"Master Qiansui, the Denglai Prefecture is divided into prefectures, counties and guards. There are three prefectures, namely Pingdu Prefecture, Jiaozhou, and Ninghai Prefecture. There are eleven counties and seven prefectures. There is also a Beiwa Dusi Mansion in Shuicheng, Dengzhou. In the early years of the Kingdom, Denglai's seven guards alone could pull out nearly 40,000 troops at any time! But now, the seven guards have long been depleted and they have no troops. , but there are many officials like commanders and Qianhu! Each guard basically has more than ten command families, that is, generals who are qualified to command hereditary. There are even more Qianhu families! And there are many military status Among the scholar-bureaucrats, there were many large families who had been awarded Jinshi or Juren. They were intertwined and extremely difficult to rectify.
The minister had been in Dengzhou for less than a month and had no idea what to do. He only repaired the walls of Dengzhou's capital city and Shuicheng city. He also recruited 3,000 men in Dengzhou City and organized them into ministers' patrols. They also purchased 300 usable muskets from North Korea, with a total cost of less than 50,000 taels... Although the number of people was not large, it was enough to defend the city of Dengzhou with great danger. "
Su Guansheng, with a pale face, was dutifully talking to Zhu Cixi about the situation in Denglai in the bumpy cabin of the Dalongtou. He had been an official in Denglai for many years, and he still had some basic skills. He was also backed by a division of troops led by Li Ruolian. So he took over the power of Denglai Second House very smoothly.
However, the Denglai regime he led only reached the county level and could not even control the seven guards.
If the political power cannot take root, it will naturally have to rely on money for mobilization. Zhu Cixiang gave Su Guansheng 300,000 taels before, and he used it well. He spent less than 50,000 taels to mend the city wall, raised patrol tenders, and purchased 300 fire guns from North Korea through unknown channels - it's hard to say that. It’s really shameful. These days, the Japanese firecrackers can be used, the Donglu Han army’s firecrackers can be used, the firecrackers made in Foshan, Guangdong can be used, and even the Korean firecrackers can be used, which are the firecrackers assigned to the Ming Dynasty’s army. Basically unusable...
Zhu Cixiang's stomach was also fluttering, with waves of nausea. The feeling of crossing the sea in a wooden boat is really unpleasant!
He glanced at Li Yan, who was sitting cross-legged on his right. This "white-faced young man" didn't feel faint at all. He had a faint smile on his handsome and annoying face, which seemed to be a bit sarcastic.
No wonder Li Zicheng wants to kill him...it's so annoying to watch! Zhu Cihong said in his heart: Fortunately, he is a wise king and has tolerance for others!
"Military advisor, what do you think?" Zhu Cixiang asked.
When Zhu Cihong was in Dagukou, he conveniently appointed Li Yan as a military advisor. In fact, it was a false position.
Li Yan smiled lightly: "Su Futai is not running Denglai, but running Dengzhou."
This is true... but it is too straightforward and offends people!
Su Guansheng's face darkened, "How easy is it to run Denglai? If your military advisor has any clever ideas, you might as well tell them!"
Li Yan glanced at Zhu Cixiang, and Prince Zhu also smiled and said, "Commander, if you have any good ideas, just tell me."
Li Yan smiled and said: "My method is to exempt taxes, recruit soldiers, and equalize land!"
"Hmph!" Su Guansheng chuckled, "The military advisor thought he was with the bandits? Why do you still say that equal land is exempt from taxes?"
Li Yan shook his head and said: "It's not about equalizing land and eliminating taxes, but eliminating taxes, recruiting soldiers, and equalizing land!"
Zhu Cixiang frowned: "Another recruiter?"
"What's the difference?" Su Guansheng looked disdainful.
Li Yan smiled and said: "Of course it's different!
Li Zicheng's plan to equalize land and eliminate taxes was actually laissez-faire. It only eliminated taxes but did not equalize land. Of course, wherever the intruders passed, the poor farmers would refuse to hand over grain to the gentry, which also had the effect of equalizing the land. But that was done voluntarily by the people, and Li Ze's court did not firmly control the population and land through land equalization and tax exemption. This is his biggest failure! "
"Then what's the difference between your exemption of taxes, recruitment of soldiers, and equalization of land?" Zhu Cihong asked.
"The minister's exemption from taxes, recruitment of soldiers, and equalization of land are only used for guard posts, not for people's fields!" Li Yan said, "This is one of them.
Secondly, the minister's method was to exempt taxes first, then recruit soldiers. After recruiting soldiers, the land could be equalized. Moreover, the land equalization was not done voluntarily by the people, but was implemented by the reorganized guard offices. Through land equalization, the population and land on the ground of the guard station were completely controlled.
In this way, the Seven Denglai Guards will be firmly in the hands of the Fujun Generalissimo's Mansion! Qiwei should have 3 million acres of land, a population of at least 300,000, and no less than 30,000 strong men who can fight with a sword! "
It sounds good... but is it really possible?
"Why should we exempt ourselves from the tax first?" Zhu Cihong asked.
Li Yan said: "There are two benefits of exempting the tax first. One is to weaken the financial resources of the guard station. Although the land of the guard station is divided and occupied by officers and military officials, and all lower-level military households are reduced to tenants, the expenses of the guard station will still burden them.
If Lord Chitose exempts the military households of Qiwei from taxes, Qiwei will have no income, and at the same time, the tenants of Qiwei will be grateful to Lord Chitose for his kindness. "
"Humph, I'm just afraid that the commanders below won't execute it!"
Li Yan smiled and said: "These worms are money-minded. As long as Master Qiantose can make them feel profitable, they will naturally execute it."
"How to do it?" Zhu Cixiang asked again.
"Of course it's recruiting troops!" Li Yan said, "Assume that the Seventh Guard has a population of 300,000, and the number of strong men is thirty or forty thousand! Qiantose Master can ask the Seventh Guards to help recruit soldiers... Every time a soldier is recruited, give them A commission of 10 taels of silver. In order to get the silver, those people will definitely recruit soldiers for Lord Chitose! And not only can they recruit the strong men of Denglai Seven Guards, but they can also recruit the heroes on the ground in Denglai. Shandong has been in chaos in recent years. , many strong men occupy the mountains and become kings or travel around the rivers and lakes, and they can all be recruited through the local snakes in the guard."
"Hmph, three or four hundred thousand taels!" Su Guansheng shook his head repeatedly, "You are quite generous!"
"This is for the time being!" Li Yan said coldly, "Once all the 30,000 to 40,000 warriors of the Seven Guards of Denglai arrive in Dengzhou and belong to Master Qiantui... Master Qiantui can replace the officials of the Seven Guards. At the same time, we will promote land equalization. Take back all the land occupied by the commanders, thousands of households, and military officials, and redistribute it to the 30,000 to 40,000 strong men! If Qiantose wants to get back the 400,000 taels of silver, it will be easy!
In this way, the Seven Guards of Denglai are the territory of Master Qiantose! With this Qiwei territory, it will be easy to rectify the three states and eleven counties in Denglai! "
ah......
This is talent!
Zhu Cixiang now feels that Li Yan is not annoying at all. Not only is he not annoying, but he is also very lovable! No wonder the red lady likes him...Now Zhu Cixiang, a big boy, has fallen in love with handsome guy Li Yan.
Handsome Li can't go to Henan to fight guerrillas and be killed. The Ming Dynasty still needs him for the great cause of rejuvenation!
"Su Futai," Zhu Cixiang turned to Su Guansheng and said, "Is the military advisor's method feasible?"
"This..." Su Guansheng was stunned and didn't know what to say.
Li Yan's plan is so damn brilliant, and at the same time so sinister... No wonder he became a rebel!
Su Guansheng frowned: "Master Qiantose, the method is good...but how to deal with the scholar-bureaucrats in the eleven counties of Denglai three states? Will they rebel?"
rebel? Zhu Cihong said in his heart: If he can really recruit 30,000 to 40,000 people from the Denglai Seven Guards, his army will be as many as 60,000 to 70,000.
If someone rebels... that would be great!
"Scholar-bureaucrats are easy to deal with!" Li Yan smiled, "The land in military settlements is official land, and it is justifiable for the court to redistribute and control it. However, the land owned by civilian scholar-bureaucrats is civilian land, and the court has no reason to implement equalization of these lands... ...Otherwise, the imperial court will be like Li Zicheng. As for the civilian scholar-bureaucrats, Qiantose only needs to give them a little sweetness!"
"What kind of sweetness?" Zhu Cihong asked, "Do we also need to be exempted from the tax?"
"No." Li Yan shook his head, "The reason why military fields are exempted from taxes is because of the troops. Why should civilian fields be exempted from taxes? If taxes are already exempted, how can the court live?"
Zhu Cixiang nodded, "Li Zicheng's tax exemption was a mistake! After the tax exemption, his court had no income and the army had no pay. He could only survive by looting, which is not a long-term solution."
Li Yan smiled and said: "But the Ming Dynasty's method of collecting taxes is not advisable... It is too easy for the gentry to exempt themselves from taxes, and farmers with many fields use deceptive methods to avoid taxes. The government can only transfer taxes to ordinary farmers, so that A large number of farmers went bankrupt, and land became more and more concentrated. This is the reason for the chaos in the world!"
"Military advisor," Zhu Cixiang frowned, "do you want to suggest that I implement the unified payment of grains between officials and gentry?"
Li Yan smiled and said: "I will not advise Qiantose Master to do such an impossible thing! And Denglai is the front line of the resistance against the Japanese... It doesn't matter how much taxes and food you pay, what's important is that you can serve as an official The gentry and the people fight against the enemy with one heart!
The minister's method is to enke, group training, and return to his homeland! "
