cheng.

"Yes!"

"Your superiors, thank you Mr. Zhang for reminding me, otherwise the subordinates would still be confused."

"Why didn't my subordinates think of this? It can be seen that Mr. Zhang is indeed very capable in politics!"

Feng Guoyong also bowed to report, and like Li Shanchang, he could only admit that Zhang Cheng himself was the most powerful.

Zhu Yuanzhang sneered: "I don't believe it, you can't be so stupid. I, a commoner, don't know the secrets in these yamen, but it is understandable. You are Confucian scholars with a lot of money. Your family should have a lot of dealings with the government. You don't know." Don’t know this.”

"The superior Mingjian!"

"The subordinates really didn't expect it, and they didn't deliberately hide it from their superiors."

"And please think carefully, superior, how dare your subordinates flirt with Mr. Hao at this time, instead of wanting to let your superiors lay the foundation as soon as possible?"

"Is it possible that making peace with Hao You now, which hinders the success of the great cause of the superiors, is more important than realizing the ambitions of the subordinates to end the troubled times and honor the ancestors?"

"Don't say that the subordinates dare to vouch for themselves that they are not carrying out the arrogant intentions of making peace with the superiors. Even brothers serving the country, the subordinates also dare to vouch for it."

"No matter how stupid my subordinates are, they are not so confused. Superior!"

Li Shanchang started to cry, and he didn't know whether it was sweat or tears rolling down his face.

In short.

He indeed looked very frightened now.

Feng Guoyong also followed up here: "If the superior really doesn't believe it and wants to kill the subordinate for this, the subordinate will never dare to complain. However, the subordinate also asks the superior to make a clear warning. The subordinate really wants to make peace with Hao You and only wants to annex. To make profits, why bother to surrender to the superiors? Wouldn’t it be better to collude with Hu Yuan’s officials to do this?”

After hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang only looked at Zhang Cheng: "What do you think, Mr. Zhang?"

Zhang Cheng said: "Back to the superior, I also think what they said is right. They have no need to make peace with Hao You, and they have no need to ruin their great cause with the superior for a little selfish gain."

Li Shanchang and Feng Guoyong both looked at Zhang Cheng gratefully.

"Then do you believe they really don't understand?"

Zhu Yuanzhang asked Zhang Cheng.

Zhang Cheng glanced at Li Shanchang and Feng Guoyong: "Maybe he doesn't really understand, but at least he can be sure that they are unwilling. It's not that they are unwilling to harm their family's interests because of their father-in-law, but they are unwilling to do so." I am willing to offend the right gentry."

Zhang Cheng then looked at Zhu Yuanzhang and said: "It can also be said that they have no motivation to offend the gentry. After all, Qingzhang can also achieve the goal of conquering the world, but it must kill the refugees to strengthen and expand the army. The purpose, that is to say, it is the common people who suffer in this way! And if they want to clear their husbands, it is the gentry who suffer. When there is no benefit, they would naturally rather suffer the common people."

"In the eyes of many people, the world is unkind and treats all living things like rotten dogs. The common people are like grass and grass. No matter how many people die, they are just a number."

"Besides, there are few people like me who have seen with their own eyes what it's like for people to starve to death, especially what it's like for family members to starve to death one after another, or even what it feels like to be about to starve to death yourself."

When Zhang Cheng said this, Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes turned red: "It's not a number! It's a living person!"

"But the right-wing gentry is different. Who wants to offend someone unless they have to? Do they want to be smeared by them in their historical records, or do they want the cultural context to be degraded?"

Zhang Cheng added a few more words and then said: "So, they are unwilling to offend the gentry, at least they have no motivation to offend the gentry. They only have the courage to offend the common people, and this courage can sometimes be very great."

After Zhang Cheng said this, Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Li Shanchang and Feng Guoyong with an increasingly fierce look.

"But this is all the fault of the superiors. It's your fault that they only dare to suffer the common people."

But Zhang Cheng suddenly said this again.

Zhu Yuanzhang looked back at Zhang Cheng in shock: "Is it our fault?"

"That's right!"

Zhang Cheng nodded and said: "It's my fault that you gave them too few benefits, which caused them to lack the motivation to offend the powerful gentry and only dare to offend the common people."

Zhu Yuanzhang also fell silent. Zhang Chengze continued: "No matter how you put it, even if they are willing to reveal their hidden fields and population to let their superiors know, and pay more taxes and grains to their superiors every year, just like Li Tongzhi was willing to donate three thousand stones and let Li Li Tongzhi himself may be willing to give up his family fortune to conquer the world, but that does not mean that his clan slaves and fellow countrymen are willing. If he does this, he will be accused of being unfilial and unethical. , do you think they still dare?"

"But it will be different if we give them greater benefits. In this way, they can convince their clan members, slaves and fellow countrymen, and then they can have both loyalty and filial piety."

"Tell us the truth, is this the reason?"

Zhu Yuanzhang asked about Li Shanchang and Feng Guoyong.

Li Shanchang said: "When I returned to my position, Mr. Zhang misunderstood my subordinate. The subordinate's family tradition has always been philanthropic. How could he be dissatisfied because he was willing to clear his father's father? Even if there were family members who did not understand, the subordinate would not condone his family because of this. It was just This time the subordinates really didn’t expect it, they just didn’t notice the loopholes.”

"Both the superiors and the subordinates are not afraid of their families. This time they really just didn't expect it and didn't understand it as well as Mr. Zhang."

Feng Guoyong also followed suit.

The two just didn't want to admit that they were cowardly and selfish.

Zhang Cheng was too lazy to expose it anymore, and just advised Zhu Yuanzhang: "Your superiors, don't pursue it anymore, just pretend they don't know. The superiors only need to understand for themselves. If you want the policies not to burden the people, you need to let the executors be as capable as they are." If you have the motivation to do it, even if Shanchang and Guoyong brothers are selfless and willing to offend everyone for the sake of superiority, it does not mean that all executors can do it. The superior is the decision-maker and cannot take chances."

"What's more, the teachings of the saints make everyone in the world feel that a gentleman should be ashamed of speaking for profit, but should aspire to serve the world as a public good. Therefore, it is difficult for them to mention or admit that they have selfish motives. This needs to be taken into consideration by the superiors themselves. The selfishness of most people in the world."

After Zhang Cheng said this, Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and helped Li Shanchang up again: "Shanchang, please get up. If you really have a request, remember to tell us that we regard you as our elder brother in our hearts. You don't have to treat us because of it." Treat him as the master and keep his privacy to himself. As long as it is an aboveboard request, we will not refuse."

Zhu Yuanzhang said and looked at Feng Guoyong again: "Brother Guoyong, you are the same."

"Thank you, sir."

"It's just the superior. This time it's really just that the subordinates didn't think of it. It's not that they don't want to remind the superior that they should clear their husbands."

"Of course, Mr. Zhang is right. This matter of clearing the father-in-law has to be balanced with yin and yang. Considering whether the officials who execute it have the motivation, although the subordinates and their families do not care about material gain, it does not mean that all officials in the world do not care."

"In the final analysis, Mr. Zhang is more insightful into people's hearts, which is admirable!"

"However, even if the land and population should be cleared as Mr. Zhang said, it will take time to clear the land. Within a month or two, there will be no time for the tax and grain increases to allow the refugees outside the city to survive next summer and autumn harvest. hour."

Li Shanchang continued to talk, and he was still unwilling to admit that he had thought about the need to clear his father-in-law, but would rather admit that he was not as thorough as Zhang Cheng.

Feng Guoyong followed suit and said: "As the saying goes, water from afar cannot quench the thirst of the near. Now even if the father is cleared, it is too late to implement the current military pay system and keep the refugees outside alive."

"It doesn't matter!"

"It's too late to bring water from afar to Qingzhang, but there is still water nearby that can quench our thirst and solve the military supply problem before Qingzhang is completed."

Zhang Cheng interrupted at this time.

Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but turned around and asked Zhang Cheng: "What is near the water?"

"Copy the house!"

Zhang Cheng said two words.

Zhu Yuanzhang looked excited: "Search the house?"

Zhang Cheng nodded: "That's right. After we invaded Chuzhou City, I immediately asked Tang and them to put order in order. As a result, I captured a group of tycoons and profiteers who took the opportunity to rob and smear my rebel brothers. There are also a group of tycoons who will definitely Because they insist on being loyal to the Tatars and refuse to abandon the dark side and turn to the bright side, the backers of these people are basically the Tatar nobles. Now that all the Tatar nobles in Chuzhou City have been killed by me, do I still have to show mercy to these people? Shouldn’t we just seize their fields and lose their property, including the industrial fields of the Tatar nobles in Chuzhou!”

"The fields that were copied can be distributed to the refugees and expanded into tax fields."

"The unearned gold and silver can be used to redeem the fields of large households and distribute them to the common people."

"The unobtainable property can be used to win over the powerful gentry who are willing to join us and are active in the land distribution issue."

"As the saying goes, when a whale falls, everything comes into being."

"Sir, if you really don't want to make the people suffer, you should kill a few fat pigs that don't cooperate."

(End of this chapter)