Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 212 Set up a stage to sing

Chapter 212 Set up a stage to sing
"On Yiyou day in the fifth month of the 31st year, Shang died in the West Palace. The emperor's grandson ascended the throne. He was honored as the Holy God, Wenwu Qinming, Qiyun, Junde, and succeeded in ruling the world. The Great Xiaogao Emperor was named Taizu, and he was given the gift of heaven..."

In mid-June, after half a month of long journey, the more than [-] troops of the Northern Patrol were finally brought back to Quanningwei by Zhu Di.

In his uneasy mood, the figure of the eunuch delivering the order did appear here.

The other party waited here for a long time, and summoned the three kings and generals to read out in public the news that Zhu Yuanzhang had died and that the emperor's grandson Zhu Yunwen had ascended the throne.

For a moment, everyone's eyes went dark, and they had no time to react. They lowered their heads and looked at each other on the left and right.

Among the people, only Zhu Di, Zhu Neng, Zhang Yu, Qiu Fu, Yao Guangxiao and others were shocked.

They did not expect that what Zhu Gaoxu said was actually true. The Hongwu Emperor who had been in power for 31 years actually died in May.

"The late emperor passed away, your majesty, can you tell the kings when to come to the capital..."

Zhu Di accepted the imperial edict and slowly stood up to ask in front of everyone, but in his heart he thought of what Zhu Gaoxu said to him in Wulianghatu City.

"Emperor Daxing left a legacy edict stating that when kings come to the country, they should not come to the capital."

The eunuch who delivered the order answered respectfully, but this answer made Zhu Quan, who couldn't hold himself back, dissatisfied.

"There's no reason not to let your son go to Beijing to mourn!"

As soon as Zhu Quan spoke, the eunuch's expression changed, but he still pretended to be respectful and explained to Zhu Di, Zhu Quan and Zhu Zhi:

"Emperor Daxing was buried in Xiaoling on Xinmao in May, and His Majesty ascended the throne early. Your three highnesses should not disturb Emperor Daxing."

The eunuch's words made everyone look at each other in shock. Obviously, they didn't expect that an emperor like Zhu Yuanzhang, who had great achievements, would be buried in Xiaoling after only seven days.

In their view, even if the emperor's grandson is in a hurry to ascend the throne, he should wait 27 days. Seven days would be a bit...

"I see."

With Zhu Gaoxu's reminder, Zhu Di was not too excited. He just nodded in agreement and asked at the same time: "Does your Majesty have any orders?"

The eunuch who delivered the edict did not expect that Zhu Di would be so calm, but in response to Zhu Di's inquiry, he also took out another imperial edict as Zhu Di expected.

"Your Majesty has a decree. Please ask King Yan to control the troops and return to their bases. In addition, he will return the three guards of King Gu. His Highnesses King Yan, King Ning, and King Liao will each lead their escort troops back to their fiefdoms."

"In addition, Marquis Wu Ding please return to the capital to report on his duties. Chief Military Officer Yang Wen will take over as Chief Military Officer of Liaodong."

Having said this, the eunuch who delivered the order secretly glanced at Zhu Di, and after making sure that his mood was relatively stable, he said with a smile: "In addition, His Highness, King Yan, please return the troops deployment card of Sandusi..."

"Sure enough..." When Zhu Di heard the previous content of the imperial edict, he thought of the deprivation of military power that Zhu Gaoxu said, and the fact was as Zhu Gaoxu expected. His eldest nephew who ascended the throne asked him for the right at the first opportunity. military power.

For a time, whether to hand over or not to hand over became a question that Zhu Di had to face.

Yao Guangxiao looked at Zhu Di's silence and thought of Zhu Gaoxu's words, so he wanted to step forward to rescue Zhu Di.

But before he came forward, Zhu Di said: "I will have someone send the troop transfer card to your residence in a moment. However, most of the Kaiping Fifth Guards are new soldiers. If the troop transfer card is handed back and no one is training, then Hu Bing will Once we go south, there may be disaster."

"Haha..." The eunuch who delivered the order chuckled: "When the time comes, you can adjust His Majesty's temperance."

Obviously, Zhu Yunwen was determined to take back all the military power in Zhu Di's hands except for the three guards. This scene made everyone standing behind Zhu Di very nervous.

After all, ever since Zhu Di attacked Naierbuhua and forced him to land, Kaiping troops and horses were basically under his control, and the late emperor also acquiesced to this.

Nowadays, the imperial court not only wants to take back the military power of Sandusi, but also important places like Kaiping. It is hard not to think too much about this.

"Okay." Zhu Di did not refute, but decisively handed over the military power of Kaiping Guard.

His cheerfulness surprised even the eunuch who delivered the order.

After all, before he went north, the emperor specifically told him that if King Yan resisted handing over military power, he could do it slowly and there was no need to rush.

But from the current point of view, King Yan is not as difficult to deal with as Qitai and his group said.

"In this case, our family will retreat..."

The eunuch who conveyed the order bowed in return, and then left the command yamen of Quaning Guard.

After he left, Zhu Di also turned to look at the generals, forcing a smile on his face: "Just do it according to the order."

After that, he left on the pretext of feeling unwell, and Yao Guangxiao and others followed him.

Among the people who stayed behind, Guo Ying's expression was unpredictable, while the others left the yamen one after another to avoid it.

Clearly, the succession of dynastic powers made many of them nervous.

After all, once the emperor and his ministers were in the same dynasty, no one knew whether they would be able to be reused in the old dynasty in the new dynasty.

Among them, many people looked at Guo Ying. After all, Guo Ying was the father-in-law of the King of Liao and the grandfather-in-law of the King of Bohai. It would be difficult for such an identity to be reused in the new dynasty.

But unlike what they thought, Guo Ying is not worried about power now, but is recalling the decades he has followed Zhu Yuanzhang.

Such a hero is inevitably separated by life and death, and it seems that he is getting old and it is time to retire...

Guo Ying turned around and left in despair, already thinking about returning home and retiring to the capital.

But when he turned around lonely, Zhu Di took Yao Guangxiao and others to find a guest room in the Yamen to rest.

Sitting on the bed, Zhu Di was in a daze. He still couldn't believe that his father had died. This was far more uncomfortable than Zhu Yunwen taking away his military power.

"Your Highness, you should not hand over all your military power."

"Yes, Your Highness, if it is true as His Highness said, it will be much easier for the court to deal with us."

"Your Highness, should I write a letter to Your Highness?"

In the guest room, after arranging the peripheral security work, Zhu Neng and the other three frowned and talked about Zhu Di handing over military power.

At this moment, the three of them all understood Zhu Gaoxu's approach of confining Zhu Di, and began to suspect that Zhu Yunqi might really want to attack Yan Mansion.

Even if the three of them are politically dull, after understanding Zhu Gaoxu's approach, they can see that the situation in Yan Mansion is not optimistic.

The Yan Mansion, which only had three guards, was not qualified to negotiate terms with the court. It can be said that Zhu Di's surrender of military power was a bad move.

Compared with the three of them, Yao Guangxiao was sitting on a stool nearby, counting the beads in his hand. He seemed not worried at all, but in fact he was waiting for Zhu Di's reply.

"I am his uncle after all. He can't possibly harm me..."

Zhu Di's answer was very weak. Obviously he still had expectations for Zhu Yunwen.

But at the critical moment, Yao Guangxiao was the first to speak: "It is obviously not a good idea to entrust the lives of your children and grandchildren to others."

"If Your Majesty treats His Highness like this, what about the Second Highness?"

"Your Highness, please don't forget what the Second Highness said back then..."

Yao Guangxiao reminded Zhu Di that Zhu Gaoxu had clearly said that he would not sit still and wait to die.

If Zhu Yunwen uses today's methods to seize military power in the Bohai Sea, then Zhu Gaoxu may really launch an army to rebel.

At that time, even if Zhu Di wants to be an ostrich, Zhu Yunwen will use Zhu Gaoxu's army as an excuse to start dealing with him.

"Gao Xu thinks too badly of Yunwen. Yunwen is my eldest brother's child after all, so he won't treat his uncle..."

Zhu Di did not say the next words, so he could only change his tone to excuse Zhu Yunwen: "He only took back the military power of the Sandu Division. The palace guards are still in my hands. Besides, I have many old troops in the Sandu Division, so there will be no one to help."

"What if His Majesty takes action against the old ministry?" Yao Guangxiao was more foresight than in history. Because of Zhu Gaoxu's reminder, he had already thought the worst about the situation for Zhu Di.

Looking at history, he would definitely not believe that Zhu Yunwen would press forward step by step.

"Let's talk about it then. I'm very irritable right now. You guys should step back first."

Zhu Di waved his hand and drove Yao Guangxiao and the others away. After all, he had encountered too many things today and he needed time to calm down.

"Yes..." Looking at Zhu Di's appearance, everyone had no choice but to retreat.

After they left, Zhu Di began to recall his past 39 years.

He thought of his mother and father, of his brother who was kind to him, and of Zhu Xi and Zhu Fan who were targeting him...

In his thoughts, he thought of what Zhu Gaoxu said to him.

Thinking that he was detained by Gao Xu in Wuliangha Tucheng for a month, and that Lao Wu might become his scapegoat, Zhu Di rubbed the painful acupuncture points with his hands uncomfortably.

"It shouldn't be..."

He still had illusions about Zhu Yunwen, so after sorting out his thoughts, he summoned Zhang Yu and asked Zhang Yu to supply the army with supplies. At the same time, he handed the Sandusi troop deployment card to the eunuch who passed the order, and will return with the Yanfu guards tomorrow. Beiping.

Zhang Yu originally wanted to persuade Zhu Di again, but seeing his stubborn appearance, he did not continue to persuade him.

The next day, under Zhu Quan's farewell, Zhu Di took the Yanfu guards south to Peiping, while Guo Ying and others returned to Guangning in the east.

For seven consecutive days, Zhu Di returned to Beiping City on June 24th. But when he returned to Beiping, he learned about the changes in the Ming Dynasty in the past two months from the "Di Bao" one after another.

First, his father died, and Zhu Yunwen buried him on the seventh day, burying the 37 concubines who had nothing to show for in the inner court.

Then Zhu Yunwen ascended the throne at Fengtianmen on the day Zhu Yuanzhang was buried, and at the same time wrote the document for Jianyuan next year.

Apart from these, all the new policies also made Zhu Di look ugly.

When his father was still alive, although Zhu Yunwen was polite to Confucian scholars, he still favored his father in terms of policies. However, in less than two months, so many things had happened in the world.

Especially after the time entered June, Zhu Yunwen ordered the Ministry of Personnel to discuss the elimination of redundant personnel and merge provinces with prefectures and counties.

In just 24 days, he eliminated four people from the Metropolitan Procuratorate and the Inspection Department of Lantian, Nancheng County.

After completing these tasks, he also eliminated dozens of delivery offices in Fengyang, Kaifeng, Huaiqing, Pingyang and other prefectures, resulting in the removal of thousands of subordinate officials.

Even the left and right Chief Secretaries among the Thirteen Chief Secretaries were reduced to one by him.

The number of officials in the governor's office of the Five Prefectures was also reduced, many prefectures and counties were merged, and prefecture and county officials and military attachés were greatly reduced.Just looking at these policies of his, people who don't know better would think that the Hongwu period was already in the middle of the Wang Chao period.

You must know that even in the 30th year of Hongwu last year, there were only more than 3 civilian officials in the Ming Dynasty, and slightly more military attachés, but only [-] people.

The Ming Dynasty had more than [-] prefectures, counties, and military posts, and the average number of civil and military officials in each post was only about [-], which was not too many.

If we only count prefectures, counties and civil servants, then there are basically only six officials in each prefecture and county. In this case, even if we add in the more than 8000 subordinate staff across the country, each county can only get more than [-] officials. Just people.

For a county with an average population of more than [-], the yamen with only [-] officials can only maintain daily operations.

Therefore, during the Hongwu period, when the country's cultivated land was counted, military attachés and guardsmen often appeared.

Under such circumstances, Zhu Yunwen was still reducing the number of officials. Zhu Di didn't know what he was thinking.

"What is this kid doing? Is he acting recklessly?"

Looking at the "Di Bao" in his hand, Zhu Di, who was sitting in the Cunxin Hall of Prince Yan's Mansion, dropped the "Di Bao" in his hand and scattered it all over the ground.

Yao Guangxiao, who was sitting next to him, looked at the contents of the "Di Bao" and believed a little more in what Zhu Gaoxu said.

"You are just the vassal king. This world belongs to him, so you don't need to be so angry."

Mrs. Xu, who was sitting next to Zhu Di, comforted him. Although she also knew that her nephew's new policy was unrealistic, in the end, their family was just a vassal and should not interfere too much in political affairs.

"Look what he has done, my father will be so angry that he will die if he finds out!"

Zhu Di kicked the "Di Bao" on the ground, very angry.

He admitted that there were many shortcomings left over from the Hongwu rule, and he also admitted that Zhu Yunwen's New Deal had solved some of them, but Zhu Yunwen's New Deal was somewhat overcorrected.

During the Hongwu period, punishments were severe. He was not wrong in easing the criminal laws, but he should not have eliminated so many censors and officials who supervised the officials. This would only make the officials take chances and exploit the people unscrupulously.

In addition, regarding the issue of heavy taxes in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, haven't my father and his second son already figured out a way to "use cash to offset taxes"?

Why do we need to "use cash to offset taxes" and "exempt taxes" now?

Thinking of this, Zhu Di picked up Zhu Yunwen's tax policy for the Jiangnan area again.

He felt very unhappy when he saw Zhu Yunwen exempting Su Song from taxes in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces.

If Zhu Yunwen really follows this route, the money and food collected by the court will definitely decrease. If no new sources of revenue can be found by then, big problems will arise in the local area.

"Don't watch it! It's troublesome if you watch it!"

Abandoning the "Di Bao", Zhu Di angrily walked out of the Cunxin Hall. Seeing this, Mrs. Xu also followed, wanting to comfort her husband.

Only Yao Guangxiao picked up the pile of "Di Bao" on the ground and started reading quietly.

After reading everything, he finally knew that Zhu Gaoxu would say that Zhu Yunwen had been depressed for too long.

Zhu Yunwen's policy and Zhu Yuanzhang's policy were completely different.

Except for some parts of the content that are similar, the rest of the content is basically incompatible.

Among them, what is most easily criticized is Zhu Yunwen's tolerance for Jiangsu and Zhejiang. He not only implements "tax offset with cash", but also exempts from taxes.

From this point of view, it is completely transferring the burden of Jiangnan to Yunnan and Sichuan, which are currently mining gold, silver and copper mines.

"They finally got through it..."

Looking at the contents of Zhu Yunwen's new policy, Yao Guangxiao shook his head. At the same time, Zhu Gaoxu, who was far away in Jilin City, finally obtained the "Di Bao" in the south through Zhou Ding, the commander of the [-] Guards.

He was sitting in the Chengyun Hall of the Bohai Palace, reading the "Di Bao" alone, and getting an overview of Zhu Yunwen's Jianwen New Deal.

In fact, from a rough look, Zhu Yunwen's New Deal still has a lot of merits, but the policies are biased towards ideals.

Loosening the criminal law is definitely the way to go. After all, the laws during the Hongwu period were too strict.

As for Su Song's exemption from taxes in Jiangsu and Zhejiang and the reduction of local tax rates, this can be regarded as a benevolent policy in Zhu Gaoxu's view.

After all, the taxes in Jiangsu and Zhejiang are indeed heavy. This can be seen from the fact that the Su and Song Prefectures bear one-tenth of the Ming Dynasty's taxes.

The cultivated land of Susong's Second Prefecture is less than 15 hectares, accounting for less than 400% of the country's total. However, the tax and grain tax of the Second Prefecture has reached 200 million shi, accounting for more than 12.00% of the country's more than [-] million shi.

When Zhu Gaoxu conceived the "Money Law", he carefully calculated the taxes and average land tax of the Ming Dynasty.

Among them, the national average tax per mu is five kilograms and three taels per mu, but it is as high as 42 kilograms per mu in Suzhou and 35 kilograms in Songjiang. When combined in Suzhou and Songjiang, the average tax burden per mu is more than seven times that of the country.

This kind of tax gap is mainly due to the transfer payment method adopted by Zhu Yuanzhang himself during the Hongwu period when the north and southwest were in dire straits.

However, as the agricultural economies of the northern provinces, Sichuan, and Huguang began to improve, taxes in Jiangnan should be reduced.

Not only Jiangnan, but also those provinces with a good agricultural economy in the early years of Hongwu were basically heavily taxed. Shanxi, for example, is a typical example.

At the beginning of Hongwu's founding, only Shanxi and Shandong in the north could be regarded as provinces whose agriculture had not been destroyed. Therefore, when these two provinces took on the responsibility of relocating the population to enrich other northern provinces, they also shouldered correspondingly heavy taxes.

Shanxi, which has only more than 280 million acres of arable land, pays 700 million shi in taxes every year, which is a heavier burden than Zhejiang, which has 250 million acres of arable land but only pays [-] million shi.

Because of this, Lao Zhu especially protected the Shanxi scholars in the North and South List case.

So when he got the "Di Bao" and learned that Zhu Yunwen would reduce taxes in Jiangnan, Zhu Gaoxu thought that Zhu Yunwen would reduce taxes in Shanxi and Shandong. However, he looked through the "Di Bao" and couldn't see anything related to Shanxi and Shandong. Any policy.

If before that, Zhu Yunwen's New Deal could be said to be considerate of the people, then after Zhu Gaoxu read "Di Bao", he could be sure that Zhu Yunwen was just trying to win over the literati in the Jiangnan area.

"Okay, if you do this, it will be easier for me to liquidate the Jiangnan scholars in the future."

Putting down "Di Bao", Zhu Gaoxu thought about his own assets for a while.

At present, there are about 15 people receiving elementary education in the four cities of Bohai, ranging in age from nine to [-] years old.

In addition, including the reservists from Heishui City and the three thousand households that Zhu Yunwen installed, the total number of people is 5000.

Among them, 4000 are unusable and must be trained well to win over their military morale.

"4 million people..."

Zhu Gaoxu thought about the 4 Jurchens and Han Chinese who were being educated in his hands. If these [-] people were decentralized, they could act as subordinate officials to collect taxes locally.

If they were thrown into a province, they could completely govern the province.

Even if they are placed in the three most populous provinces of Nanzhili, Zhejiang and Jiangxi, they can maintain the basic operations of the three provinces.

And unlike Lao Zhu's Imperial College, the 4 people in his hands can be said to be much cleaner.

Most of the students in Lao Zhu's Imperial College came from Jiangnan and were basically related to each other. However, most of the 4 people in his hands were Chinese Jurchens, and only one-third were Han Chinese.

Their interests are all outside the customs and have no relevant interests inside the customs.

Putting them into the customs can at least maintain local political clarity for six or seven years.

As long as the grassroots level is controlled, the small number of official officials will not need to be taken care of at all.

When he thought of this, Zhu Gaoxu looked forward to winning Liaodong by himself.

If there were a large number of Liaodong people in the temple, Zhu Gaoxu did not believe that they would not make profits for their hometown.

Liaodong is just the beginning. Support the northerners to attack the southerners, and then reach a balance. This is what Zhu Gaoxu wants.

As long as the balance is achieved, then you can invest in the north, especially the northeastern area.

The reason that so many people were able to stay after the Republic of China invaded Guandong was because many handicraft industries emerged in the Northeast. These handicraft industries ensured the foothold of the people migrating to the Northeast in the early stage.

After establishing a foothold, a large number of people who entered Guandong began to reclaim wasteland and took root in the Northeast.

What I have to do is to continue to develop the handicraft industry in Northeast China.

Cement, steel, farmland...

As long as we continue to invest for decades, the development of Northeast China will be completed by our own hands. By then, with Northeast China as a granary, we will no longer need to be controlled by Jiangnan water transportation after moving the capital to Beijing.

Zhu Gaoxu was thinking this, and footsteps sounded outside Chengyun Hall.

Yishiha walked in with an unhappy expression, a bit guilty.

"Your Highness, Yang Bin declined your invitation, but he promised to process the furs and spend some money and food himself to collect [-] guan of money and [-] shi of food for the palace before winter..."

"I know." After hearing Yi Shiha's words, Zhu Gaoxu, who was sitting in the hall, was slightly disappointed, but it was normal after thinking about it carefully.

It was already the end of June, so Yang Bin should have received some news after returning to the south, otherwise he would not have rejected him so quickly.

It seems that Zhu Yunwen is ready to start cutting down the feudal clan, but he doesn't know whether he should start with his fifth uncle first this time.

No matter what, you have to prepare yourself well.

Thinking like this, Zhu Gaoxu also looked at Yishiha: "What happened to the four thousand households who moved outside the city?"

"As your Highness expected, they have been inquiring about the palace's fields and population." Yi Shiha responded: "In addition, they are also trying to win over the people in the city."

"My slave has already told the people in the city before they came to Jilin City, asking them to pretend to agree, and then secretly tell the news to my slave."

"Now it seems that they may think they have won over a lot of people."

There was a bit of sneer on Yishiha's face. He obviously looked down upon the people sent by Zhu Yunwen, but Zhu Gaoxu was very interested.

"Let them continue with the show. As long as it doesn't involve Blackwater City, other things can be revealed to them a little bit."

"I want to see what big show my eldest brother can sing in the end..."

 If I have something to do, I will ask for leave one day in advance. If I have nothing to do, I will usually update twice.
  
 
(End of this chapter)

Tap the screen to use advanced tools Tip: You can use left and right keyboard keys to browse between chapters.

You'll Also Like