I have a cornucopia

Chapter 237: Worrying about the First Monarch
Since the internal fighting has stopped for the time being, each of them has to face the outside world.

We are all loyal subjects, and everyone understands the emperor's current situation. We cannot expect a young girl like the princess to carry the country on her own. We all need to be more self-conscious.

Be loyal to the country.

We can't rely on the regent for everything...

She is just a 16-year-old girl. Isn't it bullying if you insist on relying on her?
What is a loyal minister? A loyal minister is one who worries before the monarch does, and does what needs to be done in advance without waiting for the monarch's order.

Like the King of Donghai, he was a truly loyal minister. He always did what he should do first and then told His Majesty. His Majesty was so moved that he conferred him the title of Prince. You should learn from the King of Donghai. So you should suppress the chieftains when necessary and deal with the vassal kings when necessary. For example, Qu Shisi had already used the militia under his command to put the King of Jingjiang under house arrest.

The latter was actually mainly because the imperial court stopped issuing silver.

The Jingjiang prince's family of several thousand people not only bankrupted Guangxi's finances, but also required funding from Huguang and Guangdong every year. Part of the Guangdong customs tax was to be sent to Guangxi, but with the chaos in the country and Chongzhen's decree that the princes should take care of themselves, neither Huguang nor Guangdong would give him a tael of silver. Even the Guangxi gentry didn't want to support him. The angry Jingjiang prince, with the support of Guangxi's general Yang Guowei, tried to learn from others to become independent. Anyway, Chongzhen had already issued an order, and since the Shu prince could do it, of course he could do it too...

Just tell me whether the King of Shu has already taken control of Xichuan!

But the problem was that the entire family of the King of Shu was killed by Zhang Xianzhong, and there were not many people left. Moreover, Zhang Xianzhong did not support him, but only left a small part of the King of Shu's land for him. But if the Prince of Jingjiang did this, his huge family that had not suffered any damage would have to be supported by the gentry of Guangxi.

So the latter simply supported Qu Shisi, used militia to surround the prince's palace, and placed Prince Jingjiang under house arrest. As for Yang Guowei, he was killed by Qu Shisi who bribed his general Jiao Lian.

Similarly, those who should suppress the chieftains should suppress them. For example, the Duke of Qian, if they see any chieftain who wants to cause trouble, they can just kill him directly. There is no need to wait for the imperial court's order. After all, they have to send the imperial order to Nanjing first, and then the regent will report the public opinion of Yunnan to Xi'an. It may take several months to go back and forth. Such military affairs are very urgent, how can it be delayed for so long? The Duke of Qian was appointed by Taizu to govern Yunnan for generations, and he lives and dies with the country. He can make his own decision and report it afterwards.

Of course, you can't use public power to settle personal grudges!
You must not take this opportunity to seize other chieftain’s territory!

In particular, you must not seize the mines on the chieftain's territory and make it your own. However, if the chieftain's rebellion is suppressed, it can be regarded as a reward for the Mu family and the generals of the Yunnan Garrison.

Of course, the Zheng family went to expel the Dutch.

The Governor of Coastal Military Affairs, Prince Yang, issued an order to Zheng Zhilong, the General of Fujian and Marquis of Nan'an, ordering him to cross the sea to expel the red-haired people who occupied Taiwan and to add Taiwan's administrative capabilities.

The expenses will be borne by Fujian Province.

The court did not give a single cent of silver.

Of course, the privilege was also enjoyed by Fujian. Simply put, that place was incorporated into Fujian, and a Taiwan Prefecture was added to the Fujian Provincial Administration Commission.

The Dutch grew sugar cane there and made sugar.

Even today, Taiwan is still the most profitable territory for the Dutch East India Company. The sugar produced there has turned the company from loss to profit, with profits of millions of Dutch guilders each year. In other words, as long as Taiwan is taken, all these will belong to the Fujian gentry. Of course, Zheng Zhilong needs to resolve the profit distribution with the Elders' Council first, and this is his own business. To put it bluntly, he cannot expect to enjoy it alone. If he wants Fujian to provide him with military expenses, he must provide enough profit distribution.

I have to say that this kind of feudal system really saves time and effort.

His Majesty the Emperor enjoyed peace in his palace, and the Ming Dynasty, which had been on the verge of extinction under his rule, was now on the verge of revival.

Not only did the bandits in various places gradually disappear...

They are all officials now. The biggest bandit is now the biggest official, the King of Qin, the Grand Tutor, the Supreme Pillar of the State, the Deputy Marshal of the Army of the World, the Governor of the Military Affairs of the Six Provinces of Henan, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan. The second biggest bandit is now recruited as a good citizen, but has been elected as the Sichuan Tuanlian Commander and the head of the Sichuan Elders Association. Where are the bandits? His Royal Highness the King of Qin said that if any of you want to be a bandit in my territory, which of you scum is as big as me, and dare to be a bandit under my nose?
Zhang Xianzhong expressed his thumbs up.

The people who were affected by the natural disaster also began to recover stability. In the final analysis, all forces knew that it was time to change. Even the gentry knew that they could not intensify the exploitation. The Jiangxi Elders Association quietly promoted rent and interest reductions. The elders headed by Jiang Yueguang took the initiative to take the lead in reducing rents for their own tenants, and the high-interest loans that were originally lent out were also recovered according to the principle of one principal and one interest. Although it is impossible for all the gentry in Jiangxi to do this, at least the official authorities did so. In addition, for those who refused to reduce rent and interest, local officials also accepted complaints from the people, and the Elders Association also supported the local officials in handling them.

Besides, the loss is not that big. It is easy to make up for it as long as you have power.

Yes, rent and interest have been reduced, but we can manipulate prices and lower the grain purchase price. Now that rent and interest have been reduced, grain will of course be cheaper in such a prosperous era.

But he bought from tenants at low prices and sold to Li Zicheng and Dorgon at high prices, and in the end he made a lot of money.

As for the smuggling of grain to Dorgon, this was inevitable. In fact, smuggling is booming now, and it cannot be called smuggling.

How can it be considered smuggling if Jiangxi sells grain to Hefei?
It was not sold to the Jianlu, but to the gentry in Hefei. As for who the latter was sold to, what does it have to do with the gentry in Jiangxi?

Similarly, the development of industry and commerce can make up for the losses. The prices of agricultural tools have all increased and the price of steel has doubled.

Now is war time, iron is very precious, there is not enough to make guns and cannons, the price increase of farm tools is very reasonable, and finally all kinds of means have been used, and it is found that there are actually ways to deal with it. The gentry in various places have also begun to reduce rent and interest with reluctance.

After all, there is a guarantor!

They also couldn't offend the only person who could help them stop Li Zicheng.

Blatant exploitation could easily provoke civil unrest and attract Li Zicheng.

The latter also took away more than 40 voters, who had been brought to Xi'an by Li Zicheng and then named righteous citizens by Chongzhen.

Then they were elected by the people of Jiangxi to stay in Xi'an and were ready to speak to the Emperor about the interests of the people of Jiangxi at any time.

Of course, if Li Zicheng needs it, they can also report the corrupt officials and local tyrants in Jiangxi. So if the Jiangxi gentry fail to fulfill their promise, they can report it to His Majesty the Emperor, and then His Majesty the Emperor will be furious and transform them into the tiger and wolf army of His Royal Highness the Prince of Qin. This was originally Li Zicheng's preparation for the future. As long as he wants to go south again, he can do this at any time, and at that time he will be requested by the people of Jiangxi.

In this case, the exploitation can be done more covertly, so that it is not easily detected and looks better.

The rent and interest reduction in Jiangxi also forced the gentry in Nanzhili and Zhejiang to start giving up some of their interests to the people, otherwise these unruly people would make trouble.

They would go to Xi'an to petition the emperor under the banner of public opinion. The three southwestern provinces could petition, so why couldn't they? Moreover, the explanation of the legitimacy of Li Zicheng's rebellion also gave legitimacy to the civil uprising.

This is a very bad header.

The gentry did not expect that the thing they originally used to fool Li Zicheng would actually become a boomerang hitting their own heads.

The unruly people now have legitimacy to rebel.

Public opinion, why can't we rebel when we can't eat? You great scholars said it yourself, the King of Qin rebelled because he couldn't eat, so it's legal for us to rebel when we can't eat. I have to say that they were a bit reckless in this matter. Of course, the main reason was that there was no other way at the time, but now the boomerang hits their heads, so they have to find another way to explain it. But no matter what, this theory has already been established, and Li Zicheng is there.

It’s hard to explain!
Of course, the royal family paid a price. The last two princes who had not been damaged, the Huai and Yi princes, had less and less land in their hands due to the encroachment of the gentry. The angry Huai prince tried to resist and tried to arm his guards under the guise of self-care to protect his land, but the Jiangxi Elders Association dispatched a militia to directly surround the palace and disarm it. In the process, many militias broke into the palace. Although the Jiangxi Elders Association explained that they were protecting the Huai prince, the gold and silver in the Huai prince's palace suffered heavy losses afterwards, especially antique calligraphy and paintings. As for which elder's study room they ended up in, it is unknown.

But no one cares.

Ma Shiying was too lazy to report to the Regent.

After all, it would be embarrassing to report it, and the Regent could not do anything. He withheld the Prince of Huai's tearful appeal, and then sent a private letter to Jiang Yueguang, asking the latter to lift the siege of the palace. At the same time, he wrote a letter to the Prince of Huai, using both coaxing and intimidation to force the latter to swallow his anger.

If I don't swallow it, I'm afraid I really won't be able to breathe.

After all, as members of the royal family, they share the same fate with the country. If they don't make sacrifices for the country, can they expect people other than the Zhu family to make sacrifices?
Why don’t they talk about the times when they enjoyed the people’s money and wealth for generations?
The nobles also paid some price.

But by the same logic, if those who used to enjoy wealth and glory don't give back in times of national crisis, should the common people also pay?
Besides, the people have already paid a lot, and it’s time for them to get their turn.

In this way, the Ming Dynasty finally survived the most dangerous stage and entered the era of warlords' separatism that Yang Feng had long envisioned...

Dorgon can also be counted as one of them.

In fact, he should be counted as four parts. The actual control of the Qing Dynasty is still only the capital and the areas outside the Great Wall. The Pingxi King Wu Sangui and the Zhenxi King Jiang Ge of the Qing Dynasty system control Shanxi and Xuanda respectively. Shanxi can only be said to be half, after all, the south of Huozhou belongs to Li Zicheng. In addition, although it is called a brother country, it is actually a vassal of Zhu Cilang's pseudo-Ming. However, it is difficult to say that the pseudo-Ming is a force. After all, most of the local officials of the pseudo-Ming actually hold multiple positions and positions in several forces. They serve as local officials of the pseudo-Ming, receive salaries from the regent court, and pay loyalty to the King of Qin and wait for the royal teacher.

Survive in the cracks!
It's difficult for everyone.

Anyway, they will welcome whoever attacks them in the future.

Anyone can be the king's teacher.

And there was also a resistance army. Fang Yizhi was afraid that his hometown would be purged in the future, so he went back and organized a resistance army under the banner of anti-Qing. He still held the title of Fengyang Governor of the Regent Court, and led a group of guerrillas. Under the joint cover of local officials and gentry in Huaixi, he attacked the Qing army from time to time, and then publicized the great victory to the outside world. This meant that the Huaixi gentry did not completely surrender to the pseudo-Ming, and they still had truly loyal ministers and righteous men. After all, it was not a bad thing to step on more boats.

Dorgon knew it very well.

But he also needed the Huaixi gentry to provide him with food, so he could only pretend to know nothing.

Those belonging to the Ming Dynasty or the Chongzhen group were mainly the regent court, which was nominally a whole but was actually banding together for warmth; Li Zicheng, who used the emperor to command the princes; Zhang Xianzhong, who relied on public opinion to establish his own will; the Mu family, the alliance of chieftains and small warlords headed by Governor Wang; the Zheng family, and the Shandong group headed by Yang Feng. There should be roughly seven families, which was not yet the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, but the Tang Dynasty during the time of Huang Chao, but Dorgon played the role of Huang Chao.

So it’s hard to say what would happen if Dorgon was destroyed.

After all, we have already tasted the sweetness, and it is impossible to go back to the past.

This is also the reason why Yang Feng has always lacked interest in Gun Gun. Before he has enough strength to force all parties to end everything they have created, keeping a common enemy is the best choice to avoid fighting each other.

Moreover, giving GunGun a break temporarily would also help to completely resolve the issue.

Whether it was the Eight Banners in the mountains outside the Great Wall or the nomadic tribes on the vast grasslands, it would take a huge investment to deal with them in their home turf, but it was easy to deal with them after they entered the Great Wall and reached the home turf of the Ming Dynasty. This year, Dorgon sent tens of thousands of corpses of the elite Eight Banners to the battlefields in the Great Wall, especially in the south, just for their dream. If these elite Eight Banners were outside the Great Wall, the Ming Dynasty would probably not be able to eliminate them even with all its strength.

It is the current Ming Dynasty.

These are the various forces currently including Yang Feng.

It is easy to capture Shenyang, but it is impossible to completely eliminate them in the mountains and forests.

If we are not careful, we may repeat the mistakes of Sarhu, especially if the war is dragged on into the cold winter, when even the severe cold alone can destroy the militias in the south of the Yangtze River.

So give Dorgon hope, even if it's a little sweet, let him believe that he can hold on, let his ambition not be extinguished, and then let him transfer more Teletubbies from the mountains and grasslands outside the Great Wall to fill the battlefield of mincing meat. Now he has already won over the Sauron people, and also the Outer Khalkha. He is using various methods to win over all the allies that can be won from outside the Great Wall to let them continue to support his dream. They have already occupied the capital.

He even drank from the Yangtze River.

The situation is very good.

Until now, his army is still only a hundred miles away from Nanjing, which is within a day's assault distance for cavalry.

It's really just one step away.

However, this step was one he could never take.

He, who is just one step away, is also the main reason why all parties have to maintain unity, and even have to actively seek change, and would rather compromise with each other than work hand in hand. After all, there are still hundreds of thousands of corpses piled in Yangzhou to tell them the consequences of not doing so.

(End of this chapter)