Southern Ming, my destiny is too abstract

Chapter 98 Southwest Propaganda and Appeasement Office

Zhu Cixuan did not convene a court meeting at the beginning because he knew that he would be at a disadvantage against Yongli's old ministers.

To those civil and military officials who followed Emperor Yongli to western Yunnan and always insisted on resisting the Qing Dynasty.

We certainly cannot carry out a large-scale purge.

Instead of dying at the hands of the Eastern Tartars, he lost his life at the hands of his own people. Isn't that just repeating the past of the Southern Ming Dynasty?

For example, the Minister of Justice Yin Sanpin.

He never surrendered from beginning to end, and together with Yang Wu and Liu Ju, he recaptured Tengyue Pass and prepared to enter Hongshawadi to rescue the emperor.

It was only because of Yang Wu's betrayal that he became a civil official left in Yunnan and Yunnan by the Ming Dynasty.

What's more, Zhu Cixuan even reused and let go Jin Weixin, a member of Ma Jixiang's treacherous gang.

There is no need to use drastic measures against these anti-Qing patriots.

Moreover, because Zhu Cixuan imprisoned his father to seize power, which was already illegal, he had to obtain legal power from these ministers.

This is very helpless, even if there are only two or three big cats left in the Ming Dynasty.

But the legal principles are consistent.

Emperor Chongzhen and all the officials in the capital were killed in one fell swoop.

Under the two-capital system, the Nando team supported Emperor Hongguang.

After the fall of the Southern Capital, the civil and military officials who fled in all directions successively supported Emperor Longwu and Prince Lu as regents.

After Emperor Longwu died for his country, Chen Zizhuang, Ding Kuichu and others supported Emperor Yongli and later removed the title of Prince of Lu as regent.

Even though Tang Wang Shaowu succeeded his elder brother to his younger brother, he was not as orthodox as Emperor Yongli. A big reason for this was that most ministers chose Zhu Youlang.

Therefore, Zhu Cixuan needed his old ministers to recognize his legal rights.

Besides, Zhu Cixuan only felt a little annoyed by his old ministers, and they were not a bother or trouble.

Zhu Cixuan and his group of military generals and advisors were no match for these ministers who were all Jinshi graduates and always spoke of principles and precedents.

Wait until Ren Guoxi and Deng Shilian arrived in western Yunnan.

After a few days of verbal attacks from two people, Zhu Cixuan slowly started the meeting.

There are many things to do at the moment, and the top priority is military affairs.

Zhu Cixuan's side was responsible for resettling the civilians and refugees. Yunnan and Yunnan had been fighting for half a year, and the local harvest had decreased. After leaving enough food for the army, the grain and rice transported from Hongshawadi had to be distributed to the civilians first.

On Wu Sangui's side, the city of Kunming was looted and burned down, and he had to wait for food and fodder to be transferred from Guangxi, Guangdong, Huguang.

Both the Ming and Qing dynasties were temporarily short of food, so they would not fight before winter at least.

The second thing is naturally to govern the recovered towns in western and southern Yunnan.

The displaced people must be gathered and organized, and the barren fields must be reclaimed.

At this time, the civil and military officials of the Ming Dynasty showed their fangs and recommended themselves to go to local prefectures and counties.

Don't wait for the center to guard the local area.

Of course, it is impossible for civil and military ministers to give up their power in the court and go to the front line to perform their duties loyally for the Ming Dynasty and the prince.

Instead, they set their sights on Zhu Cixuan's national treasury.

Provide relief to the people, reclaim wasteland, build water conservancy projects, provide housing, repair city walls, and train local militia.

Which one doesn’t cost money?

It's normal to have some losses when spending money.

Zhu Cixuan, who had witnessed Wu Sangui's money-making methods and had some understanding of the political ecology of the Ming Dynasty, naturally refused it sternly.

Even though Ma Jixiang served as the Prime Minister of the Ming Dynasty for two or three years, he only had a few thousand gold coins.

That's because he was imprisoned in the city of Ava and had no chance of making money.

When he followed Emperor Yongli to flee from Yongchang to Hongsha, the local chieftains bribed him with thousands of gold coins in order to obtain the title from the Ming Dynasty.

According to Ma Bao, the past of the Southern Ming Dynasty was revealed.

At the beginning of the Longwu and Yongli dynasties, there was a minister named Wang Huacheng who was promoted to the position of Censor and was sent to inspect eastern Guangdong.

At that time, the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty were either occupied by the Qing Dynasty or in the hands of the chieftains of the Dashun and Dashi regions. Only eastern Guangdong was relatively safe.

During his few years as an inspector in eastern Guangdong, Wang Huacheng embezzled 200,000 taels of silver.

Above Wang Huacheng was the extremely exaggerated Prime Minister of the Southern Ming Dynasty, the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, Ding Kuichu.

Treasonous and treacherous.

Initially, Su Guansheng was excluded from the cabinet, which triggered the Yongli-Shaowu dispute.

Later, he kicked out the cabinet ministers of Hongguang and Longwu from the central government, colluded with eunuchs, and monopolized power.

Later, Li Chengdong surrendered to the Qing Dynasty and conquered three provinces in succession, capturing and killing two emperors.

Forced Zhu Youlang to flee to Huguang
Ding Kuichu, the first prime minister of the Yongli Dynasty, of course chose to betray the Ming Dynasty.

He secretly bribed the Qing army generals with tens of thousands of taels to make Li Chengdong accept his surrender.

Li Chengdong also pretended to surrender and promised to wait for Ding Kuichu to let down his guard, then he killed the whole family and robbed them of their money.

Perfect implementation, even if I kill you, you are still mine.

Ma Bao and other generals under Li Chengdong searched Ding Kuichu's three-year official purse and forty ships for valuables.

Eight hundred and forty thousand pieces of gold, some jewels, and nearly ten million taels of silver.

After hearing this, Zhu Cixuan could only say it was awesome.

Duke Qu Shisi of Yue had no money to pay his soldiers, so he had to use his wife's hairpins to reward the army.

The 10 million taels were given to He Tengjiao, the governor of Huguang, and Du Yinxi, the commander-in-chief of Shunying.

At least we can hold on to the southwest, and when the Dashi Army leaves Yunnan, it will be enough to divide the river and rule with Dai Qing.

Having said that, how could Zhu Cixuan dare to give the money to the Ming Dynasty's civil officials when they behaved like this?

And I heard that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince wanted to leave all 30 million taels to the army.

Many ministers nodded slightly, then were stunned for a moment.

After the local area is governed, taxes can be collected again, and the money will come in more easily.

How much money can the 40,000 old Dashi soldiers spend?

But he thought of Deng Shilian, Ren Guoxi and others saying that it would take the prince five years to pacify the invaders.

Many people just feel upset.

Five years after the Dashi Army left Yunnan, they had to defend Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan and lakes, and confront the Qing army in the southwest corner.

Five years to pacify the invaders?

We were able to fight our way back to Nando in five years, thanks to the blessings of our ancestors.

Several civil officials who were good at arithmetic made rapid estimates in their minds.

Regardless of whether it takes five years to pacify the world, at least 100,000 elite troops must be prepared to drink water from the Yangtze River.

The monthly food, wages, horse feed and firearms for an army of 100,000 would cost at least 35 million taels over five years.

At present, there are only nearly 50,000 old Dashi troops, and they have to prepare to train and equip 50,000 new troops.

The new army had nearly two million armored horses.

Several civil officials who were responsible for the estimate also felt a pang of anger.

Not to mention taking money out of the prince's pocket, they now owe the prince's Northern Expedition Army seven million taels.

This does not include compensation for soldiers killed in action.

According to the Chongzhen period's pension of 30 taels for an ordinary soldier, the expenditure was at least one million taels.

Arrears of wages and pensions?
Many of the soldiers in the Xiying Zhongzheng Battalion were from the Ming Dynasty border troops who were owed wages.

In order to pay the troops, Zuo Liangyu and He Tengjiao often condoned their soldiers to massacre and loot the city.

Thirty-seven million is an astronomical figure.

But according to Liu Xuanchu, the Qing court spent 35 million taels on military expenses last year.

If the Ming Dynasty wanted to resist the Qing Dynasty, it would need at least 10 million taels of silver every year.

How did Sun Kewang do it in the first place?
The only good thing was that they didn't have to worry about Zheng Yanping's 100,000 troops.

Otherwise, don't resist the Qing Dynasty anymore. Let's pack up and go to Southeast Asia to rebuild the Southern Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Cixuan sat upright in the main seat in the hall and glanced at the civil and military officials.

The left and right sides were clearly divided. On the left, Li Dingguo was at the head, followed by Deng Shilian, Ren Guoxi, and Zhu Cixuan's military advisors and generals.

On the right side was Mu Tianbo, three Yongli cabinet ministers, and a group of former civil and military officials.

Emperor Yongli abused his power of appointment and titles. The Dali Prefecture is now filled with dukes and earls, and there are as many dukes as dogs.

Not counting the generals of the old Dashi army, there were nearly two hundred civil and military officials of all ranks.

There are still dozens of civil and military officials who have received the Sanqing education and remain in Ava City.

Fu Gang, a man of sturdy appearance, stepped out and said, "Your Highness, the country is in danger of collapse and needs to act with stability."

"Everyone in the court is willing to follow His Highness in restoring the country and returning it to the two capitals."

"But now we are living in a remote corner of Yunnan and Yunnan. We should take a long-term view and not just wait for a few years to achieve national rejuvenation."

Mu Tianbo also spoke at the right time: "Your Highness, although we have the two kingdoms of Toungoo and Pegu as our foundation."

"But His Highness has promised to reduce taxes and levies. It will take two or three years just to rectify the southern barbarian states."

"Your Highness often says that the Prince of Jin and the Prince of Yanping are the two pillars of the country. However, the Prince of Jin also spent three years recuperating in Yunnan before leaving Yunnan, and the Prince of Yanping spent ten years gathering strength overseas."

"The first priority is to drive the Qing army out of Yunnan and Yunnan, and then stabilize Yunnan and Yunnan and give the people a rest."

Zhu Cixuan couldn't help but frown.

Fu Gang was the chief minister of the Yongli court. Lei Yuelong was old and did not have much energy, so Fu Gang and Li Dingguo were in charge of civil and military affairs respectively.

I don’t know if Zhu Cixuan is cheating, but of course it is a mature and prudent suggestion.

Mu Tianbo won’t say much. After Zhu Cixuan took the savings of Prince Mu’s Mansion, he started to be at odds with Zhu Cixuan.

What is there to rectify in the Land Above the Wind?
If the annual tribute is even slightly short of food and fodder, we can just send an army to punish them.

Zhu Cixuan looked at the ministers behind Fu Gang who were eager to speak.

It’s really annoying. Let’s send them all to Southeast Asia.

"Duke of Qian, you mentioned Zheng Yanping. Do you know how he occupied overseas territory for ten years and nearly recaptured the Southern Capital with an army of 200,000?"

Mu Tianbo was slightly startled, then spoke hesitantly, "Maritime trade is very profitable. I heard that during the Chongzhen reign, the customs duty was as much as 200,000 taels of silver."

The Ming Dynasty did not close its doors to the outside world during the middle and late period.

After the opening of the Longqing Port, maritime trade flourished.

As Europe developed America and Japan excavated silver mines, silver continued to flow into China.

Great pirates like Wang Zhi and Zheng Zhilong were born.

Daming made a lot of money just by doing nothing.

Taxes, water taxes, land taxes, and additional taxes.

The customs on the Yangtze River Canal levied taxes on the load of ships.

When the tribute ship returned, the contraband carried by the crew was divided up, with two out of ten taken.

Zhu Cixuan nodded and turned to look at Ren Guoxi. "Mr. Ren, Pan Huangwu Dading is stationed at the Military and Civilian Affairs Commission in Maduba. How has the profit been over the past six months? The three countries of Toungoo, Pegu, and Siam have a lot of trade exchanges at the Maduba port."

Ren Guoxi bowed and said, "Your Highness, the British and Portuguese have given us some support since they learned of the war with the Dutch."

"In previous years, there were only three or four British and Portuguese merchant ships that arrived in Matuba, but in the first half of this year, there were ten."

"The King of Toungoo and the King of Pegu peddled their goods, and Pan Huang collected taxes from them, totaling 50,000 taels."

"There were also Han Chinese from Southeast Asia who wove cloth and made porcelain, which was very popular. Chen Ande and Pan Huang set up a manufacturing bureau and made a profit of 300,000 taels in half a year."

Hongsavadi has few spices and is not a major hub for maritime trade in the Southeast Ocean.

But there is too much rice and teak.

Every year, in addition to transporting grain to the royal capital army in Shanghongsha, Xiahongsha also exports more than a hundred ships of rice to European colonies.

The rice trade alone was worth more than 100,000 or 200,000 taels a year.

Hongsavadi is rich in forest resources, and its teak for building and shipbuilding is world-famous, with the timber trade worth hundreds of thousands of taels.

Even the Mughals came to buy valuable jade and jewelry.

When Mu Tianbo heard the profit of 350,000 in half a year, he had already guessed the prince's arrangement and his expression was moved.

Zhu Cixuan, who knew the details of the trade, nodded slightly and said to Mu Tianbo, "Duke of Qian, you said that we need to rectify the southern barbarian nations as the foundation for the revival of the country. The Xuanwei Offices of the Tusi in the southwest are originally under the jurisdiction of Prince Mu's Palace."

"Then you will govern the countries in the Wind Land for me."

"Under the oppression of Zheng Yanping, the Qing Dynasty closed its sea embargo and assumed that Europe and Southeast Asia would need the products of our Ming civilization."

"I wish to establish a Southwest Pacification Office. Duke Qian, you will be the Southwest Pacification Envoy, governing the various states in the southwest."

Mu Tianbo pursed his lips and looked at his good son-in-law with complicated eyes.

A truly good son-in-law.

Seven hundred thousand a year. If the tea and porcelain from Yunnan and Yunnan were also sent to Maduba, it would be more than one million taels.

It will only take ten years to make up for the losses suffered by Prince Mu’s Mansion.

Even within ten years, the profits of the Southwest Xuanfu Division must be left to the Crown Prince to revive the Ming Dynasty.

The Mu family didn’t lose out either.

At that time, the prince will recreate the prosperous Yongle era and go to the West again.

The Southwest Propaganda and Pacification Office is the Western Propaganda and Pacification Office.

It can only be said that Li Dingguo had no other title to offer, and the position of crown prince was left to the family of Xu Da, Duke of Wei, who had been guarding the Southern Capital for generations.

The overseas title of Duke of Wei was left to the Mu family.

Not only does it prosper together with the country, but due to the isolation of the Luchuan Plateau, the Mu Palace may not be able to be passed down for 800 years like the Yang family of Bozhou.

Mu Tianbo immediately stood up solemnly and said: "I will live up to your trust, Your Highness. I will rectify and govern the southern barbarians and provide Your Highness with millions of grain and salaries every year."

Some chieftains were stunned when they saw Mu Tianbo jumping to the side of the prince.

Duke of Qian, didn’t you say you would support us?
Zhu Cixuan noticed the strangeness of the chieftains and said, "Don't look at the Duke of Qian."

"I will definitely take over your land and make it my imperial estate."

"Let the people farm and provide food for the Northern Expedition Army."

"It won't be long. I've pacified the invaders for five years, so I'll borrow five from you."

"Tao Dou, you should set an example, starting from your Jingdong Mansion."

Upon hearing this, Jingdong local governor Tao Dou immediately felt like crying but had no tears.

Hu Yiqing was forced by Zhao Yinxuan to surrender to the Ming Dynasty, but who would have thought that the Ming Dynasty would stab him first.

Can you refuse?

Who dares to say no.

The reason why the Dashi Army was able to set up camps in Yunnan was because they had obtained Mu Tianbo's permission.

Li Dingguo abolished Yingzhuang because, firstly, he felt that he could no longer run the business, and secondly, Mu Tianbo vetoed it.

After all, when Sun Kewang was setting up the camp, the landlord who suffered the most losses was the Prince Mu's Mansion.

Without Prince Mu's Palace, they are nothing.

Zhu Cixuan continued, "Don't be so sad. In addition to the 10% of food that I'll leave for you according to the old rules, I'll let you take some tea and sell it in Xiahongsha."

"Yunnan and Yunnan had the Shu-Shendu Road in ancient times, and now there is the Ancient Tea-Horse Road. You should also know the benefits of this."

"For five years, I will also reduce your taxes."

Tao Dou was stunned at first, then he was overjoyed and bowed his head repeatedly to express his gratitude.

Pu'er tea from Jingdong Prefecture has been a tribute since the Hongwu period.

These small chieftains would only hide some of the goods and sell them privately, while the big ones were monopolized by Prince Mu's Palace in front and Wu Sangui in the back.

There is no profit at all for the chieftains who grow tea.

Now, Tao Dou only hopes that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince will simply take over his family’s land and make it an imperial estate.

There is no way that selling tea can bring you huge profits from farming.

After dealing with Mu Tianbo and the Yundian chieftain, Zhu Cixuan finally looked at the civil and military officials.

"In addition to the eight military and civil pacification offices in Madubha, I will also set up military and civil pacification offices in Hongsavadi and even in Arakan, Siam, and Aceh."

"My Lords, may we go?"

Two in one
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(End of this chapter)