At the end of the Ming Dynasty, I freely traveled through Yangshen

Chapter 5 The Situation in the Late Ming Dynasty

By the 17th year of Chongzhen, more and more courtiers realized that the Central Plains had become a three-legged situation. Beijing was likely to be the first choice for rogue bandits and slaves to settle in the Central Plains. The matter of moving southward gradually became a topic of concern. It’s an openly pedantic thing.

Countless thoughts floated through Wang Chengen's mind: Could it be that the prince wanted to use a fairy's dream to make the emperor decide to move southward?But the emperor himself has not made up his mind. At the same time, none of the courtiers are fools. They don't want to be the guilty minister who abandoned the ancestral mausoleum in the history of Qing Dynasty. Each one of them objected to the matter when the matter was discussed at court.

But the current style of the prince seems to be like this, as if he wants to use this ghostly and fairy way to achieve his goal. Could it be that the prince has an expert's guidance behind him? This illness is actually a promotion Bureau of moving south?

In an instant, Wang Chengen's mind turned to the struggle in the harem. He looked at the Crown Prince Zhu Cixi cautiously and whispered, "Prince, could it be that the Queen wants the Crown Prince to move south, which is why you go through all this trouble."

Zhu Cixi couldn't laugh or cry when he heard this, but after thinking about it carefully, he felt that what this person said was quite reasonable, because in addition to Emperor Chongzhen and Empress Zhou, the biggest beneficiary of the Ming Dynasty's southward migration was him, the crown prince who would definitely inherit the throne in the future. , according to this logic of thinking, it is inevitable that he, the prince, supports the interests of moving south.

However, Zhu Cixiang really entered a place called the Great Thousand World, so he certainly didn't lie. If it was really the Great Thousand World, then there would be no problem for him to call that world the Immortal World.

But because the current situation was urgent and beyond the reach of the world, Zhu Cixiang simply handed Wang Chengen an article integrating various items from the Ming Dynasty and items needed for world trade.

Zhu Cixiang wrote this thing quickly from memory before the meal. The handwriting was a bit sloppy and the ink was not dry for a long time. He was obviously prepared.

"This is?"

Wang Chengen took a piece of soft rice paper handed over by Zhu Cixiang. The rice paper was very soft and slightly wrinkled. He spread it out one by one and saw that what was written on the paper was the output of materials in various places in the Ming Dynasty, the value of money and grain, and The profits gained from selling to various countries.

He took a closer look and became slightly fascinated. Tea, porcelain, and raw silk from the Jiangnan area were exchanged for massive spices. Silver entered the territory of the Ming Dynasty, Franji, France, England, Rakshasa Kingdom, Japan, Luzon, and Ryukyu. The goods that can be exchanged with the Ming Dynasty and the wealth that can be obtained from Myanmar, North Korea, and various countries that I have heard of and have not heard of are all on this icon.

As Wang Chengen watched, his hands trembled, and he subconsciously exclaimed, "This, this..."

He was a little in disbelief, and turned over a few more pages, and then his whole body trembled, especially when he saw Zhu Cixiang predicting that the amount of silver flowing into the Ming Dynasty in the next hundred years would be billions of taels, and he couldn't help but murmur with excitement. He muttered, "My Da Ming...my Da Ming...can't be so rich."

Wang Chengen is very aware of the concept between the silver flowing in and the silver flowing in his hands. This is equivalent to so much new wealth for nothing.Seeing Wang Chengen's performance, Zhu Cixiang's eyes suddenly lit up. He knew that his first step had some effect. He smiled and said, "The appearance of these things is real. These countries still have these goods. According to Jin Yiwei, You, the Admiral of Dongchang, don’t understand the channels very well, right? This is the path shown to me by the immortal, that is, if you want to survive, get rich first.”

"My wealth in the vast China of the Ming Dynasty was innumerable, but it could not be put into practice and entered the treasury. This is the real reason why the Ming Dynasty is now turbulent. Talents in the city are the real disaster of our Ming Dynasty, scheming, tax evasion, tax exemption, all kinds of means emerge in endlessly, making our Ming treasury empty and able to run, and the battlefield is rotten. It is ridiculous that there are not many soldiers in China. ."

"What Mr. Qiantose said is absolutely true, but now that you and I are in Beijing, what can we do about it?"

When Wang Chengen heard this, he frowned and smiled bitterly. What was painful was that the Ming Dynasty was currently in a turbulent situation, and the storm was about to come, and the wind filled the building. What he was smiling about was that he knew that the wealth in the Ming Dynasty was actually so rich, but it was hidden and not used by him and Chongzhen. The emperor only knows.

Zhu Cixiang stood up and stood with his hands behind his back. He looked like a god who looked down upon the sky. His handsome and prosperous face had a resolute expression, "Since the 16th year of Chongzhen, more than 1000 million taels worth of taxes have been paid. These more than 1000 million taels have been added to the tax collection." Due to the war, many places were unable to collect, and most of them were borne by Jiangnan, Zhejiang, Guangdong, and Fujian. However, these places did not send out refugees like the north. What does this mean? This shows that the roots of the Ming Dynasty are not rotten at all. The places where Japanese pirates had been in trouble before were all pacified by Qi Jiajun and now Zheng Zhilong, so there was no atmosphere of troubled times at all.

So this also means that we have not increased enough taxes in the south. Once the financial resources of the south are truly mobilized to support the north, the current situation will inevitably ease. Lord Governor Wang, do you know that the imperial court has increased taxes in recent years? Where are the taxes on Pai added? "

"It was added to the Liaodong war and the suppression of the refugee rebellion." Wang Chengen exhaled after hearing this, "It was also added to the common people in the north. These people had no harvest due to the cold weather and the freezing ground. Although the court made them owe money They don’t pay taxes, but they are unable to provide disaster relief, so most of these people have become the so-called traitors who will never be exterminated if they pay.”

"Wang Banban understands this very well."

Zhu Cixiang heard that Wang Chengen actually knew that the imperial court's increase in the number of refugees caused more refugees, and he couldn't help but look at him differently. At the same time, his tone of voice also changed slightly, "Nowadays, slaves are being built continuously, and salaries are constantly being raised, and salaries are constantly being raised." , the endless cycle of refugees, the imperial court is being dragged down step by step, and the building will collapse. "

"The imperial court is currently fighting on two fronts. When the officers and soldiers faced the bandits, they won more than they lost, but when they faced the captives, they won less and lost more. Wang Banban, do you know why this is?"

"Of course this slave knows." Wang Chengen nodded, looking a little sad, and said with a wry smile, "Thieves are the result of the mutiny and rebellion of the refugees who can't survive. They are naturally a mob. Our Ming Dynasty has built a foundation of more than 300 years, and our righteousness As soon as this title came out, most of the refugees naturally surrendered. After all, rebellion is a serious crime of beheading and can easily implicate the nine tribes. However, it is different when facing the captives. These people are originally from foreign races and have rebelled against us for more than one generation. , and they have lived outside the Great Wall for a long time. They have strong folk customs, are good at equestrian skills, and can come and go freely. At the same time, they encountered a coalition of heroes who raided and plundered our borders. They have extraordinary fighting power, and our Ming army is naturally no match."

Zhu Cixiang put his hands behind his back and said suddenly, "It's not because of lack of money. Although the bandits are indeed very powerful, how can we, the great country of China, with a population of tens of millions, be trapped by a disease like this in Siem Reap? Now, Although the taxes collected by the imperial court in the southeast are huge, they are not enough to cover the cost of military aircraft in the Central Plains, Northwest, and Liaodong. The wealth collected in the south is not enough to mortgage the disasters in the north, which will allow natural disasters, man-made disasters, and drought in the north. Three thousand miles of ice, and the imperial court has no food relief. These people naturally rose up and revolted continuously, making the officers and soldiers exhausted. Now there are barbarians outside knocking on the door and destroying our Chinese clothes. There is bloodshed inside, such as Chen Sheng and Wu Guang. A rebel who claims to be king and emperor.”

　I received the contract for the short site. The editor of Latiao is so awesome!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)