Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 732 Dawn
After hearing these remarks, several key members of the Donglin Party finally stopped opposing it. After all, for them, if the court wanted to do this, they couldn't stop it. If they strongly opposed this matter, not only would they not gain any benefit, but their reputation would be ruined.

The Donglin Party members all attach great importance to their reputation. A good reputation is the foundation of their personality. If they insist on opposing the court's efforts to treat the people well and abolish taxes and even Liao salaries, how can they have the face to talk about serving the country and the people once this gets out?
Furthermore, while Zhu Shenzhui abolished the Liao salary and taxes in the northwestern provinces, he did not require an increase in taxes in Jiangnan and other places, let alone talk about levying commercial taxes. In this case, if Zhu Shenzhui wants to be a good person, then let him be one. When the finances are running out of money and facing collapse, we will see how Zhu Shenzhui solves this problem.

If Zhu Shencui intends to use taxes from Jiangnan to fill the gap in taxes from the northwest, then they will naturally have reasons to oppose it. You can't just say that you canceled the Liao salary for the sake of the people of the world and reduced taxes for the good of the people, but now you want to collect taxes from Jiangnan? Are the people of Jiangnan not the people? Why should they be treated differently when they are all the same people? If that's the case, then they will definitely not let Zhu Shencui get his wish.

Finally, the matter was settled, and the decree to cancel the Liao salary and reduce taxes in the northwestern provinces was quickly issued through the cabinet.

In order to carry out this matter well, Zhu Shencui also specially sent letters to the world in the name of regent, spreading the news to all provinces and prefectures. When this good news reached Shaanxi, there was jubilation all over Shaanxi. When the people learned that the court had canceled the Liao salary and reduced or even canceled most of the taxes in the next five years, these people finally saw hope, and could not help cheering long live the emperor, and even kowtowed towards the direction of the capital to express their gratitude, and begged God to bless Zhu Shencui and let him serve as regent for a longer period of time, preferably for life. Some people even secretly thought that it would be better for Zhu Shencui to be promoted directly to the throne.

"Brother Heng Jiu, the court has made up its mind this time. With such measures, you and I can feel a lot more relaxed." In the Xi'an Governor's Office, Sun Chuanting and Hong Chengchou were sitting and drinking tea. What they were talking about was the imperial decree that had just been sent to them regarding the cancellation of Liao salary and the reduction of taxes. After the decree arrived, both of them were surprised at first, and then they showed joy.

"It's not easy. This way the people can recover some of their vitality, and the local areas will not rebel again because of the tax issue." Hong Chengchou also sighed. Like Sun Chuanting, he was a man of both civil and military talents, and a rare practical man among officials. Of course, he understood what was going on with these bandits.

To put it bluntly, the so-called bandits are ordinary people who can't make a living and rise up. Why can't ordinary people make a living? Isn't it caused by natural disasters and man-made disasters in recent years? Natural disasters are real, and man-made disasters are the so-called Liao salary and taxes. The people can't even support themselves, and the court doesn't care about their lives. How can they not rebel?
Although Gao Yingxiang had been executed, the problem of bandits had been mostly solved, and other bandits had become insignificant after the destruction of Gao Yingxiang's army. With the continued suppression of the imperial court, the complete suppression of the bandits was just around the corner. However, simply suppressing the bandits could not completely solve the problem. As long as the people's problems were not solved, the problem of bandits would always recur. Only when this problem was completely solved would everything get better.

Hong Chengchou did not expect the court to be so bold as to cancel the Liao salary and significantly reduce taxes in the northwestern provinces. As a senior official of the court, Hong Chengchou was of course aware of the serious financial problems of the court. To be able to do so under such circumstances, it can only be said that Zhu Shencui was very bold.

"After the last two batches of prisoners are handed over, this matter will be considered completed. According to the imperial court's order, I will lead the troops eastward to continue to encircle and suppress the bandits. I will leave the affairs of the northwest to Brother Boya."

"This is my job. Brother Heng Jiu, there is no need to do this. I'm waiting for Brother Heng Jiu's triumphant return in Xi'an. When Brother Heng Jiu comes back, you and I will have a few drinks." Sun Chuanting nodded and smiled. The two of them had already made a division of labor. Sun Chuanting, as the governor of Shaanxi, would stay in Shaanxi to stabilize the rear, while Hong Chengchou would lead the troops and other units to continue to encircle and suppress the bandits. The next step would be to march eastward into Henan to eliminate Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong and other units that had fled to Henan.

Before that, according to Zhu Shenzui's instructions, Hong Chengchou and his men had handed over the captives of Gao Yingxiang's troops to Mongolia one after another. The handover process was very smooth. Not only were all these hot potatoes handed over, but a large number of cattle, sheep and even horses were also obtained from Mongolia. The arrival of these supplies greatly alleviated local demand and strengthened the cavalry strength of the Ming army.

Hong Chengchou now had a strong army under his command. In order to take the bandits into consideration, Sun Chuanting secretly wrote a letter to Zhu Shenzhui to seek his opinion. He also temporarily assigned Gao Jie's most capable troops to Hong Chengchou, greatly increasing Hong Chengchou's available manpower.

Hong Chengchou was full of confidence at this time, and he had been eager to lead his troops eastward. These days, news came from the east that Zhang Xianzhong's troops, who had fled to Henan after Gao Yingxiang was defeated and captured, had suffered a great blow, and their offensive momentum had obviously weakened a lot. In addition, several small bandits surrendered voluntarily under the pressure of the government troops, which weakened the bandits' strength a lot.

As for Li Zicheng, the former general under Gao Yingxiang, he was in some trouble. After hearing the news of Gao Yingxiang's defeat, Li Zicheng did not collapse. Instead, he formed his own team to publicize his succession to the title of King Chuang. He also incorporated several small rebel forces and his strength increased greatly.

At present, Li Zicheng is also in Henan, cooperating with Zhang Xianzhong's troops to deal with the government troops. As for Luo Rucai, he fled to Huguang area, but was being chased by the government troops and had no way out. His defeat was imminent.

How could Hong Chengchou sit still in such a situation? If the problem of prisoners had not been completely resolved, he would have led his troops to the battle long ago. If it had been later, when the bandits were completely dealt with, how could he have achieved such military achievements?

"Of course, when the bandits are completely eradicated and the world is at peace, you and I brothers should have a few more drinks." Hong Chengchou said with a smile. Sun Chuanting also laughed immediately. The improvement of the situation made them both in a good mood. While they were talking, they couldn't help but discuss the future arrangements. They also talked about whether the court's cancellation of Liaojiang's salary would affect the war situation in Liaodong.

At present, the internal situation of the Ming Dynasty is very good, but the external threat is still there. If the Liaodong war changes again, will the court's policy change again? After all, internal troubles need to be resolved, and external troubles are also very important, which must be prevented.

As for the current border trade in Shanxi, they knew something about it because Shaanxi, where they were, was adjacent to Shanxi and also had trade with Mongolia because of the prisoners. With the current border trade booming, it was inevitable that the court would profit from it, but the problem was whether it could completely solve the military expenses and make up for the fiscal gap. Hong Chengchou was not absolutely sure.

As for Sun Chuanting, he knew Zhu Shencui better than Hong Chengchou. He knew Zhu Shencui's abilities and understood that he was not the kind of person who would make a decision without being sure. Since Zhu Shencui made such a decision, he must have been prepared for it a long time ago, so this matter should not be a big problem.

While they were discussing this, the situation far away in Liaodong was indeed very delicate. Huang Taiji had a hard time after withdrawing from the Xifengkou Great Wall to Liaodong. The battle at the Great Wall showed that the army suffered greater losses, but for Huang Taiji, this battle was a defeat. He returned to Liaodong with nothing after the war and was extremely angry.

The original plan was to take this opportunity to invade the Ming Dynasty again and plunder it, to increase their strength through war and to weaken the Ming Dynasty. If possible, they could take advantage of Zhu Shenzhui's unstable power to attack the capital directly, or even take over the capital and replace him.

Unfortunately, Huang Taiji miscalculated this time. In the battle of Xifengkou, he not only failed to break through the Ming army's defense line, but also suffered heavy casualties. What made him even more angry was that the Ming army not only passively defended this time, but also attacked his retreat, causing heavy losses to several Chahar tribes.

Wu Sangui's sneak attack caused great suffering to the Chahar tribes, and the sudden dispatch of the Tumed tribe made Huang Taiji panic. He never expected that the Tumed tribe would join forces with the Ming Dynasty under such circumstances. The two armies almost surrounded his main force.

In order to avoid losses, Huang Taiji took the initiative to withdraw his troops. The casualties on both sides were much lower than those of the Eight Banners. However, compared with the Ming Dynasty, the Eight Banners had fewer people. The Ming Dynasty exchanged ten people for one Eight Banner. Huang Taiji could not afford such a loss, not to mention the loss of thousands of elite soldiers of the Eight Banners this time.

After returning to Shengjing without success and suffering such a loss, Huang Taiji soon faced a counterattack from the opposition within the Eight Banners. Huang Taiji's ascension to the throne was not legitimate. In order to seize the position of Khan, Huang Taiji won over Daishan and the powerful factions in the Eight Banners, suppressed others, and then cruelly killed Dorgon's mother, the Grand Concubine Abahai, and then sat on the throne of Khan.

After becoming the Khan, Huang Taiji attacked dissidents everywhere, constantly weakening the power of his opponents and strengthening himself through various means. Among them, Huang Taiji's sister Manguji was one of them. Because Manguji opposed Huang Taiji, Huang Taiji cruelly executed her, and she was executed in an extremely cruel way.

In addition, Huang Taiji also found a reason to deprive Amin of his military power and sentenced him to death. However, considering Amin's status and influence, Huang Taiji did not kill him immediately, but imprisoned him.

In addition to these two people, there were many others who were suppressed or executed by Huang Taiji. Even Manggurtai and others did not suffer any good consequences. This leader of the Zhenglan Banner was originally a strong competitor of Huang Taiji. After failing in the competition for the Khan, he had always been dissatisfied with Huang Taiji and secretly criticized him.

This time, Huang Taiji personally led the troops to attack the Ming Dynasty again, but ultimately suffered heavy losses and returned without success. Manggurtai and other Eight Banners nobles attacked Huang Taiji, and their words were full of disrespect. They even said that Huang Taiji was not qualified to be the Great Khan, let alone the emperor. This man excluded dissidents and appointed people based on personal connections. He was not a wise leader at all. The position of the Great Khan should be held by a virtuous person, and the Khan should be re-elected. They plotted to overthrow Huang Taiji and establish another Great Khan (Emperor).

(End of this chapter)