Acting for the gods

Chapter 110 Jiang Fan Offers Advice
It was precisely because of Huo Weihua's enthusiasm for dealing with Donglin that he won Wei Zhongxian's trust. He entered the military department as the right servant, and later was promoted to the military department's minister.

He never expected that this thick-eyed, bragging about himself while vigorously suppressing the Donglin Party's Minister of War would turn out to be a member of the Donglin Party.

As for whether Jiang Fan was just hearsay or deliberately framed, Wei Zhongxian can judge for himself.

Looking back on the past, Wei Zhongxian can conclude that Jiang Fan's words are probably true, and he can't help being shocked.

Huo Weihua hid so deeply and laid out for seven years, even killing some members of the Donglin Party to win his trust, he really is a ruthless person!
If Jiang Fan hadn't said it out, I'm afraid he wouldn't know how he died then.

Thinking of this, Wei Zhongxian looked at Jiang Fan with a hint of gratitude, but more fear.

At the same time, I was curious about how the other party could find so many clues in such a short period of time?

You must know that Wei Zhongxian was in control of the largest intelligence department in the Ming Dynasty, Dongchang, but he didn't notice such a secret thing beforehand.

It is unreasonable for Jiang Fan, the town governor, to take office only yesterday, and it's unreasonable to break out shocking news today.

Zhu Youxiao was also curious about where Jiang Fan's information came from, but he didn't get to the bottom of it.

As for the authenticity of the information, he believed it eight out of ten, and he would naturally ask people to verify the investigation afterwards.

Trust is one thing, but Zhu Youxiao will not blindly listen and believe.

"Any more?"

Zhu Youxiao's tone has become severe, but it has a bit of the majesty of an emperor.

"Wei Chen has found so much so far. Those people in Donglin harbor evil intentions and have been planning for a long time. The people involved are far more than the Ministry of War. Please make preparations early to prevent accidents."

Jiang Fan didn't feel the pressure from Zhu Youxiao, or he didn't have any concept of monarch and minister in his heart, but he just put on a show in order to better complete the task.

"You have done a good job. Donglin has always been arbitrarily authoritarian, and the party is united in fighting dissidents. While holding high the banner of morality to guide the country, while drinking, sex, and wealth, he is involved in everything."

"For my own selfish desires, I colluded with wealthy businessmen and Japanese pirates, Houjin, and smuggled contraband, and it has been repeatedly prohibited."

"Annexing the land while preventing the court from collecting taxes will bring disaster to the country and the people, an unforgivable crime!"

Zhu Youxiao counted the crimes of the Donglin Party in detail, and it seemed that he had long wanted to eradicate the Donglin Party.

Can tell these words to Jiang Fan.

It shows that Zhu Youxiao has regarded Jiang Fan as his own.

"Jiang Aiqing, I have been suffering for a long time, I don't know if Aiqing has a good strategy to get rid of rape?"

Listening to Jun's words, Jiang Fan felt that Zhu Youxiao, the carpenter emperor, was indeed not simple. He was obsessed with carpentry on the surface, but he was not clear about the situation in the court.

Very good!
"Your Majesty, please forgive me for speaking boldly. The Ming Dynasty is currently in turmoil. It is time to use the force of thunder to cut through the mess, and then recuperate the people's livelihood.

Jiang Fan spoke sonorously and forcefully, with a strong sense of humor and an attitude of utter loyalty.

Zhu Youxiao nodded, why didn't he want to wipe out Donglin in one fell swoop, but Donglin's tree was deeply rooted, and the officials in the court were probably Donglin's people.

Civil uprisings in Shandong, Liaodong Houjin covetously, natural disasters in various parts of the Ming Dynasty, and now the Ming Dynasty is no longer turbulent, Zhu Youxiao can only choose the method of boiling frogs in warm water to disintegrate the power of the Donglin Party step by step.

There is no rush for major national affairs!

However, Zhu Youxiao was very satisfied with Jiang Fan's statement, and asked instead: "What Jiang Aiqing said is true, can you be more specific?"

He thinks that Jiang Fan's loyalty is commendable, and now he wants to see the other party's talents, so that he can know how to use them well.

Jiang Fan said: "In my humble opinion, the late Jin Dynasty and the Japanese pirates are the confidants of the Ming Dynasty, but they are not the top priority at the moment. The most urgent thing is to put down the civil uprisings in Donglin and other places."

"Nowadays is an eventful season. Disasters continue to occur in various places, and the people are hungry. In addition, the people in the government set up clever schemes and extorted money, which led to the government forcing the people to rebel."

"Since ancient times, food has been the most important thing for the people. If you want to quell the anger of the people, you should do both kindness and force."

"On the one hand, force suppression, on the other hand, it gives hope to the people to survive."

"As long as they can eat and don't suffer from hunger or cold, the people will naturally not rebel at the risk of beheading."

Zhu Youxiao and Wei Zhongxian looked at each other. They thought so too, and they had already taken corresponding measures.

Just with little success.

Wei Zhongxian said: "Your Majesty has already issued an order to reduce or exempt the common people's taxes and transfer the industrial and commercial taxes to various places in the south of the Yangtze River. I only hate Donglin's obstruction in every possible way. The officials in many places are swaying each other, making it difficult to implement the imperial government's decrees."

Jiang Fan: ...

It is true that Jiang Fan thinks things are simple. The protection of officials and officials has not changed since ancient times.

Among them, the interests are very involved. Whether it is the Donglin Party or the Eunuch Party, how many people are not greedy?
Who doesn't like money.

Not to mention those officials, even the relatives of the emperor, the vassals of various places, and even the Emperor Tianqi in front of him are all greedy!

The prosperity of the people is suffering; the death of the people is suffering.

The hardships of the common people are explained in one word!

Jiang Fan thought for a while and said, "Punishing corrupt officials should set an example, and use severe punishment to scare chickens and monkeys to deter officials and make them restrain themselves."

"At the same time, it can show the attitude of the court to the people, and then let people create public opinion, and transfer the hatred of the people from the court to those officials who do not do practical things. This can stabilize the hearts of the people."

"Jiang Aiqing, what is public opinion?"

Zhu Youxiao was a little puzzled.

Jiang Fan unknowingly brought in modern words and explained: "The so-called public opinion is to publicly express content, convey beliefs, and guide topics."

When Wei Zhongxian heard this, he was very familiar with this business!
"Your Majesty, this matter can be left to the old slave."

He felt the pressure from Jiang Fan. If he didn't do anything, he, the number one celebrity around the emperor, would be squeezed out.

Zhu Youxiao readily agreed.

Although Jiang Fan's suggestion is to treat the symptoms rather than the root cause, it can at least have the effect of appeasing the hearts of the people and deterring all officials.

Jiang Fan continued: "In addition, Wei Chen suggested planting a large number of sweet potatoes, which are suitable for growing in places with abundant rainfall. They are easy to plant and have high yields. They can be eaten raw or cooked. The tender tips of the vine leaves can be used for cooking, and the old leaves can be fed. For livestock, dried sweet potato slices can be preserved for a long time, and can be used as military rations. If it is popularized, within a few years, there will be no famine in Daming."

"Sweet potatoes?"

For this name, Zhu Youxiao has some impressions. Daming's navigation technology is relatively advanced in the world today. During the Yongle period, Zheng He made seven voyages to the West, opened up overseas trade, and brought back many foreign gadgets.

In the tenth year of Wanli, when Chen Yi went to Annan (now Vietnam) with his friends, he ate sweet potatoes and then introduced them to Daming.

Now Yunnan, Guangdong, and Fujian are planted in three places.

It's just that Zhu Youxiao didn't expect sweet potatoes to have so many functions, and he didn't pay much attention to them before.

(End of this chapter)