Chapter 97 Qichunian persuades Chongzhen to lie down
Early morning the next day.
The civil and military officials of the entire dynasty discussed how to deal with and contain Xujiazhuang for a whole morning. However, apart from being a bad idea, they still could not come up with a reasonable and feasible plan with few side effects, and countless words were wasted.
Just after dinner in the afternoon, Zhu Youjian cheered up and prepared to go to Qianqing Palace to handle government affairs and continue to work hard. Although he didn't know whether this diligence would be effective, it would definitely not work without hard work. Jiajing, Wanli and himself The emperor's brother is all evading responsibility, which is why the empire has become like this. If he also slacks off and degenerates, the Ming Dynasty will be completely destroyed. He must shoulder the responsibility.
"Your Majesty, Qichunian, the commercial representative of Xujiazhuang, asked to see you. He said that he was sent by Xujiazhuang and wanted to talk to the court and you, Your Majesty."
Che Tianxiang, the Ouchi eunuch, came over and reported.
"Xujiazhuang wants to talk to me?"
A sense of absurdity welled up in Zhu Youjian's heart. A businessman wanted to talk to him, the emperor, directly to Tianting. Are today's businessmen, who used to be at the end of the four peoples, so prosperous?
But remembering that he seemed to have met Qichunnian many times and talked to him many times, he said, "Let him wait in Dongnuan Pavilion. I will go see him later."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Zhu Youjian handled the government affairs for an hour in the Qianqing Palace and let Qichunnian dry out for a while. Then he left for Dongnuan Pavilion and met Qichunnian who was waiting inside.
"Your Majesty, your wait is really long. Now there are clocks and watches in the palace. I hope your Majesty will give you an exact length of time in the future, such as half an hour, one hour, etc., so that I can arrange it reasonably instead of wasting time waiting. .”
When Qi Chun Nian saw the emperor, he could not bow down and bow down, but he actually dared to complain to the emperor.
"Qichunian, you are so bold. How dare you be rude to His Majesty?"
Wang Chengen jumped out and wanted to call someone to take him down. He also thought about the close cooperative relationship between Huangdian and Xujiazhuang, and Qichunnian was the core person in charge. Once the two sides fell out, it would seriously affect the interests of the royal family. Wang Chengen's momentum Then he became weak and just pointed at him without calling anyone.
"Representative Qi, there is no need to delve into the details. Tell me, what is the purpose of Xujiazhuang sending you here?"
Zhu Youjian said with a straight face. Faced with Qichunnian's complaint, he actually felt a sense of wrongdoing, but as an emperor, it was impossible for him to admit his mistake, not even the promise of 'let him wait a little longer next time' Yes, I can only change the subject, get straight to the point, and ask him what his purpose is.
"Of course I came here to express my congratulations to His Majesty," Qichunnian said.
"Congratulations? Where is the joy? Where does the joy come from?" Sitting on a soft golden wooden chair, Zhu Youjian's face darkened. He was anxious every day now and suffered from serious mental exhaustion. This guy actually wanted to congratulate him, Are you trying to trick him?
"Happiness in two places."
Qichunnian clasped his fingers and said: "First, the noble gentry from Jiangnan secretly formed an army and intended to rebel. Now that the army in Jiangnan has been defeated, Your Majesty has one less worry to worry about, and stability has been restored in Jiangnan. Isn't this a happy event? Secondly, Xujiazhuang has completed the second round of expansion, adding more than 3 million acres of cultivated land and increasing the population by 1.5 million, which means that the taxes and grains handed over to His Majesty's internal funds will increase to 1 million shi, and the tax will increase to 100,000. Two taels of silver, which adds up to 1.1 million, plus the annual salt tax of 500,000, the total is 1.6 million, which is at least one-third of the annual income of the Ministry of Household Affairs."
"Your Majesty, Xujiazhuang's sphere of influence only covers the Yangzhou Prefecture, and it has brought such huge benefits to Your Majesty. If Xujiazhuang is expanded ten times or a hundred times to cover the entire Ming Dynasty, how much money and food taxes will it bring?
The future is very bright. Once your Majesty has enough money and food, he will be able to solve many difficult problems. Isn't this a happy event?"
Hearing these bizarre remarks that shattered ordinary people's perceptions.
Chongzhen Zhu Youjian almost squirted out.
The noble gentry of Jiangnan are the foundation of the Ming Dynasty. They suffered heavy defeats and blows. Even the Ming Dynasty suffered a huge blow. In this guy's mouth, it actually became a happy event?
When Xujiazhuang's collective estate expanded to two counties, the imperial court could no longer tolerate it. Now it covered an entire prefecture, accounting for only one of the 140 prefectures in the Ming Dynasty. However, Yangzhou was the most elite and richest place. If
Xujiazhuang continued to expand and occupied 14 prefectures in South Zhili. Even if it only occupied one-tenth of the 140 prefectures, it was the center of wealth, money and food, and the lifeblood of the Ming Empire. If it was lost, it would be controlled by Xujiazhuang.
, that would definitely kill Daming!
Qichunnian confused right and wrong and said that this was a great event?
Zhu Youjian felt as if his IQ was being pressed to the ground and rubbed.
"Shut up!"
Zhu Youjian scolded him and said: "Don't confuse the public and call a deer a horse. I am not a three-year-old child! The crime in the Jiangnan incident was the violent expansion of Xujiazhuang, which occupied the gentry's land first. The nobles and gentry jointly counterattacked later. Xujiazhuang was the one who committed the most heinous crimes!"
Xujiazhuang did not bow his head and plead guilty, but instead used strong words to confuse right and wrong. You Xujiazhuang are so bold, what are your intentions?"
Chongzhen stared at Qichunnian with eyes full of anger, his body trembled with anger, and he felt strong disgust and murderous intention towards Xujiazhuang!
"Your Majesty's words are wrong."
Qichunnian said calmly: "The rules of this world never distinguish between right and wrong, good and evil. Whoever wins is right, and whoever loses is evil. Our Xujiazhuang is the strong one, and the Jiangnan gentry are as weak as chickens.
The Jiangnan gentry will naturally have to succumb to us. If our Xujiazhuang is weak and the Jiangnan gentry is strong, will they have any kindness to Xujiazhuang? When those well-dressed noble gentry plotted against Xujiazhuang, they said that all men should be killed
Kill them all, and the women will be slaves and prostitutes, and they will be ravaged to their heart's content. Can Your Majesty imagine that these are the words of sanctimonious gentlemen? If Xujiazhuang is defeated, the misery will be ten times that of the Jiangnan gentry today!"
"you……"
Chongzhen wanted to refute such fallacies and heresies that were completely inconsistent with the morals of saints and sages, but when he thought about it carefully, if Xujiazhuang was really defeated, the consequences would be very cruel indeed.
"Hmph! If Xujiazhuang hadn't engaged in any expansion, how could it have attracted such hatred? Perhaps Xujiazhuang was at fault first, and the gentry just wanted to fight back."
"Your Majesty, I have already said that this world never looks at right or wrong, but at interests. Especially for Your Majesty, the gentry often occupy thousands or tens of thousands of acres but do not pay a penny in land tax or tax.
, the common people worked hard and had no leisure all year round, but 30% of the harvest was taken away by the government, and 50% of the harvest was taken away by the gentry and landlords. They only owned a measly 20% and struggled to make a living. But for the officials of the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty's
The royal family and the Ming Dynasty's army all rely on these miserable common people to support themselves. Your Majesty, would you like to see more such common people, or would you like to see more gentry and landlords poaching the Ming Dynasty?" Qi
Spring question.
"Nonsense! The imperial court has a quota for preferential treatment of scholars. Scholars are exempted from 50 acres, and those who are promoted to scholars are 200 acres. If the amount exceeds the amount, taxes will still be paid. The number of people admitted to the imperial examination is limited. No matter how preferential or exempted, the tax exemption will only be a few million acres.
It’s just one of the hundred fields in the world.”
"Yes, this was indeed the case in the past, but now the trend of private donations is prevalent. There are many gentry who do not pay taxes. The government servants dare not offend them at all. If your majesty sends Jin Yiwei to the countryside to investigate, he will definitely find that all five people in the world
Much of the land has fallen into the hands of noble gentry and clans. What they have in common is that they do not pay taxes, and the situation is still deteriorating. The taxes that the court can collect are still decreasing, and the same is true with the addition of Liao pay. Ordinary people have already
The people are destitute and their wealth is exhausted, and squeezing them any further will only be counterproductive, causing more and more rogue bandits to fight. Only with the help of Xujiazhuang, can Your Majesty collect more taxes, and counting on those Jiangnan gentry, please answer these questions:
"
"Xujiazhuang can lend a large sum of money to His Majesty, but can those noble gentry?"
"Can Xujiazhuang pay taxes in accordance with the law? Can they pay taxes to the gentry as one and stop annexing land and squeezing the poor people?"
"Xujiazhuang consciously assumes so many responsibilities, but His Majesty does not treat Xujiazhuang as his own people, does not cherish and care for it, and instead sits on the side of the officials and gentry. Isn't this confusion?"
Faced with these questions, Chongzhen Zhu Youjian was speechless. He could not think of a suitable rebuttal, and he had to admit that these words did make some sense.
Qichunnian continued to be tempting: "Your Majesty, don't count on those greedy and selfish civil servants and gentry. They will only hinder big things. Cooperate with Xujiazhuang. Xujiazhuang is the most trustworthy support. Just imagine, if Xujiazhuang has 10,000 houses
The manor has a population of 100 million, so the grain handed over to the internal fund every year is tens of millions of dan, and the silver is 5 million taels. With so much money and grain, are you afraid that you will not be able to exterminate the bandits and create slaves? And Xujiazhuang
The management is self-contained. There is no need for the court to send officials, which saves a lot of salary, and there is no need for the court to station troops. The young men in the manor can defeat all enemies, saving a lot of military expenses. If the Xu family manors are regarded as the court
As soon as the new health clinics are spread throughout the Ming Dynasty, an unprecedented prosperous age will come..."
lure.
Qichunian tried his best to paint an extremely bright prospect, tempting Chongzhen, a 22-year-old young monarch.
As long as Chongzhen and Xujiazhuang reach strategic cooperation, they will support Xujiazhuang's full expansion.
Then you will save a lot of money in raising an official in the future.
I also saved a lot of money to support the army.
But it still brings in nearly 20 million in revenue every year.
I don’t know how much easier life will be in Chongzhen. The burdens I have to bear have also been reduced. I don’t even need to work hard anymore. I just need to lie down and enjoy every day.
Regarding Qichunnian's cooperation plan, to be honest, Zhu Youjian's heart was agitated, and his heart was beating rapidly. In fact, he had already noticed the virtues of civil servants and nobles, and saw through their essence, but he couldn't help it.
If you don't rely on them, you won't be able to accomplish anything, and your mind will be exhausted from the torment.
If we change the direction and enter into strategic cooperation with Xujiazhuang, with the strength of Xujiazhuang, we might be able to realize all our ambitions and not only revive the Ming Dynasty, but also create an unprecedented prosperous age!
"I can cooperate with you."
Chongzhen's words made Qichunnian look happy. He had accomplished the task assigned to him by the headquarters. However, Zhu Youjian changed his words and said, "But I also have three conditions!"
"Your Majesty, please speak." Qichunnian said.
"First, Xu Yuan, the owner of Xujiazhuang, must enter the court as an official and stand in my Jinluan Palace. Or he may not come himself, but must send a hostage to the capital, that is, he will be a minister and I will be the king."
"this……"
"Second, all Xu family estates must be managed by court officials, who must at least serve as the head of the estate, like the magistrate of a county."
"Third, the Xu Jiajun should be incorporated into the army of the Ming Dynasty. The commander will be appointed by the imperial court, and the deputy general can be the general of the Xu Jiajun. They must obey the military orders of the imperial court, not Xu Jiazhuang's private orders."
Listen to these three conditions.
Qi Chunnian's enthusiasm quickly cooled down. He stood up and cupped his hands with Zhu Youjian and said, "Your Majesty, Qi takes leave!" He walked straight outside.
"Representative Qi, please don't leave. Let's discuss it again. Maybe I can make some concessions."
Zhu Youjian stretched out his hand, wanting to bring him back and discuss it sincerely. He was really interested and moved about cooperating with Xujiazhuang.