Dashun Yongchang

Now Li Zicheng doesn't say any conditions, just wants Yangzhou people to admit that the emperor has the final say, which is too urgent.As for the minority obeying the majority, although this choice looks beautiful, who would dare to speak out in support of Li Zicheng?Even Qingliu, who claims to be a moral gentleman, only emphasizes that the Holy Son of Heaven rules from the bow.It would not be said that we have a large number of people, so His Majesty wants to listen to us, which is too arrogant.

Zheng Zhilong outside Pingshan Hall listened with gusto at this time, he didn't think there was any problem with the minority obeying the majority.Of course, this way of discussing issues can only be implemented among one's own people, and of course it is Zheng who has the final say on people other than one's own.

Standing behind him, Zheng Sen frowned. In fact, he followed his father across the river this time. Apart from getting to know the thief leader who overthrew Ming Dynasty, he also wanted to see what was so special about Shun Jun. It is really incredible that they were able to defeat the entire frontier army in the north of Ming Dynasty.Except for Qi Jiajun, Guangxi Wolf Soldiers and Sichuan Baigan Soldiers, the Southern Soldiers are a group of people who can only catch thieves, and they don't even dare to mess with private salt dealers.

But nearly a million northern soldiers can still fight. In addition to fighting against the Jiannu, the northern soldiers still have some victories against the Mongols.Therefore, Zheng Sen was very curious about how these peasant armies who had been repeatedly defeated by the imperial court turned defeat into victory.Is it by destiny, or is there a group of tiger and wolf soldiers.

But he really didn't expect that when he met Li Zicheng for the first time, he could hear such a question from the mouth of the thief leader.Although he didn't think that what Li Zicheng wanted was the choice of the minority to obey the majority, but being able to announce these two options in front of such a person at least showed that Li Zicheng had considered these two options.

It's just that everyone's silence did not satisfy Li Zicheng. Instead, he further explained to the members: "Just now some members said that the father should have the final say, and many members remained silent, obviously dissenting.

In my opinion, this attitude of expressing one's own position is the basic basis for discussing issues. If everyone does not have their own positions, then what is the point of our holding a meeting?The first step in discussing issues is to clarify their respective positions first, and then seek a consensus.

How did this consensus come about?I think that neither etiquette nor power can be relied on, and we should follow axioms.If any of you have read the Elements, you should know that.

Axioms are self-evident basic facts based on human reason.Only on the basis of axioms can objective laws continue to operate, thus establishing a world of truth.What is the world of truth? The world of great harmony mentioned by the Master is the world of truth.The goal I, Dashun, is pursuing is to fulfill my master's ideal.

Therefore, in order to build a world of Datong, we must first determine the basis of axioms for this world.Should the council be governed by the minority, or should the emperor make the final decision.I thought we first had to figure out a basic fact, that is: Did the people feed the emperor, or did the emperor feed the people? "

Now, the gentry who had declared their support for Li Zicheng all looked at him in surprise. This question is really dangerous, and any gentry with a little brain can understand the metaphor behind this question.

Those representatives who were born as citizens of Yangzhou also continued to remain silent. Although their political sense was not as strong as those of the gentry, after seeing the expressions of the gentry, they naturally would not answer this question indiscriminately.

Seeing these councilors shut their mouths tightly like gourds, apart from the sound of the wind blowing the bamboo forest in Pingshan hall, the sound of chanting in the courtyard next door can be heard almost quietly.Li Zicheng also frowned, wondering if he was too anxious and frightened all these people all of a sudden, but no one would do anything for Dashun.

At this time, someone suddenly said: "Of course the people feed the emperor. The emperor doesn't farm or weave, and he can't even feed himself. How can he feed the people?"

Li Zicheng heaved a sigh of relief, and gave He Duiji a wink, who was standing in the crowd. The officer of the statistics department immediately pulled Gong Mengren, Ren Wenshi, Jing Mu and others beside him and said, "This man is right." , it is indeed the people who feed the emperor..."

Under his persecution, the few people around him had no choice but to agree a few times. With such a few people echoing, many councilors from poor families immediately followed suit.As long as someone takes the lead and speaks out, in fact, these representatives of citizen origin still agree with the statement that the people support the emperor, because this is the truth.

Of course, in a society with high and low ranks, it takes a lot of courage to tell such a fact, and they will not tell the truth without someone taking the lead.After all, under the order of ethics, tabooing for the venerable and hiding from relatives actually deprives people of the right to tell the truth. Telling lies can be regarded as knowing the ways of the world, but telling the truth is accused of not knowing how to behave. A hypocritical person can survive in a very good world.

Therefore, while everyone voiced their support one after another, they couldn't help but look in the direction of the first voice, wondering who had the courage to speak the truth in front of Emperor Yongchang.It was only when they turned their heads to look that the person who spoke was not in Pingshan Hall, but was standing on the steps outside Pingshan Hall.

Zheng Zhilong looked helplessly at the eldest son beside him. It was his eldest son Zheng Sen who had just answered the Emperor Yongchang loudly. At this time, he could no longer hide his identity.So in the eyes of everyone, he walked onto the platform, paid homage to Li Zicheng, and said in his mouth: "Fujian Zheng Yiguan and his son Zheng Sen, pay homage to your majesty. The dog has no shape and disturbed the discussion between your majesty and the lords. This is all a The officials are not strict in discipline, and please punish the crimes, Your Majesty."

Li Zicheng subconsciously glanced at the young man behind Zheng Zhilong, and found that this man had a dark complexion, thick eyebrows and big eyes, and he did have a calm and majestic appearance.It turns out that Guo Xing Ye looks like this. Someone had this idea in his mind, but he quickly stepped forward to help Zheng Zhilong and said: "You don't need to be polite, an official brother. Today is not a formal meeting of the council. These councilors are just meeting, and your son interjects that there is no crime or innocence..."

Chapter 174 Yangzhou Twelve

Li Zicheng exchanged a few words with Zheng Zhilong, and asked the father and son to sit aside and listen to the meeting, while he turned to the members and continued: "If the emperor feeds the people, then naturally the emperor has the final say, and the sovereignty rests with the people." Your Majesty; if the people support the emperor, then naturally the people have the final say. The emperor is only a person elected by the people to govern the country. If the governance is not good, naturally he should step down and replace him. This is the sovereignty of the people..."

Hearing this, Zheng Yuanxun, Zong Wanguo, Ma Minglu, Tang Laihe, Wang Fulong and other officials and gentry finally understood that the reason why Emperor Yongchang took such a disgrace was to reiterate the legitimacy of Dashun replacing Daming.

Dashun broke through the city of Beijing. Naturally, he could use the theory of five virtues to prove the legitimacy of replacing Ming Dynasty. Beijing forced it out.Judging from this period of experience, it shows that Dashun did not inherit the virtuous dynasty of Ming Dynasty, otherwise it would not explain why the Shun army withdrew from Beijing so quickly.

At the same time, what Dashun did during his stay in Beijing also destroyed the trust of the gentry class who had already wanted to take refuge in the new dynasty, making them feel that taking refuge in the new dynasty would not save their family business, so it would be better to continue to be loyal to Daming, at least for a while. Under the Ming system, their family business can still be kept.

Although Li Zicheng issued a proclamation with a new concept when he evacuated from Beijing, these proclamations abandoned the words of doing justice for the heavens and trying to inherit the theory of the five virtues of the Ming Dynasty.The peasant rebels shouted for justice, not to establish a new order, but to kill corrupt officials. This is a small peasant ideal of the Water Margin style, thinking that the emperor is good, and only corrupt officials are bad. , so kill all these corrupt officials, the world will be peaceful.

But in fact, when the peasant army killed corrupt officials, it often turned into the torture and killing of all property owners.Because most peasant armies do not have the ability to distinguish between friend and foe, it is easy to treat the property owners as villains in a uniform manner.As a result, the Peasant Army eventually became the enemy of all property owners. Although some gentry and landlords who took refuge in the Peasant Army were protected, they were only a minority compared to the property owners in the entire world.

Therefore, after the Peasant Army rushed into the capital and still used the methods of torturing those old bureaucrats and gentry, it would be difficult for the property owners in the world to make up their minds to surrender to Li Zicheng, because it is not necessarily safe to surrender, so it is better to resist to the end .

As for the five virtues always said, the peasant army who can regard blue as water virtue to engage in this theory of the ruling class that has been monopolized by the upper class for thousands of years is simply putting his head under the knife and then turning the switch. to the gentlemen.In this field, all the generals of the Peasant Army combined do not know as much as an old Hanlin who is sitting on the bench in the Hanlin Academy.

The insufficiency of Dashun's background was all exposed after withdrawing from Beijing. This is the reason why the former Ming officers and soldiers in Hebei quickly surrendered to the Manchus, because the legitimacy of Dashun's regime is really not enough.But with Li Zicheng's remarks today and a series of articles published in the Dashun newspaper, Li Zicheng finally made up for this shortcoming.

In a series of speeches made by Li Zicheng in the past, the uprising of the peasant army was to resist tyranny. The understanding of the public, especially the support of those young scholars.

Now Li Zicheng has tied Dashun's ruling power with the sovereignty of the people, which not only echoes the rationality of the peasant uprising, but also further strengthens the morality of resisting tyranny.Therefore, Li Zicheng no longer needs the old Confucianists to advocate the Mandate of Heaven for him. As long as the political ideas of resisting tyranny and sovereignty in the people are spread, then Li Zicheng, who represents the people, will naturally become the Lord of China, and he does not need anyone else recognition.

For these gentlemen, this is undoubtedly a very bad thing.But now they are unable to refute Li Zicheng theoretically, which means that once they stand up against Li Zicheng, they will first put themselves on the opposite side of the people, and the people will not support them, but will eagerly eliminate them.

Li Zicheng didn't care about the faces of the Yangzhou gentry present. When a council elected by the people was established, the Yangzhou gentry changed from the representatives of the Yangzhou people to the representatives of a part of the people in Yangzhou. The relationship between advance and retreat.So why should he worry about these gentry?The next step is to further divide the relationship between these gentry and Yangzhou citizens, so as to capture the hearts of Yangzhou people.

Li Zicheng paused for a while, looked around the hall, and then continued solemnly: "If the sovereignty lies with the people, then the council representing the people has the right to decide the size of the country, and the imperial court is just the council. the executor.

Of course, as the general representative of all the people, I will supervise the court and the council on behalf of all the people to prevent certain groups or a certain class from monopolizing power and encroaching on the interests of the country and other classes.

Since members of Parliament just now have debates over the claim that sovereignty lies with the people, I suggest that we start a secret ballot.That is, whether the Yangzhou Council supports the sovereignty of the monarch or the sovereignty of the people. "

Gong Mengren, who was standing beside He Duiji, whispered uneasy: "Is your majesty too radical? After Pangu opened up the world, the clean ones rose to become the sky, and the turbid ones sank to become the earth. This is the most invariable principle throughout the ages. Now that sovereignty lies with the people, and let the people elect representatives to decide the country's major affairs, wouldn't the world be in chaos?"

Although Ren Wenshi didn't dare to stand up and be the first to shout "It is the people who support the emperor", but after Zheng Sen shouted this sentence, he immediately echoed it. At this time, he was still very upset. After hesitating for a while, isn't he the one remembered by Emperor Yongchang now?

Hearing Gong Mengren's words, he immediately responded in a low voice: "Isn't the world still chaotic enough? In the past, the gentleman ruled the country, and the people could only accept it? I think what His Majesty said is the truth.

The ancients have said: the sky sees itself and the people see it, and the sky listens to the people itself.Therefore, the will of God is the will of the people. Since His Majesty is the Son of Heaven, he should naturally obey the will of the people.The moral character of adults is too high, it is really not suitable for governing the people's livelihood, let the small people handle the affairs of the small people by themselves. "

Gong Mengren glanced at Ren Wenshi with displeasure, but did not refute him after all.He is the son of Gong Weiliu, and he is a son of an official. Naturally, he is not happy with Li Zicheng's theory of sovereignty among the people. Ren Wenshi is just a literati from a merchant family. He naturally hopes to expand the power of the council, so that even if he fails to pass the exam Jinshi, being able to get a councilor is enough to protect one's own property.

Seeing that the two were a little cold, Jing Mu couldn't help making peace and said, "Everyone is on their own now, why bother to fight with each other. What's the matter, don't you think so?"

He Duiji glanced at these Yangzhou people, and couldn't help thinking a little funny in his heart, I am a registered traitor in the statistics department, you tell me about your own people, is this also a traitor who wants to cause Dashun? ?

He wanted to think so, but at this time, He Duiji's feelings for Dashun and Daming were no longer as clear as they were in his hometown.His love for Daming is essentially because of the Four Books and Five Classics he read since he was a child, and he wants to be a loyal minister and filial son.But after being exposed by Li Zicheng that his loyalty was only used by the gentry, his dissatisfaction with the gentry immediately surpassed his love for Daming.

In fact, the most uncomfortable thing for him is that he loves Daming so much, but the court doesn't really care about him; while those gentry have their own way among Daming, Dashun, and even the Manchus, the court still regards them as the king of the country. pillar.After seeing this reality clearly, his love for Daming was almost shattered, and Dashun's political philosophy of resisting oppression and making decisions by the people deeply moved him.

No matter how much he regarded Dashun as a group of traitors from Ming Dynasty, he still had to admit in his heart that everything was caused by the imperial court betraying its own people first and collecting three salaries without authorization.Compared with Daming's father-son ethics, Dashun's advocate of defending the interests of the people is obviously more likely to arouse his emotional resonance, because he feels that he is also a member of the people.

After coughing a few times, He Duiji whispered to these colleagues: "Scholar Jing is right. Since everyone has registered their names in the Statistics Department, they are all members of their own family. We should maintain a good relationship among our colleagues. It is better to agree. As for the dispute between the two of you, I think there is really nothing to dispute. The sovereign is better for His Majesty, or the sovereign is better for the people. Willing to let the representatives of Yangzhou choose, this kind of temperament will be criticized, so which emperor will be willing to give up his power in the future?"

Although it seemed to be persuading the two, He Duiji's last rhetorical question still exposed his position.So Gong Mengren and Ren Wenshi finally calmed down and waited for the paper and ink to vote.

Zheng Zhilong and his son looked at the scene in front of them thoughtfully. Zheng Zhilong knew that his arrival was an accident. There should be no possibility for Shunjun to know that he came today, and the representatives of these Yangzhou people started the election three days ago, so The scene in front of him was not a drama for him to read, but Li Zicheng's real thoughts.

Zheng Zhilong is quite interested in the statement that sovereignty lies with the people, but what he cares more about is the magnanimity that Li Zicheng has just shown. Dealing with such a magnanimous figure, he feels that his power in Fujian may be able to go further, so he doesn't have to worry about it anymore. Beware of the imperial court stabbing him in the back.

Standing behind his father, Zheng Sen was very interested in the various political theories proposed by Li Zicheng. Although he was under the tutelage of Qian Qianyi, the leader of the Jiangnan literary circle, he had only started for half a year, so he really didn't learn much.Of course, Qian Qianyi is not the kind of greedy literati who takes benefits and does nothing. Although he has not taught Zheng Sen many courses, as an expert in history, Qian Qianyi has also seriously told him a lot of history. The story, the core of these stories, is the loyal minister and filial son.

Although he only listened to some historical stories, Zheng Sen was not bored, but began to like history.However, the history mentioned by Qian Qianyi and the political ideas mentioned by Li Zicheng are undoubtedly more inspiring.Therefore, Zheng Sen became a little confused.

Chapter 175 Yangzhou Thirteen

Zheng Yuanxun, who was still in high spirits when he came, became silent when he went down the mountain for a meeting in Pingshan hall.The beauty of the colorful autumn leaves on the west peak of Shugang did not attract his attention for a moment at this time.Zheng Yuanhua, the brother who was following behind him, did not dare to disturb his thoughts.

The houses of Zheng Yuanxun and Zheng Yuanhua are all in the south of the city, so it is best to go back from Daming Temple by boat.However, Zheng Yuanxun saw many acquaintances in front of Baobao Lake Wharf. He finally regained his composure, walked up to greet a person and said, "Zoping is going back to the city? Why don't you just take my boat."

Tang Lai He Wensheng, who was waiting for his entourage to find the boat, turned around and saw that it was the Zheng brothers, but he did not refuse the other party's kindness, so he bowed his hands to him and said in return: "It turns out that it is Brother Chao Zong, so let's talk about it for a while. Way to go."

Although Zheng Yuanxun is a few years older than Tang Laihe, Tang Laihe's family name is earlier than him, but the most important thing is that Tang Laihe was born in the Linchuan Tang family, the one who wrote the four dreams of Linchuan. Tang Xianzu's tribe.The Tang family in Linchuan is a real family of top-ranking academicians, and the descendants of the family have been born as Jinshi for generations, which is not comparable to the Zheng family who just turned from merchants to Confucianism.

Although both he and his nephew were awarded Jinshi in the 16th year of Chongzhen, there is no one in the Zheng family in officialdom.This is why he did not go out to be an official, but stayed at home to take care of the family business.In this turbulent era, going out to be an official is also a very risky thing. For example, those Jinshi who were assigned to be officials in Gansu and Sichuan are now almost uncertain of life and death.

Only a Jinshi with a family background like Tang Laihe doesn't have to worry about being assigned to a remote place as a county magistrate, and he doesn't have to worry about not being promoted when the time limit expires.Therefore, although everyone was born as a Jinshi, people are still different. Zheng Yuanxun still loves to make friends with Tang Laihe for the future.

For Tang Laihe, he didn't want to get involved in the disagreement between his immediate boss and the Zheng family, but he would not deliberately avoid Zheng Yuanxun for the sake of Ma Mingpao.For him, Ma Mingpao and Zheng Yuanxun are actually no different, if not because of the war, they would not be a stumbling block in his way forward.

Therefore, at the invitation of Zheng Yuanxun, he unceremoniously boarded Zheng's family boat. Compared with those small boats on the lake, Zheng's family boat was spacious and stable, and there were good people on board. Drinking tea is really why not do it.

After the boatman propped up the shore with a bamboo pole and swung the boat away, Zheng Yuanxun, who was sitting in the cabin, turned to Tang Laihe and asked sideways, "I wonder what you think of today's Pingshan Hall, Saping?"

Tang Laihe stared at Zheng Yuanxun for a long time before he said calmly: "Although the scene was a bit chaotic, didn't we reach a consensus in the end? Only Emperor Yongchang can do it. I wonder what Brother Chaozong thinks?"

Zheng Yuanxun didn't think about how to reply for a while, but his younger brother Zheng Yuanhua who was sitting beside him nodded and said, "Indeed, it's very good that your majesty is turning the guest into the master. Since my father left, I haven't felt such a feeling for a long time. The pressure is on, this is simply playing with people's hearts on applause. As soon as the consensus came out today, Yangzhou people will fight Yangzhou people in the meeting, and everyone is waiting for the arbitration. The so-called representative of Yangzhou people to make a request to His Majesty, If we can’t even unify internally, what else can we ask for?”

Zheng Yuanxun and Tang Laihe, who were still testing each other, silently shut their mouths after Zheng Yuanhua said these two words.Because the two found that what Zheng Yuanhua said meant that today Emperor Yongchang provoked a discussion on the issue of sovereignty over the people. After this issue was passed, how could the people of Yangzhou make demands on Emperor Yongchang?Isn't the power all in the people, so Emperor Yongchang didn't care what promises he made to the people of Yangzhou.

As a result, the gentry who previously represented Yangzhou people and thought they could speak on behalf of Yangzhou people will soon have to face the demands made by representatives of the various classes below.The demands put forward by the representatives of these classes are really not related to Emperor Yongchang. Except for the elimination of Gao Jie's army and the restoration of law and order outside the city, the immediate interests of most people are with the local gentry and salt merchants. related.

So the Yangzhou gentry who wanted to use the people of Yangzhou to put pressure on Li Zicheng now have to bear the pressure from the people at the bottom instead.Because of Li Zicheng's statement, these low-level people will no longer believe that Li Zicheng is unwilling to accept their request, so the gentry who previously regarded themselves as representatives of Yangzhou people should make certain concessions to them first, such as raising wages and stabilize prices.

After being attacked by Gao Jie and Liu Zeqing on the outskirts of the village, the people at the bottom of Yangzhou City fell into hardship. Many of them survived by serving salt and wood merchants. After Yangzhou City, many people in the city had to go out of business and could only live on their savings.

Yangzhou City is a big city, with more than 20 residents inside the city walls alone, and at least 45 residents in the four chambers outside the city walls. According to the standard of 1 liter of rice per person per day, it would cost Consume four or five thousand shi of rice.Hulled rice is not easy to preserve, so although there are granaries in Yangzhou City, the rice is still stored, and it is necessary to go to the water mill outside the city to grind rice every day.Previously, because of Gao Jiejun, the mills outside the city were useless, so the price of rice was high, and many people had to buy their own grain and go back to manually pound the rice. This is really a tiring job.

Therefore, restoring Yangzhou City to normal life as soon as possible, lowering the price of rice and resuming work have become the most urgent demands of the people at the bottom.But the key to these two issues is that the salt merchants in Yangzhou hope to re-discuss the reform of the Lianghuai salt industry, because this matter was decided by Li Zicheng and the salt merchants in Huaian, and they have no chance to express their opinions. Many salt merchants are concerned about this. Expressed opposition to the establishment of this salt company.

Although it sounds like this salt company has a bright future, the problem lies in the word "future".The reason why Huai'an salt merchants supported the establishment of the Lianghuai Salt Industry Company was that their influence in the Lianghuai Salt Fields was really small, and what they could control was the Huaibei No. 30 Salt Field.Although the three salt farms in Huaibei have developed well this year, their combined output is only 20 million yuan. The salt farms in Huainan have been greatly disturbed by the problem of the Yellow River entering the sea, but there are still at least 60 salt farms that can work normally. 30 citations, and [-] [-] citations for Yuyan.

Therefore, when Li Zicheng and the Huai'an salt merchants discussed the reform of the Lianghuai salt industry, the Huai'an salt merchants had almost no superficial resistance, and they obeyed Li Zicheng's proposal.Because they took this opportunity to seize the benefits that should have belonged to the Yangzhou salt merchants.From admiring the breath of Yangzhou salt merchants to fighting against Yangzhou salt merchants, even after the establishment of the company, it is uncertain whether Yangzhou salt merchants will have a voice. Can Huai'an salt merchants support Li Zicheng?

Although Huai'an salt merchants and Yangzhou salt merchants are mostly foreigners, mainly merchants from Shaanxi, Shanxi, and Anhui, everyone really doesn't miss the hometown so much.The Anhui merchants in Huai'an would rather side with the Shanxi and Shanxi merchants in Huai'an than the fellow villagers living in Yangzhou.Similarly, the Shanxi and Shanxi merchants in Yangzhou, who were struggling with the Huizhou merchants in Yangzhou, also looked at the fellow villagers in Huai'an at this time.

After Gao Jie and Liu Ze cleaned the suburbs of Yangzhou, the salt merchants in Yangzhou understood at least one thing. In troubled times, with the power of the government and money, it is difficult to make these warlords with soldiers in their hands obey their orders.Therefore, after Gao Jie showed naked force, the Yangzhou salt merchant realized that the money he gave to the other party was regarded as feeding the dog, and the emperor and ministers in Nandu were silent, allowing Gao Jie to take whatever they wanted from the Yangzhou people.

Therefore, in the face of Li Zicheng's army going south, the salt merchants in Yangzhou finally softened their posture and did not want to fight against the forces with force. At the same time, they were also ready to bleed.But Li Zicheng's knife was too ruthless, and he wanted to cut off their roots. These salt merchants couldn't help but make some small moves, trying to impress him with the tragic experience of the people in Yangzhou.

The problem now is that this premeditated plan has been crushed by Li Zicheng before they have fully acted.If they continue to refuse to resume salt transportation now, these personnel working for Huainan Salt Industry will probably soon fall into Li Zicheng's arms, thus completely driving them out of the Huainan Salt Industry trade.With those Huai'an salt merchants, plus these people who urgently need to work to support their families, even if Li Zicheng leaves them aside, he can restore Huainan's salt transportation.

Zheng Yuanxun also sighed in his heart, if his father was still there, maybe he could really think of some other ways.But in such a troubled world, can businessmen really be able to withstand the swords and guns of warriors?

Tang Laihe was also lost in thought. When he was in Huai'an, he didn't feel any pressure from Li Zicheng, and after he participated in the meeting in Huai'an, he also felt that this Western organization for discussing political affairs seemed to be able to make people feel better. The communication between the high-level and the bottom-level people is indeed a good thing for the country.

As a son of a famous family, when the others were still studying, Tang Laihe had already learned about the people's conditions in various places and the methods of his uncles governing the place through the letters in the family.Unlike those children from poor families who need to figure out how to be an official after entering the officialdom, Tang Laihe already had some understanding of the governance methods of local officials before he passed the Jinshi examination.This means that from the beginning of his official career, he has gone much smoother than his peers.

However, this seemingly beautiful meeting here in Yangzhou has become a sharp tool for Li Zicheng to beat the gentry in Yangzhou, which Tang Laihe never expected.Judging from today's meeting at Pingshan Hall, if the Yangzhou gentry cannot reach a compromise with the representatives of the people from the bottom, then Yangzhou City will soon open the door to Li Zicheng, which is something Gao Jie failed to do.

And this is just the beginning. After confirming the position that sovereignty lies in the people, Li Zicheng became the protector of the people. Opposition to a political idea.

Perhaps the current gentry and common people still respect the social order of Confucius and Gangchang ethics, and everyone can use this to resist the political idea that sovereignty rests with the people.But how long can the public maintain such a view?

Sovereignty lies in the people, which essentially means that the people have the right to participate in the discussion of national policy formulation. Can the people always oppose political ideas that are beneficial to them?If the public participates in the discussion of national policy formulation, then what is special about the gentry that deserves preferential treatment?The gentry originally received special preferential treatment from the emperor to assist the emperor in governing the world. If the sovereignty rested with the people, the emperor would not need to give preferential treatment to the gentry.

Chapter 176 Yangzhou Fourteen

"...I can promise to give you both Fujian and Guangdong, but this must be a lie." Li Zicheng was talking, seeing Zheng Zhilong's expression was a little stiff, and asked in surprise: "Brother Yiguan, are you a true believer?" right?"

After the members voted, Li Zicheng announced that today’s meeting would be over, and asked the members to discuss the results of the questions they raised before meeting with him. So after the members went down the mountain in twos and threes, only Li Zicheng and Zheng Zhilong were left on the platform. Several people, Li Zicheng started talking with Zheng Zhilong on the platform.

Although Zheng Zhilong really wanted to get straight to the point, he took the risk to come to Yangzhou to see what conditions Li Zicheng could come up with to recruit him, so as to decide the position of the Zheng business group.Before the Nanjing envoy arrived, he felt that Li Zicheng should offer him a good price.

But obviously, Li Zicheng didn't seem as urgent as he imagined. After sitting down, he didn't rush to ask him why he came, but talked with him about some trivial matters about overseas trade.From Zheng Zhilong's point of view, Li Zicheng's questions were indeed trifles, because he was more interested in the food, clothing and daily preferences of the Japanese, Dutch, and French people than their military strength.

To be honest, if it was ten years ago, Zheng Zhilong would not have to think about answering these questions, because he deals with these people every day, and often goes to sea for business in person.But today, Zheng Zhilong often needs to think for a while before he can answer these questions raised by Li Zicheng.

In the end, in order to prevent Li Zicheng from continuing to be entangled in these trivial matters, Zheng Zhilong said that he had a few Kunlun slaves bought from Macau, who could speak Chinese and were smarter. Nu came from the land west of Dashi Kingdom, and came to Macau. The places and stories he experienced are quite interesting.

After hearing this, Li Zicheng let Zheng Zhilong go, and stopped asking about these overseas customs.So Zheng Zhilong took the opportunity to change the subject and asked him what he thought of foreign trade in Fujian and other places, and hinted that most Fujian maritime merchants hoped to maintain the status quo.

Li Zicheng didn't take Zheng Zhilong's hint to heart, because from the conversation just now, he found that Zheng Zhilong had lost his curiosity about overseas affairs, and he was only concerned about whether Dashun could continue to allow him to control Xiamen's foreign trade.

A merchant at sea who has lost his fighting spirit, what else is there to be afraid of?The Zheng family's old houses in Xiamen and Anhai, Quanzhou became Zheng Zhilong's deathbed.The former is Zheng Zhilong's source of income, while the latter is his comfort zone.Dashun might have nothing to do with the Zheng family at sea, but Zheng Zhilong is also helpless when fighting from land.

Of course, unlike Zheng Zhilong who has lost his teeth, Zheng Sen standing behind Zheng Zhilong is an out-and-out little tiger. Someone remembered an allusion. A torch burned the old Anhai house that Zheng Zhilong had been running for more than ten years. This is a real ruthless person.

So after thinking for a long time, Li Zicheng said a few words of truth to Zheng Zhilong.On the other side, Zheng Zhilong was also in embarrassment at this time, because he thought it was a deal, so of course he took Li Zicheng's bid seriously. Li Zicheng said that he would give him both Fujian and Guangdong. How could he not believe in good things.

Moreover, he thought that there was nothing wrong with the deal, because Dashun had no foothold in the south of the Yangtze River at all, so Li Zicheng gave him Fujian and Guangdong, but in essence he gave him Fujian and Guangdong of Daming in exchange for He surrendered to Dashun.Dashun didn't lose anything after all this coming and going, and got Fujian and Guangdong provinces for nothing. In the future, it can use Fujian and Guangdong as bases to collect Jiangnan and Southwest provinces. It can be said that it is worthless.

This is Zheng Zhilong's thinking as a businessman, but Li Zicheng's sudden words broke his dream, he was very angry in his heart, but on the surface he still pretended that he did not fall into Li Zicheng's trap and replied: "Damn, of course I won't take it seriously. How can I have such a big appetite? I am very satisfied if I can continue to defend the tranquility of Fuzhou and Xiamen. As for Fujian and Guangdong provinces, my talents are shallow and I really can't accept such a heavy burden." ..."

After seeing through Zheng Zhilong's hole cards, Li Zicheng was naturally able to tease the other party a little, because the other party was more afraid of losing something than gaining something.This is probably the biggest drawback of traditional Chinese businessmen. When they were poor, they were not afraid of taking risks, but after gaining status and wealth, they began to choose to be conservative.

This change in mentality has made traditional Chinese businessmen get used to "getting rich with the end and keeping it with the foundation". The "base" is the imperial examination career. No matter how much money you make, you can't keep it.

But it's fine to tease him a little bit, it really drove Zheng Sen behind Zheng Zhilong into a hurry, and it didn't do any good for Dashun.Therefore, when Zheng Zhilong was making fun of himself, Li Zicheng interrupted him and said frankly: "I don't actually think that your talent is not enough to manage the two provinces, but your virtue is really hard to convince the public."

Zheng Zhilong's face changed when he said this, and he lost his smile and said, "Is your majesty mocking an official for being a thief?"

Only then did Li Zicheng finally feel the ferociousness of Zheng Zhilong, does he look like a pirate? While complaining to himself in his heart, he calmly said to Zheng Zhilong: Pirates are not a problem. I am not a thief in the mouth of the gentry. You, like me, did not become thieves voluntarily. If the imperial court strictly prohibited overseas trade, why would you maritime merchants become pirates? Therefore, this is a policy issue of the imperial court , cannot be generalized.”

Hearing this, Zheng Zhilong's face became better. He nodded slightly and said, "Indeed, what your majesty said is very true. Fujian is small and densely populated. If we are not allowed to go to sea, it means that we Fujianese are not allowed to live. In the past few days There was a severe drought in Fujian in [-], if it were not for relying on sea trade and immigrating to Taiwan for reclamation, I don’t know how many ordinary people would have died.”

After listening to Zheng Zhilong's defense, Li Zicheng continued: "Since you have accepted the imperial court's recruitment and become the general soldier of Fujian, you should know that it is your duty to protect the Chinese people.

It is a good thing to immigrate to Taiwan for reclamation, so are those Fujian people who immigrated to Taiwan not Chinese people?As the commander-in-chief of Fujian, how can you let them accept the exploitation of the Dutch?Taiwan, which is China's territory, has been under the jurisdiction of Wu State since the Three Kingdoms period.As the commander-in-chief of Fujian, don't you have the responsibility to protect the land and the people?

I heard that there are not only Dutch people in Taiwan, but also Dafolangji people. After the Dafolangji people occupied the Luzon Islands, they massacred tens of thousands of Chinese nationals in Manila in the 31st year of Wanli, and massacred Chinese nationals in Manila in the 12th year of Chongzhen. Tens of thousands.This great enemy of our country is as unforgivable as Jiannu.

As the commander-in-chief of Fujian, Manila really can't control you, can't you even control Taiwan?I said that your virtue is not enough to convince the public, that's why.Most of the people who go to sea to make a living are people from Fujian and Guangdong provinces. Since you have no ability or idea to defend the overseas Chinese in these two provinces, how can you make the people of these two provinces obey you? "

Zheng Sen, who was looking directly at Li Zicheng, silently averted his gaze after hearing these words, feeling a little hot on his face.As an expatriate born overseas, Zheng Sen's feelings for overseas expatriates are completely different from those of other people in China. He subconsciously felt that it was indeed his father's fault for Li Zicheng's questioning.

Zheng Zhilong was half ashamed and half wronged by Li Zicheng's question.As a Ming person, it is impossible for him not to be influenced by the mainstream values ​​of the Ming Dynasty. What are the mainstream values ​​of the Ming Dynasty? According to Emperor Wanli’s evaluation of these refugees after the Manila Massacre in the 31st year of Wanli, it is all those who betrayed their ancestors’ tombs and went to sea. Death is nothing to cherish, so Daming will not hold the big Buddha Langji in Manila accountable.

But as a sea merchant, he also couldn't admit that all those who went to sea were sinners who had betrayed their ancestors.Because this is tantamount to publicly admitting that these maritime merchants are not protected by Ming Dynasty, so their overseas trade will also be attacked more.In addition, the Dutch in Batavia, the big Frangji people in Manila, and the little Flangji people in Macau are all major trading partners of the Ming maritime merchants. It is also difficult for him to launch any war against these barbarians, because It was difficult for his companions to support him.

After pondering for a long time, Zheng Zhilong finally sighed and defended himself: "Although I am the commander-in-chief of Fujian, what I can control is only the coastal areas of Fujian. The imperial court is still worried about us pirates. I can't afford these many people. When we recruited security, the imperial court wanted us to go ashore and go home, and we were not allowed to go abroad again.

After that, although the imperial court relaxed our business affairs, it still asked us to move our children and family members back to the mainland, and we were not allowed to settle down overseas.Your Majesty, you think Taiwan is Chinese territory, but the imperial court doesn't even want the Penghu Islands, let alone Taiwan Island.

Those officials were worried that after developing Taiwan, they would be assigned to go overseas to manage overseas people, so they were unwilling to let Xiaomin develop Taiwan.