Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 709: The Corrupted Parliament

After Zhu Youjian made the decision, the Yingyang Army soon received an order to go to Liaodong.

When Sun Yingyuan saw that the emperor was going to transfer the entire Shesheng Camp to Liaodong, he immediately realized that this mission would be difficult.

Since the establishment of the new army, it has been deployed in battalions. It is unprecedented to deploy a battalion at a time.

Of course, this is also related to the fact that all the battalions of the new army belonged to the patrol battalion before. It was not until the establishment of the Yingyang Army that it was divided into two battalions, the Shesheng Battalion and the Zhonglei Battalion, to explore battalion-level operations.

Now there are two mounted infantry battalions, one cavalry battalion, one artillery battalion, and one support and guarantee battalion in the Shesheng Camp, a total of five battalions, with a total number of more than four thousand people.

All personnel can move around with horses and are equipped with a large number of mules, horses and vehicles.

This was a request made by the emperor. He required that both the Imperial Camp and the Eagle Army have a mobile force that could be deployed quickly in the event of a war to reinforce or suppress a rebellion.

The most suitable for mobility is naturally the cavalry, but the cavalry has very high requirements for war horses and riding skills, and it is a bit difficult to train.

However, mounted infantry is not very difficult, and the requirements for horses are relatively low. Especially after the new fire gun, the combat effectiveness of mounted infantry has been greatly improved, becoming a reliable type of soldier.

The peace between the Ming Dynasty and the Mongolian Mongols in the past two years has resulted in the exchange of many horses. The Imperial Camp and the Eagle Army both have sufficient mules and horses, and have begun to become a mule-and-horse-based army.

This also improves the combat effectiveness of the army, because an army that uses all firearms has higher logistical requirements and needs to be equipped with mules and horses.

In particular, the Shesheng Battalion is positioned mainly for shooting, and has added a lot of fire support units and logistics personnel.

This caused the organization of the Shesheng Battalion to expand, becoming more and more in line with Sun Yingyuan's status as a lieutenant general.

Sun Yingyuan even dared to say confidently: The combat effectiveness of any Lieutenant General Battalion, or even an ordinary brigade or division in the Ming Dynasty, could not match that of the Shesheng Battalion. He could defeat enemies that were several times larger than himself by leading this army.

Now that the emperor has sent out such a battalion as a whole, one can imagine how difficult this mission is:
"Zhou Yuji went to Shanxi to suppress the bandits, and he only brought 3,000 brave guards with him."

"Going to Liaodong this time is as difficult as suppressing bandits!"

"I hope everything goes well and nothing goes wrong."

"Otherwise, my battalion won't be able to withstand the Liaodong Army outside the Great Wall."

Sun Yingyuan, who knew what he was going to do, made the worst mental preparations for his mission.

Not only were all kinds of ammunition carried according to the highest standards, but the support and guarantee brigade was also asked to carry as much food and canned food as possible.

He had to be prepared for a lack of supplies in Liaodong so that the soldiers could hold out for a few days without food.

At the same time, he also discussed many measures with the Guard Captain Gu Yanwu to win over the morale of the Liaodong army to prevent the Liaodong troops from becoming united and hostile to their foreign army.

But before leaving, Sun Yingyuan received another piece of bad news, that is, Gu Yanwu, the guard of Sheshengying, was transferred to the south by the emperor. He was responsible for setting up the Wei Rate Mansion in Nanjing and concurrently served as the guard of the Eastern Palace Yulin.

Gu Yanwu looked at the transfer order and said regretfully:

"It seems that I can't go to Liaodong with the general this time."

"I'd like to trouble the general to dispatch some soldiers to accompany me to take up the post."

Sun Yingyuan also felt a little regretful because although Gu Yanwu was young, he was quite compatible with his temper.

The two of them worked together very well, and the two chief officers worked together very smoothly.

Now that Gu Yanwu was about to be transferred, he didn't know what the future guards would be like. If he was someone who liked to fight for power and oppress military officers, he would be in trouble.

Fortunately, the emperor was not so unwise as to transfer an unfamiliar person. The guards of Shesheng Camp were temporarily under the charge of Chief of Staff Zhang Yongan. After arriving in Liaodong, Zhang Daojun, the Northeastern Pacification Envoy of Jinyiwei, took on the role concurrently to coordinate relations with Liaodong.

This is another convenience of the Shesheng Camp. Although they still belong to the Jinyiwei in name, they can easily make use of the power of the Jinyiwei in various places.

Local officials also had to look up to them to prevent themselves from being targeted after offending the Jinyiwei.

Seeing the emperor's arrangement, Sun Yingyuan felt relieved. He said goodbye to Gu Yanwu and said to him:
"The matter of transferring troops is easy. I will transfer all the soldiers from the East Palace Guard to you."

"I will give you a complete squadron to escort you to Jiangnan to take up your post."

Sun Yingyuan transferred out Qian Wu and other soldiers from the Yulin Guards and allocated a squadron to Gu Yanwu.

The two men parted ways, one went to Liaodong and the other went to Songjiang.
-
The emperor arranged for the garrison of the Yulin guards to be in Songjiang Prefecture.

Gu Yanwu went there this time to strengthen their forces and form a guard team for the Yulin guards.

If there is a major chaos in Jiangnan, they will be the first army sent by the court.

In order to be able to join the battle as soon as possible after arriving in Jiangnan, Gu Yanwu counted the number of his men and appointed:
"Qian Wu, you will be the captain of these soldiers. Integrate them into a small team, organize them according to the squadron specifications, and prepare to expand them into a squadron."

"The other officers have been formed into a teaching team, ready to lead the guards of the Imperial Guards after arriving in Jiangnan."

Everyone responded in agreement and quickly began to reorganize.

The forty-three soldiers under Qian Wu's command were all from the various Yulin Guards, and many were from the Yulin Central Guards where he came from, which was formerly the Zhuolu Central Guards.

He organized these people into three squads and treated them as small teams, letting them elect soldier committee members and selecting the sergeant chief from among them.

Then they asked Gu Yanwu to appoint an instructor, and the three of them formed a collective meeting to discuss the appointment of squad leaders and platoon leaders and submitted it to Gu Yanwu for approval.

Seeing this, Gu Yanwu nodded, knowing that Qian Wu was already capable of serving as squadron leader.

Although this setup was simple, it already had the structure of a squadron. As long as the deputy squadron leader, deputy instructor, and quartermaster were added, the leadership structure of a squadron would be complete.

Now, of course, it is simpler, just form a general assembly. The deputy positions should be left to others to be promoted, and let them actively make suggestions.

Considering that he would need to recruit personnel from the Yulin rear guard after going to Jiangnan, Gu Yanwu instructed Qian Wudao:

"Train each of them as a squad leader and prepare to expand the army after arriving in Jiangnan."

"When they have free time, we organize learning activities so that they can seize the opportunity."

He also gave a speech to all the staff:
"This mission is to go to Jiangnan to prevent riots."

"The Emperor demands that we arrive in Suzhou within fifteen days."

"Horses have been prepared along the way. Those who can't hold on will stay at the post station."

"Anyone who can reach Suzhou with me within 15 days will be awarded a year's merit."

"Get on your horses now and head to Zhuolu Posthouse immediately."

Everyone was in awe when they heard this, and they felt a little excited.

There are not many opportunities to gain merits. It is difficult to gain merits in the army at ordinary times. It is only possible to gain them by killing enemies on the battlefield.

Nowadays, you can gain years of merit just by traveling. This is truly a rare opportunity.

As long as they have years of experience, there will be no obstacles to their promotion to officer. When the opportunity comes, they can be promoted.

So these people responded loudly one after another. Qian Wu and other soldiers who came from Zhuolu Zhongwei also gave up the idea of ​​visiting their families and did not even have time to write letters.

This time they went south to prevent rebellion, not to enjoy the mountains and rivers. In the end, they just left a message of safety when passing by Zhuolu Horse Post.
-
Ni Yuangong, deputy district mayor of Zhuolu District, did not know that a team of soldiers was transferred to Suzhou as a vanguard.

At this time, he was looking at the news about the south in the newspaper and was worried. He discussed with the district chief Liu Lishun in the district office:

"You said that this Suzhou incident happened so long ago." "Why do the emperor and the officials in the court seem to be not concerned at all?"

"Don't they worry about a slave rebellion that would affect the stability of Jiangnan?"

As a Zhejiang native, he obviously does not want Suzhou to fall into chaos, as that might affect the stability of the entire Jiangnan area.

Liu Lishun was from Henan and didn't know much about Jiangnan. Hearing this, he pondered and said:
"Perhaps your majesty and the gentlemen all have their own plans!"

"But since they are not in a hurry, it means the matter is not that serious."

"Didn't you see in the newspapers that there were sit-ins and no trouble?"

"To be honest, I didn't know that you had so many slaves in Jiangnan."

"Ninety percent of the people in Suzhou were tenants, and many of them became slaves."

"Isn't 60% of Suzhou's farmland government-owned? Why is the proportion of tenant farmers so high?"

Ni Yuangong smiled bitterly and said:

"The official fields in Susong are different from those in other places."

"Except for the name of official land, after paying taxes to officials and civilians, the land is no different from private land in terms of trading and circulation."

"But because the word 'guan' (official land) is in the name, it is easy for officials to occupy it."

“Officials in power can easily amass tens of thousands of acres, but when they lose power, they will quickly move on.”

"Therefore, people in Jiangnan are particularly keen on taking the imperial examinations and becoming officials."

"There are many great families in Jiangnan, such as the Shen and Wang families, both of which have produced prime ministers."

"Last year, the emperor punished the Shen family, and this year the Wang family was implicated in this matter."

Liu Lishun shook his head, finding it hard to understand. Then he thought of the Feng family in Zhuolu, and felt relieved.

The Feng family was also a family of university scholars and a local tycoon. Fortunately, when he came to Zhuolu to take up his post, Feng Quan, a member of the eunuch party, had already been convicted and banished to Xiangjiang Island by the emperor.

Otherwise, the various policies he implemented in Zhuolu District would inevitably be interfered with.

I don’t know when the current prosperous situation in Zhuolu District will be achieved.

After talking about the situation in Jiangnan for a while, Liu Lishun discussed the affairs of Zhuolu District with Ni Yuangong.

This year, Zhuolu District is still undergoing large-scale demolition and reconstruction. Like Beijing, it has started the renovation of the old city and the construction of a new city.

This was not only to adapt to the status of the prince's territory, but also to build the Zhuolu Arsenal.

This large factory, with an estimated investment of one million taels, has made Zhuolu District visibly prosperous.

Whether it is cement or sand and gravel, all the products are purchased by the arsenal. This has enabled these two industries in Zhuolu District to develop rapidly again.

Many people in Zhuolu District also found jobs in the arsenal and gravel factory. Now there are almost no idle people in Zhuolu District.

Liu Lishun thought about the taxes he received last month and said:

"This year, the industrial tax revenue of Zhuolu District is expected to account for more than 20%."

"According to the rules previously set by the Emperor, the proportion of industrial councillors can reach 20%."

"There are already many factory owners who have donated money to the government in an attempt to become members of parliament in the next election."

Ni Yuangong thought about the increasing tax revenue in Zhuolu District, stroked his beard and smiled:
"Isn't this tax increase a good thing? The most urgent need of the court right now is taxes."

"With this industrial tax revenue, not only can we pay the taxes required by the court, but we will also have a lot of extra money in our district to repair the city."

"The amount of farmland here is limited. No matter how much more there is, it won't be much. After the court set the maximum 10th tax limit, it is basically difficult to increase it."

“If we want to increase tax revenue in the future, we still have to look at industry and commerce.”

Liu Lishun nodded upon hearing this, and then sighed:
“Having said that, there are also many problems after the development of industry and commerce.”

"Let's not talk about the previous elections for parliamentarians, when the landlords forced their tenants to vote for them."

“Now the factory owner wants to become a member of parliament, and I heard that some workers are also coerced.”

"The Emperor established the parliament to listen to the people's opinions and rule the world together with all the people."

"If this continues, won't it be a joint rule with landlords, factory owners, and big businessmen?"

This is where he felt melancholy, he felt that the parliament was deteriorating.

When the parliament was first established, he believed that it could reflect public opinion and actively participated in it.

Now that people in Zhuolu District have gradually become familiar with the parliament, he feels that the atmosphere of everyone being united and working together for world peace is gone, and has been replaced by a struggle for power and profit.

Some members of parliament openly proposed proposals that were favorable to their own party, and strongly opposed proposals that were unfavorable to their party.

There are also people who rely on their supervisory power to threaten officials, forcing them to provide them with convenience, otherwise they will complain and report them, causing them great annoyance.

Some lawmakers have even formed cliques, and several small groups have emerged.

Liu Lishun even saw the power of the eunuch party, led by the Feng family.
……

This was something he had not anticipated at first. He felt that the current parliament was far from meeting his expectations:

"The Emperor said before that it would take 20 years to build a national assembly, but I still think that's too slow."

"Now it seems that 20 years is too fast."

“At least a new generation of people must be educated so that they can become qualified voters and legislators.”

Ni Yuangong also nodded and said:

"Some councillors really did not behave properly. Some even relied on their status to ask me for favors."

"We really need to strengthen education to enlighten the people and cultivate qualified voters."

It was proposed to build primary and secondary schools in Zhuolu District in imitation of the primary and secondary schools affiliated with Zhuolu NCO School, and to use the school fields set up by various families to encourage them to run schools.

In this way, when everyone is educated, they will surely understand the significance of voting, rather than voting for landlords or factory owners just because they are threatened or given a few promises.

Even Ni Yuangong thought of the servants in the Jiangnan families and said:

"It would be better to restrict the identity of voters and prohibit slaves from running for election."

"It could also restrict hired laborers and tenants, and even require voters to be literate."

"Brother Liu, how about we submit a petition together on this matter and make a suggestion to the Congress Preparatory Office?"

Liu Lishun nodded. Although he did not fully agree with Ni Yuangong's proposal, he still wrote a memorial with him, putting forward various suggestions regarding the current parliamentary situation.

(End of this chapter)