Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 513: Boosting People’s Heart
"Okay, my wings are stiff and I want to rebel!"

Not long after Yang Shiqi returned to Beijing, in a vast mansion on East Chang'an Street in Beijing, an official in his fifties walked back and forth, and the other seven or eight officials about his age also looked solemn.

The person who shouted "hard wings" was Li Mian, the left minister of the Ministry of Justice, and the other person sitting in the main seat was Yan Yan, the prime minister of Dali Temple.

The two of them were born in Bohai. They were once just a few officials under Sun Cheng. They helped Sun Cheng govern Liaodong on the way south, and were later recommended as officials by Zhu Gaoxu by taking advantage of the loopholes in the inspection system.

It can be said that they did not receive any complete primary or secondary education, nor did they participate in the imperial examination.

They were able to sit in this position entirely because of the strong wind blowing from the south of the Bohai Sea.

When Zhu Gaoxu had a major case against Jianwen's old ministers, it was handled by them, so they had a bad relationship with Yang Shiqi and others.

Now twenty-five years have passed, and the New Deal faction is in a prosperous situation. Even if scandals like the Guimao case broke out, they still occupy 60% of the temple.

It’s just that people are not satisfied casually, and neither are they.

Sun Cheng had too much control over them, so they incited young officials like Wang Hui to argue with Sun Cheng, and they also violated some of the policies implemented by Sun Cheng.

"Your Majesty, Yang Shiqi, Minister of Rites, would like to see you."

"I will give you a seat if I am flat."

He did not dare to sit down all the time, but quietly waited for Zhu Gaoxu's instructions.

One hundred thousand dollars, this is the amount that he could save for more than a hundred years without eating or drinking, relying solely on his salary, and all this was actually done by the honest boy in his family.

"Then what should we do now? No one is on our side. It is very easy for His Majesty to depose us, not to mention Yang Shiqi's help."

Faced with his nervousness, Zhu Gaoxu could understand. He handed a memorial in his hand to Yishiha. Upon seeing this, Yishiha stepped forward with the memorial and handed it to Yang Shiqi.

Originally, they thought that letting Wang Hui go to Jiangnan to inspect the capital would not only severely damage Qingliu, but also make profits from it and honor them.

Yang Shiqi didn't expect that he would be walking on thin ice all his life, but in the end he would end up falling on his most beloved son.

"Your Majesty, I ask your Majesty to enforce the law impartially..."

Standing under His Majesty Wuying, Yang Shiqi looked up at the power center of the Ming Dynasty, not knowing what to think.

It now seemed that Wang Hui had been planning to break away from them from the beginning, but they just didn't notice it at first.

"Thank you for your grace..."

"My lord, Yang Shiqi, Minister of Rites, is here to see your Majesty. Long live your Majesty..."

After Zhu Gaoxu spoke, Yang Shiqi quickly thanked him and then sat on the chair brought by the eunuch.

Without them, if the New Deal officials below make a fuss, the noise will be much bigger than the Guimao case.

Fifteen years ago, Zhu Gaoxu was only thirty-one years old, but now he is already forty-six years old.

The reason why Li Mian and others couldn't believe that Zhu Gaoxu would attack them was that the officials below were all collecting taxes. If they made any statement, if they were stuck in tax collection for a while, problems would arise in the Ming Dynasty.

My eldest son Yang Ji, who was honest and honest in the letter, actually killed three people and robbed sixteen good girls. In addition to the two oil-making mills that he bought for him with his salary, he actually had thousands of properties in his name. acres of farmland and more than a dozen villas and houses.

In the hall, Xu Shuo, Xue Xuan, Yang Rong, Yang Pu and others saw him arriving, and stood up and bowed to him one after another.

It's only been more than three years since he was half a hundred years old.

They naturally thought that one day the people below would be dissatisfied, but they did not expect that this day would come so quickly, and that this person would actually be the Wang Hui among their men who yelled at Qingliu the most.

"Xuan..."

Power is not just top-down, but also bottom-up.

After pondering for a moment, he stepped on the steps and walked slowly into Wuying Hall.

But judging from his physical condition, he probably won't collapse at the age of fifty.

He quickly lowered his head, but the image of Zhu Gaoxu was already deep in his mind.

Yang Shiqi already understood what was in this memorial. After taking a deep breath, he opened it. The content inside made him pale.

"Depose us?" Li Mian glanced at everyone with an ugly expression, and finally said slowly: "Now is the critical time for tax collection. Your Majesty still relies on us to collect taxes. I don't believe that Your Majesty will attack us at this juncture!"

Three steps away in front of him, Zhu Gaoxu was sitting on a chair, looking at him calmly.

With this reason, he was destined to be controlled by Zhu Gaoxu, and he didn't want to do this, so he wanted Zhu Gaoxu to kill his son directly so that he would not be hijacked.

"Not only Wang Hui, but also His Majesty wants to attack us, otherwise Yang Shiqi would not be promoted suddenly."

The gold, silver, money and food confiscated in his villas and houses alone amounted to more than 30,000 guan. Counting antique calligraphy and paintings and farmland and houses, there were at least 100,000 guan.

Yang Shiqi walked into the hall, kowtowed nervously, and then raised his head cautiously.

Over time, Sun Cheng was gradually ignored by them, and he could only retire from office.

"Recently, many officials have been involved in the impeachment of the king back to the capital for investigation, and the officials involved in Jiangnan have also implicated many officials in the capital."

Thinking of this, everyone felt relieved, and Yang Shiqi also changed into official official uniforms amidst the welcome of the ministers, and went to Wuying Hall in anxiety.

It's just that he had a good idea, but how could Zhu Gaoxu let go of such a good deal.

If someone else was investigating this case, Yang Shiqi would still raise questions, but this memorial contained the seals of the Sixth Section, the Ministry of Punishment, the Metropolitan Procuratorate, Xichang, Jinyiwei and other yamen, so he couldn't help but not believe it.

Three murder cases, sixteen cases of raping a good girl, and dozens of cases of bribery, large and small.

They didn't say much, Yang Shiqi returned the greeting respectfully, and then walked to the front door of the side hall.

A voice came from the hall, Yang Shiqi also straightened his clothes, robes and hair, and carefully walked into the side hall.

"I'm going to let you inspect local officials in places other than Jiangnan. You don't need to leave Beijing. It's enough to send people down to investigate."

Zhu Gaoxu opened his mouth to express his intention. Yang Shiqi also tightened the memorial in his hand after hearing this. In the end, he couldn't bear to refuse and killed his son. He could only nod and said: "I accept the decree..."

Killing the New Dealers may lead to death in the future.

But if he didn't take action, his eldest son would definitely die in prison.

Although he deserved it, it was his child after all.

"Go ahead..."

Zhu Gaoxu signaled him to leave, and upon seeing this, Yang Shiqi also took the memorial and left Wuying Hall.

Zhu Gaoxu allowed him to take Zuoshu away, which meant that Yang Ji could leave the matter unaddressed, but he had to help him solve the problems of Li Mian and the others.

With Yang Shiqi's methods and Wang Hui's cooperation in Jiangnan, Li Mian and the group of people he had promoted in the past would not be able to last long.

The Jiangnan Jingchao is just the appetizer, and the Tianxia Jingchao organized by Yang Shiqi is the main course.

Thinking of this, a smile appeared on Zhu Gaoxu's face, and Yi Shiha also took the opportunity to bow and said:

"Your Majesty, the Emperor and the others will return to the Daming Palace early next month. The doctors say that the Emperor is fine."

"Well, remember to help me entertain my father. I can't be distracted from what's coming next."

Zhu Gaoxu agreed and gave the order, then stretched out his hand and touched his mustache, looking at the piles of memorials on the table with meaningful eyes.

Compared to him, the person at the top of the power pyramid, the other people on the pyramid are extremely busy.

Wang Hui continued to cause major cases in Jiangnan, investigating all Jiangnan officials, and even refused to let go of their relatives and friends within the third server.

This kind of investigation made the Qingliu people particularly angry. Therefore, when Yang Shiqi obtained the qualifications outside the capital to inspect Jiangnan, they also began to expose the corruption of many New Deal officials in Jiangnan, and then followed the lead to trace the New Deal officials in other places.

The turmoil over the case is getting bigger and bigger and more lively.

Under such lively conditions, the Northern Expedition army returned in triumph at the end of September.

Beijing East Railway Station is bustling with activity. A train carrying hundreds of officers and soldiers arrives in Beijing almost every quarter of an hour.

Of course, officers and soldiers from Shanxi, Gansu and Shaanxi also took trains directly back to their bases.

They returned in triumph, but the Ministry of Revenue was checking accounts with the Sixth Army Governor's Mansion and finalizing their abacus.

On the first day of October, as the annual fourth issue of "Da Ming Bao" was published across the country, the whole society instantly became lively.

"Sell newspapers and sell newspapers! The battle between the Supreme Emperor and the Hu people of the Northern Yuan Dynasty suddenly turned cold. The Hu people of the Northern Yuan Dynasty were defeated miserably. Hundreds of thousands of people were captured and moved south. Monan and Mobei were brought under the jurisdiction of Yanran City. The remaining forces of the former Yuan Dynasty were completely destroyed! "

"Selling and selling newspapers! The Jiangnan police investigation is still going on, and more than 40,000 officials have been arrested!"

"Selling newspapers, the Zhangzhou-Fenghuang Railway is open to traffic, the Central Plains Railway is open to traffic, and the Northwest Railway has been built to Wuwei County, Liangzhou Prefecture!"

"Selling newspapers and selling newspapers..."

On the first day of October in the eighth year of Hongxi's reign, this issue of "Da Ming Pao" will undoubtedly become the most collectible issue of the newspaper since its publication.

In this issue of "Da Ming Bao", the nearly four hundred years of war between the Han and the Mongols came to a successful end. The fifty-seven years of the Ming-Mongolian War also ended completely. The people in the north no longer have to worry about the barbarians going south. , the two desert areas were under the deep and actual control of the Han regime for the first time.

Under such sensational news, many subsequent news seem to be overshadowed.

When the contents of the newspaper were shouted out by newsboys from all over the Ming Dynasty, the good news of the fall of the Northern Yuan Dynasty spread all over the country, and the whole country was filled with joy.

Today's people in the Ming Dynasty have experienced the rule of Yongle and Hongxi. It can be said that every household has a surplus of wealth. Therefore, in the face of such good news, red firecrackers can be heard almost all over the country.

Some happy people put their hands on the shoulders or belts of the people in front, and everyone sang and danced happily and walked along.

From the northeast to the southwest, from the coast to the ravines, the sound of celebration stirred up the whole world.

On this glorious night of victory, the whole world seemed to turn into a sea of ​​joy.

Regardless of whether they are in cities or villages, as long as they are the people of the Ming Dynasty, they are almost immersed in joy, decorated with lights and colorful lights, and lively. Important cities such as Beijing, Xi'an, Shenyang, Yidu, Chengdu, Nanjing, Suzhou, and Hangzhou all held very lively celebrations under the coordination of the government.

At this time, less than sixty years had passed since the Ming Dynasty expelled Hu Yuan. Many people in the north had even experienced Hu Yuan's extensive rule since they were young, and were bullied by the powerful officials of various ethnic groups during the Hu Yuan period.

If the Hongwu period was to expel the Tartars from the Central Plains, then the Hongxi period was to completely eliminate the term Tartars.

From then on, there was no longer a Mobei for the Tartars, but a Mobei for the Han people.

Officials from the Ministry of Industry discovered many mineral deposits in Mobei, and Zhu Gaoxu directed them to find some of the large deposits.

Many officials in the Ministry of Industry have long been accustomed to His Majesty's methods of inspecting Shandian Mine.

Monan and Mobei are vast and rich in mineral resources. Only the mineral deposits discovered by Zhu Gaoxu under the guidance of the Ministry of Industry include more than ten veins of coal, gold, copper and iron.

These deposits were surveyed by officials from the Ministry of Industry, and a report was finally handed over to the satisfaction of the Ministry of Household Affairs.

With sufficient human resources, these veins can stably produce copper ingots and gold worth 600,000 pounds, as well as thousands of tons of coal every year.

These coals, combined with the "briquettes" prepared by Taixue, can not only solve the fuel problem of the people in Mobei, but also provide enough coal for the Northeast and Guanhai.

Compared with the resources produced by Mobei, the Ming Dynasty only needed to maintain three guards of Yanran Dusi, with an annual expenditure of more than 400,000 yuan.

Of course, if you want to transport these rich resources out of Mobei, you must build a railway that runs 2,800 miles from east to west. At the same time, you also need to build the original railway from Songyuan to Hecheng on the Northeast Railway.

Since there is a huge siltation zone between Songyuan and Hecheng, we can only go to Songyuan by detouring from Baicheng, and this distance is 800 miles.

In other words, if you want to transport the resources of Mobei to the pass, you need to build at least 3,600 miles of railway.

Although the Ming Dynasty's metallurgical industry had already expanded production and upgraded technology, building a railway over such a distance still required a project fund of 19 million guan, equivalent to four and a half months of the Ming Dynasty's tax revenue.

Although Mobei is rich in resources, such a huge sum of money still caused Liubu and Diange to get into a dispute.

The Beijing-Cha affair has not ended yet, and the north will continue to build railways. How can this convince the southern forces represented by Yang Rong?

"Most of the current imperial court's projects are in the north, and this time the Mobei Railway will be built."

"Although the Ministry of Industry has said that Mobei is very rich in minerals, and after more than ten years of careful management, it can steadily contribute nearly one million guan to the national treasury every year. However, the premise of this million guan can only be achieved on the basis of the opening of the Mobei Railway. achieved.”

"Although the Ministry of Household Affairs still has more than 32 million guan, it still has two months to pay the more than 6 million guan in national debt and interest owed to the people, which means that it can only use more than 26 million guan."

"The construction of Mobei Railway and Songhe Railway will cost at least 2 million yuan every year and will last ten years before completion."

"Now that the Zhangfeng-Fenghuang Railway and the Zhongyuan Railway have just been completed, the pressure on the Ministry of Household Affairs has finally dropped from 7 million guan to 4.57 million guan. At this time, another 2 million guan will be added to the fixed project funds."

"It would be easy to say if there is no war, but the troops in the southwest are being intensively deployed, and there is no telling when a war will break out."

"In the event of a stalemate in the war, the pressure on the imperial court will exceed 7 million."

"Based on the state of the national treasury, even if annual fiscal growth is included, it will take eight years to level it up, and no new projects can be added during this period."

"Things are really difficult here at Hubu..."

In the Wuying Hall, the Grand Master and the Six Ministers were sitting on both sides of the long table. Zhu Gaoxu was sitting on the golden platform with his eyes closed and meditating.

As the Minister of Hubu, Guo Zi explained the situation of Hubu to everyone, and everyone had their own thoughts after hearing the words.

Yang Rong looked at the emperor who was resting with his eyes closed, and then said: "The Mobei Railway and the Songhe Railway are naturally beneficial to the court. If Mobei can be effectively controlled, the people of the five chief secretaries of the Ming Dynasty will not have to use it in the future. I am worried about being attacked by the barbarians who moved east to Mobei, but..."

Yang Rong paused for a moment, and after observing the emperor's lack of movement, he continued:
"Since the 16th year of Yongle in our Ming Dynasty, railways have been built and operated exclusively in the north. Except for the Yunnan-Vietnam Railway and the Long-Sichuan Railway, there are no railways south of the Yangtze River."

"Right now, the Kaihan Railway will be completed in less than half a year. According to the original plan, after the construction of this railway is completed, the construction of the Huguang Railway south of the Yangtze River should begin."

"But now if we build the Mobei Railway and then the Huguang Railway, the burden on the Ministry of Household Affairs will exceed 9 million. If we encounter war again, it will exceed 10 million."

"Based on the state of the national treasury, it can only last for two years at most, and the current Northwest Railway will take at least five years to complete."

"In my opinion, since His Majesty has agreed to the construction of the Hu-Guang Railway, then build the Hu-Guang Railway first. When the Northwest Railway is completed, it will not be too late to build the Songhe Railway and the Mobei Railway."

Yang Rong's words represent the thoughts of most officials and gentry in the Jiangnan region.

From the Yongle period to the present, Jiangnan has paid more than 18 million yuan in taxes every year. However, after 25 years, the Jiangnan region south of the Yangtze River, including Nanzhili, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Fujian, and Huguang, has There is actually no railway running south of the Yangtze River.

These 18 million yuan in taxes have basically subsidized the vast construction in the north. How do they balance this?

From the previous Yangtze River Railway to the current Hu-Guang Railway, Yang Rong and the others have made a lot of concessions. If they continue to refuse to build a railway for the Pan-Jiangnan region, it will not only be a group of people who will not agree, but even the people at the bottom will not agree.

They are all citizens of the Ming Dynasty. Why did the north build more than 8,000 miles of railways in ten years, while the south only had three railways that added up to less than 2,000 miles, and they were in the southwest, and the southeast did not receive any benefits.

For the people of Jiangnan, in the past 25 years, in addition to assistance for water conservancy, don’t other transportation projects deserve assistance?

The people in the south of the Yangtze River have complaints. Everyone knows this clearly, but one project can benefit millions of people along the border. The resource extraction in the north is already saturated in terms of current productivity. In order to allow the resource extraction to be transported out, they Railways must be built.

Jiangnan's freight trade only relies on the Yangtze River, which is too simple, so a railway is also what they urgently need.

Of course, from the perspective of the imperial court, in order to prevent Mobei from being occupied by the Mongols who moved east again in the future, and besides Zhu Gaoxu, no other emperor had the courage to build a Mobei railway, so for the long-term peace and stability of the Ming Dynasty in the future, Mobei Railways must be built.

From this point of view, the Ming Dynasty must build two railways, one south and one north, at the same time, otherwise the conflict between the north and the south will intensify.

Perhaps because Wang Hui was away and Xu Shuo had the emperor's attitude, no one in the north took the initiative to fight for interests, and it was rare for both parties to have a calm discussion.

"How about extending the construction period and building the Mobei and Huguang railways at the same time?"

Xia Yuanji, the Minister of Personnel, took the initiative to speak. In terms of his prestige, he was qualified to act as a peacemaker.

"How about three million guans per year, and the north and south each build 1.5 million guans?"

Xia Yuanji looked back and forth between Yang Rong and Xu Shuo, while Yang Rong looked at Xu Shuo.

Xu Shuo glanced at the emperor vaguely, and found that the emperor opened his eyes and looked at him at some point, and nodded:

"This is a good plan, it can be done like this."

"It's doable!" Yang Rong said concisely and to the point. Xia Yuanji also nodded and said:

"In this case, next year the Ministry of Household Affairs will increase its expenditure by another three million guan. If the total expenditure does not exceed 8 million guan, plus the imperial court's tax increase of more than 2 million guan in three years, it can almost last for three years."

"Three years later, the court only needs to issue another batch of national bonds and hold on until the Northwest Railway is completed, and the financial pressure will be enough to be relieved."

Xia Yuanji probably said that, but he didn't say the most important thing in his heart, and everyone knew it.

Wang Hui and Yang Shiqi are fighting with the world as a chessboard. Every year, the number of officials imprisoned ranges from hundreds to dozens. Their family property ranges from tens to thousands.

The longer Yang Shiqi and Wang Hui fought, the more the court gained.

The Ministry of Revenue has a reserve of 32 million guan, of which more than 8 million guan has been contributed by Wang Hui in the past few months, and there are still more than 4 million guan on the way.

Although everyone knew that this was the emperor's plan, no one dared to say it outright.

Although power comes from the bottom up, Zhu Gaoxu, who controls the army, does not care about this.

After years of promotion in primary and secondary schools, men under the age of 25 in the army have at least graduated from primary school.

If the people below want to be in chaos, Zhu Gaoxu doesn't mind military control for a period of time.

Then we will see whether the necks of the people below are tough or the bayonets of the army are tough.

For officials who cherish their lives, taking a step back will lead to a brighter future, while taking a step back will lead to peace and tranquility.

If they obey the law honestly, they can still sit on their buttocks for decades.

Judging from the salary Zhu Gaoxu gave to the officials, it was enough for them to support their families and hire servants to serve them.

In an environment where the average income of the Ming Dynasty people was only a dozen guan per household per year, Zhu Gaoxu had given enough preferential treatment to officials with a minimum income of 20 guan and officials with salaries ranging from dozens to hundreds of guan.

The presidential salary of some later countries was only over 400,000 U.S. dollars, while the Yongle Tongbao of the Ming Dynasty was equivalent to the U.S. dollar of this era.

Take the six ministers, Zhu Gaoxu promoted them to the second rank, earning more than 700 yuan per year, which is equivalent to the income of an ordinary family for more than fifty years.

You must know that prices in the Ming Dynasty were much cheaper than those in the Song Dynasty. In the Song Dynasty, a pound of salt cost a hundred cash, while in the Ming Dynasty it was only more than ten cash, let alone food.

In the Song Dynasty, a mansion in Bianliang cost tens of thousands of dollars, and the prime minister had to go without food and drink for several years to afford one.

At present, a mansion covering an area of ​​several acres in Beijing and Nanjing during the Ming Dynasty costs only five or six hundred guan. With the salary of a second-rank minister, he can hire several servants to take care of it after buying it, not to mention that Zhu Gaoxu often gives money. to officials.

Low prices and high salaries are a true portrayal of officials during the Hongxi period, so Zhu Gaoxu didn't care at all about the abuses he received from corrupt officials, and he would not pity them.

The annual expenses of his Wuying Hall and Huagai Hall are only a few thousand guan, which also includes three meals a day and midnight snacks for ministers and officials, as well as their respective supplements.

The cost of food and clothing for the thousands of eunuchs and maids, dozens of concubines and more than a dozen children in the entire inner court is only more than 300,000 guan a year, which is definitely the lowest in all dynasties.

Except for the expenses of Daming Palace, which Zhu Gaoxu never deducted, he was frugal on other expenses as much as possible.

He saved hundreds of thousands of dollars, and when necessary, he could build hundreds of miles more railways for the Ming Dynasty and provide relief to hundreds of thousands of victims.

Although he won't be able to use it, future generations will naturally use it.

Thinking of this, Zhu Gaoxu also glanced at the ministers, and finally stood up and walked to the side hall in silence.

The ministers stood up and saluted one after another, feeling very uneasy in the face of Zhu Gaoxu's silent attitude.

It wasn't until Zhu Gaoxu walked into the side hall that they breathed a sigh of relief and continued to discuss other matters in the court.

Xu Shuo took a vague look at the side hall and felt that the Majesty whom he once admired seemed to have many things hidden in his heart.

What I can do for him is actually very limited...

(End of this chapter)