June 1, 1853. Wei Ze returned to Shouzhou with the main force.

All the way from Anqing to Shouzhou, there are more and more news about the Qing army's attack in the surrounding area. In addition, Wei Ze has no base, and it is even more difficult to determine the authenticity of the news. The General Staff was also afraid of extraneous complications, and after separating from Lin Fengxiang's Northern Expeditionary Army, they immediately hurried back to Shouzhou.

At this time, the pontoon bridge erected on the Huai River was still there, and the large army crossed the pontoon bridge to the gate of Shouzhou. The name of the north gate of Shouzhou City is "Jinghuai", although Wei Ze has no basis for archaeological research, but I think it is also because the Huai River is often flooded, and the north gate is facing the Huai River with frequent floods, so it took such a name at will. At this time, there is a string of heads outside the north gate, and the Wenchen generals of the entire Shouzhou are basically here.

"Are you going to sacrifice their heads to the river gods?" Wei Ze asked Xu Kaiwen, who had just joined the team. There are some people here who have a big enmity with the Xu family, and Xu Kaiwen took a few people to his house and tortured them for a round before cutting off their heads.

"Prime Minister, my subordinates are doing this to establish authority for the Prime Minister!" Xu Kaiwen immediately explained.

Wei Ze looked at Xu Kaiwen helplessly, "I said that you sacrificed their heads because you used boiling water to burn their heads!" Isn't it the way to sacrifice the river god by boiling the heads of the three animals? ”

Xu Kaiwen didn't expect Wei Ze to see that several officials had been scalded by boiling water, he thought that no matter what kind of torture his body looked like, his head looked relatively intact. He stared at his head for a while, but Xu Kaiwen really didn't see any signs of boiling water scalding people's heads. However, this kind of thing can't be asked directly, Xu Kaiwen can only pretend that he has nothing to say, trying to fool this matter. Xu Kaiwen said: "Prime Minister, his subordinates have contacted the local tax collectors in Shouzhou, some of them have run away, and a few have stayed in Shouzhou, I wonder if the Prime Minister has met them?" ”

Wei Ze shook his head, "Brother Xu, I want you to be a commissioner of the Food Administration, which is probably equivalent to the state sentence of the Manchu Qing Dynasty." But now we don't have any government affairs, and the most important thing is to pay taxes on food......"

"Hmm." Xu Kaiwen was a little puzzled as to what Wei Ze said about what it had to do with the absence of those former tax collectors.

“…… And the tax collectors will not be on the side of our Taiping army. Why, then, should I see them? Weeser laid out his thoughts on the tax collectors.

Knowing Wei Ze's thoughts, Xu Kaiwen said: "Prime Minister, my subordinates have also seen the method you set for paying taxes on grain. The subordinates have to say that this is obviously a two-pleasing approach! ”

"Why?" Wei Ze didn't expect Xu Kaiwen to start pointing at the policy of paying taxes on finished grain.

Xu Kaiwen said: "Prime Minister, my subordinates think that your method requires that you pay taxes on grain according to the acres of land. Those who have more land pay more, those who have less land pay less, and those who have no land do not pay taxes......"

Following Wei Ze were Ke Gongyu and Lei Hu, and after listening to Xu Kaiwen's pointing at Wei Ze's policies, the two of them became angry, "If you don't pay more fields, why don't you want more fields?" ”

Xu Kaiwen was blocked by these righteous words on the surface, and he smiled on his face, but in his heart, he had already included Ke Gongyu and Lei Hu in the ranks of mud legs. As far as Xu Kaiwen knows, the world has always paid less taxes for those who have more land, and more taxes for those who have less land. Xu Kaiwen's eyes fell on Wei Ze, but Wei Ze was silent, waiting for Xu Kaiwen to continue. Xu Kaiwen praised in his heart: This is the real prime minister! As the saying goes, the prime minister can hold the boat in his belly, and he can't hold back the little things that don't fulfill his wishes, where can he do any big things.

Xu Kaiwen continued his lobbying, "Prime Minister, you just arrived in Shouzhou, and the big families who have a lot of fields are afraid that they will not be convinced. When the court collected taxes from them, these big families could still not pay taxes, and now you are going straight to them, for fear that they will not be satisfied. If there were local tax collectors among them to help the prime minister, many things would be better done. ”

"I know they're not going to be convinced, so this has to be publicized!" Wei Ze said with a smile, "Brother Xu, you say that those who have more land pay more taxes, those who have less land pay less taxes, and those who don't have land don't pay taxes." I think it's very good. We just want to spread this word to wherever I go, so that all the people will know how I pay my taxes! ”

Xu Kaiwen didn't expect Wei Ze to be so heartless, he originally wanted to persuade Wei Ze to cooperate with the tax collectors, and then use the old tax system to operate this year's grain collection. didn't expect that Wei Ze didn't take the rich in his eyes at all. So Xu Kaiwen tried to persuade him: "Prime Minister, I'm afraid those people won't listen to what you said about the method of paying food......

"First use your mouth to reason, if you are reasonable, you can't solve the problem. Then I can only keep my mouth shut and rely on the knife in my hand to enforce the reason. Weeser smiled and said his opinion.

The content in these words was murderous, because Wei Ze's voice was soft, and there was not the slightest emotion in it, and Xu Kaiwen didn't understand what kind of killing was contained in these words when he first heard it. After he understood, Xu Kaiwen's face turned a little white, and he stammered a little and said, "Cheng...... Prime Minister, you ...... How many people are you going to kill? ”

"If they are willing to pay their taxes according to my rules, I will not kill anyone. But there must be people who refuse to follow my rules, and I don't know why they don't want to listen to me. But I only have one way to deal with these people, and that is to kill! Wei Ze said calmly, and there was even a sense of compassion on his face. This kind of calmness is also a disguise in a sense, at least when the issue of grain taxation is discussed within the army, because he was excited to be ruthless to the landlords who resisted, Wei Ze gritted his teeth and swore that he would let the landlords die for the whole family.

Now that the plan has been determined, the supporters have been identified, and there have been leaks in the discussion, Weser has been able to calmly explain his position and views.

Wei Ze's calm attitude frightened Xu Kaiwen, who had experience in tax collection. Xu Kaiwen can also be regarded as knowledgeable and well-traveled. He knew very well that the more determined a person was, the less likely he would be to bluff. If Wei Ze howled inwardly, "You must collect the tax for me!" That only shows that Weeser simply does not have the ability to complete the tax collection. And Wei Ze said lightly, if you don't pay taxes, you have to die! It's definitely going to be played for real!

"Prime Minister, they really refuse to pay taxes after finishing their food, so it's useless for you to kill them." Xu Kaiwen couldn't help but argue.

Wei Ze said slowly: "Brother Xu, your family is also rich. It is true that there are a few landlords and gentry who cannot pay taxes on their grain, but most of them can do so. They don't pay their taxes, because they think I can't move them, or because they think they can scare me. If I had reasoned with them, it would have never worked. These people are in their own places, how can they let me speak? The only truth that can make them accept it is who has a hard fist and a fast knife! Between asking for money and wanting to die, I let them choose. ”

Xu Kaiwen swallowed and foamed, Wei Ze's tone and demeanor are still elegant, but behind this is a earth-shaking change. Raising a butcher's knife to the landlords over tax issues was unimaginable in the Manchu era. Because of the persecution of the mainstream of Manchu society, Xu Kaiwen was forced into the ranks of rebellion. This is not his true nature to rebel, but a helpless choice in desperation.

Even after participating in the rebellion, Xu Kaiwen's political vision was broadened, but Xu Kaiwen still had a lot of effort to determine that it was okay to do this kind of thing against the landlords and gentry.

However, Wei Ze didn't want to waste his tongue on whether to kill or not, and the two walked all the way, discussing specific implementation measures. When they arrived at the Yamen of the Shouzhou Prefect, the two sides had already reached a basic consensus. Xu Kaiwen sighed: "Prime Minister, you are really different in what you do. ”

"Is it different?" Wei Ze pinched his goatee and laughed dryly, "What I did is recorded in the history books, not only am I not different, but I am also the same as everyone else." ”

After leaving a certain number of troops in Shouzhou, Wei Ze led his troops straight to Lu'an. Lu'an is north of Anqing and south of Shouzhou. It was right under the attack of Weeser's troops. The magistrate had long been ready to flee, and as soon as Weze's troops arrived, the magistrate abandoned the city and fled. After capturing Lu'an, Wei Ze temporarily gained a vast area from the Huai River in the north to the Yangtze River in the south.

The news of the Qing army is relatively chaotic, and since Lin Fengxiang went north, there has been a big problem with the layout of the Qing army. There are those who chase after Lin Fengxiang, and those who go to defend against Wei Ze's attack. However, the Qing army is all a cousin, and if they can not take the initiative to attack, they will not take the initiative to attack. Weeser looks like a lot of pressure right now, but it's actually not that bad.

In accordance with the spirit of Wei Ze's instructions, the General Staff Headquarters has begun to establish a three-level handling system for Anhui's base areas, guerrilla areas, and enemy-occupied areas. For each different region, the corresponding management model is gradually determined.

And the news from the Taiping Army made Wei Ze and the General Staff quite speechless. After the Northern Expedition troops attacked, Yang Xiuqing ordered the Taiping army to start the westward expedition, and the troops passed through Anqing, which Wei Ze had entrenched, and went straight to Jiangxi. In the latest news, Jiang Zhongyuan, an old opponent of the Taiping Army, took Chu Yong under his command to Nanchang to help defend the city.

Having fought several battles with the Taipings, Jiang Zhongyuan destroyed the houses outside the city of Nanchang and burned all kinds of buildings outside the city that could be used by the Taiping army to attack the city. The Taiping army, which attacked Nanchang, fell into a bitter battle.

Wei Ze did not stay in Lu'an for a long time, he left some troops in Lu'an, publicized the Taiping Army's latest policy of paying taxes on grain, and led a large army to the south and went straight to Anqing. Before leaving, Wei Ze said to the commanders of the troops: "You remember, the main target of our propaganda is not the landlords and gentry, but the common people. The landlords and gentry themselves will go to inquire about the news, and only when the people really know what we and others are proposing, can they really get things done! ”

On June 11, 1853, Wei Ze rushed back to Anqing to prepare for the first imperial examination in Anqing's history, which was presided over by the Taiping army.

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