The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 638: Guangde Prosperity
In April of the second year of Guangde, the new soldiers of Yu and Chu were trained.

In May, 9,000 new recruits were organized into the 13th Imperial Corps (commonly known as the Black Sword Corps because its flag depicts a sword).

On June 18th, the retired emperor left behind the mountain of memorials and bid farewell to his thirty beauties in the harem. He took time out of his busy schedule to personally visit Wuchang, where he awarded the Thirteenth Corps with a flag and delivered a speech.

At the beginning of the morning hour, the sun rises, and the Jiangcheng in June is filled with heat.

On the Wushengmen city wall, armors were standing around, and a huge black dragon banner fluttered in the wind.

Everywhere you look, you can see the fluttering Black Sword flags.

The three major arms of the army, infantry, artillery and cavalry, were arranged in neat rows. The grenadiers and musketeers stood near the city wall, followed by the artillery and cavalry, with spearmen, artillerymen, swordsmen and shieldmen at the back, and auxiliary troops and engineers at the end.

Liu Zhaosun looked at the well-disciplined army, then at the new artillery displayed under the Black Sword banner. The workshop manager Lei Xianming was introducing various new weapons.

The scene brought back emotions and brought tears to my eyes:
"In the first year of Wuding, spearmen were still the core of the army. Now they have been replaced by fire musketeers and grenadiers. It's changing with each passing day."

Chief instructor Sen Ti handed over the loudspeaker and speech. Liu Zhaosun took the loudspeaker and cleared his throat.

The whole city was silent.

Tens of thousands of eyes looked at the Black Dragon Banner.

"Soldiers of the Thirteenth Regiment! You come from Henan, Hubei, and other provinces. I know that over the past year, each of you has undergone rigorous selection and training to stand here today. Each of you is a hero, chosen from among hundreds!"

Nearly ten thousand soldiers cheered loudly.

"Long live the Great Qi! Long live the Emperor!"

Liu Zhaosun raised his arms and shouted to calm down.

"The Great Qi army is invincible and unstoppable! Over the past twenty years, the Qi army has achieved remarkable military success, defeating one brutal enemy after another! The Great Qi nation was founded on military power, and you are the backbone of the empire!"

Sen Ti raised his arms and led the shouting:
"Long live Da Qi! Long live the Emperor! God bless Da Qi!"

The mountains roared and the tsunami roared.

"The world is at peace, but many people still suffer, hungry and cold. You are the children of farmers, artisans, and boatmen. You eat the food that the people have painstakingly grown, and wear the clothes woven in the workshops! When you drink water, don't forget the well diggers!"

"Today, I bestow upon you this Black Sword Banner so that you will not forget your original aspirations and your mission! Do not forget those pioneers who died for the Empire! All the soldiers of the Thirteenth Regiment!"

Liu Zhaosun drew his sword, pointed it towards the south, and said in a deafening voice:

"Go to Jiangnan and fight! No matter how brutal the battle, no matter how ferocious the enemy, fight, fight! As long as you have breath left, you must fight! Use your swords to open up more land for the empire! Let the elderly no longer suffer from the cold, let the children no longer starve, and let the sisters no longer suffer humiliation!"

~~~~
The Black Sword Corps has a full strength of 27,000 men, with the first batch recruiting 9,000 men.

The nine thousand people were carefully selected from a total of 900,000 young and middle-aged applicants from Henan, Hubei, Liaodong and other places. They can be said to be one in a hundred.

All the recruits have attended school and can write their own names. All the officers have graduated from junior schools and know at least 300 common characters.

Officers above the rank of sergeant have a certain ability to read maps, and officers above the rank of flag captain can draw simple maps.

Unlike other corps, the 13th Corps was used as a window for the Qi Army's external propaganda from the beginning of its preparation, and was stationed in several important cities in the south, such as Suzhou, Quanzhou, Guangzhou, etc.

The new army brought together several elite troops of the empire, totaling about two hundred people.

Among them were a part of the 2nd Battalion of the 1st Corps that participated in the bloody battle of Hunhe River, a part of the 4th Battalion of the 3rd Corps that participated in the defense of Beijing, a part of the 3rd Battalion of the 5th Corps that killed Liu Zongmin, a general under Li Xianzhong; a part of the 1st Battalion of the 8th Corps that landed in Japan and swept across Kyushu...

Huang Zhongxian, a general of the Imperial Guard, served as the commander of the corps.

Huang Zhongxian, a native of Henan, was a boatman in the 47th year of the Wanli reign. He rose through the ranks from a musketeer. From the bloody Battle of Hunhe to the Southern Expedition against the remnants of the Ming Dynasty, he participated in over a hundred battles, both large and small, and held considerable experience among the new generation of soldiers.

Adjutant Liu Zicai, a native of Hangzhou, had previously served under Deng Qilong as a halberd and mace bearer. Following the Battle of Sarhu, he followed the retired emperor and, in the first year of the Taichang reign, served as a guard in the Kaiyuan Central Army, protecting Liu Zhaosun. He was a close friend of Zhang Chao and remained with the Imperial Guard throughout his career.

The chief instructor Chen Daimei was the magistrate of Junzhou. The emperor saw that this man was capable of doing things steadily and could be of great use, so he transferred him from the position of magistrate to the army.

The 13th Corps consists of three battalions, each with 2,000 men, and a guard battalion of 3,000 men.

The battalion commanders of each battalion were newcomers who emerged after the first year of Wuding, and the battalion training instructors were student soldiers transferred from the Liaodong School.

The drill manual, training and weapons of the new regiment are similar to those of the main regiment. The only difference is the flag. The flag of the 13th Corps has a black sword painted on it.

The meaning of the black sword is self-evident.

Use the sword in your hand to open up more land for the empire.

On June 20th, the first batch of 80 Yebushou soldiers of the 13th Corps, led by adjutant Liu Zicai, passed through Guazhou and entered Jiangnan and entered the garrison.

On July 1, the second batch of 300 grenadiers passed through Wusongkou, Songjiang Prefecture, and entered Taicang to take over the defense of the Eighth Corps.

After completing the handover, the 1st Battalion of the 8th Corps headed to eastern Zhejiang for simulated island landing training in preparation for the eastern expedition against Japan. On July 20th, the main force of the 13th Corps, comprising over 15,000 men (including 7,000 auxiliary troops), took full control of Suzhou, Taicang, Songjiang, and other areas, launching land surveys throughout the prefectures and counties of Jiangnan.

In early August, Qiao Yiqi, the chief minister of the cabinet, the Grand Secretary of Jianji Palace, and the Prince's Guardian, was critically ill and was on his deathbed.

The retired emperor ordered the imperial physician to do his best to treat the patient.

On the third day of August, Liu Zhaosun, accompanied by Liu Kan, the two Empress Dowagers, hundreds of civil and military ministers, nobles and relatives, went to Chaotian Palace in Nanjing to pray for blessings.

He has lost Kang Yingqian, and Qiao Yiqi is his last best friend in this world.

He knelt in front of the statue of Emperor Zhenwu, tears streaming down his face. He kowtowed and recited scriptures frantically, begging the Emperor Zhenwu to let Big Mouth Qiao live longer.

At 2:30 pm on the fifth day of August, Qiao Yiqi died of illness in Nanjing.

~~~~
Influenced by the retired emperor, officials from various provinces set up altars to pray for Lord Qiao.

Qiao Yiqi is highly respected and kind to others. Apart from his big mouth, he has no other shortcomings.

He is a good man.

The mourning edict announcing the death of Lord Qiao reached Hangzhou.

Like other places, Hangzhou also set up an altar in the Confucius Temple in the west of the city, and officials and citizens stood guard for Lord Qiao, which was called "crying in the temple."

On August 8th and 9th, a group of students led by Ni Yongbin and a centenarian gathered at the Confucius Temple to "crying in the temple" for Lord Qiao.

Afterwards, the students presented a letter of denunciation to the Hangzhou prefect Jiang Guozhi, falsely accusing the inspector Lü Weichu of corruption and abuse of power, stealing and selling more than a thousand stones of rice from the Changping rice warehouse and distributing it to each household to make up the difference.

Lü Weichu was Zhang Yunxiu's right-hand man. Two months ago, he was sent to Hangzhou by Zhang Jinglüe to promote the land measurement.

Before the 13th Corps entered Hangzhou, Inspector Lu's career in Hangzhou was difficult. Several of his men died and he was almost killed.

The situation did not improve until the Black Sword Corps sent a thousand soldiers to Hangzhou City.

Lu Weichu, eager for revenge, immediately demanded taxes from the powerful and severely tortured the gentry who were in arrears with taxes.

This was the fuse of the "Crying Temple Case" in Hangzhou.

On the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, the Mid-Autumn Festival, a group of former Ming Dynasty Jinshi, Juren, and Gongjian students (a total of 517 people) gathered in the Confucius Temple in the prefectural capital and wept bitterly. After crying, they began to insult the new policies and burned the Black Sword Army flag. Finally, they led thousands of people and stormed the prefectural government office, beating more than a dozen officials on duty to death...

The prefect Jiang Guozhi cut the Gordian knot and asked the garrison to arrest all the rioters.

The students and gentry in the neighboring prefectures and counties followed suit, running to the Confucius Temple crying and making a fuss, criticizing Zhang Yunxiu's subordinates for being greedy and refusing to pay the overdue taxes.

The retired emperor was alarmed by this incident and arrested Lü Weichu for questioning. After a thorough interrogation by the three judicial officials and the Suoyi Guards, it was finally confirmed that the student's accusation was a false accusation.

Jiang Guozhi was furious, but he reported the incident to Nanjing on the grounds that it "blasphemed the Prime Minister, framed corrupt officials, gathered people to incite rebellion, and shook people's hearts."

In the end, Emperor Guangde issued an edict sentencing all the students involved in the incident to death, strongly ensuring that the new policy could continue to be implemented.

According to the historical material "Yantang Jianwen Zalu":
In this case, "270 people were sentenced to death, 18 to lingchi, and dozens to hanging."

It is known in history as the "Crying Temple Case".

The Crying Temple Case was essentially the last counterattack by the former Ming forces against the rule of the Great Qi in Jiangnan.

Since then, the new policy has been implemented smoothly and unimpeded.

Emperor Guangde took advantage of the victory and completely abolished the tax-free privileges of students in Jiangnan - which had already been abolished in the north.

Over 15,000 students were ordered to pay their overdue taxes within a certain time limit. Those who violated the rules would be stripped of their academic titles, beheaded, and their families exiled to Sakhalin.

In October, students and gentry were forced to pay dozens of taxes, including land tax, house tax, shop tax, boat tax, salt tax, rice tax, military pay tax, card tax, gunboat tax, dike worker tax, board tax, living tax, grass tax, reed marsh tax, and land tax.

By the end of December, the national treasury had collected a total of 13 million taels in taxes.

~~~~
Given that the tax and service system of the former Ming Dynasty was complicated and chaotic, with many drawbacks.

The Ministry of Revenue announced to the South:
Since the third year of Guangde, "rest and recuperation, increase the population in prosperous times, and never increase taxes", the population tax was levied according to the acreage of land, which is the so-called "spreading the population tax according to the acreage".

From then on, the head tax that had been in effect for a thousand years was abolished by the Great Qi.

Although the system of allocating land tax to each household was not as radical and powerful as the "Land System of the Qi Dynasty".

However, it did reduce the burden on landless and land-poor farmers in Jiangnan.

This move laid the foundation for the explosive growth of the empire's population and the emergence of the Guangde Era of Prosperity.

(End of this chapter)