Ming Dynasty: Moral blackmail? I, Emperor Chongzhen, have no morals!

After listening, Zhu Jian nodded slightly: "Wen Can will be appointed Governor of Fujian, and the Governor's Office will be located in Fuzhou!"

He paused, then continued, "Fu Zonglong, the Left Vice Minister of War, was appointed Governor of Sichuan, with his office in Chengdu! Yang Wenyue, the Right Vice Minister of War, was appointed Governor of Jiangxi, with his office in Nanchang! Zhu Dadian, the Governor-General of Fengyang, was appointed Governor of Huguang, with his office in Wuchang!"

"Chengchou, you will have to work harder, serving as the Governor-General of five provinces: Huguang, Sichuan, Jiangxi, Henan, and Guizhou, to quell the remaining bandits!"

Fu Zonglong, Yang Wenyue, and Zhu Dadian all died for their country in the original history, so there wasn't much of a problem. Zhu Jian thought they could be put to use, and it would be a good opportunity to directly establish a provincial governor's office to oversee the political and civil affairs of a province.

A few months ago, Zhu Jian appointed governors of several provinces north of the Yangtze River. Now he has appointed governors of several provinces south of the Yangtze River, thus firmly controlling the personnel appointment power of the provinces.

The remaining three chief officials are being gradually replaced by officials from various provinces and prefectures.

"Your subject has no objection!" Xiong Wencan said, bowing.

Hong Chengchou replied in a deep voice, "Your subject obeys the decree!"

"Zuo Liangyu, Yang Guozhu, Meng Ruhu, and Gao Jie will all remain in your unit!"

"Cao Bianjiao, Zhou Yuji, He Renlong, Liu Guoneng, return with me!"

Zhu Jian paused, then continued, "Immediately cease supplying Luo Rucai's troops with provisions. If he sends someone to inquire, reply that you are currently procuring them! Once they are nearly exhausted, follow the example of Zhang Xianzhong's troops and demand reorganization; if they refuse, annihilate them on the spot!"

"If he can't wipe them out, then send Luo Rucai's troops to Shaanxi, and let Qin Liangyu and Zheng Chongjian remain pinned down in their current positions! Trample Luo Rucai and Li Zicheng entirely in Shaanxi!"

Zhu Jian thought it would be better to directly wipe out Luo Rucai's troops, or accept their reorganization. If that wasn't possible, then war would be the way to go, since Zhu Jian had already cut off their foundation.

Now that the country is exempt from taxes for three years, most people are unwilling to actively seek refuge. So we should take this opportunity to completely wipe out all the bandits except those in Shaanxi, or at least eliminate large-scale banditry!

If Luo Rucai were to run to Shaanxi and try to seize Li Zicheng's territory, that would be fine too. They might even fight each other. The disaster situation in Shaanxi would only get worse in the future. As long as they dare to rob ordinary people of their food, Zhu Jian wouldn't need to send a large army to wipe them out. They would exhaust themselves and die. Rebellion that loses popular support is like banditry. Without a foundation, it won't last long!

Upon hearing this, Hong Chengchou and Xiong Wencan replied in unison, "Your Majesty, we obey!"

"Tomorrow, Wencan will head to Fujian first. The military and political bureau will issue an edict later. Chengchou will reorganize his troops here in Gucheng to prepare for dealing with Luo Rucai!"

After finishing his sentence, Zhu Jian waved his hand, signaling the two of them to go and rest first.

........

The following morning, Zhu Jian led four generals—Cao Bianjiao, Zhou Yuji, He Renlong, and Liu Guoneng—along with 20,000 troops, to Xiangyang to meet the King of Xiang!

The Prince of Xiang was a descendant of Zhu Zhanxian, the son of Emperor Renzong (Zhu Gaochi). He was the younger brother of Emperor Xuanzong (Zhu Zhanji) from the same mother. His descendants had been enfeoffed in Huguang for many years and had deep roots in the region.

Gucheng is about a hundred li from Xiangyang. There are large tracts of fertile land on both sides of this road. Zhu Jian looked around and saw that the damage to the fields was not severe. He turned to Cao Bianjiao and said, "Cao Bianjiao, go and find a few farmers. I will treat them to dinner tonight!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!" After receiving the order, Cao Bianjiao led more than a hundred of his personal guards to the nearby village.

Before long, a dozen or so ragged farmers were brought before Inspector Zhu.

Prosecutor Zhu specially ordered a sheep and two chickens to be slaughtered, just to entertain these people.

Upon seeing Zhu Jian, the dozen or so men immediately knelt down, their bodies trembling uncontrollably, and cried out, "Please, General, spare our lives!"

Prosecutor Zhu waved his hand: "I invited you here today to ask you some questions! Tell me the truth, and you can have this sheep and these two chickens as a reward!"

The leader, an elderly man in his fifties with a deeply lined face, disheveled hair, and an extremely haggard appearance, replied tremblingly, "This humble man dares not presume, please inquire, General!"

Zhu Jian glanced at a child, about six or seven years old, hiding behind the old man, beckoned, and tore off a chicken leg: "Hungry? Here!"

The child swallowed hard, glanced at the old man kneeling beside him, took two steps forward, and suddenly stood up, grabbed a chicken leg, and started gnawing on it.

"Eat slowly, there's water nearby!"

Then he added, "You all get up and answer, and come forward to have something to eat!"

These farmers, with the mindset that it's better to die with a full stomach, slowly got up, hurriedly approached, and carefully shared the food.

"A few days ago, the imperial court issued an edict exempting all taxes and corvée labor for three years. Are you aware of this?"

After hearing this, everyone looked at each other, and finally their gazes fell on the old man, as if they were seeking his opinion.

After hearing this, the old man sighed, "I know, the Emperor has exempted us from taxes and corvée labor for three years, so we can barely survive for another three years..."

Upon hearing this, Prosecutor Zhu was taken aback: "If you don't pay taxes, the harvest is all yours. How can you talk about barely surviving?"

He paused, then added, "I see the disaster in Huguang isn't too severe; at least in a good year, they should be able to recover 70-80% of their income!"

The old man said forlornly, "My esteemed guest, you are unaware of this. The land we, a dozen or so people, own together is only a little over twenty mu. It is true that the grain on this land is our own, but twenty mu is not enough to feed all of us. We can only cultivate some land for the Prince's mansion, and after paying the rent, we can still have a little left over!"

"This year, the Emperor exempted us from taxes, and the rent for the Prince's land has increased. The grain harvest we actually have is about the same as before, but we don't have to pay the corvée labor tax anymore. Many of the able-bodied young men in our village have also returned. We can go to the river and mountains together to find some food, which is a bit better than before!"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Jian clenched his fists so tightly they cracked. In the end, with the tax cuts, neither the imperial court nor the common people benefited; instead, the tax burden fell into the hands of the princes!

After calming himself down, he continued, "Old man, how many people like you are there in Huguang?"

The old man shook his head after hearing this: "I've never traveled far and don't know how many similar situations exist in Huguang, but most of the land there belongs to princes, and some to noblemen. The situation should be pretty much the same everywhere!"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Jian's eyes widened, and he roared, "Cao Bianjiao, go to Xiangyang and tell the Prince of Xiang to come here tonight!"

"I???"

A dozen or so ragged farmers, upon hearing the word "I" and the order for the prince to come over, immediately dropped their food, knelt down, and said in unison, "We were unaware that Your Majesty was here!"

"Get up! This is none of your business!" He then turned and ordered, "Liu Guoneng, give each of these people two bags of grain, pack them up and take them home!"

He then added, "You haven't seen me today, nor have you said anything to me!"

"Your Majesty, we thank you!" The common people quickly rose, took their food and provisions, and returned to their homes that very night...

Prosecutor Zhu didn't want to implicate these innocent civilians. As the saying goes, a grain of dust in the era becomes a mountain on ordinary people, enough to crush them...