Emperor Ming Dynasty

Chapter 135 The Northern War Begins
Fifty thousand prisoners and thousands of officers were singled out and almost all were hacked to death.

Their crimes are so heinous that they deserve to die, they just kill them, and no one is innocent.

But without a leader, the captives seemed to be drawn to the bone and left to their own devices.

Ten thousand hectares of land means 1 million mu, [-] mu per capita, cooperative farming.

If it is as expected, by the summer harvest, at least one million shi of grain can be contributed to the Qin army.

The cost of supplying food and agricultural tools is extremely low, almost pure profit.

Hearing this plan, Xiao Zongbing was filled with emotion:

"Today I finally understand why the Emperor Taizu favored the army so much."

If it is cultivated by private households and the government collects [-]% of the tax, it is already burning incense.

Thinking of this, he became more and more grateful to Zhang Xianzhong and Li Zicheng.

Without them, how could there be so much vacant land in the entire Huguang area?

Assuming that it is in the south of the Yangtze River, the army station is a joke.

However, the gentry expressed their dissatisfaction with the brutal collection of a large amount of land as official land, hoping that the rain and dew would be evenly distributed.

Zhu Yixi directly dismissed it, it's not your field, why give it to you?
Immediately, he issued an order to return the fields:

"As long as the original owner returns within one year, the original amount of the land and house will be returned; within two years, it will be halved; within three years, it will be half again."

This is done in order to attract the lost population to return to settle and create taxes.

There are hundreds of thousands of people who fled in the mountains and forests, in different places, and were even hidden as tenants.

Bringing these people into the government will have immeasurable benefits for restoring Huguang's productivity.

For Zhu Yixi and the Military and Political Secretary, there are currently too many fields and too little population, and they wish to have as many people as possible, so that there will be enough troops and taxes.

However, the proposal of the order to return the land was not all smooth sailing. The most difficult thing was that it was the vassal land.

"General soldier, report from all over the country that many people who cultivated the vassal fields, took the letter of agreement, and wanted to take back their land."

Yan Chongxin looked at the young commander-in-chief with a lot of emotion in his heart, and said cautiously.

"These people don't have title deeds, and the county government wanted to get rid of them, but because there were too many people, the officials thought they had to be cautious."

"What do you think, Mr. Zhao?"

Zhu Yixi turned her head and asked Zhao Shu.

"Reporting to the general soldier, this is very complicated."

Zhao Shu thought for a while, and then began to elaborate.

According to the system of the Ming Dynasty, in addition to the royal salary, the vassal king also had a custom-made "fan field".

The so-called "Fan Tian" can be understood as the food towns of the Han and Tang Dynasties.

For example, when Fu Wang was given the vassal of the year, and was given [-] hectares of vassal land, in fact, it was to let the local government no longer pay the tax of the [-] hectares, but directly to Fu Wang.

After all, if you think about it with your brain, you know that the land was annexed so much in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, how could the court have so many fields?

As a result, the local government embezzled the income of the vassal land, and gave only [-]% of it.

Therefore, the vassal kings could only annex the land by themselves, and a large number of farmers contributed to pay rent and avoid taxes.

In this way, it also created a situation where the land of the vassal kings in the late Ming Dynasty was criss-crossed.

In fact, Chu Fan owned 200 mu of his own land for 200,000 years, and the rest was donated.

The land belonged to the vassals, but most of the land was actually controlled by the peasants, that is, the permanent tenancy rights.

By this time, the Chu clan was extinct, and taking back the clan's land was tantamount to confiscating other people's land.

"This is to force people to die!"

After hearing this, Zhu Yixi shook his head and said, "Such a thing can't be done."

However, if he spit out these lands, he would be reluctant, in name it would be fine.

Zhao Shu was also lost in thought.

"The officials thought that after the summer harvest, they would be allowed to leave the land after they paid their rent."

Yan Chongxin said cautiously.

"And after that?"

"We can set aside [-]% more from other lands for him."

Yan Chongxin hurriedly said: "It's hard to find mature land, but there are too many semi-barren lands. In this way, there will be a lot of private households."

"It's fine to register as a civilian household."

Zhu Yixi smiled lightly: "You have a good idea. It seems that the Military and Political Department still has a lot of talents."

Zhao Shu smiled, but said nothing.

Yan Chongxin was overjoyed.

Seeing that there was nothing else to do, he retreated slowly knowingly.

Zhu Yixi said in a deep voice: "I intend to use troops in Jingzhou, but I also want to go north to Nanyang. What do you think, sir? Which one is more urgent?"

Hearing these questions, Zhao Shu pursed his lips and closed his eyes, thinking about it.

Zhu Yixi waited patiently.

After a long time, Zhao Shu opened his eyes, his eyes were like torches and he said: "Let's go to Nanyang first, and then force Jingzhou."

"Why?"

Zhu Yixi got up halfway, approached and asked.

Zhao Shu said slowly: "Zhang Xianzhong, a dead-headed man, has only one heart to enter Sichuan, and now most of his body has entered, the remaining tail is nothing to worry about."

"When we arrived in Bashu, there were Qin Liangyu and other generals in Central Sichuan, and we intercepted them later. He was already in a dead end."

"But Nanyang is different!"

Zhao Shu's voice suddenly rose: "Look at the map."

As he spoke, the crude map was rolled out, and Nanyang came into view.

"There are Funiu Mountains in the north, Wudang Mountains in the west, and Tongbai Mountains in the east. There is only a gap in the northeast, and the hills are undulating. It is relatively flat, and it is named Fangcheng Xia Road."

"Only by defending this place and building a strong city will be enough to keep the enemy out."

"The north is Fangcheng, and the south is Xiangyang, guarding the whole Nanyang."

Zhu Yixi looked at the map and murmured, "Fangcheng Xiadao?"

The name is strange.

"This gap is hundreds of miles long, and there are several mountain passes. As long as we build more fortresses, we can restrain the intruders from going south."

"understood."

Zhu Yixi nodded, looked at the northeast corner of the map, and murmured softly: "Fortresses, not enough, not enough, Man Qing has red cannons."

"It has to be a bastion in order to form an effective resistance and let Manqing gain some insight."

For a moment, he actually laughed to himself, smiling complacently.

……

The south is discussing the throne, but the north is gathering in Shanhaiguan.

However, Wu Sangui led the army back to Shanhaiguan, which represented the breakdown of the negotiations, and defeated Tang Tong with his backhand, and regained Shanhaiguan.

Helpless, Tang Tong could only evacuate near a stone and wait for reinforcements.

Li Zicheng was furious, and brought the prince, Wu Xiang, etc., 200,000 to conquer.

Wu Sangui suddenly panicked.

The soldiers and horses in his hands are only [-], and the food and grass are not enough, so the pass is not safe.

Therefore, he hurriedly sent his men to seek help outside the pass.

In the Manchu Qing Dynasty, as early as shortly after Li Zicheng entered Beijing, he had already learned the specific news.

He took concubines, tortured and looted officials, and even hung his corpse in Chongzhen, all of which are clear.

Especially the generals headed by Liu Zongmin even let their horse-drawn carts, loaded with gold, silver and jewels, rush to Xi'an.

Anyone with a little knowledge understands that this is not what an orthodox dynasty should do.

Fan Wencheng, who was recuperating in Tangquan, Gaizhou, hurried into Shengjing to discuss decision-making.

Fan Wencheng pointed out: "The thieves who invaded the Central Plains and killed the empress of Jue Jun are the thieves who must be punished.

Although he has millions of people and acts recklessly, there are three ways of failure: forcing the death of his master, the sky is angry; punishing the gentry, torturing the property, and the scholars are angry; The people hate it.Prepare for these three defeats and act with pride, and you can defeat them in one battle. "

He also vigorously advocated: "The whole country is of one heart, the soldiers are selected and trained, the crimes are faced, the soldiers are provoked, the Li people are rescued, the soldiers are moved with righteousness, what is the merit?"

Therefore, Dorgon was determined, waved his hand and said: "Everyone in the country under seventy and over ten years old shall join the army."

After Fan Wencheng wrote the letter, it was the fifth day, that is, the ninth day of April.

Dorgon led more than [-] soldiers from the Eight Banners, and led the princes and generals of the Eight Banners, such as Yujun Wang Duoduo and Yingjun Wang Azige, and the "Sanshun King" Kong Youde and other soldiers to leave Shenyang and march into the pass.

(End of this chapter)