Xu Yunzhen still thought Zhu Youjian was simple. Although he had lured a group of noble family heads and princes from Nanjing, as well as the top leaders of the various guard stations in Nanjing, to Puzikou, it did mean that he was holding hostages. But his goal is more than just a small fortune...he has bigger goals!
He asked Xu Yunzhen to be called to Laoshan Palace for this big goal. At the same time, those he called Laoshan Palace included Zhu Xieyuan, Pang Tianshou, Nanjing Hubu Shangshu Yan Mingtai and others.
"Long live the Lord, now Southern Zhili is in a war... People's hearts are floating, and it is necessary for the gentry clans from all over the country to work together to suppress the local government. Now the officials and gentry are paying grain taxes and sharing the land. I’m just afraid it will add to the chaos, right?”
The person who was trying to dissuade Zhu Youjian in Laoshan Palace was Zhu Xieyuan, the Minister of War in Nanjing. Like Xu Yunzhen, he thought that Zhu Youjian just wanted to take advantage of Nanjing nobles and extort some extravagant money to fill the national treasury and internal transportation treasury.
Unexpectedly, Zhu Youjian was so ambitious that he wanted to become a fat man in one bite. He even wanted to swallow up the privileges and exemptions of the scholar-bureaucrats in Nanzhili.
But this way of doing things will make you a lot of enemies!
"Long live my lord, although Southern Zhili is also called Zhili, it is far away from the center after all. We cannot treat it like Northern Zhili..."
Pang Tianshou, who has been a garrison eunuch in Nanjing for many years, of course also knows that things in Southern Zhili are not easy to handle, and are even more difficult to control than Huguang and Sichuan.
"Yes!" Xu Yunzhen also nodded repeatedly, "Now that Long Live Lord wants to push this matter, of course there is no problem. But Long Live Lord, you can't stay in Nanjing and watch the place forever! If you leave, I'm afraid of the following People will mess around!"
Yan Mingtai also shook his head: "Long live my Lord, Southern Zhili and Huguang are still different...Huguang has fewer people and more land, while Southern Zhili has more people and less land. So the imperial court collects more rice from Huguang, which is nothing more than Farmers in Huguang are forced to plant a few acres of land, and it's just a little tiring. In addition, many disaster victims from Shaanxi and Henan have moved to Huguang in recent years, so the price of labor for farmers is also low, and it is easy to hire people. So 20 million a year The tax amount of stone is nothing to Huguang.
The situation in South Zhili is different. The soil fertility in South Zhili is close to the limit, and the sown area cannot be increased. Moreover, South Zhili has a dense population, and there are many gentry and wealthy families. In many places, there have long been no ordinary people. So earthy. If the land tax is increased, the lives of ordinary people will be even more miserable. If the imperial court collects a dou more, the people of Southern Zhili will have to eat less..."
The ultimate goal that Zhu Youjian now wants to push for the government and gentry to pay grain taxes and allocate land to acres is to increase income!
So what Yan Mingtai said is right. For every dou the imperial court eats, the people of South Zhili will have to eat less!
And grabbing more wealth from southern Zhili is the real purpose of Zhu Youjian's trip!
Otherwise, why would he bother with so many things? Reduce the burden on farmers in southern Zhili? How can it be! Zhu Youjian had no such idea at all when he first established the emperor, and he did not dare to have it - ten years after Chongzhen, no matter how miserable the poor and lower-middle peasants in southern Zhili were, they still had porridge to drink. As for the poor farmers in Shaanxi, Henan, Shandong, North Zhili and Shanxi, they really can only eat dirt.
Therefore, Zhu Youjian could only press on Southern Zhili one more time to get some porridge for the victims in Shaanxi, Henan, Shandong, Northern Zhili and Shanxi. Without porridge, the hungry people there are bound to rebel. Although Zhu Youjian now has enough force to suppress the rebellious hungry people, the suppression is very laborious and expensive. At that time, he will still have to ask for money from relatively stable and prosperous places such as Nanzhili, Huguang, and Sichuan. It is better to ask these places for key points first so that the victims can have some food to eat.
If you have some porridge to drink, maybe you won’t rise up!
As long as we survive these catastrophic years, the world will be safe and peaceful, and the feudal dynasty of the Ming Dynasty will be able to live longer. As long as Ming Dynasty can survive the disaster, so what if everything slowly returns to the way it was before?
The duration of the Ming Dynasty was six or seven years. Even if the eighth and ninth years of Chongzhen are added, it would be eight and nine years. Zhu Youjian thought to himself: Just work harder these years and run between Beijing and Nanjing!
There is no need to collect rice directly in Nanzhili, just collect a little more silk, cloth, tea, and silver. With these things, it shouldn’t be too difficult to exchange them for rice in Huguang, Nanyang and other places, right?
"My decision has been made!" Zhu Youjian's tone was stern, leaving no room for doubt, "It is imperative that officials and gentry pay grain and taxes together and allocate land to farmers! And it must be implemented as soon as possible, because now is the best time!"
Now all the famous Confucian scholars in the southeast have gone back to study the "Posthumous Chapters of Confucius"... Compared with becoming a great Confucian scholar, paying food and taxes is a trivial matter. Becoming a great Confucian means you will gain official status, fame, and wealth. Paying a few more stones, meters, and taels of silver is nothing at all. If you miss the opportunity to become a great Confucian, you will regret it for the rest of your life.
And the pitiful force of Nanjing's nobles will soon be held hostage in Zhu Youjian's hands!
As for the Southeast maritime merchants, they were won over by Zhu Youjian early in the morning.
Therefore, in the southeast, there is currently no power to resist the method of paying grain and taxes to the government and gentry together and dividing the land between farmers and farmers.
Zhu Youjian paused for a moment and then said: "Not only do I want to implement the law in Nanzhili that the officials and gentry will pay grain taxes and share the land into the land, Zhejiang and Jiangxi will also follow up and implement it later... and In order to cooperate with the government and the gentry to pay grain and tax together and share the land with the land, I will also reform the administration of Southern Zhili. I will establish a province in Southern Zhili and implement a big government system!"
The implementation of the law of paying grain and taxes to the government and gentry together and apportioning the land to the land must be delegated to local governments. Only when local officials have sufficient power can they promote such policies and laws that offend a large number of people. Otherwise, even if there are a small number of officials who are not afraid of offending people, they will not have enough power to implement it.
"Long live Lord, how many provinces do you plan to establish in Southern Zhili?" Zhu Xieyuan asked.
The division of Southern Zhili into provinces is a general trend, because Northern Zhili has actually become a province - the eight governors of Northern Zhili are actually the governors of one province!
Moreover, he has been the Minister of War in Nanjing for so many years, so of course he knows that this "freak" in Nanzhili has great disadvantages!
Because Southern Zhili is not a province, all the seventeen prefectures (Zhili prefectures) in Southern Zhili, like the eight prefectures in Northern Zhili, are directly under the jurisdiction of the imperial court.
And such an administrative system is very inefficient. It is troublesome enough for one court to manage more than a dozen provinces and some military towns in Jiubian. Add to this the trivial matters of more than 20 state capitals under direct control in the north and south. Isn't this adding to the chaos?
But the imperial court couldn't control it and refused to delegate power to the local governments. The government offices in the two dozen state capitals didn't have much power, and of course they couldn't control the powerful gentry below.
Therefore, it is imperative to implement the law of paying grain and taxes to the government and the gentry together, and to establish new provinces and strengthen the power of state governments.
Zhu Youjian's face suddenly turned a little gloomy, and he said: "I plan to establish three provinces: Huaidong, Huaixi, and Southern Zhili. Among them, Southern Zhili Province will only include the Jiangnan part of the original Southern Zhili region, and its status will still be equivalent to that of Northern Zhili. !”
In fact, the North and South Zhili were no longer "directly subordinate to the imperial court", but became provinces. However, retaining the name of North and South Zhili can highlight the coexistence of the two capitals.
Although Zhu Youjian's roots are in Beijing, his heart is in Nanjing... In this life, he knows that his throne will not be taken away by his traitor again, and of course he will not have more than 50 years of leisurely enjoyment. Many loved ones will be lost - many will never be born!
Therefore, in order to preserve their memory, Zhu Youjian will continue to maintain the layout of two capitals in the north and the south, and the settings will run between the north and the south.
"Your Majesty," Yan Mingtai asked, "when do you plan to announce the sub-province and administrative system of southern Zhili?"
"Wait a while," Zhu Youjian said, "When I lead my troops to Fengyang, I will announce it in Fengyang Mansion... At that time, I will cancel the six departments of Nanjing. Yanhu Department, Huaihe You will be the governor of the East! Zhu Bingbu, you will be the governor of Southern Zhili. As for the governor of Huaixi, I will let Lu Daqi take over."
