The roar of artillery continued all night long.
The artillery bombardment across the river between the Ming and Shun armies continued feebly all day long. It was either a violent bombardment or a slow artillery fire.
Peng Ziqin and hundreds of other talented people spent a night in fear, cold, and hunger, listening to the roar of cannons. Zhu Cixiang was really wicked. He would not let Wu Sheng outside the gate. When the scholars entered the city, they would not let anyone bring them food, so they would starve until dawn the next day.
Of course, after dawn, there was still no one to deliver food to them. However, some New Army officers came out of Wusheng Gate and began to register household registrations, honors, and property for the hungry and cold-blooded scholars outside the city.
"What's your name?" A dark-skinned officer with a Northern accent came to Peng Ziqin with a notebook and a writing brush.
"My name is Peng Ziqin."
While the officer was recording, he asked again: "Where are you from?"
"People from Chengguan Town, Anlu County, De'an Prefecture."
"Do you have any fame?"
"Jiu people will gain fame!" Peng Ziqin's tired tone was full of pride.
"You are still a filial and honest person!" the officer smiled, "How much land does the family have? Only if you can produce the land deed, don't talk about it if you don't have the land deed."
what happened? Peng Ziqin was stunned, and asked this?
"Have you?" Seeing Peng Ziqin's refusal to answer, the officer prompted him.
"Yes, yes..." Peng Ziqin said, "My family has three to four thousand acres of land in De'an Mansion. The land deeds have been brought to Wuchang, but they are not with me."
"Okay," the officer nodded, "Who else is in the city? Where do they live?"
Peng Ziqin replied: "There is also my mother, my wife, two concubines, and two pairs of children, all living in..."
He also has a big family! They were all waiting for dinner, but he came to Wuchang empty-handed! Just thinking about it makes me anxious!
After the officer finished recording everything, he showed the notebook to Peng Ziqin. After making sure it was correct, he took out an ink pad box and asked Peng Ziqin to make his fingerprints. Then he walked to a passage surrounded by horse guns at the city gate and said: "Show the red mark on your hand to the guard guard and you will enter. Once you enter, you will have food to eat."
There is food to eat...sounds like a beggar!
Peng Ziqin felt sour in his heart and burst into tears. Isn't he just a beggar now? Three or four thousand acres of land in Anlu had been confiscated by Li Zicheng long ago... If he hadn't been desperate, he wouldn't have caused trouble!
Now that we are causing trouble and causing trouble, how will we live in the future?
After entering Wusheng Gate, Peng Ziqin discovered that the gate was also blocked with horse-repelling guns, and an open space was also blocked under the city wall. There are several large pots standing in the open space, cooking fragrant rice porridge!
The new officers and soldiers were watching around, and one officer opened his throat and shouted: "Drink porridge first, drink porridge first, fill your belly and I have something to tell you!"
Peng Ziqin couldn't care so much anymore, so he followed the others to queue up for porridge. After eating a bowl of relatively thick hot porridge, he finally regained his energy. Then he squatted under the city wall and thought about his own thoughts.
I don’t know how long it took, but when Peng Ziqin’s stomach started to growl again, I heard someone shouting: “The Imperial Governor of Hubei Kenanyi City has arrived!”
It turns out that Qiu Yu, the new governor of Hubei Province, came over to be a good person.
Zhu Cixiang was still very kind in nature, and he couldn't bear to starve to death the hundreds of scholar-bureaucrats outside Wushengmen!
So after seeing that things were almost done, I sent a "good guy" to rescue them. However, "good man Qiu Yu" had a sad face at this time and was not in a good mood at all.
It turned out that Zhu Cihong was willing to open up a wide margin and give the Huguang scholar-bureaucrats in exile in Wuchang a way to survive. But this way of survival is very narrow, which can only make them struggle to survive, but also deprive them of their privileges and land ownership in Jiangbei.
Oh, it can’t be said to be deprivation, which sounds unreasonable. Zhu Cixiang is very reasonable. His principle is to exchange "a way of survival" for "privileges and land in Jiangbei"!
If the exiled scholar-bureaucrats want to live in Wuchang, they have to give up their land in Jiangbei. At the same time, all tax privileges enjoyed by Huguang scholar-bureaucrats will be suspended.
From now on, Huguang will begin to implement the unified payment of taxes and grains between officials and gentry!
If the gentry trapped in Wuchang are unwilling to give up their land in Jiangbei...then they are also free to starve to death!
...
"What? The imperial court wants to exchange a few acres of Sushuo farmland in Wuchang Prefecture for the land deed in Jiangbei?"
"Do you still want the officials and the gentry to pay taxes and grain together?"
"Still, you still don't recognize the merit of being a candidate for the exam! Why? Our candidate is the one who got the exam..."
"This can't be done! We are scholars, we are scholars, we are scholars!"
"How could the imperial court do this?"
"Wow wow wow..."
Although the scholar-bureaucrats in Wushengmen were empty-bellied and had just been frightened, they still couldn't help roaring.
Because the "way to survive" given by Zhu Cixiang is too deceptive. Only after they gave up their land in Jiangbei and lost all their privileges could they obtain the qualifications to "grant land by dictation", and there wasn't much land to get, that is, a few acres of land could be granted in one dictation. It would be enough to take back the self-sown crops, but these scholar-bureaucrats are not capable of farming.
If these acres of land are rented out, it will be very difficult to get a few shi of white rice.
Moreover, after the five-year exemption period for these acres of thin farmland expires, they will still have to pay taxes like ordinary civilian farmland!
The commercial tax benefits enjoyed by scholar-bureaucrats will be canceled immediately! They can no longer profit by sheltering businessmen from tax evasion.
Just one person guarding two acres of land, how will he live in the future?
After roaring, these Huguang scholar-bureaucrats, who had effectively become proletarians, felt that they had no choice but to roar a few times and could only cry.
The cry rang out and reached Fenghuang Mountain. At this time, Zhu Cixiang had already set up a Chinese army on Fenghuang Mountain and erected the "Flag of the Reincarnation of Emperor Taizu Gao" - he came all the way to Wuchang Mansion not just to trouble a bunch of people. Huguang scholar-bureaucrat. Defeating Li Zicheng, pacifying Zuo's army, recovering He Tengjiao, and turning the entire Huguang into the granary of the Ming Dynasty were the main purposes of his trip, so the war could not be left behind.
To defeat Li Zicheng, the first step is of course to recapture Hanyang Fucheng and Hankou Town, the two strongholds that blocked the Yangtze River and Hanshui River.
The easiest way to retake Hanyang Fucheng and Hankou Town is of course a powerful siege artillery!
Zhu Cixi went up to Fenghuang Mountain today to see the bombardment effect of the 24-pound and 36-pound cannons - he had placed an order with the Bojialao Artillery Factory in Haao a few months ago for more 2-pounder cannons. Fourteen-pounder and thirty-six-pounder cannon.
In addition, before leaving Nanjing, Prince Zhu ordered large-caliber guns to the Bujialao Artillery Factory, Lopez Artillery Factory, Nanjing Artillery Factory, Anping Artillery Factory (owned by the Zheng family) and Shanghai Jiangnan Artillery Factory (Shen Tingyang's industry). Mortar's foreign artillery contract, so more large-caliber artillery will soon be shipped to Wuchang Prefecture from the southeast!
Now is the time when the bombardment is intermittent (the artillery needs to cool down). Without the roar of the giant cannon, the people on Phoenix Mountain can hear the crying coming from Wushengmen at the foot of the mountain.
"Your Highness, it seems that the filial and honest scholars in Wushengmen are crying! Is the court treating them too poorly?" Yuan Jixian was the governor in charge of military affairs, so he followed him up to Phoenix Mountain. When he heard the sound of crying, he came to Zhu Cixiang and muttered.
"Cry!" Zhu Cixiang sighed, "I know they are in pain, so I will let them cry without being punished... This is because they have not lived a good life! Now the world is divided into three parts. , I still give preferential treatment to scholars here. At any rate, I will give them a few acres of land. Later, I will open a Huguang Enke and select a group of officials. There is still a chance.
As for those preferential treatment, it is not a good thing for themselves, the court, and the people of the world! Our country has fallen to this point. Isn’t it just that it gives too many preferential treatment to scholars, clans, and honorable ministers? If it continues, it will not be the fall of Ming Dynasty, but the fall of China. And...there are now tens of millions of people in the Southeast, and eating is a big problem! Therefore, scholars cannot be allowed to eat the flesh of farmers and drink the blood of farmers. "
