Dashun Yongchang

Chen Qianfu and Li Sheng were sent to assist Gong Weiliu and Wang Zeyao to resettle the people going south and to reform the military system of the guards. Although Dashun still retained the army station, it was different from the army station in the Ming Dynasty. Dashun implemented the military farm system. It no longer has a relationship with the local guards, but is directly affiliated to the Privy Council, and has adopted a retirement system for soldiers on the military farm. It is no longer the result of working until they die as soon as they join the army.

When the military-civilian system was established, the resettlement of the people who migrated to the south gradually became regular, so Li Zicheng freed up his hands to change the Zhizhishi into the Great Procuratorate, Zhizhishi, the imperial censor of the Ming Dynasty.Li Zicheng changed the power of the censor's rumors to the power of the Great Procuratorate to investigate rumors, and Gong Dingzi was appointed as the first chief prosecutor.

In addition, he also established the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Internal Affairs under the civil government. The former was headed by Gong Weiliu, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs was headed by Zhang Fengxiang. The Ministry of Internal Affairs was mainly responsible for social security and public opinion issues. Dong Xueli was appointed as the The chief of police, some former officers of the Ming Dynasty and soldiers of Dashun were transferred to this department. The first task was to eliminate bandits and militia forces within the circle of Guide, Jining, Xuzhou, Suqian, Yellow River, and Mount Tai.

In addition, Li Zicheng called Yuan Shu, Gong Mengren, Zuo Weisheng, Shen Yu and other former Ming officials or scholars to establish the Grain Administration.As Li Zicheng said to the civil and military officials around him before, the first task of Dashun now is to open up the canal and the Yangtze River waterway to ensure that the trade circle in the Yangtze River Basin can operate, so as to transport the grain in the middle reaches to the downstream, so as to ensure that Dashun The Shun army and the people who went south were not hungry.

And Li Zicheng did not plan to rely on squeezing the Nanming government to meet his food needs. Judging from the current situation, he doubted that when his army arrived in Yangzhou, the Hongguang court in Nanjing would still have any influence on the southern provinces.If the provinces refuse to transport this year's rice to Nanjing, can he still stay in Xuzhou and wait foolishly?

Therefore, he set up the Grain Administration Bureau to prepare to purchase grain from surrounding provinces.Of course, the premise of purchasing grain is to know the grain production and population of each place first, and then the method of procurement, grain transportation and other issues.

When Li Zicheng had a clue about the military and political affairs, he also realized that it was time for him to go south.Although the Manchus in the north had shrunk their forces to the north of Baoding and Cangzhou, the Manchus were not hiding in Beijing to celebrate victory, but were rectifying their forces in Hebei, obviously preparing for the autumn expedition.

On August 8, Li Zicheng finished his urgent affairs and held a military and political meeting of the Marshal's Mansion that night. At the meeting, he briefly mentioned the news from the north, and said: "The rebellion in Xuanfu Town has made the construction This means that once the slaves are established to seduce the various tribes of Mongolia to go south, the pressure in Datong, Yulin and Ningxia will not be small.

Although we judge that Jiannu's main attack direction is still in the south, there is no absolute on the battlefield.Jiannu may also choose to take Shanxi first, thoroughly grasp Shanxi, which is known as the mountains and rivers inside and outside, and then consider going south.Therefore, we have to be prepared with both hands. Once Jiannu really uses the army in Shanxi, then we must also go north to drag them back.

However, no matter whether we go north or stick to it, we must first solve the problem of money and food.Where does money and food come from?At present, it can only come from the south.Therefore, before Jiannu can take action, we must first solve the problem in the south.Our current main enemy is Jiannu, so as long as the South is not behind the scenes, I think we should make peace with Nandu first, and let the money, food and materials along the Yangtze River be transported to Xuzhou first..."

This is not the first time that Li Zicheng has said this in front of these civil and military officials. Since he crossed the Yellow River, he has started to find people to blow him off one by one.Although at the beginning some generals, such as Liu Zongmin and others, thought that it would be easier to take advantage of the northern soldiers’ rush to fight in Nanjing before they had time to go south. After taking Nanjing, it might be easier to make the prince the emperor of the Ming Dynasty and order the southern provinces to obey.

However, under Li Zicheng's meticulous persuasion, most people changed their views and expressed their willingness to give Nanjing a chance. As long as they don't make trouble for themselves in the rear, then let them spend a few days in Nanjing.Therefore, after Li Zicheng formally proposed the idea of ​​going south to promote peace today, everyone still nodded and accepted it.

However, when Li Zicheng said that it was enough for him to bring two regiments of infantry and cavalry brigades, he was opposed by many generals.Both Liu Zongmin and Yuan Zongdi felt that Li Zicheng led too few people, plus some troops that had set out in the early stage, there were only about 3 soldiers, and Gao Jie's troops alone had at least [-] soldiers.

Therefore, Liu Zongmin said to Li Zicheng: "It's fine if your majesty doesn't go south. Since you want to go south, you must bring enough armed forces to suppress the southern army. Otherwise, let me go south. Your majesty will preside over the overall situation in Xuzhou. I have long thought about it." Going to meet that ungrateful dog thief..."

Li Zicheng waved his hand, signaled everyone to be quiet, and said: "If I take away too many troops, what about the defense in the north? If I can't stop Jiannu and lose my foothold here, even if I can get away, But the old brothers are all dead, what future does Dashun have? If you are here, Dashun will be here. I am just one of you, nothing special.

Secondly, if I bring too many troops to the south, I won't be able to see the sincerity of the southern army.If you are forced to surrender due to the power of the army, you will betray us at the slightest sign of trouble. This time, the large number of betrayals by the northern frontier army is enough to illustrate this point.

Besides, if I bring 6 to [-] people south, Gao Jie might not even have the thought of surrendering, because he is afraid that I will not keep my promise.But if I go south with a small number of people, Gao Jie may feel that his surrender is guaranteed.

In the end, although I brought fewer people, these are all veterans who have followed me for several years. With them defending me going south, I will be as safe as Mount Tai.Just relying on those soft-footed southern soldiers, can they still stay with me?They are not the Qi family army. "

The generals also smiled knowingly when they heard this. Indeed, the strongest Southern soldiers of Ming Dynasty were wiped out by the Ming court long ago. The current Southern soldiers can't even stop a part of the rebels who defected from the rebel army like Gao Jie. It is really true ridiculous.At this time, the two major crimes of Emperor Wanli have been spread in the Shun army. One is to slaughter the army defending the country-Qi's army for no reason; the other is to overthrow the reform policy of Zhang Juzheng who tried to save the Ming Dynasty. and their families were persecuted.

Although Wanli humiliated Zhang Juzheng and his family after his death, it made the soldiers of the Shun army look down on the Wanli emperor even more.Because he only dared to bully the dead, women and children.As a result, the entire Shun army began to firmly believe that such a Ming Dynasty should indeed perish, and that Dashun's replacement was indeed upright, because the famous ministers and good generals who tried to save the people of the Ming Dynasty were all punished and killed by the thieves. .

The change in thinking since the Shun army went south is roughly that we are just, so victory will definitely belong to us.It was the emperors of the Ming Dynasty who first abandoned the people of the Ming Dynasty, so the people no longer had to be loyal to the Zhu family, because it was Zhu Yuanzhang's descendants who violated the agreement between their ancestors and the people of the world to drive out the Hu and save the people.

Therefore, when the soldiers of Dashun saw the crown prince Zhu Cihong, they no longer felt guilty or in awe as before.They feel that Zhu Yuanzhang's blood has nothing to do with them, and they are now subjects of Dashun.

Hearing Li Zicheng's disapproval of the southern soldiers, all the generals felt that it should be so.Because of Emperor Ming's perverse actions, the people have lost the loyalty of the people to him, so these military towns in the south are fighting for the sake of promotion and wealth. How can the army fighting with this purpose fight against them?Shunjun's current goal is to create a peaceful and prosperous world.

Chapter 126

On the morning of August 8, in the Guandi Temple on the Hubushan Opera Stage, Ling Ji, Wang Yuzheng, and Chen Mingxia were arguing, while a group of former officials of the Ming Dynasty watched from the sidelines.Ling Yu and Wang Fan were relatively marginal figures in the Wenhua Palace led by the prince. Wang Fan was not even registered in the Wenhua Palace roster, so he could only be regarded as an informal member.

The reason for this is that these two people are hated by Li Zicheng. Ling Ji has been inciting the Shandong gentry to rebel against Dashun after the Shun army withdrew from Beijing, while Wang Fan and Lu Zhenfei have never been to the Shun army. Surrendered.

Of course, for most of the former Ming officials in the Wenhua Palace, alienating Ling Ji was a last resort, after all, did he offend Emperor Yongchang?Dang was completely disgusted with the latter two, because they refused to surrender to Dashun, and they killed Lu Bizhou who was trying to persuade them to surrender.

It's just that Lu Zhenfei can barely be regarded as a senior official, and he can barely be regarded as a punishment for Lu Bizhou's execution. Everyone can only say that he is impersonal. Understood.Heaven and earth are monarchs, relatives and teachers, and teachers and students are inferior to the relationship between father and son. The Donglin Party members are a scholar society connected by the relationship between teachers, students and classmates.

Wang Fan actually tied up his teacher Lu Bizhou and delivered it to Lu Zhenfei, and was executed because of it. Shilin couldn't tolerate him.This is also the reason why Lu Zhenfei can enter the Cultural Hall, but Wang Fan can only be regarded as a person under the supervision of the prince.

Although he was alienated by his colleagues, Wang Fan didn't care because he felt that he had done nothing wrong, and time would eventually prove everything.But this time he couldn't bear it anymore, so he stood up with Ling Ji to question Chen Mingxia and Feng Quan.

What he and Ling Ji questioned Chen Mingxia were actually three things. The first was about the place where Emperor Daxing was buried.It was a good thing for the crown prince to help the empress' Zi Palace to go south. After all, after the fall of the north, it was already unrealistic to bury the empress in Tianshou Mountain in Changping.

However, after the emperor's Zi Palace was actually transported to Xuzhou, two different opinions were formed on whether it should be transported south to Nanjing and accompany Xiaoling, or buried in Fengyang Zhongdu.Officials represented by Ling Yu and Wang Yu all supported the burial in Fengyang Zhongdu, because they hoped to use the burial of Emperor Daxing to preserve Fengyang Mansion. mean.

However, the officials headed by Chen Mingxia advocated that the empress should be buried next to Xiaoling Mausoleum.Because they thought it would be great to be able to rule with Dashun across the Yangtze River, and they were still coveting the land of the Jianghuai River. Could it be that they really planned to take the Northern Expedition to regain their homeland in the future?

Northern officials and gentry such as Feng Quan and Xie Bi belonged to the group who were hesitant about this issue.They were worried that after the empress was buried in Nanjing, the court would lose its ambition to restore the north, and they would not be able to return to their hometown; chances are gone.

The second issue is that the Shun army forcibly purchased the land of the local gentry, but the crown prince agreed and provided a guarantee.Ling Yu and Wang Yu thought that this was obviously digging their own grave, because without the support of the gentry, it was full of uncertainty whether the prince could return to the throne.Chen Mingxia felt that the Shun army was requisitioning land on its own territory, and it was inconvenient for the crown prince to interfere, not to mention that the crown prince has not yet returned to Nandu, and if he does not obey Emperor Yongchang's order, do you expect others to help you?

The third thing is about the policies of Shunjun’s distribution of Ding Ding into the mu and Huo Hua’s credit. These two policies have infringed on the interests of wealthy families and low-level officials. After hearing the news, Gentleman turned to Fu Wang.After all, if the prince does not object, no one can guarantee that the prince will not promote these two policies in Jiangnan after he returns to Nanjing and takes the throne.

But when they were arguing, Li Zicheng sent someone to send a notice, saying that he would set off to go south tomorrow, and ordered Lu Zhenfei, Chen Mingxia and others to prepare to go south with him, and the prince and others stayed in Xuzhou for the time being.After hearing the news, the prince decided to meet Li Zicheng, and by the way, get rid of the fighting among these officials.

Although no conclusions were drawn in this debate, the two sides can only be regarded as a tie, but when Wang Fan followed Lu Zhenfei back to pack his things, the department asked the former boss with some dissatisfaction: "Why didn't you say a word just now?" ? Don’t you think Chen Baishi’s idea is wrong?”

Lu Zhenfei walked forward unhurriedly, and said in his mouth: "Maybe, but the current focus is not on these issues."

Wang Fan said with some surprise: "These issues are not the current focus, so what else is the focus?"

Lu Zhenfei stopped in his tracks, turned his head and took a deep look at him, and then said: "What should we do to make Nandu and the crown prince reconcile, this is the key to Ming Dynasty's survival. If the confrontation continues, it will only make Emperor Yongchang cheaper for nothing. If we can't even keep Nanjing, do we still need to consider the problem of Jianghuai?"

After hesitating for a long time, Wang Yu said: "With the current situation, how can Nandu make peace with the crown prince? They should go to Emperor Yongchang if they want to make peace."

After a long sigh, Lu Zhenfei said: "You are right. Nandu is most worried now, not Li Zicheng but the prince. As long as the prince is still here, it will be difficult for people in the south to submit to King Fu..."

At the same time, a group of knights stopped outside the east gate, and Xi Benzhen dismounted with the help of two young men.Xi Benzhen, whose legs were numb and unable to stand up, couldn't help but sighed, and said to the servants and clansmen around him: "It is said that northerners ride horses, and southerners ride boats. Indeed, after running for dozens of miles, I feel that the two The foot is no longer my own."

The buddy Yang Shun helped him while complaining: "Emperor Yongchang is too good at calling people, let us go around for him, let alone offend people, and not allow the master to sit in the sedan chair, isn't that a little bullying? "

Xi Benzhen scolded him, then limped towards the city gate.About half an hour later, Xi Benzhen and his party, who had passed through a small half of the city, walked into the Marshal's Mansion.Xi Benzhen was still thinking that maybe he had to wait a while to see Li Zicheng, but after waiting for more than a quarter of an hour, Li Zicheng's personal guards invited him into the second hall.

Li Zicheng, who was sitting at the top, saw that the guards replaced Xi Benzhen into the hall, so he invited him to sit down and have a sip of tea, and then slowly reported the progress of the land expropriation.Xi Benzhen took a sip of tea, slowly organized his words in his heart and said: "Since His Majesty announced two uncooperative gentry as the leaders of the rebel army, confiscated their property and moved the whole family to Huguang, all the gentry around Xuzhou The performance has cooperated, and the land expropriated has exceeded 25 mu, and at least 9000 families have been resettled.

However, the arable land in Xuzhou Prefecture is only 45 mu, so the only land that can be purchased next is mountainous land and low-lying land with little output.The grass people thought that the Xuzhou government's land acquisition task would be over within a month at most. "

Li Zicheng nodded after hearing this and said: "You have done a great job this time, which has saved our army a lot of trouble. I originally planned to cut off at least a few hundred heads and exile tens of thousands of people to complete such a land. It’s a procurement mission. Because of you, our army has not encountered such a stubborn enemy, which is a good thing. But next, I really have a good thing to ask you to do.”

Xi Benzhen smiled wryly in his heart, a good thing for Emperor Yongchang may not really be a good thing for him.However, in front of Li Zicheng, he still bowed his hands solemnly and said, "Please show me your majesty."

Li Zicheng then asked him: "You should know the supply coupons issued by the army since going south? What do you think of them?"

Without hesitation, Xi Benzhen blurted out: "It's okay to use in the military, but if it is used by the people, your Majesty will not use thunderous means, and the common people will not accept such banknotes. On the one hand, the paper is too poor. It is not good enough; the second is that the conversion of silver taels and copper coins is too troublesome, although the transaction of more than 100 taels is convenient, the transaction of a few to dozens of taels is quite troublesome."

Li Zicheng agreed with Xi Benzhen's opinion, so he went on to say: "It is true that banknotes have such and such troubles, but they have one advantage, that is, they are convenient to transport. Therefore, from the Song Dynasty to today, many people still welcome banknotes." , as long as it can stabilize its market value. I invite you to come here because I hope you can help me establish a currency system that exchanges paper money for gold and silver."

Xi Benzhen's face turned brighter, and he replied to Li Zicheng expectantly: "Your Majesty, it's not that the grassroots don't know how to flatter you, it's that I'm just a small businessman, and I can't afford so much money..."

Li Zicheng glanced at him and said: "Of course you don't need to worry about the capital. I just hope that you will take the lead in recruiting those people from the Linqing pawn shop. If there is no person who is proficient in currency exchange knowledge to take charge of currency exchange, wouldn't it be Send money to others?

After taking Huai'an and Yangzhou, I plan to let the Lianghuai salt merchants deposit the principal bank of the salt industry in... well, an institution such as a bank, and then issue banknotes based on this silver.In addition, the summer and autumn taxes of various places should also be deposited in the bank together. In the future, the tax money that the localities will send to the central government will be exchanged by the bank.The funds transferred by the imperial court to the local governments will also be accepted through the bank. "

After listening to Li Zicheng's explanation, Xi Benzhen's hanging heart was finally relieved. The money exchange department didn't sound like a big risk.As long as Emperor Yongchang didn't want to wipe out these Dongting merchants, Xi Benzhen was still willing to cooperate with Emperor Yongchang's order. If Emperor Yongchang really took over the world, it would be a good fate.

After pondering for a long time, Xi Benzhen asked Emperor Yongchang tentatively: "Then how does Your Majesty plan to establish this bank?"

Li Zicheng thought for a while and said: "What you just said is not bad. Our current printing ability is really poor, so I hope you can help me find excellent printing craftsmen, paper craftsmen, and good carpenters. I hope that we can first Improvements in the technology of making paper money to prevent counterfeiting of paper money...”

Chapter 127 Xi Benzhen

"Secondly, the printing of banknotes to obtain the circulation of silver taels should start with bulk trade. Therefore, I plan that the transaction amount of more than 100 taels must be transferred through the bank. This can not only reduce the risk of merchants carrying silver taels, but also make the country more stable. Good collection of trade data, so as to support certain industries.

Of course, this requires merchants to first accept banknotes for transactions. I heard that the world's merchant gangs are famous for the Shanxi-Shaanxi, Hui, Dongtingshan, and Longyou gangs.Therefore, I hope that you Dongting Mountain Gang will set an example and help the imperial court to promote the use of banknotes first. "

Under Li Zicheng's gaze, Xi Benzhen was also weighing repeatedly in his heart.The so-called Dongting Mountain Gang actually refers to the two mountains of Taihu Lake. Dongshan and Xishan have been famous businessmen since the Song Dynasty.In the end, even the local Suzhou people said: the people from the two mountains are good at breeding goods, go all directions and go all the way, and go to be merchants and merchants, so there is a nickname in the rivers and lakes, called Drilling the Sky Dongting.

The Dongshan Xi family is actually not a prominent figure in the local area. The real famous one is Dongshan "Weng Xu".Weng refers to Weng Yan, who was known as Weng Wanwan during his lifetime, and after his death, he was able to ask the great scholar Shen Shi to write his epitaph.Xu Zhixiang, who was of the same generation as Weng Yan, was not much weaker than the Weng family in terms of financial resources, but only slightly weaker in power, so he ranked second.

The Xi family made its fortune in the generation of Xi Benzhen's uncle and father, but his branch is slightly inferior to his cousin, because Xi Benzhen's father had no choice but to abandon Confucianism and go into business, so after earning enough money, his branch became He began to pay attention to education and tried to transfer from business to school.Because of this, Xi Benzhen has more contacts with literati, and he and Lu Zhenfei are quite familiar with each other.

This is also the reason why Xi Benzhen encountered military chaos when he checked the accounts in Linqing, and had time to support the local officials and gentry to fight back against Dashun when he was avoiding the war.It's just that what he didn't expect was that this was a loss-making investment.Li Zicheng led the main force to the south, disrupting the attempts of the officials and gentry of the Ming Dynasty to restore the Ming Dynasty, and also let Xi Benzhen and other businessmen who funded the rebellion of the officials and gentry fall under the control of the Dashun Army.

Fortunately, Emperor Yongchang was still willing to reason with these businessmen, and did not cut them off because they funded the officials and gentry who rebelled against Dashun.In any dynasty, treason is a capital offense.Emperor Yongchang was able to let them go, which can be regarded as magnificent.

This is also the reason why Xi Benzhen is willing to work for Emperor Yongchang, because the Dongting Merchant Gang he represents really owes Emperor Yongchang a life.Xi Benzhen still agrees with his father's way of life, being loyal to the court, winning the trust of friends, and doing business fairly.

He funded the officials and gentry to rebel against Dashun because of his loyalty to the Ming court. Now that the officials and gentry had failed, he felt that he had done his best.To work for Emperor Yongchang, one is to thank Emperor Yongchang for pardoning himself and the merchants from his hometown, and the other is to repay Emperor Yongchang. He thinks this is also a business.

However, his serving Emperor Yongchang and the entire Dongting Merchant Gang serving Emperor Yongchang are two different things. At a time when the world has not yet determined the final winner, he feels that it seems difficult for him to make such a determination to fight the entire Dongting Merchant Gang with Dafa. Shun tied together.The East and West Mountains of Dongting are almost all intermarriages, and everyone is not a simple village relationship, but an in-law relationship.If he made a wrong choice this time, he and the Xi family would not be the only ones to be ruined.

Xi Benzhen was still unable to make up his mind, and Li Zicheng waited patiently for his decision. This invisible silence put a lot of pressure on Xi Benzhen. After hesitating again and again, he finally explained to Li Zicheng: "Your Majesty, if only Cao Min's family, Cao Min can naturally decide to accept His Majesty's edict, but if Cao Min is asked to make decisions for all Dongting merchants, Cao Min really has no such confidence."

Li Zicheng was not angry, but asked Xi Benzhen, "Why do you think those merchants are unwilling to accept banknotes?"

Xi Benzhen thought for a while, and replied honestly to Li Zicheng: "The precious banknotes issued by Daming ruined the reputation of banknotes. Everyone worried that the imperial court issued banknotes but refused to collect banknotes as taxes, so the banknotes became waste paper."

After thinking for a few seconds, Li Zicheng said: "I, Dashun, issue banknotes with gold and silver as reserves. I will issue as many banknotes as there are gold and silver. In addition, Dashun will make legislation in the future to ensure the circulation of banknotes in the market. The court cannot reject banknotes." In addition, I also want to build a treasury in Yangzhou and Dongshan, Jiangbei mainly exchanges banknotes in Yangzhou, and Jiangnan exchanges banknotes in Suzhou. How much do you think those merchants are worried about?"

Xi Benzhen thought about it for a long time, and finally said carefully: "If His Majesty admits that banknotes can be exchanged for gold and silver, and can pay taxes, Cao Min thinks that this matter can be half done. It is to build a treasury in Dongshan. Does Your Majesty intend to cross the river?"

Li Zicheng smiled and said: "The river must be crossed, but not now. The gentry and people in the south of the Yangtze River are afraid of the flames of war, and they don't know what kind of character our Dashun army is. Our army crossing the river now will only cause chaos in the world. The result I want to see. So, this time I went south this time, I just went to the banks of the Yangtze River to have a look."

Xi Benzhen replied in astonishment: "Your Majesty doesn't plan to cross the Yangtze River, so would it be too dangerous to set up the treasury in Dongshan? Nandu ordered it to be confiscated, and the grassroots can't keep the treasury."

Li Zicheng laughed and said: "The purpose of building a treasury in Dongshan is to win the trust of Dongting merchants. It does not mean that all gold and silver will be transported to Dongshan. The main treasury will still be placed in Yangzhou. You don't have to worry about that." Besides, I don’t believe those officials in Nandu would dare to covet my money. In addition, if Dongting merchants are willing to help me promote the use of banknotes, I am also willing to sell some of the bank’s shares to you, but the upper limit will not exceed 20% ..."

As the owner of a pawn shop, Xi Benzhen naturally knows how profitable it is to connect the north and the south, and the exchange business alone is a business that is making money every day.At this time, all the wealth in the world was concentrated in the south of the Yangtze River. Selling goods from the south to the northwest or north, and then transporting the silver back was not only expensive but also unsafe.

Even Xi Benzhen, who had a good relationship with the officials, was stopped by the banknotes on the Yangtze River when he sold paint from the upper reaches of the Yangtze River and returned to the south of the Yangtze River. Lost money.It is so difficult to transport ordinary goods, let alone transport a ship of silver back to the south of the Yangtze River.

Especially in this period of war, when soldiers and bandits are hard to separate, it is difficult for officials to control those military towns, and long-distance business is becoming more and more difficult.If it was not Li Zicheng who met this time, but Zhang Xianzhong and others, Xi Benzhen thought that it would be difficult for him to escape this catastrophe.The conditions given by Emperor Yongchang were not unreasonable. If he still refused, Xi Benzhen felt that this would be a disgrace to the emperor.

However, he still didn't say it to death, but told Li Zicheng tactfully, "Caomin is willing to do his best, but there is no guarantee that all Dongting merchants will accept new things like banks. Even among Dongting merchants, there are also some old-fashioned people. They only do business with people they know well, and they don't really like to develop new customers and new businesses."

Li Zicheng nodded to express his understanding, and then said: "I have also considered this point, so I plan to use banknotes to purchase a batch of cotton cloth, grain, wood and iron materials, etc., and then you can use banknotes to exchange for silver, or you can use paper money Paper money to buy table salt.

I also plan to give some preferential policies to these merchants who first supported paper currency, such as one tax to the end, after paying the one-time tax, there is no need to pay the second regular tax in Dashun.

In addition, I also plan to open a port in Shanghai County. In the future, maritime merchants who export raw silk and silk to the East and West will be required to obtain licenses.All merchants without a license are not allowed to export raw silk and silk overseas.This is also the third thing I want to tell you. I hope you will help me to communicate with the landlords and squires in Shanghai County, and buy a large piece of land in the north of Shanghai County and south of Wusong River for the construction of the Shanghai port area and market. "

Xi Benzhen weighed it in his heart, and felt that this business could be done. Even if Emperor Yongchang really couldn't afford to pay the bill, if he had salt to buy, he would not lose anything in the end.He nodded and replied: "According to what His Majesty said, the grass people are a little more confident. The salt business and overseas trade are indeed the most profitable businesses. Presumably, not many people would reject His Majesty's proposal."

The expression on Li Zicheng's face suddenly relaxed a lot. He was able to persuade Xi Benzhen to recruit those Dongting businessmen for him, and he felt that he was one step closer to the establishment of the bank.Although Shanxi merchants and Huizhou merchants have great reputations, the former has already hooked up with the Manchus. Naturally, Li Zicheng would not give his lifeline to such a group of unreliable guys.

In this era, although there is a saying that there is no city without Huizhou, since Anhui merchants entered the salt industry, they almost became merchants who settled in Yangzhou, Huai'an and other places, and it was difficult for them to venture outside Yangzhou.Dongting merchants and Longyou merchants have taken over the role of traveling merchants from Anhui merchants, and the latter two are now the most numerous merchants in various markets.

It's just that there is only one Xi Benzhen beside him who can keep up with his train of thought, so naturally he won't look for Longyou businessman again.After taking the first step, Li Zicheng felt a sense of accomplishment in his heart.But he calmed down quickly, then got up and took out a cylinder for calligraphy and painting from the room, and handed it to Xi Benzhen.

"There is one more thing I would like to trouble you with. I hope to give this item to Zheng Cai, the deputy commander in Zhenjiang. If he is indifferent after reading the contents, please send it to Fujian to give it to Zheng Yi. Officer. Tell him that I want to meet with the same officer, and the time is set for October, when I arrive in Yangzhou."

Although Xi Benzhen didn't know what was in the cylinder, he still stretched out his hands to take the cylinder that Li Zicheng handed to him, and assured Li Zicheng: "The grass people will definitely send the things to Zheng Cai, the deputy commander..."

After the conversation, Li Zicheng sent Xi Benzhen out of the second hall, and then began to think about whether the power structure after he left could be stabilized.Although a certain person doesn't really believe in people's loyalty, but now the army is full of loyal soldiers, Li Zicheng can only shake his head and smile wryly.

Chapter 128

On the morning of August 8th, Li Zicheng led two infantry regiments and a guard cavalry brigade down the Grand Canal.Liu Zongmin and Yuan Zongdi took civil and military officials to see him off. Although Li Zicheng did not bring many troops this time, he brought many officials from Huaiyang, and even Chen Yuanyuan. Quite a few, it looked more like a patrol than a battle.

Before boarding the ship, Li Zicheng said to Liu Zongmin, Yuan Zongdi, and Li Guo: "During the time I am going south, you three will be in charge of the Shandong and Henan defense lines. We should listen to Mr. Han's opinion more when building fortifications." In order to govern the people's livelihood, the people's government is the main thing. What you have to do is actually three things, rectify the army, survey the terrain, and wipe out bandits.

If the army is not rectified, the orders of the veterans and the new army will not be unified; if the terrain is not surveyed, it will be difficult for the army to know the distance;Therefore, these three things must be completed before Jiannu goes south. I hope that you will help each other and don’t learn from the infighting in the official circles of the previous Ming Dynasty. Jiannu can accept the surrender of civil servants, because civil servants will not endanger their rule over China. But we will definitely not let us warriors from the rebel army be spared, because we can threaten their rule over China. "

Regarding Li Zicheng's repeated warnings, Liu Zongmin, Yuan Zongdi, and Li Guo all solemnly stated that they would remember them, and the surrounding generals also looked thoughtful after hearing this.

There was only so much Li Zicheng could do. After someone finished speaking, he turned around and boarded a two-story official ship.Someone standing on the boat watched the people seeing off on the pier slowly go away. For a moment, he didn't know whether what he was doing now could stop Qiuman's people from going south.

For the current Manchus, they are actually more like the Nationalist and Democratic Party armies after the Northern Expedition. Although they have a lineage of Eight Banners that can fight, the number of former Ming troops who surrendered to them is still far more than the Manchus. The strength of the Eight Banners.Therefore, going south has become an inevitable choice for the Manchus. After all, killing the Shun army can eliminate the enemy, and killing those who surrendered to the Ming army can eliminate internal worries.

Someone tried his best to improve the treatment of the soldiers, but also hoped that the Ming army who surrendered to him would not surrender upon hearing the news. After all, under the blind manipulation of Ming officials, the Ming army in the north was already in the same situation as the local authorities.

Local officials bullying officers and soldiers, and local gentry encroaching on the fields of guards have become the norm in Ming Dynasty, and only the Nine Frontier Army is in a slightly better situation, because these places are under the threat of direct invasion by Mongols and Manchus, so there are many troops and few people , the military directly controlled local government affairs.But this also means that once the frontier army defected, the court would have no other means except to cut off the logistics, because the families of the soldiers were all in the frontier.

Therefore, when Li Zicheng launched the Eastern Expedition, the frontier troops in Datong, Xuanfu and other places surrendered faster than the Ming army in the interior. Similarly, after Li Zicheng withdrew from Beijing, the frontier troops surrendered faster than the inland counties. many.Because they have formed a semi-independent power of the feudal town, there is no need to solicit the opinions of the big households in the village. As long as the general agrees with the place, the color will change.

Once this kind of hostility between the army and the people of the Ming Dynasty is exploited by the Manchus, the resistance forces of the people in the north will not be able to resist the strangulation of these former Ming officials and soldiers, because these Ming officials and soldiers are familiar with geography and know the reality of the place. It is much more accurate than the Manchus when it comes to action, and it will not engage in a full-scale massacre like the Manchus, which will arouse more resistance. This is the reason why traitors are more hateful than enemies.

And when these former Ming troops crossed the Yellow River and left their hometown, the Ming army became even more unscrupulous. To a certain extent, their crimes were more brutal than the Manchus, because the Manchus were even more afraid of the Han people. The Ming army who resisted and surrendered did not have such scruples. After they were defeated, they only had to take off their clothes to become Ming people.

It is like the Koreans who helped the Japanese burn, kill and loot the Northeast during the War of Resistance Against Japan. After the defeat, they claimed that they were Koreans persecuted by Japan, thus escaping the war crimes they committed in the Northeast.

If the treatment of the lieutenant officers and soldiers of the Dashun Army was not as good as that of the former Ming soldiers who helped the Manchus burn, kill and loot, then someone felt that those Ming officers and soldiers who surrendered themselves might not be lured by these former colleagues.Under the education of the Ming court for many years, the officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty neither knew what the country was nor what the common people were, and only knew about getting promoted and getting rich.

As the ship gradually left the Xuzhou wharf, Chen Yuanyuan finally walked to Li Zicheng's side. He looked at the scenery on both sides of the canal happily, but cautiously said to Li Zicheng: "Your Majesty's Southern Expedition, will you bring me a concubine?" Will it be a drag?"

Li Zicheng glanced back at her, put his arms around her slender waist, and said gently: "What is the southern expedition, it's just going south to negotiate. The officials on the ship behind us are the key to the success of this south trip... "

As Li Zicheng's forward, Zhang Nai felt the same as Li Zicheng at this time. After bringing 3000 troops from Jin Shenghuan's troops to Suqian, Jin Shenghuan, who cleared the way for him, persuaded the fortresses along the road to open their gates to welcome the Shun army.After Qiu Junsun and other officials from Huai'an came forward to appease them, the people along the road almost immediately turned to Dashun to provide food and fodder for the Shun army.

After Lu Zhenfei and Wang Fan were dismissed in Nanjing, Huai'an was handed over to Liu Zeqing's department. Liu Zeqing's extortion of wealthy businessmen in Huai'an made Huai'an, which was originally united by Lu Zhenfei, very popular, and the governor appointed by Nandu Tian Yang was powerless to do anything to Liu Zeqing, so the resentment of Liu Zeqing's troops in Huai'an people overwhelmed the fear of the Shun army going south.

After Suqian Jin Shenghuan surrendered to the Chengshun Army, and Qiu Junsun and other local Jinshi came forward to appease him, Suining, Shuyang, Taoyuan and other counties immediately handed over their surrender forms to the Shun Army.So when Li Zicheng boarded the ship from Xuzhou, Zhang Nai's tribe had already arrived at a place less than 20 miles away from the three rivers of the Huaihe River and the Yellow River.

Although Liu Zeqing had been hiding in the city of Huai'an since his return from Yangzhou, he still sent his general Ma Huabao, his deputy Zhang Siyi, Wang Zuntan, Liu Konghe and others to battalion for ten li at Sanhekou, and refused to stop the army from going south.

Zhang Nai felt that a battle was about to start this time, so he called Jin Shenghuan, Qiu Lei and other generals to discuss how to attack Sanhekou.At this time, Qiu Lei said: "The lower officials thought that Liu Bandit lived in Huai'an City to enjoy himself, but let his subordinates come out to fight for their lives.

And people like Ma Huabao, Zhang Siyi, Wang Zuntan, Liu Konghe, etc. have never been valued by Liu Zeqing. This time they were asked to set up camp at Sanhekou. The subordinate officials thought it was Liu Zeqing's method to eliminate dissidents in the army.