Zhu Xieyuan, the governor-general of the five provinces of Jiangxi, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, and southern Hunan, and the governor of Jiangxi, finally arrived in Nanchang in early May.
Moreover, they came with a thousand Guizhou soldiers!
This king, who was over seventy years old, placed his soldiers in Nankang Fucheng. He pretended to be training in the military camp, and secretly took a few of his followers to visit him privately, mainly to investigate the situation of the gentry, merchants and farmers.
From Nakang Prefecture, he made a private visit to Nanchang Prefecture. Zhu Xieyuan suddenly appeared in Nanchang Prefecture and summoned Chen Yuding, the censor of Jiangxi Province.
At the same time, a thousand soldiers stationed in Nankang quickly appeared outside Nanchang City.
These guest soldiers from Guizhou actually made no mistakes all the way through the autumn.
Two days later, Zhu Xieyuan summoned officials from the three departments in Jiangxi Province. Ding Kuichu, the chief envoy on the left, Zhang Bingwen, the chief envoy on the right, Wu Shiliang, the inspector general, and Chen Guozhong, the commander-in-chief, all came to see him.
The four of them sat on top chairs and didn't wait long before Zhu Xieyuan walked in.
"This is the Shangfang sword given by His Majesty." Zhu Xieyuan said the first sentence of the opening sentence and slapped the Shangfang sword on the table.
The chief officer of Jiangxi's Third Division quickly stood up, straightened his clothes, and kowtowed to Shang Fang's sword.
This thing was used to deal with military generals, but when Zhu Xieyuan took it out now, it was self-evident what it meant.
Zhu Xieyuan then said the second sentence: "Thieves and bandits are rampant in Jiangxi. As the governor of five provinces, I can act expeditiously according to the emperor's order."
The chief officer of the Third Division quickly said yes, and began to feel uneasy. Even Wu Shiliang, who was in his eighties, became energetic.
Zhu Xieyuan said a third sentence: "Suppressing thieves and bringing peace to the people cannot be discussed in isolation. If we only suppress thieves but do not disturb the people, the more thieves and bandits will be suppressed, the more they will be suppressed."
"The supervisor has great opinion, what he said is true." Ding Kuichu quickly flattered him.
Zhu Xieyuan said the fourth sentence: "The private banknote checkpoints will be cancelled immediately. The extra money that has been collected this year does not need to be imported into the capital, and the money that has not been collected does not need to be rushed to the people. I will submit it to Your Majesty.
Tell the truth, either transfer me away or do things my way."
The full amount of extra silver allocated to Jiangxi this year is 360,000 taels. Due to the rebellion, the concession was reduced to 200,000 taels.
In comparison, it's not a lot. The people in Henan are really suffering. This year, an additional 660,000 taels were allocated.
"But," Ding Kuichu said, "the suppression of bandits in the north is paid by the imperial court, but the suppression of bandits in Jiangxi is entirely self-financing. If the additional cash checkpoints are cancelled, I am afraid there will not be enough money and food to train troops."
"boom!"
Zhu Xieyuan picked up Shang Fang's sword and slapped it on the table again: "How much customs duties have been collected by the Chief Secretary? I don't want to check the taxes (land transportation and market commercial taxes) personally. The two Chief Envoys please try their best to raise food and salary."
Ding Kuichu's head shrank sharply, and he and Chen Bingwen clasped their fists together: "We must fully cooperate!"
Zhu Xieyuan complained again and told the officials of the Third Division to get out.
Three days later, the government was officially opened to recruit assistant officials and staff, all of whom were recommended by the censor Chen Yuding.
Zhao Han had three internal correspondents in Nanchang, among whom Xu Ying and Wang Tingshi both entered the governor's shogunate.
Of course, Xu Ying was only a peripheral member and did not even receive the salary of a temporary worker. Like Liu Tongsheng, Xiao Puyun, Zuo Xiaocheng and other refugee scholars, he was only responsible for providing relevant intelligence information to Zhu Xieyuan.
Wang Tingshi was Zhu Xieyuan's guest and was relied upon as his right-hand man.
However, Wang Tingshi's military power was taken away, and two thousand local warriors were trained and deployed by Zhu Xieyuan.
Governor's Palace.
Many staff members gathered together.
"When I first arrive in Jiangxi, I have to rely on you for all matters," Zhu Xieyuan said, clasping his fists. "If there is anything wrong, please feel free to enlighten me."
"Don't dare!"
All the scholars quickly bowed.
Zhu Xieyuan took out a copy of "Datong Collection" and said: "I have been an official for decades. I have appeased tens of thousands of weavers who rioted to resist taxes, annihilated the White Lotus cultists, and pacified the rebellion of the Sichuan and Gui chieftains. Like the Zhao thieves in Luling, before
I've never seen him before, tell me, what else has Thief Zhao done?"
Chen Heming, a refugee scholar, said: "To report to the Governor, that Zhao thief is really abominable. All the acres accumulated by my Chen family over several generations have been given to cunning and cunning people indiscriminately. Such perverse behavior will sooner or later be punished by God!"
"I already know this," Zhu Xieyuan asked again, "What else is there?"
Xiao Puyun clasped his fists and said: "This thief has abolished the household registration distinction established by Emperor Taizu, lumped together civilian households, craftsman households, music households, and military households, and even forced the rich families to release their slaves."
Zhu Xieyuan asked again: "What else?"
Zuo Xiaocheng said: "This thief created some kind of missionary group. They were prostitutes, domestic slaves, and turtle masters. They all acted as missionaries to spread his Datong heresy that distorted the words of the saints. He also established the Laoshizi Peasants' Association and built buildings.
Water conservancy and land reclamation may appear to be benefiting the people, but in fact they are deceiving the people with small favors.”
"What else? Good and bad, let's talk about it." Zhu Xieyuan continued to ask.
Lu Yu said: "This thief is so cruel that he does not allow the beggar to survive, but forcibly arrests the beggar to do work."
Liu Tongsheng sighed: "If he were not a thief, this man could be a good minister. He also rectified the government, banned gambling, and established schools. Even in remote villages and towns, children under the age of twelve, both men and women, must study. There is no tuition fee for studying.
, if a child of school age does not go to school, both parents will be punished."
"Such moral decay," Zuo Xiaocheng said with a sneer, "This Zhao thief is ignorant. He falsely imitates the teachings of saints and sages, but does not distinguish between men and women and puts boys and girls in the same school!"
Xiao Puyun said: "I think that if it is a child, it is okay for both men and women to read together."
"Brother Xiao is confused," Xu Ying also said, "Even children should know the difference between men and women!"
Xiong Xuexui, a scholar from Fengcheng who just fled to Nanchang at the end of last year, said: "Supervisor Rong Zhen, after the establishment of Chaoguan in Nanchang and the ban on northward travel of Guangyan, the price of salt in Ji'an and Linjiang Prefectures has skyrocketed. In order to lower the price of salt, the Zhao thieves
They actually allocate funds to subsidize salt merchants. Nanchang's banknotes must not be revoked. Given time, the salt price subsidy alone can bring down the Zhao thieves' finances."
"Nonsense!"
Zhou Yixuan, a member of the Nanchang Juren family who was engaged in business, angrily denounced: "Setting up banknotes privately to exploit the people is a tyranny of the people!"
Xiong Xuexui also said angrily: "How long has it been and you still want to do business? If the Zhao thieves are not put down as soon as possible, Jiangxi will be in danger. Sooner or later, your family's property will be robbed by the rebels!"
Nanchang Juren Zhang Zhaojing joined the dispute: "Nanchang banknote checkpoint cannot be restored, and the taxation should be reduced back to the original amount!"
As we talked, we started to get sidetracked. We no longer discussed the Zhao thieves in Luling, but debated whether taxes should be increased.
Zhu Xieyuan didn't even say anything to stop them, and listened quietly to their quarrel. The information obtained from this quarrel can truly understand the public sentiment after peeling off the cocoons.
At the same time, Zhu Xieyuan was extremely frightened. The governance of the Luling Zhao thieves was not anti-thieves at all, and they simply regarded themselves as officials.
What he wants to destroy now is not the rebels, but a small court with two palaces!
The Zhao thief has already won the hearts of the common people. Even if he can be killed, if the government does not provide good governance in the future, the people who have tasted the benefits may still rebel.
After the students had finished arguing, Zhu Xieyuan finally asked: "Who has seen Thief Zhao in person?"
"I've seen him in late life." Liu Tongsheng, Xiao Puyun, Chen Heming and others responded one after another.
Zhu Xieyuan asked: "What is this person's personality like?"
Everyone was thinking hard.
Xiao Puyun said: "He is extremely cunning and can win people's hearts."
Liu Tongsheng told the story of Zhao Han's capture of Jishui County, saying: "This thief has very good methods. He is both upright and tactful. He is very methodical and can understand people's hearts."
Xu Ying said: "This thief is very honest. It is said that after he took over Yongyang Town, due to lack of money and food, he only ate porridge and pickles for three meals a day. He occupied a huge territory and did not build a mansion. He even set an example by not accepting concubines.
, we don’t keep slaves, we only have a few servants who signed short contracts.”
Zhu Xieyuan suddenly had an even greater headache. When he was suppressing bandits in Sichuan and Guizhou, he also first found out the character of the rebellious chieftain.
Those rebellious chieftains were either cruel, stupid, impulsive, greedy... just to name a few, and they all had various character flaws.
But what the hell is this Luling Zhao thief?
At first glance, I thought he was an upright scholar from somewhere.
Zhu Xieyuan added: "I know that Zhao thief has three generals under his command, one is Huang Yao who guards Linjiang, the other is Zhao Yaonian who guards Ji'an, and the other is Gu Jianshan who is the commander-in-chief of the navy. Who knows the details of these three people?
"
Chen Yuding, the patrol censor, said: "I once visited the rebel territory incognito and know a little bit about these three people. Huang Yaonai was a stonemason and was good at running attacks. It was this man who caused the first fall of Fengcheng. Zhao Yao was named in his first year.
He is a relative of Zhao Thief, but he is actually Zhao Thief's brother-in-law, and his name is probably forged. As for the Ancient Sword Mountain, he is just a Poyang water bandit."
"What are the personalities of these three people? Is there any possibility of alienation and surrender?" Zhu Xieyuan asked.
Chen Yuding frowned and said, "Well, I'm afraid we have to send spies to inquire."
Zhu Xieyuan asked again: "How are the ministers under his command?"
Chen Yuding said: "Zhao thief arrogantly called himself the general soldier, and his general military office had eight divisions and two courtyards. There was Pang Dongxin (Pang Chunlai) who was in charge of the administration. I don't know where he came from, or he was an old scholar who failed to succeed in many tests. Some
Li Banghua, who was in charge of military affairs, was originally the Minister of the Ministry of War of the Ming Dynasty. Those who had land and years were in charge of fortifications, and was originally the magistrate of Yuanzhou in the Ming Dynasty. The rest of the officials were either promoted locals or officials who had their names changed. "
Zuo Xiaocheng said: "The person in charge of punishment for Zhao thief is called Zuo Xiaoliang. He is a distant relative who was born late. He is just a poor scholar. He is not as good as me in poetry and writing, and he has no ability. Zhao thief relies on him as his arm.
, it shows that there are no real talents available.”
Next, more than ten scholars reported the rebel officials they knew.
Zhu Xieyuan frowned when he heard this, and suddenly said: "Who is willing to sneak back into the Zhao thief's territory, no matter what means are used, to instigate your old friends to act as internal agents?"
The whole place was dead silent, no one spoke.
After a long silence, Xiao Puyun said: "You can send your servant back."
"You can give it a try." Zhu Xieyuan didn't have any hope and sent his slaves to instigate rebellion. It was so insincere that only a fool would believe it.
Half a month later.
Zhu Xieyuan put the Nanchang and Nankang prefects under house arrest at the same time. After confiscating a large amount of money, he jointly reported the amount of money to the court with the censor Chen Yuding.
The affairs of these two governments are temporarily handled by Tongzhi.
At the same time, an order was sent to all the prefectures in Jiangxi to list the names of counties in the treasury. County taxes must be transported into the treasury in person by the magistrate, sealed, and delivered to the Chief Secretary for inspection by Zhu Xieyuan. Officials at the prefectural level are only responsible for transportation.
Taxation makes it impossible to truly handle money and food. If you want to be greedy for money, there is only this way.
After rectifying the civil service and stabilizing money and food, Zhu Xieyuan began to reorganize the army. The soldiers' salaries must be personally supervised and distributed by the governor.
He also formulated dozens of military regulations to scare the monkeys, and Jiangxi officers and soldiers were in awe.
Next, Zhu Xieyuan suddenly disappeared, giving the outside world the illusion that he was training troops. In fact, he took his confidants and guides to the Zhao thief's territory and personally surveyed various terrains and environments. Zhu Xieyuan never fought an unprepared battle.
Zhao Han received a sealed report from Xu Ying and Wang Tingshi, and felt that he was in trouble this time.
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