stubborn thief

Qian's residence in the capital.

To celebrate Qian Shisheng's return from his diplomatic mission, Qian Shisheng's eldest son Qian Xie asked his servants to buy a fat raccoon from the market and gave it to the chef to cook.

Pili is a yellow rat, also called big-eyed thief because it steals crops. It was a famous northern delicacy in the Yuan and Ming dynasties. It was produced in Shaanxi, Xuanda, and outside the border areas. The ones raised in Xuanfu are the best, and ordinary people cannot usually eat them.

Soak the yellow rat meat in wine first, add chopped green onion and pepper sauce, wrap it in wheat flour and steam it slowly over low heat.

When Emperor Yingzong of the Ming Dynasty was traveling abroad, Jinyiwei Lieutenant Yuan Bin went out to fetch water. When he came back, he saw that Yingzong was very skilled in catching yellow rats and fed them water.

In fact, slow frying over low heat will make the food more crispy, but Qian Shisheng is old, so steaming it is healthier.

However, Qian Yu did not expect that Qian Shisheng was not interested in this rare delicacy... This is a wild game delicacy in the capital, but a daily snack in the northwest and outside the border.

As for Liu Chengzong's gang, they eat anything that moves. Qian Shisheng has been following them for nearly three months. Not to mention common delicacies like yellow rats, they have also eaten moose lips and camel humps for several meals.

So much so that now he gets sick of seeing yellow rats and just wants to eat some light food from his hometown.

After drinking three spoonfuls of wine, Qian Shisheng began to feel dazed.

"What is father thinking?"

Qian Shisheng looked at his eldest son Qian Xi and second son Qian Bing, shook his head, and said to Qian Xi: "Liu Chengzong..."

He had sons born late. His eldest son Qian Zai was the same age as Liu Chengzong, while his second son Qian Bing was even younger, only seventeen this year.

But for him, it seemed unnecessary to say this.

People may have different fates at the same age.

Emperor Chongzhen was struggling for the Ming Dynasty in the Forbidden City, Liu Chengzong had already fought his way out of the mountains of corpses and seas of bones in the northwest, and his son was still buying him fat rats to eat.

But Qian Shisheng couldn't say which one was better. It would be difficult for Liu Chengzong's old father to eat the fat rat bought by his son.

Thinking of this, Qian Shisheng couldn't help but shook his head and smiled, then asked about Qian Yu's studies.

In fact, Qian Zai had just come from the south two months ago. His teacher was Huang Daozhou, and he and Qian Shisheng were colleagues in the Hanlin Academy during the Tianqi period.

A few years ago, Huang Daozhou returned home due to illness, and Qian Zai followed his teacher to Fujian. It was not until this year when Chongzhen recalled Huang Daozhou that Qian Zai followed him back to Beijing.

Afterwards, Qian Shisheng couldn't help but miss his eldest nephew, Qian Chan, the son of his younger brother Qian Shijin.

Qian Zhen was one of the less well-behaved younger generations in their family. He was a poor student and lost interest in studying just after passing the imperial examination.

This is not an exaggeration. The Qian family is a descendant of the Wuyue king and a wealthy and powerful family. Since the time of the Zhenhai Army Jiedu, the family has been passed down for more than 600 years. In these two generations alone, there has been a top scholar and several Jinshi. The two brothers Qian Shisheng and Qian Shijin, and their uncle Qian Jiden are all Jinshi.

Qian Shisheng and Qian Qianyi from Changshu, Suzhou Prefecture, are from the same clan and are brothers.

When Qian Qianyi was six years old, he became Qian Shisheng's father, Qian Jike, his teacher.

Juren is a normal person in this family.

Qian Chan founded the Ying Society in Jiashan and later joined the Fu Society. He built two separate houses specifically for this purpose to collect calligraphy and paintings, and entertain friends from all over the world, some of whom were addicted to sensual pleasures.

Qian Yu said seriously, "Before I returned to Beijing, I went to Jiashan to see my eldest brother. He was doing very well. Since the death of my second uncle, he dismissed the singing girls and dancers at home and devoted himself to studying military tactics. He was very motivated."

"art of war……"

Qian Shisheng pondered slowly. It was one thing for his nephew to be ambitious, but studying the art of war was...

To be honest, if he had heard the news before his mission, he would have been overjoyed.

But after he returned from his diplomatic mission, he was not optimistic about his nephew studying military tactics in Zhejiang.

Qian Shisheng also used to think that war was a contest of military tactics, money and food, and soldiers. As long as the generals had good military tactics, the court had sufficient money and food, and the soldiers were of high quality, the war could be won.

But after personally watching the battle in Lingdong and following Liu Chengzong's march, Qian Shisheng discovered that it was not just that.

It’s not that there is something wrong with the military strategy. The military strategy is very correct. But if troops are used in a place like Jiashan, no matter how advanced the military strategy is, it will be useless.

It took Liu Chengzong nine years to build up such a fierce army, and Huang Taiji's Eight Banners had been in turmoil for a full twenty years, and were almost past their heyday.

No matter how good the military tactics were, with a rookie general and newly recruited soldiers fighting against such an extremely mature army, let alone facing Liu Chengzong and Huang Taiji directly, they would not even need a small number of generals.

Zhang Yong, the ghost soldier who delivered meals to his military tent all day long in Lingdong, was probably able to lead an army and run rampant in the south of the Yangtze River.

Qian Shisheng only watched this one battle, and his understanding of war was completely rewritten. Then how many marching changes and battle battles did Zhang Yong see with Liu Chengzong?
If we are to face such an opponent, what is the point of studying many military books and talking about military strategy on paper at home?
"A thousand chapters on military strategy are not as good as an actual battle."

Qian Shisheng shook his head, his expression suddenly paused, as if he was thinking of someone around him, and said to his second son Qian Bing: "You always like to chase Qian Zhen to play, go back to Jiashan and tell Qian Zhen that there is a commander in Gaoyou, Yangzhou, who is good at using troops and is very effective in suppressing bandits and rebellions. If you are really interested in military affairs, I will send a letter and you two can go to Gaoyou to learn something."

Although these words were spoken to the younger son, both sons were stunned when they heard them.

The commander?

Qian Shisheng, commander of Yangzhou, was good at commanding troops.

Any two of these three words cannot be paired together.

First of all, it was difficult for Qian Shisheng to get along with military officers at the level of commander-in-chief. In fact, it was difficult for a general to curry favor with the cabinet ministers, and there was no need to do so.

The two sides almost went their separate ways.

What's more, as the commander of Yangzhou, he had no chance to use troops at all.

The two brothers had seen military officers from Southern Zhili before. For example, Concubine Tian’s father, Tian Hongyu, was a military officer from Southern Zhili.

The Qian brothers had no idea how advanced his military strategy was, but they knew that it might be an exaggeration to say that Tian Hongyu was familiar with every singer on the Qinhuai River, but it was definitely true that he had acquaintances on every pleasure boat.

People will only actively improve skills that can translate into actual benefits.

Being a military officer in Jiangnan, especially a military officer on the canal, this profession requires very high qualities, but martial arts, military tactics, and battle formation abilities are not necessarily required qualities.

Even if there are heroes, they have no place to use their talents.

However, Qian Shisheng really thought that he should let his eldest nephew and youngest son go and have a look.

"In this world, if there is nothing to do, it is okay for you to have achieved fame and not want to serve as an official. There is no harm in learning some martial arts and military tactics."

Qian Shisheng paused and continued, "If there is an emergency in the future, both civil officials and military officials must know military affairs... apart from that."

"Go and see the commander named Zhang Yichuan and listen to his accent to see if it's northern Mandarin or Shaanxi dialect."

Upon hearing this, Qian Xing was confused: "Father, I have never heard of Shaanxi dialect."

There are many kinds of dialects in the Zhejiang and Fujian areas. Qian Bing can speak dialects from many places, but he really doesn't understand the Qinzhong dialect.

"It doesn't matter. The Tang Dynasty music is very special."

Qian Shisheng waved his hands, recalled the intonations of Liu Chengzong, Zhang Xianzhong and others, learned a line, and said with a smile: "The tone is like a barren field, which sounds soft at first, but in fact there is an endless wind blowing, blowing stones and gravel in your face."

But Qian Shisheng was just joking: "The Gaoyou Guard soldiers with fine armor and strong horses must have a different accent from others. You will know it when you go over and listen."

At this moment, Qian Shisheng's two sons looked at their old father with strange eyes.

When the old father came back from outside the Great Wall, it was as if he had reached some strange agreement with Liu Chengzong. Either he was tired of the food, or he asked his son to go to Gaoyou to learn military tactics from a man from Shaanxi.

Of course, to be fair, the meals served in the Ming Dynasty cabinet were indeed not tasty.

This thing is produced by the Guanglu Temple, and everyone who has eaten it says it tastes like chewing wax.

What Yan Song hated most about Xia Yan was that the meals served to cabinet workers were terrible.

They were colleagues in the Cabinet for two years.

At that time, Xia Yan had been the Prime Minister for many years. His family was wealthy and luxurious, and he brought delicious food from home every day. However, Yan Song did not have such a rich family background, so he could only eat the food provided by the court.

The two sat opposite each other to eat, and Yan Song drooled every day because of the greed. However, Xia Yan refused to let Yan Song eat even a spoonful for two whole years. Later, Yan Song killed Xia Yan.

But Qian Shisheng had a deep network of connections in the government and the opposition, but had nothing to do with the people of Shaanxi. So how come he kept talking about Shaanxi when he came back?

There was no way. Qian Shisheng believed that the hope for the future of the world lay in Shaanxi, or to put it more bluntly, in the hands of Liu Chengzong or Huang Taiji.

Since Liu Chengzong defeated Huang Taiji, the throne is temporarily in Liu Chengzong's hands.

It was not because Liu Chengzong and Huang Taiji were so powerful, but because Chongzhen faced a deadlock that the Ming Dynasty could not solve on its own.

This is not even... a question of Chongzhen's ability. Most emperors would not be able to do the same.

It's not the problem of these court officials. Those who were killed or imprisoned would have become capable and brave generals in the hands of others, of course... excluding Yuan Chonghuan and Mao Wenlong.

If Mao Wenlong was Huang Taiji's banner leader, and Yuan Chonghuan was Liu Chengzong's general, they would have died even faster.

The problem of the Ming Dynasty was simple: no money.

The reason why there was no money was not because too little tax was collected or it could not be collected. In fact, despite the natural disasters everywhere, the tax collection rate of the Ming Dynasty was still acceptable.

And it’s not that the South cannot collect taxes. It is very easy to collect taxes. In fact, the current Ming Dynasty is supported by the canal. The money and grain collected every year are sent there continuously to support the continuous wars.

There are many flowers.

Excluding local taxes withheld by local governments, the royal family’s fixed expenditures accounted for more than 50% of national taxes, exceeding military expenditures.

This is the result of officials trying their best to embezzle money.

And this royal expenditure is not the so-called "pig raising". In fact, the expenditure of most princes and vassal states is not outrageously large, and has even been cut and fixed many times.

Especially after Emperor Jiajing, who inherited the main clan from a small branch, he was not close to anyone else and was particularly ruthless.

During the Jiajing period, the expenditure of the entire royal family, after nearly two hundred years of expansion, was only five million taels per year.

It looks like a lot, but it’s actually very little.

Because by the middle and late Wanli period, this expenditure was over 15 million taels per year.

Wanli's brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, his mother Empress Dowager Li's Wuqinghou family, the land of his many in-laws, and the salt permits and national taxes that were confiscated.

This was even so because Wanli had several sons and daughters who died young, and his uncle, who was granted 20,000 hectares of land by Longqing, left no offspring. He enjoyed a lifetime of deprivation but was deprived of his debts after his death, and even lost his fiefdom and land.

But there are only a few royal family members who know the general situation and die early without leaving any descendants.

If the total income is 30 million taels, and 15 million taels are spent, it means that the national tax is only 15 million taels.

No one can solve this problem.

Chongzhen wanted to kill all his relatives more than anyone else, but he couldn't do it, nor could he say it.

The court officials were even more speechless and could do nothing.

Everyone knows what the real problem is, but it just can't be solved.

Chongzhen's uncles were all more obedient than each other. Prince Lu stayed at home playing the piano, Prince Fu drank in his house, Prince Hui chanted Buddhist scriptures at home, and Prince Rui cried for help every day: Zhenzi, save me!

So what Chongzhen faced was a situation where he had to rob Peter to pay Paul, but no matter how hard he tried, the money was not enough. There was no money anywhere, and even frantically increasing revenue and continuously raising salaries still could not solve the problem.

Qian Shisheng thought this was a simple calculation problem. The national taxes collected were less than 30 million taels, while military expenditures were 13 million, salaries were more than 5 million, and royal expenditures exceeded 16 million.

No matter how to calculate or what to do, let alone eliminating the deficit, all possible means of delaying, deducting and misappropriating funds have already been exhausted.

Only the treasury was left, and the court officials were unable to get it out.

The internal treasury of the Ming Dynasty was also part of the national treasury. In fact, in the early years, the twelve internal treasuries, including the Chengyun Treasury, were the national treasury.

Today, the treasury has become the emperor’s private treasury, but it still undertakes some functions of handling emergencies.

This is also the most interesting part of Wanli.

The largest source of treasury was the taxes paid by the imperial estates every year.

Wanli bestowed great rewards on most of his sons and daughters, but he did not increase the imperial estate for the one who inherited the throne.

Then, he fought many wars during his reign, and suffered a major defeat in Liaodong before his death, spending almost all the saved treasury.

Chongzhen still had some treasury, not much, but he didn't dare spend it.

Because the country’s expectations are not good.

What he can foresee is that his income will be less and less in the future, while the crises will be more and more, and he will not dare to take out the money even if he has it.

The remaining means is open source.

Increase taxes.

It is easy to raise taxes, but the problem is that before Zhang Juzheng could carry out the reform, he had to use the performance evaluation system to solve the efficiency problem.

In the current situation, officials' salaries are not paid in full, military expenses are not paid in full, royal family money is in arrears, there are border threats outside, there are eastern Tartars in the north, there are bandits in the central capital, it is snowing in Nanjing, the capital has been exploited to the extreme, and the local people are exhausted. If one tael of money is collected from the national treasury, the loss must be calculated as three taels.

That is why Qian Shisheng gave four admonitions, advising Chongzhen not to take his anger out on court officials and not to make too much trouble. It was not his fault, he just encountered an unsolvable deadlock and his fate had come to an end.

The real solution is very simple. The emperor just changes his surname, and the dilemma is solved!

At this moment, the eldest son Qian Yu realized that Qian Shisheng's decision to let his younger brother go to Gaoyou must have something to do with Liu Chengzong.

He then plucked up the courage to ask, "What do Liu Chengzong and the Marshal's Office look like during my father's mission this time?"

"Liu Chengzong." Qian Shisheng thought for a moment and said with emotion, "That was the extraordinary man in Qinzhong who was willing to abandon his family and career to join his army after seeing the heroic figure of Liu Chengzong leading his troops in battle. He was a great man in the world."

"As for the Marshal's Mansion..."

Qian Yu could sense that his father's tone was one of deep emotion and admiration when he mentioned Liu Chengzong, but when he mentioned the Marshal's Mansion, his tone changed significantly, showing how much disgust he had.

Qian Shisheng said: "The Marshal's Mansion is just a dumpling."

Qian Shisheng was very impressed with Liu Chengzong, who was the same age as his son. He was definitely the best fighter and the most shameless person in the world.

Really, just looking at his scattered gang of thugs, it can be seen that during the nine years since Liu Chengzong started his rebellion, he has definitely not done anything serious except looking for people to fight.

Qian Shisheng really couldn't imagine the scene of them ruling the world. If that group of people entered the Forbidden City, there would probably be few people left alive in northern Zhili.

This is also the source of Qian Shisheng's evaluation of Liu Chengzong's brutality.

The military is a place where rewards and punishments are the most severe.

Therefore, the will of the ruler determines the temperament of the army.

The tragic, desperate and helpless state of the Ming army was a projection of Chongzhen.

The Marshal's army's recklessness also came from Liu Chengzong's deliberate indulgence.

At least what Qian Shisheng saw on the Lingdong battlefield and in the suburbs of Liaoyang was a group of wild beasts gathered around Liu Chengzong and obeyed his orders.

Even the species of wild beasts are not uniform.

"dumpling?"

Qian Yu couldn't understand and couldn't connect the Marshal's Mansion and dumplings together.

Qian Shisheng explained: "Liu Chengzong is just a dumpling skin that looks white and tender on the outside, with all kinds of stuffing inside, but it's all chopped into small pieces without a single piece of meat!" (End of this chapter)