Griffin Commander in the Late Ming Dynasty

Jiang Han's main mistake was to make a mistake. M4 is no longer the same M4 as it was back then. The voice actors have all been changed. If he still looked at people with the old eyes, he would be pinned to the bed and beaten until his whole body fell apart. As for Chongzhen, it was purely out of worry.

What are you worried about? You’re worried about having no money.

The question of who would lead the troops had been solved. As the most favored Yang Aiqing by Chongzhen, Yang Sichang naturally put sharing the worries with Zhenzi first and absolutely could not embarrass Zhenzi. If Xue Guoguan was doing this, then I, the head of the cabinet, would simply lead the troops myself, and no one would be able to say anything! Therefore, Chen Xinjia's position as the commander-in-chief was given to Yang Sichang.

Although Chongzhen had appointed Yang Sichang as the commander-in-chief, the first issue that needed to be resolved was still the issue of food and pay.

Chongzhen was very anxious. The Tartars were wreaking havoc in the country. Seeing frequent reports of victory from Shandong and Xuanda, the tens of thousands of troops needed food and silver to raise funds, but where would the food and silver come from?

"You still haven't come up with a set of rules yet?" Chongzhen slammed the table anxiously.

The Ming Dynasty had an annual income of about 26 million dan of silver nationwide, but most of it was retained in local areas, especially in Fujian and other places. Zheng Zhilong earned more than 10 million dan of silver every year with the help of maritime trade. However, the Ming Dynasty only received a few million taels of silver from the Ministry of Revenue's Taicang warehouse every year, while the military expenditures for the nine borders alone were as high as 8 million taels of silver. The national treasury was in a deficit almost every year. Liaodong alone required more than 5 million taels of silver every year to maintain. The entire Ming Dynasty had a fiscal deficit for many years and was not far from bankruptcy.

Throughout the dynasties, the tax revenue of the national treasury was basically used for military expenses, royal expenditures, and the construction of government offices. There was no situation like Jiang Han's, where reforms were carried out, work was substituted for relief, and infrastructure construction was used instead of poverty alleviation to seek development.

"Your Majesty, Henan, Shandong, and Shaanxi are experiencing civil unrest, and the Ministry of Revenue is unable to collect taxes. Shandong is now being ravaged by the Jiannu, and Liaodong and other places need to send more troops. Your Majesty also needs to train new troops. The amount of money reported by various parties is huge, and the Ministry of Revenue... is really out of money."

The job of the Minister of Finance of the Ming Dynasty was difficult. It was a basic operation to complain about poverty to the emperor. As a finance minister, only you know how many bad debts you have. Can you tell the emperor about this? I guess you will be shot in the back and commit suicide before you even open your mouth.

"No money?"

Emperor Chongzhen sneered. The Ming Dynasty was not blind, and those men in the East Factory were not idle either. They would have found out long ago that Jiang Han had seized tens of millions of taels of silver in Yangzhou. These were just a few states. How could they say they had no money?

Although Jiangnan was prosperous, the north had Zhili, Shandong, Henan, Shanxi, and Shaanxi. It should be no problem to collect 20 million taels of silver a year, right? Why was there only 2 or 3 million taels of silver?

Other people make money like this, why is it so difficult for me?

However, Chongzhen also knew that he could not learn from Jiang Han. Not to mention himself, civil officials such as Yang Sichang would not agree. They still insisted on collecting taxes from the people and would rather offend the people than touch the interests of the gentry and landlords. After all, the officials in the court are the umbrellas of those people and also benefit from them. How can they ruin their own future?

The discussion in the Huangji Hall lasted for half an hour, but the ministers could not come up with any way to make money quickly.

Finally, the Minister of War Chen Xinjia proposed: "Your Majesty, I suggest that we levy the suppression fund again!"

The suppression pay was a fee specifically levied to suppress peasant uprisings, totaling 2.8 million taels, mainly collected from land. It was originally planned to be levied for only one year, but in fact it started from the tenth year of Chongzhen and ended only after Li Zicheng hid in Shangluo Mountain in the twelfth year of Chongzhen.

Chongzhen looked worried, as he was afraid that if he resumed collecting the suppression funds, others would accuse him of going back on his word and losing his credibility.

Regarding the emperor's concern about losing his word, Chen Xinjia said, "Your Majesty, it's okay. The additional tax comes from the land, and those who own the land are mostly landlords. A field of more than 100 mu only requires an additional three or four coins of silver, which is a small amount! Moreover, there is now a big bandit Jiang Han over there, and the big thief Zhang Xianzhong is equally rampant. There are civil unrests everywhere in Shaanxi. It is reasonable to collect taxes at this moment!"

Before Chongzhen could react, Yang Sichang took another step forward and said, "Your Majesty, I suggest collecting training pay!"

Chongzhen was confused: "Lord Yang, what do you mean by training for military pay?"

Yang Sichang bowed and said, "The so-called training pay is to train soldiers for the border areas and strengthen the defense of the nine border towns to deal with the Jiannu. This move can also be used to target local civil unrest. If the nine border military pay is sufficient, civil unrest will not occur. The training pay is still collected from the land tax. The land tax is increased by one cent per mu, and more than 7.3 million taels of silver can be collected each year."

Yang Sichang even calculated the total number clearly, so it was obvious that he was not making up stories. He came prepared!

"But, if we increase the tax again, won't the people of our Ming Dynasty be burdened with heavy taxes?" Chongzhen had some concerns. He was a man who loved fame and glory, and compared himself to a wise monarch. He was very afraid that the people would say bad things about him.

Yang Sichang bowed and said, "Your Majesty, the land tax in my Ming Dynasty is extremely low. Even if we levy three taxes per mu of land, it is only a few kilograms of millet money. It is far from the standard of "heavy taxation" and the burden on the people is not great."

Chongzhen felt relieved after hearing this. It turned out that the burden was not that great. Then he would collect it! And that, the suppression pay! Oh, now he is at ease. Now that damn Jiang Han is entrenched in Jiangnan, and Li the thief is starting a rebellion in Shaanxi, not to mention that there is now a glaring Tartar in his face. The situation is extremely rotten. To completely wipe them out, the food and pay needed may reach an astronomical figure. If the three pays are collected, the Liao pay, the suppression pay, and the training pay are combined into one, the national treasury can increase more than 16 million taels of tax every year. Isn't this money coming?

Collect! You must collect! Collect hard!

However, at this happy moment, someone spoiled the mood. The Minister of Revenue, Li Shiwen, hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, no, absolutely no! Your Majesty, you must not collect the training pay. If you do, it will be like draining the pond to catch all the fish."

Chongzhen didn't like what he heard. What does it mean to exhaust the pond to catch all the fish? Isn't our practice sustainable? You are just crying poor. Now that we have finally found a way to make money, you are still complaining.

Li Shiwen continued, "In the 46th year of the previous dynasty, the two capitals and thirteen provinces across the country added Liao taxes, and each mu of land was taxed an additional 9 cents of silver. In the fourth year of this dynasty, the tax has been increased to 1.2 cents, and in the tenth year, the suppression tax has been increased again. If this training tax is levied and the tax is increased by another cent, it will definitely make the common people suffer!"

He even said bluntly, "With so many taxes being added, the people are suffering. There have been years of drought, and this year there is a locust plague. If taxes are increased again, the people will be suffocated and their lives will be ruined. The people will become poor and bandits will arise, and the world will become even more chaotic!"

Li Shiwen almost said it directly, now the people can't even get enough food to eat, it would be strange if they don't rebel.

Chen Xinjia disagreed and said, "It's really alarmist! Yang Xiang's proposal to levy additional military pay is also a temporary measure. It will only be collected this year to solve the urgent problem. Next year, no need to collect..."

Li Shiwen sighed deeply and said, "Although the training salary proposed by Prime Minister Yang has solved the current major problem, Prime Minister Yang has never farmed himself. You must know that the land in different places is fertile or barren, and the yields are different. If we collect taxes uniformly based on the acreage, it will definitely lead to disaster, Your Majesty!"

However, as the head of the cabinet, Yang Sichang could not be without his lackeys. Many ministers immediately expressed their opinions: "Your Majesty, we think the court needs to use iron-fisted means to impose three additional taxes. No matter how hard the taxation is, there is still hope for the revival of the Ming Dynasty. But if we don't levy taxes, let alone the ferocity of the Jiannu, if we sit back and watch the Jiang and Li thieves become powerful, that will be the biggest worry for the Ming Dynasty!"

Seeing the emperor's hesitation, Chen Xinjia added fuel to the fire and said, "Your Majesty, if we don't fight now, in a few years the Jiang bandits will be too powerful to be contained, and we won't be able to conquer them even if we want to!"

Chongzhen thought, it's true! And now he is really short of money. If he doesn't collect it, where will the money come from? Can you, Li Shiwen, show it to me? He sighed and said, "I will issue an edict to levy three taxes, temporarily burdening my people for a year, hoping that after the bandits are wiped out, the world will return to peace and the people will live and work in peace."

Li Shiwen felt a chill in his heart. Although it was only scheduled for one year, he was afraid that it would become a custom-made product in the future.

The emperor only looks at the superficial tax rate. He only collects a few cents of silver per acre of land. The tax rate is no more than 10% at most. The people should be able to bear it.

However, no one knows to what extent the burden on ordinary people will increase when it reaches the grassroots level. Corrupt officials at all levels will never miss this great opportunity to plunder the people. Hundreds of millions of people will secretly impose additional taxes, and it is feared that the private levies will be several times or even dozens of times more than the regular taxes.

As the Minister of Revenue, Li Shiwen, the Minister of Finance, knew too well the nature of these officials. He knew very well that he had a pile of dirty accounts in his hands. Some local officials made money but used the excuse that the people were burdened with heavy expenses and they could not bear to collect the money. They withheld the salaries and did not hand them over to the court, but enjoyed them themselves. Their hypocritical faces were disgusting.

Some officials in Shandong Province collected taxes up to six times as much as the government did. That is, they collected six points for every point collected by the government. As a result, the people were left with only 40% of the harvest they planted throughout the year after paying taxes.

The purpose of collecting the three taxes was to maintain order and stability inside and outside the country. However, such a practice of killing the goose that lays the golden eggs is so immoral that it will undoubtedly force the people to take risks. Even penguins will commit crimes! What about people? The increase in taxes forced the people to become bandits, and to eliminate the bandits, more taxes were needed. This created a vicious cycle. Could the Ming Dynasty withstand it?

But at this moment, Chongzhen was already frightened by Chen Xinjia's words. He thought, what the hell, that Jiang thief, with only 10,000 men, could defend Yangzhou. If he really became powerful, who knows what would become of the Ming Dynasty? He immediately said, "Pass the decree, immediately increase the three taxes. No matter if you are a rich or a commoner, or anybody from any religion or any class, who dares to resist the tax will be killed without mercy!"

Seeing that the matter had been settled, Yang Sichang and others immediately sang praises: "Your Majesty is wise!"

Although the emperor said so, when it comes to the lower levels, do local officials dare to collect taxes from the princes and gentry? You are probably a little confused about the situation. Is there nothing in this world that you are nostalgic for?

Li Shiwen was completely desperate. He knelt on the ground and shouted, "Your Majesty, you must not do this. If the court suppresses the bandits while raising taxes, it will only make it impossible for the people to survive. In the end, they will be taken away by the bandits. The result will only be that the more we suppress the bandits, the more bandits there will be. Our Ming Dynasty is in danger!"

Chongzhen was immediately furious. What kind of person is cursing me every day? My Ming Dynasty is about to prosper! He shouted angrily: "You keep saying that the Ming Dynasty is in danger. What is your intention? Come on, throw him into the death row!"

As he was dragged away by two Jinyiwei, Li Shiwen still shouted, "You are driving the people to think they are bandits. How can you suppress them? Your Majesty, why don't you understand this principle?"

Chongzhen was not moved at all. He snorted coldly and said, "It's settled. The cabinet will draft a charter and implement it as soon as possible!"

Seeing this, Yang Sichang was completely relieved. It was completely settled now. As long as he could get the money, he would have the confidence to gather troops and march to Shandong to fight against the Tartars. He knew that the Tartars' current actions clearly showed that they were heading back. As long as he led his troops forward, the Tartars might have already returned to Shengjing by then. He would only need to wipe out the local bandits and stabilize the order to get this great credit directly. By then, his position as the emperor would be more stable.

Chen Xinjia was also very happy. He was a staunch supporter of Lord Yang. Once Lord Yang's plan to send troops to resist the Jiannu was confirmed, then when Lord Yang returned like lightning, wouldn't his chance of joining the cabinet be a sure thing?

As for the question of whether the disaster victims would join the bandits on a large scale, Chen Xinjia did not take it seriously. Or maybe he actually understood the dangers involved, but it had nothing to do with him.

If the people rebel, you can just chop off the heads of the local officials. What does that have to do with me, the Minister of War? When that happens, please call me Chen Ge Lao!

Volume 373: Chapter Chapter : Ant Attachment

“Bang!

There was a loud bang, accompanied by the sound of a door hitting the ground. The gate of a dilapidated courtyard was kicked open rudely, and a team of soldiers in tattered armor rushed in with messy footsteps.

"In compliance with the imperial decree, the three taxes are to be collected from all civilians, without fail."

An officer in armor was holding a notice and reading it to the shivering family. Then he waved his hand, and five or six officers and soldiers behind him immediately started searching for food without saying a word, just like Japanese invaders entering a village.

In fact, the original text of Chongzhen's imperial edict was quite long. It said: "The bandits are spreading, the slaves are rampant, and the people are suffering. If we don't gather troops to suppress them, the slaves cannot be eliminated quickly, and the bandits cannot be eliminated quickly. Our people will suffer for a year to eliminate this serious threat. After repeated consideration, we have no choice but to do so. Don't worry that the officials will not implement it well. The government only pays one cent, but the poor people have been deprived several times... Post a notice to state the court's intention to eliminate the bandits for the people." In the second half, Chongzhen listened to Li Shiwen's words and wrote down the matter in the imperial edict as a warning to the local authorities. However, the local authorities didn't care at all. They could only see the four big words on the imperial edict, "Collect three taxes!", so they might as well read it briefly to those peasants, because they couldn't understand it anyway.

The whole family, young and old, huddled in the house, watching in horror as the soldiers with swords in hand searched for food. The children, who were only a few years old, were frightened by the scene and burst into tears.

The officer was already accustomed to this kind of scene. He just glanced at them coldly and then looked away.

The collection of three taxes was first proposed by Yang Sichang to Chongzhen. Among them, the suppression tax and the training tax were mainly aimed at the peasant uprising army.

Yang Sichang's strategy for suppressing bandits was called "four directions and six corners, setting up a net in ten directions", which meant that each prefecture would train its own troops, and then when the imperial army arrived, they would work together to set up a local net to suppress the bandits.

To achieve this, each state would need to train hundreds of thousands more soldiers, and the imperial court would need to collect at least an additional three million in taxes each year to meet this requirement. This was also a strategy designed to address the ecological environment at the time where most of the peasant uprisings were bandits.

But the situation is different now. The rebels are spreading everywhere. Zhang Xianzhong, who had surrendered, went back on his word and started to jump around again. The thief Li who hid in the mountains has made a revival. Not to mention Jiang Han in the south who is acting as if he has seen a ghost. These are no longer ordinary bandits. We must deal a heavy blow to them!

This strategy was actually very reasonable, especially before the strong man Jiang Han descended upon the Ming Dynasty, the problem of bandits in the court was almost eliminated. The King of Rebellion Gao Yingxiang was gone, the King of the West Zhang Xianzhong had been killed, and Li Zicheng was directly driven into the mountains. Only the Gezuo Fifth Battalion were left, and they were at the end of their rope. They only needed to encourage more and the problem could be completely solved.

Who could have imagined that this thief Jiang would launch a surprise attack on Yangzhou and ruin everything?

However, a reasonable policy may sometimes become unreasonable if there are some minor mistakes in it. For example, the goal of collecting the three taxes has a serious bug, that is, the objects of collection are all a bunch of poor farmers, while those who are born in their twenties and are rich do not have to pay.

These people are often the nobles, bullies, and clan members in the imperial court, because the Zhu family's policy towards clan members is that I own the country and I raise pigs, and you don't have to worry about anything. The imperial court will be responsible for supporting you, and you just have to eat, drink and have fun all day. In that era, there were not many entertainment facilities. The greatest interest of the clan members was to create little people. Some could even give birth to dozens of children and hundreds of grandchildren. All of these people did not have to pay taxes, and they received pensions from the imperial court. They were so happy. In Henan alone, there were eight princes. All of these people were rich and lived a life of luxury.

And Chongzhen, every time he collected money, never thought of plucking a hair from his clan members. Let's not talk about clan members for now, what about the nobles and bullies? Is there no one to take care of it?

Alas, no one really cares. This matter has to start with Wanli. The emperors of the Ming Dynasty were so weird, and the Wanli Emperor was even more weird. This gentleman can be called the King Xishun of the Ming Dynasty. His life creed was to start. The minister asked the emperor, "Why don't you attend the morning court?" Yes, yes, yes. The minister asked the emperor, "Can you take a look at our memorial?" Yes, yes, yes. The minister asked the emperor, "The Minister of Finance has retired, can you see if you can recruit someone to fill his position?" I am still right, yes, yes.

This gentleman stayed in the palace for thirty years and never attended court. The court officials could not see the emperor every day. When asked, "Where is the emperor?" "I'm not here!" "Tick-tick-tick-tick!" Not being able to see him was fine, but even if they submitted memorials, they would still hear nothing. During the reign of Emperor Wanli, it was as if this gentleman did not exist in the court. Every day when the court officials attended court, they would stand in front of an empty wheelchair for a while and then play Landlord. After playing, they would go home.

Moreover, this gentleman acted very arrogantly and did all kinds of tricks. He even ignored the appointment and dismissal of personnel. All the memorials concerning retirement, appointment, dismissal and promotion of officials at all levels in the court were read but not responded to. When an official died in office, there was no one to fill his place. When an official retired, there was no one to take his place. This went on day after day for thirty years, and in the end, there were only seven old men left in the more than thirty yamen of the cabinet. The capital of the cabinet could not even work. Even though there were dozens of memorials saying that I wanted to retire, I still did not respond. I was just having fun.

There is no way out. The cabinet head just packed up his bags and ran away. Whether you retire or not, I don’t want to play with you anymore.

Under such circumstances, the situation at the local level was naturally not much better. Most places in the country had no prefects or county magistrates, and no one cared what you did. The grass in the yamen was three feet high, and the ivy even covered the drum for reporting to the emperor. And because the next emperor Wanli was a famous old carpenter, who was also a top-notch man, this situation was not completely resolved until a few years after Chongzhen came to power.

If the government does nothing, the power system will be occupied by private institutions, and local bullies and nobles will fill this space. The result of local self-management is that the power of the nobles and bullies continues to grow, and they begin to bug themselves and carry out land annexation, without having to pay taxes.

In this way, the main body of taxation is only the poor people. The key is that these people are really suffering. Take Shaanxi, the old rebellion base of the Ming Dynasty, for example. In the first year of Chongzhen, Shaanxi suffered a severe drought. In the second year of Chongzhen, Shaanxi suffered a severe drought. In the third year of Chongzhen, Shaanxi suffered a severe drought. In the fourth year of Chongzhen, Shaanxi suffered a severe drought....

Alas, finally, in the fifth year of Chongzhen, the situation began to change. It was no longer just a severe drought in Shaanxi, but a locust plague, drought, and famine all came at the same time. The three major natural disasters took care of me alone, and I made the people feel at ease.

The natural disaster caused a large-scale reduction in the local population. However, the court's taxes not only did not decrease, but increased. Moreover, the Ming Dynasty did not collect taxes based on the number of people but on the amount of land. The tax was determined by the amount of land. However, only two people were left on the land, and these two people would continue to bear the taxes of dozens of people.

With such taxes, how could Shaanxi not become a base for rebellion? They couldn't survive anyway, so they might as well rebel.

Back to the main story, natural disasters have occurred continuously in recent years, and they were even worse in the 12th year of Chongzhen, causing abnormal surges in prices in various places. It can be said that the price of rice and salary has reached the point where "rice is as expensive as pearls". In Shandong, one stone of rice costs 20 taels, while in Henan, the price has even soared to 150 taels of silver per stone in some places due to the disaster.

Why is it so high? You know, Jiang Han has strict measures to prevent the locust plague from expanding, and has also built water conservancy projects to ensure irrigation, but what about Henan? There is nothing. Locust plague, drought, and famine, three sets of heavy blows, have made the people of Henan suffer terribly, and profiteers have taken the opportunity to start crazy price increases. If you have the ability, don't buy it.

"found it!"

After rummaging through boxes and cabinets, an officer finally found a small bag of grain hidden at the back of the cabinet, and held it in his hands to cushion it.

The family of five was immediately panicked. The young woman in her early twenties stopped the officers and soldiers and said, "Soldier, you can't take it! This is the last food for our family!"

The leading officer ignored her, pushed her aside, and waved his hand, saying, "Let's go!"

"Military Master..."

The three adults chased out of the house and fell at the feet of the leading officer. The old woman hugged his legs and cried loudly, "We pay taxes every year. This is the last ration for our family. Sir, please leave us a way to live!"

The leading officer shouted, "How dare you resist the government? Get out of my way!"

As he spoke, he kicked the old woman aside. Whether it was intentional or he kicked too hard, the old woman was kicked several meters away. Her head hit the millstone in the yard, and blood gushed out immediately, and she lost consciousness.

"Mom!" The old woman's son became furious when he saw that his mother had died. He picked up a hoe in the yard and hit the officer.

The officer was horrified. How dare someone resist? He quickly dodged and shouted angrily, "How dare you resist the government! Kill this bastard!"

With just one sentence, the entire family was sentenced to death. It was a common practice for the Ming army to kill innocent people and claim credit for their achievements. Several officers and soldiers immediately stepped forward with swords drawn with a grim smile. However, before they could make a move, two short crossbows shot directly into their foreheads.

"It's really unlucky that I encountered this kind of thing just after arriving here"

A lazy voice came from behind, making the already surprised officer full of vigilance: "Who is it!"

Turning around, he saw a sturdy man nearly nine feet tall, with his hair tied up casually, carrying a long-handled weapon wrapped in oilcloth on his back and a short crossbow in his hand.

This person is Ding Xiu.

"Who are you? How dare you kill officers and soldiers? Are you planning a rebellion?!"

Looking at the opponent's size, the officer felt a little scared. However, although two of his men were killed, he still had four or five men on his side, so the officer felt confident.

"Don't get me wrong, this is what my employer meant. I'm just doing the work for money. Anyway, I have nothing to do, so I'll just open a shop today."

Ding Xiu grabbed the oilcloth wrapped around his horse-slaying broadsword and swung it sideways. The huge blade was in front of several officers and soldiers. "Don't just stand there. Come on, let's warm up."

A moment later, the family members were crying loudly while holding the old woman's body, while Ding Xiu was bored and wiped his knife while turning his head to talk to several young people standing in the yard.

"I say, what should we do next? We have vented our anger today, but these officers and soldiers died here. We can't hide this. Once the Ming army finds out, no one in this village will be able to escape. What are your plans?"

Several people were a little speechless when they saw the officers and soldiers on the ground, mainly because it was not easy to find a place to stay: "I know there is a merchant caravan nearby. We should be able to quickly contact you and ask them to bring people over and recruit workers directly. We can take them all to Yangzhou. With guards, we don't have to worry about the Ming army making things difficult for us."

These people were none other than the students that Jiang Han had sent to Henan to investigate the local situation. Today, they happened to arrive at this village and saw this scene. In a fit of anger, they asked Ding Xiu to help save the villagers.

"It's a solution, but this kind of situation is everywhere in Henan. If you can save a village, can you save all these people?"

"Then what do you say we should do? Are we just going to just watch like this?"

"Have you forgotten that you have a god-like gentleman? Just ask him and report the situation here in detail. With his ability, he will definitely be able to find a solution."

"But... Sir, you are so busy with all kinds of things. Wouldn't this cause you more trouble?"

"Then why don't you explain the situation here in more detail so that he doesn't have to worry too much? Or can you come up with any good ideas?"

Several people looked at each other and could only nod: "Then... this is the only way."

Volume 374: Chapter Chapter : Rescue

These students were indeed very dedicated, especially after receiving new-style education, their hearts were full of compassion, and all they thought about was how to liberate their fellow villagers. After accepting Ding Xiu's suggestion, several of them worked day and night for several days, and finally put a detailed report on Jiang Han's desk.

Looking at the report, Jiang Han also deeply felt the seriousness of the problems in Henan Province. These days have been busy with fighting, and in a blink of an eye, it is already the end of July in the twelfth year of Chongzhen. Counting the days, the people of Henan Province this year can be said to have had a very miserable life.

Due to years of war, famine, drought, and this year's locust plague, the Central Plains land of Henan is so desolate that it is hard to describe it as a thousand miles of barren land. Jiang Han had just landed, actually right on the edge of Henan. That scene was so real that he couldn't bear to recall it.

In the students' reports, it was also written that the Ming court had started to collect the three taxes again. When Jiang Han saw this news, he was dumbfounded. At this time, he was still drinking poison to quench thirst. What on earth was Chongzhen thinking? Such a move undoubtedly sprinkled a handful of pepper on the already crispy and tender days of these poor people. The last handful of cumin had also arrived. After Li Zicheng's army circled around Shaanxi, it headed towards Luoyang with great momentum.