East Factory Governor

Chapter 620
There was no war in Ji Town, and it fell into an eerie calm.

The army led by Qin Shuhuai has been confronting Huang Taiji's army in Jizhen for a full month.During this month, the two sides each guarded their own territories, and apart from the small-scale contact between the scouts and horse posts, there was no major war.

August [-]th, the Mid-Autumn Festival.

The weather was extremely cold, and the soldiers had all put on winter clothes.This time, the Eastern Clothes are not prepared by themselves as usual, but provided by the court, which proves that the financial situation of the court is slightly better this year.

In the past half a year, Qin Shuhuai's South and North Wars stabilized the situation for Chongzhen, and also created a good financial environment for Chongzhen.

The reason why Chongzhen was short of money in history was certainly due to factors such as the Donglin Party’s unreasonable tax policy and serious land annexation, but another important point was that he had to use troops for a long time under the circumstances of internal and external troubles.

The use of troops is very expensive, and it is even more expensive to recruit, train, and purchase equipment after a defeated battle. Ineffective use of troops, the land is occupied by bandits, and the border is invaded by foreign bandits, resulting in considerable financial and tax losses. These are also things that Chongzhen did not One of the important reasons for money.

The arrival of Qin Shuhuai saved Chongzhen from losing a lot of battles, helped him stabilize the society, prevented a large number of farmers from being displaced and unable to produce, and also prevented the Tartars from randomly entering the customs to rob property. Naturally, it was conducive to the reduction of military expenditure and the increase of tax revenue.

More importantly, his current martial arts coalition basically didn't spend any money from Chongzhen.In history, Chongzhen had to invest huge sums of money to raise an army of millions, but it might not be able to maintain the country, but now Qin Shuhuai's martial arts coalition forces not only cost him a dime, but are also ridiculously strong, victorious in every battle.With such a calculation, it is not an exaggeration to say that Chongzhen saved Jinshan Yinhai.

What's more, Qin Shuhuai also helped him "knock" an extra income of nearly ten million taels, which was almost two years' income of the Ming treasury.

Under the combined influence of these factors, even though Qin Shuhuai has not embarked on large-scale reforms, it is no exaggeration to say that if Chongzhen in history was considered a beggar, then Chongzhen is at least an ordinary household now!

With some money, he naturally wants to buy people's hearts.

Spending money to make winter clothes for the soldiers was just one of them. He successively announced that war-torn areas such as Sanbian and Jizhen would be exempted from taxes for one year (the areas that had previously announced exemption from taxes would continue to implement the original policy), and that Liao's salaries would be halved nationwide.

With Qin Shuhuai backing him, Chongzhen is now full of pride!

Under Qin Shuhuai's continuous indoctrination, Chongzhen now knows very well that even if Daming's tax is halved, it will only lose more than 200 million taels a year.

Is it more than 200 million taels?Maybe Chongzhen thought it was a lot in the past, but since Qin Shuhuai casually "knocked" him 1000 million taels, he simply felt that it was a fart!
Daming is not poor, but also very rich!For wealthy businessmen, this 200 million taels is nothing more than a scoop in the ocean!As long as taxes are collected from them, not to mention 200 million taels a year, even 1000 million taels a year, they can still live a life of extravagance.

For ordinary people, paying less than 200 million taels of tax means that they can wear a few more clothes in winter, can add an extra dish on weekdays, and have more confidence in the court.

And the confidence of the common people is the source of all his power.As the saying goes, water can carry a boat and overturn it, Chongzhen is very clear about this truth.

It is clearer than the Chongzhen in history.

Only when the financial situation improved a little, he couldn't wait to "please" the people.

Sure enough, as soon as the emperor's order came out, the people all rejoiced.

According to a report from Dongchang, there are now many folks who sing praises to the emperor.

Of course, the reason is not as simple as his reduction of taxes, but that over the past year, the government and army have won successive battles, and the society has become more and more stable. Now the biggest threat to Ming Dynasty, Jiannu, is also trapped in the Santun camp. Confidence is growing rapidly.

If a year ago, there were many people who believed someone who bewitched Da Ming to die, but now, there are very few people who would believe it.This also means that it is very difficult for rogues like Zhang Xianzhong and Li Zicheng to make a comeback.

And this strengthened Chongzhen's determination to eradicate the Donglin Party as soon as possible.

Because of the presence of the Donglin Party, he will never be able to tax the rich, and he will not be able to continue his policy of lightly paying taxes and living with the people.

Inside the court hall, an undercurrent was raging.

The Donglin Party also sensed danger.

Nowadays, in all parts of the country, the book "Biography of Wenjian" is well known to passers-by.And although the "Wen Jian Biography" refers to officials who have been investigated and copied in this dynasty, almost every official has a deep connection with the word "Donglin".

Up to now, the word "Donglin", which used to represent Qingliu, is almost synonymous with scratches such as "corrupt officials", "fishing for fame", and "hypocrite".What's more, some good people who came out of nowhere actually added the word "Dang" after the word "Donglin" to synthesize "Donglin Party", which clearly means that they are "cliques"!
Moreover, those good-for-nothings still have the nose and eyes to say that Zhou Yanru, the chief assistant of the current dynasty, is the ruling party leader of Donglin!Qian Qianyi, the former Minister of Rites who is currently in opposition, is the leader of Donglin's opposition party.The two control the government, deceive the emperor, and fool the people, so that the people are in dire straits, and even the emperor can't do anything about them!
It is said that the plot of this book has now been adapted into operas and libretto, and even the whore in the brothel can sing it for you!
Among the folks, even a three-year-old child can say something like "Donglin villain"!

It has to be said that Qin Shuhuai's public opinion offensive has achieved unexpected results!The Donglin Party is good at influencing scholars with literary words, but Qin Shuhuai uses the clearest vernacular, supplemented by storytelling, libretto, and opera performances that the common people love to directly influence the whole world!
Which one wins and which loses is self-evident!

The Donglin Party started to panic!
What made them even more restless was that the factory guards were indifferent to such rebellious remarks!Zhou Yanru went to see Cao Huachun and Luo Yangxing several times, but the two of them either closed their doors or met each other to have fun, and they had no sincerity to arrest people.

But when the local governments want to arrest people, there are always factory guards to stop them.

This has to make them wonder, who is the mastermind behind this incident?
On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, in the name of admiring the moon, several bigwigs from Donglin secretly came to Zhou Yanru's mansion to discuss countermeasures, and even Qian Qianyi rushed over from Hangzhou.

The aging Zhou Yanru sat on the head, surrounded by two young and beautiful maids.In the hall, Qian Qianyi, who was in his forties with a thin face, was sitting on the left, and Chen Shang, the Minister of the Ministry of War, was sitting on the right.There are also important officials of Donglin, such as the censor and the inspector in Beijing.Although it was not convenient for the governors from all over the country to come, they also sent representatives to come.

The atmosphere is more dignified, and there is no pleasant atmosphere of admiring the moon at all.

"Everyone, I believe everyone is clear about the matter," Zhou Yanru said solemnly, "Now the book "Biography of Wenjian" is being sung all over the world, and it has dealt a heavy blow to Donglin Qingyu. Now the public opinion is raging, and they are unanimously targeting us. Donglin scholars, what's even more tragic is that even some students who are full of knowledge have listened to such absurd remarks, if this continues, the world is bound to be in chaos!"

(End of this chapter)