Saving the Ming Dynasty: I can exchange bodies with Chongzhen

Chapter 223: Those who till the land shall have their own land
"Should we continue asking here?"

"Ask, as long as it is done by humans, there will be mistakes. Not only that, next, I will personally pay a visit to Prince Xin. I want to see what this Prince Xin has in mind."

Just as Hongniang thought, these people outside the Governor's Mansion had all been informed, so it was naturally impossible for them to find out any information.

In the next few days, Hongniang was like a nail outside the Governor's Mansion, her eyes fixed on the Mansion, and she would submit visiting cards to the Mansion every day.

And every time he came with other rebel kings, he seemed determined to not give up until he achieved his goal.

"Prince Xin, this woman is making a lot of noise, should we take some measures?" Old Han couldn't stand it anymore.

The old blind man waved his hand and said, "No need. Taking action now will only prove that we have something to hide."

"..." Chongzhen was a little confused. "Just handle it as you see fit. Don't see anyone during this period. Just say that he was attacked by an assassin and his injuries haven't healed yet."

You can't kill her, after all, Hongniang came as a rebel king, and there is no reason to drive her away. She comes to visit you as a rebel king, and even if you don't want to see her, you can only refuse politely.

At the beginning, the third in command actually came as an attendant of the rebel king to deliver a visiting card, so he was close to the wall of the Governor's Mansion. Otherwise, he would not have been able to see the situation in the yard so easily.

Every failure makes one wiser. Now, outside the Governor's Mansion, there is a guard post every five steps and a sentry every ten steps, and the entire mansion is surrounded tightly.

No one is allowed to get close.

"How about asking the imperial court's troops to intensify the suppression of Lady Hong?"

……

Sun Chuanting led his troops to advance steadily and continuously, and among them, Sun Yingyuan's loyal and brave army was the most powerful.

For example, Li Zicheng's subordinates liked to hide in the mountains every time they were defeated. The White Spear Soldiers were good at mountain warfare and had more flexible and diverse combat methods and could adapt to various battlefield environments.

Especially with the support of artillery and muskets, these peasant armies were simply unable to compete with the loyal and brave army.

Liu Zongmin, Gao Guiying and Tian Jianxiu were all no match for him. They successively conquered Nanyang Prefecture and Runing Prefecture and marched straight to Xiangyang.

But although the government troops came and returned, the officials and gentry of the two prefectures did not feel at ease, because the Anti-Corruption Bureau came right after the government troops. The first thing they did after entering the two prefectures was to check the account books and publish them in the "Da Ming Times". Some of them had just escaped the steel knives of the bandits.

However, he was captured by the Jinyiwei of the Independent Commission Against Corruption, and all the silver, house deeds and land deeds hidden in his home were confiscated.

An old man pointed at the nose of the anti-corruption official and cursed. "But the gentry is the leader of the four classes of people. Without the support of the gentry, can the Ming Dynasty be stable?"

He used to be an official, and one of his ancestors was a Jinshi, so his family owned thousands of acres of fertile land. Now it was discovered that he had embezzled more than 40,000 taels of silver while in office.

"Oh my... What's going on? I can't live like this anymore." His wife rolled on the ground, trying to deny it, but the East Factory man whipped her. "Come on, you're blocking the Independent Commission Against Corruption from enforcing the law. You'll get twenty strokes of the cane."

"Ah?" The old woman was so frightened that she quickly hugged the old man's arm and said, "Master, if I get hit with twenty sticks, I will still be alive."

The old man cried bitterly and tried to beg for mercy, but was kicked away by the people from the East Factory.

"Does God want to destroy us gentry?"

The old gentry could not understand why the bandits came to attack them, and why the government troops came to suppress them. In succession, the imperial court became richer and the people also became richer.

Are these gentry the only ones who suffered losses?

How could such a thing be possible throughout history?

The old man muttered, "Scholars are the first of the four classes of people, and they are honored because of their high status... Rulers of all dynasties have tried their best to win over the "scholars"... What happened to the Ming Dynasty?"

"Why do I feel like the bandits and the imperial court are teaming up to bully us?"

I don’t know if it was the old man’s illusion, but the bandits, government troops, the Anti-Corruption Department, scholars... all seemed to be targeting the bureaucrats and gentry.

This situation occurred not only in Nanyang Prefecture, but also in Fengyang Prefecture, Huai'an Prefecture, and Tongren Prefecture.

The Anti-Corruption Bureau intervened strongly. They measured the land in various places, inspected all the account books, and the wealthy families in major states and counties, and compiled a list of grades.

Then it was printed and sent to various places.

The Ming Times' reports on these corrupt officials, powerful people, and evil gentry were like a raging fire, spreading the situation to various places and causing wave after wave of imitation.

In some places, there was no need for the Independent Commission Against Corruption to even take action. The people would wait outside the doors of these evil gentry early in the morning, just waiting for the Independent Commission Against Corruption to arrive so that they could rush in and pull out these officials and gentry.

Liquidation...

It suddenly became much easier for the Anti-Corruption Bureau to measure the land. Even Zhu Changgan did not expect that the prelude to land reform would be kicked off in such a strange way.

……

Sun Chuanting eliminated the bandits, and the Anti-Corruption Bureau stabilized the rear.

Then the army continued to advance eastward, and after receiving the emperor's order, it deliberately let the militia from Shanxi, Shaanxi and Henan engage in a head-on confrontation with the main force of the bandits.

This was exactly Zhu Changgan's backup plan for militia, to reduce the scale of militia in poor areas such as Shanxi, Shaanxi, Henan, etc.

If you are not allowed to grow up, there will be no chaos.

Sun Chuanting's skills were also demonstrated at this time. If you refused to go up when he asked you to, that would be disobeying the order and you would be suppressed on the spot.

Even though the battles in Shaanxi, Shanxi and Henan have been completed, they are not allowed to go back. They are kept firmly under their control and under unified command.

At this time, Zhu Changgan revoked the status of militia ministers from the four provinces and instead granted them some honorary positions.

In this way, without authority and position, these troops were out of the command of these gentry.

By training and educating them with strict military discipline... their risks will naturally be reduced to the greatest extent.

"Report! A secret letter from the Royal Guards."

"Give it to me." Sun Chuanting took it from the messenger and unfolded it. He looked at the information on it and frowned. "Attacking Lady Hong?"

He asked Zuo Dabi to bring the map over, "It doesn't make sense to be so far away!"

After calming down for a moment, he threw the secret letter into the brazier and said, "Call Sun Yingyuan over and tell him that His Majesty has a secret decree."

"Yes!"

……

"The tiller shall own the land!" This policy of the Anti-Corruption Department swept through Henan, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Huguang, and other provinces like a storm. Whenever Sun Chuanting's troops passed through a place, the people were all excited and joined the army.

And an even bigger storm was brewing in the imperial court.

The civil officials were outraged and knelt outside the Qianqing Palace to submit a petition, demanding that the emperor thoroughly investigate Xu Cifu, the director of the Integrity Bureau.

"I boldly request Your Majesty to punish the Chief Justice of the Anti-Corruption Department by having him cut into pieces to set the record straight."

"How can your majesty's virtue be tarnished by such a despicable person?"

"His Majesty……"

Zhu Changgan had just returned from Chen Yuanyuan's place and was in a very good mood. However, when he saw this group of people, he suddenly lost his joy. "Call Fang Zhenghua."

Fang Zhenghua is now the chief eunuch of Silijian.

The reason why he was allowed to go up was because this man was ruthless, loyal and brave enough.

Historically, when Li Zicheng launched a massive attack, Fang Zhenghua led his army to counterattack and killed dozens of rebels. Because of his bravery in battle, he caught the attention of the rebels, and someone shouted to ask who he was.

Fang Zhenghua was not afraid at all and replied loudly: "I am Director Fang Gong!"

The peasant army rushed towards him. Fang Zhenghua fought desperately but was finally hacked to death. All his followers were also killed.

"Your Majesty, you..." Wang Chengen wanted to say something, but was interrupted by Zhu Changgan, "Go!"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Outside the Qianqing Palace, these civil servants were still shouting.

"The state is in a difficult situation. We are sorry to our ancestors, to Your Majesty, to the officials in various places, and to the people of the world... But Your Majesty arbitrarily changes the ancestral system. This move will shake the country and society of the Ming Dynasty."

Fang Zhenghua was brought over quickly.

"I don't want to hear them so loudly."

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Fang Zhenghua instantly understood the emperor's intention and shouted to his men, "All the ministers outside the Qianqing Palace, if anyone makes a sound, slap them in the face."

"Yes!"

In an instant, hundreds of people from the East Factory rushed over. Two people held down an official, while the other one raised his hand and slapped them hard in the face.

"Crack~"

"Crack~"

"..."

Hundreds of people slapped each other at the same time, and the scene was extremely spectacular.

Zhu Changgan stood on the palace gate, squinting his eyes and looking into the distance, watching these ministers being slapped one by one until the corners of their mouths were bleeding, and watching some old guys having their teeth knocked out.

Wang Chengen looked at the minister who was beaten, and the muscles on his face clenched with pain. "Your Majesty, isn't this too much? When the ministers and officials submit a memorial, they shouldn't do this..."

"Has it passed? But... did they submit the petition to ask me to punish the Independent Commission Against Corruption? No, they did it to slap me in the face."

"Who in the entire Ming Dynasty doesn't know that the Anti-Corruption Bureau was supported by me?"

"You should understand now why I didn't ask you to do it? Because you can't do such a thing, but Fang Zhenghua can do it, because he is loyal and brave enough, and he only has me in his eyes, and you... think more than him."

Wang Chengen's face suddenly changed, and he knelt on the ground, "Your Majesty, this eunuch has no selfish motives at all!"

"I didn't say you were selfish, nor did I say you were not loyal. Compared to him, you lack courage, but you think more comprehensively and think about the country and people of Ming Dynasty. This is why I put you here. Get up!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Wang Chengen wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead and dared not interrupt again.

"Come on, follow me and take a look."

Wang Chengen hurriedly helped the emperor walk out the door.

When the two men arrived outside the Qianqing Palace, all the ministers and officials had become stupid. When they saw the emperor coming out of the Qianqing Palace, they all had looks of fear.

Zhu Changgan raised his hand, and Fang Zhenghua ordered his men to stop.

"I know what you are thinking, but now the bandits have distributed land and exempted taxes in various places, and the people have surrendered."

"The common people scrambled and shouted, 'Kill cattle and sheep, prepare wine, open the city gates to welcome Prince Xin, and don't pay grain when Prince Xin comes.' Tell me, how can we defend the city strictly and win the hearts of the people of our Ming Dynasty?"

"The country is in a difficult situation. Now is the time to fulfill the loyalty, filial piety, courtesy, righteousness and trustworthiness that you recite every day."

Fang Zhenghua's eyes flashed with ferocity and he drew out the knife in his hand. The other people from the East Factory also drew out their knives.

The eyes of the civil and military officials widened at this moment, "Your Majesty, we... Your Majesty is wise!"

"Your Majesty, Holy Might!"

"I am very pleased that you have served the country and the people." Zhu Changgan sighed, "You will make the gentry of the Ming Dynasty suffer a little more and help the Ming Dynasty solve its century-old dilemma."

……

September 23,
"Sun Kewang... I didn't expect to fall behind this guy again." Prince Xin's order was transmitted to Hangzhou Prefecture. Shi Daoshen couldn't help but feel a little more angry when he heard that Sun Kewang had already attacked Suzhou Prefecture.

The city walls of Hangzhou were strong and the moat was deep and dangerous, so Shi Daoshen was unable to capture the city after seven days of siege.

During this period, they tried fire attacks, artillery, and tunneling, but with little success.

"Give me a message to the people of Hangzhou. If anyone still resists within one day, except for corrupt officials, bullies, and gentry, all those who participated in defending the city will be slaughtered and exterminated."

……

Thank you all for your monthly tickets. There will be another chapter around nine o'clock in the evening. Thank you!

(End of this chapter)