Dashun Yongchang

Qiu Lei's appearance at Guazhou Wharf was naturally not to see Gao You off, but he also came here to prepare for the trip.According to Li Zicheng's order, he would go north to Wuchang with cloth, salt and other supplies to exchange rice grains from Huguang, and contact Zuo Liangyu by the way.

Qiu Lei knew in his heart that he was able to get this task because of his personal relationship with Zuo Liangyu, but this task is not a test. I am afraid that Li Zicheng also wants to use this opportunity to see what position he will take against Zuo Liangyu Get in touch.

After the settlement of the four towns in Jiangbei, Zuo Liangyu was the only Ming army in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River who could threaten Dashun.And Li Zicheng, who was planning to turn his attention to the north, obviously didn't want to have any friction with Zuo Liangyu at this time, so he sent him to trade with Huguang, so as to further reach a settlement with Zuo Liangyu.

Although he has a close relationship with Zuo Liangyu, Qiu Lei feels that the friendship between the two is actually not enough. Although he went to jail for Zuo Liangyu, Zuo Liangyu also spent money to release him and give him back. He got an official position.If he still wants more, the past affection will obviously be exhausted.

In fact, after staying with Shunjun for a few months, Qiu Lei felt that Li Zicheng was worth relying on, because Li Zicheng at least knew what he was doing and was trying to restore the unity of the world, but Zuo Liangyu didn't see it at all. To compete for the world, he didn't bother to manage the Huguang area. From this point of view, Zuo Liangyu is indeed far behind Li Zicheng.

When Qiu Lei was comparing Li Zicheng with his old friend, a passenger ship from Zhenjiang was slowly approaching the Guazhou Wharf. Weng Hanjin, who was standing at the bow, looked at the Guazhou Wharf while perfunctory a middle-aged man beside him. people.

The handsome middle-aged man next to him was formerly Su Song's soldier, and he could be regarded as the parent officer of Suzhou, but Weng Hanjin looked down on this man, not because he was no longer in position, but because he was no longer in the position, It's that this guy's reputation in Suzhou is really bad.

Speaking of Cheng Xun's loss of office also involves an interesting incident, that is, at the beginning of this year, Suzhou gentry Peng put up a big-character poster at the Guandi Temple in Suzhou, and asked Su Song and Cheng Xun to come to God and swear an oath.It is naturally a strange thing for a gentry to find an incumbent official to swear in front of Emperor Guan.

So the Suzhou people who love to watch the excitement inquired about it, and finally knew the reason of the matter.It turned out that Mrs. Peng got a stepwife Du in Beijing, but Peng did not know that Mrs. Du was a prostitute, because Mrs. Du recognized an officer in Beijing as his elder brother, so he married Mrs. Du as a good family.

But the military officer in the capital happened to be in the south last year on business, so he took the time to visit Peng's house to see relatives.It was nothing at all, but Mrs. Du was acquainted with Mrs. Cheng when she was in the capital, and before Mrs. Cheng couldn't find an excuse to come to the door, now there is this fake brother who is visiting relatives, so Mrs. To continue the old love.

Mrs. Du didn't seem to have any intention of rejecting her old lover, so Cheng Xun wrote a love letter back and bribed the maid of the Peng family to deliver it.Mrs. Du replied and sent an envelope with her husband's official title to Cheng Xun's yamen.It happened that the Taoist official was present, saw the official seal and thought it was an urgent official business, and urged to unseal it on the spot. Cheng Xun opened the letter, revealing a red sweat scarf with eight lines of yellow poems inscribed on it.

In front of his colleagues, Cheng Xun felt a little embarrassed to step down, so he slapped the Peng family's messenger sixty times.After Peng learned about it, he got to the bottom of it, and found out that Cheng Xun first came to seduce his wife, and also beat my servant Lai my wife to tease him. He was so angry that he ran to Guandi Temple to put up a big-character poster.

At the time when the capital was besieged by the Shun army, Cheng Xun still had the leisure to hook up with other people's wives, so he couldn't continue to be an official.Even if Emperor Hongguang came to the throne, Cheng Xun did not have a chance to recover, because it was too much.

Weng Hanjin really didn't expect that the other party would cross the river with him in the same boat. He only thought that the boat was going too slowly, and he could say goodbye to the other party after crossing the river.But Cheng Xun didn't pay attention to Weng Hanjin's perfunctory treatment of himself. He looked at the sergeants on the pier with great interest, and said in his mouth: "You are full of vigor, and you really are a tiger. With such an army, why don't you worry about cleaning up Hu Fen."

Weng Hanjin looked at the direction of the boats by the pier, and had to remind: "I'm afraid these soldiers are not going north, but south."

Cheng Xun glanced at him in surprise, and asked sincerely, "How did Tianzhang see it?"

Weng Hanjin pointed to a place on the pier and said, "Isn't the wooden sign over there saying, where the boats to conquer Taiwan are berthed?"

Cheng Xun: "..."

After the two got on the pier, Weng Hanjin hurriedly bid farewell to Cheng Xun, but Cheng Xun stopped him and said, "It's best to take a boat from here to Yangzhou. Wouldn't it be good for us to take a boat together? Together."

Seeing Cheng Xun unceremoniously asking his servants to pick up his luggage, Weng Hanjin was speechless for a moment.He brought a few companions with him when he crossed the river this time. Compared to Cheng Xun who only had an old man by his side, it was obvious that the other party was unwilling to hire someone to carry luggage.

After making sure that Cheng Xun couldn't be shaken off, Weng Hanjin had no choice but to endure it.While he ordered his entourage to hire a boat, he also asked people to inquire if there were any latest newspapers for sale here.There are already a lot of merchants traveling between Zhenjiang and Guazhou, so there are many boatmen waiting for hire by the pier. At this time, the navigation between Zhenjiang and Guazhou has not been fully opened, so Weng Hanjin’s servants quickly hired a seven-eighth ship. Weng Hanjin followed Cheng Xun into the new black awning boat.

It is about 60 miles from Guazhou to Yangzhou. It takes one day to go downstream and at least one and a half days to go upstream. Now they are boarding the boat, and they will not be able to reach Chaoguan in Yangzhou until tomorrow afternoon.So after getting on the boat, Weng Hanjin calmed down and started chatting with Cheng Xun.Leaving aside his character, Cheng Xun's knowledge and talent can be regarded as not bad.

However, after getting on the boat, Cheng Xun fell silent and focused on the newspaper that Weng Pu bought back.Seeing this, Weng Hanjin simply leaned against the wooden lattice and closed his eyes to rest. This kind of ship specially serving merchants is actually quite spacious. The ship is divided into three parts, the front is the passenger cabin, and the middle is the place for cargo and servants to rest. , and the back is where the boatman rests and cooks.

If it wasn't for the fact that Cheng Xun was by his side, Weng Hanjin would have been lying on the wooden floor directly.The boat going upstream was dragged by the two cows on the shore, and it moved forward very steadily. Weng Hanjin squinted his eyes and almost fell asleep, until Cheng Xun's sudden noise woke him up.

Cheng Xun said to Weng Hanjin apologetically, "I didn't pay attention for a moment, but I woke up Tianzhang you."

Weng Hanjin could only reply indifferently: "It's okay, I just squinted, Brother Cheng, did you find anything?"

Cheng Xun folded the newspaper and put it aside, then looked at Weng Hanjin and said, "I'm afraid Tianzhang didn't just come here to pay homage to Emperor Daxing, did he?"

Weng Hanjin was not surprised, but responded with a smile: "Brother Cheng, isn't it the same?"

Cheng Xun suddenly laughed, and then said frankly: "Since Tianzhang is so honest, why don't we all support each other, so that at least we won't return empty-handed."

Weng Hanjin became a little vigilant, and he said immediately: "Brother Cheng is joking, I am just a tribute student, how can I support each other with Brother Cheng? If Brother Cheng needs anything, I will help if I can. If I can't help Brother Cheng, don’t blame me, Brother Cheng.”

Cheng Xun was not confused by Weng Hanjin's words, he said bluntly: "Didn't Tianzhang go north for the currency reform? Weng is the richest man in Suzhou. If it wasn't for this, what else is worth your risk at this time?" Jiang’s. Although the crown prince is very powerful at this time, Nanjing has not surrendered. If your crossing the river is used by someone who wants to use it, it will be bad for your Weng family.”

Weng Hanjin sighed in his heart, that's why he didn't want to sit in the same boat with the other party, but he said with a normal expression: "If worshiping the Emperor Daxing is also a fault, is there anyone in the south of the Yangtze River who can't ask the crime? Brother Cheng, don't want it." Scared me.

But speaking of this currency recasting, I just glanced at it in the newspaper and didn't pay much attention to it.It is not once or twice that the imperial court re-mints coins, either to reduce the weight of copper coins or to increase the weight of copper coins, which is nothing more than tossing the common people.We businessmen, what qualifications do we have to interfere with the affairs of the court? "

程峋却摇着头说道：“此次都元帅府改铸可不是减轻加重铜钱的分量，而是打算以银为钱，以铜为辅。都元帅府以1两为1000厘，并规定重1011.763厘的纹银中含纯银946.3768厘为一库平两，1厘等于1标准文，1标准文等于0.8个重1钱4分的铜钱。也就是说一库平两等于1000标准文等于800枚1钱4分重的铜钱。”

Weng Hanjin laughed dumbly, shook his head and said: "This is not the same as before, but the status quo is that copper is heavy and money is light. The imperial court will lose money for every 800 copper coins that weigh 1 cent and 4 cents, and eventually have to reduce the use of copper coins. , and then the copper coins are not enough and have to depreciate. In the end, the imperial court uses 800 copper coins that are not heavy as one tael of silver, and the common people use 800 copper coins that are not heavy to pay taxes, and the government does not recognize it as one tael. Yin, isn’t it Xiaomin who is losing money?”

Chapter 238 New Deal 53

Cheng Xun picked up the newspaper on the side and put it in front of Weng Hanjin, saying, "You haven't read it all, have you? Silver and copper are used as raw materials for legal tender.

The first is to issue a silver coin co-cast with silver and copper, weighing 7 cents, 2 cents and 6 cents; each silver dollar contains 6 cents, 5 cents and 3 cents of pure silver, which is 90% fineness;In the future, the taxation by the imperial court will be converted in yuan, and the silver and silver will be collected together within three years, but it must be converted into Kuping silver.However, taxpayers can take silver taels to the bank and exchange them into yuan before paying.

There are two units below yuan, which are divided into two units, and each cent is equivalent to 6.7 standard texts. According to the current conversion ratio of copper coins and silver, all kinds of copper coins popular on the market will be converted into standard texts for use. The following copper coins will be recycled and destroyed by the Marshal's Mansion, and such copper coins will not be allowed to circulate in the market after one year. "

Weng Hanjin picked up the newspaper and read it carefully, and he was indeed a little confused, but he still said indifferently: "Is there anything wrong with this? If the Marshal's Mansion can really do this, for merchants and small It is indeed a good thing for the people. Otherwise, the ratio between copper coins and silver will keep fluctuating up and down, and it will be of no benefit to anyone."

Cheng Xun looked at him but said meaningfully: "It should be a good thing for the newly established bank and ordinary people, but it may not be for a wealthy businessman like Weng."

"Haha..." Weng Hanjin laughed a few times suddenly, and then said to Cheng Xun: "Brother Cheng is joking, what harm will such a currency recasting do to my family? Could the Marshal's Mansion be targeting my family specifically?"

Cheng Xun said unhurriedly: "It's not aimed specifically at the Weng family, but it must be aimed at those big families who have a lot of silver. After the Marshal's Mansion set the Kuping Lianghe standard text, those big families The silver in hand can only be preserved if it is deposited in the bank, otherwise it is just a silver bullion whose value cannot be determined.

As for the small people and farmers who depend on wages to live, they will naturally ask for yuan with a fixed value, rather than silver bullion whose value is unclear.Between this entry and exit, the silver hoarded will depreciate.The Weng family is the richest man in Suzhou. Does the currency reform really matter to your family? "

Of course it is related, Weng Hanjin responded in his heart, he really didn't know what the bank did before, but after reading this news, he finally figured it out, it turns out that the bank is in the business of exchanging money. Just took a fee for nothing.After thinking about this point clearly, he knew that he would have a foot in the banking business no matter what, because those locked out of the bank were harvested leeks.

But at this time, he also admired Qi Cheng Xun a little. Although this person is not of high character, his eyesight is really good, but after reading the articles in the newspaper, he understood the intention of the Marshal's Mansion to change the currency.So after thinking about it for a while, he still lowered his body and asked the other party for advice: "Brother Cheng is indeed right. Is there anything Brother Cheng can teach me?"

Cheng Xun still asked with a smile on his face: "Tianzhang also wants to say, is your trip across the river unrelated to the currency reform of the Marshal's Mansion?"

Weng Hanjin thought for a while, then sincerely lowered his voice and said, "It's true that my crossing the river this time has nothing to do with currency reform, but it has something to do with this newly opened bank. The owner of this bank is the Dongshan Xi family."

Cheng Xun suddenly became enlightened. Indeed, if it wasn't for the Weng family who organized the bank, then naturally it would be other families in Dongshan. This Xi family is indeed the person who is capable of handling banking affairs.

After he was dismissed from office, he stayed in Suzhou. On the one hand, it was because the world was in turmoil, and Suzhou was safer than other places;Compared with Ji'an's hometown, of course, Suzhou, a big city in the south of the Yangtze River with convenient news, has a better chance of recovery.

It's just that what he did was a bit nasty, neither the Donglin Party nor the Eunuch Party were willing to give him a hand, for fear of being dragged down by him.So he could only live in Suzhou until the prince went south.Although Cheng Xun knew that the crown prince might not give him a good look when he knew about his affairs, but the one who talked here was not the Emperor Yongchang. There is no way to get in touch with Emperor Yongchang.

After meeting Weng Hanjin in Zhenjiang, he immediately realized that his opportunity had come.As the richest man in Suzhou, but there are no Jinshi family members in his family, it can be said that the Weng family is in an extremely dangerous situation. If it is not because of the chaos in the world, the powerful bigwigs in the court have no time to take care of the Weng family. They were skinned and boned and swallowed.

Therefore, at this time, if he wanted to cross the river to the north, Weng Hanjin obviously wanted to find a backer.This backer was either the Prince or the Marshal's Mansion, because the others didn't even know that Weng Hanjin had made this trip.Compared with officials like them, it is much easier for a businessman to change his family, and there is no need to worry about being suspected of integrity. After all, in everyone's perception, businessmen have no integrity.

Cheng Xun forcibly followed the other party, hoping to learn about the relationship between Emperor Yongchang and the prince through the other party's network. For him whose reputation has been ruined, there are not many opportunities to bet. If he makes a mistake this time, Maybe it's the last time.

Therefore, while thinking, Cheng Xun said to Weng Hanjin: "The Weng family is also the richest man in Suzhou. Even if there is an in-law relationship between the Xi family and the Weng family, it is impossible to be completely like a family. Otherwise, the Weng family was besieged back then." At that time, the other families in Dongshan would not be silent anymore.

The Xi family invited you to cross the river to talk about the bank. In the final analysis, it is only because of your Weng family's resources. Once your family's resources are controlled by the bank, will the Xi family let you intervene in banking affairs? "

Although he felt that Cheng Xun's words were intended to sow discord, Weng Hanjin also admitted that what the other party said was not groundless.He could only cup his fists again and salute: "Brother Cheng is a great talent, please show me clearly."

At this time, Cheng Xun refused to continue talking, and kept talking about it, until Weng Hanjin asked him what he wanted, and he said: "I went north this time, although it was to pay homage to Daxing. The emperor and the crown prince, but I have also admired Emperor Yongchang for a long time, if you can mention my name when you see him, then my wish will be enough."

Almost without thinking about such a request, Weng Hanjin readily agreed, because this request did not cost much at all.If he could really see the emperor, it would be a trivial matter, and if he couldn't, he wouldn't have to fulfill his promise.

Only then did Cheng Xun say: "This currency recasting is indeed beneficial to the national economy and the people's livelihood, but there is only one problem that is difficult to solve, and that is how to prevent counterfeit coins. Since folks can privately mint copper coins, they can naturally privately mint silver dollars..."

When Cheng Xun was telling Weng Hanjin about the way to combat smuggling, the negotiating envoys sent by Nandu were finally ready to return, but there were few people in the delegation of Nandu, and Pang Tianshou said that he would serve the prince and would not go back.

Ruan Dacheng and Zhou Bi had nothing to do about this, because Pang Tianshou was an eunuch, and in principle he was a servant of the emperor, so when he no longer recognized that Fufan was orthodox, it was natural and reasonable to stay with the prince.

However, when Ruan Dacheng and Zhou Bi returned, there were a few more people on board. These people were Lu Wang Zhu Yihai, Zhou Zhong and Li Sicheng.

When Ruan Dacheng boarded the boat back to Nanjing, he was still a little bit reluctant. He had learned a lot in Yangzhou these days, and it also made him realize that he was too gentle in his struggle against the Donglin Party members in the past.If he could attack the gentry in Jiangnan like Li Zicheng attacked the gentry in Yangzhou, then there would not be so many rebels in Jiangnan.

When Ruan Dacheng reluctantly left Yangzhou, the gentry and wealthy merchants in Yangzhou finally couldn't take it anymore.These gentry were divided into two groups, one group went to Shouzhi Garden where the prince lived, and the other group went to Daming Temple. Their only request was to restore order in Yangzhou City.

In the eyes of these gentry, the current Yangzhou City is completely out of control.Perhaps at the beginning, the citizens wanted to attack the criminals around them, but as time went by, the citizens have raised their targets from street gangsters, gangsters, and subordinates to the students and gentlemen who sheltered these villains, as well as those A businessman who knowingly wants to buy abducted women and children.

The officials and gentry in Yangzhou City immediately became uneasy, because if the citizens pursued them further, they would obviously be traced to them.After all, they are the masters of this city. Without their approval, it is impossible for these people to develop in Yangzhou City.And those students and gentlemen who shielded the thugs actually made the thugs escape the sanction of the government by pleading with them.

Ma Minglu, the magistrate of Yangzhou who came to Daming Temple to intercede with Li Zicheng, although he dared not tell the truth directly, he also hesitantly said a few words, "...the ministers are not opposed to the citizens cracking down on those villains who have committed many crimes, but some of the past It's hard to say clearly, the citizens are all angry now, as long as they see a little dirt, they will think that this person is a villain, and then they will arrest him and send him outside the city for custody.

In just 8 days, the number of people arrested in the city has reached more than 13, and the prison camps outside the city have begun to build No. [-]. If this continues, will the people in the city be panicked?

Moreover, there were only 25 people's courts established in total, some of which could not finish hearing one case a day, and the most one court concluded three or four cases a day.On average, only 200 people can be convicted every day. It is estimated that it will take three months to complete the trial of the number of people arrested now.If we continue to arrest them, we won't be able to finish the trial next year.

What's more, the citizens now treat the trials of the people's courts as a show. Every day, there are boring people helping the old and the young to watch the trial. Those people's jurors don't look at the evidence at all, and decide the case entirely based on their own likes and dislikes. The citizens are still applauding it, it is simply treating the law as a child's play, if this continues, will they still respect the king's law in the future..."

Under the leadership of Ma Mingpao, the representatives of the council also complained to Li Zicheng about the atrocities of the citizens, thinking that it is time to stop the riots of the citizens, otherwise Yangzhou City will be completely chaotic.

Chapter 239 New Deal 54

While Ma Mingpao and other Yangzhou officials were chattering in their ears, Li Zicheng actually didn't listen much. He was feeling the comfort of the autumn clothes Chen Yuanyuan made for him.

Yangzhou in mid-October of the lunar calendar has already entered late autumn.The leaves of some deciduous trees on the mountain have begun to fall. Half a month ago, the colorful Shugang was full of bleak yellow leaves and dead branches.At this time, the Pingshan Hall was also equipped with window lattices around it. Although the light in the hall was a bit poor, it was much warmer.

At this time, Li Zicheng also realized that the Manchu army should have moved south in a large scale. After all, the land in this season is not only suitable for cavalry to gallop, but more importantly, the farmers in the Central Plains have just harvested a year's harvest. The nomads are heading south at this time. It can not only give full play to its own cavalry advantages, but also feed on the enemy's territory.

As a native of Shaanxi, the word Fangqiu naturally emerged in Li Zicheng's memory. Obviously, although an agreement was reached with the Mongolian tribes in the late Ming Dynasty, it only solved the danger of the Mongolian tribes uniting to the south. For small border tribes It is still unavoidable to enter the customs and plunder, so there is the theory of Fangqiu that is deeply remembered by Shaanxi people.

After realizing that his time in Yangzhou was running out, Li Zicheng didn't want to hear these Yangzhou officials talking nonsense to him.After he took his eyes off his sleeves, he finally looked up at them and said, "I remember that when you sent people to Huai'an, you declared that you were entrusted by all the residents of Yangzhou to negotiate with the Marshal's Mansion.

I also remember very clearly that I also promised you at the beginning, as long as the people of Yangzhou do not oppose the Marshal's Mansion, and violate the laws and decrees formulated by the Marshal's Mansion, then I will respect the right of the Yangzhou people to self-government.Now you have come to tell me that the citizens of Yangzhou are brewing a riot, and you are asking me to send troops to suppress them. Is that what you mean? "

Ma Mingjue glanced at his companions, and found that they were all looking down at the ground, and no one came forward to respond to Li Zicheng, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and reply: "I am not asking Your Majesty to send troops to suppress the citizens of Yangzhou." , but I hope that His Majesty will order to take over all the government affairs of Yangzhou. Because there are many rioters who are afraid of chaos among the citizens. In order to prevent the citizens of Yangzhou from being instigated by these people and completely destroy the order of Yangzhou City, I beg Your Majesty Send troops to maintain order in the city."

Li Zicheng replied coldly: "It sounds a little different, but in the eyes of the citizens of Yangzhou, didn't I still violate my oath? Besides, my soldiers are all foreigners, so I sent some to help Yangzhou volunteers to arrest those Criminals are nothing, after all, there are still a few soldiers entering the city, but if they enter the city in large numbers and clash with the citizens of this city, will the citizens of Yangzhou hate me or you?"

Several representatives of the council gathered together, and Wang Fulong, who was standing in front, hurriedly said: "Of course we should hate us, how can we blame it on His Majesty."

Li Zicheng smiled and said: "If you can make decisions for the citizens of Yangzhou, why come here to discuss with me? Wouldn't it be good to go to the city to persuade those citizens to end the search?"

Wang Fulong stopped talking immediately, and Sun Zhiwei, who was standing behind him, could only take his place and said: "Your Majesty's worries do exist. Yangzhou people don't trust foreign troops very much. If His Majesty's troops enter the city in large numbers, it will indeed cause some citizens to panic." Dissatisfaction, when the two sides have friction, it will inevitably lead to brawls, which will damage His Majesty's reputation.

But I think that only His Majesty's army can enter the city to maintain law and order, because His Majesty's army has strict military discipline, which is not comparable to other foreign troops.Of course, if you want His Majesty's army to endure the provocations of the citizens, then at least they should be rewarded, so that the soldiers can be more patient.

The Council is very willing to raise the expense of rewarding the army for His Majesty, and asks His Majesty for permission. "

Li Zicheng glanced past Ma Mingpao and Wang Fulong, and looked at the young man standing behind them who was making a sound. After watching for a few breaths, he said, "Your accent is from Sanyuan? What's your name? "

Sun Zhiwei pondered for a few seconds before saying: "Student Sun Zhiwei is indeed from Sanyuan, but he has settled in Yangzhou."

After hearing this answer, Li Zicheng didn't take it seriously, but he also relaxed a little and said: "Your words are still to the point. In fact, although I am busy with state affairs, I am not indifferent to what happened in Yangzhou city. .”

Speaking of this, Li Zicheng suddenly interrupted his words, turned sideways to the guards who were waiting on the side, and said: "Go and invite Gu Jiang and He Duiji."

Seeing that the guards had received the order to go out, Li Zicheng turned his head to the Yangzhou officials and gentry in the hall and continued: "Although what you just said is the truth, it is not the whole truth. I think the current chaos in Yangzhou It was not a riot, but the anger of the citizens burst out once the chaos in Yangzhou had not been brought under control for a long time.

I don't care what you think, but I think that forcibly suppressing the citizens with violence will not solve the problem. It will only make the citizens bury their grievances in their hearts. When something happens, they will explode again.

Frozen three feet is not a day's cold. What makes the citizens angry in Yangzhou City is not only the child abduction and trafficking, the rampant crime, the bullying of the brokers, the idle sluts making trouble everywhere, and the price of goods skyrocketing at the slightest sign of disturbance. These are all things in Yangzhou The anger of the citizens is backlogged in their hearts.

I think that if we want to solve the current problems in Yangzhou, we must first appease the anger of the citizens, at least let them see that there is hope for a solution to the injustices in society, instead of just being patient and delaying it for a day. One day's muddy thoughts.If the people can't get justice from the government, then they will seek self-help, I don't think there is any problem with this..."

When Li Zicheng was telling the representatives of Yangzhou officials and gentry, Gu Jiang and He Duiji finally stepped on the steps of Pingshan Hall. After entering the hall, they first saluted Li Zicheng and sat on the chair vacated by Li Zicheng's left hand .

Li Zicheng didn't talk too much, he just said to the two of them, "Tell me about the current problems in Yangzhou City, and then come up with a solution."

After hearing this, He Duiji got up immediately and said: "Return to Your Majesty, through investigation and interrogation, these heavenly ministers found that there are still the following problems in Yangzhou City. The first is the problem of the income of the citizens. The price of local food has dropped sharply. As of yesterday, the price of rice per stone has dropped below 2 taels, which is slightly higher than [-] tael, [-] cents and [-] cents.

However, because silver is expensive and money is cheap, although we have absorbed a large amount of copper coins, one tael of silver still needs to be exchanged for 2000 cash. The daily wages of most craftsmen are 100-110 cash, which means that their daily wages are enough to buy 2.5 liters of rice is barely enough for two people to live, and it is difficult to afford the livelihood of a family of five. This is also the source of public anger because they cannot support their families.

The second problem is that the subordinate staff and the factory owner collude with each other. Even if they have such a meager income, they are often deducted by the owner, and they cannot question the owner.The government will not stand on their side, because the masters will not care about this matter at all, and the subordinates are well-acquainted by the master, so there is a conflict between the craftsman and the master, and only the craftsman suffers.

The only way out for these craftsmen or workers is to hand over a little money to the gangsters or gangsters on the street, and count on these people to stand out for themselves.Although these people can indeed help them get a little compensation from the owner, but they have to share most of it..."

He Duiji talked for more than half an hour as soon as he opened his mouth, almost all of which revolved around the livelihood of the citizens, the poor social security and the corruption of the subordinates.Although the Yangzhou officials and gentry represented by Ma Minglu and others were very impatient, they could only listen patiently when they saw Li Zicheng quietly listening to He Duiji's report.

After He Duiji finished his report, Gu Jiang got up at the signal of Li Zicheng and said: "According to the local government operation data collected from various places, at the request of His Majesty, I was ordered to set up a system research office.

Just now He Zong has given a fairly detailed introduction to the social status quo of Yangzhou, so I will make a long story short.According to our research, we believe that the local government of Ming Dynasty should make a more thorough change in order to alleviate the dissatisfaction of the local people and rebuild the local order.

So what changes should local governments make?We think it is mainly two key points, the reform of the subordinate staff system and the reform of the taxation system.

At present, there are iron-clad yamen and flowing officials in the local area.Nominally, officials are the highest authority in each yamen, but most officials are not familiar with local affairs at all, or when they are familiar with it, their term of office is almost up.Therefore, it is the subordinate officials at all levels who can really take over the power at the local level.

If these subordinates cannot be bound by the laws of the court, then they will become local emperors that no one in the local area can restrain, and those officials with little seniority will have nothing to do with them, because they have all kinds of documents and archives and land yellow books. Without the cooperation of these subordinate staff, officials with insufficient qualifications would not be able to complete the task of the imperial court's two annual conscripts.

Besides, the taxation system, since the Taizu established the current taxation system at the beginning of the country, the imperial court has been tinkering with this system for more than 200 years, and has not made major changes.The most recent reform of the tax collection system was the reform in the early years of Wanli presided over by Zhang Jiangling.However, ten years after Wanli, Zhang Jiangling's reform results also left a whip and silver tax.

Without the cooperation of other reform policies, the taxation of silver has caused today's phenomenon that silver is expensive and money is cheap. At present, both the court and the common people are short of silver, while the rich and powerful are hoarding silver.Therefore, the more expensive the silver, the heavier the burden on the common people, and the greater the deficit of the court, because there are no large silver mines to mine in this dynasty..."

Chapter 240 New Deal 55

If it was said that the Marshal's Mansion in the capital had just put forward a plan to formulate a legal currency in the newspaper, then now Gu Jiang is going to formally implement this plan into a policy and ask Yangzhou officials and gentry to accept this policy.

After Gu Jiang talked about the tax plan of replacing silver and copper coins with legal tender, she put forward a formal plan for the reform of the subordinate staff system, "... In summary, we take out all the positions of non-principal officials, From the lowest level of the township to the highest level of the cabinet secretariat, all positions are divided into 24 grades to ensure that subordinates have room for promotion, thereby breaking the situation that they have been entrenched in the local area for generations.

According to His Majesty's opinion, the system formed by these 24 positions will be called the civil servant system, and the term subordinate staff will be abolished in the future, and will be changed to the unified title of civil servants.

In order to further standardize the professionalism of civil servants, the imperial court will set up an administrative clerk school to train civil servants in official document writing, legal awareness and political concepts. Only those who pass the examination will be allowed to stay.In the future, civil servants will receive a promotion examination every two years and a certain promotion every six years.Those who join the company for the first time must be at least 18 years old, and those who are over 60 years old shall retire, and pensions shall be paid according to their length of service and conduct..."

When Gu Jiang talked about the reform of the subordinate staff system and the reform of the taxation system, the faces of the officials and gentry representatives in the hall turned dark. This is not what they want today.But in the face of Li Zicheng who was sitting at the top and quietly listening to the report, Ma Mingpao and others could not make any objection.They also understood at this time that this was the condition Li Zicheng offered them. If they did not accept it, Li Zicheng would obviously not interfere with the actions of the citizens in Yangzhou.