Daming: My boss Zhu Yuanzhang

Zhao Shun thought for a while and felt that there was nothing he could not say, so he slowly recounted his early experiences: "One year, there was a disaster at home, and the harvest was not enough for me, so I borrowed some grain from Liu Yuanwai in the village to pay taxes. …”

As soon as Zhao Shun opened his mouth, Li Wei roughly guessed what happened next.

To put it bluntly, he borrowed a loan at a high interest rate and couldn't pay it back. In the end, he had no choice but to serve in the army to pay off the debt.

The Ming Dynasty had a military household system, and conscription according to law would only draw soldiers from military households.

However, the law is dead, but people are alive. Some wealthy families have money and do not want to go to war and fight for their lives, so they bribe low-level officials in charge of military recruitment to avoid military service.

However, conscription is limited, and even one official without one cannot explain to the court, so some households suffer. Rich households will use all possible means to force them to take the initiative to pretend to be themselves, and loan sharking is one of the methods.

The military household system is strict. If these civilian households are unwilling, they will definitely be severely punished if found out. However, as long as you are willing and the low-level officials conceal it, this can be done.

This is the case with Zhao Shun.

The two men next to him couldn't help showing empathetic expressions when they heard what he was going through. Most of them who served as soldiers came from poor families. The wealthy gentry trained their children to study and become officials, and no one wanted to be a soldier.

It’s no joke that all are inferior but those who study are high-ranking. In the early days of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the status of generals was relatively high. Once the world is settled, studying and becoming an official will have a higher status.

"That's it." Li Wei chuckled, "Actually, you were tricked!"

Zhao Shun's expression changed and he asked in confusion: "What do you mean by these words?"

Li Wei smiled and briefly explained to him the principles of loan sharking. Once borrowed, most people would lose their entire fortune and still not be able to pay it back.

Zhao Shun frowned and said: "It is natural to pay back debts. Even if the interest he charges is high, we cannot default on the debt."

In this era, there is no concept of usury at all. Anyway, you are willing to do it, and the government will not interfere.

Li Wei shook it and reminded: "Have you ever thought about it, maybe your family doesn't have to pay so much tax at all?"

Zhao Shun opened his eyes and asked hurriedly: "What should I say?"

"Every time there is a disaster, the court will often reduce or reduce taxes. In addition, in fact, the taxes of ordinary households are not that high..."

Li Wei briefed him on the current tax system of the Ming Dynasty. Most of these big soldiers could not even read, let alone understand the court system. Even though he was Guo Ying's confidant, he only knew how to get rewards for fighting. As for the officials and gentry, It's all these twists and turns, but it's not clear.

After listening to Li Wei's words, Zhao Shun said angrily: "I see, these bastards dare to trick me like this, let's see how I deal with them when I get back!"

Li Wei couldn't help but be surprised when he saw his reaction. After being bullied like this, Zhao Shun didn't show any hatred towards Liu Yuanwai, he was just a little annoyed at being fooled.

In fact, after Zhao Shun was valued by Guo Ying and became his confidant, his status was not what it used to be, and he could not receive more rewards. Moreover, the rich gentry in his hometown also fawned over him, and the little grain he owed him in the past was nothing to him. .

In comparison, the two men next to him were angrier than his client.

Li Wei thought for a moment and understood the connection. He chuckled and said, "You have won the trust of Marquis Wu Ding. Your family should be doing well now, right?"

"Of course. All the rewards I got from following the Marquis's expeditions over the years have been sent back home. Now my family has hundreds of acres of fertile land!"

Zhao Shun said with some pride.

Li Wei secretly thought that as expected, his identity has changed, and his thoughts have naturally changed.

However, Zhao Shun had become rich, but the men next to him did not receive such good treatment. Hearing his words, he lowered his head in frustration.

Li Wei's heart moved, and he immediately asked: "Then you won't imitate Liu Yuan, a loan shark, to force others to pay for their children, right?"

Zhao Shun was stunned when he heard this. To be honest, he really wanted to let his relatives avoid military service through his connections. After all, who would be willing to go to the battlefield with their head in hand if they were rich.

Just when Li Wei asked, the two subordinates next to him quietly cast their eyes on him. They had all suffered similar hardships, so they naturally hoped that they, as officers, would have some conscience and not bully them like corrupt officials and evil gentry.

Zhao Shun felt their gazes and quickly replied: "Of course I won't be like those bastards!"

"Oh, that's good." Li Wei smiled meaningfully and then stopped talking.

However, when the two men next to him heard Zhao Shun's words, their eyes were filled with suspicion.

The room became quiet, and Li Wei continued to pour himself a drink. Zhao Shun and his men still stood silently, but now his two men always peeked at him from time to time, making him feel uncomfortable.

"I...I'm going to go for a while, you guys stay here and watch."

Zhao Shun made an excuse, gave instructions to his men, then turned and left.

"Yes!" The two men said yes, and then continued to guard Li Wei.

After Zhao Shun left, his two men looked at Li Wei again and again, as if they were hesitant to speak.

Li Wei also noticed their changes, but he was not in a hurry. After a while, he put down his chopsticks and said kindly: "If you have something to say, just say it, don't be formal."

The two looked at each other secretly after hearing this, and one of them tried to ask: "Prince-in-law, are what you just said true?"

Li Wei did not answer directly, but asked: "What is your name?"

"My name is Li Zhuang." The man replied.

Li Wei chuckled and said: "Then we are still the same family. My surname is also Li."

"Uh-huh." Li Zhuang smiled honestly and scratched his head in embarrassment.

Although Li Wei is now defeated, there is still a huge difference between him as a big-headed soldier and others.

However, after Li Wei said this, he still relaxed a lot.

Li Wei paused and then explained to him: "Actually, whether these things are true or not, I don't need to say more. You should all have personal experience, right? Your family works hard to farm, but you have to hand over all the harvested food. If you give it to others, those who farm will go hungry, and those who don’t farm will be short of food. The same is not true in the army. When a soldier in charge dies, he will at most be given some pension, and if he wins a battle, the general who leads the army will receive the reward. "

"Hey, there's nothing we can do about it. It's only our fault that our lives are miserable." Another one sighed.

Li Wei glanced at him and asked, "What is your name?"

"My name is Zhang Chao."

With Li Zhuang speaking in front of him, he was no longer restrained.

Li Wei nodded, then shook his head: "This is not fate, this is feudal exploitation and oppression!" Zhang Chao was slightly stunned: "Feudal?"

"Not bad!" Li Wei took a deep breath and explained: "The so-called feudalism means that those at the top have absolute power and will only reward those close to them, thus forming an interest group. Then the upper class exploits the lower class, and the lower class exploits the bottom, and layer upon layer of exploitation , layers of oppression..."

The title of nobility is called enfeoffment, and the division of land is called construction. The so-called feudalism is actually that the supreme ruler gains support by sharing power with those close to him, thereby forming an interest group to rule more people, expand power, and form a layer of layered pyramid structure.

No matter how powerful an emperor is, he cannot rule thousands of people by himself. Just like Zhu Yuanzhang, he relied on close relatives from his hometown at the beginning of the uprising. After he ascended the throne, he vigorously sealed the vassal and replaced these with more trustworthy blood relatives. At the beginning of the uprising, these Huaixi fellows were essentially interest groups composed of his cronies.

In addition to these, there are also bureaucrats and gentry. The common characteristic of these people is that they support the ritual system of monarch, minister, father and son, which is the institutional basis for safeguarding their common interests with the emperor.

Even if there is no corruption, these exploitation and oppression will still exist, but the severity will be different.

Li Wei simply said these things, and Zhang Chao and Li Zhuang were shocked. Although they could not fully understand, they vaguely found the reason for their misery.

"Then what should we do?"

The two looked at Li Wei expectantly and asked.

No one wants to be exploited and oppressed all the time. If possible, they would of course want to get rid of this "misery".

Li Wei was about to speak, but when he saw Zhao Shun leaving and returning, he immediately put away his smile and stopped talking.

Zhang Chao and Li Zhuang also heard the noise and had to suppress their confusion and get into shape.

Zhao Shun brought two more men with him, walked into the room and said to Li Zhuang: "You are no longer needed here, go back!"

The two looked at him, feeling very reluctant.

Zhao Shun immediately frowned and said coldly: "Didn't you hear what I said? Why don't you back down!"

"Yes!"

The two of them didn't have the courage to disobey orders now, so they could only surrender and retreat.

Zhao then took two new men with him, pretending not to approach strangers, and continued to guard Li Wei.

Li Wei didn't care when he saw this and continued to eat and drink.

A single spark can start a prairie fire. Some ideas are magical. As long as one person knows it, more and more people will know it. This is unstoppable.

Originally, he didn't want to take out these things. After all, he didn't know whether these things were suitable for the current era. But in the current situation, whether these things brought floods or prosperity, he had to take them out and try them. Give it a try!
Now that the seed has been planted, just wait for it to take root and sprout...

Xu Da died of illness, Li Wei was placed under house arrest, the main members of Li's party were either beheaded or exiled, and even Han Yike was demoted to the post of censor.

After a series of actions by Zhu Yuanzhang, Li Dang quickly disappeared into smoke and became the smoke of the past, and there was no more Li Wei's voice in the court.

Among the current civil servants, the princelings from Zhan Shifu are the most powerful, while the military commanders are headed by Lan Yu.

Lan Yu was the duke who was granted the title of Duke only after Zhu Biao begged for mercy, and he was also very close to Zhu Biao. In this way, the court was basically ruled by the princelings.

However, there is an essential difference between the princeling party and the Li party. Zhu Yuanzhang will naturally not deal with Zhu Biao like he dealt with Li Wei, but will give his full support.

After the situation in the court was stabilized, Zhu Yuanzhang began his next plan and ordered Lan Yu to lead troops to the Shi Nan and Zhongjian Erxuanfu Divisions to quell the rebellion.

After transferring Lan Yu away, he immediately issued an order to appoint Fu Youde as the general, and Wang Bi, Cao Xing, Sun Ke and others as deputy generals and generals to lead the troops in the northern expedition again.

However, this Northern Expedition was somewhat different from the previous ones. In addition to generals such as Fu Youde, several vassal kings also accompanied the army.

Although Fu Youde was appointed as the general this time, the highest command was in the hands of the vassal king. The army was divided into two groups. The west route was controlled by Jin King Zhu Fan, and the east route was controlled by Zhu Di. Except for the two older vassal kings, In addition, Chu King Zhu Zhen, Qi King Zhu Shu and others also followed.

In addition, the soldiers and horses mobilized this time are also very special. Wang Bi, Cao Xing and others are all young nobles who followed Lan Yu, but Zhu Yuanzhang assigned them Lu Zhongxiang, Fei Ju and other older generations. The general is responsible for training the troops and horses.

Although there is a saying in the Wei Suo system that soldiers do not know their generals, and military generals are often transferred, the soldiers trained by these nobles themselves are closer to themselves after all, just like Li Wei has placed many of his own confidants in the navy, and the same is naturally true for others.

Zhu Yuanzhang's operation actually had an unknown purpose!
Dingyuan County, Haozhou, Li Shanchang’s hometown.

As the Duke of the current dynasty, his mansion has been expanded repeatedly over the years, covering an area of ​​more than a hundred acres, and there are all kinds of pavilions and pavilions in the mansion.

In a pavilion by a pond, Li Shanchang was playing chess with an old man of similar age. The old man lost a piece and took the time to say:
"Brother Shan, do you plan to stay idle at home forever?"

Li Shanchang chuckled and said, "At this age, what else can I do if I don't have time at home?"

The old man looked at him and lowered his voice: "I heard that something big happened in the capital. The Li party headed by Duke Han was wiped out by His Majesty's thunderous means. Now that the government is recruiting people, doesn't Brother Shan? The idea of ​​a comeback?”

Li Shanchang glanced at him, the smile on his face remained unchanged, and he said calmly: "If your Majesty has need of me, I will naturally work hard. If you don't need me, I will naturally be content with my leisure time."

The old man narrowed his eyes slightly and said with some displeasure: "As a Duke, of course you can enjoy your leisure time, but I don't want to spend the rest of my life in your residence."

"Haha, I was able to destroy Beiyuan last time thanks to Brother Feng's help. I will certainly never forget it. Brother Feng, just be patient and wait for the opportunity." Li Shanchang said with a smile.

This old man was Feng Ji, an old minister of the Northern Yuan Dynasty who had tipped him off. After Lan Yu destroyed the Northern Yuan court, he arrested all the civil and military dignitaries, including this Feng Ji.

However, as one of his own, Lan Yu naturally would not hand him over to the court, but secretly sent him to Li Shanchang.

He sold the Northern Yuan Dynasty and returned to the Ming Dynasty, not just to eat and drink in Li Shanchang's house without doing anything, but to use his power to get an official position in the new dynasty.

Bei Yuan's energy has been exhausted. Of course, he will not be stupid enough to follow Bei Yuan all the way to the dark side. It is wise to return to the Central Plains and join the new dynasty as an official.

After listening to Li Shanchang's words, Feng Ji still frowned and was about to say something more when a servant came in a hurry.

"Master, there is a letter from Beijing."

The servant came forward and took out a letter and handed it to Li Shanchang.

Li Shanchang first nodded to Feng Ji and asked him to wait. Then he reached out to take the servant's letter and opened it to read.

After delivering the letter, the servant turned around and left.

After Li Shanchang read the letter, his face suddenly became solemn: "Your Majesty is worthy of being a great man through the ages. What a good method!" (End of Chapter)