Fang Congzhe hurriedly said: "I recommend Feng Quan, the censor of Zuo Qiandu, to take this position. This man is smart and capable. In the last incident where a large number of Beijing officials resigned, Feng Quan discovered the most illegal things among the resigned officials. He unearthed the huge corrupt Zhou Jiamo and others. , it is enough to show that this person is very capable, so I believe that if Feng Quan goes to the south of the Yangtze River, he will be able to successfully clear land and tax burdens in the southeast."
"allow!"
Zhu Youxiao immediately replied.
Both of them knew very well that Feng Quan was the mortal enemy of the Donglin Party, and Jiangnan was the home base of the Donglin Party.
Therefore, Feng Quan must have worked very hard when he went to the southeast to clear the land and clarify the tax burden.
The last case of illegal behavior of Donglin officials who resigned from office is proof.
Although Feng Quan was fond of cliques and cliques in the officialdom, he was denounced as a villain by the scholar-bureaucrats.
But reform often has to use these villains among civil servants. After all, few so-called decent civil servants are willing to torture the gentry of the same class as themselves.
At this time, Zhu Youxiao asked Wei Zhongxian, who was on duty at the Political Hall of Qianqing Palace: "How is the price of food in the capital now?"
Wei Zhongxian replied: "Back to the emperor, the price is still soaring. Many officials' families have run out of food and have to send servants back to their hometowns to transport food. In addition, officers and soldiers in Liaodong have begun to complain about insufficient food. Now they are all suppressed by Xiong Jingluo. If there is no more grain, I am afraid there will be chaos in Liaodong."
"Invite Wang Yingjiao, the Minister of Household Affairs, to ask him how the grain distribution in various places is going. If the problem of grain shortage is still not solved, then simply pass the edict directly to Jiubian. We will not let go of half of the country in the north, and all the soldiers and civilians in the north will All the civil and military officials and even the nobles will go south with me to get food!"
After Zhu Youxiao heard this, he said something angrily.
Fang Congzhe was so frightened that he turned pale on the spot. He was a northern nobleman, and he did not want to move south with His Majesty.
Wei Zhongxian was also stunned on the spot, and then replied: "Yes!"
Not long after, Wang Yingjiao came to the political hall at the urging of Wei Zhongxian.
"Da Sinong, please hurry up, the emperor is waiting for your report now."
Wei Zhongxian felt scared and nervous when he thought of his prince's serious face, so he kept urging Wang Yingjiao.
Wang Yingjiao took the memorial and said breathlessly: "Eunuch Wei, I understand, please stop reading. I have already tried my best to read it as quickly as possible."
When Wang Yingjiao rushed to Qianqing Palace, he could not speak anymore and was sweating profusely as he was about to salute Zhu Youxiao.
"No, how is the food transportation situation in various places?"
Zhu Youxiao asked directly.
"Thank you, thank you Your Majesty. It's no problem. Henan, Shanxi, Huguang and other places have transferred a total of 1.5 million shi of grain to Beijing. Shandong has even transferred 3.05 million shi of grain to Beijing, and all of them have been transferred to Beijing." We have gathered in Guancang, Dezhou, and it will not take long to reach Beijing, so there is no need to worry about the grain supply being cut off."
Zhu Youxiao breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this.
Fang Congzhe also breathed a sigh of relief and thought to himself: "It's a good thing. Your Majesty finally doesn't have to abandon Jiubian and go south. Let me just say that we scholar-bureaucrats are not really disloyal and unjust, and we don't even care about the peace of the country, etc." , how did Shandong transport so much grain in so much time? Where did the governor of Shandong get so much grain? It has all been concentrated in the official warehouse of Dezhou! "
Wei Zhongxian saw his royal prince's eyes widening, and he laughed because of it.
"Who is the governor of Shandong?"
Zhu Youxiao's tight lips did open up and asked.
"The king is in Jin. This person was a Jinshi in the 20th year of Wanli. He is a talented person and is an official."
Fang Congzhe replied before Wang Yingjiao could.
Zhu Youxiao glanced at Fang Congzhe and asked in his heart: "You know it again! Since you know that he is talented, why is it that he was a Jinshi in the 20th year of Wanli and is still a governor now?"
"More than three million stones of grain, how did he do it in such a short period of time?"
Zhu Youxiao asked after slandering him.
Wang Yingjiao hurriedly replied: "That's right, Your Majesty, Wang Zaijin started to raise grain and grass more than a month ago. He even used the Shandong feudal treasury to purchase grain. He has reported it to the Ministry of Household Affairs and also written a memorial to the court. In addition, , was able to gather in Dezhou so quickly because he prepared river workers in various river sections in advance. When the imperial court issued an order to adjust grain, the grain ships in Shandong did not need to stop along the way and transported them directly to Dezhou. A group of river workers were also gathered on one side. Dredge the river in front while pulling the boat forward, so water transport is extremely fast, so this can be done."
"The key now is not to let the nine sides run out of food, and not to mess up the morale of the military, especially Jizhou and Liaodong. I remember that the governor of Jiliao, Wen Qiu, has not yet appointed a new governor of Jiliao after he was arrested. He passed the order and ordered the king to add Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of War in Jin. He was promoted to governor of Jiliao and governor of Shuntian. He ordered him to transport three million stones of grain from Shandong and Shanxi to Jiliao to stabilize the morale of the army! Grain from Henan and Huguang was shipped to the capital first to stabilize grain prices. "
Zhu Youxiao directly promoted Wang Zaijin.
Fang Congzhe didn't expect that the emperor would be so resolute and would promote Wang Zaijin so soon, so he hurriedly replied: "Yes" and then drafted the edict.
Then, Zhu Youxiao looked at Wang Yingjiao and said: "Although the problem of grain transportation has been temporarily solved, the local taxes have to be recovered. I know that you love the people, so I let you be the governor of Xichang, responsible for tax collection." Regarding grain collection, I hope you will enforce the law impartially and not let the tax collection be recovered on the common people who do not owe taxes and grain. If the local governor fails to clear the land or violates the law and fails to calculate the accumulated tax money to the big households who really owe taxes, you You can wear a royal guard and report to me immediately, I grant you the right to perform secretly and exclusively!"
Wang Yingjiao did not expect that one day he would concurrently hold the position of Xichang, but he understood that this Xichang was not the Xichang of the Chenghua Dynasty. His Majesty established the Xichang and put himself in charge of it to avoid collusion between wealthy and powerful families due to the recovery of tax arrears. The subordinate officials transferred the tax arrears to the common people, so he did not refuse, but immediately replied: "I obey the order!"
…
therefore.
After Wang Yingjiao got Zhu Youxiao's secret box, he only went home to prepare for it for one day. The next day, he went directly to Li Yongzhen, the eunuch Li Yongzhen, the general manager of the West Factory and the Supervisor of Ceremonies, Qi Jin, the governor of the West Factory, and Zhao Liejiao, the counselor of the West Factory. , Qin Minping, Mangui, Sun Yunhe, Wu Mengming and other Xichang people from the Xichang Thousand Households went south together.
Accompanying him were Feng Quan, the governor of the southeast, and Ruan Dacheng, the newly appointed prime minister of Nanjing Chongwen Temple recommended by Zhu Youxiao based on Fang Congzhe's recommendation, as well as the governor of Chongwen Temple, composed of fifty literati and two hundred royal guards.
The reason why Zhu Youxiao sent people from Chongwen Temple south was naturally to control public opinion when clearing the land and collecting taxes.
Anyway.
Xichang went to collect taxes, and he directly brought the elite soldiers and generals of the Ming Empire there. He was prepared to break down the door and collect taxes if they disagreed.
Among them, Wang Yingjiao was responsible for checking the treasury tax and grain, Li Yongzhen was responsible for checking the gold, flower, silver and other taxes on internal funds, while Qi Jin was responsible for execution.
Feng Quan was responsible for urging local officials in southern Zhili to clear their land.
Ruan Dacheng is responsible for controlling public opinion.
The total number of these troops was about 10,000, which was similar to the number of soldiers and horses that Duduo led some of the Eight Banners soldiers to go to the south of the Yangtze River with the hungry soldiers from the north of the Ming Dynasty who surrendered to the Qing Dynasty in history.
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