Follow Zhu Yuanzhang to conquer the country

Chapter 216: The gentry prevented the construction of the railway, but ended up encountering Zhu Yuanzhang!

Zhu Yuanzhang knew that this was the consequence of his refusal to cooperate with the landlords and gentry.

The Yuan Dynasty implemented a loose policy and gave up a large amount of grassroots power to local gentry.

However, he was influenced by Zhang Cheng and devoted himself to promoting social affairs without intending to rely on the gentry class, which caused a large number of gentry to either mess up, secretly cause trouble, or even cause trouble openly.

In this regard.

Zhu Yuanzhang did not intend to be too polite.

this day.

At the end of the first month, when he formally led the troops in person to force Kang Maocai to surrender, and was preparing to march to the two Zhejiang provinces to further unify the armies during the attack on the two Zhejiang provinces, he encountered a group of gentry blocking the way.

These gentry begged Zhu Yuanzhang to stop building the railway, saying that building the railway would destroy feng shui and offend the gods.

"The superior has learned clearly that when establishing a country, one must obey the will of nature and the people. Now the cabinet is carrying out large-scale construction projects, laying railway tracks, and even building ships. It is clearly for the purpose of crossing the sea, but it does not know that the sea is dangerous and can easily attract evil Japanese pirates. If this continues, it may damage the great cause of the superior. , It also makes the people uneasy, so we boldly make a remonstrance and ask the superiors to order the cabinet to stop the railway, reduce the number of shipyards, and save people's labor. "

Sun Yan continued: "The superior has always loved the people, and in the name of not killing the people, now I ask the superior to make the decision for us and other people!"

"Chang Yuchun!"

For Sun Yan and other gentry, what they were worried about was not just that the railway would damage Feng Shui, but that they had seen with their own eyes the scene of horse-drawn carriages racing along the railway from Yanziji to Shangyuan, and they were worried that the railway would really be built everywhere. Yes, if it is laid like a net, it will undoubtedly be faster and easier for the imperial court to send troops to the countryside, saving a lot of losses. I am afraid that it will be difficult for them to be emperors again.

Zhu Yuanzhang's face darkened when he saw this.

Chang Yuchun raised his hand and said yes, then stabbed Sun Yan's chest pain with an iron spear.

Therefore, these gentry had to take advantage of Zhu Yuanzhang's dispatch of troops to stop him and sue him.

"kill!"

"But this is a matter of great concern to the safety of the country. Please ask your superiors to take a closer look!"

At this moment, the wealthy gentleman Sun Yan handed over the report to Zhu Yuanzhang.

Sun Yan was stunned and watched helplessly as his chest began to bleed.

"Please take a closer look!"

Zhu Yuanzhang took the memorial, glanced at it for a few times, and then frowned and asked Sun Yan: "Whether the railway destroys Feng Shui is an internal matter. You should contact Mr. Shou Fu Zhang."

Zhu Yuanzhang narrowed his eyes and asked, "You should know the consequences of obstructing military affairs."

Sun Yan knelt down in pain.

Chang Yuchun came out with an iron gun: "Here!"

Zhu Yuanzhang said this coldly.

"Mr. Zhang is deceived by a traitor and insists on building a railway. We can't explain it! We have heard for a long time that the superiors are wise and decisive, so we can only ask the superiors to issue an order and let the cabinet take back the order!"

The gathered soldiers and civilians also knelt down.

Sun Yan then cupped his hands and replied.

"Although we don't kill civilians, we didn't say we won't kill bandits. According to law, anyone who obstructs military affairs will be treated as bandits!"

Zhu Yuanzhang pinched his nose and shouted.

"We have to follow the law."

"We hope that you will also abide by the rules and know how to act according to them. If there is any injustice, please give us a copy of the Dengwen Drum Academy. Don't hinder military affairs, let alone force us to break the rules."

After Zhu Yuanzhang said this, he said: "Kill everyone who blocks the road!"

Seeing this, the soldiers and people behind Sun Yan fled one after another.

Just now.

"Whoosh!"

The sound of a sharp arrow piercing the air came.

"Be careful, superior!"

Xu Da, who was next to Zhu Yuanzhang, shouted when he saw this, and hurriedly stood in front of Zhu Yuanzhang.

But the arrow hit no one, and only landed in front of Zhu Yuanzhang's mount.

"Damn, it must be these people who did it. Seeing that your superiors didn't listen to them, you just resorted to a killer move."

As Chang Yuchun spoke, he suggested: "Ascendant, let us slaughter all the villages nearby! Let me vent your anger!"

Zhu Yuanzhang said: "This kind of thing cannot be made out of thin air, let alone fall into their trap because of this. Now they hope that we will not abide by the rules, so that they can not abide by our rules."

Zhu Yuanzhang chuckled as he said this: "Who told us that we didn't build a country that encompasses the whole world according to their wishes? Therefore, I'm afraid they will have a lot of open and covert attacks in the future!"

then.

Zhu Yuanzhang just continued to march, as if this matter had not happened.

He also ordered Sun Yan's body to be handed over to Yousi, who arranged for his family to pick it up and left a decree explaining the reason for killing Sun Yan. The gentry had their own communication channels, so soon the gentry in other places knew about the matter. Although they were shocked by Zhu Yuanzhang's behavior, they did not dare to block the way to speak.

Zhu Yuanzhang's next journey was smooth.

After Zhang Cheng learned through Yang Xian that the gentry Sun Yan and others blocked the road and were executed by Zhu Yuanzhang's order, he was not too frightened. He just smiled and said: "The superior is the superior after all!"

"However, because of this matter, more than 80 Confucian scholars in Jiqing Mansion have returned the list of candidates for official positions. They are obviously protesting because of this matter."

Yang Xian told Zhang Cheng how other gentry felt about Sun Yan.

After hearing this, Zhang Cheng said: "You will be willful! Everyone should abide by the rules. It is really wrong for them to stop the army and ask the army commander to directly change the internal affairs."

"That's not right, but these Confucian scholars who protested did not want to follow the rules. They only wanted to talk about whether the Chinese army treated them politely enough."

Yang Xian replied.

Zhang Cheng smiled and said: "This is beyond negotiation. The Chinese Army is the army of the Datong Society. It upholds the concept of seeking wealth for the people and abides by all the laws and regulations established by the Datong Society for the people. It does not belong to any one person. A private army, not an army of Confucian scholars, has no obligation to break laws just to treat anyone with courtesy.”

Yang Xianze asked: "Then what should we do now? Is the three-three system still in effect?"

"Of course we must continue to practice it. I believe not all Confucian scholars are so willful."

"It is impossible for all Confucian scholars in the world to be so noble and unwilling to be officials. What we only need to worry about now is whether the group of Confucian scholars who are willing to be officials will become even more unprincipled!"

Zhang Cheng expressed his opinion without hesitation.

Yang Xian replied: "This is also what the subordinates are worried about."

Zhang Cheng couldn't help but wash his face, grinned and said, "I can only tolerate them for ten or twenty years."

With that said, Zhang Cheng asked Yang Xian: "How is the development of Jiqing Mansion School going?"

"Fifty-six young people have been sent to the school after passing the assessment in each county, and the subordinates are now personally training them."

"There is no way, there is a huge shortage of teachers who accept the Datong concept."

"As you said, changing old learning and building new learning does not happen overnight."

Yang Xian replied.

Zhang Cheng nodded: "Then establish an incentive system so that they can complete their studies as soon as possible. Whoever learns the fastest will get the most Datong cloth coins. Anyway, the multi-spindle spinning machine can now spin twenty spindles at the same time. There is no shortage of cotton.”

Yang Xian cupped his hands and said yes.

Then, Zhang Cheng said to Li Shanchang: "Tell Hu Weiyong that the Railway Administration will increase subsidies. As long as the railway passes through, every household will be issued with coins. They will be distributed based on population, including children. Each household will be given a large number of cloth coins. I will give him a large number of cloth coins." I don’t believe that excuses like Feng Shui can stop people’s enthusiasm for welcoming the arrival of the railway!”

Li Shanchang therefore reminded Zhang Cheng: "At present, we are producing cotton cloth very quickly, but if we do this, it will cause insufficient demand for cotton, so we must plant cotton extensively."

“It’s not up to us to grow cotton.”

"Our land can only grow food, so we need to restrict cotton planting and impose heavier taxes on households that grow cotton."

"Cotton is only purchased from outside. We would rather raise the purchase price than let Zhang Shicheng, Liu Futong and even Yuanting's landowners grow cotton."

Zhang Cheng said at this time.

For Zhang Cheng, anyway, the government-run weavers in the Datongshe area are now producing cotton very efficiently, and the cost has shrunk significantly. After all, the spinning speed alone has increased dozens of times, even if the cotton purchase price is increased. Several times, it will still cause the price of cotton to fall, so it is better to let all the fields here grow food, and only let Zhang Shicheng and others provide themselves with cotton.

What's more, the steam spinning machine developed by Zhang Cheng is about to be developed and put into mass production. Once it is applied on a large scale, the production cost of cotton cloth will plunge again.

By then, a large number of women will no longer need to weave and make clothes themselves, and will only participate in farming and industrial production.

In this way, many children and teenagers will have more time to receive education because women have more energy to participate in farming.

In this way, no matter how dissatisfied the gentry were with the status quo, they could only watch the status quo change unstoppably.

Li Shanchang raised his hand and said yes, and at the same time glanced at Zhang Cheng with admiration.

Because he knew that once cotton was purchased at high prices, the landlords in the ruling areas such as Zhang Shicheng, Liu Futong, and Yuan Ting would do crazy things out of greed.

At that time, I may really be able to control these forces with just food.

"Are coins released again?"

Tao An, a gentleman, learned early in the morning from his rich friend Chen Di that the Iron Administration issued coins to the people who occupied the land, and he sat up from his recliner in astonishment.

Chen Di said: "Yes, didn't we say before that cutting down trees after the railway would affect Feng Shui? However, the Railway Administration directly said that every Feng Shui tree is accompanied by cloth coins, so a local geography teacher said that cloth coins can indeed solve Feng Shui. , as long as everyone pays one yuan of cloth coins to him and asks him to set up a ritual ceremony and rearrange the Feng Shui, every family can continue to have prosperity and prosperity. After the longevity is extended, the people are willing to let the Railway Secretary cut down their own trees to build the railway. Just like I was willing to take cloth coins to be occupied by them.”

Tao An nodded after hearing this and couldn't help but sigh: "Mr. Zhang is so kind and virtuous as heaven. In order to build up the country's foundation, he cannot bear to hurt the interests of the people, and he does not hesitate to invest so much!"

"Yes! Mr. Tao is going to get rich now. Who doesn't know that the plum forest that the railway will pass through is your property, Mr. Tao!"

Chen Di said.

Tao An waved his hand: "What are you talking about? Even if the Iron Administration does not lose money, I will take the initiative to donate the plum forest in order to support the cause of Datong."

"Tao Gong is indeed upright and upright!"

(End of this chapter)