Zu Zepu glanced at Liu Sheng who was following Wu Sangui. He often walked around Wu Sangui's army during this period. He was already very familiar with this general of the Wu family who was born in the Qin Army. He also knew that this rough guy just looked at the rough guy. , actually he has a brain...
"Liu Sheng, are you a member of the military?" Zu Zepu asked.
"Yes," Liu Sheng said, "I was born in the Shaanxi Army and worked with Governor Sun. My ancestors have been in the military for generations, and my ancestors have been from hundreds of families."
"Then how can you, Li Zicheng, gain a foothold in Shaanxi?"
"I know!" Liu Sheng nodded, "Qingtun... Oh, he doesn't need Qingtun, he just divides the land. He is not the Ming Dynasty. He is a first-rate bandit. Anyone who disobeys will be caught and beaten. ! He has done this kind of thing in Beijing, how can he be polite when he goes to Shaanxi?"
Zu Zepu said: "Uncle, look, he knows everything! Does Li Zicheng still know? Time is tight now... If Li Zicheng is given a year to live in peace, his army will take root in Shaanxi When the time comes, can we drive him away? There are at least 30 million acres in Shaanxi's books...the real number is not lower than that of Beizhili!"
At this time, Shaanxi included Ningxia, Gansu and other places, with a large land area. However, there is not much cultivated land on the books, less than 30 million acres. Moreover, the land is barren and it is difficult to feed people. Therefore, the total land tax in Shaanxi is not much, only 1.73 million dan.
Therefore, Li Zicheng could not survive by collecting taxes, let alone being exempted from taxes for three years. But if Li Zicheng distributed 30 million acres of land on the books and at least 20 million acres of unaccounted land to his 200,000 troops, the average would be 250 acres!
With 250 acres of land, he is also a medium-sized landowner in Shaanxi! One acre of land can yield one bucket of flour, and 250 acres of land can yield 25 shi of flour. In this troubled world, the value can be around 50 taels of silver.
This calculation is really terrible. According to the land tax in Shaanxi, it is 1.73 million dan. If the gentry and landlords who control the land are deprived and the officers and soldiers of the Dashun Army are turned into new landlords, then the Dashun Army will be able to pay at least 1.73 million dan every year. Five million stones were dug out of the land in Shaanxi - this is based on the fact that the new landlords in Dashun collected less land rent!
If Dashun had these 5 million stones of flour, it would be difficult for the Eight Banners soldiers to win, let alone Wu Sangui.
This struggle for hegemony between the Ming and Qing dynasties is actually an economics issue!
The reason why the Qing Dynasty was able to win was largely due to the fact that the land, population, and wealth (including grain and money) directly controlled by the Qing Dynasty through the Eight Banners system far exceeded those of the Ming Dynasty and Dashun. Although the Eight Banners soldiers were more capable of robbing people and things than Li Zicheng's Dashun Army, they never neglected their firm control over the population and land!
And now, the land directly controlled by the Qing Dynasty within and outside the Pass (developed agricultural land) totals 40 to 50 million acres, and the population is several million... and the Qing Dynasty is now at its peak. When it was fierce, if necessary, the Qing Dynasty would encircle more land and turn more Han people into banner slaves, tenants, or integrate them into the Eight Banners and Green Camp. So the Qing Dynasty is definitely not an easy enemy to defeat!
On the Ming side, Zhu Cihong was certainly not as ruthless as Dorgon, but there were many resources in the southeast of the Ming Dynasty! He didn't need to squeeze too hard to get enough land, population and wealth to fight the Qing Dynasty - but since Prince Zhu arrived in Dengzhou, he has spared no effort to fight for population, land, salt tax, and commercial tax. !
Now he has finally achieved something. He has slowly taken tens of millions of acres of land and millions of people into his own hands...With this land and population, Zhu Cixiang also has a basic base. , the businessmen and officials in the southeast will have to pay taxes obediently.
Among the three parties, Li Zicheng is currently in the most difficult situation and occupies the worst territory. If he still dreams of benevolent government and tax exemption, and cannot be ruthless enough to seize the land and population of Shaanxi in his hands, then his defeat is just around the corner. .
...
The current situation is changing rapidly, just like the ever-changing wind and clouds, it is dizzying to watch. The situation in the Northland changed in the seventeen years of Chongzhen, which is really dizzying, with one turning after another. Let the people in the game feel like they are in a dream.
For Li Zicheng, the Emperor of Dashun who was so high-spirited at the beginning of the year and led an army of 60,000 old battalions to launch the Eastern Expedition, this dream was really ups and downs to the extreme.
In March and April, Li Zicheng thought that he was the destined emperor and that he would soon unify the empire and securely rule the world. But his good luck stopped at Tianjin Guard, and then he encountered the Tatar soldiers who were the nemesis of the Dashun Army on the battlefield of Shanhaiguan!
Then, fate quickly left Lao Li, and Dashun's national destiny also took a turn for the worse. First they lost Beijing and Beizhili, and then they were defeated again in Shanxi. Although they fought a good counterattack during the defeat, the army that detoured northward from Huaiqing Mansion once advanced to Zhending Mansion, and was about to cover the way for the Tatar soldiers who broke into Shanxi from Jingxing Road!
However, the main force led by Li Zicheng did not seize the opportunity to counterattack, but retreated all the way to Jiezhou on the edge of the Yellow River before stopping for a while. In this way, Li Guo and Tian Jianxiu's troops on the east road became isolated troops, and it was impossible to really cut off the retreat of the Qing army in Shanxi. Under the counterattack of Wu Sangui and the Eight Banners soldiers sent by Beijing, the failure of the East Route Army's counterattack was natural.
But fortunately, although the Dashun Army lost one battle after another, because the Ming army is now more powerful than in history and can share the pressure of the Qing army, the losses of the Dashun Army are much smaller than in history.
Not only did Li Zicheng's main force and the partial divisions of Li Guo and Tian Jianxiu retreat, but Chen Yongfu, who stayed in Taiyuan, also led thousands of remnants to break through and return to Shaanxi.
So a rare opportunity now lies in front of Li Zicheng!
Chang'an, Dashun Palace, footsteps outside the door of Dongnuan Pavilion in Dazheng Palace sounded softly. Li Zicheng, who was looking down at the memorial, put down the memorial and stretched. Then he heard a slightly shrill eunuch's voice: "Your Majesty, The Prime Minister and the two military advisors have arrived."
"Xuan." Li Zicheng said.
Today is already New Year's Eve, and the Dashun court is also on holiday. Because everyone has been too tired and busy in the past year, so we won’t hold any celebrations. We just need to take a good rest and eat something good.
Li Zicheng was still a hard worker. He made a lot of memorials and military reports and read them in the palace. It was not enough for him to read by himself. He also asked people to call Niu Jinxing, Song Xiance, and Gu Junen to read a report of the troops stationed in Nanyang. Li Guo asked someone to send a report.
