Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 394 Conversation between Monarch and Subject
In the palace, since the emperor had set the tone, all the ministers had to work out a general strategy regardless of whether they supported it or not.

The emperor met several university scholars and discussed for a day, and it was getting late, so he immediately announced his withdrawal from the court, and came back tomorrow to come up with specific measures and promulgate and implement them.

The eunuch Pang Tianshou immediately sang: "Back to the court~"

Wang Yan and all his ministers bowed and retreated outside the store. At this moment, Emperor Longwu was in deep thought. Just as Wang Yan was about to leave the hall, Longwu suddenly said, "Wang Qing, please stay here. I still have something to do with the Qing family. Discuss!"

Wang Yan stopped after hearing the words, and then moved to the side hall with Long Wu. During the whole process, Long Wu never said a word. Based on Wang Yan's understanding of the emperor, he knew that the emperor was obviously written by Hong Chengchou to Dorgon. The memorial was outraged.

Wang Yan obtained this memorial from Hou Fangyu, a secret agent of Tiandihui who was hiding beside Hong Chengchou. When Wang Yan first saw the memorial, he was as furious as Emperor Longwu.

Ordinary people in the world don't have any thoughts of loyalty to the emperor and patriotism. Food is the heart of the ancient people, especially the people in the north. Their lives are relatively difficult, and they are afraid of being killed by the Qing Dynasty. If the Qing government gives some benefits, they will settle down.

When Guan Zhong was in charge of Qi, he said that Duke Huan of Qi said, "If the warehouse is real, you know the etiquette, and if you have enough food and clothing, you know the honor and disgrace."

The common people don't have enough to eat, and they don't have enough clothes to wear warmly. Telling them about being loyal to the emperor and patriotism, anti-Qing and restoring the Ming Dynasty is all nonsense.

This is roughly the reason why, after the Qing army entered the customs, there were very few resistances in the north, while the resistance in the south of the Yangtze River came one after another, and the city was often buried.

Emperor Longwu read the memorial written by Hong Chengchou to the Qing court, and he knew deeply that the Manchus who had no experience in ruling the Qing Dynasty were not terrible.

In his memorial, in addition to suggesting that the land of the suzerain of the Ming Dynasty be distributed to landless peasants, he also suggested that the Qing government adopt a strategy of giving priority to appeasement and supplementing suppression in dealing with the endless rebels in the south of the Yangtze River. Then implement a series of measures to reduce the burden on the people and stimulate economic development, and also request the Qing government to exempt money and food, stop collecting water transportation taxes and other measures to stabilize Jiangnan.

Wang Yan knew the great predicament that the Longwu court was facing at the moment. The internal malpractices were hard to overcome. Externally, there was the Manchu Qing Dynasty in the north, which occupied eight parts of the world; There are Zhang Xianzhong and King Gui regime.

The change in Minzhong this time brought heavy damage to the Longwu court, both military and political. The loss of officials and financial bankruptcy was equivalent to starting from scratch. It was difficult for the Longwu court to recover within three years.

Facing the current predicament, both Longwu and Wang Yan need great wisdom. Now there is only so much in Nanming. If the Qing court implements Hong Chengchou's strategy, the gap between Nanming and the Qing court will become wider and wider. How could Emperor Longwu not be in a hurry?

At this time, Wang Yan and Long Wu came to the side hall, Long Wu gave Wang Yan a seat, Wang Yan bowed and saluted, "Thank you, Your Majesty!" Wang Yan sat down, and Long Wu asked: "Hong Ni's excerpt , What do the Qing family think after seeing it? How should Daming respond?" Wang Yan didn't expect the emperor to cut straight to the point, and Shen Ling said: "Don't wait for death, change quickly!"

Long Wu's body trembled. He didn't expect Wang Yan, who persisted in the reform, to say such words, but with Long Wu's wisdom, he obviously understood that although Wang Yan's words were not pleasant, they were telling the truth.

Not to mention anything else, let’s talk about land matters. The Qing government could kill half of the people first, and then take the land of the other half to alleviate land conflicts. The Ming Dynasty couldn’t do it. Land policy, without the Manchu Qing attacking, there will be chaos inside.

The current situation in Ming Dynasty is that if there is no change, after a few years, both the economy and manpower will be pulled further and further away by the Qing court, and finally dragged to death. Rapid changes will immediately cause internal chaos. This is the difference between the inside and outside of the system. the difference.

Wang Yan and Long Wu are both inside the system, and it is far more difficult to change than those outside the system.

"Then I, Daming, have no chance of winning?" Long Wu stared at Wang Yan and said.

Wang Yan pondered for a while and said: "Your Majesty is overwhelmed. The rulers of the Qing court were cruel and unkind. I heard that the three methods of enclosing land, confiscating, and escaping made the people miserable. Although Hong Chengchou gave Dorgon a memorial, Qing Dynasty The court may not adopt it, and the Qing army is arrogant, and there are conflicts among the barbarian kings, so the policy may not be fully implemented. Although my Ming Dynasty is at a disadvantage now, as long as the monarch and ministers are united, Xu Tu will change and destroy the rule of the Qing court in the south of the Yangtze River and the north. , my Ming Dynasty will definitely be able to recover the rivers and mountains."

Emperor Longwu sighed, "But I'm really anxious~ Right now, the imperial court is just a business tax reform, which has been delayed for a month. I'm afraid other more difficult issues will not be changed in a few years. Ai Qing said Xu Tu , how should I draw it?"

"Marquis Wu once said that if a person suffers from a serious illness, he should first drink it with millet porridge and take it with medicine. After the internal organs are harmonized and his body is gradually calmed down, he can then eat meat to make up for it, and take strong medicine to cure it, and the root cause of the disease will be gone. , people have a whole life. If you don't wait for the Qi pulse to be gentle, you will use strong medicines and delicious flavors to seek security. It is really difficult. Today, I have lost two shocks in the Ming Dynasty, and I live in the southwest, with an annual income of less than 300 million. It's time." Wang Yan said: "At the moment, the business tax should be changed first, so that the court has enough money, and the blood will be alive if there is money. We are training soldiers and horses to make the four branches strong, so that we can strengthen the enemy from the outside, and deter Xiaoxiao from the inside, so that the court will If it is stable, the disadvantages can be seen!"

Long Wu nodded, "It seems that the key is money. Aiqing has proposed reforming the commercial tax. Is there any other way to obtain money for the court?"

When Wang Yan heard the words, he hesitated to speak.

Seeing this, Long Wu immediately said, "You can tell me what Ai Qing thinks~"

"Your Majesty~" Wang Yan got up and bowed and said: "The reform of business tax is only a way to increase revenue, and the most important thing for the imperial court right now is indeed to reduce expenditure!"

"The future expenses of the empress and I will be halved, saving money for the imperial court and setting an example." Long Wu nodded and said: "Where does Ai Qing think that money needs to be cut?"

Wang Yan said in a deep voice, "Zong Fan~"

The Ming Dynasty had two chronic illnesses, one was not paying taxes for fame and fame, and the other was Lao Zhu’s more than 20 registered clans and hundreds of princes, which brought huge harm and burden to the Ming Dynasty’s finances.

Right now, the imperial court needs the support of the gentry class, so the interests of the gentry cannot be moved, so they can only squeeze the persimmons and use the Zongfan as the knife.

Emperor Longwu's face changed when he heard the words, "How does Aiqing plan to reform?"

Wang Yan replied: "First descend to nobility, and each generation will decrease. The prince will descend to the county king, and the county king will descend to the general of the town. This will not be radical, but will also reduce the number of princes, and the burden on the court will be greatly reduced."

The princes of the Ming Dynasty can't be counted. If you drop a level, the number of princes will suddenly drop from a few hundred to less than ten figures in a few decades. It is indeed a good strategy.

Long Wu frowned, but denied: "My status has already been questioned by the clan. If this policy is implemented, the clan will inevitably switch to King Lu and King Gui, and the legitimacy of my emperor will be questioned immediately. This strategy Absolutely not."

Wang Yan explained: "This requires Your Majesty to reach a compromise with King Lu and King Gui. Since ancient times, the Jiangnan Dynasty, and the confrontation with the powerful enemies in the north, must be three major groups, lined up, namely Jianghuai, Jingchu, and Sichuan. At present, the imperial court is unable to intervene in the southeast and southwest, so it is better to reach an agreement with the Lu and Guangxi feudal lords to draw up the land for defense, and allow them to have their independent rights in the southeast and southwest in exchange for their support for the imperial court's various reforms."

(Thanks to Huamanlou 666 for the reward, and thanks to Daidaidai for the monthly pass)
(End of this chapter)