Ming Dynasty: A mere unruly commoner is rebelling against the heaven?

Chapter 298 The real enemy, hit the vital point directly!

Forbidden City.

The Hall of Nourishing Heart.

Zhu Youtang sat on the dragon table, flipping through the memorials sent from the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty.

But they were all trivial matters, and there were even quite a few simple greetings.

Zhu Youtang would just glance at most of the letters and then throw them aside without reading them.

Now, after Zhu Youtang's iron-blooded reorganization, the entire north is peaceful and harmonious.

What really concerned Zhu Youtang were the things happening in Jiangnan.

Just as Zhu Youtang was thinking about Jiangnan, Xiao Jing happened to walk into the Yangxin Palace in a hurry and bowed to ask: "Your Majesty, Wang Zhi, the supervisor of the Western Factory, is sending an urgent message of 800 miles to show Your Majesty."

As Xiao Jing spoke, he presented a secret letter to Zhu Youtang.

When Zhu Youtang heard that it was a secret letter from Wang Zhi, he immediately perked up.

"Send it up."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

After receiving the order, Xiao Jing took a few steps forward. After Zhu Youtang took the secret letter from Xiao Jing, he immediately tore it open and began to read it.

In the secret letter, Wang Zhi's words were concise but comprehensive in describing the situation they were currently facing in Jiangnan.

In the letter, Wang Zhi characterized these actions of resistance against the Xianzhen Camp army as rebellion.

At the end of the secret letter, Wang Zhi asked Zhu Youtang how to deal with the people in the south of the Yangtze River who participated in the "rebellion"?

Although Wang Zhi did not say it explicitly in the letter, it was obvious that Wang Zhi would rather start a massacre in Jiangnan and kill all those who dared to oppose the court.

Return the Ming Dynasty to an obedient and extremely docile Jiangnan.

But Zhu Youtang thought this plan was inappropriate.

The people are the foundation of his rule over the Ming Dynasty. With so many people involved, how can he just kill them?

Moreover, the court’s most fundamental enemy in Jiangnan is definitely not these bewitched people, but the landlords, gentry, officials and wealthy businessmen in Jiangnan!

Zhu Youtang put down the secret letter in his hand, looked forward, but was deep in thought.

In theory, Zhu Youtang's land policy is of great benefit to ordinary people.

If ordinary people truly understood Zhu Youtang's policies, it would be impossible for them to obstruct the imperial army.

Therefore, the only reason that can explain this matter is that the landlords and gentry in Jiangnan falsely conveyed Zhu Youtang’s imperial edict and distorted and discredited Zhu Youtang’s land policy!
Since ancient times, imperial power has never extended to the countryside!

Even during the Ming and Qing dynasties, the pinnacle of feudal centralized politics, the imperial power could never reach the lowest levels of the countryside.

The imperial court not only lacked direct control over the grassroots people, but also lacked propaganda tools to reach the countryside.

At this moment, Zhu Youtang suddenly understood the importance of propaganda tools.

Many policies that benefit the country and the people will bring a lot of unnecessary trouble if they cannot be accurately conveyed to the ears of all the people.

At this moment, Zhu Youtang initiated the establishment of a new propaganda organization that would reach all levels of the Ming Dynasty.

Of course, the first thing Zhu Youtang had to solve at this moment was the current problem in the Jiangnan region.

Fundamentally speaking, the problem in the Jiangnan region is the issue of the conversion of interests between local landlords and gentry and the central court.

At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the imperial court needed the support of local landlords and gentry to manage the local people on its behalf.

The aristocratic families also need the support of the court to maintain their vested interests in the local area.

At this time, the interests of the imperial court, landlords, gentry, and aristocratic families were consistent.

At this time, the interests of the local government and the imperial court were consistent and the relationship was harmonious. The people also had their own corresponding land and property and lived and worked in peace and contentment in the local area.

But as time went on, local landlords, gentry, and wealthy families would abuse their power and swallow up the people's land without restriction.

The people gradually changed from self-cultivating farmers to long-term laborers and tenants of the landlords, and their personal relationships began to gradually become dependent on the landlords and gentry.

At this time, the interests between the imperial court and the local governments began to change.

What the imperial court needs is stability in the local area.

However, what the local gentry wanted was greater benefits, more vast tracts of land, and more people who depended on them.

However, the unlimited annexation of land by local gentry will inevitably bring more refugees, more desperate people, and more people who are dissatisfied with the status quo.

Each of these people is an unstable factor.

So at this time, the relationship between the local government and the court was no longer harmonious.

It can even be said that the court's mortal enemies at that time were the landlords, gentry, and aristocratic families who had originally helped it stabilize the world!

There has always been a theory in the historical community about the dynasty cycle, which states that a dynasty can only last for three hundred years at most.

And three hundred years is the limit for unlimited annexation of local land.

The three-hundred-year dynasty cycle is the three-hundred-year limit for land annexation.

Therefore, from the very beginning, the enemies of the Ming Dynasty were not within itself, but within the court, at the local level, and in every vested interest group.

The only way to prolong the life of the Ming Dynasty is to carry out an internal revolution and kill all the landlords, gentry, and aristocratic families in the Ming Dynasty!

The reason why all dynasties in history could not escape the law of dynastic cycles is that the central court was unable to deal with these local landlords and gentry.

Because in name, these landlords and gentry were serving the central court, and in the middle and late period of the dynasty, the local forces were far stronger than the central ones.

So the dynastic cycle is inevitable. Some people don't understand it, and some people just can't do it...

But now, Zhu Youtang knew clearly that his real enemies were these local forces.

At the same time, the hundreds of thousands of loyal troops in his hands are enough for him to wipe out these local forces!

All he needed to consider now was how to disperse these bewitched peasant armies and eliminate his main enemies without harming innocent people.

Zhu Youtang sat deeply in the dragon throne, closed his eyes, and gently pressed his temples with his hands.

At the same time, I was thinking frantically in my mind about how to break the deadlock.

In his mind, he frantically recalled the history books he had read, wanting to see how those feudal emperors resolved this contradiction.

But to his disappointment, he could not find any emperor who had solved the contradiction between population and land in the late dynasty, nor could he find any effective policy.

Until his gaze gradually passed beyond the past and looked towards the future that had not yet happened.

Finally, he found the answer in a person.

Zhu Youtang opened his eyes, a gleam of light flashed in his eyes, and a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

He sat up, picked up the pen, and wrote in his own handwriting, slowly writing: Kill the landlords and distribute the land to the peasants...

Since the city is difficult to attack, we should start from the countryside and kill the landlords in various places...

It took Zhu Youtang half an hour to finally finish writing this secret letter.

This letter contains the policy of teaching Wang Zhi and Gao Shun how to break the impasse.

Zhu Youtang’s plan was actually very simple, which was to use a large-scale propaganda tactic.

First, Zhu Youtang asked Wang Zhi and Gao Shun to distribute all the land collected from the major landlords in Xuzhou to the people of Xuzhou.

Then he sent people to publicize the court's land policy and put forward a clear slogan: fight the local tyrants and distribute the land.

All the people should know that the imperial army will not attack the people, but only kill the landlords and gentry. And the land of these landlords and gentry should be distributed to their farmhands and tenants, so that they can all own their own land.

Afterwards, Wang Zhi and Gao Shun abandoned their long-standing strategy of first capturing the provincial capital and then moving on to the countryside.

It was proposed to kill the gentry in the rural areas first and divide the rural land first. After that, the rural people would naturally no longer be deceived by the gentry and work for them.

The core of this strategy is publicity!
Zhu Youtang intended to set up a propaganda agency, but time was pressing, so he could only temporarily let the people from the Western Factory take on the propaganda work.

After Zhu Youtang finished writing the secret letter, he summoned Xiao Jing and handed him the secret letter.

"Send this letter to Wang Zhi and Gao Shun as quickly as possible and ask them to act according to my orders."

Xiao Jing respectfully took Zhu Youtang's secret letter and bowed his head to accept the order: "Yes, Your Majesty!"

After receiving the order, Xiao Jing immediately left the Yangxin Palace, found the officer from the Western Factory, and handed the secret letter to him.

Afterwards, the Western Factory soldiers did not dare to delay at all and immediately rushed the message to Xuzhou at an accelerated speed of another 800 miles.

……

In the city of Xuzhou, Wang Zhi, Gao Shun and Xu Chang have been retreating to Xuzhou for three days.

Just as they were waiting anxiously, a horse galloped into the city and came in front of them.

"Report! Factory Supervisor, General Gao Shun, there's a letter from the capital!"

The Western Factory guard dismounted and saluted, holding high in his hand a handwritten letter from Zhu Youtang.

"Send it over quickly!"

Wang Zhi and Gao Shun stood up at the same time, walked to the Western Factory guard, took the letter from Zhu Youtang, and opened it to read.

After Wang Zhi and Gao Shun carefully read Zhu Youtang's handwritten letter, they opened their eyes wide and looked at each other with shock on their faces.

"This... Your Majesty's plan, drugging the opponent, hits the vital point directly."

"In this way, all the problems we encountered will be solved?!"

"Especially this idea of ​​surrounding the cities with the countryside, which goes against the grain, is really a great talent!"

"This... this is simply the greatest conspiracy of all time. There is no solution to this plan!"

Wang Zhi and Gao Shun were both deeply impressed by Zhu Youtang's strategy.

It was decided immediately to implement Zhu Youtang's policies without any reservation.

"Qin Lu!"

"My subordinate is here!"

Hearing Wang Zhi calling him, Qin Lu hurriedly took two steps forward and bowed to obey.

Wang Zhi looked at Qin Lu and asked, "Have you finished measuring the land data of Xuzhou?"

Up to now, Qin Lu is still in charge of the work of surveying the land in the world, so he is very clear about this issue.

"My Lord, Wang Yan has already measured the amount of land in Xuzhou."

"Xuzhou has a total of 16.92 million mu of arable land, of which 9.79 million mu is in the hands of 726 landlords."

"Among them, the four major families in Xuzhou alone own more than three million acres of land."

“The remaining 7.13 million mu of arable land is in the hands of 220,000 households.”

They only account for 0.3% of Xuzhou's population, but occupy 57% of Xuzhou's arable land.

Such horrific land annexation is shocking.

This means that 70 percent of Xuzhou's people have to rely on farming for Xuzhou's landlords to make a living.

Wang Zhi coldly ordered: "Compile the data on the acreage of land into a book and submit it."

"From now on, General Gao Shun's army will be responsible for distributing land to the people of Xuzhou door to door."

Gao Shun nodded: "That's no problem, I will arrange it myself."

"By the way, Xu Chang."

After hearing the order, Xu Chang took two steps towards Gao Shun and said, "I am here."

Gao Shun pondered and said, "Your Majesty's strategy of attacking the countryside first and then the cities makes sense to me."

"You must mobilize 20,000 troops and immediately return to Yangzhou, go deep into the countryside, and kill those landlords and gentry."

"After beheading those landlords and gentry, their lands will be distributed to the local people."

"Yes, General Gao Shun!" Xu Chang immediately bowed and accepted the order.

At this moment, in the entire Jiangnan region, only the land of Xuzhou Prefecture had been completely measured.

The land can be distributed in a standardized manner according to the measured data.

As for the lands in other prefectures that have not yet been measured, they will have to be distributed first and then remeasured later.

Then readjust according to the data measured later.

After receiving the order, Xu Chang immediately turned around and walked towards the parade ground to select troops to return to Yangzhou.

At this moment, Qin Lu also went to retrieve the land data that had been measured by Wang Yan and Yang Jizong.

Soon, that afternoon, Xu Chang led his army back to Yangzhou, went to the rural areas of Yangzhou, and beheaded the landlords and gentry.

But it was not until the next day that Qin Lu returned with the land data.

Because Wang Yan and Yang Jizong knew that His Majesty had ordered the distribution of Xuzhou's land to the people of Xuzhou.

They also spontaneously marked which piece of land should be divided and how big the piece of land should be next to every household in Yangzhou.

In fact, these lands were originally rented by these people from local landlords.

These data are written in the landlords' deeds and cannot be wrong.

Therefore, the distribution of the land this time was not troublesome. It was just a matter of turning the land that the people originally rented into their own.

"Sir, the data is here."

Qin Lu presented the land accounts to Wang Zhi, but Wang Zhi did not even look at them himself and just handed them to Gao Shun.

"General Gao Shun, let your men distribute the goods. There are 220,000 households, so almost every soldier only needs to run two households."

Gao Shun nodded, but he couldn't really let these soldiers act alone.

Instead, he divided his soldiers into groups of fifty people, and each group had to visit about a hundred households.

It is expected that the work of distributing the land will be completed within three to four days.

Soon, under Gao Shun's arrangement, the imperial army was divided into groups of about two thousand people, each with fifty people.

Taking the data provided by Qin Lu, they went to various places in Xuzhou and distributed the land of Xuzhou to the people of Xuzhou.

At this time, Wang Zhi ordered Qin Lu again: "Qin Lu, you and the Western Factory guards should not be idle either."

“Find a way to spread the news of Xuzhou’s land distribution to other prefectures in Jiangnan.”

"Let the people of Jiangnan know that our army is only targeting landlords and gentry, and will never attack ordinary people."

Qin Lu's expression became serious, and he bowed his hands to accept the order: "Yes, Sir!"

(End of this chapter)