On the tenth day of May, a heavy rain in the morning washed away the heat in the air, making the entire imperial city feel cooler.
There are many gates in the Imperial City of the Ming Dynasty. The outermost one is the Daming Gate, then the Chengtian Gate, then the Duanmen, and then the Meridian Gate. Pass through the Neijinshui Bridge behind the Meridian Gate and pass through the magnificent square before walking to the entrance of the Ming Imperial City.
The fifth gate, Huangji Gate.
Huangji Gate is actually the main entrance to the imperial city. But it is also the place where the emperor listens to government affairs. Although Zhu Yuanzhang, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, preferred to hold huge court meetings in the Fengtian Hall behind Huangji Gate to Zhaoyi Tianxia, but the emperors behind them all
I prefer to hold a smaller morning court at Huangjimen.
The Early Dynasty of the Ming Dynasty disappeared for a time after Wanli, but in the crisis-ridden Apocalypse and Chongzhen Dynasties, the Early Dynasty, which had been interrupted for many years, was restarted. The emperor of the Ming Dynasty hoped to use this diligence to exchange for a peaceful world.
At this time, Emperor Zhu Youjian was holding a morning court at Huangji Gate. In the morning court, the new Minister of War, Yang Sichang, was holding a dental plaque and talking:
"I request you to use Shaanxi, Henan, Huguang, and Jiangbei as the four main forces, and the four governors to attack them separately and defend them exclusively; use Yansui, Shanxi, Shanxi, Jiangnan, Jiangxi, and Sichuan as the four main areas.
In the six corners, the six governors divided their defenses and cooperated in the suppression; this is called a ten-faced net. The governor, the prime minister and two ministers followed the thieves' direction and specialized in conquering them."
Yang Sichang was dragged out of Shouxiao's home by Zhu Youjian himself. After Zhang Fengyi, the Minister of the Ministry of War, committed suicide by eating rhubarb, Zhu Youjian looked around at the unavailable ministers, and finally selected Yang Sichang, who was at home with Ding You. The emperor took advantage of his love and appointed Yang Sichang as the Minister of the Ministry of War.
After Yang Sichang arrived in Beijing, the emperor talked with him several times and expressed his trust in his favor. Yang Sichang was enterprising and the emperor appreciated it very much. He summoned Yang Sichang several times to answer questions beyond the scheduled time. Zhu Youjian was unable to handle the affairs Yang Sichang requested.
It's not allowed. The emperor also said to Yang Sichang: "I hate using Qing Wan."
Seeing the emperor's favor and trust in Yang Sichang, all the officials shunned Yang Sichang, and no one dared to challenge him. The memorials that Yang Sichang submitted in the past few months were all approved by the cabinet vote.
At this time, Yang Sichang stood in the center of the Huangji Gate Hall and presented a strategy for defeating the thieves.
Hearing Yang Sichang's words, Zhu Youjian smiled and nodded, and said, "How are you employing Yang Qing's ten-faced net?"
Yang Sichang held up the dental plaque and said: "Now the governor-general Hong Chengchou and Wang Jiazhen are stationed in western Shaanxi and south of Henan. Wang Jiazhen is not enough, so I recommend Xiong Wencan to replace him."
Zhu Youjian knew Xiong Wencan, who was the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi who recruited Zheng Zhilong, and had a reputation as a virtuous man. Since Yang Sichang recommended it, Zhu Youjian decided to make full use of Xiong Wencan. Zhu Youjian thought for a while and said: "What Yang Qing said is true.
If so, then we will promote Xiong Wencan to be the Minister of the Ministry of War, the right deputy imperial envoy, and the Prime Minister directly under the direct control of Shanxi, Henan, Shaanxi, Huguang, and Sichuan provinces."
Hearing the emperor's words, the officials in the court were agitated, and the ministers couldn't help exchanging glances. Because of Yang Sichang's words, the emperor promoted a minister of the Ministry of War, the right deputy censor of the capital, and the prime minister of the six provinces. This Yang Sichang was among the emperor's
The position in my heart is truly astonishing.
Yang Sichang was talking eloquently in the court, but no one dared to speak out.
Yang Sichang did not expect that the emperor would agree to his request and replace Wang Jiazhen. The emperor's trust made him feel an inexplicable pressure. But since the emperor trusted him so much, Yang Sichang simply finished his words in one breath. He took a breath
In a tone of voice, he added: "I still have some strategies to give."
Zhu Youjian said: "Yang Qing said!"
Yang Sichang paused, looked at the officials on the left and right nervously, and then said loudly: "In order to suppress the bandits, I propose to increase the troops by 120,000 and increase the pay by 2.8 million taels. What are the strategies for the payment?
There are four: due to grain, overflowing the land, examples, and postal delivery. For grain, the amount of grain given in the old amount is increased, and the amount of grain is six tons per mu, and the stone is broken into eight coins of silver, and the land is not hurt, and the year is
It is very strange to get 1,929,000 silver; if the land is overflowed, if the land of the people exceeds the original amount, it is very strange to get 406,000 silver at the age of one year;
That's it. For those who deliver by post, the post office in front of me cut off the province's silver and used 200,000 to pay for it!"
Yang Sichang wants to raise taxes!
Upon hearing Yang Sichang's words, the court hall suddenly exploded, and all the officials couldn't help but whisper.
Yang Sichang wants to increase taxes, and he will increase them by 2.8 million taels at a time. He wants to increase the land tax for every acre of land in the Ming Dynasty, increase taxes on newly reclaimed fields, open a way for wealthy households to donate to prison students, and seize the withdrawal of postage.
The money saved by Yi.
If it were anyone else, such an increase in taxes would have been scolded by the officials on the spot. The late Liang Tingdong, Minister of the Ministry of War, once proposed to increase taxes, but he was scolded by the officials, and he was impeached and removed from office in less than a year. The officials are thousands of people
No official would be allowed to put his hands on the land.
The officials, nobles and gentry of the Ming Dynasty have sucked out the blood of the poor. Where is there room for increasing taxes? To increase taxes is to take money from the pockets of officials, nobles and gentry. If the powerful give in,
It means that the powerful people suffer. If the powerful people do not give in, it will be the straw that breaks the camel's back, and the government will force the people to rebel.
Once taxes are raised, the game between the powerful and the poor will push the poor to the edge of rebellion. There will be a situation where wherever thieves go, those who respond will gather.
The people of Ming Dynasty who bear the national tax have no more blood to draw.
The officials were agitated and discussed. But Yang Sichang was so popular, who would dare to offend the emperor and come out to oppose him?
Those who were discussing secretly found that there were many people talking, but no one dared to jump out to object, so they gradually stopped talking with some embarrassment. The court gradually became quiet, showing a suffocating tranquility.
Zhu Youjian looked at the quiet ministers and touched his chest hesitantly. After thinking about it, he said: "I know! Let me consider the payment plan carefully."
Yang Sichang held up the dental plaque and said, "I've finished playing!"
Zhu Youjian thought for a while and said: "Payment is very important, let me think about it for a few days. But when it comes to hiring people, I have a plan! I know that Tianjin is the strongest military force of the Ming Dynasty now. Tianjin soldiers and horses are also guerrillas."
Li Zhi's troops are the strongest! If Yang Qing's military department wants to suppress the bandits, they can mobilize Tianjin and Li Zhi's troops to assist in the suppression, which will definitely help them a lot."
After hearing the emperor's words, the officials couldn't help but whisper. It's understandable that Tianjin's soldiers and horses are the strongest. The previous victory at Fanjiazhuang was that Tianjin's soldiers and horses captured 7,600 heads of Dongnu.
If the army is silent, it will be a blockbuster. But who is this guerrilla Li Zhi? A small guerrilla can actually make the emperor remember him.
Someone knew the details of Fanjiazhuang's victory and said to the people around him: "This is the same conduct that killed Yang Guli in formation, but now it has been upgraded to guerrilla!" The officials next to him suddenly realized.
Yang Sichang thought for a while and remembered the memorial copied from the Di newspaper. Li Zhi was indeed the number one figure in Fanjiazhuang's great victory. He thought again and remembered that Li Zhi was the general who killed Yang Guli. Such a military attaché should use
It will be beneficial to the situation of suppressing thieves.
Such a good general cannot be left idle.
Yang Sichang held up his dental plaque and sang loudly: "I have obtained the decree!"
