I have a cornucopia

Chapter 187 I want them to kneel in front of you and sing Conquer

I have to say that Yang Feng made all the Gongun princes very miserable.

They are also afraid of civil unrest!

Originally, the transformation of Jiangnan slaves into tenant farmers has been constant in recent years...

If the imperial power is so weak, how can we expect the slaves to continue to obey? The rogue bandits can capture the emperor and hold the emperor hostage to order the princes. How can they expect the slaves to remain calm? This is also an important reason why the Jiangnan gentry urgently needs to supervise the country, even if it is a woman. They are eager to use this to re-stabilize the situation, or stabilize people's hearts, and let those unruly people and evil slaves know that there is still suppression by the imperial power.

Don’t think that things will change today!

But in fact, they also know that even if they have a supervisory state, it is better than nothing.

The role of imperial power was limited.

There were always rebels every year even when the emperor was a real emperor, let alone a girl who was just supervising the country.

There are too many unruly people in this land.

If you make less money, you lose money.

There are so many such examples.

"This is feasible. Although some money is lost, it is not much for each family to put together. What's more, each family has some food reserves and if they are not willing to pay for it, they can also give out some food.

A sharp rise in food prices is inevitable.

Take a step back today, but you will not retreat tomorrow. Cut off a city today, but you will not be able to cut it tomorrow. He is pressing forward step by step, and we will retreat step by step. Will we just live in peace like this from now on? "

And if they make trouble, the current situation may turn into a rebellion sweeping Jiangnan at any time, just like fire burning through countless rural cities. No matter the wealthy family or the slaves and tenants, they will all be burned together. As for whether Yang Feng can suppress it no matter what the final result is, in this After all, those gentry whose families were wiped out in this catastrophe would never be able to survive again. Of course Yang Feng doesn't care. His foundation is in Shandong. No matter how much chaos there is, it won't affect Shandong. On the contrary, he can make another profit in the process of quelling the chaos. Maybe that's what this bastard thinks. After all, once there is a rebellion, he will lead With Gao Jie and others fighting in Suzhou, it would have been a disaster.

That's not millions anymore.

Fire prevention and theft prevention Yang Feng!

"No matter how many classes there are this fall, we will just give him 2.8 million stone grain."

Zhang Guowei let out a long sigh.

Changing it is definitely not possible.

Zhang Guowei said simply.

"Just take it one step at a time!"

But the problem is that it’s not possible to stop him. If he is stopped from doing this, he will go to Suzhou by himself.

Xu Qian and Qu Shishu in front of him were stunned for a moment, and then they understood what he meant.

At this time, the combined wealth of Suzhou's wealthy families may not be comparable to that of the nobles from the northern and southern capitals.

In other words, ever since Chen Sheng and Wu Guang called out that the princes and generals Xiang Ning had a kind, there have been no obedient people in this land.

The Suzhou Elderly Association has already spent millions of taels of military expenses before, not counting the support and training, and the casualties and pensions in the previous battle at Shilianghe, etc., add up to a large amount. After all, this Battle of Nanjing has to be taken into account. In the end, the Suzhou gentry lost four million, including what they had paid out and what they had lost. If I had known earlier, it would be better to pay Yang Feng happily. I have to say that the loss was huge this time. Although everyone has a big family and a big business, it is heartbreaking to have so much money.

But there’s no problem with the solution.

The result of his arrival in Suzhou is probably that the wealthy families in Suzhou will follow in the footsteps of the distinguished nobles in Nanjing. He is like a demon spreading death, causing catastrophe wherever he goes.

He directly slaughtered most of the gentry in Macheng.

Suzhou has always had this tradition. At this time, half of the city in Suzhou was made up of workers in the textile industry. If they didn't weave for a day, they would have no money to buy rice. The current price of food was already 2 taels. It would be strange if they didn't make a fuss if it went up again.

The royal family of the Ming Dynasty verified this point with practical actions. The lowest tenant in the Lao Zhu family could sit in the world and be the emperor for three hundred years. Why should they expect slaves and tenants to work as cattle and horses for the gentry for generations? The gentry knew very well that the anger of those evil slaves and unruly people could be ignited at any time, and once it broke out, they would face a catastrophe. There had been too many bloody examples before, such as Yang Feng who used it to intimidate them every day. Zhang Hongde, for example, Zhang Xianzhong captured Macheng because the evil slaves in the city rebelled.

But since Yang Feng wants taxed grains, then he should give him taxed grains. When the time comes, he will designate a warehouse to transport 2.8 million shi. Even if it is collected this fall, Suzhou's taxes will still be collected. , nothing more than buying him grain from the market with the money he received. But there is no need to buy from the local area. You can buy directly from upstream Huguang, Jiangxi or even Guangdong. This will have a very small impact on the local market in Suzhou, almost negligible, and will not cause the sudden rise in food prices to trigger civil unrest. Of course, the tax is definitely not enough. After all, it only costs a few dollars, and the price is probably impossible to find in the entire Ming Dynasty. One or two taels are already very few, so if the tax money is not enough, then the Suzhou Elders Association will have to find a way. .

Therefore, for the Gonggun princes, especially the officials in Suzhou and several surrounding prefectures, if they agree to his reform now, they will have to face the rebellious people and evil slaves. If they do not agree to this reform, they will have to face the rebels. To Yang Feng who is sharpening his sword.

As soon as food prices rise, natural disasters will continue, and unruly people who have actually reached the limit of endurance will inevitably cause trouble.

"What's wrong with Gao Huan when this person behaves like this?"

Heaven is long.

If the tax was not increased, the Suzhou Elderly Association would have to add at least one million taels. And considering that if the grains were shipped to Suzhou, they could have been sold for two taels, so in fact the loss was no less than three million...

So they don't want to really get into such a situation where they both die together.

Anyway, if you are not afraid of trouble, you will raise taxes on the people, and if you do not want to provoke civil unrest, you will pay for it yourself.

and so……

But if you do what Yang Feng said, it may really ignite a fire that will destroy both the jade and the stone.

Which city he went to was not a purge in the end?
He went to the capital, and the capital was in chaos.

It was a catastrophe anyway.

He went to Nanjing, and Nanjing suffered this tragedy.

"Even if I go to Huguang to buy grain, it's still one tael more than one stone!"

Xu Qian said painfully.

But what about next year?
What about the year after tomorrow?

After so many generations of noble families, they finally disappeared in the carnival of unruly people and evil slaves in such a catastrophe.

Qu Shishu said.

Zhu Dadian said angrily.

But Zhang Guowei just sighed.

What's so different about Gao Huan? He has done three punches to the emperor, but Gao Huan is not enough. As someone who has been dealing with Yang Feng since the capital, Zhang Guowei knows very well that there is no other way to face this evildoer, but to retreat step by step. As for the final retreat? Anyway, as a veteran minister, as long as Yang Feng does not seek to usurp the throne, then continue to endure it!
After all, the Ming Dynasty is like this now. If there is someone who is still guarding the Zhu family, stop being picky.

What could be better?
Is it possible to find Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong to protect the Ming Dynasty?
That would be a joke.

He looked at the Great Wall in front of him with the melancholy of concern for the country and the people.

"fire!"

He said.

The flag was waving beside him.

Qu Shichun, Xu Qian, and Zhu Dadian all turned their gazes forward.

In front of them, eight newly arrived Hongyi cannons were lined up, with their raised muzzles pointed at the Tianchang City Wall. Next to them stood the Portuguese artillerymen who came with them. Then with the waving of the flag, a Flames spurted from the muzzle, and shells weighing 18 kilograms flew out of the barrel and instantly hit the city wall a mile away.

This is a twenty-four-pounder cannon, which is currently the main force used against bastions in Europe.

Two cannonballs that happened to hit the city wall instantly caused bricks to burst out, and even small pieces of rammed earth collapsed. A slightly higher cannonball hit the city tower and penetrated the city wall in an instant, carrying with it Broken bricks flew into the city, and a corner of the city tower suddenly collapsed...

"Everyone, we don't want to retreat until we have strength. I have said before, he respects strength. The nobles in the capital are like pigs and sheep, so he will slaughter them like pigs and sheep. If we don't have group training in our hands this time, you don't think he will Leading troops straight to Suzhou? He was able to negotiate with us because we have cannons in our hands, hundreds of cannons, and this huge cannon that can destroy cities and destroy countries. He negotiated with us instead of directly reaching out to us because he knew that we were not pigs and sheep. . But our strength is still not enough and we still have too few cannons. Then he wants us to agree to his request. If we are strong enough to protect ourselves or even stronger than him, will he still dare to blackmail us again and again? "

Zhang Guowei said.

"Then build more cannons and keep casting more and bigger cannons until he no longer dares to covet Jiangnan."

Zhu Dadian said. Qu Shichun and Xu Qian also watched in silence.

The cannon that was quickly loaded opened fire again, and a shell that hit the female wall instantly made a striking gap in the city wall.

……

the next day.

"agreed?"

Yang Feng looked at Ma Shiying in shock.

He really didn't expect that such a crazy request would be accepted?
"I heard that Zhang Dongyang was the one who made the decision. Qu Bolue should go find him. Zhang Dongyang wrote a letter to Zou Jishan. I don't know what the letter said, but Zou Jishan found a few others, and then they agreed to take classes in Suzhou this fall. Change back to food collection.”

Ma Shiying said with a smile.

"Can the tax supervisor be arranged as well?"

Yang Feng touched his chin and said deeply.

If you can agree to this, then there is no reason why the tax supervisor should not agree.

I have to say that it feels really good to push the envelope even further.

"The tax supervisor is not a big problem. This matter is just a matter of appearance. After all, Suzhou was famous for its tax resistance. The temples were helpless and ordered the execution of Ge Cheng, who took the lead. As a result, the temples collapsed, but Ge Cheng was still alive. It's good. Now that the tax supervisor is re-established in Suzhou, it is inevitable for them to be somewhat dissatisfied, but after all, it is just a matter of face. But if the tax supervisor is gone, then how and what taxes should be collected? That’s it.”

Ma Shiying said.

"No need to bother, just leave this to the Suzhou Elderly Association."

Yang Feng said with a smile.

Then he handed a pamphlet to Ma Shiying.

There is a big word written on the cover...

"Tax?"

Ma Shiying said in shock.

I have to say that Yang Zhuguo is always so straightforward...

straightforward.

Then he flipped through a few pages.

"Zhu Guo, isn't this a bit hasty?"

Then he said as if he was shocked.

"You actually want to say it's nonsense, right? Yes, it took me less than half an hour to write this thing. As for the content inside, it is all made up by me without any basis. You only need to hand it over to the Suzhou Senior Citizens Association That’s it.”

Yang Feng said with a smile.

It really didn’t take him an hour to make up a new tax code. It was all stuff he thought about, and it could even be said to be nonsense. No matter the tax items or standards, he made them up at will. Of course, this was not something he could do in the first place. It turns out that taxation needs to be gradually improved.

"Then I can ask, after careful calculation by Zhu Guo, how much will the miscellaneous taxes in Suzhou Prefecture add up to in a year?"

Ma Shiying was also an old fox and immediately understood what Yang Feng meant.

"This, why should it be one million?"

Yang Feng said.

Ma Shiying nodded.

I understand, the Suzhou Elderly Association needs to give him an additional one million a year.

"Very reasonable!"

He said.

Then he saluted the supervisor beside Yang Feng.

"Your Highness, I take my leave."

He said.

The princess quickly stood up.

Then she and Yang Feng watched Ma Shiying leave.

"Brother, why do you keep targeting Suzhou?"

the princess asked curiously.

When she was in Antonwei, she followed Sister Yang Xiu and called Yang Feng her brother.

Even she could see that Yang Feng was deliberately causing trouble.

"I am not targeting Suzhou, but the powerful families in Suzhou. Emperor Taizu Gao has been attacking them all his life, but after Emperor Taizu Gao, they rose again and were even stronger than before. The imperial court closed down Suzhou Mansion for one year Two million eight hundred thousand dan, and in fact every year the income was not enough, the debt was always in arrears, and in the end it was usually written off in one lump sum.

So do you know how much rent those powerful families in Suzhou charge per year?

The most he received was 900,000 shi a year.

Just one of them.

And there are still a lot of these people in Suzhou Prefecture who have hundreds of thousands of dan a year. Any one of them is as rich as the country. If we expand it to Su Songchang, including Jiahuhang, and even the prefectures of East Zhejiang, there are more like this, and their wealth is huge. To the point where he could influence the court, fight against the imperial power, and control the local area to do whatever he wanted.

The Ge Cheng that Ma Shiying mentioned just now, do you know when the temple ordered his execution? Wanli twenty-nine years, do you know how long he lived? Chongzhen three years. A person who was executed by the decree of the temple has not died for thirty years. He is just an ordinary weaver. Why is he so powerful? Because behind him are these powerful families. They didn't want to pay taxes, so they ordered Ge Cheng to kill tax supervisors and instigate civil uprisings. They wanted to fight against the emperor, so they ordered Jin Yiwei to be killed like this. Imperial power? In their territory, without their nod, the imperial power could not kill an ordinary weaver for thirty years, but now, I have to let them learn to bow their heads in front of you and let them know that you are their monarch.

Live and kill.

I want them to kneel before you and sing Conquest. "

Yang Feng said.

One million taels.

You should be able to bear it, right?

It would be better if they couldn't bear it.

The princess stood quietly beside him. It was obvious that she had no feelings about this future. She was quite satisfied with her current life. After all, she was originally a prisoner who had no interest in power. She also had no interest in others. I have no interest in kneeling in front of him and singing about conquest.

But that will change as she gets older.

She's just too little.

What yearning for power can a fifteen-year-old girl have?

But what about twenty-five?
What about thirty-five?

Change just takes time.

(End of this chapter)