In the late Ming Dynasty, rising from the grassland

Chapter 354 Everyone wants to run for parliament

After entering winter, Dahua's two external wars fell into a brief stagnation due to climate problems.

But the country did not calm down because of the cold weather. With Shi Kefa being exiled to Mobei, the Donglin gentlemen were expelled from the court, and the edict to establish the Senate was issued to various places, the whole country was boiling. .

Especially the three provinces of Jiangnan, because since Hong Chengchou openly excluded dissidents at the beginning of this year, the Government Affairs Council has begun to carry out drastic land and commercial reforms in the three provinces of Jiangnan.

Almost all the officials in the three provinces have been replaced, and with the reform team composed of tens of thousands of talented people, it is likely to turn the entire Jiangnan over.

Obviously, Jiangnan was the headquarters of the Donglin Party, and given the deadline given by the emperor, Hong Chengchou also acted ruthlessly.

The gentry, landlords, literati and merchants in the south of the Yangtze River are naturally unwilling to sit back and wait for death. After all, whether it is the new land policy or commercial tax collection, they are digging up their roots and cutting off their flesh.

But Jiangnan not only has three town garrison troops, but also a field regiment. The Mongol queen has been living in the palace, so armed confrontation and violent resistance to the law are definitely not feasible.

However, as the saying goes, there are policies from above and countermeasures from below. Such stupid things as fighting with force have never been something that Jiangnan literati can do. They have plenty of ways to deal with it.

In Jiangnan, even a saint has to follow the local customs when he comes.

But this time, the gentry and merchants in Jiangnan found that the previous tricks against officials no longer worked.

Because most of the civil servants who came this time were transferred from Datong and Shanxi, they had seen the power of the ladies from the Bureau of Statistics and Investigation, and they also knew who the emperor was.

Therefore, no matter how beautiful the women in Jiangnan are, how much money they have, and how good they are at having fun, no one dares to bend the law for personal gain and deceive the emperor about the new policy.

In addition, Hong Chengchou was also ruthless and gathered a large number of close officials to conduct inspections from time to time. If any fraud was discovered, all officials there would be dismissed from their posts and investigated without mercy.

This made the gentry and merchants in Jiangnan really panic, and they were panicked like never before.

In the end, I had to place all my hopes on the Donglin Party officials in the capital, hoping that they could bring down the traitor party and Hong Chengchou. Who would have thought that the Donglin Party would fall on its own, which made everyone despair.

Although the Senate has the right to impeach officials and make suggestions to His Majesty, everyone is not stupid. They all understand that this is just a department with no real power and a fictitious duty, and it is an appeasement given by His Majesty.

Because the Senate said nicely that it can impeach officials, but it does not have the power to investigate and make suggestions to His Majesty. It depends on whether the Emperor will adopt them.

Therefore, the Senate is completely useless and has no power to compete with the court that has the power to judge.

At this time, the largest brothel on the bank of the Qinhuai River was filled with almost all the prominent landowners and businessmen from the south of the Yangtze River. The smallest family with the smallest financial resources was estimated to have no less than a million.

If so many wealthy people usually gathered at Meixiang Tower, the entire Qinhuai River would probably be filled with the sound of silk and bamboo singing and dancing, but today it was filled with gloomy clouds.

Almost everyone did not call girls, and they were not in the mood to drink and have fun, because today we are not here to have fun and have fun, but to discuss the future and destiny of all the landowners and merchants in the entire Jiangnan.

The reason why we chose to gather by the Qinhuai River was simply to have fun, otherwise it would be taboo to gather so many people together in any other place.

"Everyone, please tell me what to do?"

"Since ancient times, people have not fought with officials. Now that the land has been measured, what else can we do?"

Just as they started, everyone fell silent again.

"Well, even in the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty... Since ancient times, has there ever been a case of the government forcibly renting land from gentlemen? Or is it all?" "Who says it's not the case? The business tax is quite reasonable, and it's not a big problem whether to pay it or not, but this land, Especially for mulberry fields, calculated based on paddy fields, it only costs five silver coins per mu per year. Isn’t this a big joke?”

"bump!"

"good."

Normally everyone would hold their breath, not daring to say anything, for fear of being shot off. But now they finally gathered together. After two glasses of wine, they couldn't help it anymore. Some people slapped the table, some people smashed their glasses. , those who scolded their mothers vented their dissatisfaction.

"Masters, be careful what you say, please be careful what you say!"

Seeing that something was not right in the atmosphere in the hall, and the scolding became more and more excessive, a petite and beautiful woman couldn't bear it anymore. She came to the second floor from the backyard and quickly warned, with a hint of crying in her tone.

Naturally, everyone knows this woman. She is Li Xiangjun, a famous prostitute by the Qinhuai River, and the new owner of this brothel.

Sure enough, following Li Xiangjun's reminder, the hundreds of people in the hall also calmed down a lot, and then broke out in a cold sweat.

She didn't care if these people scolded Hong Chengchou to death, but it was really hard to say that they were such a foolish tyrant. There were hundreds of girls in her Meixiang House.

Seeing that everyone had calmed down, Li Xiangjun resisted the urge to chase them away, and instead said with a smile: "All of you have great wealth. Even if you do nothing every day, your descendants can be rich and worry-free for several generations. Why go against the trend and end up ruining your family?

The Yinu family thinks it’s better to have fun in time. Girls, come out quickly and show off all your talents..."

After saying that, regardless of everyone's attitude, he greeted directly, and the girls in the box also filed out.

Not long after, the sweet sound of silk and bamboo could be heard throughout the brothel.

However, the hundreds of landlords who had been agitated just now no longer had the same determination to go all out and give it a try. Apparently, they all chose to accept their fate.

Because no one wants to have their family ruined, and no one wants to give up this luxurious and happy life. Just like Li Xiangjun said, no matter what, their family's wealth is enough for them to squander for several generations.

When Li Xiangjun saw that these people were not talking about how to fight against the court's new policy, he completely let go of his worries.

If these people still refused to listen, she would have no choice but to chase them away, even at the risk of huge losses.

These hundreds of non-commissioned officers are all the most prestigious landowners and businessmen from all over Jiangnan. They almost represent the entire gentleman-landlord class in Jiangnan. Now even they have lost their determination to fight. It is conceivable that others will.

They actually chose to give in, and everyone's conversation began to turn to the Senate. After all, the status of that member seemed to be quite good. He could impeach officials' conduct, and he could directly reach Tian Ting, which meant that when local officials wanted to touch them in the future, You have to weigh it first.

Especially those big businessmen, in the end, in order to compete for the seats of members, they became a mess and almost stopped fighting.

Because each province has only one hundred members, and three provinces only have 300 members, which is simply not enough for the gentry and landlords in the entire Jiangnan.

What's more, the court also stipulates that each county can only have one person serving as a member of the assembly. If you want to become a member of the assembly, you must first be well-known in the local area, must not lose your personal ethics, and then compete with the number of recommendation letters.

After Li Xiangjun returned to the backyard, she ignored the quarrel in front of her this time, because in the room, when Dong Xiaowan proposed that she also run for parliament, Li Xiangjun and other famous prostitutes were all shocked.

(End of this chapter)