Dashun Yongchang

Li Zicheng stared at him and said: "I can agree with your opinion, but my agreement is meaningless. Because the gentry will not agree with your opinion. The local affairs have always been decided by the gentry, as long as they don't think it's a waste of money. Wrong, then even if I issue an order, I can only save a few people in front of me, do you think it is worth it to offend the gentlemen of the world for these few people?"

Many thoughts flashed through He Duiji's mind, but every thought told him that what Li Zicheng said was correct.Offending the gentry all over the world for the sake of a few orphans and widows, this is obviously not what the emperor should do.And this is also the opinion of his opponent Li Sicheng, the king should weigh the importance, and everything should be more important than profit.

He Duiji thought about it, and his stubborn temper came up again. He raised his head and said: "I think that the monarch should follow the right path, otherwise how can he educate the world? If your majesty wants to be the lord of the world, you can't ignore such things I remember, Your Majesty said to us before: Don't do evil because it is too small, and don't do good because it is too small. Your Majesty can't just keep his word, right?"

Li Zicheng stretched out his hand and pressed his temple, then sighed and said, "I really don't want to be a dishonest person, but I won't submit to these gentry either. If I want to do it, I have to completely break the rule of eating and drinking. Bad habits. But, do you really dare to follow me?"

Chapter 212 New Deal 27

He Duiji was questioned for a moment, he was not a stupid person, but his character was a bit extreme, that's why he was pushed out by several big families in Dezhou to be the mastermind of anti-cis.

That day Li Zicheng gently let them rebels go. Although He Duiji's opinion of Li Zicheng changed a little, it was just that he changed the other party from the leader of the thieves who disrupted the world to the hero who fought for the world.Well, he regarded Li Zicheng's magnanimity as a means of inviting people's hearts, not that the other party was really so magnanimous, because even Emperor Taizu Gao couldn't tolerate rebels in the world after he became emperor.

It was only after he entered the Statistics Department in a fit of anger that he gradually realized the fact that Li Zicheng did not have any generosity towards the rebels, but he regarded the rebels as comrades.

In the Statistics Department, Li Zicheng once even said bluntly: "Rebellion is also a kind of knowledge, and the bandits who pretend to be rebellious but actually want to be kings of the mountain are not rebellious at all, they are simply insulting the word rebellion.

What is rebellion?Literally speaking, it is the rebellion of the emperor Laozi, but this is only the most superficial understanding.A rebellion is a rebellion against the system. Why do you want to rebel against the system?Because the people are oppressed by the system; rebellion is also the opposite of the mainstream thinking and cognition of the society, why should they be against the mainstream thinking and cognition of the society?Because it is this kind of ideology that makes the people lose their awareness of resisting the oppressive system.

Therefore, to put it simply, rebellion is the counterattack of the oppressed against the oppressor, and only rebellion can promote social progress.This is the root of the Zhou Zhao Republic after the Chinese riots.But for a long time, the oppressive inheritance of the oppressors has been passed down from generation to generation. They summed up experience and improved the means of oppressing others, while the rebellious experience of the oppressed was lost in history, which made the society lose its motivation for progress.

I Dashun started by rebelling, but I cannot become the successor of the oppressor. Although this is quite difficult, maybe we or our next generation will become oppressors in the near future.But at least now we should leave a little experience of rebellion for the oppressed..."

Even the sons of the gentry who were most hostile to the peasant army could not but admit Li Zicheng's words, "Although Emperor Yongchang is far away from the way of a saint, he still has a pure heart in his belly."

As for a poor boy like He Duiji, it has a different taste after hearing it.Children from poor families do not fully support the Ming system. Only those from poor families who have entered the system will wholeheartedly maintain it. After all, they crossed the dragon gate with great difficulty. Naturally, they don't want other people to use other methods to pull them back.

Most of the poor children who have not entered the system can only curse the Ming Dynasty's imperial examination system while burying their heads in the Four Books and Five Classics. Li Zicheng's rebellion is actually very suitable for the psychology of these poor children who have not entered the system.They also hope to reform the Ming system and establish a new system that is fairer to them.

This is also the reason why He Duiji, who joined the Statistics Department with a sense of vindictiveness, now devotes himself to his work, because he feels that his work is changing something, and this change is exactly what he complained about in the school , which of course made him do his duty, because he felt that he was working for his own ideals, rather than becoming an official for the sake of fame and fortune.

Looking back on what he had done since he joined the Statistics Department, He Duiji finally sorted out what he wanted in his heart. He straightened his clothes, bowed deeply to Li Zicheng, and said: "What your Majesty said in the past is right, this world is true. It should be changed, although I am dull, I am willing to follow His Majesty to rebel."

After hearing this answer, Li Zicheng suddenly felt relieved. He finally changed a person's thinking in this era. Such a thing is indeed quite fulfilling.But while he was relieved, he didn't feel a little embarrassed. From the perspective of transforming people's thinking, the Three People's Principles are really not very effective. After all, it still depends on the theory of class struggle.

Throwing out the thoughts that came to his mind, Li Zicheng coughed a few times, straightened his thoughts and said to He Duiji: "Standing at different heights, the scenery you can see is also different.

From your point of view, what you see is the collusion between the gentry and the subordinate staff to eat the compensation, and the collusion between the gentry and the relatives of the survivors to eat the extinct households.But from my point of view, the power of the local gentry is out of control.

Although since the first emperor abolished the six countries and established the prefecture and county system, China has eliminated the feudal system in form.But in substance?I don't think feudal power has been wiped out.

There is a system of feudal lords in Europe, saying: the vassals of vassals are not my ministers.However, although China says: Is it the land of the king under the whole world, and the land on the shore of the land is the subject of the king.But the imperial power cannot go down to the county.why?Because the county is dominated by gentry.

There are actually only four kinds of power in the county and township: political power, clan power, theocratic power, and husband power; the political power, the imperial court and the gentry account for half and half, but the last three powers are almost all controlled by the gentry.Therefore, the world of Ming Dynasty is actually the world of gentry.The system of prefectures and counties failed to fundamentally limit the power of the gentry, but was controlled by it. After all, without the support of the gentry, there would be no majesty of imperial power.

Turning around, let's talk about the phenomenon of starvation, which is actually the embodiment of these four kinds of power.The gentry, the clan, the Shinto, and the head of the family controlled each family, making other people in the family vassals of these four powers.When the head of the family is gone, the family becomes the prey of other powers.

Therefore, in order to break the phenomenon of eating out of households, it is necessary to overthrow the latter three types of power and restrict the first type of power.The first thing to bear the brunt is to overthrow the power of the gentry, or limit the power of the gentry. "

He Duiji was enlightened, and immediately figured out many problems that he hadn't figured out before.In the past, he always believed that the vulgar custom of eating out of households was just due to the lack of education in the countryside and the ungratefulness of some local tyrants and evil gentry. Therefore, we should strengthen the promotion of morality in the countryside and crack down on local tyrants. But after hearing what Li Zicheng said today, he felt that What I see is still shallow.

He immediately asked Li Zicheng sincerely: "What your majesty said is very true. I am not very knowledgeable, and I can't go as far as my majesty sees. However, how should these four powers be restricted?"

After thinking for a while, Li Zicheng slowly said: "To overthrow the power of the husband, we need to liberate women and let them get rid of the status of being men's vassals. The most important thing is to obtain economic independence. We must protect women's property disposal rights and protect them. The right to education, the protection of their right to work, the protection of their right to marry freely, and ultimately make women as much a cornerstone of society as men.

To overthrow theocracy, we must first make it clear that there are no gods in the world, and all gods are nothing but products created by humans.Therefore, any religion that tries to use gods to lure or intimidate people to give alms should be banned.Of course, it is impossible for us to ban all religions under the current circumstances, so we should choose a few mainstream sects to cooperate, and then ban other sects.While cracking down on cults, it is more important to popularize education. Only education can put an end to people's superstition.

We are still figuring out how to organize and restrict the regime, so I won't talk about it here for the time being.Then there is the final issue of the power of the gentry. When it comes to the power of the gentry, we must first find out how the power of the gentry comes from.Do you understand? "

He Duiji was stunned for a moment and then said: "One is in his official status, and the other is in his influence."

Li Zicheng nodded slightly at him and said: "The work of the Statistics Department has indeed been done very solidly. Indeed, the official status of the gentry allows them to control the power of local public opinion, and they can use their status to submit letters to the government and the court." .

This right to speak also created their local power.The gangsters that are prevalent in the south of the Yangtze River stand behind them with gentry from all over the country. Without the support of the gentry, they are just a group of street gangsters. With the support of the gentry, they become an organized underworld.Under the protection of the gentry, these gangsters sheltered prostitutes, gambled and trafficked people, and it can be said that they did all kinds of evil.While protecting them, the gentry can not only use them to do some inconvenient things, but also profit from them.

Therefore, the gentry class, which was supposed to be a stable place, has now become the biggest unstable factor in the place.Therefore, it is actually not difficult to crack down on the power of the gentry. It is nothing more than controlling local public opinion and then cracking down on the evil forces. "

A light flashed in He Duiji's mind suddenly, he opened his mind immediately, and said suddenly: "Newspapers can seize the gentry's right to speak, and the council can prevent the gentry from fighting, no, black and evil forces Asylum. Your Majesty has already seen everything, but I am really stupid."

After a moment of silence, Li Zicheng said: "Although it may not be possible in the future, it is still enough to deal with these feudal landlords now. So, do you have a plan to deal with these gentry?"

He Duiji knew that this was an exam question Li Zicheng gave himself, and if he couldn't answer it, Li Zicheng would probably be disappointed in him.But now that Li Zicheng had already mentioned so many points, he didn't feel that he couldn't even make up his mind on this matter.

Seeing He Duiji standing there frowning and thinking, Li Zicheng didn't rush, he picked up the teacup on the side and drank it slowly. Although the tea was a bit cold, it was specially taken from the spring in the mountain. , paired with pineapple tea naturally has a sweetness.

While Li Zicheng was tasting the tea, He Duiji finally figured it out, and said to him, "The survivors of the victims outside the city, and the children with good looks will be sold to the flower street and Liuxiang outside Dongguan. Please ask me A dissatisfied relative went to the Yamen to file a complaint, searched the streets of Dongguan in the name of trafficking lovers, and published the experiences of these children in the newspaper..."

Li Zicheng nodded slightly after hearing this, and just added a little: "Don't bother the yamen, since the compensation was paid by Marshal Du's Mansion, Marshal Du's Mansion has the right to pursue it, and just complain to Marshal Du's Mansion directly. In addition, In such a short period of time, those survivors and children should not suffer much. But there must be resentment in this kind of place where filth is hidden. Thoroughly investigate, and then find a few typical unjust cases to publish, and then incite the people of Yangzhou to go to the council to petition to pursue the investigation ..."

Chapter 213 New Deal 28

Taihu Lake in autumn is quiet and beautiful. Standing in the cardigan pavilion and looking eastward, there are reeds hunting nearby, all white, a breeze blows, and the reed flowers sway like snow, and the sparkling Taihu Lake in the distance It's an interesting contrast.

Standing beside Weng Hanjin, Chen Zongzhi couldn't help admiring: "No matter when you come, the scenery of Taihu Lake is always different. The Lake Pavilion is indeed the No. 1 garden in Wuzhong."

Weng Hanjin was deeply impressed by his friend's praise, and he couldn't help but slightly nodded his head and replied: "My late father had a lot of hills and valleys in his heart, but it's a pity that there is no holiday. The children and grandchildren are unfilial, but only a lake pavilion is left in the Jixian Garden named after my late father. Brother Yuli, you know that the crown prince will go south to Yangzhou in a few days, tell me, where will the situation of the world go from now on?"

Chen Zongzhi hesitated for a while. Although his family was not as rich as the Weng family, it was also a well-off family in Changzhou. Therefore, after he was admitted to Juren, he didn't want to waste time on his career. He only wanted to enjoy the status of a country gentleman at home. happy.Although Juren is not as honorable as Jinshi, he is also qualified to be an official, so he is enough to defend his family business in the countryside.

Jiangnan has been in peace for more than 200 years, and the wealth and wealth are the highest in the world, so the prosperity of culture cannot be matched elsewhere.But also because life in Jiangnan is so comfortable, people in Jiangnan don’t like to go out to be officials. Places outside Jiangnan are too backward and dangerous. worry life.

Moreover, the examination is quite dependent on luck, because most of the candidates are of the same level, and the stereotyped essay with a fixed format is not about talent but style of writing, so whether it can be seen by the examiner is purely luck.This is also the reason why Tang Bohu, who is famous for his writing, will also be involved in the scandal of cheating in the exam, because even a talented scholar with excellent literary talent may not be able to write a convincing stereotyped essay.

But Jiangnan is nowhere else, scholars can find other livelihoods to live a comfortable life even if they don’t get Jinshi, whether they are in business, or serve as aides, even as lawyers, they can live a good life, because the economy is developed. There must be many local lawsuits.

Of course, there are still quite a few people who are already well off. Even if they don’t do anything, they can live comfortably just by collecting land rent. The rent per mu in the south of the Yangtze River is around 5 yuan, and the annual income of 500 mu of land is 500 taels. You don't have to pay any national taxes for your status, so the [-] taels become your net income.

What is the concept of 500 taels in Jiangnan?During the Wanli period, an annual income of 34 taels was enough for a family of five to live comfortably. The annual income of 500 taels means that this family can not only own a house with a small garden, but also hire private teachers for their children, which is considered a respectable family in the local area.

Of course, the income of 500 taels is still a bit shabby in front of the real famous families in Jiangnan. The big landowners in Jiaxing and Huzhou can earn 9 to 20 taels a year from land rent.A meal in their family costs more than 3 taels, which is equivalent to the annual expenditure of some small landlords. The big maid who serves the owner of the family is worth 400 taels just for clothing and jewelry, which is better than the children of ordinary squires. .

Weng Hanjin was born in such a wealthy family, but his family is not considered a prominent family, because the Weng family has never been a Jinshi.Weng Hanjin's father wanted to keep his family business. As the richest man in Dongshan, a single person could not keep such a big family business, so he donated an official position after failing the Jinshi examination, and then built this Jixian Nursery at home, trying to make friends with celebrities. Bring the Weng family into the clan of clothes.

It's just that Weng Yansheng's luck was really bad. He fell ill and died shortly after the garden was completed, so the Weng family wasted 20 years in vain. By the time Weng Hanjin grew up, the family situation had already begun to decline.The change of Jiashen was undoubtedly a heavy blow to these Jiangnan scholars. Even the dullest people realized that the sky had changed, and every time there was a change of dynasty, how could Jiangnan not suffer from military disasters?

This is also the reason why after Hongguang succeeded to the throne in Nanjing, the people in the south of the Yangtze River were determined, because everyone expected that Emperor Hongguang could keep half of the country in the south, even the Southern Song Dynasty had supported it for more than a hundred years.Therefore, everyone thinks that even if it continues for more than a hundred years, there will be at least two or three generations of peaceful life, which is better than the sky falling apart now.

But now, thinking of the current situation, Chen Zongzhi couldn't help but sighed, then turned his head and said to his friend: "You want to go to Yangzhou? But the crown prince may not be free. I am worried that if you go here, it will be like a sheep entering the tiger's mouth." Li Zicheng didn't show any kindness in the violent things he did in the past."

After pondering for a long time, Weng Hanjin said: "If this is the case, then I will go to see Shun Jun's actions. After all, my family is different from other families. It is not possible to live in seclusion and be fine."

Chen Zongzhi reacted suddenly, and then he remembered that the Weng family is the richest man in Dongshan. If the innocence changed, the other party would not be able to avoid right and wrong while staying at home.With the methods of torturing and looting carried out by the Shun army in the north, the Weng family's gorgeous home may be in ruins by then.

Chen Zongzhi thought for a while and said: "I heard that Wei Ziyi, Fang Mizhi and others are all highly valued by Li Zicheng. How about I write a few letters to you, and then I might be able to help you out of your troubles."

Naturally Weng Hanjin would not reject the other party's kindness. Although he regarded the other party as a friend, in fact Chen Zongzhi was the Juren of Chongzhen for six years. He was much older than him, so he had more friends than him.After all, after his father passed away, his grandmother and mother watched him very closely and did not let him go out because they were worried that he would have an accident outside.

This situation improved after he got married and had children, but at this time his social circle was not so easy to open.Therefore, it is indeed necessary for him to be recommended by Chen Zongzhi and associate with these long-known scholars.

While Weng Hanjin was walking and talking with Chen Zongzhi in the garden, he saw a servant coming hurriedly, saluted him and said, "Master, Madam, please come over."

Weng Hanjin then bowed his hands to Chen Zongzhi and said, "Brother Yuli, you can do whatever you want, I'll go see my mother."

Chen Zongzhi returned a salute and said: "I don't regard myself as an outsider. You go to see the old lady, and I just go back to write a letter."

After the two said goodbye, Weng Hanjin came to the yard where his mother lived and saw his mother talking to someone, he hurried up to say hello, "I've seen uncle, but I don't know when uncle came home, I should go to greet uncle..."

Although he is in his early fifties, Ye Chengchuan, who still looks energetic, waved his hands and said with a smile: "They are all from my own family, so there is no need to be so polite. It is rare for me to come back this year. Tianzhang looks more mature and stable." It just so happens that you are here, so I'll be blunt, this time I came back from Nanjing not to visit relatives, but to what I said last time, Tianzhang, have you made up your mind yet?"

The mother Ye Shi who was sitting on the side still hesitated and stopped: "For such a big matter, it is still up to the mother to make up her mind, and now that the fourth uncle is back, the mother is more obedient to the fourth uncle."

Ye Chengchuan curled his lips and said: "It's not that I made an appointment with him. After returning from Kaifeng, he lost his energy. He only wanted to build Xiangyun Pavilion. What can the old lady discuss with him? Wei was frightened, but he hasn’t recovered yet.”

Ye said more worriedly: "Then Li, no, Emperor Yongchang is so vicious, should we give him money?"

Ye Chengchuan immediately said: "It's not about sending money, it's about doing business in partnership. This matter was initiated by the Xi family. The Xi family, Wang family and Liu family have all decided to join this business. Our Dongshan family has always advanced and retreated together. This matter How can you not express your attitude?"

Mrs. Ye sighed and said: "When doing business with the emperor, it's fine if you do well, but if you don't do well..."

Ye Chengchuan was silent for a moment and then said: "But now that there is chaos everywhere, business has become more and more difficult. After Emperor Hongguang ascended the throne, everyone thought they could breathe a sigh of relief, but the new emperor only blindly collects taxes and drafts females. To enrich the harem, we businessmen have to serve His Majesty every day and every day. If so many people point at us to eat, I would like to end the business and build a garden in Dongshan for the elderly."

Now the Ye family stopped talking. For a merchant family like theirs, once the guys trained by them are dispersed, their vitality will be really damaged, and it will be difficult to recover after several generations.After all, business in this era can only be completed by favors. If people are present, the business will exist. If the person is gone, the business will be lost.

Therefore, merchants are the last business, and land is the main business, because the land will not disappear, but the business will disappear due to an accident.At this time, Weng Hanjin finally said: "Mother, uncle, I want to go to Yangzhou. One is to pay homage to Emperor Daxing, and the other is to see the actions of Shunjun. No matter how good Mrs. Xi said, I don't want to see it with my own eyes." See, I can't make up my mind after all.

Whether it is investing in that bank or building Shanghai Port, it requires a huge amount of capital.If my family invests less, others may not be satisfied. If I invest too much, the family's fortune will almost be empty.Besides, if Emperor Yongchang really has the ambition and ability to stabilize the Quartet, then why should we support it through the Xi family?

Father built this collection of virtuous gardens, but he also wanted my Weng family to become a well-dressed family. Sitting at home and relying on others to make things happen, I am afraid that my family will not be able to afford the hope of Dongshan. "

Ye wanted to say something, but was stopped by Ye Chengchuan and said: "Tianzhang is right, some things really have to be seen with your own eyes, if Emperor Yongchang can really calm down the disputes in the world, our Weng family will take refuge in the past It's better than waiting for someone to come to your door. Sister, have you forgotten how your father-in-law was killed? After all, money is still inferior to power. If the world is in chaos, this huge family business will be even more of a disaster."

Mrs. Ye opened her mouth, and finally said sadly: "Outside matters, after all, men have the final say. Tianzhang, you can make up your own mind, but you must be careful outside, you are the pillar of this family."

Weng Hanjin gave his mother a deep bow and said, "Mother, please rest assured that the child will not act rashly..."

Chapter 214 New Deal 29

Li Zicheng looked at a middle-aged man sitting next to Shen Tingyang. In fact, he was several years older than Shen Tingyang, but when the two sat together, Shen Tingyang looked older.

This handsome old man is Shen Tingyang's elder brother, Shen Hongzhi. According to the information collected by the Statistics Department, this person is truly a legend.Although he only had the fame of a student when he was old, and Shen Tingyang at least had the status of a juren, but this man had served as an aide to many high-ranking officials.

According to the data, he at least entered the shogunate of Yuan Chonghuan, the governor of Jiliao, and sat in the house of Feng Quan, a cabinet scholar. He also had contacts with Fan Jingwen, the Minister of War in the late Chongzhen period.He compiled the Complete Book of Martial Affairs submitted to Emperor Chongzhen by Feng Quan, and his name was mentioned many times in the Complete Book of Warfare compiled by Fan Jingwen, and even the five volumes of the Book of Shipping published by Shen Tingyang were also written by him.

Of course, the information belongs to the information. Li Zicheng still intends to find out about this person himself, so after talking with Shen Tingyang for a few words, he turned the topic to Shen Hongzhi and asked him: "This time our army can stabilize Chongming. Mr. Shen has contributed a lot. Without Mr. Shen convincing the officials and people of Chongming, our army would not be able to peacefully resolve the issue of Chongming Island. I heard that Mr. Shen is quite respected in his hometown, so I wonder if I could ask Mr. Shen to talk about it. What about the customs and customs of the land in the south of the Yangtze River?"

Shen Hongzhi didn't know that Li Zicheng had collected so much information about himself, but he still felt refreshed when he heard Li Zicheng's questioning. Although he gave up his career, he did not give up his fame and fortune. In fact, studying military issues is also a revelation Afterwards, it was a popular phenomenon among scholars, because Yuan Chonghuan was summoned by the platform, and it was very useful because he was easy to talk about military affairs on weekdays.

As the saying goes, "The king of Chu is so thin, and the palace hates death", for those scholars who have not crossed the Longmen, the shortcut to the south is also a passage to success.Therefore, during the reign of Chongzhen, there were many scholars who were famous for their knowledge of soldiers. Of course, most of these scholars who knew soldiers were superficial, because they only searched for some military books from old papers and copied them, and then added some of their own imagination. It becomes a new book.

Of course, Shen Hongzhi is not such a scholar with a vain reputation. He has at least visited the frontier in person and knows some actual conditions of the northern geography and the army, but his military insights are far inferior to his understanding of maritime transportation. Li Zicheng's opinion.But this is also understandable, after all, the Shen family made their fortune in maritime trade.

Shen Hongzhi introduced to Li Zicheng the folk customs in Jiangnan in detail. In addition to the living conditions of some low-level people, he focused on introducing the situation of famous families in various places in the south of the Yangtze River. The famous family is the banner among the scholars, and with the support of these famous families, then more than half of the people in the south of the Yangtze River will be won..."

Li Zicheng asked calmly: "Then which half is left?"

Shen Hongzhi observed Li Zicheng's face calmly, and then said cautiously: "Jiangnan has been in peace for a long time, so culture and education flourished, which also made the number of gentry in Jiangnan the largest in the world.

Since the beginning of the country, Jiangnan's taxes have been the most important in the world.The court gave preferential treatment to the gentry in order to encourage the gentry to contribute to the country. Therefore, the more the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River, the more people and land that are exempted, but the state's tax cannot be reduced, so the tax that is preferentially exempted will eventually be reduced. Apportioned to the heads of civilians.

Originally, the national tax shared by ten people at the beginning of the country is now distributed to four or five people. The place where Tang and Xiaomin had conflicts.Coupled with the phenomenon of investment in order to avoid state taxes, the dissatisfaction of the common people with the state and the gentry became even more serious.

Therefore, I thought that appeasing the gentry would win the support of more than half of the people in the south of the Yangtze River, but if you want to win the support of the remaining half of the people, you must attack those unruly local tyrants and evil gentry and reduce the burden on the people. "

Li Zicheng finally had a lot of interest, so he couldn't help but sit upright and looked at him and asked, "Then how should we attack those unruly local tyrants and evil gentry, so as to reduce the burden on the common people?"

Shen Hongzhi replied solemnly: "The first is to strictly review the preferential treatment of the gentry, strictly prohibiting them from abusing their preferential treatment power, especially not allowing them to accept investment. Moreover, the preferential treatment of the gentry must be treated equally, and it cannot There is a hierarchical system of preferential and exempt officials. Some family members of officials in power pay 1 shi for 1 shi of taxation, without any surcharges; but some gentry are weaker, so the 1 shi surcharge can reach as much as 1 shi. Not to mention, some people engage in preferential exemptions in addition to the preferential quotas.

The second is to change the water transportation. At present, the biggest burden for the small people in the south is water transportation. It takes eight or nine stones to transport a stone of grain to the north. It is not uncommon for subordinate officials in the land to make things difficult for them, and it is common for them to ruin their families after transporting grain.Your Majesty does not have the burden of the north now, it is a great opportunity to reform the water transportation..."

Li Zicheng was very sorry when he looked at Shen Hongzhi. If the other party was 20 years younger, it would be really useful, and now he can only use his spare heat.Because at his age, it is obviously unsatisfactory to let him go to the lower level, and placing him in a high position is just one more bureaucrat.

In the past half a year, he has gained a clear understanding of the scholars in Daming. Although these people often talk about righteousness, they just regard righteousness as a stepping stone. It will reveal its true nature.Only those young people who are willing to go down to the grassroots to face the people still have a little motivation to change society.

Therefore, after thinking for a long time, he said to Shen Hongzhi: "Mr. Shen is very knowledgeable. I wonder if he is willing to serve as a counselor in the Marshal's Mansion? I just need a good teacher and helpful friend."

After Shen Hongzhi heard this, he was slightly disappointed. Shen Tingyang, the younger brother of the family, was the counselor of the Marshal's Mansion, but after careful inquiry, he found that the advisors who were really trusted by Li Zicheng would all have the title of participating in politics.

But just when he was about to thank Li Zicheng, Li Laiheng hurried up to Pingshan Hall, interrupted his luggage, and reported to Li Zicheng: "Gao Jie has sent someone to send a letter of surrender. Lead your subordinates to surrender to His Majesty, and ask Your Majesty for instructions."

Hearing the excitement in Li Laiheng's voice, Li Zicheng was also very happy. It is indeed something worth celebrating to be able to eliminate Gao Jie's army without fighting.Here, Shen Hongzhi quickly congratulated Li Zicheng: "Congratulations, Your Majesty, who surrendered an army without fighting. There will be no obstacles to Dashun in the south. God bless Dashun."

Li Zicheng laughed, accepted the congratulations from Shen Hongzhi and others, and then let the others go down first, ordering Li Laiheng to bring Gao Jie's envoy up, and he was going to talk to the other party about the details of the surrender.

On the morning of September 9th, Li Zicheng set up a big camp on Shougou Mountain outside the west gate of Yangzhou, and he brought all the generals except Zhang Nai's first army with him.Although Gao Jie submitted the letter of surrender, Li Zicheng did not believe in the character of the opponent, so Zhang Nai led the army to monitor Gao Jie's army in the south of Yangzhou, which was also a precautionary measure.

The road between Shougou Mountain and the bridgehead of the canal was lined with scrupulous soldiers. Standing on the mountain, Li Zicheng also felt a little bit more murderous when he saw this scene.It is estimated that around 10 o'clock, a group of cavalry finally appeared in the south of the canal bridge. Seeing the scene on both sides of the road in the north of the bridge, they did not dare to continue to move forward carelessly.

Soon, another group of horsemen appeared behind the cavalry, about 30 to [-] people, all without armor, just wearing various official uniforms, they didn't look like they came to fight.

After the team got off their horses in the south of the bridge, the big man at the head said to the people around him, "Bring the thorns, let's start here."

Li Benshen, Gao Jinku and others couldn't help asking with some hesitation: "Marshal, do you really want to use that thing? Is this a bit too much? We just surrendered, and we were not captured by Emperor Yongchang."

Gao Jie just hesitated for a few seconds, then glanced at someone not far away, and said: "What Ruan Dahuzi said is not unreasonable, if he can't give up the festival in broad daylight, if Li Zicheng thinks about what happened at that time in the future, It's not good for me either.

Madam also said that from now on, Li Zicheng will be the king, and we will be the ministers.If the king wants the minister to die, the minister must die. Li Zicheng cannot be allowed to hold this breath in his stomach, otherwise the breath will become bigger and bigger.go get it. "

Li Benshen and Gao Jinku looked at each other, knowing that there was really no way to persuade them at this time, the lives of this handsome family were worth more than face.The two quickly brought the thorns, Gao Jie exposed his upper body, and then asked the two to help the thorns on his back, and then strode towards the north of the bridge.

Li Zicheng, who was watching from the mountain with a binoculars, soon saw this scene, and at the same time saw the surprise of the soldiers on the side of the road.At this time, he finally remembered the words Chen Yuanyuan said to him before he left the house in the morning, "It's good that Your Majesty has a kind heart, but the necessary punishment can let those subordinates know that you have truly forgiven them, otherwise they will keep thinking about it." Then when will you punish them."

Li Zicheng put away the binoculars, thought for a while, and then said to the general beside him, "Let's go down and have a look too. Gao Jie came here with a thorn on his back. We continue to stand here and wait, because we might look down on him."

Although Liu Liangzuo, Liu Zeqing, and Xu Dingguo felt that it was okay to humiliate Gao Jie, wouldn't the dead tiger want to kick him twice?So Xu Dingguo encouraged him from the side: "Your Majesty is the Son of Heaven, how can you go down to meet a surrendered general? In my opinion, it's better to send a few people down to bring the high-ranking thief up. This will already give him a lot of face."

Li Zicheng glared at the people who agreed with Xu Dingguo, watched them shut their mouths, and then said tepidly: "Since I have accepted Gao Jie's surrender, I don't want to call others like thieves and thieves anymore. Let's talk about unity..."