Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 301 Hong Chengchou's Thoughts

Since the remnant of Azige returned to Beijing, Dorgon also turned his attention back to the country, even though Dorgon hated Zhu Youjian deeply at this time.

But Dorgon also knew that if the current Qing Dynasty wanted to eliminate Ming Dynasty, it had to give the Han people in the north a respite, consolidate the foundation of Qing Dynasty's rule in the north, and accumulate strength to prepare for another southern expedition in the future.

Because of this, in the second half of the second year of Shunzhi, Emperor Shunzhi of the Qing court issued an edict to prohibit the banner people from excessively enclosing land. popular support.

At the same time, Emperor Shunzhi of the Qing court also used a large number of Han people as officials, enriched local governance, encouraged farming and land reclamation, and reduced the punishment of the escape law in order to reduce population loss, and no longer implemented the crime of consecutive sitting.

After the Qing court did this, and the war was over, the north had basically calmed down. A large number of Qing court officials also knew to rest with the people, and began to build water conservancy projects, reclaim wasteland and suppress bandits as soon as they arrived.

And the Han people who cast themselves as bannermen to coat their clothes also resigned to their fate at this time. After all, even if they changed from self-cultivated farmers to tenant farmers, they could not do without the land, and they had to farm it.

After Dorgon executed a few Manchurian officials who abused and harmed the people like a chicken, the Manchu nobles also reduced the degree of exploitation of the Han people, and the Manchu nobles were basically concentrated in the capital and the big city.

Most of the northern regions have not been affected much.

Although this land was stained with the blood of many compatriots, even though this land has become the ruled area of ​​the Hu people, the surviving people still should farm the land, and the scholars who stayed in the north should still farm. Those who should be officials should be officials.

Kong Wenzhen, a descendant of Confucius and an ex-minister of the Ming Dynasty, was conferred the title of Duke of Derivation by Emperor Shunzhi to show that the Qing Dynasty wanted Confucianism to be orthodox, and the northern gentry called it the good governance of the Ming emperor.

At the same time, the Qing court also began to train new recruits and expanded the green battalion. A large number of refugees from the north were recruited into the army.

However, Azige was not punished by Dorgon, and he still held the Xianghuang Banner, and even took over the Zhengbai Banner originally held by Duoduo, and a large number of Manchurian cavalry outside the pass were transferred into the pass again to enrich the military power of the capital.

The world seems to be peaceful now, as if the Ming and Qing had divided the north and the south and the fighting ceased. Not only people from the Ming Dynasty thought this way, but also the Han gentry in the north at this time.

However, there are also many bureaucrats of the Qing court who do not think that the Qing Dynasty can only occupy half of the country, just like Dorgon and Hong Chengchou.

"My lord, the richest place in the world is Jiangnan, followed by Huguang, Xishu and other places, which are all grain-producing areas. If the weather is bad today, the north is getting colder every year, and the grain production will be lower. If my Qing Dynasty did not occupy Jiangnan, Huguang, Xishu and other places, I am afraid that it will be difficult to continue, and these places, except Xishu, are all in the hands of the Ming court. It's not our southern expedition, but the Ming court's northern expedition." Hong Chengchou, Minister of the Ministry of War, seriously raised his concerns to Dorgon.

"You are right. If the Ming court is not destroyed, our Qing Dynasty will be unstable. But right now we have to wait for the opportunity and recharge our batteries. How are the firearms and artillery supervised, and how are the warships built?" Recently, Zhu Youjian of the Ming court has vigorously developed the navy, so he must prevent him from attacking from the sea at that time, so he must be warned, from Liaodong to Hejianfu, coastal defenses must be strengthened along the coast, and fishermen are prohibited from going to sea!"

Hong Chengchou, a native of Fujian, agrees with Dorgon's ban on the sea, not only Hong Chengchou, but also the northern Han gentry. Banning the sea for civilians is tantamount to controlling the benefits of maritime trade in the hands of the ruler. , especially in the hands of coastal officials and gentry who control them.

Therefore, most of the Han bureaucrats in the Qing court called the regent a virtuous king, which is better than Chongzhen Emperor Zhu Youjian.

"Reporting to my lord, the craftsmen have already stepped up to imitate the Ming court's Chongzhen [-]-style musket, but I heard from the craftsmen that although this musket is similar to the bird's gun, its structure is extremely fine. It was made, but no craftsman has made it yet, and the barrel and the knife handle on the barrel do not seem to be ordinary iron. I'm afraid it can't be used as a spear; in addition, the artillery is the same. Xia Guanxi was in charge of the Ministry of War in the Ming court for a period of time, and he never thought that their craftsmanship would improve so quickly. Not only the firearms, but also the artillery. Knowing how to do it, Ming Ting’s cannons are much lighter for the same specifications.”

Hong Chengchou smiled awkwardly, while Dorgon said indifferently: "There is a huge reward for those who can be imitated, but it doesn't matter even if they can't be completely imitated, as long as the range is long enough and they can shoot continuously. Spears don’t matter too much. Cannons are heavier. I still have iron cavalry in the Qing Dynasty. Why do I need muskets as spears to charge? What did the Ming court think? They would want to use firearms as spears. It’s unnecessary! "

While Dorgon was talking, an official came to report: "My lord, these are the latest news from the south."

Dorgon looked at it carefully for a while and then handed it to Hong Chengchou: "This Zhu Youjian is really good at playing. He actually collected business taxes in the south of the Yangtze River and opened a bank by himself. It's not just a bank. You have to follow the law if you change the way." The gentry is making money in their hands. Look at it. He also said that agriculture and business are all their own business, and even encourages commerce. Not without concern, now it seems that Zhu Youjian is still coerced by the gentry in the south and engaged in business development tricks, but his business tax can be regarded as good governance, but it is something that offends people. This king is really unpredictable."

Hong Chengchou also took a closer look, and couldn't help laughing for a while: "No matter how you say it, according to the news in this secret report, Chongzhen Zhu Youjian's move is to offend the officials and gentry in the south of the Yangtze River. Commercial benefits are originally exclusive to the officials and gentry. Now It was taken away by Chongzhen Zhu Youjian, can the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River agree, it can be seen that our southern expedition is still a move to win the hearts of the people."

Dorgon nodded, agreeing with Hong Chengchou's opinion, and he was indeed unwilling to give up the opportunity to let the Qing Dynasty rule the world.

Hong Chengchou, Shangshu of the Ministry of War, was also very happy to see that Dorgon agreed with him. He knew that he was a surrender of the Ming Dynasty, and his qualifications were not as good as Fan Wencheng and Ning Wan. During the Southern Expedition, he could become the coach and earn a great contribution, so as to gain a higher status in Daqing.

"Chongzhen, Chongzhen, maybe the old man really can only be sorry for you, maybe one day the one who kills you will be the official, but I don't want to let you and my monarch and ministers go to such a point, but don't worry , if it reaches that point, this official will not be merciful and change dynasties, this has been the case since ancient times."

Hong Chengchou looked at the teacup in his hand in a trance, but after a while, his servant came to report: "Master, King Pingxi and Mr. Zhang Ge are asking to see you."

(End of this chapter)