Chapter 34: The ministers were in an uproar, and it was over
Another brilliant victory.
The Xujiazhuang Guards almost annihilated all the guards at Qianhu Station in Xinghua at the cost of 33 minor injuries, 1 serious injury, and no deaths.
237 people were directly killed, 251 were injured and disabled, 289 people surrendered and captured, and more than 30 people escaped on horseback (the escorts could also catch up on electric bicycles, but it was not necessary).
through this battle.
Standing on the wall of the bastion and observing the whole process with the help of a DJI drone, Xu Yuan saw the reliable combat effectiveness of the team members who protected the village.
But I also found that I had been stuck in a misunderstanding.
That is, like other time travelers, he paid too much attention to the role of thermal weapons, such as muskets and artillery and other offensive weapons. He was very concerned about the equipment and development of these weapons, and somewhat underestimated defense.
Actually!
Among the weapons and equipment in modern society, although firearms and artillery are very powerful and have developed to a very high level, in terms of protective equipment, the progress is not only huge, but can be described as "unprecedented peak".
The stab-proof clothing in modern society is indestructible with knives and needles, and can withstand high temperatures. It can block even less powerful bullets, and its defensive power far exceeds that of armor.
Anti-riot helmets in modern society are light in weight and high in strength. They can wrap the entire head without affecting the line of sight, and are far superior to ancient helmets.
Explosion-proof shields in modern society are light in weight, invulnerable to cuts by knives, and indestructible in hammer blows. They can withstand tens of thousands of blows and cannot be broken. They can also easily block small-power firearms, far exceeding those of ancient times.
shield.
Not to mention, in modern society, Xu Yuan can directly place an order to buy military body armor on an e-commerce platform without being restricted by laws and regulations.
That is to say!
With the help of modern society, Xu Yuan can easily purchase a complete set of protective equipment, which greatly strengthens the defense of the village guards. However, it is difficult to directly obtain powerful offensive weapons through modern society, and he cannot even buy a compressed air gun.
, the energy of toy gun bullets must not exceed 9 joules.
I have to say that modern society is very magical.
Previously, Xu Yuan didn't pay much attention to protective equipment. He just wanted to reduce the casualty rate of the team members protecting the village. But today's one-sided battle proved a truth: increase the defense to an extremely high level, even if it is used
As a weapon, wooden sticks are also equivalent to an invincible army, and can also create an astonishing battle loss ratio.
As long as the defense is sufficient, even if weapons such as "electrically fired breech guns" are not developed, there is no need to worry about the covetousness of hostile forces, and they can still be easily defeated.
That is to say, the effects of "strengthening defense" and "strengthening attack" are basically the same, but the former is subject to fewer restrictions and the latter is more troublesome to implement.
But for Xu Yuan, both are important. Attack and defense must be strengthened. Walking on two legs is the most stable.
…
After the two battles (which can also be said to be conflicts) took place in Xujiazhuang.
Although the post system of the Ming Dynasty was abolished by Chongzhen, the efficiency of delivering messages was affected.
But more than ten days later.
Whether it is the memorial of Xin Shiqi, the magistrate of Xinghua County, reflecting the civil uprising.
It was the Nanjing Capital Command and Envoy Department that reported through the military intelligence system that the Qianhu Regiment in Xinghua was defeated in the crusade against the civil unrest, Yang Chenghui of the Qianhu Regiment was killed, and nearly all the troops of the Qianwei Regiment were annihilated.
Both pieces of information were sent to the capital one after another and became known to everyone in the court.
With a bang.
It's fried.
The Xujiazhuang incident quickly aroused surprise and uproar among the officials. They immediately conducted detailed understanding and investigation, and found out that Xujiazhuang, which was extremely wealthy, actually resisted taxes. After obtaining a bumper harvest of grain and selling overseas goods, the net amount was
When making profits of tens of millions of taels; when the imperial court's finances were in such dire straits and many officials were unable to pay their salaries, why did they not pay a grain of grain or even a tael of tax money to the court?
Also killed the officials and wiped out all the guardsmen who were trying to quell the chaos in the imperial court?
That’s not true!
It's so audacious and insane!
The Ming Dynasty's iron-clad empire is still there, but a mere businessman dares to act so boldly, completely disregarding the majesty of the imperial court!
If we let it continue to expand, what will happen?
We, the officials, are so honest and poor, with only tens of thousands of taels or hundreds of thousands of taels in our family property. We are devoting ourselves to the Ming Dynasty, working hard and working hard, and under the emperor's request to be diligent and thrifty, we have to check the fence as many times as possible.
It has been reduced a lot, and this so-called Xujiazhuang has harvested millions of dan of grain this year, and sold all kinds of exotic goods, which made them hundreds of civil and military officials who know how much money they have earned, but they have not paid a cent, and they have not paid even one tael of silver in taxes, which has caused them to
Getting poorer and poorer, the court is getting poorer and poorer!
Can't bear it!
Absolutely intolerable!
The ministers and officials expressed their gratitude to the emperor one after another. They went to court in the Jinluan Hall early in the morning and made their strong voices:
"Your Majesty, you have killed the officials, beaten the magistrates, and fought against the guards. Xujiazhuang has openly rebelled! The imperial court should send a large army to annihilate Xujiazhuang immediately with the force of thunder. We will never allow such arrogant people to stay in this world!
"
"Xujiazhuang has become as rich as the country. They live in peace on our land of the Ming Dynasty, but they don't want to be loyal to the emperor and serve the country. They don't give up a dime, don't pay taxes, return extensive land, recruit large numbers of refugees, and privately recruit armies. They have ulterior motives and their disobedience is obvious! No more!
If we send troops to exterminate them, it will be a disaster!"
"Your Majesty, the Hou Jin Dynasty is now in the north, bandits are raging in the mountains and Shaanxi, Yun, Sichuan and Gui are restless, and there are police in the southeast sea. Huguang is suffering from severe waterlogging this year, and the food harvest is poor. Only in the south of the Yangtze River, the weather is good this year, and it has become the Ming Dynasty.
The only peaceful land, Xujiazhuang is located in the heart of the south of the Yangtze River, but a civil uprising has broken out to resist taxes. If it is not dealt with in time, the Ming Dynasty will be in danger. I hope your Majesty will make a quick decision!"
"Your Majesty, in order to destroy Xujiazhuang this time, the gentry in Jiangnan are willing to contribute money and efforts to raise military resources. There is no need for the Ministry of Household Affairs to contribute a tael of silver. The people of Jiangnan are capable of annihilating just one Xujiazhuang!"
An official from Nanzhili not only asked the emperor to issue an order to quell the rebellion as soon as possible, but also for the first time, the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River was able to raise money to quell the chaos without any funding from the court. In his words, he seemed confident that the money would be raised.
!
Zhu Youjian sitting on the dragon throne.
Hear the advice of the ministers.
They were so angry and filled with righteous indignation that they even rarely seemed to be united today.
In particular, officials from the Donglin Party camp usually oppose the levy of mining taxes and are the loudest ones demanding reductions in commercial taxes. Today, on the issue of the Xujiazhuang Incident, they are uncharacteristically not only supporting the taxation of Xujiazhuang, but also demanding severe punishment and annihilation of Xujiazhuang.
He does not protect the interests of Xujiazhuang, which is mainly engaged in commercial operations, and places special emphasis on tax payment obligations, which is completely different from his usual behavior.
It can be seen from this that Xujiazhuang and the Donglin Party are not in the same camp and have little interest in each other. Therefore, they are not protected by the Donglin Party, even if they are both Jiangnan merchants.
And faced with the heated discussions from the officials.
Under normal circumstances, seeing the unanimous opinions of the officials, Emperor Zhu Youjian would definitely have followed the trend and agreed to send troops to annihilate Xujiazhuang to avoid chaos in the south of the Yangtze River. He would be as angry and eager as the officials.
But yesterday afternoon, Qichunian, the representative of Xujiazhuang, entered the palace again and proposed to meet the emperor in person.
Zhu Youjian saw him and saw Qichunnian taking out a number of weird items and combining them into a machine called a "projector". Then he played several videos on a white cloth, completely restoring the "Xujiazhuang Incident"
'The causes and consequences.
Although Zhu Youjian felt that Xu Jiazhuang's act of resistance was not appropriate, he really couldn't find too many points to criticize. The rightful party was indeed Xu Jiazhuang, and the counterattack was even
It even made him feel comfortable.
Now in the morning court, we are faced with so many voices of crusade against Xujiazhuang.
"Dear ministers, there is another hidden story behind Xujiazhuang's matter. It is not that they are deliberately resisting taxes and not paying taxes as you said, but Xin Shiqi, the magistrate of Xinghua County, is greedy... In order to avoid being harmed by local officials, Xujiazhuang chose to pay taxes directly to the central government and transfer the tax payable to the central government.
The money and grain were sent to my own house, and I was responsible for the extra losses during the transportation process. I agreed to Xujiazhuang's request, but I didn't expect that as soon as the front step was settled, the Xujiazhuang incident happened. Money is so touching. Who is the owner of Xujiazhuang village?
Overseas wealthy businessmen have no roots and no support, and are coveted by many. It is reasonable, but! From today on, I hope that everyone will stop thinking, abstain from lust and greed, and can no longer torture and persecute good people like Xujiazhuang!"
Emperor Zhu Youjian's majestic gaze swept across the ministers in the palace and officially stood for Xujiazhuang.
He thought that if he showed his domineering power, all the officials would bow their heads and remain silent, and would not cause trouble to Xujiazhuang again.
Unexpectedly, the officials were silent for only a moment, and then more fierce opposition immediately broke out.
Bi Ziyan, the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, came out and said: "Your Majesty, the country has been established for more than 200 years. It has always been a multi-level tax collection system of counties, states, and chief secretaries. The seventh level is to collect local taxes, the third level is to escort the central government, and then it is collected by the Ministry of Household Affairs.
Make overall arrangements to send taxes from various places to the capital. This has been the case in all dynasties. How can there be any direct tax payment center? The ancestral laws cannot be easily changed. If all places learn to do this, the world will be in chaos, and the taxes will be returned to the inner city.
, the grain goes to the Ministry of Household Affairs, how can your Majesty's inner treasure take away the grain from the Ministry of Household Affairs?"
Cheng Qinan, the left minister of the Ministry of Works, said: "Xujiazhuang harbored evil intentions and tried to bribe His Majesty with meager money and food. His intentions are deplorable! What's more, these money and food belong to Your Majesty. If they are put into the Ministry of Household Affairs, they will be returned to the inner wall. They are just freeing up the left hand and the right hand. Why should Your Majesty do it?"
Making small profits, trusting profiteers, and messing up the ancestral tax system? This is an act of neglecting the important and pursuing the small, and your Majesty cannot do it!"
Li Tengfang, the Minister of Rites, said: "Xujiazhuang used small profits to lure and deceive Your Majesty. He has evil intentions and plots against our country, the Ming Dynasty. It is urgent to destroy Xujiazhuang!"
Chen Yuting, the deputy censor of Zuodu, said: "I second the proposal, please your majesty to immediately kill the lobbyists in Xujiazhuang, and then kill all the people in Xujiazhuang, and burn all the weird things."
The official Huang Daozhou said: "Your Majesty, please stay away from the villains, be friendly to the virtuous ministers, and accept advice and advice. The origin of Xujiazhuang is unknown, there are many evil things, and it is incompatible with the Ming Dynasty. It has sucked up the money of the Ming Dynasty, made the people of the Ming Dynasty poor and the country weak, and has done no harm to the Ming Dynasty."
They are inferior to the Tartar bandits and should be exterminated immediately without any delay!"
Even Zhou Yanru, the newly appointed chief minister of the cabinet, did not agree with it and said: "Your Majesty, please think twice before making a decision."
Other ministers: "Your Majesty, please think twice..."
I heard this wave of opposition and the calls for it to be suppressed.
Zhu Youjian felt a headache. He admitted that what these ministers said was not unreasonable, but it was too far-fetched. A small problem could be magnified infinitely and become a major issue related to the survival of the country. Finally, he came to the conclusion: If Xujiazhuang is not destroyed, the court will
To be finished.
He could only speak hundreds of words with one mouth. In order to enhance his persuasion, he asked Jin Yiwei Li Jinniu to take a few people to bring Qichunnian's projector to the Jinluan Palace and play the "Xujiazhuang Incident"
Cause and effect.
But even if these solid evidences were placed in front of the ministers, except for a few ministers who were frightened by the magic of the projector, most ministers continued to oppose it.
Reasons such as "monsters cannot be trusted", "the crime of bewitching the king is unpardonable", "Xujiazhuang will not be destroyed, the Ming Dynasty may be destroyed by profiteers" and other reasons are used to prove that it is more necessary to destroy Xujiazhuang.
These ministers were eloquent, had good reasons, and talked endlessly. Zhu Youjian was seriously shaken by what they said several times, and gradually leaned towards them, believing that destroying Xujiazhuang might be more conducive to the stability of the Ming Dynasty.
Until September 28th.
A large transport convoy entered the capital, and under the leadership and escort of the eunuchs Jin Yiwei, entered the Forbidden City unimpeded, and finally entered the inner warehouse of Emperor Zhu Youjian.
Zhu Youjian came to the warehouse in person, opened the box, caressed the white silver coins one after another, learned to blow and listen to the sound to verify the quality, and roughly estimated the number of silver coins. It was indeed one million yuan.
When we had dinner in the evening, we ate fresh lazy rice produced in Xujiazhuang. It tasted very fragrant. The amount of more than 50,000 kilograms in the warehouse was enough to last for a long time.
The most important thing is! He began to be willing to eat meat. Every meal must have a meat dish, and he must give extra meals to the queen, the concubine, and everyone in the palace. He can no longer live without meat, otherwise
There is no point in being an emperor.
The significant improvement in the quality of life finally eliminated most of Zhu Youjian's suspicions. Just as Qichunnian said: Xujiazhuang has made His Majesty rich and food-rich. Apart from making His Majesty frugal, what else can the officials and ministers bring?
Would you rather mess with the officials than cooperate with Xujiazhuang for mutual benefit?
Ruined?
This word is very harsh. I want to revitalize the Ming Dynasty, and I want to be a wise king for eternity. How can I fail?
So when it came to the "Xujiazhuang Incident", Zhu Youjian firmly defended Xujiazhuang and stopped paying attention to the advice of the officials. As time went by, the matter fell into disuse and no one mentioned it again.
I don’t know why, but maybe because he wanted to give Xujiazhuang a little beating, Xin Shiqi, the magistrate of Xinghua County, did not dismiss his official position, but continued to stay in office, letting his cold triangular eyes stare at Xujiazhuang. Every day from now on, he
The purpose of living may be to think about how to take revenge and overthrow Xujiazhuang.