Linxia

Chapter 244, Six Years

Huai'an.

On the riverside in the city, it was spring, willows were swaying, grass was growing, and birds were flying. Fang Lin and Dong Zugao were fishing under the shade of the trees.

"I heard from my sister-in-law that Brother Dong has been locking himself in the study recently, never going out, and sighing all day long. Why is he like this?" Fang Lin hung the bait and cast the fishing line.

"Brother Fang, how could you not know? It's because the three new policies are really harmful to the country and the people. Take the abolition of industrial and commercial taxes in Jianghuai for example. Jianghuai can now fully afford this tax..." Dong Zugao paused halfway through his words when he realized that they were also the beneficiaries of this policy.

"Brother Dong, although we can benefit from this strategy and save tens of thousands of taels of silver every year, if the court wants to take it back, I will also support it. I believe Brother Dong has the same idea. After all, our Jianghuai area is the richest in the entire Daxia, and other places are already overwhelmed. We should tolerate each other for the sake of the country!" Fang Lin expressed his opinion.

Perhaps Emperor Chongxiang thought this policy demonstrated fairness, but in fact, no matter which dynasty, it is impossible to say that all regions of a country are absolutely fair. For example, in the previous life, chemical companies were relocated to... and there was a red line for cultivated land... The same is true in this world. If we really want to talk about fairness, can the imperial examination be considered fair? The people of Liaodong are on the front line, bearing the pressure of the Jurchen Tartars. Can it be considered fair?

"I know that Brother Fang understands the greater good." Dong Zugao continued, "Secondly, collecting Liao tribute, given the current administration of Daxia, may force the people in the north to riot. And abolishing the post stations, this move will not save much, but will destroy the jobs of tens of thousands of people and force them into a desperate situation. Your Majesty, aren't you afraid of causing chaos?"

"Yes, I think this new policy is indeed self-destructive. Brother Dong is so concerned, but do you want to go to the capital to turn the tide?" Fang Lin asked with a smile.

"Even if I want to go to the capital, I'm afraid I can't." Dong Zugao smiled bitterly.

Although he belonged to the same civil service group and had been persecuted by Wei Zhongxian, and his faction had made great sacrifices in the struggle against Wei Zhongxian, now that Wei Zhongxian was dead, the shackles of being unable to be promoted had been removed from his head. It was only a theoretical possibility for promotion, and in reality he still could not be promoted to the capital.

As for Zhou Jingchong's faction, Dong Zugao and they were not in the same boat. Even if Wei Zhongxian fell, the vacant positions would have been occupied long ago. How could it be Dong Zugao's turn?

In other words, the civil service group and Wei Zhongxian were mortal enemies. They had briefly united to defeat Wei Zhongxian, and the faction to which Dong Zugao belonged had also made great sacrifices... But now, with Wei Zhongxian's fall, the civil service group began to fight among themselves. The Donglin Party, Zhejiang Party, Qi Party, etc., are currently in the upper hand and have reaped the fruits of victory.

"Isn't that enough? Even if there is any trouble with the new policy, what does it have to do with you, the prefect of Huai'an, and me, a figurehead?"

“Having said that, but…” Dong Zugao has his family, country and the world in his heart. He has a kind of sentiment and a conscience. Sometimes, having too high a moral bottom line can also be a torture.

He realized something and suddenly glanced at Fang Lin. He sensed Fang Lin's change. He seemed to have returned to the indifference to the outside world that he had when they first met. He was silent for a while and asked, "Brother Fang, are you worried because of the eldest prince..."

"Yes, I have figured out some things."

Fang Lin watched the float move, reeled in the rod and took down a small fish, saying, "I once mentioned a point to the Duke: 'The greater the ability, the higher the position, the greater the power, the greater the responsibility'. So, if there is any chaos in this world, shouldn't the person sitting in that position and making decisions at a high level bear the responsibility and consequences?"

"Your Majesty, you can't enjoy the power to rule the world, but you make one stupid move after another. The officials in the court are trying their best to undermine the Great Xia, and they are all getting fat and fat. When the time comes for danger, you shout 'Every man has his share of responsibility for the fate of the country', and let us, the common people, take the blame?"

"If the worst happens, they will bear the consequences and hang themselves on the crooked tree, and the streets will be trampled by the nobles. Isn't that what they should do?"

This is a very simple truth. If you are in that position and hold that power, you must naturally bear the corresponding responsibilities... To put it more bluntly, you commit evil, you bear the consequences, refuse to share the sins! Refuse to share the responsibilities! You can't do evil, but don't want to bear the consequences, and expect the common people to ruin their homes to help them, and a savior will appear to save you, the nobles, from the water and fire. How can this be justified?

"I am not a saint who cares about the people of the world. I am just an ordinary person. I just need to have a clear conscience and live up to my conscience."

"Yes, Emperor Hongtai was kind to me, but I also gave back to him by exerting influence and promoting sweet potatoes ahead of time. In addition, I also mentioned many things that I could have said to Emperor Hongtai, so that he could prepare for the future. But now his descendants are not up to the task and cannot help me. What can I do? Not to mention that it is difficult to reverse the situation by my own strength, even if I want to, it depends on whether Emperor Chongxiang is willing... Zhang Ruian ended up like this!"

It can be said that Zhang Ruian’s death awakened Fang Lin and shattered his last fantasy about Daxia. In today’s world of great changes, he chose to remain indifferent. He did not want to, was unwilling to, and was unable to shoulder responsibilities that did not belong to him.

'When that time comes, I will follow the plan and take my family, relatives and old friends and flee overseas. As for the people of Huai'an, I can't be where I am today without their support and contribution. I also have a responsibility to them. When the time comes, I will try to take those who are willing to go with me... For the rest, I can't do anything about it. Just respect their fate!'

"Brother Fang, that's true. Your Majesty, the Lord of the Court, if... it's your own fault... but what is the fault of the people?"

"Yes, the people are the most pitiful. Even if they are in chaos, the first to suffer are the people. Only when the tears of the people gather into water that can they be held accountable... But as I said before, if those in power are not afraid of retribution and do not cherish their own people, why should people like you and me worry about it? Even if we worry about it, what can we do?"

Fang Lin patted Dong Zugao on the shoulder and advised: "Brother Dong, you are only the prefect of Huai'an. It is enough to govern a place and benefit the people. Thinking too much will only cause trouble for yourself."

"Yes, that's right!" Dong Zugao felt much more relieved after hearing this. He stopped thinking about those things and focused on the present, experiencing the joy of fishing.

"That's right, think positively. If those people want to make trouble, if the sky wants to rain, if my mother wants to get married, just let them do whatever they want. It's enough for us to do our duty well."

Fang Lin said, and reeled in his rod with a sigh: "Another bite, Brother Dong, these fish are just right for the servants to make fish soup tonight, to go with our wine."

"OK!"

……

Time flies by.

In the spring of the second year of Chongxiang, the Jurchens from Liaodong broke into the capital, shocking the capital.

In that year, Huang Taiji, who was seriously injured by the bombardment, died. The internal conflicts of the Liaodong Nuzhen were so numerous that they could not be suppressed. In the end, it was the regent Dorgon who reluctantly reconciled the parties and tried to attack Daxia, hoping to transfer the internal conflicts to the outside world. If the war was victorious, it would achieve the effect of transferring the conflicts; if it failed, by consuming more people in Daxia, it might be able to survive for another year or two. However, it was this one test that achieved unprecedented results. The Daxia army was like paper, winning battle after battle, and was unstoppable.

There were reasons for the serious decline in the combat effectiveness of the Daxia army: after Wei Zhongxian fell, the capable generals who had been promoted were liquidated, and the incompetent local residents who had been suppressed before fought back, causing turmoil within the army; at the same time, the Daxia civil officials came back to power and showed their old habits. In order to control the army, they were stingy and only paid 30% to 40% of the soldiers' salaries, making it difficult for the officers and soldiers who were fully staffed after Wei Zhongxian's rectification to survive... In this case, what combat effectiveness can we talk about? This paper tiger was just punctured.

It can be said that the success of this attack saved the Liaodong Jurchens, who had been suffering from years of natural disasters, numerous conflicts and were on the verge of collapse. It allowed them to successfully catch their breath and get through the most difficult time by sucking blood from Daxia.

In the summer of the same year, there was a severe drought in the north of Daxia. At the same time, the Liao tribute was being collected. The corrupt Daxia officials took this opportunity to levy heavy taxes and the people could not bear the heavy burden. People in many places in Jin, Lu, Yu, and Long killed officials and rebelled.

Compared with Fang Lin's previous life, under Fang Lin's influence, sweet potatoes are now popularized throughout Daxia, and more people survive, but it also caused chaos with more people, larger scale, and wider range at the beginning compared with the history of his previous life.

Emperor Chongxiang was furious when he received the report: During Wei Zhongxian's administration, the country was relatively stable and the war in Liaodong was going smoothly. But soon after he ascended the throne and eliminated Wei Zhongxian, the situation took a sharp turn for the worse. Does this mean that he is not as good as Wei Zhongxian? Then was it wrong for him to kill Wei Zhongxian? Should he issue an edict of guilt and commit suicide to apologize to the world? This is really outrageous!

The most direct consequence of the Jurchens in Liaodong attacking the border and civil unrest breaking out in various places was that Emperor Chongxiang's trust in Zhou Jingchong was shaken.

Zhou Jingchong may have realized the danger, and he resigned from the positions of Grand Secretary of Zhongji Palace and Prime Minister on the grounds of old age and lack of energy, and returned home.

Emperor Chongxiang accepted Zhou Jingchong's request to resign as Prime Minister, but did not allow him to retire and return home. He forced him to stay in charge of suppressing the bandits to make up for his mistakes. Zhou Jingchong was forced to sign a military order, and if he failed to suppress the bandits within five years, he would be beheaded.

However, because the national treasury was empty at the time, it was difficult to send troops to suppress the bandits. In order to save himself, Zhou Jingchong suggested that in addition to the Liao salary, additional funds for suppression and training should be collected, and Emperor Chongxiang agreed.

Thus, the suppression pay, training pay and Liao pay, later collectively known as the "Three Pays", were promoted in Daxia.

This suppression pay and training pay were originally set up to suppress bandits, but the bandits seemed endless. Time passed in a flash as Zhou Jingchong "won battles one after another, and good news came frequently, but the more bandits were suppressed, the more they appeared." It was the sixth year of Chongxiang. At this time, the scope of the peasant army's disaster expanded, and the Jurchens in Liaodong seemed to have tasted the sweetness and knocked on the gates for years.

Emperor Chongxiang finally ran out of patience with Zhou Jingchong. Just as Zhang Ruian had expected, he began to regret and reflect on the introduction of the three new policies. However, he only blamed himself for a moment before he put all the blame on Zhou Jingchong, believing that it was the "treacherous officials in the court" that caused this disaster.

It was at this time that the Donglin Party split, and Wen Zirong, the then Prime Minister, impeached Zhou Jingchong for ten major crimes, including deceiving the emperor, concealing defeat and claiming victory, and corruption.

Emperor Chongxiang took advantage of the situation and sent people to capture Zhou Jingchong, who was still in the front line to suppress the bandits, and brought him back to the capital to be executed by slow slicing.

Of course, such a simple, crude and untimely liquidation of Zhou Jingchong caused the Great Xia's anti-bandit army to suffer a great defeat against the peasant army, which needs no elaboration.

……

In the autumn of the sixth year of Chongxiang, Huai'an.

Compared to six years ago, Fang Lin's face looked more weathered, with a little gray on his temples. He was about to go out, and Tian Xuan was beside him tidying up his clothes and asking if he would come back for dinner in the evening.

"I'm going to visit the Master in the alley. I should be back soon. If it's time for dinner and I'm not back yet, you guys can eat first. By the way, where are my parents today?"

"Dad went to the dock to chat with some acquaintances, while Mom quietly followed Qiuqiu to the skills training class, wanting to see the guy that Shuo'er mentioned and Qiuqiu seemed to like..."

During these years, after returning from overseas, Fang's father and mother have not gone out again. The two elders have broadened their horizons overseas, and also learned a lot from Fang Lin. They realized that Daxia might... The family might have to go overseas in the future, and they might not be able to return to their roots, so they have not been overseas in the past few years and cherish the time in Huai'an now.

And five children?

Qiuqiu is now of marriageable age, and has become more and more beautiful and graceful, reminding Fang Lin that he is getting old. Last year, she went to a "skill training class" to teach a female class, and it seems that she has fallen in love with a teacher there, but her brother Fang Shuo recently revealed it;
After Fang's father and mother came back, Fang Tai asked to go to Southeast Asia to look after and manage the overseas business.

Fang Xi, who was away from home, was also overseas. However, now that he was older, he was sensible and in charge of a thousand-man armed group. Oh, a recent letter gave Fang Lin a big surprise. Didn't this guy go to the West in the past? He actually captured the heart of a princess of a small country. Now she couldn't forget him and came all the way here to find him.
Fang Shuo was also at the skills training class. Unlike his two brothers, who either liked to do business or were too ambitious to go out, this boy was able to concentrate on studying, and was particularly interested in Western science. It just so happened that they had invited back a few Western scholars, who were doing experiments there every day.

Fang Xing, the youngest daughter, was quiet in nature. She followed Shi Wenjun and Gu Yuyan to paint in the bookstore and enjoyed herself quite a lot.

Tian Xuan originally wanted to give them a few more brothers and sisters, but Fang Lin stopped her. She had already given birth to three children, five sons and daughters. Having more would be bad for her health. Given the sanitary conditions of that era, it would not be safe for older mothers either.

……

West Lane Hutong.

Fang Lin arrived at the Ou family. When he got to Master Ou, Master Ou did not respond until he greeted him. Then he said, "It's Zidun. You're here?"

"Master, your eyes..."

……

(End of this chapter)