My life skills in Daming Liver

The sudden outbreak of revolution in the Netherlands caught Philip II off guard, and he immediately ordered the conscription of troops to suppress the revolution in the Netherlands.

At the same time, Philip II could not afford two wars, and he had to order a stop to transfer the South American fleet to the Southern Ocean.

Compared with the South Sea route that is being developed, the Netherlands is the Spanish royal family's purse. If the Netherlands is really lost, the Spanish royal family will soon go bankrupt again.

When the powder keg in Europe was ignited again, the war in the East came to a standstill.

The Southeast is busy consolidating its territory, Huguang and Jiangxi are building roads, and infrastructure construction is underway everywhere.

The Southeast New Army in Hanzhong did not go north to Shaanxi or south to Sichuan. They just continued to gather troops and transport weapons and ammunition in Hanzhong.

Everyone knew that the new southeastern army in Hanzhong was bound to take action again soon. Jiang Dongchen, the governor of Sichuan, laid out heavy troops on the passage into Sichuan, especially at important passes such as Jiange, and even spent all his money to build fortifications.

Jiang Dongchen knew very well that the Sichuan Army was not as capable as the Shaanxi Army. If the New Southeast Army was really allowed to enter the Sichuan Basin, the city of Chengdu would be completely undefendable and would have to surrender immediately.

The entire Ming court was shrouded in an ominous atmosphere. In April, "Shandong Xinbao" controlled by Li Chengliang published an article.

"Shandong Xinbao" was originally a newspaper run in Shandong, and it was a newspaper run by Li Chengliang with heavy investment.

Because "Shandong Xinbao" is very close to the capital, this newspaper is also published in the capital.

Tong An came out of the workshop. He had just read the newspaper to the workers in the workshop today and was going to find a place to rest before going to another workshop in the afternoon.

Tong An and some of his comrades in the Imperial Academy withdrew from the study association and established a new organization called the Mutual Aid Association, whose main job was to help laborers do some voluntary work.

For example, I help factory employees defend their rights and read newspapers to factory employees in my spare time.

In addition, Yan Jun also ran night schools next to several large workshops. These night schools mainly taught workers literacy, and also taught some of Yan Jun's ideas.

Tong An stepped onto the green chartered car, looked at the sweat on Xiangzi's forehead, and asked with concern:

"Xiangzi, if you don't feel well, please take a rest?"

Xiangzi immediately said: "Mr. Tong, I'm not tired. Where are you going?"

Xiangzi is even thinner than last year. The rickshaw driver in the capital is having a hard time, and his livelihood is also greatly affected.

The carriages imported from the southeast were quickly welcomed by dignitaries in the capital.

Riding in a horse-drawn carriage is very private, and you don’t feel the wind blowing when you sit up, and it doesn’t feel like a bumpy ride in a green chartered car.

I heard that Shuntian Prefecture is planning to widen the roads in the capital to make some roads more suitable for carriages.

With fewer people taking green chartered cars, Xiangzi pays more attention to old customers like Tong An.

April in the capital has begun to get hot. Xiangzi must have just run a business and did not dare to stop and rest. Tong An looked around and saw a tea shop, and immediately took Xiangzi there for a tea break.

After sitting in the tea shop, the tea shop owner immediately handed over two enamel cups.

Touching the enamel cup, Tong An couldn't help but sigh. Businessmen in the southeast can always produce good and durable products, and these products can always capture the hearts of the people.

For example, this enamel is a glass glaze burned on the metal surface. This kind of cup has many benefits. On the one hand, it is strong and durable. On the other hand, it can be heated directly and has a certain heat preservation function.

The tea shop owner poured hot tea into the cup, and Tong An pulled Xiangzi to sit down.

The tea shop is not big, and the people who come here to drink tea are all employees from the surrounding workshops. Where these grown men gather, the conversation quickly turns to state affairs.

The people in the capital have always had a tradition of discussing state affairs, and there are the most "gossips" here. A tea doctor in a tea shop can talk about everything from the secret history of the palace to the military dynamics on the front line. It can be said that he knows astronomy from above and geography from below.

In the past, in tea shops like this, the eloquence of the tea doctor was one of the draws to attract tea customers. However, the tea doctor in this shop kept silent about national affairs and only poured tea for everyone.

"Dr. Huang, why didn't you say anything today?"

asked the old tea guest.

Dr. Tea pointed helplessly at a wooden sign on the wall, raised his hand and said:

"You guys, please forgive me. Didn't you see the sign 'Don't talk about state affairs'? I spent five taels of silver to 'invite' it from Shuntian Prefecture. If Shuntian Prefecture finds me talking about state affairs again, then It’s not as simple as asking for a sign.”

All the tea guests burst into laughter at first, and then they all began to sigh.

When Zhang Juzheng was in power, he was relatively tolerant of speech. After all, Zhang Juzheng could really control the overall situation.

Since Li Chunfang came to power, he has increasingly lost control over the governors outside the capital. The court officials have been constantly fighting, and there is no way to control the situation of the court.

But if Li Chunfang can't deal with these powerful people, why can't she also deal with ordinary people?

Officials from Shuntian Prefecture often patrolled the streets, especially tea shops. Anyone who discussed state affairs and slandered the court would be taken to Shuntian Prefecture and tortured.

Even tea shops that have not been tortured still have to spend five taels of silver to buy this special "Don't talk about state affairs" sign made by Shuntian Mansion and hang it high in the tea shop to remind tea guests not to talk about state affairs.

In addition, Shuntian Prefecture also sent out many spies. These were basically hooligans wandering the streets of the capital. They disguised themselves and hung out in teahouses and restaurants. If they encountered anyone who talked about state affairs and attacked the court, they would immediately send them to the Yamen.

The teahouses and restaurants in the capital were in turmoil.

But these tea drinkers obviously don't care about this, especially the tea shops near the workshops. The people who come here to drink tea are basically employees of nearby workshops.

The employees themselves are physically strong, and after the last explosion at Wang Gong Factory, most of the employees in the workshop joined the federation. Naturally, they are not afraid of those gangsters.

I only heard these tea drinkers starting to talk about recent current events.

"Hanzhong has been lost again. It's true what the "Shandong Xinbao" said. Cut off one city today and another city tomorrow. Sooner or later, the imperial court will fall into the hands of these 'Qin Shi Faction'!"

"Shandong Xinbao" is now the best-selling newspaper in the capital. The editor-in-chief of the newspaper, Shan Songxian, is a down-and-out scholar in Shandong, and he has been reused under Li Chengliang.

Tong An immediately knew that what these tea guests were discussing was Shan Songxian's latest article.

Although politically, Li Chengliang and Li Chunfang are partners.

However, newspapers controlled by Shandong often wrote articles criticizing the Ming court's policies, especially its military conservatism and concessions.

Li Chengliang is now the leading militant faction in the Ming Dynasty. This is the fundamental difference between him and Li Chunfang, the Prime Minister of Zhongshu. This is something that cannot be bridged by any political alliance.

The New Army controlled by Li Chengliang naturally wants to start a war. Only by fighting can these officers achieve military exploits and have the opportunity to be promoted and make a fortune.

On the one hand, Li Chunfang, who lacked prestige, was unable to coordinate the local powerful factions. For example, in the Battle of Hanzhong, he was unable to bridge the defense conflicts between Shaanxi and Sichuan. In the end, Southeast took advantage of it and captured it at a small price. Hanzhong, a strategic location.

Although Li Chengliang supported Li Chunfang, Shan Songxian continued to write articles criticizing the Ming court.

Shan Song first used the example of "Guo Qin Lun", comparing the Ming Dynasty to the Six Kingdoms and the Southeast to the Great Qin.

"To use the land to serve the Qin Dynasty is like holding on to the firewood to put out a fire. If the firewood is not used up, the fire will not stop."

Shan Songxian believed that the Ming Dynasty's compromise with the Southeast was like the compromise of the Six Kingdoms with the Qin Dynasty. They could not work together in several military operations and had a head-on military collision with the Southeast.

As a result, in several wars with the Southeast, the Ming Dynasty abandoned the city without firing a single shot, trying to delay the Southeast's attack in this way.

Shan Song first criticized this as the Ming court's policy of attacking enemies, and Southeast also used this cannibalization strategy to continuously encroach on the strategic locations of the Ming court.

"If Huguang was lost yesterday and Hanzhong was lost today, will Sichuan still be lost? If Sichuan is lost someday, can Yunnan and Guizhou be lost?"

In Shan Songxian's words, Southeast is cutting off the Ming Dynasty with the sun and the moon. If the Ming court does not unite immediately, it will be divided by Southeast sooner or later.

Shan Song first appealed in the newspaper that a powerful figure must stand up. This person must lead all the troops of the Ming Dynasty to a decisive battle with Southeast, and decide the ownership of the world through a decisive battle.

If the "Qin Faction" continues to be in power, continues to give the Ming court's territory to the Southeast, and continues to consume troops and supplies from various places, then the Southeast will soon eat up the Ming Dynasty, and wait until then to want to have a decisive battle with the Southeast , then it’s too late.

This statement is very popular in the capital, especially among some young scholars.

For example, when Tong An was in the Imperial College, he often heard comments like this, thinking that the court presided over by Li Chunfang was too weak, which allowed Southeast to continue to win.

However, the tea guest who was talking about criticizing the "Qin faction" was wearing a Confucian shirt and looked like a scholar. The remaining hired workers in short-sleeved shirts did not have such good illusions about war.

"If a war really breaks out, you will almost die on the battlefield. Now you can live a stable life in the capital. What's wrong with that?"

said one of the hired hands.

The scholar stood up immediately and said tremblingly: "Everyone is responsible for the rise and fall of a country. Don't you have any responsibility?"

The surrounding employees sneered: "When Wang Gong's factory exploded, didn't the imperial court provide disaster relief? Now it's common people's responsibility. By then, won't we be the ones fighting on the front line?"