Dashun Yongchang

Zhu Shuaicui glanced at Xi Benyi, thinking that this person probably didn't know that he had rebelled against Emperor Yongchang, but he thought about it, this is a good thing, at least he has someone to support him overseas, then he It is possible to do something big.He now understands that Li Zicheng is not afraid of those who rebel against him at all, and he does not have the strength to rebel against Li Zicheng, but if he can do some business overseas, it will improve his status in Dashun.

Under the system established by Li Zicheng, Zhu Shuaicui felt that he was full of opportunities. If his clan in Daming could do nothing, even if things were done in Dezhou anyway, as long as the emperor ascended the throne in Nanjing, he would Abandoned by those scholar-bureaucrats.In the Marshal's Mansion, at least he still has a chance to rise. Of course, it depends on his ability and contribution to get the corresponding power.

From the current point of view, he is still far away from the apex of Li Zicheng, so he still has a lot of time to work hard.However, because of the Texas incident, most people who knew about it were unwilling to get close to him because the risk was too great.Now that Xi Benyi had come together by himself, he sized up the other party and felt that this little brother could still be accepted.

So Zhu Shuaicui also enthusiastically offered Xi Benyi a guaranteed ticket and said: "It's easy to say, it's easy to say. This is also my first time going to sea. Everyone should support each other when we are out. Then we can get things done. I don't know, Brother Xi. Where do you live? If you don't mind, let's find a place to have a good chat, what should we do overseas..."

After Zhu Shuaicui and the two retired, Zhu Yihai made a simple explanation about Li Zicheng's negotiation with Nandu.Li Zicheng did not answer the few questions that could not be settled at the end of the negotiation, but watched Zhu Yihai say that he would have a private talk with Zhu Cihong, Zhu Yihai immediately understood and resigned.

Under Li Zicheng's order, the guards who had been guarding the steps of Pingshan Hall also retreated to the steps, and stood together with the scholars of Wenhua Hall.Although they could faintly see the two people in the hall from where they were standing, they could no longer hear the conversation in the hall.

And Li Zicheng in the hall also motioned Zhu Cihong to sit on the chair next to him, and then asked him kindly: "You heard the report just now from King Lu, so what do you think? Are you planning to accompany Emperor Daxing and Emperor Daxing?" Did the Empress Zi Palace cross the river to Nanjing? Or do you have other ideas?"

This question makes Zhu Cihong feel awkward, because others have made decisions for him all the time, and he has never made a decision by himself.Therefore, he seemed a little flustered at first, and after a while he asked hesitantly, "Can't I ask Mr. Li?"

Li Zicheng stared at him silently for a while and then said: "Li Shichun is a good man, but he can't protect you. The only thing he can do is to take care of your daily life. At present, some problems between Dashun and Nandu have been resolved through negotiations. Now, the rest of the problems are the internal contradictions of your Zhu family, if you go across the river, I have no reason to protect you anymore."

Zhu Cihong's mood was terrified. The last time this feeling of loss of security was when Li Zicheng invaded the capital, he didn't even know when he started to rely on the chief culprit who overthrew the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Cihong, who was a little confused, couldn't help asking Li Zicheng: "The emperor is already willing to abdicate, do you still want to harm me?"

Li Zicheng replied with a mocking smile: "Do you think Emperor Hongguang is willing to abdicate himself, or someone else agreed to abdicate on his behalf?"

Zhu Cilang was suddenly a little dazed, and he realized once again that the warmth and harmony on the surface was not real.He originally thought that although the negotiation between King Lu and Nandu would make Uncle Fu a little uncomfortable, but everyone can reach an agreement, and then everyone can go back to the past, but now Li Zicheng has punctured this illusion in front of him.

Thinking of this, Zhu Cihong suddenly felt afraid of Guo Jiang, and couldn't help asking Li Zicheng: "Do I have to go to Nanjing? Actually, I don't want to compete with the emperor for this position."

Li Zicheng can understand Zhu Cihong's mood. For a well-protected rich second generation, he will not pay too much attention to money until he realizes the magic power of money, because for him, money is just as easy as he wants. Can be obtained, what kind of precious thing is it?

Zhu Cihong was born as a prince, and he never tried the pressure of other brothers competing for the succession to the throne. Everyone in the palace regarded him as the heir to the empire, so he naturally couldn't feel how much losing his status as the heir to the empire meant to him. importance.

For Emperor Hongguang who had lost his vassal state and wandered abroad for several years, that was the one who could truly understand the wonderful taste of power. The country has long been smashed by the peasant army, so he can't even buy an official ship, so he can only go south with the ships of these clans.

The poor Hongguang was supported by Ma Shiying and the four towns to ascend to the throne, and immediately enjoyed everything an emperor could enjoy. How could he not understand how important power is to him.That's why he trusted Ma Shiying so much, because Ma Shiying gave him his power. As for those Donglin party members, Hongguang knew very well that without the force support from Ma Shiying, these people might have driven him out long ago.

Li Zicheng leaned back, changed into a relaxed posture and said, "You don't want to fight, but it doesn't mean they don't want to fight."

Zhu Cihong followed Li Zicheng's gaze, and happened to see the Ming officials in the front yard of Pingshan Hall looking into the hall.He was just a little ignorant of the world, but he was not stupid, so he immediately understood what Li Zicheng meant at a glance.

Chapter 228 New Deal 43

After Li Zicheng pointed out the problem to himself, Zhu Cihong figured it out, he couldn't handle this problem.Although his father never allowed him to get in touch with political affairs in the past, the eunuchs around him would still tell him what happened in the foreign court and what changed the emperor's mood.

The reason why the emperor of the Ming Dynasty could not do without the eunuchs around him was that these eunuchs were not only their siblings, but also their eyes and ears. The siblings here are not siblings, but real hands and feet.In addition to matters other than thinking, eunuchs can help the emperor take care of other things.

Therefore, although Zhu Cihong regarded Li Zicheng as the chief culprit when his father died for the country, in fact, what he remembered more deeply was the group of subjugated ministers that his father said.Especially after Li Zicheng went south, he really had nothing to hate about Li Zicheng, because the other party was not the image of a human-eating devil in the mouth of the former eunuch at all. Although his words were a little rough, Li Zicheng was telling the truth.

And after Li Zicheng defended his father's reputation, that is to say, he denied his father's claim that he was the king of subjugation. Although Li Zicheng put the pot on the emperor's great-grandfather, Zhu Cihong was not familiar with the emperor's great-grandfather. I haven't seen it, so if he was asked to choose someone to be the king of subjugation, he would definitely choose the emperor's great-grandfather, but Confucian ethics did not allow him to choose this way.

But now that Li Zicheng has come forward to rectify the source of his father, he doesn't have to challenge the world's views.According to the education he received since he was a child, a son should protect his father's reputation, but it is really difficult for him to wash away the shame of his father as a king of subjugation. Therefore, in terms of protecting his father's reputation, Li Zicheng has done more than him There are many evils that have entered the city of Beijing.

After the dislike towards Li Zicheng gradually dissipated, Zhu Cihong's dislike towards those subjugated ministers grew day by day.Because on the way to the south, he found that these gentry actually didn't care how their father died, they only cared about whether Li Zicheng wanted to guarantee their gentry status.

Therefore, on the way to the south at the beginning, he was sincerely grateful to those gentry who came to pay homage to his father, queen and queen. After seeing the true colors of these people, his attitude towards them became more and more indifferent.This is why he would rather go up the mountain to meet Li Zicheng after he first arrived in Yangzhou than stay with the gentry in Yangzhou.

Thinking that his father had killed so many ministers but failed to stop the party struggle among these ministers, Zhu Cihong immediately flinched.He said directly to Li Zicheng: "Then what should I do so that I don't have to go to Nanjing?"

Li Zicheng was very pleased with Zhu Cihong's reaction. If Zhu Cihong was a rebellious young man who opposed him everywhere, he would not bother to talk to him about the future, because at this point, Zhu Cihong's status as a prince had almost been used up. If you continue to support him, the other party will really become the new Emperor of Ming Dynasty.

He needs to use Zhu Cihong to dismantle the legitimacy of the Nanjing Hongguang regime, but he does not intend to establish a new central regime for Nanming, that is just asking for trouble for himself.

So at this point, the best choice is actually to sell the crown prince to the Nanjing regime. With the nature of a feudal dynasty, Zhu Cihong will definitely die without knowing why. Then Zhu Cihong's death will completely disintegrate the legitimacy of the Nanjing regime. Dashun Sending troops across the river to avenge the prince will bring everything to an end.

Of course, this best choice means that for Li Zicheng, the emperor of Dashun, it is obviously not a good choice for China, because although the struggle between the crown prince and Emperor Hongguang can make the Nanjing regime completely lose its ruling legitimacy, but It also means that the south will no longer be subject to a unified regime in a short period of time, and Dashun will naturally not be able to accept Nanming's legacy smoothly.Faced with the enslavement and surrender of the Ming gentry, Li Zicheng, who was fighting on both sides, could not guarantee that he could hold the front line of the Huaihe River.

The original Li Zicheng may have some obsessions, but a certain person doesn't have such obsessions, he just wants to carry the Manchurians southward first.Taking advantage of several pigeon-raising businessmen in Yangzhou, Dashun has established the Xuzhou-Huai'an-Yangzhou pigeon letter station, mainly for the transmission of military information.Therefore, Li Zicheng already knew that the Qing army had already begun to prepare to go south, and the situation in the north of the Yellow River was not so good.

Since Beijing's Shun army went south and returned to the west, the gentry in Hebei began to rebel against Da Shun continuously.Although Li Zicheng took away a group of more prestigious local gentry when he went south, those gentry and landlords who tried to defend their land still united.Of course, because of the loss of the local backbone, the rebellion of the gentry and landlords in Hebei seems to be small. It was just a few radical landlords who raised their troops to rebel. It was suppressed.

However, Li Zicheng knew that the rule of the Shun army in the north of the Yellow River would not be too long, because those garrisons could not deal with the rebellious gentry and landlords while dealing with the Qing army going south.He also ordered the general staff in Xuzhou to withdraw the troops on the north bank of the Yellow River and the people who were willing to support Dashun to the south bank of the Yellow River.

However, if the Qing army that went south could not be beaten back, then those gentry and landlords who were watching from the sidelines would also join the Qing army to oppose Dashun.If you want to fight back the Qing army, you have to let the Yangtze River settle down and make the Yangtze River a logistics and transportation channel for the Shun army.

For this goal, it is necessary to be able to persuade Zhu Cihong to cooperate with him.While thinking about it, Li Zicheng asked Zhu Cihong, "Do you know what the imperial court represents?"

Although he didn't know why Li Zicheng asked himself this question, Dang Zhu Cihong replied according to his own understanding: "The imperial court refers to the place where your father handles the country's major affairs, right?"

After thinking for a while, Li Zicheng said: "I prefer to think of the imperial court as a system in which a group of people manage the country, or it can be called a political power, which is a place where major national affairs are discussed and power is used to solve problems.

The basis for a regime to survive is to have sufficient material production and mobilization capabilities.Because without materials, it is impossible to drive others to do things.Therefore, the core task of the regime should be construction, and all other tasks and powers are generated around construction.

Just like Jiannu, when the slave chieftain Nurhachi established the capital in Shenyang, Houjin was not a real country, because Jiannu had no ability to maintain their own survival, they needed to plunder the Mongols and my Ming Dynasty to support their own people , This also caused prices in Liaodong to soar in the late Nurhachi period, and many people fled Houjin.

But when Huang Taiji succeeded to the throne, although he still maintained the foreign looting policy of the old slave period, he devoted most of his energy to the construction of Liaodong, especially plundering a large amount of manpower from North Korea for the production of Liaodong. Prices began to stabilize rapidly.From this point of view, the Hou Jin at this time can be called a regime.

Since your father came to the throne, there has been almost no construction in the north in the past 17 years. Coupled with the devastation of natural disasters and wars, the area north of the Yangtze River and Huaihe River is a dilapidated scene.It can be said that in the past 17 years, the regime of Ming Dynasty has almost been at a standstill, with [-]% natural disasters and [-]% man-made disasters.

Regardless of whether it is Dashun or Daming, if they want to restore China's political power, then it is impossible to bypass the fundamental problem of construction.Only when the country enters the construction stage again, those who rely on occupying the wealth accumulated in the past as kings will be knocked down by the new construction forces, because their wealth will only continue to decrease, so they cannot let others If you share it with yourself, you will naturally not get the support of others.

But the new builders are different. While continuously creating wealth, we will share the newly increased wealth with others, thereby attracting more people to participate in construction and creating more wealth.

However, the current Nanjing is not a place to create wealth. It is a consumer city that relies on the country's taxes and farmers' land rent. This means that once you enter Nanjing, you will become a bird in a cage. , no one will listen to your ideas anymore.It is impossible for the gentry in Nanjing to let you dictate their wealth..."

Every time Li Zicheng talked with him, he almost didn't have any trivial sentences, and he didn't talk about morality at all times, but Zhu Cihong was surprisingly able to understand the new terms that the other party said, because these new terms happened to be the same as his past. Compare the deeds heard from the mouth of the eunuch.

In Zhu Cihong's view, what Li Zicheng, who doesn't read books, said is far more practical than the principles taught by those great Confucians who are well-educated. At least he can't use the moral standards of the great Confucians to evaluate people, because the differences between the great Confucians Ethical standards are inconsistent.If we adopt the standards of these people, we must label other people as villains, and vice versa.

However, the examples and standards given by Li Zicheng can always be compared with each other. As long as you master this standard, you can also use it as a standard to measure other things, instead of engaging in free testimony.

Just when Zhu Cihong was distracted listening, Li Zicheng finally made a conclusion for his long speech: "...so, it is right for you not to go to Nanjing now, because that city cannot be yours.

Of course, if you don’t go to Nanjing now, it doesn’t mean you won’t go in the future, so at least you have to make some preparations.First of all, although you are the heir to the throne of Emperor Lie, after Hongguang ascended the throne, your status as the heir is a bit embarrassing. Even if Hongguang announced his abdication, those who supported him as the throne would not be willing to give in.

So you need to use time and a more legal identity to ascend to the throne.From the current point of view, let the provinces elect a group of representatives, and then come to Yangzhou to discuss your enthronement time and the reform of the political system of the new Ming Dynasty. This will not only allow you to meet with powerful people in those places, but also allow them to show their strengths. political leaning, and thus serve you.

Secondly, if you stay in Yangzhou, you can also learn how to build a city. I have decided to build a new city in the west of Yangzhou, a city without walls.After the completion of this new urban area, it will not only ease the crowded housing situation in Yangzhou, but also allow the families of those military officers to settle down in Yangzhou.You will preside over the construction of this new city..."

Chapter 229 New Deal 44

Zhu Cihong accepted Li Zicheng's suggestion without hesitation, but he still asked a question: "What about the burial of my father and queen mother?"

Li Zicheng just thought for a few breaths and said: "You can let Fufan be in charge of the positioning and construction of the mountain mausoleum, and let Chen Mingxia, Ma Shiying, and Shi Kefa be his assistants, just to take a look at the movements in Nanjing. They love to talk about etiquette so much. Just right for them to do…”

Zhu Cihong nodded and accepted. He felt that this suggestion was in line with his own wishes. He also wanted to know whether the rulers and ministers in Nanjing were willing to devote themselves to finding the tomb for their father.

Speaking of this, Li Zicheng also settled one thing, so he asked people to call all the scholars of the Cultural Palace in the courtyard.Seeing that everyone finished saluting himself and Zhu Cihong, Li Zicheng announced: "I just talked with Cihong, and I know that Wenhua Palace has achieved a lot in organizing the Yongle Canon and the collection of books in the palace since I went south.

Books are the carrier of knowledge, and knowledge is the inheritance of the wisdom of sages to educate the world, so I think that knowledge cannot be stored in a single room, and become a treasure for some people to play with privately.Therefore, I decided to set up a large library in Yangzhou, Huai'an, Xi'an, Suzhou, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Guangzhou, Nanchang, Xiangyang, etc., and publish various books for borrowing and reading by the people of the world, so as to educate the people.

In addition, I will build a university in each of Yangzhou, Nanjing, Suzhou, Hangzhou, and Xi'an to pass on the wisdom and experience left by the predecessors.The large library and university in Yangzhou will be combined with the construction of Yangzhou New City. I am going to let Cihong take charge of this matter, and you will assist me. Do you have any objections? "

The twenty or so members of Wenhua Hall standing in Pingshan Hall were in an uproar.Some people think that building a school and a large library is a good thing; but some people think that the world is still uncertain, and it is not the time to talk about civilizing the people; some people think that it is hard to go to Yangzhou, and of course the next step is to go to Nanjing as soon as possible to rectify the name and inherit the throne. The most important thing is, how can the prince stay to build schools and libraries at this time?

Ling Ji first questioned: "At present, we have to resist the Northern Army, repair the canal and the Yellow River, and build a university, library, and Yangzhou new city. Where does the money come from for such a large-scale construction?"

Fang Gongqian and Song Fan also pointed out to Li Zicheng and the prince that the current situation does not seem to be suitable for Daxing architecture. After all, Jiangnan also experienced a great famine three years ago, and now it has only just recovered.Moreover, because of the wars in various places, many people have been displaced. At this time, it is time to reclaim wasteland and resume production, instead of sending troops to the mountains to cut down trees.

Others also began to gradually lean towards the proposal of resting with the people. Zhu Cihong looked at Li Zicheng a little at a loss, and he was not sure whether it is a good thing to build Yangzhou New City now.

But Li Zicheng got up and looked at the people in Pingshan Hall and said: "It is precisely because the people are displaced due to the war that we need to build large-scale construction projects. First of all, whether it is to build a large library and a university, or to build a new city, port, road, and repair water conservancy. None of these are built for personal enjoyment.

Now is not the time, if we are building only for personal pleasure, but now is the time, if we are building for the benefit of the public.

You all say that you want to rest with the people, how can you rest with the people?Could it be that leaving the refugees alone and letting them open up wasteland by themselves means resting with the people?I think this is a joke.Although these refugees brought some belongings with them when they went south, they were not enough to reclaim wasteland.

Why do I say that, because according to the survey of the Statistics Department, there is no wasteland in the south where the transportation is convenient, so these refugees must go deep into the deep mountains and old forests in the south to have unclaimed land to reclaim.However, to cultivate wasteland in those deep mountains and old forests, you have to cut down the wood and burn the wasteland in the first year, and clear the roots and stones in the second year, so that you can get some harvest in the third year.

So how many belongings can those refugees carry with them to survive these three years?They can only sell their sons and daughters, and even sell themselves.Therefore, the so-called rest with the people is nothing more than watching these refugees being encroached upon by the powerful local households.

Or some people can go deep into the southern mountains and forests, but their disorderly land reclamation can only destroy the local ecological environment and turn the green mountains and green waters into Zhuozhuo Tongshan.The environment in the upper reaches of the river has been destroyed, who is the unlucky one?Isn't it a private household by the river downstream?

The upper reaches of the Yellow River were covered with large forests during the Tang and Song Dynasties, so if they are cooked in Guanzhong, they are cooked in the world. Qinchuan, which is [-] miles away, is enough to resist the attack of nomadic peoples in the northwest frontier.But today, the reduction of forests in the Guanzhong area has directly led to the drought in Shaanxi and the impermanence of disasters in the Yellow River.On the one hand, Shaanxi cannot keep the rainwater;

I am not opposed to reclaiming wasteland, but it should be reclaimed in an orderly manner under the auspices of the imperial court.Logging should be organized first, then the land should be cleared, and then the reclamation area should be established.Instead of allowing the refugees to cultivate on their own, the court, the locality and the people will not benefit.

Secondly, the southward migration of the northern people this time was not all farmers fleeing famine, but a large number of artisans and citizens in the cities.They are basically unfamiliar with planting and rely on their own craftsmanship for food.We don't give them jobs that they are qualified for, but ask them to give up their skills and go to work in agriculture. Would they be willing to do it?

Of course, what the gentlemen said just now is not completely wrong. For example, this big tree can only be found in the deep mountains. It is difficult to find a big tree suitable for construction along the Yangtze River.Therefore, if you want to go to Guizhou and Sichuan to log in the mountains, it is really a waste of money and manpower, so now the asking price of a Chinese fir with a diameter of more than 2 feet in Yangzhou is close to a hundred gold..."

Fang Gongqian, Song Fan, Ling Ji, Jiang Cai and the others' originally serious expressions eased a little when they heard this. No matter what Li Zicheng said, if they insisted on large-scale wooden labor, they would definitely oppose it to the end.

Then Li Zicheng changed the subject and said: "So I plan to go overseas to find big trees, such as Taiwan Island. Taiwan is only 4 or 5 days away from Shanghai, but the lush forests on the island have hardly been developed. I cut the wood from Taiwan. After returning, it can be used for domestic construction, and it can also greatly reduce the price of wood, because almost no big trees on the island have been felled. It is said that there are many logs that cannot be hugged by two people.

Taiwan is originally our country's territory, but we just didn't take care of development before.The Marshal's Mansion has decided to formally develop Taiwan's resources. Well, before you gave up your industry in the north for the sake of the country, part of the land developed in Taiwan happened to be used as compensation for you.Those who have contributed to this country will definitely not forget it. "

Ling Ji and Jiang Caizheng were about to object, but they hesitated for a moment when they heard Li Zicheng's last words.It's not that they are greedy for the land of Taiwan, but that the officials and gentry in the north really suffered heavy losses when they went south with the prince. However, under the deterrence of force by Li Zicheng, no one dared to refuse to follow the prince south.

And Li Zicheng's most black-hearted trick was to use the name of the prince to buy most of their land in the north under IOUs, and then distributed these lands to retired soldiers and tenants.Even if the land of the Huangzhuang, clan, eunuchs, and nobles are not counted, more than 600 million taels of land were forcibly purchased by officials and gentry in parts of Beizhili and Shandong alone.Of course, this is not a real price, because it is an IOU, and some moisture is normal.

Zhu Cihong was a little flustered when he signed the 40 million taels of IOU, for fear that he would not be able to pay it back.But when the IOU exceeded 100 million taels, he didn't feel much. As long as the IOU was delivered to him, he signed it without even looking at it.

Although the officials and gentry in the north didn't quite believe that the IOU could be cashed out, Li Zicheng had stolen so much wealth and never returned it.But with this white note, at least it is still a thought. In addition, some people think that if Zhu Cihong can really go to Nanjing to ascend the throne, the money may not be repaid.

But now Li Zicheng wants to use overseas land to repay the debt, which seems to be a little better than Baitiao. After all, it is not easy to wait for Zhu Cihong to repay the money or give the land after he ascends the throne, because the gentry in the south will definitely oppose it. After all, the wool must have come from them.

When Ling Ji and Jiang Cai hesitated, Xie Sheng, who had been sitting on the sidelines, finally couldn't help but interjected.This 66-year-old university scholar is old and strong, and his second wife has just given birth to a son for him. The Xie family's incense is there, but the little floating wealth he carries can't afford to support his big family, so He was quite concerned when he heard that Li Zicheng was going to give the land.

Regarding Xie Sheng's proposal on how to divide the land in Taiwan, Li Zicheng replied straightforwardly: "The unit of overseas land is six mu. , land bonds are purchased.

Although the area of ​​Taiwan Island has not been calculated yet, the land area of ​​the island should be more than 100 million.Therefore, the first release is limited to 50, and the upper limit of purchase per person is 100.When the map survey of Taiwan Island is completed, the Marshal's Mansion will continue to sell.

All resources on the land belong to you, whether it is the forests on the land or the mineral deposits under the ground.However, the royal court has to collect taxes on the mining of mineral deposits, and gold can only be sold to the Marshal's Mansion, and the Marshal's Mansion has the priority to purchase strategic resources such as silver and copper.If the Marshal's Mansion wants to expropriate your land, they will give you enough compensation, at least not less than one or two per shift..."

These officials and gentry didn't care much about the gold and silver mines proposed by Li Zicheng, because they didn't believe that Li Zicheng would sell the land with gold and silver mines for sale, and such land would definitely be occupied by Li Zicheng himself.However, Xie Sheng asked with great interest: "The trees on the land also belong to the landlord, so after we buy the land, can we send people to log? Will the savages on Taiwan Island attack our people?"

Li Zicheng glanced at these whispering officials and gentry, and said with a smile: "Since you have paid your taxes, the Marshal's Mansion will naturally send troops to deal with those savages who hinder you from developing your own land..."

Chapter 230 New Deal 45

Xie Sheng calculated in his mind that the land in the north is actually cheaper, and the irrigated land is more expensive, but the irrigated land only accounts for one mu out of 20 mu, and the middle and lower land and the lower land are the bulk.

Most of the land handed over by the Xie family in Dezhou is below the middle level. Most of the best irrigated land is transferred to distant relatives or domestic slaves for holding. The land is about 30 to [-] mu. Calculated at [-] to [-] mu, it is [-] mu for [-] mu to Taiwan's wasteland.

In all fairness, if these lands were not overseas, such an exchange ratio would not be considered a loss.Of course, if there are really stretches of forests that Li Zicheng said on those lands, and they can be cut down and transported back to the mainland, it seems that just cutting wood can make back the cost, but now no one is sure whether Li Zicheng is telling the truth or just talking nonsense ah.

Of course, Xie Sheng and other officials and gentry did not realize that if their land had not been confiscated by Li Zicheng, they would not consider developing Taiwan's land now. After all, the development of such land far away from their control is too risky. .

Hearing the whispering voices of his colleagues around him, Jiang Cai couldn't help hesitating, because he reported Zhou Yanru in the book, and "repeatedly questioned" the emperor in the book.Emperor Chongzhen used his "examination of imperial edicts, which is extremely contemptuous", and set up imperial prisons for the crimes of the lower and the higher.Although he became famous all over the world because of this, he also paid a heavy price. He was not released until February [-] this year and ordered to be banished to Xuanzhou Wei.

When he arrived at his hometown, Laiyang, the capital fell, and the news of Emperor Chongzhen’s martyrdom also spread to Laiyang. At that time, he was at a loss at home, but soon two news came, one was that King Fu had ascended the throne in Nanjing. One is that Li Zicheng took the prince south.

Although Nanjing not only pardoned his exile and appointed him as the original official, Jiang Cai finally chose the prince's side because he thought he was a courtier of Emperor Chongzhen. It doesn't make sense to betray the prince by himself, and it also makes the suffering he suffered in the Jinyiwei and the prison become worthless. People will doubt whether he attacked Zhou Yanru for profit.

Another reason is that his younger brother Jiang Gai had impeached Ruan Dacheng, and Ma Shiying was rehabilitated on Ruan Dacheng's recommendation, so Nandu was not a good choice for their brothers.

The two brothers came to follow the crown prince, naturally hoping that the crown prince could successfully inherit the throne and re-establish Daming.But listening to the discussions of these colleagues around him, Jiang Cai suddenly realized that now he should confront his colleagues around him when he speaks out to stop Li Zicheng from opening up overseas desert islands, because what he is blocking is not Li Zicheng's frenzy, but the interests of his colleagues .

Thinking of the IOUs signed by the prince, Jiang Cai felt that exchanging some overseas wasteland for the loyalty of these colleagues to the prince was not a big problem, although this kind of war for the land did not conform to Confucian morality.

However, Ling Ji didn't have as many ideas as Jiang Cai. He was from Shexian County, and he didn't have any land in the north to contribute to the prince. Naturally, he didn't think it was necessary to exchange overseas land for the white note signed by the prince.Conversely, Li Zicheng could not understand Li Zicheng's behavior of forcibly purchasing gentry land in the name of the prince and using overseas land to lure northern gentry to support the Marshal's Mansion.

Therefore, when the colleagues around him began to die down, Ling Ji still tried hard to ask Li Zicheng: "Even if there are large forests in the wasteland overseas, it is also a place where miasma and insects are densely populated. China has not been able to develop the southwest mountainous area until now. If you come out, can you still go overseas for development? How many people will die? I think this is a waste of people and money. It is really not worth letting Chinese people die for some wasteland overseas. For the sake of peace in the world, please Your Majesty, don't do such an unwise thing..."

Xie Sheng and the others turned their attention to Ling Ji, and the original discussion voices dropped a lot. What Ling Ji said was indeed true. The development of wasteland must kill people. If too many people die, it is not worthwhile. If you can follow Most of their slaves who went south were domestic slaves of their own generations, not those refugees who wanted more or less from outside, so they couldn't all be filled in this overseas wasteland.

Li Zicheng stared at Ling Ji for a long time, but the other party's eyes did not avoid it at all. He could only explain: "It's not that China doesn't develop the southwestern mountainous areas, but that the transportation in those places is really inconvenient. Although Taiwan is overseas It is an isolated island, but it is only four or five days' flight from Shanghai, and it takes at least half a month to travel from Wuchang to the mountains at the junction of Guizhou and Sichuan.

Let's put it this way, the cost of transporting 800 people from Shanghai to Taiwan is probably only enough to cover the travel expenses of 100 people from Wuchang to the Yunnan-Guizhou border, and the subsequent cost of maintaining these people's material transportation is also an astronomical figure.According to the calculations of the Statistics Department, sea transport is twice as expensive as river transport per [-] miles, but much cheaper than canal transport, and general land transport costs are five times that of river transport, while rugged mountain road transport costs are generally Triple the shipping cost.

Therefore, in terms of development costs, the cost of developing Taiwan, Luzon, Borneo, and even the Nanyang Islands is much cheaper than developing the mountainous areas of Guizhou and Yunnan.

According to the summary of the prevalence and causes of various plagues by the Department of Health and Epidemic Prevention, most of the epidemics of plagues are caused by unclean food and water, and the high mortality rate in reclaimed wilderness is apparently due to the presence of miasma and poisonous insects in these areas. Poisonous ants, but in fact most of the deaths are caused by poor sanitation.

Europeans began to colonize overseas 200 years ago. If their death rate is really so high, then how can there be people who still go overseas with joy?What you think of as a deserted island, Taiwan, is a treasure land in the eyes of those Europeans. They built a castle in Tainan, and lured a large number of Chinese people from the mainland to open up wasteland and create wealth for them.

Let me ask, if Taiwan is really that poor, why would Europeans build castles there?Why can we lure our people to go to Taiwan to open up wasteland?It cannot be said that the people of our country can open up wasteland overseas only under the enslavement of the Europeans, and it is our turn to organize the people to reclaim and colonize wasteland, right?

If this is the case, it may not be the people of our country that will not work, but the organizers of our country's overseas pioneering and colonization.If the officials of this country can neither solve problems for the emperor nor serve the people, then what reason do they have to have the current status and enjoy the various privileges granted by the country? "

What Li Zicheng said was a bit serious, which made the officials and gentry in the hall a little commotion. Although they couldn't answer Li Zicheng's question, they intuitively opposed the person who asked the question. It's a pity that they don't have the right to block it now. other side.

Ling Ji was also a little frustrated, and he was talking about the principles of governing the country, but Li Zicheng, who didn't study, threw out the arithmetic problem again.Of course he can understand such a simple calculation problem, but he does not have the intelligence gathering ability behind this calculation problem.This also means that he can't convince the other party at all, because Li Zicheng has more information than him.

He could only hold back a little and make the last resistance, "But your majesty, after you have said so much, you can't say that going overseas to open up wasteland will not kill people, right? If the people are unwilling to go overseas to open up wasteland, can your majesty still force them to go to sea?"

Zhu Cihong on the side also looked at Li Zicheng worriedly. This question is really not easy to answer. Although human life is really worthless in this era, but as a monarch, if he said it so definitely, he would be an unquestionable tyrant.