The ruthless emperor at the end of Ming Dynasty forced Chongzhen to abdicate at the beginning Chapter 187: The North and the South Are Divided and the Two Capitals Stand Together
Chapter 187: The North and the South Are Divided and the Two Capitals Stand Together
Chapter 187 The North and South are divided and the two capitals stand side by side
As soon as Ma Shiying returned to the cabinet, he summoned all the officials of the seventh rank and above in the eight ministries, and then conveyed the emperor's spirit.
When the officials of the eight ministries heard that Your Majesty did not want the Ministry of Household Affairs to hand over a cent of money, and that all future taxes would be handled by the cabinet, they all looked in disbelief, and then became ecstatic.
At the same time, I admire the emperor's broadmindedness and courage from the bottom of my heart. Such a king is truly unprecedented!
It wasn't until all the officials calmed down that Ma Shiying explained in detail the issues of raising clean silver, funding and bonuses, and focusing on agriculture and business.
After everyone listened, they were also unable to understand the emperor's economic theory.
Ma Shiying didn't care whether they understood or not, and directly asked the Ministry of Accounts to calculate the funds for the Yanglianyin bonus in each prefecture, prefecture, and county within ten days, and then asked the bank to forward it on his behalf.
Finally, he looked at the Minister of the Ministry of Industry and said: "Shang Shu, Wang, the Ministry of Industry will send people to Northern Jiangsu and Henan to conduct on-site inspections, and then formulate a complete diversion plan as soon as possible. Don't slack off, do you understand?"
"Don't worry, Sir, I will do my best and will never make any mistakes." The Minister of Industry and Industry replied excitedly, making other ministers envious.
Especially the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Punishment, the Minister of Rites, and the Ministry of Punishment are okay. From time to time there are officials who have committed crimes to investigate, but the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Rites are completely useless.
…
The new year is approaching.
With the funds for the integrity-supporting silver bonuses in various states and counties in place, the entire Southern Zhili officials' sense of belonging to the imperial court and the emperor has reached an unprecedented height.
Various miscellaneous taxes have been cancelled, and daily necessities such as salt, cotton, cloth, and food have been controlled at reasonable prices by imperial stores in various places. Officials in various places no longer dare to exploit wantonly. In addition, the circulation of treasure banknotes has greatly facilitated transactions.
As a result, the entire southern Zhili is a prosperous scene.
As for the mountain bandits and water bandits who caused harm to various places, they had been wiped out by the Red Lady long ago.
The first issue of the Ming Dynasty Royal Residence Newspaper finally began to be distributed in several southern provinces just before the year.
A total of 100,000 copies were released on the same day, and future issues would no longer be synchronized. To this end, the Propaganda Supervisor set up branches in all provinces, prefectures and counties, becoming the third largest inner court department after banks and imperial stores.
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All the required funds were provided by Chen Yuanyuan's Fengyue Division.
At first, literati from all over the world, in order to resist the royal newspaper, were determined not to read it, even if they had no gray hair, but they had to listen. In the end, many people couldn't hold back their curiosity and asked the servants to get a copy of the newspaper.
Go home and watch secretly.
One hundred thousand copies of the imperial newspaper were evenly distributed throughout the southern provinces, states and counties, and their role was huge. Landowners and gentry in almost all states and counties had a detailed understanding of the New Deal.
It’s no longer like before, where people are just saying what they say, rumors are flying everywhere, and I don’t know which one to believe.
At the same time, the female officials from the Propaganda Branch of each county also went to the countryside with the storyteller bodyguards and a large amount of salt and cloth. While distributing cloth and salt to promote His Majesty's benevolence, they read the contents of the newspaper to the people.
There was no other way. As an emperor, he had to keep a bowl of water level. He distributed cloth and salt to the people in Nanzhili, and the people in other provinces must also be distributed.
With such a massive propaganda campaign going to the countryside, almost all knowledgeable people in the south knew that the other provinces would definitely implement the New Deal.
Zhu Cixiang was also not idle. Although the guard posts in Southern Zhili were not as dense as those in the border towns, there were still some. Now that the gentry and landlords everywhere had surrendered, it was time to deal with them.
Zhu Cixiang did not reform these guard stations, but directly abolished them. The guard cities were changed to county towns or prefectures, the thousand-household units were changed to counties or towns, the hundreds-household units were changed to villages, and all military and craftsmen households were changed to civilian households.
As for the military attachés at the guard station, Zhu Cihong also gave them two choices.
The first option is to give up his official position and become a local landlord directly from now on.
The second option is to give up the land and all real estate, bring your family and wealth to Nanjing, and keep your official status.
Almost all military attaches chose to give up their land and real estate, take their families to Nanjing, and accept other arrangements made by the court.
Obviously, in the hearts of these military attaches, their official positions, inherited from generation to generation, are far more important than land and houses.
Because as long as they have official status and the wealth they have accumulated over dozens of generations, they can slowly buy land and property after arriving in Nanjing.
But if you lose your official status and stay as a local landlord, you may not be able to keep your land in the end, and even your wealth may have to be taken away.
Zhu Cixiang was not surprised by the choice of military attache, because in the thinking of ancient people, being an official was always the first priority.
In ancient times, killing officials and rebelling was not just a talk, so even if it was a powerless household, no one except the emperor would dare to kill it indiscriminately.
Having an official status, even the smallest official, whether civil or military, is equivalent to a layer of protection. Under normal circumstances, no one will feel sorry for you.
This is why those junior officials from the ninth rank, after being awarded the official title, no longer dare to be as arrogant and domineering as before, and have become very cherishing their reputation.
Because he was afraid that his reputation would be ruined and his official status would be taken away.
For these military attachés, Zhu Cixiang also planned to include them in the team of contractors under the Construction Supervision, and let them be responsible for the projects of the Construction Engineering Department and the Construction Supervision in the future.
These contractors and construction supervisors are in a cooperative relationship and do not belong to each other. However, whoever dares to cut corners and violate the standards set by the construction supervisor will be fined and rebuilt, disqualified, and jailed and deprived of official status at the worst, so the deterrent is still huge.
At least this generation of military attache contractors do not dare to act too randomly for the sake of their official status.
After abolishing the health center, Zhu Cihong began to prepare for the implementation of the New Deal and imperial examination reforms in various provinces in the coming year.
First, South Zhili and Huguang were divided into two parts. To the east of South Zhili were Xuzhou, Huai'an Prefecture, Yangzhou Prefecture, Yingtian Prefecture, Zhenjiang Prefecture, Suzhou Prefecture, Changzhou Prefecture, Songjiang Prefecture, Taiping Prefecture, Guangzhou Prefecture, and Hezhou Prefecture.
Chuzhou, etc. are Jiangnan Province.
At the same time, Zhenjiang Prefecture and Changzhou Prefecture were merged, and the name was still Changzhou Prefecture. Songjiang Prefecture and Suzhou Prefecture were merged, and the name was still Suzhou Prefecture. Guangzhou, Hezhou, Chuzhou, and Taiping Prefecture were all merged into Yingtian Prefecture.
In this way, Jiangnan Province only has five prefectures and one state, including Huai'an Prefecture, Yangzhou Prefecture, Yingtian Prefecture, Suzhou Prefecture, Changzhou Prefecture, and Xuzhou Prefecture.
The reason for the merger is that these prefectures are too small. Most of them have jurisdiction over four or five counties, while some have jurisdiction over one or two counties.
Secondly, it is not a strategic location. There are no mountains and rivers to block it, so there is no need to set up a separate Zhili Prefecture and Prefecture. Thirdly, it can reduce the expenditure of the court.
The capital of Jiangnan Province is still located in Nanjing, and Nanjing is still the companion capital of the Ming Dynasty.
Fengyang Prefecture, Luzhou Prefecture, Anqing Prefecture, Chizhou Prefecture, Huizhou Prefecture, Ningguo Prefecture, etc. to the west of South Zhili are set as Huaixi Province. There is no need to merge these six prefectures, which are quite reasonable. The capital and administrative office are set up as Huaixi Province.
In Luzhou, which was Hefei in the previous life.
Huguang is much simpler. It is directly bounded by Jingzhou Prefecture and Wuchang Prefecture. The north of the two prefectures, including the two prefectures, is Hubei Province, and the south of the two prefectures is Hunan.
Wuchang, the administrative seat of Hubei Province, and Changsha, the administrative seat of Hunan Province. The divisions among the prefectures of Hubei Province are relatively reasonable and do not need to be adjusted. There are many chieftains in Hunan and they are too complicated, so it is not suitable to adjust them for the time being.
As a result, excluding Sichuan, there are ten provinces in South China, namely Jiangnan, Huaixi, Hunan, Hubei, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan, and Guizhou.
Each of the ten provinces has only one governor, who is in charge of the civil and political affairs of a province. At the same time, the Provincial Envoys Department has been abolished, and the Inspection and Envoys Department has been assigned to direct the Envoys Department, and eight corresponding branches have been established.
Each directly affiliated state and government does not need to establish corresponding subordinate agencies. It only serves as a transfer station for government orders. Each county can add a commercial building and a farm building.
In the future, after the New Deal is implemented and the system is improved, the eight central ministries will slowly delegate some powers to the provincial branches.
The ten southern provinces are still under the temporary control of Nanjing.
There is no way, given the current situation, I am afraid that the separation of north and south will continue to be implemented for a long time, with the two capitals coexisting.
After all, the gap between the rich and the poor between the north and the south is too big. The north has been in war for many years and its population has dropped sharply, while the south has a dense population and is relatively stable.
Zhu Cixiang's plan was to wait until all the New Deal was implemented in the south, then turn around and carry out more radical reforms in the north to completely solve the land issue, and then implement the second round of reforms in the south.
Therefore, the separation of the north and the south will have to be carried out for at least ten more years. After the New Deal is fully implemented, the two capitals, the north and the south, will be abolished at the same time, and a new capital, Zhongjing, will be established in the center of the country in a geomantic treasure place.
Of course, the main reason why Zhu Cixi dared to coexist the two capitals and divide the north and the south was because the conditions were too good.
Not only did he have two wise queen mothers who were devoted to him, but there was also a noble concubine who was loyal and capable of leading troops in war.
There were two queen mothers in charge of the northern and southern capitals, so he and the Red Lady could take turns. When he was reforming in the south, the Red Lady would sit in command of the army in the north.
When he reforms in the north, he can also send the Red Lady south to Nanjing to control the armies of the southern provinces.
I am afraid that except for Zhu Cihong, no other dynasty or any emperor would have dared to coexist like this with two capitals.
Because this is no longer just an additional capital, but two systems, two sets of people, and even the power of the eight civil servants in the Nanjing cabinet exceeds that of Beijing.
This situation will naturally arouse the jealousy and dissatisfaction of the six departments of the northern cabinet and all officials.
Almost since October, the civil servants in Beijing have realized that if things continue like this, sooner or later they will have to return to their hometowns to support their relatives, so they have also made suggestions to implement the New Deal in the north.
Civil servants from the northern provinces also joined in the fun and submitted petitions. Donglin Party officials in Beijing unexpectedly united with Wei Zaode and other original members to unanimously support the New Deal and strongly recommended its immediate implementation in the north.
Of course, Donglin Party officials do not really support the New Deal, but they cannot support it. Instead of waiting for the Eunuch Party to lead the New Deal reforms in the future, it is better for them to take the lead now.
For this reason, Hou Xun and Shi Kefa could only pinch their noses and choose to cooperate with Wei Zaode and support him as their first assistant.
There is no way, Qian Qianyi went to North Korea, and there is no news so far, which makes the Donglin Party's voice in Beijing less powerful than before. In addition, almost all Donglin Party officials in Nanjing were squeezed out by Ma Shiying, leaving the Donglin Party in Beijing.
Lin Party officials all felt that they were in a huge crisis.
Similarly, Wei Zaode was extremely envious, jealous, and hateful towards Ma Shiying, a powerful second-in-command, Grand Scholar of Fengtian Palace, and Crown Prince.
So he decisively joined the Donglin Party and became the party leader.
But the reality is cruel and despairing. Empress Zhou reported the situation reported by the northern officials to Nanjing. Zhu Cixiang directly replied to Empress Zhou and asked Wei Zaode to retire and return to his hometown, leaving the position of chief assistant vacant.
This pouring of cold water on officials from various ministries in Beijing was so heart-breaking that they could no longer raise any ambitions. They had to either live in idleness and wait to die, or resign in anger.