Ming Taizi's Total War

Chapter 92
"However, the four of you are no longer allowed to search for private wealth and exploit the people in the resident. If you commit any crimes again, you will definitely be executed."

Now that he has taken the money, he has to do something. Zhu Cixiang does not expect the four towns to make any great achievements. He only hopes that they will cause less trouble, and at least they will not wreak havoc on the residence.

Otherwise, if the rogues didn't come over, it would be ridiculous for our own people to rebel first.

"Your Majesty, don't worry. We will definitely defend against powerful enemies and ensure the safety of the soldiers and people in this area." Seeing that they had money, there was nothing else they could not agree to to Zhu Cihong.

Just after Gao Jie and the others returned to their seats, Yue Qijie and Chen Qianfu stood up again. They are the governor and inspector of a place in Henan, and they are the highest-ranking officials in Henan.

"Your Majesty, Henan has Kaifeng, Henan, Guide, Zhangde, Weihui, Huaiqing, Runing, Nanyang, and Ruzhou, nine prefectures and one prefecture, but now in the hands of the imperial court is only Guide where General Zhang Yong is stationed. One house."

"The Tartars have occupied Weihui, Huaiqing, and Zhangde, and now they are crossing the river to fight the intruders at Tongguan. Then the world will be peaceful." As a governor, Yue Qijie was very familiar with the situation in the territory under his rule.

It's a pity that he doesn't have military power in his hands, otherwise Yue Qijie would have sent troops to recover Henan prefectures and counties by himself.

"No rush." ​​Zhu Cihong didn't show a belligerent look, and immediately got out of the station. Instead, he said calmly like an old man playing chess in the park.

Seeing Zhu Cihong's appearance, Yue Qijie was very puzzled, and said to himself, aren't you going to send troops to the Northern Expedition?Why now that I have arrived in Yangzhou, I am not in a hurry.

He didn't know Zhu Cihong's difficulties. As the saying goes, food and grass go first before soldiers and horses are moved. The most critical place to fight is never the battlefield, but the back of the battlefield, such as logistics.

And Zhu Cihong's biggest weakness was exactly this. The Ministry of Revenue's money had long been emptied because of his accession to the throne and the payment of military expenditures.

Because of the resistance of Jiangnan scholar-officials, the imperial court could not collect commercial taxes from Jiangnan, so it was in a financial embarrassment.

The only silver in Zhu Cihong's hands was the hundreds of thousands of shi rice grains in his own money, and 30 taels of silver.

It sounds like a lot, but Zhu Cihong's internal money is not for him to spend alone. Many expenses of the royal family need Zhu Cihong to pay for it. What eunuchs and maids, this is still a small head.

Don't forget that Zhu Cihong has a younger sister, Princess Changping, and two younger brothers, King Ding and King Yong.

"Your Majesty, you have to be anxious. Is it possible to watch the bandits and Tartars ravage the Central Plains and make China full of fishy smell?" Yue Qijie became impatient when he heard Zhu Cihong's words.

"Yue Qijie, have you ever thought about it? If you send troops now, there will be 10,000+ people in the four towns of Jiangbei, as well as my own army, Beijing camp, Shandong and Henan soldiers and horses. There are almost 30 people. At least two to three hundred thousand taels of silver."

"Military rations require at least one million dan, otherwise all the people would be hungry halfway through. If we don't solve these problems, I won't be able to make fun of the lives of the soldiers." Zhu Cixiang said righteously.

"Then how will Your Majesty solve these problems?" Yue Qijie asked Zhu Cihong.

"Open the Lijin Bureau." Following Yue Qijie's question, Zhu Cihong spoke out his plan.

"Lijin Bureau?" Lijin didn't appear until the late Qing Dynasty. Yue Qijie and the others didn't know what it was, so they asked in confusion.

"Lijin is to collect [-]% of the passing goods, which is [-]% of the road tax. Tax cards and lijin bureaus are set up in various places, and the collected likin is handed over to the internal funds for military use, so that the imperial court will have the strength to fight. .”

Zhu Cilang introduced the functions of Lijin and Lijin Bureau to everyone.

Hearing Zhu Cilang's explanation of Lijin, Shi Kefa immediately understood that it was a good thing, and it would allow the court to quickly obtain a large amount of income to support the war.

So he voiced his support for Lijin, "This Lijin is a good thing. The minister thought that the establishment of the Lijin Bureau could ensure the continuous use of the military. If the imperial court wanted to suppress the rogues and drive away the Tartars, it had to use the Lijin Bureau."

Qian Qianyi's attitude was completely different from Shi Kefa's. Although the Lijin Bureau sounded good, it didn't say how many tax cards it would set up. What if dozens of tax cards were set up in one place?

At that time, if the rogues on the front line are not completely wiped out, but the people in the rear revolt instead, it will be over.

Moreover, Jiangnan has developed commerce and trade, and there are many scholar-bureaucrats in Jiangnan. The establishment of the Lijin Bureau may touch the interests of Jiangnan scholar-bureaucrats. What if the government and the opposition jointly oppose it?

"I'm afraid it won't be possible to come to a conclusion for the moment. I think it's better to think about it in the long run." Qian Qianyi expressed his opinion.

"Oh, Mr. Qian is concerned about the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River?" Zhu Cihong asked.

"Since your Majesty already knows, why bother to ask?" Qian Qianyi said, stroking his gray beard.

"There is no need to worry about this. In order to calm the war in the world, it is worth sacrificing the interests of some people. I am determined to win the establishment of the Lijin Bureau." Zhu Cihong expressed his firm determination.

"Qian Qianyi, you draft an edict for me and tell the world that I will establish six Lijin Bureaus: Lijin Bureau, Jiangsu and Zhejiang Lijin Bureau, Guangdong and Guangxi Lijin Bureau, Yungui Lijin Bureau, Huguang Lijin Bureau, and Fujian and Yue Lijin Bureau."

There were two great scholars sitting in the meeting hall, but Zhu Cihong asked Qian Qianyi to draft the imperial edict. Such a move was very meaningful.

When he heard that Zhu Cihong asked him to draft the edict, Qian Qianyi naturally understood what Zhu Cihong meant. Didn't he just want him to be a shield to help Zhu Cihong attract the firepower of the Jiangnan gentry?

It's a pity that Qian Qianyi saw it, but he couldn't do anything about it. Zhu Cihong always kept his word and never gave him a chance to argue.

"Okay, let's stop here today. I just arrived in Yangzhou today, and I'm a little tired." Zhu Cihong didn't want to argue with these civil and military officials, he had said almost everything he had to say, and he went down to rest.

"Farewell to Your Majesty." Everyone stood up and bowed.

Then Qian Qianyi came to a study in the governor's office to draft an edict for Zhu Cihong, while the rest of the civil and military officials went back to their own mansions.

"Long live, this is the imperial edict drafted by Grand Master Qian." After Zhu Cihong came to the study to rest for a while, Liu Bao came with the imperial edict that Qian Qianyi had just drafted.

Seeing Liu Bao coming with the imperial edict, Zhu Cilang had no choice but to stop his rest and get up to see how Qian Qianyi wrote it. He saw that Qian Qianyi's writing was quite satisfactory and there were no mistakes, so he ordered Liu Bao to use the seal.

"Well, yes, you can use seals, Liu Bao."

(End of this chapter)