"This is a real surprise, but the more surprises like this, the better."
"If Huai'an Prefecture is defended, the slaves will not dare to go south to Yangzhou easily. If Yangzhou Prefecture is not lost, Nanjing will be as stable as Mount Tai. I congratulate the four ministers on their death. The great crisis of the Ming Dynasty has been resolved."
Gao Hongtu said happily: "You Lao Yintai will announce this good news to the whole city, no, to the world, so that the scholars and people all over the world will be happy."
"Your Majesty, I obey." Liu Shizhen bowed his head and left happily.
Watching Liu Shizhen leave, Shi Kefa and the other four were happy for a while.
Even Gao Hongtu, who has always been serious about his words, couldn't help but laugh this time.
"I didn't expect it, I really didn't expect it." Gao Hongtu stroked his beard and said with a smile, "I didn't expect that Yan Yingyuan and Mao Xiang had some skills and actually defended Huai'an, haha."
Shi Kefa bowed to Xuzhou again and said: "I have already said that the reason why the Holy One sent Yan Yingyuan, Mao Xiang and other scholars to Huai'an Prefecture to train rural warriors and defend the city must have his deep meaning. Before that, you all had
I didn’t believe it in every possible way, but now it’s time to believe it, right?”
"Okay, I admit that I really made a mistake this time."
Gao Hongtu simply admitted the fact that he had made a mistake.
At the same time, I gained a new understanding of Chongzhen’s selection and employment of people.
Zhang Youyu pouted behind Shi Kefa's back, obviously not admitting that he had made a mistake.
At that moment, Zhang Youyu said again: "The four cabinet elders should continue to discuss the sale of bonds..."
"What else are we discussing?" Gao Hongtu said with a smile, "Da Situ just go back and wait to collect the money. When the good news about Huai'an spreads throughout Nanjing tomorrow, the gentry and merchants in the city will come in droves, crying and buying the bonds sold by the imperial court.
.”
"That's the truth." Shi Kefa and the other four also nodded happily.
…
At this time, we are in Shanyang City.
Maoxiang met Hou Fangyu on the street.
Maoxiang was very surprised: "Brother Chaozong?"
Hou Fangyu glanced at Yan Yingyuan, as if he was hesitant to speak.
Yan Yingyuan said wisely: "Brother Bijiang, I have to say goodbye in advance."
"Brother Jianheng, I will discuss it with you later." Maoxiang sent Yan Yingyuan away.
Hou Fangyu also turned around and told Fan Chengmo who was accompanying him: "Go ahead and wait for me."
"Yes, young master." Fan Chengmo agreed and went to the street in front to wait alone.
"Brother Chaozong, what's the matter with you?" Maoxiang said with a smile, "Do you have any secrets to discuss with me?"
"Brother Bijiang, you and I have been old friends for many years, so I won't hide anything from you." Hou Fangyu didn't hide anything and stated his purpose of coming straightforwardly, "I am here to be a lobbyist."
"As a lobbyist?" Maoxiang's face turned cold, "Whose lobbyist? To build a slave?"
Hou Fangyu said: "Brother Pijiang, this is not the place to talk. Can we talk somewhere else?"
"Okay, then go to my apartment." Maoxiang snorted coldly and said, "Hou Chaozong, you'd better think it through before telling me, otherwise our brotherhood will end here."
At that moment, Maoxiang took Hou Fangyu back to his apartment.
After pouring a glass of water for Hou Fangyu, Maoxiang said: "Hou Chaozong, you can speak now."
Hou Fangyu lowered his head to sort out his words and said: "Brother Bijiang, you must have known about Chongzhen's decision to let Du Yinxi share the land in Xuzhou and Guide Prefecture for a long time, right?"
"I know." Maoxiang nodded, "I also support this matter."
"You also support it?" Hou Fangyu said in shock, "Brother Bijiang, you actually support the equalization of acres of land? Do you know what this means?"
"I know." Maoxiang said solemnly, "The Holy One has made it clear long ago that the property of the northern Jin gentry who committed the crime of collaborating with bandits and thieves will be confiscated. Your Shangqiu Hou family must have committed the crime of collaborating with thieves, so they were confiscated.
He lost all his land, so he took refuge with the slaves out of spite, am I right?"
The last sentence was a rhetorical question to Hou Fangyu.
"Collaborating with thieves? This is just an excuse." Hou Fangyu said angrily, "No matter whether our Hou family or other noble gentry families in the north are collaborating with thieves or captives, they will eventually be unable to escape Chongzhen's murderous hand."
Maoxiang frowned and said, "Hou Chaozong, don't speak so harshly."
"I'm telling the truth." Hou Fangyu said, "Chongzhen just wants to use our northern gentry and wealthy people as fat pigs to slaughter, and use our land to enrich his internal funds. He is such a coward and tyrant, and you still want to protect him?"
Maoxiang said: "Hou Chaozong, I just said that I support the issue of equalizing land."
Hou Fangyu sneered and said: "I hope you can still remember what I said today when Chongzhen has finished cleaning up the wealthy Jin gentry in the north and aims his butcher knife at the wealthy Jin gentry in the south."
Maoxiang laughed and said, "So that Brother Hou will know. You don't have to wait until that day. I can tell you clearly today that I fully support the Holy Emperor's implementation of the national policy of equalizing land in Jiangnan!"
"Ah?" Hou Fangyu said in shock, "Mao Bijiang, are you crazy?"
"I'm not crazy, it's Hou Chaozong who you can't see through." Maoxiang said coldly, "The reason why the Ming Dynasty fell to this point, you and I discussed it many times when we were studying in Nanjing.
The reason why the Ming Dynasty was rich in state resources was because a large amount of land was concentrated in the names of clans and wealthy gentry families."
"Needless to say, the clan doesn't even have to pay regular taxes. It's all nothing but moths."
"Although the wealthy Jin gentry families cannot avoid paying the official taxes, Ding Yin and Yao servants rarely pay the full amount."
After saying this, he added: "In view of this, if the national policy of equalizing land is not implemented, the dilemma of insufficient national resources will never be solved, and it will be impossible to revive the Ming Dynasty."
Hearing this, Hou Fangyu also lost his mind for a moment.
The scene of chatting about world affairs with Zhang Fu, Zhang Cai and others appeared in front of his eyes.
In fact, they all knew that the symptoms of the Ming Dynasty were nothing more than insufficient state supplies.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! And if they want to cure the incurable disease of insufficient national supplies, they also know very well, that is, equal land.
However, it is clear that none of them dare to make such a claim. The reason is also very simple, because they themselves and their families are the medicinal materials.
They also wanted to save Ming Dynasty, but they were unwilling to use themselves as medicinal materials for torture.
After a long while, Hou Fangyu said: "Having said that, your family is also one of the wealthy gentry families. Are you really willing to donate the land under your name to the court for free?"
Maoxiang said categorically: "Anyway, I, Maoxiang, am willing."
"Crazy, you are really crazy." Hou Fangyu said, "It is simply unreasonable."
Maoxiang said: "It's not enough to say anything. Hou Chaozong, you and I will no longer have any ties of friendship. Please come back."
"Madman! What a madman, a pitiful and pathetic madman." Hou Fangyu shook his head and said, "You were deceived by this dog emperor Chongzhen, and you will regret it in the future."
Maoxiang grabbed the tea cup on the coffee table.
Serving tea means seeing off guests, which means it's time for you to leave.
Hou Fangyu was so angry that he snorted coldly and left with a puff of sleeves.
Watching Hou Fangyu leave, Maoxiang sneered: "How dare you come here to be a lobbyist with this little bit of knowledge? You are not overestimating your capabilities."
After a pause, Maoxiang suddenly said to himself: "However, after Hou Chaozong said this, I suddenly remembered that Brother Jianheng seemed to have something to say, so I should go find him."
…
At that time, Maoxiang arrived at the residence of the governor of Hecao.
After Lu Zhenfei left, the governor's office was entrusted to Yan Yingyuan and Mao Xiang to handle official duties.
When Maoxiang walked into the lobby, Yan Yingyuan was checking the account books. The main reason was the consumption of money and food for this month's defense of the city, especially the consumption of equipment and supplies.
"Pijiang, you came at the right time."
Yan Yingyuan put down his brush and said, "Now I finally understand the meaning of His Majesty's words."
"What did the Holy Spirit say?" Maoxiang sat down opposite and asked casually, "What words."
Yan Yingyuan said: "The Holy One once said to us that when a cannon is fired, there are ten thousand taels of gold. It means that war costs money. I didn't believe it before, but now I believe it. War really costs money and food."
Maoxiang was stunned for a moment and said: "You mean that the battle in Shanyang consumed a lot of money and food?"
"Yes, it consumes a lot of money and food." Yan Yingyuan nodded and said, "I just did a rough calculation. The accumulated equipment and materials consumed are at least 500,000 taels of silver."
"What? Five hundred thousand taels are gone?" Maoxiang was surprised.
Yan Yingyuan continued: "This is only the money for equipment and materials. I haven't counted the village warriors who died fighting to defend the city, the pensions of the civilian husbands, oh, by the way, there are also the bounties for killing the slaves and the coats. This
The two expenses are also huge, even if it is a conservative estimate, it will cost upwards of five hundred thousand taels of silver."
Maoxiang was stunned and said: "Doesn't this mean that one million taels of silver are gone?"
"I'm afraid there will be more," Yan Yingyuan said, "because of the future repairs to the city wall, compensation will be needed for the demolished houses in the city, the civilian fields outside the city will also need to be backfilled, and the canal docks will also need to be rebuilt. These expenses will have to be borne by the court, and even
The refugees created by this war initially needed food from the court to feed them..."
Maoxiang sighed and said, "You really don't know how valuable food and rice are when you are not a member of the family. I have never been an official or responsible for anything before. I always felt that those local officials were incompetent and greedy. But today I know that it is really not easy to be an official."
"Nothing in the world is easy." Yan Yingyuan said, "If we say it is difficult, can anyone have it harder than the Holy One? But doesn't the Holy One also take things lightly and seem to have nothing on the surface?"
"By the way, I remembered this again." Maoxiang suddenly said.
"Before the slave army arrived, you had something to say. What did you want to say?"
"Really? What did I say?" Yan Yingyuan pretended to be stupid, "Why can't I remember it?"
"Brother Jianheng, don't pretend to be stupid." Maoxiang said angrily, "You still said that I was hot-blooded and brainless, and you promised me that if we were still alive after this battle, you would tell me the whole story."
Yan Yingyuan saw that he couldn't escape, so he had to say: "You said this."
"Yes, that's it." Maoxiang nodded and said, "Please explain it to me quickly."
Yan Yingyuan thought for a while and asked Maoxiang: "Brother Bijiang, what do you think of Mencius' theory of people-centeredness?"
Yan Yingyuan may be more understanding of the world and more insightful of people's hearts because he was a historian in Jiangyin. Anyway, he has seen that Chongzhen's admiration for Mencius' people-centered thinking is only a means, not the ultimate goal.
Bidige
In other words, Chongzhen may have truly cared about the people in his heart and was willing to let the people live a better life, but Yan Yingyuan did not believe that he would put the common people above the imperial power.
This can be seen from the time he set out to form the scholar camp.
Even the cabinet ministers in Nanjing did not see it, but Yan Yingyuan had already seen the profound meaning of Chongzhen's move. One day in the future, the Shiziying would become a huge bureaucratic group comparable to the six cabinet ministries.
Then, the two major bureaucratic groups will become mortal enemies and start fighting openly and secretly.
Then, Chongzhen, as the emperor, would be able to act as a central check, balance and mediator. In this way, the six cabinet departments could only become the right-hand arm of the imperial power like the Shiziying, and could never return to the former cabinet department with monopoly power.
Therefore, what Chongzhen really admired was not people-centered thinking, but imperial power! Everything Chongzhen did was to strengthen Zhu Ming's imperial power, not to weaken it.
But Yan Yingyuan was not sure whether Maoxiang could figure this out.
Therefore, we must first ask Maoxiang clearly about his views on people-centered thought, and then decide how far to go.
Because Yan Yingyuan was worried that if he came up and told everything, he might destroy Maoxiang's belief. It is true that young scholars are prone to enthusiasm, but it is also easy to dampen their enthusiasm. If they are not careful, they will give up on themselves and give rise to hatred out of love.
Maoxiang said without hesitation: "What is there to say about Mencius' theory of people-centeredness? This is the best principle in the world! Even the Holy One highly praises it. Scholars in our generation should take this as a criterion and practice it!"
After hearing this, Yan Yingyuan made a basic judgment about Maoxiang.
Well, this is a hot-blooded young scholar who really believes in the words of the Holy One.
You can't talk too deeply to Maoxiang. At that moment, Yan Yingyuan said: "Brother Pijiang, that's why I say you are a real visionary, because the Holy Lord is an eternal sage who truly puts the common people in his heart.
Sooner or later, he will definitely start to solve the problem of land being too concentrated in the hands of the clan, gentry and wealthy families."
After saying this, he added: "Instead of waiting for the Holy Spirit to take action and being passively handed over to the fields, it is better to take the initiative to donate all the fields now, so that you can at least gain a good reputation."
"Hey, I don't agree with what Brother Jianheng said." Maoxiang waved his hand and said, "If we risk our lives and work in the fields, it's not to gain a good reputation, but to save the Ming Dynasty from danger and tide over the times together.
difficult."
"Oh, yes, yes." Yan Yingyuan said repeatedly, "What Brother Pijiang said is absolutely true."
After saying this, Yan Yingyuan whispered again: "However, Brother Pijiang, don't tell anyone about this matter. Although the Holy Emperor will inevitably equalize the land in the south of the Yangtze River sooner or later, he will not act rashly before the north is restored."
Maoxiang said: "You don't need to tell me, I already know it."
Yan Yingyuan suddenly asked again: "By the way, what does Hou Fangyu want from you?"
