The snow this winter was particularly heavy. The Shenyang Palace was almost buried under heavy snow. In such weather, going out in Liaodong would be in danger of freezing to death.
Some slaves, under the supervision of the Eight Banners soldiers, are working hard to clear the snow in the palace. At least they must clear a passage for the ministers to enter the palace.
Li Yongfang's mink fur still felt cold, not to mention the slaves who were cleaning up the snow. Every once in a while, someone would fall to the ground due to the cold.
Behind him, a group of people followed behind carrying boxes.
After entering Daqing Gate and entering the square, you will see Chongzheng Hall in front of you. To the east of the square is Feilong Pavilion and to the west is Xiangfeng Pavilion.
Today Huang Taiji summoned Li Yongfang in Feilong Pavilion.
Huang Taiji of Feilong Pavilion clasped his hands behind his back and looked at the heavy snow outside the open window, feeling very heavy. The drought in Liaodong has been very serious in the past two years, and the land in Liaodong simply cannot support so many people.
He didn't quite understand why Liaodong had no problem feeding more than three million Han people during the Wanli period, but by the Qing Dynasty it was no longer possible to feed hundreds of thousands of bannermen.
Ever since Nurhachi occupied Liaodong, the food problem has become the biggest problem.
The Ming Dynasty transported grain from within the customs to support the army in Liaodong. Now that Liaodong belongs to the Qing Dynasty, we can't continue to ask the Ming Dynasty to transport grain to support the army for the Qing Dynasty.
Since Nurhachi moved his capital to Shenyang, grain output has declined year by year, and the grain output of this land can no longer feed the population of this land.
They soon discovered that since they took control of this land, problems that were not problems before have now become problems, and they are very big problems.
Nurhachi's method to deal with the problem of food shortage was to kill the poor. As long as the family did not have five buckets of rice to save food, all of them were killed.
The soldiers of the Eight Banners went from house to house searching and killing, which was called killing the poor ghosts.
After killing hundreds of thousands of poor people, the food problem seemed to be somewhat alleviated. Within two years, food was in short supply again.
This time Nurhaci decided to kill the middle households and rob all their property to use it to purchase grain to supply the Eight Banners officers and soldiers.
After killing all the middle households, things went well for a few years, the population dwindled, and the amount of food needed also dropped. But within a few years, food was in short supply again.
The old Khan King is going crazy. Why is there still not enough food?
So they began to kill the rich again and confiscate their property. After this time, there were basically very few of the 3 million Han people in Liaodong. Most of the survivors were the surrendered Ming troops and their families.
After Huang Taiji came to power, he realized that the Eight Banners had turned the Han people into slaves. The Han people had little interest in production, and they died of overwork due to abuse and hunger within a few years. The population continued to decline, and the declining part still worked. people.
For the Han people, no matter how much they produce, they do not belong to them. They can only eat food that depends on their lives. No matter whether it is a good year or a bad year, it is strange to be motivated to produce.
The yields of the fields are getting lower and lower, and we can fool them if they can. These Eight Banners cannot organize social production at all, and cannot be stable and self-sufficient.
During the Chongzhen period, there was a scholar from Liaodong who passed the Jinshi examination in Shuntian Mansion. At the banquet after passing the examination, he sang a song for his peers and he sang it very well.
Everyone was amazed that a Jinshi scholar was so versatile and could sing more wonderful songs than professional actors.
Unexpectedly, this man shed tears.
He said that it was only because of his ability to sing that he survived and had the chance to escape from Liaodong. Today he was able to come to the capital to take part in the imperial examination.
It turns out that in Nurhaci's last operation to kill rich people, Nurhachi stipulated that certain types of people should not be killed. These people were of some use to the banner people, including actors and actresses, who could entertain the Eight Banners. They could be left behind but not killed.
When these Eight Banners soldiers went from house to house to kill everyone, this Juren claimed to be an opera singer, and the Eight Banners soldiers asked him to sing on the spot. The result was that he sang very well, so he was not killed.
Huang Taiji thought in his mind that he could not change the Eight Banners' policy of dividing Han people into slaves. If he objected, he would be in danger of being abandoned by the bannermen.
This policy basically destroyed normal social production and could not establish a stable social structure that could be self-sufficient. He could only continue to attack the Ming Dynasty and constantly plunder to supplement the lack of resources.
"Your Majesty, Li Yongfang is here."
"Xuan" Huang Taiji sat on the throne and said expressionlessly.
The door opened, and Li Yongfang kowtowed respectfully, "Slave Li Yongfang bows before the Emperor."
Huang Taiji smiled and said kindly: "I would like to ask you, we are all members of the same family, so there is no need to be polite."
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Li Yongfang slowly got up. In the past two years, after the death of the old Khan King, his life was not easy, and his power was not as good as before.
"Have you found out everything about Bobai?" Huang Taiji asked.
He has two secret forces in his hands. One is a military force, which is Bobai's dark cavalry. These people often penetrate into the border towns of the Ming Dynasty to perform tasks. The other is the Tangzi led by Li Yongfang. The main thing is that
Responsible for dispatching spies and organizing secret intelligence networks.
The hall is a place for Manchu shamans to worship and worship gods. Li Yongfang's group used this as a cover to engage in intelligence activities.
"Your Majesty, Bobai was killed by Yang Fan, the commander of the Zunhua Guards in Ji Town of the Ming Dynasty. It has been found out that the secret item that Your Majesty ordered Bobai to retrieve has also disappeared. It is estimated that it fell into the hands of Yang Fan.
"Li Yongfang lowered his head and said.
"Have you found out the background of this Yang Fan?" Huang Taiji asked.
"This, not yet. This person seems to have appeared out of thin air. He suddenly appeared in Zunhua five months ago. The origin of this person has never been found. I only know that he was Dongchang's fanzi when he appeared."
Huang Taiji nodded. It makes sense. The people in Dongchang killed Bobai and his son who secretly sneaked into Jizhen for business. It seems normal that the people in Dongchang can't find out the origin. After all, it is a larger secret agency.
.
"This person seems to be involved with the royal family. Recently he led troops to the capital, expelled the Holy Lady from the palace, and disarmed the eunuchs in the palace. He helped the Ming Emperor consolidate power. From these signs, it seems that he
He was the secret subordinate of Emperor Ming when he was in his residence."
Huang Taiji's face was gloomy and he didn't speak. He didn't know what he was thinking.
Li Yongfang paused for a while and continued: "He also opened some kind of supermarket. Everything sold there is cheaper than on the market, especially grain. The price is unbelievably cheap. A load of white rice only costs one cent and five cents.
The slave found out that the shareholder behind this supermarket is the queen of the Ming Dynasty."
This sentence made Huang Taiji horrified for the first time, "What are you talking about? He sells white rice for one cent and five cents per load."