Chapter 375 Mountain rain destroys the building III
In the end, Chen Cao did not go to see Zhang Yan and others, but arranged for the maids and eunuchs in the palace to take care of them. Early the next morning, he held the first all-military meeting since entering Nanjing in the meeting hall of the Yamen of the Hou Army Governor's Mansion.
"Jiannu has entered the customs, and his movements are extremely fast. However, the spies in Beizhili have not yet sent back any news, except for the news brought back by Xu Kaixian and others more than ten days ago..."
As Chen Cao spoke, he stood up and tapped the map behind him: "I ordered Wang Xiaojie's troops to cross the river and station in Yangzhou to guard against the defeat of the defending Northern Army after the battle against Jiannu..."
Everyone here knows the fighting power of the Northern Army, and it will definitely lose in the face of Jiannu. Besides, the main force of the Northern Army is still in Gaoyou at this time.
"Your Majesty, if the Northern Army flees and comes, how will our army take over?"
Facing Huang Chunyao's question, Chen Cao already knew that this guy must have some ideas, but for the sake of safety, he still expressed his thoughts: "The defeated army is not a problem. As long as our army defends tightly, they will suffer after all." The trained army can be settled effectively. What I am most worried about now is that the slaves will coerce the people to come. At that time..."
There were many locals from Liaodong in the hall. They all experienced the Han people in Liaodong who were invaded by the Tatars who were the slaves during the Nurhaci period. Many of their defeats were related to the unscrupulous operations of the slaves.
Li Yan saw the silence in the hall. As one of the staff members, and because of his new relationship, he had to come forward and express himself at this moment: "My lord, I think we can abandon Gaoyou and use Shaobo Town as an outpost. If we want to establish slaves and coerce the people, Come...
What the official meant was that if such evil deeds really happened, it would be a good opportunity for the prince. "
Huang Chunyao glanced at Li Yan, then looked at Chen Cao, and whispered: "Your Majesty, please buy people's hearts..."
Chen Cao knew what he was saying, so he nodded and admitted that Li Yan's words made sense.
Seeing this, Li Yan continued: "Xiaoguan mentioned Shaobo Town as the outpost earlier because it is an excellent place to leave Gaoyou before Yangzhou. Gaoyou City is surrounded by water on three sides. Although it is easy to defend and difficult to attack, it is really useless. In the land, during the Northern Expedition of King Zhongshan, the Yuan army stationed in Gaoyou was trapped and killed in Gaoyou, causing the Gaoyou defenders to surrender;
Most of the Jiannu were cavalry, so there were puppet troops accompanying them. I thought that they were no match for our army. Therefore, we should clean up the surrounding areas of Yangzhou and guard the canals and river passes. Then our army can advance, attack, retreat, and defend..."
There are quite a few people who are fighting and defending, and Chen Cao thinks it makes sense, but the main topic today is still the direction of Gaoyou.
"I estimate that with the speed of Jiannu's movement, they are likely to be able to penetrate Shandong and enter Gaoyou territory in the past ten days. But now that Chongzhen's life and death are uncertain, Zhu Yanrong's decision is still a big question mark."
Chen Cao said and looked at Huang Chunyao: "Yunsheng, I am here in Nanjing to deal with the issue of land equalization and tax exemption. I am worried that there are only Wang Xiaojie and the others in Yangzhou. You can rush to Yangzhou with your manpower to advise on important matters;
Generals, when you return, you will train your troops diligently and fight for the world...it is only a matter of time..."
.
Chen Cao still adhered to Li Yan's previous suggestion and used the Yangtze River as a line of defense to first deal with the land equalization and tax exemption in South Zhili. After all, there are hundreds of years of heritage here and there are too many rich people. If Chen Cao were to If Jiannu fights fiercely or is stabbed from behind at a critical moment, it is really not worth the gain.
Fortunately, he himself was a time traveler, otherwise he would not have understood so many shady theories in later generations. If you want to pacify the world, you must first pacify internal affairs. This is what Zhu Yuanzhang did back then.
Accumulate food widely and slowly become king...
The Duke of Wei's Mansion still maintained its original appearance. Even if Nanjing suffered two disasters, relying on the reputation of this dynasty's centuries-old lord, no one did anything to the Duke of Wei's Mansion.
The master is still the master, but after a comparison, his former identity has changed from the lackey of the family to the prince of the Ming Dynasty today.
He is the King of Zhongshan, which is also a posthumous title.
Xu Hongji was not in good health. It was said that he had become obsessed with the elixirs from Longhu Mountain in recent years. Chen Cao then remembered that Zhang Ru secretly made elixirs for his wives and concubines in his mansion in Shanghai. Chen Cao scolded him when he found out about this. After all, Chen Cao didn't know about this so-called 'alchemy'. Who's body could bear the weight of a normal person eating so much heavy metal?
"My lord, I think you should take less of the so-called elixir..."
Xu Hongji raised his hand towards Chen Cao and said, "The King of Liang is defeated..."
Chen Cao didn't care about this. After all, his current identity was indeed different from the past. After a few words of greetings, Chen Cao simply went straight to the topic: "Presumably Wei Guogong already knew about the affairs of the capital. Now Chongzhen's life and death are unknown, but I guess he is here." There will be news in a few days.”
"I would like to congratulate King Liang..."
Xu Hongji's words are very clear. He also knew what Chen Cao said back then. He would not have any ideas until the emperor died. But now that Nanjing has fallen into his hands, slaves from the north have entered the customs, and the Zhu family... has... There is no hope.
Chen Cao paused, then clapped his hands on his knees: "I said back then that as long as I, Chen Cao, don't die, no matter what happens in the future, I will definitely give an explanation to the Duke of Wei. Today, I am here..."
Xu Hongji was stunned for a moment, then lowered his head and smiled bitterly: "It's all good, haha, my Wei Guogong Mansion was sealed by Emperor Taizu...Chen Cao, what do you want me to do?"
Xu Hongji is not stupid. Chen Cao has been in Nanjing for so long. Except for his Duke of Wei, other dignitaries in Jinling have more or less sent people to contact him. Now that Chen Cao has suddenly visited, it would be strange to say that nothing happened.
Chen Cao stared closely at Xu Hongji, who was already a little self-deprecating, and then shook his head gently: "The Ming Dynasty is rotten to the core. I said that we must reshape the Ming Dynasty, so we must introduce the old and bring forth the new. If we want the reform to be successful, we must die. As the saying goes, we must not destroy or establish." , now is the time.”
Xu Hongji raised his head: "So, you, Chen Cao, want to operate on my Duke of Wei... Hahaha..."
Chen Cao also smiled, but it was a pity that he sneered: "Looking at the friendship back then, I don't care about you, Duke Wei. It's better to openly say that I will implement the Songjiang New Deal in the entire south..."
Xu Hongji paused, and then gasped: "You...you...you want to be exempted from taxes in Juntian, South Zhili..."
Chen Cao smiled and nodded: "Wei Guogong is extremely intelligent..."
"Hahaha..." Xu Hongji laughed loudly: "Chen Cao, are you crazy? Now that the Jian slaves have entered the pass and are looking at you with eager eyes, you don't resist them, but you are equalizing the land in the rich land of the south and exempting you from taxes. You... .Hahaha... You still want to achieve great things? You are just talking nonsense. Do you know how many rich people there are in South Zhili?
If you leave them, your territory will only become more chaotic in the future..."
"Oh..." Chen Cao raised his eyebrows: "Really? Songjiang Mansion's current commercial tax revenue has reached 37 times what it was before the sixth year of Tianqi. Compared with the northern tax increase of 15 times in the second year of Chongzhen... "
Chen Cao said with some pride: "The Duke may not know the taxation of the north in the second year of Chongzhen, but I do know that the combined wealth of the seven northern provinces in that year was only two million taels of silver, and the merchants of Songjiang Prefecture The tax has reached 30 million taels..."
Xu Hongji felt chills in his heart. This figure was so terrifying. The annual commercial tax of Songjiang Prefecture was 30 million taels. That was the total tax of the entire Ming Dynasty in ten years. This was just one prefecture...
Chen Cao continued: "There was indeed a rebellion when Suzhou was equalizing land and exempting taxes, but it has calmed down after the suppression. Now the people in Suzhou Prefecture are living a stable life like Songjiang. When the people are stable, they will spend a lot of money. , after circulation, commerce will become more developed. If this continues, I am not bragging, even with money, the slaves can be beaten to death."
Chen Cao's mouth felt a little dry as he spoke. He took a sip of tea and breathed a sigh of relief: "Wei Guogong, the land equalization in southern Zhili is exempted from taxes. I hope you will cooperate..."
"What if I don't cooperate?"
Chen Cao smiled sarcastically, stood up, walked to the door of the central hall, and said without looking back: "If the Duke of Wei wants to preserve the centuries-old foundation created by King Zhongshan in the future, it must think clearly..."
After Chen Cao left, Xu Hongji was a little lost. He didn't know the family background of Wei Guogong. After more than two hundred years of accumulation, he was already the richest and most powerful man in Southern Zhili. No one could compare with him. If he handed over the land, his net worth would be... .
Chen Cao left Xu Hongji a fatal multiple-choice question.
There are smart people among those who are stubborn and stubborn.
Jinshan Hou Puxiang is an example...
A dozen Jinling Hou Boxungui, headed by Pu Xiang, handed over their land property rights deeds and family property details to Li Yan in the Nanjing Hubu Yamen.
They are just setting an example. Chen Cao's important purpose is to equalize land and avoid taxes. The people will not say anything, but the landlord class who owns the land is the biggest obstacle, especially the noble official class.
Chen Cao did not accept their family wealth, but only made one request, handing over the excess land. Regardless of whether it was donated or inherited for a hundred years, as long as the land exceeded the population, it must be handed over.
As soon as the slogan of equalizing land and exempting taxes was raised in southern Zhili, public opinion immediately went into an uproar. Thousands of scholars joined in the condemnation, and some even directly arranged for local ruffians to destroy, smash, loot and burn in Shangyuan and Jiangning counties.
After getting out of control, Wei Guogong Xu Hongji suddenly announced for some reason that he would cooperate with the equalization of land and tax exemption and hand over the land of his family. This immediately brought the troubled noble officials to the bottom of the cauldron and drained them of their salary, which made their big ears hurt.
Even the Duke of Wei compromised, so what reason was there not to compromise?
But because Chen Cao was in Nanjing, the matter could be resolved smoothly. There were many troublemakers in other prefectures in Southern Zhili, including Zhenjiang, and even open attacks on the government were common.
Of course, as expected, a vigorous landlord-fighting movement suddenly started in Shangyuan County, Nanjing, and then dispersed to various places in southern Zhili. The situation was exactly the same as the landlord-fighting movement in Suzhou, but Chen Cao had predicted it. , the various departments of the Dingwu Army were dispersed in various prefectures in southern Zhili to prevent them from losing control and then becoming powerful.
