The ruthless emperor at the end of Ming Dynasty forced Chongzhen to abdicate at the beginning Chapter 166 Celebrity prostitutes fighting against gentry landlords
Chapter 166 Celebrity prostitutes fighting against gentry landlords
Chapter 166 Courtesan and Gentry Landlord Fight
With Ma Shiying as the Second Assistant to the Cabinet and Lu Jiude as the Eunuch of the Bureau of Ceremony, and six other ministers, Nanjing's daily government operations were completely in line with Beijing.
The Ming Dynasty also saw the real situation of the two capitals being divided.
Zhang Yan suddenly became more relaxed, and even started to help Zhu Cixiang with the draft.
However, Ma Shiying, Lu Jiude and the six others were all very motivated and not bored at all.
Especially Ma Shiying and Lu Jiude, they were so excited that they could not wait to work all night long to deal with those memorials. Not only did they not find it too verbose, but they felt that there were too few memorials and not enough government affairs to deal with.
Most of the civil servants also turned to Ma Shiying, leaving Gao Hongtu and other Donglin Party officials anxious but helpless.
The New Year's Eve of the first year of Shenwu arrived as scheduled. For a whole year, there was no war in the Ming Dynasty. It was almost unbelievable to everyone, as if they were in a dream. It seemed that the Ming Dynasty had revived without knowing it.
All civil servants were somewhat unable to accept this fact. What they could not accept was that the Ming Dynasty had been decadent for so many years and was ultimately riddled with holes.
Countless good and loyal ministers tried their best to turn the tide, but in the end they could only watch the broken ship of the Ming Dynasty sinking faster and faster.
But less than two years after today's emperor ascended the throne, he did not use a single civil servant, but only used some shameless and despicable methods in everyone's eyes to forcefully save the Ming Dynasty.
Could it be that the good strategies for governing the country proposed by the sages are not as effective as some base methods?
Is it true that he is a useless scholar?
Some literati who truly care about the world constantly raised questions in their hearts and began to reflect.
Because of the shortcomings of the Ming Dynasty, almost anyone with a little knowledge knows where the problems lie and has been thinking about solutions.
But now there is no need to think anymore, His Majesty has proved to them with actions that the solution is very simple.
As long as the salt merchants and Nanjing nobles were confiscated, and the money and food were not in the hands of the officials, the Ming Dynasty would survive.
At least looking at the current situation, it won't be a problem to survive for another few decades.
As the garrison troops and female shopkeepers arrived in the various states and counties in southern Zhili, thousands of famous prostitutes took flower boats and began to travel to various places with maids and bodyguards to publicize. Almost everyone knew the purpose of His Majesty's visit to Nanjing.
It is actually a land reform that has been the most taboo in all dynasties. It is scary to hear that people are divided into acres and officials and gentry are taxed together.
The gentry and literati in Jiangnan were both expected and unexpected about this. What was expected was that they had already expected that His Majesty would definitely implement reforms when he came to Nanjing. What was unexpected was that they did not expect that it would be so radical.
At this time, Anqing Prefecture, Wangjiang County, and a small village on the bank of the Yangtze River were very lively.
I saw a high platform set up on the grain drying ground in the village. A delicate-looking woman in a gorgeous dress, with the help of maids and waiters, cut pieces of cotton cloth into pieces and distributed them to the village.
children and old people.
Every piece of cotton can be used to make a brand new set of clothes. This is a good thing that the villagers have experienced twice.
Even the women in the village no longer cared whether the person who came was a prostitute. They were all smiling from ear to ear as they watched the children queuing up.
"Thank you for the reward, the imperial concubine. The imperial concubine is a good person and a female Bodhisattva who saves people in distress..."
After a seven or eight-year-old child took the cloth, he knelt down and kowtowed and shouted.
"The cloth this time was given by Your Majesty. I want to thank Your Majesty. I would like to say that His Majesty is the most holy king in the history and a good emperor who loves his people like his own son."
The courtesan on the side quickly corrected her.
"Oh, thank you for the reward, Your Majesty. Your Majesty is the most holy king throughout the ages, and a good emperor who loves his people like his own son."
The children didn't care so much. They knelt down and shouted again, then ran away with the cloth.
When all the children and elderly people in the village were given three feet of cloth, the gentry and landlords in Wangjiang County also rushed over after hearing the news, each with more than a dozen servants carrying sticks.
After arriving in the village, looking at the famous prostitutes on the high platform, all the gentry and landlords looked ashen-faced, as if they were facing a formidable enemy.
"Folks, don't be in a hurry to go back. There is another great thing I want to tell you. Everyone knows that His Majesty has come to Nanjing, right?"
"Ah? Your Majesty has come to Nanjing?"
These people obviously didn't know that the emperor had arrived in Nanjing.
"Fellows, Your Majesty has been in Nanjing for more than half a month. Your Majesty is well aware of the sufferings of the people in the south. This time you came to Nanjing just to bring about reforms so that everyone can live a better life in the future..."
When the famous prostitute says something, the bodyguard next to her will follow it at the top of her lungs to ensure that everyone can hear her clearly.
When they heard that people without land would no longer have to pay any taxes or perform corvee labor in the future, almost all the people were excited.
Zhu Cihong's edict permanently exempting him from corvee service has been issued for more than a year, but apparently the people at the bottom are still unaware of it.
"Miss Liu, is this true? From now on, we really don't have to pay taxes or do corvee labor anymore?"
"Then there's such a good thing, you're not lying to us, are you?"
After the excitement subsided, the people calmed down and looked at the famous prostitute on the stage with suspicion.
"Folks, it's absolutely true that my boss is the former personal slave of the imperial concubine. Can it still be false?"
The famous prostitute obviously did not dare to say that she was sent by the emperor, and she did not even dare to say that her employer was the imperial concubine. She only dared to say that she was Chen Yuanyuan.
Sure enough, after hearing what she said and thinking that she had come twice to deliver the salt to everyone, and to thank the imperial concubine and Your Majesty for getting the things, almost all the people believed it.
The courtesan struck a chord while the iron was hot: "Folks, Your Majesty loves the people like a son. He knows that we don't have much land and live a hard life. That's why he won't collect taxes from you, but from those who have land and land. When the new policy is implemented,
When we come down, if someone incites everyone to cause trouble and resist the New Deal, they must have bad intentions. They don’t want to pay taxes, and they don’t want everyone to live a good life. Don’t be fooled..."
"It's a bunch of nonsense and it's simply deceiving the public."
"This is unreasonable. Let's all disperse and go back. No one is allowed to come out again. Anyone who dares to go out today should stop planting my Wu family's fields."
All the gentry and landowners couldn't stand hearing this anymore, and their beards stood up in anger, but these famous prostitutes could not move, so they directly threatened the people.
Sure enough, the people were so frightened that they ran back to their homes and never dared to come out again.
"Hmph!"
A group of gentry and landowners came to the high platform with satisfaction, stroking their beards and looking proud.
Last time this woman came to buy people's hearts, they turned a blind eye for the sake of the imperial concubine. Who would have thought that she would go even further. This time she not only bought people's hearts, but also deceived them with her monstrous words. They really thought they
Is it because of the decoration?
If they can't take care of her, why can't they take care of these idiots?
"Everyone, although the Nu family has a low status, everyone must know who sent the Nu family. Aren't you worried about angering Tianyan by causing trouble and forcing the people like this?"
When the courtesan saw that they had driven away the people, her face became a little ugly, and she looked at them and said solemnly.
Obviously he has the emperor's backing, and he speaks with confidence.
Sure enough, the faces of all the gentry and landlords changed slightly, and then they all snorted coldly: "We don't know who you are, and no matter who sent you, these villagers are all tenants of my Wu family.
I asked them to go home and close their doors to prevent theft and thieves. Why not? What crime have they committed?"
"That's right, girl, your origin is unknown and your identity is unknown. You are here to confuse the people. It's good enough that we haven't arrested you to see the officials."
"Let's go..."
The courtesan also knew that she had no official documents and even her status was lowly, so she couldn't reason with them, so she didn't bother with them and went directly to the next village with her people and things.
A group of gentry and landlords also followed with their servants, and warned the people in the village in advance not to come out, and closed all the doors and windows.
"Miss, what should we do? If the people don't come out, how can we distribute things and explain the new policy to them?"
The maid looked at the gentry and landlords who were following them like scoundrel dogs, smiling proudly and feeling angry and anxious.
"Come on, let's go door-to-door to deliver them and tell them. I don't believe they can block the people's ears."
As the courtesan spoke, she led her people outside the courtyard of a farmer's house, asked the bodyguard to climb over the wall and stuff the cotton cloth into the house through the window, and then began to explain into the house.
Seeing this scene, the gentry and landowners were also dumbfounded. They did not expect that she was so determined.
"Brother Wu, what should we do? How about arresting them directly..."
"Absolutely not, this will cause big trouble."
"Yes, you must not mess around at this time."
A landowner said with a stern expression, but was immediately stopped by other gentry and landowners.
Currently, there are two hundred soldiers and horses stationed outside the county town, and a full two thousand soldiers and horses are stationed in the capital city. If they really catch this woman or get her caught, I am afraid that she will be killed as a warning to the monkeys immediately.
Everyone naturally understands such a simple truth. Don't just take action, just kill the woman secretly. In the end, I'm afraid it will attract the emperor's attention, and everyone will be finished.
The courtesan did not really go door to door to explain, but just selected a few families to explain and let them pass it on to each other. When the cotton cloth arrived, each household was stuffed with a piece of cotton cloth.
Despite this, I only visited three villages in one day. Even if I was carried by bodyguards in a soft sedan, I was still very tired.
The landowners and gentry also did not personally watch the sentry, but sent their nephews or stewards at home, with their servants to follow, even if they could not completely stop it, they would still cause trouble.
Scenes like this in Wangjiang County happened in almost all the prefectures and counties in southern Zhili. Obviously, the New Deal had not yet been implemented, and the gentry and landlords in various places began to obstruct it in every possible way.
If it weren't for the troops and horses of the imperial court stationed everywhere, and all the gentry and landowners knowing that the backer behind these prostitutes was the Red Lady, His Majesty must have ordered them to come here this time, otherwise the famous prostitutes who died for no apparent reason would have been ignored.
number.
However, despite the various obstructions from the gentry and landlords everywhere, more than a thousand courtesans were allocated to almost ten in each county. Each of them promoted one or two villages a day, and each village promoted seven or eight households. In a month, almost the entire South
All the people in Zhili are about to know the contents of the New Deal.
They all also understand that the New Deal is for their own good. His Majesty is a good emperor who loves his people like his own son, and those gentry and landlords are not good at all.
By this time, it was already early February.
Apparently, the troubles caused by the gentry and landlords from all over the country delayed Zhu Cixi's follow-up plan for nearly half a month.