Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 900 Special Circumstances
For the Ming Dynasty, winter was not a season suitable for combat, especially when the new year was approaching, the soldiers lost their will to fight and longed for relaxation and tranquility, so the Ming army usually rested in winter.

Defending in winter and attacking in summer is also the experience summed up by the Ming army based on the combat characteristics of the Qing army, but there are exceptions to everything. Last winter, the Ming army was forced to fight the Qing army in Jiangbei and Huguang. Although the Yangzhou war ended before winter came, there were exceptions in the southwest.

After the autumn harvest, Sun Kewang, who had been living in Yunnan for more than two years, began to repeatedly invade Guangxi and Guizhou to test the Ming army. The friction between the two sides continued, and Xi’an also sent back definite news that the Jin Kingdom sent killers from the Ming Dynasty to stab the Qing envoys and intervene. The Kingdom of Jin tore up the peace agreement with the Ming Dynasty on the grounds of state affairs, and Hauge had already led an army into Shu.

The southwest of Daming will definitely not be peaceful in this winter.

Calculating the time, the war in Sichuan has already started at this time, but the specific situation, because the Nanjing court is too far away from the battlefield, the specific situation of the battle is still unknown.

In mid-October and January, Nanjing also ushered in a heavy snowfall, and the land in the south of the Yangtze River presented a northern scenery.

"Auspicious snow heralds a good year!" Wang Fuzhi stepped on the snow with several ministers, making a hissing sound.

Although the Southwest is now facing war, many ministers obviously did not show too much anxiety, and they lost the sense of urgency they had at the beginning. The period when the country is about to be destroyed, but it has reached a relatively safe situation.

"Yes, after the snow this year, Nanzhi will definitely have a big harvest next year." Fang Fengnian, governor of Nanzhi, agreed with a smile, and the old man's face was full of vigor.

"I heard that Nanzhi is second only to Jiangxi in the tax burden reported by the provinces this year. If the harvest is better next year, will it go further!" Your Highness will let Mr. Fang join the cabinet!"

Jiangnan has a strong background, and the Ming Dynasty was still in Nanjing. As long as it recovers a little bit, it will be stronger than other provinces. In addition, Fang Fengnian sent people to Qiongzhou and Guangdong to persuade many people from Jiangnan, especially those with Yangzhou background, to return to Jiangnan. , and given appropriate preferential policies, the commerce in the south of the Yangtze River was quickly revitalized, and the local economy gradually recovered, even surpassing Fujian to become the fourth largest tax-paying province.

When Fang Fengnian heard what Yan Qiheng said, his heart moved. He hoped to join the cabinet again.

The words of several officials of the Chu Party spread to the ears of several colleagues, and the governor of Zhejiang, Qian Sule, immediately blushed and felt that his face was shameless. The taxes paid by Zhejiang this year are only three times higher than Guizhou, Sichuan, and Guangxi. The court subsidy is stronger, which makes it difficult for him to explain.

In addition to him, Du Yinxi from Jiangxi, Jiang Yueguang from Fujian, and even Wu Jinxi, Governor of Huguang, also felt tremendous pressure.

The cabinet's new official evaluation method attaches great importance to political performance. If a province fails to pay taxes and taxes, the promotion of the governor, governor, chief envoy and other senior officials will be affected, and even be demoted.

Wang Yan promulgated a new policy. At the end of the year, when the governors return to Beijing to report on their duties, they must report to the officials in the council hall, talk about the achievements of the local management in one year, and make predictions for the coming year.

Most of the civil servants are decent people, not to mention that there is no first place in literature. Since ancient times, literati have looked down upon each other. For a well-known literati, life would be worse than death.

Today's discussion is to gather important officials of the imperial court to make a summary of this year and make a plan for the coming year. The governors of all regions, except Governor Wang Yingxiong of Sichuan, Governor He Tengjiao of Yunnan and Guizhou, and Governor Chen Zilong of Guangdong and Guangxi, were unable to return to Beijing to report on their duties due to the Southwest War. In addition, most of the chief executives of other provinces were ordered to return to Nanjing.

Everyone walked while talking, and they arrived at the meeting hall. The minor officials immediately stepped forward, took the cloaks of the adults, shook the snow, and hung them up.

The officials entered the warm meeting hall and chatted in twos and threes, all talking about the annual report.

In a small side hall at the back of the meeting hall, Wang Yan, who came earlier, and the two kings of Tang and Lu rested here, and went out to participate in the meeting after all the officials arrived.

At this time, there was a brazier in the center of the side hall, and what was burning was not charcoal, but charcoal from Changxing, Zhejiang Province. The dark red charcoal made the hall warm. Understand the situation first, so as not to go to the meeting hall to catch blind.

Wang Yan took a look at the tax increases in Guangdong, Guangxi and Huguang this year. The previous momentum was gone, and the increase was less than [-]%, while the tax in Nanzhi was increasing rapidly. Wang Yan compared the two reports and understood a little bit. As the Ming Dynasty returned to Nanjing and the political center returned to Jiangnan, many merchants and gentry families in Guangdong, Guangxi and Huguang began to set up properties in Jiangnan. As a result, the development of the Chu Party’s base camp slowed down, while Nanzhi quickly recovered some vitality. .

Wang Yan then flipped through the detailed rules at the back, mainly looking at the grain harvest of Huguang in summer and autumn this year. He glanced at it, and found that the grain output had decreased by [-]% compared with last year, and the cotton planting had increased by a point. I can't help but feel a little melancholy. If things go on like this, there will be more money, but less and less food. I don't know if Nanyang can supply enough food.

Wang Yan put aside the memorials of Huguang and Liangguang. Seeing this, King Lu handed one of the memorials in his hand to Wang Yan, then picked up the two memorials that Wang Yan had thrown away, and handed one to King Tang. Take one and sit down and watch it yourself.

They also know themselves and the enemy, and understand the situation of the provinces under the opponent's power, so that they can know what they are doing and have a comparison.

Wang Yan looked at the zhezi in Zhejiang, and the situation was quite dire. The rich provinces that used to be one of the best in the Ming Dynasty have now lifted the rear of the car, but Wang Yan also understands the reason for this. The vitality was severely injured, and then the King Lu faction used government forces to prevent other forces from entering Zhejiang, so Zhejiang's economic recovery was slow.

After the people planted mulberry seedlings and cotton, there were no powerful merchants to buy them, so the grain output in Zhejiang has increased a lot.

Then Wang Yan took a look at those from Fujian and Jiangxi, but suddenly he saw a special situation in Fujian’s report. The grain output should not be able to meet the consumption of the province, but since this summer, Fujian has not purchased grain from other provinces, which is strange.

For a while, Wang Yan became interested, and couldn't help sitting up straight, looking at Tang Wang.

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(End of this chapter)