At the end of August, Qingzhou Fucheng.
As fellow magistrate Guo Mintai and tong magistrate Han Jinchu took the initiative to return the occupied cultivated land in military camps, and urged the officials in the prefecture's Yamen to also return the occupied cultivated land, a strong wind suddenly arose.
Everyone in the Qingzhou Prefecture, big and small, was in danger. Most of them had heard about Liu Yan's methods in Jimo Yingcheng. At this time, the knife really hit them, and everyone panicked.
Some timid officials who had occupied a small amount of cultivated land took the initiative to return the occupied cultivated land, but many officials still stood firm. As the saying goes: the law does not punish the public, these officials did not believe that Liu Yan could punish so many officials in the prefecture's Yamen.
Besides, you, Liu Yan, are the commander-in-chief and in charge of the army. We are all officials of the prefect’s yamen and civilian officials. If you dare to touch us, it will be a mutiny!
Therefore, under the deliberate or unintentional propaganda of some officials in the prefecture's yamen, the merchants and scholars in the city could not sit still. They either occupied the cultivated land of the military households, or resold the military supplies of the guards. Not very clean.
At this time, various news spread in the city, and the merchants and scholars also began to secretly connect. Finally, on this day, a market strike and a class strike began. Seeing this, the people in the city became panicked and rushed to the streets to buy grain and rice. Qingzhou Fucheng There was chaos everywhere, and the Qingzhou prefecture's government office and the Yidu county government office hurriedly sent out officials to maintain order everywhere, but with little effect.
In the General Military Mansion, Liu Yan frowned slightly after listening to Zhao Min's report.
The merchants and scholars in the late Ming Dynasty were not the Manchu slaves of the late Qing Dynasty. They had the courage to fight with the imperial court. The method of fighting was to go on market strikes and school strikes.
Liu Yan remembered that during the Jiajing period, the imperial court prohibited states and counties from minting private money. As a result, merchants from all over the country went on strike. In a short period of time, goods in various places soared, and the imperial court had no choice but to abolish the ban.
During the Wanli period, whenever the imperial court was preparing to levy commercial taxes, those merchants would threaten the imperial court by going on strike, and every time the decree to collect commercial taxes would be ignored.
It can be seen that merchants in the late Ming Dynasty have formed a certain scale, and even "evolved" into a class. In these troubled times, merchants used money as a means to become extremely arrogant, and even the economy of many places was no longer controlled by the imperial court. control, and the court was also filled with business representatives.
It can be seen that the imperial court in the late Ming Dynasty had lost control over the local economy, which was also one of the reasons for the sharp decline in fiscal revenue of the imperial court in the late Ming Dynasty.
Especially in various parts of Jiubian, the imperial court relied on these merchants. Since the decline of the "Kaizhong method" in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the imperial court switched to using broken silver to recruit soldiers to pay military salaries.
Having money does not mean having food and drink, but also requires purchasing large quantities of grain and fodder. The transportation of related grain and fodder is monopolized by merchants from various places. If the merchants go on strike, the Ming army at the border will be short of grain and fodder, which will cause extremely huge turmoil.
For example, in May of the eighth year of Chongzhen, Zu Kuan and others sent reinforcements to Chadao, Yulin, Huailong Xiguan and other places in Xuanfu Town according to the imperial decree. Yang Sichang, the governor of Xuanda at that time, strictly ordered the army not to harass the local area, and strictly ordered the residents everywhere not to go on strike, otherwise they would all be under strict orders. This is the power of merchants to go on strike.
It can also be seen from this that merchants in the late Ming Dynasty were extreme egoists. In order to protect their own interests from harm, they ignored the interests of the country. This was completely traitorous behavior. Liu Yan hated this!
Students were on strike and businessmen were on strike. This huge momentum had begun to spread. Liu Yan immediately ordered Zhao Min to go to the Qingzhou Prefecture’s Yamen and report the matter to the prefect Wang Congyi. If the Qingzhou Prefecture’s Yamen and Yidu County’s Yamen could not control the situation within three days, Then Liu Yan would send troops to calm down the situation on the grounds that "profiteers are disrupting the market and traitors are disrupting the country"!
"grown ups!"
Zhao Min was startled and said hurriedly: "Sir, once the troops are sent out, I'm afraid the situation will be even more out of control. We must first conduct a secret investigation to find out who is behind the scenes."
Liu Yan pondered for a while and said coldly: "I'm afraid there are not so many reasons for this matter. Zhao Wei, Cai Yingwen, and Pan Tu have been arrested, and they don't have time to plan these things. The prefect Wang Congyi and other civil servants have this time, but they will What do you do?"
Zhao Min and Miao Shao also frowned. If Wang Congyi, the prefect of Qingzhou, and others secretly instigated merchants and scholars to cause trouble, then Liu Yan's situation would be in danger, and many people would definitely die in this turmoil.
"So I asked Zhao Tongzhi to contact Wang Congyi just to see how Wang Congyi would respond."
Zhao Min clasped his fists and said, "I understand, let's go now!"
Then Liu Yan said to Miao Shao: "Immediately inform Shen Tuo, the commander of the central camp, and ask him to gather troops and horses to stand by."
"yes."
Just as Liu Yan was making arrangements, hundreds of scholars gathered in the Qingzhou Prefecture City at the Prefecture School. Qingzhou Prefecture Disciples and Xuezheng also participated. At this time, the crowd was excited and they were all reprimanding Liu Yan for his various "atrocities". .
Qingzhou Xuezheng Huang Mingde is the leader of these hundreds of people. His family has plenty of fertile land and dozens of related shops. At this time, I heard that there was a crazy rumor in the city that Liu Yan, the commander-in-chief, was going to collect commercial taxes and verify the acres of land under the names of the officials. He was filled with anger and summoned hundreds of soldiers with a shout. Many merchants in the city also responded.
After a burst of impassioned speech, Huang Mingde sighed and said: "I still have fresh memories of the Wanli Dynasty's business tax disaster. Fighting with wars and disasters spread all over the world, not only for merchants, but also for the people! The sage has a saying, seize the opportunity. The people's wealth is not a way to make money. The way to make money is to make money and manage it, it's just two ends. The harm of adding taxes is nothing more than tax calculations, but the harm of commercial taxes is calculated on a daily basis. The imposition of commercial taxes is to rob the people. If you want money, this move will surely arouse the wrath of heaven and the resentment of people."
Everyone present was talking to each other, and they were all expressing sorrow. Everyone turned a blind eye to the heavy taxes imposed on ordinary people, but they were filled with indignation about the commercial taxes or land taxes that were about to be imposed on themselves. If Liu Yan saw This scene will definitely make you furious.
Among all the scholars and scholars present, which one has not opened a shop? Among the merchants in Qingzhou Prefecture, which one is not a member of their clan? Liu Yan wanted to collect business taxes, check each family's farmland, and recover the occupied farmland of military camps. This was to take food from their mouths, but everyone would never agree.
Of course, there are also many poor scholars among them who do not have any shops at home. Moreover, there are rumors at this time that Liu Yan will follow the story of Jimo Yingcheng and set up forts throughout Qingzhou Prefecture, and then recruit a large number of scholars. As scribes, these poor scholars also wanted to find jobs in the fort, and they believed that Liu Yan's collection of commercial taxes had nothing to do with them.
But now the atmosphere has reached this point. How can those poor scholars dare to speak for Liu Yan?
Afterwards, everyone criticized Liu Yan's new policies with reference to classics, and described his actions of striking schools and merchants as a feat to save the country. Everyone thought that this would be a massive action. Students went on strike, businessmen went on strike, and all walks of life responded. As long as everyone works together to put pressure on Commander-in-Chief Liu Yan, he will definitely realize his wrong move, wake up, and turn around. .
From this day on, storms suddenly surged across Qingzhou Prefecture. Shops in the city began to close and all sales stopped. The people in the city were frightened and panicked, and started a panic buying trend. By dusk, before all the shops were closed, the price of food had soared to 4,000 cents per dou.
Infected by this panic, the prices of various goods in Qingzhou Prefecture, such as cloth, salt and tea materials, also skyrocketed. In the end, there was even a price but no market.
Soon, the strike spread to surrounding Linzi County, Shouguang County, Linqu County and other places, and panic buying became common in various places. However, Laizhou Prefecture was relatively calm and was not greatly affected for the time being.
Wang Congyi has been anxious since he received Zhao Min's notification. In just two days, the market in Qingzhou Prefecture and several surrounding counties was in depression, and the people were panicked, not knowing what was going on.
Not only that, a huge wave of petitioners began to appear in the streets and alleys of Qingzhou Fucheng. They intercepted the officials and cried on the spot, demanding that Liu Yan, the chief military officer of Qinglai Town, be stopped from collecting commercial taxes and verifying the acres of land.
The streets and alleys everywhere were crowded with wailing people, and various anonymous posters were posted everywhere. If any officers passed by the streets, they were attacked by the crowd throwing rubbles.
Faced with such a massive market strike and school strike, the prefect Wang Congyi took his colleagues Guo Mintai and the general magistrate Han Jinchu to the streets to preach, saying that it was natural for merchants to pay taxes, and that Liu Yan's levy of commercial taxes was also reasonable, and that the army's farmland was inspected. It's a legitimate move, and there's nothing to say about it.
And the people are disrupting the market in this way without official government. To put it lightly, they are ignorant of the truth, and to put it more seriously, they are gathering people to cause chaos!
After Wang Congyi became impassioned, he first comforted and then threatened. However, the merchants and scholars who gathered were not afraid at all. Seeing that Wang Congyi was also on Liu Yan's side, everyone shouted loudly, and many people began to throw rocks. , Wang Congyi couldn't dodge and was hit several times.
At this time, the king's blood flowed from his loyalty and he ordered his servants to expel everyone, and a bloody conflict broke out between the two sides.
Fellow magistrate Guo Mintai and general magistrate Han Jinchu were worried that the situation would get out of control, so they led a team of government officials to maintain order. However, they were also treated by people throwing rubble and rocks at random. After a while, their mouths and noses began to bleed, and they took Wang Congyi and fled in a hurry. He went into the magistrate's Yamen to avoid trouble. In such embarrassment, he even threw away his official boots.
Among the crowd, Xuezheng Huang Mingde looked at Wang Congyi and others who fled into the magistrate's office in a hurry, and an inexplicable smile appeared on his face: "Perhaps, with the help of this turmoil, I can take a step forward in the officialdom!"
On the third day of the school strike and the market strike, not only merchants and scholars took to the streets to protest, but even many soldiers from the Three Guards of Qingzhou began to participate. The entire city of Qingzhou was in turmoil, and people everywhere were panicked.
People everywhere were worried about not being able to buy grain, oil and salt, and there was a commotion. This happened suddenly everywhere. In panic, the military households and civilians turned their attention to the General Military Mansion, hoping that the General Military Officer Liu Yan could find a way to deal with it. .
Unlike those merchants, scholars and others, ordinary people throughout Qingzhou Prefecture still have a good impression of Liu Yan. After all, Liu Yan was well-known for his reputation. Not only did he fight against slaves and bandits, but he also heard about the lives of the people in Jimo Ying City. The people here in Qingzhou also heard about it, and now they are looking forward to it under Liu Yan's governance. Live the same good life as the people everywhere in Jimo Yingcheng.
Businessmen and scholars protested against commercial taxes, and those guardsmen took the opportunity to cause trouble. What did they have to do with these people? Ordinary people did not open shops or occupy military farmland. It didn't matter how Liu Yan rectified it. Anyway, the rectification could not be carried out on ordinary people.
But ordinary people still hope that this wave will pass quickly. After all, businessmen's strike has a great impact on people's lives. The soaring prices are unbearable for ordinary people. Ordinary people just want to live a stable life. If they have no rice at home, there is a place to buy it, and it is not so expensive. As for the rest, it is just a cloud.
"The scholars are on strike, the merchants are on strike, and now the soldiers of the Three Guards of Qingzhou are going to follow suit?"
In the General Military Mansion, Liu Yan looked out the window for a long time, then turned around, sneered, and said to Miao Shao: "It's the third day now. It's very lively and interesting outside!"
Miao Shao looked at Liu Yan's appearance and felt solemn in his heart: "Someone is going to be in trouble!"
Some people died, but not completely...
