Aren't the big eaters just begging for food? And instead of asking for food, a large group of people were armed and begging for food! It's better to let Li Zicheng do this, he is the prince of the Ming Dynasty!
Zhu Cixiang pondered and said: "Although the military advisor's method is good, the largest wealthy family in the world seems to be my family, right? Isn't it appropriate for a prince like me to take refugees to eat at a wealthy family?"
When he spoke, his eyes looked at Wei Zaode - Prince Tianhuang is a noble man, and it is not suitable for him to take refugees to live in a wealthy family. You, the prime minister, should step forward quickly!
Wei Zaode was glanced at by Zhu Cixiang and knew that he had to speak up, so he smiled and said: "It's appropriate, why isn't it appropriate? Such things happened in the Sui and Tang dynasties. According to historical records, in the 14th year of the founding of the Emperor, Guanzhong Due to severe drought and lack of food, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty led hundreds of thousands of officials, nobles and refugees from Guanzhong to eat in Luoyang. As a result, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty gained the reputation of being a food-loving emperor!
Later, when Emperor Gaozu of the Tang Dynasty became emperor, he once led hundreds of officials and hungry people to Luoyang for food because of the lack of food in Guanzhong... Due to lack of preparation, many people starved to death along the way. "
What is the reputation of the food-seeking emperor... doesn't that mean "the food-seeking emperor"? Zhu Cihong said in his heart: He had been deceiving people all day long with the slogan of "the reincarnation of Emperor Taizu Gao". Now he is fine and has received retribution. He is really like Zhu Yuanzhang, going to beg for food!
But Hunan was my hometown in my previous life! People say they return home in fine clothes, but now I have to go back to my hometown to beg for food...
Thinking of this, Zhu Cixiang sighed and thought: Why is there no famous official who can beg for food on his behalf?
"Your Highness the Crown Prince!"
Just as Zhu Cixiang was thinking about it, Cao Youyi, the deputy military advisor, stepped forward.
Okay... Zhu Cixiang looked at Lao Cao and felt that his appearance was very suitable for begging! Work hard, and you will leave your name in history, and you will be the beggar general!
Cao Youyi said: "I think Hunan is too close for Your Highness to take people to eat. It is better to go a little further and go to Guangdong."
What? I have to go to Guangdong to beg for food! Zhu Cixiang still had a smile on his face, but he was already annoyed... His eyes slid across the hall, looking for Zhang Shize, the British censor of the capital - this Cao Youyi looked very much like a corrupt official! Be sure to check it out!
Cao Youyi didn't know that he was about to be unlucky, so where could he come up with ideas?
"Master Chitose, leading the northern refugees south to eat is an opportunity to control the rich lands of Hunan and Guangdong!"
What? Zhu Cixiang's expression changed slightly, "Hurry up and tell me!"
Cao Youyi smiled and said: "I often hear people say that Guangdong is as prosperous as the south of the Yangtze River. It has a vast territory, a lot of paddy fields, a warm climate, and can produce three crops a year. Moreover, Guangzhou, the provincial capital, has been a commercial port for thousands of years and is extremely prosperous. Foshan near Guangzhou is the most prosperous place in the world. One of the four gatherings is rich in iron tools and firecrackers... How can such a rich and important place not be guarded by our own people? The prince happened to take advantage of the opportunity of going south to eat and brought a dozen or twenty people with him. When tens of thousands of people arrived, they were placed near Guangzhou, granted land, and then selected the best and strongest to form a new army. In this way, the prosperous land of Guangdong will be firmly in the hands of His Highness the Crown Prince!"
Isn't this the way the Eight Banners troops are stationed at key points in each province? Zhu Cixiang was overjoyed - he almost wronged Zhongliang just now.
In addition to worrying about food, Prince Zhu was also worried about how to deal with the Cantonese people!
There are nearly 26 million acres of farmland in Guangdong, which is only more than 3 million acres less than Shaanxi (if you check carefully, it is probably Guangdong that has more farmland), but the total land tax is only 999,999 acres. One hundred shi, which is more than 700,000 shi less than the total land tax in Shaanxi!
I don’t know how taxes were determined in various places in the Ming Dynasty? The tax in Guangdong is actually much lower than that in Shaanxi! How can the people of Guangdong agree to such a thing? In future generations, one Shenzhen will be worth two Shaanxi, right? Although there is no Shenzhen now, Guangzhou is the number one commercial port in the world!
Guangdong's taxes have to be increased three times, no, it would be ridiculous to increase them five times!
In addition, there are customs duties and commercial taxes!
Guangzhou has been a major foreign trade port since the Han Dynasty, and it has been prosperous for more than a thousand and hundreds of years! So far, Guangzhou is still the first commercial port in the Ming Dynasty...but what about commercial taxes and customs duties? Wouldn’t it be nice if you don’t have millions of taels a year?
But millions of shi of grain and millions of taels of silver could not be received from the Cantonese people by issuing a few edicts and beheading a few officials. Because the Cantonese people are quite fierce these days - conflicts between natives and guests began to appear in the middle of the Ming Dynasty!
Although the fighting between natives and guests in the Ming Dynasty cannot be compared with that of the Qing Dynasty, especially the fighting between natives and guests in the middle and late Qing Dynasty, a certain military tradition has still been developed in Guangdong.
According to Zhu Cixiang’s information from Guangdong confidants such as Huang Jiang, Su Guansheng, and Li Shichun, the native guest clans in many places in Guangdong have been united after years of armed conflicts. Most of them live in groups, build forts, and train clansmen. Soldiers and forging equipment are just like the powerful families from the late Eastern Han Dynasty to the Northern and Southern Dynasties.
Fierce conflicts often occurred between the native guest clans. Both sides mobilized hundreds or even thousands of people to form battle formations and fight each other occasionally. The government could not prohibit it at all.
If the Ming Dynasty's local officials in Guangdong could not even stop the armed fighting between the Tuke clans, how could they collect taxes? Those powerful clans who often clashed and fought were not comparable to the gentry in Jiangnan!
Not to mention the combat effectiveness forged in long-term conflicts, even the size and degree of unity of the clan far exceed that of the southeast. Because there is no pressure from the struggle between natives and foreigners in the southeast, the cohesion within the clan is very weak, and the court collects taxes. The only resistance is gentry power.
The gentry in the southeast generally have little military power. If Zhu Cixiang really wants to rebel and start killing, they will be nothing more than fat pigs to be slaughtered. However, Zhu Cixi was still reasonable. No matter how hard the gentry in the southeast tried to trick them, the Ming Dynasty still received six million stone fields a year from Nanzhili, and in addition paid a lot of business taxes. People in Huguang only give 2 million, Sichuan only gives 1 million, and Guangdong only gives 990,000... In comparison, these southeastern gentry are relatively conscientious, so we can't be too cruel to them.
But Guangdong is in trouble. In Guangdong, tax collection and land clearing are not fighting against the gentry, but directly against the native guest clans, all of which are powerful clans! The Ming army relying on Guangdong could not deal with them at all, so no matter who was sent to Guangdong before, it was in vain.
To collect enough taxes from the Cantonese people, we must send the truly effective new army there!
But Zhu Cihong didn't have enough new troops at hand...
Therefore, Cao Youyi's method can be regarded as solving a major problem faced by Zhu Cixiang!
"Cao Qing!" Zhu Cixiang smiled, "You are indeed my humerus!"
Since it's the humerus, let's not investigate corruption. Zhu Cixiang had already made up his mind, and asked Cao Youyi to be the "General of Guangzhou", and asked him to take people to Guangdong to beg for food, and conveniently occupied both Hong Kong and Shenzhen - this is a fertile vacancy!
"Your Highness," Lin Zengzhi, another confidant of Zhu Cihong's Ministry of Industry and Industry, seized the opportunity to give an idea, "there are millions of northerners in exile now (in fact, tens of millions), and many of them are very capable. The imperial court can divide them into various provinces. Attack the strategic points, then select the best from them and organize them into an army. If the northerners get food and the court gets soldiers, the control over every place will be greatly enhanced."
"That's how it should be!" Zhu Cixiang smiled, "The Ministry of War and the Generalissimo's Office immediately made a plan. Nanjing and Wuhan are the places where the most people from the North will be resettled, followed by Fengyang, Yangzhou, Huai'an, Zhenjiang, Songjiang, Hangzhou, and Ningbo Resettlement must be distributed in , Fuzhou, Jiujiang, Jingzhou, Xiangyang, Changsha, Guangzhou, Guilin and other places.
Zhu Cixiang named sixteen state capitals in one breath. Except for Nanjing and Wuhan, each state capital would arrange an average of more than 100,000 refugees, so two million northerners would have a place to live in wealthy households!
If hundreds of thousands more elites can be selected from these refugees, the Ming court's ability to control Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, Hunan, Jiangxi, Zhejiang and other provinces will also be greatly enhanced!
In addition, at least one million strong northerners will be resettled in Nanjing and Wuhan. They will be the most important source of troops for the new army to overcome difficulties.
Zhu Cixiang paused and then said: "Deploy a battalion of new troops to various places where refugees gather to be responsible for gathering refugees to rush to Jiangdu. In addition, the navy must try to mobilize ships to assist the refugees. When the refugees arrive in Nanjing, I will Personally take them to Huguang and Guangdong to eat."
