golden scales

"I never underestimated the world, but Mr. underestimated me." Zhu Cihong turned around, paced back and forth with a smile, "Smart people know what to say and what not to say. If you tell him something without evidence It's no good either. The two gentlemen are perfunctory to me in a mediocre manner, obviously they have a grudge in their hearts, and they don't want to advance or retreat with me."

Before Sun Chuanting could speak to Wu Tong, Zhu Cihong went on to say: "Now is an extraordinary time, and we can only do extraordinary things. I sincerely regard the two of you as good teachers and confidants, so I never whitewash them. If the two gentlemen use the ancient If the tyrant looks down on me, then I can only do nothing."

"Your Highness..."

"In today's world, even Yan Shenggong can surrender thieves, but only my family can't!" Zhu Cihong emphasized his tone, and said: "Leaving aside the foundation of the ancestors, the clothes that have been written for thousands of years in China are the foundation! Breaking thieves I'm not optimistic about raising troops to the east, when Wu Sangui occupies Beijing, it's okay to say, if Donglu is allowed to take advantage of the situation, you and I will be stabbed in the back by future generations!"

Wu Zhen took a look at Sun Chuanting, knowing that showing loyalty is useless, he gritted his teeth and said, "Your Highness, in today's world, the holy learning must not be taken lightly! The holy descendants are still available. If you take the holy learning lightly, you will lose the defense of Huayi." '. This defense against Hua and Barbarians is in people's hearts, it is no different from a Shanhai Pass. Therefore, the minister's words cannot be withdrawn."

Any show of loyalty is not as good as actual action. Seeing that Wu Tong was outspoken, Zhu Cihong returned to his own train of thought and asked, "Then how can the holy descendants be used?"

"Wouldn't it be like shrews arguing if the imperial court announces the fact that Duke Yansheng voted for thieves?" Wu Sheng said bluntly, "It's nothing more than Zhu not being responsible for Kong and Kong being responsible for Zhu. Drag the court into the water too?"

Zhu Cihong nodded slightly. This is the overlap between the concepts of the country, the imperial family, and the imperial court. If you are not careful, people will secretly change the concepts.If the country can establish the majesty of the law and punish the treasonous person with the law, the imperial family will not have to fight naked.

"Let the Kong family fight the lawsuit themselves." Wu Sheng said: "If the other houses of the Confucian family want to confer titles, they must criticize Kong Yinzhi vigorously, and Kong Yinzhi must also defend himself. It all depends on the color of the court. Even if the imperial court let them slap themselves, they still have to slap and sing praises."

——Sure enough, Wu Xin's thinking is in tune with me.

Zhu Cihong praised secretly in his heart, and nodded slightly to express his agreement.What he can't bear most is that some superiors pretend to be profound after listening to people's suggestions for the sake of their own majesty.No comment.This will not only dampen the enthusiasm of the subordinates, but also give people a hint of lack of execution, and will also set up a communication barrier between the two, causing misunderstandings.

The human heart is not constant.Only saints can be impartial and unchanging.Just like Wu Xuan and Sun Chuanting, who have followed him along the way, are definitely loyal and important ministers by his side, but they will still stir the string called "suspicion" in their hearts because of certain things.If we can't break the barrier at this time, I'm afraid they will really have to go their own way in the future.

On the contrary, if you can pull hard when you are about to retreat.This heart will be closer again.

It will be closer, at least for a while.

Sometimes, Zhu Cihong is really envious of those people who carry a halo of loyalty, as if whoever sees them will abandon the negativity in human nature and become a saint in one fell swoop.

"Let's leave it at that for Kong Yinzhi." Zhu Cihong said, "Now that Liu Fangliang and his gang have been captured, there are no more thieves in Shandong. If we go further out, Ren Jirong who is stationed in Zhending is not our opponent. Henan As for the counties, it’s their true nature to look forward to the wind and surrender. Gao Jie guards Xuzhou in Nanzhi. I’m an old acquaintance. It seems that they can recover thousands of miles of land with one hand, but it makes me hesitate.”

"Your Highness, don't be in a hurry." Seeing that Zhu Cihong had turned over the page just now, Wu Tong felt a lot more relaxed: "That day when I discussed the world with Your Highness, I was based in Shandong. If I act rashly, I will repeat the mistake of Li Thief. "

Zhu Cilang chuckled lightly and said, "Mr. Li's conclusion about Li Thief is incisive. Just wait for the news from Shanhaiguan. Then we will know Li Thief's fate."

"The top priority is to stabilize Shandong." Wu Sheng said, "His Royal Highness withdraws the guards and sets up the county, measures the land, organizes households, and organizes the people. When these decrees are implemented, I will be shocked in my eyes. If it is ten years early in the Ming Dynasty, it doesn't matter where. As long as there is one governor who can accomplish this, how can we have the current situation? Therefore, I think that as long as the new policy can spread throughout Shandong, the 560 million people here will be enough to resist the whole country."

When the Hongzhi four-year census counted, Shandong had 77 households and 670 million people.In the sixth year of Wanli, the number of households increased to 130 million, but the number of people dropped to 560 million.From the fourth year of Hongzhi to the sixth year of Wanli, a total of 95 years, after the three dynasties of Hongzhi, Zhengde, and Jiajing, it was a period of prosperity and prosperity of the Ming Dynasty. There were no disasters or difficulties. Where did the population of 110 million go?

If we calculate the average number of people per household, the average number of people per household in Wanli was only four or five people, and the answer is naturally ready to come out: hiding.

Moreover, the number of households counted by these household departments based on the yellow book not only escaped a large amount of data, but also did not include the number of troops and civilians under the jurisdiction of the guard.

When Zhu Cihong came to Shandong this time, the first thing he did was register the household of Qimin, so that a more real population could emerge.

The East Palace cancels the head tax, and provides material support and land distribution based on the household registration, in order to let the people voluntarily declare their household registration.

Judging from the current statistics of the two prefectures of Denglai, Shandong should have a permanent population of 800 to 100 million.According to the land survey data during the Wanli period, there are 8000 million mu of cultivated land in Shandong.After the county is completely evacuated, the area of ​​arable land can be more than [-] million mu. Adding the newly reclaimed waste land, excluding the handicraft population who do not own the land, it is even possible to achieve "[-] mu of land for people and [-] mu of vegetable land". theoretical value.

Zhu Cihong believed that Wu Tong's character would not be wrong, and he also calculated in his heart: If the population of 600 million is calculated, the qualified soldier source is conservatively estimated at 100 million, and 10 people are conscripted for [-]%.According to the combat effectiveness of the Guards Battalion, one hundred thousand elites are enough to run amok in the world.

Sun Chuanting was also doing the same arithmetic problem, and he naturally came to the same conclusion: "It is indeed enough to support the people of Lu Province with the land of Lu Province." To recover, it will be impossible within three to five years."

Zhu Cihong said: "It's just as Sun Du said, but that only counts Shandong Province. Now Jiangnan is still in the hands of the imperial court, and Zuo Liangyu also occupies the Huguang granary. Regardless of Zuo Zhen's intentions, at least it has not been torn apart. Shameless, it’s not a problem to buy him food with real money. In my opinion, this year can guarantee that Shandong will not starve to death in large numbers, and the next year or the next will be much easier.”

"Your Highness, we still need to make plans for coastal defense." Sun Chuanting said, "Tianjin, Lushun and Denglai are only two days' sea journey away. After Kong Youde defected, the Eastern Prisoners also have ships, so we have to guard against them."

After returning to the desk, Zhu Cihong sat down and tapped on the table lightly: "To be honest, Donglu's sea boats are not as good as Shen Tingyang's sand boat gang. If they really want to come by sea, they will be exhausted just by landing." Landing battle Even after 500 years, it will be a very difficult subject. Dorgon will never abandon his strengths and make short ones, and use sea boats instead of iron cavalry.

"However, Sun Du's words reminded me." Zhu Cihong said, "A few days ago, Shen Tingyang reported that some Liao people had fled back to Shandong. It can be seen that the life of the Eastern Prisoners is not easy. I was thinking, can I Take Lushun Port in one fell swoop, and set up a line of defense on the front line of Jinzhou."

"Your Highness, if we want to regain Jinzhou, our army may have to fight on two fronts." Sun Chuanting frowned and said, "The army is still weak now, and it is the busy farming season, so it is difficult to replenish in large quantities."

Now Zhu Cihong is used to not counting the combat power outside the East Palace.Now the two battalions of the Guards have been reorganized, with a total of 800 people.Luo Yukun's independent guerrilla battalion had undergone preliminary reorganization before returning to the organizational system. After the officers had completed intensive training, this large battalion with a quota of 4000 people would be ready for use.

The next combat force that can be used will be Tanning's reserve battalion, with the default designation of the Third Guards Battalion.However, it will take less than two months for the recruit training to be fully completed.

In two months, I am afraid that the Qing soldiers will also arrive at the gate of Shandong.

It is really a difficult choice whether to nail the nails in Jinzhou or strengthen Shandong's outer defense... (To be continued...)

ps: Convention: Recommended tickets and monthly tickets.