I have a cornucopia

Chapter 238: Raise a son to prepare for old age, raise a dog to prepare for famine
Tianjin.

“This is reality!”

Prince Yang returned to the city and watched another group of refugees board the ship to leave.

It’s just that these are the ones that have just had their tails cut. Fortunately, in the early Qing Dynasty, the tails were all real golden rat tails, so at most they looked like monks who hadn’t shaved their heads for half a month.

These people fled along the Daqing River system, including the capital.

Ever since Yang Feng took control of Tianjin, it has become increasingly easier to escape from the Qing-controlled areas. After all, most of the areas west and north of Tianjin are water networks, especially the vast Sanjiaodian. This swampy lake with a circumference of more than 200 miles, together with the adjacent Shengfangdian, provides a safe passage for the fleeing population. There are even people in Tianjin who are specifically responsible for receiving them.

The network of tributaries of the Daqing River to the west also made it easier for those upstream to escape inland...

After all, the Japs were helpless.

This water network is like a population pump, drawing people from Shuntian, Zhenbao Hejian and other places, then crossing the water network of Sanjiaodian and converging in Tianjin.

Then board the ship and head south.

The Qing Dynasty was completely unable to contain it.

Although now all parts of my Qing Dynasty have become militias...

The county has a militia and the community has a security team, which is the name. The gentry have little difference in naming, and their aesthetic taste is not affected by region or time span.

The slave owners all had household slaves, who were different from serfs, similar to the old butler and the whipped slave in Django.

The main function of this system now is to prevent slaves from escaping.

They used collective responsibility, captured children as hostages in the name of education, torture, and even lingchi, but it was basically useless. People would flee if they wanted to. It was not that the slave owners were not cruel enough, but that their abilities were limited. After all, a decrease in population resulted in a decrease in their income, and a decrease in income meant a decrease in the number of forces they could maintain, which in turn would cause slaves to flee on a larger scale.

This is an endless cycle.

Can't solve it.

Even some slave owners have regretted it. If they had known that the people were so difficult to deal with, they would have rather not accepted slavery in the first place.

They did cheer for the Qing Dynasty's slavery at the beginning, and some great Confucian scholars even excitedly explained it as the restoration of the monarchy, as if a prosperous era was to come. After all, the Northern Confucian scholars were still very orthodox, not like those in the South who were bewitched by heretical ideas. But I didn't expect that the people were so ignorant, and they didn't understand the difficulties of the court and the masters at all. They had no awareness of jointly building a prosperous Qing Dynasty. They only thought about their own interests and wanted to escape when they were dissatisfied. It's true that people's hearts are no longer the same as before and the world is declining.

Heavy punch!

We must strike hard!

But a year later, the slave owners were exhausted both physically and mentally.

After all, throwing a heavy punch requires a lot of energy, and it will be tiring if you keep throwing heavy punches.

Now, some imperial censors have reported that the current system needs to be reformed...

Of course, it’s not that slavery is bad, but that the people are too stupid. They are all fools and cannot understand such a great ideal as the Restoration of the Monarchy.

How about we slow down a bit?
"The original intention is to create a prosperous era, but the people are mostly stupid and do not understand the sincere intentions of the regent. Therefore, the most urgent task is to educate the people first, and then restore the monarchy when the people are willing to do so."

This is a memorial from a certain censor.

Of course, his memorial was ignored.

After all, it's not just the people who are stupid, the slave owners are also stupid. The Han gentry slave owners have begun to think, but for the Eight Banners slave owners who entered the Pass and the old military general system slave owners, the unruly people just need to be whipped, or they can be killed with knives. They are just a bunch of people with one penny, who can die at will. How sentimental you are, and you still consider their feelings, you are just being too idle, hypocritical, obviously a year ago you were still excitedly shouting that the restoration of the monarchy was expected to be a prosperous era.

The prosperous era of singing in the eight wildernesses!

It's only been a year and you're already changing your wording?
Have some face!

"In my humble opinion, if this continues, the Jianlu will probably be purged.

They are also in a difficult situation now. Although Dorgon can get some food to supplement their food, there has been no looting for a long time, and the consumption is greater than the harvest.

In particular, they were also casting cannons, which required a large amount of gold, silver, copper, etc. Copper coins were no longer allowed to be used, and all were used to cast cannons. Temple bells were confiscated, and private copperware was also confiscated. They also exchanged gold and silver from smugglers, and it was said that they were also trading with the Japanese to buy copper. In addition, in order to bribe Mongolia and Solon, gold and silver were also shipped out of the Great Wall. Now, the only people in the north who could get a large amount of gold and silver in a short period of time were these gentry. The last time the king went north, these gentry stood by and watched, which also made Dorgon very angry.

Those old generals who had defected to him also wanted to get a piece of the pie.

After all, everyone loves silver. When these old generals followed the imperial court in the past, they were dissatisfied with the gentry. Now that they follow Dorgon, they have to envy their gold and silver.

They want to grab a handful more.”

Huang Fei said.

He is professional in this aspect!
There were even secret contacts between him and the old Ming army generals under Dorgon.

This is inevitable. The latter are nothing more than fence-sitters. Before, they just saw that the Qing Dynasty was powerful, and they really didn't want to follow Li Zicheng, but now they see that the Qing Dynasty seems to have reached this point. Although it is impossible to defect, it is always good to step on more boats. Huang Fei is in the north and needs to trade with the inland. He has no old relationship with the gentry, but he still has a lot of old acquaintances with the military commanders. It is not even ruled out that some admirals and generals of the Qing Dynasty have already spent money with him.

As for what to consume, there is no need to say.

Although Sister Dayuer has returned to Chenghai Tower, he has plenty of concubines and princesses. Besides, it is not impossible to take his boat to Chenghai Tower to visit Sister Dayuer and relive the old days.

Relive...

Okay, that word is a bit exaggerated.

The Qing Dynasty is indeed in a very tight spot right now. The key is that the financial resources are exhausted. First, Yang Feng robbed a lot of them. Second, they didn't rob much from their own looting. Although the food can still hold on for the time being, the war has already become a contest of cannon power and quantity. The Qing Dynasty is not a country founded on bows and horses that later deceived itself. The real reason why the Qing Dynasty won the war was the cannon. Without the cannon, they couldn't even pass Jinzhou. The failure of this year further proves that the cannon is the key to winning or losing the war.

The more guns the better.

The bigger the gun, the better.

The scene of Zheng Chenggong bombarding the Qing army with his 24-pound naval guns is still fresh in the memory of many Eight Banners generals.

But casting cannons requires a lot of copper.

Therefore, copper coins have been banned by the Qing Dynasty and replaced by paper money...

It's paper money.

The Qing Dynasty's treasure notes that were born ahead of time.

However, this was only used for small transactions. The main transaction was still silver. After all, if the Qing Baochao could not be exchanged for silver, no one would use it. At most, it was used as military notes for the hardcore farmers. However, copper coins were strictly prohibited from being used. All of them were confiscated and then used to cast cannons. Another way was to buy from outside with gold and silver. However, now the South was also casting cannons in large quantities, so the price of copper continued to rise. They needed more silver and gold to buy, so gold and silver became increasingly scarce. In the final analysis, it was still a lack of money.

In the final analysis, our Qing Dynasty was a predatory regime. Once plunder was curbed, conflicts of interest would inevitably arise internally.

Since they cannot plunder externally, they can only plunder internally, but the people inside have nothing.

Since they were all slaves, there was no wealth left to plunder. The only thing left was for the factions to plunder each other.

Among the factions within the Qing Dynasty, the richest and weakest are only the gentry.

If we don’t kill them, who else should we kill?

Americans all know that when they can't harvest the fruits of others' labor, they will just start harvesting the grass around their own backyard. They raise children to prepare for old age and dogs to prepare for famine.

Now is the time for them to sacrifice themselves for the Qing Dynasty.

"I have given them a chance. We are all adults and must take responsibility for our mistakes. No matter what the final result is, since we have made the choice, we must bear it. This world is fair. If we make a mistake, we must pay the price, no matter what the price is."

Yang Feng said.

At this time, more than 200 miles away in the capital...

"I want to see the Regent. You can't do this to me. I want to see the Regent..."

Tian Weijia, the Minister of Personnel of the Qing Dynasty, screamed in fear as he was dragged out of his residence in the capital by two Eight Banners Manchu soldiers.

Those who were watching the fun were gloating.

He was from Raoyang. In the 11th year of Chongzhen, he was accused of corruption. In fact, he failed in the internal struggle. After all, it was an exaggeration that the Minister of Personnel was demoted because of corruption. He was demoted to the editor of the Hanlin Academy, but soon resigned and went home, living a so-called secluded life at home. But after the Qing Dynasty entered the pass, he immediately brought the gentry of his hometown, including several surrounding counties, to welcome the king's division, and was re-employed as the Minister of Personnel, starting his second spring of life. But now, just like that year, he was reported for corruption, but this time it was not Chongzhen who just demoted him, but the wolf-like Manchu soldiers of the Eight Banners who came directly to his door.

Behind him were the cries of his family.

"Minister Tian, ​​there is solid evidence that you have committed corruption and abuse of power. It's useless to look for anyone. We have laws in the Qing Dynasty.

Last year, you accepted bribes totaling more than 100,000 taels. Your housekeeper’s confession is all here!”

He Luohui, the Nine Gates Admiral in front of him, was holding a confession and said with a look of regret.

As for the Nine-Gate Commander, it was newly established. Because the capital was almost lost when Yang Feng invaded the capital last time, Dorgon ordered the establishment of the Nine-Gate Commander in the capital to command the city defense and public security, including the supervision of officials, and his confidant He Luohui was appointed. In fact, after solving the problem of Hauge, in order to prevent Hauge from causing trouble again, or other people from causing trouble, Dorgon established this position, and He Luohui was in charge of those ambitious people in the capital. This position can only be replaced with the consent of both regents, so Jirgalang, who is currently in charge of the capital, has no right to replace it, and the arrest of Tian Weijia was also carried out by the Nine-Gate Commander.

"How can a slave prove his master's loyalty?"

Tian Weijia said angrily.

The laws of our Qing Dynasty strictly follow Zhu Xi's teachings. Not only can slaves not testify against their masters, even tenants cannot sue their masters.

"Ah, then isn't it enough that he is not a slave? The Regent has already restored his status as a good citizen and enrolled him in the Bordered Blue Banner Han Army. Can't he testify in this way?"

He Luohui said with a smile.

Tian Weijia was stunned for a moment...

What he said makes sense.

but……

"You are just killing me. I led Shenzhou and six other counties to welcome the Qing Dynasty, but now you are killing me. You are treacherous. You are corrupt and want to accuse me of corruption. You are just trying to make money from me..."

He roared in rage.

He was not a fool. How could a minister of the Ministry of Personnel be arrested for corruption? Moreover, who would be so idle as to serve the Qing Dynasty if he was not corrupt? But as a Han official, he was not involved in the internal struggle between Dorgon and Haoge. If it was not for political reasons, the only reason was his wealth. Dorgon, who was short of money, coveted his property. He was just greedy for money. But this made people even more desperate. After all, this meant that no matter what, he had no chance of being spared.

Then he struggled to break free and pounced on He Luohui.

The next moment He Luo would kick him out directly.

Although He Luohui was famous for his intelligence in the Qing army, he was also a veteran. He was not brave enough only when compared with people like Oboi, but when facing Tian Shangshu, it was basically like a big bad wolf against a chihuahua. Poor Tian Shangshu screamed and fell to the ground, right into a pile of horse manure, and then vomited blood and twitched there. He Luohui stepped forward and stepped on him, then took the paper and pen handed over by his men.

"The guilty minister, former Minister of Personnel Tian Weijia, slandered the state in public with rebellious words, which is truly a heinous crime. He should be punished along with his entire clan and his property should be confiscated."

He wrote and read as Tian Weijia struggled.

Then pass it to your men.

"To the Regent."

He said.

Then he looked down at Minister Tian who was twitching.

"Send him to the imperial prison."

He said.

My Qing Dynasty also has the imperial prison and the Jinyiwei.

As the Eight Banners Manchu soldiers dragged Tian Weijia away like a dead dog, He Luohui looked at the mansion in front of him...

"Go in, confiscate the house, kill the men and enslave the women!"

He said simply.

The Eight Banners Manchu soldiers who had surrounded the mansion long ago, howled happily as they did in the past when they massacred the city, rushed into the Tian Mansion, followed by screams and women's screams. After the last soldier rushed in, He Luo would calmly close the door for them. Then he stood there, looking at the people watching the excitement opposite with some melancholy. These people were like numb background boards. They had seen Li Zicheng enter Beijing, seen the Qing Dynasty's royal army enter Beijing, and then watched his house being confiscated.

"This is not enough. Although eating grass near the nest can sustain you for a while, it won't sustain you forever!"

He was sighing there.

This was just the beginning of his subsequent series of arrests.

He had a list of names given to him by Dorgon in his arms. He would fabricate charges against all of them and confiscate their property in the shortest possible time. The Qing Dynasty was in a really difficult situation now and its financial resources were almost exhausted. Although the Eight Banners still did not receive military pay and had to rely on looting, huge amounts of silver were needed to expand new armaments and to win over reinforcements from outside the Great Wall. If they did not give enough silver, neither Mongolia nor Solon would come to help them. However, the looting to the south had failed.

Taxes are a joke.

There is no other choice.

I can only eat grass near my nest.

But this is not a long-term solution after all!
"Ugh!"

He finally let out a long sigh.

(End of this chapter)