Southern Ming, my destiny is too abstract

Chapter 22: Welcoming the Emperor, Not Paying Grain

Zhu Cixuan was walking on the ridge of a field outside the city of Ava.

"For someone like me, it's better to be in the military than in politics."

Governing people is the foundation, so it is called benevolence.

Zhu Cixuan didn't know whether he was really bad or the system was too abstract.

I want administrative skills.

Here comes Sanqing Education.

If politics is purified, there will be no need to deal with it?

I happened to have something to do with the monk in the temple, so I blessed him and washed his hands.

Zhu Cixuan looked at the fields that were temporarily free of war. The fallen leaves were blown by the wind, and the golden light of the sun flickered among the large areas of deep yellow and dark green.

"If Your Highness wishes to receive the Buddha's blessing, he should focus more on benefiting the people and avoid resorting to war. When the world is at peace, blessings will naturally abound."

Master Moendaju was a witness to the fiefdoms granted by Pingdali to his two younger brothers ten years ago. He came in person to pray and bless Zhu Cixuan.

Zhu Cixuan sneered: "Master, what do you think the people are?"

"Is it you, the monks in the temples who don't farm, or is it the royal family like the old marquis who controls millions of people?"

The Marquis of Pagan placed himself one step behind Zhu Cixuan and bowed slightly.

"We eat rice grown with the blood and sweat of Ata farmers and slaves. If we follow the great master's words and work for the benefit of the people, we should reduce the number of royal nobles and monks."

The great master Moendaju glanced at the Marquis of Pagan.

There was no longer anything to say about this new king who devoted himself to the Ming Dynasty, liberated slaves, distributed land to the Ata farmers, and dug up his own roots.

The great master Moendaju clasped his hands and bowed:
"Your Highness, the Buddha said that the world was created by the combination of causes and conditions, and thus there is the distinction between heaven and earth, and between upper and lower."

“If grass is not watered, it will wither; if people do not feed their livestock, they will become sick.”

"People carry karma, and there are distinctions between high and low. However, through reincarnation, the distinctions between high and low will be reversed."

Zhu Cixuan stepped on the ground beneath his feet.

"Master, our Ming generals and soldiers massacred temples and plundered civilians. Is this also the disaster that you Hongsha people have to go through?"

"In my opinion, it's all bullshit."

"Just below my feet, decades ago, there was a Chinatown, or Han Chinese Street, Daming Street."

"There are tens of thousands of merchants and artists from Fujian, Guangdong, Jiangxi, and Sichuan in our Ming Dynasty, and there are also tens of thousands of local chieftains and common people who came from the Three Xuans and Six Weis."

"As a result, Mang Yingli attacked the Three Xuans and Six Weis in the north. Fearing that the Han people in Daming Street would collude with the Ming army, he rounded up tens of thousands of people and killed them by the river, setting them on fire. The Jinsha River was even blocked."

"They also have karma, do they need to go through tribulations?"

Under Zhu Cixuan's murderous gaze, Master Moendaju chanted "Amitabha" and dared not say anything else.

After a moment, Zhu Cixuan waved his hand, looking disinterested.

He believes in Buddhism, what else can you ask for?

Sooner or later, Xibingku will come to break the feudal system.

"I tell you this so that you can record it in the scriptures and tell it to the people of Hongsavadi."

"This time, the Ming Dynasty is marching south to avenge the people and punish the criminals. This is because the Toungoo royal family refused to obey the king's way and imprisoned the emperor. Furthermore, the Mang clan has been slaughtered so many people that their infamy is known to everyone from the East Sea of ​​Annan to the West Sea of ​​Tianzhu."

"A few days ago, the Buddha sent out his wrath and burned down the Glass Palace to watch over the world."

Zhu Cixuan blamed Mang Yingli for the fire caused by his own destiny.

"Soon, I will mobilize 30,000 troops from the Hongsha tribe, 30,000 from the Ming, 20,000 from the Siamese Lancang tribe, and 20,000 from the chieftains of various ethnic groups in Luchuan, totaling 100,000 volunteers, to capture Hongsha and save the Meng people from their clutches."

"Your temples across the country should bring your believers, both men and women, to pray for our army."

The great master Moendaju raised his drooping head slightly:

"Your Highness, do you want our temple to help the rebel army prepare food and recruit soldiers?"

Zhu Cixuan patted his shoulder.

"I have already distributed the lands of the princes and nobles and the upper-class Ahmedans to the lower-class Ahmedans and Atai peasants."

"And promised them that they would not have to pay grain or taxes for two years."

The slaves in Hongsavadi were mainly prisoners of war from the warring Arakan and Siam, as well as the chieftains of Luchuan.

There are many Hongsha, Mon, Shan, Lancang and Tianzhu people.

For example, the newly recruited Tianzhu Village is a standard slave village.

But there had been no major wars in the past twenty years, so the number of slaves was not large.

The largest number of Ata farmers are mostly locals from various counties and border areas, mainly non-Hongsha people. They do not live in the core irrigation areas on both sides of the Jinsha River, and only farm and do not serve in the military.

The taxes they paid were many times, sometimes even ten times, higher than those of the Hongsha Ahmedans. They also had to perform corvée labor and serve as militia in times of war. Half of the Hongsha people became Ahmedans, and their social status was higher than that of Atai peasants and slaves.

But it is divided into upper, middle and lower.

The upper class does not have to pay taxes if they own land, but the middle class has to pay a certain amount of taxes if they own land.

The lower class simply worked for the royal family, cultivated royal land, and had to perform heavier corvee labor.

The Ming Dynasty's centralized monarchy was far more advanced than the feudal serfdom of Hongsha Kingdom.

Zhu Cixuan planned to change Hongshawadi into a county when he had time in the future.

Let the people of all ethnic groups in Hongsha bathe in the kingly way.

[Welcome the King of Rebellion, you've begun to gain support from the lower classes of the Hongshawadi people by using your slogan of welcoming the Ming Emperor and not paying taxes.]

Sanqing Education, you have arrested most of the upper-middle class Ahmedans and the Hongsha nobles who wanted to retain their land, purifying politics and effectively implementing policies.

Master Moendaju's legs went weak and he almost fell to the ground.

Ava Bagan and other counties have a population of nearly one million, of which Ahmedan accounts for 40%.

How could their temple make up for the gap in taxes and grain payments made by hundreds of thousands of people?

Even if all the temples in Hongsavadi were drained dry, even the Buddha statues and pagodas' decorations were removed, only two-tenths or three-tenths of the space could be filled.

Zhu Cixuan helped up the limp Master Moendaju.

"I'm not asking you to pay it all. They won't have to pay taxes or grain for two years. I believe everyone in Hongshawadi is a devout Buddhist. If there is any surplus, they will definitely donate it to the temple."

Zhu Cixuan watched a lot of Siamese advertising movies before he traveled through time.

The common people knelt down and took out food for the monks to choose and eat.

The status of monks was such that even the king had to kneel before them.

“They even exchanged grain for gold and silver to decorate Buddhist statues and temples.”

"In addition to promoting the righteousness of our Ming Empire, you can also ask the men and women of faith to donate their surplus food to the king to support the Ming."

"Perhaps the Buddha will move me and I will grant them two more years of tax exemption."

"Of course, since the monks in many temples serve the old marquis and me, there is no need to follow King Thalong's old rules to restrict Buddhism."

However, Buddhism, Hinduism and Nath primitive worship coexisted in the Pagan Dynasty.

There are several Mahayana and Hinayana sects in Buddhism competing for believers.

However, even during the mixed religions of the Pagan Dynasty, the royal family donated two million acres of land and 20,000 slaves to the temples.

Although the Kingdom of Toungoo also revered Buddhism, on the one hand, Mangyinli and his son were warlike and plundered everything they had, while on the other hand, King Thalong, in addition to caring for the people, often restricted Buddhist temples.

Control the temple land and the number of monks, and allow the temple to expel monks from time to time.

They also changed the centuries-old tradition of Hongsavadi of making prisoners of war slaves in temples.

The prisoners of war were gathered in the dry Shanghongsha to engage in farming and provide for the royal family.

The Marquis of Pagan took out a scroll of imperial edict: "Every time the temples in each region provide a certain amount of food, they can exchange it for one mu of land."

“This type of land is subject to the same taxes as a mid-level ahmutan.”

"At the same time, there will be no more restrictions on monks in temples. As long as they report to the Ludao officials, they can observe the precepts and become monks, and enter the temple to worship the gods and Buddhas."

I saw that Master Moendaju's expression was no longer as calm as still water.

The Marquis of Pagan continued, “In the past, officials in Ludao and local governors were all princes and nobles.”

"After the new policy, all great masters can recommend talents to serve this king. Even the governor of the county where the temple is located can take up the position."

Many monks showed excitement on their faces.

But over the past year, Li Bai's army burned temples and looted civilians, filling their hearts with anger and rejection of the Ming Dynasty.

The hatred of losing one's country and destroying one's family is not easily eliminated.

Seeing that the monks from major temples were still hesitating.

Zhu Cixuan said coldly: "Even if the Ming Dynasty withdraws its troops, with the support of the lower-level Ahmutan and the help of Luchuan Siam, can't you divide the river with Mangbai and rule it separately?"

"Your status is still higher than my uncle's."

"Don't be afraid of me arresting you one by one and locking you up so I can reform your thoughts."

Upon hearing this, the monks in the temple couldn't help but tremble.

The Investigation Division of the Jinyiwei of the Ming Dynasty became famous in just a few days.

No one who entered was uninjured.

Dozens of new graves are added every day outside the city of Ava.

(End of this chapter)