After the Dragon Boat Festival, the weather gets hotter.
The wheat planted last winter has basically been harvested. However, due to the current situation, Shandong has lost a large population and many people have fled away from home. The area of wheat planted last winter is very small.
Ten acres of land are less than one acre of winter wheat.
After the beginning of spring, although some spring wheat was planted, the yield of spring wheat was lower than that of winter wheat. Moreover, due to the impact of the war, the Shandong government taxation was severe, and people once again went bankrupt and fled for work, so there was little spring wheat planting.
After Zhu Yihai captured the two cities of Denglai, he quickly divided his troops and wiped out all the counties on the peninsula.
The Ming army did not encounter much resistance. Before Kong Geng moved to Denglai, Denglai was already riddled with holes. The government's excessive taxation also led to constant uprisings by the hungry people. The original green camp was almost destroyed. Kong Geng was annihilated and reorganized.
Afterwards, there was basically no resistance in the lower counties and villages.
Facing the Ming army rushing across the river, the county magistrates and subordinate officials in each county either put up their seals and ran away, or directly greeted the king's army. However, the local gentry, landlords and common people who remained in their hometowns were not satisfied with the arrival of the Ming army.
, which is also a rare and respectful attitude.
It’s really been a hard time for everyone these past two years.
The Ming army, Shun army, and Qing army, together with bandits and hungry people, repeatedly ravaged this land. Especially after the rise of Zhu Yihai, the people of Shandong were also unlucky under the oppression of the Qing army. They supplied military food and built ships.
Various tasks such as building embankments and connecting rivers were piled on top of their heads. As a result, families were destroyed, and nine out of ten houses were empty.
In the past, everyone secretly criticized the Ming Dynasty every day, but after these two years, everyone started to miss the Ming Dynasty. Even the most turbulent Chongzhen Dynasty was stronger than it is now.
During the Denglai Rebellion, none of them experienced such misfortune.
"It's such a shame that such a large area of land is deserted."
Zhu Yihai rode on horseback and inspected the fields outside Laizhou City. In large fields, weeds grew as tall as half a man.
"The people should be organized to resume farming as soon as possible. Food is the most important thing for the people. Now in times of war, food is even more precious." Huang Zongxi, who had just been summoned, was very heartbroken when he saw the desolate scene.
"Do you have any good plans?"
The emperor summoned Huang Zongxi to appoint him as the governor of Shandong. This famous Jiangnan scholar who had failed in the imperial examinations repeatedly stepped forward when the two capitals fell and the country was in danger. He recruited local warriors and led his brothers and tribesmen to establish world loyalty.
The martyrs of the battalion have performed very well over the past year.
From patrolling in Zhejiang, to serving as a sub-inspector, then as chief envoy, and now being called to Shandong, he has shown his talents in troubled times. Whether it is to supervise military affairs and suppress bandits and calm the people, or to organize and train the Baojia militia for self-defense, or to patrol
They work very hard and perform well in the administration of officials and in supervising tax reform.
Although some of his ideas are actually not in agreement with Zhu Yihai, and even some of his unique insights on taxation, Zhu Yihai is also very opposed to it. Moreover, as a member of the Restoration of Socialism, he has always had some sectarian prejudices against Ruan Ma and others.
, but under the current situation, it is still very rare for him to be able to temporarily suspend party fighting at the emperor's request and concentrate on local development.
Summoning Huang Zongxi here also expressed some of the emperor's thoughts, which was to defend Shandong, at least the Denglai Peninsula.
To defend Denglai, we can rely on the maritime navy to defend Denglai militarily, but we must be able to support ourselves in terms of money, food, and military pay. Otherwise, we must rely on transshipment from the south of the Yangtze River, which will be a heavy burden and unrealistic.
"In the past, people in Shandong mostly planted winter wheat. After spring, they would plant some corn in the field. In this way, after the wheat was harvested in summer, the corn in the field could continue to grow, and another crop of corn could be harvested at that time, without any delay.
.
However, after I came to Shandong, I traveled around and found that the main problem here is actually instability. There is a large population flow and a large number of people are fleeing. In particular, there is a huge food gap, high food prices, and many counties with serious famines.
, no one has escaped, and the price of food exceeds ten taels of silver per stone, and even two or three taels of silver per dou of food."
Huang Zongxi stayed in Zhejiang for more than a year and was transferred to many positions. He has been working in the local area and accumulated good experience.
Regarding how to restore the Denglai Peninsula, he came to several results after some on-the-spot investigation, "First of all, we must relieve the hungry people. If the people are hungry, they will turn into bandits, and they must provide food relief and comfort the people."
In troubled times, food is always the most difficult issue.
"I can pull some out of the military rations. In addition, the grain ships from Jiangnan will continue to bring food. Kim Sang-heon has returned to North Korea. It is estimated that the next batch of North Korean food will arrive soon.
I will raise the food."
The wheat in Jiangbei is being harvested one after another, which can alleviate some of the famine, while the rice in Jiangnan is about to be harvested.
Huang Zongxi breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this.
Without food, nothing can be solved.
With food, there is an entrance to solving problems.
He proposed to provide food relief on one hand, and at the same time provide relief with work, and on the other hand send troops to recruit peace, encircle and suppress bandits in various places, etc. This two-pronged approach would first stabilize the situation, and then restore people's livelihood with peace of mind.
“What’s a way to provide relief through work?”
"There are too many hungry people now, and most of them are fleeing from famine. It is unrealistic for them to return to their hometowns at this time. Therefore, I suggest that disaster relief points can be set up in various places to provide food relief. The victims in various places are provided with relief on the spot, and all accept
The people receiving relief must temporarily accept the court's arrangements.
For example, we organized hungry people on the spot to resume farming."
Nowadays, there are fields abandoned everywhere. At this time, no matter who owns the landowner, the government will first organize the hungry people to cultivate and cultivate the land. The government will provide seeds, etc. The hungry people will organize farming, and the rations will be provided by the government.
Although the spring sowing season has passed, after the summer wheat harvest, you can still plant some corn, sweet potatoes, potatoes, etc., and later on, you can also plant winter wheat, radishes, etc.
As long as it is edible, you can grow it, no matter whether it is coarse or fine grains, they are all life-saving grains.
The government provides food rations, organizes collective farming, and provides seeds. After harvesting, part of the harvest is distributed to the people farming in proportion, and part is included in the official warehouse.
Or after the harvest, people can return to their hometowns and start a new life again.
If the harvest is average this year, we can plant another two crops until everyone can return to their hometowns to resume production.
To carry out farming in this way requires the court to have great organizational capabilities. At the same time, it obviously means temporarily appropriating the land of the landlords. However, Huang Zongxi bluntly said that under the current circumstances, it should be expedient.
Since the land of the landlords is vacant, they can use it for farming first, or even not rent it to tenants.
Of course, after the incident, the land can be returned to the landlords, and even during the farming and emergency period, their original taxes can be exempted.
While fielding for disaster relief, we can also check and clear out the land situation. Some unowned fields caused by wars and other conflicts will be harvested.
Gu Wen
"Denglai is now in ruins. I specially decree that you will be exempted from two years of land tax and dingyin."
Although Tian Fu and Ding Yin were the big ones, Zhu Yihai still issued an edict to exempt them. He even added an edict that all previous taxes and duties were canceled in one go.
Regardless of whether there is arrears or not, the past will be ignored.
Anyway, starting from next year, that is, three years from Shaotian, Shandong taxes will be levied again, and the previous ones will be ignored.
Moreover, starting from the third year of Shaotian's reign, taxes will be collected according to the new tax system of Shaotian Dynasty, that is, according to the current new tax law in Zhejiang, taxes will be divided into acres, and the officials and gentry will pay the grain together, etc.
Although the privileges and exemptions for the gentry have now been abolished, Zhu Yihai did not completely deprive them of their privileges. For example, although officials no longer have privileges, their salaries have been increased.
Scholars who were promoted did not become officials, but because they were assigned to the fields, they had completely canceled the burden of Yao service and other services. They were directly converted into money and spread into the fields. Initially, the gentry were exempted from the exemption, which was originally just an exemption.
It was just to drop the service of the corresponding grade, but it was later extended to exempt some acres of land from the land tax.
Nowadays, Zhu Yihai directly divides the land into acres, and the officials and gentry pay the grain together, so there is no longer any preferential treatment.
However, the salary increase for officials directly increases their remuneration. At the same time, due to the needs of the situation, the conditions for talents to be elected as officials are relaxed, which is also preferential treatment.
Judging from the current situation in Zhejiang, the burden on both the common people and the gentry has been greatly reduced.
Although some bureaucratic landlords used to evade taxes and other methods to make money from the imperial court, this is no longer a normal exemption, it is a complete mess.
After the implementation of new laws such as the withdrawal of guard posts, the abolition of military households, craftsmen households, and craftsmen's bank accounts, there is no need for officials and gentry to work as one, and fire consumption is returned to the public. Compared with the various new policies and chaos implemented by the Qing court in Shandong now, the people
The burden is much lighter.
Especially now that the Ming Dynasty's taxes have abolished the joint and several system. For example, if your neighbor in the same Baojia family did not pay enough taxes, the people in the same Baojia family must first help make up the tax.
But now Zhu Yihai does not do this. He only pays his own taxes and pays his own taxes in accordance with the law. The taxes owed by others have nothing to do with you.
"One thing to note is that every time there is a famine and the government fails to provide relief, there will always be some unjust people among the people who will take the opportunity to oppress the people, lend money at usury, and even force the people to sell their land at very low prices, or even sell their children.
Female, selling wife,
The government must play its role, not only to relieve the hungry, but also to supervise these situations, to crack down on usury, and even more to crack down on the selling of children and girls. Anyone who dares to commit a crime will have his house raided and his money and food used.
Help the people."
"It is also forbidden to take advantage of famines to force people to surrender into slavery, and it is also not allowed to use high rents to recruit tenants to oppress people."
"Draw a red line, stipulate the maximum interest rate for private loans, stipulate the maximum rent for tenants, and severely punish those who exceed it."
"There is another key point. All disaster relief money and food must be used for the people. No corruption or deduction is allowed. This is a red line and must not be trampled. Whoever touches it will die!" Zhu Yihai emphasized sternly.
In such troubled times, if the government does not act, then some traitors will do anything without a bottom line, and such bad things will often lead to the intensification of conflicts between social classes and cause greater turmoil.
"I will find a way to adjust food for you. You need to find a way to calm the people, provide relief, restore production, resume farming and replant, even fish and hunt, mine and dry salt, etc. You have to make the people settle down and at least be able to satisfy their hunger.
We can’t let them wander around hungry anymore.”
Huang Zongxi was a little worried.
"Can there be so much food relief?"
"Let's find a way to survive first, even if we have to hang on to our lives for the sake of eating porridge, let's tide over the difficulties together."
"Your Majesty, the Tartars will definitely not sit back and watch the Ming Dynasty occupy Denglai. If the Qing army attacks in large numbers, what will your Majesty do?"
"It's nothing more than soldiers coming to block it, and water coming to flood the soil," Zhu Yihai looked at the fields, "Actually, I'm not afraid of them coming to seize Denglai. Here, we have the advantage of water and sea, the power of naval guns, and we can defend the city by the sea.
Water and land are connected, if the Tatars come, I will take the initiative and have the advantage!"
If the Tatars concentrate their troops and horses to attack Denglai, Xu Huailufeng will be empty. If they go straight south from the northeast of Liaoning, Geng Zhongming can wreak havoc in Liaodong.
Even if Geng Zhongming couldn't believe it, Zhu Yihai could still send a force to cross the Bohai Strait to attack Lushun.
"I have been reading Sun Tzu's Art of War for a long time. Sun Tzu talks about the word "power" throughout the article. I have pondered for a long time and figured out the way. It can be said in one sentence: Establish absolute advantage, and then you can win. If you cannot establish overall absolute advantage, then establish local absolute advantage.
Absolute advantage, that's what war is like, through various methods, you can establish absolute advantage, and then you can win."
In terms of the overall situation today, the Ming Dynasty experienced the fall of two capitals, and the original upper-level organization completely collapsed. Zhu Yihai reorganized and restored it, and now half of the country is stable, but the momentum is still weaker than the Tatars.
In this case, we have to find ways to establish local advantages to defeat the Tartars.
The Tatars had an absolute advantage on the Western Front, so Zhu Yihai went to the Eastern Front to establish their absolute advantage.
War is just like playing chess. No matter how powerful your rook is, you can still use your pawns to capture the rook, horse and cannon.
We must seize the initiative in the war and establish an absolute advantage. We cannot fight head-on without even the slightest chance of winning, let alone be led by others to fight passively. That is the way to defeat.
Zhu Yihai stationed 50,000 troops in Denglai. Previously, the 50,000 troops attacked Kongyou Deden Prefecture with 500 troops. This was a hundred-fold advantage, coupled with the cover of North Korean ships, so he could easily capture it.
Then he surrounded Laizhou with an army of tens of thousands, Geng Zhongming's ten thousand, which was still an absolute advantage several times over, and with the addition of surrender, he conquered another city.
Now 50,000 troops are fully occupied in Denglai, and they have just defeated Tiemenguan and Haizhou, occupying a physical advantage.
When the Qing army comes to attack, it can only draw troops from Huainan and Beizhi. However, if troops are drawn from Huainan, the strength of the front line in Huainan will be sharply reduced. The middle and left armies of the imperial camp will establish an absolute advantage.
Zhu Yihai not only held Denglai, but also had a partial division in Haizhou and Tiemenguan, which could serve as surprise troops.
This strange army at Tiemenguan can go straight to Jinan along the Daqing River, threatening the capital of Shandong, Haizhou. This army can also threaten Huai'an and Xuzhou.
"All kinds of craftsmen among the hungry people in various places were selected and sent first to Changdao, and then to Zhoushan, Yuhuan and other places in the rear, or to Jiangsu and Zhejiang. These craftsmen are talents and cannot be treated as ordinary farmers working in the fields. It is too wasteful.
, you have to treat them preferentially.”
"Scholars among hungry people should also be treated with preferential treatment and used according to their abilities."
Huang Zongxi nodded in response. It seems that the emperor is determined to fight a defense battle of Denglai this time. This is a battle that the Ming army has never fought before. In the past, it was mainly a guerrilla movement. For example, in the last Northern Expedition, although it reached Changping, it captured
Xuzhou, Huai'an and other places quickly evacuated and did not defend.
But now, the emperor has to guard Denglai.
"I am guarding Denglai, but I am actually trying to protect Xu Huai and Lu Feng."
