Dashun Yongchang

Li Yuanyin on the side was very happy to hear this result, which shows that he has done a good job during this period and was not disgusted by Li Zicheng.

Chapter 538 Finance

Li Zicheng walked back into the hall again, and said to Yang Chengyu, Wang Zeyao, and Zhou Lianggong who stood up and stood up: "Sit down, sit down, let's continue talking. What did you just say?"

Zhou Lianggong replied: "We are talking about clearing acres in Wangzhuang in Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan, and Huguang. The total amount is about 1690 million acres. According to the previously discussed policy, the total price of buying part of the land is more valuable than the part that is recovered without compensation. 800 million taels."

Li Zicheng thought for a while and replied: "It is impossible to issue all silver, 300 million taels of cash, 500 million taels of government bonds. But don't issue them proportionally, small amounts will be issued with full silver taels, and those with more than 100 taels of public debt will be increased proportionally." .How is the land allocated?"

Wang Zeyao said: "One-third is redeemed by the original tenants, one-third is distributed to retired soldiers, and one-third is organized into villages. The land price for redemption is 2-6 taels per mu, paid in installments of three to five years. The annual interest rate is 2 cents. There is no opinion anywhere.

The land allocated to retired sergeants can be freely transferred without any examination within three years and half within seven years.As for Mintun, the land is owned by the collective and divided equally by each person every 30 years. Land management rights can be transferred within the village collective, but not outside the village collective. land outside, and pay the land price of homestead and cemetery.

It is estimated that 1500-2000 million taels of silver can be recovered in the end when the land is redeemed.15 military and civilian households can be resettled. "

This can be said to be good news. While thinking about it, Li Zicheng asked Zhou Lianggong: "After this battle, including rewards, how much does the court owe?"

Zhou Lianggong thought about it in his heart, and replied with some trepidation: "3500 million taels of government bonds alone have been issued, including 1200 million taels of short-term loans from banks."

Hearing this, Li Zicheng couldn't help admiring: "Qian Qianyi and Ma Shiying are indeed good ministers of the country."

Yang Chengyu and Zhou Lianggong didn't know what to say about this situation. In their view, Qian Qianyi and Ma Shiying were completely cheated.In order to be appointed as the chief assistant of the Marshal's Mansion, Qian Qianyi persuaded the Donglin party members to buy 650 million taels of public bonds, while Ma Shiying and Ruan Dacheng raised 300 million taels of public bonds.

But now it seemed that Li Zicheng didn't want Daming to live at all.The main purpose of the big council convened in Xuzhou this time was to discuss an issue and elect the emperor.Although the 13 provinces in the two capitals and Yunnan have not sent representatives, other provinces have sent representatives.Let me ask, since the representatives of the provinces have elected an emperor, is it necessary for the Ming Dynasty to exist?

As for Dashun, whether or not a cabinet will be set up is another matter.Of course, Li Zicheng did not intend to turn the public debt into waste paper, so the public debt will still be paid at an annual interest rate of 3%, but Qian Qianyi and Ma Shiying must have political commitments when they raised money. The position, it is estimated that they are also difficult.

Li Zicheng sighed with emotion, and then asked Yang Chengyu: "From last year to August this year, how much revenue did the national treasury have? Have the budgets of various departments been worked out? Can our finances last until the autumn harvest?"

Yang Chengyu opened the notebook in his hand and looked at it, then raised his head and replied: "Shaanxi, Shanxi, Ningxia, and Gansu provinces, last year, the land tax was 400 million shi, the tax silver was 25 taels, and the salt tax, commercial tax, and miscellaneous taxes were 15 yuan. Two: Hubei, Henan, Shandong, and Jiangbei provinces have land tax of 550 million shi, tax silver of 50 taels, salt tax, commercial tax, and miscellaneous taxes of 100 million taels;

80 taels of overseas trade, 100 million taels of cotton cloth trade, 550 million taels of property confiscated, 250 million shi of grain in the south of the Yangtze River, 120 million taels of pay and silver... 300 million silver dollars were recast into currency, and 50 taels of profit were made; 100 million copper dollars were recast , making a profit of 25 taels.

In addition, last month, Yangzhou sold 55 taels of land in Jeju Island and Taiwan Island, each of which was six acres, and received 15 taels of cash and 40 taels of land bonds.Our annual income is about 2000 million taels. After deducting all expenditures, there are still 1200 million taels in the treasury. There will be no problem supporting them until the end of the year.

However, before the end of the year, I am afraid that there will be a batch of public bonds issued to pay the due loans and public bonds, about 1000 million taels.In addition, for water conservancy projects and the restructuring of the salt industry, a public bond of no less than 500 million taels must be issued.Judging from the current situation, the most effective way to increase fiscal revenue is currency recasting. "

Li Zicheng nodded and said: "I will ask Jiang Chen about the currency reform. I will talk to Xi Benzhen about the issuance of public bonds. Wang Shenzheng, you must earnestly pay attention to the distribution of rewards for the troops. The country has borrowed so much money to reward the soldiers, if the soldiers are still dissatisfied, I will kill people."

Wang Zeyao replied with a serious expression: "Please rest assured, Your Majesty, I will definitely keep an eye on everything..."

After talking about the issue of money and food, Li Zicheng asked Yang Chengyu about the relief situation of the Yellow River flood. Yang Chengyu replied: "The Yellow River below Kaifeng and all the way to Yangzhou has been washed away. It is said that it is the reason why there is no maintenance for many years. Fortunately, His Majesty has appointed Yuan Zongdi as the governor of the river, and has maintained the embankment from Kaifeng to Guide, and Yangzhou has dug a new river into the river last winter, so these places have slowed down the flow of water. As far as the current situation is concerned, the most serious place is the gap in the Diaspora Collection area of ​​Cao County.

According to our investigation, although the water situation in this area is serious, due to the relationship between the population relocated by the war, the main loss is the harvest in the field, and the loss of personnel is not much.As for the encroachment on the canal by the lake, because the current channel is not so busy, the loss is not too big.

This summer, the Henan region has enjoyed a bumper harvest, so there will be no problem with food at all.The only problem is that Cao County and other places that were flooded by the flood may not have any harvest this year. In order to prevent the victims from returning home without food and clothing, I suggest increasing the construction of coal mines and iron mines in Xuzhou and other places, and let these victims go to Mine placement. "

Li Zicheng nodded in agreement. After returning to Xuzhou, he had already visited the Niula Railway under construction in Liguo and other places. In any case, this kind of rail transportation was more advanced than the original land transportation method.The only problem is that it takes too much iron, and it won't work if you don't make steel.

The conversation ended here, but just before leaving, Yang Chengyu came back suddenly and asked Li Zicheng in a low voice: "Does Your Majesty really intend to let those councilors choose the emperor? I'm afraid it's not appropriate?"

Li Zicheng looked at him and said: "Rules still have to be established. As I said, Dashun is not established by the destiny, but by the will of the people. If the people all over the world oppose my being the emperor, how can I continue to be the emperor?" ? To be a human being, one should keep one's word."

Yang Chengyu really quit now. He said to Li Zicheng: "I followed Your Majesty to found the country. If Your Majesty does not become emperor, how will I deal with myself? If someone else is elected in this meeting, I am afraid that the army will be in chaos first. I beg your majesty to save the people's livelihood, and don't let the council choose the emperor, only your majesty sits on the throne, the world can be stable, and why do other people compete with your majesty?"

Li Zicheng looked at him with a smile and said, "You said it too, why should other people fight with me? Since no one can fight me, why should I be afraid of elections?"

Yang Chengyu persuaded him several times, seeing that Li Zicheng always looked like an old god, he couldn't help becoming suspicious, and finally gave up his persuasion, resigned and left.Li Zicheng watched Yang Chengyu leave, the sunlight slantingly shone in the hall from outside the hall, it looked extraordinarily dazzling.Since he announced that the emperor would be elected by the council, there have been countless people who have come to persuade him to withdraw his order, especially the generals in the army. Almost all of them have signed up.

In fact, these people are not unaware that Li Zicheng has a great chance of being elected emperor. After all, the Crown Prince of Ming Dynasty is still only a teenager, and he is still under Li Zicheng's control.Therefore, as long as it is not someone who wants to harm the prince, even if he abstains from voting, he will not vote for the prince.But these people still find it difficult to accept that the emperor can be elected. You must know that they have been instilled in the concept that the emperor is a fairy descended from the world.

Can an elected emperor still descend from a god?Although some people expressed their support, it was basically for their own ambitions. Since Li Zicheng could be elected emperor, what about the others?Isn't there such an opportunity?

It’s just that Li Zicheng didn’t want to care about the feelings of these people. He didn’t do elections just to support democracy or something, but he needed a wider recognition. After all, Dashun didn’t really unify the south, and the south of the Yangtze River was almost still In terms of self-government, he really has not reached this point in terms of destiny, because the so-called destiny must at least unify the pass.

Only after being voted and elected by representatives sent by councils from all over the country can he meet the conditions for proclaiming himself emperor in name.With this righteousness, he can further integrate the southern provinces. Otherwise, if the south raises the banner of Ming Dynasty against him, then he really can't use righteousness to blame the other party.But it was different after the election. With the authorization of the people of the whole country, he naturally had the power to order the extermination of the rebels.

On the second day, Li Zicheng came to the meeting place of the council under the escort of several generals. Facing more than 400 councilors sitting on the porch and under the pergola in the courtyard, Li Zicheng stood on the steps and inspected a circle and said: "Call everyone to come The purpose of the Xuzhou meeting should be clear to everyone. It is to elect an emperor for the world.

To be honest, I don’t actually care about who you elect to be the emperor. All I care about are the following things, that is, do the people have the right to speak out in this new country?Do people have the right to resist tyrants?Do people have the right to judge tyrants?

I think that this new country should first defend the interests of the people, and then talk about the power of the emperor.My sword is designed to defend the people.Therefore, I think the first bill of this conference is: state affairs should be put into public opinion, imperial parliamentarians enjoy the freedom of speech protected by law, and cannot be arrested or interrogated without the consent of the speaker..."

Li Zicheng's opening remarks made the congressmen present a little confused. They were a little confused whether Li Zicheng was here to threaten them, or really came to wait for their decision.

Chapter 539 Big Council One

Just as the councilors were whispering to each other, Li Zicheng had already sat back in his seat, and Liu Zongmin, who was sitting beside him, asked him worriedly: "Aren't you afraid that these people will choose someone else?"

Li Zicheng leaned on his chair, looked at the councilors in the courtyard below, and said quite interestingly: "The councilors from the northern provinces are all selected by ourselves, and it is impossible for them to all oppose me. The councilors from the southern provinces may not necessarily support me. Me, but I know that the members of the Jiangnan area will definitely not choose others, because I need to guarantee the payment of the public bonds they bought. If they choose someone else to be the emperor, it makes no difference to me, even if it is the emperor Lao Tzu, You have to pay your debts.”

Liu Zongmin didn't want to talk anymore. He realized that his worries were for nothing. The so-called democratic election looked more like a play.Seeing the whispering expressions of those congressmen under the steps, such a thought flashed through his mind. The sad thing is that many congressmen here don't know that they are actors.

Shaking his head, leaving the parliamentary issue behind, Liu Zongmin asked Li Zicheng a question he cared about: "I heard that Your Majesty intends to become a Duke?"

Li Zicheng nodded slightly and said: "Didn't the document be issued? I just made a proposal. It is still necessary for the council to select the emperor first, and then the new emperor will issue an edict for promotion."

Liu Zongmin didn't care about the selection of the emperor anymore, he just said in a low voice: "Isn't it a bit excessive to confer 11 princes this time?"

Li Zicheng glanced back at him, which made Liu Zongmin lower his head.In the past, when Li Zicheng was not made a duke, these generals were all indignant, thinking that their contributions had been underestimated.Now that he was going to be duke, these generals felt that there were too many people being duke.

Li Zicheng suddenly had such a thought, Lao Kong said: Don't worry about being few, but worry about unevenness.In fact, this sentence is only suitable for the bottom-level people. For the upper-level people, it is always about the average rather than the few. How can everyone have something to show their dignity and power?

He smiled and said, "Jiexuan thinks who is the right one to take down?"

It is not appropriate to take anyone down, Liu Zongmin can only flash such a thought in his mind.If the list hadn't been announced, everyone would naturally not think about why they were able to be duke, but if it was announced and won, some people would think about the reasons why they were taken down.Then, didn't he, Liu Zongmin, offend someone for nothing?Although he is not afraid of offending anyone, but offending other people for this kind of thing will ruin his reputation.

Seeing that Liu Zongmin could not make a sound for a long time, Li Zicheng continued: "Of course, although he is a duke, there is still a difference between a duke and a duke. I decided to add the title of marshal to some people. Only dukes with the title of marshal can preside over Military affairs, so that although there are many dukes, it will not cause confusion. In addition, in addition to the dukes of our Dashun, there are several dukes in Daming that have to be re-appointed. Otherwise, how can they be called one? So, Jie Xuan doesn't need to think about it."

After hearing Li Zicheng's words, Liu Zongmin could only talk about him and said, "No, why would I think too much about it. But where will the country's capital be located in the future..."

While Li Zicheng and Liu Zongmin were chatting up and down, the congressmen sitting in the courtyard finally gradually formed a few unified voices.One voice is that what His Majesty said is definitely right, so we just need to agree; one voice is that His Majesty is so open-minded and benevolent, of course we should accept His Majesty’s kindness; another voice is that no matter what Li Zicheng wants to do , There is nothing wrong with this suggestion, and it should be agreed.

So after the representatives of each province took turns to speak, the acting speaker Li Zijing announced the start of voting on Li Zicheng's first motion. Just put it in the big square box in front of you.There are three large square boxes in front of the speaker, on which are in favor, abstention, and opposition.

Although no one else could see the voting process except the speaker himself, the speaker Li Zijing is Li Zicheng's younger brother, and it was stressful to vote under his watchful eyes.The first bill itself has no conflict of interest, but it is beneficial to all members of parliament, so although everyone voted awkwardly, they still voted for it.

After reporting the results of the vote, acting speaker Li Zijing glanced at the schedule on the table, and then stammered and announced: "The second proposal is about whether to abolish the two imperial courts of Dashun and Ming, and establish a unified central government. This motion is a direct ballot item, no debate is required. Vote now."

Some members of the congressmen who got the sign again obviously hesitated, but seeing most of the surrounding people standing up to support them, these people finally gave up their struggle.Although many people hope to rebuild Daming and Dashun to stand across the river, these people are actually not many. Most of them come from Guizhou, Huguang, and Sichuan. They also know that their strength is insufficient, so they pin their hopes on the representatives of the Jiangnan area Protest first.

However, after the Hongguang Dynasty's rule by planning the river, the people in the Jiangnan area did not have a good impression of rule by planning the river.The people in Jiangnan actually supported the Southern and Northern Dynasties, which were bounded by the Qinling Mountains and the Huaihe River. Taking the Yangtze River as the boundary was equivalent to interrupting the main transportation artery in the south of the Yangtze River. Situational.

Therefore, after the Hongguang Dynasty abdicated and Marshal Du's Mansion resumed shipping on the Yangtze River and canals, the people in Jiangnan had already accepted the actual rule of Marshal Du's Mansion. What they are resisting now is nothing more than wanting Marshal Du's Mansion to restore the strict control over Jiangnan in the Ming Dynasty .To put it simply, the people in the south of the Yangtze River actually prefer to manage themselves, and the central government had better stay away from themselves.

However, after Li Zicheng defeated the Qing army, the people in Jiangnan also knew that it would be impossible to keep Marshal Du's mansion away, so preventing the war from spreading to Jiangnan became the bottom line.What the four towns of Jiangbei did in Yangzhou last year can be regarded as allowing the people in the south of the Yangtze River to intuitively understand what war is. This is more destructive than the Japanese pirates. After all, the Japanese pirates can only harass those small counties.

Besides, if the proposal was to merge the two countries of Dashun and Ming, some people would object, because there was at least one country behind him to support him.But now the vote is whether to merge the two courts into one, which means that no one will support him in the name of Ming Dynasty, so why openly oppose it.

However, although no one stood up and publicly opposed the merger, more than 400 of the more than 50 members of parliament still abstained, and more than 40 voted against it.However, in accordance with the principle of the minority obeying the majority, the speaker Li Zijing announced the passage of the motion, and then proposed the third motion, which was also the highlight of the day, concerning the election of the emperor.

This motion allows the representatives of each province to take turns to speak on stage, and to introduce the candidate for the emperor recognized by the province.Such a speech is naturally beneficial to Li Zicheng. Although the prince was also sitting in the venue, the prince was the first to come to the stage and chose to support Li Zicheng, saying that he should not be the candidate for the new emperor because of his shallow talent and poor morals.

Some councilors who were already hesitant were even more depressed after the prince's speech.Even those congressmen who insisted on orthodoxy could not do anything in the face of the current situation, because Li Zicheng did not prevent the prince from being a candidate for the emperor, which meant that they could not directly attack Li Zicheng's qualifications, otherwise it would only attract Li Zicheng to turn his face, and they Being able to appear here is to give up meeting Li Zicheng with force.

Those who would rather face Li Zicheng than support the Marshal's Mansion would not be here in the first place.The lawmakers who compromised to avoid a war with Li Zicheng naturally would not provoke a war on the scene of the parliament.

Therefore, in the vote on the third proposal, although Li Zicheng only got two-thirds of the votes, the number of votes for the crown prince and Emperor Hongguang was very small, and more members directly abstained.From the perspective of launching candidates, Daming is also at a disadvantage, because they can't even put forward a unified candidate, and some of the abstentions are because they don't want to vote for the crown prince or Emperor Hongguang.On Dashun's side, the opinions are unified.

The position of emperor has been decided, and many congressmen present are also relieved, which means that at least the civil war can end.The reason why many congressmen came to this meeting was to avoid the war involving their hometown. Li Zicheng became the emperor, at least he could avoid the war.Of course, they don't think that this meeting can really elect someone other than Li Zicheng as emperor, because they only have the right to vote, and Li Zicheng has an army in his hands. Could it be that hundreds of wooden sticks can block hundreds of thousands of Dashuns? Army's decision?

After such a vote, the congressmen also had to admit in their hearts that Li Zicheng is now their emperor because they voted.Going back on promises is obviously a shameless act. The people will not understand their thoughts, and will only ask them whether they participated in today's vote.

However, seeing that the emperor was actually appointed by himself, the councilors looked up a little less and looked up to the emperor Li Zicheng a little bit more.In the past, emperors were made with their own hands, or came from blood inheritance, and did not need the approval of the people at all, so it is quite rare to come from the dragon.

But today, they conferred this emperor to Li Zicheng, and they seem to be a little taller than Li Zicheng in a vague way, and they are no longer as humble as they were before the Ming emperor.Some people thought too much. Since they can put a crown on Li Zicheng today, will they be able to remove the crown from an emperor in the future?

At this time, Li Zicheng ignored the various thoughts of these congressmen after the voting results came out. After he came to the stage to thank all the congressmen for their support, he said: "Although the new emperor has been elected, the new country Not finished…"

Chapter 540 Big Council II

Qian Qianyi looked at Li Zicheng, who was chatting on the steps, in astonishment. He didn't understand what Li Zicheng was talking about. After the emperor had been elected, why would the new country not be completed? You must know that the emperor is the country itself.

Zheng Yuanxun, who was sitting beside him, couldn't help asking Qian Qianyi in a low voice: "Brother Mu Zhai, what does your majesty mean?"

As his right-hand man who raised money to buy government bonds for himself, the relationship with Qian Qianyi is naturally quite harmonious, but Qian Qianyi didn't want to show his ignorance of Li Zicheng in front of the other party, so he pretended to be deep and stretched out his finger Putting it on his lips and making a "silence" gesture, Zheng Yuanxun, who didn't know why, seemed to nod knowingly, and continued to listen.

Ruan Dacheng, who was sitting across from Qian Qianyi, looked at Qian Qianyi's confident look, and felt uncomfortable.Before that, the political opponents he and Ma Shiying had been paying attention to were Shi Kefa. Although Qian Qianyi was the leader of Donglin, his personality was relatively weak.For example, when Shi Kefa and Lu Daqi were discussing the election of the supervisor, Qian Qianyi advocated King Lu. Although Shi Kefa was hesitant and missed the opportunity, Qian Qianyi was a supporter of King Lu.

Therefore, after King Fu ascended the throne, Qian Qianyi was afraid of being liquidated by Emperor Hongguang, so he wrote to Ma Shiying to plead for mercy, and Ma Shiying recommended Qian Qianyi as the Minister of Rites.It should be said that although Qian Qianyi belonged to the Donglin Party, Ma Shiying had become a pawn used by Ma Shiying to balance the Donglin Party, so naturally he would not regard Qian Qianyi as a political opponent.

But after that, no one expected that Li Zicheng would take the prince south and conquer the four towns in Jiangbei, which made Nanjing city lose its protection, and Emperor Hongguang was forced to abdicate and return to the vassal.But in this way, whether it is Ma Shiying, who supports King Fu, or Qian Qianyi, who once tried to support King Lu, they are on the wrong team.And this is one of the reasons why many councilors dare not vote for the prince, because they have been on the wrong team before.

As a result, Ma Shiying and Qian Qianyi stood on the same starting line in front of Li Zicheng. At this time, Shi Kefa and Lu Daqi insisted on refusing to cooperate with Li Zicheng. , In fact, it can be regarded as politically unable to find a way out.

Because what people like Shi Kefa and Lu Daqi want to protect is not the Ming Dynasty of the Zhu family but the Ming Dynasty of the gentry. Simply put, what they want is the Taichang Emperor period of the Zhongzhengying Dynasty, that is, the emperor ruled under his bow, and the country's major affairs were left to the gentlemen. to manage.

It's just that these gentlemen really don't have the ability to calm the troubled times. The peaceful and prosperous world they want needs someone to clear up the troubled times first, and then hand over the government to them, so that they may still be able to live a two-day addiction.But obviously, don't say that they can't handle the Shun Army, the Qing Army, or even the Ming Army. The only ones who can turn the army that could still obey the imperial court's orders into a feudal town are these honest gentlemen.

Not to mention that the merchants and people in Jiangnan were disappointed by these honest gentlemen, even the gentry in Jiangnan were disappointed by the abilities of these honest gentlemen.Therefore, when Li Zicheng supported Ma Shiying to continue to be in charge of the Nanjing court, Shi Kefa, Lu Daqi and others lost the ability to contend with Ma Shiying. When the news came back that Li Zicheng defeated the Qing army in the north, even Huang Degong ran to Yangzhou to surrender. , Lu Daqi also lost the possibility of the last bit of force he could master.

At this time, Ma Shiying broke out again. Shi Kefa, Lu Daqi and others once advocated uniting the captives and destroying the bandits.This was naturally politically correct in the Hongguang Dynasty. Even before Li Zicheng defeated the Qing army, many people still agreed in private, but after Li Zicheng defeated the Qing army, this view naturally became politically incorrect.

Even the crown prince criticized this kind of remarks. In the article, the crown prince said: "After the Manchus entered the customs, they invaded the palace and the inner city, and expelled all the Han people in the inner city except the eunuchs. This is what a friend can do. What happened? My Daming ancestral temple is still occupied by the Manchus, but you loyal ministers of the Ming Dynasty still say that you want to join forces with the captives. Does this mean that you want your ancestors to be handed over to the Manchus to worship?"

Shi Kefa and Lu Daqi had no choice but to announce their resignation after reading the prince's article.As a result, almost all of Ma Shiying's political opponents in Nanjing have fallen.But what Ma Shiying didn't expect was that Li Zicheng supported the war and directly used the sales of government bonds to compare his loyalty.

This kind of behavior is a bit fucked up. Even if the imperial court couldn't hold on in the past to sell officials and nobles, it would not auction off the position of chief assistant.Although Ma Shiying's ability to make money is good, if he is compared to wealth, he is a Guizhou native, even if he has Ruan Dacheng's support, it is difficult to compare with Qian Qianyi, who is the leader of Donglin and the leader of the literary world.

Especially after the two leaders of Donglin, Shi Kefa and Lu Daqi, were forced to resign, Qian Qianyi became the only object that the Donglin party members and Fushe could support. Although Qian Qianyi had many problems, everyone could only He was elected to support him, so Qian Qianyi succeeded in far surpassing Ma Shiying's family in the subscription of public bonds, and thus became a threat to Ma Shiying's continuing to serve as the chief assistant.

For Ruan Dacheng, his and Ma Shiying's interests were already linked together. If Ma Shiying fell, he would have no chance of recovering. Therefore, he hated Qian Qianyi who suddenly turned around, thinking that the other party was pretending to be a pig and eating a tiger.

However, the struggle between Ma Shiying and Qian Qianyi soon came to an end with the convening of the National Council, because Li Zicheng seemed to have come up with many new tricks, so it was a question of whether the Great Ming could survive.

While Ruan Dacheng looked at Qian Qianyi's displeasure, Li Zicheng finally finished his fourth proposal of the meeting, which was to establish rules for the new country. The elders in Guanzhong supported the Han Dynasty for nearly 400 years. It can be seen that if a country wants to maintain its operation, it must first make three chapters with the common people.

Of course, what I am talking about is not specific laws, but an agreement with the common people on the responsibilities of the country and the rights of the people.If the country fails to fulfill its responsibilities, or the rights of the people are violated, then I support the people to rise up to overthrow the imperial court, just like I rose up to overthrow the Ming Dynasty that did not give the people a way out.

276 years ago, countless Han Chinese won the freedom of this country with their own sacrifices. From 17 years ago to today, millions of people have fought for their freedom and finally established this new country.So this new country should not be owned by a few, should not serve a few, should not be ruled by a few.

We should build this country with such an idea, for the freedom of the people, for the ideal that all men are born equal.Although this new country is still in war and disaster, as long as we build this country with this ideal, then I believe that the heroes who died for it, the soldiers who fought for freedom and equality, they You will not regret your devotion to this great cause.

I stand here with you, to turn the great cause of their dedication and sacrifice into reality, and not to let those martyrs die in vain.This new country should be: of the people, by the people, and for the people.and make it last forever. "

Li Zicheng's speech caused an eerie silence in the courtyard for tens of seconds, and then someone applauded hesitantly, and then mobilized all the councilors.Zheng Yuanxun clapped his hands and whispered, "Even if His Majesty doesn't need an army, the speech alone is enough to win the support of a large number of people."

Qian Qianyi could only smile wryly when he heard this. He actually knew a little about Li Zicheng, but Zheng Yuanxun didn't seem to know enough. For example, Li Zicheng just said that everyone is equal. Many congressmen here, including Zheng Yuanxun, would definitely think that it was Li Zicheng and them Equality, and never think that they are equal to their slaves.

But Qian Qianyi knew that the equality Li Zicheng talked about actually included the latter.Why he was so sure, because when his wife communicated with Chen Yuanyuan in Yangzhou, she found that the other party had always been concerned about the slave change in Jiangnan.Chen Yuanyuan is no longer the woman who only has a famous name on the Qinhuai River. She is now in charge of a very powerful department under the Marshal Du's mansion. The things she is following are naturally Li Zicheng's.

And Liu Rushi is not a woman who doesn't understand anything, she used to like to talk about politics, and after the sisters in the past took control of such a power department, she became more enthusiastic about politics.Therefore, she deliberately searched for information about finding slaves, and then analyzed it.In the end, Liu Rushi came to a conclusion, which is what she told Qian Qianyi.

"The slave revolts in the south of the Yangtze River have become more frequent and larger in recent years. Although these slave rebellions were suppressed in the end, many masters also lost their lives. Not only the subordinates For the servants to find a way out, the House of the Gentlemen also needed a way to stabilize the servants, otherwise no one would be able to stand such constant riots.

The concubine looks at the Marshal's Mansion in Yangzhou, which has been regulating the relationship between master and servant, prohibiting the sale of lovers, and requiring some servants with longer service periods to be converted to employment.Judging from these measures, the Marshal's Mansion should no longer allow the free trade of slaves by the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River in the past. Although the gentry will suffer some losses, at least it can stabilize the local area..."

When Liu Rushi said these words to him, Qian Qianyi still didn't take it seriously, how could the gentry lose their servants?They could not live without servants, for many gentry lived their lives as lords.What's more, there are many things in the big family that should not be said to outsiders. If there are no servants, those hired servants will talk too much, wouldn't it make the family a laughing stock of outsiders?

However, after listening to Li Zicheng's speech today, Qian Qianyi immediately remembered Liu Rushi's analysis. After comparing the two, he understood that this speech was the harbinger of solving the slave problem.It's just that seeing everyone so excited, Qian Qianyi naturally wouldn't spoil everyone's interest.

Members who were still a bit cautious before, became active one after another with the proposal of the fourth bill.Although they still don't know what three chapters of the agreement they should propose, the fact that they can establish rules for the new country has really aroused everyone's interest.But Li Zicheng quietly led Liu Zongmin and others to withdraw, because he knew that this proposal could not be discussed in a day or two, so there was no need to wait foolishly.

Chapter 541

Li Zicheng's guess was not wrong. After he left, the congressmen finally breathed a sigh of relief. When Li Zicheng sat here, even if he didn't do anything, he put tremendous pressure on them and made them become more cautious.

And after Li Zicheng left, many people felt that now they could finally say something that suits them without looking at Li Zicheng.Everyone had no impression of the description of the new country at first. Now the northern representatives only want to restore peace as soon as possible, even if they return to the Wanli Dynasty. The southern representatives mainly want to preserve the power expanded by the gentry since the end of Wanli.

Before Wanli, Qingliu could only criticize the treacherous parties in the court, and affect the reputation of these traitors among scholars. Generally speaking, the struggle between the two sides was mainly in the court.However, after the establishment of the Donglin Party, the way of political struggle began to change. The scholar-bureaucrats in the opposition began to manipulate the struggle in the court. .

As a result, the discourse power of township officials and Confucian scholars began to suppress local officials, forming a model of gentry autonomy with Jiangnan characteristics.The county magistrate, whose term of office is only two or three years, can neither compare with the influence of the local big family, nor can he resist the pressure of the other party's friends in the court. Naturally, the place has been reduced to the world of the squires.

Having never experienced the experience of the North being washed to nothing by the flames of war several times, the representatives of the South naturally refused to give up their power and supported a strong central government.But the northern representatives who have experienced these hardships insist on a strong center that can protect their own safety.

After Li Zicheng described the new country he wanted, these congressmen quickly formed dozens of different factions around his vision, but they were mainly divided into two factions, the North and the South.

Representatives from the north support equality for everyone, because the war told them that if they don’t talk about equality, they have to wait for others to rebel, but they don’t support freedom, because they feel that social harmony can only be maintained by reducing individual freedom. Daming is too much about freedom That's why there are so many rebellious officials and thieves.

The southern representative advocates respect and order. They are living a good life now. Why should they change their lives because everyone is equal?But they support freedom, because the freedom of scholar-bureaucrats is precious. If there is no freedom, wouldn't they become the emperor's echoers again?Li Zicheng is not the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, he does not have such a noble blood, so it is necessary for everyone to talk about freedom.

Qian Qianyi soon became the representative of various factions in the south, because he was the most famous among the representatives present.Although Ruan Dacheng was from the south, he couldn't support Qian Qianyi. This was the biggest political incorrectness, so he voted for representatives from the north.