"Zhang Boren, you said in your article that the people of Gaomi are righteous and martial, and there are many powerful families. Although the terrain is not dangerous, it is close to the lake and the sea, and there are mountains and forests around it. As long as the leaders of the wealthy families in Gaomi can stand up and fight. He went out and took the rise and fall of the world as his own responsibility, organized group training, built castles, relied on mountains, seas and lakes, and set up defenses everywhere. Even if there were tens of thousands of enemy soldiers, it would be difficult to subdue..."
It turns out there was really a mistake!
Standing in front of Zhu Cixiang, Mr. Zhang finally understood why he could pass high school. It turned out that the confused examiners had made a mistake in the paper. This article was clearly not written by him!
This is how to do ah? I am an honest gentleman, and I cannot take away the fame of others!
But my article is indeed not good. If I miss this opportunity, will I still win in the future? If there is no one who has the equivalent of an honorary title, will the Jiaoshuihe Zhang family be defeated by his own generation? How about making mistakes?
While Zhang Boren was struggling with his thoughts, Zhu Cixiang's tone had already softened.
"Zhang Boren, your Jiaoshuihe Zhang family is the largest family in Gaomi, with hundreds of children, over a thousand tenants, and tens of thousands of acres of land... Is this what I said correctly?"
"That's right..."
As soon as Zhang Boren said the words, he knew he had made a mistake.
The Zhang family in Jiao Shui River does have tens of thousands of acres of land, thousands of tenants, and hundreds of descendants. They are the overlord in Gaomi County!
But according to the Yellow Book and Fish Scale Atlas of Gaomi County, the Zhang family does not have that many people and land...
There is not so much land and population in the Yellow Book and Fish Scale Atlas, so there is no need to bear the corresponding taxes and corvees.
Zhu Cixiang glanced at him and said with a smile: "I know that most of your family's land is not in the Yellow Book and the Fish Scale Atlas. It is all hidden land!"
As soon as Zhang Boren heard Zhu Cixiang's words, he knelt down and said, "Master Qiansui, the student is wronged. The student's family does not have that much land..."
"Haha." Zhu Cixiang sneered, "I have no interest in knowing how much land your family owns!
But I know how much land your Gaomi County has in total. This is Zhang Juzheng's credit, he found it very clearly!
I feel that as much land as Gaomi County has, it should bear as much responsibility as it does to protect our country. Now is the time when the world is rising and falling. Every man has the responsibility to protect the country, let alone the scholar-bureaucrats? Your family is from a scholarly family and a famous family in Gaomi. It is time for you to step forward and lead the people of Gaomi to fight against the invaders and save the country.
Zhang Boren! The bandits are coming to Denglai and they are powerful. How should you defeat them? "
Zhang Boren's voice trembled, and he kowtowed heavily to Zhu Cixiang: "Master Qiansui, students don't know..."
"Is it because you don't know?" Zhu Cixi snorted coldly, "You know it but don't do it, right? Your article is very good! You led the high-density gentry to organize regiment training, strengthen the walls and clear the fields, and fight with the bandits to the end. Even if you lose, you should still gather together. Mountains and forests, stretching across the sea, never surrender.”
What? What? Zhang Boren felt a little stupid when he heard this. Who wrote this article? Even the roars gathered in the mountains and forests and across the sea came out! Is this what a scholar can write?
Does this mean that if you can't defeat the Tatars, you have to go up the mountains and fall into the grass, enter the sea and become bandits, and fight to the end? Who is this ruthless person?
After a moment of silence, Zhu Cixiang's tone was full of murderous intent, "Zhang Boren, why don't you know now? Do you want to surrender to the Bao family? I hate scholar-bureaucrats who surrender to the enemy the most!"
Promise to surrender and protect the family? What I hate most is that the scholar-bureaucrats surrendered to the enemy...
Zhang Boren remembered the legend that Zhu Cixiang went on a killing spree outside the Meridian Gate - this crown prince was a ruthless man who could even kill the teacher who surrendered to Li Zicheng with his own hands!
Thinking of this, Zhang Boren kowtowed repeatedly: "No, no, no... the students will not surrender. The students would rather kill themselves than surrender!"
"Who wants you to die?" Zhu Cixiang glared, "The most despised thing in this palace is a scholar who usually talks about his heart with nothing, but who dies to repay the king in times of trouble! A good life is for killing prisoners, not for committing suicide! You If you really want to commit suicide, there is no need to wait for Donglu to call, just die now!"
Die now?
At this time, not only Zhang Boren was so frightened that his face turned pale, but the other talented people present were also shaken like chaff. How come someone got killed while taking the Enke exam? If I had known earlier, I wouldn't have come. It would be better to stay at home and die than to die!
"Master Chitose, the student has realized his mistake!" Zhang Boren's reaction was still quick and he quickly changed his words, "If the Tatars come, the student will fight them to the end, even if they go up the mountains and into the sea, they will kill all the barbarians!"
"What a man who has to go up the mountains and into the sea to kill all the barbarians... Okay, okay!" The murderous look on Zhu Cixiang's face immediately disappeared and replaced with an approving smile, "Zhang Boren, I know you are You can take on great responsibilities! You are a great scholar who can serve the country and the people. As long as you are here, Gaomi will definitely not fall into the hands of the bandits. I will grant you the title of Tongzhi Gaomi County and regimental training envoy to lead the gentry, military and civilians of Gaomi. Set up regiment training, build fortresses, and resist the bandits!"
He then pointed at several other talented men present, "You are also talented men from Gaomi County, and you are all children of wealthy families. Are you prepared to surrender, commit suicide, or resist the invaders?"
"Resist the prisoners!"
"Of course I'm resisting the prisoners!"
"We are willing to fight with Zhang Tongzhi!"
Talented people are all smart people. Of course they know that they cannot choose suicide, otherwise they will be killed immediately.
Zhu Cixiang nodded, "Okay, you all will be county captains! From now on, the county magistrates of Gaomi will be appointed by the court, and the magistrates, county captains, and regiment training will all be done by you Gaomi gentry.
How many fields are there in Gaomi County are all listed in the Fish Scale Atlas! Based on this, I will allocate regimental training and imperial grains... How much you receive will not be asked by the magistrates dispatched by me. The people in this Palace will collect all the taxes paid by Gaomi County in the past sixteen years at a 50% discount, and at the same time supervise the situation of your group training.
In addition, send all your family members to Dengzhou City for resettlement! Dengzhou City has strong walls and direct access to the sea. It is a site that can be maintained for a long time. So you don’t have to worry about the safety of your family and you can focus on running the group training! "
This is what is called "changing rivers into soil"! The so-called floating official refers to an official in the iron-clad yamen who is appointed by the court, works for a few years and then leaves. Under normal circumstances, locals cannot be local officials. Local officials are a bit feudal, and of course they must be filled by strong men who can suppress one party. The chieftains in the southwest of the Ming Dynasty were typical native officials. However, here in Denglai, there were no chieftains, but there were still some wealthy natives.
...
"What? Mr. Qiantose redivided the land of the Seven Denglai Guards, eliminated a large number of military households, and only retained more than 1,400 households in each guard, and gave them all the land of the First Guard?"
"Isn't this change too big? Don't the Seven Denglai Guards only have 10,000 military households left? That's a reduction of more than 70%!"
"Yes, if you lay off so many military households at once, you won't be afraid of causing trouble?"
"It's too hasty, it's really too hasty!"
"Yes, the imperial court is still on its way to move south, so it is really not appropriate to implement new policies and laws..."
In the city of Yanzhou Prefecture, Shi Kefa, Ma Shiying, Lu Zhenfei, Lu Jiude, Huang Degong, Liu Liangzuo, Zhu Guobi and other civil and military officials gathered together and were discussing the "New Deal for Denglai" with Kong Yinzhi, the Duke of Yansheng who had just arrived.
Although Ma Shiying and Lu Zhenfei were unwilling to continue making trouble with Shi Kefa, they could not leave without saying goodbye, so they still patiently explained the situation of Denglai's new policy. Coupled with Kong Yinzhi's "complaint", these big figures in Yanzhou City expressed their opposition.
Shi Kefa twirled his beard, "The health system is indeed full of shortcomings, but Chitose's reform is too radical... I'm afraid it will cause a backlash. Why don't you all join the main department to file a petition to oppose this reform?"
Ma Shiying shook his head and said: "I'm afraid that just us people are not enough to change Master Qiantose's mind, right? The five ministers in the industry all support Master Qiantose! In the final analysis, they are the important ministers of Emperor Bi!"
"This..." Shi Kefa hesitated.
He represents the Nanjing Sixth Department, and the Nanjing Sixth Department is just a spare tire! But Ge Lao and Bu Tang, who followed Zhu Cixiang southward, were the real leaders.
Now that the main leaders support Zhu Cihong, is there any use in backing up opposition?
Ma Shiying said again: "Da Sima, you are the only one here in Yanzhou who is the minister of Liudu. Jianbai and I are both local officials. It is always unfair to use the local government to fight against the central government, right? It is better to use it in the name of welcoming the emperor, so that all the generals and officials will have weight. All civil servants have been invited to Yanzhou. In addition, Duke Yan and the local gentry in Shandong will make suggestions together, which will surely change the mind of Master Qiansui?"
Shi Kefa twirled his beard and nodded thoughtfully: "That's right! It's time to ask the big guys to come together..." He thought for a while, "What about the nobles who stay in the capital?"
