Chapter 993 The emperor who is not afraid of death is not a good emperor
Of course, even if they join the Tang Dynasty anyway, these former high-ranking officials of the Ming Dynasty can't expect to receive very good treatment. Those with the best treatment will at best be given a false position and then be placed under residential surveillance.
However, most of them are still under house arrest, without even holding a false position.
As for when we will be free, that will definitely be in the future!
Zhang Yue's future fate is probably similar to that of many high-ranking officials of the former Ming Dynasty who were captured by the Tang Dynasty. It won't take long for Zhang Yue's blood letter to control the pseudo-Ming Dynasty, saying how bad the former Ming Dynasty was. He didn't see the facts clearly before, and he was
After being deceived for many years, now that I have seen the glory and greatness of the Holy Emperor, I will finally wake up. From now on, I will definitely serve the Tang Dynasty well and fight resolutely against the remnants of the false Ming Dynasty!
Then this article, whether written by Zhang Yue himself or ghostwritten by the great writers in the Chao Bao Department, will be published in the Tang Dynasty Chao Bao and be seen by the world.
After people all over the world see it, they will realize: Wow, even Zhang Yue has surrendered, our Tang Dynasty is really awesome!
But in fact, what will happen to Zhang Yue? If nothing else happens, he will be imprisoned. Even if he really takes the initiative to kneel down and lick the Holy Emperor and Datang, the best treatment is house arrest.
Freedom, he probably can't expect to get it in this life.
Since Zhang Yue was caught, no one probably cared about his fate except for a few people involved. Even Li Xuan, who had just returned to Jiujiang, received a report from Hanyang that Zhang Yue had been captured.
Finally, I didn’t pay much attention.
Just catch it, it's nothing special.
The Tang Dynasty today is no longer the Tang Dynasty a few years ago. In the past, they would be very excited if they could capture a prefect. They wished that the whole world would know that our Tang Dynasty had captured a prefect of the Ming Dynasty.
But before the Tang Dynasty, even Jinling and Youzhou were conquered. Even Emperor Zhengde and Emperor Shaowu committed suicide due to defeat. A lot of those ministers, ministers and other high-ranking officials were arrested!
To be honest, Zhang Yue's previous official position was not as good as these high-ranking officials!
In fact, in the past, people in the Tang Dynasty were just like poor people. After finally making a little money, they wanted to let everyone around them know that I am rich. Come and envy me and hate me!
But as I become richer and richer, I will gradually stop showing off my wealth on purpose, because at that time, people will know that I am rich without having to say it myself!
To put it simply, you are still showing off, but in the past you relied on bragging to show off, but now you rely on your strength to show off!
As for not showing off, that's impossible. If they can't show off, why are they working so hard to unify China?
After capturing Zhang Yue, someone will naturally handle related matters in the follow-up, such as conducting publicity and shaking the confidence of the remnant soldiers who are still digging for resistance.
In particular, we want to let the military and political officials of King Jing's regime know that, you see, Zhang Yue is finished and has surrendered, and you are still resisting, so you might as well surrender.
After arriving in Jiujiang, Li Xuan did not stay in Jiujiang for too long. He only stayed in Jiujiang for one day. This day's stay allowed the soldiers of the Guards to rest a little.
As the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, Li Xuan would naturally ride in a very comfortable special royal boat along the way, or ride an oversized carriage directly on land. Whether it was a boat or a carriage, the comfort was naturally unparalleled.
, even the important civil and military ministers who came with them did not have to worry about the fatigue of the journey and other issues.
But for ordinary Guards soldiers and many followers, traveling hundreds of kilometers away is not a pleasant experience.
Moreover, in order to ensure strategic security, the officers and soldiers of the Guards did not all take boats, but were divided into two parts. One part walked overland on the shore, while the other part took boats.
Needless to say walking, walking hundreds of kilometers, even if you only walk a dozen kilometers a day, is still tiring. Even if you take a boat, there are many people crammed into a boat, so don't expect any comfort.
As for the Guards, Li Xuan would not fail to consider the feelings of ordinary soldiers. It was very necessary to walk for a while and stop for a while so that the soldiers could rest.
Otherwise, if Li Xuan just took a boat all the way down the river, he would be able to return to Jinling in no time at all.
But will Li Xuan abandon the Guards and run back directly?
impossible!
Without the Guards by his side, even if Jinling City was the capital of the Tang Dynasty, Li Xuan would not dare to go back alone. Who knows what he will face when he goes back.
What if there are any careerists in Jinling City who want to kill me?
You must know that Li Xuan now has a son. After killing Li Xuan, the ministers can support one of the princes to ascend the throne and become the emperor, and use his status as the founding hero to coerce the young master. That is not very satisfying.
Even if Jinling City is safe, if something unexpected happens on the way, for example, an official or general along the way goes crazy and wants to kill him, or there are large-scale bandits who want to intercept him.
Kill him.
In short, there are so many possible accidents!
Although theoretically speaking, the above-mentioned accidents are unlikely to occur, but Li Xuan does not want to take even the slightest risk.
So no matter where he goes, he always brings the Guards with him!
Without the Guards, Li Xuan would not worry whether he was going out for a personal expedition or returning to Jinling City!
Well, to put it bluntly, I am afraid of death!
However, an emperor who is not afraid of death is definitely not a good emperor.
Under the feudal centralized system, if the monarch dies, no matter what the reason is, it will definitely cause political turmoil, even civil strife, division, etc., so for the sake of the country and the people, Li Xuan feels that he cannot die!
For the sake of the stability of the country and the safety of the people, Li Xuan allowed the soldiers of the Guards to rest for a day in Jiujiang before continuing back east again with the Guards!
If nothing unexpected happens, after three or five days, we will rest somewhere along the way. Anqing, Dangtu County, Taiping Prefecture, these places are all possible.
The return of the Holy Emperor to the East is naturally the most important event in the Tang Dynasty at present, even more important than the subsequent Southwest Campaign.
The Southwest Campaign is currently in its third phase, which is to completely control the Hubei region, including the recovery of Anlu Prefecture, Jingzhou, De'an Prefecture, Xiangyang Prefecture and other areas, and finally deploy troops in Badong!
As for the subsequent attack on Sichuan, that is the fourth stage!
And the complete recovery of western Sichuan and parts of Yunnan is the fifth stage of the finale!
The Privy Council of the Tang Dynasty prepared a total of five stages of combat plans for the Southwest Campaign. Dozens of senior combat staff members worked together to make suggestions and constantly adjust the five-stage combat plans.
However, since the second phase of the battle plan was completed, the next three phases are actually the final stages. Half of the 150,000 supervisors under Zhang Yue have been killed, and half of the supervisors are still supervisors.
Although the rest of the truly elite main force are also called supervisors, the quality of the personnel and equipment are definitely not as good.
Therefore, whether it is from the tactical details or from the overall strategic perspective, the subsequent Southwest Campaign will basically not cause any problems as long as it is fought step by step.
Li Xuan was also very relieved to leave the follow-up operations of the Southwest Campaign to the Privy Council and the frontline generals!
But Li Xuan's return to the dynasty is definitely more important!
Li Xuan is not an ordinary person. His return to the dynasty is of great political significance!
Li Xuan had gone on a personal expedition before, and although he still controlled the military and political power remotely, many things were difficult to deal with since he was not in Jinling.
So now, Jinling City actually has a lot of government affairs waiting for Li Xuan to deal with.
To Li Xuan, these matters were just ordinary government affairs, but to the entire Tang Dynasty, they were very important and would affect the fate of countless people.
An ordinary memorial, whether Li Xuan is accurate or not, can determine the fate of hundreds of thousands or even millions of people!
For example, the land rent reform issue in Jinling City has recently caused many officials to discuss it. Its influence is huge, and many people in the world are paying attention to it.
Why, because the Ministry of Agriculture has proposed a rent reduction plan for official land!
In the past, the land rent in Guantian was basically based on the differences in each place. Each local government formulated different plans on its own. And this plan basically referred to the local land rent level. Under the local land rent level,
, a slight decrease, but it is only a slight decrease, not too little.
The rent of this land is not high, but it is definitely not low, because based on the harvest in ordinary years, the rent of official land accounts for about 50% of the harvest, and some land in better condition, such as top-grade land,
In paddy fields, this ratio will reach 70%.
Although the ratio sounds a bit exaggerated, there is no way, it is so high, and after paying the land rent, the tenants no longer have to bear the agricultural tax, because the agricultural tax in the Tang Dynasty was not levied on the farmers, but on the landowners.
In terms of collection, the owner of the official land is the government, and the one who pays taxes is also the government. It has nothing to do with the tenants who rent the official land.
As for the private landlords, tenants do not pay taxes, the taxes are paid by the landlords.
As for agricultural taxes, they account for about 30% of the harvest in an ordinary year.
Then some people will say that the land tax in a certain dynasty was only 5%, or even lower. But if you add in all kinds of exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes, deliberate apportionment by the bottom, etc., you will find that farmers farmed for one year,
It is normal to pay 70%, but if you encounter a cruel person and the harvest is not enough to pay the tax, it is not unheard of.
In addition, another key point is that agricultural tax, like land rent, is a fixed number, not a fixed ratio. For example, if a farmer rents a piece of official land and the annual rent is one tael of silver, then the one tael of silver is fixed, no matter what you do.
Whether there is a bumper harvest or a decrease in production, it has to be harvested. In the actual implementation process in the past few years, there have been many cases where a certain place has been hit by natural disasters and the world has experienced large-scale production reductions or even no harvests. Farmers who rent official land cannot afford to pay the land rent.
Condition.
But now, the Ministry of Agriculture has proposed to carry out reforms on the existing basis. Instead of implementing a fixed land rent system, it will instead levy land rent according to a rated proportion based on the actual output of the land.
For example, if a piece of land has a harvest of one hundred dou of grain this year, then fifty dou of grain will be charged as rent. If the production is reduced and the harvest is only ten dou of grain, then only five dou of grain will be charged.
When the Ministry of Agriculture proposed this idea, it was based on the idea of "more harvests in good years and less harvests in disaster years." However, when this plan was first proposed and had not been submitted to the cabinet for discussion, the Ministry of Agriculture itself was the first to
There was a falling out.
Some people believe that this can greatly reduce the burden on farmers without affecting official land rental income.
However, some people believe that this plan has too many operational loopholes, which will greatly increase the burden on farmers and cause huge losses to the national treasury.
In the past, it was based on a fixed field rent, and the field tax was charged based on the number of fields. It was simple and clear. However, if it was based on the actual harvest, it would be a big trouble. How to determine the actual output is a big problem!
For example, if a farmer only collects ten bushels of grain, you have to say that his harvest is twenty bushels and the tax must be collected according to twenty bushels. That's nonsense.
For example, a farmer collected ten dou of grain and then only said that he received one dou. That is even more nonsense!
Although there are many problems, it is undeniable that the Ministry of Agriculture will try its best to reduce the burden on farmers, especially landless farmers, while maintaining the overall agricultural tax and official land rental income of the national treasury without a significant reduction.
.
After Li Xuan, who was still on the road, received the memorial on this matter, he did not make any statement and just kept it in silence!
If you want to deal with this matter, you have to wait until he returns to Jinling City to deal with it!