Griffin Commander in the Late Ming Dynasty

After a long period of war, Wano Country was finally successfully unified by Tokugawa Ieyasu more than 30 years ago. He established the Tokugawa Shogunate in Edo, and opened the Edo period. This Edo is today's Tokyo.

Today's Wano Country is in a state of disrepair and it is expected that they will begin to close their country this year, but trade with Ming Dynasty will remain. Free trade with them is a good choice.

The distance from here to Wano Country is not too far, much closer than Fujian, and it takes relatively less time. Moreover, Wano Country has a large amount of silver stored. Although it will take some years for them to find their silver, I can help them speed up.

After the war in Wano Country, agriculture and industry were both abandoned. It can be said that there was nothing there. There was nothing in the mountains except silver. The only thing left for the poor was money. Isn't this an excellent candidate for being a leek?

Get some old farm tools, tattered armor, junk crossbows, put them in order and sell them all, then get something else, like tobacco, something addictive, make me addicted!

I was too kind for not giving them some leaves or anything. Jiang Han, you are so gentle now!

He wants to use these goods to turn the people of Wano Country into gold miners, and then open some spare parts production factories there. Anyway, those people over there can live well under the nuclear wastewater, so carbon emissions and sewage shouldn't matter, right?

Kaido called him an expert after seeing it.

Well, no matter which of these two things is done, it will require considerable military support, so the card drawing aspect still needs to be done.

His primary task now is to prepare for the battle against the upcoming punitive army. Before that, he still has to deal with the problems in the rear and resolve the various problems in the city that has just been captured.

"Hurry, hurry, move!"

"Everyone! Be alert and be vigilant! Anyone who dares to slack off today will be punished!"

For the people of Zhenjiang, today is a somewhat unusual day.

Since Zhenjiang was captured, the people in the city gradually began to calm down after the initial fears.

These rebel armies are different from all other armies. They really do not harm the civilians. Moreover, after being defeated by the rebel army, the civilians can still have work to do and food to eat. This is much better than the Ming Dynasty court!

The people at the bottom are just like this. To be honest, even if they haven't read much, the people on this land still have a strong sense of belonging to their country. If nothing unexpected happens, everyone still values ​​their identity as a citizen of the Ming Dynasty and doesn't want to change it easily. But you can't stand having no way to make a living and no food to eat? How can this work?

If there is no food to eat, what is the use of family and country feelings? Everyone is waiting for the rice to cook at home. Don't say you have to accept it. This is the most basic need for biological survival. To put it bluntly, the so-called country is to choose a social system that can protect itself, so why don't I find a social system that can give me enough food? Oh, I am a pig, and I am hungry every day. Why do I like to go to your place?

A talk show host said it very well, the United States has all kinds of mistakes, the epidemic monitoring here is a mess, the political system here is a piece of shit, there is racial discrimination here, so why do I still come? Because I can support myself by telling shit and fart jokes here, but in my hometown my skills are nothing, and no one will pay me.

After all, people need to ensure survival first before considering other spiritual and metaphysical satisfactions.

The military discipline of the Volunteer Army is quite strict. Not only are there strict constraints on discipline, but education is also very important. Every volunteer soldier must receive ideological education. After completing their own studies every day, the political commissars in the team must share what they have learned with the soldiers, relieve the soldiers' distress, and understand the soldiers' thoughts. For those who harass the people, the Volunteer Army will definitely strike hard. Not only will they be expelled directly, but they will also be punished to a certain extent depending on the circumstances.

In this era, human life is treated as worthless, but under my governance, this kind of situation must never happen, let alone among the volunteer army.

For this reason, the volunteers were very kind to ordinary people, and the people gradually accepted this group of somewhat unusual soldiers.

Of course, no one would really regard their kindness as weakness. After all, when these people were ransacking the house, they laughed much happier than when they were helping.

But seeing how these volunteers were on high alert, it was really the first time for a young lady to get married. After all, on weekdays, these soldiers were either calm and peaceful like a boy next door, or they were frantically ransacking houses, just like the reincarnation of the Jinyiwei. How could they look so cautious when facing a great enemy?

"What's going on? Such a big scene?"

Some people were whispering as they watched the heavily guarded volunteer army.

"We don't know, and we don't dare to ask."

"Why don't you dare to ask? I think these soldiers are easy to talk to. They even helped the old lady of the Zhang family to turn the soil yesterday."

"Easy to talk to? Why don't you go ask Mr. Wang, who lives next door to you, if they are easy to talk to?"

There was actually no other reason for such a serious scene, except that Jiang Han was coming to Zhenjiang.

Regardless of whether he likes it or not, his status is now rising and becoming more and more stable and critical under the implementation of a series of policies. In the hearts of all the volunteers and the people of Yangzhou who have benefited from it, Jiang Han is like a living god. Many people have Jiang Han's tablets at home and burn incense and kowtow to him at night.

When they arrive in Zhenjiang, before starting work in the factories, the factory owners would constantly reminisce with their employees about the good old days and talk about who brought them the good life they have today.

These people have a heartfelt respect for Jiang Han.

Some were happy about Jiang Han's arrival while others were worried. Those who were happy were the volunteers and a group of original Yangzhou personnel, while those who were worried were many of the original key position staff in Yangzhou City and many of the literati and nobles here.

When they heard that Jiang Han was coming, their faces turned pale, as if their ancestors' graves had been dug up.

Jiang Han was very pretentious. After a long while, he walked into the gate of the government office and slowly sat down on the main seat. He asked, "I heard that you all have a lot of opinions to raise during the reconstruction of Zhenjiang? Now that I'm here, why don't you share them?"

The Zhenjiang official glanced around at the person pretending to be dead and studying the patterns on the pillars, coughed helplessly, and stepped forward and said, "Sir, we came here to ask you to stop the order to collect commercial taxes."

"Oh? Stop collecting business taxes?"

Jiang Han asked with interest.

"Yes, I think you are a man of great ambitions. You must follow a set of rules when doing things. And now that you have a newly created power, it is time to win the hearts of the people. Collecting commercial taxes is competing with the people for profit. Moreover, the Ming Dynasty has not collected commercial taxes for a long time. If you rashly start collecting them, I am afraid it will cause dissatisfaction among the people..."

Jiang Han found it a little funny: "This is strange. Starting from Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang of the Ming Dynasty, this commercial tax has been levied in every dynasty for hundreds of years. How come it has become a competition with the people for profit when it comes to me?"

A scholar at the side stepped forward and said, "Sir, you may not know that since the reign of Emperor Taizu, the commercial tax of the Ming Dynasty has always been 1% of the tax rate. However, the current emperor is kind and has abolished the commercial tax after ascending the throne. But sir, you have just taken Zhenjiang, and you are collecting a commercial tax of 1% of the tax rate. This is really inappropriate..."

Yes, there was no commercial tax during the Chongzhen period. During the Tianqi period, the eunuch party headed by Wei Zhongxian was very powerful and constantly suppressed the Donglin Party officials. After Chongzhen came to power with the support of the Donglin Party, he repaid the favor by using the Donglin Party to get rid of Wei Zhongxian. In order to please this group of benefactors, he deliberately abolished the commercial tax.

The reason why these people jumped out to oppose now is very simple. It is nothing more than a group of vested interests who are reluctant to see the fat meat they have already eaten shrink, so they ran to Jiang Han's side and made an effort.

In their view, no matter how the flags on the city walls change, whether the country belongs to the Zhu family, the Wang family, or even Huang Taiji next door, they cannot do without their scholars. Without scholars, who will govern the world for you? Relying on those mud-legged people who can't even read?

The main C is permanent, but the assistants come and go. No matter who is in charge, you can't do without us for the specific work. Since you can't do without us, we have room for negotiation!

Moreover, Zhenjiang had released the news as soon as it was attacked, and it is likely that they have already reached Yangzhou City. The imperial army will soon march south to recover the lost territories one by one. If he wants to hold out longer, the enemy will not be able to leave him and his men, and he cannot kill them. If they die, the enemy's foothold in Zhenjiang City will be unstable. If there is chaos in the city, it will surely make the enemy in a mess.

Therefore, they were certain that Jiang Han would not dare to turn against them, and this was also the reason why they dared to speak to Jiang Han like this.

However, these people obviously did not quite understand what kind of person Jiang Han was. Those who knew him were already brushing up their step count rankings at Huangquan Road Mountain.

Naturally, there is no way for these race walking enthusiasts to warn others not to make each other angry. All we can say is to observe a moment of silence for these warriors.

Volume 225: Chapter 5000 Chapter : The Origin of Gentry words

"You say it's inappropriate. If that doesn't work, then we can just follow the ancestral system of the Taizu Dynasty and continue with the tax rate of one in thirty, how about that?"

Jiang Han sat down slowly, looking like he was ready to talk to someone. Beside him, Pei Huayu skillfully began to make tea.

As an outstanding woman who has been trained with emphasis since childhood, Pei Huayu has naturally learned a lot about the tea ceremony, which is an indispensable pastime for all kinds of dignitaries. Since she got on board, she has been tending more and more towards becoming a personal secretary.

The main reason is that Jiang Han is such a worrying boss. If you look at his achievements on weekdays, you would think he is some star that has descended to earth. There is nothing he doesn't know about the things on earth, and he knows more than half of the things in heaven. But if you really get along with him for a period of time, you will find that there is still a big difference between him and a god. He eats voraciously, and every day he asks why boiled water is tasteless. He likes to drink muddy wine, likes to drink clear tea, and changes his ways to eat good food every day, which makes people worry about him.

In fact, the so-called turbid wine is fermented glutinous rice. It tastes sweet and strong. Jiang Han has to drink a bowl of it every now and then. It is a rare sweetener.

By the end of the Ming Dynasty, there wasn't much entertainment, so you had to think more about food, didn't you? Although he wanted to save the people, Jiang Han knew himself very well. He was not as dedicated as his predecessors. He was just an ordinary person who wanted to do something to satisfy his own goodwill. You asked him to make it difficult for himself in terms of his living conditions. That was impossible.

Pei Huayu slowly took out a long and thin gourd container from the bag beside her. It was filled with brewed tea and handed it to Jiang Han to take a sip.

"Oh, thank you."

Jiang Han took it and took a sip. The tea was warm, with a hint of bamboo fragrance. The tea set was made from bamboo.

The so-called gourd ware is a gourd ware. When traveling, the porcelain tea set in Yangzhou cannot be used anymore, because that set of tea set is too delicate and the bumps during travel may break it. But there is no need to worry about this problem with gourd ware. This gourd ware is one of Pei Huayu's own collection. There are many ways to make gourd ware. There are mold making, which is to put a mold on the gourd and let it grow according to the mold, there is also neck tying, which is to use a rope to tie a shape on the gourd, and there are also embossing and the like. The most exquisite of them is the length. The so-called length is the shape that is naturally grown, purely the wonders of nature. It is estimated that only one or two gourds of such regularity can grow in more than a hundred plots of land.

Pei Huayu was able to become the most beautiful woman in Yangzhou. When it came to romance, she was a very sophisticated person.

This thing only started to become popular in the late Ming Dynasty. There was a scholar named Chao Duanming who did not want to be an official, so he returned to his hometown and started raising gourds to make utensils. Gradually, it became popular.

Gourd vessels can be used as tea sets, because they have surprisingly good thermal insulation properties, and can be considered an ancient thermos cup. Due to this feature, they are also used to raise insects such as katydids and crickets, and many nobles like to play with them.

Ah this..., all the scholars looked at each other in bewilderment. Jiang Han's trick was a little confusing to them. You know, the ancestral system of the Ming Dynasty has always been the only weapon for these people to deal with those above them. Originally, they wanted to use this to fight against Jiang Han, but they didn't expect that others would directly retreat to advance. Since you want to follow the ancestral system of the Ming Dynasty so much, then let's do it according to the ancestral system?

Can these people accept this? Of course they can't. After having experienced the sweetness of the exemption of commercial taxes by Erlangzi Zhenzi, even if the tax rate is 1% of 30%, it is an unbearable burden in life for these people.

"This... Although this is the law of Taizu Dynasty, now that Yangzhou and Zhenjiang have fallen into your hands, you don't have to abide by the Ming Dynasty system. Now that the two cities have just been conquered, there is a lot of work to be done and they need to develop slowly. If you collect business taxes, I'm afraid the people will be burdened too much. This policy of allocating taxes to each acre is also inappropriate. Please consider it."

There are also smart people among them. Seeing that the ancestral system of Ming Taizu is not working, let's talk about the new dynasty. You have rebelled, how can you abide by the ancestral system of the Ming Dynasty? And seeing that you are so ambitious, you must care about the people, right? If you do this, the people will not have a good life!

"Oh? You have different opinions not only on business taxes, but also on my land policy? Why not tell me about it?"

Jiang Han slowly opened his mouth, revealing his sharp white teeth in a smile, which made M4 beside him shake his head. Every time he saw the commander look like this, he knew that someone was bound to be in trouble.

"Commercial taxes are meant to compete with the people for profits, which has caused a lot of dissatisfaction among the people. This time, the tax is divided according to the land area, which has caused panic among the people in the city. The interests involved are huge, so we must be cautious. Does your Excellency want to make an enemy of the scholars in the world?"

Jiang Han was a little caught off guard. He hadn't said much yet, but why did these people suddenly put a accusation on him? Was there something wrong? It must be a problem of attitude, so he straightened his appearance and asked seriously: "What is this Tianxia Shilin you are talking about?"

"puff"

A small sneer came from the side. When Jiang Han looked over, he saw that Pei Huayu had returned to her usual state of looking at her nose with her eyes and her heart with her nose.

Turning back, I saw these bearded guys were as red-faced as Uzi who had been arrested three times. There seemed to be warnings in my ears, warnings...

"We are trying to persuade you with good intentions, but why are you so powerless? You are insulting me, the scholars, are you really determined to go against me?"

Oh, I'm so anxious. You were just calling the common people "common people" just now, why are you so anxious now?

"Ah, you are wronging me. We are all gathered here for the development of Yangzhou and Zhenjiang. So, since we want to abolish the commercial tax, who can bring our two cities an annual income of 5 million taels?"

Jiang Han slowly turned his head towards the person who had spoken earlier.

"This fellow Shilin student, can you do this?"

The old man's face twitched. My goodness, five million taels a year, I can't rob that much even if you ask me to.

"I...I haven't come up with a good plan yet."

"This is new. You all say with certainty that the business tax will affect the livelihood of the people and make my fiefdom increasingly poor. But firstly, you have not conducted any research. After listening for a long time, you can't say a word about which merchants are affected and which people are suffering. Secondly, without the business tax, where can I get the money to distribute food to the two regions and build infrastructure every year? It's impossible that you want to starve me just by talking, right?"

"Or are you trying to figure out a way to quietly kill me?"

"Hey, sir... I'll wait..."

"Get out of here, raid his house. I will strictly enforce the collection of commercial taxes and the distribution of land tax. If anyone wants to play some tricks behind the scenes, I sincerely hope that you can grow a stronger head. If that happens, your whole family, young and old, will not be able to survive."

Jiang Han waved his hand, and the volunteers on the side quickly stepped forward, pierced the opponent's ribs with their spears and dragged him out. When the man was dragged out, he finally realized something was wrong and began to struggle and curse, but the curses were soon interrupted by a big fight and could no longer be heard.

"Okay, I'm tired, let's go."

The scholars and officials were quickly driven out and gathered outside to discuss countermeasures.

"Looking at this situation, this new bandit leader is probably determined to collect business taxes. What should we do?"

"What else can I do? He has a gun in his hand. I can see clearly that this man claims to be a law-abiding ruler, but in fact, he is no different from those bandits! He is extremely greedy!"

One person said unhappily.

"If it really doesn't work, how about we... talk to someone and settle for a 30% tax?"

"Impossible! This man is extremely barbaric, and it seems that he is determined to go against the scholars of the world! How can we give in to this? We must fight him to the end, even if it means our death!"

"Yes!" "Yes! It's my duty!"

"We must find a way to stop them from implementing the new policy!"

The status of the scholars came from the flattery of the landlords and businessmen. If they could not protect the interests of these people, these scholars would be nothing. Several scholars made up their minds and left after bowing to each other.

"A bunch of old bastards, I'll kill them sooner or later"

Jiang Han was very angry and gulped down his tea. Zhenjiang had just been taken and Jiang Han was short of manpower. The leadership team he had trained was only enough for Yangzhou. The leadership team of Zhenjiang needed to be trained again, and in the short term, only those without clear stains could be used. Otherwise, why would he spend so much time with these people?

"They are just a bunch of clowns. Your Excellency only needs to give an order and all of them will be executed on the spot."

Pei Huayu handed tea to Jiang Han while comforting him.

"Oh, Captain Wang, when I entered the city just now, I saw a group of people gathered at the gates of many government offices. There were several scholars with several children, and the children were holding several books of poetry, calligraphy and painting. What were they doing?"

Wang Guowei replied with a folded hand: "Sir, that is... how to say, cultivating a child prodigy"

"Cultivating a child prodigy? I'm happy. Can you tell me more?"

"It's like this. Adults work hard every day and don't know this. In the Jiangnan area, "child prodigies" are worshipped. Some famous teachers visit various places to select some children who look very smart and clever. They spend several years teaching the children calligraphy, painting and poetry recitation. After they have trained them well, they are taken to government offices to perform. As long as the child wins applause from the whole audience with his solid poetry, calligraphy and painting skills, then a child prodigy is born."

"Why would they do that? What's the benefit?"

M4 is a little confused. What kind of confusing operation is this?

"It's like this. There are many famous officials in my Ming Dynasty who showed amazing talents when they were seven or eight years old, and passed the imperial examinations in their twenties. Yang Tinghe, the chief minister of the cabinet in the Zhengde Dynasty, passed the imperial examination at the age of twelve and became a Jinshi at the age of nineteen. The chief ministers Li Dongyang and Zhang Juzheng passed the imperial examinations at the age of fifteen, just like Mr. Wang Dang in Yangzhou, who also passed the imperial examinations at the age of sixteen. These gentlemen initially wanted to emulate the sages and cultivate outstanding talents, but later on, it gradually changed. This kind of show, the children and the teachers gained both fame and fortune, the children who became child prodigies skyrocketed in value, and the teachers who taught the child prodigies quickly became famous and could offer high prices to teach the children of dignitaries. It has completely become a show for profit."

"How can this be so!"

Pei Huayu was a little annoyed, and it was obvious that she hated this educational method very much: "How can educating a boy be like taming a monkey? Teaching people to be deceitful instead of teaching them knowledge, the child won't learn any knowledge at all, and will only learn to cheat from a young age. What will they become when they grow up? These teachers are simply abominable!"

Jiang Han nodded, his expression somewhat serious.

"I'm already thinking of ways to cut off the roots of these gentry."

"any solution?"

"Of course... to open a school!"

"I had previously tried to establish a primary school in Zhuangzi, but due to a lack of sufficient teachers, it could only be a nursery. However, after operating in Yangzhou for some time, some scholars from poor families came to seek refuge, and a large number of well-read prostitutes were recruited to serve as a reserve of teachers. This plan was finally able to be implemented."

"Establishing a school? Why can it dig up the roots of the gentry?"

Pei Huayu was a little confused.

"The Ming court attached great importance to education and treated students very generously. Once students passed the academy and prefectural examinations, they could become scholars and enjoy many privileges, such as not having to bow to officials, exemption from corvée, etc. Juren had even more privileges and were not even required to pay national taxes. In the early Ming Dynasty, there were few Juren, so such policies were not a big deal. But in the later period, because such welfare benefits were too generous, as long as the land was registered in the name of a Juren, it was exempt from tax. The successful Juren helped their families occupy a large amount of land, resulting in less and less tax revenue. The large amount of welfare provided to students made the court gradually unable to afford it, and finally slowly dragged down the Ming Dynasty."

Zhu Yuanzhang, the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty, attached great importance to education, and established a very complete school system from the local to the central level.