In the Imperial Palace of Jinling City, in the Jinshen Hall, all the important officials of the Xia Kingdom gathered here.
One person held the memorial in his hand, took a step forward, bowed and said:
"Your Majesty, there is an urgent report from Hailing County! Last year, Zhang Shicheng, a saltman, was dissatisfied with the imperial system and gathered more than a thousand saltmen to rebel and rebel. Now it is getting bigger and bigger, coercing the people, and has begun to capture the city."
"Under the jurisdiction of Hailing County, the four counties of Zilang, Haiyang, Linjiang, and Putao have been attacked repeatedly. The local government can only control the city. Even Taizhou, the seat of Hailing County, is often attacked by rebels.
Thieves are attacking!"
When Yu Zhaoling heard the courtier's report, his brows suddenly furrowed tightly. While asking someone to take the memorial, he asked:
"I remember that last year, Yandu County reported that there were only a thousand rebel Yanding people. Why did it happen that it only took half a year to sweep half of the county?"
At the beginning, Zhang Shicheng only fled with more than a thousand people. Logically speaking, such a thing was classified as a mountain bandit, and Yu Zhaoling should not have known about it.
However, Hailing County is close to the sea and adjacent to the south of the Yangtze River. It has the benefits of salt fishing and the people are rich. It can be said to be a blessed place. In addition, the Xia Kingdom has just begun to implement the official salt tax system. Naturally, the Xia Kingdom's court is incomparable.
Attention, even the matter of Zhang Shicheng was handed over to Yu Zhaoling.
Listening to Yu Zhaoling's inquiry, the courtier showed a tangled look on his face. After a moment of silence, he gritted his teeth and said:
"Your Majesty does not know that after the rebellion, these salt soldiers raided the Zilang County arsenal and obtained a large number of armors and weapons. We only know from local military reports that these rebels now only care about weapons and weapons, and even
They are better than the local soldiers in Hailing County!"
Listening to this, before Yu Zhaoling could speak, a military official came out and retorted:
"Impossible! Zilang County is not a heavily-garrisoned county. The arsenal in the city is equipped with leather armor, weapons, and even bows and arrows for more than a hundred people. How can the rebels be reborn?"
A city like Zilang County is not an important military town, nor is it responsible for the supply of surrounding garrison troops. The arsenal is nothing more than a few soldiers, and the equipment of the county soldiers should not allow the rebels to grow to such an extent!
The courtier who was refuted looked embarrassed, opened his mouth, and simply said:
"When the rebels captured Zilang County, the bandit Zhang Shicheng personally led seventeen people, armed with poles, sickles, hoes and other things, and sneaked into the city. They killed the Zilang County magistrate and county lieutenants, and took advantage of the turmoil in the city to directly seize the city.
The means are quite sophisticated and quite 'tricky'."
"But after that, the rebels obtained enough armor and weapons, and even under the leadership of the bandit leader, they were able to win a fierce battle with the local soldiers who came to encircle and suppress them, so that the soldiers of Hailing County did not dare to go out of the city to fight in the field...
…”
Yu Zhaoling was also a man who was familiar with war. When he heard what the courtier said, he immediately laughed angrily and snorted:
"Absurd! More than a thousand salt soldiers, without any training in the army, can actually defeat local county soldiers even if they have armor and weapons?"
Local county soldiers may appear like a mob in front of regular border troops.
But after all, they are also an army, the second-line troops of the Xia Kingdom. The soldiers have practiced battle formations and military martial arts. Even though their armor is incomplete, they are still equipped with many weapons, bows and crossbows.
It sounds a bit ridiculous that a team of salt soldiers who have never been trained before and have never killed anyone before have seen blood can win in battle!
The courtier who reported back had hints in his words before. But at this time, Yu Zhaoling still didn't seem to understand the deep meaning of his words.
He couldn't help but sigh, took a deep breath, and gritted his teeth:
"Your Majesty, I am actually just telling you that there are many things wrong with this..."
"The bandit Zhang Shicheng led people to sneak into Zilang County, and just in time, he killed the county magistrate and the county lieutenant who were supposed to be in the county office and the county barracks. There are obviously not many weapons and armors in Zilang County, but
It was enough to arm thousands of rebels. There were also local county soldiers who went to encircle and suppress them. They were defeated too quickly, and one of them was bound to..."
"Okay, stop talking!"
Before the courtier could finish speaking, he was suddenly interrupted.
The person who suddenly interrupted at this time was none other than Mei Chong, a veteran of the Xia Dynasty and the current Situ who was responsible for promoting the state-run salt tax system.
Mei Chong glanced at the courtier, then turned to look at Yu Zhaoling, cupped his hands and saluted:
"This matter involves too many things. Your Majesty, please leave the following matters to your ministers for detailed investigation!"
Yu Zhaoling frowned even more tightly. He glanced around at the courtiers in the palace who bowed their heads in silence, and suddenly realized that something seemed wrong in the atmosphere.
Looking at Mei Chong, he pondered for a while, then reacted and said:
"Is it related to the salt tax?"
Mei Chong did not speak, but looked up at Yu Zhaoling, his expression solemn, and nodded imperceptibly.
Classifying the salt industry as a state-owned enterprise, a seemingly light-hearted decree, directly deprived many salt merchants of their daily income. No matter who it was placed on, it was obviously impossible for them not to react at all!
Many difficult-to-understand problems in the Hailing County Rebellion can be explained as long as the dissatisfied salt merchants are included.
Helping the rebels to seize Zilang County, helping to arm the rebels, and even secretly informing the rebels to help them defeat the Hailing County soldiers who went to encircle and suppress them. These things are not considered important to the salt merchants who are wealthy and have great hands and eyes.
Such a difficult thing!
The atmosphere in Jinshen Hall seemed a bit solemn.
But a moment later, Yu Zhaoling, who was sitting on the dragon chair, suddenly laughed a few times for some unknown reason.
"What a good thing!"
As soon as these words came out, the ministers in the palace were slightly startled, and with a hint of suspicion, they looked at Yu Zhaoling on the dragon chair.
In fact, these salt merchants are no longer just businessmen. Maybe there are people in the Jinshen Palace who have close contacts with the salt merchants at this time. It is even certain that some people in the palace are directly salt merchants.
A big backer, a real big boss!
On one side is the new policy of the country, which is related to taxation. On the other side is the powerful salt merchant interest group hidden in the dark. If the handling is not careful, it may turn into a catastrophe for the Xia Dynasty court, which is now suffering from serious foreign threats...
…
How can these things be considered good things?
Noticing the surprised expressions of the courtiers, Yu Zhaoling chuckled and said:
"What I envy the most about Emperor Yun is that as soon as he ascended the throne, he ransacked his homes, confiscated Buddhist temple properties, and sent massive amounts of gold and silver to the Yun Kingdom's treasury, which directly supported the Yun Kingdom's financial expenditure for three years. Also
, the news just came back from the southwest. These days, Emperor Yun is on tour, and wherever he goes, he spends gold and silver lavishly to win over people's hearts. Isn't he able to be so lavish just because of his original means of confiscating homes! "
Having said this, Yu Zhaoling lowered his eyes slightly, with a smile on his face and a faintly authentic tone:
"Now that the national treasury is empty, these salt merchants happen to have strong financial backgrounds, and they have given the handle to me. Isn't this a good thing?"
Just because of Xiao Cheng's "successful" experience, Yu Zhaoling, who had only ascended the throne not long ago, had already deeply understood what the "Emperor's Guide to Getting Rich" is...
As soon as Yu Zhaoling said this, many courtiers in the palace felt calm and okay, but those who had some evil thoughts suddenly felt cold and sweaty on their backs, and they tried hard to hold it back so as not to let their colleagues around them see it.
You must know that when Yu Zhaoling, the current emperor of the Xia Kingdom, was first crowned the crown prince, he immediately launched a great purge in the court, which directly wiped out the party strife that had taken root in the Xia Kingdom's court for more than a hundred years.
In addition, Yu Zhaoling has also been in the army for many years, and has won the trust of a group of Xia Kingdom's most elite frontier generals, and controls the military power. His second-grade embroidered clothes envoy Zhong Zizuo is now also inspecting Yun Kingdom's spies.
In the name of Xia Guo, he planted secret agents in Xia Kingdom to monitor the world.
Such an emperor, when he talks about confiscation of his house, he really does so without any ambiguity...
Previously, Mei Chong was struggling with how to implement the New Deal while appeasing and balancing the salt merchant interest groups in the DPRK and China.
But at this moment, Yu Zhaoling's words made him suddenly enlightened.
After all the effort and effort to appease the balance, in the end these people may not be willing to accept the favor. Instead of doing so, it is better to conduct a strict investigation and confiscate the homes of all those involved. The assets obtained will be put into the national treasury for the expenditure of the court.
.
Anyway, because hundreds of families are now deeply involved in internal affairs, there is no shortage of scholars in the world who are willing to serve as officials!
Thinking of this, Mei Chong's eyes immediately lit up, he bowed to Yu Zhaoling and shouted:
"Your Majesty is wise!"
The courtiers in the palace looked at each other in confusion at first, and then the clever ones hurriedly leaned over to salute and shouted:
"Your Majesty is wise!"
Those courtiers who had secrets in their hearts did not dare to show it at this time, so they could only hold their noses and bow together to salute.
After discussing these matters, most of the officials in the palace bowed and resigned, leaving only a dozen important officials in the center of the Xia Kingdom's court who continued to stay in the palace to discuss confidential and important matters of the court.
"How is the war in the north going?"
"Back to Your Majesty, frontline military report, everything goes well!"
"Our army started preparing to attack the Turks last year. We have made many preparations such as food, grass, ordnance, and medicine. However, the grassland tribes suffered heavy losses due to last year's wind and snow. They were caught off guard and the forward army had already broken through 100,000 soldiers.
There are two large tribes with more than 100,000 people, seven medium-sized tribes with tens of thousands of people, and the remaining small tribes are not counted."
Hearing this, Yu Zhaoling nodded slightly and said sternly:
"The purpose of sending troops this time is to take advantage of the opportunity when the Yun Kingdom is unable to continue to move north and the Turkic forces are damaged, to eliminate the threat in the north in one fell swoop, to prevent the danger of being attacked from both sides in the future. Therefore, in this battle, we must take the initiative to attack the Turks directly
Royal Court. Along the way, all the grassland tribes encountered will be slaughtered without leaving a single one alive. Even if the Turks cannot be wiped out, their vitality will be severely damaged and they will not dare to go south for ten years!"
The words were filled with chilling meaning, and his breath was high and upward. In a daze, the Yu Zhaoling in front of him seemed to have turned into the high-spirited look he had when King Qi was serving in the Northern Army...
"Yes!" All the ministers saluted and shouted with great momentum.
"Where's the Yun Kingdom?"
When the Yun Kingdom was mentioned, the officials' high-spirited attitude towards the Turks suddenly froze.
"The withdrawn armies have been reorganized. Now the troops and horses of Yuzhang County and Rong County are controlled by Lieutenant General Sun Qianfang. The troops and horses of Nanyang County and Xunyang County are commanded by Hanchuan Marquis and Liyi General Liao Gu."
Hearing this, Yu Zhaoling breathed a sigh of relief, nodded and said:
"Lieutenant General Sun Qianfang is a veteran on the battlefield with rich experience. Liao Gu, the Marquis of Hanchuan, is a famous general of our new generation in Great Xia. He knows his shame and becomes brave. Now even Wu Zixu of Yun State cannot stand in front of him. What a bargain..."
"The Yun army is now stationary and has no intention of continuing to attack. It has lost its edge. Now that Sun Qianfang and Liao Gu are in charge, we can feel relieved for the time being."
When Jiangzhou City had just been captured, the Yun army sharpened their swords and had the potential to destroy the Xia Kingdom in one fell swoop. The Turks in the north even wanted to go south, intending to take advantage of the situation and rob them.
A lot of news spread to Jinling City, and the people of the government and the public were shocked and inexplicable. Some people even fled Jinling City in panic, showing signs that the country was in turmoil and the country was about to die.
Now, the southwest defense line has been stabilized again, the Yun army has stopped moving forward, the northern offensive has been extremely smooth, and the situation has improved again.
Even though the territory of the Yun Kingdom is no worse than that of the Xia Kingdom now, with the prosperity of the Xia Kingdom, as long as the current situation is maintained and you can take a breath, there is nothing to worry about.
Mei Chong continued to stand up, bowed and said:
"Your Majesty, the war in the north is going smoothly now, the new southwest army has begun to reorganize and train, and the situation has improved... The only problem is back to the empty treasury."
When the treasury is full, it can send out troops to conquer and win over people's hearts like Yun Emperor Xiao Cheng did in recent years, without having to tie his hands and feet like Yu Zhaoling.
When Yu Zhaoling heard this, he nodded slightly and said without hesitation:
"Zhong Zizuo, the second-grade embroidery envoy, happened to go to Liyang County more than a month ago to investigate the spies of Yun State. I immediately issued an order for him to rush to Hailing County. The matter of the salt merchants just mentioned will be handed over to He took care of it. With his ability, the people of Yun State can't escape his eyes, let alone those salt merchants!"
When Mei Chong heard this, he immediately recalled the deeds of Zhong Zizuo, the second-grade embroiderer.
He was a former minister of Qiandi in the southwest. He served under His Majesty when he was still King Qi. He is loyal and reliable. He joined the Xiuyi Envoys and captured many spies of the Yun Kingdom. He has outstanding achievements and a good reputation.
For such a person, it's easy to check out the salt dealer!
By then, the property of these people will be confiscated, the New Deal will be implemented smoothly, and the national treasury will be completely filled. Many of the current difficulties in the government will be easily solved.
As for Zhang Shicheng, the bandit who swept half of Hailing County, without the support of the salt merchants, he naturally could not calm down the storm, so Mei Chong did not pay much attention to it.
After Yu Zhaoling and Mei Chong finished their discussion, at this time, outside the palace, a palace attendant trotted into the palace, holding a memorial and kneeling on the ground, reporting:
"Your Majesty, Honglu Temple reports that the Yun State envoy is here..."
There is something wrong with the keyboard. I don’t know why, it has become too sensitive. I keep typing typos, which makes me very irritable...