Dashun Yongchang

Ye Tingxiu glanced at Fu Yijian and didn't ask any more questions.However, he still had some concerns in his heart. The scholar from Dongchang Mansion actually said it well. No matter what Li Zicheng wanted to do, the procedure of persuading Emperor Hongguang to abdicate was really indispensable.

Before receiving information about the life and death of Emperor Daxing and the whereabouts of the prince, Nandu's election of King Fu to the throne was already unfair.If Emperor Hongguang refuses to abdicate now, it will further confirm the fact that King Fu and the Minister of Nandu colluded to usurp the throne.

How could Emperor Hongguang, who had just ascended the throne, abdicate so easily?Even if Emperor Yongchang and the crown prince spared him, those loyal ministers of Ming Dynasty would not spare him.After all, as long as Emperor Hongguang lived in the world for a day, these loyal ministers of the Ming Dynasty would always wear the brand of rebellious ministers.How dare the prince use them with confidence? Can't the lessons of the Seizing the Gate be a wake-up call for future generations?

When Ye Tingxiu stood in a daze at the door, Fu Yijian, who returned to the table to pack up the letters, finally couldn't help but look back at him, sighed and thought, "Although this old man is upright, he just can't turn around." Come on. The Lord wrote these letters obviously to disturb the hearts of the people in Nandu. As long as one of these letters is leaked out, it will be difficult to gain mutual trust between the monarchs and ministers of Nandu.

The emperor's abdication can be discussed by the courtiers, but if the courtiers start discussing the emperor's abdication, it means that the imperial power has been shaken.As far as the current chaos in the world is concerned, without a court with appeal and prestige, it is impossible to suppress the armies and ministers of the frontiers in those places, so can Ming Dynasty survive?

Once the Nandu monarchs and ministers believe in it, will anyone care about the survival of the four towns in Jiangbei?Without Nandu's support, the four Jiangbei towns are like fat meat at the mouth of Shunjun, and they can eat whatever they want.Therefore, the Lord wrote so many letters, nominally to make peace with the southern capital, but in essence to cut off the retreat of the four towns in the north of the river, and to prevent Gao Jie's army from crossing the Yangtze River in the south. "

Thinking of this, Fu Yijian sighed softly, put the matter behind him, and focused on the work at hand.To him, every bit of talent Li Zicheng showed meant that Dashun's destiny was more stable, and he had more reasons to be loyal to Dashun.

After nightfall, dozens of candle holders decorated with silver in Jinshixuan were lit and placed everywhere in the room, and the room became brightly lit in no time.The generals of the Denglai Navy, headed by Huang Fei, were also three points drunk at this time. Li Zicheng's banquet this time can be regarded as making them feel depressed when they were driven to the Acropolis of Andong by Liu Zeqing before.

Although the Denglai navy grew stronger during Yuan Keli's period, after Yuan Keli left Dengzhou and the Wuqiao Mutiny hit the Denglai navy, the navy had declined by the end of Chongzhen.However, Li Zicheng got a lot of stories about Denglai, Liaodong, and North Korea from these generals, and he drank the wine happily.

Chapter 132 Wang Wuwei

Wang Wuwei originally thought that he was just an accompaniment at the banquet. As an old man left behind from Yuan Keli's era, he was quite prestigious in the Denglai Navy. He was impeached by the governor of Denglai, Zeng Hualong, the governor of Shandong, and the general army of Shandong, and was finally transferred from the Denglai Navy.

It was only after the Peasant Army captured Beijing that the governor of Denglai Zeng Hualong ran away, and Huang Fei couldn't persuade the locals in the Denglai Navy to go south with him, so he transferred Wang Wuwei back.Wang Wuwei didn't want to go south at first, he felt that Daming was exhausted, but as the peasant army's plundering prevailed in Shandong, Wang Wuwei changed his mind and went south with Huang Fei.

Huang Fei is the nephew of Huang Long, the chief military officer of Dongjiang Town. Because Huang Long and Jianu died in the fierce battle at Lushunkou and had no children, Huang Fei was able to inherit it and changed his mother's surname.By the 17th year of Chongzhen, Huang Fei was already the commander of the governor, the commander of the Northeast Navy, and the commander of the Guanliao Tongjin Huaihaijiang Township, acting cheaply.

But this series of titles is basically useless, because after the rebellion of several generals in Dongjiang Town and the loss of Lushunkou, the Dongjiang Navy can only operate on a few islands between the Shandong Peninsula and the Liaodong Peninsula.Although Huang Fei is Huang Long's nephew, Huang Long is not the main force in Dongjiang Town, but King Sanshun and Duke Xu Shun who surrendered to build slaves are. Therefore, before Zeng Hualong fled, the navy that Huang Fei could control was very small.

It was only after Zeng Hualong ran away that Huang Fei gained the right to speak in the Denglai Navy, but he still needed the support of old sailors like Wang Wuwei, so he recalled Wang Wuwei to the navy.However, everyone could listen to Huang Fei in Denglai, because everyone had nowhere to go, and Huang Fei had the highest military rank, but after arriving in Haizhou, the situation changed.

Although Huang Fei is still nominally the highest commander of the Denglai Navy, after returning to the territory under the control of the imperial court, he is naturally the largest in the imperial court.And the domineering of the four towns also made some navy officers and soldiers have other thoughts, or they wanted to switch to the four towns, or they wanted to get a piece of land and become the fifth town in Jiangbei.

Huang Fei couldn't suppress those different voices internally, and was oppressed by Liu Zeqing externally, so he had the idea of ​​going south to Nanjing for a while, but before he could go south, the Shun army reached Huai'an.Now the generals in the Denglai Navy who were disappointed with Nanjing and those who wanted to be loyal to the prince finally challenged Huang Fei, expressing their unwillingness to go south, and wanted to capture Liu Zeqing and Tian Yang to show their loyalty to the prince.

Huang Fei was finally persuaded by Qiu Lei, and accepted the request of the naval officers and soldiers to be loyal to the prince, captured Liu Zeqing and Tian Yang who were trying to escape to the sea, and got a lot of belongings that Liu Zeqing carried with him, thus gaining the acceptance of the Shun army .

After Li Zicheng arrived in Huai'an, he held a banquet to entertain the generals of the Denglai Army alone, which was undoubtedly a good thing for the generals of the Denglai Army below Huang Fei, which showed that Emperor Yongchang attached great importance to them.However, as Wang Wuwei, who was personally recalled by Huang Fei, although he was in charge of the army at this time, he did not have a formal position, so naturally he did not feel that he would be favored by Emperor Yongchang.

It's just that the banquet given by Emperor Dashun and the banquet given by Emperor Da Ming are completely different. The latter is mainly a kind of honor and favor, but Li Zicheng obviously regards the banquet as a way of communication.This banquet greatly relaxed the generals of the Denglai Army, and also gave Li Zicheng a chance to understand the composition and history of the Denglai Army.

The Denglai Army led by Huang Fei to the south includes not only the navy, but also land forces. For example, the three thousand birds in Laizhou are not under the control of the Denglai Navy, but now they are retreating southward with Huang Fei. up.The reason why the Laizhou Army was willing to go south with Huang Fei was because their leader, Yang Yufan, was framed by Liu Zeqing and taken to Nanjing. Therefore, the leaderless group of dragons had no choice but to go south with Huang Fei. Therefore, the Laizhou Army was the most resolute to rely on Liu Zeqing and was the first to be captured by Qiu. Lei persuaded to intercept Liu Zeqing's escape.

However, in a relatively relaxed atmosphere at the banquet, when Li Zicheng learned that the Dengzhou navy had tried to unite with North Korea to attack slavery, he became interested in Wang Wuwei, the person in charge of this plan, and asked him to be at the banquet for a while. He received a lot of attention, but besides Huang Fei, Li Zicheng became one of the few people who paid more attention tonight.

On the morning of the second day after the banquet, Wang Wuwei was taken alone to the mansion where Li Zicheng was temporarily stationed. This time the meeting was more formal, but Li Zicheng did not meet him in the majestic lobby, but in a retreat He was summoned in the lakeside building that had dropped a lot of furniture and antiques and looked a little empty.

The building is divided into upper and lower floors, and the lower floor is divided into three rooms on the left, middle and right. The place looks very spacious.A group of people in the main hall in the middle are making a sand table with wax. Although Wang Wuwei just glanced at it, he also recognized that the sand table should include the ocean.The door of the room on the left was ajar, and there were several desks lined up inside, and several young men in military uniforms were busy writing.

The officer who picked him up led him to the room on the right, knocked on the door and reported inside, and then heard Li Zicheng's voice in the room, so the officer who led the way opened the door and signaled Wang Wuwei to go in alone.

When Wang Wuwei entered the room, he glanced at the facilities in the room, and found that there were only desk chairs in the room, and no other furnishings were seen. This is obviously not Liu Zeqing's style.Just when he was admiring Yu Yongchang's self-discipline in his heart, he found that Li Zicheng was not sitting behind the long table, but standing under the east wall and looking at something.

Just when Wang Wuwei wanted to call Li Zicheng to attend the court ceremony, Li Zicheng stopped him and said, "My Dashun Army has abolished all the cumbersome etiquette, since you are already a member of my Dashun Army , you should pay tribute to me according to the military salute of my Dashun Army.

Put your right hand into a fist on your chest, and hang your left hand down, just bow to the Shangguan, and the Shangguan nods in return with the same gesture.The subordinates will be punished if their superiors fail to salute, and the superiors will also be punished if they accept the salute but fail to return it.However, when the flag bearer holds the military flag, he only accepts the salute and does not return the salute.When not wearing military uniforms, both parties can be exempted from courtesy, and those in the camp who do not wear military uniforms for no reason will be punished..."

After Li Zicheng talked about the military rules of Shunjun etiquette, he looked at Wang Wuwei and asked meaningfully: "Do you remember, General Wang?"

Wang Wuwei's body was a little stiff and he gave a military salute to Li Zicheng. Li Zicheng returned the gift with satisfaction and said: "It seems that General Wang is a person with good learning ability. I like to work with people like you. Okay, you come here first Take a look at this map."

Looking at Li Zicheng's fingers, Wang Wuwei realized that what Li Zicheng had just stood by the wall looking at was a huge map hanging on the wall.He walked to the wall subconsciously, and after looking at it for a long time, he asked Li Zicheng uncertainly, "Your Majesty, is this Shandong, Liaodong and North Korea?"

Li Zicheng glanced at the place Wang Wuwei pointed at, nodded and said, "Yes, do you think there is a big discrepancy?"

Wang Wuwei stared at the map again for a long time before saying in amazement: "This is the most outstanding map I have ever seen. Although some islands are not marked, it is very close to the actual geography."

Li Zicheng sighed and said: "It's just that the shapes are similar. To get a more accurate map, we need to send ships to measure the latitude and longitude of various places, the outline of mountains, rivers and coastlines. The map, now this one can only be used to show children the size of the world."

Wang Wuwei was a little hard to understand Li Zicheng's thinking. In his opinion, this map was regarded as a state secret. Jiannu got this map and could use it for marching and fighting. But in Li Zicheng's eyes, it was just a child's plaything?After hesitating for a moment, he said in a low voice: "Your Majesty, this map is no worse than the map used in the military. It's just that the cities and the distance between them are not marked. Otherwise, it would have surpassed the map used in the military. If such a map It is probably not a good thing for China if it spreads out and is acquired by barbarians.”

Li Zicheng looked at him and said: "Treasure the map and keep the people out of touch, or it may make it difficult for the rebellious people to compete with the court, but from the perspective of the whole country, it means that it is difficult for the people to understand what the country is? So When millions of Han Chinese in Liaodong were massacred by Jiannu, the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River were still singing and dancing, busy raising singing girls and building gardens.

You can see that Huai'an City is not in the category of Jiangnan, it can only be regarded as the edge of Jiangnan, but hundreds of gardens have been built here, and the luxury is no less than that of Yangzhou.A garden can range from a few thousand taels to more than a hundred thousand taels. That is to say, the rich in Huai'an City have invested millions of taels just to build a garden, and this is just a garden in one place.

Places such as Yangzhou, Nanjing, and Suzhou have more gardens and more luxurious interiors. The total value of gardens in Jiangnan is at least tens of millions of taels, but the business tax in Jiangnan is 10,000+ taels. Merchants already feel that the court is squeezing too much. incredible.The people in the south of the Yangtze River are still on the side of the merchants, thinking that the imperial court raised the price of goods by collecting taxes.

It can be seen from this that the people in the north and the south do not think they live in the same country, so the people in the north can surrender to build slaves and go south to plunder the people in the south, but the people in the south are indifferent to the slaughter of the people in the north by foreign captives.

Judging from this result, Daming did not want the common people to know about the collection of maps, but it was only for the private interests of the family and at the expense of China's interests.But I didn't come here today to discuss the map with you, but to hear about your strategy for uniting the Korean slavery.It was inconvenient to talk at the banquet yesterday, so I specially called you here to have a private talk. "

Wang Wuwei's mind was finally drawn back from the map. Regarding Li Zicheng's question, he was refreshed at first, but soon said in frustration: "Although I had the idea of ​​uniting with the Korean slavery before, I'm afraid it's not so much today. It fits."

Li Zicheng asked curiously, "Why?"

Wang Wuwei pondered for a long time before he organized his words and said: "First, the ships of the Denglai Navy are not suitable for long-term sea voyages, and I discovered this when I led the team to North Korea for the third time;

Second, Jiannu moved all the people along the coast of Liaodong to the interior. Except for Lushunkou and the mouth of the Yalu River, our army could hardly find any targets to attack along the coast of Liaodong. Lushunkou and the mouth of the Yalu River were heavily guarded, and it was not a short period of time. able to beat down;

Thirdly, the officials in North Korea who are close to my Ming Dynasty were either kicked out of power or sent to Shenyang by Jiannu because they were discovered by Jiannu about their plan to unite with me..."

Chapter 133 Someone's Way of Persuasion

After listening to Wang Wuwei's explanation, a certain person just shrugged his shoulders and said disapprovingly: "I think there is nothing wrong with the idea of ​​uniting North Korea to restrain the establishment of slaves, but in terms of specific operations, I think the method you use is a bit off topic. Thousands of miles away. I want to ask, do you really think you can persuade the North Koreans to attack the Jiannu on the other side of the Yalu River?"

After hesitating for a long time, Wang Wuwei said: "In the past, I thought it was possible. After all, when the Japanese pirates invaded North Korea, our court dispatched a large army to help North Korea resist the Japanese pirates. According to morality, North Korea should have stood by Daming...well, China Side. After all, they usually claim to be a small China. They respect Confucianism just like China. How can they be used by barbarians? However, when I went to North Korea three times as an envoy, I found that North Korea was afraid of slavery. "

Li Zicheng nodded and agreed with Wang Wuwei's opinion, but he asked again: "Then, besides persuading North Korea to attack Jiannu, do you have any other plans?"

Wang Wuwei was stunned for a long time before he wanted to understand what the plan meant. He could only reply honestly: "There is no other plan. After all, the land route between China and North Korea is blocked by slavery, and sea travel is difficult. If North Korea disagrees, our army will not agree." There is no ability to force North Korea to accept China's opinion."

After hearing this, Li Zicheng shook his head repeatedly and said, "How can we do things without a plan? Every time the navy dispatches an army, it costs at least tens of thousands or 10,000+ taels of silver. If there is no result for a trip to sea, wouldn't it be a waste of money to invite you to travel? "

Wang Wuwei blushed, and said with shame: "I really didn't think carefully in the past. I went to sea three times and didn't get any results, so I was kicked out of the navy by the Fuyuan."

Li Zicheng looked at him quietly for a while, then pointed to the islands in the south of the Korea Strait on the map and said: "If persuading North Korea to attack Liaodong's Jiannu is the highest goal, then the lowest goal should be to persuade North Korea not to give any more Liaodong has sent manpower and materials.

I heard from Lin Qingye that in the 13th year of Chongzhen, the king of Joseon ordered him to escort a batch of military assets to Jinzhou, including 115 ships, 1 bales of rice, and 5000 Korean soldiers.Since North Korea surrendered to Jiannu, this kind of manpower and material transportation has been more than once or twice.

Therefore, even if the North Koreans cannot be persuaded to attack Jiannu in Liaodong, they must be persuaded that they can no longer support Jiannu with manpower and materials. This is the easiest goal for us to achieve, and it must be achieved. "

Wang Wuwei didn't notice Li Zicheng's actions, and only considered what Li Zicheng said, so he still said a little bit tangled: "Your Majesty is right, but it may be difficult to persuade North Korea not to support the manpower and supplies of the slaves. Now North Korea The pro-Jiannu faction is in power in the country, and even the king of Joseon is worried that offending Jiannu will lead to a third invasion. Therefore, before China wins the battle against Jiannu, the Koreans may not follow our persuasion so easily. "

Li Zicheng shook his head and said mockingly: "It seems that General Wang doesn't understand the persuasion method I mentioned."

Wang Wuwei finally raised his head to look at Li Zicheng, looking at him in confusion, but saw Li Zicheng once again tapped a point on the map with his finger, and then said: "This is Jeju Island, about 200 miles away from the Korean Peninsula. Nagasaki is about 600 miles away, and it is about a thousand miles away from the mouth of the Yangtze River.

The northern part of the Korean peninsula is mountainous, and there are some plains in the south. Therefore, most of the grain production areas on the Korean peninsula are in the south.The Honam Plain in Jeolla-do claims to be able to meet the needs of the eight provinces once cooked.Of course, this is also because the North Korean population has lost too much after many wars, so North Korea has a lot of people and a small number of land.

Jeju Island was originally a place to raise horses overseas in the Yuan Dynasty. Later, North Korea sincerely served China, and I rewarded this place to North Korea in the Ming Dynasty.Since North Korea has become a vassal of the barbarians today, helping the barbarians to attack China, the relationship between the two countries will be broken.

This dynasty will take back Jeju Island, and then attack the south of North Korea, forcing North Korea to use its troops and resources on the southern coast, so that it will no longer be able to support slavery.It would be even better if North Korea could be forced to ask Jiannu for assistance and let Jiannu divide up its troops to defend the Korean peninsula.However, I don't see such a chance.

Compared with Jiannu, our country has the advantage of having a large number of people, so if we want to defeat Jiannu, we must give full play to our own advantages.On land, it is indeed difficult for us to conduct field battles with the Jiannu who have mastered the grassland, but at sea, the Jiannu can't even build ships, so we can't win, because there is a problem with our system.

What you just said is right. The ships built before the Ming Dynasty only considered inland river and near-shore navigation, and also wanted to cut corners, so most of the ships could not go to sea.This is also one of the reasons why my Ming Navy can't defeat the Southern Pirates.Therefore, I want to establish a navy and build strong warships that can sail the ocean, such as the plywood ships of the Westerners.

Secondly, the hull of the plywood ship of the Westerners is strong and can accommodate cannons.If our navy wants to fight across the sea, the number of people will not be large, but if we want to exert the combat power of the navy, we must install more cannons and firearms.Therefore, in addition to building ships, we also need to build more cannons and muskets.

Finally, as combat at sea is riskier than on land, and since it is difficult to communicate with the rear, naval officers should be given not only discretion but also authority over the distribution of spoils.

Each warship goes to sea to fight, and the spoils obtained are divided into 14 shares, 3 shares go to the public, 2.5 shares are classified as pensions, 1 share is awarded to the warrior, 1.5 shares belong to the captain, 3 shares belong to the officers, and 3 shares belong to the soldiers.

I wonder what General Wang thinks? "

Regarding the "persuasion" method proposed by Li Zicheng, Wang Wuwei's heart suddenly became hot, but he still hesitated and said: "Our army robbed... well, if we attack the slaves and vassals, will we be criticized by the domestic civil officials? "

Li Zicheng said disapprovingly: "I don't care what the civil servants of Ming Dynasty say. The civil servants of Dashun should not say such inappropriate words. The officers and soldiers killed their own people in the country. They all said that it was good to kill a few overseas barbarians. If my vassals want to jump out and criticize me, then I have to let them know why we use knives to talk to barbarians instead of just talking with our mouths..."

When Wang Wuwei walked out of the feudal mansion, he felt dizzy. This was the first time he discussed how to plunder a country with an emperor in such an open manner. This was obviously unimaginable in the Ming Dynasty.From this point of view, it was the first time that he felt that it was not a bad thing for Li Zicheng to be emperor, at least he would not tie their hands and feet with morality, and asked them to use morality to defeat those barbarians.

As a military officer of the Ming Dynasty, he actually didn't feel much about the fall of the Ming Dynasty, because his heart had long been cold.Before the end of the Ming Dynasty, those civil and military officials who tried to save the Ming Dynasty first had to face not the frontal enemy, but the sniping arrows of their colleagues behind them.

For example, he felt grievances for his benefactor, Chen Xinjia. Chen Xinjia obviously went to negotiate with Emperor Chongzhen to negotiate peace with Houjin. As a result, after the peace talks were exposed, those honest gentlemen who were helpless against Houjin's invasion began to criticize Chen Xinjia verbally and in writing. Emperor Chongzhen, who refused to take responsibility, actually pushed Chen Xinjia to be beheaded in this way, without even giving him exile.

To be honest, this result was also beyond the expectations of those who impeached Chen Xinjia, because everyone knew that under the attack of the Peasant Army and the Jiannu, the key to solving the problem was to free up one's hand to eliminate an enemy first.The impeachment of Chen Xinjia is the position of these honest gentlemen, but they are not opposed to making peace with Hou Jin, as long as someone comes forward to take responsibility, after all, the slaves invaded the pass, the northern gentry were also victims, and the peasant army made a big fuss. Nothing will end well for everyone.

But Emperor Chongzhen was such a twister. After killing Chen Xinjia, he also gave up the results of the peace negotiation. From then on, the road to peace negotiation with Houjin was broken, because no one wanted to be the second Chen Xinjia.Without Chen Xinjia's support, Wang Wuwei would have fallen, so he didn't feel much about Daming's fall, because at the moment Chen Xinjia was killed, his loyalty to Daming had already died.

As for the impression of the Peasant Army, when Li Zicheng entered Beijing, Wang Wuwei wanted to join the new dynasty. Anyway, Daming had no future for him.It's just that the peasant army's pursuit of stolen goods and subsidy made him feel that the peasant army could not accomplish anything, so he followed Huang Fei to the south.When the four Jiangbei towns started fighting each other for Yangzhou, he once again felt that the Ming Dynasty was about to end.

The surrender to Li Zicheng was not bad in terms of results, because Li Zicheng was willing to treat these generals with an equal attitude.From this point of view, Wang Wuwei feels that it is much better than the Ming Dynasty.To be honest, he has no opinion on Wen Zun Wu Bei. After all, it is much more difficult for scholars to become an official than these warriors. These generals are all unable to learn literature, so they devote themselves to the future of warriors.But civil officials treat military generals like servants, and no warrior will feel convinced.

Liu Zeqing killed the civil servant who impeached him, and the domineering actions of the four towns against the imperial court were actually an act of retaliation by the literati for the humiliation of the warriors in the Ming Dynasty for more than a hundred years.When the Kingdom was first established, civil and military officials saluted on an equal footing, and the status of warriors was even higher.But after Tumubao, the status of civil servants began to surpass that of military officials, and military officials at the same level had to perform the ceremony of meeting superior officials when they saw civil servants.

In the period of Zhang Juzheng, even the commander-in-chief of the first and second ranks had to be treated as a junior officer for the soldiers of the fifth rank.In the last years of Wanli, when the chief military officer went to the Military Selection Department of the Ministry of War to collect documents, he even had to roll his name and perform in court to participate in the ceremony.In the Chongzhen period, a slave of a powerful family could reprimand a general in the army face to face, and the status of a military attache was already Yiyhudi.

Now that Li Zicheng has ascended the throne in Xi'an, no matter whether he has calmed down the world or not, at least the gold content of this Dashun emperor is still very high.His equal treatment of warriors naturally won the favor of the generals, and Wang Wuwei was one of them.

Of course, having a good impression of Li Zicheng and being willing to die for Li Zicheng are two different things.After eating last night's banquet, at most, Wang Wuwei could contribute to the Dashun Army with peace of mind.But today's conversation really made him feel loyal to Dashun, because Li Zicheng gave the navy too much power, and he didn't think Nanjing or Beijing could offer better terms.

Chapter 134 Investigations by the Statistics Division

In the Jiashuxuan of the feudal mansion, Zhang Yi, He Duiji, Li Sicheng, and Xu Ye were reporting their work to Chen Yuanyuan, the director of the Statistics Department, but Chen Yuanyuan was obviously not as enthusiastic about power as his deputy Xu Shanchi, nor was he. My deputy, Pan Zhai, is so devoted to her duties, she just goes to work normally for the work of the statistics department.

But even so, the staff in the Statistics Department will not underestimate her, not only because Emperor Yongchang loves her, but also because Chen Yuanyuan is not an ignorant village woman who can be easily deceived by them.When the statistics office was first established, when it was only in charge of managing the women's camp, there were women in the women's camp who wanted to lie, but Chen Yuanyuan easily saw through it. After these women were punished, the members of the statistics office also Be disciplined.

Zhang Yi, He Duiji, Li Sicheng, Xu Ye and others, in terms of status, cannot touch the core of the statistics office - the inner office. They are just peripheral personnel who collect information and carry out tasks for the inner office, but this time It was only after the statistics office was upgraded that an external office was set up, which was barely squeezed into the decision-making circle around Li Zicheng.

Li Zicheng laid the foundation for the founding of the country in Xi'an, and changed the system of the Ming Dynasty beyond recognition, which directly led to the disconnection of the military and political organization of Dashun after entering Beijing.The military can still rely on the system of five battalions and 22 generals to continue to operate. In terms of civil affairs, after destroying the six ministries of the cabinet and the state and county systems of Ming Dynasty, it has almost become a mess, relying entirely on the self-consciousness of officials to maintain the relationship between the central and local governments. .

This is also the reason why the local gentry in Hebei and Shandong were able to retaliate against local officials in Dashun after the Dashun Army withdrew from Beijing. The power of the gentry in the city lost its suppression and began to counterattack the local government in Dashun.

Even if there is a general like Guo Sheng who leads troops around to put out the rebellion of the gentry, he just presses the gourd and floats the scoop.Because the reason why the local gentry can control the place depends on the intertwined family marriage relationship. If they cannot be deterred by the intensity of one person committing a crime and the whole family is wiped out, then these gentry will rebel one after another. The benefits are far greater than the death of several family members and tenants.

This is also the reason why Li Zicheng ordered the evacuation of people from those areas not under actual control without hesitation when he evacuated from Beijing.And instructing these areas to establish county councils for self-government is also to see clearly which places are truly loyal to Dashun, which places are neutral, and which places are hostile to Dashun.

And after figuring out the attitudes of these places, Dashun will have the reason and ability to concentrate its forces to attack those hostile areas, instead of deploying limited troops evenly in various places as before.In fact, except for some ambitious figures in a few areas, the gentry in most areas mainly wanted to keep safe, that is, no matter who ruled them, as long as they did not destroy their lives.

After the Shun army withdrew from most areas in Shandong and only focused on guarding Jinan and the canal, the tense atmosphere between the Shun army and the local gentry in Shandong suddenly eased, and some local gentry in Shandong were even willing to follow the old rules of the Ming Dynasty. Shun offered food and salaries to prevent Shun's army from re-entering their hometown.

As for the Texas country gentry who were forcibly relocated southward by the Shun Army, they immediately became staunch supporters of the Shun Army after leaving their hometown.After leaving their hometown, the economic ties between the land-lost Texas gentry and the people of Texas were terminated, so the Shunjun, who were able to distribute rations and land to the people of Texas, naturally became their new allegiance object.

As for the Texas gentry, although the Shun army did not loot their belongings, they were also in a state of hesitation after losing their hometown land.Their land was purchased by the crown prince with public bonds, and then distributed to the local people by the Shun army.The Shun Army forced the relocation mainly of the population in the city and the suburbs of the city. The Shun Army didn't care about the villagers who were far away from the city. They just distributed the land they rented from the gentry to them, and recruited a group of young adults by the way.

Under such circumstances, obeying Dashun and hoping that Dashun can help them settle down in the south has become the wish of most northern gentry who went south.Therefore, in terms of the reform of the southern land system, these northern officials and gentry who went south were strong supporters of the Shun Army, and they also provided a large number of literate personnel for the Shun Army's policies such as the reform of the apportionment to the mu and the land system.

He Duiji, Li Sicheng, Xu Ye, etc., these northern scholars have now become key members of the Statistics Department, because these northern scholars have realized that the Statistics Department, which was originally a temporary agency in charge of migrants, is growing day by day. In the Shun regime, he expanded his influence.Whether it was to settle down the migrating northerners, or to conduct local investigations for the purpose of resettling the northerners, this institution increasingly became Li Zicheng's eyes and ears to understand the situation in various places.

If we say that some of these northern scholars joined the Statistics Department before, some just had nowhere to go, some just wanted to protect the interests of their families, and some just wanted to find a temporary shelter.Now these scholars who joined the Statistics Department began to combine their ideals of transforming society with the Statistics Department.

For example, Li Sicheng, who was already ambitious, immediately realized after working in the Statistics Department for a few days that this was the organization he wanted to build.It is much more interesting to understand the situation of various places through the Statistics Department, and then summarize and analyze these situations, so as to influence the decision-making of the court, which is much more interesting than supporting a great Ming clan.

As for He Duiji, after going through the information collected from various places by the Statistics Department, he finally saw the reality clearly. This world was ruined by those rich and powerful families, and even he himself was almost used by these rich and powerful families.Therefore, his philosophy is that the statistics department must not be controlled by a wealthy family like Li Sicheng, so as to continue to influence the government.

There are also gentler scholars such as Xu Ye. They realize that the Statistics Department is an effective means for the court to understand people's livelihood, but they worry that this institution will eventually become the emperor's eyes and ears for monitoring officials and local scholars. Their idea is that the Statistics Department must not be turned into Dashun's Jinyiwei or East and West Factory.

Of course, at this time, everyone felt that the expansion of the power of the Statistics Department was a good thing. This would not only realize their political ideals, but also prevent Emperor Yongchang from promulgating those unreasonable and chaotic policies.The only problem is that the Statistics Department is run by a few women with big chests and no ambitions, which is a bit of a joke.

For example, after listening to their reports, Chen Yuanyuan did not pay attention to the main points of their reports, but was very interested in some trivial matters they mentioned, "Officer Li, you just said that Du Guangshao, a salt merchant, has a marriage contract with King Fu. What's the situation?"

Li Sicheng looked down at the notes he had recorded, and then raised his head and replied to Chen Yuanyuan: "According to my investigation, when the vassal lords of the northern region went south at the beginning of the year, they used to stay in Du's Garden at Hexiahuzui, and Fufan was one of them." One. It should be the marriage contract between the two parties during this period of renting."

Chen Yuanyuan asked again: "How old is Du's daughter?"

After hesitating for a while, Li Sicheng said: "Du Guangshaozi is 13 years old this year, and Du's daughter seems to be a year or two younger than him, about eleven or twelve years old."

Chen Yuanyuan frowned suddenly and said: "If it wasn't for the good family, how could a woman be allowed to go out at this age? Besides, the four feudal clans lived in the Du's garden, wasn't the Fu clan the most downcast? Could it be that Du Guangshao still has the knowledge of people? "

Li Sicheng suddenly came to his senses, and subconsciously said: "Yes, it seems that this marriage is indeed a bit strange."

He Duiji on the side criticized unceremoniously: "There is nothing wrong with this. Du Guangshao is just a scholar who came to Huai'an from Shanxi to manage the salt industry. The so-called borrowing of the four feudal clans, I think Du Guangshao is choosing who to bet on, hey, so to speak, Ma Shiying came to Huai'an to choose the clan to go south, and Du's must be the one who led the way. Otherwise, how could Ma Shiying be so fast? Make up your mind to welcome King Fu to the south."

Li Sicheng did not provoke He Duiji, but said thoughtfully: "I am afraid that Ma Shiying cannot be persuaded by Du alone. I think most of the salt merchants in Huai'an should have sponsored Ma Shiying. Ma Shiying has the financial resources to attract four. The town is its wing, otherwise, how can a governor of Fengyang persuade the four towns? The chances of King Fu being in charge of the Datong are not great, and the southern capital is in the hands of ministers such as Shi Kefa, so it is impossible for the four towns to take such a big risk to support Ma Shiying."

He Duiji clapped his hands and said, "Follow this line, we should clean up the salt merchants in Huai'an, I suggest..."

"Don't yell about beating and killing all day long. It's fine for us warriors to talk, how can you scholars be so disrespectful? You should rule the country by law, and you can't punish without teaching."

Chen Yuanyuan, He Duiji, Li Sicheng and others hurriedly got up to avoid the table and saluted Li Zicheng who was standing at the door.Li Zicheng walked into the room, motioned everyone to sit down, walked to Chen Yuanyuan's seat and sat down, then picked up the report materials on the table and flipped through them, and then continued: "The local people's sentiments in Huai'an are summarized. here?"

Chen Yuanyuan sat on the side and replied to him: "Yes, Huai'an City is divided into three parts: the old city, the new city and the Liancheng. There are more than 3 households, more than 7 households, and about 20 mouths. The city is divided into 72 squares. There are 6 large towns with 10 people, of which Qingjiangpu Town on both sides of the canal is the most prosperous, with a population of about 35. Therefore, the urban population of Huai'an is in the early [-]s, which is about twice that of the rural population. The total population exceeds one million, which is no less than Yangzhou is now.

Huai'an Prefecture is based on water transportation and salt industry. There are more than 300 merchants operating salt industry in Huai'an from other places, and there are very few salt merchants from local origin.Huai'an is the center of the canal's water transportation, and the local Cao army is close to 10; the center of gravity of the Lianghuai salt industry lies in Huaibei, so there are tens of thousands of salt workers in Huai'an Prefecture..."

Chapter 135 The Stability of Shandong