Brother Zhu Youxiao

Chapter 162 Clan Problem
"put!"

"Boom bang bang-"

On the mountain stone castle on the east side of Kaiyao Station, with the firing of ten Fran cannons, the stone bullets crossed the sky and shot down the slope.

Looking around, on the mountain road under the stone castle, there are endless figures, covering the sky and covering the sky, almost covering the entire river valley and mountain road.

Thousands of chieftain soldiers held steel knives in their mouths, carried shields on their backs, and carried ladders on their shoulders. They ran on the almost sixty-degree mountain road, trying to put the ladders on the top of the stone castle and occupy the stone castle.

Facing the siege of thousands of chieftain soldiers, three hundred Ming soldiers in the city methodically poured boiling water, poured kerosene on it, and lit the bottom of the stone castle into a sea of ​​flames.

The shrill screams, like the wailing of the fried ghosts in the frying pan hell, made people get goosebumps.

But such a scene is just a microcosm of the entire Kaiyayi battlefield.

Kaiyayi, stuck in the middle of the mountain road, became a city that the coalition forces of An Xiaoliang and Aminong had to break through.

It's just that there are one or four stone castles of different sizes on the left and right sides of the city, guarding the Kaiya Station.

As for Kaiya Station, which was mainly attacked, the war has come to an end at this moment.

The chieftain army retreated like a tide, and all that remained were the burning siege equipment, except for gunpowder smoke and blood-stained soil.

"Aminong's army has retreated, and An Xiaoliang and the other film probably won't be able to hold on anymore."

At the head of the city, Sun Chuanting looked at the retreating rebel soldiers and horses, and at the stone fortresses on the left and right mountains that were still under siege, his brows were furrowed, as if the battle situation was not optimistic.

"Take an inventory of the wounded in the city, and when the battle between the left and right stone forts is over, transport the wounded to the two stone forts in the rear, and replace the people behind."

"Yes!" Hearing what Sun Chuanting said, the lieutenant bowed in response.

Seeing this, Sun Chuanting didn't speak any more, but quietly patrolled the city to see if there were any deficiencies.

Today is the twelfth day of the winter moon, and Sun Chuanting has been guarding Kaiya Station for thirty-seven days.

Seeing that there were only more than [-] soldiers left among the [-] soldiers in Bijie, Sun Chuanting had no choice but to call in some strong men to replenish the city defenders to [-].

But even so, strong men are not as good as soldiers after all. If Kaiya Station can't wait for reinforcements, I'm afraid...

Thinking of this, Sun Chuanting's heart sank, and at this moment, the sound of hurried footsteps came from behind Sun Chuanting.

"Governor! Reinforcements are coming! Reinforcements are coming!"

When a guard held up a military order and a letter, and shouted loudly, everyone on the top of the city looked at this side, and Sun Chuanting even grabbed the shoulders of the guard who came to guard with excitement:

"Where are the reinforcements?!"

"Return to the governor! The right governor of Yunnan, Mu Zengmu, has arrived at Qixing Pass with [-] troops, less than seventy miles away from Yayi!"

"Heaven will not perish, Sun Chuanting..." Hearing these words, Sun Chuanting let go of his hands, closed his eyes and raised his head to the sky.

"Governor!" The deputy quickly supported Sun Chuanting, and at this time the guard also handed out a letter and said:
"Governor, there is one more thing. Governor Zhu ordered our army to switch defenses with Mu Buzheng, and ordered you, the governor, to command Bijie and Chishui so that you can dispatch troops to help Pushi, resist Fanlong's troops, and wait for the opportunity to counterattack!"

"Bring the map." After receiving the military order, Sun Chuanting cheered up immediately, and told the deputy general that the map was coming, and after looking at it for a long time, he said:
"How many of us are there?"

Hearing this, the lieutenant-general said solemnly: "I went to Zhuangding, Chishui and Bijie, plus Pushi, there are only more than [-] soldiers and [-] cavalry soldiers."

"Six hundred from Chishui, [-] uninjured infantrymen and [-] cavalrymen from the Crow Station tomorrow will follow me northward to the Pushi Office in three days!" Sun Chuanting forced himself to speak, and the lieutenant worriedly said:

"But governor, you haven't had a good rest for two days."

"The state affairs are difficult, how can I ruin the imperial court's plans because of me?" Sun Chuanting waved his hands and said, "Let's do it!"

"This... oh... the last general is taking orders!" The deputy general sighed, and had no choice but to bow down to accept the order.

On the other hand, Sun Chuanting, who obviously couldn't hold on anymore, still managed to hold on for an hour, and then returned to the temporary courtyard of Kaiya Station to rest.

During this rest, he couldn't even hear everything around him, and fell asleep drowsily. When he opened his eyes again, he only saw the light entering the room from the window.

"How long have I slept..."

After resting for a while, Sun Chuanting got up and asked someone to fetch a basin of hot water, and enjoyed the hard-earned washing.

"What time is it now?"

Sun Chuanting wiped his face and asked the soldier who was fetching water, but the soldier subconsciously replied, "It's already six quarters in the afternoon."

Hearing this time, Sun Chuanting froze, and sighed after a while: "I didn't expect that I slept for a full nine hours."

"Vice General Sun said, let's not disturb the governor." The soldier explained:

"In addition, An Xiaoliang and A Minong did not attack the city today, so the governor was able to sleep well."

"Didn't attack the city?" Sun Chuanting frowned, but at this moment footsteps sounded, Sun Chuanting looked towards the door, and saw a lieutenant general in armor coming.

He entered the room and made a bow, and said to Sun Chuanting:

"Governor, good news."

"The old lady Qin Liangyu defeated Shi Qian and Sizhou chieftain, and has recovered Shiqian and Sizhou."

"The chieftain soldiers and horses from the two mansions retreated to Zhenyuan Mansion. The old lady, his daughter-in-law Zhang Fengyi, and the two generals Qin Yiming and Qin Gongming commanded more than [-] troops and went straight to Zhenyuan Mansion."

"Then An Bangyan probably gave An Xiaoliang an order, so he didn't attack the city today."

"Okay!" Hearing that it was Qin Liangyu who made the meritorious service, Sun Chuanting also knew that the chieftains must have killed and injured many people this time, otherwise they would not have given up Sizhou and Shiqian so resolutely.

Not surprisingly, as long as Zhenyuan is besieged, An Bangyan can only stop the siege of Guiyang, either personally lead the troops to rescue, or let An Xiaoliang and A Minong go.

Sun Chuanting was thinking, and after a short crossing, he asked the lieutenant general: "Where has the Mu governor arrived now?"

"We have arrived at Guihua Station, only thirty miles away, and we should be able to arrive at dusk." The deputy general responded, and Sun Chuanting said after hearing the words:

"In this case, then prepare food and grass, and after a day's rest, set off for Pushi the day after tomorrow."

"Yes..." Hearing this, the deputy general left the courtyard.

As for Sun Chuanting, he did not slack off because he was about to switch defenses and An Xiaoliang and A Minong stopped the siege.

He still put on the armor that ordinary civil servants would disdain. After eating lunch, he continued to patrol the city. It was not until two hours later that the deputy general came to inform that Mu Zeng was about to arrive, and then he took people to the north gate.

As the north gate opened, Sun Chuanting led people down the suspension bridge and greeted them at the gate of the city.

Sun Chuanting looked at the distant horizon. Although he didn't have much affection for a local magistrate like Mu Zeng, he didn't have any malice.

He didn't think highly of himself, but waited in line with business.

A quarter of an hour later, banners appeared on the horizon in the distance, and hundreds of banners slowly appeared, followed by soldiers and horses who were marching.

Although they were wearing iron armor of the Ming army, it was not difficult to tell from their figures and skin colors that this army was composed of soldiers of various colors.

Under the watchful eyes of Sun Chuanting and others, more than a thousand riders rushed out of the boundless crowd towards the city gate.

The leader is a standing man in gray and white uniform.

He led his horses to come, but more than a thousand riders stopped in front of the suspension bridge, and only he and the left and right officials rode on the suspension bridge, and reined in five or six steps in front of Sun Chuanting and others.

The three of them dismounted skillfully, and the leading man in gray and white uniforms was Mu Zeng, the governor of Lijiang and the governor of Yunnan.

He looks good, with a short three-inch beard. After dismounting from his horse, he looked at Sun Chuanting and the others, with a hesitant expression on his face, he bowed his hands and said:
"I don't know who is Governor Sun?"

"Sun Chuanting in Zhenwuwei, Shanxi, styled Boya, governor of Bijie and Chishui."

Sun Chuanting took a step forward, and his appearance in armor gave Mu Zeng a little affection for him.

"I didn't expect Governor Sun to be so tall and brave. It's really a blessing for the court."

Mu Zeng didn't expect Sun Chuanting to be such a tall and armored civil servant, and Sun Chuanting bowed to the five-foot-six-inch Mu Zeng:

"Minbu Zhengshi, the next official is just fulfilling his duty of guarding the land."

"It's a pity that we have to leave for the Pushi Office tomorrow, otherwise we should be able to guard the Kaiya Station together with the Mu Buzheng."

"Hehe..." Mu Zeng Fuxu smiled and said:
"There will definitely be opportunities in the future, but this officer has picked up a loophole this time. The morale of the rebel army has been frustrated by Governor Sun. This officer only needs to wait for work."

Speaking of this, Mu Zeng didn't know what he thought of, and said to Sun Chuanting:
"I divided up the troops in Usa three days ago. The Dogan Battalion was commanded by General Cao Wenzhao sent by the King of Qi. Maybe Governor Sun can meet General Cao."

From Mu Zeng's point of view, Sun Chuanting is obviously a member of King Qi, not only he sees it that way, but other people also see it that way.

Therefore, people who are also King Qi, perhaps Sun Chuanting and Cao Wenzhao can join hands to fight against the enemy.

"I have heard about the deeds of General Cao Shen, and I hope to fight against the enemy with him after going north." Sun Chuanting also responded with a smile.

Then, he said to the lieutenant next to him:
"Order the army to withdraw from Kaiya Station and return to Guihua Station to rest before dark."

"Yes..." The deputy general responded, and Mu Zeng also said when he saw this:

"Then I will lead the army to Kaiyayi first. I wish Governor Sun to wipe out the traitor She Chongming after he goes north."

"Auspicious words for the political envoy." Sun Chuanting looked familiar, and then commanded the army to withdraw from the left and right stone forts and Kaiya post.

Chatting with Mu Zeng is indispensable during this period. After all, it is an officialdom, and no one knows where he will go after this battle is over.

If Sun Chuanting continues to stay in Guizhou, there must be a lot of walking between him and Mu Zeng in the future.

As for Mu Zeng, he had more thoughts in his mind.

First of all, Mu's Mansion was at odds with Mu's Chieftain. During the She'an Rebellion, they stagnated, and they must have been dealt with after the war.

To be honest, Mu Zeng himself couldn't figure out why Mu Changzuo and his son dared to stop in Qujing, but rushed to help Guangxi instead of following the imperial court's order.

You must know that even his Mu family would not dare to obey the Ming Dynasty's order to deploy troops.

Therefore, Mu Zeng's mind became active under Mu Fu's coercion.

If this time, he can further expand his power in Wusi Tibet and Yunnan by virtue of his achievements in suppressing the rebellion, it will definitely be the icing on the cake for the development of the Mu clan.

Mu Zeng could see it clearly. He knew from the time when Nurhachi didn't conquer Liaodong that the Ming Dynasty was a centipede that was dead but not stiff, and the court was slowly reforming.

Once the reform is successful, this centipede may be able to trap the dragon and ascend to heaven.

What he wants to see is much farther than Mu Changzuo and others...

Therefore, if Sun Chuanting can stay in Guizhou in the future, it may help his idea of ​​expanding his power.

Therefore, when Sun Chuanting left, he also asked someone to send [-] horses, allowing Sun Chuanting's [-] cavalry to reach the level of four horses per man.

Sun Chuanting also knew that it was not easy to repay favors, but at present he really needed the four hundred Tibetan horses.

After thanking him again and again, he led the army north to Pushi Station, and Mu Zeng also obediently guarded Kaiya Station.

He would not foolishly go out of the city to fight An Xiaoliang and Aminong. If the Mu family's troops were damaged too much, it would be bad for them to rule the eastern part of Wusi Tibet and continue to mine in Qamdo.

Like the battle between Shen and Liao, in the battle of the She'an Rebellion, most people also had their own little ones.

Perhaps they sensed something was wrong in the behavior of the emperor and King Qi, so they all understood the importance of preserving their strength.

Even generals can think of this, so some careerists who use manipulating people's hearts as their primary means are naturally not far behind...

--------

"What Fu Bai means is that you want me to exchange the lives of soldiers and common people from the five provinces in exchange for the prosperity of hundreds of people?"

When Sun Chuanting led the troops to go north, in the garrison mansion in Shihu Pass in Luzhou, a potbellied official with thick eyebrows and kind eyes was frowning and questioning the person in front of him.

In front of his eyes was a sixty-year-old man in Taoist robes and a net scarf.

Hearing what the official said, the old man also showed embarrassment and said:
"Maohe (table word), the Donglin rebels are aggressive at the moment, and Mr. Shi Zhai has no choice but to come up with such a bad plan..."

"Using the lives of tens of thousands of soldiers and millions of people to conspire is indeed a bad strategy!" Zhu Xieyuan ridiculed the old man, but the old man didn't take it seriously and said:

"Currently Sun Gechen and Fang Shoufu are retreating, and my disciples from Eastern Zhejiang have fallen behind in the court."

"If I wait until there is no other reaction and Dong Lin controls the situation, the world will really be in chaos."

"Maohe, don't tell me you can't see how many courtiers there are in the Donglin."

The old man showed a heart-to-heart gesture, but Zhu Xieyuan frowned and said:

"There are sycophants in Donglin, so I don't comment, but what about my children in East Zhejiang? Does the Huaibei famine case have nothing to do with us?"

Zhu Xieyuan's words made the old man frown.

Zhu Xieyuan, because his family background is just an ordinary rich peasant, even went to school by relying on the local government office of the imperial court to learn literacy, so some ideas are contrary to most officials in eastern Zhejiang.

In the anti-mine tax case in Suzhou, the officials in eastern Zhejiang, who knew that there were people rebelling, wanted to send troops to suppress it. Only Zhu Xieyuan advocated the issuance of an encyclical.

As a result, the order of grace was issued, and Ge Cheng, who was among the tax-resistant people, came forward and surrendered, and the case was closed.

It can be seen from this that most civil servants, even when facing local villagers, would raise troops to suppress them at every turn.

Perhaps in their view, those who can be called fellows by them can only be called fellows who have passed the imperial examination together and embarked on official careers.

It is precisely because Zhu Xieyuan's various ideas are contrary to the officials in eastern Zhejiang that he will be excluded.

Although he became famous at a young age, he did not become a political envoy until he was over half a century old.

For other children of eastern Zhejiang, I am afraid that they are already high officials in Beijing.

"Maohe, think about this matter again." Although the old man didn't like it, he still advised:

"The Ministry of Officials has already begun to mobilize officials, and they will definitely take up their posts within two months. I hope you..."

Before the old man finished speaking, Zhu Xieyuan suddenly stood up, frowning tightly, looked down at the old man, his eyes met, and he said suppressing his anger:
"Although I, Zhu Xieyuan, am not talented, I will not use this method to vainly kill the lives of the common people. Fu Bai doesn't need to mention it anymore. Let's go down and rest earlier..."

After finishing speaking, Zhu Xieyuan turned around and left, and after a short period of stupefaction, the old man also came to his senses, stood up and said loudly to Zhu Xieyuan's back:
"Maohe, do you treat your fellow countrymen like this?!"

When the old man said this, there was a person behind the attic window on the left side of the main hall, who was recording their conversation. Finally, when the old man left Shihu Pass, this person sent the military newspaper to Yangqu, Shanxi.

When Zhu Youjian saw the news, it was already Dongyue [-].

He was sitting in the big tent, with a letter on his desk and a copy in his hand, which belonged to the Fusi of Nanzhen and Beizhen.

The military newspaper was not in a hurry, he first read Nanzhen Fusi's request for Zhu Xieyuan from the Zhejiang Party.

"I didn't choose the wrong person..."

Whispering, Zhu Youjian only felt that he had chosen the wrong person, then put down the letter in his hand, and looked at the person in front of him.

In front of him was a middle-aged man sitting on a chair with a flattering smile on his face, and the dragon pattern on his uniform also represented his identity.

Zhu Youjian folded the letter from Nanzhen Fusi, put it away and said to his eyes:
"Brother Jin, I will openly tell you about the royal residence's occupation of the farmland."

"The occupied farmland must be handed over, there is no doubt about it."

"Don't say it's you, Brother Wang. It's the same as the Dai Wangshu of Shanxi and Beizhili, and the old Shen Wang and Zhao Wang's nephew north of the Yellow River."

"For the farmland that was handed over, I can personally allocate money to compensate the four according to the number of acres of land, but it is impossible for you, Brother Wang, to occupy it again."

Zhu Youjian picked up the teacup, took a sip, and made Jin Wang Zhu Qiugui, who was sitting under him, a little restless.

He really wanted to tell the difficulty of the palace, but when he thought that his younger brother was in charge of Jinyiwei, it would be inappropriate to complain to him.

After all, Zhu Youjian's action this time exceeded everyone's imagination. Cao Huachun even abolished the guards of Zhangde Mansion and Weihui Mansion in Henan while measuring the Daming Mansion, making King Shen and King Zhao the four who faced the front. The second king.

But even with the threat of soldiers and horses, Zhu Qiugui still didn't want to give up the fields he had occupied, so he could only say:

"Those tenants also couldn't bear the land tax and corvee, so they took the initiative to seek refuge with the vassal princes of various places and offered their land to avoid corvee."

"Brother Wang, you said before that the people have been forced to work hard for a long time, so it should be a credit for us to protect the people and exempt them from the corvee."

"The common people have been in hard labor for a long time!" Zhu Youjian suddenly aggravated his voice, making Zhu Qiugui, who was sitting under him and over forty years old, shut up.

Immediately afterwards, Zhu Youjian continued to speak: "If the people work hard, then the corvee can be abolished, but if the corvee is abolished, the people need to pay land taxes."

"It's true that you sheltered the people and avoided corvee, but it's also true that you avoided the land tax."

Zhu Youjian's scolding made Zhu Qiugui bow his head and keep his mouth shut, and when Zhu Youjian saw this, he also frowned and shook his head secretly in his heart.

If Zhu Qiugui insisted on reasoning, then he would look up to the other party, but from the current appearance, it can only be said that Daming's pig raising strategy is really too successful.

"Okay." Zhu Youjian still didn't want to turn against the princes of the world, so his tone was a little more kind:

"All the acres of fields embezzled by the vassal kings will be returned to the Yumajian. In addition, the vassal kings in Shanxi and Northern Zhili will no longer be supported by the local government, and will no longer be drawn from the local land tax."

"Ah... this!" Zhu Qiugui was anxious, but Zhu Youjian raised his hand and said:

"The salary of the feudal prince's mansion will be converted into silver in the future, and will be distributed by the Imperial Horse Supervisor every year."

"Oh... that's good... that's good..." Hearing Zhu Youjian's words, Zhu Qiugui breathed a sigh of relief.

However, before he breathed a sigh of relief, Zhu Youjian said again:

"The children of the Fourth Prince's Mansion, the generals of Fengguo and the children of the county head, will be given a lump sum of silver and acres of land, and there will be no salary after that."

"This, this, this..." As soon as Zhu Youjian said this, Zhu Qiugui immediately stammered.

According to the regulations of the Ming Dynasty, the male title system from high to low is prince-junwang-zhenguo general-fuguo general-fengguo general-zhenguo lieutenant-fuguo lieutenant-fengguo lieutenant eighth.

The women's title system is princess-junzhu-xianzhu-junjun-xianjun-xiangjun six grades.

The number of people in these eight classes is also a pyramid-shaped situation from small to large. As for how many people are there in each of the eight classes?The most recent clan census was in the [-]nd year of Wanli.

Since the clan's salaries are distributed in banknotes, and in order to get more money and food, the feudal lords from all over the country reported the numbers indiscriminately and directly reported a figure of [-].

It is hard to imagine that when Zhang Juzheng conducted a census in the fifth year of Wanli, there were only more than [-] people in the clan, but after only [-] years, the number increased by [-] times.

This data is obviously falsely reported by the vassal princes from all over the country in order to get more salary.

Emperor Wanli knew well that he didn't want to be taken advantage of, so he began to play badly, and from time to time he defaulted on the salary of the vassal king's clan.

However, Zhu Youjian will not learn from his royal grandfather's bad behavior. After all, evasion cannot solve the problem, so he has already found out the number of clan children in the Four Princes' Mansion before he started in Shanxi and Beizhili.

"There is one prince of Taiyuan Prefecture in Shanxi, twelve county kings in the province, seven hundred and eighty-five generals in the town and state, three thousand and two hundred lieutenants, and one thousand five hundred and eleven county lords."

Zhu Youjian bowed his head to drink tea, but said the specific number of clans in the lineage of King Jin.

His words made Zhu Qiugui shudder, and Zhu Youjian continued to speak to him:

"One prince gets three thousand taels of silver, the county king gets eight hundred taels of silver, the general of the town and the princess gets four hundred taels of salary, the general of the auxiliary country three hundred taels, the general of Fengguo two hundred taels, and the title of king is removed. Except for nobles, all are hereditary. "

"The rest of the dismissed children, Zhen Guo Lieutenant and County Lord, have [-] acres of land, Fu Guo Lieutenant and County Lord, have [-] acres of land, Feng Guo Lieutenant and Township Lord, have [-] acres of land, and the land needs to be paid. No corvee, no trading."

Zhu Youjian explained the treatment of the retained and abolished vassal kings and clans, and such treatment made Zhu Qiugui heave a sigh of relief.

Compared with Jiajing's one-size-fits-all approach, which reduced tens of thousands of clans to tens of thousands of clans, and Wanli's direct destruction without paying salaries and issuing treasures like waste paper, the actions of the two brothers Zhu Youxiao are simply the conscience of heaven and earth.

Perhaps others will think that in this way, the money spent is too much.

But Zhu Youjian calculated the account, and according to this treatment, the Four Princes of Shanxi and Beizhili distributed a maximum of more than [-] mu of land and more than [-] taels of silver.

In this way, the four palaces and the court are happy.

First of all, the imperial court did not issue treasure bills to fool them, but issued real gold and silver, which made the clan children below the county king and above the general of Fengguo happy.

Secondly, the descendants of the clan below General Fengguo lived like tenants in the palace, but the imperial court did not allow them to engage in business, and they had no land, so they could only wait for the rewards from the palace during festivals, barely surviving.

Now, more than [-] descendants of the clan have obtained cultivated land. Although they have to pay taxes, they still have a way to survive.

As for the imperial court, the children of the clan need to pay the land tax, which has no impact on the imperial court, since they don't have to do corvee anyway.

Therefore, under this system, the only offenders are the princes and county kings who can enslave the clan's children.

But do they dare to object?At present, Shanxi and Beizhili are still carrying out the mighty army to clear up the farmland. Who dares to object?
Therefore, for the vassals who are not careerists, even though their interests have been lost, it is not unacceptable.

It just so happened that the four kings of Shanxi, Shanxi, and Beizhili were all mediocre, so Zhu Youjian carried out the vassal reform at this time.

Coincidentally, with the help of this reform, we can also look at the attitudes of princes in other places.
especially……

"Fu Wang..."

(End of this chapter)