Jingming

Chapter 210 Huguang Powder Keg

The provinces in the world are only undercurrents due to the rectification of water conservancy and the drastic changes in the central government caused by the impeachment case of Li Xiang's corpse, but Guangdong has become the cusp of the storm again.

After all, Li Xiang is from Cantonese.

In the 16th year of Zhengde, Zhang Fujing went south, and a major corruption case broke out in Guangdong and Guangxi because of the first battle of Tuen Mun. Senior officials were almost wiped out, and Guangdong began to clean up the land.

In the first year of Jiajing, because of the hurricane disaster and the pressure of the new law, there were rebellious gentry in Guangdong, and Zhang Fujing ransacked his home again.

In the second year of Jiajing's reign, Guangdong's government offices underwent major reforms, and the procurement law, commercial law, and tax law were tried out, and regulations were compiled and reviewed. Guangdong, which had gone through a great turmoil between officials and gentry, did not produce any moths.

Now at the beginning of the third year of Jiajing, Guangdong Xinke Jinshi impeached the chief assistant with his corpse. He was first commented by His Majesty as loyal and commendable, and then found out that he "first got close to the new party, and then impeached the leader of the new party. A villain with ulterior motives."

Li Xiang's parents died young.After becoming a Jinshi last year, he brought his wife and children to Beijing.

But in Xinhui County, Li Xiang's relatives, teachers and friends are still there.

Zhang Fujing didn't draw his knife this time, but said to Ma Yong: "Director Ma, the provincial and county levels all need you to send people to help collect local taxes."

This is the new name set after the unification of local departments.For the tribute requested by the imperial court to Guangdong, this part of the annual office and seat office was purchased, and the Ministry of Households paid for it.

This part of the corvee pressure that the local government had to bear in the past has been transferred to the commercial firms that undertake the purchases, and the tax department can instead extract part of the commercial tax from it.

The apportionment of corvee labor such as miscellaneous offices at the local level has been unified into local taxes, and the apportionment is divided into mu and the sub-field rights are calculated.After it is collected, the government will still carry out the purchase.

The top priority in Guangdong this year is the collection of local taxes.

At the provincial affairs meeting, Sun Jiao was no longer present—the news came from Beijing that he had left for Beijing ahead of schedule.One is for the "safety" of the emperor, and the other is for Empress Sun who will give birth around March.

However, there are still many relatives of the new dynasty in Guangdong, such as Ma Yong, the father of Anpin, the former chief military officer of Jizhou, and the current chief of the Guangdong Public Security Department.

After listening to Zhang Fujing's words, he looked at Jiang Xiuyi, the general officer in Guangdong: "Under the Public Security Department, except for the Haiphong Road and the Inspection Department, they are mainly the fast and strong squads of the prefectures and counties. Soldiers take care of you."

Jiang Xiuyi just nodded silently.

Zhang Fujing looked at Zhai Luan who had been changed to be the head of the tax department: "If Zhai is in charge of the tax, if there is any obstacle, you can send someone to report it in time."

Zhai Luan went south as an official to promote education, but now he has been transferred to the tax department.There is no other reason—this is the first time that taxes are collected in this way, and it is the first time that taxes must be strictly collected from officials and gentry. Zhai Luan has the experience of being the head of the Ministry of Punishment.

"If the hundreds of officials in Guangdong are not doing their job effectively, Huo Xun will be in charge of the three levels of Guangdong's censors, and he must not be tolerated."

Huo Tao learned a lesson, and now he is lucky enough to stay in the post and get promoted, and he repeatedly agreed.

"Cao's punishment is also hard. This year, he still needs to use the name of punishment to reassure the people and deter Xiaoxiao."

Concubine Duan's father, Cao Chaben, was already a magistrate of the fourth rank, and this time he was directly promoted to the head of the criminal nomination department in charge of criminal names in a province in Guangdong.

After Cao Cha agreed, he asked, "Futai, now in court..."

He hesitated.

Although they are both relatives of the state, the nine concubines have never been set up since the founding of the Ming Dynasty.The queen's father was granted the title of marquis and hereditary earl; the father of the concubine Shu was granted the title of uncle and hereditary for three generations; but the fathers of nine concubines were only appointed and promoted, and they are not qualified to know the truth.

The current situation is that the Marquis of Jing'an and Sun Jiao, a cabinet scholar, hurried back to Beijing after learning the news.

If the emperor was forced by Yang Tinghe, their relatives of the new dynasty are still cooperating with the new law in Guangdong?
Facing the mighty Zhang Fujing, Cao Cha couldn't ask such words clearly.

Zhang Fujing looked over one by one.

Zhang En, Jiang Xiuyi, Cao Cha, Ma Yong, Zhai Luan, Huo Tao, these are the six giants at the Guangdong Provincial Affairs Conference.

He simply said: "Your Majesty's order!"

After speaking, he took out a scroll of imperial edict from his sleeve.

Hearing the word "family decree", all six people were moved in their hearts, and they left their seats and knelt down: "Long live Your Majesty! Long live! Long live! Your Majesty, please ask Sheng'an?"

"Fengtian Chengyun Emperor, the imperial edict said." After they finished greeting the emperor, Zhang Fujing directly began to read the imperial edict, "Practice, dialectics, and new laws are all from me, and I will help them with advice and advice. The case of Li Xiang, Guangdong is not You need to pay attention to it, and implement the new law with peace of mind. Guangdong uses practical studies and dialectics to select students, which is very in line with my wishes, and it is accurate! Yang Ge, the old humerus minister, is charged with the heavy responsibility of reform. I really pity his loyalty and courage, and Guangdong does not have to believe it. this."

"...Your Majesty is holy!"

After everyone saluted and stood up, Zhang Fujing smiled and passed the imperial decree to them.

To be honest, it feels a bit weird, especially the word pity and the word "brave" in "Lianqi Zhongyong".

After the imperial decree was delivered, Zhang Fujing put away his smile and said solemnly: "Guangdong has been in chaos twice, and this year will definitely be another time. You must not slack off. Guangdong is still like this, so what about the world? Now that the center is united, Guangdong is We must work together. The whole world is staring at Guangdong, Mr. Ma and Cao Tixing, and the two of them will work together to help the new law, and the situation will gradually become clear. If the new law in Guangdong is successful, it will show your majesty the power of practice, dialectics and the new law. The world will no longer ignore His Majesty because he is young!"

In the small circle of these seven people, the words were initially clarified.

To put it bluntly, people with identities like Ma Yong and Cao Cha are also vigorously promoting the new law in Guangdong, so the rumors that the emperor was suppressed by Yang Tinghe will gradually dissipate.

But in this, there will be a subtle time difference.

Because... the separation of tax and labor and the sharing of rich and poor, that is at least after the summer grain and autumn grain.

But in the face of Sun Jiao rushing back to the capital, can some caring people from other provinces bear it?

……

Sun Jiao's fast boat has entered the border of Huguang.

It's almost late February.It was already the end of the month when the news of the First Moon Watching the Sun and the Court Meeting reached Guangdong. Even if Sun Jiao left immediately, it would be March when he arrived in the capital.

Express delivery can change people and horses all the way around the clock, and Sun Jiao still has a baby on board.

Now, Sun Jiao doesn't care to spend more time with the youngest daughter of the "old woman", but keeps watching the news that has been coming from the capital these days.

On his ship, there is another special person.

Sun Jiao called him over and asked seriously: "Is this really the secret order Commander Luo gave you?"

In front of Sun Jiao was Si Cong, the former commander of Jin Yiwei who had appeared that day.Because he helped Zhang Yanling lend usury, he has now been demoted to Jinyiwei Baihu. The job at this moment is very special.

Si Cong replied respectfully: "Exactly. The lower official has been trained by Wang Zhenfu for more than half a year. He should have led a special service team to report to Director Ma. But there are not many hidden dangers in Guangdong, but Huguang is more troublesome."

Sun Jiao was originally from Huguang, so he naturally knew that Huguang was more troublesome.

In the case of Li Xiang, the central government created such a situation, and immediately began to clean up the water conservancy all day long. One can imagine the hidden dangers in Huguang, a province full of vassal kings.

What is not known to outsiders during the restructuring of the Guangdong government office is that the Department of Public Security, which is mainly responsible for arresting thieves, will set up a special service team in the Department of Public Security, organized into a hundred households.In the entire Ming Dynasty, Jinyiwei has set up another special service station under Beizhen Fusi, with a total of 5000 people.This secret force, among the current counselors, probably only Cui Yuan and Sun Jiao know about it.

Now, Sicong does not go to Guangdong to perform his duties for the time being, but follows Sun Jiao.

"What about the people under you?"

Si Cong said succinctly: "It's at the Marquis of Zhenyuan. The official came first to join the Marquis."

"The old man stayed in Hengzhou, Changsha, and Wuchang for a while, so what?"

Si Cong didn't need to answer, and said in a low-key manner: "Master Hou must have received His Majesty's secret decree, and I only listen to Master Hou's orders."

Sun Jiao looked at him deeply and nodded slightly.

In Huguang, there are King Chu of Wuchang Prefecture, King Liao of Jingzhou Prefecture, King Min of Wugang Prefecture, King Ji of Changsha Prefecture, King Xiang of Xiangyang Prefecture, King Jing of Qizhou, King Shou of De'an Prefecture, King Rong of Changde Prefecture, and King Hua of Lizhou Prefecture. Prince Yang, and Prince Rui of Hengzhou Prefecture of Xinjian Fan.

Among them, King Shou and King Rong are both descendants of Xianmiao, and Prince Rui is the stepson of Emperor Zhengde, with a special status.

There are nine princes in one province, and the number of vassal princes ranks first in the entire Ming Dynasty.

If you add the vassal kings who have been abolished for various reasons, Huguang has established a total of [-] vassals.For the abolished vassal kings, some of the original granted land were handed over to the vassal kings who later established the vassal or moved to Huguang, and the rest were collected as official land.

Huguang probably has the closest interest relationship with the royal clan.

The boat sailed to Hengzhou Mansion at the confluence of Leishui River and Xiangjiang River. This is the fiefdom of Prince Rui Zhu Zaihou.

Sun Jiao stayed here for a day and only went to Prince Rui's Mansion located in Jin'ao Lane.

It seemed that it was just a matter of etiquette, and in Prince Rui's residence, Empress Xia did not show up, and Prince Rui, who was only four years old, was dressed in mourning clothes and accompanied by Chang Shi to meet Sun Jiao.

After the adoption, mourning for "father" Zhu Houzhao was resumed.

On the cusp of the storm, this little Prince Rui didn't understand.But his mother probably understands the current situation, if not because of his grandson's status, Prince Rui's residence would have closed its doors to welcome guests.

The Xia family even quickly sent someone to bring a congratulatory gift to Empress Sun who was about to give birth to a prince.

It is not yet known whether a prince or a princess will be born, Xia family is very scared, she doesn't understand why Sun Jiao insists on visiting in person - just send someone to say hello.

Hurry up and go you!
When news of Sun Jiao's move in Hengzhou Prefecture was heard, he accepted a banquet hosted by local officials of Hengzhou Prefecture.

Faced with various temptations during the meeting, he only said that he believed that the consultants were of one mind and were loyal to the country.

The next day he set off to continue to Changsha Mansion.

Here, there is also a vassal king, and Huguang Xunshui Yushi Wang Bangrui is also in Changsha Mansion.The purpose is self-evident.

This Changsha mansion's Ji Wang, Sun Jiao never visited in person again.

On the contrary, Shi, the head of Prince Ji's mansion, came to the banquet.

During the dinner, Sun asked Wang Bangrui: "Wei Xian and Yu Maogong are both Jinshi of Zhengde Dingchou Division?"

Wang Bangrui was silent for a moment, and then said: "Bangrui and Xia Gongjin are also of the same class."

Sun asked him about his relationship with Yu Chengxun, and he said his relationship with Xia Yan seemed to want to prove that he was not changed from a concubine to a supervisory censor to inspect Huguang water conservancy because he was close to Yu Chengxun.

But Huguang water conservancy involves so many royal family members, how heavy is the burden on Wang Bangrui?If Yang Tinghe didn't appreciate and trust him, how could he send him here.

Sun Jiao nodded: "I heard that when Wei Xian was still studying hard at the government school, he proposed to the magistrate fourteen strategies to suppress bandits?"

Wang Bangrui was silent for a while before answering: "I am worried about the people and out of righteous indignation. It was so shallow at the time that it was not worth mentioning."

Sun Jiao just smiled: "Wei Xian is not yet thirty this year, right?"

"...Xiaguan was born in May of the eighth year of Hongzhi, and he is thirty years old."

"Standing at thirty, the future is boundless, and the next generation is formidable." Sun Jiao nodded again, "Huguang has a vast land and a lot of things, Weixian still needs to think carefully and act cautiously."

"...Your Majesty, keep in mind the teachings of elder Ge."

The brief conversation revealed very special information, and Sun Jiao seemed to be warning him.

Chang Shi of Prince Ji's Mansion in Changsha has a different expression.

He was re-elected by the Ministry of Rites two years ago, why is Sun Jiao's performance not quite right now?

Empress Sun gave birth soon, and he was still so unhurried in Huguang.

The situation was sensitive, and King Ji of the Changsha Mansion did not arrange for anyone he really trusted to contact Sun Jiao after all.

The next day, Sun Jiao set off from Changsha Mansion and entered the Yangtze River via Xiangjiang River and Dongting Lake.

The water surface is wide, and he also changed the big boat.

In Wuchang Mansion, the governor of Huguang, the chief envoy, the capital, and the procurator for punishment are all making preparations.

Then, it was Huguangdu Commander Division Chief Brigade Officer who left Wuchang Mansion first and went to the upper reaches of the Yangtze River.

In Baling County, the prefecture of Yuezhou at the mouth of Dongting Lake, the Marquis of Jing'an, the head of the state, and the Grand Master of the Cabinet joined the Marquis of Zhenyuan, the number one military official in Huguang.

Gu Shilong just turned [-] this year, but when Sun Jiao saw him, he felt that his body was worse than when he passed through Huguang and went south the year before last.

"Zhongxun, why are you so thin?" Sun Jiao was worried.

Huguang is so important now, Gu Shilong, the commander-in-chief of Huguang, can't make a mistake.

Gu Shilong's father was a concubine who inherited the title and served as an official for 30 years with integrity and law-abiding.Gu Shilong inherited his father's style and acted meticulously.

He shook his head: "No problem. Mr. Ge, my son Gu Huan is now serving as the Red Helmets General to guard the Forbidden Palace. After Mr. Ge returns to Beijing, I hope you can take care of him."

It's okay to say it, but there is a sense of entrustment in the words.

Sun Jiao turned pale with shock: "What happened to Huguang?"

Gu Shilong said solemnly: "The king of Chu has been quite bold recently, and many of his offshoots and bastards, Huguang merchants, have secretly communicated with my unfilial second son Gu Yu. I want to plead guilty and impeach the king of Chu for secretly making friends with honorable ministers. "

Sun Jiao looked at him in bewilderment: "Your son is already deeply involved with Chu Palace?"

Gu Shilong nodded heavily: "The thoroughfare of the nine provinces in Wuchang Prefecture, I took my second son by my side and neglected to discipline him. The fertile land in Xianning and Jiayu counties in the south of Wuchang Prefecture has been encroached on by dogs a lot. Huguang clear water conservancy, Qing When I arrived in Wuchang Mansion, I couldn't prove my innocence. My family is unfortunate, so I can only lead by example and help His Majesty."

Sun Jiao's heart also became heavy, and he asked again: "Where are the generals under your command?"

"Naturally, there are also a lot of good land to buy." Gu Shilong said decisively, "After I confess my crimes, there is still a list to be submitted. I ask the elders and Cui Zuojun to invite me on their behalf to keep me guarding Huguang. If officials are appointed everywhere, there will be no chaos in Huguang."

Sun Jiao asked solemnly: "Have you already linked the vassal king with the guard?"

"Of course." Gu Shilong said, "Huguang's fifteen prefectures and two prefectures, a total of [-] counties and fourteen prefectures, are larger than Nanzhili and Zhejiang combined. Although it is necessary to support nine princes and one county king, the land tax It accounts for less than [-]% of the whole country. Ge Lao naturally knows why."

Sun Jiao nodded solemnly.

Huguang is densely covered with water networks, and the amount of fertile land is not comparable to that of Guangdong and Zhejiang.Although there are many clansmen in Huguang today, but the land tax is so small, most of the reason is that they frequently reported poor harvests due to floods and other reasons.In addition, the imperial clan, military officers of the guards, civil servants and gentry frequently invaded people's land in Huguang, and the problems of hidden land and hidden households were much more serious than those in Guangdong.

To solve the problem of Huguang, the first thing that cannot be avoided is the clan.

Now, Gu Shilong is going to take the king of Chu to the knife.

And there is no doubt that he would also let Yang Tinghe take him as the leader of the nobles to operate together, but he wanted Sun Jiao and Cui Yuan to protect him.

Sun Jiao thought about her daughter who was about to give birth, and judging from the family letter, His Majesty took good care of her.

So he said decisively: "I will stay in Huguang! You can't live in Huguang alone in this matter!"

(End of this chapter)